Welcome to this week's newsletter, bringing you all the latest news, events and offers from Epsom GC. We hope you're having a great week on and off the golf course. 

Enjoy the read. 

Happy Birthday Epsom Golf Club

Last weekend marked our Club’s 131st birthday and we celebrated it in a customary way. On Saturday night, we held a quiz come dinner come sing-a-long with over 70 of you enjoying the revelries. The quiz was hosted by Epsom’s legendary Quiz Master, Mr David Hylton and the winners on Saturday was the team called ‘The Young Ones’, led by Richard Aivioltis and Katherine Connelly.

On Sunday morning everybody teed up trying to beat me playing in the Hickory Challenge. For those of you who don’t know, it is a tradition that I play with a lovely set of fully Hickory clubs and the rest of the field, playing off 75% of their handicap have to try and beat my gross score. In the past, I’m always happy if I can get it in the ’70s and this year was going along nicely until a treble bogey on 16 and ended up with an 80. Not too bad and managed to beat just over half the field.

Everyone who beat me gets a commemorative ball marker but we also have individual prizes and this was won by a very well turned out Declan O’Brien who just beat Kim Munro into runners up spot. A great weekend and I’ll look forward to dusting off the Hickory’s again next year.

Come and test your knowledge

The next Quiz Night will take place on Monday, 10 February, with the signup sheet now up on the entertainment noticeboard. 22 teams are in, 18 in the lounge and 4 in the 19th. We could fit in another six teams in the 19th and President’s Room, should the unlikely need arise.

Teams of four, £2 per person, food available on the night from 6:30pm, preferably collected by 7:15pm. The following dishes at £6.95 are available:

- Lasagne, garlic bread and salad
- Scampi, chips, peas and tartar sauce
- Vegetarian quiche with no onions and salad

To order, email dhyl100@hotmail.com before 5:00pm, Thursday, 6 February.

Other competition news

The Competitions and Handicaps Committee met last week for the Annual Handicap Review and if you were affected then you would have been contacted with you handicap reduction or increase. However, please double check your handicap before you next play either through ‘HowDidIDo’ or the latest handicap list in the Men’s and Ladies Locker Rooms.

There were also a couple of Committee decisions that I need to make you aware of;

1. Men’s Weekend Monthly Medals/Stableford

We trialled the idea last year of allowing the Men’s Monthly Medals/Stableford to be played over the entire weekend rather than just Sunday mornings as we wanted to make the competitions more accessible to more of the membership. The results were positive as the two months we trialled the idea had the largest participation levels for the entire year. Therefore, the Committee has now decided to make the weekend Medal/Stableford permanent going forwards starting from this weekend in the February Stableford. If you are playing on the Saturday, please sign in to the Pro Shop as you would do a Midweek or Fri/Sat Qualifier. The presentation on Sunday afternoon will still mark the closure of the event so Sunday afternoon rounds will not be eligible. Saturday winners will be informed asap. £5 entry.

2. Midweek and Fri/Sat qualifiers

These events have been traditionally men’s events but The Committee have decided that these competitions are now to be inclusive as possible and ladies are now able to play to compete and help maintain their handicap. We hope this is beneficial to you and helps you both maintain and improve your handicap through competitive play.

If you would like to discuss this or have any other queries or suggestions with regard to competitions and handicaps, please email me and I will pass on to the Committee.

New technology arrives 

We have now taken delivery of both the NEW Callaway Mavrik range and the NEW TaylorMade SIM range. Both look superb and the numbers in the swing studio are looking great. We had a few at the Fitting Afternoon on Saturday, who now have custom-fitted sets on their way to them. The drivers are bombing out there and the irons feel great but there is one particular club I need to tell you about.

Take the Heaven Wood Challenge...

I’m really pleased that Callaway has re-introduced the Mavrik Heaven Wood back into their range as it was so popular in previous years. If you struggle with fairway wood then this is the club for your bag. It’s basically a 7-wood head and a 4-wood shaft which gets you both height and distance off the fairway. So, my challenge is to bring in you 5 and 3 woods for comparison and let’s see if we can make life a bit easier.

Call or email to book your session in the swing studio for this and any other new equipment. Alternatively, we also have three available dates at The Callaway Performance Fitting Centre;

- Friday, 31 January at 8:00am (let us know ASAP)
- Tuesday, 4 February at 9:00am
- Monday, 10 February at 6:00pm

Call 01372 741 867 to book your appointment.

What's your New Year resolution?

We all make those resolutions as we hit January, running, eating and the popular Dry January now becoming a hit. But what about your golf? Have you thought about making some resolutions for your golf game? So with this in mind, I have designed a New Year’s MOT and a recommended programme if you would like to prepare and improve your game in ready for the NEW season. The programme includes:

• Initial consultation about where your game is now with handicap review if relevant, an equipment assessment and then discuss where you would like to be and set goals.
• Two hole playing assessment to analyse technique, shot selection and talk further about your game.
• Gapping session at start and end of programme.
• 6 x 30 minute coaching sessions covering essential aspects of your game, including video analysis.
• £199 per golfer or £249 if done in a pair.

For more information or to book your initial assessment, please contact Stuart in the pro shop, or click here to send us an email. 

New Roll-up Class – Fridays at 10:00am

We are introducing a NEW Roll-up class on Fridays at 10:00am. It is the same format as the Ladies Roll-up on a Thursday but this is now open to all members and guests and is just £5 per golfer. Each week will cover either short game, driving, hybrids and iron play on rotation.

You don’t have to book, simply turn up just before 10:00am to register and we will let you know what is being covered that week, guests are very welcome.

See you there...

Anything that makes golf that little bit easier is a good thing in our eyes and if improving your iron play is up there on your to-do list then you’re in luck, as we have a treat we want to share with you.

Designed with a cavity back and finished with CNC Milled grooves, these irons offer effortless performance to make launching the ball higher, further, and on your intended line easier than ever.

If you're using irons that are several years old, we're certain you'll enjoy some performance gains with Lynx's Parallax irons. Come in-store and speak to a member of the team if you're interested in giving them a try.

Wristwatches have come a long way since the first one was made in 1868. GPS devices have come even further in an even shorter period of time and the two marry up to create a watch that has a host of new features that has left us wondering how we ever coped without it.