Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Golf Digest

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief His only connection to the New York theme of this issue was that he uttered the most famous line ever associated with a USGA president, at Winged Foot, where seven over par won the 1974 U.S. Open: gWefre not trying to embarrass the best players in the world; wefre trying to identify them.h Itfs the New Yorkiest line I ever heard, except maybe for Sinatrafs gIf you can play this town, you can play anywhere.h . Sandy Tatum, the white-shoe lawyer from San Francisco by way of Stanford and Oxford, was as far from a New Yorker as you could be, but when he died at 96 this summer, I cleared my desk to compose a tribute to golffs unrequited lover. First, some personal memories. A new…

“Coming down, keep your right shoulder back and in.” Maybe you only sometimes hit that big slider to the right off the tee, or maybe you fear it every time you step up. Whatever the case, a slice happens when the clubface is open to the path of the swing at impact. The move that typically leaves the face open is the back shoulder lurching toward the ball at the start of the downswing— a common problem when golfers swing hard. When the shoulder moves out, it pushes the club onto an out-to-in path, and the clubface will usually be open to that path when it reaches the ball. Fore right! To break this ugly chain, I’m going to give you some hookproducing moves, which will quickly correct a slice.…

CURTIS LUCK AGE 21 LIVES Perth, Australia STORY Won the 2016 U.S. Amateur. Turned professional after this year’s Masters. FASHION PLATE Bringing style to the course is something I love. My clothes are fresh, vibrant, and the patterns and cuts are very athletic. I take pride on how I look when I play. MASTERS MOMENTS Rory McIlroy and I played a friendly match during a practice round at the Masters. I won but haven’t seen the winnings. I may have to give him a nudge next time I see him. Getting to play with him and, later, Adam Scott, really made me feel like a part of it. FAIRWAY WOOD SPECS Callaway Steelhead XR, 15.4°, Graphite Design Tour BB 7X shaft, D-3 swingweight This fairway wood went into play at…

For New Yorkers who live largely on concrete, Central Park is a public treasure. At 843 acres, it’s more than enough land for two courses, and so naturally we wondered how golf might look if added to the pastimes the space is famous for—jogging, biking, rowing, bird-watching, kite-flying, picnicking and more. To stand on the shoulders of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who in 1858 won a design competition to reimagine the park, we asked Ron Whitten, Golf Digest Senior Editor of Architecture, to draw up the routing. Scrutinizing the topography of the rolling meadows and granite outcrops, Whitten’s proposal emphasizes design variety and shot values while delivering minimal impact to the existing roads and monuments. Add a snack at the turn from a real Manhattan hot-dog vendor—how good…

Julio Dutan, an 11-year-old whose glasses seem only to make his eyes wider with possibility, doesn’t let golf’s frustrations dull his persistence. He just swings and smiles. Then he runs after the ball and picks it up against the edge of a fence. It’s a fence bordering left field of a baseball diamond in Corona, Queens, at Park of the Americas. Just to his right is a playground. Just beyond the fence is a bodega, its green, white and red awning proclaiming: Venta de productos mexicanos e hispanos en general. Clearly, Julio isn’t anywhere near a golf course, but he hopes to be soon. For now, he’s perfecting his new favorite game’s basics in a park, hitting shots off artificial-turf strips and making putts on a threadbare, rolled-up putting mat.…

SLOW-N-LOW TAKE IT BACK SLOW; FINISH THE BACKSWING. THEN WHEN YOU SWING DOWN, KEEP THE CLUBHEAD MOVING LOW, EVEN AFTER THE BALL IS STRUCK.’ TEE SHOTS You’re facing the most important drive of the round—or maybe your life—and you gotta find the fairway. What do you do? Here’s what you don’t do: Don’t make a short, wristy swing and try to steer it in play. I’ve seen a lot of golfers suddenly change their driver swing when the pressure’s on. That’s a recipe for a big miss. This situation calls for commitment, meaning keeping your driver accelerating on a good arcing path low through the impact zone. The type of swing you would make if you were hitting a ball into the middle of a driving range. Here’s a drill…

The courses, clubheads and paychecks are bigger, but the most obvious change to pro golf in the 21st century? The way the players look. ▸ Billowy clothes and dumpy physiques have been all but shamed off the world’s tours, with even the formerly portly profile of senior golf streamlined by the agelessly trim Bernhard Langer. Where was the image of a generic tour pro remade? The gym. ▸ It used to be that genetic gifts were almost wholly responsible for why physically magnetic stars like Snead, Palmer and Norman stood out. But the cmarketable. Substantively it seems irrefutable that there are more golfers capable of winning tournaments than ever. But to apply a Newtonian concept that is one of the foundations of the call for increased tour-pro fitness, for every…

It can be awfully frustrating when you read a putt perfectly, give it a confident rap and then see it roll nowhere near the line you picked. This is a case of the putterface not being square to your intended line when you hit the ball. Face alignment is, by miles, the biggest influencer of direction. The trick is to set the face accurately, and then return it at impact to the same position. First, square the face behind the ball and take your grip. Look at the position of the back of your left hand (for righties). Then, just focus on that hand: If it comes back at impact looking the same way it did at address, the face is square. This will happen if the hands work as…

The appeal of adjustable drivers is near an all-time high, according to industry researcher Golf Datatech. Some 85 percent of golfers say they are at least interested in purchasing a driver with a rotating hosel and/or movable weights. But there are manufacturers betting that at least some golfers need a driver that doesn’t change—one that’s just engineered to hit it higher and mitigate a slice. To achieve this, manufacturers have chosen to forfeit the fitting options and save the costs by making their clubs nonadjustable. Do they have a point? Well, Golf Datatech’s research shows that although one in two low-handicappers are very interested in adjustable drivers, only one in three high-handicappers are. Here are four new nonadjustable drivers to consider. MIURA HAYATE The high-strength titanium-alloy face flexes for maximum…

I had to call the New York City police to report a theft—and felt slightly guilty doing it. Because I knew that of all the crimes occurring throughout the five boroughs at that moment, my issue was surely a low priority. But it was an emergency in my world, and I needed a police report for insurance purposes. My golf clubs were missing. For almost two years, I parked my beatup Chrysler 200 on 93rd Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway without a problem. But on a cold night in February 2015, someone broke into the trunk. When I got to my car that morning to make the roughly 40-mile drive to Golf Digest’s old headquarters in Wilton, Conn., I noticed the trunk was slightly ajar. I figured I’d clicked…

In the borough of queens, in the shadow of Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, and Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the U.S. Open tennis championship is played, sits Flushing Meadows Pitch & Putt, a fun, gritty little 18-hole par-3 course that exemplifies the unique urban appeal of public golf in New York City. ▸ Queens has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the world, with nearly 50 percent of its 2.3 million residents foreign-born. In my visits to make the photographs that accompany this story, I played with immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, Ireland, Mexico and South Korea. ▸Whatever cultural differences there might be, golfers everywhere share in the joys and frustrations of the game. A round at Flushing can also be a shock to the senses.…

“I try to move into the ball from the ground up, like a baseball pitcher.” Who had a better year than Stew Hagestad? Low amateur at the Masters (tied for 36th overall) and a qualifier for his first U.S. Open, with a large throng of friends and family cheering him on at each. Only 26, Hagestad would appear ready to give the pro ranks a shot and make such events recurring on his calendar. But the 6-foot-5, 182-pound Southern Californian, who struggles against dropping as much as a dozen pounds from walking and stress during tournaments, is committed to a path rarely taken by top talent anymore. “You don’t have to play 30 events a year to be a competitive golfer,” he says. “I’d rather try to be good at…

I ’ll be representing Team Europe in my ninth Solheim Cup, Aug. 18-20 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Team USA has won nine of the 14 previous battles, but I’ve held my own with a record of 16-11-6. There’s something about match play that gets me fired up, and I’ve developed a proven strategy to compete. Got your own big match coming up? Remember these tips, and you’ll be ready to close out your opponent. KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS 1 Think about the best parts of your game and how they might give you an edge. Example: If you’re playing someone where your length is an advantage, use it. Right from the start, pull out driver and send it down the middle. WEAR OUT YOUR OPPONENT 2 My main…

GOLF DIGEST PLAYING EDITOR You’re going along playing well, and then the wheels start to rattle. You hit some loose shots and three-putt once or twice, and now it feels like another mistake will end your round. You can tell yourself to stay calm, but in these situations you can control your mind only so much. Some shots, like very difficult greenside recoveries, add tension. You just have to power through, try to get excited about the idea of playing the perfect shot. Two hole outs that led to wins for me this summer—from behind the 10th green at Royal Birkdale at the Open Championship and from a front bunker on the first playoff hole at the Travelers—are times I pulled it off. When my options are limited, I’m usually…

A strategy for improving your iron game. Only players who routinely break 80 average hitting more than 50 percent of greens in regulation, according to statistics from round-tracker Game Golf. With barely one in 20 golfers breaking 80, that leaves a lot of players who might want to re-evaluate their iron game. This includes scrutinizing your equipment. To find the best irons for you, focus on three performance attributes: distance, launch and feel. How you prioritize these will play a big part in which irons you choose. For example, if feel is critical to you, a thin-face iron is probably not the best choice. But it might be if distance is your goal. If launching the ball higher is your wish, test irons with wider soles and lighter shafts. (Fun…

“HE WHO HAS THE FASTEST GOLF CART NEVER HAS A BAD LIE -MICKEY MANTLE” SIX NYC GOLF GETAWAYS VISITING MANHATTAN AND EAGER TO TEE IT UP? THERE ARE SCORES OF PUBLIC COURSES, FROM MODEST TO DELUXE, WITHIN YOUR REACH. HERE ARE SAMPLE ITINERARIES, ALL STARTING AT TIMES SQUARE. —CLAIRE ROGERS VAN CORTLANDT PARK GOLF COURSE, THE BRONX GETTING THERE: 55 minutes via the 1 train ($2.75) GREEN FEE: $51 morning, $40 afternoon CLEARVIEW PARK GOLF COURSE, QUEENS GETTING THERE: 65 minutes via QM2 express bus ($6.50) GREEN FEE: $51 morning, $40 afternoon BETHPAGE STATE PARK BLACK COURSE, FARMINGDALE, N.Y. GETTING THERE: 85 minutes via Long Island Rail Road ($13.75), plus Uber ($8) GREEN FEE: $150 weekend, $130 weekday TRUMP GOLF LINKS AT FERRY POINT, THE BRONX GETTING THERE: 31 minutes…

From actors to athletes, newscasters to newsmakers. Which New York celebrities have the biggest golf connections? We took a shot at answering that in this rigorous, unscientific ranking. We counted anyone as a New Yorker if they have lived in the area. We scored them on their NYC affiliation and their golf affiliation. So Donald Trump, for example, gets top scores on both counts. Though Wayne Gretzky has a small NYC score (he played briefly for the Rangers), his passion for golf pulled him onto our list at No. 30. 1 DONALD TRUMP Queens-born POTUS is a 2.8 Index. His company owns or manages 18 golf properties. 2 DEREK JETER All-time Yankee great is a 6-handicap. Last year he played with Tiger Woods. 3 JIMMY FALLON “Tonight Show” host has…

No. 1 Garden City (N.Y.) G.C., 302-yard par 4. A two-pronged fairway offers risk and reward from the start. No. 2 Somerset Hills C.C., Bernardsville, N.J., 205-yard par 3. A rare replica hole by A.W. Tillinghast, a Redan green sloping right to left. No. 3 Hudson National G.C., Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., 431-yard par 4. Twisting and turning; exquisitely shaped along a rocky ledge. No. 4 Baltusrol G.C. (Lower), Springfield, N.J., 199 yards. The consummate death-or-glory par 3 over water, with a rich history. No. 5 Bethpage State Park G. Cse. (Black), Farmingdale, N.Y., 478-yard par 4. A challenging double-dogleg par 4 with a vast cross bunker and an elevated green. No. 6 Hamilton Farm G.C., Gladstone, N.J., 451-yard par 4. A dogleg left around a huge bunker to a green just…

THE AMATEUR GOLF ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES (LATER THE USGA) WAS FORMED IN NEW YORK IN 1894. THE PGA OF AMERICA WAS ALSO FOUNDED IN MANHATTAN, IN 1916, AT THE HOTEL MARTINIQUE ON BROADWAY. THE INAUGURAL PGA CHAMPIONSHIP WAS PLAYED IN BRONXVILLE, N.Y., THAT SAME YEAR. In 1942, backed by club members, former Augusta National shoe shiner Sidney Walker (aka Beau Jack) knocked out Tippy Larkin at Madison Square Garden to become the lightweight champion of the world. He would headline a record 21 fight cards at the Garden. SAMMY BYRD PLAYED IN BOTH THE WORLD SERIES AND THE MASTERS. A BACKUP OUTFIELDER FOR THE YANKEES, BYRD REPLACED BABE RUTH IN THE NINTH INNING OF THE 1932 WORLD SERIES. BYRD LATER TURNED TO PROFESSIONAL GOLF, WINNING SIX TIMES ON…