Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 437 i Today's Golfer

Today's Golfer As a golfer, I love this time of year when the mitts and waterproofs get packed away, the summer shoes come out and golf gets into its swing as the clocks spring forwards. Firstly, we have lots of new, shiny golf equipment in the shops. Whether you're in the market for new gear or not, we all like to see how the latest kit looks and performs – and this month's Top Gear test reveals all. It's a brilliant piece of work by Equipment Editor Simon Daddow, ably assisted by pro Neil Wain; and you'll fi nd much, much more detail, insight and stats on todays-golfer.com Secondly, we have the year's first Major just around the corner and there are so many storylines, from Rory's Grand Slam hopes, Patrick…

We all know the logic. None of us has ever seen a cup move towards the ball, nor a putt left short drop. But all of this highlights a misconception that Arccos stats readily bring to the surface. If we want to score optimally, we should NOT be trying to hole every putt. For optimal scoring, there comes a distance where trying to hole a putt needs to be replaced by trying to avoid a three-putt. But what is that distance? Let's quickly switch to the PGA Tour. From loft, 95% of putts get to the hole. But from 40ft, only 54% reach the cup. Even at 20ft, they are leaving 24% – almost one in four – short. Clearly, as the putt gets longer they are leaving more putts…

Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim is living his best life. Still only 20, he is the talk of the PGA Tour right now, the latest member of the Nike family, and the ‘next global star’, according to Trevor Immelman, the International Team's captain at the recent Presidents Cup. It was there that Kim's star shone brightest, opening everyone's eyes to his infectious personality and game that has already seen him win 11 times since turning pro at the age of 15. In October, he became the second-youngest player in history to win twice on the PGA Tour, even younger than Tiger. It seems laughable to suggest that he was once better known for his childhood fascination with Thomas the Tank Engine, from whom his nickname derives, but now everybody wants to come…

Watch hundreds of video tips at www.todays-golfer.com HERE TO HELP YOU SAVE SHOTS QUICK TIP SNOOKER PUTTING Find a straightish putt of 6-8ft on the practice green. Place a second ball a couple of inches in front of the hole, on your line. Now strike the putt with the intention of ‘potting’ the one in front of the hole, just like a snooker shot. Aside from being fun, this game will help your putting in two ways: • Pace: Many putts fail to drop because they lose momentum around the hole. This exercise forces you to strike the putt with more authority, because you need extra pace to cannon the second ball in. • Direction: Because the golf ball is smaller than the hole, this game narrows your target and…

PLAY BETTER YOUR COACH www.samanthahead.com 1 Let your arms hang by your sides. You'll see how your hands turn slightly inwards. We need to put our hands on the club in as close to this natural orientation as possible; deviate from it and our hold can either open the face (gloved hand too far under the handle = WEAK) or close it (gloved hand too much on top = STRONG) as your hands seek their natural position through impact. 2 Despite our best efforts, it's not always easy to know whether we have achieved this natural, neutral hold. But here is an easy way to find out. Take any club – a driver works well – and form your regular grip, stance and address. From here, bring the club up in front…

Harvey Penick's Little Red Golf Book was released in 1991, when the legendary coach was 87 years old. Drawn from a lifetime of coaching, this curiously eclectic collection of short stories sees poetry, psychology and advice on greenkeeping rub shoulders with more technical advice… which included what Penick saw as golf's magic move. Let's take a look at how the great man defined it… and learn an easy way to train it into our swings. Downswing secret In truth, Penick did not believe in one secret move that would unlock every golf swing. He felt different golfers needed individual keys. But he was willing to share the closest thing he had found to it. “If there is such a thing as a magic move in the golf swing,” he wrote,…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE Now in its ninth year, Top Gear has become the cornerstone club review content produced for this special issue, the review pages on todays-golfer.com and our YouTube channel. It's by far the biggest and most in-depth golf equipment test published in Europe. The eyes that see Top Gear run into the millions. But it wasn't until we started to pack our hired transit van for the final week of testing (a few had to be pushed back thanks to sample delays) that we truly got an appreciation of how big the franchise has become. Box after box – 18 in total – along with three tour bags rammed with equipment, a mobile practice net, 72 Srixon golf balls and a three-metre roll…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE PING G430 SFT £525 Loft: 10.5° Stock shafts: Alta CB Black, Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome, Ping Tour 2.0 Black, Alta Quick TG VERDICT: Thanks to being so draw biased, and because the sole weights have been non-movable before now, the most recent Ping SFT drivers have a reputation for being one-dimensional, slice-busting machines. We like how the new G430 SFT has a Draw setting, which offers 12-15 yards more draw bias than the G430 MAX, and a Draw+ set-up that adds an additional seven yards of right-to-left shot shape (for right-handers) for the severest of slicers. As has been the case with several generations of SFT, the model is a really good-looking driver. There's no massively closed face angle, and the head…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE COBRA KING TOUR £1,099 Stock shaft: KBS $-Taper 7-iron loft: 32° Forgiveness rating: 2/5 TG VERDICT: It's been a very long time since a Cobra iron bagged top honours in a TG players’ iron test, but the simple and elegant new King Tour is well worthy of such lofty acclaim. This iron helped muse Rickie Fowler's game back into shape and it's a model the brand haven't really offered for a few years. The five-times forged heads feel super soft. There's a tiny bit of tech built in with variable-depth milled pockets in the shallow cavity back, which add a touch more playability on the long irons and increased flight control on the scoring clubs. Like any good players’ iron, the head…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE MIZUNO JPX923 HOT METAL HL £135 per club Stock shaft: Choose from 21 premium options 7-iron loft: 31° Forgiveness rating: 3.5-4/5 TG VERDICT: Until now, moderate speed irons have always had wide, chunky bodies. But Mizuno's JPX923 Hot Metal HL has changed everything. It opens a whole new option towards higher lofts and more attractive designs for those swinging a 7-iron at less than 75mph, and we applaud them for it. Of course this model was never designed for our test pro, but our data highlights what higher lofts bring to the party. Compared to Titleist's ‘most forgiving’ iron, the T400, Mizuno's model launched 2.4° higher, span over 1,000rpm more, flew four yards higher and hit the green at a 3.6° steeper…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE ODYSSEY TRI-HOT 5K SEVEN £429 Hosel options / Toe hang: Double Bend / 0° face balanced; Slant neck / 44°; Cranked hosel / 19° TG VERDICT: Odyssey's Tri-Hot 5K project was originally an idea to create a family of blade putters with MOIs exceeding 5,000gcm2. The idea has been so popular the brand have now introduced new mallet and MOI models within the franchise this year. Odyssey Seven putters have legendary status, but using 5K multi-material weighting tech and a White Hot face insert just makes this putter even more desirable. The combination of a small sightline and ball-width alignment stripes focuses attention on the impact zone, but also shows the path of this super-stable, oversized model brilliantly. Some CNC milling detail…

GOLF WORLD TOP 100 RESORTS GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE RANKINGS IN THE GAME 1 GLENEAGLES NO CHANGE AUCHTERARDER, PERTHSHIRE Courses 40 Accommodation 20 Amenities 20 Setting 19 TOTAL 99 What it offers You probably don't need to be told… Gleneagles speaks for itself. But to confirm: three 18-hole courses, with the lowest-ranked one a Ryder Cup venue and Scottish Top 100 fixture. The King's and Queen's are in the GB&I Top 100. Then add in breathtakingly good accommodation, exceptional and varied dining, a bewildering array of amenities and a gorgeous Perthshire setting. GW verdict The third list that Gleneagles has 99/100 in – it's hard to believe that mark will ever change unless we give its Setting a 10, which we so easily could. Its Courses are worth…

Adare is definitely one of the best golf courses I've ever played. It's immaculate, like being on carpet most of the time. The aprons are like greens in most places, they're better than the greens we play on the LPGA Tour. You just try not to take too many divots around the greens! The greens are tricky, with lots of runoffs and big slopes. The surfaces are some of the best in the world. But while some of the greens are huge and have those big run-offs, others are trickier, where you have to be more careful managing your distance control into them. It's just an incredible venue. Everything about it is amazing. The course is fantastic, the hotel is one of best in the world and the food… yeah,…

By Ian Ferguson, General Manager at the Ayrshire resort What has pleased you most about how the accommodation has worked out? While we put a lot of thought in to what we thought the golfer would like – including the design of the lodges and how they were positioned in relation to one another, for example – we knew that real feedback from our guests would be the litmus test. We have had such positive feedback so far and the most common has been how the lodges have been positioned around the putting and chipping green. This seems to bring guests together, regardless of knowing your neighbours or not. New friendships have already been made in this very social setting, with a beer or glass of wine in hand! Has…

The ‘Zane Leo Ryder’ (my middle name is Leo) came about because it was my 40th birthday. One of my buddies got 12 of us together for a mini Ryder Cup, six-a-side. Three days of golf. And Old Head was one of my bucket-list courses; like everyone else I had seen the pictures of it. I've been lucky enough to play all over the place… Pebble Beach, Sawgrass, all manner of amazing spots, but Old Head just looked so incredible. I've played all the Open rota bar Muirfield and this was the one I thought, “Yeah, I have to go there”. Four of us had played on tour; myself, Josh White, James Heath and Adam Gee, but though we've played in a lot of events together, we'd never played with…

John Robins is an award-winning comedian, BBC Radio 5Live presenter, co-creator of YouTube channel Bad Golf (youtube.com/badgolf) and co-host of Beef's Golf Club podcast. Follow Bad Golf on Twitter and Instagram (@BadGolfChannel), John (@nomadicrevery & @nomadic_revery), and Beef's Golf Club (@ beefsgolfclub). Read more on John's guest to improve at todays-golfer.com There we were, standing on the 9th tee minding our own business, when a ball slammed down three feet in front of us. Though it backs on to the raised green of the 110-yard par-3 8th, you'd have to view your 6-iron upside down to get it this far past. There had been no shout of “Fore!” and as we weighed up our options as to which expletives to hurl back, a second ball impacted about six feet behind…

SCAN THIS TO ACCESS EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS-OMLY CONTENT, OR VISIT www.tadays-golfer.com THE DATA EXPERT LOU STAGNER A seif-confessed “golf nut and data nerd,” 2-handicapper Lou joined Arccos in 2021 from a background in business intelligence and analytics. Alongside his work with the shot-tracking giants, he has gained a legion of followers through his lively Twitter feed (@loustagner and the Hack it Out podcast he co-hosts. YOUR COACH GARETH JOHNSTON PGA Head Professional at Bishopswood GC, Hants www.garethjohnstongolf.com What do two-thirds of a billion amateur golf shots tell us about the way we play golf? Pretty much everything. I could give you the success rate of 10-handicappers attacking front-right pins from 175 yards in the right-hand rough; or of 20-handicappers driving the green on par 4s over 325 yards (actually you can…

Pin cut on the left? Surely you need to play down the right to open the approach up? We've been telling ourselves this since the game began. But there's just one problem; it's a load of bull. From the hundreds of millions of shots recorded by Arccos, we selected second shots on par 4s that obeyed a range of criteria including ‘no penalty hazards in play around the green’ and ‘shots hit from within 20% of the width of the fairway (e.g. 6 yards on a 30-yard fairway) on both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ sides. Here are the results: ■ The centre portion of the fairway delivered the lowest score 77.5% of the time. The ‘bad’ angle delivered the lowest score 17.5% of the time. ■ The ‘good’ angle…

2023 MASTERS PREVIEW THIS MUCH I KNOW Bernhard Langer would make a very compelling Netflix series. For the last hour, he has been speaking from his home in Florida, rattling through the key points in his life which saw him find God and pushed him to the brink of death and early retirement. He is engaging company and a very polished storyteller. Growing up in post-war Germany, he didn't have it easy. Besides helping his dad lay bricks to build the family home, he suffered two serious illnesses before the age of five. Doctors even told his mother to prepare for the worst. He was eight by the time he was introduced to golf as a caddie at Golfclub Augsburg, which is where he got hooked on playing. For the first…

PLAY BETTER More than any other part of the game, putting offers scope for personal choice. You can decide to putt with an arcing stroke – where the putterhead curves inside the ball-hole line on the way back and through – or a straighter stroke, where it swings pretty much up and down the line. Either can be effective; just make sure (a) that you pick one, and (b) that your set-up matches your preferred shape. Follow these rules: BREAK 100 Set the shape of your stroke MINIMUM ARC: MORE BENT OVER Head position (1): Eyes over the ball The square-to-square putter sets his eyes directly over the ball. The upper back is often rounded to allow him to look squarely down at it, a position that encourages a more…

OK, we all know from experience that a drive from the sweetspot flies further than one caught out of the neck. But exactly what difference does it make? A recent study set out to provide the answers. A team of 27 amateur golfers, each one averaging a driver clubhead speed of 96-99 mph, was asked to hit a series of drives, recorded by the impressive GC Quad system. In total, 5,477 drives were dissected… and the results were pretty amazing: ■ Longest strike location: slightly high centre, 246yds ■ Shortest strike location: low heel, 210yds ■ Sneaky-long strike location: mid-height toe, 243yds You can hit the gym; you can speed train; you can study ground reaction forces. But if you want to gain yards quickly, just find the centre of…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE PING G430 MAX £525 Lofts: 9°/10.5°/12° Stock shafts: Alta CB Black, Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome. Ping Tour 2.0 Black, Alta Quick TG VERDICT: Ping G drivers have built a massive reputation for being forgiving since the very first G2 was introduced back in 2004. With an MOI of over 10K, the new G430 builds on the marque's legacy by harnessing supreme forgiveness and teaming it with, thanks to a new internal rib structure, a much more pleasing impact sound than the previous G425. Our data has the MAX down as single yard back from the very longest. It's an excellent result (which could be reversed on another day), especially considering that, due to them being so forgiving, Ping drivers are usually a…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE CALLAWAY PARADYM £379 Lofts: 3W – 15° / 3W HL – 16.5° / 5W – 18° / 7W – 21° / 9W – 24° / 11W – 27° / HVN – 20° Stock shafts: Aldila Ascent PL Blue, Project X HZRDUS Silver, Project X HZRDUS Black TG VERDICT: The Paradym's new ‘final finish to final finish’ construction (so zero finishing mass is placed inefficiently) creates a seriously good looking fairway. The head sits beautifully square, the face grooves highlight centre face and the size is more friendly than frighteningly compact. Thanks to an adjustable hosel, this year's prices are high. But if you're looking for a new fairway wood in 2023, or your game would benefit from the brand's huge array of…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE SRIXON ZX5 MKII £999 (s), £1,099 (g) Stock shafts: KBS Tour Lite (s), UST Recoil Dart (g) 7-iron loft: 31° Forgiveness rating: 2.5/5 TG VERDICT: We rate Srixon's three new ZX MKII irons very highly indeed. Like its siblings, the ZX5 is an absolute beauty, oozing classic, understated Japanese gorgeousness. We love the combination of forged head with a thin, fast and springy face for excellent speed and distance, a great marriage for what is a pretty weak loft in this category. There's no hiding it produced a fraction less spin, shot height, descent angle and carry distance than our test average. So, it's important to point out our test sample came with a Nippon Moduss Tour 105, ordinarily the stock shaft…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE CLEVELAND CBX ZIPCORE £139.99 Lofts: 44°-60° in 2° increments Grind options: Progressive V, S and C Grinds, depending on loft. Finish: Satin TG VERDICT: We've been preaching for years that golfers who use cavity back irons should be using cavity back wedges, and our thinking hasn't changed for 2023. Cleveland's CBX is as good as cavity backs wedges get, and this year there's two models to consider; this one, and the 13% bigger CBX Full-Face 2, which we'd thoroughly recommend if you can accept the full-face grooves and/or your short game confidence is at an all-time low. Our data might not instantly highlight the CBX as our pro's top performing model, but it's worth remembering that the wider sole and slightly higher…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE BETTINARDI BB-28 £429 Hosel options / Toe hang: Spud / slight; Centre shaft / slight; Armlock / moderate TG VERDICT: The blade putter market has changed significantly over the last few years, as golfers are realising the benefits slightly wider blade models bring to the party when it comes to boosting confidence and upping forgiveness. If it's a narrow blade you're after, Bettinardi have lots of beautiful models to choose from. But in the interest of highlighting ones that will help your game, we've plumped for the BB-28. It has a modern wide body, which looks incredibly natural sat behind the ball, so there's no whiff of awkwardness. It's also face balanced (less common in the blade category), so the set-up suits…

I thought the set-up of the Old Course for The Open last July was good. They had to tuck some of the pins, especially when there was limited wind, but the firm and fast conditions really made it exciting, and clearly made it harder for the piayers because they had to think a little bit more in terms of getting over trouble or stopping the ball before trouble – particularly on the outward nine, and holes like 13 on the back. The humps and bumps really came into their own with it being firm and fast. So many times shots came into greens and kept rolling after catching a slope, which took the ball further and further away – such as on 14 where it goes over the back, or…

I'm fortunate to visit many of the world's finest and most revered courses in my work. I'm often asked: “What's Pebble Beach like?” “What's Oakmont like?” “What about Southern Hills, Oakland Hills” and so on? They're all good courses, but when I think of my top 25 in the world, several of them are at home, in Scotland. Skibo is one of them. I played in this area of the Highlands often in my youth – the likes of Golspie, Brora and the renowned and rugged delights of Royal Dornoch, a course I could quite happily play for the rest of my days. My first introduction to Skibo was a little later in my life, not long after the course was opened in 1995. I thought it was OK, with…

Favourite course… The King's at Gleneagles, for so many reasons. The gorgeous Perthshire setting, Braid's superb design – challenging, but encompassing so much variety. We had a home there for many years, and it's where my golf commentary career began at the Bell's Scottish Open in the 1980s. Uplifting – always. Most fun course… Shiskine, on Arran – 12 magical, teasing, short, quirky, holes that are sometimes blind, often bonkers. Glorious setting, with unforgettable views. Go round twice – at least! Best setting and ambience… The Ailsa at Turnberry. Even better since Martin Ebert's redesign, and it was always one of my favourites. The Lighthouse, Ailsa Craig, the setting sun on a summer evening as a lone piper plays in front of the hotel. It will be heartbreaking if politics…

The best way of me describing the golf course at Adare Manor is that I could turn around to my wife and say, “I'm going playing golf”, and my wife will go, “Yeah, fine”. If I turn around and say, “I'm going to play golf at Adare”, my wife will say, “Yeah, I'm coming”. It's the best venue in the world as far as I'm concerned. I loved the reaction I had from the players in the J.P. McManus Pro-Am, because I knew how good it was. They were blown away by it. And bear in mind the golf course was set up, if you ranked it on a scale of one to 10 in terms of difficulty, it would be a five that week. The course can be really…

A three-time Major winner before the age of 24, Spieth needs just the US PGA to complete the career Grand Slam. He has won 13 times on the PGA Tour. Spieth's last victory came at the RBC Heritage in April 2022. Spieth finished third, behind Tiger and Rory, to win $9 million from the PGA Tour's Player Impact Program (PIP) for 2022. In September, he won all five matches at the Presidents Cup, including four alongside Justin Thomas. Since 2018, the duo have won eight times and lost just twice in the Presidents and Ryder Cups.…

JUSTIN ROSE Back in the winner's circle after a 1,471-day wait. Rose upstaged Gareth Bale by securing his spot at the Masters, US PGA and possibly the Ryder Cup in Italy with victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. DANIEL GAVINS Is there such a thing as a great double bogey? After dunking two balls in the water on his final hole, the Englishman rolled in a 25footer to win the Ras Al Khaimah Championship by one. MARTIN BORGMEIER The World Long Drive champion continues to astound and set an unofficial world record by launching a 520-yard drive in Colombia. OK, so it was altitude assisted, but he still recorded a ball speed of 230.9mph! PATRICK REED Golf's bad boy almost invites controversy. His good golf at the Dubai Desert…

As well as email (editorial@todaysgolfer.co.uk) and post (Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA), you can contact us using any of these social platforms… @Thetodaysgolfer @TodaysGolferBauer @Todaysgolfer @Todaysgolfer PING LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS… A BRAND-NEW PING PUTTER RRP £250 A HELPING HAND I happened to watch the Australian Open tennis recently as there was no golf on at the time, and very quickly it began to bug me. I have never taken tennis seriously and this is mainly down to the second serve. We would all be much improved golfers if golf allowed mulligans, wouldn't we? I did, however, start to question why the TV director continuously showed the player's coach. They are ‘prohibited’ from coaching but have front row seats to watch the game and the player regularly…

Before the era of shot tracking and data collection, missing the fairway was seen as an error, and a strong ‘Fairways hit per round’ figure a valuable asset. But thanks to Arccos data collection we can now give the advantage of hitting the fairway a numerical value… and it's not actually very big. For shots where we are hitting in from 75-200 yards, the gain is no more than .1 of a shot when hitting from the fairway as opposed to the rough. This is across all handicap levels. In fact the difference is bigger for tour pros at 0.3 of a shot, perhaps highlighting how much better they are from the fairway where they can control launch and spin, or possibly more penal rough compared to a typical amateur…

Aged 19, in 2016, he qualified for his first US Open, but missed the cut by one. Shot the 12th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history with a 12-under 59 at The Northern Trust in 2020. Linked up with Bubba Watson's former caddie, Ted Scott, in late 2021 because he wanted to work with a Christian. Starred at the delayed 2020 Ryder Clip in Whistling Straits, contributing 2½ points from three matches. He also beat Jon Rahm 4&3 in the singles. Started 2022 ranked 13th in the world with zero PGA Tour wins. By April, he was the World No.1 and the Masters champion. Named PGA Tour Player of the Year for 2022 after winning four times in six starts. Made his Presidents Cup debut in September but lost three…

Watch some club players in sand and it's hard to tell whether they're trying to get the ball out or digging for buried treasure. We know we have to get the clubhead into the sand and under the ball in greenside bunkers, but if we simply chop down to achieve that we are heading for trouble. Let's look at why that is… and learn a drill that will turn your sand play on its head. 1. Understand the shot In greenside bunkers, a steep attack angle is fatal. The sharp leading edge of the clubface cuts down into the sand, piling up too much between it and the ball and stalling the strike; there is not enough energy transfer for the ball to escape. Note the two hallmarks of this…

One of the toughest elements of the golf swing from a physical standpoint is its demand for both stability and mobility. Blending a free, flowing rotation around a solid central structure is no easy task, and is at the heart of a strength and conditioning coach's work. One area we constantly address to achieve this is our central zone, or core. Allowing us to combine a stable lower half with a mobile upper body, a strong core lets us maintain postural structure while turning back and through. As well as improving golf form and function, it also protects our lower back from injury. For a great way to train your core, invest in a resistance band and make this two-step exercise a regular part of your golf-specific training. Always consult…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE TAYLORMADE STEALTH 2 PLUS £529 Lofts: 8° / 9° / 10.5° Stock shafts: Mitsubishi Kai'li Red (Mid Flight), Project X HZRDUS Black 4G (Low Flight) TG VERDICT: It's no secret the original carbon face Stealth Plus was fast and long, but if there was a criticism it was how the model wasn't the most forgiving. With an MOI that's 10% higher (7400g cm²) than its predecessor, the new Stealth 2 Plus brilliantly addresses its sibling's weakness. If it's ball speed you're after, you'll be pleased to hear the Stealth 2 family produced the fastest average ball speeds within our entire test. At our test 10.5° driver loft, the data has the Stealth 2 Plus five yards back from the Ping G430 LST.…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE MIZUNO JPX FLI-HI £150 Lofts: 4 – 20° / 5 – 23° / 6 – 26° / 7 – 29° Stock shafts: Choose from 20 premium options TG VERDICT: Whether you use hybrids to replace a 3-iron or 7-iron, we reckon the Fli-Hi's wide, friendly, confidence-inspiring heads are likely to become a firm favourite in your bag. It wasn't our fastest or longest – data was spot on our test averages for launch, spin, shot height and descent angle. But where the Mizuno really excelled was in areas where ordinary club golfers need help – accuracy and dispersion. Hitting shots into just a 15.2-yard left-to-right window meant our test pro didn't miss our target green set 240 yards away. With just nine…

GOLF INSURANCE THAT FITS YOU TO A TEE TAYLORMADE STEALTH £849 (s), £949 (g) Stock shaft: KBS Max MT (s), Fujikura Ventus Red (g) 7-iron loft: 28° Forgiveness rating: 3.5/5 TG VERDICT: The Stealth is entering the second year of its life cycle, but it's still a big part of the conversati on for golfers buying mid-handicap irons in 2023. Our thinking boils down to the fact it's adjustable to 2° weaker lofts (they can also go 1° stronger), a set-up that brilliantly suits a lot of average speed club golfers. Thanks to TaylorMade's clever new SelectFit hosel system, you can also now try the set-up before buying. All in, the Stealth is a really attractive-looking and sounding iron option within the midhandicap category. While it's not our very fastest…

SUB 70 286 FORGED RAW £119 TG VERDICT: What Sub 70 are offering with the 286 is a lovely, classy-looking wedge, with some CNC milled detailing and a completely non-offensive head shape. The model's available in loads of lofts, which means you can get just the set-up you need, plus there are three finish options to select from. This is a cracking piece of kit for less than £120. PXG 0311 SUGAR DADDY II MILLED £429 TG VERDICT: Yes, PXG's 0311 wedges are outrageously expensive, but thanks to being 100% CNC milled, just like a premium putter, they are the most accurate and precise wedges money can buy. You will need to accept full face grooves across all lofts, but the real benefit of such a sizeable investment is the…

BETTINARDI QUEEN B #11 £429 Hosel options / Toe hang: Crescent neck / moderate TG VERDICT: We're seriously struggling to get Bettinardi's Queen B #11 putter out of our system. The model's updated every couple of years, but ever since Top Gear testing started in 2015, #11 has strutted its stuff proudly among our top performing mallets. This year it's had a makeover, and while it may not be massively different, it's still utterly gorgeous. We love the slightly more muted copper coloured finish, the honeycomb milled face which is cut down onto the face rather than sweeping across it, and of the course the magical Lamkin SinkFit Deep Etched grip. In our eyes nobody is making better milled putters than Bettinardi right now. PING 2023 TYNE G £280 Hosel…

GOLF WORLD TOP 100 It's amazing to be working in Scotland; this is one of my favourite places in the world. My family, many generations ago, were Scots. So I've always just felt at home there and loved the country, loved playing golf there, and was a huge fan of Castle Stuart and what Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen had done there. I actually took (architect) Rod Whitman there while it was in construction and we were building Cabot Links, and I'd been back and played the course a few times, which I think is a testament to just how much I liked it. I'd spent time with Mark at their place in New York and got to know the team. So it is a little bit of serendipity to…

BARE MY SOUL What was your first Job? I worked behind die bar at my local golf club where I grew up, Neangar Park. But I also helped to make the yardage books on the Australian Tour. What's your funniest pro-am story? One that popped lip recently was when I went to Canadian Q-School in Southern California. Jay, my mental coach, ran over my caddie's foot with a car. What's the biggest amount of money you've gambled on the course? Nothing crazy. The last time we played a game of Banker, so you basically set your own odds each hole, depending on how confident you feel. I was down about 200 bucks on the 16th tee and ended up winning about 400 bucks. I had an 8-footer on 17 that…

GW When did you first go to Gleneagles? EB I remember going when I was quite young, maybe around 12 or 13. Like a lot of my friends I had a pony growing up and we would go for showjumping meets at Gleneagles with the pony club. I think that was probably my earliest visit there and then later, in my teenage years, I would volunteer at some of the golf tournaments. I particularly remember doing scoring for the McDonald's WPGA and later the Johnnie Walker on the European Tour. GW How often do you play there now and how would you describe the difference between the courses? EB It varies how often I can get there, depending on my work schedule. I have a great group of girls I…

“Though Mike (Keiser) has been my partner for 15 years, I have no involvement in Bandon, so I can easily plump for Bandon Dunes as one. “Also Pebble Beach, which I've been to with Mike. As we drive in there, we both agree that we love Pebble Beach. “And Nirwana Bali, which is hopefully coming back to life. Bob Harrison did that course. He'd been Greg Norman's designer in Australia and what Bob did on the coast of Bali is sensational. I wrote its entry for the World Atlas of Golf. Looking out over Tanah Lot Temple, that would definitely be one of my favourites.”…

By Brad Gould, The Grove's Director of Golf Why is service so important to The Grove? The Grove is focussed on providing the most welcoming, world-class experience in golf and that starts long before arriving on the course. Website design, interaction with our sales team, arrival and valet parking, right through to a friendly goodbye are essential to us delivering on our mission statement. What are the three key elements of good service? Consistency in your product, genuine hospitality through a passionate team of industry professionals, and an understanding of the needs of your consumer before they do. Can service ever mask poor product? I truly believe this can and does happen regularly within the hospitality industry. In order to deliver a world-class experience you require the product and the…

If you're looking for a relaxing, get-awayfrom-it-all break with fine dining, tranquillity and little else but a round of golf now and again, turn the page now. Manor House & Ashbury is probably not for you. If you've got children who love to get stuck into activities or golf friends who delight in Ryder Cup-style competitions between eightpeople teams, don't dare leave this page. Manor House & Ashbury is arguably the best-defined resort in the entire list. It's the Ronseal of golf resorts; it does exactly what it says on its website. ‘The Manor & Ashbury Resorts offer a break like no other’, they announce. And they're right. The list of activities on there is bewildering. Even the most hyper of kids will surely feel a little fatigued on an…