Innehållsförteckning för November 2020 från Golf Australia

SO, we’re heading into November, eight months after the coronavirus arrived on our shores. Hundreds of Australians have died, tens of thousands have lost their jobs or had reduced work hours and businesses have gone to the wall. I’m writing this on the first day of October and Melbournians are still in Stage 4 lockdown, most state borders remain closed and Victoria has been shut-off from the rest of the country. As you read this, I share hopes with everyone that these restrictions are a bad memory. As we reported in our August edition, there have been some positives to come from this pandemic. Golf has boomed during the past six months, with participation rates some of the highest the game has seen during the past two decades. This was…

WHERE has the time gone? When Adam Scott pulls into Augusta National’s Magnolia Lane for the first time at the 2020 Masters it will be seven years since the coveted green jacket was slipped over his white golf shirt. To be more precise, it will be 2,766 days since a nation of golf fans star-jumped from their lounges as his winning putt rolled perfectly into the cup. It’s often said a week is a long time in golf … 395 of them might seem like an eternity. But little has changed in terms of Australia’s Augusta assault. Scott, as was the case in 2013, heads to Augusta as this country’s highest-ranked player at No.11 in the world. In 2013, he was No.7 and rose to No.3 after his Masters win.…

More Australians are playing golf today than at any other time in the past 20 years. But the economic reality, as we emerge from the darkest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, is many of us now need to make our hard-earned dollars stretch a little further. Over the following pages, we reveal the 18-hole layouts – and some standout nine-holers – offering Australian golfers the greatest value for money golfing experiences. BELMONT GC Belmont, NSW Green fees: $40 (Sunday to Friday); $45 (Saturday). The club has invested wisely on the layout in recent years, raising the level of presentation and adding interest to the layout with the redesign of several holes. The loss of what was the par-3 12th hole has since given rise to a new short beachside one-shotter…

One of the biggest mistakes amateur golfers make in trying to hit the ball further is they swing the club too long in the backswing. You could say this is the ‘John Daly effect’. For years, people watched Daly hit the ball prodigious distances and took note of how he did it – with one of the longest backswings the game has ever seen. But his swing is not for everybody. Having a backswing like Daly can have a detrimental effect on your swing – even if you’re not trying to swing that long. In fact, most amateurs swing too long in the backswing without even knowing it. So, how far back should you swing? Most golfers would benefit from watching Rory McIlroy. He’s accurate and, for someone his size,…

SUITABILITY: Fitting into the game improvement category, the Hot Metal irons will suit mid to high handicap players looking for distance, forgiveness and increased launch, with the Pro option offering similar performance characteristics in a more compact, lower offset look preferred by better players. SHAFTS: The Mizuno Custom Program offers one of the widest selections of no upcharge shafts and grips in the industry relying on the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer and high-tech Swing DNA software. LEFT-HANDED: The JXP921 Hot Metal is available in left-handed, while the Hot Metal Pro is offered in right-hand only. MIZUNO SAYS: The JPX921 Hot Metal irons deliver Mizuno’s fastest ever ball speeds, a piercingly straight ball flight together with controllable landing angles. The JPX921 Hot Metal represent the third generation of Mizuno irons to utilise…

LOCATION: South Gippsland Hwy, Cranbourne North, Victoria, 3977, CONTACT: (03) 5991 3456. WEBSITE: www.cranbournegolf.com.au DESIGNERS: Sam Berriman (1954); Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking and Mead – OCCM (2017). COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: James Stewart. GREEN FEES: Cranbourne is a private club, open to members and their guests. However, there are some visitor tee times available on weekdays for $70. MEMBERSHIP: Cranbourne has a wide range of membership categories with the main categories offering five-, six-and seven-day playing rights. There are also age-specific, casual, lifestyle, junior and corporate memberships. To view the membership pack containing details of all categories and fees, visit the website www.cranbournegolf.com.au ACCOLADES: 2020 Golf Australia magazine Top-100 Courses, No.68.…

We’ve had this discussion before, but it’s an ever-changing phenomenon in golf. And, as such, we need to keep an eye on it. For long enough most of us felt that, if everyone in the world played his best, Rory McIlroy would win. Well, not anymore.These days, if everyone plays at the top of their games, my feeling is that Dustin Johnson finishes first. That is, of course, only one of the ways to measure greatness in golf. Another is, “who is the best today?” And that, as has been argued many times, is a different player almost every day. You only have to look at the tournaments around the word to figure that out. No one shoots the lowest score every day. Here’s another thing. In my view, Tiger…

Many amateur golfers have an issue with scooping their chip shots as they try and get the ball into the air around the green. For the most part, these players are not hitting down on the ball to get the result they want. In other words, you need to focus on hitting the ball first and then the ground, instead of the other way around. Here is a simple drill to help you stop scooping and establish actions you can practice to ensure solid contact with your chip shots. All you need for this drill is two tees. Set the two tees in the ground about a wedge clubhead apart – not high but at ground height (pic 1). The back tee is where the ball would be positioned for…

Watch enough tournament golf and you will notice a common thread between all professionals – men and women – is the position of their arms post-impact. All pros extend their arms in the follow-through. They would have the feeling that the golf club is extending right down the target line after they have hit the ball, just like Brooke Henderson is doing here. This is a feeling you should aim to achieve with your ball-striking. Lack of extension in the arms is something common to many amateur golfers and will cause pull-hook shots to the left (for right-handers) or the ball will start left and slice to the right. Here’s a drill to help you work on extension through the ball. Firstly, grip two clubs together creating ‘one heavy club’.…

TITLEIST INTRODUCES TSI DRIVERS Titleist’s new TSi drivers – powered by an all-new ‘ATI 425 Aerospace Titanium face’ – will be available in Australian golf shops on November 12, having already found their way into the bags of some of the world’s best. First introduced at the Safeway Open on the PGA Tour and the European Tour’s Portugal Masters, the TSi range was the most played driver at the US Open the following week. Adam Scott is just one of many opting for the new models, featuring “Breakthrough face material, player-tuned aerodynamics driving exceptional speed performance with Tour-preferred looks, sound and feel” according to the company. “TSi is simply better when it comes to all four fundamentals of driver design – distance, accuracy, looks and sound,” Vice President, Titleist Golf…

LOCATION: Cnr King St and Vernon Ave, Eastlakes, NSW, 2018 CONTACT: (02) 9669 1311. WEBSITE: www.thelakesgolfclub.com.au DESIGNERS: Eric Apperly & Tom Howard (1928); Bruce Devlin & Robert Von Hagge (1970); Mike Clayton Golf Design (2009). PLAYING SURFACES: Bentgrass (greens), kikuyu (fairways). GENERAL MANAGER: Andrew Kirkman. COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Anthony Mills. PGA PROFESSIONAL: Paul Sainsbury (Director of Golf); Charles Kares (teaching professional). GREEN FEES: The Lakes is a private member’s club. But some Mondays and Thursdays the club has one tee time each day for a non-member to have a game. $250 if you are a member of an Australian golf club, $400 if you are not. For bookings email the club: bookings@thelakesgolfclub.com.au MEMBERSHIPS: The Lakes has a diverse membership with more than a quarter of the membership being aged under 40.…

Bryson DeChambeau proved his doubters wrong when he overpowered Winged Foot’s brutish layout to claim his first major title at the US Open. The charismatic American, who studied physics at Southern Methodist University in Texas, has been dubbed the “Mad Scientist” for his unique approach to the game, which sees him utilise single-length irons and a one-plane swing. DeChambeau has also added an incredible amount of muscle mass to his frame – 20 kilograms in the past 12 months to be exact – in an effort to hit the ball further. It seems to be working, too. The World No.5 has added 21 metres to his average driving distance since the end of the 2019 PGA Tour season. So, how does DeChambeau’s weight gain translate into longer drives, and what…

My first visit to the Masters and the ‘delights’ of Augusta, Georgia was in 1989. Nick Faldo won. Scott Hoch missed a very short putt that would have meant Faldo didn’t win. Defending champion Sandy Lyle wore a kilt at the presentation ceremony, where he slipped the iconic green jacket over the shoulders of his long-time rival. And I ticked off a long-held ambition, attending the biggest tournament in golf (the other three majors are championships). Good fortune favoured me too, in that ’89 was the last year in which the assembled members of the fourth estate were housed in the old Quonset Hut. By 1990 it was gone, replaced by a sparkling new media centre to the right of the 1st fairway. That building is a thing of the…

Lee Westwood could be forgiven for rolling his eyes whenever he is talked about as the greatest player never to have won a major. It’s a stick he is often beaten with, a kind of backhanded compliment which makes his 19 top-10 finishes in majors seem less than impressive. When he turns 45 next month, he will be the oldest man listed in the top 50 of the World Rankings. It’s a sign of his longevity that he won his 25th title on the European Tour in January, which puts him eighth on the all-time list. It is one of many notches on his belt, which include picking up 23 points in the Ryder Cup, going unbeaten twice (2004 and 2006), and ending Tiger’s 281-week streak as World No. 1…

One of the keys to chipping well is good distance control. And the basis of good distance control is a chipping action that is consistently repeatable. When you have honed a repeatable chipping action, you can make a slightly shorter or longer backswing or select a different lofted club and get reliable, accurate results. It’s that simple. The first step to achieving this is by keeping your hands and wrists passive during the shot. One of the biggest causes of fat and thin chip shots is overactive wrists and hands, which take over the chip and try to scoop the ball into the air. When you do hit a chip shot properly, chances are it won’t be the right distance because of excessive wrist action. To create a more passive…

The ‘stinger’ is the modern-day description of the knockdown or punch shot. It is an abbreviated swing that has increased clubhead speed and more “shaft lean” at impact creating a strong, low, ball flight. It is a shot that has been popularised by Tiger Woods (main pic), who regularly plays this shot in high winds or at a crucial time when the shot demands ultimate accuracy. Most of us use a punch shot to escape from tree trouble or bounce an approach shot on the green. Whether from the tee or from trouble, the approach to the shot is the same. Here’s the six-steps to hitting the stinger. 1. Set up with the ball placed back slightly in the stance (pic 1). Having the ball back like this will put…

Cost: $239 (per iron). Tested by: Jimmy Emanuel, Golf Australia Deputy Editor (GA Handicap 9.4) MODEL PLAYED: JPX921 Hot Metal (4-iron to pitching wedge), with Nippon N.S. Pro 950GH NEO shafts and JPX921 Hot Metal Pro (4-iron to pitching wedge), with True Temper Project X LZ Blackout shafts. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Out of the box, the JPX921 Hot Metal looked as I expected. A forgiving, larger head with some clear Mizuno touches, while the Hot Metal Pro was noticeable for just how little offset it carried and how comfortable it looked behind the ball for a player used to much smaller irons. On first hit the feel stood out for the standard model. Despite not being fully forged like the Forged and Tour models reviewed last month, the Hot Metal still…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Looks are obviously a significant part of a shoe’s appeal. And the Eco Knit instantly impressed in this area for me. Two comments from non-golfers upon seeing the shoes both along the lines of “That doesn’t look like a golf shoe” really highlighted the Eco Knit’s characteristics as an option capable of being worn to, from and on the golf course. Once on, the Eco Knit was immediately comfortable. The soft knit upper was soft but solid enough to hold my foot in place, while the heel design reduced slipping and the traction on the golf course was slightly better than I have found with some spikeless shoes. HOW THEY PERFORMED: I had been aware of TRUE linkswear’s shoes long before my chance to test the Eco Knit.…