Vaughn reborn on the peninsula.....

What a place to get back in the big time. Vaughn Taylor did just that with a thrilling back nine at Pebble Beach last week. A Forgotten man in American golf, former Ryder Cup player (yes he did, 2006) got in as a reserve and promptly birdied 4 of the last 6 holes to snatch victory from Phil Mickleson. Lefty had his chances on the back nine, but missed as did Taylor from 5 foot on the last.

So Taylor comes out of the golfing wilderness to "his super bowl "in April at Augusta, in his home town at The Masters. A Cinderella story if ever there was one. You have to keep believing at this game. You just never know. 




Then there was three...

Only three of the 6 nations realistically can win the rugby championship this season. Unbeaten England and France secured their 2nd wins and Wales are just behind with a win and a draw. Scotland lost for the 9th time in a row in the home nations a miserable record and with Ireland struggling with injuries to key players getting a result at HQ next time looks beyond theme do their fate looks set. Italy are too reliant on one man, not much good in a 15 man team (he plays like three men at times) so them or Scotland for the wooden spoon. Every game is still watchable and as it gets to the nitty gritty in the coming weeks, points could be all important so some open off the cuff rugby would be welcome instead of defences holding most of the aces. We'll have to wait and see who blinks first with that one. By the way, how big are the French players? No wonder Ireland have so many injuries at the moment!

North London sizing up the Premiership...

Arsenal and Tottenham are hot on the heels of Leicester city in the race for the Premiership. Arsenal finally got their win against Ranieri's team in the last minute after being a goal behind. Spurs went to Man City and won in the Etihad. They must be taken seriously as this season they just have that ability to win and not capitulate away from the lane. It's a three horse race with Leicester on an easier run in until mid-March. With only having to play half the possible games of the other two teams this could be the saving grace relying on so few players. Arsenal look stronger each week and are favourites. All neutrals want Leicester for sure, they deserve it, don't they North London? 




The value of custom fitting….

Barry Newbery had been plagued with too much spin and too high a ball flight for some time. Using the GC 2 launch monitor, we took as much as 1500 revs off the back spin and brought it down to a suitable number. To do this we changed to a slightly heavier, more stable shaft, the proof has been in the using. In Barry's own words…

"There is no doubt in my mind that the change of shafts has been positive and I'm pleased with the results so far, the shots definitely feel more solid especially with the mid and long irons".

So it doesn`t always mean a new set of clubs are required. I think Barry is proof of that. If your budget can`t stretch that far, consider different shafts, even new grips. It's amazing how many of you have the wrong size grips on your clubs which can cause inconsistent shot patterns as well. Pop in and we will make sure we remove this doubt in your game.

Keith Hanna has just bought into the new G Series irons. He has always used a PING model over the last 15 years of playing. Having checked his static fitting dimensions, he was surprised to find out that the lies required were different when it came to the dynamic impact. In fact we have organised the lies to be 1.5 degrees more upright! This allowed the correct impact to the turf, so the toe did not get caught allowing for a cleaner more solid ball contact creating a straighter flight and 10 yards more carry on average. So be careful. Static and dynamic fitting differences may be very different. 




PING have raised the bar again…

COR technology has taken PINGs new G irons to a new level. The thin face technology first used in G Max iron heads is now in this latest G version. The ball comes off the face faster and launches a little higher. The head itself has a rounded top edge for a very pleasing look. Put in the AWT shaft (ascending weight technology), lighter in the longer irons and once again PING have designed an excellent product. 

The Metals have Dragonfly technology. What's that? It allows the club makers to remove weight from the crown so it can be positioned deeper to create higher launch and forgiveness. It has also been improved aerodynamically to reduce the drag which will help increase club head speed.

The fairway metals and hybrids have cascading sole design (great description) for more face bend at impact to create faster ball speed.

A new member of the family is the Crossover product. It is designed for the control and accuracy of an iron with toe weighting to play with hybrid forgiveness and distance.

I'd recommend you take a test run with them sometime soon. 

Free grips everybody....

Thinking of finally changing those grips on your clubs but not sure what to? Why not stop in the shop and get some advice and then have one fitted on your 7 iron for free? We offering this opportunity until the end of February .Why wait? you may miss out. We'll even do it while you are in the bar.