The Week – Monday 5th October 2026 Dear Members, October is well and truly upon us, Strictly has had its second week so Christmas will be here before we know it. So much for the rain, October has carried on where September left us, lovely bright mild days, perfect golf conditions, but still no rain. From the course perspective that looks like it is about to change, Wednesday looks as though its going to rain all day and the temperature significantly dropping into the mid teens. That looks as though it is set to continue, certainly over the next week or two, milder temps and more rain, so dig out the warmer layers and rain suits. Catering Corner Emma is in today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There will be no catering on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. We do have a new catering assistant (Catlin) starting on the 19th, after a little time bringing her up to speed we should be able to provide daily catering again. Competition Corner Monday 5th – No Scheduled event Tuesday 6th – Ladies 128-hole Stableford Wednesday 7th – No scheduled event. Thursday 8th – Mixed Match v Bury 1st and 4th tee restrictions 1300-1330. No general play restrictions but be aware of the matches coming round for their second 9. Friday 9th – No scheduled event Saturday 10th – Ladies Ashton Hengrave Cup. Junior 18-Hole Mixed Stableford. I have no timings at this stage and will inform you all when I know. Sunday 112th– 18-hole mixed Stableford. Rules Corner Last Week’s Question If a player rotates their ball without lifting it in order to identify it, they do not need to mark it first; a. True b. False c. Only if it is on the fairway or in light rough Last Week’s Answer The answer is b) False This Week’s Question On the 4th hole a player discovers they have 15 clubs in their bag, how many penalty shots do they incur? a. 4 b. 6 c. 8 Advice Corner Most of you are probably as guilty of these following pieces of advice as the next person, I most certainly have in the past and it took a long time to try and adjust the mindset, Golf after all is one of those games that the only person that is to blame for a bad round is yourself. The following are 8 Golf Stats / advice that could completely change your game. 1. You probably don’t hit it as far as you think. USGA data found the measured average drive among the male amateur club golfers in its study was about 216 yards. Golfers with handicaps of 21+ averaged about 177 yards. Stop choosing clubs based on your best ever shot. 2. Even Pros aren’t automatic from 25 feet. From 25-30 feet, the current PGA Tour average make rate is only 9%. Meaning even the best players in the world miss roughly 9 out of 10 from that range. Stop getting angry about missing long putts. 3. And from 35+ feet. Current PGA Tour players make only 3% of their putts from beyond 35 feet after hitting the green in regulation. From there, success isn’t making it. It’s making the next putt easy. 4. Pros miss greens from inside 100 yards. From 75-100 yards, the current PGA Tour average for hitting the green is roughly 80%. Even the world’s best players miss about 1 in 5 from this distance. Golf is harder than your expectations. 5. You don’t need to hit it 300 yards. In USGA amateur data: Under 6 handicap, 239 yards, 6-12, 220 yards,13 – 20, 200 yards. Lower handicaps hit it farther on average – but you absolutely don’t need 300 yard drives to play good golf. 6. Even pros aren’t trying to make every long putt. The average starting distance of a PGA Tour player’s two-putts is currently nearly, 24 feet. Getting down in two from distance is a routine part of elite golf. Great putting isn’t just making putts. It’s avoiding the three-putts. 7. The best Golfers still miss. A lot. Even from 75-100 yards, Tour players don’t hit every green. From 25-30 feet, they don’t make even 1 in 10 putts on average. Your expectations might be hurting you more than your swing. 8. Good golf isn’t about perfect shots. It’s about making your average shots better. Knowing your real distances. Leaving yourself easier misses. Avoiding unnecessary penalties. Play the percentages. Not the perfect round. To me most of these make a lot of sense, we all love to see a beautifully struck and flighted ball attacking a tight back pin, stopping and spinning to two feet. We’ve probably all done it, once or twice and I can guarantee we never meant it or replicated it. I’ve come across some great advice myself over the years. 1. For long putts, think of the dustbin lid, and getting the ball within it, its all about the pace, a rough line with good pace will reduce the three putts. 2. Middle of the green is always good. Stop attacking the pins, they are generally tucked to the left or right, with a lot of danger to one side. Middle is always the best option. 3. Most of us these days use or carry some form of GPS yardage device, going of the above, you probably don’t hit it as far as you think and invariably, we come up short. Yes, there is wind etc to take into account, however, if you have a front pin yardage, choose a club for the middle yardage, middle pin, back yardage. This will give you more putting opportunities, than a short chip. 4. You have a higher handicap for a reason. An 18 handicap player has a shot on every hole and is not expected to make pars everywhere. If you play a bad shot off the tee, into a bit of rough, don’t pull out the biggest club in the bag because you think you have to reach the green in regulation. Take your punishment and play the sensible shot, pick the club you are most confident with, and with the most loft, play the shot back down the fairway, another sensible shot into the green, two putts and walk off with your net par. 5. The best advice I was ever given, which really helped bring my scores down when I was just starting out was to treat every hole as a par 5. That’s a round of 90. Invariably, you will make a few pars, bogeys on a few par 3’s which will give you a few shots in the bank, ultimately breaking that 90 score line. Its up to you now, more than happy for you to ignore and disregard these little nuggets, or they may just change your mindset slightly and give you something to work on during the winter golf season. Happy golfing Mark Coltman Club Manager