Welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter. It has been another beautiful week here at East Devon Golf Club with wall to wall sunshine and some lovely warm temperatures.
Competitive action this week has been a little thin on the ground, so the only golf to report upon is from the Ladies section.
The Ladies were out in force on Tuesday for a County Stableford. A beautiful day greeted the 78 competitors and all was set fine for a day of good scoring. The star performer on the day was Helen Hughes who returned a fantastic 41 points, landing the best overall score and first place in Division 2. Marilyn Hobbs continued her run of good form to land top spot in Division 1 with an excellent 39 Points.
The Ladies were also competing for the Horton Trophy on Tuesday which is played for between the 29-36 handicaps. Barbara Middleditch lifted this year's Trophy with a tremendous 39 points.
Congratulations to all of this week's winners.
What we can learn from Payne swinging in the rain
With the US Open played at Pinehurst, thoughts returned to Payne Stewart's epic 1999 victory there. Unlike this year's heat, that years final wet day saw Payne wearing what looked like a gilet; but look closely at pictures of him with the trophy and you'll see the shoulders are ragged. In fact Payne took a pair of scissors to his bulky waterproof jacket sleeves that week.
This episode highlights a big shift in golfing outerwear. Back then, suit makers tried to create freedom to swing through a baggy fit; today, thanks in part to new materials, they create freedom through a snug and stretching fit, as represented by the quality garments in our shop.
Anyone who has tried both knows what Payne knew - that it's much easier to make that full, unrestricted coil without all that extra material flapping around.
It's nice not to have to butcher your rainwear too