Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Golf Monthly

The 2026 Irish Open will take place at Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg in County Clare, the DP World Tour (DPWT) has confirmed in announcing its new schedule. The event, won this year by Rory McIlroy at the K Club, returns to the coast, with Doonbeg making its DPWT debut. The Greg Norman-designed layout, with later modifications from Martin Hawtree, is 48th in Golf Monthly’s UK&I Top 100 rankings, and is known for its huge dunes and stunning coastal views. Trump International Golf Links Scotland in Aberdeen made its DPWT debut this August with the Nexo Championship, which is not yet on the 2026 schedule. Two tournaments still to be confirmed are a Middle East event in February and a European event in August. Another change for 2026 is the…

One of the reasons why Walter Hagen remains such a standout figure in sport and popular culture is that he was golf’s ambassador for the Roaring Twenties. He was golf’s Babe Ruth or Jack Dempsey. During the prohibition era, you could imagine Hagen at a speakeasy, dancing the Charleston and coming home from nightclubs as dawn broke. He was a true bon viveur, an entertainer, a socialiser and a party animal. I wanted to share a few of the extra-curricular stories here that helped to cement The Haig’s reputation and legendary status as one of our sport’s greatest and, dare I say, most notorious characters. Let’s put it out there and start by talking about his reputation as something of a drinker. Later in life, he certainly enjoyed partaking in…

Shot on location at La Cala Resort 1 When I start my downswing, there is going to be a significant shift of weight into my lead side. This is a lovely position in the photo here, as it shows the lead hip starting to shift, with the pressure moving into the ball of my left foot. Note how my right elbow has dropped into my side while my left shoulder has stayed high. One of the most crucial points to note is that my weight has moved laterally. I’m not turning here – that aggressive turn will come later in the swing. 2 Cut an old tennis ball in two and place half under the toes/ball of your lead foot at set-up and half under the heel of your trail…

The 2025 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl provided plenty of memorable performances. A weekend charge from Charley Hull, a top-ten finish for Women’s Amateur Champion Paula Martin Sampedro and the eventual victory of Miyu Yamashita all spring to mind. There was also a moment of magic on the 5th hole on the final day from Mimi Rhodes, who recorded a hole-in-one with a difference! Rhodes was second to play her tee shot on the hole after her fellow competitor Steph Kyriacou had already hit hers to within six inches of the hole. Rhodes played her stroke, and as the ball rolled up the green, it deflected off Kyriacou’s ball and dropped into the hole. A remarkable occurrence, but one which is thankfully covered under the Rules of Golf. When…

Regarding high-end golf gear, the conversation has long been dominated by a handful of major companies. However, in recent years, brands operating on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model have made a name for themselves by offering premium clubs at a significantly reduced cost, simply by cutting out the ‘middle man’. Ben Hogan, in particular, stands out – not just for its value, but for its sophisticated design that has proven DTC brands can lead the way in aesthetics. The moment you set it behind the ball, this driver’s look is really top drawer. Its sleek, all-black profile and carbon fibre crown inspire confidence and provide a classic, purposeful design. This sophisticated look is a Hogan hallmark and a significant factor that sets it apart from many other value-driven offerings. The designers…

The game-improvement category may be the area of iron design in which I have seen the most progression over the past couple of years. No longer do players seeking assistance with their ball-striking have to compromise on looks, feel or even turf interaction. Brands have truly refined their offerings, and I’ve been rigorously testing what they have come up with to guide you to the best options for your game. Looks While it may seem superficial, visual allure is a critical element in the overall appeal of any golf club, often proving the tie-breaker between two similar-performing models. Historically, the often large, clunky offerings in the game-improvement category have been viewed as ugly ducklings compared with the compact profiles and sharp lines in the low-handicap iron sector. However, 2025 may…

With so many incredible links courses to consider, those planning a golf trip to the homeland often plot a route that hugs the coastline. While this is an obvious and understandable strategy, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Scotland is home to one of the most luxurious and impressive inland golf resorts anywhere in the world. I am, of course, talking about Gleneagles and my first experience of this epic Perthshire estate was in 2003. Back then, I was on a day trip from university at St Andrews to watch Europe’s best compete in the Diageo Championship. Since then, I’ve returned a few times for various work (if you can call it that) reasons, but never had the chance to stay and play. That was rectified this spring when I spent…

Cairndhu GF: 18 holes: £35-£50wd, £40-£60we Situated on the east Antrim coastline an hour to the north of Belfast, Cairndhu dates back to 1928, but relocated to its spectacular clifftop location 30 years later. John Morrison, an associate of Harry Colt, designed the course, which he expanded from nine to 18 five years later. It may only just reach 6,000 yards from the back tees, but it can play substantially longer due to the slopes and doglegs. The glittering highlight comes early on at the 2nd, a picture-perfect short hole with outstanding 360-degree panoramas, worthy of inclusion in any list of beautiful par 3s. Elsewhere, there are plenty of very enjoyable holes, such as the dogleg 8th and the sweeping par-5 17th. Eyemouth GF: 18 holes: £45wd, £50we Just north…

Great-value golf on Shetland My wife and I have just returned from the Shetland Islands, playing the most northerly UK course (Whalsay £40 a day), second most northerly (Dale, Lerwick £35 a day) and the most northerly nine-hole course (Asta, near Scalloway £20 a day). What an experience! Despite being so far north, all courses were in excellent condition, with the greens at Dale and Whalsay fantastic, proper greens. Yet they each only have one full-time greenkeeper, relying on club volunteers to maintain the courses. At Whalsay, we even had the privilege of meeting Gordon, a local fisherman, who laid out the course himself in the early 1970s and gave us each a ball marker as a souvenir. Needless to say, the views and scenery were stunning. While The Open…

Tommy Fleetwood’s career PGA Tour earnings following his Tour Championship victory 8.93 Average OWGR points gap after the Irish Open between World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and World No.2 Rory McIlroy 76 Number of cuts made by recent winner Cameron Young in his 97 PGA Tour starts (78.3%) 147 Yards from which Mason Howell holed out on 17 to win his Walker Cup Sunday foursomes 73 World ranking spots Joakim Lagergren climbed, to a career-high 121st, after the Irish Open HIGHEST WORLD-RANKED PLAYERS from each of the home nations after the Irish Open 22 Lowest world-ranked player (when teams announced) to make the 2025 USA Ryder Cupside – Sam Burns 79 Lowest world-ranked player (when teams announced) to make the 2025 European Ryder Cup side – Jon Rahm PLAYERS TO WIN…

Costa Rica GF: $155-$175 Stats: par 71, 6,558 yards Costa Rica is an outstandingly beautiful country with a wealth of wildlife and a very healthy approach to sustainability and the environment. This ethos extends to the Reserva Conchal resort and particularly its Audubon International Certified golf course situated on the north-western coast, which stretches out between mountains and the shimmering Pacific. With the on-site hotels, private accommodation and all manner of health, wellness and leisure facilities, this is a wonderful holiday destination, especially for those with birds, or indeed birdies, in mind. Play at this award-winning golf course is restricted to resort guests and property owners, with the lush, tropical Robert Trent Jones Junior creation opening for play in 1996. There are two loops of nine and the multiple tee…

“CAN I BE BETTER NEXT YEAR? IN ORDER TO DO THE REQUISITE WORK TO GET BETTER, YOU NEED TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE BETTER NEXT YEAR” We’ll probably be saying the same things about Justin Rose five years from now – that his game shows no sign of diminishing and his competitive spirit remains as fierce as ever. It was the kind of praise everyone was heaping on the former World No.1 when he was in his late 30s, as he broke Sir Nick Faldo’s record for most wins by an Englishman on the PGA Tour. He’s not stopping yet. When the 45-year-old plays as well as he did at the FedEx St Jude Championship, he looks as good as ever. It’s often said that a player is ‘capable of…

As the old saying goes ‘good things come to those who wait’. Scottish professional Graham Laing proved this summer that, with a bit of hard work thrown into the mix, the adage has some truth to it. Laing had been a professional for 52 years when he achieved his greatest success as a player. At the age of 69, he came through qualifying to make it into the Senior Open Championship, contested over the Old Course at Sunningdale in July. The long-time club professional at North Wilts Golf Club fired a brilliant 69 at Bearwood Lakes to make it into the Senior Major. “I’d had a couple of near misses in qualifying to make The Open Championship in the 1980s,” Laing says. “A couple of play-off losses. But I entered…

Is there a good way to check my alignment out on the course? By Top 50 Coach Ged Walters Many club golfers will look over their lead shoulder at address to get an idea of where they’re aiming, but in reality they’re usually way off the mark. A better way to check your alignment is to take your normal set-up position and simply hang the golf club underneath your eyeline, as I am doing here (don’t use the lines on the ground in a competition). Turning your head to then look down the line of the shaft will give you a much better idea of where you are actually aiming. How can I improve my strike with long-irons? By Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott The problem many club golfers have…

Ever since seeing some MG prototype wedges arrive in the bags of TaylorMade’s staff professionals a few months back, I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on the new MG5. A simplistic yet premium aesthetic is matched with a new forged head to offer a buttery-soft feel through impact. Of course, the main storyline with this wedge is that it is softer than any of TaylorMade’s previous wedges, thanks to it being forged from a billet of soft carbon steel. The R&D team at TaylorMade had spoken to its tour players and concluded a wedge can never be soft enough. The softer the feeling, the more control and, ultimately, this leads to better scores. I noticed this sensation as soon as I started clipping shots away. The ball feels…

Callaway has made some of my favourite irons over the past couple of years, so when I heard there was a new players’ distance offering, I was thoroughly looking forward to putting it through its paces. To give you the top line, the Ai150 sits in the compact distance iron category alongside the likes of TaylorMade’s P790 and Srixon’s ZXi5. The 7-iron loft of 31˚ is still strong in traditional terms, but is between half a degree and a degree weaker than much of its competition. In terms of looks, I am not totally in love. From a shelf-appeal perspective, it is fairly clean and minimal, but I don’t like the half-and-half combination of a high-gloss chrome and matte finish. In the playing position, the dimensions and shaping frame the…

A few weeks before this summer’s Open at glorious Royal Portrush, I headed over to Northern Ireland with Jeremy Ellwood to play a mix of the brilliant courses – inland and links – in the surrounding area. This combination of something old and something new turned out to be an absolute treat… Big links, little links The Causeway Coast is blessed with two real giants in Royal Portrush and Portstewart. The former is a global superstar; the latter continues to improve year on year. Not a million miles behind them and in the Golf Monthly Next 100, Castlerock’s Mussenden course is a fabulous links that I first played in 1996. I remember liking it greatly, but surprisingly little detail had remained in my shrinking memory bank. Happily, shepherded round by…

Congratulations on winning your second BMW PGA Championship. What does this mean to you? It’s so many emotions right now. The play-off felt a little bit easier than maybe coming down the 72nd hole, a little bit better conditions. I thought I hit that one in the water. But I had a great lie so tried to put it up there on the right side of the green and got fortunate with a good break. The chip was sitting quite nicely. I saw his [Adrien Saddier’s] ball didn’t catch as nice a break maybe. It makes a difference. You’re now the most successful Swedish player in DP World Tour history, ahead of Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson in terms of victories. How proud are you of that feat? Yes, I…

“I GUESS IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL THE FAT LADY SINGS BUT I WAS SHAKING OVER THAT LAST PUTT BECAUSE I JUST DIDN’T EXPECT IT”Charley Hull reacts to winning the Kroger Queen City Championship after Jeeno Thitikul four-putted the 72nd hole “THINGS PROBABLY NEEDED TO CHANGE. IT’S MY JOB AND I NEEDED TO GET MYSELF TOGETHER”Matt Fitzpatrick speaks candidly to the BBC about howhe rescued his season after a poor start to 2025 “IT MEANS A LOT THAT MY OLDEST FRIEND AND THE GUY THAT I CAN TALK TO ABOUT ANYTHING IS THERE BESIDE ME WHEN I’M DOING THESE THINGS”Rory McIlroy opens up on his relationship with long-time caddie Harry Diamond “THE GOAL IS NOT INCREMENTAL CHANGE. THE GOAL IS SIGNIFICANT CHANGE”The new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp says he’s prepared…

Putts should count as half a shot By Fergus Bisset I’m not a great putter so it infuriates me how much putts make up your total score. Faffing about with slopes and tap-ins and AimPoint, claw grips and arm-locking, the nap of the green, the mysterious effects of water, arc and angles and roll… it’s by far the most boring, time-consuming and fiddly element of our majestic game. Putting is the least golf-like thing about golf. And I love golf. I love the feeling of making a solid swing and getting a booming drive away. On a 500-yard hole, one could smack a 300-yard drive. The perfect launch, a beautiful flight with a touch of draw, piercing and fizzing its way through the air and covering nearly a fifth of…

Shot on location at La Cala Resort, Spain 1 Setting up from left to right as in the photos above evens up the balance of pressure between your left and right hand on the club, so one doesn’t outweigh the other. This should help you position the grip so the shaft runs through the lifeline of your lead hand. It also levels the shoulders a little and stops the elbows sticking out. Note how my elbows point down at my hip joints. Getting the club more in the palms will quieten the wrists, which helps with control. You can do this before taking your grip – it will just become natural. 2 Most golfers struggle with distance control because they don’t find the centre of the putter face every time. Place…

Shot Scope’s extensive product range offers golfers a wide array of distance-measuring devices at affordable price points. Nowhere is this more the case than in the rangefinder world. Following on from the new Pro X model earlier in 2025 comes the new Pro L5, the company’s first rangefinder to feature an OLED display. OLED displays are becoming more commonplace in the best golf rangefinders, with models like the Blue Tees Series 4 Ultra and Zoom OLED Pro featuring a brighter, clearer view of what lies ahead through the viewfinder. In a scenario where clarity and accuracy are so vital, having the best view possible on every shot makes a difference. In the hand, the Pro L5 feels light but not excessively so (it weighs 340g), and the shape and size…

Cornwall has long been a popular holiday destination for the British and those from further afield, thanks to its pristine beaches, dramatic hilltop vistas and away-from-it-all feel. It’s fitting, then, that one of its top-ranked golf courses, Trevose, combines all those elements in one highly memorable package. Just half an hour from lively Newquay, Trevose is a must-play for those travelling to Cornwall with their clubs. The prolific Harry Colt designed the Championship course before minor revisions just prior to World War Two. More recently, MacKenzie and Ebert have put their stamp on the layout, with changes to several holes. A strong cast of short holes Trevose is windswept, picturesque and dramatic. The bunkering is fantastic and the contoured greens mean you need to be on form with the flat-stick,…

Golf is reliant on and inextricably linked with water for many reasons. Obviously, the playing surfaces and all other flora and fauna associated with our courses couldn’t exist without it. But crucially, in its many guises, to a greater or lesser degree it is a feature of the design and strategy of most courses all over the world. Few courses of note don’t have some form of water that the golfer must consider at some point in the round, whether it’s an innocuous-looking burn or ditch, or an in-your-face lake that could fit a pod of blue whales. Our oldest and most revered links nestle by the sea, and while the water itself may come and go, the coastal margins are still a source of both wonder and anguish for…

Has there ever been a better year to watch golf on TV? If there has, then I don’t remember it. Maybe, just maybe, 2001/2002 when Tiger Woods was in his prime and fellow competitors all but had to kneel before his brilliance. But even then… No, I’m sticking to 2025, a season in which we witnessed the Rory McIlroy-Justin Rose duel and the most emotional climax to a Masters since Tiger strutted his stuff as a 21-year-old golfing genius in 1997. We’ve also enjoyed the slightly more studied and dialled-down brilliance of Scottie Scheffler although some may say that was more of an endurance test than an emotional rollercoaster. I may be one of those! Either way, it was an outstanding set of performances by him. I just wish the…