Hello everyone,

 

Drive for show, putt for dough? 

This is one of golf's great debates: given the choice, what would you rather be - a great putter or a great driver?   

Without wishing to influence your vote - and you can vote below on our website - we'd take a guess that most of you would go with the former; that if you are a confident putter and better than most, your scores will be far greater.

Others may say you could be the best putter in the world, but it counts for nothing if you're chipping out sideways from the fairway rough all day long - therefore accuracy and length off the tee would be preferable.   

There's no right or wrong answer, of course, although how good does it feel when you bomb one off the tee? Actually, it feels pretty good when you hole back-to-back 30-foot birdie putts, too.   

Vote on what you'd rather be, we'd be interested to know.   


 

Thatch the way you do it...

It's getting to that time of year when course maintenance is happening all over the country, so here's a little explanation of one of the buzzwords being hurled left, right, and centre - Verticutting.

Verticutting is, as it name implies, vertical mowing. Blades cut vertically into the turf, which has the distinct benefit of controlling thatch by removing dead and dying grass, and therefore removing and preventing thatch build-up. 

Thatch - A tightly packed layer of dead and living parts (from grass/plants) between the grass and soil. 

Why is thatch so bad? - Thatch can: contain insects and diseases, prevent the proper absorbtion of pesticides and other chemical treatments, a little thatch can help the soil retain moisture but too much can prevent water from penetrating the soil properly and lead to dry and wet spots, and lead to shallow rooted grass (which can cause a whole host of problems by itself). 

We know you all love pristine greens, but we need to carry out maintenance on them every so often to keep them that way.