Fylde coast golf round-up: Knott End fly flag for NHS, Fairhaven appoint captains, help with hooking

Staff and officials are working from home to ensure a smooth transition when the club is able to reopen, while greens staff are keeping the course in tip-top condition, while still social-distancing.

The usual celebrations surrounding the appointment of a club captain and lady captain may have been missing this year, but at Fairhaven Golf Club Keiron Reilly and Pat Francis have been warmly welcomed into office.

New captain Keiron has been a Fylde coast resident for more than 50 years and a member at Fairhaven since 2007.

Husband to Yvonne and father to Scott, Keiron said: “I am looking forward to representing Fairhaven Golf Club over the coming year, and although these are unprecedented times I’m hoping we can all get back to some normality sooner rather than later.”

Pat has been a Fairhaven member since 1998 and has recently retired from a career in banking.

She is an enthusiastic supporter of the St Annes Ladies’ Lifeboat Guild, RNLI Lytham and the National Art Society.

Pat and husband Trevor have been Blackpool FC season ticket holders for the past decade.

She said: “I’m honoured to have been chosen as Lady Captain at Fairhaven and look forward to when we can start playing golf again.

This week’s top tip from Alastair Taylor of Lytham Golf Academy is designed to help players stop hooking their iron shots.

While many golfers slice their shots, those who hit that dreaded hook are often overlooked and forgotten... well, not this week.

The first thing we need to understand is what causes the hook, assuming the ball is struck fairly centrally.

The hook is caused when the club face is pointing at the target or to the left but the path of the club moves too far to the right. This is for a right-handed golfer – obviously the opposite applies if you play left-handed.

We need to remember that the ball sets off close to where the club face is pointing, and that the club path shapes the shot.

So if you hook, you can change the club path with a simple adjustment to your set-up. All your need to do is move the ball further forward in your stance.

With the club travelling on an arc around your body, move the ball further forward in that arc. That way the club path will be straighter as it reaches the ball.

This can also alter where the club face points to, but for now just try moving the ball forward in your stance and this should stop you hooking shots.

To contact Ali, email [email protected] or watch more free tips on his YouTube channel AliTaylorGolf.

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New Fairhaven Golf Club captain Keiron Reilly and lady captain Pat Francis