2019 Dreamland Family Golf Cup
With the kids getting ready for the new school year, Dreamland Golf Club prepared for its annual Family Golf Cup 2019 this past Saturday 7th of September. Regarded as a perfect family concept it allows all level of golfers to play with their spouses and kids over 9 holes in a pairs scramble format. With 10 teams participating this year we welcomed some new players to the tournament such as Andrey Dmitriyev with his daughter Daria and Paul Makey with Burenzaya Burenbayar as well as returning families who participate each year.
Prizes were awarded to the leading three teams with sponsors prizes from Forte Village Italy and stays at the Fairmont Flame Tower Hotel Baku. 1st place winners (who were defending their 2018 championship title) went to Susan and Kirsty Drummond with an outstanding 35 Gross score (-1) and NETT score of 22 (-14). In 2nd place were the husband and wife pairing of Evgeniy and Anastasia Epifanov who played Gross 42 and NETT 24.8 (-11.2). The final team prize of 3rd place went to Giorgio and Martina Danieli (father and daughter pairing) with a Gross 44 and NETT 27.1 (-8.9). We very much appreciate to all our families who play golf and encourage their friends and children to try this great game. We look forward to our 2020 Family Golf Cup here at Dreamland Golf Club, Baku.
Wyder Cup 2019
The 2019 Wyder Cup kicked off with the pairings for Saturdays play announced on Friday night, although a few players managed to get a practice round in on Friday, with the course proving to be in excellent condition. Greens were rolling fast and true, and the rough was punishing, although not to a level that would result in the loss of too many balls. Despite the conditions on Saturday, the course remained this way for the entire weekend, kudos to the greenkeepers for their efforts.
Most competitors arrived in reasonably good health for the Saturday morning Fourball matches. 
Unfortunately there was a late withdrawal from Scotland, with Gary Green needing to return to Baku for some (Non-self inflicted) medical treatment. Admirably, he managed a return late Saturday to take part in the Sunday individual matches.
Unfortunately the weather gods were not in such good spirits though, and the conditions were drizzly through the morning. This did not seem to affect the Scotland players, as they had a strong performance, winning the matches 6 to 2. Conditions worsened for the Foursomes matches turning cold and wet, and Rest Of The World managed to reduce the mornings deficit winning 5 points to 3, meaning the overnight lead went to Scotland, 9 points to 7.
The Captains’ order of plays were announced after Saturday dinner at the clubhouse. Some excellent match ups were made, with many asking what time the Sky TV broadcast of the Stuart McLean vs Greg McEwen match would start!
Almost perfect conditions greeted the players on Sunday for the Singles matches. Early leads to several of the Rest Of The World players had the result being very tight, although as the day progressed the Scotland players managed to get hold of a few key matches and finished strong. Final results had Scotland winning 9 to 7 for the day, 18 points to 14 overall, to become the 2019 Wyder Cup Champions, which was celebrated at the presentation ceremony at the Gym bar. (Thanks Kav, and get down there for the Rugby World Cup when it kicks off!!)
A massive thanks to all participants for the spirit in which the competition was entered, and look forward to seeing you all again in 2020!
Thanks to Bryan Thomas for the above article
2019 Azerbaijan Open
We are looking forward to this weekend and our 2019 Azerbaijan Open. We are delighted to welcome new sponsors to the event and new entertainment with world renounced Trick Shot and Golf Entertainer David Edwards joining us in Baku for the first time. For those competing please follow the link below to the official website with details of the weekends timings and events.
DAY ONE DRAW (Tee Times) will be published Thursday 12 of September / DAY TWO is a 10am Shotgun Start.
We are currently managing a waitlist for players wishing to compete so if you or a team member are unable to play please contact  events@dreamlandgolfclub.com  and we will replace from the list.  
Care of YOUR Course!
Please, Please help us to keep the course and playing surfaces in fantastic conditions – a few simple minutes to repair pitch marks makes all the difference to fellow players . With this in mind we ask you to study the table below showing the groupings for the first Letter of your SURNAME. Beside this you will see the hole numbers that we ask you to help with repairing extra pitchmarks (your own and others you see) on these greens EVERYTIME you play!
Going the Extra Mile!
For all those players prone to show their frustration on the golf course we were reminded this past weekend of the true cost of seeing “Red Mist”! A UAE visitor was so disappointed at his short game that he proceeded to launch his PXG!!! wedge towards the lake on hole 15.  With wind assisting, the club comfortably made the lake.  
Picture Credit: The distraught guest as we deploy our subsea expert “Fish Boy” to try and find the 600$ club ….but sadly to no avail.
7th of September 2019 – Saturday Roll Up Results
Due to Wyder Cup being played in Quba between Scotland and Rest of the World team, only 14 players participated in last week’s Saturday Roll Up. Sang Jun Park took first place with 3 under par 39 points. David Seo took second place with 2 under par 38 points. There was a tie for third place with Andrew Hulston and John McGhee both scoring level par 36 points. In order to determine third place winner, it required us to look at their back nine scores. After countback Andy took third place with better back nine score 20pts and John’s inward score of 17pts were not enough to keep him on the leader board. Last Saturday 2 players had 2s on their card. Andrew Hulston birdied the 10th and Leona Paterson birdied both 10th and 17th holes to put 2 on their scorecards.
NEW Local Rule – PACE OF PLAY for Tournaments
Increasingly we are seeing the need to manage and monitor groups that fall outside the pace of play guidelines during competition days. We have occasion when cards have been returned over 5 hours after the first shot has been struck.

Whilst we recognise that tournaments are popular the average field size is still only around 72 – 80 players. This is relatively light in numbers to what the course could take and is more dependent on the number of golf carts we have in use (again to support pace of play). With a Pace of Play guideline at 4.30 for 18 holes we will allow a further 30 minutes to give a max 5 Hour TOTAL ROUND TIME for cards to be signed and returned to the tournament team. 
Further details below: 
  • All cards posted after 5 hours from the start of the event (first tee shot struck) will be shown as a N/R - No Returned Score. 
  • This will also apply to Cards not signed by teams who are at the clubhouse and have forgotten to submit.
  • On recording N/R Cards the events team will proceed to announce the final results of the day – out of respect for the rest of the fellow competitors and sponsors present.
  • A score is only shown on the leader board once checked and entered in by the Events Team. Whilst the use of Golf Genius is encouraged for our competitions the score is validated by two signatures on your card.
  • This amend rule will be shown on all sign up and rules sheets to avoid further confusion
  • PLEASE “Keep up with the game in front and not just ahead of the game behind”.
Dreamland Golf Club Members 2019 Match-play Championship Sponsored by Garmin Azerbaijan
Three games have been complated on Fourth round and only one game remains to name all semi-finalists of this year's Match-Play Championship. The draw is updated with our Golf Genius software. As you enter the tournament website you will see it presented as a Left Side Draw and a Right Side Draw so you can track your progress. Please Note that for MATCHPLAY it is the responsibility of both players to arrange your match, please feel free to contact reservations to request the e-mail address of your opponent  reservations@dreamlandgolfclub.com   Well done to all players.

When booking a tee time, please let us know that your intention to play a match, so our team can prepare scorecards with the number of strokes given or received during the game. 
2019 Season Calendar
We hope players are enjoying our 2019 season so far, Stay tuned for more events due soon. Please feel free to contact the events team    events@dreamlandgolfclub.com      for further details.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
We would like to wish all our “Birthday Ballers!” the very best wishes as they celebrate in September. Go easy on them out on the course and make sure you treat them to a drink on their special day.
ACADEMY NEWS
Constraint Led Winning Drills
Some of Golf’s greatest short game players, Seve, Mickleson, and Donald, certainly didn’t over analyse when learning how to get the ball up and down. Instead they discovered for themselves fun ways of how to deal with various challenges and difficult conditions. Over the coming weeks Head Professional Alex Day will introduce a number of short game drills to help you increase clubhead awareness and feel. Intended to promote improved impact conditions, see how you get on figuring these drills out.

Last week we looked at the benefit of practicing trail arm (right arm for a right handed golfer) only pitches. This week we take a look at lead arm only pitch shots. In essence both have the same benefits, but hitting balls with only your lead arm is often more tricky as it’s generally not your dominant hand. In weakening the support by removing the trail arm from the swing, it becomes necessary to move the club along the correct line/path in order to make consistent contact. The brain and arm soon realise that the club needs to ‘ride’ and not ‘hunt’ during the movement.   If you attempt to ‘hit’ the ball you will often engage muscles incorrectly during the transition from the backswing into the downswing, causing the swing to become disconnected. The feeling to focus on is to work with natural forces and allow gravity to help release the clubhead. Ultimately this drill promotes correct grip pressure, forearm rotation and hand path.
The Drill:
Set up as normal to play a 50 yard pitch with your wedge – same ball position, stance width, posture etc. The only change is to remove your trail hand from the grip and place it by your side. From here make swings ensuring you rotate the shoulders back and through whilst applying light grip pressure for natural forces to occur. How many consecutive good strikes can you make? Please see the attached video for a demonstration. 
Azerbaijan Junior Open 2019
We are pleased to announce that on 5th of October 2019 Dreamland Golf Club will host Azerbaijan Junior Open 2019  tournament. It promises to be a fantastic event with four different categories to accommodate children of all ages and abilities. Please find further details in the document attached .
10 Yard Bucket Challenge
Need a new wedge? Can you pitch a ball 10 yards through the air? The task is simple – how many attempts will it take you to hit a ball into the bucket (Dreamland bin). The challenge costs just 10azn and members/guests are free to enter as many times as they wish. The golfer with the lowest score by the end of September shall receive a Titleist Vokey wedge.  Chris Wood-Woolley currently sits in first place after knocking Doctor Khalil from the top spot.
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.
Dreamland Golf Club | +994 (0) 12 404 7 404 | reservations@dreamlandgolfclub.com |