Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Golf Monthly

It’s June 10, 1988. I’m standing on the 1st tee at Broome Manor GC near Swindon with a Wilson Staff 5-iron in hand, about to take my first shot on a golf course. Aged 17, I’m a relative latecomer to golf, but I’m excited about what’s to come. The answer is a stone-cold top. Thankfully, I followed it up with one out of the screws en route to a 110 (I still have the card) and my love affair with golf was up and running. At the time I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I certainly couldn’t have dreamt that I’d become a golf writer and one day the editor of the world’s oldest golf magazine. Ever since I got the bug 35 years…

Allisen Corpuz produced a stunning Sunday performance to win the first US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. The American made six birdies in a closing 69 to finish nine-under and three clear of Charley Hull and Jiyai Shin. The victory was Corpuz’s first on the LPGA Tour and saw her take home $2 million, a record payout. “Unreal, this week has just felt like a dream come true,” Corpuz said. “My coach told me ‘no one is going to give it to you,’ and I think I’ve played a little conservatively in the past. I told myself I had the game to do it.” Corpuz began the day one behind Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, but assumed the lead after making two birdies in her first three holes. As Hataoka faded on…

What’s your dream four-ball? Me, my dad, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. Your best moment in golf? Leading The Open a couple of times on my birthday, but also winning my first Sunshine Tour event with my dad on the bag. Would you rather win The Open at St Andrews or The Masters? I think The Masters, because you get to play it until you’re very old. What’s the lowest score you’ve shot away from the tour? 61 on tour, 61 in a social game, but 62 at St Andrews is my favourite. If you had a career mulligan, where would you use it? I don’t regret much. The bad is sometimes just as helpful, if not more helpful, than the good. Favourite app on your phone? Chess.com. What would…

Aim left You’ll often need to have the ball back in your stance, so hit less club than normal for the distance as you decrease its loft, and expect a lower, less controllable flight. Swing more upright to increase the angle of attack. This often means cutting across the ball a little, so open your stance and aim a touch left of target to compensate. Don’t force it It’s tempting to really gouge at it, but the ball is on the clubface for so little time that it’s more about making good contact than creating speed. Try to hit it too hard and you’ll end up changing your swing and losing control. It’s better to make adjustments at address, then maintain your spine angle over the ball to clip it…

PXG’s latest series of Battle Ready putters have arrived, with an extensive range covering nine new models in total. Of the nine, five are blade or half mallets, while four are out-and-out high-MOI mallets. Those four include the return of the fangshaped Bat Attack, while the Blackjack model is similar to the Spider-style mallet that has become increasingly popular on tour. Of the five blade-style models available, the Brandon adopts the most classic-looking shape, while the Closer is a double-wide blade offering added forgiveness from off-centre strikes. All the Battle Ready II putters feature hollow-body constructions that reposition mass to the extreme perimeter of the chassis, boosting MOI relative to putter size. All the flat-sticks are designed with the third iteration of PXG’s Pyramid face structure, which boasts more aggressive…

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 By the time you read this, you’ll know who’s hoisted the Claret Jug, but I want to congratulate Wyndham Clark on triumphing in his first Major at the US Open. He hasn’t been in that position before, which makes his achievement all the more impressive. He was a good player in decent form before the event, but going head to head with Rory McIlroy in a Major is a different kettle of fish. Coming out on top is another one still. I thought he was magnificent. He played fearlessly and produced a couple of superb up-and-downs around the turn to keep the momentum. Then, on…

The AIG Women’s Open has become one of the highlights of the UK golfing calendar. It’s one of the five women’s Major Championships and this year it takes place at the esteemed Walton Heath Golf Club from August 10-13, with the Surrey venue set to provide a grand stage for the world’s best female golfers to exhibit their exceptional skills. Furthermore, this championship serves as an incredible source of inspiration for young girls and aspiring female golfers. Seeing successful female players in action is a powerful motivator that ultimately helps encourage participation and create a pipeline of future talent for the UK golf industry. The Women’s Open has a rich history dating back to 1976, yet it was not recognised as a Major equity. This commitment Championship by the LPGA…

As golfers, one of the main things we love is the competitive environment it puts us in for those four or so hours we are on the golf course. Whether we are playing in the monthly medal or a game for the post-round drinks, there is usually something on the line. While handicaps keep the game fair when various skill levels come up against each other, the margin for error and improvement is significantly smaller the lower your handicap becomes. As such, it is extremely difficult for golfers with lower handicaps to win nett scoring events. This is where the Elite Amateur Golf Group comes in. It has created a competition – the Elite Amateur Golf League – in which lower-handicap golfers compete in fantastic inter-club events, providing a platform…

Shot on location at Infinitum Resort, Spain 1 There are two main causes of a shank. Either the path comes excessively from the inside or from the outside. But before you work on your swing path, you need to make sure your distance from the ball is correct. A lot of golfers shank it because they are standing too close to the ball and they haven’t got the room to open up through impact. Likewise, if you’re too far away, you’ll start reaching for the ball and that causes the weight to naturally move onto your toes, which can lead to a shank. 2 Better players tend to get stuck on the inside approaching impact as a result of too much leg drive and hip slide, and the hands get…

There are 25 Rules of Golf, plus more than 70 Definitions that combine to cover some 238 pages in the latest book. And there are also almost limitless scenarios that can potentially occur out on the golf course every time you tee it up. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that despite the major revisions to the Rules that came into effect in 2019, many golfers do still find certain elements a little confusing – some Rules more than others. The Golf Monthly Rules query inbox is testament to this, so this month, we have picked out seven Rules, definitions or scenarios – including the ones we get asked about most frequently – where there is the potential for confusion, misunderstanding or misinterpretation… Q What does ‘known or virtually certain’ mean? A…

Ping i230 iron £180 per club 7-iron loft: 33° Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 TaylorMade P770 iron £165 per club 7-iron loft: 33° Shaft: KBS Tour Looks The i230 is more of a traditional cavity-back design enclosed by a multi-material badge. This provides a clean and simple, if also somewhat underwhelming, look, but the larger overall size may well inspire more confidence than the more compact P770. 8 ~ 9 Feel For us, the P770 has a fraction more shelf appeal than the i230, although the design is similar. The slightly smaller head and less offset will please the eye of the better player, but less competent ballstrikers may find the profile somewhat intimidating. For us, the i230 has a better impact experience. It doesn’t feel as powerful out…

Change your tune One of the things I really like about golf is the tranquility: walking on the course at dusk, listening to the birds and being watched by the deer. I realise that tournament golf is different, with all the visitors, officials and volunteers, but there is still a sense of calm most of the time. Even some of the noisier grandstands go quiet when required to do so. So when I tuned in to the British Masters, I was taken aback by the sound of music. It took some time before I realised it actually came from The Belfry and there was a stand with a DJ. I didn’t particularly care for the music played, so I watched without the sound. Not much fun. But I was surprised…

SOUND BITES “SHY KIDS DON’T GET SWEETS” Charley Hull on going for the green on the par-5 18th in the last round of the US Women’s Open. “I’VE BASICALLY GIVEN UP ON HIM. A LOT OF TALENT, BUT I MEAN THE TALENT’S WASTED” Brooks Koepka on LIV team-mate Matthew Wolff. “TO HEAR THAT THROUGH THE MEDIA WAS HEARTBREAKING” Matthew Wolff admitted he was hurt by the comments made by Koepka, his Smash GC captain. “WE’VE GOT 14 MAJORS OUT HERE NOW, SO WE HAVE TO PLAY REALLY WELL” Branden Grace on the much-improved field strength of the LIV Golf League in 2023. “IT PERHAPS OVERSHADOWED A LITTLE BIT THAT I’D JUST WON THE BIGGEST TOURNAMENT THAT I’LL EVER PLAY IN” Cameron Smith on being asked about LIV Golf rumours…

Not very says Fergus Bisset Some of the very best golf courses in this country have the most inauspicious approaches and entrances. Often the top clubs like to be a little more discreet and wow members and visitors with what they deliver on course and in the clubhouse, rather than what the average passer-by might glimpse. Those in the know are let in on a rather brilliant secret. Many courses are built where people live, so it’s inevitable that you will get to them by driving through an area of housing, and not always past palatial pads and gated villas either. To give an example, as you get near Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, you drive up a pretty standard residential street. If you didn’t know, you would have little clue…

Joel Dahmen is 20 minutes late for our interview. It’s part of his new reality, the latest chapter in his life that has seen him become a parent for the first time. It’s a reality that 12 years ago looked uncertain when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 23, not long after turning pro and not long after his brother, Zach, received the same startling news. Coming through the other side, though, gave Dahmen a fresh change of perspective to go with his immense talent; a talent that was nurtured during a childhood full of love and golf and that led to PGA Tour success. The early years Dahmen grew up in Clarkston, Washington, a small town in America’s north-west, where his dad was the driving…

While Slovenia is not widely acknowledged as a golfing powerhouse, the emergence of Pia Babnik onto the professional scene in 2020, at the tender age of 16, undeniably thrust her and Slovenia into the golfing spotlight. When you consider her pedigree, she was destined to excel in sport. As the daughter of international badminton players Ales and Mateja, Babnik, along with her younger twin brothers, was nurtured and encouraged to develop as a sportsperson. She engaged in many sports during her childhood, but it was a visit to the driving range with her father that ignited her passion for golf from a very young age. Standing tall at a height of 5ft 11in, Babnik’s physical presence alone is enough to intimidate even the best of players, but it’s not just…

You’ll hit more shots with a putter during around of golf than any other club in your bag, so it pays to have one that looks, feels and performs exactly how you want it to. We recently tested the latest models on the market to determine our favourites in a range of categories. Looks Variety is the spice of life, and there’s plenty of it among the latest putters. For maximum alignment assistance, consider the Odyssey White Hot Versa range with its highcontrast block colour system. The Ping 2023 range utilises both contrasting block colours and sightlines depending on the model, while the TaylorMade Spider GTX excels in terms of personalisation with its six chassis colour options. This is closely followed by the three on offer in the Mizuno M.Craft…

Words ROB SMITH MUST PLAY Head north over the Tay Estuary from golf-rich Fife and you reach Dundee, to the east of which is another immensely strong stretch of historic and top-quality links golf. The first such course, separated from Carnoustie by the length of Panmure and the Aberdeen to London railway line, is the excellent Medal course at Monifieth. Alongside the shorter but nonetheless challenging Ashludie course, this stern test has hosted Open Qualifying a number of times, most recently in 2007. This was also the first British links course played by the legendary Tom Watson back in 1975, seven days before he went on to capture the first of his five Claret Jugs on his Open debut. The mists of time The Medal course began life as a…

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh is positioned 80th in our most recent Top 100 UK & Ireland rankings and it’s not hard to see why. This is a spectacular beast of a championship golf course that will test every area of your skill set. The fairways are mostly quite generous, as demonstrated on the opening hole, but wild drives will be gobbled up by towering gorse bushes. On and around the lightning-fast greens, the key is to leave yourself below the cup. Every hole is a standout one, but the best include the par-3 4th, with its sleepered bunker running around three quarters of its perimeter, and the 9th and 10th, with their elevated tee positions. The 18th is a feisty finisher, especially with a strong crosswind. No par 5s and play in…

Isle of Harris There are two lovely courses on the island, here and further north at Stornoway. This picturesque nineholer is a testament to the love of golf as more than 40 years after the original course fell into disuse, dedicated locals worked hard to reopen it in 1985. Nick Faldo played in the early 1990s and left a signed £5 note in the honesty box, which is now competed for each year. There are three short holes and a par 5, but more than anything glorious views. GF: nine holes: £20; day: £30 The green on the par-4 3rd at Isle of Harris is blessed with an idyllic setting, offering distracting views out to beautiful Taransay and beyond. La Moye Jersey is a beautifully compact island much closer to…

Congratulations on winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic. What does it mean to you? It’s just nice to have this one out of the way. I’m obviously going to soak it in and celebrate a bit. It’s been a long road. I’ll get emotional at some point. One of the main goals this year was definitely to win. It gives you a chance of making the Ryder Cup team too. Is that in your thinking? Outside of winning, my goals were to make it to the Tour Championship and – kind of the end goal – be a part of the Ryder Cup team. That’s still what we’re focusing on right now. I’ve been a part of a handful and they’re very special weeks, so that’s where I have my eyes.…

Shockwaves were sent through the men’s professional game with the inception of LIV Golf, the Saudifunded breakaway circuit that hopes to make team competition a regular battleground in what is typically a cut-throat solo sport. As yet, I remain unconvinced and uninterested in the endeavours of the 4Aces, Majesticks and Cleeks, but there is one aspect of the series I have been mulling over for a while: the schedule. Not so much the tournaments themselves, more the number of them. In 2022, there were eight; this year, there are 14. Add in the Majors and a couple of others and you have what feels like a sweetspot. Enough to create anticipation in the off-season and not too much to saturate that interest. It’s something Formula 1 does so well. Racing…

At the 1979 Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller won on the second hole of the tournament’s first ever sudden-death play-off. Major Champions Graeme McDowell, Trevor Immelman, Lucas Glover and Jimmy Walker were all born in 1979. Severiano Ballesteros won his first Major title at the 1979 Open Championship, staged at Royal Lytham & St Annes. The Spaniard won by three strokes. The 1979 Ryder Cup at The Greenbrier was the first to be contested by a European, rather than GB&I, team. The USA won 17-11 . ELSEWHERE... General knowledge quiz game Trivial Pursuit was launched. Some of the year’s biggest film releases were Superman, Alien and Rocky II. Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of the UK for the first time.…

North Carolina has been a mecca for golfing tourists for years, with Donald Ross’ fabled Pinehurst No.2 creation headlining the state’s 600 courses, many of which play over the Carolina Sandhills, a terrain as perfect for golf as our links and heathlands in the UK. USA GF: round: $85-$195 Stats: par 71, 6,354 yards Ross, originally from Dornoch in Scotland, lived in North Carolina for nearly half a century and more than 50 courses in the state bear his signature. Southern Pines, one of the earliest, dates back to 1906 and is one of his most visually dramatic layouts. It has recently undergone a major restoration under the guidance of architect Kyle Franz. Tree clearing has been a big part of the project, along with significant bunker work and fairway…

Shot on location at Bramshaw Golf Club 1 Because you’re not actually hitting the ball on a greenside splash, the first thing to do is make sure you’re able to impact the sand in the right place. Draw a line in the sand and then practise getting the club to enter on that line without a ball. You can then introduce the ball a couple of inches in front of the line, but remember, you’re still trying to hit the line, not the ball! Practice We all know bunkers can vary hugely, so when you’re playing away, find time for a bit of bunker practice so you know what to expect from the depth and feel of the sand. 2 Lots of players on tour – especially the tall ones…

ASK OUR EXPERT What’s the best hybrid stand bag? Canary_Yellow, GM Forum For those who don’t know, a hybrid stand bag is one with a base that means it can be used on a trolley as well as being carried. The Motocaddy Hydroflex has always been a great option, especially if you use a Motocaddy trolley. The TaylorMade Flextech 2023 is a brilliant stand bag for organisation and has easily detachable straps, while the Big Max Dri Lite Hybrid Tour is another favourite of mine for the sheer size of its cooler pocket. For the record, I can fit my whole arm into it. How often should I re-grip my clubs? Cunnin, GM Forum Data from Golf Pride suggests that you should be regripping your clubs once a year if…

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that most golfers would not immediately associate Greece with golf. Perfect weather, world-class beaches, fascinating historical attractions and delicious food? Yes. Golf? Not so much. But a visit to Costa Navarino will certainly change that mindset… I first came here in 2016. The accommodation options back then were The Romanos and Westin Costa Navarino, both glorious examples of five-star luxury without even a hint of stuffiness or pomposity, just how a lot of golfers these days like it. The Bay course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr, and the Dunes course, designed by Bernhard Langer, made up the golf offering back then, and the combined 36 holes across two equally spectacular locations were more than adequate. Now, in arguably the most picturesque location…

Often referred to as England’s Golf Coast, the region between the country’s north-west borders with Wales and Scotland is packed with golf of the very highest order. It is home to three current Open Championship venues – the Royals at Liverpool, Birkdale and Lytham & St Annes – and the supporting cast is as strong an assortment as you will find anywhere. It would therefore be easy for even a top-notch links to be somewhat hidden in the shadows cast by the headlights blazing nearby. So just how did the links at Wallasey win over the Top 100 assessors and indeed the Golf Monthly staff to lead to its promotion into the top-most category of golf in the UK&I? The journey There are somewhere in the region of 2,000 courses…

Golf Monthly’s editor-atlarge and Golf Ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK I’ve spent a big chunk of my working life talking to top sportsmen, from Muhammad Ali through George Best to dear Seve and Tiger Woods (a bit). I’ve really liked some, thought the majority to be okay (if often slightly one dimensional) and been seriously disappointed by a few, who were either having a particularly bad day or were just too pleased with themselves to properly connect with anyone else. I approached them all the same way, the way anyone should interact with a fellow human being – respectful, friendly and aware of their various achievements. However, I was never in awe of them. They were blokes, talented yes, but still just blokes. Awe I reserved for anyone who had…