Golf Australia March 2019

THERE was a time not so very long ago when attending a Brooks Koepka press conference was unlikely to give golf scribes little more than “yeah, just taking one round at a time” or “just keep doing what I’m doing.” What a difference three major championship victories can make ... Koepka is unique on the PGA Tour. The big-hitting American played his way onto the world’s biggest golfing stage via Europe. He graduated college and went straight onto the secondary Challenge Tour. Three wins on that Tour in 2013 saw him gain a promotion to the main European Tour where he continued to play full time through to the end of 2014 and was named the Rookie of the Year. In 2015, he headed home to the PGA Tour and…

Walking onto the 1st tee at Cape Wickham Links never, ever, disappoints. I lucky enough play some world’s greatest courses including Augusta National, Royal Melbourne and the Old Course at St Andrews. Stepping up to play your opening tee shot at each of these magnificent golfing colosseums stirs an excitement you know you have to get a handle on just to draw the club back away from the ball. It’s as much about the history and the anticipation of playing the holes that lie ahead that add a few beats to the heart rate. The first time I played Cape Wickham, shortly after it opened in October 2016, there were no excited butterflies fluttering in the stomach as I teed a ball ready to play. Perhaps it was the calming…

LOCATION: Cape Wickham, King Island, Tasmania. CONTACT: (03) 6463 1200. WEBSITE: www.capewickham.com.au DESIGNERS: Mike DeVries with Darius Oliver. SLOPE RATINGS: 137 (blue tees), 134 (white), 127 (red). PLAYING SURFACES: All fescue. COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: John Geary. GREEN FEES: $175 (18 holes); $220 (all day rate). *Note, the course is closed from July 1 to August 31. HOW TO GET THERE: Three Melbourne airports have flights to King Island, with Regional Express (REX) flying out of Tullamarine, Sharp Airlines flying out of Essendon, Air Adventure flies charter flights and is also based out of Essendon but has some select flights out of Moorabbin and Vortex Airlines flies charter flights out of Moorabbin. The flight time from Melbourne to King Island is between 35 and 45 minutes depending on the type of…

IF YOU are anything like me – and if you are, get immediate psychological and psychiatric help, especially with your pitching from 75-yards or so – you have derived an enormous amount of enjoyment from the social media output of the European Tour. Time and again, this endlessly inventive bunch of lads from Tour headquarters at Wentworth have produced content that has, in turn, made me laugh, cry and think more deeply about the game we all love. The little kid interviewing Rory McIlroy was funny. Edoardo Molinari being driven close to insanity trying to make a hole-in-one with only a seemingly endless pile of balls for company was both amusing and, to be honest, mildly disturbing. Andrew “Beef” Johnson making a young lad’s birthday with a car ride involving…

1. In what month and year was The Players Championship first played at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course (pictured)? 2. TPC Sawgrass was the brainchild of former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman, who negotiated the purchase of the swampland where the course now stands. How much did the Tour pay for the 415-acre property? 3. Pete Dye is the recognised designer of the Stadium Course at Sawgrass. But whose idea was it to build the iconic island green par-3 17th? 4. Four players share the record for the lowest 18-hole score at TPC Sawgrass with nine under 63. Only two of them went on to win. Greg Norman was one, who was the other? 5. Who was the first player to score a hole-in-one on the famed 17th hole during a…

To submit your quiz answers, visit the WIN page on our website, www.golfaustralia.com.au The person with the most number of correct answers will win a dozen of Mizuno’s new release RB Tour golf ball. The RB Tour is a very soft compression premium ball that offers lower driver spin, and high greenside spin. The four-piece ball also boasts a new Cone Dimple, which are designed to keep fast-flowing air close to the ball’s surface longer – reducing drag and strengthening trajectory. In the event of a tie, the winner will be randomly drawn. Entries close 11.59pm on March 20. The winner and the correct answers will be published in the May issue of Golf Australia magazine.…