Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i Compleat Golfer

‘Bifurcate’ – verb, ‘to divide into two branches or forks’. Example: ‘Just below Cairo the river bifurcates.’ There are some things you don’t find often in golf’s lexicon, but bifurcate has entered recent debate over the release of the USGA and R&A’s ‘Distance Insights Projects’ report, in which the governing bodies address the subject of golfers hitting the ball too far and whether there should be one rule for professionals and another for amateurs. Golf courses are getting longer and the pros are hitting the ball further, with the average increase of a PGA Tour player being 30 yards in the past 25 years. ‘When I started on Tour I beat Davis Love in a playoff in 1996 and he was using a persimmon driver,’ said 15-time Major champion Tiger…

Ctrl, alt, delete. Delete. Delete. Delete. Postpone. Postpone. Who knows what will happen next? As the world slows to almost a halt, not even golf is immune to coronavirus. Or is Covid-19 the more accepted term? A Google search of the two phrases in the middle of March showed up 2.4-billion results for Covid-19 and 3.56bn results for coronavirus. Whatever the case, golf joins the general society in not knowing what the immediate future holds. There’s a fine line between what events have been postponed and what have been cancelled. The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, for instance, was cancelled almost immediately after the first round where Christiaan Bezuidenhout had continued his strong run of form with a 65 that had left him two shots behind the early leader Hideki…

There have been two South African winners of the Green jacket since 2000 – Trevor Immelman in 2008 and Charl Schwartzel in 2011. This is how the best-placed South Africans have fared over the past 20 years. 2019: Justin Harding (T12th), a superb effort to be five strokes behind winner Tiger Woods. 2018: Louis Oosthuizen (T12th), closed with a 69 to finish nine shots behind winner Patrick Reed. 2017: Charl Schwartzel (3rd) on his own after a weekend pair of 68s; three shots behind Sergio Garcia. 2016: Oosthuizen’s second-round 77 proved costly but he ended T15th, eight shots behind Danny Willett. 2015: Oosthuizen tied for 19th, after rounds of 72, 69, 71 and 72; 14 shots behind Jordan Spieth. 2014: Oosthuizen finished 25th, his chances hurt by a pair of…

Embedded in golf’s lexicon is ‘they shook hands’. In matchplay golf it can come as early as the 10th hole where a one-sided contest can finish 10 & 8. In strokeplay the competition often extends to a playoff, with the longest sudden-death playoff taking 11 extra holes at the PGA Tour’s 1949 Motor City Open. The point is, there’s always a handshake. That’s the nature of this sport. Always thank your opponent for the game, whether it’s a defeat or victory, whether it’s with The Masters on the line or simply a round of drinks at the 19th. Coronavirus has changed that. The wise thing to do is not shake hands until the world has put this pandemic to bed. We often say ‘Africa is not for sissies’. Us South…

A two-hour delay for dangerous weather during the final matches of the Aon men’s and women’s South African Amateur Championships was the only disruption in an otherwise outstanding week of amateur golf at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. The delay did little to affect the results, with South Africa’s two top-ranked golfers, Casey Jarvis and Caitlyn Macnab, adding the SA Amateur titles to their SA Stroke Play successes. Jarvis claimed a comfortable 7 & 6 win against big-hitting Englishman James Wilson, while Macnab turned around a two-hole deficit to 14-year-old Kyra van Kan at the halfway stage of the 36-hole final to prevail 4 & 3. Jarvis, at 16, became the youngest champion in the history of the SA Stroke Play Championship with his nine-stroke runaway victory at Randpark…

PICK OF THE MONTH THE MASTERS AUGUSTA NATIONAL 9-12-APRIL POSTPONED 2019 winner: Tiger Woods produced a scintillating finish to win a fifth Masters title and end an 11-year wait to claim a 15th Major. There were raucous celebrations around the 18th green when he finished with a two-under-par 70 to win on 13 under, one clear of Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka. Woods, written off by so many as he battled back problems, punched the air in delight, a wide smile across his face, before celebrating with his children at the back of the green. ‘I’m a little hoarse from yelling,’ said the 43-year-old. ‘I was just trying to plod my way around all day then all of a sudden I had the lead. Coming up 18 I…

Winning a professional tournament in a rookie season is something every youngster thinks is possible. Not many achieve the feat. Garrick Higgo did it twice last season on the Sunshine Tour, his triumph at the Tour Championship emphatically underlining his class The 20-year-old left-hander is spearheading yet another wave of emerging golfing talent in South Africa, and his wins earned him the Bobby Locke Trophy as the Sunshine Tour’s Rookie of the Year. His winnings of just short of R1.3-million put him comfortably clear of another young player with a bright future, Wilco Nienaber, who won nearly R690 000 in just six tournaments. The smart ones start their rookie season with an open mind and much trepidation. Even so, it’s not easy to adjust to a life in which a…

MEN The Masters Augusta National Golf Club, 9-12 April Defending champion: Tiger Woods It’s going to be tough to top Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters victory for raw emotion and outright drama, but you can be sure this year’s version of the opening Major of the year will be equally compelling. The idyllic setting, the pristine golf course and the long-standing traditions add up to make this arguably the most captivating event on the golfing calendar. As it stands, six South Africans will be competing for the coveted Green Jacket, with the likes of Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Shaun Norris and Branden Grace, among others, hoping to get inside the top 50 of the World Ranking in order to receive an invitation. The PGA Championship TPC Harding Park, 14-17 May Defending champion: Brooks…

Things us golfers already knew! According to preliminary research at the Zeenat Qureshi Stroke Institute, people who play golf could be lowering their risk of early death. Dr Adnan Qureshi, the head of the study, cited golf’s ‘social nature and controlled pace’ as assets for maintaining exercise into a person’s later years. ‘While walking and low-intensity jogging may be comparable exercise, they lack the competitive excitement of golf,’ Qureshi said. ‘Regular exercise, exposure to a less-polluted environment and social interactions provided by golf are all positive for your health.’ Playing in the third round of the Genesis Invitational, Ryan Palmer landed in the greenside bunker of the par-three 14th. With 40 feet to the hole, most of it all carry over the rest of the bunker, he left it short…

So here we are, 2020. The future is now. We’re living in the age of YouTube TV, Apple TV, Amazon TV and so many more sources of information. All of which begs the question: What direction is golf broadcasting heading? For years SuperSport has been the only platform for South African golf fanatics to get our constant dose of flushed drives and perfectly rolled putts. The PGA Tour dominates our late-night viewing while the European and Sunshine Tours provide us with something to watch while we’re in the workplace or to have in the background as we go about that other national pastime – weekend braais. But is this the way things will continue? I don’t think so. The world is changing so rapidly and while we perhaps can’t say…

Course management has long been an attribute of a successful golf professional. But Tour management is equally important as golf’s global village opens up more opportunities on the world’s leading Tours. For South African professionals, the Asian Tour is becoming a popular avenue of success. The traditional path to international golf success for South Africans has been the European Tour. But what started as a core group of pioneering players forging a path on the Asian Tour has grown into what many professionals are seeing as not only a lucrative playing option in its own right, but also an effective doorway into the European Tour. The most recent Asian Tour Qualifying School had eight South Africans in the field, three of whom, Jaco Ahlers and Neil Schietekat (who finished tie-fifth)…

You may have seen Tiger Woods or Xander Schauffele and a number of others on the PGA or LPGA Tours using bright tape on their bodies. It looks a little strange, as if some kid has pranked his sibling with colourful duct tape while sleeping. What is it? It’s kinesiology taping, which has been around for over 40 years. Top athletes are touting the benefits of this tape for its ability to accelerate healing, increase circulation and relieve muscle pain and swelling – all of which help improve anatomical function and overall performance. It was invented by Dr Kenzo Kase, a Japanese chiropractor, who developed the taping method and the first elastic therapeutic tape (Kinesio Tape) back in the 1970s. Prior versions were non-elastic, designed to provide support and prevent…

When Serengeti Estates came on to our golfing radar, it was as a bold new host to the SA Open Championship in 2011. Its Jack Nicklaus Signature Course was a monster of a layout, with larger-than-life features and an Instagram-friendly green appearance even during the harsh Highveld winters. Putting it on the map was Henrik Stenson, returning from a career slump to capture the SA Open title by three shots in 2012 over George Coetzee. It’s a place that provides the spectacular, and when flying out of OR Tambo International Airport, you can’t help but notice the impact it makes on what is an otherwise unspectacular strip of farmland. No longer the new kid on the block, Serengeti is constantly evolving its golfing and lifestyle appeal to a wide range…

MEN OPEN 1 (2) Casey Jarvis (State Mines CC) 2 (1) Martin Vorster (Pinnacle Point GC) 3 (4) Kyle de Beer (Port Elizabeth GC) 4 (5) Yurav Premlall (Glendower GC) 5 (9) Werner Deyzel (Woodhill CC) 6 (6) Samuel Simpson (Bellville GC) 7 (16) Christo Lamprecht (Pinnacle Point GC) 8 (3) Jordan Duminy (Pinnacle Point GC) 9 (11) Christiaan Maas (Pretoria CC) 10 (8) Luca Filippi (Milnerton GC) 11 (10) Ryan van Velzen (Benoni CC) 12 (12) Christiaan Burke (Bloemfontein GC) 13 (-) Aneurin Gounden (Glendower GC) 14 (13) Rigardt Albertse (Potchefstroom CC) 15 (18) Jordan Burnard (Ebotse GC) 16 (-) Altin van der Merwe (Humewood GC) 17 (-) Kieron van Wyk (Ruimsig CC) 18 (19) Gregory Mckay (Mt Edgecombe CC) 19 (17) Francois van der Walt (Irene CC) 20…

I will never forget the phone call from my dad which changed the path of my life. At the time I was working two jobs, trying to make ends meet in Brisbane. My mum’s side of the family had emigrated from Zimbabwe a year earlier after the first wave of Robert Mugabe’s land reform programme in the early 2000s. One job was packing boxes for Coles, which is Australia’s equivalent of Pick n Pay. I worked the midnight shift loading pallets at the warehouse. The other job was waiting tables and tending the bar at functions at a venue on Brisbane River. With a short supply of time and money, it had been almost a year since I’d been able to play a competitive round of golf. To keep my…

The announcement at the end of February that the 2023 Open Championship would be played at Royal Troon upset me. Not that there’s anything wrong with Troon – quite the opposite – but because it reminded me of two sad occasions. The first came at the 2004 Open, when Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a playoff. Hamilton was one of those guys The Open throws up every now and then. They jump into the lead, do something silly under pressure and step politely aside for the greats of the game to take the Claret Jug. Hamilton hadn’t read the script. For Ernie fans it seemed inevitable that our man would prevail but he didn’t, despite several good chances. And it is frustrating to recall that Hamilton’s career went straight…

Justin Rose @JustinRose99 It’s a long drive back to Orlando! With all that’s going on around the world at the moment, this is the right decision to cancel all @pgatour events for the next few weeks. Safety for players, support staff and you the fans is the No 1 priority for the PGA Tour. PGA Tour @PGATOUR It is with regret that we are announcing the cancellation of THE PLAYERS Championship and all events through the Valero Texas Open. Jack Nicklaus @jacknicklaus My friends, please be safe, be smart and stay healthy. CT Pan @ctpangolf Respect the Tour’s decision. Stay safe to you all. ChristiaanBez @BezChristiaan Not a great feeling to shoot 65 in your @THEPLAYERSChamp debut and not count. 65 is the same as a 81 today. Rafa Cabrera…

This year our playing editor is counting down his 12 favourite golf courses in South Africa. This month he focuses on another Gauteng jewel, which makes the list in ninth spot. Royal Johannesburg and Kensington West Course is one of Johannesburg’s hidden gems and is often overshadowed by its ‘Big Brother’. As with the East Course, the West was designed by world-renowned designer Bob Grimsdell. And what a masterpiece he put together in the City of Gold. The design is timeless. While it may not be the longest course, it still provides a true test for the golfers who grace its fairways – and sometimes the troubles that lie o. them. Many of its holes run along a river, including the par-three 5th. At its maximum, the hole plays a…

Whatever happens in the world of sport this year – and only a quarter of the way through 2020 much has already happened, or not, given the impact of coronavirus – nothing will come close to replicating what unfolded at Augusta National 12 months ago. Tiger Woods’ victory was not only the sport’s story of 2019, it would also have more than held its own in any year. As the Guardian so eloquently said in its round-up of 2019: ‘This is a golfer who won at Augusta National by a dozen shots as a 21-year-old, who claimed the US Open by a margin of 15 in 2000 and who prevailed in the same Major eight years later despite playing with a broken leg. But none of this should temper the…

There was no custom-food item awaiting him on the TPC Sawgrass restaurant menu, no Japanese flag flying high just beyond the 18th green. There was no Sunday-evening press conference with the gold Players trophy by his side, nor throngs of waiting fans outside the scoring area desperate for his autograph. That was the reality for Matsuyama and the rest of the PGA Tour, as commissioner Jay Monahan took the unprecedented step of cancelling The Players Championship, as well as the next four events on the schedule, before the second round at the Stadium Course in response to the growing concern over the spread of Covid-19 (the coronavirus). ‘I’m proud of the team. And I’m a fighter. I wanted to fight for our players and our fans and for this Tour…

Holes No 3, 232, and No 9, 242m Playing from the white markers, there are five holes on the Whistling Thorn 18-hole Par 3 Championship Course that exceed 200m in length. Two of the monster holes on the front nine – the 3rd and the 9th – are particularly brutal, earning themselves the stroke index of one and three respectively. Serengeti Estates CEO Mark Renwick reveals a little more on how to play these potential score-wreckers and what to look out for on the tee. ‘On conventional golf courses, players are seldom faced with a ‘short’ hole that requires the use of their longer clubs. At Whistling Thorn, though, your entire bag is brought into play with our diverse array of par threes. ‘The 3rd hole can play as long…

It’s hard to pinpoint what triggered Casey Jarvis’ startling run of form. Perhaps it was a change in equipment. Or a year’s worth of hard work finally paying off. It could be that his growth spurt had come to an end or that, at age 16, he has started to mature a little on the golf course. Then there’s the theory that adversity sparked him into action – that his failure to qualify for the Junior Presidents Cup team, where he missed out by one place, stung just enough to fire him up. It was likely a combination of all these things. But in a way, it doesn’t really matter. What counts is that since the end of 2019, the Silver Salver tournament to be precise, the 16-year-old has played…

Dustin Johnson became the first high-profile golfer to signal his unavailability for the Tokyo Olympics, but there were also two other significant ‘casualties’ among those who might be missing the Games, should they go ahead as scheduled. In the past month Tiger Woods has dropped out of the picture for the US and has been replaced by Patrick Cantlay. Also dropping out this month is Sweden’s former Nedbank Golf Challenge winner Alex Noren. The golf competition at the 2020 Olympics is scheduled to start on 30 July, but the men’s qualifying period closes on 22 June and the women’s on 29 June. The Olympic field is restricted to 60 players in each of the men’s and women’s competitions. The International Golf Federation (IGF) will use the Official World Golf Ranking…