Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i Golf Monthly

Justin Rose said it would be a huge honour to be the next European Ryder Cup captain, after it was suggested to him he was one of the front runners for the job. His thrilling FedEx St. Jude Championship success booked his Ryder Cup spot this year, but at 45, Rose is being touted by many as a favourite to lead the side at Adare Manor in 2027. Speaking ahead of the BMW Championship, Rose said: “There’s never a perfect time to do it, but the opportunity for me personally, it’s a huge honour, and I’d love to take it on.” Rose also believes Luke Donald may have set a new precedent for the role, and future European captains could be asked to take on both home and away Ryder…

Having spent many hours with the best players in the world, the TaylorMade R&D team has learned that a wedge can never feel soft enough in their hands. That’s why for the first time ever, the brand’s MG5 wedge is fully forged from soft carbon steel. Not only does the forging process help you to experience soft feel around the greens where you need it most, but it also ensures consistency in the blade from top to bottom. The MG5 wedge is the first in the MG family to employ aggressive saw-milled grooves. The saw-milling process allows TaylorMade’s designers to get even closer to the legal limits of groove geometry. Re-engineered with ultra-tight tolerances, steeper walls and sharper radii, these grooves help MG5 create more spin than previous MG models.…

A couple of years ago, I had my first correspondence with Lawrence Bond when an email popped into my inbox inviting me to his company’s charity golf day. I politely declined – we’d love to support every golf day we’re invited to, but it simply isn’t viable. I was intrigued, though, and his assertion that it would be the wackiest golf day I’d ever attend did pique my interest somewhat. I asked him to send me pictures and videos of the day afterwards and what I saw was unlike any golf event I’d taken part in before. So, earlier this year when the invite popped into my inbox, I didn’t hesitate to accept. I also brought along a photographer to capture the festivities. I’m so glad I decided to attend,…

JJ Spaun holing a putt from over 60ft on the 18th green at Oakmont to win the US Open was one of the most iconic moments of the season. The fast and undulating putting surfaces were part of the character of the championship. There was also an interesting feature in which one of the putting greens on the golf course contained an area deemed a practice putting green. The United States Golf Association (USGA) introduced a Local Rule allowing practice at the rear of the 9th putting green in an area defined by blue stakes and a blue dot. Players were able to use this area of the putting green to make practice strokes before or during the round. This Local Rule was required because Rule 5.2b prevents players in…

As someone who tests golf clubs for a living, I’m often asked about the best clubs ever made. It’s a tough question, as personal preference, technological advancements, lived experience and emotion all play a huge role. However, after innumerable rounds and swings over the years, I’ve narrowed it down to my top ten, picking two contenders in each of the putter, wedge, iron, fairway wood and driver categories. So, let’s get stuck in… Putters My first choice is the Ping Anser. Designed by Karsten Solheim in 1966, this putter is arguably the most copied golf club of all time. It pioneered perimeter weighting, a design feature that revolutionised putter stability. With more than 500 tour wins, including 19 men’s Major Championships, its legacy is undeniable. The list of professionals who…

I’d been to Penha Longa in Portugal’s Sintra region before on a media launch 20 years ago when I edited the equipment pages, but when I stepped through the entrance this time I recalled little. I was struck by its grandness, suggesting that it had either undergone a renovation (certainly), that I had only played and not stayed last time (quite possibly) and that my memory isn’t what it was (definitely). But after three nights this July with my wife and daughter, I doubt I’ll forget it again for many reasons, not least my first ever (I think) Michelin-starred dining experience in the extraordinary LAB by Sergi Arola restaurant. More of that later, but first the golf, and I had played what is now the Atlantic Championship course before, with…

Royal Lytham and St Annes GF: 18 holes: £280-£460 England’s renowned golfing coast in the north-west had a strong, formative role to play in the earliest Ryder Cups, with Lytham then hosting the match for the first time in mid-October 1961. The format that year was four foursomes morning and afternoon on day one, and eight singles both morning and afternoon on day two; a gruelling schedule over such a tough and strategic test of golf. Arnold Palmer made his debut and was leading points scorer as the visitors won 14.5-9.5. They won again when it returned in 1977, this time with a young Tom Watson making his debut. Despite its slightly more enclosed nature with the railway bordering several holes, it is a classic links that has hosted The…

It is, Mr Google kindly informs me, 32 miles from Times Square in New York to Bethpage State Park and a golf course that likes to boast that if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Sound familiar? There are five courses in this Long Island park but Bethpage Black is the most fiendishly difficult. It is, of course, where the 45th Ryder Cup matches will be played in a few weeks’ time and it is a belter. Accentuating the difficulty is clearly Bethpage’s key marketing element. They attract golfers to this beast by hanging out a sign recommending this joint is ‘only for highly skilled golfers’. Naturally its tee times are frequently filled with average to poorly skilled golfers who can’t wait to test their flickering…

● USA ● GF: $88-$160 ● Stats: par 71, 7,468 yards Even the most infrequent of golf social media users must have seen the famous 1st tee sign on the Black course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York… “Warning: the Black course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers.” No-one seems to know how or when the sign originated, but the golfers congregating here for the 45th Ryder Cup matches from September 26-28 certainly meet the ‘highly skilled’ requirement. That’s not to say they won’t still be tested to the full over those three days. When the rejuvenated AW Tillinghast creation played host to the US Open in 2002, only Tiger Woods finished under-par and the cut fell at ten-over. When it…

There are certain sporting events that make you stop in your tracks. Alongside the Olympics and the football World Cup sits golf’s great centrepiece, the Ryder Cup. Every two years, golf opens its doors, flings its arms wide open and embraces general sports fans with a fierce head-to-head contest that never fails to deliver the most unpredictable of sporting drama. Usually deferential and always respectful, the fans become ferociously tribal. Football-style chants echo around temporary stadiums, sporadically exploding into life as the home team lands a meaningful blow. Last time out, Europe played host in Rome with both team and crowd ensuring that every possible home advantage was turned up to the max, magnifying any small edge. A 16 ½ - 11 ½ win on home soil was the reward…

More passion, please I will not be alone in finding Scottie Scheffler’s press conference ahead of The Open a bit strange, when he all but said that he doesn’t care about golf and that he struggles to find the point or much satisfaction in the game or his wins. While his focus on family is highly admirable, I am not sure any of our employers would reward us for making similar statements about our work. As golf fans we want golfers to really care the same way as the prior generation seemed to (i.e., Nick Faldo or Tiger Woods) and not come across as apathetic. Xander Schauffele’s comments about not knowing the location of his golf trophies were equally bizarre. Where has the passion gone? James Becker, North London Not…

“AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT IS SIMPLY TWO TEAMS TRYING TO KNOCK SEVEN BELLS OUT OF EACH OTHER, IN THE NICEST POSSIBLE WAY”Peter Alliss on the biennial battle “WE ARE PLAYING FOR HISTORY. IT’S LIKE PLAYING FOR YOUR LIFE”Nick Faldo after Europe’s historic win at Muirfield Village in 1987 “I LOOK INTO THEIR EYES, SHAKE THEIR HAND, PAT THEIR BACK AND WISH THEM LUCK, BUT I AM THINKING, ‘I AM GOING TO BURY YOU’”Seve Ballesteros always rose to the occasion at the Ryder Cup “THERE IS NOTHING LIKE WINNING THE RYDER CUP, BECAUSE YOU ARE PLAYING FOR SOMETHING BESIDES YOURSELF”Tom Watson after captaining the victorious US team at The Belfry in 1993…

Scotland GF: £335 (replay rate within seven days: £168) Stats: par 72, 6,421 yards New links courses in Scotland are rare commodities. Cabot Highlands and Trump Aberdeen will both unveil second layouts soon, but prior to them, the most recent addition was this Clive Clark design on the Firth of Forth in south Fife, which is now five years old. Despite a tricky Covid birth, the links has quickly garnered a big reputation for being both a visually stirring course and for providing a professional but suitably informal off-course experience. What it does really well is to set both your pulse racing and your brain whirring, the former via clever use of the terrain, with several eye-catching holes playing down towards the Firth, among them the all-important 1st. That’s not…

In 2009, Rory McIlroy said of the Ryder Cup: “It’s not a huge goal of mine. It’s not that important an event for me. It’s an exhibition at the end of the day. Obviously, I’ll try my best for the team, but I’m not going to be running around fist pumping.” How things change. Fast forward to tears of disappointment at Whistling Straits in 2021, then tears of jubilation at Marco Simone, and it’s clear the Ryder Cup is now a hugely important focus within the Northern Irishman’s career. In his younger days, McIlroy was prone to saying the odd thing ‘off the cuff’. But when asked to read those quotes again in a video before the 2023 Ryder Cup, he replied: “Who said that?… I said that in my…

We’ve all hit the ball well on the range. When we get to the golf course, however, so often it’s a different story. This ‘mystery’ has always frustrated Karl Morris; in fact, the PGA professional became so tired of seeing golfers struggle to replicate their range form on the golf course, he turned his attention to the mental side of the game. Today, Morris is regarded as one of the leading performance coaches in the sport. He’s worked with over a hundred tour professionals, including Major Champions in the form of Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell. He might not say so himself, but his work with former cricketer Michael Vaughan also played a role in England’s Ashes success in 2005. More recently, his coaching has helped Ryan Fox,…

What’s the best way to improve distance control on the greens? By Top 50 Coach Ged Walters The reason why many amateurs three-putt so often is they struggle to get the speed of the greens. Taking away the target (the hole) when practising can help you to focus solely on your speed control. Place two tees in the ground around 10ft apart, then try to putt a ball from one to the other, leaving it no more than one grip length away from the tee peg. Repeat this using different slopes on the practice green and you will notice your putting improves out on the course. How should I go about playing from a divot in the fairway? By Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott The first thing I would always…

We golfers are great appreciators of things that combine quality and beauty with functionality. A sleek-lined, high-performance forged iron or a golf course of classic design presented in immaculate condition, for instance. These finer aspects of golfing life capture our interest and sustain our love for the game. Beauty, quality and functionality are also very much the cornerstones of the innovative August Collection, a co-ownership programme for luxury European holiday homes that offers investors the chance to hold a share in no fewer than four or five carefully selected European properties. The thought of owning a holiday property is an engaging one. It provides the chance to escape from the toils of everyday life to a place of sanctuary in a beautiful setting. A home from home. But the traditional…

Used by more than 95% of PGA Tour pros at this year’s Players Championship, Bushnell lasers are rightly considered some of the best rangefinders money can buy. I think this latest Tour Hybrid model is by far its best for the everyday golfer looking for simplicity as well as the perfect amount of on-course data. The Tour Hybrid combines a rangefinder with a built-in GPS that displays the yardages to the front, middle and back of the greens through the viewfinder. I can’t stress how brilliant it has been to play with a laser that also provides these vital distances in one convenient device. Often, golfers have to choose whether they’d prefer a GPS or a laser, but now these technologies have been superbly combined in this easy-to-use, premium package.…

With countless models on the market, choosing a putter can be a daunting task. Selecting the right one for your stroke is crucial to achieving better performance on the greens, lowering your scores and reducing your handicap. A wide array of putters has been released in 2025, from zero-torque options to mallets and even classic-looking blades. I’ve tested all of the best models from all of the biggest brands to help determine what I think are the finest putters of 2025 and guide your decision as to which one may be best for your game. Best for alignment Arguably, the most important decision when selecting a putter is choosing one that most helps you with your alignment. One of the putters that I feel offers a strong, standout alignment feature…

Distance-measuring devices (DMDs) – as in your lasers, handhelds and GPS watches – continue to get better and better. They’re a bit like mobile phones in some respects: every now and then a new feature comes along that you didn’t know you needed. Before you know it, it’s something you regard as essential. The real ‘must have’ feature that has seen these devices boom over the last 20 years is the quick, accurate yardages they provide, which offer golfers the next best thing to a caddie. Only when we leave our DMD at home do we realise how valuable they are and how many shots they can save us. This sector of the market has certainly become very crowded, which is great for us here at Golf Monthly, because we…

If you had asked me a few months ago to name regions of England that can lay claim to a number of top courses, north Leeds in Yorkshire would not have been on my radar. But having since visited and enjoyed much of what it has to offer golfers, it would now be very near the top of my recommendation list. First up on our June trip was Headingley, which was remodelled by Dr Alister MacKenzie and presents itself as an incredibly fun layout with bags of variety. Manager Jon Hall pointed out some of the recent improvements, including the paths and the excellent new short-game area beside the clubhouse, where you can hit anything up to a full sand wedge, while stressing that the course is playable all year…

If anyone fancies watching a masterclass in how to deal elegantly with deep disappointment in any sport, then flick back to watch and listen to Thomas Fleetwood talking about his latest failure to win a PGA Tour event. Tommy – does anyone ever call him Thomas? – deals with his disappointment with positivity, honesty and the abiding thought that missing out on the winner’s rostrum yet again is not, and never will be, the worst thing that could happen to him. Or as he put it, “It hurt coming off the course, but my frame of mind is just to focus on getting back into contention again. What has happened, has happened. What can you do?” Not winning in America has become the biggest thing anyone currently knows about Fleetwood.…

Justin, congratulations on your play-off victory at the FedEx St Jude. How special was that? That was an amazing last 90 minutes really. The 6-iron I hit into 14 was a clutch shot; back right pin, had to hit the perfect golf shot in there. That set up the birdie I needed just to give myself a chance. I played unbelievable golf coming down the stretch. I had so much fun with it. I hit a couple of good putts in regulation and on the first play-off hole as well. Obviously JJ [Spaun] dropped a bomb on me on the second extra hole, but I topped him on the third. It was a lot of fun. Does this win validate everything you’ve been working on? That’s why I practise. That’s…

So, Jack, it’s 20 years since you stepped away from tournament golf. Do you miss the adrenaline of playing competitively? Oh yeah, I absolutely miss it. I love competitive golf, but I don’t have the vehicle to play it any more. When you lose your vehicle to compete at the game you love, lose your ability to play, it doesn’t make it nearly as fun, obviously. But do I miss it? Of course, I miss it. I love the game of golf and I love playing it. Did you always have a winning mentality as a child, and when you started playing golf? I didn’t like losing at anything. I liked to win whatever I played and whenever I played. But at the same time, my father taught me the…

Players of many different skill levels will enjoy using Ping’s latest ‘i’ line offering When a brand has a successful iron franchise, I eagerly anticipate the release of a new iteration to see what has been tweaked. It is a very fine line between success and failure. Change too much and you risk compromising the identity of the model, but change too little and it is difficult to convince golfers to upgrade. Irons like the i210 and i230 were a roaring success both on tour and at retail, so I was fascinated to see what the new Ping i240 iron had to offer. In terms of the visuals, it is a little bit of a game of two halves for me. From the ‘in the bag’ angle, I preferred the…

Dating back to 1898, Church Stretton is blessed with a stunning and remote location that is both its blessing and its curse. With regard to the former, it is entirely natural and unspoilt, with wonderful panoramic views over the Long Mynd, 20 square miles of very beautiful rolling heathland and moorland in the Shropshire hills. As for the latter, its very isolation results in less footfall, and hence not so much to invest in the bells and whistles that many golfers have come to expect at our leading courses. Happily, this does not detract in any way from the experience, as the whole atmosphere, ethos and feel of the place is totally aligned to nature and unfussiness. Architectural background The original nine holes of this instantly recognisable course were laid…

If, like me, you still use X or Twitter, you’ll see the same faces popping up on your timeline time and time again. For me, one such account is ‘Billy & Kenna, Golf’, where the bio paragraph reads: “Trying to play every golf course in Scotland. If you’d like a round with us at your club, we can reciprocate at Bearsden GC and Askernish GC.” At first, I didn’t take too much notice of their two beaming faces near the 1st tee of some Scottish golf course somewhere, but eventually I was intrigued to see who they were and how far they’d got. Then, despite me not being a member of a Scottish club and unable to reciprocate, I got in touch to see if I could meet them on…

The Major Championships are done and dusted, the FedExCup winner has been crowned and the autumn schedule on the DP World Tour will temporarily take a back seat as all eyes turn to the biggest and best tournament in golf, the Ryder Cup. It’s been a long two years since Europe continued their dominance at home by reigning supreme at Marco Simone in Italy, their seventh successive victory on home soil. Led fantastically by Luke Donald, Europe prevailed 16.5-11.5, but in truth the contest never seemed close. The same can be said for the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, where the Americans ran out comfortable 19-9 victors. Home dominance has been a theme of recent Ryder Cups and only time will tell if Europe can win on American soil…

01 The contest is named after founder Samuel Ryder, but what was his profession? 02 Where and when was the first Ryder Cup contest held? 03 Who are the youngest and oldest players to play in the Ryder Cup? 04 Players from how many different continental European countries have played in the competition? 05 Which American has played on the most Ryder Cup teams without ever being on the winning side? 06 What is the most successful pairing in Ryder Cup history? 07 Who is the only eligible player from the modern era who has won two Major Championships but never played in a Ryder Cup? 08 Who was the first European player to qualify for the Ryder Cup without having won a DP World Tour event? 09 Who has…