Matt Bannister

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Pro's news

My Goals

In the previous editions, I discussed goal setting and how I faired this year against my goals.

So I have had time to reflect and here are my new 2020 goals

Again I have split them into stats, playing and coaching.

First of all my playing stats. I think I was a bit ambitious to get all the playing aspects from my ‘Arccos’ tracking system to ‘+ handicap’ so for 2020 I would like to main my driver and putting in + and get my approach into the same positive breakdown.

I would then like to half my approach play and sand play to get 2.5 handicap.

In terms of my scoring breakdown, I still want to see that positive improvement. I want to improve my eagle % to 2% and decrease my bogey and double bogey % by 1% each.

I also want to up my driver clubhead speed to 120mph. I’m currently at 117mph and with my new gym routine and my superspeed training, I see this as a realistic jump in speed.

(new superspeed training clinics coming soon)

I would love to get my putting stats to under 30putts a round and improve my chipping distance to under 10feet around.

Playing Goals

With such a close call with Mike Lake at the Staysure event this year it is on the top of my playing goal for next year to qualify with a Stevenage member to one of the grand final events.

The Staysure Over 50’s Pro-Am
The Lombard National Pro-Am (TBC)
The Captain and Pro, Pro-Am

I would love to qualify for the final of one of these with one of our members. These three events are highlights of my golfing year. Firstly they are a great day out and well run. Secondly only the winners qualify so would be a great achievement. Thirdly the finals are always somewhere amazing. This year the Staysure was at the London Club and the Captain/Pro was in Italy.

It's not only these pro-ams we can play. I would also like to take 3 different teams to pro-ams through the season

After qualifying (arguably unexpectedly) for the PGA Professional Championship this year it is on my list to qualify again.

Finally

One thing I have wanted to do for a while is to arrange a golf trip. It didn’t happen last year, What I would like to do in the long run is arrange a winter sun trip. But let’s walk before we run.

So my first idea would be a Sunday Night UK trip with two rounds of golf potentially with a bit of coaching or a clinic attached. I have a provisional date for Sunday 26th and Monday 27th April 2020, One-night dinner bed and breakfast at The Belfry, one round on The Derby course and one Round on 5 time Ryder Cup Course The Brabazon.

All for only £220pp this is based on 16 people and a non-refundable £35 deposit is need to make this provisional date a permanent date.

Get in touch if this sounds of interested.

Herts PGA events...

The main Eastern Region calendar is drawing to a close, but not to worry as we still have some events locally that may appeal to you.

The Herts PGA offers a number of Pro-Am events through the ‘off-season’ and start in October. Ryan and I would love to take a couple of teams to each of these events. The venues are great and priced at £65 a man and made up of teams of 3 and a pro. Bacon/coffee rolls to start, a round of golf, two-course meal and a prize table are all included in the day (prize table subject to our results) plus the company and guidance from your resident golf pro’s for the day.

What else could you ask for?

The dates are below and if you want to get a team together let us know.

- October 17th - Welwyn Garden City

- November 14th - Gog Magog

- November 20th - Ashridge GC - Matt Team Filled

- December TBC - Letchworth

Fitting news

Titleist Demo day

Ryan was in charge of the demo day, so this is ‘A Round with Ryan’

On Tuesday we had our first Titleist fitting day since becoming a new sure fit Titleist partner. We had three fittings on the day with Stevenage Members; Wikus, Carl and myself being fitted.

Wikus was first up interested in a new set of irons, currently using a set of Callaway XR irons with lightweight regular flex shafts. For those of you who have played with Wikus you will know he doesn’t swing it slow. His fit resulted in a set of T200’s with X flex shafts, not only giving him more distance but decreased his dispersion from 60 yards to 13. A very successful fit, more distance and less off line.

Carl was up next, he was after some wedges. Currently using a mix match of old wedges and going straight from PW to SW he found he had a huge gap out on the golf course. His fit resulted in 3 wedges, 50, 54 and 58 which covered all his gaps of yardages he wanted to hit nicely. He also had a chance to try them out of the bunkers and grass to get a good feel for how they interacted with the ground.

My own fit was interesting as always. As some of you know in my current cobra irons I use a stiff graphite shaft, which has worked great of me over the last couple of years. However, since that fitting two years ago I have put on some speed (some of that down to my super-speed training) so my irons will have a mid-weight steel shaft in them very shortly, in the T100 head. I also got fit for a driver which performed very well and following the same theme is a bit heavier and more aggressive than what I’ve used in the past. I will also be getting fit for driving irons and hybrids but we are going to wait to get my new irons so we can gap test them properly to fit my new set perfectly.

Overall a very successful fitting day with lots of gains made. The new equipment for Titleist has something for everyone so if you’re interested in being fitted just pop into the shop.

Click here and get in touch to book a fitting

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The round white thing...

Since the game began in the 15th century, there is one thing that has never changed – the ball being the only piece of equipment used on every shot. Despite this, it still gets a raw deal with some golfers viewing it as less important than the clubs used to hit it. So, we decided to take a look back and see how modern golf balls compare to those of yesteryear.

Callaway's Chrome Soft golf ball

In the beginning

Feathery balls reigned supreme for over 200 years in the early days of golf, but even they are relatively new compared to the original hairy balls (guess what they were stuffed with!).

It's hard to imagine what it would be like playing with those balls these days, and even the later-developed Gutty and Haskell balls left golfers with little-to-no room for error.

Where we are today

100 years ago the thought of using a state-of-the-art Graphene-infused Dual Soft Core to minimise driver spin/maximise distance would have been unthinkable (and probably impossible) – but that is exactly what features in Callaway's Chrome Soft.

Snazzy Truvis styling is something the Chrome Softs offer too for those golfers after something a little bit different. Why not grab a dozen or two and leave the Gutty at home?

explore Chrome Soft here >

Find your sole mate

See what we did there? Finding your sole-mate is no easy task and, yet, as our shoes are the only part of our body that stays in constant contact with the ground during the golf swing (well they should do anyway!), getting it right is crucial for both performance and comfort.

Puma PWRAdapt Disc shoes

Let those stats sink in for a moment or two. Do they surprise you?

If you're wondering whether your shoes are the right size, here are some tell-tale signs to look out for:

Creasing on the upper
Wear on the inside heel
Stretching around the side

Just because you wear certain sized trainers or smart shoes doesn't mean your golf shoes will follow suit, and that's why we're here to help.

Come in to see us and we'll make sure that you not only walk away with the correct size but also the model that gives you what you want, whether it's stability, comfort or a pair that simply look great - like Puma's PWRAdapt Disc above.

explore PWRAdapt here >

Video of the Week

Three stunning irons from Titleist but which one tickles your fancy the most? Each one is aimed at a slightly different golfer, so watch our review video to find out which is ideal for you and how they each performed when put to the test.

I hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter. As always, if you have anything that you'd like to contribute please speak to one of the pro shop team. I'll see you at the club over the coming days.

Stevenage Golf & Conference Centre
Aston Lane
Stevenage
SG2 7EL

Phone: 01438 880424

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