Innehållsförteckning för August 2021 från Compleat Golfer

By the time he had tapped in for par on the final hole to record a two-shot win at the 149th Open Championship, 24-year-old Collin Morikawa was already mopping up records left, right and centre. His 265 strokes set a new record for the lowest score at Royal St George’s, beating Greg Norman’s 1993 effort by two shots. He also became the first player to win in two different Major championship debuts, remarkably taking just eight Major starts to get there. The American of Chinese-Japanese heritage is also just the 10th player to win The Open on their debut. And did we mention he played his last 31 holes without a single bogey on the card? Yet perhaps most ominously for his fellow competitors is this one: Morikawa has now…

Jake White was one of those who used a duck analogy when talking about how he felt during the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, in which the Springboks beat England 15-6. ‘I might have been looking calm to the TV viewer, but it wasn’t anything like that. You know, when you watch a duck gliding gracefully over a lake... everything looks so calm and peaceful, in control. Well, what you don’t see is what’s happening under the water surface. Those feet and legs are kicking like crazy.’ Staying calm – or looking like you are – when under severe stress in high-pressure moments is what separates the winners from those who collect runner-up medals. Some people like to throw out the ‘choke’ word, without really having any understanding of what…

The Open Championship is the Major with the most history and has always been played on traditional links courses. Although a links course is vastly different to a course such as Augusta National, the same rules apply to all. Committees are, however, given limited authority to introduce local rules that suit that particular course or competition to still ensure proper playing of the game. I have written about local rules often in the past, and I thought it would be useful to highlight a few scenarios that, while not necessarily unique to links courses, come up more often on them. One of the strategies when playing a links course is to play the ball along the ground more often, especially around the greens. Often the types of natural grasses mean…

Hole No 2, 95m. par three Being a premier 18-hole par-three course, Hazendal has several standout holes. The rights of owning signature-hole status are still being hotly contested between the 2nd and the 12th with the 2nd leading the polls At 95m from the back markers, it is not the longest hole on the course but certainly one that gets your attention. Standing on the elevated tee. you may at first be so focused on the green below that you perhaps won’t notice the pine tree which can come into play, especially if the pin is tucked away on the right What is more likely to catch your eye immediately on this challenging and tough hole, is the large bunker protecting front and centre of the shallow left-to-right shaped green,…

There is no greater honour than representing your country on the world stage. I have been fortunate enough to do this quite a few times as an amateur at tournaments around the world and in South Africa. In 2016 I was finally able to represent South Africa as a professional when golf was introduced to the Olympics. Rio was a fantastic experience Staying in the Olympic Village and getting to rub shoulders with the best athletes in the world was remarkable It was an eye-opening experience to see how all these athletes go about their days – from waking up at a certain time to training or the amount of carbs they pile on to their plates in the 250-yard long dining hall. Golf wasn’t the biggest feature in Rio…

It seems logical, but too simple perhaps: get a really low opening round, and you’re going to win. It’s happened three out of three times on the Sunshine Tour for Jaco Prinsloo. His first win, in 2017, came after an opening 64 at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at Simola. In March this year, he opened the Players Championship with a seven-under-par 65. He finished on 25 under and took the title in a playoff. Two weeks later, he fired a first-round 64 at the Serengeti Pro-Am Invitational and secured his third Sunshine Tour title. Any higher than that and the win seems to be out of the equation. Like the 66 he opened with at the Gauteng Championship between his two 2021 victories which was only good enough…

I wonder whether Bubba Watson will ever be the same? He played 67 holes of the Travelers Championship in 13 under par, then played the last five in six over. He went from leading the championship to a tie for 19th, a collapse that cost him north of $400 000. I am not personally acquainted with Bubba and I believe he is not best liked by his fellow pros. He is, undeniably, odd. The top-button done-up look for his golf shirts is straight out of nerd central, while the baby spot on his right cheek always reminds me of Sid James as the Black Fingernail in Carry On Don’t Lose Your Head. The thing about Bubba, though, is that he plays golf the way high-handicappers do in their dreams He’s…

PGA Tour @PGATOUR A flawless finish for @Collin_Morikawa. No bogeys in his final 31 holes. The 3rd longest bogey-free streak to end a Major by a champion. Jack Nicklaus @jacknicklaus It looks like we’ve got a new kid on the block! What an impressive day of golf – and tournament! – by @collin_morikawa. He continues to play well, play better, and show he is here to stay. My, what solid golf and great composure all day long at @TheOpen! Collin Morikawa @collin_morikawa ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ Justin Thomas @JustinThomas34 You know it wasn’t a good week of golf when feeding a duck at the end of every day was the highlight! Delight as always @theopen, see you next year! @ Royal St George’s Golf Club. Gary Player@garyplayer Congratulations to @collin_morikawa on…

6 Alfred Dunhill Championship, Leopard Creek Country Club There are few weeks that can compare to the one at Leopard Creek. So when the Sunshine Tour rolls around at the end of the year, you know you’re in for something special. It’s one of those events where you can see every player relax. The energy on the range changes from a panic hustle and bustle to the waiting room at a spa. Everyone takes in the surroundings of nature and instantly decompresses. Which after a long, hard season is exactly what the doctor ordered. While there might be hundreds of thousands of spectators at tournaments, the members give this event a different perspective. You can hear them judging all your mistakes, since they know exactly where you can and can’t…

In 1998, a young Durban professional won the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Series – KwaZulu-Natal at Prince’s Grant Golf Estate. By his own admission, he wasn’t a superstar. He played at No 5 for his club. He had spent a year in the army, studied a bit, and worked as an apprentice under Hugh Baiocchi. Not even Keith Horne envisioned the kind of career Keith Horne would go on to have. All of which probably explains why, when Horne turned 50 this year, he hardly even noticed. ‘It’s so weird. It just sneaks up on you. You get so busy playing and I’ve been so busy travelling around the world. So many people slow down when they’re in their early 40s, and I’ve been fortunate to keep playing around the world.…

So we’ve established that Christiaan Burke will never be as good a player as Kim Jong-Il. In June Burke reduced Potchefstroom Country Club to something of a mashie course as he posted a 16-under-par score of 56 Sensational stuff in its own right, but still a far cry from the former North Korean leader who had 11 holes-in-one at the 7 700-yard Pyongyang Golf Course in 1994. where he went round in 38 under Jokes aside, there was no disputing Burke’s brilliance in Potch unlike that of the dictator who believed the world would take his rounds score’ at face value. Golf isn’t as easy as that, unless it’s on PlayStation Burke is only 20 yet had loops of 26 and 30 in his round on a demanding course, with…

When you think of wedge shots into the green, invariably Phil Mickelson pops into the mind. He has made a career out of fashioning ‘miracle’ shots out of nowhere. YouTube is awash with highlights of ‘Lefty’ sending the ball high up into the air and dropping on to the green like a feather falling to the ground. Obviously, there have been countless times he hasn’t needed to take the putter out of the bag, as the ball has rolled into the hole as if by magic. Then again, there’s always a certain magic when it comes to the perfect wedge shot. The feeling of not having to putt is something that lingers long after you’ve walked off the 18th green. Ernie Els attributes his four Majors to his wedges, not…

Retief Goosen captured the Johnnie Walker Classic, posting an impressive eight-shot victory at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Western Australia. The 32-year-old South African turned in a one-over 73 in the final round to win his eighth career European Tour title with a 14-under-par 274 total. Goosens victory his first down under, was worth S210 408 and moved him from ninth to top of the 2002 European Tour moneylist. He finished on top of the Order of Merit the previous season on the strength of two wins in Europe and his breakthrough Major triumph at the US Open in 2001 at Southern Hills. Sweden’s Pierre Fulke. the runner-up at the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Melbourne, carded the day’s best round of 66. His bogey-free effort lifted him into…

As she site in an airport about to board a flight for the umpteenth time in her long career, Lee-Anne Pace finds herself thinking more and more about her other home in the south of France, two puppies and her plans to become a mother. And the message is clear. One of the greatest careers in the history of South African professional golf is coming to a close. ‘It goes by so quickly,’ says Pace, who this year celebrated her 40th birthday. ‘The years flew by so quickly. You go from one country and tournament to the next. It has been quite a long career. It is and has been such a fantastic life filled with so many amazing and unforgettable moments. This game has given me so much and…

Situated in the picturesque Bottelary Hills of Stellenbosch and sporting amazing views of the Simonsberg mountain, Hazendal is a stunning location for a golf course. The now transformed working farm offers everything from a children’s play area, accommodation and conference facilities as well as a number of eateries, a beer garden and deli. The latest addition to the impressive array of facilities is an 18-hole par-three golf course, driving range and putt-putt park. The farmstead has a rich history dating back to 1699, when the farm was bought by a German settler, Christoffel Hazenwinkel. Historians still speculate as to how the land was acquired, as the law allowing land to be privately owned was passed only in 1704. The farm name was created from a hybrid of the owner’s name…

As lockdown’s Level 4 brought tournament golf to a standstill during June and July, Christiaan Burke still managed to steal the headlines as he fired a remarkable round of 56 at his old home course during a club competition. The 20-year-old eagled one par four and three par fives and fired eight birdies at Potchefstroom Country Club to cruise to victory in the medal event with a score of 16-under-par 56. Despite the phenomenal score, the Golf RSA National Squad player had to add eight shots to his score as he played off a course handicap of plus eight. ‘I ended up winning the nett competition by just two shots after someone shot 66, but I’ll never say no to some Wimpy vouchers,’ he said. The score went viral on…

2020 revisited: Justin Thomas clinched his 13th PGA Tour victory, winning the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational by three strokes and claiming the world No 1 ranking in the process. The American put up a near-flawless, five-under-par 65 to win at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, leaving a four-way tie for second place between compatriots Daniel Berger, Phil Mickelson, returning champion Brooks Koepka and England’s Tom Lewis. Thomas and Koepka, who were 202 and 201 through 54 holes, respectively, went toe-to-toe in the final round, with Koepka draining a putt of more than 39 feet for birdie on 17. Any hope he had of claiming a last-minute victory evaporated on 18, as he drove his ball into the water for a double-bogey. But Thomas, who locked in four birdies on the…

Nick Faldo While he may be one of the most candid commentators on the scene at the moment. Sir Nick was rather a prickly personality during his playing career. Detached from fans and the media, the single-minded Brit was, for all his brilliant play, hard to like and easy to root against. Let’s not forget that this is the guy who infamously thanked the spectators from the bottom of his heart and the press ‘from the heart of my bottom’ after his 1992 Open Championship win at Muirfield. Rory Sabbatini The former South African, now Slovakia’s finest golfer, seems to have mellowed over time, but was for a long time rated as the least-liked player on Tour by his peers. The hot-headed Durbanite repeatedly rattled the cages of his fellow…