First Term 1st218, January 2023

The new 1st218 year has kicked off, six new youngsters have joined us and we’re very happy to say four of the new youngsters are girls. We’ve had two great Saturdays on the putting green and Neil and I are very excited about the year ahead

We discussed with the youngsters which clubs are used most and why we spend so much time on the putting green, the driver is probably used 11 or 12 times in a round while the putter is used up to 36 times a round. The pics below give and indication of ratio of clubs to putter and some of the training aids we use. The mirror is especially good because it not only helps with alignment and squaring the putter face but you can also see if your eyes are over the ball. One of the biggest issues we see is alignment, most people aim with their feet to the target and therefore stand closed to the target resulting in open shoulders and hips. We also explained golf etiquette on the green with regards marking your ball, talking, walking across players lines and casting your shadows across players lines. We said that while it is not good golf etiquette to stand behind a player when they are putting, if their putt is on a similar line, it is fine once the ball has been struck to walk in and see how the putt breaks

At the end of each lesson we had a putting competition and in both lessons we had playoffs with Hudson beating Daniyaal in the first lesson and Ethan beating Jordy in the second lesson. The first lesson competition was a straight putt of about 3 meters while the second lesson competition putt was a six meter downhill slider with a left to right break. Below we see Hudson and Ethan receiving their prizes from Neil and some of the youngsters golf bags flanked by Neil and my bags