Hello golfers,

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly newsletter. In this week's email, we discuss whether slow play is coming to an end, we have our final video from Ian Poulter looking at hitting a hybrid from the rough and we explain why we stock a particular brand in-store. Enjoy the read.

Winter Knockout Entries

Just a quick reminder that entries for the Winter Foursomes Knockout are still open and the closing date has been extended until Saturday, 11 November. You can enter via MasterScoreBoard in your pairs or give us a buzz in the shop and we'll do it for you.

Entries are also open on MasterScoreBoard for the Seniors' Winter Greensomes Knockout which will be drawn using one lower handicapper and one higher handicapper in each pairing. The Seniors' Singles Winter Knockout is also open for entries via MasterScoreBoard. Closing date for these entries is Friday, 10 November.

Winter Rules

Please note that, with effect from today, Winter Rules will come into operation on the course and the local rule referring to preferred lies will apply until further notice.

Is slow play coming to an end?

The Rules of Golf are undergoing dramatic change at the moment as the R&A and USGA – golf’s two governing bodies – look to bring the game inline with today’s needs. Their Rules Modernisation initiative includes several updates that’ll hopefully bring about a faster speed of play and shorter rounds of golf; no one wants to be taking 4+ hours to play 18 holes.

Well now the European Tour want to do their bit and to be fair to them, they’ve been at the forefront of modernising golf with innovative events such as Super 6 and GolfSixes. This week they’ve introduced a new event onto the 2018 calendar – the 2018 Shot Clock Masters. As the name suggests, players will have a strict 40-second shot clock on each stroke in an aim to cut round time by at least 45 minutes. The punishment if they take too long? A one-stroke penalty.

Will it work? Let us know your thoughts.