Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i Compleat Golfer

‘Olympic golf is underway in Paris. I think. I love golf. I covered it for years and still enjoy watching the Majors and, at times, the weekly tournaments. But the Olympics? No thanks. The Olympic men's event is about as important as the Travelers Championship. Maybe.’ – Washington Post columnist John Feinstein, 2 August 2024 Screenshot the above and take it to Erik van Rooyen, one of 60 men golfers at Paris 2024. He finished 17th after rounds of 67, 69, 69 and 70 at a tricky Le Golf National outside the French capital. Listening to him talk about the Olympics at the end of the third round and being on the team bus back to the Athletes’ Village contradicts what is a popular view voiced above. When Ashleigh Buhai,…

Everything is bigger and better in the USA, it is said. It also extends to the sports fields, where – as Olympic 100m gold medallist Lyle Noah has pointed out, Americans call themselves world champions in events only they take part in. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the USA again topped the medals table, albeit by virtue of getting a 40th gold to tie with China on the final afternoon. Now we are faced with two golf team tournaments that arrive in quick succession. The men have The Presidents Cup and the women stage the Solheim Cup. In both instances it's the USA taking on, if not the world, but players from a number of countries. The Presidents Cup will be staged at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, while…

At The Open, Royal Troon showed its teeth again in the wind and players at times found it difficult to keep the ball in play. Although the course did not have penalty areas, the gorse bushes that line most fairways proved to be ‘hazard’ enough to keep them busy. Unfortunately for the players, their predicaments in the gorse perfectly illustrated the workings of the Unplayable Ball rules once again. Most often the players were unable to take penalty relief by dropping two club-lengths laterally from the ball and so had to take stroke-and-distance relief by going back on the line, keeping the position of the ball and the flag in line. On most holes, this meant that back on the line was deeper into the bush, and the only option…

GARY LEMKE COLUMN While escaping the heat for a couple of hours, I had the privilege of sitting in a corner in the players’ lounge – the athletes’ area as it was labelled – at Le Golf National in Paris and watched some of the Olympics on the giant TV screen in the facility. And, to those who still feel that golf doesn't belong in an Olympics. I would have gladly traded places with you. if it would help you understand that the sport does Perhaps most importantly, the players who were there will know golf is a worthy inclusion. I will again go as far as to say that the Olympics are the unofficial fifth Major, held every four years. As a goiter, like bcottie Scottie Lydia Ko and…

MEMORY MAKERS They loved him and because he was so humble, well-mannered and popular they called him ‘Gentle Ben’. Now he was in a playoff with this young blood from South Africa and the frenzied fans behind the ropes were loudly hollerin’ for their man, as they egged on the great Ben Crenshaw in his bid to win the 1989 World Series of Golf. Crenshaw's many supporters didn't get what they wanted, though. A quarter of a century ago this August, a young Afrikaner; Cape Town-horn David Frost, a product of Paarl Boys’ High, won the 1989 edition of the World Series in dramatic fashion after twice hitting his drives into trouble in the two suddendeath holes that were played that year. The two players had tied on four-underpar 276…

Nine-Test Springbok winger Odwa Ndungane, who won the 2009 British & Irish Lions series with South Africa, has followed his brother in taking up golf since retiring from rugby. Having been a 14 handicap in 2018, he's since brought his index down to an 8.2. It was at the Champagne Sports Resort in 2006 for team building between Super Rugby and Currie Cup duty when exSharks teammate AJ Venter introduced him to the game of golf. From that point, Ndungane developed an interest and was more open to attending golf days. In the infancy of his time on the greens, the 43-year-old underlines what an eyeopener golf was because watching from the outside it seemed pretty easy. ‘Golf is a sport that demands a lot of your time because there…

ANDY CAPOSTAGNO COLUMN A CORNER DEDICATED TO GOLF'S TRIERS I dipped in and out of the wall-to-wall Olympic coverage on SuperSport in August. My daughter was involved with the Eventing competition at Versailles, so I watched the cross-country section and marvelled at the backdrop and the creativity of the camera angles. I watched our men's and women's hockey teams more, in hope than expectation, and I wondered out loud to anyone who was listening, how many South African viewers were paying any attention at all to the extensive coverage of fencing, shooting and handball. It took the arrival of the men's golf competition to glue me to my seat and the reason was not just the presence of so many global stars. It was the set-up of the golf course…

RYAN VAN VELZEN The most powerful feeling in the world for a young golf professional is not that perfect moment of impact. It's not a drive that splits the fairway, or an approach hit stone dead. It's the feeling Ryan van Velzen had when he won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy. ‘I feel like I belong now,’ he said. And for Van Velzen, that feeling of belonging has increased even more after he recently competed at his first Majors. He can also look forward to a place at ‘Africa's Major’ – the Nedbank Golf Challenge – later this year. ‘Winning the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit last season was amazing. I mean, to win against some of the top players in the country and…

Known as The valley of wine and roses’, Robertson has several well-kept secrets. While farming and wagon building is how the town originated prior to the Anglo-Boer War, ostrich farming became the next big thing. After World War I, this industry also collapsed and the area turned to general farming of livestock. Wine and fruit farming began in the same period and is now very much the core industry within the area, with numerous famous wines originating from the valley. Unlike many of the other smaller towns in the area, water is not a problem as the Breede River supplies water throughout the year to the farmers and town. As well as being at the heart of the famous wine route. Route 62, the town is also host to the…

They call it golf's equivalent to a Swiss Army knife. It's the club that's called upon to execute any number of shots, and it's far from a one-trick pony. In a nutshell, a fajrway wood is a longer golf club that has anywhere between 13 and 22 degrees of loft. It is intended for use either off the tee or from far away in the fairway or rough. Generally, these clubs have a low centre of gravity (CG) and a graphite shaft to make them a little lighter, allowing the ball flight to have a more penetrating yet arcing look. Most of these clubs are made from titanium in the clubhead. While golfers (both amateur and professional) will often change driver every one or two years, fairway woods typically stay…

TREVOR MAHONEY Trevor Mahoney has returned from a seven-year golf hiatus. The Pearl Valley Golf Estate member shocked many golf fans when he stepped away from the game at the end of the 2017 Sunshine Tour Qualifying School where he missed out by a single stroke. Before his disappearance from professional golf, Mahoney had won the Sunshine Tour's Vusi Ngubeni Strokeplay Tournament on two occasions (January and December 2015), an indication of his ability to perform at a high level. Despite all that, Mahoney would stay away from the fairways of competitive golf for seven years. ‘I made the decision to stop playing at the end of 2017 Q-School when I missed my main Tour card by one shot,’ he recalls from eSwatini where he was competing at the FNB…

REPLAY It was a second-place finish at the 1987 NEC World Series of Golf that convinced Fulton Allem, the stocky golfer from the Free State, to join the PGA Tour after a successful run on the Sunshine Tour where he had 11 professional wins. Allem's run at glory at the 1987 extent was thwarted by American Curtis Strange, who finished at five under after a closing-round 71, three better than Allem's final score. The straight-talking South African could only muster a 70 on the last day which forced him to settle for solo second, but a lucrative cheque for $86 000. Fast forward to 1993 and Allem was once again in the hunt after his opening round 68 saw him placed nicely at third, two off the pace set by…

Cold plunges, also known as cold-water immersion or ice baths, have become increasingly popular among athletes across various sports, including golf. This recovery technique involves immersing the body in cold water, typically ranging from 5°C to 10°C, for a brief period. While the benefits of cold plunges have been well-documented in many sports, their application in golf is still a topic of discussion. Before you join the throngs of people taking a dip in the Kalk Bay pools, let's take a look at the potential benefits and drawbacks of cold plunges for golfers, focusing on how they may affect athletic performance. Elite-level golfers often endure long hours of practice and play, which can lead to muscle fatigue and soreness. Cold plunges can help reduce muscle inflammation and accelerate recovery by…

The signature hole at Silwerstrand is the downhill par-three 7th. At 148m. it only requires a short-iron for most The length by no means makes for a pushover of a hole, though – quite the contrary The green is wide from left to right, but a mere 19m deep, meaning dub selection needs to he spot on. The fact that it is surrounded by water means a watery grave awaits a mis-club. The hole also plays downhill, emphasising the need to work out the yardage accurately One can factor in half a club less for the drop in elevation. If the wind is up it is generally a crosswind which is the final part of the puzzle when choosing the club and avoiding the water. The centre Df the green…

2023 winner: With a big finish by Spaniard Carlota Ciganda, the Europeans retained the Solheim Cup after securing a first-ever tie, 14-14, with the United States. ‘There's nothing like this,’ Ciganda said. ‘To play in Spain in front of your home crowd, and to have my name being chanted, it's really amazing, very special and just something that I won't forget.’ The US needed a win at Casares, Spain, to get the trophy back after two consecutive losses against Europe in the top team event in women's golf. It's the first time Europe has secured three straight Solheim Cups against the United States. The teams split the 12 decisive singles matches on the final day to finish tied, with jubilant Europe keeping the trophy. Ciganda, the only Spaniard in the…

RYAN CAIRNS COLUMN In the hallowed grounds of golf, where the echoes of victories past mingle with the whispers of legends, there exists a timeless bond that transcends boundaries and unites players in the pursuit of excellence. As I wander through the memories of columns gone by, I am reminded of the indomitable spirit of the Olympics – a beacon of unity, strength and unwavering passion that ignites the heart of every competitor. At one point in time, I was on the outside looking in during golf's return to the Olympics at the Rio Games. The qualifying criteria were different at the time, to the point where even as a journeyman pro, I found myself on the brink of an Olympic debut. The call from the sports ministry never came,…

Hole-in-one Statisticians estimate the odds of an average golfer making a hole-in-bne at around 12 500 to 1 However those odds shorten significantly when it is a low-handicap golfer, who can,expect a 1 in 5 OOO chance of achieving the perfect fluke. A Tour player's odds are even lowerat 3 000 to 1 Yet when Doug Weaver, Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate and Nick Price all made a hole-m-one on the 6th hole of Oak Hill Country Club in the second round of the 1989 US Open, statisticians reckoned the odds of this happening were in the region of 332 000 to 1. For a regular amateur golfer it takes an average of 24 years to achieve a holein-one, with the average handicap index of a golfer who achieves their ace…