Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2023 i Golf Monthly

The team at Golf Monthly strives to deliver consistently informative and interesting content, not only to guide and assist golfers but also to entertain, inspire and offer food for thought. We pride ourselves on our feature section and the variety within it. I think this month provides a superb example of the quality and diversity of features we produce. With a tour focus, Fergus Bisset has written a considered and measured profile piece on Rory McIlroy, offering some interesting theories on why the Northern Irishman seems to have such a split golfing personality just now. I think we all want to see more of the brilliant Rory, the man who wins tour events for fun, producing those winning performances in the Majors. I hope The Open returning to Hoylake, the…

The golf The Montgomerie - par 72, 7,301 yards The O’Meara – par 73, 7,165 yards The Montgomerie has hosted the Irish Open three times on the European Tour, most recently in 2013. The course’s designer, Colin Montgomerie, played in it in 2005, when he ended in an 11-way tie for 28th place, and in 2006, when he missed the cut. The impressive layout runs over a sparse landscape – foliage tends to be outside rather than inside the course. It utilises penal bunkering throughout to give definition to holes flanked by long fescue grass. The O’Meara is prettier, more undulating and easier. It has plenty of trees and water comes into play on the best stretch of the course, from 14 to 16. This trio of holes – two…

When Tom Doak’s Tara Iti links opened to great acclaim in 2015, it went straight to the top of the New Zealand rankings for many. New courses on pure linksland may be a rarity these days, but it has now been joined by the more accessible Te Arai Links just down the coast. Doak’s North course is scheduled for an October opening, while the South, created by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is now up and running. New Zealand GF: round: NZ$350-$650 Stats: par 72, 6,432 yards The pair have seized this rare links opportunity with both hands to fashion an absolute stunner in the dunes, meeting the design brief for a good test of strategy that would also remain wide and playable given its exposure to the elements. The…

Golf’s firmament is currently illuminated by a sparkling array of stars. In the men’s game, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler have recently dazzled, but your author would be among the many pundits who continue to believe that if and when Rory McIlroy plays his best golf, his star shines brightest. Nobody else in the pro game has the ability to hit such a selection of shots from tee to green. He can drive the ball better than almost everyone out there, pound irons shots into orbit and display a touch around the putting surfaces that seems almost preternatural. The stats confirm his superior ability. On the PGA Tour last year, he was first in Strokes Gained: Total and second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. And, for those who doubt his…

One name jumped out at me as I scrolled through last year’s DP World Tour Q-School scores – that of Sam Hutsby, who got through all three stages to claim the 13th card. Why? Well, 13 years ago he came through Q-School for the 2010 season, during which he proudly displayed the Golf Monthly logo on his bag. Success seemed a near certainty. Hutsby had peaked at number three in the amateur rankings and played the Walker Cup in 2009 a few months after Matteo Manassero pipped him to the Amateur Championship. But it didn’t quite happen. He played steadily enough in 2010, making 19 cuts out of 27, but missed out on retaining his card by one place. After a few years flitting between tours, he dropped off the…

Interview MIKE HARRIS Imagine being a tour pro. That would be a good life, right? Many of us have that dream. It’s not an easy job, though – all that travel, staying in budget hotels to keep costs down, grinding away on the range from dawn till dusk to fix a swing problem and the disappointment of missed cuts. How about the life of a golf content creator on YouTube and Instagram? Looks cool, right? Golf 24/7, 365, stunning courses and sponsorship opportunities – but what about all the abuse you get from trolls, which can be especially nasty towards women? There are, believe it or not, people out there who do both. So, as well as travelling the globe and putting in the hard yards off the course, these…

We’ve all stepped in a bunker and looked at a lie that seems great, but, for some reason, it just doesn’t look right. The chances are it’s slightly nestled into the sand. From a perfect lie, you can take dead aim and fly it next to the flag with some spin. If it’s not sitting perfectly, you might have to change your strategy. From this lie, I’m going to have to play for it to roll out. Because of this, not only do I have to change my landing spot, but also where I’m aiming. Eight feet right is just as bad as eight feet short. If the ball is going to roll, I need to think about my direction. Here, I’ve aimed to land it ten feet left of…

1Most people tee their driver too low and their irons and everything else too high. They mostly tee the driver too low because they’re coming in overly steep and fear skying it off too high a tee. For most golfers, my advice would be to increase driver tee height so the ball’s equator is around the top edge, and then tee everything else lower to something replicating a nice fluffy lie at most. The inset picture highlights recommended tee heights for the various types of club. Retrain your brain Out-to-in swingers who have the driver too far back should get a friend to help them find the right spot, so their brain and eyes can adapt to striking the ball from there. 2We all know someone who likes to not…

The Rules of Golf app With the update to the Rules of Golf coming into effect earlier this year and the printed edition of the Players’ Edition of the Rules of Golf being phased out in line with The R&A’s continued focus on sustainability, Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A, explains how the Official R&A Rules of Golf app is now the key resource for both regular golfers and more experienced referees. As a result of moving to a more digitally focused offering, a huge effort has gone into updating the Rules of Golf app for your phone and tablet. This should hopefully help save you time on the course if you ever find yourselves struggling for an answer and improve the user experience. Having spoken to various types…

Stewart Golf Vertx Remote electric trolley from £1,249 GM verdict Stewart Golf’s new Vertx Remote model shares a lot of the same visual DNA as its older siblings, but with some key additional technology to help it outperform its competitors on the course. There’s a fresh wheel design and new Stewart logo, but the chassis configuration is one with which we’ve become familiar. The Vertx Remote shares the same folding system as the Q Follow model – aneat two-step operation that packs things down remarkably compactly considering the overall size and width of the trolley’s chassis. The brilliant Active Terrain Control (ATC) technology really elevates the on-course experience, and we quickly picked up on how well this trolley tackles various types of terrain. The new operating system allows it to…

Srixon ZX MK II fairway wood £249 Lofts: 13.5°-21° This is one of the few fairway woods that boasts a triangular shape and a matte black head. We found this provided a more compact look at address, so it will likely please better ball-strikers. The simple marking on the top for alignment is a classy touch. The ball flight was a little lower than most of the other fairways we tested this year. It does promote a high launch from off the deck, but it offered a lack of height off the tee. We were impressed with how straight it flew, though, even from off-centre hits. The ZX MK II offered plenty of forgiveness on mishits. Srixon’s Cannon sole did a lot to optimise our launch to increase the distance…

The name Alister MacKenzie looms large in any discussion about Cork Golf Club. His legacy positions Cork in an elite category which lures golfers from across the world. The shores of Cork Harbour are a special place and, combined with a limestone quarry, MacKenzie’s design has unique flourishes that make it one of Ireland’s best and most intriguing parklands. Cork Harbour may only influence play on two holes, but it is visible from several others and on those two holes – the 4th and 5th – it promises a sweet splash of terror. One of Cork’s key strengths is the variety provided by its different landscapes: there are several smooth parkland holes coasting calmly between pine trees; there are others that buckle with unexpected changes in elevation (16 and 17…

I have been heading up to Norfolk for a fairly regular fix of the most natural seaside golf, on and off, for more than 30 years. And while the county has its fair share of very enjoyable and varied inland courses, to me there is something even more alluring about its coastal offerings. I was therefore very much looking forward to a short, early season trip with my fellow Golf Monthly courses obsessive, Jeremy Ellwood. This would give us a chance to reflect following a lengthy spell dedicated to preparing the 2023/24 Top 100 and Next 100 rankings, as well as juggle ideas for future coverage of courses of every shape, size and style. Three to four hours from home was enough to make it a proper trip, while still…

1 Thehook plagues a lot of golfers off the tee. For right-handers, it’s a shot that has an aggressive right-to-left shape. If this sounds familiar, let me explain what may be causing it. The white rod on the ground here represents the target; the red one is the swing path and direction in which the club is travelling through the ball; and the yellow one is where the clubface is pointing at impact, which, in the case of a hook, will be left of the red rod. The further the clubface (yellow rod) gets away from the swing path (red rod), the more the ball will hook from right to left – so hooks are caused by the club travelling to the right and the clubface working over to the…

1 Manyclub golfers would start to hit straighter drives more regularly if they could just understand and rehearse the fundamentals. It may be hard to swing the club like a world-class professional, but there’s no excuse for not being able to demonstrate a perfect set-up. If you don’t get this right, it will be very difficult to swing the club as you should. One of the most common faults I see is having the ball too far forward (above) so it’s outside the front foot – the left foot for right-handers. As a result, the chest starts to face the ball and the shoulders get into an open position, aiming too far left. From here, you’re more likely to pick the club up going back then cut back across coming…

1 Manyclub golfers find it difficult to hit solid fairway wood shots. The quality of the strike is won and lost over the ball at set-up. Incorrect ball position is often the first mistake – it’s typically too far forward, which often leads to a top because your angle of attack is too much on the up. If you watch the best players in the world, they tend to take a little bit of a divot, so I would suggest setting the ball position a ball back of where you would have it with your driver, and making sure that your shaft is in the middle of the ball. This will help you to get that little ‘pinch’ plus the elevation that’s required. 2 Oneof the other keys is to…

The dreaded shanks I do believe that golf is, singularly, the most enjoyable, inspiring, wonderful yet exasperating and stressful sport you can play. Any sport where you can rip it up in practice on the range, then look like you have never seen a club before on the course has to be taken seriously. I played with my son last week and he has bags of potential. Somehow, he started shanking his tee shots, then his irons and wedges. Whatever he tried on the course just made the problem worse. Watching his frustration as a father was heartbreaking. We tried a few hacks, but to no avail. A lesson with his coach will hopefully get him back on track, but to get to the stage where he was too afraid…

Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson have resigned from the DP World Tour and effectively ended their long and storied Ryder Cup careers. The Tour won its legal battle against 12 LIV Golf appellants, with the three-person panel upholding Keith Pelley’s right to impose sanctions on players competing in conflicting events without the necessary release. You must be a member of the DP World Tour to feature in the Ryder Cup for Europe. The quartet would almost certainly have been shoo-ins for future vicecaptaincy and captaincy roles. Westwood has represented Europe 11 times, winning on seven occasions, while Garcia is the Ryder Cup’s all-time leading points scorer. Poulter’s matchplay prowess earned him the nickname ‘The Postman’ and he boasts an undefeated singles record, while Stenson competed in five…

SOUND BITES “THEY KNEW THE CONSEQUENCES OF JOINING” “I DON’T WANT TO PLAY UNDER THAT SORT OF REGIME” “I THINK ANYONE WITH SOME LEVEL OF DECENCY WOULD SEND THEIR TEAMMATES A MESSAGE SAYING THEY WEREN’T COMING” “COURSE DESIGN IS MORE OF A CULPRIT” “NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE, AT SOME POINT BURNING IT DOESN’T FEEL VERY GOOD” Tour pro withdraws from 151st Open after leukaemia diagnosis New Zealand’s Michael Hendry (right) has pulled out of The Open after being diagnosed with leukaemia, having qualified in March’s World City Championship. BRIEFS DP World Tour reinstates Stephen Gallacher after admin error Four-time winner Stephen Gallacher is back on the DP World Tour after an administrative error saw him wrongly lose his card for six months. “I am really delighted at…

Tiger Woods’ only play-off loss came at the Nissan Open, where American Billy Mayfair got the better of him. Ri Pak won two Majors in 1998 – one of the reasons why golf exploded in popularity in South Korea. Nelly Korda and Sungjae Im were both born in 1998, in July and March respectively. Lee Westwood won his first of two PGA Tour titles at the Freeport-McDermott Classic. His other came at the 2010 St. Jude Classic. ELSEWHERE... At the 1998 Oscars, Titanic won 11 awards from 14 nominations – tied for the most ever. France won the FIFA World Cup, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final. The search engine Google was founded.…

Who doesn’t enjoy revelling in a little nostalgia? TaylorMade’s latest driver sees the brand take a trip down memory lane, drawing on influences from the Ti Bubble 2 launched in the mid-1990s. While nostalgia dominates the aesthetics, the Brnr Mini is very much a modern offering, combining the retro looks of a bygone era with the latest driver technology. The 304cc head features a reimagined K-sole that resembles the one from the Ti Bubble 2. It will give some golfers the scope to combine driver-off-the-deck distances with the consistency of a higher-lofted fairway wood. It boasts Twist Face technology, while also having two movable weights that can be interchanged between front and back positions to alter ball flight and spin. The adjustable hosel also allows golfers to dial in a…

A former member of the European Tour and two-time winner, Wayne is part of the Sky Sports golf team. He writes exclusively for Golf Monthly It’s not been the most eventful couple of weeks on the global professional tours, so I thought I’d do something a bit different and count down my five favourite moments since I started working as an on-course commentator for Sky. I do sometimes have to pinch myself that I’m able to walk the fairways with the world’s best players in the game’s biggest events. I don’t take it for granted. One of the things I really look forward to is getting my schedule at the start of the year. Of course, I go straight to the Majors, but there are some events I always look out…

It was back in summer 2020 during the Covid pandemic that Kate Rose, wife of Justin, read an article in the Daily Telegraph by Ladies European Tour (LET) player Liz Young. Kate, a former international gymnast, was taken aback as she read how the UK’s female golf pros were about to put their hands in their pockets and organise roll-up events among themselves, simply so they had something to do and play for. The article struck a chord with Kate because, despite a lack of crowds, the men’s tour was back in business, so this disparity in professional golf seemed utterly unfair. As someone who does not let the grass grow under her feet, Kate contacted Young immediately to ask what was needed. Within a week, golf courses and sponsors…

Like many of the best things in life, The Open Camping Village is almost too good to be true. So why not ditch your car, stay just a few minutes’ walk from the 1st tee of the oldest Major in the game and be fed and entertained in style? This year, Royal Liverpool will host the 151st Open and, across the road from the club, will again sit a pop-up city that is fast becoming the place to stay. No longer does The Open mean exorbitant prices for your accommodation and lengthy queues, either in your car or on foot. Now you can pitch up, leave your car and truly make the most of your time at this fantastic event. Last year, FootJoy began a partnership with The R&A to…

Do draw-bias drivers actually work? Newtonuti, GM forum Draw-bias drivers exist to help you try to straighten a slice ball flight, rather than start hitting roping draws. The internal weighting towards the heel of the head, slightly closed face and hint of offset should immediately reduce that slice off the tee to some degree. Whichever model you go for, draw-bias drivers aren’t a myth and I’d highly encourage you to go and test some for yourself to see and feel the difference. What’s the best push trolley to buy right now? Orikuru, GM forum There’s an abundance of options here, and one search on Amazon will likely see you flooded with options. I’d stick with a recognised trolley brand, though. I loved using the PowaKaddy Micra last year and the…

If you’re in the market for a long and forgiving set of irons, this is the category to focus on. There are plenty of excellent options out there, many of which we have put to the test recently. Here are our findings… Looks All these irons inspire confidence through size alone, but there are some variations in shape and contouring. The Callaway Paradym, for example, has quite a short blade length but a thick topline, plus a mirror-chrome finish and plenty of shelf appeal via its techy rear. For something more subtle in the bag, there are the Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal and Srixon ZX4 Mk II, which are both more traditional over the ball, too. If you prefer something a little larger, check out Ping’s G430 and Cobra’s Aerojet.…

W henit comes to golf destinations, Mallorca ticks an awful lot of boxes. Indeed, there are more golf courses per square mile here than anywhere else in Europe. Those who enjoy blowing the froth off a couple of shandies in the evening will revel in the nightlife of Palma and, at the other end of the holiday-vibe spectrum, there are plenty of peaceful little pockets where you can just sit back and enjoy a slice of island life. Of the 24 golf courses in Mallorca, two notable layouts were on my hitlist during my recent visit to the largest of the Balearic Islands. Pula Golf Resort – an eight-time European Tour host venue – would act as my base for the trip and just over an hour’s drive away, nestled…

Addington Palace Although it physically borders the ongoing and comprehensive restoration of Abercromby’s masterpiece The Addington, this very pretty course has a distinctly different look and feel. This is textbook parkland – aJH Taylor and Fred Hawtree design that rises and falls over a billowing parcel of land just ten miles south of the Tower of London as the raven flies. The opening hole is 179 yards from the back tee and plays between an avenue of trees to a green that slopes gently towards the palace. GF: 18 holes: £70wd, £75we The first green at Addington Palace overlooks the 18th-century mansion – the country retreat of six Archbishops of Canterbury. Warkworth This very natural and scenic nine-holer is idyllically sited along the beautiful and peaceful coast of Northumberland. Old…

The slice is probably the most common shot shape among club golfers, starting relatively straight before arcing off right (for a righthanded golfer) into trouble. I’ll explain the causes in more depth on pages 10 and 11, but in short, everything swings across the ball with the clubface open in relation to the path. Slicers tend to line up and then face the ball, and that opens you up (right) and encourages you to swing across the line (below). Making it worse Aiming further left exacerbates things as you’ll then have to slice the ball more and get stuck in a negative circle. 2 Toremedy things, first make sure your chest bone is pointing behind the ball and your shoulders are square – so parallel to the target. Setting yourself…

Whatmade TaylorMade initially choose to come to market with a carbon face and what are the benefits of carbon over titanium? Great question. We started this project almost 23 years ago, so we’ve been working on it a long time. I started working on it in 2003, so it’s been almost 20 years for me. Composites are significantly lighter than titanium. We knew we wanted to make the driver bigger and to lower its balance point because drivers were spinning a whole lot more than they are now. We knew that by lowering the centre of gravity and moving the weight back, we could decrease the balance point, increase the launch, lower the spin and, at the same time, maximise inertia. The original Stealth was very popular, especially with better…

1 We’veall hit one of those drives where the ball stalls in the air and just falls out of the sky, and it isn’t always because we’re playing into a headwind. Often, it’s simply down to creating too much driver spin. You might not even know it’s happening, in which case you may be unaware of just how easy it could be to find more yards. One of the main reasons for excess driver spin is teeing the ball too low. Yes, lots of club golfers tee the ball too high, too, which can cause its own set of problems. But when the whole ball sits beneath the crown at address, it encourages you to hit down on it. If you were to look at your launch monitor data, you…

1 Your strike location is, quite simply, where you connect with the ball on the clubface. There are some good drills that can help to ensure you are hitting the ball out of the middle of the clubface on a more consistent basis. If you can do that, you’re going to hit more fairways and maximise your distance potential. All you need is some foot spray, which you should be able to buy from a pharmacy (Daktarin rubs off easily with a towel). Give your clubface a spray, wait 30 seconds or so for it to dry and then hit some drives. 2 Ifthe spray reveals a heel strike, I’d suggest popping a headcover down just outside the ball. From here, if you were to hit it out of the…

Emotional Day ends five-year drought Congratulations on winning the AT&T Byron Nelson. How do you reflect on the week? The first three days were great, and then I was really relaxed heading into the final round. I had a great sleep, woke up and things just felt calm. For some reason, I just thought I was going to win the tournament. Your mum passed away last year. How does it feel to have won the event on Mother’s Day? It was very emotional to experience what she was going through, then I had injuries on top of all that. To be honest, I was very close to calling it quits. It feels strange to be sitting here. I don’t know how else to explain it. To go through what I…

What would be your dream four-ball? Severiano Ballesteros, Tiger Woods and my dad. What’s your best moment in golf? The 2020 Qatar Masters play-off and win. What would you be doing if you weren’t a golfer? I’d like to be involved in golf course architecture. If you had a career mulligan, where would you use it? My second shot on the last hole at last year’s Irish Open. What’s your favourite app on your phone? Flightradar24. Would you rather win The Open at St Andrews or The Masters? The Masters. What’s the lowest score you’ve shot away from the tour? 59 on tour, 63 in college. What’s the hardest thing about life on tour? Flying so much and keeping invoices and receipts. If you could only play one course for…

Weigh it all up I’m often asked how firmly you should hit these short putts and it really depends on how brave you are, how things are going in your round, whether it’s uphill, downhill or sidehill and how much break there is. I’ve set myself up one of each here and the real key is that you shouldn’t be hitting them all at the same pace. Uphill and downhill The straight uphill one I would look to hit pretty firm with a fairly brisk tempo, keeping the line nice and straight. For the straight downhill one, I would be a little more cautious, so would probably look to smooth out my tempo a little. On these ones, you’re trying to ‘feel’ the ball into the hole a little more…

Yes says Fergus Bisset Scotland and Ireland are home to the best true links courses in the world. They are not home to the best inland courses in the world. Can I stop there? No, there is more to be said. Scotland is where golf (as we know it) began. It was initially played by intrepid fellows using a crook or stick to propel a pebble towards a target or rudimentary hole. They played this new game on the strip of sandy terrain joining the sea to the arable farmland at the coast. The links, the cradle of golf, should be celebrated and the Scottish and Irish Opens can do that. The links remains the best land in the world on which to play the sport – undulating and firm,…

The much-loved Big Bertha range from Callaway is back for 2023 with significant upgrades. This extensive line-up is ideally suited to the higherhandicap golfer. The goal of Callaway’s Big Bertha range is to make golf more fun for those further up the handicap spectrum, and the brand has packed the latest range with it’s A.I.-developed technology. The new driver benefits from much of the R&D that has made the Paradym such a popular model, but has been tailored more to golfers seeking extra forgiveness and playability. A new, lightweight Jailbreak system has been added to help deliver faster ball speeds across the face, while the A.I.-designed XL face optimises spin characteristics and offers a generous look at address. Interestingly, the driver benefits from an ultra-low and forward centre of gravity…

Sarah Stirk is a Sky Sports presenter and co-host of the Stirkers and Radar podcast: Instagram @ stirkersand radarpod or Twitter @ stirkersradar Hello and welcome to my final Golf Monthly column. I’ve absolutely loved writing for the magazine each month and hopefully you’ve enjoyed some of my contributions. The last two years have been pretty eventful in the world of professional golf so there’s always been plenty to get my teeth into, and I’ve especially enjoyed reliving some of the feel-good stories, such as the European Solheim Cup win and Matt Fitzpatrick’s US Open triumph. I’m actually writing this just before the US PGA, so it feels like a bit of a lull before the Majors kick in again. But I wanted to talk about one more heart-warming tale and…

You desperately want to like a golfer who can react to missing the cut 15 times in 17 starts by announcing he has been inundated with job requests from wouldbe caddies, “because having most weekends off is apparently a big selling point!” And the good news is that the player in question, Max Homa, really is a lot of fun to be around. That self-deprecating sense of humour is never far away, although it is most frequently on show in Homa’s social media posts, which have seen him acclaimed as golf’s ‘King of Twitter’. And when you sit down with the chatty Californian, the broad smile and the quick quips confirm him as one of the most likeable characters in the game. Homa confesses he is currently baffled by a…

1One of the faults that I see in greenside bunker play is when a player gets the club path working too far to the left (for a righthander). The problem with that is you have to hit the sand about three times harder than you really should do, which is going to make it difficult to get your distance control right. In addition, the ball will have a lot of left-to-right spin when it lands, which makes it hard to get it close. Two alignment sticks will help to turn your bunker play around. 2Get two alignment rods in line with the target and put a little bit of sand over the top. The idea here is to give you a better visual of where the square line is, and…

1 Jezz’s ball comes to rest in a red penalty area. Although he can see it in the water, when taking lateral relief, he drops a different ball instead of the original. How many penalty shots in total? A There is no penalty. B Jezz gets one penalty stroke. C Jezz gets the general penalty (two strokes). 2 Jezz takes relief from a cart path and drops his ball close to his nearest point of relief, but when he makes his stroke, his heels still touch the path. What is the ruling? A There is no penalty. B Jezz gets one penalty stroke. C Jezz gets the general penalty (two strokes). 3 In stroke play, Fergus tees up his ball, but before playing he moves one of the tee markers…

Distance-measuring devices (DMDs) are now the absolute foundation of on-course strategy for many golfers. These days, they come in all shapes and sizes and, depending on the sort of information you want, can suit different players of all types. Laser rangefinders offer you point-and-shoot functionality that provides instantaneous yardages not only to the pin, but also to any doglegs, trees or bunkers you want to avoid. GPS watches range from simple-buteffective all the way to full-hole mapping, while handheld GPS devices offer a similar range of functions if you don’t like wearing a watch while you play. One of the more recent trends is the emergence of Bluetooth speakers that double up as GPS devices. While this trend might be aimed more at the US market, it’s an interesting development…

London Club (International) While the Heritage course here is for members and their guests, the International is in the Golf Monthly Next 100 and open to all. There really is little to choose between them in terms of challenge and enjoyment, with the International having a modern, downland look and feel. It opens with a superb par 5 played down to a lakeside green, before a few well-bunkered holes on higher ground. You return to the same lake for the thrilling par-3 8th, while the backbone of an equally strong back nine comes at the very dramatic 12th, a short hole over a pond from an elevated tee, and the 13th, a fabulous par 5 with bunkers, a split fairway, trees and water. The course is kept in tip-top condition…

Golf Monthly’s editor-atlarge and Golf Ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK Usually when once happy relationships break, you feel sadness that what was warm and cuddly is now cold and unresponsive. However, as the news broke that four of Europe’s most appreciated and liked golfers have resigned membership of the DP World Tour, I felt only regretful irritation at the inevitability of this anti-climax to the big fight. In no particular order, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson will be missed, but they will be missed for what they were and not really for what they now are. That is a big pity for them and the game, and of course for the old European Tour they graced so wonderfully for so long. “They have made a lot…

1 It’seasy to regard the pull and the slice as two completely different shots when they end up on opposite sides of the hole, 100 yards apart from each other. They are, however, very much part of the same family. I often see club golfers in the position here, where they’re about to cut across the ball. But what determines whether this will lead to a slice or a pull? Fixing the fault Whether you’re slicing or pulling, the fix usually involves getting the clubhead more in behind you so your swing is more on the inside. 2 Apull is a shot that goes straight left for a right-handed golfer. My target here is represented by the white alignment rod. The red rod is the club path, while the yellow…

1 Wehear a lot about ‘forgiveness’ in golf, but what does it really mean? Well, if you look at my strike points in the spray I’ve applied below (see page 32), it’s clear that I’ve used pretty much all of the clubface, yet all but one or two landed in the fairway and went a good distance. That, in a nutshell, is forgiveness. I’ve found the heel, the toe, and one was a little high in the face, but I’ve got the ball away and, in most cases, found the short grass. 2 IfI’d struck the ball this inconsistently 20 or so years ago, some of these shots may have missed the clubface altogether! But modern drivers have a much bigger sweetspot, mainly due to them having more weight in…

1 We’reall now aware of the importance of getting properly fitted for clubs if you want to produce your best stuff on the course. But what happens when you’ve fallen out of love with something you were fitted for in the past? That’s the predicament I found myself in with my 3-wood. It’s no exaggeration to say it had become a mere ornament in my bag – a club I would hit occasionally on the range but completely overlook on the course. It meant I didn’t have a back-up when struggling off the tee with my driver, and nothing I could trust from distance if I wanted to go for a par 5 in two. I’ve made compensations in my line-up over the past 18 months to minimise the impact,…