Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Golf World

Now that the Christmas festivities are well and truly over, like many Golf World readers, I’m sure, my attention has shifted to the new golf season. There’s no doubt that 2016 was a stellar year for golf – the highlight of which was the incredible Stenson/ Mickelson shoot out at Troon – but I’m convinced 2017 will be even better. I’m especially interested in seeing how the rivalry between the Tour’s three big guns pans out. The prospect of a healthy Jason Day going head-to-head with the supreme athlete that is Dustin Johnson and the world’s best ball-striker Rory McIlroy is a mouthwatering prospect. If all three are at their peak come April, we’ll be in for a great Masters. On that note, I’m also curious to see how well…

Not all Ryder Cup leaders are created equal. Marked out of 50, here’s how we rank all of the ‘Europe era’ captains... Scoring based on five criteria, out of 10 • Popularity (players, media) • Decision-making skills • Organisation • Motivational skills • Ambassadorial smarts THE BEST 46 TONY JACKLIN 44 PAUL MCGINLEY 37 BBEERNHARD LANGER 36 SEVE BALLESTEROS IAN WOOSNAM SAM TORRANCE 34 COLIN MONTGOMERIE JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL 32 BERNARD GALLACHER 29 DARREN CLARKE THE WORST 25 MARK JAMES 21 NICK F FALDO 16 JOHN JACOBS…

1. What is it? A seven-tournament series dotted through the year, each offering at least a $7m purse and a boost in ranking points. The series starts in May with the BMW PGA, continues through the summer with the Irish, Scottish and Italian Opens, then concludes in November with the three Race to Dubai Final Series events – the Turkish Airlines Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge and DP World Tour Championship, which retains its $8m prize fund. 2. What’s the point of it? To “enhance both the competitive and entertainment experience for members and fans around the world,” says European Tour chief Pelley. To help the European Tour compete with the PGA Tour, says logic. As in, to provide the funds and ranking points to give our young stars an option…

Nature Protection The Great Rift Valley Lodge & Golf Resort, Kenya Resource Efficiency Pebble Beach Resorts, California Community Value Laguna Golf, Phuket, Thailand Outstanding Commitment to Sustainable Golf Machrihanish Dunes, Scotland Sustainable Golf Destination of the Year Hilton Head Island, S Carolina…

‘I’ve made subtle adjustments with Sean Foley that should help me stay healthier and hit better shots’ I always read golf magazines when I was growing up. We didn’t have the internet when I was a young boy so we got all our information from magazines like Golf World . My dad would buy them so they’d always be on the coffee table. He taught me golf through what he picked up in golf magazines. That’s really how my career started. From the age of about eight, I vividly remember posing my follow-through position in the reflection of a window in the back garden and dreaming that one day it would be on the front cover of a golf magazine. It’s a huge honour for me to be in a…

I’m a big fan of hybrid clubs and I’ve used them for a long time now. The extra versatility and forgiveness they give you compared to a long iron is a massive plus for me and it can make the game a lot easier for amateurs. You should treat a hybrid like it’s in between an iron and a wood. Even though the wide sole encourages you to sweep the ball, you’ve still got to hit down on it like an iron because it’s got more loft and that sole is designed to take a small divot. 1 Address it like a long iron The set-up position is the same as a long iron with the ball an inch inside the front heel. The shaft is leaning slightly forwards to…

A lot of players gauge distance by using the clock face drill and swinging back to 8, 9 or 10 o’clock. But I’ve found that to be quite fiddly and not that easy to manage accurately. Pete Cowen helped me a lot with this by developing a system that I find easier to follow. I like to swing my arms from chest high to chest high when I’m pitching and vary the speed and clubs to give me different carry distances. Follow this simple system and you’ll add accuracy to those tricky wedge distances. One swing, two speeds, four distances I find having one swing length with two speeds much simpler to control. One feels smooth and the other is aggressive. This gives me four carry distances with two clubs;…

Twelve months ago, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston was just another aspiring British pro. He’d just retained his European Tour card for the first time by finishing 70th on the Race to Dubai and he was lurking just outside the top 200 in the world rankings. You probably wouldn’t have recognised him if he was hitting balls next to you on the range. Then he won the Spanish Open in April and uttered the now immortal words: “I can’t wait to get back to North Mid (North Middlesex GC), get hammered and see my mum and brother and spend time with them and just celebrate.” The media and fans jumped all over his refreshingly honest post-round reaction; he became a superstar overnight and his life changed forever. Now, ‘Beef’ is one of…

2001 David Duval wins the Open playing Nike, the first victory for the brand’s clubs. 2002 Nike opens The Oven, its Texas clubmaking factory and releases its first line of clubs. Tiger wins his first event playing Nike clubs, the WGCAMEX in Ireland. 2003 Nike introduces the Ignite driver Phil Mickelson expresses surprise that Tiger could win so often playing NIke. 2004 First game improvement clubs, the Slingshot irons and CPR hybrids. One Black and One Gold balls are released. 2005 Michelle Wie signed as Power Lady women’s ball is launched. 2006 Nine separate Nike players win 16 PGA Tour tournaments. Nike leads in PGA Tour driver, iron & fairway wins. 2007 The infamous Sumo2 square driver released. 2008 Nike players finish 1-2-3 at the Masters (Immelman, Woods and Cink).…

1 Tilt spine slightly to right You can’t see it too well from this angle, but Hideki sets up with spine tilted slightly to the right at address. His left arm, clubshaft and ball also form a perfectly straight line. 2 Ignite the left shoulder Like Adam Scott, Hideki gets the club moving with his shoulders – in particular by turning the left shoulder under his throat. His wrists are slightly under-hinged here. Great for the driver. 3 Allow right hip to turn Hideki’s quiet wrist action facilitates a shoulder turn of 100-plus degrees. And because his shoulder turn is so good, look how much his right hip has moved back. No stack and tilt here! 4 Leverage the ground If you resist your shoulder turn with your right hip…

1 Have a strategy Start with a budget and a plan. Making random bets on a whim is the quickest way to lose money. Too many each-way wagers will vastly reduce potential returns, so reserve these for long shots. Focus on investing your budget on one or two bets per event rather than spreading it too thinly. 2 Know the players Every golfer has their own character. The more you know about this the more informed your bets will be and the more opportunities you’ll recognise. For example, if a player is super-consistent but shaky under pressure you could make a lot of money in top 10 or top 20 markets rather than on the nose or each-way. Any slither of knowledge like what time of year they peak or…

Q Clubs get more adjustable every year. Is this a genuine performance benefit or a marketing story? JOHN CARMICHAEL, WALES Club adjustability is definitely NOT a marketing story. As club technicians, we’ve been adjusting, bending and changing the CG on clubs for years and years. It was a very difficult and labour-intensive process back in the day but very effective in helping us to help Tour players get the best from their equipment. The difference now is that the moveability has been simplified and handed over to the consumers. However, this empowerment has created all sorts of new issues as most golfers don’t know what to do with this adjustability. It’s been great for us technicians, though! Being able to easily tune the club to a very precise position and…

Srixon Z565 Here we have a lightweight titanium design where the weight has been moved low and deep to give stability and ball speed. Four grams were saved from the crown but the real key is the cup face technology. The face insert is moulded so the clubface has sides that then connect to the main body a centimetre or so behind the impact area. It strengthens the frame, allowing the face to be thinner and faster. It’s hard to make titanium flex so the sole’s ‘ripple’ effect, letting the head flex and raising ball speed is dubious. Cobra King F7 The lightweight carbon fibre crown has allowed Cobra to improve launch conditions with a combination of moveable weights in the sole and an internal chassis that improves the overall…

‘I’m not the most approachable in the 20 minutes after a round. Most journalists would confirm it’ What has been your closest brush with death? I fell out of a tree when I was about six years old. I didn’t quite make it to the ground though. The collar of my jumper got caught on a branch and was actually strangling me. If my brother hadn’t been there to help me, I’m not sure what would have happened. I’m glad I never got to find out though. For a few seconds I could hardly breathe. It was very scary. What is your earliest memory? I vaguely remember things about the first house I lived in with my family. I can definitely remember my bedroom. I would have been about three…

As ever, it depends on whom you talk to. But Denmark’s best-ever golfer is a man who has forever provoked a widely disparate range of views and opinion. To caddies on the European Tour, Thomas Bjorn is known as “cyclone” – a slow moving depression. The casual fan tends to remember the glowering Dane as the guy who took three swings to get out of a bunker and lost the Open Championship by a shot. Golf nerds will know Bjorn was chairman of the European Tour’s Tournament Committee for almost a decade. And the real geeks will recall “mister chairman” coughing up one of the largest fines in tour history (rumoured to be £10,000) in the wake of savage and unwarranted criticism of Ian Woosnam when the wee Welshman picked…

UP Golf on TV Tiger’s return to action in the Hero WC saw TV viewing figures jump 190%, 200%, 162% and 126% for each day compared with last year’s Tiger-free event. Stay fit, TW. Brad Luiten He just set a new world record for the most consecutive golf holes played inside 12 hours: 237, beating the previous best by 16. Something for you to aim for in 2017. An unnamed collector One of Arnold Palmer’s four Masters trophies sold at auction last month for a cool $444,012. Only Horton’s Smith’s 1936 Masters jacket has ever fetched more ($682,229). Turkmenistan’s golfers The president of the Central Asian nation announces plans to build the first golf course in the desert nation. Jack Nicklaus has been enlisted to make it happen. DOWN Phil…

1. Dustin Johnson 454.20 points (3*) 2. Jason Day 384.39 (1) 3. Hideki Matsuyama 382.96 (6) 4. Rory McIlroy 378.43 (2) 5. Henrik Stenson 361.82 (4) 6. Jordan Spieth 316.13 (5) 7. Adam Scott 303.25 (7) 8. Patrick Reed 259.49 (8) 9. Danny Willett 255.06 (11) 10. Jimmy Walker 214.76 (21) 11. Alex Noren 214.44 (9) 12. Brandt Snedeker 208.28 (28) 13. Paul Casey 208.00 (14) 14. Rafael Cabrera-Bello 207.72 (27) 15. Branden Grace 207.65 (16) 16. Rickie Fowler 205.99 (12) 17. Matt Kuchar 203.71 (20) 18. Phil Mickelson 201.35 (19) 19. Brooks Koepka 200.96 (17) 20. Sergio Garcia 198.72 (13) * Player’s actual world ranking in brackets…

This wasn’t the most difficult shot of my life, but the time and place and circumstances made it a lot more than the routine shot it would have been in a different situation. In my first Ryder Cup, at Celtic Manor in 2010, my brother, Edoardo, and I were playing Matt Kuchar and Stewart Cink in a four-ball match. Going to the 18th hole, a long par 5, we were one down. So we had to win the hole to get a half point. I was just over 100 yards out after two shots, a good distance – normally at least – for my wedge. I hit it to three feet and made the putt to win the hole and halve the match. That sounds like it was nothing more…

3 steps to enhanced adjustability 1. Interchangeable sole plates change weight to match your preference. The titanium plate weighs 22g, the carbon fibre plate just 9g. 2. Three sole weights (2, 6 and 12g) secure the plate and let you tune weight and flight bias. 3. The adjustable hosel offers three loft and three draw settings. Crown aim assistance A visual aid on the crown, called 1:1 Visible Swing Active Technology, ensures the head is square with the help of a recessed crown. The typical R&D process for developing a new driver involves a lot of very smart aerospace engineers, a lot of very expensive Cad Cams and some very, very advanced materials and processes. But earlier this year, Wilson took a different approach. The company hosted its own reality…

Did the Stadium course need an upgrade? I was happy to investigate how we could further improve it. When the Tour reached out to me, we discussed ways to improve the drama on the back nine and in particular the 12th. That has always been a short par 4, and we looked at how we could increase the excitement level between the par-5 11th and the par-3 13th holes, by making it driveable. How much were you involved in the renovation? I worked with the Tour on the new look, adding water to the left of the green and redesigning the fairway strategy. A new tee was built with spectator mounding surrounding it, and we shifted the fairway bunker to the left side for a carry-over should a player choose…

‘If the R&A really wants to get inventive, a new roundabout would make the Road Hole more exciting!’ It is a time of year when inquiring minds tend to wander. In my case, the festive season invariably means looking ahead to what may or may not happen in 2017. Here are five things that would make the world of golf a better place over the coming months… or at least cheer me up a little. The Canadian Open is part of the PGA Tour. Has been for a while. But now the European Tour has a Canuck leader in Keith Pelley, wouldn’t it be great if he could use his familiarity with the scene at home to talk the Royal Canadian Golf Association into jumping ship? The opportunity is certainly…

The easiest way to chip the ball tight to the hole is to let it release like a putt. A lot of amateurs see the pros stopping it dead on the second or third bounce and want to copy us, but we only do that if it’s absolutely necessary because the extra spin is harder to create and control and adds a degree of uncertainty to how the ball releases. When there’s green to play with, I want to see the ball land reasonably softly and then roll out to the flag. It’s easier to chip it close like this, and your bad shots will finish a lot closer than if you try and go aerial or spin it. Address it like a putt Stand closer to the ball and…

The biggest problem I see with amateurs is slicing the ball because they try to hit it too hard with the driver. This causes them to come over the top – the right shoulder comes forward and the club gets thrown outside the line so they hit across it from the outside with the club swinging to the left of target through impact. Dropping the right shoulder so it turns under your chin in the downswing helps you hit the ball from the inside and on the up. Neutral and powerful Dropping the right shoulder under the chin keeps the club on a neutral plane so it can attack the ball from the inside and creates lag that increases clubhead speed. The damaging ‘over the top’ move You can see…

They call the last few months of the year golf ’s ‘silly season’, but there has been nothing ridiculous about Hideki Matsuyama’s recent form. Since finishing 5th in the Tour Championship at the end of September, Japan’s top golfer has played in five individual strokeplay events and won four of them. It is a sensational run of form that has propelled him to the top of the PGA Tour money list, carried him to a career-high 6th position in the Official World Golf Rankings and prompted a lot of people to start asking: could this 24-year-old be golf ’s next big thing? It’s impossible to overlook Matsuyama’s case for golfing superstardom. As an amateur, the man from Shikoku Island won two Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships, received an R&A scholarship, steered his…

1 First sub-60 round on European Tour, 11/4 Jim Furyk shot a 58 on the PGA Tour last year but no one has ever broken 60 on the European Tour. Players are getting better and scores are getting lower around the world so this could be the year the 60 barrier falls on the European Tour. 2 Eddie Pepperell to win, 7/2 The talented young Englishman narrowly lost his card at the end of 2016 but won it back in fine style at Qualifying School. He finished second at the 2015 Irish Open and had 14 further top 10s since 2013. It would be no surprise to see him clinch a maiden European Tour title this year. 3 Hyo-Joo Kim to win LPGA Money List, 100/1 In women’s golf, look…

WE TRIED IT... ‘The new M1 is definitely more forgiving and you can really hone the adjustability settings to your game’ Kit Alexander, senior editor TaylorMade M1 driver The name remains the same, but the 2017 M1 has been upgraded in almost every area. The result is a more forgiving driver with greater adjustability. A lighter titanium alloy has been used for the skeleton of the head and face and there is now 43 per cent more carbon composite thanks to a new toe panel. The carbon itself is also 10 per cent thinner. These weight savings allowed them to design a more aerodynamic T-Track system that houses 27g of moveable weight (2g more than the first generation M1) – 12g in the back track and 15g in…

Henrik Stenson put Callaway’s yet-to-be-released Mack Daddy prototype wedges in play at the Hero World Challenge. He had a 58° and a 52° with Nippon Pro Modus3 120X shafts. Gary Woodland joined the trend from blade to mallet when he swapped his Scotty Cameron Newport for a Cameron GoLo Circle T prototype mallet at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He ranked 26th in putts per green in regulation (1.677). Fifteen of the 18 players contracted to Nike on the PGA Tour switched into TaylorMade woods after Nike announced their withdrawal from golf hardware, including Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Paul Casey. McIlroy has trialled the M1 and M2 models in recent tournaments as he looks to settle on his set make-up for 2017. Jordan Spieth finally looks set to switch…

‘For the low handicapper who can stay relatively close to the sweetspot, the Srixon had reasonable forgiveness, but there was no doubting this is a driver for the better player’ Callaway Big Bertha Fusion Length: 44.5 and 45.5 inches Size: 460cc Lofts: 9°, 10.5°, (13.5° right-handed only) Price: £369 Cobra King F7 Length: 45 inches Size: 460cc Lofts: 9°, 9.5°, 10.5°, 11.5°, 12° Price: £279 Srixon Z565 Length: 45 inches Size: 460cc Lofts: 9.5°, 10.5° Price: £325 The more unanswered questions you have when you approach an equipment test the better. Let’s fire three at you straight away. Does it work to shorten the shaft on a driver to give you greater control? If you prefer a slightly smaller and more compact head shape, do you lose a lot of…

Where to stay There are play-and-stay options on all three days and we opted for Hotel Peralada Wine & Spa and PGA Catalunya. Peralada is a small, classy resort where food and wine are taken very seriously. In contrast, PGA Catalunya’s new Hotel Camiral caters for everyone – with a kids’ club every bit as impressive as the sumptuous common areas, and food every bit as memorable and appealing as the stylish bedrooms. When to go There is no point pretending Girona’s climate is as good as the Costa del Sol’s or even the Costa Blanca’s. However, it only really affects a golf break if you want to sunbathe as well as play golf; if you aren’t desperate to lie by the pool, you can enjoy this area in mild…

The selection of the European Ryder Cup captain is the responsibility of just five men: the three previous skippers, the Tour’s chief executive and a single representative from its Tournament Committee. The appointment of Bjorn for 2018 was therefore the result of consultation between Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal, Keith Pelley and Henrik Stenson. Pelley took a half-step back in that the Tour’s head votes only to break a 2-2 tie. This time he didn’t have to show his hand. Nor, indeed, did Stenson. Although the likes of Paul Lawrie and Miguel Angel Jimenez merited thought, when the immediate past-captains all came down in favour of Bjorn any further discussion was immediately unnecessary.…

After 466 days out of action, Tiger Woods finally returned in the Hero World Challenge last month, finishing 15th in an 18-man field. Does this herald a return to form and fitness for the former world number one, or the valiant struggle of a man whose best days are gone? “Based on the evidence of the Hero World Challenge, Tiger’s swing is certainly much improved,” says leading swing coach Nick Bradley. “All the harsh angles have been taken out and it’s a swing now based around rotatory motion as opposed to the stupid idea that you can manoeuvre the human body through the geometrical utopia that injured him in the first place. “But while Tiger’s swing was better, and yielded as many birdies (24) as eventual winner Hideki Matsuyama, it’s…

Your son Tatum is now approaching two years old. How much of a difference has being a father made to your game? It’s definitely a change, it definitely gives you some perspective on life, and it’s just so innocent too. I love it. I love him. We have a great family and we have fun. So I’m looking forward to the future. I enjoy it, but it’s different for me. Before, golf was my priority. Now, it’s the family and golf is a game I love playing. It’s just great to be able to play it. How much of an influence has your soon-to-be father-in-law ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky been? We play golf just about every day and, yeah, he’s a great role model and obviously he’s had the…

For Bryson DeChambeau’s next move, he recently revealed he was testing out the sidesaddle putting method – as used by Sam Snead to beat the yips. It powered Snead to a T3 at the 1974 PGA Championship, aged 62, while DeChambeau says it could be a “game-changer”. So, should you follow suit? “It could actually be the most natural way to putt,” leading coach Stuart Dowsett tells GW. “Give a non-golfer a ball in hand, ask them to roll it towards a hole and they’d naturally assume a stance very much like a side-saddle putting stroke. If you asked them to use two hands to roll a ball they would instinctively use a croquet style. So a side-saddle style putting stroke of sorts has much potential.” The basics, he says,…

Clear says years of R&D and testing have resulted in the finest USGA-conforming golf ball that can be made. It’s available in limited quantities only to subscribers willing to pay $1,000 (£750) for one year’s supply. We took it for a spin to see if it is worth the hype. Off the tee The ball makes a powerful sound off the face. It flew high too, seemingly with low spin for excellent distance. Approach shots Trajectory was high and the ball spun nicely – even on wet greens. Around the green Again, good spin and control. However, the slightly ‘clacky’ sound meant that feel was not quite as refined as other premium balls. Putting Speed control was consistent, although the hard sound was a little off-putting at times. Golf World…

1 Enjoy Bubba Watson while you can Bubba Watson is considering a career change. “I’ve had a dream,” he announced last month. “I moved back in the city limits of Pensacola so one day I can run for mayor.” Pensacola is near Watson’s boyhood home of Bagdad in Florida, population 52,000, and Bubba’s deadly serious about this one. “The first thing you do is some form of education (policy),” he explained. 2 Jordan Spieth is still the man to catch Despite a troubled, fiscally-hit season, the rich Texan landed highest on Forbes’ annual list of the richest celebrities under the age of 30. Spieth is ranked T10, having pulled in $53m for the past year. Of that he earned $32m in lucrative endorsement deals with brands like Under Armour, Coca-Cola…

You’re the new PGA Tour commissioner: What would you change in 2017? @ROBERTLHESSING Every five years each member must make an appearance at each Tour event. @VANCOSTA5 Caddies not allowed to aid in player’s alignment. Use of laser yardage finders permitted. This should help speed up play. @PJMIDDLETON Make sure rounds are completed in 4 hours max. Penalty shot for every 10 minutes over the four hours. @SUGARMAN501 Night golf, 1-hole knock out tournaments. @BIRDIES APP Create a PGA All-Star event that fans vote for. Use the NBA model for events like closest to pin, long-drive, putt/chip events @PERT1862 I would love to see a LPGA/PGA event. Those ladies are very good and that would be must-see tv! Join in the Twitter conversation at: @golfworld1…

I’m not a massive guy but one of the reasons I’m able to generate so much power is the way I use my legs when I transition into the downswing. As I’m completing the backswing, I brace against the inside of my right leg. I’m pushing into the ground, and I can feel my right leg resisting the turn of my upper body. That stores a lot of power for the second half of the swing. As I start the downswing, I lead with my legs. I’m trying to get my left knee out the way so the club can whip through the hitting area. But you don’t want to make a big slide to your front side with the left knee moving out toward the ball. I think of…

I’ve been working hard to add more control and power to my technique so I can add consistency and length to my game. The big thing I’ve been focusing on is my weight shift and I’m trying to feel like the centre of my body stays more on top of the ball – rather than getting stuck behind it – when I change direction in the swing. My backswing is good but I’m trying to transfer my weight onto the left side better in the transition so I have the freedom to release the club and turn through impact. I use a slow motion swing to relax and feel what my body is doing. TRANSITION Shift weight back to the left The big thing for me is how I shift…

Accurate iron play is vital to scoring well. Mid-irons are the strongest part of my game and where I feel most confident because I’m able to shape the ball both ways so I can attack any pin. I alter my ball flight by changing my grip, takeaway and follow-through. I’ll show you how to do that here but you have to practise hard to make it consistent and predictable on the course. FADE The left-to-right ball flight is ideal for getting to pins that are tucked right or getting the ball to stop quickly and hold it near flags at the front of a green. Club outside hands The takeaway is more up and out. I make the clubhead trace an initial path that is much more along the ball-to-target…

@JamesWi886 “Nike didn’t have the tradition and heritage of Titleist, Callaway etc. That’s vital in golf. They are specialist golf people” @yeoldpro “Their early equipment was inferior. By the time it was good people had written them off. Sad as Nike hard goods in ’16 were great” @TomSnelling “I’ve got Nike irons & putter but changing as, for me, they’ve not produced any classics unlike Ping (Anser) Titleist (Vokey) etc.” @ronniecswartz “Simple, not a very good product for the average golfer. The pros have world class talent and can make any club work. Amateurs don’t”…

The new golfing season has a hell of a lot to live up to. 2016 brought us the best Open tussle in years, the first British Masters Champion for 20 years, a British Olympic Gold medallist and, in McIlroy vs Reed, the best Ryder Cup singles ever – well, until Phil and Sergio bested it a few groups later. This said, 2017 has a chance of, ahem, Trumping it. There is so much to look forward to in the coming 12 months, not least the sight of Tiger Woods returning to challenge the new breed of superstars battling it out at the top of the world rankings. There is also an exciting new set of majors ahead of us, including a debut for Erin Hills as the US Open venue.…

The strategy all boils down to the format, so we’ll focus on the three most common. The first is the simple one, a game where you pick one player for each tournament at the start of the season without picking any player more than once and earn points based on how much money each player earns. Start with the big money events and work down in size of purse. That way you ensure you have the top players in the events you really want when most money is available. Second, there are salary cap games with limited transfers. This is a balancing act that requires a long-term view. Consistency is a big benefit here, especially from lower-valued players. If you can find a few cheaper players who will play a…

1 WHAT’S THE TECH? The original M1 was all about leveraging a new material. But TaylorMade’s designers have now changed the geometry of the head. The recessed carbon toe panel is the secret to increasing MOI for greater forgiveness and lengthening the back track for even more adjustability. 2 WHAT DOES IT REPLACE? The first M1 saw the introduction of TaylorMade’s striking carbon composite crown and the innovative yet simple T-Track adjustability system. The 10g moveable weight in the back track and 15g moveable weight in the front track made it the most adjustable driver on the market. It also made a very different sound to a traditional titanium head. 3 WILL IT WORK FOR ME? The incredible adjustability means it can be fitted to any swing and the added…

Srixon Z565 A sister product to the Z765, which has a slightly smaller head at 445cc and is clearly aimed at the better player. The 565 combines some fairly regular technologies very nicely with it’s ‘ripple effect’ sole that aims to add ball speed. We’re immediately thinking a good ball-striker’s club. There’s a slight ‘Cleveland look’ to this club, with its squarer head and high face. No surprise there, since Cleveland and Srixon both now come under the Sumitomo Industries banner. Cleveland no longer makes a driver so perhaps the influence has moved across. The previous Srixon model, the Z545 (the second digit referring to the year of launch) had adjustable screws in the bottom. A clean look and no moveable weights or gadgets this time. Cobra King F7 Replaces…

1 Try hard to find time to play Golf d’Aro Mas Nou. It sits 300m above sea level, so you can imagine the views. Club de Golf Costa Brava and Torremirona are other good options. 2 France is just 30 minutes from Peralada so you can cross the border to play pretty Falgos, or take the longer but scenic coastal route via Llanca to visit popular port town Saint Cyprien. 3 There are lots of lovely touristy but unspoilt towns on the coast near Peralada – Rosa, Llanca and especially L’Escala – where you’ll find a fabulous beach and lots of terrific restaurants. 4 If you want something more lively – with lots of cheap restaurants and beverages – Lloret de Mar, Tossa de Mar and Blanes are within 40…

There are some golfers who dismiss ‘resort golf’ as inferior – and in many cases they have a very strong argument, for there are plenty of courses attached to hotels that are little more than fields with flags. While I am ludicrously fortunate to play the ‘finest’ courses in the world, I still always enjoy playing those fields and hope I am not supercilious about them. However, resort golf need not mean fields and flags. This selection of six proves that conclusively but the evidence stretches far beyond them too. In the ‘Next 100’ of GB&I courses, there are further examples. In Ireland alone, there are seven: Adare Manor, Carton House, Druid’s Glen, The K Club, Mount Juliet, Portmarnock Hotel and Lough Erne. The latter, emboldened by fresh investment, is…

The four regions in the south of Italy benefit from the country’s best climate. The islands of Sardinia and Sicily in particular offer the chance of sunshine every month of the year. Lazio is a spine-tingling destination at any time of the year, and a trip combining the myriad attractions of a break in Rome with the excellent golf in the region is a difficult one to surpass. Puglia, meanwhile, boasts some of the most spectacular landscapes in the country; ideal environments for its unique and characterful golf courses. So, contrary to received wisdom, you do not have to venture beyond Europe’s boundaries for a winter golf break that does not require thick jumpers and stout waterproofs. 1 Sicily There are 144 holes on an island that sits further south…

WHAT IF... I’m hitting my hybrid into a green Hybrids are great clubs for long approach shots because they’re more forgiving than long irons and the higher flight they produce will land softer and stop more quickly. You have to remember to hit them like a long iron to get this flight though. Position the ball as you would for your equivalent long iron and try to take a small divot to encourage you to hit down on the ball rather than sweeping it like a fairway wood. There’s still a chance you can miss the green from this range so favour missing it in an area that gives you the best chance of getting up-and-down to save your par. By Adrian Fryer WHAT IF ... My ball is plugged…