Scott Kirkpatrick

Hello Golfers,

It's been a real strange few weeks and hopefully after a few more things might start to return to normal. There is not a lot going on but an awful lot to look forward to. When we look back at this period in our lives we will actually look back with some really important memories, times when we came closer together as families, got a much better appreciation services, friends and people that we simply took for granted. One big thing that we have missed will be golf and hopefully the summer ahead will reward us with a stretch in the weather that we have experienced over the past while

When we do eventually get back to golf and some sort of normal life it will be worth the wait. The golf course should be in pristine condition as there has been no golfers on it and a lot of work that normally can not be carried out will have been taken care off.

There will be an excitement about getting the bats out and swishing the ball around for a few hours. Don't worry all the work that you will have taken time to get done in the garden will not fall apart in a few hours. In the shop we will be gearing up to re-open in the next while and will be looking to kick-start the season with a lot of the new product that many of us wanted to try before this lockdown but the weather had stopped it.

Remember as well that we have our new swing room ready and waiting to give lessons and custom fit with all the latest gear. It will be an upside down year but at the end of it as I said there will be a lot of good that comes out of it.

In the background the board of management has been working away to get things ready for what will be a new world for a while as past habits and routines have been thrown out the window. We will keep you informed of any changes that are happening over the next few weeks so that you can be prepared for any thing that you need to know.

In the meantime we all at the pro-shop and club wish you well and safe times. Enjoy them as well as this time will pass and there will be parts of it that you look back at with happy memories. Just like there are things that you are looking forward to on release.

This week’s newsletter is packed with some great features that we think you’ll enjoy. Our weekly quiz continues, there are more drills and challenges for you to try at home, as well as a brilliant video at the bottom of this email.

To kick things off, we’re going to look at one of golf’s greatest rivalries! Enjoy the read.

Golf's greatest rivalries

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to discuss some of the game’s greatest rivalries but would love you to get involved too! So, let us know which rivalry stands out for you the most and why by getting in touch here.

Nicklaus vs Palmer

A lot of you will remember this one and it’s for far more than the fact they were the two best players on tour for most of the 60s.

It was trophies galore for both gentlemen, with nine Major titles between them from 1960 to 1964 and one of them winning the PGA Tour’s money list each year between 1962 and 1965.

However, whilst Jack is recognised by many as the greatest of all time (let’s save the Tiger vs Jack debate for another time!), he didn’t have the love of the fans that Arnie had.

If you read up on the pair’s rivalry, you’ll quickly find out that they were close friends too. From travelling together during their playing days to Nicklaus being by Palmer’s side when his wife sadly passed away, their friendship was a strong as their fierce rivalry on the course.

It's quiz time

What a response to last week's quiz! Hopefully, you all enjoyed it and learnt a thing or two on the way.

For this week, you'll need to match the golfer with their nickname.

It starts relatively easy with a few that we think the majority of you will get, but there are certainly a few curveballs in there that you may have never heard of before!

Click the link below to take part and, remember, have fun!

take our quiz >

Weekly challenge

If you’re a fan of archery or darts then you’re going to love this week’s challenge. It’s one for you and the family to try, or even have a go with your golfing buddies (at your own homes, of course) and see who’s at the bottom of the leaderboard!

The set-up

Once again, you’re going to need to get creative for this one. We’ve used bamboo sticks from the garden to create our target area, but it can easily be done using golf clubs or ties too.

Set your hitting zone (the mat in our images) as far away as you feel comfortable with – we’d recommend starting at 5 to 7 yards – before grabbing yourself a wedge and some golf balls.

How to play

There are so many ways you can play this challenge. In our example above, we’ve given each zone on the archery board a score with the larger score for the smallest zone in the middle.

From here, set yourself a target – say 100 points. You then take it in turns to hit three balls and tally up your score based on where your ball ends. The first person to reach the target score wins!

message the team >

Golf at home

Do you find that you putt better when in a practice game compared to competitions? It’s a common problem for many golfers and often stems from the fear factor associated with missing a putt during a competitive round that simply isn’t there when knocking it around for fun.

The idea

It all comes down to confidence and our gauge as to how quick the greens are. If we can be certain that any missed putt will leave us no more than a foot or two from the hole, we needn’t have any fear about missing and three-putting will (hopefully) become a thing of the past!

The set-up

In the image above, you’ll see we’ve placed two tealight candles on the floor about a hole’s width apart followed by four coasters one-foot past the hole. This drill requires you to hole the putt (putting through the tealights) and get your ball to finish within the inside square of the coasters.

message the team >

Video of the Week

How similar are we as golfers? Give this video a watch and count how many of these you say on a regular basis. We bet you say a lot more than you might think!

We hope you enjoyed the newsletter and have a great weekend.

Laytown & Bettystown Golf Club
Golf Links Road
Bettystown
A92 FE09

Phone: 00353 419827170

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