Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i Golf Monthly

HOLLY MORGAN Holly, who is 23 and from Sheffield, spent two years on a golf scholarship in Tennessee before embarking on her PGA training. A Year 2 Trainee, she won the 2019 WPGA One-Day Series. Her home club is The Hallamshire. “I’ve always wanted to do something within the golf industry, whether it was playing or coaching. I’m enjoying all aspects of the course, even the academic side, and looking ahead I’d like to go either down the playing or coaching route. Then again, I’ve been watching Iona Stevens on Sky and her job looks amazing.” JOE CRUSE Joe, 29, is a Year 2 trainee who worked in the bar and restaurant at his home club, St Enodoc in Rock, Cornwall, before he was offered a job in the pro…

THE #PGADraft2020 campaign calls on the experiences of The PGA’s greatest asset, namely our Members, and brings to life the range of career options available. We are incredibly proud of the training programme we deliver, which is recognised globally as world-leading. This programme has become the foundation from which The PGA is built and has developed over last 50 years. Gaining a PGA qualification will open up a range of opportunities. PGA Members include European Tour players like Robert Rock and world-renowned coaches such as David Leadbetter and Denis Pugh. Our 8,000-plus Members enjoy a wealth of rewarding careers at home and abroad. PGA Professionals are employed in more than 80 countries and work in areas including coaching, administration, retail and management. At home and abroad, our members become head…

Words: Sam Tremlett Photography: Getty Images “It was definitely strange playing with no fans, but you can still feel the pressure; you still can feel how important a golf tournament it is when you’re coming down the stretch. To me it felt the same, whether it was a million fans or zero.” These were the words of Dustin Johnson after he wrapped up victory at the 2020 Travelers Championship, and with the recent announcement that the 2020 USPGA Championship at TPC Harding Park (August 6-9) will be staged behind closed doors, they suggest the first Major of the year will be engrossing irrespective of fan involvement. There’s no question it will be odd to see one of the biggest events on the golfing calendar with no fans, but it’s something…

Cleveland RTX ZipCore Wedge £139 The RTX is Cleveland’s tour-driven wedge family, designed for better players seeking feel, versatility and spin control in a traditional look. The brand claims its new RTX ZipCore wedge improves performance in all these areas to help golfers score better. The foundation of the RTX ZipCore wedge is a unique, low-density core that sits at the heart of the muscleback design. This shifts the centre of gravity away from the hosel, while also boosting high-low MOI for more stability on high and low strikes on the face, essentially increasing the size of the sweetspot for more consistent spin, distance and feel on every shot. The wedge also benefits from Cleveland’s new UltiZip grooves, which compared with previous-generation RTX wedges are 11 per cent sharper and…

In the first round of the 1925 US Open, Bobby Jones was preparing to hit from the rough when he felt his club move the ball slightly. Although nobody had seen anything untoward, he called a penalty on himself. Praised for his sportsmanship after the round, he replied, “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank.” This story encapsulates the absolute importance of integrity in golf. Knowingly breaking the rules, or keeping quiet about rules infractions, is simply not acceptable in this sport. Ours is such an expansive and largely unmonitored game that it falls upon individuals to be utterly honest with themselves and thereby their fellow golfers in order to retain a level playing field on which we all compete, in line with the same rules,…

Golf Monthly has teamed up with world-class golf artist Graeme Baxter to offer four lucky readers one of Baxter’s stunning limited-edition prints. The four prints are some of his favourite paintings through the years, as he describes on the previous pages, including the 11th green at Augusta National, the view from the Old Course Hotel at St Andrews and the tough finishing hole at Le Golf National. Baxter’s Le Golf National painting in 2018 was his final as the Ryder Cup’s official artist, a position he held for almost three decades. The Scot takes up to 1,000 photographs of the courses he is working on and his paintings can take up to six months to complete. Rather than watercolours, his paintings are giclees, which are produced on artist-quality canvas using…

“I’m just going to keep proportionally making everything stronger and applying some force and speed to the golf swing to see what it can handle” DeChambeau at the Charles Schwab Challenge Despite top-eight finishes in seven of his last eight PGA Tour starts, Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t won for 17 months. Yet he stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to the headlines, because those shoulders are now mighty wide. His weight gain and new body shape have seen him pummelling the ball further than anybody, with DeChambeau topping the driving distance stats at 340.3 yards in the Charles Schwab Challenge in June. Here, we look at the changes he has made and ask GM Top 25 Coach Barney Puttick for his take on it all. What Bryson said…

GM Verdict After losing Justin Rose as a staff player, Honma will be hoping the TR20 range, which includes this 440cc version we tested in 9.5°, will be the catalyst for a resurgence. It has replicated the looks from the excellent TW747 driver at address, with the glossy black crown and deep-faced shape a throwback to classic drivers from years gone by. The 440 stock version comes with a 9g weight, which we positioned at the rear, and two 3g weights. This is the forgiving, neutral setting, but it did feel a touch light to swing. With five weight options available, we’d probably look to up the head weight slightly to give us more clubhead awareness. That said, it certainly didn’t harm our club speeds and the resulting ball speed…

Newport Par 72, 6,500 yards GF: round: £25/£60wd (winter/summer) The mature parkland course set on a hill 300ft above sea level plays around and through the ancient Llwyni Wood. The memorable down-and-up short par-4 opener is followed by a pretty and very well-protected par 3 in among the trees. The 17th is perhaps the star hole visually, sweeping down to the green from a plateau fairway with a glorious backdrop of hills beyond. Photography: Kevin Murray, Geoff Ellis (golfworking.co.uk), Getty Images St Pierre Old: par 72, 6,494 yards; Mathern: par 68, 5,730 yards GF: round: Old: £45-£75; Mathern: £20-£35 As at the Rolls of Monmouth, there’s a long and demanding par-3 18th on the Old course, which has hosted several tour events plus the 1996 Solheim Cup. You’ll catch a…

THE PGA offer a range of courses and qualifications and pride themselves on the quality of the education they provide. The Foundation Degree in Professional Golf Studies and Applied Golf Management Studies are both in conjunction with the University of Birmingham, while the Diploma in Higher Education in Professional Golf is in association with the University of the Highlands and Islands. Students can ‘earn as they learn’ – with the opportunity to compete in professional tournaments with prize funds while studying. All the courses actively welcome international students. “We are incredibly proud of the training programme we deliver which is recognised globally as world-leading,” said Dr Paul Wiseman, PGA Executive Director, Education. “It is the foundation from which The PGA is built and has developed over last 50 years to…

AT THE HEART OF GOLF FOR OVER A CENTURY The PGA has been at the heart of golf since 1901 when the professionals of the day, led by the Great Triumvirate of JH Taylor, Harry Vardon and James Braid, formed an organisation to support their interests and promote the game of golf. The PGA’s mission statement is to: Improve the personal and professional lives of our Members. The PGA plays a significant role in the development of golf at different levels, from junior coaching through to government policy. Since 2004, The PGA has led on the development of coaching qualifications for golf. Now, at The PGA’s National Training Academy at The Belfry, aspiring Members utilise cutting-edge technology in the PGA Golf Performance Studio, Cochran Sports Science Suite, workshop and classrooms,…

Dustin Johnson Traveling In Style Dustin Johnson fought hard on the back nine at TPC River Highlands to finish one shot clear of Kevin Streelman at the Travelers Championship – his first victory since the WGC-Mexico Championship last year. Johnson’s form had been indifferent before the lay-off, but that was never likely to last long. Since the start of 2008, only Tiger Woods has won as many PGA Tour titles as the big-hitting 36-year-old, who now has the World No.1 position in his sights once more. 21 Johnson won his 21st PGA Tour title at the Travelers 13 Consecutive seasons with a PGA Tour victory 16 Months between his last two wins – the Travelers and the 2019 WGCMexico Championship 306.3 Johnson’s average driving distance (yards) on the PGA Tour…

Bernardus, about 100km south of Amsterdam, is one of the finest new courses on the continent, and one which is already climbing high in both the Dutch and European rankings. The layout is the handiwork of Kyle Phillips, the man responsible for Kingsbarns and The Grove within these shores. Bernardus is set to host the next three KLM Opens, though whether 2020’s edition takes place remains to be seen. The course defies the predominantly flat landscape, with gentle undulations, supremely natural-looking bunkering and some sizable water features. Phillips delved into the history books to discover the kind of landscape that existed here before much of The Netherlands’ low-lying marshland was dyked and drained for farming. Close by, in the Loonse en Drunense Duinen National Park, he found gently rolling heathland,…

Let’s get straight to the point. How on earth do golfers occasionally win tournaments during years in which they do precious little else? If you’re a golf punter, the players you are looking out for are definitely not the ones with a string of MCs to their name, but rather those who look as though they might be running into a bit of form or who are simply so classy they could win any time they tee it up. The adage of ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ has always baffled me a little because it must surely be possible to show all the class in the world, but if you never run into any form, you’re not going to do much. Anyway, semantics aside, let’s investigate further. Just who…

Photography: Getty Images, Kenny Smith Sprinkler Heads Near Greens Sprinkler heads are a common feature found on most golf courses, but shouldn’t be a challenge of the course itself, says Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A. The Rules provide relief from these immovable obstructions under Rule 16.1 when they interfere with the lie of the ball, a player’s stance or the area of their intended swing. But what happens when an immovable obstruction interferes on a player’s line of play? Generally speaking, there is no free relief then, unless the ball is on the putting green. Relief is provided on the putting green as it is expected that the player will be putting and playing the ball along the ground rather than getting it airborne, so any interference on…

GM Verdict There are eight shapes in the range – some classic and others tour-inspired – but having been through the custom fitting process, it was the Fastback 1.5 that worked best for us. This mid-mallet has a long, black sightline that really helps you set the face square to the target. With the shallow milling, the feel off the face is mid-to-firm and we liked the initial speed and solid sensation this gave us. Scotty Cameron decided not to include an insert to dampen vibration because many golfers are switching to a softer-feeling ball. As such, the majority should experience a nice balance of feel and speed with a gentle sound at impact. The new stock Pistolini Plus grip is perhaps a touch too thin, especially if you opt…

Lindrick This excellent heathland test in South Yorkshire has gorse-lined fairways and a rich history. The initial nine holes were designed by Old Tom Morris, following which several leading architects were involved. More recently, it came to light that the final hole is one of a handful designed by Alister MacKenzie. The bunkering was revamped in 2016 by Ken Moodie and it serves as a very appropriate finish. GF: round: £95; day: £120 Durness One of the most extreme courses on the British mainland in terms of location and access is this fabulous nine-holer on the far north-western coast of Scotland. Its lunar landscape setting is truly other-worldly and while the par-5 6th is glorious with a green bordering Loch Lanlish, it is the closing hole along the clifftop that…

JANUARY 2012. It’s the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, where one of the strongest fields of the European Tour season has assembled. The chasing pack includes Ryder Cup stars Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Thomas Bjorn, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Peter Hanson. In the final group? Tiger Woods and Robert Rock, two shots clear of the field. Rock, the then 34-year-old from Lichfield, Staffordshire, did not even expect to win himself. “It would be more than I ever expected to achieve,” he said, when asked to rate his chances of victory after a third round of 66. On the final day, one of the leading pair would fall back into the pack, eventually signing for a 72. Incredibly, though, that man would be Woods, the then…

Can you talk a little bit about the emotion of winning again after all you've been through? I think when I won my first two events, I took it a little bit for granted, thinking every year was just going to be easy and that I’d have the chance to win. But it's tough out here. It's cutthroat. I worked my butt off the last year to be in this position, and I'm just glad it all paid off. Do you think the entire week, aside from your win, could have gone any better in terms of the PGA Tour putting together the first event in three months? The PGA Tour, the staff at Colonial, the greenkeepers, everyone involved with making the tournament did an unbelievable job. It was a…

Shot Scope V3 GPS Watch £209.99 Looking to build on the success of the V2 model, Shot Scope has unveiled its new GPS and shot tracking watch, the V3. It’s 60 percent smaller than the previous version and is just 10mm thick, while also sporting a new daylight-readable colour screen. It features three different modes depending on how you plan to use it. Such is the modern, versatile styling, you could just use it as your everyday watch, but then you would be missing out on all the excellent golf functionality, including the GPS, performance tracking and analysis. In golf mode, it will provide front, middle and back distances on over 35,000 pre-loaded courses. It also provides distances to reach and carry bunkers and penalty areas. In GPS + Performance…

On Sunday February 23, Dustin Johnson signed for a round of 70 at the WGC-Mexico Championship. By shooting even par over the four days at Chapultepec, the South Carolina man finished in a tie for 48th and pocketed just over $45,000. Having undergone surgery on his left knee in September 2019, this was only Johnson’s fifth event of the 2020 PGA Tour calendar. His build-up towards the Major season was under way. Little did he – or any of us for that matter – know, this would be his last tournament for almost four months. By the middle of March, Covid-19 had hit the pause button on life as we know it. Instead of competing regularly to add more tour and Major titles to his world-class CV, Johnson, like the…

Graeme Baxter might just be the greatest golf painter in the world. The Scot’s work hangs in some of the most famous clubhouses across the globe, from Pebble Beach to Augusta and St Andrews. Sir Michael Bonallack, the former R&A Secretary, encouraged the fine art dealer to pursue a career in golf course painting after being wowed by his depiction of the Road Hole. Baxter has spent almost three decades as the Ryder Cup’s official artist and has also been the official artist of The Open, the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Here, the Scot talks us through his ten favourite paintings… Old Course, St Andrews This is a unique view from the R&A Secretary’s office and I know no other artist has painted it. I was commissioned by…

PowaKaddy FX7 GPS Electric Trolley £799.99 GM Verdict PowaKaddy’s top-of-the-range electric trolley has undergone a significant makeover for 2020, all designed to make it easier to use and more beneficial to the golfer. It starts with the assembly process, which has become much quicker thanks to the new sleeker, more modern and streamlined frame design. Ease of use has also been improved with the new battery design. The previous version was sometimes difficult to remove, especially in cold weather, while the on/off switch on the underside was both confusing and inconvenient. Now, the on/off button is larger and displayed on top, making it much easier to access, while the larger removal latch makes it stress-free to take out. You can also keep it in place when folded down and the…

GM Verdict Not often has a golf shoe blown us away, but the spikeless Ecco S-Three provided genuine ‘wow’ factor as soon as we took it out of the box. The leather is fairly thick but incredibly soft and supple, and as a result feels fantastic when you slide your foot in. The fit is snug – exactly what you want from a golf shoe – and it feels like the entire shoe moulds to the shape of your foot as you walk. For us, it has to be the most comfortable golf shoe Ecco has ever made and, importantly, you don’t lose out on performance. These shoes still provide that stable footing you need when unleashing a driver or hitting from a sideslope in wet conditions. The Gore-Tex protection…

When you’re staring down at your ball about to hit that crucial shot, you need to know you can trust it to deliver. It takes time and patience to find the ball that suits your needs the best, especially given the abundance of choice on the market. Us golfers hit so many different shots during the course of a round – some require low spin and speed to maximise distance, while others require high spin and finesse to stop to attention. Generally speaking, the more you pay for your balls, the better the performance will be across every type of shot. You may also find the durability is better, too. There are less expensive options that can do a good job, especially if you prioritise a certain performance trait, like…

Words: Rob Smith Photography: Kevin Murray The Springs The Springs Golf Club is situated on a very attractive and easy-walking parcel of land immediately to the east of the River Thames, close to Wallingford in Oxfordshire. It runs over more than 130 acres of land designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and although only one hole actually borders the river, there are plenty of internal ponds and ditches to carry on the watery theme. There are four short holes and four par 5s, and the many trees that were planted in its early days are now established and blending in well with the existing mature specimens. There is plenty of risk and reward, with drive-and-pitch short par 4s such as the 7th and 17th and reachable par 5s…

Martin Ebert and business partner Tom Mackenzie are among the busiest men in the golf course design world right now. Ebert invariably has his fingers in many pies at once, including his advisory role to seven of the current Open Championship courses. One of Ebert’s most high-profile projects of late within these shores was at Turnberry, where his upgrading of the Ailsa course, with its now even more spectacular stretch from the 9th to the 11th, has garnered near-universal praise. More recently, he masterminded the new holes required to facilitate Royal Portrush’s long-awaited Open return last year, while his ongoing work at all three Open venues past and present on the Kent coast has included a highly acclaimed re-imagining of the Himalayas nine at Prince’s, and now the other two…