Innholdsfortegnelse for Nov 2022 - Issue 402 i Golf Australia

The local player focus of the organising bodies for the upcoming Australian summer of golf has received a legendary shot in the arm with the announcement Adam Scott will make his first competitive appearances at home since 2019. The Queenslander is set to tee it up first in his adopted home state at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship held at Royal Queensland from November 24, where the 2013 Masters winner has plenty of experience. Then he will join the likes of Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Cam Davis and Kiwi Ryan Fox in making the journey to Melbourne for the ISPS Handa Australian Open. “As a player it’s always an honour to come back and play before your home crowds,” Scott said. “For me, that’s especially so in Queensland,…

The stats are sobering. It’s estimated 1.2 million Australians are currently living with cancer. In 2021 alone, 150,782 people received a cancer diagnosis … that’s more than 400 per day. Tragically, about 137 Aussies die from some form of cancer every day. Cancer Council is on the front line when it comes to life-saving research, prevention programs as well as information and support services. To fund its work, Cancer Council relies on the generosity of the community. And Australian golfers have proven to be incredibly generous in this regard. Last year, golfers raised a whopping $2.6 million to assist cancer patients throughout the country. The cornerstone of this fund-raising effort is The Longest Day – an endurance golf challenge that tests your skill and stamina, while bringing golfing friends together…

It seems like only yesterday that we were alerted to a rookie pro by the name of Adam Scott, who possessed a swing that was drawing comparisons with then World No.1 Tiger Woods. It was the year 2000 and the Aussie golf scene was abuzz at this new prospect. It took no time at all to make an impact as he earned his European Tour playing card for the following year in eight sponsor’s exemption starts. He opened 2001 by winning the first event of the season, the Alfred Dunhill in South Africa. Today, and on the verge of his 22nd Australian summer of golf, Scott has a resume that puts him among this country’s greatest ever players with one major trophy and 30 other victories worldwide. While the now…

If you want to improve your swing as well as your scoring, there are some things you can do that most golfers might overlook, especially heading into summer. Here are some items you need to have in your golf bag that will ultimately have you primed to play your best golf. 1. WATER Do you get thirsty after a few holes without drinking water? When exercising, your body requires between 0.8-1.2 litres of water per hour (as suggested by the Australian Institute of Sport). This will also vary depending on the weather conditions, your level of activity as well as your body size. Minor dehydration can equate to poor focus, headaches and decreased strength. As we head into summer you will need to monitor this even more closely. 2. SNACKS Similarly,…

Reading greens when on them is hard enough, let alone when approaching the putting surface and finding an unseen ridge or false front that sends a well struck shot away from the target. Garmin Golf have addressed this issue with its new Green Contour data that is now available on compatible Garmin devices and via the Garmin Golf app on your smartphone. The data takes the guess work out of greens with the on screen data able to be configured to show the high and low sections of the green or slope percentages and directional arrows to help map out your approach play. Available via a membership to Garmin Golf, the data is effectively your very own green book that takes distance measuring and GPS devices to another level, one…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This first impression was a special one taking place at Titleist’s National Fitting Centre during a full fitting, and boy these drivers do not disappoint. The first port of call was looks, and from the TSR2 to theTSR4 these are some great looking golf clubs. Despite being the maximum forgiveness model, the TSR2 looks like a bulked up better player driver, the TSR3 was a modern classic, and then there was the TSR4 … compact and classic, perfect to my slightly traditional eye. Once the early part of the fitting was complete, it was about comparing the heads with a matching shaft and loft setup, and the feel stood out immediately across all three. Solid off the face with plenty of pop sounds like a contradiction, but it was…

When you have been sitting on a plane for two hours, the first movie has been watched, you’re into your second in-flight snack and the flight tracker map shows you’re not quite halfway, there is a realisation Perth is a long way away. But the travel across two time zones from the eastern states, let me assure you, is well worth it if your golf clubs are in the cargo hold. As is the case with all of Australia’s capital cities, there is terrific golf to be found within a short drive after leaving the airport terminal. In Perth, that means scouting the suburbs south of the Swan River, where you will find a great mix of acclaimed private member’s clubs and high-quality publicly accessible layouts. Less than 20 minutes…

PRESENTED BY Queensland’s Bribie Island is all sand. And there is nothing a golf course architect likes more than being presented with a blank canvas of sandy terrain to gently poke and prod into a spectacular layout. That’s exactly what happened to Ross Watson back in the early 2000s when he first laid eyes on the relatively flat and sandy landscape that today is home to the Pacific Harbour Golf & Country Club, which is ranked among the best layouts in the Sunshine State. “Who doesn’t like playing with sand?” Watson once cheekily questioned in an interview with this writer. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to build some courses on spectacular sand-based land, which allows you to really get creative without moving heaven and earth to do it. “I’m…

The late David Gair Inglis was an ideas man, and a bloody good one at that. In fact, the former teacher would introduce himself as ‘DGI’ – Damn Good Ideas. Inglis, who sadly passed away in 2003 from Motor Neurone Disease, was one of the great movers and shakers in Australian golf for nearly two decades. He was the driving force alongside Frank Williams in founding the Australian Masters tournament in 1979, and later the Johnnie Walker Classic. He was also instrumental in establishing The National Golf Club on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. I first met Inglis in late 1996 during a visit to the Yarra Valley and the site of the proposed The Heritage Golf & Country Club. Inglis had just gone into partnership with Dr John Tickell – a doctor,…

yes JIMMY EMANUEL Deputy & Digital Editor, Golf Australia Magazine The name of the game is in the tournament title. It’s not the Vic Open, NSW Open, and so on and so forth. It is the Australian Open, our national Open that has shamefully failed to live up to its name for far too long. It is the tournament I grew up wanting to play, because I had seen it. Fortunate enough that I grew up in Sydney when the tournament was in town every other year, first-hand experience helped foster a love of the game. For the younger people of Western Australia, Tasmania and the territories, there isn’t, and hasn’t been, such an opportunity. Those in Queensland have had the PGA setup shop in recent years, but they still deserve…

In Tommy’s Honour (2016), director Jason Connery (son of Sean) opens his movie with a homage to Ursula Andress’ iconic emergence from the waves in his father’s film, Dr No (1962). It’s that but with a wrinkled and ruddy Old Tom Morris in thermal underwear breaching the shallows of St Andrews’ West Sands Beach. What follows is almost two hours of dreary biopic that’s as humourless as a discount haggis. Based on Kevin Cook’s 2007 book of the same name, Tommy’s Honour chronicles the tense and sometimes tender relationship of the Old and Young Toms Morris (yes that is the correct pluralisation). It’s a film that allocated an enviable production budget for exquisitely detailed facial hair but only a modest budget for the recreation of period-appropriate scruffy playing surfaces, a…

The South Australian Government has offered its support behind LIV Golf with Premier Peter Malinauskas saying “it’s about time golf had a bit of a shake-up.” “I wish LIV Golf all the best,” he added. “I haven’t seen much evidence of the US PGA doing Australian golfing supporters any favours recently.” The Premier’s backing came as Adelaide emerged as a possible host of Australia’s first LIV Golf event after advanced discussions with the Saudi-backed Tour. The LIV Golf Invitational Australia is due to be played in April next year. It is understood The Grange Golf Club is the proposed Adelaide venue with the Greg Norman-crafted, East Course, hosting. Of course, Norman is the chief executive of the LIV Golf venture. The Grange has joined a host of Norman-designed layouts, who…

There are few more frustrating moments on a golf course than hitting a ‘fat’ or ‘skinny’ pitch shot from a good position in the fairway. On the flipside, hitting a pure pitch shot where the ball feels soft off the clubface, flies high and lands soft is one of golf’s joys. To find this joy, and consistently, you should focus on hitting the ball down into the ground. Perhaps the most common pitching fault by handicap golfers is trying to ‘help’ shots into the air with scooping hand action. Even if you don’t have a scooping wrist action, you’re probably not hitting down on the ball as much as you should. To get the correct action, place more weight on your left side (for right-handers) at address and as you follow…

Often in the past putter lines have promised variety for all player preferences and strokes types via head styles and neck types, but PING have taken it further in its new range of flatsticks. The 10-model range of new PING putters not only incorporates blades, mid-mallets and mallets with a variety of necks, but offers differing faces and alignment aids, all of which can be custom fit for stroke type, length, lie, loft and grip type, as well as being packed full of technology. “What’s most exciting about our new PING putter models is how different they are from each other,” PING CEO and President John K. Solheim said. “Rather than applying one common technology to every model, our engineers took a more singular approach, applying proven innovations to different…

Given you are reading this magazine, you are likely very aware just how fickle a sport golf can be. There are days when every shot goes according to plan and the game has never felt easier, and then there are those occasions where you seemingly can’t do anything right. To attempt more of the former and less of the latter, and to generally maximise enjoyment of the game, Australian owned and operated Swing Store has set about curing your putting woes with training aids that with more specialised practise will lessen the number of putts. In addition to offering motorised buggies to make your good walk a little less spoiled. The company’s Swing Putt Trainer improves consistency on the greens in three key ways Adjustable to fit any golfer and…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Bushnell says it has taken the Pro XE and made it better, and from the first opening of the box that statement is confirmed as fact. An exceptionally similar sized and weighted unit that fits comfortably in the hand, the Pro X3 perhaps sits in the hand a little better than its predecessor, and feels a little more solidly constructed. The most noticeable difference externally is the new Locking Slope Switch. No longer will you accidently turn slope on and make your laser non-conforming for competition golf, a toggle switch needing to be moved to turn the elevation adjustment on and off. Although the Slope marking could be a little more prominent. HOW IT PERFORMED: Once actually using the Pro X3 for its distance measuring purpose, the yardage was…

There is a feast of great golf courses on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula and it has never been easier to discover. Port Phillip Ferries has just released a range of one-, two- and three-day golf packages that take care of everything from taking a short ferry trip on a state-of-the-art, 35-metre fast catamaran, to transfers and boutique accommodation in the newly-renovated magnificent Portarlington Grand Hotel. As any golfer who has visited the region will confirm, the Bellarine’s reputation as a wonderful golfing destination has never been greater. Courses like Curlewis, Portarlington, Lonsdale Links and Thirteenth Beach ensure passionate golfers are spoilt for choice when it comes to quality golf course design and experience. However, accessibility to the Bellarine Peninsula has always been a challenge … that is until now. The recently…

The quality of young golfers in Australia is of an exceptionally high standard right now, as evidenced by the numerous players featured in this publication last month. And for those young golfers, there has arguably never been a better time with the event options on offer to elite juniors. Part of that landscape is the adidas Junior 6sTour founded by former Tour player turned TV commentator Ewan Porter that recently wrapped its 2021/22 season and is soon to embark on its 2023 schedule. The season long points race champions of last season, Jeffrey Guan and Grace Lee, will be benefitting from all the perks that include Bali holidays and professional tournament exemptions this summer and beyond. A fact that is sure to inspire other players as they embark on the…

CALLAWAY GEAR WORTH $5,300 Vote for your favourite Australian courses and, just for entering, you will go into the draw to be kitted out like a Callaway Golf staff professional with all new release custom-fitted Callaway Rogue ST MAX woods and irons, Jaws Raw wedges, Odyssey 2-ball Eleven putter and a Callaway bag. CALLAWAY’S SUPER PRIZE PACKAGE • Callaway Rogue ST MAX Driver• Callaway Rogue ST MAX Fairway Wood• Callaway Rogue ST MAX Hybrid• Callaway Rogue ST MAX Irons (4-iron to pitching wedge)• Callaway Jaws Raw Wedges x 3• Odyssey 2-Ball Eleven Putter• Callaway Org 14 Bag To submit your entry, visit our website www.golfaustralia.com.au/win…

EAGLE CLUB MEMBERS GET ALL THIS! • 24 issues of Golf Australia magazine• One dozen Callaway Supersoft golf balls• Golf Australia a golf shirt• Choose a DVDD - 8 golf titles to choose from• Entry in all chance to win competitions The Callaway Supersoft Golf Ball features Advanced HEX Aerodynamics, optimized for reduced drag, higher flight and longer carry distance. This issue our friends at SKLZ are giving subscribers the chance to win the ultimate at home training pack! Each pack features a Home Range Golf Net, Accelerator Pro and Pure Path. For your chance to win one of these amazing prize packs, simply subscribe, extend or renew your subscription to Golf Australia today! The Home Range Golf Net is the perfect net to work through every club in your bag…

You’re standing over a vital five-foot putt, doing your level best to commit to a smelly left-to-right line, when you suddenly hear your brain asking “Hmm, I wonder what’s for tea tonight…” Believe me, this is not as uncommon as it sounds. OK, it might not always be food-related; but whatever level we have reached in the game, our focus can go a-wandering at the most inappropriate moments. It can even happen to the best of us. Just ask the oldest Major champion of them all. “I have a hard time keeping focused for a period of time,” said Phil Mickelson. “I go through spells of three or four holes where I’ll throw five or six shots away. I just kind of go mind-numb. My ability to regain focus has been…

Scotty Cameron putters are known the world over as a high performance, high quality golf clubs, and Titleist’s master putter maker has a dedicated following on Tour and with everyday golfers. Part of Cameron’s allure, beyond his craftmanship, is his response to feedback in developing new models and lines, which is exactly how the new limited release Monoblok offering of two models came to be. “Tour players who game compact mallets have been partial to our GOLO shapes since we first introduced them in 2012. That’s going back a decade through this year, when J.T. Poston gamed a GOLO 5 in his victory at the 2022 John Deere Classic,” Cameron said. “We had several requests for a model that’s in between the 5 and 7 sizes, so we created the…

Golfers spend their lives in the sun, at least that’s the sort of weather conditions we are all hoping for each time we step out on course. Given that is the case, protecting yourself from the harmful UV rays of the sun is of the highest importance when spending four plus hours playing the game we love. A wide brimmed hat is the best option for protecting the head and neck, and there is a new player in the market offering the perfect solution for Australian golfers. Manufactured in West Gosford, NSW, ooGee’s Flexibraid hats are not only sun safe, but offer a uniquely Australian look, in a range of styles, colours and sizes, as well as being the perfect travel companion able to be squashed into a suitcase before…

One day to one week’s coaching far outweighs many hours of weekly lessons. That’s the conclusion following intensive research via The Golf School, the Gold Coast’s longest-running golf school. After tracking students’ improvement at The Golf School over the past 22 years with their one-week intensive Executive Program, The Golf School’s founders and leading PGA professionals Peter and Lee Harrington found students outperformed in their handicap reduction nearly two-fold versus the occasional casual one-hour pupils. The Golf Schools’ top five handicap reductions have completed multiple visits to continually reinforce as they stay, play and learn with the school’s intensive on-range and course training. As The Golf School delivers more and more of their coaching this way, they are discovering that creating on-course scenarios and tracking them through oncourse play and…

Sandringham Golf Course – perhaps better known as Sandy Golf Links – offers all golfers a delicious taste of champagne Sandbelt golf at beer prices. The course reopened in late 2020 after undergoing a massive redesign as part of a $12.7 million redevelopment, partly funded by the Victorian government. Sandy is now a golfing hub in the heart of the Sandbelt that includes the Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead (OCM) designed course, a 30-bay undercover flood-lit public driving range, ‘Himalayas’ putting green, cafe and administrative homes for the PGA of Australia and Golf Australia. “We don’t have anything like this in Melbourne, not at this level, so it’s going to be really good,” Ogilvy said. “We did a lot of things so that the course doesn’t daunt anyone,…