I've had much heartbreak in my life and most of it has been down to the national football team. On Friday we were up against the mighty 'Georgia', and 'Georgia', she broke my heart! How? I honestly don't know. The only Georgian footballer I really remember was Shota Arveladze' who played for Rangers. He did look a little like 'Mr Bean' but nothing prepared me for the comedical display of football that Scotland treated us to on Friday. I was left sobbing into my Aldi 'St Etienne' lager when the final whistle sounded and not even a second can could help numb the pain as I retreated to my bed. I do remember when Scotland last qualified for a major competition. It was France 98 and the mood of the nation was high and the prices of Tennants lager was low. Mr Strachan please bring back those days, if Wales can do it then surely we can. P.s. I think you should drop 'Alan Hutton' and stop substituting ' Andrew Roberston'.

I obviously wrote the above paragraph before Monday night's gallant assault on the World Champions Germany. I still think Hutton is past his best, and if anyone is looking for a statue for their garden then please contact 'Stephen Fletcher's' agent.


 

Cleveland Wedge Fitting Day Was A Great Success!

When I told my wife, we were having wedge fitting day, she said 'I love wedges but only with a summer dress'. Thankfully she now knows that wedges go with anything!

She does read my newsletter and will kill me for that one but when you see a gag you've just got to grab it with both hands!

The wedge fitting afternoon took place on a lovely sunny afternoon and the feedback we received from the participants was excellent. The chap who was doing the fittings is a geek like me and his knowledge of the game and technology is excellent. He utilised all of skills to fit many of you and stayed for an extra 2 hours on top of the 3 he was booked for. This was how popular the afternoon was and it was excellent to see how popular this sort of event was to all of you. 

If you couldn't make the event, then do not worry as I have all the Cleveland and Titleist fitting equipment to help you achieve the perfect set of wedges. And don't worry, you don't have to wear a dress to benefit from them!

Click here to visit my website to find out more about our great wedge options

Click here to get in touch if you would like to book a fitting with your PGA professional.


 

Lock Stock And More Than Two Smoking Brands!

It took me at least 30 minutes to dream that title up and you don't have to be a 'Ritchie Guy' to shop in my store! Peel me off the ceiling as that opening sentence trumped the title, oh boy!

This week Kieran must have thought he had swapped the Pro Shop for the tills of Asda as he must have scanned 300 barcodes onto our till system. We received many compliments about the quality of our stock, the brands we have selected and the ranges. So here are the main apparel brands at Graeme Bell Golf this autumn.

• Galvin Green
• J Lindeburg
• FootJoy
• Sunice
• adidas
• Under Armour

Click here to view our excellent new Under Armour Display for our autumn/winter ranges.

Hopefully you will all love the collections we have and please remember that we have access to loads of other brands, even if you do not see them in store!

FREE Loyalty Voucher

To celebrate the arrival of our new Autumn/Winter range in store, I have decided to give you all a FREE voucher to spend!

- £25 voucher when you spend £200 on the new Galvin Green range

- £10 voucher when you spend £100 on the new Sunice range

- £15 off when you spend £100 on the new J Lindeberg range

- £10 voucher when you spend £100 on the new Under Armour range

Click here to print off your voucher

Shoe Sale

The Shoe Sale of the Century continues this week with more bargains than 'David Dickinson's' Car Boot Sale. We have ECCO, adidas and FootJoy shoes in the sale and all are at trade price or less. This will continue for another week and then they will go back up in price. So if you want to treat your plates of meat to some of the worlds finest leather, then pop into the shop. We will only leave your feet lighter, not your wallet!

Click here to visit my website where you can find out more about our range of shoes here at East Kilbride

 

Check Out What My Equipment Can Do For You!

Every year I try and invest in some sort of technology to help my pupils, and every year my knowledge grows in the use of this technology. I was one of the first Independent Golf Professionals to invest in a Radar Ball Tracking Device 9 years ago and it has allowed me to measure what good players do and what bad players do. When I look at good players play wedge shots, I see the vast majority of them have a shallow angle of attack with the club as they come into the ball. Before we go any further, here's what I mean by angle of attack!

Attack Angle (angle that indicates if the clubhead is travelling up or down, relative to the ground at impact)

If you want to think in a simpler way, then think of better wedge players not taking much divot when playing wedge shots.

Poorer players have steeper angles of attack and tend to take very deep divots. This makes it very difficult to control the low point of the club, loft and spin of the ball. This steep angle of attack can be thought of as the club coming down to the ground and up like a 'V' shape. The bottom of this 'V'shape swing makes the low point a 'TINY' point on the ground requiring precision accuracy to strike the ball.

Now think of the shallower angle of attack displayed by better wedge players being like a 'U' shape. The bottom of this 'U' shaped swing is on the ground longer and does not require the player to hit at exactly at the ball! Yes, you heard it here first, with this angle of attack you can hit behind the ball and still hit great wedge shots!!

I measure this angle of attack on my radar device and give you simple swing changes to optimise your angle of attack.

If you struggle with your wedges then Dr Bell will see you now!

Click here to get in touch if you would like to improve your game.