It's been an indifferent couple of weeks for Bubba Watson. Firstly he was apparently misquoted at the newly appropriately named 'The Wasted Management Phoenix Open' (See my video from last week for the evidence!). When he was asked about his first round he was quoted as saying he didn't like the golf course, the tournament or Phoenix, he was only there because his sponsors had told him he had to play - not the best way to win over the crowds on the 16th hole.
I can testify that one of the biggest cheers on the Saturday was after Bubba missed a 6 foot birdie putt and if that wasn't bad enough, as he walked towards the next tee he took a couple of items out of his bag and threw them up into the crow...only for them to be chucked straight back!
Things got a lot better for Bubba last Sunday evening. I managed to get hold of the TV remote in the Humphrey household and watch the final round of the Northern Trust Open, played at the stunning looking Riviera Golf Club in LA. There was a very strong leaderboard going into the final round with Bubba eventually finishing on top by one shot after hitting some colossal drives, which nicely brings me to the news of his new driver and 3-wood.
After using a PING G30 driver for 28 months, Bubba has very recently changed to the new G 3-wood & driver (did you know his G driver is set at 10 degrees open?) which he certainly put to good use. Speaking of which, we now have our PING demo equipment available, including their brand new Crossover iron (pictured below), for all Tyrrells members to use in our Swing Studio or on the golf course. If you'd like to see for yourself how easy this range of clubs are to hit please pop into the Pro Shop and give it a go!
March is going to be a very exciting month for us at Tyrrells. We have a couple of fantastic special offers including, for the first time at Tyrrells Wood, a bag trade-in offer plus a great campaign on Titleist golf balls. The one we're most excited about is our new clothing manufacturer, Under Armour, setting up their 'store-in-store' display at Tyrrells. If it's good enough for Jordan Spieth...
Many thanks to Tyrrells members Gary Ward, Ian Davidson, Andrew Ford, Stuart LaFrenais, Mike Scott and Mark Barron who joined Jo and myself in the Surrey PGA Pro-Am at Hankley Common, followed by the Awards Dinner at The Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. It was a lovely day to play golf, we even got to see the sunshine during the afternoon! Hankley was in good condition and if you haven't played it yet, I'd definitely recommend you do.
I guess it had to happen! Unfortunately, the Captain & I were on the wrong end of our second defeat of the season, this time to the duo of Andrew Ford & Dave Norman. It was another very close match starting with Andrew making a great start (2-under-par through the first 5 holes!) followed by the Captain holing a good putt on the 9th green to get the match back to all square. But an incredible 5 (nett 4) by Dave on the 13th for a half, followed by a 4 (nett 3) on the 14th by Andrew was the difference on the back nine as they eventually won the match 1up. It was another enjoyable game, with all four of us hitting some excellent shots, plus Dave and Andrew made a very generous donation to the Captain's Charity (the Wooden Spoon), thanks guys.
So, that's two defeats in 10 games now. We've got eight games left to play starting against Mark Barron and Mike Scott on Sunday - what could possibly go wrong!?
Stevenson Cup Report - Last Monday, Stuart Jackson and I played our second Stevenson Cup match against Mike Smith and Richard Skeet. Starting from the 10th tee in tricky conditions, our front nine holes were pretty close with just one hole in it at the turn. Mike and Richard played some good golf on our back nine and eventually closed the match out, winning 3&2. Our next match is on Monday, 29 February against Martyn Jones and Steve Grimshaw.
Learning - How to get better at it
How many of you go to the driving range and hit the ball great but the next time you play this new found form abandons you? When we are learning, transfer is really important - transfer is how much of the improvement made actually shows up the next day or in the game. Random practice is the best for transfer as it is characterised by randomised repetitions, you never hit the exact same shot twice (e.g. hitting ten 7-irons to 10 different targets or from 10 different lies).
The problem with range practice is that it's easy to slip into a blocked practice routine. This type of practice means we have a high number of repetitions doing exactly the same movement (e.g. hitting ten 7-irons from the same spot). It's important to note that on some occasions you may need blocked practice - e.g. changing something in your swing - but the quicker you start to utilise random practice the quicker improvements will transfer to your on course play.
The trouble is that sport skills are very complex and we have to read, plan and do (this is called the total skill). When we perform random practice we have to read, plan and do before every single shot, we never have exactly the same shot twice. When we perform blocked practice the reading and planning part of the skill is lost from the equation, we simply repeat the same shot over and over.
Blocked practice will make us look good in practice and it is easier to do as there is less risk and less chance of making a mistake. But if you want to prepare to perform on the golf course random practice is far more beneficial. Next time you are practicing:
Choose a different target for every shot
Change clubs regularly
Around the green change the type of shot you are playing frequently
Play the ball from where it lies (you can't tee it up on a nice bit of grass on the course, learn to play from all kinds of lies)
Coaching coming up in March
How would you like to start the season by hitting it 10 yards further? Throughout March I will be offering an individual coaching package designed to help you do just that!
Calling all Category 5 ladies - This spring I am running a ladies group class all about the long game just for ladies with handicaps 29-36. If you want to gain confidence and hit the ball further these sessions are perfect for you!
More information on coaching available in March will be available soon! For help with your game or for more information on how to make your practice more effective contact Joanne Taylor via assistant.professional@tyrrellswoodgolfclub.com.
The Summer Knockout competition book will be opening very soon - Tuesday, 1 March to be exact! Please make sure you get your name down as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
The next 10 days at Tyrrells is as follows:
Fri 19 Feb - Congratulations to the team of Mike Smith, Raymond Reilly and Graham Budd for winning the TW Seniors Team Stableford with an impressive score of 81 points. For the full results please click here.
Tue 23 Feb - Well played Yvonne Warren who won our first qualifying Ladies 9-Hole Stableford with an adjusted score of 36. For the full results please click here. Many congratulations to Bettina McFann who won the Ladies Stableford with 35 points, Deryn Hemment continued her good form finishing in second place. Click here for the full results.
