Braggie's Golf Blog

My Masters Adventure 2013

2013-05-19T10:53:00.002+01:00

For over 30 years I have watched the Masters on tv and have been fascinated by the event, place, tradition and mystique of Augusta National.

Last September my dream of one day visiting the Masters became a reality, what started off as a phone conversation about a golf trip I was organising to Lumine in Barcelona ended up with a "once in a lifetime" trip to Augusta..........how could you say no!

The adventure began and within about 3 days Fraser and I had flights, tickets, hotel and car all sorted.....we just had to wait for 6 months before we set off!!

Day 1 - Friday 12th April 2013

London Heathrow, British Airways flight to Atlanta Georgia.

We landed in Atlanta at around 8pm local time and quickly found our car and headed east to Augusta...just under 3 hours and we were checking in to our hotel and eagerly anticipating the days ahead.

Day 2 - Sat 13th April 2013

No surprise but we woke up early on Saturday morning and figured out the best way to spend our day before watching the event live on the Sunday. First things first, when in the US you have to experience a full US style diner breakfast! We drove the 5 min trip to Washington Road (home of Augusta National) and found the Augusta Waffle House, perfect!!

As you can see we followed the mantra that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" and had a real feast. The 90 minutes spent at the Waffle House was brilliant, not only did we sit at the bar and both entertain (with our English and Scottish accent) and be entertained by all the staff, they were amazing. We also had a chance to discuss the golf event with some locals, if anyone was going to give us great advice on where to position ourselves on the course for the next day, what times to go and also where to go in down town Augusta for it was them..thank you.

It was now time to drive a mile up the road and find the golf course, with smiles on our faces we headed to Augusta National. As we got close the road was full of either people looking for tickets, people selling parking for the day or golf patrons...the anticipation was awesome....

suddenly we noticed someone in the road taking a picture and realised that this must be the entrance to Magnolia Lane..to say that the entrance is discreet is a huge understatement, you could drive past it many times and never realise that you had passed the iconic gates to such hallowed grounds.

You are not allowed any electronic devices into Augusta so we knew that today was the day to get some pics, as the Sunday within the course would be only memories and mementoes to take home. As you can see you are allowed at the gates to Magnolia Lane and you can take some pics (shown) here and under the members sign.

30 years of memories all came flooding back, the list of golfers who have entered these gates and made that famous trip down the lane to the clubhouse made both us truly realise just how special this place is.

We explored all that you can outside the grounds and this did nothing other than build up the excitement of getting in there on the Sunday.

After leaving the complex we headed into down town Augusta to settle down into a local bar/restaurant and watch the TV coverage of the 3rd rounds play over lunch.

As we passed famous local establishments like TBonz steakhouse and the tented villages that would house live bands in the evenings I noticed a very large motor home parked up at Hooters! I then suddenly remembered that John Daly (2 time major champion & Loudmouth Golf ambassador) always parks up here when he is not playing to say hi to the patrons and also to sign and sell some merchandise We popped over and I asked John to sign a "Grip it and Rip it" hat for the academy!

Downtown Augusta is a charming town, that had a feel of times past, almost as if the modern day had passed it by but by no means a disappointment the traditions of the town and event run true and Fraser and I enjoyed our afternoon watching the golf, eating a small lunch (Fraser's small salad and fries!!!!) building up the excitement for the next day.

Day 3 - Masters Sunday 14th April 2013

Our Masters Sunday Ticket

This is what we came for! 6 months of waiting, 30 years in the making and finally we had our hands on our tickets.

After a quick pit stop in the mechanise area (2 bags full of goodies!) we entered through the extensive security and passed the driving range and TV huts at just after 8.30am....as we approached the putting green at the range we were stopped dead in our tracks as Keegan Bradley hit some putts that rolled, and rolled, and rolled, and then rolled some more before stopping or being stopped by the hole...Wow!! the greens were quite simply PURE.

Following the crowd we were guided into another area surrounded by deep dark green wooden buildings that made up the largest gift shop (and busiest) I have ever seen as well as restaurants etc...so another trip into the gift shop was required to collect and buy our Masters chair. You cannot go to the Masters without buying your chair, not just a souvenir but also following a patrons tradition of finding your spot on the course where your chair will remain for the day and will not be touched by anyone else but you! There are only 5 grandstands at Augusta (1st green, 8th green, 11thgreen/12th tee, 13th green and 14th green) all of the other patron areas of made up of rows and rows and chairs and then standing room behind them.

From the central courtyard in between these buildings there is a tunnel like explosion of light and colour that catches your eye, you just know that this is it! You are drawn to the course like a magnet and form the dark rich colours of the gift shop area you eyes bulge as you step out onto the Augusta turf....I have been extremely fortunate to have played some magnificent courses around the world but nothing prepared me for the delight and sheer quality, colour, and velvet like texture of the grass...words pass me by when i imagined just how amazing it would be to play shots from it...you almost felt rude to walk on it.

You enter the field of dreams adjacent to the first tee, to your left are the famous white cabins and the iconic clubhouse and Oak tree (above). You are drawn to the sheer vista in front of you, you can see all the way down the hill to the 15th green which must be 300 feet below you....I was told before we left that you would never really understand the elevation changes at Augusta until you are there, they were not wrong. Its incredible just how much of the course you can actually see from the clubhouse.

Here are the key points of the last day for us, I'm sure you watched it on TV so no need for a ball by ball description:

Our Master Chair - As advised we placed this on the hill left of the 16th Green, we had full view of 15th green, 16th green, 17th tee and fairway and also 6th green behind us.

9.30 - We followed every shot of Phil Michelson and Ryan Moore's round basically on the ropes! we literally saw every shot..I'm still amazed that we able to walk the entire course and get a chance to see all the famous holes from tee to green without getting lost in the crowd. Amen corner is everything that you imagine it would be and more, that tee shots on 11 and 12 are unreal..

Lunch - One of the other interesting facts about the Masters is that all food and drinks inside the gates are very reasonably priced, almost everything was about $3, sandwiches, salads, all drinks inc beer.

The afternoon and the finish!:

The Leaders! - Following advice gathered from the Waffle House 24 hours before and also from the previous years guidebook (totally digested by Fraser on the flight to Atlanta) we started off at the back of the 2nd green and watched the last 7 groups all play through, including Westwood's awesome approach to 4 feet and then sadly the missed eagle putt, Jason Day's holes bunker shot for Eagle and Langer's birdie birdie birdie start.
7th Green - A mere 50 yards from the 2nd green took us over to the 7th green, we again watched the last 7 groups play through, another great viewing spot as we watched the players hit shots into 17 which was the adjacent fairway.
10th Green - We spotted a great little viewing spot for the 10th in the morning and we stood 10 feet from the 15th tee and had a full view down the hill onto the 10th green and fairway..we saw everything from the last 6 groups.
13th Green Grandstand - Unbelievably there were spaces in the grandstand at `3th green/14th tee so we watched all the last 6 groups play through..... difficult to describe how sharp the dogleg is off the tee there, those pine needles are definitely in play with anything hit straight there.
16th Green - Having taken our seats we watched all the last groups play from the fairway on 15th (awesome downhill shot into a very narrow green) and putt out as well as play the fabulous designed 16th. For me Par 3's don't have to be well over 200 yards to be interesting or exciting, the 12th and 16th at Augusta are proof of this. 130-180 yards with water, good bunkers, swirling winds and sloopy greens are all you need for excitement.
The Final Hole - After watching all play 16th including Angel's birdie to tie the lead we packed up our chairs and headed back to the clubhouse, given it was the last hole on the final day we didnt expect to see much more golf but rather grab the atmosphere. Surprisingly as we walked the 17th we saw Scott's birdie put from 20 yards off the green and strolled over the the 18th tee where we watched his tee shot up the last from the ropes, you can see us on the far right of the below image! We walked up the right hand side of 18 and witnessed Scott's shot into the green and amazing birdie putt, the roar was incredible as he holed his putt and his celebration matched. Thinking that was the winning putt we raced up towards the clubhouse only to be hit with another roar, Angel had hit his approach to 4 feet, unbelievably a play off beckoned.

The Play-off - 15 thousand people and 2 holes, where should be go to try and watch some of the action? As we looked back down 18 the fairway and green was now really full and a stream of people were heading down towards the 10th green. We decided that the 10th tee might be a good spot as if it went to a second hole we would see the tee shots and if not we were close enough to watch the green jacket ceremony as the putting green was 20 yards away. We got a spot on the ropes on the tee and thankfully we were next to Mike, who was the CBS cameraman and as the play-off began he gave us ball by ball commentary of the action, thank you Mike. As you can see below we were again in the frame (in between Adam and Stevie in the image) to view first hand that iconic drive on 10...As the players disappeared down the hill Mike again took over and kept us informed. As Scott holed the winning putt the roars and cheers flooded up the hill on 10 right back to the tee. What a finish, what a day, what an experience!

Day 4 - Monday 15th April 2013

Our last day in the US and this was also destined to be a special bonus, in planning the trip we aimed to book a late flight back so that we could play some golf beforehand if possible. With special thanks to James Haddock (Sky Tv) and Ken Mangham (Course Superintendent Atlanta Athletic Club) we had a round arranged at Atlanta Athletic Club, the site of Keegan Bradley's PGA Championship win in 2011.

After the 2 1/2 hour drive from Augusta we arrived at AAC to Bobby Jones's statue welcoming us to his club, what a wonderful link to Augusta as Bobby Jones built Augusta National with Clifford Roberts and also had ties to AAC.

Fraser on the Riverside Course

We actually played 27 holes, 9 on the Riverside (members course) in the morning followed by tackling the Highlands Championship course in the afternoon, the Highlands course has held 1 x US Open and 2 x US PGA Championships as well as more more important Amateur events in its history. Fraser and I felt very lucky to play it.

The Highlands course was an very challenging design, not only was there plenty of water, fantastic bunkering but also greens running at over 12 on the stimp meter!

The Par 3's alone all measured over 200 yards and each and every one was a tee shot over water, the 15th measuring a mere 265yards shown below form the green was simply spectacular, we both tries to imagine playing that hole under the pressure of a major championship, wow!

17th Green

The finish at AAC comprised of the 15th (Above), a great par 4 16th all uphill to a tricky green and then a lovely par 3 17th again over the water with the front section of the green carved into the lake.

The final hole is a long dogleg left par 5 (par 4 in the US PGA) with water all the way down the left side and then also across the front of the green and bunkers all the way down the right side. You simply have to hit 2 great shots to get onto the green.

The 18th Second shot!

As we packed up the car and headed back to the airport Fraser and I were sad that our adventure that began back in Sept 2012 was coming to an end but equally thrilled that we actually did it!

Thank you Fraser for your company and sharing this incredible adventure, plus all your help in the planning of our trip, it was a "once in a lifetime experience" for sure.

I hope you have enjoyed a small insight into our Masters adventure.

Cheers

Darren

Masters 2014

Do you fancy joining me next year to visit Augusta?

I'm currently planning my return to Augusta and if you are interested in coming along please contact me directly HERE

Cleveland Golf Wedge History

2012-11-09T14:39:00.001+00:00

Cleveland Golf Wedge Timeline

I'm always interested in current and historical equipment changes and Cleveland Golf have given us all a great insight into their famous wedges.

I have added some content from their site below:

Click Here for Wedge Timeline Page

NLGA Cleveland Golf 588 Wedge deal

(valid until xmas 2012, while stocks last)

Buy 2 and get the 3rd FREE!

Contact me know to find out which combines are best for you.

Click Here to Email me now!

Readers,
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be documenting four of Cleveland Golf’s most significant wedge innovations. Cleveland Golf has long set the industry standard in the wedge category, and we certainly don’t plan on changing that any time soon. So, leading up to the release of our new wedge this fall, we wanted to take some time to remind you how we got to where we are today.
Let’s start with Multiple Lofts.
We believe having proper wedge loft gaps is essential to short-game success, and we’ve been preaching this for years.
When the original 588 wedge was introduced in 1988, it was available in lofts of 50° and 56°. One year later, a 60° model was added. Realizing the need to bring “a new level of predictable excellence” in the short game, Cleveland Golf continued to expand loft offerings with the 53° “Diadic” wedge and the 49° Special Pitching Wedge.
Pros and amateurs saw the benefits of multiple wedges, and as time went on, our engineers realized the need for proper gap spacing and kept adding more lofts.
Today, the 588 Forged wedge is available in lofts of 46°, 48°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58°, 60°, 62° and 64°. There’s an incredible range of wedge combinations available for any golfer looking to improve their short game, and we take pride in educating golfers on knowing how to select the right lofts. After all, wedges affect the outcome of every shot you hit inside 120 yards.

What lofts do you have in your bag?

Readers,

Recently, we discussed how Cleveland Golf’s emphasis on multiple wedge lofts has changed the way golfers approach the short game. Another way Cleveland Golf has brought game-changing innovation and improved performance to wedges is by offering multiple finishes.

Each finish is unique and has its own advantages, from enhancing feel and reducing glare to adding style to players’ golf bags. We’re proud that we’ve brought multiple finishes to wedges for more than 25 years.

It started back in 1987 with the BeCu (Beryllium Copper) finish in 485 wedges, which provided softer feel in addition to a cool copper look. The next significant finish was Raw Tour Grind, or “RTG”, that was released to the masses in 1996 after overwhelming demand and success on tour. RTG is an unchromed, special grind version of the 588 wedge, with the head designed to rust over time. These wedges are particularly renowned for their feel, resistance to glare, and even enhanced spin.

Cleveland Golf also set a high standard for darker-finish wedges that resisted glare, starting with Gun Metal and progressing into Black Pearl. First introduced in the CG10 wedge, Black Pearl has remained a staple in Cleveland’s wedge lines thanks to its sleek style and ability to better frame the ball at address.

Other popular finishes have included Chrome, BeNi (Beryllium Nickel) and Satin Chrome.

So, what’s your favorite finish?

Readers,

For more than 25 years, Cleveland Golf wedges have been the standard by which all other wedges are judged. Our innovation and leadership have brought the wedge selection process from an afterthought to one of the most important decisions golfers make. It has always been our goal to provide the highest quality wedges to fit every golfer, not just tour players.
Of course, fitting every golfer is not an easy task. That’s why we were a pioneer in having multiple bounce options in wedges.
“Bounce” is the angle – in degrees – between the ground and the club’s sole plane. At impact in soft turf or sand, a higher bounce angle increases the upward force on the sole of the club to prevent digging. For firm turf and sand, a lower bounce angle improves contact by reducing this resisting force, allowing the leading edge to easily slide underneath the ball.
Generally, wedges with higher bounce can benefit players with a steeper attack angle, while those with a shallower angle of attack can benefit from lower-bounce wedges. Standard bounces accommodate the largest variety of turf, sand and swing types.
This is not a sure-fire way to fit everyone, which is why Cleveland Golf encourages every player to go through a wedge fitting and find the correct wedges for their game.
Back in 2000, Cleveland Golf introduced low-bounce options in the 900 wedge line. Then, in 2004, CG10 wedges incorporated high-bounce options and the accompanying dot labeling system: one dot for low bounce, two dots for standard bounce, and three dots for high bounce.
In addition to featuring a tour-proven shape and incredible feel, Cleveland Golf’s 588 Forged wedge line offers low, standard and high-bounce options to fit the needs of every player. This range of offerings continues to pace the wedge market.

What are the bounces on your wedges?

GTB Ryder Cup Success

2012-11-09T14:04:00.002+00:00

GTB v The Golf Plaza

Lumine Golf Resort

Barcelona, Spain

September 2012

In the wonderful setting of Salou, near Barcelona sits the 45 hole complex Lumine Beach and Golf Resort. Lumine is currently hosting the European Tour School (Nov 2012) and proved to be a great test for us all.

Over 54 holes my team challenged a team from The Golf Plaza to a Ryder Cup style team event.

Introducing my Team Bragg!

Lee and Jason Prentice
Dev Patel
Fraser Robertson
Jason Grech

The format for the event was 2 days of 4Ball Betterball and then the final day being a straight singles matchplay. Each game was worth a point and a 1/2 point for a draw.

In warm temperatures and glorious sunshine we set about claiming the trophy for our respective teams!

As with the excitement of the recent Ryder Cup in Medinah our games literally went down to the last singles game on the last day and on the last green for the cup to be won. Jason Prentice secured his point on the last hole after his wedge shot slammed into the pin (hole shown below) and he safely two putted.

18th Green, Hill Course

Big thanks to all my team for joining me in Spain, I really enjoyed sharing the break with you and found the time working on your games hugely beneficial.

Also a big thanks to Jon who together helped to put together the trip and also a great team, we look forward to defending our title next year!

2013 Venue to be confirmed, but Team GTB will be ready!! :)

Kubera Wealth Corporate Day

2012-07-25T17:33:00.001+01:00

Company Days/Golf Clinics

I recently took part in the Kubera Wealth Corporate Day at Batchworth Park Golf Course.

Stuart Poonawala put together a wonderful day for his clients that started out with a light lunch and introduction to the day.

After lunch I carried out a short game clinic for all participants, I worked on the use of different loft around the green to achieve a variety of chip/pitch shots.

As the golfers set out on the course, Stuart and I spent time with each group so that I could pass on some advice and Stuart could take some great pictures.

Thanks Stuart for a great day, we all enjoyed the day and you left no stone left unturned.

For information on how I can help with your corporate date whether it be organising, golf clinic, beat the pro event or participating please email me:

Darren@GolfTuitionBreaks.com
Golftuitionbreaks.com

Putting - Precision Ball Striking

2012-05-11T19:14:00.002+01:00

The key to consistent putting is lies in your ability to strike the ball out of the centre of the clubface (sweetspot) with an accelerating clubhead. Combine this with a square clubface (to intended target line) at strike and you will surely hole more and more putts.

A great way to measure how you are striking your putts simply follow the below drill and let me know how you get on

Precision Ball Striking Drill

For this drill I have simply used two pieces of Blu-Tac and placed them an inch apart either side of the sweetspot on my putter. I have also used my alignment sticks as swing path guides, which I would recommend for all practice sessions.

I have used this drill with putts of about 3-4 feet and then gradually moved back to 20 feet. Go through your normal putting routine and strike the putts towards your target. If you hit the centre of the clubface then you will see the ball roll as normal but if you mishit the putt then the ball will travel at about 45 degrees away from your target as the ball struck part of the Blu-Tac.

Once you have successfully struck 5 putts from 3-4 feet then move back 3 feet at a time until you reach the 20 feet range.

For a simple drill for clubface control click the below link:

Priority Putting

There is no better place to check your stroke or discuss your findings than the academy, contact me now to book in a putting lesson.

Good luck

Darren

Pre Shot Routine Tip

2012-04-13T14:55:00.000+01:00

Pre Shot Routine Advice

Over the last ten years we have all seen more and more of Golf Psychology in golf magazines, on tv and used in and around the sport at all levels.

We all want to be more consistent, but this is not only about your swing but also about how well you think and how confident you are are executing your game on the golf course and in competitions.

One of the biggest elements of the "mind game" is the role of the Pre Shot Routine, what does this mean? how do I create one? How will it help me? these are all great questions and below I hope to help answer them with some logic that I worked hard on whilst playing tournament golf and now pass on to my clients. I have also added a video of myself following my personal routine:

What is a Pre Shot Routine? How will it help me?

Your shield from pressure, your comfort blanket. Your pre-shot routine helps you to deal with difficult situations and allows you to play on auto-pilot. As the name suggests it is a routine and by definition that is something that you do consistently.

So you need to create a pre-shot routine that is efficient, effective and easily repeated.

You'll notice that when you watch the pros on TV each pro has certain mannerisms that they go through before each shot, and typically they perform these mannerisms identically for each shot. They are going through their pre-shot routine.

I believe that we should have two mindsets for golf, one that is a "Trusting" and one that is a "Training" mindset, why two? simple, we need to have a mindset for technical areas of the game, this can apply to drills, lessons and practice sessions and also one for the golf course/target practice.

Training Mindset - When we work on our games we have to be consciously thinking about mechanics, we are learning and attempting to recreate these new movements...at these times we cannot also be focusing on the result i.e the shot. Our sole purpose here is to develop and reinforce.

Trusting Mindset - We have to practice aiming at targets and learn to trust our mechanics, easier said than done for sure but there's no place for thinking about "how will I make a swing that will get the ball there" it has to be more instinctive, "look and react a little more". Pick a precise target and give up trying to control the ball there, learn to trust your mechanics more, of course this doesn't mean you will hit it perfect all the time but you will become more and more committed to every shot and far less tentative.

Think about a scenario where someone is walking around you in a circle (about 10 feet away) and you are holding a ball, imagine throwing them the ball gently...I would suggest that most of the time you would manage to throw the ball successfully for the other person to catch it. Now imagine the same scenario but this time you have to think about all the specific movements involved in throwing the ball, judging the distance and direction, sounds difficult doesn't it? Yet in the first scenario we didn't think about the "how" we "just did it". This can definitely be applied to your game.

How do I create one?

This is the fun bit!
A routine is to simply following a sequence of events time and time again, it can allow you to focus more exclusively on the shot at hand. Why? Because executing a pre-shot routine requires the focus of conscious attention on relevant tasks, thereby eliminating or at least reducing any extra time to attend to irrelevant or unwanted things.

You will need to think about a routine that best suits you as a person, for example if you are a very fast golf and personality then your routine should match this rhythm alternatively you may be a slow paced golfer/person, if so then you should consider a more methodical based routine. What is your speed? Fast, Slow or Medium.

I hope you have found this useful, as you can see in the above video, I have a routine that I follow on all shots and it is part of my game permanently.

Explore designing a routine for your game, if you would like some help on this then you can contact me directly to discuss

Click here to Email.
The North London Golf Academy
Golf Tuition Breaks

Cheers

Darren

Some great references for the "Mind Game"

Bob Rotella - Multiple titles inc "golf is not a game of perfect" & "golf is a game of confidence"

Dr Parent "ZEN GOLF: Mastering the Mental Game"

Tim Gallwey "The Inner Game of Golf"

Karl Morris - The Mind Factor

Stella Di Mare Pro Am

2012-02-10T12:41:00.001+00:00

Stella Di Mare Pro Am

23rd - 30th April

I have been invited to bring a team to the exciting Stella Di Mare International Pro Am in April, I'm looking for 3 golfers who fancy a week away in the sun competing in a 54 hole tournament.

Join me in Egypt for a week to remember!

All details of this event can be found either by clicking on the below link or contacting me directly.

CLICK HERE

DarrenNLGA@gmail.com

Fancy Playing some Pro Ams?

2012-01-26T12:07:00.001+00:00

Pro Ams - A great way to test your game under pressure and enjoy true tournament conditions.

Would you like to play new courses and travel the world?

Would you like to compete in 1,2,3 or even 4 round tournaments just like the pros on tv?

Do you like team events?

If Yes to the above then Pro Ams might be the answer for you.

I'm looking to play in a few events this year and would love the chance to explore the world of Pro Ams together, over the last few years I have taken teams to Sawgrass (US), Taba (Egypt), Dubai, Portugal, Spain and several days out in the UK including St Andrews!

If this is something that might interest you then dont hesitate to get in contact with me.

Cheers

Darren

Taba Pro Am Success

2012-01-21T12:43:00.000+00:00

2011 Taba Invitational Pro Am, Taba Heights, Egypt.

In December Nick, Ian, Tony and I travelled back to Taba to compete in our third successive Taba Pro Am. We left the UK full of hope and for the week ahead.

Tony, Ian, Nick and Myself
Sporting our Under Armour Team Shirts

This year was the first Pro Am under the new guidance of David Lewer, Taba Heights Golf Resort General Manager.

“The tournament was played on outstanding course conditions, fast greens and in challenging wind. The professional and competitive approach combined with the sportsmanship of all the players produced a truly successful Invitational.” David Lewer

A good article on the Pro Am has been released by Taba Heights site - click here

Our week had a certain "deja vu" about it, we played nicely as a team for the first two days and then couldn't quite cross the line, we ended up 5th in the event which was great all in all, but dropping back a couple of places on the last day was a touch disappointing. As usual Nick, Ian and Tony were great company (although we missed Tess) and they also provide a wonderful balance for our team.

Thank you guys, mines a beer with a coffee chaser!!!

In the pro individual this year, I managed to come back form a disappointing opening round to rally back with the leading score on day 2 and the second best score on the last day to finish second. That makes it second for the 3rd successive year! there is always next year :)

Adrian also took a team to the event and they played fantastically well to finish runners up in the team event, Congratulations to Asad Khan, Asif Padhani and Jamil Raja. Adrian also finished 5th in the pro individual event.

Congrats also to Ian for winning the "nearest the pin" competition.

Here are some pics of our week

We are already looking forward to next year!!

CRAZY CHRISTMAS CLUB DEAL!!!!

2011-12-01T10:23:00.000+00:00

Hi All,

As promised on my recent newsletter we have decided to put together a crazy deal on a full set of clubs for Christmas.

Save yourself over £550 on the below deal!

Snake Eyes 685 Forged Irons 3-PW (£649)
Snake Eyes 685T Driver (£189)
Snake Eyes 685T 3 Wood (£149)
Lynx Hybrid (£99)
Wilson Sand Wedge (£50)
Snake Eyes Mallet Milled Putter (£89)
Snake Eyes Tour Stand Bag (£119)

ONLY £799

(Normal Selling Price Throughout 2011 was £1344)

We have one set on offer so make sure you grab this Christmas bargain quickly.

GTB Ryder Cup Penina a Great Success

2011-11-12T13:01:00.000+00:00

We have just got back from a great 4 days in Penina, Algarve, Portugal where 16 of us set out to battle it out for the inaugural Ryder Cup competition.

Adrian and I with the GTB Ryder Cup

The Competitors!

Team Cafaro

Team Bragg

Team Bragg

Matt Glavin, Nick Oke, Nick Sedgwick, Neil Gathani, Andy Johnson, Robbie Johnson and Cliff Gardiner

Team Cafaro

Greg Soffe, Pravin Patel, Sanjay Ahya, Upen Shah, Piyush Patel, Paresh Mehta and Nick Maugham (sadly couldnt attend the trip last minute)

Despite some showers and 20-30mph winds the golf course was in great shape and the golf that was played matched it.

Adrian and I lead the teams out on the last day singles with Team Bragg 5-0 up, but with double points available on all singles matches all was to play for!

Adrian and I had a great battle with 10 birdies and only one bogey between us I just managed to pip him to the post on the 17th 2&1, I shot a pleasing 68 (-5) and Adrian shot 69 (-4).

With all the matches back in the clubhouse we tallied up the scores and Team Bragg managed to finish in front and claim the cup, we are all very much looking forward to next year where we can defend the title and take on the challenge of Team Cafaro.

The winning team, Team Bragg
Robbie, Nick S, Cliff, Nick O, myself, Neil, Matt and Andy.

Here are some other pics of the event:

A big thanks to all that took part in the event, we loved hosting the competition and it was a delight to see so many smiling faces.

See you next year for the rematch!

Cheers

Darren

Definition of Golf!

2011-10-16T08:23:00.001+01:00

GOLF

"A game where blokes hits balls into bushes, lakes, bushes, sand and very occasionally holes, usually while swearing."

Made me smile :)

PGA Status Upgrade

2011-10-12T15:44:00.000+01:00

PGA Status Upgrade

I'm delighted to announce that my PGA status has been upgraded from Class A to AA.

This reflects the efforts I have made over the last 2 years to further my qualifications and to
put something back into the game.

Very Pleased.com

GTB Ryder Cup Announced

2011-09-11T14:00:00.000+01:00

November 1st - 4th 2011
Penina Resort, Algarve, Portugal.

Are you up for a challenge?

Golf Tuition Breaks have just put together the first annual Ryder Cup event.

I would like to invite you to join my team. We will be taking on Adrian and 6 of his clients on a 3 rounds challenge at Penina in Portugal.

Each day we will be offering an hour of indivudual coaching plus a playing lesson whilst competing against Team CAFARO!

You will be taking part in our inaugral running of the Ryder Cup, dont miss out on a chance to hold the academy bragging rights for the year!

Places will be first come first served and there are only 6 spots available.

4 days of compeition, fun and plenty of time to work on your game in a world class venue that has hosted the Portuguese Open on multiple occasions. Penina boasts one of the best practice facilities in the Algarve.

Package includes:
Flights to Faro
Transfers to and from Resort
3 rounds on the Chapionship course
3 nights B&B - Sharing twin rooms
Daily Coaching
3 Playing lessons
Team Prizes
Ryder Cup Style Format

Dont miss out,reserve your place now.

Congratulations to Stewart Farrell - Golf Monthly Power Play WINNER!

2011-09-05T16:46:00.000+01:00

Golf Monthly PowerPlay Masters round-up

Golf Monthly PowerPlay Masters. Photography: Tom Miles

Last Wednesday, 44 intrepid Golf Monthly forumers and staff got to sample golf's new PowerPlay format for themselves in a special event at The Grove in Hertfordshire, the only English course to have hosted a WGC event.
This new format is played over nine holes using Stableford scoring with a couple of crucial differences - a second ‘black' flag on each green usually in a tougher position, and extra points on offer for success when playing to the black flag.

Each player must use three black flag PowerPlays in the first eight holes with an optional fourth available on the 9th. Nett birdies or better score double Stableford points, with no downside until the 9th where if the gamble goes wrong and you score nett bogey or worse you lose three points.

Great fun was had by all trying to work out where best to use their PowerPlays with lower handicappers generally favouring the lower stroke index holes in search of nett birdies rather than gross birdies elsewhere.
At the end of an exciting nine holes, the master strategist turned out to be 11-handicapper Stewart Farrell, who chose his PowerPlays wisely, making nett birdies on all four to boost his score by 24 points. His winning tally of 33 eclipsed runner-up Tim Burnett - who converted three of his four PowerPlays - by three.

Unluckiest man in the field was Gary Mitchell who racked up an amazing five gross birdies in nine holes... but only one of them on a PowerPlay hole - the tough 5th - where he amassed 8 PowerPlay points. His 27-point return did at least give him the consolation of 3rd place.

source:

http://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/tours-and-news/tournews/529164/golf-monthly-powerplay-masters-round-up.html

Congratulations Stewart, always great to hear that my clients are doing well.

Braggie's Golf Tips - Putting Priority

2011-08-29T23:57:00.000+01:00

Hole more putts than you ever have before.

The most effective way to look at putting, and importantly our evaluation of putts is to look at it in a more simple way;

We often get bogged down with reading the green, judging speed, size of stroke, stance width, ball position, bad strokes and stress etc!!! to name but a few.

This tip is designed to focus the mind on the things you can control, and not be driven crazy by the things you cannot!

Look at a putt as a 6 inch target.

If you can strike the ball 'online' for the first 6 inches and with a reasonable pace then you have succeeded, you have if you like "holed it".

After the ball as left the putter face, you no longer have control of it. It is in the lap of the gods as to what happens next...sadly will power alone will not make it go into the hole!

Practice Method - Prioritise the first 6 inches.

Place a ball marker in the ground approx 6-10 feet from a hole (or fringe of green).
Place two tees 6 inches in front of the ball marker just wider than a golf ball.
Place the ball on top of the ball marker.
Practice hitting putts through the tees.

Every putt that goes through the tees is a Holed Putt!

Practice Set Up

Additional Pace Practice

If putting to a hole, lie a club shaft 2 feet beyond the cup.

A "Holed Putt" is one that goes through the tees and finishes either in the hole or between the hole and club shaft (good pace).

Give this a try over the next few weeks in your practice and play, seeing yourself "hole" more putts will start to enforce a more positive, confident mindset and help to lower your scores.

Good Luck

Darren

VICTORY AT ST ANDREWS

2011-08-22T19:36:00.000+01:00

Cleveland Golf and Srixon Invitational Pro Am
Fairmont St Andrews
15th & 16th August 2011.

My Partner Nick Avery (6 hcp) and I returned this week from St Andrews where we competed in the Cleveland Golf and Srixon Invitational Pro Am hosted by the Fairmont Hotel and Torrance golf course in St Andrews.

It was a 36 hole 4Ball betterball format over the challenging Torrance course.

The event was a warm up for the Cleveland and Srixon Scottish Senior Open which was played from the 19th -21st.

My coach Glenn Ralph won this event in 2009 and it was great to see him and work with him on our games. Glenn is shown in the picture above (bottom right).

With 50 teams entered into the Pro am it was a great event hosted under tournament conditions. We even had the Cleveland and Srixon Tour Van there to offer hardware support.

Nick and I started with a very respectful 44 points (-8) on day one which left us lying in 4th position. The afternoon was spent walking some of the Old course and St Andrews town. We played in reverse order on the last day which meant that we were in the second to last group.

After a lovely sunny day on the Monday, Tuesday offered us wind and rain!! This didn't dampen our spirits and we started with 6 straight birdies setting the tone for a great day. We finished with 47 points (-11) giving us a total of 91 points (-19), thankfully this was good enough and we collected the top prize for the event.

A big thank you to all at Cleveland Golf and Srixon for their support and organising of a terrific event, and also to Nick, what can I say, you were immense, I'm very proud to have witnessed the golf I believe you can play.

Roll on 2012!!

Darren

Near miss in 4Ball qualifier!

2011-08-22T16:44:00.000+01:00

Adrian and I recently entered the PGA Skins national 4Ball regional qualifier at Bush Hill Golf Club.

We both really enjoyed the day and carded an impressive 64 (-6), sadly this was one shot off the marl for automatic qualification. It was nether less good enough to enter a play off!

I wont mention the 3 putt on 17!!!! D'oh :(

From 64 teams there were 9 places available or the finals in early October at Forest Pines.
5 teams including us started a sudden death play off for the last 2 places.

A par on the 1st was good enough to continue with one team making a birdie to get through.
The second hole was the 14th a short dogleg par four, both Adrian and I had a 10-12 foot putt for birdie but sadly another team had made an eagle 2 to qualify.

We are currently on the reserve list for the event.
Fingers crossed!

Darren

Some Golf with Friends

2011-08-07T14:12:00.000+01:00

Last week was amazing, on Monday Adrian and I travelled with Sepehr and Azar to play 27 holes at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club (links) in Somerset.

9 holes on the channel course followed by lunch and then a game on the championship course in the afternoon.

Getting up at 4.30am and not returning home until well past midnight was the agenda...

Sepehr and Az (right) experienced Links golf for the first time! I know they both really enjoyed it and cant wait to play this type of golf again. Perhaps though they would like the result of the game to be different!

Thanks to all for a great day on the Links.

Next week I'm travelling to St Andrews to compete in the Srixon/Cleveland Golf Pro Am.
My partner Nick Avery and I cant wait to get there and walk on the promised land.

Azar, Adrian and I

Links greens, great fun :)

The famous Watch tower that sits on the course.

This will test you Sepehr!

Deep bunkers!

Our friend the Adder that joined in the fun on the 5th!

July News - SRIXON BALL OFFER

2011-07-26T11:23:00.000+01:00

Hi All,

We are nearing the end of July and this month has flown by.

As you are aware the academy now boasts a full range of Cleveland Golf and Srixon Golf equipment.

I'm also using 14 Cleveland Golf clubs, woods and putter along with the Srixon Z-STAR XV ball.

BLOG SPECIAL OFFER

The first 5 people that email me DarrenNLGA@gmail with the following code will receive a dozen Srixon AD333 or Soft Feel balls for only £10!!
Promo code - DBCG4

Karl Morris
The Mind Factor

Last week Karl visited the academy and delivered a wonderful seminar for 50 guests. Those of you who attended I'm sure have taken some great pointers to work on to help lower your scores.
Remember that True Confidence is produced by Evidence.

Playing Lessons

Over the last 6 weeks I have been fortunate to spend many hours on the course with my clients, this time should never be underestimated as it provides me the opportunity to see how you are taking the technical and and course management work onto the course. Not only this but it shows me how you think about your game, what shots you select and also a chance to showcase some new shots in certain situations that will help broaden your options on course.

I hope you are enjoying your summers golf.

Cheers

Darren

Sawgrass Pro Am and "Players Championship" review

2011-06-02T19:42:00.000+01:00

Sawgrass Classic Pro Am 2011

I have just got back from an incredible week in Florida, i travelled to the States to watch the last round of the Players Championships and compete in the Sawgrass Classic Pro Am.

Firstly, A big thank you to Sepehr, Azar and Shahram for an awesome week in Florida, you were immense as a team and great company.

We flew to Orlando on Sat, landing in the middle of a thunderstorm which was awesome, we even managed to get hit by lightning on approach! the front of the cabin lit up like a firework. After arriving safely at the Hyatt on International Drive we spent the evening relaxing in Bahama Breeze and Howl at the Moon.

1.45am my body clock kicked into gear and for he next 5 hours I stayed awake through an amazing thunder/lightning storm until it was time for breakfast and then the 2 hour drive to Sawgrass.

As you can see from the above pictures we had great views of the last days play at the Players Championships, we arrived at 11am and stayed through to the conclusion of the playoff on the 17th. KJ Choi was very solid on Sunday and thoroughly deserved his victory. It was great to see the guys tackle the challenges of the Stadium course, you truly appreciate how much control they have with their golf ball.

Az and I followed the Donald and McDowell groups for the entire last round until the last few holes where we stayed with the leaders. We had prime position on 17th for the last group and watched Choi birdie to take the lead. A 300 yard dash followed as we took up a spot on the 18th fairway! We watched Toms make his putt and then ran back to 17 for the playoff. Below you can see a video of the players as they approached the green and also KJ holing the winning putts, check out the atmosphere!!!

Over the course of the next week we played 6 rounds including 2 rounds of the Staduim course at Sawgrass. 4 of these were part of the Sawgrass Classic Pro Am. It was a first for Sepehr and Shahram to play in this style of event so we were all very excited to get started and form the team spirit needed to succeed.

The itinerary for the tournament week was as follows:

Monday - St Johns Golf and Country Club - Practice Round

Tues am - Players Breakfast at St Johns GCC

Tuesday - St Johns Golf and Country Club - Round 1

Wednesday - King and Bear Golf Club - Round 2

Wed Night - Players BBQ including floating green challenge.

Thursday - TPC Sawgrass Challenge Day

Friday - Sawgrass Valley Course - Round 3

Saturday - TPC Sawgrass - Final Round

Without going into all the details round by round, my team were exceptional for the first 2 rounds and we posted a total of -20, this placed us in 5th place overall.

Thursday was oour first chance to play the TPC Stadium course and we were all very excited to get out there and have a go, especially the island green at the 17th. This was a challenge day for Pros and Amateurs. The pros played from the very back tees and the amateurs played from the Blue tee, my team had an individual stableford competition and we had a challenge of breaking 80 for a $200 bonus.

The stadium course is without a doubt the best golf course I have ever played, it has 18 spectacular holes that challenge all aspects of your game. Words cannot describe just how good it is, plus the fact that it finishes with 3 of the best holes in golf, I'm sure you are familiar with the 17th, the island green! We played the course under tournament conditions, the greens were 13.5 on the stimp meter and the rough around the greens was 6 inches deep.

Congratulations here go to Sepehr who played out of his skin and won the 10+ section of the amateur event, you were inspiring on that day. On a personal note, I had been struggling with my swing a little so didnt have full control of the ball......I hit 3 greens in regulation, 24 putts and managed 75 (+3). The story of my round was to hit it stone dead on 17! nearly holing it and then Driver 8 iron to 15 feet and sinking the putt for birdie birdie finish :)

My tee shot on 17!

On Friday we were back in Pro Am mode and the team met early for breakfast in anticipation of a good day on the course. Pete Dye's Valley course was the challenge in front of us and we felt ready for battle!

The Valley course is situated alongside the Stadium course and offers some great holes with no fewer than 15 holes with water a feature. The course is surrounded by some beautiful waterside houses which provided a great back drop for the course. Bill our forecaddie had told us that a recent Nationwide tour event on this course was won with only 7 under.

It was a tough day on the course for the team as we lacked some of the momentum that we had gained over the first two days, I'm not sure if it was partly to do with the high of playing the Stadium course the day before, or just we didn't score well as a team on the whole. I managed to put together a solid 69 (3 under par) which I felt was a good but not great score. To our surprise the team score of 7 under moved us up a place in the overall standings to fourth and my score was the best pro's score on the day! Our lunch tasted that much better as our days performance had turned out much better than we thought....it was now Beer o'clock.

While Sepehr and Shahram hit balls for a couple of hours Az and I spent that time drinking cold Corona's on the putting green. We were preparing for the challenge of the stadium course once more.

Saturday morning, and there was a buzz in the air, we knew that we needed a good score today to move further up the leaderboard and we felt that is was possible. We were dressed in team Lacoste shirts and definately looked the part, thanks Sepehr! After a team breakfast we again headed for the practice ground nice and early to prepare and also savour the chance to use the world class facilities that Sawgrass has to offer.

Well I would love to tell you at this point that we ripped it and posted a score to threaten the leaders, but sadly the course won. It wasn't for the lack of trying, but we couldn't get anything going and sadly moved back into the pack. We all thoroughly enjoyed playing the magnificent course again and although we didn't achive our aim for the day we all left with some great memories.

Below are some videos of us tackling the 17th plus Sepehr recovery after his reinaction of David Tom's water shot on 16!! plus some other pics from the last day.

Saturday night and the Pro Am was brought to a close with the Gala dinner, John and Alison Hooper put together a special event and on behalf of myself and the team a big thank you must go out to them.

It was a pleasure to share the week with my team: Sepehr, Shahram and Azar, we evolved into a good team, learned a lot, and as a type this I'm smiling at some of the off course antics......Uzi!, Shopping!, clearing our Edwin Watts, Dinners at various places, the dance off!, rules discussions!, beers/vodka/tequilas!, Onstar :), "why the rush man!" and last but not least your enthusiasm was contagious....I thank my for making my week, you are all legends in your own rights and I look forward to stepping on the tee soon and having another go.

We will be back!

A final thought for the week, Cleveland Golf and Srixon Sports were very kind to provide us with some balls, accessories and caps for the event.

Thank you for your support.

My Preparation for Sawgrass

2011-05-10T19:25:00.000+01:00

Here is a practice shot today while practising for the 17th Island green at Sawgrass.

Nearly holed it!

I'm there next week for the Players Championship for a Pro Am event.

Cant Wait.

RIP Seve - The Legend

2011-05-07T16:25:00.000+01:00

My Golfing Hero has Passed.

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota (9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011)

What a very sad day, Seve who had fought brain cancer for 3 years sadly lost his battle today.
I have added the link to the official news broke on his website earlier today.

www.seveballesteros.com

I'm sure we all have stories of Seve, personally he was the reason that golf was appealing, like many I played a number of sports growing up to varying levels of success but it was that wining putt at St Andrews in 1984 that got me hooked.
The passion, the flamboyance, the artist, the legend........you will be sadly missed.
You lead European golf into the modern era and transformed the Ryder Cup.....never will we forget.

I was lucky enough to have met Seve in and around 1998 at Wentworth for the PGA Championship, my coach Glenn Ralph had gained access for us on the practice range and whilst he spoke with Pete Cowen I noticed Seve quietly practising on his own.....I couldn't resist, when would I get another chance to met my golfing "god". I approached and asked if I could watch him hit some balls to have a chat, the true gent that he was he said of course, for the next 30 minutes I watched in ore as he hit wedge after wedge on the range, the balls were dancing around the flag and his ability to repeat such control was memorizing. I will never forget that day for the rest of my life, thank you Seve.
At the academy, above my desk sits a series of images as he celebrates holing that winning putt in 84, in our lounge sits proudly a signed picture from Oak Hill Ryder Cup.

Thank you for the inspiration, the entertainment, the great moments that golf will never forget and for helping our great game develop into a force to be reckoned with.

"The world is not as great now as when you walked among us"

(Darren Bragg 7/5/2011)

My Swing May 2011

2011-05-06T14:29:00.000+01:00

GTB - Celtic Manor Mini Break Overview

2011-05-03T21:45:00.000+01:00

Last Monday and Tuesday Adrian and I took some clients down to Celtic Manor for a 2 day 2 round Golf Tuition Breaks mini break.

The Group

(Darren, Adrian, Matt "GTB site designer, John, Kris, Michael and Andy taking the pic)

Monday

An early start for me, left the girls at home at 6am!
Adrian and I set of from London at around 7am and made our way to Wales, a quick coffee stop was needed on route where we met Andy and Matt (AT wearing his smoking jacket and slippers to suit the Jag........no comment :)). We arrived at the 2010 clubhouse just before 10am and the Ryder Cup experience began.
For those who have not been to CM 2010, once you arrive you provide the staff there your clubs and keys, whilst you are shown around the clubhouse including being shown to your personal locker for the day your car is parked.
After a bite to eat we are chauffeured to the range where we all met. After working on our games we were taken to the first tee and the round began.

My 1st tee shot 2010

Adrian's 1st drive 2010

A very cold drink (beer) was needed after the round, our clubs were again taken by the CM staff to be cleaned ready for another day, we all received a 2010 bag tag with date, tee time and name engraved as a memento of the day.
After checking into the hotel we gathered for a drink and lovely dinner in the Olive restaurant.
A great day!

Tues

Adrian was up early and decided to go down for an coffee before breakfast, to his surprise Colin Montgomerie appeared and it wasn't long before Adrian was sitting with Colin having a chat. They discussed dealing with pressure/nerves on the golf course and Ryder Cup's, Colin was very insightful and happy to discuss his views on the subject, interestingly he was of the opinion that "experience" is the best way to learn to deal with pressure and he mentioned that he believed that Rory would win a major for sure soon.

After a very big "welsh" breakfast we hit the range and short game area for some more work with our clients and prepared ourselves for the Monty course, for those that haven't played it you really should use a buggy, it is a touch hilly to say the least. Of course we walked!!

It was great to spend the time with our clients and we thoroughly enjoyed the two days in the sun.

Thanks to all that came with us.

Cheers

Darren

Darren Bragg & Adrian Cafaro

Darren Bragg, 17th 2010.

Matt Miller 17th 2010, Birdie putt.

Darren Bragg 18th tee 2010

Darren Bragg, Eagle putt on 18!