Georgia vs Azerbaijan
Thanks to everyone who travelled to Tbilisi Hills this past week to play our first Club Match in GEORGIA. WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!!! Summarising the trip Phil Jones General Manager, “We Lost…. we would love to say by only a small margin, but the truth is the Tbilisi Hills team played well and used their course knowledge to their advantage for a
15 ½ - 8 ½ winning margin! Our friendship trophy (Scottish Quaich) is safely in the hands of Gary, Andro, Perry and the rest of the team till next season’s rematch.
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“Friday’s practise round gave us a great chance to view the course for the weekend ahead. Located on hill land looking down over the city, most holes are tree lined, with undulating fairways and some very testing greens on the back nine. Under GM Perry Einfeldt’s management the team have grown in the course exceptionally well and its providing some excellent playing surfaces already in its first season. Its scenic and spectacular, with the image of the Shavnabada Monastery from the 16th hole leaving a lasting memory for all players.
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The format for the weekend followed that of the Ryder Cup, starting with the Saturday morning fourball matches. Well done to the pairings of Alistair Macduff & Andrew Hulston Wade Droney and Rory O'Mahony for putting some points on the board before lunch for Azerbaijan. The afternoon foursomes (alternate shots) was a new format to many players, with the Georgian team extending their lead with wins by their team Captain Gary Dunkley and PGA Professional Paul Creasey against Phil Jones and Khalil Khuseynov 1up. Dreamland’s points for the afternoon came from the consistent play of Andy Hulston & Les Tulleth and Wade Droney (with his cart driven by Dean McEwan), Alistair Macduff and Rory O'Mahony secured the only halved match for the afternoon – leaving Georgia a convincing lead of
7 ½ to 4 ½ .
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With a Saturday evening spent sampling the sights and sounds of Tbilisi, the Dreamland players studied tactics and some local Chacha (interestingly supplied by the Golf Club).
Final Day - In some what cool and windy conditions the Sunday singles got underway just after 10.00am with points quickly heading to the host team’s tally. Wins for Andy Hulston (Tour Champ!) and Jeyhun MAMMADBAYLI were added to halved match points from Khalil, Rory, Les and Phil J (ha). Ultimately the might of the Georgian's hospitality and good golf won the match for them, as even our current Club Champion couldn’t tame the course - only winning a side contest prize all weekend (and even that was donated!) With dates discussed for a return visit to Tbilisi in May next year the main Friendship Trophy will be played mid-summer here in Baku.
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We have popped a couple of recommends below should you wish to travel
Buta Airlines – The flights work out well and the timings offer some options for you to get back to Baku either very early on a Monday morning or Monday afternoon. Be careful with the weight of your baggage and unlike AZAL (their parent company) golf clubs are seen as oversized baggage so you may be asked to pay additional (circa 50AZN). Note the Golf Club do have new hire sets so you can rent clubs if you wish.
www.butaairways.az
Accommodation – We used the MOXY hotel – A newly opened fun hotel, Good location and perfect for a golf trip, ideal rooms with all you need for weekend away, a casual all day restaurant which is used to serve a good breakfast to set you up for Golf.
http://moxy-hotels.marriott.com/hotels/tbilisi
Weather - The golf season is very similar to Baku, although Georgia doesn’t get the winds we do. Go for May – October to enjoy the best playing conditions.
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IGTM
Anton and Russell Hannah from IMG are in Ljubljana Slovenia this week for the annual International Golf Travel Market. A chance for us to meet global tour operators and promote Azerbaijan as a golf destination. With a growing number of golfers every year, 2019 offers a great chance to bring players who may be in country for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix or the Europa League football final to be held at the Olympic Stadium on the 29th of May.
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Helping Hand!
Thanks as always to our golf team of Nadir and Fuad who support with many official duties for the protocol team. Pictured here yesterday in Astara close to the Iranian border, President Ilham Aliyev officially opened and toured the cities new boulevard and gardens in the comfort of our Garia golf car.
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Saturday 13th of October 2018 – Saturday Roll Up Results
Last Saturday the weather was perfect for October with 32 players using this opportunity to participate in weekly Saturday Roll Up. There was a tie on top of leader board with Alisdair Still and John McBrierty both scoring 4 under par 40 points. In order to determine winner, it required us to look at their back nine scores. Since their back nine scores were also the same, 21pts, it further required us to look at their back six scores. After countback, Ali took first place with better back 6 score of 15pts, whereas John had 14 pts on back six which resulted him to take second place. Third place was taken by Nicholas Young with his 3 under par 39 points.
Last Saturday 3 players had 2s on their card. Ali Still birdied the 5th and 17th holes, Grant Gilmour birdied the 13th hole and John Ball eagled! the 11th hole to put 2 on their scorecards. They will also share last week’s rolled over 2s club prize money.
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Medal Grand Final
On 21st of October we will have our last medal series of the year - Medal Grand Finalş Be sure to sign up and we will arrange the draw with morning tee times. Points will be on offer to the leading 10 players in each handicap division 0-21 and 22-36. The entry fee is free for all members, with an optional 5 AZN if you wish to join the 2’s club. Good Luck to all.
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Qatar Trip
We are pleased to launch the sign up for any players wishing to join us in Qatar this November. For any players wanting to sample some warm golf at that time of year, it will be a fantastic trip to experience the best courses in Doha.
Friday 23rd of November – Late evening flight down to Doha – Check in at the Grand Hyatt Hotel
Saturday 24th of November – Education City Golf Club Doha – Due to open January 2019!
Sunday 25th of November – Doha Golf Club – home of the Qatar Masters (European Tour Event)
Sunday 25th of November – Return flight to Baku
We are confirming final costs through Qatar Airways and the Grand Hyatt Doha, however if you would like to register your initial interest please contact Anton Samsonov
Anton.Samsonov@dreamlandgolfclub.com
and we will update as soon as we have the full package price.
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Arccos Caddie
Winner of three-straight Golf Digest Editor's Choice Awards for "Best Game Analyzer", ARCCOS features 14 sensors – one for every club in your bag - and access to golf's Smartest Caddie, powered by Artificial Intelligence. Golf's first and only fully-automatic shot-tracking system records and analyzes every shot you hit. It provides "plays like" distances to any point on the course and tour analytics to help you make smarter decisions to shoot lower scores.
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User Benefits:
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Get Artificial Intelligence-powered caddie advice for every shot, on every hole
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Know your exact distance to any point on the course
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Learn precisely which club to use in every situation
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Identify your actual strengths and weaknesses
ARCCOS really is an easy way to improve your game. To understand more about these benefits please see the following link:
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In conjunction with the launch of this fantastic product to Dreamland, Head Professional Alex Day is offering a customized lesson package. Through access to player’s online data, Alex will analyse player’s individual on course performance
FREE for a month
and then tailor
3 x 50 minute sessions
covering Driving, Iron Play, and Short Game. In addition Alex shall offer a
FREE 2 hour on course
session ensuring the course management skills are in check. This package is perfect for the season end to highlight and provide focus on what needs most attention over the coming winter months.
- ARCCOS Caddie - 595AZN (565AZN with member discount)
- ARCCOS Caddie with lesson package – 995AZN
Stocks are limited with only 6 pieces remaining. Please contact a member of the Academy team to purchase.
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IMG’s Ryder Cup Stars
In recent weeks I have highlighted a couple of moves from both Molinari and Stenson that are not considered the norm when compared to a typical modern day golf swing. This week we shall be focusing IMG managed golfer Jordan Spieth who also has a swing characteristic that is not classed as text book.
You will see from Spieths swing in the link below that his lead (left) arm remains bent throughout the swing. Often within the amateur game, such swing mechanics are caused by physical limitations. However, this isn’t the case for Spieth – rather it’s a move he has grooved over time that enables him to reduce the degree of clubface rotation through impact and make a more efficient repeatable swing.
Golf instruction books and coaches will usually encourage golfers to keep the lead arm straight. It is considered by most that a bent lead arm throughout the backswing and down into impact will impede the swing in that it produces a narrower arc and loss of distance.
Nevertheless as Spieth and so many other world class golfers have proved over the decades, performance always comes before aesthetics. The ultimate goal for any player and coach is to develop a repeatable swing that works best under pressure and to not try and eradicate natural tendencies in an attempt to produce a ‘good looking’ swing.
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Foot Golf
To coincide with the football season getting underway this month we are offering a 2 for 1 promotion on all Monday evening rounds of Foot Golf.
The game is played similarly to golf, with the exception that a football is used instead of a golf ball. Also the ball is kicked rather than hit with a club, and aimed towards an oversized hole in place of the usual golf hole. Our specially built 9 hole course at the Academy includes bunkers, trees, hills and water which should all be evaded to reach the hole.
It’s great fun for all the family!! Get your shooting boots on and come and have a crack at breaking the Dreamland course record. We’re open every Monday from 17:00-20:00
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Pre-Owned Clubs For Sale – More Stock Needed!
Please find below the link to our Pre–Owned selection of golf equipment which we have on offer with the Golf Academy Team. Alex, Kamran or Emma are delighted to allow you to trial any of the items at the Driving Range, as you can see many of the leading brands are featured. If you have any clubs that you wish to sell the team are happy to prepare valuations.
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Dreamland Golf Club | +994 (0) 12 404 7 404 | reservations@dreamlandgolfclub.com |
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