Innehållsförteckning för February 2021 från Compleat Golfer

After turning professional in March 2020, Jayden Schaper’s dreams for his rookie season were severely curtailed by the global Covid-19 pandemic. After the three European Tour co-sanctioned events in South Africa – a welcome bonus for all at a time when they didn’t seem likely to take place – Schaper felt like he had been regaining his rhythm, just as the golf year ended. It was a year that in January saw him challenge for the South African Open at Randpark as an amateur – eventually finishing tie-sixth – and ended with him challenging for the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek before finishing tie-second. And in the middle was the abyss of lockdown. ‘It was frustrating to have to sit at home in my first year as a professional,…

When Charlie Woods partnered with his famous dad in a father/son scramble in Orlando in late December, there was an endless outpouring of love for the 11-year-old. The ‘oohs’, ‘aahs’ and ‘how cutes’ accompanying the video footage were described as the perfect end to a dreadful 2020. Sure, the kid has talent – and Tiger himself described the 36 holes he spent with his son on the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club course thus. ‘I don’t think words can describe it. Just the fact we were able to have this experience together. Charlie and I, they are memories for a lifetime’. Beautiful memories, no doubt, to be treasured by father and son. Little Charlie is some player too, being able to arrow a 3-wood up the fairway some 165m. He also has…

We’ve all watched Tin Cup, where Kevin Costner plays Roy McAvoy – the movie was released in 1996 when Rory McIlroy was just seven years old – in a golfing comedy. McAvoy is famously down to his last golf ball at the US Open after dunking a handful into the water when he needed birdie to win the event. He finally holes out with his last ball… for a 12. Every one of us who has played this game will have hit balls into the water – and then reloaded in the hope of managing to do the second, or third, time what should have been executed in the first instance! Which brings us to this months selection of golf balls. The best professionals are mere mortals too. At the…

Happy New Year to all the readers; I’m wishing everyone straight drives and lots of birdies! In my last column I wrote how my plan was to fly back home to celebrate the festive season with family and friends, but like so much in 2020, Covid affected those plans. My husband, David, and I were due to fly home via London but due to the travel ban between the UK and South Africa our flights were cancelled and we didn’t make it home. As you can imagine, it was very disappointing to not get back home and it was difficult spending our first festive season away from home. We have been fortunate to meet and stay with many wonderful host families over the years and luckily for us we got…

‘Choose kindness’. Just last week I read those two words at the end of a post and it resonated with me for all the right reasons. In fact, given the current state of the world those two simple words might just make all the difference in someone’s day. We have some wonderful characters and even more incredibly kind people in the Southern African golf industry. When it comes to giving back through golf, the Nomads Foundation always springs to mind first and if you have ever seen them in action. I am certain you would agree. From their immense fundraising efforts for grassroots development, to the hundreds of junior golf raffles around the country, to the voluntary time spent on the live leaderboards at our Sunshine Tour events. This travelling…

New Year resolutions used to be easy. Every year the old-timers of Fleet Street would spend January on the wagon to make up for the amount of time spent in the pub in December. Journalists all over the world took up the challenge and a tradition was born. Today, however, there is no challenge, going without grog is easy because government has banned it. The new year dawned with us in level three and you can buy cigarettes, but not alcohol. By the time you read this we could be back in level five, which would of course mean no professional sport and, crucially, no golf for anyone. Did you think about that at the end of your last round, when you swore the game had seen the last of…

PGA Tour @PGATOUR Back in the winner’s circle for the first time since 2013. @Harris_English breaks through @Sentry_TOC. Harris English @Hanis_English 7 years in between victories, but this win at Kapalua is definitely the sweetest one yet. I could not have done this without my team by my side. Helen Marie and I are overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of love and support we have received this week. Mahalo Kapalua! Ryan Palmer @RyanPalmerPGA Aloha!!! Happy New Year! Let’s go! Bryson DaChambeau @b_dechambeau I already have my Aloha Friday outfit ready for #SentryTOC. This year, @SentryInsurance is donating $1000 per item (shirt, pants, shoes, hat) of up to $4 000 for each player that participates. The donations benefit local Maui charities. Proud to support a great initiative. Billy Horschel @BillyHo_Golf Not…

All it takes is a few seconds. A few seconds at impact for something to change. For a golf ball to bounce left instead of right. For a putt to drop in or lip out. And in the case of Dean Burmester, for a routine drive to the golf course with his family to turn into a lifechanging moment. In January last year at the Dubai Desert Classic, Burmester, his wife and their young son Jordan were travelling back from a trip to the aquarium when their Uber car was involved in a serious accident. It was those few seconds that changed everything for Burmester It changed the way he looked at life, the way he approached his career, the way he was able to survive lockdown. And he’s hoping…

A coach plays a vital role in the development of a golfer. Their task ultimately is to help their client find the best answers for their game. You should consider using one, if you don’t already The progress you make as a player using a coach could be exponentially more than trying to go it alone. In the words of an old African proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ Trying to go it alone in isolating and identifying weaknesses in your game is a difficult exercise, not to mention having to come up with tried and tested solutions to correct these drawbacks. A well-established European and PGA Tour player will have a number of professionals on their team, including…

It was a flurry of photographs on social media during lockdown in the first half of 2020 which drew the world’s attention to Skukuza Golf Club. As human activity on the course ground to a halt, so the animals – which were always a great attraction on the course in the heart of the Kruger National Park – came out to play. ‘Is this the world’s wildest golf course?’ asked the headline in an English tabloid when photographs were taken of lions and wild dogs on the course. Of course it’s the world’s wildest golf course – where else do you have to sign an indemnity form acknowledging you might be killed by wildlife before you tee off? – and South African golfers have always known it. In fact, tourists…

We’re back on track for the Tokyo Olympics, after the one-year postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year the world No 1 and subsequent Masters champion, Dustin Johnson, announced that the Olympics don’t fit into his schedule, so his name doesn’t feature. The Olympic field is restricted to 60 players in each of the men’s and women’s competitions. The International Golf Federation (IGF) will use the Official World Golf Ranking as a method of determining participation. The top-15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from any one country. Beyond the top 15, players will be eligible based on the World Ranking, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among…

At one point (luring the second round of last November’s Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club, Jacques Blaauw reeled off six one-putts in a row while the television commentators were having a giggle about the colour of his trousers. He’s always looked sharp on the golf course, but after he returned home from an abortive attempt to play his way on to the PGA Tour in the US through the Korn Ferry Tour (then the Web.com Tour) in 2017 and 2018, it was his putting that wasn’t so sharp. ‘I ranked outside the top 130 in putting stats on Tour,’ he says. ‘My average for putts per green in regulation was 1.8 and that does not make for good scoring. So it would have taken just one putt per round…

While history books will reveal that Collin Morikawa won The PGA Championship, Bryson DeChambeau lifted the US Open trophy and Dustin Johnson claimed The Masters in 2020, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that, with tournaments hastily rearranged and no crowds, something was missing at the year’s Majors. In the case of The Open Championship, it was the event itself, which was cancelled, giving Shane Lowry an extra 12 months to carry the title of ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’. The closure of golf clubs for 77 days during South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown period also robbed golfers of the chance to engage in their favourite pastime. And even when clubs were reopened for play, it took months before the coast was cleared for competitions to restart. The corporate golf…

How often have you put the Green Jacket on over the past while? Not as many times as you would think. I’ll probably put it on a few more. Just a few times here and there. I look at it a good bit. I actually have it in my car right now. Now that you get access to Augusta National like few people do, what’s the most awesome aspect of being a member at the most vaunted golf club in the world? I haven’t been back yet, but one thing for sure, it would be the Champions Locker Room. That’s something I’m looking forward to experiencing. You’ve always been considered one of the best athletes on the PGA Tour. Can you still dunk a basketball? I can. I had knee…

12 French Open – Le Golf National (2016) The French Open is always one of the hallmark stops for the European Tour. The event has a long history, and its trophy is littered with the names of golfing icons. There are two reasons it has made my Top 12. The first is the venue. Le Golf National has often featured in my columns, and for good reason. It’s one of the most complete courses in the world, which was most evident when it staged the 2018 Ryder Cup. It also doesn’t hurt that the course is situated a mere 20 minutes from one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Paris. The second, and probably most significant, reason for it being on the list, is because at the 2016…

When Harris English lined up his six-foot putt on the second playoff hole at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii in January, the USA Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker would have leaned a little more forward in his chair. He would have watched as the 31-year-old nervelessly rolled in the putt to see off Joaquin Niemann to win on the PGA Tour for the first time since capturing the 2013 OHL Classic at Mayakoba. It seems English has a taste for winning in exotic places. Mayakoba is an exclusive nature resort in Mexico, while there were almost as many golfers and hangers-on at the Tournament of Champions as there is the entire population of the region. According to the 2018 census figures, Kapalua has a…

Thanks to Eskom, powerlines (or lack thereof) have been in the news for all the wrong reasons again at the start of the year. This brought to mind what might be the consequences of hitting one during play. On Tour we have a permanent local rule in place but it’s important to note that the committee in charge of the course must implement this rule if they feel it might interfere with the reasonable playing of a hole. Otherwise, it might not necessarily apply at your club. The committee also has the option of including not only the powerline, but also the tower, and/or poles and supporting wires (on Tour, for instance, we specify only the powerline itself). In most cases where the powerline interferes with play, it crosses the…

With Lake Panic on your left and the fairway running downhill in front of you, you’d be forgiven for pulling driver from the bag. Jean Rossouw, club captain and course superintendent of Skukuza Golf Club, takes you through playing the hole in a slightly more thoughtful manner. The iconic 3rd and 12th holes at Skukuza Golf Club are near-500m par fives that offer different playing strategies because of their tee box locations and attack angles. The hole has a relatively narrow fairway, with water on the left, and bush on the right, the entire way to the green. Playing the 3rd offers a challenging strategy as hitting a driver off the tee will see your ball land in an uphill zone which offers no bounce advantage and can result in…

FEBRUARY PICK OF THE MONTH SAUDI INTERNATIONAL ROYAL GREENS GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB 4-7 FEBRUARY 2020 winner: Graeme McDowell shot a final-round evenpar 70 to finish 12 under and win the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers in Saudi Arabia. It was his 11th European Tour title. The victory meant he’d won in three different decades, had 16 professional wins across 13 countries and found himself back inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. The 40-year-old McDowell finished two shots clear of defending champion Dustin Johnson, whose three-under 67 (which included an eagle on the final hole) just wasn’t enough. ‘It’s special,’ McDowell said after his round. ‘I’ve been working hard the past year and a half. I want to be back up there one more…

St Andrews Yes, it’s the home of golf and yes, the Old Course is considered by many to be the Holy Grail of golf. But there is so much more to the Auld Grey Toon than one magical, historic course. The St Andrews Links Trust controls seven golf courses, and each one has its own charms and challenges, including the newest of the bunch, the Castle Course. A short jaunt down the road, golfers can try the modern Kingsbams layout, the ancient Crail or the underrated Fairmont St Andrews. A fair warning, however: a golfing trip to this part of the world will test even the most liberal of budgets. The Melbourne Sandbelt Located within a chip and a putt of each other, the Melbourne Sandbelt courses offer as pure…