Outside-half Jason Tovey is a master at booting a rugby ball through posts on the Rodney Parade Pitch.
But he is not too bad either at driving a golf ball past the uprights – as he proved when helping to open the new – look driving range at the Parc Golf Club, Coedkernew, Newport.
Beneath the floodlights, the Newport Gwent Dragons ace kicker picked out an eight iron and launched his ball straight as an arrow through the centre of the posts 130 yards away.
Parc owner Carl Hicks has invested in a set of rugby posts on the range which have already proved to be a hit with all members and visitors young and old. Tovey, Smith and Buckley all had a go at firing balls through the uprights – and they all found it was not as easy as it looks.
The Dragons players took on a group of the club’s youngsters in chipping to the new trampoline targets, set at short distances from the bays and aimed at helping improve a player’s short game. The Rugby posts are wide enough to account slight errors in judgement from a shot but not too distant to allow badly pulled or sliced shots to bisect the uprights. In so doing, it helps a player aim his shot straight.
The verdict from the Dragons was unanimously positive. Centre Smith, who captained the team against Glasgow at Rodney Parade last Sunday, said: “I think it will attract a lot of people, especially the younger generation, to have a go.
“It's all about competition in sport and you can see they will have a challenge with their mates when they are here.”
Tovey joked: “I managed to put it over with a pitching wedge! No, not really! But hitting things straight comes normal for me.”
Carl Hicks added:
"When we looked to refurbish the driving range, we thought about having something different to use as a target and the rugby posts came to mind as a novel but practical idea.
“It’s ideal as we are a club which has closed associations with Newport Gwent Dragons and it was really good to have Jason and the other players Ashley Smith and Rhys Buckley over to test it out.”
Parc is open to non members and all persons and families are welcome to enjoy the range facilities, and Public bars and Restaurants.
But he is not too bad either at driving a golf ball past the uprights – as he proved when helping to open the new – look driving range at the Parc Golf Club, Coedkernew, Newport.
Beneath the floodlights, the Newport Gwent Dragons ace kicker picked out an eight iron and launched his ball straight as an arrow through the centre of the posts 130 yards away.
Parc owner Carl Hicks has invested in a set of rugby posts on the range which have already proved to be a hit with all members and visitors young and old. Tovey, Smith and Buckley all had a go at firing balls through the uprights – and they all found it was not as easy as it looks.
The Dragons players took on a group of the club’s youngsters in chipping to the new trampoline targets, set at short distances from the bays and aimed at helping improve a player’s short game. The Rugby posts are wide enough to account slight errors in judgement from a shot but not too distant to allow badly pulled or sliced shots to bisect the uprights. In so doing, it helps a player aim his shot straight.
The verdict from the Dragons was unanimously positive. Centre Smith, who captained the team against Glasgow at Rodney Parade last Sunday, said: “I think it will attract a lot of people, especially the younger generation, to have a go.
“It's all about competition in sport and you can see they will have a challenge with their mates when they are here.”
Tovey joked: “I managed to put it over with a pitching wedge! No, not really! But hitting things straight comes normal for me.”
Carl Hicks added:
"When we looked to refurbish the driving range, we thought about having something different to use as a target and the rugby posts came to mind as a novel but practical idea.
“It’s ideal as we are a club which has closed associations with Newport Gwent Dragons and it was really good to have Jason and the other players Ashley Smith and Rhys Buckley over to test it out.”
Parc is open to non members and all persons and families are welcome to enjoy the range facilities, and Public bars and Restaurants.
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