Thetford’s highly-popular Winter League is in full swing, reaching its halfway point with round three, which was a foursomes competition that attracted 76 players.
Topping the list were Frank Gammon and Ryan Scott, who scored a highly creditable 39 points. Receiving 17 shots, they used these very well, scoring two birdies on the back nine to get 21 points.
They pipped the second-placed teams of Matthew Wabe and Andy Cunningham, and Stephen Burridge and Michael Smith, both of whom scored 38 points.
Putting is a skill that everyone can improve Picture: Simon Byford
The overall leaderboard is closing up with all to play for, with the next round set for January 11.
Meanwhile, Doug Bedford won the December Senior Stableford with 40 points, two ahead of Paul Skinner and Michael Bone.
The Suffolk GC
There was plenty of competitive action to report from The Suffolk this week.
First on the agenda was a Seniors’ Medal, where there was three scores tied for top spot, with nett 77.
After doing the calculations, The Count deduced that Andrew Rudd was the winner, Neil Mawson was second and Nick Rippington was third.
A midweek Stableford saw Mark Rothon return the best score with 35 points, Don Lynch was second on 33 and James Laflin third on 32.
Elsewhere, Rippington went from also-ran to top dog in the Seniors’ Stableford. His 36 points was comfortably clear of Andrew Rudd in second on 29, with Adrian Crowe third on 28 points.
Warren Howell was the lucky recipient of The Count’s good grace as his 32 points was deemed superior to that of John Pritchard in the Saturday Stableford. Mick Davey was third on 30.
On Sunday, it was that man Rothon again topping the charts with 35 points. Stephen Haygreen was second on 32 points, with help from The Count from Gavin Hogg also on 32.
Bury St Edmunds GC
The Bury Men competed in the second round of the Winter Goblets – a foursomes competition with the best three from four monthly rounds to count, playing a Stableford format.
Round two saw Mark Bond and Andrew Thurlbourn score 35 points to head the field. It was by virtue of The Count, however, as Ben Aves and Russell Oakey also scored 35. Rounding out the top placings on 34 points were Garry Clark & David Sherfield, Toby Whiting & Dean Shave and Alex Storey & Connor Whitehouse.
In the overall standings, Whiting and Shave currently lead the way on 72 points. Perennial Podium finishers Colin Gray & Nick Bonney sit second on 69 points with round two winners Thurlbourn & Bond, along with Peter Mallinson & Paul Glasswell, in joint third on 68 points.
There was also a Men’s Stableford held across three divisions. Mark Bailey returned the best score in Division 1, his 37 points was good enough for a two-shot margin of victory over Mike Verhelst on 35. Mark Knight and Richard Prouse had 34 points. Stephen Wyman had the score of the weekend, with his 40 points seeing him finish top of Division 2. Second place went to Andrew Pearce on 38 with Men’s captain Sean Frost-Palmer third on 37. Division 3 went to Gary Sillett on 34, Michael Gargett was second on 29 and Stefan Marks third on 28.
The art of putting
To finish off this week, let’s talk about an area of the game we can all improve, and probably the skill I am most passionate about teaching – that is, of course, putting.
There are four elements I believe are key to success on the greens, each one being intertwined with the others to produce a more consistent and successful outcome.
The first element is, of course, reading the putt. Now I am an Aimpoint Express advocate, and when used correctly this is a powerful tool to measure the key aspects of any putt you face. If you choose to use your inner ear function (Aimpoint) or your eyes (conventional read), both can be successful as long as you take into account both slope and distance.
I always find it interesting that golfers use high tech tools to precisely measure distance out on the golf course, with GPS and laser devices, and yet believe putting is some mystical art that can only be perfected through feel and touch. Getting a handle on how long every putt is, as well as the slopes you are facing, will give you more information to take into the next elements.
Once you have got the desired length of putt and slope in your head, the next element is speed control. How do you control how far your putts go? Again, I like to use backswing length as a simple measure to control speed output. I see more variables in trying to change how fast you accelerate the putter, than keeping the stroke speed constant and just changing the length of backswing.
If you can control speed your ball will always finish close to the hole for a simpler and stress free second putt.
Hitting the ball consistently from the middle of the putter face is also an extremely important factor in controlling ball speed. A simple drill like two pieces of blue tac either side of the centre of your putter will give the desired feedback as to whether you are consistently striking the ball from the middle of the face.
The next element is aim. Can you aim your putter? Do you have a consistent set-up that allows you to see straight efficiently and consistently? I recently had a putter lesson and my eye position was changing due to differing postural set-up. Producing a repeatable set-up will help massively with alignment. Also, do the alignment aids on your putter help or hinder you? Have you ever tested your ability to aim the putter face? All the different putter head shapes, line configuration and length of putter will affect how you see straight.
Finally, but also critically, is starting line. You can have all the elements above in place but if your ball doesn’t consistently start on your desired line then holing putts will be really tough. This element plays into your ability to point the putter face correctly at impact. Face direction has around 90-95 per cent influence on ball starting direction, whereas path is about 5-10 per cent.
This means it’s absolutely critical that your putter design helps you to square the face at impact. Toe-hang, face-balanced, zero torque – all these weighting designs will influence your ability to square the club face to your intended starting line.
Controlling these four factors will produce the consistent results you desire. You may never be Rory or Lexi and hit the ball 300 yards through the air, but putting is a part of the game that anyone can be world class at with the correct factors in place.
