Innehållsförteckning för June 2015 från Compleat Golfer

Here’s a good trivia question for you: in the last 186 events on the US Tour, how many wins have South Africans claimed? I’ll make it easier for you: let’s not count Ernie’s win in the 2012 Open, even though it is technically classified as a US Tour victory. If you guessed one, you’d be right. Tim Clark’s win in the 2014 Canadian Open broke a victory drought of more than three years for South Africans campaigning on the US Tour, dating back to Charl Schwartzel’s 2011 Masters victory. And if the 2014/15 US Tour season is anything to go by, we could be in for another lengthy victory drought. Nine top 10s from 24 events is all we can report at the time of going to print. What makes…

Cara Gorlei was named Player of the Year 2014/15 after a season that saw her claim numerous titles, show superb consistency and fly the flag with honour on the international stage. The 18-year-old Western Province No 1 won both the 2014 Nomads SA Girls’ Rose Bowl and Nomads SA Girls Championship, as well as the Gauteng North Championship, and she represented South Africa in the prestigious World Amateur Team Championships and the Duke of York Young Champions. She clinched three matchplay victories at the start of the 2015 season and converted two runner-up finishes for her first strokeplay title in the KwaZulu-Natal Championship in March. Gorlei was set to line up for South Africa in the Regional All-Africa Trophy in Windhoek alongside Shawnelle de Lange and Demi Flanagan from Border…

We all know that golf is an expensive sport to get into: the latest equipment, apparel and greenfees are likely to set you back a good few thousand rand – and that’s before you’ve coughed for up your annual club membership subscription. While cost is a major barrier to entry for the sport, there are still plenty of good deals to be found, particularly for juniors. The Glacier Junior Series, which Compleat Golfer continues to be a big supporter of, provides an excellent introduction to tournament golf for juniors (boys and girls) of all skill levels. For just R150 per round, entrants take part in a professionally run tournament, with their greenfees and halfway house taken care of. They also receive a golf towel and a sleeve of balls. And…

I have been playing golf for a little more than four years now and have had SAGA affiliation for approximately the same period. For me, taking up SAGA membership means that you accept and agree to abide by all its rules and regulations. This is why I always wonder why players do not adhere to the most basic and easiest of rules, which is to enter all rounds played. I can truly and honestly say I have entered every single round I have played and continue to do so religiously, but I’ve noticed that there are players who are selective about which rounds they enter into the system. Players need to remember that even if you have played more than nine holes but less than 18 holes, you are still…

FOR MORE COLUMNS from Dale Hayes, visit his blog at bit.ly/-dale-hayes. Television commentators are either loved or hated. You seldom hear a conversation about commentators where someone says: “Oh, he’s okay.” When you’re watching sport – especially golf – there are some voices that I would classify as broadcasters and others, as commentators. Jim Nantz and Dan Hicks are broadcasters, like South Africa’s Trevor Quirk, Martin Locke and Arnold Geerdts. Put simply, they are TV professionals. Commentators are usually classed as experts in their field, so in our case, they are ex professionals such as Denis Hutchinson, Warren Humphreys, Ken Brown, Tony Johnstone, David Feherty, Gary McCord, Johnny Miller and Peter Alliss. There are also crossovers and at the top of the list in that category is Sky’s Ewen Murray.…

CG: The first win in 2001 changed your life didn’t it? RG: I had won a few European Tour events and some tournaments in South Africa before then, but winning that US Open took me and my game to another level. CG: It nearly went all wrong at Southern Hills – the three-putt on the 72nd could have cost you the title. RG: That was a loss of concentration and not quite believing in myself and focussing on what I had to do. It could have gone the other way, who knows, but even if I didn’t win it and my career carried on as it did, I would still have been happy. I would have won one US Open. Thankfully it didn’t go the other way! CG: So what can players expect…

Tournament Review 1. He celebrated his Masters win by taking his family to fast-food restaurant Chick-fil-A, which opened up just for him. 2. His caddie, Michael Greller, used to be a full-time maths teacher. He started caddying for Spieth in an amateur event and the pair clicked. 3. Spieth got into golf after his mother bought him plastic clubs as a toddler so he could distract himself while his parents looked after his younger brother. 4. He recently purchased a $2.2-million mansion in Dallas, Texas. The 685-square-metre house has five bedrooms, a swimming pool, a 288-bottle wine cellar and an outside putting green. 5. He has won over $13 million in prizemoney since turning professional just 27 months ago. 6. He did not get his card through qualifying school. Playing…

GLACIER JUNIOR SERIES AMATEUR GOLF GIRL POWER ON SHOW IN GERMISTON The Els Family Tournament teed off the 2015 Glacier Junior Series at Germiston Golf Club, and did so in historic fashion. SA’s No 1-ranked women’s amateur golfer, Ivanna Samu, became the first female winner of an A Division title in the series for several years, and she was also the first to book her place in the National Final at the end of the year. Central Gauteng’s Samu, the winner of the 2014 Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Championship and the 2015 Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Strokeplay Championship, won the A Division by four strokes with an impressive round of 65. “I’ve been working hard on my game and I’ve worked harder on my fitness. I’ve stepped up my work…

To make more putts, you need to do three things: read the line correctly, roll it on the correct line and have the correct pace. For most golfers, getting the line correct seems to be half the battle on the putting surface, so I’ll help you with a few tricks that make reading greens a little easier. For the most part, the majority of surfaces in South Africa are either bent grass or Bermuda. Both of these types of grasses are waterbound and therefore will always grow towards natural water. They also have grain, which means that they grow in a uniform direction. Yes, the grain may grow in different directions on the same putting surface depending on the slopes, but you can always ‘read’ it. The first way to…

Preparation is the key to a successful golf event, whether it is your club’s monthly medal or The Open. You cannot control the weather, but you can take some steps to mitigate its impact. ■ Obtain an accurate weather forecast and set up the course accordingly, eg greens that are not too fast and hole positions that are not too exposed if it’s going to be very windy, and select hole positions that are not prone to flooding if it’s going to be wet. ■ Have at least one member of the committee on duty who will be able to answer any rules questions, monitor the conditions and make appropriate decisions. For example, is the course playable or not, should play be suspended/resumed or not? The committee should also ensure…

SHELL HOUSTON OPEN GOLF CLUB OF HOUSTON, HUMBLE, TEXAS 2-5 April 2015, $6.6 million JB HOLMES JB Holmes claimed the Shell Houston Open title in a three-way playoff against compatriots Jordan Spieth and Johnson Wagner. Beginning the day six shots back, the American birdied nine of the first 12 holes en route to signing for an 8-under-par round of 64. THE MASTERS TOURNAMENT AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA 9-12 April 2015, $10 million JORDAN SPIETH Jordan Spieth matched Tiger Woods’ record 72-hole total of 18-under 270 to win his first Major. The 21-year-old closed with a 2-under 70 to finish four strokes ahead of Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose. RBC HERITAGE HARBOUR TOWN GOLF LINKS, HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA 16-19 April 2015, $5.9 million JIM FURYK Jim Furyk claimed…

T here is no doubt that the average age of professional sportspeople, both male and female, is moving closer to 20 than it is 30, and this includes sports like rugby and football where you only have a certain numbers of years to peak (usually between age 20 and 30) before you are considered by many to be beyond your prime. Golf is a different story however, and we have seen the likes of Vijay Singh, Phil Mickleson, Laura Davies and Juli Inkster compete well into their veteran years. Even Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer have shown that they have what it takes to take on the youngsters despite being eligible for the senior tours. But more recently, we have seen a wave of even younger competitors…

A bone kinda popped out, joint went out of place, but I put it back in.” – TIGER WOODS ON WHEN HE JOLTED HIS WRIST PLAYING A SHOT IN THE FINAL ROUND OF THE MASTERS. “If it comes down to me not winning any Majors when I’m done with my golfing career, I’m not going to be sad… it’s not the main thing. Obviously it’s something nice to have, and if I get it I’m not going to give it back, but it’s not the main thing in my life.” – SERGIO GARCÍA TALKING ABOUT HOW CONTENT HE WILL BE WITH HIS CAREER EVEN IF HE NEVER WINS A MAJOR. “I mean, it was pretty awesome that I was near Annika’s record last week and even yesterday, and then I…

The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf tournament offers Champions Tour players the chance to team up and compete on an 18-hole parthree course. This year, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus teamed up in the 65 and older event and managed to finish in second place behind Larry Nelson and Bruce Fleisher. Player and Nicklaus finished on 9 under par, three shots behind Nelson and Fleisher, and they each won $34 000 (approximately R411 000) for their efforts.…

Looking at the qualification list (there are 19 ways to earn an invite) for the Masters, I am surprised every year at the omission of the reigning South African Amateur champion. There are spots (seven in all) for the winners of (inter)national amateur tournaments held in the US, Britain, Asia-Pacific & Latin America, but not for the winner of the SA Amateur. Is this a throwback to the apartheid years when South African sportsmen and sportswomen were excluded from major sporting events? Is it because we now have two separate tournaments – one strokeplay, the other matchplay? It cannot be because this country is not considered a major one in the world of golf, as South Africans have won 22 Majors since WWII, more than any other country other than…

FOR MORE COLUMNS from John Botha, visit his blog at bit.ly/john-botha. The news that China’s communist government had closed down a number of golf courses didn’t come as a surprise. A moratorium on the construction of golf courses was ordered by the central government more than a decade ago, yet since then no fewer than 400 new golf courses have been built. Recently, 66 of these were ordered to close. When the ban on new golf developments came into effect in 2004, nobody paid much attention, because, like in South Africa, in China the law is a moveable feast, and corruption is rife. At the time “environmental concerns” were cited for the clampdown on the unfettered development of golf courses, which is rather rich coming from a country where the…

I played the qualifying rounds of the US Amateur at Chambers Bay in 2010, while I was studying my finance degree at Texas Christian University. Unfortunately I finished tie-59th and had to go into a 16-man playoff for the five remaining spots. On the first hole of the playoff my drive found a divot. I made bogey – and was knocked out. The course is beautiful but very difficult. On the first day the wind got up and players were finding it so tough that it took us five hours to play our first 10 holes and we couldn’t complete the round because of darkness. The USGA likes the US Amateur to test out a new course and see how it would prepare for a US Open. It was just…

Adjustability plays an important role in almost every modern driver on the market, whether it’s the ability to move weights in the club or being able to change the loft and lie angle through an adjustable hosel. There are only a few drivers that don’t offer such adjustability, but you are still able to change the shaft in these woods in order to suit your swing. With all of this customisation available, picking a driver without the help of a professional fitter can be very complicated. Thankfully, most retail stores and brands offer a personalised custom fitting system that ensures you get the best performance out of your new 1-wood. And for the prices you pay these days, you need to make sure your investment is worth every cent. Take…

The Sunshine Tour is home to many unique characters all travelling around the country and north to various other national tournaments in Africa. Doug McGuigan is one of those characters and this Durban-born Scotsman has been laughing and telling jokes on this tour since 1989, making him one of the real veterans on tour. McGuigan took up golf at the age of seven, but at the same time was a very passionate football player and played the sport for his province for nine years. His decision to take golf seriously and turn professional is one he doesn’t regret and he still enjoys every second of being out on the fairways each week. In 1998, McGuigan earned his Canadian Tour card through the McDonald’s Spring Qualifying School and spent some time…

Fancourt never ceases to add to the experience offered at the estate and now boasts new outdoor adventures for those guests who feel that a round of golf is not enough. JASON MYLROIE visited the estate to find out more. For additional information and bookings at Fancourt, visit www.fancourt.co.za Magnificent Fancourt in George is considered by many to be the ultimate golf experience in South Africa, thanks to its three excellent courses and the various practice facilities on offer. The estate is a constant hive of activity, especially at the porters’ desk, where guests and residents are whisked off to the various activities on offer. However, despite all of the movement, the atmosphere remains relaxed, such is the quality of service here – particularly noticeable in the upgraded club lounge.…

One of the most important aspects in golf is dynamic balance or transfer of weight. This contributes to accuracy and power in the golf swing. To transfer weight, one has to load into the right side if you are a right-handed golfer. The Leaderboard is a training device to help establish this in your golf swing. It has bands that create tension on a plate to help strengthen and stabilise the right leg at the top of the backswing. If you don’t have a Leaderboard you can do a one-legged drill to help create the same effect. When standing on one leg (right if playing right handed) take a practice backswing and stop at the top of the backswing. To do this effectively one has to be on plane. When…

1 THE ANTICS OF SEVE April is the month that golfing legend Seve Ballesteros would have celebrated his 58th birthday. Here are a few excerpts from a BBC documentary about the two-time Masters champion. Bit.ly/CGSeveAntics 2 PLAYOFF PERFECTION Kim Sei Young of South Korea showed how to totally dominate your opponent in a sudden-death playoff when she holed out for eagle on a par four. Bit.ly/CGPlayoffPerfection 3 MASTERS MISERY While Jordan Spieth celebrated his first Green Jacket, two other players, one being former US Open champion Webb Simpson, will be having nightmares about shots they hit at Augusta National. Bit.ly/CGMastersMisery 4 A BUNCH OF ACES The Masters par-three contest is always a day of fun before the battle at Augusta National and this year it produced five aces, including one…

Apart from the likes of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, another American name regularly spotted at the top of leaderboards in the US is JB Holmes, and his purple patch finally culminated in a victory in Houston a week before the US Masters. Holmes is one of the longest hitters of the ball, despite his unorthodox swing that results in a powerful fade. The rest of his game is solid too and he showed it when he aced the par-three 4th hole at Trump Doral moments after Johnson did in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Holmes is another tour professional who has a very mixed bag, and despite wearing a Srixon cap and using a Srixon Tour bag, the only Srixon equipment he uses is the new Z-Star golf ball. The rest…

I have been meaning to write on this subject for some time, but the verbal diarrhoea-style commentating on the Masters has forced my hand now. The loss of Richie Benaud recently highlighted one of the reasons why he was such a good sports commentator. He stuck to his mantra, “Put your brain into gear and if you can add to what’s on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up”. I so wish the American golf commentators would do this, especially Roger Twibell. He really should be called Roger Drivell! He incessantly makes the most inane, unnecessary and puerile comments, which usually end with, or include the words “right there”, in every sentence. I am so irritated by this ‘drivel’ that I watched most of the Masters with the sound…

FOR MORE COLUMNS from Joanne Lefson, visit her blog at bit.ly/joanne-lefson. Jordan Spieth’s $1.8 million payout for his brilliance in the Masters was huge – and for the record, a heck of a lot more than Brittany Lincicome took home after winning the year’s most prestigious championship on the women’s tour just one week before. In case you missed her incredible achievement in the LPGA Tour’s first Major of the year because of all the pre-Masters hype that got in her way, Lincicome grabbed the Major title at Mission Hills (formerly known as the Dinah Shore/Kraft Nabisco and now called the ANA Inspiration), beating Stacy Lewis in four extra holes. Just like Spieth in the Masters, she created an incredibly exciting finish for both the event and spectators alike. A…

A few interesting facts from around the world. 3 players – Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie – made bogey or worse on the 72nd hole of the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club to hand Australian Geoff Ogilvy a one-shot victory. 78.7 was the scoring average on the final day of the 2004 US Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. 0 was the number of rounds under par during the first three rounds of the 1951 US Open at Oakland Hills Country Club. The cut was set at 15 over par that year – the highest cut in US Open history. 11 was the number of one-putts Retief Goosen made in the final round of the 2004 US Open. 19 is the highest score on one…

FROM THE AVAILABLE RESEARCH that has been done on the life and work of AW Tillinghast (affectionately known as ‘Tilly’) it is clear that this interesting character was certainly individualistic, yet not a little flawed. Had he been English he might have been considered to be an eccentric, yet brilliant man, but many of his contemporaries in the United States believed that he was more than slightly crazy, yet they fully appreciated his talents which were many and varied. To say that Tillinghast ‘enjoyed a drop’ would hardly do justice to his serious penchant for alcohol – he drank heavily as a young man, and this habit reached dangerous proportions during adulthood. His binges were legendary and a few times a year he would embark on uproarious benders which could…

When it comes to hitting your driver off the tee, I doubt there are any golfers who wouldn’t say yes to gaining a few extra metres without sacrificing accuracy. With most of the other clubs in our bags, we focus on distance control, but when it comes to the driver we just want to get as much distance as we can. Of course, to get maximum distance, we need a combination of a solid swing, athletic strength and the right equipment. Once we’ve got this right, we need to find the optimal combination of ball speed, launch angle and spin rate. In other words, there are many variables that need to combine to create a powerful golf swing. Similarly, there are many variables that could lead to a breakdown in…

Golfers should always attempt to initiate the downswing with their lower body. Just look at guys like Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy and you’ll see how hip rotation and pelvic speed translate into a powerful golf swing. One thing that the majority of coaches agree upon is that the hips must rotate in the backswing and the downswing. However, the more important move is that the lead-side hip starts the downswing (left hip on a right-handed golfer). This move, combined with a delayed release of the upper torso, will result in the hands and club descending into the ‘slot’ to allow the golfer to strike the inside of the golf ball. Another important benefit to having optimal pelvic-hip mobility is that this takes a lot of the pressure…

PHOTO GALLERY FITS LIKE A GLOVE JORDAN SPIETH, THE MASTERS CHAMPION, 12 APRIL 2015 Augusta, Georgia A year after the Green Jacket nearly landed on Jordan’s shoulders, the measurements looked not to have changed an inch. 2 . TEE TIME TROUBLES TIGER WOODS, THE MASTERS FINAL ROUND, 12 APRIL 2015 Augusta, Georgia Tiger’s short game looked like its old self at Augusta… and so did his long game for that matter. The choice words that followed such shots were spot on too. 3. WHO’S MORE FAMOUS? ONE DIRECTION’S NIALL HORAN AND WORLD NO 1 RORY MCILROY, THE MASTERS PAR THREE CHALLENGE, 8 APRIL 2015 Augusta, Georgia It didn’t take long for Rory to realise that his caddie was more popular than him. And that’s 20 million followers more popular, according…