Innehållsförteckning för August 2019 från Golf Australia

A MAJOR championship win does amazing things, for more than just the winner. You don’t have to go far back to Tiger Woods claiming this year’s Masters to think of the flow-on of people talking golf around the office, at social functions both non-golfers and golfers alike, or the increased mainstream media coverage of the game. Similarly, many staff of golf courses and driving ranges I spoke with in the immediate aftermath noted an increase in patronage after Tiger’s 15th major win. More recently it hit a little closer to home, with Hannah Green’s drought-breaking major win ending a 13-year wait for the Aussie girls since Karrie Webb claimed the 2006 Kraft Nabisco. Green’s victory again raised the coverage of golf in her home country, even if the West Australian…

AT FIRST glance, it all made perfect sense. One big event every month from March through July. Players. Masters. US PGA. US Open. Open Championship. But now that we are nearly done with the first go round of all that, I’m not so sure this new schedule is really the best thing for professional golf as a whole. It certainly works for the financial juggernaut that is America’s PGA Tour, but for everyone or anyone else? As my old Scottish granny used to say, “ah huv ma doots”. Take the European Tour. While it has long been the case that the game’s second-circuit has only occasionally been the place to be for the very best practitioners, that fact of life has been cruelly exacerbated in 2019. After the so-called “Middle…

To submit your quiz answers, visit the WIN page on our website, www.golfaustralia.com.au The person with the most number of correct answers will win a dozen of Mizuno’s new-release RB Tour golf ball. The RB Tour is a very soft-compression premium ball that offers lower driver spin and high greenside spin. The four-piece ball also boasts a new Cone Dimple, which is designed to keep fast-flowing air close to the ball’s surface longer – reducing drag and strengthening trajectory. In the event of a tie, the winner will be randomly drawn. Entries close 11.59pm on August 21. The winner and the correct answers will be published in the October issue of Golf Australia magazine.…

FIRST tee first shot. Second shot.Third shot. Fourth, fifth and sixth shots.Wedge in, chip back to the putting surface.Two putt – wipe. Hmmm. It wasn’t the start I was hoping for with the Masters Pennant Guru Tony watching on. It didn’t help that former Masters Pennant legend Ross was in the group, or that Ben the pro was in the group. With a collective handicap of two, their years in the game was almost 100. Nervous? Me? Maybe. You see, we all have our dreams, while some are serious some are silly. I had a silly dream for ages that somehow, I would qualify for a golf tournament and against all odds, would win it. Amazingly, in a streak of dumb luck, I’d have turned professional the day before, so…

With Claw grippers Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia rolling Europe to victory in last year’s Ryder Cup, the hold is becoming increasingly accepted and practised. And no wonder; in reducing the influence of the lower, often dominant hand it can transform your stroke from an awkward, hands-driven action into one in which the arms and shoulders drive a smoother, more pendulum-like action. I PENDULUM PUSHER In the Claw, the trail hand is mostly off the grip with just the index finger and thumb cradling and stabilising the club. Consider the inside of the trail knuckle as a pressure point; it is in the ideal position to push the pendulum through. The lead hand is in a neutral position, the back of it looking up the target line.…

Phutter fitting has come a very long way in the last few years. Much of the progress can be attributed to the latest crop of high-tech launch monitors and software which enable engineers, scientists and club fitters to see what happens at, and just after impact. TaylorMade, who’ve made massive strides in the putter market, reckon the tech allows top players to see what happens during their stroke and a putter fitting can do the same for you. TaylorMade’s global Tour putter guru, Chris Trott, tells us that DJ, Rory, Jason Day and Jon Rahm (left) all make at least an annual visit to the company’s high-tech putting lab and fitting centre called The Kingdom Carlsbad, California, just to keep their clubs in check. He told us: “It’s one of…

his 2018 book is the aspirin to the often headache-inducing world of technical putting tuition. Stripping putting back to its essentials, the book’s Putting Performance Principles remind us just how simple the activity is… and how a greater focus on elements like focused attention and visualisation can trump a technical approach. “Most modern coaching and instruction focuses on what the golfer and their putter need to do, with very little mention of the golf ball,” says Gary. “Popular wisdom would have you believe the stroke creates the putt. We beg to differ. Our belief, and that of thousands of our readers and students, is that the putt creates the stroke. In pretty much every endeavour, the task creates the technique. So why should putting be any different?” Here are five…

PAR 48 This two-putt drill covers everything – both lag and short putting. Pick eight spots around the perimeter of the green, and drop three balls at each station. The par is 48 and the goal is to two-putt every one. I did this a lot as a young lad and used to set myself a challenge of breaking level par. It’s great for touch putting as well as practising those four-footers for par. Try and vary the distances so some putts are only 20 feet away and others are 40 or even 60 feet. SPEED PUTTING From short range, use three balls and knock them in at different paces, down a slope. The key one is the slow one. The hardest stroke to make is when you try and…

HOSEL L-neck (#1) (RH only), Short slant (#3), Double-bend. SIGHTLINE No sightline, T-sightline single dot, single line,double line. HEAD COLOUR White, black, Tour red, silver, blue, red, gold, dark blue, pink, yellow, light blue, green, orange, purple. WING COLOUR White, black, Tour red, silver, blue, red, gold, dark blue, pink, yellow, light blue, green, orange, purple. SIGHTLINE AND LOGO COLOUR White, black, Tour red, silver, blue, gold, dark blue, pink, yellow, light blue, green, orange, purple. WEIGHT COLOUR Black, Tour red, silver, blue, gold, dark blue, pink, light blue, green, orange, purple. FACE INSERT COLOUR Black, Tour red, silver, blue, gold, dark blue, pink, light blue, green, orange, purple. SOLEPLATE COLOUR Black, Tour red, silver, blue, gold, dark blue, pink, light blue, green, orange, purple. SHAFT COLOUR Black or chrome.…

Watch the best golfers in the world and you will quickly see that some favour a straighter stroke, in which the putter tracks up and down the ball-target line, while others prefer more of an arcing motion. Both can be effective, and it is one of those areas of putting that comes down to personal choice. However, it is important to realise the shape of the stroke is strongly influenced by how you address the ball. As long as your set-up matches your preferred shape, you can putt well. CHECK YOUR ARC You can check your path using the flagstick. Lie it on the ground then trace your stroke over the top. Work on seeing the toe over the pin at the end of the backswing and follow-through. SQUARE PATH…

Sorry to disappoint you but dropping a few balls down five minutes before your tee time isn’t a warm-up. You might as well keep munching on that bacon and egg roll instead, because you’re never going to learn anything about the pace of the greens without a little bit of application and discipline. You need to have some kind of structure, which is why we’ve broken down Tiger’s warm-up routine from last year’s Hero World Challenge so you can start holing out like a 14-time – sorry, 15-time – Major champion in your next club medal.…

HOW TO READ GREENS LIKE A TOUR PRO Identify your speed before you pick your line. You won’t see me three-putt very often. Last year, I ranked 18th on Tour in three-putt avoidance with just 27 in 1,224 holes. I was also ninth in one-putt percentage at 42.57 percent. But the stat I’m most proud of is that I ranked No.2 in the PGA Tour’s ‘Strokes Gained – Putting’ category. On average, I picked up .770 of a stroke on the field in every round I played. Nearly three shots over four rounds is massive. The key to all of these impressive putting stats is distance control. I never want to leave a putt short because you can’t make the putt if it doesn’t get there, right? But that doesn’t…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Straight from the first hole of my testing, the Bushnell Pro XE was extremely impressive. The size and shape of the unit fit in one hand perfectly and the laser felt solidly built but comfortable to hold with the rubber housing. Viewing through the eyepiece was extremely clear and using the laser was very easy, with the unit switched on through the touch of a button and the ‘Slope’ capabilities easily turned on and off with a switch on the side. HOW IT PERFORMED: Having used a laser rangefinder for more than 10 years, I am continually amazed at the additional technologies added to each new model and the simplicity of use for things I could once only dream of. In the case of the Pro XE, Bushnell…

I am travelling to the UK with three mates next year to go to The Open Championship at Royal St George’s and play some golf.We want to try and play the Old Course at St Andrews during our trip. Is it worth just turning up and taking our chances in the ballot or can we book a tee time? Also, what other courses should we play in the St Andrews area? Matt Johnson Bondi Junction, NSW There are a number of ways to get on the Old Course. The ballot, which you have mentioned, is a good way as almost half of the tee times to play the Old Course are allocated to the ballot. It is drawn 48 hours in advance of play and golfers should provide their names,…

The GREAT GOLF AUSTRALIA TRIVIA QUIZ #6 winner from our June issue was Barry Green of Frenchs Forest, NSW. He was one of three entrants with a perfect score and was randomly drawn as the winner. Congratulations … Golf balls are on their way. ANSWERS: 1. It is 90 yards. 2. Australia, South Africa, England, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Jersey. 3. Rocco Mediate. 4. Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Tiger Woods (2002), Jordan Spieth (2015). 5. Lee Trevino. 6. Curtis Strange. 7. Lucas Glover. 8. Gary Player. 9. Arnold Palmer. 10. Sam Snead with 7.…

IT’S BEEN 13 years now since I won the US Open, but the benefits from what is the highlight of my career so far keep on coming. Every five years or so, the United States Golf Association hosts a reunion of champions during US Open week. It started at Merion in 2013, where the likes of Bill Casper, Arnold Palmer and Jack Fleck – all no longer with us, sadly – were in attendance. This year we headed to Pebble Beach for a game of golf at nearby Cypress Point and a dinner – which 32 of the 36 surviving champions attended. You won’t be surprised to hear that I had a great time. It was pretty special for a golf history tragic like me to be around guys like…

“If it wasn’t for her,” says Hannah Green matter-of-factly, “I wouldn’t be playing golf.” Green has never made a secret of the fact her start in the game was somewhat awkward. Like many young girls with an interest in golf a huge barrier presented early on: finding others her own age to play with. As an 11-year-old member at Hartfield in Perth there was only one other junior girl at the club. That meant the pair regularly had to tee up alongside men not only twice and three times their age but vastly superior in skill. “I don’t think they minded,” says Green, “but it was pretty daunting for us, especially playing off 45 at the time when they were much better players than that.” Under those circumstances, Green says…

USE WEIGHT TO GAUGE THE SLOPE Stand a pace behind the ball with your feet slightly apart so you can judge which foot carries most of your weight. Focus on the horizon and feel your weight distribution. Give the amount of slope you feel a grade between one and six – two is about average. Repeat this process halfway towards the hole for greater accuracy on longer putts. LINE UP YOUR FINGERS TO FIND THE AIMPOINT Return to your spot a pace or so behind the ball to decipher a precise point on the green at which to aim. This is done using the grade of the slope and your fingers. Stretch your arm out in front of you and hold up the number of fingers that corresponds to the…

1 BELLY PUTTING One of the reasons belly putters worked so well was because they promoted the correct release of the putterhead. With the grip anchored in the stomach, the head was free to release past the handle in true pendulum style; contrast that with a stroke where the handle moves forward with the head, denying it the ideal acceleration and rotation. TRAIN THE FEEL Of course anchoring is now illegal, but you can gain the same feel for the release by pushing the butt of your regular-length putter into your stomach and gripping on the metal. Swing back and through. Feel how, with the butt anchored, the head releases freely past the hands. 2 TEE GATE Frame the putter head with two tee pegs. Quite simply hit…

FLAT CAT WWW.FLATCATGOLF.COM Favoured by Justin Rose, Flat Cat comes in five sizes. The brand say the wide, flat surfaces of the grip (which can be positioned either square or at 90º to the face) puts the putter face in the palm of your hand. They say it gives a more fluid, consistent stroke. GOLF PRIDE TOUR SNSR CONTOUR PRO WWW.GOLFPRIDE.COM The SNSR’s rubber is 40% softer than any Golf Pride putter grip to promote a lighter hold. The Contour Pro is the most shaped model in the SNSR range, and because it comes in two sizes, it’s possible to find a fit that sits well in your hands. SUPERSTROKE FLATSO WWW.SUPERSTROKEUSA.COM A pentagonal shape creates a ridge along the back of the grip which sits beautifully in the creases…

Think back to the last putt you got really nervous on. If you pull the situation apart, you can begin to see how those nerves were based on a prediction of failure. Effectively, you were anticipating just how unpleasant or problematic a miss would be. It‘s a situation you really don’t want to confront, so the stakes – and the nerves – rise. To get the better of nerves, you need to re-evaluate your response to a missed putt. You need to change a rank fear of missing to an acceptance of it. When you tell yourself that it is entirely possible that you can miss the putt – but that you can deal with that outcome – the nerves disappear. It’s an approach that takes the sting out of…

The putter I had was plucked straight from a chuck-away bag at Redbourn Golf Club in 1974, just before I turned pro. George Hamshaw, the head pro there, just gave it to me. “No one will buy it,” I think he said. It was probably made in the 1900s, but I got a new grip on it, put some lead tape on the bottom and off I went. I mean, you would never use it now. The shaft twisted and the sweetspot was minuscule, like a pinhead. But it had a fantastic feel. From short range, I loved it. I’ve still got it actually, and you can still see Bert Yancey’s teeth marks on the shaft. He joined me for a few holes at the St Jude Memphis Classic on…

Spider X got off to a fast start on Tour with Rory McIlroy and Keith Mitchell (not a TaylorMade player) tucking away PGA Tour wins with it before the end of March. Undoubtedly the X has got big shoes to fill, as the previous Spider Tour was TaylorMade’s biggest-selling putter ever, and the model that opened eyes to the brand’s flatsticks. Convincing the likes of DJ, Jason Day and Jon Rahm to make the switch to Spider X will take time. But as TaylorMade’s European Tour Manager Adrian Rietveld told us, “All the guys out on Tour need new equipment at some time. It’s my job to be ready and get it right when they do.”…

When you give your brain a clear picture of what it is you are trying to achieve, it can get to work on creating the appropriate movements to deliver success. This is why visualising is such a potent weapon on the greens. Here are two ways you can improve your own ability to picture the perfect putt. PACE CREATES LINE When they picture a putt in their mind’s eye, most club players prioritise line. In truth the reason they don’t hole more putts is because they are not getting the pace right. PACE IS KEY AND PACE IS KING. PACE GIVES YOU OPTIONS. Pace determines line. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that without pace, the line does not or cannot exist. The case for prioritising line…

MINUTE-BY-MINUTE COUNTDOWN 01:15 Arrives 75 minutes before his tee time and marks 12 balls, drawing an alignment line on each one. 01:12 Drops six balls on the green and rolls his first putts of varying length from inside 15 feet. 01:11 Moves to six feet and rolls putts using his right hand only to build feel and find a straight putt. 01:10 Sets up a gate using two tees, just wide enough for his putter head to pass through. Continues rolling putts using just his right hand. 01:09 Switches to both hands and rolls putts six at a time. 01:05 Removes tees, tosses four balls back to his caddie (you might not have that luxury so chuck them in your bag) and rolls two putts from 10 feet. 01:04 Lags…

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF People who have got the yips fixate over their technique and setup. This causes fear and anxiety, which means they are not in a state of mind that allows their action to flow naturally. A lot of research shows one of the quickest ways to improve is by getting externally focused. Things like looking at the target, not the ball, and not deliberating over the stroke. Dwell time is a killer. The more natural you can feel over the ball, the better. THINK POSITIVE AND YOU’LL PUTT POSITIVE Regardless of your skill level, if you can nurture ways to visualise seeing the ball going into the hole, you are 50 percent more likely to hole that putt. Visualisation is a powerful tool, and so is…

The St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club is better known to visitors as The Himalayas, which is an apt description for this wild putting green at the home of golf, St Andrews. The Himalayas lie between the famous Old Course and the spectacular West Sands, only a 10-minute walk from the town centre. A private club founded in 1867, the St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club course is open to the public daily from April to September (and in March and October, weather permitting) with a few closed periods when it is reserved for members’ use. All standards of putters of any age can play. There is a nine-hole course and an 18-hole layout, both of which are challenging even to the most experienced golfer. Equipment hire is included in the green…

NEW AND IMPROVED STAR Srixon has unveiled the latest iteration of the popular Q-Star, the fifth generation of the golf ball model designed to deliver improved all-around performance. To produce increased distance without negatively affecting feel, the company has added its ‘FastLayer Core’ to the construction. The design progressively graduates from a soft centre to become firmer towards the outer edge, while the Q-Star, which is offered in both ‘Pure White’ and ‘Tour Yellow’, also incorporates a ‘338 Speed Dimple Pattern’ engineered for reduced drag and a straighter ball flight. To further enhance feel and increase spin when approaching greens, Srixon has added its ‘Spin Skin with SeRM’ cover formulation. The urethane compound produces greater interaction with the grooves of irons and wedges for more friction, resulting in increased stopping…

THE COURSE LOCATION: 1 Tournament Dr, Brookwater, QLD, 4300. CONTACT: (07) 3814 5500. WEBSITE: www.brookwater.com.au DESIGNERS: Greg Norman and Bob Harrison (2002). SLOPE RATINGS: Men – Black 146; Gold 141; Silver 133. Women – Jade 139, Silver 143. PLAYING SURFACES: Tifdwarf Bermuda (greens), Santa Ana couch (tees), C2T (fairways). GREEN FEES: $100 (Monday - Thursday, 18 holes, includes shared cart); $120 (Friday - Sunday including shared cart). COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: James Gordon. PGA PROFESSIONALS: John Collins and Ian Triggs. THE CLUB MEMBERSHIP: Brookwater has a variety of membership categories including junior, intermediate and family classifications, as well as seven- and five-day options. A full seven-day membership costs $3,650 for residents and $4,110 for non-residents, while a family membership is $5,850 for residents and $7,250 for non-residents. Junior memberships start from $360,…

A GOLDEN era of Australian golf ended in June with the death of Tasmanian amateur Peter Toogood in Hobart at the age of 89. Rated among the nation’s best five lilywhites by Norman von Nida, Toogood was a member of Australia’s winning team in the inaugural Eisenhower Trophy in 1958, leading amateur at the 1954 Open Championship won by Peter Thomson and amateur champion of Australia in 1954 and New Zealand in 1956. Given that many of the early Australian Open champions did not play for a living, von Nida’s inclusion of Toogood in the top-five with Jim Ferrier, Harry Williams, Doug Bachli and Bruce Devlin, says a lot. Fate ordained that he become a golfer, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both named Alf, who were…

A AIMPOINT B BLADE OR MALLET C CLAW GRIP D DRILLS FOR PURE PUTTING E EASY TWO PUTTS F FITTING G GRIPS H HOSELS I IMPACT J JASON DAY K KEY TO HOLING OUT L LOST ART OF PUTTING M MAKE THE ONES YOU HATE TO MISS N NERVES O ONE PUTT WITH KEN BROWN P PERSONALISATION Q QUICK GREENS R READING GREENS S SPIDER X T TEMPO U UNDERSTANDING V VISUALISATION W WARM-UP WITH PURPOSE X X-FACTOR PLAYERS Y YIPS ... AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM Z ZEN PUTTING…

The best putters in the business all used to use blades. Fact. Loren Roberts, Steve Stricker, Brad Faxon Ben Crenshaw and of course Tiger Woods were all great at holing out, they also all used blades too. Today things are not so clear-cut; Justin Rose, DJ, Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas all use more stable, high-MOI mallet putters, and all are in and around the world’s top 10. There’s no doubt mallet and MOI-style putters improve stability over blades; it’s because their centre of gravity is pulled further back from the face, like a forgiving driver. Blades have an average MOI (resistance to twisting) rating of between 3 – 5,000 g/cm2 , whereas stability mallets are more like 7 – 9,000 g/cm2 . And that means…

1 RANDOM LENGTHS Set up a series of putts at random lengths between five and 30ft. Stagger them so the shorter putts do not block the path of the longer putts. Now place a reference no more than 2ft behind the hole. I’ve used a semi-circle but a clubshaft or alignment stick will work just as well. 2 PACE CHASE Now move randomly up and down your line, taking each putt in turn. Try to get each ball to finish between the hole and your back marker. The first time you fail, start again. See how many goes it takes you to achieve the full set, mark it down as your personal best, then try to beat it. 3 JUDGMENT DAY With every putt setting you a…

“You will hole more putts and understand why by reading this book. I read it, so should you.”Lee Westwood “My practice with Ken made me a better putter. I still work on his words of wisdom 40 years later.”Mark James “Over the years Ken Brown’s advice has always come with authority and simplicity. In 2011, on the putting green at Royal St George’s before the first round of The Open, he reminded me, ‘let your attitude determine your golf, don’t let your golf determine your attitude’. My name ended up on the Claret Jug . From novice to aspiring Major winner, I believe One Putt will work for you.”Darren Clarke Ken Brown’s first foray into authorship was only ever going to be about putting. His path was plotted when he…

More and more Tour players are tweaking their clubs so they’re unique to them – and now you can, too. Whether that’s adding alignment lines or taking them off, changing the colour or changing the grip, there are hardly any “standard” putters on Tour anymore. Now TaylorMade have opened up the opportunity for club golfers to do the same. Their “MySpider” personalised putter programme was inspired by the customisation of putters seen on Tour, first by Jason Day with his original Spider Tour Red in 2016. Since then, lots more players have personalised their putters to suit their preferences.…

Tempo has been defined as the total time your stroke takes from start to finish. It often gets confused with rhythm, but as this definition shows, tempo is more about the speed you swing the putter – slower, or faster. That said, tempo has a direct impact on rhythm. Good tempo evens out back/throughswing speeds, promoting a pure swing of the putterhead. Putting tempo is a matter of personal choice. But here, you’ll learn a simple way to hone a slower or a faster stroke, and discover which of those may be more beneficial to you. FASTER STROKE: Keep it short and brisk Find a level area of the practice green. Set up with the leading edge of the putter central in your stance, putting the ball just forward of…

Instead of picturing one, thin line to the hole, picture a 4.25 inch channel. Suddenly your line has gone from being as thin as a razor’s edge to as wide as the hole itself. What would be easier, putting along the tightrope, or putting down a 4.25-inch-wide channel? You might find it helpful to think of your line as a gutter. Further, focusing on such a thin line puts your attention almost entirely on line, whereas giving yourself the entire width of the hole frees up your mind and your muscles and allows you to focus on pace. Some 99 percent of our students had never visualised the line being as wide as the hole. But once they started to see that wider, thicker line, they were amazed at how…

BRAD FAXON The man who recently advised Rory on his stroke once had the best putting season ever, averaging 1.704 putts per GIR in 2000. When Faxon putts there are no technical thoughts; he creates a picture in his mind and uses that image to tell his body what it needs to do to turn that putt into a reality. “It’s almost like I start my stroke before my eyes get back to the ball”, he says. Rory said Faxon helped him get back to a child’s mentality of putting with instinct, instead of getting too technical. What makes him special: Faxon is a very target-oriented putter, which is one of the reasons Rory, who putts in a similar point-and-shoot style, sought his advice. JACK NICKLAUS “I’m one of the…

Blending Buddhist wisdom, modern psychology, and practical golf instruction, Dr. Joe Parent’s book Zen Golf broke out to become one of the top golf instruction books, and continues to be popular. Zen Putting: Mastering The Mental Game On The Greens, his follow up book, provides readers with a new approach to the aspect of golf in which mental skills have the most impact: putting. Zen Putting takes a thinking-outside-the-box approach based on the idea that by tuning into the process of putting rather than worrying about the result, golfers can get out of their own way and maximise performance. Key principles include using mindful awareness to recognise and clear away distractions and negativity, and that confidence increases when golfers take the attitude that there is something fundamentally, essentially right with…

We have all heard it before… “drive for show, putt for dough”. And while some golf statisticians will argue the importance of driving and ball-striking metrics to achieve success in the professional game, it is hard to argue that putting isn’t the most common difference maker between an average and great round for the weekend player. Modern day putters are widely varied in style and technology – and finding the right one for you is part science, part preference, mixed with a little bit of hope that this flatstick could finally be the one. The following pages feature some of the best options on the market today, from blades to mallets, milled faces to inserts and familiar brands to some just making their name in the putter game. CLEVELAND HUNTINGTON…

MODEL PLAYED: G410 irons (4-iron to sand wedge), fitted with True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 S300 shafts. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: My instant reaction to the G410 irons related to the new model’s appearance. The company’s game improvement irons have always had a familiar look that instils confidence and suggests forgiveness. And while the G410 is designed to give the same performance characteristics, the appearance is much closer to that of better player iron model. The feel off the clubface was solid and not in any way clicky as some other cavity back irons can be, and trajectory was a real standout. A high launch but penetrating flight that held its line and stayed in the air for a long time. HOW IT PERFORMED: As my time went on with the G410…

Augusta National and Pinehurst are, without question, two of the most prestigious names in world golf. Here’s your chance to visit both and walk in the footsteps of champions. Teed Up Golf Tours – an Australian company that has offered global golf tours for 20 years – has constructed three exceptional Masters packages; two of which include an unforgettable round at the iconic Pinehurst No.2. The heart of Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst No.2 is regarded as Donald Ross’ masterpiece and has hosted more single golf championships than any other course in the world. It was recently restored by Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw to recapture the natural and strategic characteristics that were the essence of the original design. The Masters, meanwhile, is one of the world’s most celebrated sporting events ……