Golf Monthly September 2023

Hello and welcome to the September 2023 issue of Golf Monthly. I’m currently sitting in the media centre at the 151st Open Championship at Hoylake and writing these words to kick-off my first editor’s letter is a truly surreal feeling. I’ve played the game ever since I was able to stand upright (with varying degrees of success), followed those competing at the highest level over the last 30 years and worked for Golf Monthly since 2004. Now I have the humbling honour of becoming just its ninth editor in 112 years. From the very start, when two-time Open Champion Harold Hilton introduced the first issue of Golf Monthly in April 1911, the basic intention was to produce a publication by golfers, for golfers. Of course, the world in 2023 is…

Home advantage There has been constant debate in clubhouses across the UK about the WHS. While my own view is it is certainly a better reflection of the current playing handicap of a golfer, there is one area I would like the golf unions to consider: the complex aspect of the score differential calculation in amateur open competitions. I am not talking about elite golf here, rather the enjoyable pursuit of entering open and senior open competitions. Under the old system, it was quite common for host clubs to produce, at the conclusion of the competition, separate Competition Standard Scratch (CSS) scores for ‘home’ members and visitors. This was to reflect the fact that, at many courses, home members enjoy ‘local knowledge’. It was not uncommon for the visitor CSS…

Harman tames Hoylake to secure maiden Major Congratulations on winning The Open. Did you always know you had a Major in you? I’ve always had a self-belief that I could do something like this. It’s just when it takes so much time, it’s hard not to let your mind falter. I’m 36 years old and the game is getting younger. I think someone mentioned I’ve had more top-tens than anyone since 2017 – that’s a lot of times where you’re like, ‘dammit man, I had that one.’ I don’t know why it happened now, but I’m very thankful. At what point did you think you could win the Claret Jug? There were fleeting thoughts throughout the final day, but I told myself I wasn’t going to let any of that…

Golf’s popularity continues to soar, according to new R&A global participation figures. Research undertaken by the governing body shows there are now 39.6 million on-course golfers who play nine or 18-hole rounds in R&A-affiliated markets, which is up a massive 34 per cent from 2016. Notably, golf’s latest boom began before the outbreak of Covid-19 and has continued since the worst of the pandemic has passed, increasing by 15 per cent from 34.5 million on-course players in 2020. The data has been gathered from a new Global Golf Participation Report which collectively measures The R&A’s affiliated markets in Asia, Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. What’s more, some 61.2 million adults outside the USA and Mexico engage with the sport in some format,…

Justin Thomas Thomas’s lack of form culminated in him failing to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time since 2014. Tom Kim Kim almost won the Scottish Open and carried that momentum into The Open, where he finished in a tie for second. Lydia Ko Ko struggled in the middle part of the year and finished T33 at the US Women’s Open and T61 at the Evian Championship. Brooke Henderson The Canadian came 12th at the US Women’s Open and finished second behind Celine Boutier at the Evian Championship.…

What’s your dream four-ball? Myself, my dad, Tiger Woods and Henrik Larsson. Your best moment in golf? My opening tee shot at this year’s Open. I would love to bottle that moment up for the rest of my life. What would you be doing if you weren’t a golfer? I would like to believe I could’ve made it as a footballer as I played for St Mirren until I was 15. Would you rather win The Open at St Andrews or The Masters? Neither. The Open at Troon would be the pinnacle for me. If you had a career mulligan, where would you use it? I had a four-foot putt to win last year’s EuroPro event at Spey Valley that didn’t even sniff the hole. Favourite app on your phone?…