Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2024 i Golf Monthly

Luke Donald has been confirmed as the European Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 edition of the biennial match at Bethpage Black. The Englishman has been rewarded for his successful first outing. At Marco Simone, the Europeans stormed to victory by 16.5 points to 11.5 points over Zach Johnson’s USA, reclaiming the trophy after a 19-9 loss at Whistling Straits two years earlier. In the immediate aftermath of the emphatic win in Rome, there were calls from players for Donald to retain the captaincy. However, at first, he refused to commit to the possibility, instead giving himself time to reflect on his achievement. Now he has committed to the task of helping Europe retain the trophy on US soil. Certainly, it will be a far different proposition, with Team Europe…

• Essentials GF: €190-€220 Stats: par 72, 6,732 yards LOVE TO PLAY It’s big, it’s beautiful and it’s back. After a €10 million renovation, Druids Glen re-opened in June 2023. The most vibrant of Ireland’s top-tier parklands has enjoyed a supercharged injection of energy and vitality, which has taken this former Irish Open course to a new level. It has always been too easy to call Druids Glen the ‘Augusta of Ireland’ – or even ‘of Europe’ if you want to be more brazen – but the recent investment means it is impossible not to make that comparison. The lead designer on the project was Peter McEvoy, one of the greatest amateurs in the game and a man who played in The Masters three times. He found this Irish landscape…

OFFICIAL DATA PARTNER Mike Walker with Mark Townsend Of all the world’s top ten players, Matt Fitzpatrick may still be the most underrated. The Sheffield star has won ten times around the world, with his biggest week coming at the 2022 US Open at Brookline, where he had also claimed the US Amateur in 2013. Coach Mike Walker looks after the likes of Gary Woodland, Henrik Stenson, Thomas Pieters, Laurie Canter and Matt Jordan but is best associated with Fitzpatrick, with whom he has worked for 15 years. In the past two years, they’ve worked on strengthening Fitzpatrick’s iron play. Here, Walker explains how his swing works and what has changed. Shot on location at MATT FITZPATRICK A grip of his own 1 STRONG LEFT-HAND GRIP Matt has a strong…

The use of data in the game of golf has really been ramped up in recent years. Knowing which areas of your game need improvement, what your tendencies are and even where your strengths lie are all important components in devising a good strategy. The new Shot Scope Connex system represents the brand’s latest development in on-course shot tracking. It comes at a very competitive price that could open the eyes of yet more golfers to the benefits of shot tracking. Setting up the Connex tags is very straightforward. You simply attach the tags to their corresponding clubs, download the free Shot Scope app and enter a few details to create your account. On the course, you just have to load up the app, select the GPS tracking mode and…

Wherever you go in Italy, you are bound to experience the inimitable blend of culture, climate and cuisine that has become synonymous with the country. Even crossing the border from France into Piedmont is enough to feel the difference; the character of the place practically drips from the walls. This is as true in the countryside villages as in ancient cities like Turin and Milan, while further south Florence, Rome and Naples await, along with Pisa by the west coast and Venice to the east. In search of the perfect golf break, I went a little bit further, to the southern tip of the peninsula and over the Strait of Messina. To be more accurate, I cut the corner altogether with a flight from London to one of Sicily’s four…

In 20 years of covering golf, I’ve played at, and visited, some of the most incredible golf facilities and destinations: from Canada to Singapore and from European classics to modern masterpieces of the Middle East. My wife will confirm that I’ve been on quite a number of ‘investigatory’ trips. Sorry darling. I’m going to put my neck on the line and suggest that this September, I took the most surprising, most enjoyable and quite simply the best golfing trip of my career to date. It had been a busy 2023 and I’d almost forgotten that I’d been booked in to join a press trip at the end of summer to visit Apes Hill and play the Ron Kirby renovated course there. But I was very pleasantly reminded of it when…

Don’t put your clubs away over winter! I enjoyed the article in December’s issue on 25 reasons to love winter golf, which got me thinking. Our club was fortunate to win the 46-team M4 league competition this year, the group stages of which are played between September and April. The matches are always competitive and enjoyable irrespective of the weather and course conditions on the day. On an individual note, as a single-figure handicapper (just), I feel I have a greater chance of winning a winter club competition compared with a summer one. Winter can be a great leveller! What’s more, winter viral infections can have some benefits. My wife is part of a small beginner’s group at our club. Recently due to illness, she was the last woman standing,…

Bettinardi’s biennial update of its BB putter series has arrived with a seven-model line-up. This has seen the premium putter brand head back to its extensive list of tour staffers to refine the already very accomplished series of putters from 2022. • Every new iteration of the BB series arrives with subtle refinements to the aesthetics, with the clean lines of the 2022 series flowing through into 2024. While the looks may remain familiar, Bettinardi always makes sure to offer a significant performance update of its already meticulous milling process. For 2024, it has gone back to its tour players to help refine the putters’ centre of gravity, as well as apply a new face-milling procedure. • The BB series now boasts reshaped bumpers and shoulders, allowing the centre of…

How many times have you sat in the clubhouse with a post-round drink and heard one of your playing partners mutter something along the lines of, “If I could just get the ball in play off the tee, I’d be a single-figure golfer.” Those sorts of comments are made the world over, for one simple reason: the vast majority of amateur players hit at least one wayward drive a round that leaves them hacking out of a bush, dropping behind or next to a penalty area or reloading off the tee. Surely if we could just find the short grass, even at the expense of distance, we would all shoot better scores? That was the hypothesis we were keen to put to the test at West Hill Golf Club in…

“It dominated everything that happened over the few days, from the pre-game to the post-game. Even when I was first asked if I wanted to play in it months in advance, I could already feel the dread building….” If I do have a kindred golfing spirit, it is Andy Wright. Andy is a scratch golfer at Royal Troon. He comfortably drives the ball 300+ yards, his irons, Mizuno blades, are a standout strength and he’s considering trying to qualify for next year’s Open at his home club. He’s the kind of golfer you’d stop to watch on the range and has the look of someone who genuinely knows what he’s doing with some tour sticks. You could easily think he plays golf for a living and, for a good while,…

What is the shot? 1 Max Homa is a beautiful driver of the ball – not one of the longest on tour, maybe, but he has added yards, and he has become straighter, too. It’s often said that all the tour professionals have great rhythm and tempo, but that’s not strictly true. Even with some of the best players in the world, you’ll see them take a step at the end of their swings. The American is not usually one of those – he displays wonderful tempo. In the past, he has talked about the importance of his rhythm and not getting too fast with his transition. This is such a key part of the swing for everyone where tempo is concerned. How does he play it? 2 The fundamentals…

This versatile package mixes a portable launch monitor with an innovative putting mat, all at a fraction of the price of its competitors. The set-up can perform as a standalone portable launch monitor or can be turned into a home simulator with an appropriate net or screen. The overall bundle includes not only the Wave portable launch monitor but also the Wave Putt mat, which allows all putting performance to be tracked too. Weighing just over half a kilo, the launch monitor’s compact nature lends itself to use on the driving range or golf course, with it fitting easily into a golf bag. Unlike some of its competitors, it doesn’t show the 34 data parameters it collects on a built-in screen, so you’ll have to download the app for that.…

MUST PLAY The beautiful course at Crowborough Beacon is one that benefits and perhaps also suffers from its wonderfully rural and off-the-beaten-track location. Were it closer to other more famous courses, it would undoubtedly be far better-known – Royal Ashdown Forest, which is five miles away as the buzzard flies, is the only high-profile club in the area. As it is, it is something of a one-off, running over a vast expanse of gently undulating heathland high up in the Sussex hills. The distinctive design meanders this way and that, up hill and down dale, constantly changing direction and offering something new at every turn. The club itself dates back to 1895, but the design origins of the course are something of a whodunnit. This is particularly apposite as Sir…

The Hertsmere GF 18 holes: £35 Mon-Thu, £39.50 Fri-Sun Formerly known as Elstree and as Radlett Park, a change in ownership combined with substantial investment has seen this course moving very much in the right direction. The Donald Steel design is one of two distinct halves, with a more traditional front nine running through stately trees. The back nine is on more open land, but with ponds and ditches frequently in play. It boasts a hi-tech driving range and its bright clubhouse includes the new Script restaurant and bar. All in all, this is an extremely friendly and sociable place for a game of golf. Fulwell GF 18 holes: £80wd, £100we JH Taylor designed two courses at Fulwell in 1904, five years before the opening of the nearby Twickenham Stadium.…

• Nicolai, congratulations on winning the DP World Tour Championship. You must be thrilled about it? It’s absolutely amazing. I didn’t really think about what kind of tournament or what size or anything else, but I really wanted to get a win. We put in a lot of work this year. I’m so proud of my team and everyone involved and I couldn’t wish for better people to have around me. It feels amazing, closing out in style with family and friends around. • You now have playing status on the PGA Tour for 2024. How will you approach that? At the moment, that’s something we have to figure out, the planning. We probably have to base ourselves over there. If you really want to compete against the best, I…

“PRO GOLF IS ON A ONE-WAY STREET TO NOWHERE. LOST ITS MIND, AND I’VE LOST MY RESPECT AND LOVE FOR IT”Eddie Pepperell reacts to the news that the PGA Tour spent $100m on 20 players through the Player Impact Program (PIP) “I THINK I’VE STILL GOT A GOOD EIGHT TO TEN YEARS LEFT IN ME WHERE I CAN PLAY AT THE TOP, TOP LEVEL”Rory McIlroy looks ahead after lifting the Race to Dubai trophy for a fifth time “EVERYONE HAD TOLD ME HOW BAD JORDAN WAS DRIVING THE BALL, AND EVERY TIME HE STOOD ON THE TEE HE HIT THE F****** FAIRWAY”Shane Lowry recalls his nervy encounter with Jordan Spieth in his Sunday singles match at the Ryder Cup “I STILL PINCH MYSELF IN THE MORNING WHEN I WAKE UP…

• How does it all work? The PGA and DP World Tours announced earlier this year that the top ten not-otherwise-exempt players from the DP World Tour would earn PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season. The list was finalised following the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship last month. • So who made the cut? The top three finishers on the 2023 Race to Dubai – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland – already have PGA Tour membership, so the first card went to the fourth-place finisher, Adrian Meronk. The other nine players are Ryan Fox, Victor Perez, Thorbjorn Olesen, Alexander Bjork, Sami Valimaki, Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon, Jorge Campillo and Ryo Hisatsune. • Are all the cards equal? No. As he finished in the first spot,…

It’s easy to forget what a shock to the established golfing system Tiger Woods was when he emerged onto the scene, but a look back at Alistair Tait’s review of his first Major win at Augusta (June 1997 edition) reveals the extent of the impact he made… “This is a kid who can hit the ball unbelievable distances, and not just off the tee. Three examples from Saturday’s round reveal just how long Tiger is compared with the rest of the field. His description of how he played the 2nd, 8th and 13th (all par 5s) tells almost the whole story. ‘On 2 I had 186 yards to the hole and I hit a big sweeping hook with a 9-iron, and I just hit it long. On 8 I had…

• Few golf apparel brands have as distinct an aesthetic as J.Lindeberg. Probably most famous for its outfits worn by Viktor Hovland, the Scandinavian golf/lifestyle brand has now launched its first-ever golf shoe, the Vent 500. While it’s been a part of some collaborative efforts with Ecco in the past, this is JL’s first solo design of a golf shoe. • The Vent 500 is a running shoe concept, but one that has been crafted with golf in mind. A custom JL outsole has been added for year-round wearability and grip in all conditions. The chunky sole is indicative of modern, casual golf shoe styling and nods to the JL brand are dotted all over the silhouette. Fans of the brand will appreciate the subtle pieces of styling, most notably…

Sweden’s Linn Grant is a young newcomer rising rapidly up the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking. The 24-year-old made headlines in 2022 when she became the DP World Tour’s first female winner. Her landmark success in the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed – a groundbreaking new event where men and women compete alongside each other for the same trophy and title, but from different tees – wasn’t just a win; it was an emphatic nine-stroke victory. “To be honest, the significance of it still hasn’t sunk in,” admits Grant. “Obviously it was a huge personal win, massive, but I don’t think I realised how many eyes were on me that week. I think that as players we all know our best games, how good we could be, and it’s just about…

It’s not often you get to peek behind the curtain of a brand’s custom-fitting facility, let alone one that isn’t even open yet. So when I received a call to say PXG was opening a dedicated golf destination for club fittings, and that I could go and snoop around before it opened to the public, I jumped at the chance. The store lies on an unassuming industrial estate, hidden away a touch. But once you round the corner, there’s no missing the front, where you’re gladly greeted by a giant PXG sign and fresh exterior. PXG UK has been based at Esher, Surrey for 18 months at the brand’s state-of-the-art build and distribution centre. Any PXG club ordered in the UK, Europe, Middle East or Africa since 2022 has been…

How do I compress my iron shots? By Top 50 Coach Trey Niven It’s something we hear a lot when we watch the professionals – they compress their irons and get that pure strike time and time again. We all want to do the same, right? This is one of my favourite ball-striking drills to help you achieve that ball-then-turf strike on a consistent basis. Take a swing with a ball under your lead foot. The idea is that you don’t want to feel yourself pressing on the ball too much on the backswing. However, on the downswing, try to apply a bit of pressure to that ball. It helps you to feel how your weight needs to transfer to be able to deliver that slight downward angle of attack.…

Modern travel covers come in a plethora of shapes and sizes, all with the goal of transporting golf clubs safely on their treacherous journey through baggage handling and beyond. We’ve seen much innovation in this area of the market and the Sun Mountain Kube is evidence of that. It’s a cleverly designed cover that utilises hard-shell casing at the top and bottom, while also folding up to a compact cube (above right) for neat storage at home and on holiday. The handy by-product of this unique system is the extra padding it provides when the bag is in use. The hard-shell case offers robust coverage at the top end of the bag where protection for drivers and woods is needed the most. Our favourite thing about travelling with the Kube,…