Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Golf Australia

IN an Australian sporting first, men and women golfers are set to compete against each other for the same prize purse when Blitz Golf returns in January 2020. Touted as the Twenty20 of golf, Blitz is a fast-paced competition that comprises four rounds in half a day, combined with a carnival-type atmosphere. The latest initiative, backed by the PGA of Australia, will see both men and women compete against each other for the same total prize pool of $150,000 – an increase on last year’s pool of $100,000. Blitz Golf Director Simon Zybek is thrilled to bring this opportunity to both Australian golf and sport as a whole. “Our competition in 2020 will be the first time we see this level of gender equality in Australian sport,” Zybek said. “We…

Ben Ikin was cool. He’d had a couple flat whites, a yarn with some mates, and walked onto the driving range to knock them out pure. He rolled a few tidy putts on the practice green and strode to the tee box feeling confident and good, looking forward to a fun round of golf. And then his heart shot out of his chest. He didn’t know what was going on. He couldn’t calm down. He couldn’t stop the hammering – boom-boom-boom. He hadn’t prepared for this. He’d played 150 first-grade rugby league games, 17 Origins and two Tests for Australia, and hadn’t known nerves like it. Fronting live television was a doddle compared to this physical, emotional torrent. “As soon as I put one foot on that tee box, I…

SETTING A SOLID FOUNDATION Tiger Woods is the text-book example every golfer should attempt to mimic as they setup to the ball. It is athletic, balanced and simply looks like he can’t miss the ball every time he takes his address position. You might not generate the same swing or ball speed or ever hit the ball as long as Tiger, but you can adopt his setup to put yourself in the best possible position to make your best swing possible. The ball is just inside his left shoulder, or about where the logo on his shirt would be. His head is also behind the ball, the left side of his head lining up with the back of the ball (pic 1 front). Unfortunately, most amateurs do the exact opposite…

When it comes to selecting a driver for distance, there is no magic one-size-fits-all formula for what works. Drivers that are built purely for speed tend to sacrifice varying degrees of forgiveness, while drivers built for stability generally don’t deliver quite so much ball speed. Therefore, purchasing a driver is all about deciding where along that sliding trade-off scale you feel comfortable. The driver market right now is amazingly crowded. All of the major manufacturers have some great products, and if you dial them into your game with a proper custom fitting, then you’ll find there’s very little difference in performance among them. Here are our picks of the bunch to help you make your choice. 1 MIZUNO ST190 G The ST190G is the fastest of all the drivers…

POWER YOU CAN WORK WITH For many golfers, there is nothing like a classic blade iron. When you combine Henry-Griffitts legendary fitting system as well, the T12 irons go to another level. The company takes a nothing-left-to-chance approach with its club fitting and building processes to ensure each golfer receives a set matched to them that is designed for performance. Componentry is weighed and shafts ‘Pured’ for extremely tight tolerances. Offering maximum distance, the T12 irons feature a non-offset design that is ideal for players who like to shape their shots on the course and can tackle any lie that you may be faced with during a round. As with all classic blade style irons, the aesthetics of the T12 – which offers forgiveness despite its traditional design – include…

If you are looking for true links golf in the tradition of the great courses of Scotland and Ireland, you can satisfy your desires at The Dunes. For good players in search of a stern challenge to test your game, you must play The Dunes. If, like me, you’re not so wrapped up in what you score but want to experience the fun of trying to play crisp shots from a wide range of lies, you really have to play The Dunes. And, even if you only on occasion break 100 at your local course, you are unlikely to better the century here but it will be the most fun you’ve had shooting triple digits. It’s not hard to be impressed by The Dunes, because it is a course that…

I first played at the then named Peregian Springs Golf Club in December 2003, just a few days after the course officially opened for play. It was – as you might expect of a layout created specifically for a members-only club – beautifully presented and fully complemented the first full design of Phil Scott – a long-time PGA of Australia member and father to Masters Champion, Adam. Created to be the centrepiece of the Peregian Springs residential development, the course immediately gained a reputation as one of the most prestigious on the Sunshine Coast. In the decade that followed, it was noticeable with every return visit that the course was starting to look tired, which was surprising given its age. It was no surprise to me to learn in mid-2016…

GOLF’S new World Handicap System (WHS) remains on track for global implementation starting in 2020. The WHS will unite the golf world under one single set of handicapping rules and will be governed by the USGA and The R&A, with support from the existing six handicap authorities, including Golf Australia. The system is designed to bring the game under a single set of Rules for handicapping and provide a more consistent measure of a player’s ability between different regions of the world. The R&A and the USGA has also launched a social media video campaign to remind golfers of the eight key features of the new Rules of Handicapping and to reveal more details. These features include: • Minimum number of scores to establish a Handicap Index and maximum Handicap…

THE Home of Golf has welcomed a new course into the fold. Dumbarnie Links, on Scotland’s golf-rich East Coast in the Kingdom of Fife, opened for play in mid-May and is destined to join the list of ‘must-play’ courses in the region. Designed by Englishman Clive Clark, the fully public-access course (just 15km south of St Andrews) covers 345 acres along nearly three kilometres of shoreline on the Balcarres Estate, which is owned and occupied by Anthony Lindsay, Lord Balniel. The 5,000-acre Balcarres Estate has been in his family for more than 400 years. The back of the site sits 30 metres above sea level and slopes down to the coast. The elevation change opens up breathtaking views spanning across the Firth of Forth to Muirfield and North Berwick. A…

Chubby Chandler sits down in the lobby of a five-star hotel in London’s wealthy, retail Knightsbridge district. He’s just got back from playing a pro-am with a client in South Africa but on a cool morning, he looks as fresh as a daisy. Three decades have passed since the Englishman hung up his clubs from Tour life and began his agency, International Sports Management (ISM). Over that time, he has established a standing as one of golf ’s biggest player agents, having managed some of the game’s finest at various stages including Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Danny Willett and Charl Schwartzel. In those 30 years, there have been highs and lows, lots of travelling and many early mornings and late nights. But, at 66-years…

The test at the heart of every golf course made to test ‘championship golf’ is the collection of medium to long two-shot holes. The par-3s use up small spaces, alleviate the need for long walks between holes and ensure everybody, at some point in the round, plays shots to greens from the same place. The short 4s mix quirk, humour, the need for a vexing decision from the tee and whilst you hope for a birdie a dropped shot is unnecessary, annoying but easily done. Unlike the longer two shotters, a driver isn’t often the best club from the tee. The longer par-5s – the most difficult holes to make really interesting – test two long woods and pitch shots. But generally it’s the longer two-shotters (whether they be medium…

Cost: $79 (per dozen). Tested by: Jimmy Emanuel, Golf Australia Writer (GA Handicap 9.4) FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Feel! It’s no surprise that Mizuno, a company renowned for the feel of its forged irons, has delivered a golf ball that stands out in this area. The two models offer slightly different feel and sound at impact, but both are outstanding when struck in the middle of the face of an iron. The other noticeable difference in the RB Tour golf balls compared to the previous MP range is the dimple design, which is a different shape and is visually deeper. This new ‘C-Dimple’ also delivers a lower ball flight in both models, which is fantastic in windy conditions. HOW IT PERFORMED: As Mizuno’s first golf ball introduced globally, the RB Tour was…

1. The par-3 7th hole at Pebble Beach (pictured above) is the shortest hole played in major championships. From the back markers it measures 106 yards. How far is it from the red tees? 2. Americans have obviously dominated their home Open since John McDermott became the first US-born player to claim the title in 1911. Since then, players from only nine countries other than the United States have won. Name those countries. 3. In the three US Opens won by Tiger Woods, who is the only other player to break par? 4. Six players have won the Masters and US Open in the same calendar year. Name them. 5. Who was the first player to shoot in the 60s for all four rounds at a US Open? 6. Who…

“MY GOAL IS TO BE A ROLE MODEL TO LIKE I GUESS THE GENERATION COMING UP PLAYING GOLF. I JUST LIKE TO GIVE BACK AND ENJOY THE GAME AS MUCH AS I CAN. IT’S PRETTY SPECIAL TO ME TO BE ABLE TO BE THAT KIND OF ROLE MODEL LIKE WEBBY IS TO ME AND TO OTHER KIDS. IT’S PRETTY NICE.”– MINJEE LEE LEE’S HIGHLIGHTS: • Lee started 2019 with a disappointing missed cut at the Vic Open but has been flawless since, making nine straight cuts with a streak of three straight top-10s, including a win, spanning across the end of April and start of May. Minjee’s streak started at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii where she was tied for third behind Brooke Henderson having tied for 21st at the…

HERALDED as an instant golf classic upon its completion, Sand Hills Golf Club is the most celebrated course in the American mid-west. Nebraska’s unique inland sand dune topography provided course architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw a magnificent canvas to create a links-style course with a minimal amount of earth-moving required. In fact, so little ground was shaped during construction, Sand Hills cost just $1.2 million to build – just a fraction of the cost needed to create most modern courses. Coore and Crenshaw discovered 18 holes (from an estimated 130 options across the property) among the dunes with dramatic fairways surrounded by prairie grasses and punctuated by beautiful natural blowout bunkers. The 4th and the 13th are stern challenges requiring length and accuracy to make par, while the 18th…

Slow play is probably golf’s most complex and frustrating issue. At both the amateur and professional level, we constantly here moans and groans on pace of play from players and spectators. As the Director of Tournaments for the Australasian PGA Tour, I am constantly asked, “Why put up with it?”, “Why don’t you do something?” and even just, “Penalise him!” Sadly, it’s not that easy. The PGA Tours of the world are all member-based organisations and, as such, are reluctant to introduce rules that may, in turn, come back to bite them. The two biggest problems are: 1. Size of fields; and 2. The system we have in place to eradicate slow play. A “normal” Tour event has 156 players – 78 in the morning and 78 in the afternoon.…

1. Hardest to par, because they are par-4s: Barnbougle Dunes 8th, St Andrews Beach 13th, The National Moonah 16th, Peninsula North 10th. 2. Easiest to par because they are par-5s: RACV Healesville 8th, Royal Melbourne West 12th, Peninsula South 15th, Yarra Yarra 18th and The Lakes 14th. 3. Best that were par-5s but are now par-4s: Yarra Yarra 13th, Riversdale 5th, Kingston Heath 1st. 4. Best flat par-4: Kingston Heath 11th. 5. Best draw drive and fade second shot: Royal Melbourne West 17th 6. Best fade drive and draw second shot: Royal Adelaide 14th. 7. Best with a blind drive: Lost Farm 5th, Kingston Heath 16th, Royal Melbourne West 18th. 8. Best with a blind second shot: Kingston Heath 17th. 9. Best where both shots are blind: Portsea 18th. 10.…

Consider that the walk from your approach shot to the green is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to get lost in thought – past or future – in what may or may not be. Or it could be the opportunity to create the mental conditions to allow yourself to hole a putt. To receive the information the green is trying to give you. The walk onto the green can either set you up to feel anxiety and dread or it could be an opportunity to place your attention in a place you personally find to be really useful. Time and time again with players who think their stroke is at fault, we have had real and lasting success by simply getting them to work on their ‘walk’ up to…

The northern beaches area of Sydney covers one of the most beautiful stretches of urban coastline in Australia. The surfing culture is ever present, and so it should be as Manly Beach is just one of more than a dozen world-class surfing beaches to be found on the 30km stretch of coastline north between Manly and Palm Beach, located on a narrow peninsula between the ocean, to the east, and the yachties paradise known as Pittwater, to the west. There are also highly acclaimed private golf clubs dominating the landscape, but there are also several public access courses where you will be able to get a game most days. According to the late five-time Open Champion Peter Thomson, the layout at Long Reef Golf Club covers “one of the best…

Tropical beaches, ancient ruins, beautiful temples, delicious food, high-quality golf courses and warm weather saw over 38 million tourists visit Thailand last year … Discover everything the Southeast Asian country has to offer with Signature Golf Tours and its Pattaya & Hua Hin Tour. The journey begins on November 7, 2019 in Pattaya at the luxurious Garden Cliff Resort & Spa, where you will meet your host, Michael Hansen, who is also a PGA Professional. Courses you will play in Pattaya include: The Old Course at Siam Country Club – which hosts the LPGA – Laem Chabang International Country Club (designed by Jack Nicklaus) and Phoenix Gold Country Club, which has hosted the European Tour. Inclusions are extensive, ranging from: daily motorised carts, the services of Michael Hansen, personal caddies,…