Innholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2025 i Golf Magazine

STORY GOES THAT MANY CENTURIES AGO two boats sailed to the coast of what we now know as Northern Ireland. The first boat to reach would rule the land. As both boats sailed across the sea, one began lagging behind the other, so the captain of that ship severed his right hand and threw it onto the shore, staking claim. Talk about winning at all costs. The Red Hand of Ulster remains a symbol of the territory to this day, embraced by both Protestants and Catholics and loyalists to both Ireland and the UK. A symbol tied to the strength of this wonderful piece of earth and its even more wonderful people. Come this month, there’ll be more than enough professional golfers willing to give their right hand for a…

Colt Knost didn’t celebrate much after winning the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club. He was too drained by the match-play gauntlet he endured as he carved his name into golf history. But 18 years later, the cohost of “Subpar” and course reporter for CBS Sports now understands the gravity of that 2007 triumph along the shores of Lake Merced. “At the time, I didn’t realize how impactful it would be for me,” Knost says. “Even today, to always be referred to as a U.S. Amateur champion is so cool. If you look at the names that have won it—if you get to put your name on that Havemeyer Trophy and know it’s going to be there forever alongside Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and all the others—it’s awesome. That’s something…

Need to wear something you love your favorite game? Golf Ball Guts can hook you, and your shirt sleeves, up. golfballguts.com)—as well as a variety of accessories like ball markers, hat clips and key chains—made from real golf balls. The Guts’ craftsmen take any brand you like and expertly hand-cut slices to create pieces that are not just utilitarian but unique works of art. No doubt, they’d make unforgettable gifts for your golf-loving groomsmen.…

SHANE LOWRY IS SITTING ON A BALCONY IN DUBLIN, GAZING INTO THE PAST. It’s a cool, breezy, overcast May morning. Dark clouds threaten overhead. “Irish weather,” Lowry says with a grin, even though this is Dublin, Ohio, site of this week’s Memorial Tournament, rather than his home country’s capital city. He’s cradling a bottle of Diet Coke. No matter that it’s a tick shy of 10 a.m., there was a twinkle in his eye when I gifted him his energy drink of choice—and a flash of disappointment. “Can’s the proper way to drink a Diet Coke,” he says, stated as irrefutable fact. He’s in full pro-golf regalia: white shirt, white hat, easy smile. He looks trim—“I have been working hard on that,” he says sheepishly—and feels good, though I’m second-guessing…

What makes a champion? You can’t define it. But I believe it has a certain amount to do with suffering. I am grateful for how I suffered as a kid. I suffered like a junkyard dog. I adored my mother. She died when I was nine years old. My father had to leave school at 15. He was one of six. He needed a job. The only job you could get in South Africa at his age was down a gold mine, 8,000 feet below the ground. He did that for 30 years. As a boy, I would wake up at 5 a.m. and walk an hour and a half to school and an hour and a half back. I’d come home to an empty house. I was nine, and…

We all like to hit high pitches that float like a butterfly and stop on a dime, but you’re better off hitting lower shots where you can control trajectory and get the ball to bite hard once it lands. It’s the more reliable shot. The key to hitting the low pitch is to catch the ball super-clean and, well, control the low point of your swing arc. Here’s how to do it: With any wedge, set up like you would for any pitch, then take your trail hand off the club and place it behind your back as you see me doing here. Now, simply rehearse your swing, back and forth, using only your lead arm, brushing the grass in the same spot every time. Important: With each swing, finish…

G: Stick debuted on Apple TV+ in June. What do you think golf fans will love about it? OW: You hear so much that golf is a metaphor for life, and [the show captures] exactly what makes it that: the frustration [but also] the sublime feeling you can get when something goes your way. G: Would you say you’ve been bitten by the golf bug? OW: Yeah, I would. I was literally playing this morning. G: What are the strengths of your game? OW: I’m a very good putter. If I’m on the green in regulation, I’m for sure gonna two-putt. G: In addition to taking lessons to prep for the show, you studied the lingo of the game. Did anything stick? OW: My brother was playing with a couple…

ON THE PHONE, DAYS AFTER KESSLER WAS NAMED THE LPGA’S NEW COMMISSIONER Dylan Dethier: What’s your golf origin story? Are you a lifelong golf guy? Craig Kessler: I would absolutely call myself a lifelong golf guy. I started playing as a young kid at Rancho Carlsbad [near San Diego]. It was an executive golf course we called the cow pasture because there wasn’t a blade of grass on it. But I’ve been playing ever since. Professionally, after six years at Topgolf, I [went] to the PGA of America for two and a half years. Candidly, I don’t see myself ever leaving the game if given the choice. DD: You’ve said that at Topgolf a lot of your focus was on food and bev and entertainment but also on disruption. What big-picture…

A FALLACY SHARED among most rec golfers is that the goal on iron swings is to return the club to the same position it held at address. Uh-uh. The two positions are dramatically different and may explain why mid- to high-handicappers never improve. Here’s a drill to fix the problem. Stick an alignment rod in the ground right behind where you play the ball at address. Make sure the shaft is straight up and down. Place another rod next to the first, but angle it, say, 20 degrees toward the target as shown in the photo above. Set up to the ball, using the first rod as your guide. (Your hands can be a little bit in front if that’s what you prefer.) Now, press your hands forward and shift…

FROM A YOUNG AGE, my brother, Matt Snowdon, excelled at golf. Hoping to share the game he loved with his son, our father gave Matt a small set of clubs in a red Snoopy bag for his fourth birthday. Nobody knew it at the time, but those Snoopy clubs marked the start of an extraordinary journey for Matt, one that is still unfolding with every single swing he takes. “The first day we went down to the driving range, he was probably five,” my dad, Andrew, recalls. “I teed up a ball for him and gave him an iron. I really wasn’t expecting that much—maybe he makes contact or, best case, he tops one straight. But on the first swing the ball got up in the air, straight as a…

WHEN IT COMES to rangefinders, smaller is better, and both the Minion Plus ($250; top) and the Cube ($350) from CaddyTalk (caddytalkusa.com) are compact enough to fit comfortably in your front pocket and light enough that you’ll hardly notice they’re there. Each is packed with tons of tech, but the coolest feature on board is Caddy Mode, triangulation technology that lets you measure the distance between two points—specifically your ball and the target—even if you’re not standing right behind your ball. Both share several additional features, but exclusive to the Cube is CaddyTalk’s E-Slope technology, which factors in temperature, altitude and even humidity for ultra-precise measurements. Throw in the retro-style design and you’ve got a rangefinder that looks cool and delivers max accuracy.…

You’ve swung to the top, correctly loading onto your trail side with your weight firmly planted over your back leg. Now what? The key, as you probably know, is to leverage the ground and move your weight from your back foot to your front foot as you begin your downswing. This is a nonnegotiable. The trick, however, is not letting your head follow while you make this all-important weight shift. Keep it back. In fact, it’s a good idea to feel your head actually move away from the target while you shift from back to front. It’s this lower-body shift toward the target with your head hanging back that creates the whiplike motion all big hitters share, as well as maximum speed. When you move your head with your shift,…

Your ball is plugged in a bunker. Not a great situation. Not the end of the world, either. Depending on your skill level and swing speed, I have two easy ways to knock this one up and close. Low handicaps/fast swingers: Since you have speed, try this: Set up with a slightly open stance and with the face open. As you grip the club, focus on squeezing the handle harder with your lead hand. Your goal: Bury the heel of the club into the sand to lift the ball up and out. This feeling, combined with your open stance and open clubface, should give you the exit and loft you need to land this one close. High handicaps/slow swingers: Again, hold tighter with your lead hand. But set up with…

Follow the QR code to shop these flasks and dozens of other high-quality tumblers, thermoses and water bottles from Stanley. One popular myth theorizes that the reason golf courses run 18 holes is because that’s how many shots it takes to polish off a fifth of whiskey. And while that’s amusing to consider, documented course evolution history proves it wrong. Also, if you tried to drink an entire fifth of whiskey in a single round, it’s doubtful you’d be able to finish upright. Temper your intake with the Classic Easy Fill Wide Mouth Flask from Stanley ($26; stanley1913.com)— the brand known for old-school thermoses and today’s trendy tumblers. This 8-oz vessel (a more manageable volume) is constructed of rugged stainless steel, available in a range of colors and features an…

91 YEARS THE OPEN WAS HELD ON EITHER SCOTTISH OR ENGLISH SOIL FROM ITS INCEPTION IN 1860. IT WASN’T UNTIL 1951, WHEN ROYAL PORTRUSH HOSTED, THAT THE CHAMPIONSHIP WAS PLAYED OUTSIDE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 4 Consecutive missed cuts for Shane Lowry at the Open Championship ahead of his 2019 Claret Jug victory at Royal Portrush. Speed Merchants Below are the fastest swingers (in mph) on the PGA Tour in the most recent five seasons, followed by the Tour average swing speed and the difference between the two. Bryson’s 17.83 mph gap in the ’20-21 season is the biggest since the stat was first tracked in ’07. The Tour average swing speed in ’07 was 112.37. This year?* 116.49. 165.36 The average ball speed, in miles per hour, for PGA Tour…

Choosing the right ball isn’t just for Tour pros or gear junkies. It can have a huge impact on how you play. We’re talking more control, better distance gaps, improved feel and lower scores. We’ve found that there’s a solid 10 things to consider when finding the perfect fit. So without further ado… 1. Start from the green, not the tee Scoring happens around the green. You don’t shoot 79 instead of 85 because you gained five yards off the tee. You shoot 79 because your chips stopped two feet closer, or you made that tricky downhill putt because the ball felt just right coming off the putterface. 2. Embrace spin Want to hit that one-hop-and-stop wedge shot? (If you said no, you’ve never seen the shot react on a green…

Long, straight drives only happen when you catch the ball on the sweet spot and swing slightly in-to-out as you approach impact. Problem is, most rec players swing slightly (or extremely) out-to-in (as in, left of the target). A visual aid can help. Set up a yoga block (or any soft brick-shaped object) about one inch outside the ball after you’ve teed up. Use the block as a guide to steer your club on the correct downswing path. If you tend to swing too steep or cut across the ball, you’ll hit the block—not good. Make some slow-motion practice swings to start, missing the block every time, then go after it at full speed. When you consistently miss the block, you’ll find your drives soaring farther while avoiding slices and…

WE ALL KNOW THAT YOU need to turn on your backswing. It’s how you turn that makes all the difference. To borrow some boxing analogies, high-handicappers tend to make a left cross. Better players make an uppercut. Here’s what I mean—plus a visual to help you see and feel the difference. Get into your regular setup with any iron, then swing to the top and hold. Have a friend place an alignment stick across your elbows, as shown in the photos above. If you struggle with consistency or speed, it’s likely that the alignment stick looks like the one on the left: parallel to the ground. This indicates that you simply rotated your shoulders, probably with a little too much sway off the ball. Yes, you’ve turned, but you haven’t…