Innehållsförteckning för December 2018 från Golf Australia

A FRIEND of mine recently returned from a golfing holiday with three mates in Ireland. It was a 16-day vacation that was a year in the planning and something he had dreamed of doing for as long as I can remember. In short, the itinerary saw the group land in Dublin and head across the north of the Emerald Isle before travelling down the west coast to the famous courses of the south west and the Ring of Kerry. In all, they played 18 courses in 16 days … a demanding schedule in anyone’s language. Such an odyssey was never going to be cheap, especially given the exchange rate and the fact they had cherry-picked to play the most famous and renowned courses in Northern Ireland and the Republic. Saying…

IT ALWAYS raises a wee smile when, during the prolonged and typically over-the-top build-ups to a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup – take your pick – the matches are hailed as gladiatorial contests between the “best players in the world.”They’re not. Of course they’re not. Neither of them. In terms of quality, these biennial battles are marked by who is not on the premises as much as by who is. At the Ryder Cup, there is no sign of Jason Day. Or Adam Scott. Or Marc Leishman. Or Hideki Matsuyama. Or Cameron Smith. Or Louis Oosthuizen. At a Presidents Cup you’ll look in vain for any of the leading Europeans who have done such a consistently fine job of whuppin’ Uncle Sam’s increasingly beleaguered band of nephews. You get…

THE World Cup just completed in Melbourne brought Metropolitan Golf Club to the attention of a new generation of young golfers around the world but even with the huge prizemoney, it was not the biggest or best event ever played there. Seven million American dollars* isn’t what it used to be and failed to attract the best field. It did not even attract the World Nos. 14 and 35, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who played a private match in Las Vegas at the same time for $9 million in Yankee dollars. For the best event at Metro, we have to go back to 1934 when they played the Victorian Centenary Open. The government of the day wanted to mark the anniversary of white settlement and staged a series of…

Professional sportsmen sometimes get a bad rap, with the intrinsic competitiveness required to succeed in their industry often confused for arrogance or self-aggrandisement. Marcus Fraser is as close to the antithesis of this as could be possible; softly spoken, unendingly humble, and thankful for a 16-year career that has seen him take to fairways in the most far-flung corners of the world. It will seem to fans a shame, therefore, that beyond this month’s Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast Fraser will be scaling back his year-long touring commitments. Many would expect Fraser’s announcement that he will no longer be partaking in the European Tour to be a by-product of the wrist and elbow injuries he has suffered in recent years. But the 40-year-old is quick to dismiss any…

Aaron Pike remembers a slightly surreal feeling as he went head-to-head with Justin Rose around Huntingdale in 2006 as a fresh faced amateur, but also remembers being very confident in his game and aware that some good golf was just around the corner. He ultimately finished fourth in that Australian Masters. But Pike’s words after an untidy bogey at the final hole about whether he would turn pro having nearly just won a European Tour event, suggested big things were in store for the Western Australia-born Queenslander via the Northern Territory. “Maybe if I had won, it would have put some thoughts into my mind, but I’m not good enough to win so I don’t think I’m good enough to turn professional, because if you can’t win then what’s the…

Four-time major winner Ernie Els is a match play maestro. The Big Easy won the World Match Play title a record seven times, and made eight Presidents Cup appearances. He’s currently preparing as captain to pitch his Internationals side against Tiger Woods’ American team in next year’s battle in Melbourne. It should be some match and with the South African’s vast match play know-how, you wouldn’t put it past him to lead his side to glory. I love match play, especially the 36-hole version, because I always felt I had enough time whether I was up or down. I had enough holes to get the job done. Match play is a unique challenge and I have a lot of experience in it. Sometimes you’ll be trading birdies and eagles, other…

HENRIK STENSON “Get some momentum going early. It’s nice to be ahead early and then your opponent has to chase and try to make birdies to get even.” JASON DAY “I always make sure I’m walking in front of my opponent to show him that I’m there. Also, I might ask him to make a short putt on the 1st hole just to say, ‘I’m not giving you any of those’ which lets him know it’s going to be hard.” TOMMY FLEETWOOD “Every time I played I was ready to have a fight. I never said anything friendly. For the 18 holes that we played, I wasn’t a very nice person. I wasn’t unsportsmanlike or anything, but I wasn’t your mate. When you’re playing, be ready to destroy them. You’ve…

In club match play golf, so many holes are thrown away through poor bunker play. You don’t have to be brilliant from sand to keep yourself in the hole; but if you can just get the ball out to a holeable distance – say 10-12ft – you can keep the pressure on your opponent. When you work on your bunker technique, start by lowering your expectations. Focus on getting competent at a standard length. Even one of the best, Phil Mickelson, tells us he only practises 12-yard bunker shots, and that’s a great example. While you do this, work on a low-tariff strike which involves more speed and more sand. This gives you a greater margin for error ... and more confidence that you can pull the shot off. NEED…

Is your game missing something? Are your irons a little long in the tooth? Does your favourite wedge not bite anymore? Has your driver deserted you? If any of the above questions sound like you, or you just love keeping up to date with all the latest and greatest equipment for both on and off the course from the world of golf, then our annual Wish List gracing the following pages is perfect for you. And just in time to add a couple of your favourites to your own Christmas list. FJ GOLF CASUAL Incredible lightweight comfort and versatile casual looks blend perfectly to achieve the latest FJ spikeless golf shoe. The lightweight cushioned fit-bed provides extreme underfoot comfort and heel support with shock-dampening technology. SRP: $189.95. PRO/SL Features ‘ChromoSkin’…

QUEENSLAND’S Robyn Choi has played her way onto the LPGA Tour after a marathon eight rounds of qualifying school. The 20-year-old was 10-over par for the eight rounds at North Carolina’s Pinehurst Resort, which left her tied for 45th with the top-45 and ties each claiming a player’s card for the 2019 season. Choi, a two-time Queensland amateur champion, has been studying in the United States and playing college golf for the University of Colorado. Sydney-born Choi now joins Minjee Lee, Su Oh, Katherine Kirk, Sarah-Jane Smith, Hannah Green and Karrie Webb on the LPGA Tour next year.…

DRIVER  TaylorMade M3 460 with 8.5° loft, fitted with Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Orange 60TX shaft. 3-WOOD  TaylorMade M4 with 15° loft, with Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Orange 80TX shaft. 5-WOOD  TaylorMade M3 with 19° loft, with Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Orange 80TX shaft. IRONS  TaylorMade P-790 (4-iron) and TaylorMade P-730 Rose Proto (5-iron to 9-iron), with KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ (4-7) and KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135X (8-9) shafts. WEDGES  TaylorMade Milled Grind (48°, 52° and 56°) and TaylorMade Hi-Toe (60°), with KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135X shafts. PUTTER  TaylorMade TP Red Ardmore 2. BALL  TaylorMade TP5.…

SPOT THE BALL TO CELEBRATE this month’s Australian PGA Championship, we venture back to 2003 and the tournament pro-am when Lleyton Hewitt partnered with the Great White Shark Greg Norman at Coolum. Can you spot Hewitt’s ball? All you have to do is correctly identify where his ball is hidden on the grid, using the letters and numbers (e.g. A4, B2 etc.). Answer correctly and you could win two dozen Mizuno JPX-S golf balls. The new JPX-S is a soft compression edition of Mizuno’s three piece ball – producing a balanced performance for a wider range of swing speeds, which also boasts Mizuno’s Dimple-Cluster design for improved aerodynamics. TO ENTER: Select your grid reference and then go to our website, www.golfaustralia.com.au, to submit your answer. Entries close 11.59pm on December…

WHILST not actually late for my 7.29am tee time, there was certainly a tightening in the Netherlands for fear of missing it.You know the feeling.You’re at home, it’s fine, and you’re chatting away and then, “Oh, God! What am I still doing in my underpants? I should be fully frocked and half way to the course!” Then, against all logic, you manage to find a coffee shop with the slowest hipster on the planet to make you a coffee. He insists on doing a doodle of a mung bean on top of your latte in chocolate sprinkles, then frowns at you when you ask him to scrape the chocolate off. Suddenly “heaps of time to get to the course,” has turned into, “Holy shiiiiiiit. Get out of my waaaaaaay!!!” So…

For a player not statistically among the long bombers, what’s your take on the distances being hit these days? “I’m not one of the biggest hitters out there, but then again, I don’t exactly do a lot of gym work, so I can’t really begrudge that! When you have access to all the information, and all the technology and gym programs and equipment that we have access to, it’s like any sport, there will be progression. That’s what happening to sport at the moment; we have access to so many things and all this different technology that helps you maximise every time you walk onto the golf course.” Has ‘defending courses’ from big hitters made it more difficult for the shorter hitter on Tour to survive? “Absolutely; no question. A…

Every golfer dreams of getting their handicap down. For some, it is a lifelong pursuit whether it’s to get to single figures or to nudge closer to a 20-mark instead of 27. Over the following pages you will meet three Australian club golfers, who have improved more than any other during the past year. They reveal how they managed to slash their handicap and realise some long held goals to in making their golf game better. Each has a different story about their journey to being a better golfer and the secrets to their success are something every golfer could benefit from. *Thanks to Adrian Logue at Micropower and Golf Australia for their assistance in the research stages of compiling this article. DAVID TREASURE Dubbo Golf Club, NSW October 2017…

I HAVE always enjoyed Armchair Architect competitions. The most famous of course, is Britain’s 1914 example of Country Life magazine’s competition, won by medical practitioner Dr Alister Mackenzie. His awarded design saw him establish himself as a professional full-time architect (many say, the greatest ever) to go on to design or partner in creating the likes of Augusta National, Royal Melbourne and Cypress Point. Another famed participant was Tiger Woods, who as an 11-year-old submitted a double-dogleg par-5 to an island green, in an American competition. I am proud to have had a long association with Wisconsin’s celebrated new Mammoth Dunes course, which this year opened a very dramatic risk-reward short par-4, designed through a public competition. What all these competitions have lacked however in my opinion is the opportunity…

JUSTIN ROSE “You’ve got to be patient and keep doing your thing while limiting the mistakes. If you start pushing it too hard you can give away holes cheaply while you have to believe that you can turn things around. And limit the mistakes. A mistake some guys make is to start to push a little too much, and then you start to give away cheap holes. You have to believe that you can turn it around.” IAN POULTER “In match play, the key is to be respectful but absolutely ruthless as well. You’ve got to convince yourself that you’re better than your opponents and if you don’t believe that, you’ll lose. You must think about stuffing them 10&8! Attack every pin and keep your foot on the accelerator. After…

There is no one tougher to play against than the golfer who continually holes out from inside eight feet. Making putts from this range means you are always getting the most out of the hole, whether that’s rescuing halves from holes you’ve played poorly, or securing wins on ones you’ve played well. The nature of matchplay means these putts are often played out in pressure situations. The key, then, to holing out at vital times lies in making short putts routine. Consistency of approach gives you a consistency of action, improving confidence through familiarity. It also stops you adding pressure to a situation by taking more time. Here is a simple four-step process you can use to help make holing makeable putts a matter of routine. HEAT OF THE BATTLE…

THE COURSE LOCATION: Soorley Street, Tweed Heads South, NSW 2486. CONTACT: (07) 5524 4544. WEBSITE: www.cooltweedgolf.com.au DESIGNERS: There is no designer credited with the original nine-hole layout. Other designers have included Geoff and Ted Parslow, Peter Williams, Richard Chamberlain and Graham Papworth. SLOPE RATINGS: West: Blue 129, White 128 and Red ladies 128. River: Blue 120, White 119 and Red ladies 127. PLAYING SURFACES: TifGreen 328 (River course greens), TifEagle (West course greens) and couch (fairways and tees). Some tees are now being converted to Zoysia, which performs better in the shade. GREEN FEES: $55 (18 Holes), $35 (9 holes). COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Peter Lonergan. THE CLUB MEMBERSHIP: The membership year runs from July 1 to June 30 and pro rata fees are available. There is currently no joining fee…

IT’S OUR OPEN TOO I will turn 40 years old next month. I have been playing golf for 30 of those years and can’t get enough of the sport. But, sadly, because I live in Western Australia I will never get to see an Australian Open unless I pay thousands to get on a plane and spend a week in Sydney to watch the golf, which is something I couldn’t possible justify to my family. The Open was last played here in Perth in 1974, four years before I was born. I know we have had our fair share of tournaments played here over the years from the Heineken and Johnnie Walker Classics to the World Super 6 most recently. But none of them come close to having the prestige…

WE WERE in Scotland – 12 of us – to celebrate the 40th birthday of a good friend, Cameron Ferguson. Cameron had caddied for me when I won both the Australian Open and PGA titles. And, much more impressively, he once spent nine months or so on the bag of Seve Ballesteros, a time that included a Masters Tournament at Augusta National. Anyway, the plan was for us all to take a golf trip to the home of golf – six from Australia, six from the US, where Cameron now lives. So we met at Edinburgh Airport and drove to St. Andrews, where we played the New Course. That was perfect for me. Every time I go to Scotland I have to play golf straight off the plane, jet lag…

CAMERON Smith and World Cup partner Marc Leishman will head the local tilt at victory at the Australian PGA Championship to be played at RACV Royal Pines Resort from November 29 to December 2. Smith will complete a three-week run in Australia by defending his title on the Gold Coast. The 25-year-old, who has risen to No.32 in the world ranking, can’t wait to get home after enjoying another successful year in the United States. “I haven’t really spent much time at home this year. I just can’t wait to get back and see everyone and play some Aussie golf,” Smith said. Leishman will be hoping to ruin Smith’s homecoming by notching up his first ‘major’ win on home soil. “To win in your home country is a lot of…

Think back to the last few Ryder Cups and we hear a familiar refrain from the losing team: “They just holed more putts than us”. We can expand that to the performance of the two teams both on and around the greens; victorious match players invariably possess razor-edged short games that get the job done at the business end of a hole, securing unlikely halves or stealing wins. That’s why we have dedicated the following 12 pages to improving your match play performance, especially your short game. You will learn techniques for four crucial shots, each one chosen for its ability to put pressure on your opponent and turn momentum in your favour. And some of the best match players ever – including seven-time World Match Play champion Ernie Els,…

Padraig Harrington is a match play specialist who knows all the secrets about golf’s great head-to-head format. The 47-year-old has been in six Ryder Cups as a player and three as an assistant captain, and is a strong contender to be the next European captain in 2020. He loves match play and has some fascinating advice on how it should – and shouldn’t – be played. Match play is a truer form of golf. Stroke play is more of a professional game, while match play is more of an amateur game… I love a good match. I used to win all the time as a kid; one of my best records was never losing a singles game in the Ireland seniors side for six years. Playing for my country, I…

The typical club player misses a lot more greens than they hit – and that means a frequent reliance on chipping to save par. In matchplay, the ability to chip the ball close is a powerful weapon – not just because it can turn the fortunes of a hole, but also because your opponent knows that even when you miss greens you will probably get it up-and-down ... and that puts pressure on them. For many amateurs the problem with the chip shot is that it is often the hole’s make-or-break shot – and that can make us nervous and prone to duffing. To counteract that, you need to make your technique as simple as possible; take out the extras and the reliability of your action grows. That’s why I…

LINKS LADY BAY Stay overnight in a King Spa suite and enjoy a delicious hot breakfast in the restaurant while overlooking the course. Then head out for 18 holes in a cart before a light lunch in the Peninsula Café. Packages start from $375 twin share per night (pictured below). www.linksladybay.com.au HOTEL VICTOR Hotel Victor, in Victor Harbor, offers 31 quality rooms with en suite facilities. Play and stay packages are available and offer two nights’ accommodation, breakfast included and three rounds of golf including rounds at Victor Harbor, Links Lady Bay and McCracken Country Club. Package starts from $329 per person twin share. www.hotelvictor.com.au APOLLON MOTOR INN With individually styled rooms ideal for couples and larger rooms to accommodate families, the Apollon is also home to the only indoor…

THE COURSE LOCATION: Port Kennedy Drive, Port Kennedy, Western Australia, 6172. CONTACT: (08) 9524 6660. WEBSITE: www.kennedybay.com.au DESIGNERS: Michael Coate, Roger Mackay in collaboration with Ian Baker-Finch (2000). SLOPE RATINGS: Men – 128 (yellow tees), 131 (blue), 132 (black); Women – 126 (red), 128 (white). PLAYING SURFACES: Bentgrass (greens), Windsor green Bermuda (tees and fairways). GREEN FEES: $50 (18 Holes, midweek), $60 (weekend). Carts: $50. COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Bruce Coleman. PGA PROFESSIONAL: Chris Gray. THE CLUB CORPORATE GOLF: The Links Kennedy Bay is a popular destination for the corporate and social markets alike. The club caters for a wide range of field sizes within both markets, also offering several menu options. ACCOLADES: The Links Kennedy Bay was ranked the No.7 Public Access Course in Australia by Golf Australia magazine in…