Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Golf Monthly

Photography Kevin Murray One of golf's most enduring appeals is the opportunity it presents us ordinary players to play on the very same turf as the greats. Amateur footballers will rarely get to score a goal at Wembley, tennis players to enjoy a rally at Wimbledon or cricketers to unleash a cover drive at Lord's. But for golfers, the opportunity exists to tee off in front of the Royal & Ancient clubhouse at St Andrews and follow in the footsteps of every significant golfer from Old Tom to Rory. In the UK and Ireland we are perhaps the luckiest golfers of all. Not only do we have some of the very best courses on the planet right on our doorstep but we can, for a green fee, play them. This…

LETTERS The Editor Golf Monthly Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF EMAIL golfmonthly@timeinc.com TWITTER @GolfMonthly FACEBOOK facebook.com/ golfmonthlymagazine GOLF MONTHLY FORUM golf-monthly.co.uk/ forums GOOGLE+ +golfmonthly YOUTUBE youtube.com/GolfMonthly VINE vine.co/Golf.Monthly INSTAGRAM instagram.com/ golfmonthly All contributions must be original, not copies or duplicated to other publications. The editor reserves the right to edit letters. Time Inc. (UK) or its associated companies reserve the right to reuse any submission sent to these pages of Golf Monthly, in any format or medium.…

Photography Paul Severn “The good news is that my game remains competitive. I will be 48 on New Year’s Day, but I still feel like I can play – and win – on the European Tour” I have to be honest. Although 2016 has been a big year for me personally – my wife Marian and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary on October 19 – professionally it won't be a time I look back on with much pleasure. I did play 20 events on the European Tour, four more than I managed in the previous two seasons. That was a positive, but still half a dozen tournaments short of my ideal number. More than once this year injury interrupted my ability to compete. When I did play, I mostly…

2011 End-of-year ranking: 517 Southgate played 22 Challenge Tour events, including a second place at the Scottish Hydro Challenge. He finished 26th in the rankings and earned a European Tour card for 2012 via Q-School. 2012 End-of-year ranking: 666 He struggled in his first European Tour season, missing eight of 11 cuts before returning to the Challenge Tour. He came through Q-School successfully, though, earning a card for 2013. 2013 End-of-year-ranking: 1,030 Southgate recorded his first European Tour top ten, but it wasn't enough to retain his playing privileges. He earned €62,367 to finish 175th on the Race to Dubai and lose his card once more. 2014 End-of-year ranking: 1,314 The Englishman endured his worst year as a professional golfer, making less than €10,000 in nine starts on the European…

TOP 25 COACH Quest Golf Academy, Prairie Sports Village, Burnley 1 Opening the face With most instruction related to bunker play a coach will tell his pupil to open the face of his wedge. The problem here is that there is a right and wrong way to do it. If you take your normal grip and then open the clubface, your hands will naturally want to get back to their original position through impact. The face will close and you will struggle to get the ball out. This is why you need to turn the butt end of the club to open the face and then place your hands on the grip. You now have an open face and should be able to retain that loft through impact. Finally, you…

Every year, members of the GM forum flock from far and wide to take part in the now-legendary Help for Heroes charity golf day – the undisputed jewel in the forum-meet crown. The event has grown annually in stature and raised well in excess of £60,000 to support our wounded, injured and sick military personnel. The occasion was more poignant than ever this year, with event co-founder rickg sadly passing away earlier in 2016. Camberley Heath was a fitting venue for the forum's main event following recent stints at West Hill and North Hants. The pristine heathland layout was presented in excellent condition and impressed everyone with its quality. With the yellow tees in use and conditions fairly conducive to good scoring, it was no surprise to see a number…

Photography Mark Newcombe, shot on location at Al Zorah Golf Club, Ajman, UAE  If you are struggling with your fairway woods, it might be time for a shift in thinking. Start by asking yourself: are you better with your driver or your irons? “YOU SHOULD START BY ASKING YOURSELF: AM I BETTER WITH MY DRIVER OR MY IRONS?” If your driver is more reliable, you should use a similar address position. Move the ball forward in your stance, but not quite as far as you would with your driver – I'd say four fifths of the way to the left foot is good. Then tilt your spine away from the target a fraction to help create the sweeping motion you are looking for. From here, make a normal swing and…

Photography Kevin Murray “A lot of people ask me who I think is the best player in the world when everyone is at the top of their game, and I’m still taking Rory” It's been simply a sensation year for our game and there are just so many stand-out golfing moments for me, starting with Danny Willett donning the Green Jacket. I really do wonder if the Yorkshireman, at the start of 2016, would have even pictured in his wildest dreams that he'd be able to win at Augusta. But at the end of the day, that is what these guys strive to achieve – win big championships. Jason Day had a very good start to the year, winning the WGC-Match Play, Arnie's tournament and that unofficial fifth Major, the…

JANUARY Fowler clinched his sixth career victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, winning by one shot from Thomas Pieters. Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy finished two back. FEBRUARY Fowler's fast start to 2016 continued at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, but he drove into water during the play-off to hand the title to Japan's Hideki Matsuyama. APRIL His promising form came to a shuddering halt with a first-round 80, eight-over-par, at The Masters. In his sixth Augusta appearance, Fowler missed his first cut. MAY & JUNE Fowler missed three successive cuts on the PGA Tour, in his title defence of the Players Championship, at the Memorial Tournament and in the US Open at Oakmont. AUGUST Finished T37 at the Olympics. Two weeks later he surrendered the third-round lead at…

> 2 OCT Takes overnight ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium to Hull before driving up to the Dunhill Links Championship. He finishes tied for 7th. > 10 OCT Drives down from Dundee to The Grove for the British Masters, finishing in a tie for 33rd. > 18 OCT After taking a two-night ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, he makes an approximate 650-mile journey to Vilamoura in one day for the Portugal Masters, finishing in a tie for 44th. > 1 OCT Florian Fritsch sets off from Heidelberg on a 25-day trip that will see him contesting three European Tour events and finally earn a card for the 2017 season. Along the way, Fritsch took two ferries on which he spent three nights. > 25 OCT Returns to Germany at 10pm in…

Since the advent of our then Top 120 UK & Ireland Course Rankings back in 2004, a number of things have evolved gradually and subtly as we have sought to make our list as robust and relevant as possible. Much of the change has involved a gradual cementing of the process via which we assess courses, and tweaks to the ratio of marks allocated to each of our assessment criteria. Over the course of the past 12 years this has helped us to generate an authoritative list that is well regarded in the industry and among our readers. We have always reasoned that any course that allows our assessors to play and experience what is on offer should be in the rankings, regardless of that course's wider accessibility to golfers…

Photography Tom Miles As we move into the winter months, your game is unlikely to see quite as much on-course action until spring comes once more. So what's a golfer to do with all his golfing time, especially in the evenings when a quick knock is no longer an option? I would suggest that it's the perfect time to take stock of your game, pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and find a way to convert more of the latter into the former in 2017. Checking the basics is a great place to start, as slipping into bad habits during a busy season is often the underlying cause of bad shots. Over the following pages, I'll take you through grip, stance, ball position and more, so you can get everything spot…

1 Decision making The first part of your pre-shot routine is where the decision making needs to happen. As every golfer knows, good shots rarely happen if you aren't 100 per cent focused. This is when you need to build up a picture in your mind of exactly what a good shot would look like: how it would fly, where it would land and how far it would roll. As you look at the shot facing you, think about the weather conditions, how the ball is lying, the terrain of your landing zone and what the wind is doing. Take in as much information as you can because when this phase finishes, I want you to have a vivid visualisation of what you are trying to do. This will help…

FOOTJOY PRO/SL SHOES KEY TECH Three different sole layers add comfort, stability and traction AIMED AT Golfers seeking a blend of spikeless comfort and performance HOW MUCH £140 (laced), £155 (BOA) Since spikeless shoes first came to market six years ago, the top tour professionals have been asking for something that gives them grip they can rely on in different conditions throughout the year. With its new three-layer spikeless Pro/SL design, FootJoy is hoping it has found the answer. Already popular on tour – Adam Scott first tested them at the 2015 US Open and many FJ staff pros put them into play at the 2016 Open – the Pro/SL combines a soft, waterproof upper with a sole unit that features three distinctive layers. FootJoy’s polymer outsole material called Fine-Tuned…

KEY TECHNOLOGY The two blades (Voss and Anser 2) and two mallets (Oslo and Bergen) in the Vault line feature new True Roll variable-depth grooves milled directly onto the face, so heel and toe strikes lose less ball speed and feel softer. GM REVIEW Looks The Vault putters are a simple, premium offering that ooze class as soon as you set your eyes on them. Regardless of the shape you choose, you'll be greeted with ample alignment assistance, especially on the two mallets, and a flawless finish. Performance The heads are fully machined – from a block of steel in the case of the blades and aluminium for the mallets – contributing to a very soft, buttery feel from the sweetspot. This feel doesn't change too much from the heel…

Golf Monthly subscription including Srixon Z-Star balls £46.99 at magazinesdirect.com This gift keeps on giving, with a new issue delivered directly to your door every four weeks. You'll also get a dozen Srixon Z-Star balls, which saves you more than £50 versus buying both items separately. Titleist personalised golf balls From £20-£50 per dozen at titleist.co.uk Just for Christmas you can get Titleist balls personalised with your initials, name or a special festive message. You can order a minimum of just one dozen of any model, from Pro V1 and Pro V1x to DT TruSoft. FootJoy WinterSof gloves £21.00 at footjoy.co.uk This must-have for winter has suede sections for grip, and windproof insulating fleece sections to provide maximum warmth without the bulk.…

May I thank you for Fergus Bisset's fine tribute to Arnold Palmer in the December issue. He's always been a hero of mine, but to see all of his contributions to our great game highlighted so eloquently brought back what a truly inspirational figure he was. Today's cosseted stars all owe a huge part of their wealth to the hard work and innovation he brought to the game, and it was pleasing to see so many of them present at his memorial service held after the Ryder Cup. One of my biggest regrets is never seeing the great man play in person, but I'll treasure the memories of him battling it out with Jack and co. over the years. There doesn't seem to be anyone who knew him who has…

Photography Getty Images “I GREW UP WATCHING TIGER AND ERNIE BATTLING FOR MAJORS AND THAT’S WHEN THE BUG REALLY BIT ME” You’ve been right up there in Majors – what do you think is the difference between winning one compared to a regular tour event? There's just much more hype around Majors, and not just the fact there's a lot of history that goes with these events. I grew up watching Tiger and Ernie battling it out for Majors and that's when the bug really bit me. You want to play in those big events and you want to win one of those events. Now I'm getting closer and getting the taste of it, I want it even more. You have to get the balance right of not stepping over…

Photography Paul Severn “When you’re out of position a lot it’s hard to keep the errors off your card and make enough birdies to counteract the mistakes” The last few weeks of my season didn't go to plan at all. I was running on empty – I'd just worn myself down. I'd played some decent golf before that – a spell where it was kind of coming together. Physically I was fine, but I've just played so much golf this year that mentally there was nothing left. I didn't feel that my golf over those last couple of weeks was at a level to be able to finish first, second or third, which is what I needed to do to keep my card. When it was over, I needed a…

When and how did you discover you had cancer? I found a lump that I wasn't happy with and went to my local GP. He sent me for a scan and the results didn't come back the way we wanted – they found a tumour. The golf was put on hold and I went into surgery – the Wednesday of The Open last year – to have the testicle removed. I didn't have to have any follow-up procedures or chemotherapy, so it was just a case of recovering from the operation. You were 26, in the prime of your life. How did it affect you? I was gutted to start with. To be honest, I wasn't really bothered about myself. My niece has had leukaemia for the last two years…

“THE REFINING OF THE PROCESS HAS RESULTED IN CRITERIA THAT ARE UNDERSTOOD AND TRUSTED” When the latest biennial review period began in earnest in the summer of 2015, we compiled a new shortlist of just over 140 courses that we believed would have the best chance of making the cut. This featured all of the existing Top 100, as well as the courses from the Next 100 that had been most recommended by our panellists and our many other contacts in golf. The criteria This is now the seventh publication of the Top 100, and for the first time we have made no changes to the criteria. The refining of the process has resulted in criteria that are understood and widely trusted. The five categories are: the quality of test…

Addington Archerfield (Dirleton) Archerfield (Fidra) Ardglass Ashburnham Ashridge Ballybunion (Cashen) Ballyliffin (Old) Beau Desert Belfry (PGA National) Berwick-upon-Tweed Blackmoor Blackwell Boat of Garten Bovey Castle Brora Camberley Heath Carton House (Montgomerie) Castlerock (Mussenden) Castletown Cavendish Celtic Manor (Twenty Ten) Chart Hills Concra Wood Conwy Coombe Hill Crail (Balcomie) Crowborough Beacon Delamere Forest Donegal Dunbar Dundonald Elie Enville (Highgate) Fairmont St Andrews (Torrance) Forest of Arden (Arden) Fulford Glasgow Gailes Gleneagles (PGA Centenary) Goodwood (Downs) Gullane (No. 2) Hanbury Manor Hayling Headfort (New) Hindhead Huddersfield Ipswich (Purdis Heath) Isle of Purbeck (Purbeck) Killarney (Killeen) Killeen Castle Kilmarnock Barassie Knole Park Lindrick Little Aston Littlestone London (International) Luffenham Heath Luffness New Lundin Machrihanish Dunes Machynys Manchester Monifieth Montrose (Medal) Moray (Old) Narin & Portnoo Nefyn & District (Old) New Zealand North Hants…

TOP 25 COACH PGA Master Professional, Hedge End Golf Centre, Southampton, Hampshire 1 Ignore popular advice Shanks: even the very best can have them. I remember playing with Tom Watson in the first round of the 1977 Open at Turnberry and he had two in 18 holes! If the game's very best can suffer from them, it's no surprise that we can, too. If you're up at your club this weekend and hit one of golf's socket specials, your pals will probably say, “you're standing too close to the ball”. Possibly so, but the danger is you'll then end up standing too far away and reaching for the ball, with equally undesirable results. I would rather you checked out one of the following four things, where I believe the fault…

Photography Tom Miles TOP 25 COACH Paul Foston Golf Academy, Smarden, Kent The ‘stack and tilt' golf swing became popular about ten years ago but it is rarely taught these days. The principle is that you pre-set the impact position at address. This means that you start with 60 per cent of your weight on your left side (as you would have through impact) and then retain that weight positioning from address, to the top and then down to impact. At the top, the swing looks a little like a ‘reverse pivot' but your weight does not fall back, it stays over your left side. The classical way of swinging the golf club involves splitting your weight 50/50 at address. Around 80 per cent of your weight would be on…

“THE NEW LEVEL OF CUSTOMISATION MEANS THIS DRIVER WILL GET THE MOST FROM YOUR SWING” Joel Tadman, technical editor 1 KEY TECHNOLOGY Updates over the 915 models include an improved Active Recoil Channel 2.0 and Radial Speed Face 2.0 to provide more distance and lower spin across the clubface. In addition to the adjustable SureFit Tour hosel comes SureFit CG, a weight port that allows the swing weight, launch, spin and shot shape to be dialed in further. 2 LOOKS The ‘liquid slate' finish on the crown is a lighter grey compared to 915 – more in line with, but not the same as, the 816 hybrids. The 460cc D2 version has a larger address profile – almost square-like with rounded corners – compared to the smaller, more pear-shaped D3…

KEY TECHNOLOGY The T7 is the first Mizuno wedge to benefit from boron infusion, which makes the clubhead material much stronger for longer-lasting spin control. The shape becomes more rounded as the loft increases to suit more open-faced shots. GM REVIEW Looks The T7 is a muscleback design that looks stunning, whether you choose the white satin or blue IP finish. We enjoyed the change in profile as the loft increases, moving from an iron-like shape in the lower lofts to a more rounded design in the higher lofts, providing versatility. Performance A common complaint among golfers is that the control you get from fresh wedges wears off too quickly. Mizuno claims to have solved this, although the proof will come months or even years down the line. We experienced…

“I WASN’T SURE IF IT WAS REAL OR IF THE HEAD WOULD FLY OFF ” Joel Tadman I don't need to be reminded that as a golfing enthusiast, I've got one of the best gigs in the business. My handicap is on a steady upward curve and while having access to all the latest clubs has helped stem the tide, it is the choices I made as a relative nipper that haunt me the most. Regrettably, but perhaps a fair reflection on many of you reading this, the clubs I bought before starting out in the world of ‘work' were based mostly on price. The cheaper the better, and in fact I quite enjoyed the search for a bargain. Yet, there's a small part of me that laments those David…

Photography Tom Miles “He invited a few of us to join him for a celebratory chat in the bar – a conversation that focused almost entirely on ordering pints of Guinness” It's always good to see a big wrong righted and so it came to pass when Ian Woosnam was finally voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. About time. That's not only my opinion, it's Woosie's. For quite a while now, the Welshman has eagerly looked up to see who has been elected to be inducted at the grand place just outside St Augustine in Florida. And for a quite a while, he has tossed his paper aside with a mixture of disappointment, confusion and some legitimate disgust. Last time I looked, there were 149 heroic members of…