Our John Mathers golf psychology evening takes place tonight (Thursday, 11 June at 7pm)
Last minute tickets are available from the pro shop at only £12 per ticket. An evening not to be missed for sure. See a Youtube video here of John Mathers for more info.
With our gents handicap open played in near 50 mph winds on Saturday past it really was a very tough day for scoring. With our best field, numbers wise, assembled for many years it was always going to be a close run thing and a CSS of 75 (reductions only) meant it was no great surprise that scoring was on the high side.
One of our local players Sandy Storrar was out first and managed to get through the first nine holes in a superb one under par 35 that even included two three putts!! Unfortunately Sandy couldn't keep the great work going on the back nine, although he did finish top local with a scratch 79 (nett 75). Well done Sandy.
Thanks also goes to Brian, Morgan, Jack, Andrew and Steven along with the other volunteers who helped out on day.
Ladybank Golf Club Handicap Open - Saturday, 6 June 2015
CSS 75 (Reductions Only)
Division 1 (0 - 9)
1st S McPherson (Mount Ellen) 84 (9) 75
2nd I Webster (Dukes) 82 (7) 75
3rd AG Storrar (Ladybank) 79 (4) 75
4th J Henderson (Ladybank) 80 (4) 76
5th R H Neil (Glenbervie) 85 (8) 77
6th P McGlynn (Ladybank) 83 (6) 77
Division 2 (10 - 18)
1st D Dolan (Shotts) 90 (18) 72 (Winner of Pitlair Quaich)
2nd R Simpson (Peterhead) 87 (12) 75
3rd H Cavanagh (Kirkhill) 93 (18) 75
4th H Moir (Kemnay) 87 (12) 75
5th G McDougall (Ladybank) 87 (11) 76
6th M May (Sandyhills) 87 (11) 76
Scores from Tuesday, 9 June 2015 - Ladybank Seniors Greensomes Trophy:
R Ferguson and M Pryor (13) 68 B.I.H.
M Hay and T Black (12) 68
N Fraser and H S Grant (15.2) 68.8 B.I.H.
Srixon sponsored medal
This weekend will see our Srixon sponsored medal take place alongside our Club Championship Qualifier 1.
If you come along to the tournament, you will receive a free sleeve of balls!
June is upon us and yet there is no real sign of our summer. I have just returned from my summer holiday in Las Vegas where they were hitting record highs for May of 43c… I arrived back last Tuesday and was greeted with gale force winds and torrential rain!!!
Although temperatures have been struggling as of late we still continue our relatively dry season with only 74mm throughout the whole of May, and a lot of this was in heavy bursts rather than spread evenly. This is something we watch closely as one of the most vital things we have to monitor is moisture levels within our profile. There are a number of ways to do this but to ensure accuracy we recently purchased a Moisture meter (Pogo). This is a revolutionary tool which allows us to test the moisture levels of a green and the data is recorded on a smart-phone app and the results can be sent via email for our records.
We have a target moisture percentage bracket which we try to keep within ensuring the plant functions properly under stressful conditions. Through this close monitoring process we can identify any areas which may be susceptible to dry patch, and rather than unnecessarily watering the whole green we can selective hand water to bring these areas within our target.
We have a very successful Broom and tree management plan in place which has been ongoing for several years and we have made particularly good progress with the broom (Cytisus scoparius) management in the last 7 years.
In this period we have removed a huge percentage of what used to be a dominant feature within our rough areas. A lot of these areas now have thriving fescue grasses and some heather regeneration is visible too. Broom has a very short lifespan, is unsightly and is not maintenance friendly. By removing it not only improves air and light flow through the course, but it improves aesthetics and saves time.
Where it is present there is huge competition for moisture and nutrients and ultimately the more desirable plants i.e. heather and fine grasses lose the battle.
Now that we have managed to remove the vast majority of the larger plants, our focus now turns to tackling the self seeding smaller plants.
Our soil will be packed with seeds waiting for the chance to germinate so this will always be ongoing, however by spraying these plants with a selective herbicide rather than pulling them out we don't disturb the soil and reduce the risk of cultivating new seedlings. At the moment we are focusing on the front 9, these plants should turn a lovely golden (dead) colour soon!
Weather outlook for the next few days seems pretty good, sunny and warm with a light breeze….perfect golfing weather!!
Junior Coaching
Our Junior 'stars' tackled my short-game challenge. Thanks to Lewis our Junior Captain and Andrew Buchan for running the event in my absence.
Also to Sandy for the great photograph on our Pro Shop Facebook page.
I hope you all enjoyed it and can make the next short-game league on Sunday, 19 of July at 2pm.
To find out more about the juniors and what they have been up to, click here and take a look at their newsletter
Motocaddy and Powakaddy models all now come with a 'FREE accessory' of your choice up to £29.99 when you quote 'Facebook offer June/July 2015'.
Like our Pro Shop page/share our offer and we will give you £10 OFF the purchase price too!!
With the not too recent advent of the internet retailers being very keen on very low prices, it has forced us all to be as competitive as possible when it comes to your business. Therefore we have taken the decision this week in our store to get even more competitive. This will mean some changes going forward.
1) Members 10% discount will only now apply on LGC logoed clothing.
2) We will be happy to do a deal on non logoed clothing if you buy two pieces or more, otherwise we will have the goods priced as internet beating/matching.
3) All other goods in store from shoes/trollies/balls/gloves/clubs/putters etc will be at internet beating/matching prices.
The much awaited arrival of our demo Stewart Golf, Follow trolley is over. This fascinating new product arrived yesterday. We are the first in Scotland to have a demo of the trolley. This can be booked by calling us on 01337 830725 or by clicking here.
Facebook Offers
We are really starting to get to grips with Facebook/Twitter and have many offers on these news streams that we might not have in store. So please like our Facebook/Twitter pages @LadybankProShop and also @SandySmithGolf. Hopefully you can grab a bargain..
