Innehållsförteckning för March 2017 från Golf Australia

THE biggest question in golf as I write this is; “Is Tiger Woods done?” One thing I have learned over the past two decades is the lead time of monthly magazine production can cruel any writer when it comes to staying on top of what is happening in Woods’ career. I could write here that someone should stick a fork in him because he’s done, and he could come out and surprise the golfing world with a win before you even get to read this. Never write-of a champion, they say. But I suspect we are closer to the day when the back page headline shouts “Tiger Quits!” That will be a sad day forTiger, the game and his legion of fans. But in all honestly the man himself set…

ADAM SCOTT: “The remarkable thing with the new Pro V1 is how far it goes now. I’m hitting it longer than I ever have but I also have that soft feel like when I grew up playing a balata golf ball.” JORDAN SPIETH: “I put new Pro V1x in play in Australia and in the first week we won. What I noticed immediately was the improved flight. It held its line in the crosswinds better.” BRANDON STONE: “...my stats around the greens were the best they had been in months without compromising on distance and ball flight control with the long game.”…

 IT’S a fact of golfing life that the subject of slow play is guaranteed to provoke a reaction in almost every player.That was certainly the case recently, when Jason Day went public with his intention to take longer over shots in the coming year. WOULDN’T IT BE BETTER IF WE REWARDED FAST PLAYERS RATHER THAN PUNISH SLOW PLAYERS? HOW ABOUT A TIMING “MONEY LIST? For me though, the rate at which people get themselves round 18-holes has always been complicated.There are a few factors involved, especially at the professional level. For one thing, the courses today are longer than they have ever been. So even if everyone is playing at the same speed as, say, ten years ago, it is going to take longer to get round. Greens today are…

WORLD NO.59 SI WOO KIM AGE: 21 FROM: South Korea RANKING AT BEGINNING OF 2016: 272 The 21-year-old Korean’s five-stroke victory at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship included a round of 60 and made him the youngest winner on the PGA Tour during the 2015/16 season. WORLD NO.39 JEUNGHUN WANG AGE: 21 FROM: South Korea RANKING AT BEGINNING OF 2016: 169 Last May, Wang became the first back-to-back winner on the European Tour for two years when he triumphed in the Mauritius Open a week after securing the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco. WORLD NO.109 RYO ISHIKAWA AGE: 25 FROM: Japan RANKING AT BEGINNING OF 2016: 104 The ‘Bashful Prince’ was touted as golf’s next superstar when he won a Japan Tour at the age of 15. He has yet…

REAL GOLFERS TELL US WHERE NIKE WENT WRONG @JamesWi886 “Nike didn’t have the tradition and heritage of Titleist, Callaway etc. That’s vital in golf. They are specialist golf people” @yeoldpro “Their early equipment was inferior. By the time it was good people had written them off. Sad as Nike hard goods in ’16 were great” @TomSnelling “I’ve got Nike irons & putter but changing as, for me, they’ve not produced any classics unlike Ping (Anser) Titleist (Vokey) etc.” @ronniecswartz “Simple, not a very good product for the average golfer. The pros have world class talent and can make any club work. Amateurs don’t”…

No golfer hits the ball out of the centre of the clubface every time, but it is certainly advantageous to do so. Striking out of the sweetspot will maximise club performance and enable you to hit your longest and most accurate shots. But how do you make sure that you are middling the ball at impact? Face tape – available online or from golf shops – is a brilliant way of finding out without the need for any fancy machines. Next time you’re at the range – or on the course – apply the tape to your 6- or 7-iron once you’ve warmed up a bit. Simply line-up the bottom groove on your club with the bottom dotted line on the tape and make sure that the sticker is central…

We are lucky to be golfing in an era where there is so much technology, designed to help us improve. However, if we want to improve as golfers, it‘s important we recognise what technology can do for us, and what it can’t. As a rule it is brilliant at giving us feedback – at telling us the values and effect of what we are doing. But all the data and technology in the world cannot hit the ball for us; we still have to develop the feel of swinging the club around our body in an arc, at the correct angle. The better our feel and awareness of that movement, the better golfers we will become. In this article, you will learn drills to help you feel the perfect motion…

ADDRESS/IMPACT When we picture a square face we see the blade facing the target. But physics demands that, because we swing on an angle, the blade must rotate to keep square to the club’s plane of motion. CONSISTENT ACCURACY In short, rotating the face back and through keeps it in a neutral position. This means avoiding having to make a compensating move for impact… which means greater consistency for line. BACKSWING I’m gripping a club by the hosel to flag up the relationship between hands and face. Face rotation is created through body rotation allied to a smooth, stable turning of your forearms and body, as you would turning a key in a lock. The face rotates till the toe points to the sky. THROUGHSWING On the way down and…

TURN ROUND YOUR SPINE Turn within your space as in part #1. As you rotate, avoid any tendency to dip your lead shoulder; allow it instead to come around, rotating naturally at right angles to your spine. FOREARMS LEVEL When you do this correctly your forearms will find this more level position. Note your lead shoulder moves below the chin simply because you are tilted forwards from the hips. AVOID STEEP SHOULDERS We play golf bent forward, so the shoulders will be angled down at the top. But the common instruction to get your lead shoulder under your chin can cause a tilt, which ruins balance. FOLD YOUR FOREARMS Take your golfing posture, but fold your forearms in front of your chest as shown. Ensure they are at an angle…

Set in tranquil surrounds a short 25-minute drive north of Perth CBD and minutes from the white sandy beaches of the Sunset Coast, Joondalup Resort invites you to experience the highest standards of service, recreation and friendly Australian hospitality. Few courses anywhere in the world offer the dramatic contrasts, the scenic beauty and the sheer golfing challenge of the 27-hole championship course at Joondalup Resort. Designed by the internationally renowned Robert Trent Jones Jnr., the course presents a tough, uncompromising layout, featuring great variation in setting and style. This spectacular course sweeps across dense bushland, cuts through steep limestone quarries and skirts picturesque lakes, to present surprises and challenges at almost every turn Enjoy your golf in a magnificent setting, with the natural beauty of the bush and the irresistible…

Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort is recognised as the pick of resorts along the Murray River, Australia’s No.1 golfing destination, just three hours’ drive north of Melbourne. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort is Australia’s largest public access golf resort with 45 holes in stunning surrounds alongside the majestic Murray River. The Murray Course is right beside its namesake river, and meanders through towering river gums and sandy river flats. Its pedigree is impeccable, as it was designed by Peter Thomson and Michael Wolveridge and is ranked in the Top 100. Named for Lake Mulwala, the Lake Course overlooks this beautiful waterway. You’ll find strategically placed lakes, undulating greens, 56 bunkers and lots to test the keenest player. Precision around the greens is needed to make par. If you’re a novice…

SPOT THE BALL WHERE could Luke Donald’s ball be in this photo? All you have to do is correctly identify where Donald’s ball is hidden on the grid, using the letters and numbers (eg. A4, B2 etc). Answer correctly and you could win a dozen Mizuno JPX Platinum and JPX golf balls. The JPX Platinum combines all of Mizuno’s available technologies to deliver a tour feel ball suited to mid and lower swing speeds – up to 90 mph driver swing speed, while the three-piece JPX is designed to deliver increased distance as well as a soft, responsive feel. TO ENTER: Select your grid reference and then go to, www.golfaustralia.com.au, to submit your answer.The winner and the correct answer will be published in the April issue of Golf Australia magazine.…

MORE than 60 years after his ninth and final major victory – the 1953 Open Championship – Ben Hogan remains an enigmatic figure regarded by his many admirers as the best ever. There are few, if any, golfers still alive in Australia who ever saw him play so it is hard to make a judgement. The last couple of generations have been brought up on the legend of his perfect swing, fierce competitiveness and extreme meanness of spirit. Melbourne writer Paul Daley has made it possible for the modern generation to form an opinion with his soon to be released book Ben Hogan, The Yardstick of Golfing Greatness. It is a wonderful work that combines Daley’s ability as a writer with more than 300 superb photographs in a lavish coffee…

1 TILT SPINE SLIGHTLY TO RIGHT You can’t see too well from this angle but Hideki sets up with his spine tilted slightly to the right at address. His left arm, clubshaft and ball also form a perfectly straight line. 2 IGNITE THE LEFT SHOULDER Like Adam Scott, Hideki gets the club moving with his shoulders – in particular by turning the left shoulder under his throat. His wrists are slightly under-hinged here. Great for the driver. 3 ALLOW THE RIGHT HIP TO TURN Hideki’s quiet wrist action facilitates a shoulder turn of 100-plus degrees. And because his shoulder turn is so good, look how much his right hip has turned back. No stack and tilt and here! 4 LEVERAGE THE GROUND If you resist your shoulder turn with your…

2001 David Duval wins the Open playing Nike, the first victory for the brand’s clubs. 2002 Nike opens The Oven, its Texas clubmaking factory and releases its first line of clubs. Tiger wins his first event playing Nike clubs, the WGC-AMEX in Ireland. 2003 Nike introduces the Ignite driver Phil Mickelson expresses surprise that Tiger could win so often playing NIke. 2004 First game improvement clubs, the Slingshot irons and CPR hybrids. One Black and One Gold balls are released. 2005 Michelle Wie signed as Power Lady women’s ball is launched. 2006 Nine separate Nike players win 16 PGA Tour tournaments. Nike leads in PGA Tour driver, iron & fairway wins. 2007 The infamous Sumo2 square driver released. 2008 Nike players finish 1-2-3 at the Masters (Immelman, Woods and Cink).…

Even with modern, thin faces and an optimal centre of gravity location in today’s irons, you’ll see COR drop off significantly as you move away from the centre of the face; we’re talking 2-3mph in lost ball speed. So we set out to attack that problem, with thinner faces to generate more speed. But these faces were still inflexible away from the centre. Speed Pockets did allow the face to flex more, particularly low down. But we wanted to improve forgiveness over a greater area. So we thought ‘what if we could bring the same concept to heel and toe misses?’ That’s how we arrived at Face Slots. On the robot, hitting the ball all over the face, we’ve seen gains of five to six yards on a toe shot…

TAKE YOUR GOLFING POSTURE. Place your hands in front of your hips, fingers stretched forward. Drop your trail shoulder a touch to copy your regular set-up, when your trail hand sits below your gloved hand. ROTATE YOUR CORE until you feel you are squatting over your trail hip. A good backswing pivot sees your hands stay at a similar height. Work on this feeling and you’ll feel your upper half coil over your lower body. TURN THROUGH till your chest faces the target. Feel a shifting of your weight over your lead side as you rotate, as we need to be in a position to compress the ball. Maintain the feeling of level hands to the end. MANY CLUB GOLFERS confuse rotation with weight shift. When we set out to…

NOW SWING THROUGH Find this mirror of your backswing position, your trail arm now level with the turf. This time the box should face back towards you, the club’s toe pointing back over your shoulder. KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE Work on these three positions – set-up, halfway back and halfway through. The better you can do them the more consistently you will be able to deliver a square face at impact. CLIP THE BOX TO THE SHAFT Position the glove box on the club as shown, clipping the opener around the shaft. Make sure the flat face of the box looks out in front of you, so its edge is parallel to your ball-target line. Take your regular stance. MAKE A HALF-BACKSWING Swing back to this L-shape position, your lead…

CALLAWAY GREAT BIG BERTHA EPIC Since stepping back into the limelight two years ago, Callaway’s Great Big Bertha range of clubs have been evolving with each new release. But the company’s latest offering is a significant march forward in terms of technology and performance. Callaway’s Great Big Bertha Epic, Great Big Bertha Epic Sub Zero drivers and fairway woods are packed with technology you won’t find in other clubs. Callaway’s new ‘JailbreakTechnology’ is what really sets the Epic and Epic Sub Zero apart from other metalwoods. Consisting of two, three-gram titanium bars placed behind the clubface, Jailbreak Technology creates a strong connection between the crown and sole of the head. This connection helps to stiffen the face and keep the crown from bulging during impact. The result is more impact…

• The Old Course is on public land, and anyone has the right to walk across it, which is best done on Sundays when the course is closed. • Statistically, St Andrews is one of the sunniest and driest areas in the United Kingdom. • St Andrews West Sands Beach features in the iconic opening shots of the Oscar-winning film Chariots Of Fire (pictured below) – though the screen caption advises viewers it is “Broadstairs, Kent”. • The 12th Century built St Andrews Cathedral was Scotland’s largest building for more than 600 years, losing its title when Waverley Station in Edinburgh was built in Victorian times. • St Andrews is Scotland’s oldest university, and the third oldest in the English speaking world, having been founded in 1413 (just after Oxford…

Located just five minutes from the river town of Swan Hill, Murray Downs Golf & Country Club will be sure to please you both on and off the course. Providing you with great clubhouse facilities, including a bistro and café, you won’t beat the country hospitality and pleasure of playing this impressive course. Ideal for your next group or individual golf holiday, the award-winning course – a previous winner of Victorian PGA Course of the Year and consistently voted among the top resort courses across Australia – Murray Downs has the facilities to match its reputation. The par-72 layout is a striking contrast to the Mallee plains that surround it. With river gums in the background, the course has some great signature holes, including the 5th with a long water…

 1 When did you first shoot under par? “MY MULLIGAN WOULD BE THE PUTT I HAD TO WIN THE OPEN ON THE 18TH AT ST ANDREWS IN 2015” I was 13. It was at my home course at Warrnambool›Golf›Club in Australia. 2 What has been your career highlight? My two wins at Nedbank [Challenge] last year and then the Travelers in 2012. The Open is up there but it’s hard to judge a second against a win. 3 The best shot of your career? One of the best putts I ever hit was on the 17th on the final day at St Andrews in 2015. I was on the very front edge of the green and had about a 100ft. It just missed and finished a foot behind the hole.…

DON’T CHANGETHE BALL FOR US As I took in another beaut summer’s day in Melbourne, I reflected on John Huggan’s article, To The R&A and USGA I Present Exhibit ‘A’, in Golf Australia’s February issue. As an avid golf follower and player, I can accept that the ball and equipment have changed our game. Pros can do some amazing things. However, I also note with interest John’s comment that on longer courses the best an average golfer can hope for is par. This for me is the key. If the ball does need to change, I would implore the authorities not to impact the club member or casual golfer. We need to ensure the flame of hope and anticipation still burns brightly. We need to know that a thought of…

 DON’T know about you, but I’ve just about had enough of Jason Day. Despite the fact that the 29-year old Queenslander is clearly one of the most talented golfers on the planet – you don’t win a major championship and reach the top of the world rankings without doing any number of things correctly – and that his “back story” is one of the most inspiring in the game, this close observer of all things golf is fed up with his increasingly narcissistic view of life. ONLY RARELY IN THE THREE DECADES YOUR CORRESPONDENT HAS SPENT LISTENING TO THE WORLD’S BEST GOLFERS HAS ANYONE APPEARED MORE SELF-INVOLVED. Which is a great shame. Day has a beautiful swing, a cultured short game, a technically-sound putting stroke – all of the things…

In the six months after the heralded reappearance of golf at the Olympics, the Gil Hanse-designed course that hosted the event is in danger of being closed. A trickle of golfers have played the course in the past few months.The clubhouse is unfurnished and the bills aren’t being paid. The company commissioned to maintain the layout, Progolf, has allegedly not been paid by the Brazilian Golf Confederation (BGC) for two months. In turn the BGC says it needs US$80,000 a month to keep the course properly maintained. Dogged by controversy pre-Olympics, the hits just keep on coming. At the time of going to press, Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Eduardo Paes had his assets frozen by a Brazlian court for allegedly failing to charge the appropriate taxes to the developer of…

JUSTIN ROSE “I think I have developed amnesia being a professional golfer.You kind of have to, because mishits are just so prevalent in our game.” DARREN CLARKE “People think tour pros strike the ball perfectly every time – they don’t! Just like amateurs, we will grab any advantages we can from the advances in technology.” EDOARDO MOLINARI “I useTrackman when I practise to highlight the dispersion of my irons and proximity to the hole. Mishits play the biggest part in my efficiency.” JASON DAY “People think we hit it perfectly all the time – but we don’t. We’ve just honed our skills to make our mishits go a little straighter.” GRAEME STORM “I tend to strike the ball slightly on the heel. While not always a severe mishit sometimes my…

TURNING AWAY This drill allows you to feel a good turn by rotating the hoop. It simply turns around its centre point; and as it does, you turn with it – rotating within your own space. CENTRE CIRCLE Here, I’ve taken up my golf posture within a plastic hoop. I’m placing my core in the middle of the hoop, which represents the space around me. In a good backswing turn, I will remain at the centre of this hoop as I rotate. ROTATE THROUGH Rotate the hoop so your gloved hand is now behind you. Let your trunk shift and turn with the rotation of the hoop until it faces the target; typically your centre will shift forward, over your lead leg.…

PICTURE A CORRIDOR Amateurs often find plane intimidating as they feel they have to nail a perfect angle. It’s not the case. You can play great golf with your plane a little over or under the guide set by your set-up shaft angle. WORK WITH A HOOP The best position to track and feel swing plane is halfway back. If you can get hold of a hoop, you can use it to help you feel an online action. Grip it with your gloved hand and swing back with the other. TRAIL SHOULDER FOCUS Swing back to a position where the shaft maintains a reasonable relationship to the hoop’s angle. You’ll feel the shaft ‘bisect’ your trail shoulder – a simple reference for a good plane. SET-UP: PLANE SETS UP FOR…

PLAYERS SHAPE, BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE Callaway’s new Steelhead XR Pro irons bridge the gap between the game-improvement and players irons in their range. Adding the company’s next-generation 360 Face Cup technology to a more compact head, with a thinner topline and narrower sole than the standard Steelhead XR, Callaway has aimed to deliver the most complete combination of speed, distance, forgiveness on off centre hits and shot-shaping control. With progressive centre of gravity and a hollow bore-thru hosel, which allows the redistribution of weight to key areas, players will benefit from long irons promoting higher launching, longer shots, mid irons that give the golfer more control and workability and short irons designed for high spinning low trajectory shots. The Steelhead XR Pro irons have a black PVD finish, giving them a…

STAY: THE OLD COURSE HOTEL The five-star Old Course Hotel Golf Resort & Spa extends along the edge of the iconic 17th hole of the Old Course, affording views of the Old, New and Jubilee layouts.This prestigious hotel has 144 rooms including 35 suites and is recognised as one of Europe’s leading resorts. Staying at the Old Course Hotel will guarantee an Old Course tee time. www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk STAY: ST ANDREWS UNIVERSITY If the Old Course Hotel is beyond your budget, I recommend staying at one of the university’s halls of residences. During the summer months, these are transformed into great value holiday accommodation for visitors, offering self-catered as well as bed and breakfast options.The buffet breakfast is awesome! www.discoverstandrews.com/ STAY: GUEST HOUSES There is a great selection of bed and…

It’s the sort of course golfers dream about: spectacular, challenging, beautifully presented. Noosa Springs’ par-72, 6,180m golf course is generally considered the best on the Sunshine Coast, and regularly features in the list of Australia’s finest resort and public access courses. But the course, as outstanding as it is, is just the beginning for those fortunate enough to choose a golfing getaway at Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort. Noosa Springs is situated at the northern end of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, just three kilometres from iconic Noosa Heads, with its famous beaches, fashion boutiques, first-class restaurants and sublime weather. It is the gateway to Fraser Island, and is close to the renowned Eumundi Markets and Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. A feature of the resort is its world-class Spa – an…

“IT’S BEEN A GOOD RUN. I’M GOING TO RIDE IT AS LONG AS I CAN”– HIDEKI MATSUYAMA WINNING SCORE: 17 under par, 267 DEFEATED: Matsuyama was victorious on the fourth play-off hole defeating American Webb Simpson. South African Louis Oosthuizen was a shot further back. DEFININING MOMENTS: Matsuyama got his charge going on the final day with a close-range eagle at the par-5 3rd, hitting his 254 yard second shot inside three feet. After a birdie, birdie finish by Simpson, Matsuyama had the chance to go ahead by one on the last hole of regulation. But the Japanese superstar left his birdie putt an inch short of the cup, forcing a sudden death playoff. After three playoff holes were tied in pars, Matsuyama rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on…