Winter Golf !!!! No way…… not in Guernsey !!

End of October and the weather has been fantastic today. Galvin Green Polo Shirts and adidas golf shorts everywhere.

And a great win today by one of the La Grande Mare Golf Club Members Mr Mel Maubec. Mel is now the 2011 La Grande Mare Golf Club Senior Open Champion. Well done Mel from all the team at LGM Golf and the Guernsey Golf School.

Congradulations to Martin the green keeper also in having the course in great condition. Well done Martin

The cleats under a golf shoe keep you stable.

While some courses are OK to let you turn up in your trainers, it is highly recommended that you have your own pair of golf shoes. Apart from being waterproof – which is critical even in hot countries as the courses are watered very regularly and are therefore very wet -they are critical to having a powerful accurate swing. Having the wrong shoes can affect your score dramatically.
On the base of a golf shoe you can see cleats. Also known as spikes, these pointy bits of plastic stop your feet from slipping when taking a shot. They also help a lot when just walking! Previously made from metal (hence the term “spikes”) the plastic spike is now by far the most common found on club a golfer’s shoes. They are more lightweight and are far less likely to tear up a green. If your cleats/spikes are worn or not substantial enough, you are wasting your time as this is your only contact area with the ground. If your feet are not steady it is impossible that your swing can be. Imagine a footballer trying to take a penalty in slippers and you’ll get the idea!
You need good traction. Your club is connected to your by your hands and glove. The course is connected to you via your shoes. They are the only points of contact in the game so you should make this your starting point if you’ve decided that this is the year your handicap takes a bashing.
As has often been said, “Golf is a good walk spoiled”, well if you don’t have comfortable shoes it may well be the case. If you enjoy a good walk and like to feel the grass under your feet then you should buy a light pair. Most modern golf shoes are light thanks to the development of ultralight durable materials so if you are still clumping around in your five year old thick soled monsters then you should consider the benefits of the modern materials found in today’s shoes.

Take a look at our adidas golf shoes

We’ve just been reading about the new study that has found that walking around five miles a week may help slow the cognitive decline associated with both Alzheimer’s and Mild Cognitive Impairment disease in adults. This study was made over twenty years. It consisted of a total of 426 people, including 299 healthy adults with an average age of 78, as well as 127 cognitively impaired adults with an average age of 81.
During the 20-year study, Dr. Cyrus Raji from the Department of Radiology at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania analysed the relationship between physical activity and brain structure for both groups of adults. He noted how far each of the patients walked every week.
In every case, researchers found that the more physical activity patients did, the more brain volume they had. They came to the conclusion that cognitively impaired patients need to walk at least 5 miles a week to maintain brain volume and slow down further cognitive decline. Researchers added that healthy adults need to walk at least six miles a week to maintain brain volume and considerably reduce their chances of developing Alzheimer’s.
Considering La Grande Mare is 4700 yards which is 2.7miles, allow a bit for wandering around and looking to find were your pesky ball has gone, that could be 3 miles.

So: Play golf twice a week and stay smarter!

Its official… Christmas is just around the corner

we had our first christmas shoppers at the weekend and more came in today. The early top 2 buys at the moment are

1st    Golf Shop Gift Vouchers

joint 2nd     Underarmour and Galvin Green clothing

Great news about Mr Westwood becoming Britains first world number one.

Lets hope the talent coming up the ranks will follow in his footsteps

Thanks to everyone who has commented in the Golf Shop today about our new blog. After informing everyone of Mikes tournament successes we have also recieved comments about what else is going on with our team outside of the coaching and Shop duties.

So heres a quick update…..

Matt and his good lady Amanda are now proud parents of TWO children having welcomed their newest addition to the family a few weeks ago. Barnaby is settling well into family life with his older sister Holly and mum and dad. Not sure if anyone is getting much sleep but as all parents know that seems to be PAR for the course.  However Matt bought a tottenham hotspurs baby grow for him the other day along with a CD entitled Spurs greatest moments.  We are now pleased to say Barnaby is now sleeping a lot better..

Beki is working hard on her photography course out of working hours and looking forward to taking many golf photos of our players during next summers tournament calendar. So take note everyone she’ll be out there doing some happy snapping.

As well as tournament play Mike is in the final throws of his degree studies to become a fully qualified member of the Professional Golfers Association and all the team are proud of the work he’s putting into the final stages. He’s also down the gym working out so it looks like he”s going to hit the ball even further next year..

In my household things just get crazier each week. Two cats,  3 children and now I am informed we are about to foster a young dog for 4 months…. I had my first jog last week for over two years and felt better for it. AIM for WINTER. GET FIT AGAIN…. a light suggestion made the other week to play futi again in over 35 level. No thanks guys. Will stick to the exercise and maybe some more golf play next year. Not as many injuries that way…..

10.15 pm

Just had a golf rematch challenge confirmed for end November.

Came out the lucky successful winner last time playing the 18 holes with a pink golf ball?? One of my playing partners requests not mine.. (thats another story).

Best start hitting a few balls again in the coming weeks and see if i can find that coloured ball to bring me good fortune again.

Well done also to one of our team, Mike, who had an excellent two round tournament in the UK last week and finished fifth. Well played big toe.