Staff Changes

Lloyd Durrant will be leaving the Pro Shop team after over 18 months at Hassocks. Lloyd is pursuing a new career and is moving to London. I would like to thank Lloyd for all his efforts and hard work. Lloyd's last day is 10th February, I'm sure you will all join me in wishing him luck with his new adventure.

I'm delighted to be able to inform you Alex Mullins will be re-joining the team on a full time basis to fill the void left by Lloyd. Alex has worked for me for over 8 years now but has only been working one day a week for the last 2 years. Alex returns from holiday from Mexico on the 13th February and will start work straight away.

 

Callaway is coming to Hassocks

I'm pleased to announce our first Demo Day of the year will take place on Wednesday 15th February from 1pm to 6pm. The event will be held in the swing studio at the golf club. The fitting sessions will be by prior arrangement only, so please click here to book to avoid disappoint. Spaces have already started to fill.


 

This week Chris Jasper came for his first lesson. Chris is relatively new to the game and wanted to get the fundamentals correct before he developed too many bad habits, this is a great attitude to take and something we could all follow.

I kept things quite simple for Chris and we worked on his address position. Chris was adopting a very common position at the start of his swing, unfortunately one that is also incorrect. 

On the left (his original swing) Chris' legs are too bent, his hands are too close to his body and his posture is too rounded. After just a few minutes we achieved a much improved address position with slightly flexed legs, the correct gap between his hands and arms and better posture. The impact was immediate, Chris' dispersion increased dramatically as did the quality of his ball striking.

Chris' lesson took place last Saturday afternoon at 4.30pm, it was getting dark, cold and also very wet outside. We took advantage of having use of the swing studio so the lesson could go ahead. Why not do the same and beat the weather this winte?

For lesson prices please follow this link to my website


 

Callaway Chrome Soft - 'The Ball that changed the Ball' 

Callaway has announced its full golf ball line-up for 2017, including a new addition to the Chrome Soft line, the Chrome Soft X, offering soft feel with Tour-level distance, workability and control.

Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft share their four-piece ball construction consisting of Callaway's innovative two-layer Dual SoftFast Core. The difference lies in Chrome Soft X's firmer core and cover combination, which promotes more ball speed off the tee, more spin throughout-the-bag, and a piercing and workable ball flight.

Coming to the Pro Shop soon…

Dave Bartels, Callaway's senior golf ball Research and Development expert said: "Chrome Soft is designed to promote a high, straight, distance-enhancing trajectory. In Chrome Soft X we wanted to create a ball that does everything Chrome Soft does, but with a piercing trajectory and more workable ball flight desired by many Tour Professionals and elite amateurs."


 

Tiger Watch! 

Last week we witnessed the much publicised return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour after a 17 month absence (with his new TaylorMade Clubs); the outcome was a missed cut with rounds of 76 & 72.

Was this a surprise? Would we expect any other player to return from such a lengthy lay off and start winning straight away? Maybe he is a victim of his past success…

He returns to action this week but on the European Tour in the Dubai Desert Classic, it will be very interesting to see how he fairs.

I would love to see Tiger return to form. I don't believe he will ever dominate the game of golf again and I do believe he is good for the game. He creates interest within the game that no other player is capable of doing. The first round TV viewing figures increased by 130% compared to last year!