Donnington Grove – 3 for 2 Golf Lessons

All lessons until the end of March 2010 are 3 for the price of 2 All Lessons must be used by the end of March The JYGA offers a wide range of tuition services from a 1 hour individual lesson to running a corporate golf day.  Our facilities are arguably some of the best in the country with the range fully supported by Titleist, and an indoor facility that even the British weather can’t spoil.  Every lesson includes computer and video analysis and you will receive a take home DVD with a “before and after” of your lesson.
Pease contact Matt at the Jonathan Yarwood Golf Academy on 01635 581000, or email mw@golfjy.com, to book an appointment.

Junior Golf Coaching Offer developed by Jonathan Yarwood

Let’s Play!

Our 8 week Junior Coaching courses are totally unique – developed by Jonathan Yarwood, one of the most successful British Golf Coaches ever, it balances the basics of golf with fun games and challenges to enhance skill development.

Each week will cover a different element of the game and will use a multitude of exercises to improve technique, coordination, motor skills and instinct.

Throughout the 8 weeks each child will have different aspects of the game videoed, computer analysed, and comparisons made to some of the worlds best players. This will be burnt to a take home DVD.

Donnington Grove Golf and Country Club is the ideal setting to learn and have fun in a safe and secure environment and our coaches are CRB checked

The groups will run from Saturday 30th January at 9 am, and Sunday 31st January at 9am and 10-30am. To book a place please contact Matt Woods at JYGA Donnington Grove via email mw@golfjy.com or 01635 581000

Donnington Grove in the Snow

Unfortunately the snow has meant that the clubs are gathering dust at the moment, unless you’ve booked to come in and take advantage of our indoor facilities. In the meantime, please enjoy some of the pictures taken by Gareth earlier in the week. Hopefully the forecasters are wrong and there will be no more snow today!

New Years Eve Party Review

The New Year was welcomed in with some style at Donnington Grove with a fantastic party which was a sell out and very well received by all who came.

With golfers mixing with non golfers, members with hotel guests the atmosphere was just right.

At one point during the evening one table produced party poppers which had been concealed in hand bags and inside pockets and discharged them with much happiness on the neighbouring table, little did they know that their chosen target table had been even more inventive and produced what could only be described as ‘confetti cannons’ in the shape of Champagne bottles and returned the compliment.

Once the glitter and the smoke had all cleared from the air, the white flag was raised and everybody joined together to dance the night away.

Our very own member Mark Seymour provided the disco entertainment for the evening and judging by the comments on New Years morning from those who attended, Mark did a great job keeping the dance floor busy all night.

It was remarkable the next morning just how many made it up on time and on to the golf course. Although the weather was cold and the ground rock hard, the sky was clear blue and everybody enjoyed their golf. We are lucky at Donnington Grove that even in those Arctic conditions we still play on full greens.

Do you have a golf handicap?

Most of us play golf for fun. When you learn to play the game well, the game becomes rewarding and exhilarating. The game can become frustrating if you are not playing it well, and if you watch the professionals playing on the course, you would even find quite upset with frustrations written all over their faces.

You will find golf lessons on the Internet, starting from the basic to the ones meant for people who play the game well. There are books which provide various lessons in golfing. Then again there are instructions which are confusing, conflicting, and misleading.

The handicap system was first introduced in the UK and Ireland on 1^st February 2004. This system is called “CONGU Unified Handicapping System”. This system helped to set up a controlled way of measuring between the performances of one golfer who is weaker than the other.

At first, your handicap needs to be identified and this is done at the starting point. After having done this each of your handicaps round is measured by an adjustment made on your performance for those rounds. The calculation for your handicap system starts with three scorecard games which have to be played over an 18-hole course, and the “course standard scratch score” (SSS) of the Tee you are playing on. This generally ranges from 70 to 74.

The COGNU system allows double bogey (+2) maximum. Bogey is the score of one over par on any given hole. So, if you score 4 it is a bogey, while bogey is on a par 3. By COGNU rule if you take 8 shots, a gross score on a par 5, the rule allows a score of 7 for that hole. This is called the adjusted gross score.

Handicaps have been introduced to give an advantage to a moderately skilled golfer playing against a good player. This is similar to ‘levelers’ introduced in other sports, for example, weight divisions in boxing. With the handicap introduced, it brings at par a player with an average score of 98 competing against the other who has an average score of 74. As you become skilled in golfing your handicap gets lowered.

The question now is how you obtain a handicap. This is what you do -

• You would need to play three rounds of golf with a partner who has mark 3 scorecards. These could be from different courses and should be ‘friendly matches’. Have a playing partner to mark your records, and what is important is that you should complete every hole.

• You need to ensure that your scorecards are duly completed in full, and these cards should have your name, membership number, date, gross scores, standard scratch score for the course and have to be signed by you and your marking partner.

• Then you need to post your scorecards to the Handicap Secretary. The name and address of the secretary are available from your club.

You are going to receive an official handicap card. You could also see it on the Internet. This card will have the calculations of your handicap, and you will have an online profile where the handicap would be mentioned.

As a member of a golf club in the UK you can obtain and maintain your official UK handicap which will provide you with the facility to play in any golf course across the world. If you would like some help obtaining a golf handicap or would like to be introduced to other Donnington Grove members, please contact us.