Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Golf Monthly

A life well lived As editor of Golf Monthly, one of the roles I take the most pleasure in is reading, and replying to, letters and emails from readers. I love the opportunity to discuss all aspects of golf, and greatly value the fact that someone has taken the time to share their thoughts on the game we all love so dearly. One reader I especially enjoyed exchanging emails with was Dr Alan Gibb from Aberdeenshire. Over the years, Alan and I developed a great rapport and discussed all manner of topics. His observations on the game were always on the money and in every exchange his passion for golf shone through. So it was with great sadness that at the start of September I received an email from his…

In the last couple of months, we’ve seen the two extremes of scoring on the PGA Tour: Dustin Johnson’s 30-under at The Northern Trust and then Bryson DeChambeau’s masterclass at the US Open where he finished as the only player under par par. Bryson’s win at Winged Foot was accompanied by the usual whines about the course set-up, but the USGA hadn’t made the challenge unfair as has sometimes been the case in recent years. It was just a hugely tough test which one man passed with flying colours. Photography: Kevin Murray While we’re all for seeing as many birdies and eagles as possible, watching the best in the world struggle to make par brings its own entertainment. It’s not something we’d like to see every week, but it definitely…

How horrible is the sensation as you watch your ball sailing inexorably towards the out of bounds, the neck-high rough or a penalty area? It must be one of the most helpless and painful feelings in golf. Can you imagine never experiencing such traumas again? To know you would never miss another fairway would be hugely liberating and exhilarating for any golfer. Levels of on-course relaxation would go sky high. Knowing you’ll always be playing your second from the short stuff, you could really focus on the scoring zone and shooting low. Never three-putting again would, of course, be very welcome indeed, but it wouldn’t necessarily translate to superb scoring. If you’ve shelled one off the course and hacked around in the rough before blasting out of a greenside bunker,…

Photography: Kevin Murray…

The emergence of premium, luxury golf brands like PXG has paved the way for more mainstream manufacturers to provide something that offers a little extra with no expense spared. For Titleist, this takes the form of its Cncpt iron range. The two original Cncpt irons, the CP-01 and CP-02, were launched in April last year and the new irons have the same goal of producing “the most satisfying ball-striking experience imaginable”. The CP-02 irons carry over from last year but Titleist has added two new models this time around to cater for more golfers. The new CP-03 and CP-04 have been constructed from exotic, high-performance materials that can take up to eight months just to source. Each part has been forged and cast to extreme limits of precision for supreme…

I’ve just got back from the US Open, which was a serious test. That said, it was great and I really enjoyed it. The course was unbelievably good and it was fun, even though I didn’t play very well and missed the cut. It wasn’t like Bethpage Black, which is just a brute; you could enjoy Winged Foot and appreciate its beauty even if you struggled. On the course, I actually played quite well for the first nine but putted poorly, which has been a consistent theme since lockdown. I shanked a bunker shot on the 10th hole which led to a double-bogey out of nowhere, and that was very typical of what I’ve been doing lately – hitting the occasional shocker, which just throws me. It was kind of…

TIGER WOODS: CHIP-IN 16th hole, final round, 2005 Although we haven't ranked our 12 greatest shots, for many, it simply has to be Tiger's chip in 2005. One ahead of Chris DiMarco, Tiger fired his tee shot through the green at the par 3 into a seemingly impossible position, the ball resting against the second cut of grass with an extraordinary slope between it and the cup. He took his time then struck his chip on to the top section of the green – it checked up perfectly then began to tumble slowly down the slope. It took an age to roll down to the cup, then it stopped right on the lip – a perfect moment for his sponsor – before gravity won the battle and it dropped into…

Photography: Getty Images There’s nothing more aesthetically pleasing than watching Rory McIlroy or Adam Scott hold the perfect finish – it all looks so natural. It’s part of the swing that gets talked about a lot, but is it really that important, or is a balanced finish just for show? For many players, it’s not a position that they think about – not during the swing at least. That said, most professionals acknowledge that reaching a balanced finish is crucial. Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Paul Foston explains why this is, and highlights some of the faults that prevent amateur golfers getting to a model finish. Learn how you can achieve the perfect pose, and find out what the pros have to say. No, it’s not all about looks; it’s…

1 It’s important to get your weight going into your right side as you go back. See how I’ve made a full upper-body turn and allowed my hips to turn. At the top of my backswing, I’ve got about 75% of my weight on my right side. My focus is on staying centred – no swaying or leaning back. 2 Too many amateurs initiate the downswing with their hands and arms. I like my pupils to squat. Squatting will help you to transition with the lower body. As you go down, you open up your pelvis; you bend your knees and turn your hips. 3 The golf swing is all about rotation, flexion and extension. When you throw a ball, you do all that – which makes this tennis ball…

1 Chipping A common fault with amateurs is that they decelerate. Hit some balls from some bad rough around the greens. I spend quite a bit of time doing this, which helps me get up and down more often. For amateurs, it’ll help them to stop decelerating through the ball, improving their feel. 2 Increasing power Squeezing an extra 15 yards… that’s almost impossible! I don’t bomb the ball; I hit it an average distance and I try and stick to that most of the time. However, if I really want to hit one long, I’ll tee it up a little higher, put it a little more forward in the stance and try to send it up in the air. 3 Reading greens Depending on how long the putt is,…

GM Verdict The latest push trolley from Big Max is extremely lightweight and comes with a really simple folding mechanism as well as a five-year warranty. As soon as we put our bag on the trolley we noticed how easy it was to push – it really did take minimal effort to move it around the golf course, even when we had quite a lot of things in the pockets of our bag. It comes with a straight central axle linking the two larger rear wheels, which certainly seemed to help provide a more stable ride. The base of the trolley is designed to fit with Big Max bags, like the new Dri Lite sport we tested it with, which stops it from twisting during the course of a round.…

Performance averages (50-yard pitch)…

Last month, we highlighted the varied joys of playing shorter courses. Two of the most appealing joys are the real pleasure of not having to constantly strive for distance and the advantage of getting round in good time. There is a somewhat macho vanity in some golfers that drives a desire to always play from the back tees. Anything further forward and “you’re not really playing the course as it was meant to be, are you?” I disagree, and while I have some sympathy for single-figure players and big hitters, we teen-handicappers also relish the opportunity at certain times in the round to reach greens in regulation with mid- and short-irons. Taking driver on a par 3, as I did in August at both Royal Cinque Ports and Goswick Links,…

A day to remember I just wanted to share a pretty incredible and very happy story with all golf fans. I was on the green of the 7th hole at Denham Golf Club when I received the news about the birth of my first grandson. My next tee shot, on the par-3 8th, managed to go straight into the hole. I am not a religious man, but surely this is proof that the golfing gods are real. Here's my guide on how to hit a hole-in-one: 1) Make sure you're playing golf while waiting to be told that you’re about to become a granddad, 2) After receiving the news, proceed to the next tee (it helps if it’s a par 3), 3) Say out loud the words “I’m dedicating this…

Gear News Round-Up Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel both put a set of TaylorMade P7MB irons in play at the Safeway Open. Open Champion Shane Lowry has updated his bag with the Srixon ZX7 irons, as well as Cleveland RTX ZipCore wedges. Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith all put the new Titleist TSi3 driver in play at the US Open. Dustin Johnson added a 19° TaylorMade SIM DHY utility iron to his bag at the US Open to find more fairways. Matthew Wolff finished 2nd at the US Open with a new set of TaylorMade P7MC irons, replacing his old P750s. SPOTTED ON TOUR TS drivers eyed Titleist began seeding its new TSi drivers and fairway woods across both tours at the Safeway Open and Portugal Masters. FJ’s…

adraig Harrington may be remembered for his exploits at The Open and his win at the USPGA, but the Irishman has a pretty decent record at Augusta too. He competed on 15 occasions between 2000 and 2015 and registered four top-tens, finishing joint fifth in both 2002 and 2008. But it was in 2007 when he says he came closest to glory. He attacked the pin with his second shot on the 15th in an attempt to find an eagle and put pressure on eventual winner Zach Johnson. His ball found the green but rolled back into the water. With that, his hopes were gone – something that still irritates him to this day. Here, the Irishman tells us about that close encounter and recalls some of the other memories…

Bryson DeChambeau’s eyes light up and a devilishly happy smile stretches across his broad face. In an instant he has suddenly transformed, from the incredible bulk to a 12-year-old boy at Christmas. Only DeChambeau’s will come in November and it won’t be rung in by a jolly fat guy in a red coat, but rather by a cadre of serious men in Green Jackets. Just the mere mention of The Masters and Augusta National is enough to turn golf’s mad scientist giddy. Imagine once he steps on to the 1st tee at Augusta? “Oh my god, there are so many holes that I can let loose on,” he recently told Golf Monthly. “I haven’t played there since I’ve added all this length. I’ll go back a few weeks before [The…

ASHLEY CHESTERS “If you’re not fully off your right heel at the finish, you’ve probably not got through the ball. I try and clear low left and finish as much on my right toe as I can” FELICITY JOHNSON “I’d always try and show a clean pair of studs to someone standing behind me. I like to think it comes naturally, but to get all six spikes showing… that would be ideal for me” MATT WALLACE “One person whose finish I really like is Tommy Fleetwood’s – that shorter, curtailed finish he has. It’s always in balance. I used his finish after he came second at the US Open at Shinnecock in 2018. In Germany, I shortened my follow-through because I wanted to get more of that compression feel, and…

GM Verdict The JPX921 Hot Metal has been made one degree stronger in the 4- to 8-irons (7-iron: 29°) thanks to the new head design. From the address view, we actually found it difficult to tell the difference between the Hot Metal and the Hot Metal Pro. We expected the Hot Metal Pro to be noticeably more compact, especially given the more refined look of the Forged iron, but the differences were very subtle. We tested the JPX921 irons on the FlightScope X3 launch monitor and found the Hot Metal gave us the fastest ball speeds of the four on a similarly high trajectory. This resulted in carries in excess of 180 yards for a 7-iron. The latest Hot Metal provided a bigger jump in distance (seven yards) over its…

On October 15 2000, Billy Andrade held off the challenge of Phil Mickelson to win the Invensys Classic and become the first professional golfer to triumph using the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball. Fast forward 20 years to the month and it has now been used to win over 3,000 tour events around the world. During the early 2000s, I was at St Andrews University and I clearly remember the clamour for this new product among my golf-playing pals. We all wanted to use it, but as cash-strapped students, the premium price tag made for some difficult compromises. What made it so special was that it offered real spin control and a soft feel while also being truly long and durable. It was the best of both worlds. It was…

The functionality of electric trolleys in particular has taken a big leap forward in 2020, with brands offering up new ways to enhance your on-course experience. Integrating GPS technology into the display is one way trolleys of today offer added value, removing the need for an external device by putting everything in one place. Remotecontrolled trolleys are also becoming more prevalent, with golfers enjoying the hands-free experience. “Even as a laser user, I’ve found the GPS distances on trolleys useful on longer shots, when hitting the middle of the green is the best option”Joel Tadman, GM technical editor One common theme across all trolleys this year is the improvement in frame design, enabling them to fold down simply to a surprisingly small size while remaining robust. Push trolleys provide a…

1 John Maxwell Homa was born in California and is a huge fan of the Los Angeles-based Lakers and Dodgers of the NBA and MLB respectively. He has also cited Laker legend Kobe Bryant as one of his favourite athletes. His maiden PGA Tour win came at the Wells Fargo Championship last year. 2 Homa's favourite golf course is The National Golf Links of America. Designed by CB MacDonald, the course played host to the 2013 Walker Cup in which Homa competed. In a US team that included Justin Thomas, Homa played in three matches and won two to help the US win 17-9. 3 Homa is well known in the golfing world for his Twitter exploits. He's gained a following of over 173,000 and has become famous for the…

The USGA has come in for a lot of criticism over the last few years for the way it sets up its courses for the US Open, but I think it did an excellent job at Winged Foot. Decent scores were available on the first day and then the course came back to bite over the last three. If you take away Bryson, the next best was even par, which is what the USGA strives for. I thought it was an incredible US Open. Incredible is also a word we should use to describe Bryson DeChambeau. He’s taken things to a different level and he’s changing the face of our game. For the better? I’m not sure, but that’s not a slight on him or the way he’s approached things.…

The 2020 Masters will be an unprecedented event for two reasons: the November start date and the fact the tournament will be contested behind closed doors. There’s no question those elements will have an impact on proceedings, but the key attributes needed to compete at Augusta National – accuracy and distance control with irons, short-game prowess and an ability to sense the occasion and seize the moment – will still remain. That said, this year’s Masters will be a challenge like no other. Tiger Woods will be back to defend, but the image of this year’s champion securing victory on the 18th green will sit in stark contrast to 2019’s historic event, where 40,000 spectators roared with Tiger on the 72nd green as he landed his 15th Major title and…

Take us through the experience of arriving at Augusta for the first time and the range of emotions you experience… It was really cool. The first time I drove down Magnolia Lane I was with my coach in a hire car, and it was quite odd doing that trip in a beat-up white rental vehicle. It was everything I’d imagined it might be, though it wasn’t the longest drive in the world. I think they make it look longer in the pictures! But it’s a great experience, and then you come to the famous flower bed, which is pretty cool. As the week went on, I enjoyed it more and more. And as time has gone on since then, I’ve found myself reflecting and thinking fondly of my time there…

1 Strong left-hand grip Tommy likes to see two to two-and-a-half knuckles on his left hand when he looks down. It means he has a slightly shut clubface at the top of the backswing – which is a common trait among great ball-strikers. It necessitates a good lower-body action on the through swing, which helps him to clear the hips and keep the clubface square. Tommy’s lower-body action is a major factor in multiplying the leverage in the transition from the backswing to the downswing. In this sense, the strong left-hand grip, which leads to that slightly closed clubface, has become a strength. 2 Synchronisation He had a drill with his swing coach, Alan Thompson, where he’d hit balls with minimum wrist movement. It would help him get his arms,…

1 To practise how hard to hit short putts, find a hole with putts straight uphill, straight downhill and two across the slope. Up the hill, you can putt fairly firmly with a brisk tempo, while downhill you might smooth out your tempo and try to feel the ball home more. On sidehill putts, you must decide how firmly to hit it before picking your line – for me, it’s not quite just falling in front edge, but certainly not firmly into the back where anything off-centre could lip out. 2 The saying is, if you want to hit the barn door, aim for the key hole. If you practise to a very small target, the hole will then seem huge when it’s for real. Set a tee in the…

Looks The ZX7 has a more compact, deeper-faced profile at address compared with the ZX5. It has a simple, no-frills look on top and a very subtle alignment mark to minimise distractions over the ball. GM Verdict Srixon is a brand that goes under the radar, but it makes some impressive products that compete with the very best in multiple categories, most notably balls and irons. But how does its new driver offering stack up? We tested the ZX7 model in 8.5° on the Foresight Sports GCQuad launch monitor using Titleist Pro V1x balls before hitting it outdoors on the range. We have to say we were impressed from the off. At address, it has an appealing look behind the ball. The smaller, more rounded profile will suit the eye…

Illustration: Peter Strain If Mr Spock ever took the time to cast an alien eye over a pro golf tournament this autumn, he might well be moved to say: “It’s golf, Jim, but not as we know it.” There are various ways to define big-time pro sport but, for now, let’s say it’s a popular entertainment that draws significant crowds to pay serious money to watch other men and women play a game. Oh, we may dress it up by attaching historical significance, maybe even societal-changing influence, and we would not be entirely wrong to do so. But it is the simple joy of observing other, more gifted – certainly more obsessed – members of our race do stuff with balls that we only very rarely, sometimes never, manage to…