Innehållsförteckning för Issue 8, 2021 från Golf Digest

The scene is one you might encounter on any night out in Jupiter. IN AN INSTA-CLICK WORLD it’s easy to forget how much effort can still go into a single image. This month photographer Ryan Schude didn’t capture so much as create the tableau vivant that opens Golf Digest Writer-at-Large Alan Shipnuck’s feature on how Jupiter, Fla., became the hometown of professional golf. The set, or canvas, was the upstairs members lounge of 1000 NORTH, the emergent social hot spot where Shipnuck followed his reporting. (Many trails lead to this sanctum of leather furniture and libation overlooking the town’s lighthouse. Co-owners Michael Jordan and Ira Fenton tried but couldn’t think of a better name than the physical address.) Under Schude’s direction, 13 subjects became actors, including three guys with four…

GOLF isn’t likely to come close to the kind of splurge it went on from 1986 to 2005, when more than isn’t likely to come close 4,900 new courses opened in the United States, almost 250 a year. Newcourse construction during the past decade has been as rare as rain in Los Angeles. During the 2010s, new course projects did not proceed without an audience clamoring to play them. Quality replaced quantity, and new course openings in the United States and Canada amounted to a small but delectable Michelin-starred menu that included highly ranked designs such as Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the courses at Streamsong (Fla.) and Sand Valley (Wis.), Ohoopee Match Club (Ga.), Congaree (S.C.), Old Macdonald (Ore.) and last year’s Best New…

The trend is unmistakable, travel industry members say. Once mainly the province of men, the annual golf getaway is changing fast. These days more and more women are loading up their clubs and hitting the road, experiencing the singular joy of a multiday golf vacation. “It’s fantastic to see,” says Teresa Zamboni, co-owner of Nancy Lopez Golf Adventures, a Florida-based company that specializes in women’s group trips. “It’s time for women to enjoy the same things guys have been doing for years.” Zamboni’s company, which she cofounded in 2014 with fellow LPGA professional Sue Powers, runs about a dozen trips a year (and Nancy Lopez comes along). This year’s trip to the Solheim Cup had 150 women—“and I could have brought 200 if we had the hotel space for them,”…

Jim Pavonetti is expecting a visitor. This guest hasn’t booked a tee time, but for the past five years, around May 31, he has materialized—even accounting for leap year. Pavonetti checks his desk calendar: May 31. Sure enough the black-crowned night heron shows up. Pavonetti is the superintendent at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Conn., about 30 miles north of New York City. The only sounds of life here are natural ones: cicadas humming, dragonflies whizzing, bees buzzing, ducks splashing. Tucked away along the state’s border, the 18-hole course’s enchanted flowering bushes appear animated by an opera of duskywing butterflies and beetles. A glossy black lake completes the fairytale setting. Pavonetti estimates Fairview has 86 wildlife species, not to mention an array of flora. “You can walk over to some…

WHILE WORKING on my master’s thesis in biomechanics at Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales, I learned how one’s mind-set can impact driving performance. Of the 28 elite golfers I studied, those who emphasized distance over accuracy not only hit it longer, they hit it straighter. By free-wheeling it, they were able to improve their sequencing and increase ball speed. The message? Let it ride! What follows are four drills based on my research that are designed to boost your clubhead speed and untap your distance potential. Let’s start with my Confident-T drill. Without a ball and club, assume your normal posture with both arms extended, forming the letter T. Allow both arms to tilt as you turn and coil your upper body back (above, left). Then as you swing forward,…

I’VE BEEN A CADDIE for nearly 20 years, with stints at some of the world’s best resorts. Although I’m not big on soapboxing, a lot of you could use some friendly advice. Before I tell you what you get wrong, let me start by telling you what you get right: You tip well. You’re generous about asking if I’d like a dog and a drink at the turn. It’s impossible to count how many players, many of whom I had for just 18 holes, send me cards and gifts during the holidays. Overall, you’re a good group, but you lack self awareness. Here are some things to work on: You’re too slow. Perhaps not too surprising but it seems like half of my job is prodding a group like sheep to…

The kings of golf is a concept that goes back to the Emperor Jones, the name used by newspapers in the 1920s for Bobby Jones. Sort of like the modern GOAT, it signified who was recognized as the reigning champion of the world. It often extended past their winning championships because it mixed popular acclaim with major achievement. Arnold Palmer was king even after he stopped winning, then it was Jack Nicklaus, followed chronologically by Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and, of course, Tiger Woods. Popular as he might be, Phil Mickelson was a prince at best; Rory McIlroy reached the top for a moment, but today there doesn’t seem to be one player who wears the undisputed crown. Tiger still rules. Among women, Mickey Wright was queen, then…

When Danielle came to me two years ago, she had the driver yips. There was a stretch of hitting big pushes to the right or snap-hooks to the left, and she had started changing her swing out of desperation. To her credit, she was trying to do the opposite of what was natural, thinking her tendencies were how she got into trouble. But she was conflicted and would go to the first tee wondering if she could even take the club back—that’s the yips. When I heard what she was doing and watched her hit some balls, my mind went to something my dad always said: “Don’t take away what a player does naturally, just make it better.” We needed to draw on what she did well and adjust her…

BEFORE WE START, KNOW THIS ABOUT ME: I DON’T TEACH GOLF TO PEOPLE, I TEACH PEOPLE TO PLAY GOLF. I DON’T HAVE SOME LIST OF SWING POSITIONS THAT EVERY GOLFER NEEDS TO COPY. I CAN’T TEACH YOU TO SWING LIKE TIGER WOODS. MY GOAL IS TO TAKE WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND MAKE IT WORK BETTER. YOU HAVE YOUR OWN WAY OF THINKING, YOUR OWN PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS. CHANGING THOSE ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN IN A GOLF LESSON. WE NEED TO FIX THE ONE THING THAT’S CAUSING THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN YOUR SWING. I CALL IT THE CANCER. WHEN WE FIND IT—AND WE WILL—YOU WILL GET BETTER. —WITH PETER MORRICE When you come to my lesson tee, the first thing I’ll do is distract you from the anticipation you’re feeling. You’ll warm…

When I’m working with two-time major champion Collin Morikawa (above, left) around the greens, we experiment with a lot of different types of shots. I would coach you a little differently on chipping simply because you don’t play golf for a living. You need a more basic strategy that breeds confidence. If you’re willing to practice fairly regularly, I would have you work on only one swing, but with three different clubs—9-iron, gap wedge and sand wedge. That way, you’ll have options to hit the ball higher or lower without having to learn different techniques. The typical goal is to land the ball on the green fairly quickly and allow it to run to the hole like a putt. If you don’t have convenient access to a short-game area or…

A lot of my best practice sessions with tour pros such as Patrick Reed (above, left) happen out on the golf course, but I wonder how many of you have ever had a playing lesson? Honestly, if you came to me for help, I’d tell you it’s the best place to assess your ability because it provides the most accurate look at how you play. I’d watch you take on a par 5, par 4 and par 3 with one ball for score, but I’d also add a short-game challenge (chip, pitch, bunker shot, etc.) on each hole. In addition to your swing mechanics, this format provides me an opportunity to see your mental routines, decision-making strategies, equipment and reactions to poor shots. The entire process takes less than an…

Everyone calls Sue Pels “Boss” on their trips because of her knack for organizing and her fearlessness in ensuring things run smoothly. Heading to a course for the first time, she’ll call ahead to let them know she’s bringing a group of 16 women in their 60s. But make no mistake, these women can play. “We may look like little old ladies, but we are good at golf,” says Pels, who lives in The Villages, Florida’s sprawling retirement community. “We’re not slow like everyone wants to think. We’re usually the ones complaining about slow play ahead of us.” Like most women in golf, they are used to the looks and eye rolls they get when arriving at the course. Pels says those eyes stop rolling as soon as onlookers hear…

Haley Hillesland and her friends have cloudy skies to thank for getting them into golf. During a beach excursion to Cape Cod in 2016, the weather failed to cooperate so, in search of a group activity, they booked a tee time. The foursome raced to a department store for something to wear, but the closest thing to golfwear were tennis skirts. Dressed for the courts rather than the greens, they sprinted back, arriving late and skipping the first hole. “We played only eight holes and probably took 300 swings each,” Hillesland says. “We were running around like idiots. But we loved it.” They’ve been working on their game—and making it a central theme of their girls’ weekends—ever since. They take an annual trip upstate to Lake George, N.Y., where one…

It was the most heated golf matchup in modern history. No, not the Ryder Cup—this was bridesmaids versus groomsmen, and the anticipation reached an all-time high as we pulled into the golf club’s parking lot. The dudes were going down. The occasion was Michelle Wie’s 2019 wedding to Jonnie West. Everyone in the wedding party flew in a day or two early for the rehearsal dinner and the match at L.A.’s Riviera Country Club. Each team was decked out in matching swag. Our fearless leader, the bride, wore all white and opted not to play. Instead, she watched from a golf cart and chirped at our opponents. I’ve been to a few weddings since, but one thing is for sure: This one took the three-tiered vanilla cake. It’s worth noting…

IN AUGUST 2020, amid that difficult period when golf was played without fans and the world was at a low ebb because of COVID-19, I had a revelation about the ensuing 11 months I couldn’t keep to myself. On the eve of the PGA Championship at Harding Park, during a CBS media conference call, I proclaimed, “We are about to enter the greatest stretch of golf in major-championship history.” Part of my reasoning came down to just math—because of postponements and rescheduling, an unprecedented seven majors would be contested in less than a year, this coming after a stretch when no majors were played in 13 months. At least one prominent golf writer thought the prediction hyperbolic, but what followed delivered on my promise, and in an age when we…

IT’S DINNER TIME IN JUPITER, FLA., AND 1000 NORTH IS THE PLACE TO BE. THE RESTAURANT OPENED IN 2018 AND IMMEDIATELY BE CAME A NEXUS OF GERMAN ENGINEERING, ITALIAN TAILORING AND SOUTH BEACH PLASTIC SURGERY. Jutting into the Loxahatchee River is a private dock so that diners can arrive in style; Dustin Johnson has been known to cruise up in his 82-foot Viking. (The lounge upstairs, available only to the 300 members who pay $4,000 to join and $4,000 in annual dues, carries Fireball cinnamon whisky to whet the whistle of Johnson and his glamorous fiancee, Paulina Gretzky.) Michael Jordan gets a lot of attention for being a part owner, but the man behind the man is Ira Fenton, a low-key powerbroker who helped finance Jack Nicklaus’ The Bear’s Club…

One of the most important facets of the golf swing can be rehearsed virtually anywhere—how you pivot to build a great backswing. Here I’ve got a club pinned across my chest (left), but you also can practice a quality pivot by crossing your arms and holding them across your torso. The thing I’d get you to do is mimic a backswing with this thought in mind: the hips tilt, the shoulders turn. Obviously, the pelvis rotates, too, as you can see here, but this swing thought gives you a great image of how to blend the turning and tilting elements of the pivot. What I’m trying to get you to avoid is a flat over-rotation of the pelvis, a common mistake that causes a host of problems. Check yourself in…

WEST COAST/HAWAII Aviara G.C., San Diego. Hugging the Pacific, this resort features a variety of wellness options. Plus, it’s within 30 minutes of museums, food and shopping. Bandon (Ore.) Dunes G. Resort. It lacks the luxurious appointments and nongolf diversions of some resorts but more than makes up for it with six world-class courses and an all-are-welcome vibe. The Boulders, Scottsdale. Visually stunning desert resort offers a pair of 18s with multiple women’s tees and plentiful restrooms. Off-course activities include rock climbing lessons, horses, hot-air ballooning. The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colo. Elegant hotel has two courses and a spa overlooking the Rockies. It’s also popular for women’s fly-fishing getaways. Edgewood Tahoe, Stateline, Nev. Dramatic finishing holes feature gorgeous views of Lake Tahoe with the Sierra Mountains as a backdrop. Half…

THERE’S NOTHING NEW about practicing pitch shots with only your dominant hand. It helps you get a better feel for how the club’s path should shallow out and glide along the turf, not dig into it. But did you know this practice method also can be used to sync the swinging of your wedge with the rotation of your body? That harmony is key to hitting these shots a predictable distance. The club and your upper body should be moving at roughly the same speed as you swing through. By placing your non-dominant hand on your chest as a reminder like I am here, you’ll soon get a feel for the proper blending of arm swing and body turn for these short shots. Neither the club nor the body should…