Donnington Grove is delighted to announce that we have added another reciprocal golf course on to our ever growing list. Members of Donnington Grove have always had access to many reciprocal courses and The Springs golf Course is the latest to be added to our list making a grand total of 11 reciprocal courses.

Flanking the River Thames, the course at The Springs is situated in 133 acres of magnificent parkland that are designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty. Mature trees, 3 lakes, strategic use of bunkers and wetlands make it both picturesque and challenging. Measuring 6,470 yards at its fullest length, the course was laid out by noted professional and former Ryder Cup player, Brian Huggett, MBE.

The course is a successful blend of both traditional British and American styles of architecture and includes the use of sleepers around the edges of the bunkers and lakes. On the front nine there are lots of interesting features like a double green shared by the 1st and 6th holes; the long par four 4th with out of bounds to the right; while the striking par-3 8th, is the signature hole that has the green surrounded by water and bunkers.

On the back nine the 10th is a testing and beautiful par-3, protected by water and sand, that runs adjacent to The Ridgeway Path, possibly the oldest green road in the country. The long par five 15th, is the highlight of the back nine as it runs along the pristine banks of the River Thames, where you can enjoy the sight of majestic swans and other wildlife as you play. The short par four 17th is a classic risk reward shot that offers longer hitters a chance to drive the green, protected by water and wetlands if they fail. While the 18th offers a spectacular, dogleg finish framed by mature oaks, there is a listed copse of trees that splits the fairway.

The course is kept in top condition all year round and unlike most courses challenges you to use every club in the bag. By the end of your round, you will be impressed with the beauty and layout of the course. At the same time you will wonder where the shots ebbed away and will be eager to go back out again and find ways to play the course better. When you do, you will find that like a fine wine, each round at The Springs provides you with a different experience.

To compliment your day the charming clubhouse blends harmoniously with the Tudor styling of The Springs Hotel, and welcomes golfers warmly upon completion of their round with an excellent selection of fresh local food and beverages.
To view our other reciprocal Golf Courses as well as other benefits our members receive then please click here.

After a smashing tee of shot and a great chip onto the green, you need to be able to have a great finish in order to keep your score down. Here are my top five things to remember when putting to help improve your final swings.

•    Keep the wrists out of the stroke. Shoulders, arms and hands move together as a unit in a good putting stroke.

•    Keep your head still. Just like in pool or snooker you must keep the head still during the stroke. Listen for the ball to go in the holes; don’t look up to watch it.

•    Keep the rhythm of your stroke like a metronome. Count ‘one-two’ to yourself to keep the stroke smooth. Rhythm in a putting stroke
is just as important as rhythm in a full swing.

•    Make sure you get the golf ball up to the hole. All putts from inside twenty feet should end up past the hole. Make sure you read the green to end up eighteen inches past and not lamely to lag into the hole at dead weight

•    To read a green correctly you must look at the hole from both sides. If you really want to putt well from distance you must take time and look from the other side of the hole. The break often looks different from behind the hole.

The area is designed so that Golfers can see all the hole plans and information such as distance and par before they play on the course. The plan also includes several top tips for each hole to help you with your game. The course guides include a bird’s eye plan of the hole and its layout, as well as a photo of the course from the tee looking towards the flag. Golfers should be able to use this to plan their shots as well as seeing where they have gone wrong in the past.

Donnington Grove is also offering businesses the chance to sponsor one of its 18 holes. Donnington Grove Country club has one of the best courses in the area; a historic hotel; a great clubhouse, with a friendly environment; and really good practice facilities. Theses, together with its thriving membership, make it one of the busiest corporate and society gold venues in the area attracting over 15,000 visitors each year.

We would like to offer you the opportunity to promote your company to this wider market by inviting you to join the Donnington Grove Business Executive Club. This will entitle your company to 8, 12 or 16 rounds of golf each month, A full colour advertisement on each golf buggy’s GPS system, a hyperlink to your website from ours and discounts on buggy hire, corporate golf days, hotel accommodation, functions & conferences.

If you would like to know more information about how to sponsor one of our holes then please click here. Alternatively you can contact Dave Alan by email or by phone on 01635 581000

We have all been in the situation where we hit a great shot straight down the fairway only to find our ball lying in a divot, making the next shot somewhat tricky. Frustrating, isn’t it!  Our divot repair system let’s you, the golfer, help us keep the course in tip top condition throughout the year.

Divot repair bags filled with a soil/sand/seed mix may now be taken from a rail on a mobile trailer – see photo. The contents of the bag are sprinkled into divots as they are found when playing a particular hole. At the end of the hole, the bags are dropped into a box on the next tee. The trailer will be moved from hole to hole by the green keepers as and when required.

If you are keen on golf, are over 21 and under 27 and find golf club membership expensive, then look no further than Donnington Grove Country Club, where we have one of the best courses in the area; a great clubhouse, with a friendly environment; and really good practice facilities.

Graduate Membership for only £580

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Graduate membership for the younger golfer who is just starting out on their career.  Many younger golfers find the move from Junior or Colt to full membership a huge financial leap. This often leads to them giving up the game or playing only occasionally as a visitor. Here at Donnington Grove we have the answer with our Graduate Membership for those over 21 and under 27 years of age.

Annual Graduate membership is £700 and there is no joining fee. If you join in June, you will only have to pay £580 for as much golf as you like until 31st March 2011 when memberships are renewed; and we will give you £50 to spend at the Club.

Apart from a membership that offers exceptional value, you will find there are many other benefits of joining us at Donnington Grove. For example, we have reciprocal arrangements with 9 other clubs where you can play free.

If you want to find out more about our Graduate Membership visit our membership page or alternatively contact Dave Allen.

1) Move Forward

2) Consistent Practise
It probably sounds a bit obvious but you get out what you put in to your game. You may not be able to get down the Golf Course and do 18 holes every day, but even 15 minutes in the back garden working on your swing will massively improve your game.

3)  Equipment
You may need to reassess you equipment every now and then. You don’t need to spend thousands on state of the art equipment but if you’re using an older set that isn’t fitted properly then you may be needlessly holding yourself back.

4) Your Finishing Shots
Forgive my football analogy but there is no point in a team getting to the edge of the box if they can’t score a goal. In a typical game more than half the strokes account for chipping and putting. Therefore you should dedicate a large amount of your practise time to these shots.

5)Make The Most Of Your Game
If you are going to take the time to play a round of golf, then play it seriously. Take the time to concentrate, focus and work on the shots you have practised. Use driving ranges and putting greens to improve your technique than use the course to focus on lowering your score!

There is nothing more frustrating than having to search through the woods or even wade through the lake to find your ball. All golfers want to have the natural ability to drive the ball off the tee far and straight! This drill will help you too improve your contact off the tee as well as helping you to eliminate the tendency to slice your shots.

The main reasons for these problems are that you can’t make contact on the centre of the clubface with your driver and this is costing you in distance and accuracy. You will know if you are doing this as when you hit the ball it will feel like a brick. If you hit it off the toe, you’ll feel a soft impact, like you whacked an old apple.

Lay four Pool Cues or anything equivalent on the ground vertically. The spaces between the cues should be slightly wider than your clubhead. Address an imaginary ball in the middle lane. If you tend to hit it off the toe, take practice swings making sure your clubhead travels through the far lane after impact. If you hit it off the heel (or tend to shank your irons), your downswing path should go through the near lane. After 10 practice swings, tee up a ball and swing away. Now that you’re slotted correctly, you’ll hit it square and the same distance every time.

The next golf tip is ‘Learn to Chip with the Water Bottle Trick’

There is nothing worse than when you are playing a smooth round of golf and then all of a sudden you find yourself stuck in the sand! Countless times have I been on a winning streak and then held back by one bad turn in the pit. This tip is to help with that situation by playing the sand instead of the ball. Ironically the best way to get out of the sand is by ignoring the ball.

When you’re in a greenside bunker the club should never touch the ball. You want your wedge to toss the sand beneath and behind the ball onto the green. The ball will float out on a wave of sand right onto the green.

You must convince yourself that the ball is an afterthought on these shots. To practice this, stand in the flat of a practice bunker and place two tees opposite your left instep.

YOU DO NOT NEED A BALL! Hinge your wrists quickly on the backswing to create an upright path, then swing down and let your sand wedge hit about two inches behind the tees. Make a full follow-through, finishing with your hands at shoulder height. You’ll see that the tess have flown up and toward the hole along with the sand you sprayed. Repeat this several times and see how high and far you can make the tees fly! Then drop a ball down and repeat the swing. Hopefully this drill will make escaping the bunkers an easy stress free shot.

Next tip is how to use pool cues to improve your Driving!

Slices or hooks aren’t cleaver, pretty or funny and no one likes them!  Slices and Hooks can cause a large amount of anger and frustration in any golfers games so here is a tip to try and get rid of them . . .  for good.

The main cause for golfers slicing and hook is that they are taking the club back off plane and aren’t making the necessary compensations on the way back down. So what can you do about this?

Lay your driver across your shoulders with the grip end to your left. Take your stance and make your regular backswing turn. Now, you may have seen this drill before, but hardly anyone does it correctly. Most golfers think that you should make your backswing turn so that the shaft points at the ball. That’s way too steep, and one of the reasons why you slice. Swinging the club too flat with the shaft pointing way beyond the ball is equally bad (and a potential source of your hook).

The correct way to perform this drill is to turn your shoulders and maintain your posture so that the shaft points at a spot just a foot on the other side of the ball. That’s a perfect on-plane position. Combine a nice, smooth backswing with this exact shoulder turn and you’ll be in perfect position at the top.

The next tip is ‘Help I’m Stuck In The Sand And I Can’t Get Out’

1.    Brush Your Chip Shots To Hit Them Close To The Pin

Many people have difficulty hitting crisp shots that stop close enough for realistic one-putts! Hopefully this tip and technique can help you. Hitting the ball puts too much grass between it and the clubface however picking it cleanly produces a lower trajectory off the bottom edge of your wedge with little or no backspin.

This is called the ‘brush the grass’ drill and is something you should practice next time you get the chance. Before you hit your first shot, make at least 20 pitch swings without a ball and look at your divot after every one. Make sure your wedge hits the ground on each attempt but doesn’t dig into it. Think about ‘brushing’ the grass and you should be able to feel the club gently bump the bottom of the ground. Your divot should look like the grass has been brushed flat but no dirt has left the ground.  When you have perfected this drill you should be able to see a crisp ball contact on or about, the third or fourth groove up the face of your wedge, a nice amount of backspin and makeable putts!

When you put this into practise on the course think about the image of the brushed grass. Make sure your grip is light and relaxed. If you are having problems with the leading edge of your wedge making dirt divots, open the face a little more. When you’ve successfully ‘brushed’ the grass two consecutive times without a divot, move in and immediately pitch the ball onto the green with the same swing.

Tomorrows tip includes the best way to use your irons!