Innehållsförteckning för Jul 2022 - Issue 398 från Golf Australia

When Peter Thomson won his fifth Claret Jug in 1965 it brought to an end an amazing era of success at the Open Championship for Australian golfers. Thommo was either winning the tournament or in close contention between 1954 and 1965, while his good mate Kel Nagle was glorious in claiming the 1960 Open at St. Andrews. Jack Newton went close in 1975, but it wasn’t until Greg Norman tamed Turnberry in 1986 that an Australian was reunited with the fabled trophy. Of course, Ian Baker-Finch followed in 1991 at Birkdale and then Norman grabbed his second Open title two years later at Royal St. Georges. It has now been 29 years since Norman’s victory, the longest winning drought at The Open since Thomson won his first. Australian players have…

If you play golf long enough, something bad is inevitably going to happen. It’s just a fact of life. And we’ve all been there. Ask Mito Pereira, who arrived on the 18th tee at Southern Hills needing a par-4 to win the U.S PGA Championship, only to make a double-bogey six and miss out on a play-off for the title by one agonising shot. It wasn’t easy to watch the Chilean come up short in such a fashion, but it got my mind working. While I have never felt the level of disappointment Mito must have experienced in the wake of that loss – I’ve pretty much ‘dodged the bullet’ when it comes to devastating last-hole mishaps – my career does contain a few painful memories. Not far into my…

1. DEACON SIME This nasty pot, which catches long shots to the 16th, is named after a preacher who often played the Old Course. He declared at his death that his ashes be spread in the bunker because he’d spent so much time during his rounds in it, he might as well spend eternity in it as well. 2. THE PRINCIPAL’S NOSE A cluster of three small bunkers on the 16th fairway that owes its name to an ugly projecting porch on the Principal’s house, which was hated by all his neighbours, rather than his actual nose. The Principal officiated at the baptism of Old Tom Morris, and later at his marriage to Agnes Bayne. 3. ELYSIAN FIELDS According to Homer, these were the fields at the ends of the…

Although it now bears some similarities to the Tour Speed, the Tour Soft is a golf ball all of its own with a different target golfer in mind. Offering an extremely soft feel, the third generation Tour Soft has been reengineered to produce performance benefits with every club in the bag and for every shot imaginable. Possessing one of the largest core sizes in the wide Titleist golf ball range that produces the balls soft feel at impact, the latest Tour Soft maintains the same compression rating, while the need to use an extremely thin cover sees the return of 4CE grafted cover. The thin cover and its formulation helping to create more greenside spin. The dimples, and the fact that it is offered in white and yellow, is where…

The men’s and women’s Australian Open is heading to the Melbourne Sandbelt and you have the opportunity to test your skills on one of the host courses on the eve of the tournament. Victoria Golf Club will be the showpiece, along with nearby Kingston Heath, for the world-first championships to be played from December 1 to 4. The heritage-listed clubhouse is regarded as one of the best in Australia and includes 12 twin-share accommodation rooms and the contribution of these houseguests to the ‘fabric’ of the club is significant. The hospitality experiences offered by the club are exceptional and the awe of first-time guests ensures they become regular visitors to the club, which is ideally located to allow close access to all the high-ranking courses of Sandbelt including Royal Melbourne…

Portarlington is perhaps the best kept golfing secret on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, despite being in existence for more than 110 years. The club has evolved from a six-hole course played along the esplanade of the seaside town, to today boasting an 18-hole layout on the verge of being ranked in the Top-100 Public Access Courses in Australia. The past 25 years have seen great course changes made, some in the pursuit of better golf and others to improve the club’s environmental footprint. Course architect Tony Cashmore was commissioned to develop a masterplan in the mid-1990s, which resulted in the creation of a new 5th hole, the upgrade of several green complexes and the conversion of all fairways and tees to Santa Ana couch – renowned for its water saving benefits.…

yes ZANE BOJACK Commentator ABC Sport “Blue Skies and 65s” was the mantra used by Greg Norman to secure his first major at Turnberry in 1986 amidst his infamous Saturday Slam. Having woken up four shots off the lead on day two of the 115th Open Championship, the ‘Great White Shark’ pulled back the curtains and dreamed of what lay on the horizon. “Blue Skies and 65s” he said to himself as he proceeded to shoot a seven-under 63 for the day, equalling the then lowest ever score in The Open. It gave him a two-shot buffer on the way to his first Claret Jug. It juxtaposed nicely Norman’s flared 4-iron from the middle of the 18th fairway at Augusta on Sunday, which delivered Jack Nicklaus his sixth green jacket.…

A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF Q-STAR TOUR GOLF BALLS VALUED AT $281! 5 WINNERS WILL EACH RECEIVE 6 DOZEN GOLF BALLS EAGLE CLUB MEMBERS GET ALL THIS! • 24 issues of Golf Australia magazine• One dozen Callaway Supersoft golf balls• Golf Australia golf shirt• Choose a DVD - 7 golf titles to choose from• Entry in all chance to win competitions The Callaway Supersoft Golf Ball features Advanced HEX Aerodynamics, optimized for reduced drag, higher flight and longer carry distance. The new Q-STAR TOUR is Srixon’s softest ball with tourlevel performance. Get tour-calibre spin and distance from its 3-piece construction and urethane cover, along with exceptionally softer feel than traditional tour balls. Tour performance starts around the greens and the fourth generation Q-STAR TOUR delivers with an ultra-thin, premium urethane cover that’s coated in Slide…

1 ADDRESS Scheffler’s arms hang straight down beneath his shoulders, which is a very comfortable and correct position to be in at address. The shaft plane – with the butt of the club pointing at his belt buckle – is also ideal. What you can’t see here is that Scheffler adopts a weak grip with both hands, which is just one aspect of his swing that will always lead to a left-to-right or fade shot shape. 2 THE FIRST MOVE Bad swings go wrong in the first few feet of the backswing, where the club is picked up too quickly with the hands. If this sounds familiar, you should copy this takeaway. His hands are out in front of his turning upper body and the clubhead is traveling on a wide arc…

Golf has become one of the major lures for real estate projects throughout Australia. These world-class developments offer luxurious modern abodes with green, golf course outlooks as well as a raft of other facilities. If you’re reading this, you are likely to be a golfer. Here’s your chance to live the dream of having a golf course at your doorstep, and over the following pages we showcase some of the best course-side developments that you might become your new home.…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This one is a little different than most “tests” and for some, might not be a realistic possibility, but nevertheless we tested an experience to see if it is worth your time. Opened again recently following the pandemic, members of Team Titleist (it’s free to join) can now take a tour of the company’s Ball Plant 3, home to Pro V1, Pro V1x and AVX, and it is certainly an experience you will remember. The first thought as you arrive at the facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts. – a little under an hour’s drive south of Boston – will perhaps be something along the lines of “This is where the No.1 Ball in golf comes from?” Once you’ve entered the facility, the innovation, technology and secrecy (no phones…

Melbourne’s Kew Golf Club has been an important part of Victoria’s golfing landscape for 128 years. But it is only in recent times that this club in the heart of the city’s leafy eastern suburbs has gained national recognition for the quality of its golf course. The feedback this magazine received when Kew broke into its Top-100 Courses in Australia ranking for the first time in 2020 was mixed. While most of the comments were in agreeance with Kew’s selection, others suggested our judges had better think again. Kew debuted that year at No.99, having not even received a single vote just six years earlier. When the votes were tallied for our 2022 Top-100 Courses ranking, our judges had reconsidered their appraisal and Kew edged up three spots to No.96.…

Only a few years after the untimely death of Seve Ballesteros the man, came Seve The Movie (2014). It is an unusual hybrid affair – a documentary biopic that oscillates between two timelines showing archival footage of Seve’s public career intertwined with a dramatic recreation of his formative years. Even with a two-hour runtime this ambitious format falls a little short of allowing adequate space for either the dramatic arc of Seve’s childhood or the documentary reflections on his professional achievements. The documentary segments focus on Seve’s milestone achievements – major triumphs and Ryder Cup contributions, but significant time is also given to his impact on professional golf as the effortlessly charismatic “matador of the links” as described by Peter Alliss. While we’re shown the fully formed heroic swagger of…

1.HOW DO YOU WIN THE OPEN? From trigger words to anger management; five recent Open Championship winners reveal the secret of their success. BY REPEATING A ROUTINE Rory McIlroy, 2014 winner, Royal Liverpool Rory won his first Open by two shots and put his success down to focusing on two key phrases: ‘process’ and ‘spot’. “‘Process’ was for my long shots–I just wanted to stick to my process and stick to making good decisions, making good swings. ‘Spot’ was for my putting; just pick a spot and try to roll it over my spot every time. I wasn’t thinking about holing it or what it would mean, I just wanted to roll that ball over that spot. And it worked.” BY HANGING IN AND MAKING PUTTS Phil Mickelson, 2013 winner,…

Peter Thomson long argued The Old Course at St. Andrews was the game’s most important course and all others are mere copies. Alister MacKenzie in The Spirit of St. Andrews wrote that it was the only first-class course in the world. “There is no second and Cypress Point (bearing in mind he designed Cypress Point) comes in a very bad third.” Gary Player once likened playing golf on The Old Course at St. Andrews to playing golf in a bathtub. “St. Andrews does not reward precision and penalise inaccuracy as consistently as a top course should – and Augusta does,” wrote Player all the way back in 1965. His wildly simplistic argument completely missed the point of the course. “At St. Andrews,” writes Player, “a golfer may hook his tee…

Finding the Swilcan Burn with your approach shot on the Old Course’s opening hole is quite easy; unfortunately, finding the source of golf’s most famous stretch of water is less so. When I set about this seemingly innocent task, I jumped at the opportunity and instantly and energetically took the lazy option, getting on the phone to call people who should know. However, they didn’t. Fife Council and other local water services had no idea and Gordon Moir, former long-time director of greenkeeping for the Links Trust, believed it was spring-fed but could offer no further information. And so it was that I found myself drowning in an arable sea of foliage some three miles west of St. Andrews. According to the Ordnance Survey it would be here, in the…

Over the years we have seen so many players (including ourselves), fall into the trap of confusing golf as something you are, as opposed to something you do. When your whole self-worth hangs on the line with the outcome of a score, it can be a pretty lonely place. When your ego is attached so much to the direction a golf ball takes, you are walking on an emotional tightrope. When ‘you’ as a human being are on the line when you play the game, too much is at stake. Golf is something we do, not what we are. Our value as a human being is a given: one person is no better than another and has no more value. If you have a bad day as a golfer, you…

The first ever Tour Speed golf ball from Titleist marked ground breaking territory for brand universally known as the No.1 Ball in Golf. Titleist’s debut high performance, multilayer option featuring a proprietary ‘Titleist Performance Urethane’ (TPU) cover was created for ball speed and distance, with golfers immediately drawn to its suite of performance benefits. Now into the second iteration of the Tour Speed, Titleist’s engineers and Research and Development (R&D) teams set about refining the core and casing layer, while the cover formula created just for this model remains. So too the 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimples, the material and dimple shape and placement creating a penetrating flight with heightened control around the greens. “The Titleist Performance Urethane cover material is innovative and best in class,” Senior Director of Research and…

When it comes to golf, Australia is a nation of walkers. For the most part, the regular player mixes exercise with their pleasure by striding out across the course. Take Mike Clayton as an example, who on his recent birthday tweeted “Never get in a golf cart and have young friends!” Of course, some courses require a cart, some prefer to ride, but for those who enjoy the walk, there are now more ways than ever to do it in style and ease thanks to the variety of electric buggies on offer. There are even wheels to supercharge your existing push/pull buggy. The following pages feature some of the latest and greatest from all the big brands in the electric buggy world, for golfers looking to save some energy to…

The short game is a brilliant mix of artistry and science. Technique leads to spin and ball flight control, and in the same way creativity allows for shot shaving opportunities. Not to mention how much fun pitching and chipping the ball can be. Similarly, modern wedges blend the artistic with the technical to produce things of exceptional form and function. Here is the best of the best wedges on the market, which might not transform you into a Seve Ballesteros or Brett Rumford, but they will give you the best chance you have of owning a better short game. CALLAWAY JAWS MD5 Three finishes and five sole grinds are offered in the 8620 mild carbon steel JAWS MD5 from Callaway, the model featuring refined CG placement and “the most aggressive…