Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2021 från Golf Monthly

1 Getting your grip right gives you a far better chance of returning the clubface to the ball correctly at impact. Many golfers have their left-hand grip too much in the palm, whereas in an ideal neutral grip, you hold it more in the fingers so that two knuckles are showing. To keep your grip consistent, place your left hand on the club first and check it is in a neutral position. This will really help you to keep the clubface square throughout the swing. 2 Those who hold the club too much in the palm of the left hand have a weak grip and will tend to slice the ball. The first issue is that it gets you leaning a little too much towards the target at set-up causing…

1 Hybrids and hybrid irons have become very popular at the long end of the bag as their design makes them easier to hit than long irons. With a hybrid, the ball won’t be as far forward as with a fairway wood – more like a mid- to long-iron, so about one-and-a-half balls inside your left heel depending on loft. Despite their mini-wood looks, I would definitely recommend treating them much more like an iron than a wood when it comes to set-up and execution. 2 Because the shaft is a little longer than in an iron, I would advise gripping down half-an-inch to an inch to make you more comfortable and get it feeling more like an iron at set-up. This will also give you more control. The design…

Ping G710 The G710 iron is Ping’s longest and most forgiving iron. Distance and forgiveness are the product of a stainless steel body and maraging steel face, which flexes more like a metalwood to generate faster ball speeds, added distance and higher shots with plenty of stopping power. G710 boasts an MOI five per cent higher than the G700, with tungsten toe and heel weights boosting forgiveness. A hydropearl chrome finish with a black PVD coating gives it a more compact look. G710 irons also come fitted with Arccos Caddie Smart Grips as standard. Ping G425 The forgiving G425 iron is a traditional cavity back designed to promote more ball speed, a high launch and plenty of stopping power. It has a higher MOI than its G410 predecessor, but with…

1 I often see golfers take fairly meaningless practice swings, where they perhaps swing back too far. Some don’t even have a practice swing at all. 2 Take enough intentional practice swings to get a feel for the distance and how the clubhead will interact with the turf through impact. 3 Club golfers will often hit chips with their hands right at the top of the grip, as for a full swing. The club is actually at its heaviest then and harder to control, so to gain more control and gauge the distance a little bit better, grip down the golf club more. Don’t be afraid to get almost down to the bottom of the grip, as in the right-hand photo. 4 The landing area is vitally important, yet all…

Amid all the concerns of 2020, I think it’s fair to say most golf fans in this country felt a small pang of loss last July when denied our annual fix of top-level links golf. It seems an age since Shane Lowry’s stirring win in the 148th Open at Royal Portrush, revisited by Fergus Bisset on page 46. It will feel like a giant step in the right direction when the first ball is struck at Royal St George’s on July 15. We’ve been fortunate to enjoy a selection of fabulous men’s Major Championships since Portrush in 2019, none more momentous than Phil Mickelson’s win for the ages at Kiawah Island. But, for me, nothing quite matches The Open. Others might argue for The Masters, but, as far as I’m…

Across 7 He won two Majors in 1956 but sounds a fool (5) 8 Part of the Danish World Cup of Golf winning pair in 2016 (6) 9 Norman ace in round at Irish links course (9) 10 Item of attire you have to foot the bill for? (4) 11 Oldie glee recognising a member of first four US Ryder Cup teams (3,6) 14 What The Open is played over (9) 16 Cheat Barry at Carnoustie (4) 17 Scot who was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 2019 (9) 19 Prickly fellows on Royal Liverpool’s 6th (6) 20 Lease provided for Senior Scottish Open winner in 2016 (5) Down 1 Championship won this year by Tyrrell Hatton (3,5) 2 Pressure to see grain for Open winner (5)…

Thomas Pieters The Belgian hasn’t won since 2019 and is in danger of falling outside the world’s top 100 after missing cuts at the AT&T Byron Nelson and the USPGA Championship. Ian Poulter A tie for third at the Charles Schwab Challenge was Poulter’s best PGA Tour finish in more than two years and a timely result with the Ryder Cup fast approaching. Cameron Champ Champ has missed seven of his last 11 cuts and withdrew from the Memorial Tournament midway through his second round when he was 14-over. Lucas Herbert After making the cut at Kiawah Island, the Australian registered his best result on the PGA Tour with a T18 finish at the Memorial Tournament.…

SOUND BITES “TWENTY YEARS AGO I LOST MY MUM AND I’VE DREAMT ABOUT THIS SINCE THAT DAY. YOU HAVE TIMES WHEN YOU THINK ‘THIS MIGHT NOT HAPPEN’ BUT I JUST STUCK AT IT. I’M SURE SHE’D BE PROUD” Marcus Armitage after winning his first European Tour title at the Porsche European Open “I SAW THE VIDEO OF MIKE CALLING HIS DAD AFTER HE MONDAY QUALIFIED AT THE VALSPAR AND I WANTED TO HELP. I FELT IT WAS SO REFRESHING TO SEE HOW GENUINE HIS EXCITEMENT AND EMOTIONS WERE” Justin Thomas on why he decided to support Michael Visacki on his quest for PGA Tour status “I AM FOR BANNING ARM-LOCK PUT TERS, BUT IF EVERYONE ELSE IS GOING TO USE THEM AND I FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE A BIGGER AD…

Two long, weary years after the merry mayhem that wrapped itself around Shane Lowry’s Portrush victory, the 149th Open Championship is scheduled to get underway at Royal St George’s at last. With a thin sliver of luck, fans will be there to cheer on the men competing for the old game’s most significant title. Exactly how many will be roaming the links and adding their voices to the scene remains to be seen. We need the luck because, at the time of writing, no one can be certain what the situation will be in July. Will we be free to roam or once again restricted in our movements? Either way, with or without spectators, there will be an Open, though The R&A has had to plan for at least three…

The challenges here are slightly different for the world’s best and average club golfers. The vast bunker that stares back at you off the tee and obscures the fairway is unlikely to trouble them, as it’s only a 240-yard carry off the back tees. That said, in 1981, Rogers did make reference to the 4th as one of the key holes. “The Himalaya bunker is such a challenge,” Rogers reflected. “The hole in itself is hard enough, but you’re visually very challenged on that hole.” When I played a preview round here off the back tees in May with Neil Tappin, the height of that bunker made the carry too much for me, and we had a little fun experimenting with the shot back out. But if a 240-yard carry…

The finale at Royal St George’s shares some symmetry with the closing hole at Royal Troon, boasting a similar number of fairway bunkers to keep players on their toes. As with so many holes like this, length is perhaps not the issue it once was other than when playing into the wind, and indeed, if the wind is the other way round and conditions are firm and running, some players could be hitting very short shots into the green The challenge is to guide your ball down the fairway and stay out of the two shorter bunkers on the left – if caution is being exercised off the tee – or find the narrow gap between the bunkers on the right and left if adopting a more aggressive approach. Wherever…

When Darren Clarke won at Royal St George’s in 2011, Paul Larsen was deputy to the course manager. This time round, he’s in charge. Here, we ask how things have progressed throughout the extended run-up to the 149th Open Championship… What were your initial thoughts when it was confirmed that The Open wasn’t going to happen last year? Good question! When I think back, it was all about the pandemic and the virus and we were all quite worried about it. We’d gone on to furlough, so we had five guys in and I was coming in as part of the five and doing quite a lot of work. It was more a case that we were all petrified we were going to get it or our parents were going…

1 To help get the ball rolling, take a narrow stance and stand a touch closer than you would for a ‘normal’ chip. If you stand too far away, you’ll create a more rounded arc to the swing, which makes it more difficult to time the low point at impact. Keep your weight on your lead side, too – about 70 per cent, as this will encourage a slightly downward angle of attack. 2 By gripping down to the very bottom of the rubber, it gives you better control of the shot and reduces any unwanted wrist action. Use the same grip as you would for a putt and you should be able to control the tempo nicely. You’re hitting the shot more like a putt, and with that slightly…

When they say that timing is everything in golf, usually people are talking about things like swing tempo. But during round two of the Valspar Championship in late April, Jimmy Walker found out the hard way that not paying close enough attention to the actual time can also be quite costly, as Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A, explains. Walker was due to tee off on the 1st at 7.39am on Friday morning, but only minutes before his start time was still nowhere to be seen. A Rules official finally tracked him down still hitting balls on the range and informed him that he had only one minute to get to the tee. Exactly why Walker was running late wasn’t made clear, but despite a quick sprint to the…

1 In stroke play, Jezz moves a pine cone from behind his ball, which causes it to roll down the slope in the bunker. What is the ruling? A There is no penalty. B Jezz gets one penalty stroke and must replace the ball. C Jezz gets one penalty stroke and must play the ball as it lies. 2 During a match, Jezz removes a boundary stake that was interfering with his swing before playing his next shot. What is the ruling? A There is no penalty. B Jezz gets one penalty stroke. C Jezz gets the general penalty (loss of hole). 3 In stroke play, Fergus takes lateral relief from a yellow penalty area 180 yards up from the other side of the water. He then plays his next…

GM Verdict This is the fifth iteration of Under Armour’s signature shoe. It’s designed with insights from Jordan Spieth and leading biomechanist JJ Rivet to unlock new levels of performance and comfort. The big story in terms of the design is the inclusion of a fourth dimension of traction, called internal traction. This manifests itself in the form of a unique 3D moulded footbed, with an additional wrap over the inside and top of the foot. We have to say it felt a little strange at first, but over time you soon forget about it and the inside of the shoe certainly feels fuller, without the pinching that can cause discomfort. With any sports performance shoe, a better connection between the foot and the shoe means a better connection with…

Fairway woods can often be the clubs that amateur golfers most struggle to get on with. But if you find one you like, it can become a real asset that can be used on lots of different shots during the course of a round, so it pays to do your research. To give you an idea as to what might work best for you, we tested 13 of the latest 3-woods using Titleist Pro V1x balls, both on the Foresight Sports GCQuad launch monitor and on the course at Burghley Park, to see what you can expect. Looks You can split the clubs into three camps in terms of size. We prefer the more squashed profile and shallow face you find on models like the TaylorMade SIM2 Ti, Titleist TSi2…

G425 Max driver The G425 Max has the highest MOI of any Ping driver to date, thanks to a 26g movable tungsten weight at the back of the clubhead. This shifts the CG lower and further back and can be moved between neutral, draw and fade settings depending on preference. Ping’s Trajectory Tuning 2.0 features a hosel sleeve with eight positions for more adjustability to cater for all swing types. A high-strength forged face maximises flex for fast ball speeds across a wider area to deliver more distance on off-centre strikes. G425 SFT driver SFT stands for Straight Flight Technology, which uses a draw bias that is engineered to bring shots back on line and help left-to-right golfers find more fairways. This draw bias is achieved via a fixed 23g…

Former World No. 1 Lee Westwood has been one of the most consistent players in world golf for the last 25 years. He’s known not only for his ball striking, particularly off the tee, but also for his focused and determined approach to the game. A key to his success and longevity has been his mental strength and strategic thinking - having the ability to grind out a score even when he’s not on top form. Here, Lee shares his thoughts on strategy, grinding, tournament play and practice, and on how club golfers can learn from the top pros to make their bad golf better. Build a strategy Getting the very most out of your game is key in the professional game, whether you’re playing well or playing poorly. This…

Hope for us all Richard Bland winning the British Masters last month was akin to something out of Roy of the Rovers. Even Lazarus would have probably given up after 477 attempts at glory. But for all those struggling, not just in sport but in life as well, it is such a heart-warming story, and such an amazing reason never to give up. I have followed his career as a local boy for 20 years and have felt for him when he’s had one of his near misses, but he finally got his day in the sun. Did he deserve his moment? Well, you only need to look back at the commentary and watch grown men in tears to see that he most certainly did. Even Fred Couples and Phil…

Can you share your emotions on becoming golf’s oldest Major Champion? It’s certainly one of the moments I’ll cherish for my entire life. I don’t know how to describe the feeling of excitement and fulfilment and accomplishment. Did you ever doubt yourself? I believed for a long time that I could play at this level again. I didn’t see why I couldn’t, but although I believed it, until I actually did it, there was a lot of doubt. I just had to work harder physically to be able to practise as long as I wanted to and I’ve had to work a lot harder to be able to maintain focus throughout a round. That’s been the biggest challenge of late. My desire to play is the same. I’ve never been…

Sixty eight years after The Open’s only other visit to the Emerald Isle, an Irishman beat all international rivals on Irish shores. Shane Lowry’s links masterclass at Portrush in 2019 will go down in the annals of Ireland’s sporting history and popular folklore – Finn MacCool with a 3-iron! Lowry has been Champion Golfer for two years because of the pandemic, but even with extra time for reflection, he finds it surreal to recall the biggest week of his sporting life. Speaking on The Open Podcasts, the 32-year-old remembers the final moments at Portrush: “Walking down 18, I said to my caddie Bo, looking at the leaderboard, ‘I cannot believe it’s me up there’. It’s one of the strangest feelings. It was like an out of body experience.” Lowry produced…

You might be excused for thinking ‘what’s the problem here?’ A 547-yard, virtually dead-straight par 5 on firm links terrain is nothing in the modern era, yet this is still a hole that many players fear, especially if the wind is off the left. OOB lies in wait for the entire length of the hole, not very far from the fairway cut or the green. Par 5s of this length rarely play to an abovepar average these days, but in the 2011 Open, the average throughout the week was 5.07, with just one eagle recorded compared with 19 on the longer 7th on the front nine. When Neil and I played, the wind was indeed off the left, and I duly despatched a couple of balls on to neighbouring Prince’s…

It was English poet Thomas Gray who wrote, “Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife.” The odds are stacked heavily against Greg Norman uttering this line of 18th-century poetry as he searched for a place to practise ahead of the 1993 Open Championship at Royal St George’s but he shared Gray’s sentiment. The difference is that Gray was soaking in the tranquillity of a churchyard as he contemplated mortality, while Norman just needed to get away from the “white noise” to hit some golf balls off a sidehill lie. “You get a lot of white noise at Majors,” says Norman, now 66, but 38 at the time. “People are always walking around you, talking to you and it can be very hard to concentrate on what you are there to…

1 Driving Through the ball, you can see how well Phil gets his right side out of the way. This rapid rotation pulls the arms through quickly and releases the club into the ball with great speed - one of his distance keys. I imagine he’s also been working on pushing up through the lead leg, so he’s hitting up on the ball by using the ground forces much better, a trait seen in various forms in modern golf. The length of his turn is helped by a lifting of his right heel, and while that makes his legs more active and his foundations a little softer, it assists with his terrific hip and torso turn. Club golfers may want to try this, especially older players, as it can release…

I had an experience when I won the Dutch Open snooker tournament in 1989. I played the quarter- and semi-final free-flowing but, when I got to the final, it was televised all over Europe and I could not hold my cue for the first two frames! That’s what triggered my interest in what’s happening inside the brain. I went on some courses in America and, since then, my approach has been more about helping players not to allow themselves to get into those anxious, fearful states. It’s more of a modern approach to psychology and it’s what I call neural rewiring. You’re rewiring your brain to achieve better automatic thoughts, which leads to a better emotional state. That, ultimately, has the biggest influence on performance. I started working with Rafa…

Q Could you tell me what penalty is applicable in a match play competition if it comes to light on the 14th hole that one player has been using a DMD with the slope functionality enabled for the entire round so far? I know that this is against the Rules, but I don’t know what the penalty would be for such a breach. hombre_paulo, GM website forum A Rule 4.3a allows a player to use a device that is capable of operating a prohibited function as long as those specific functions are not accessed by the player during the round. ‘Access’ means that the player has viewed or otherwise used the information generated by a prohibited function or a device where such info is displayed. If information is being displayed…

GM Verdict The TSi range is arguably the most versatile you’ll find this year, thanks in part to the fact there are three models within it to choose from. The oversized, lightweight TSi1 hybrid is a slightly more niche offering, and with the majority of golfers fitting into the TSi2 or TSi3, these are the models this review will focus on. Both hybrids provide that classic Titleist look at address, with minimal graphics ensuring there are no distractions. The white score lines assist with alignment, too. The difference in performance between the TSi2 and TSi3 was minimal when testing on the Foresight Sports GCQuad launch monitor indoors with Titleist Pro V1x golf balls. Testing in the same loft (18°), the spin was almost identical at around 3,000rpm, but the TSi3…

GM Verdict The TP5 ball from TaylorMade has gone from strength to strength since it was first released in 2017, continuing to offer all-round performance up there with the very best in the premium category New for 2021 is a dimple pattern designed to improve aerodynamics and increase carry distance. It remains the softer of the two TP5 models, ensuring an excellent balance of distance and spin. On testing, we found it to offer exactly that. Distance off the tee was never an issue, while approaching greens it was very workable with an iron in hand. Flighting shots high and low at will seemed simple and the trajectories were consistent and predictable. Mid and short irons had good stopping power and distance, a pleasing combination that encouraged flag hunting. On…

A healthy number of the 24 clubs listed on the Wiltshire Golf website offer up excellent year-round golf because of their downland settings. Among them is the thoroughly enjoyable course at North Wilts Golf Club, which was founded in 1890 and which climbs to 700ft at its highest point. There is a real feeling of space here, with far-reaching views everywhere you look. The layout is bisected by a road midway between Calne and Devizes, with the opening ten holes lying across the road from the clubhouse. You start on an inviting par 5 across a sideslope, before a short par-4 2nd that will fill you with hope… until you catch sight of the unusual two-tiered green with its small, awkward rear shelf. You climb steeply on the 5th -…

Like most golfers, I was enormously relieved to resume playing when lockdown eased and we were able to move around more freely. My first ‘away’ game was a return to the downland delights of Purley Downs. Originally designed by J.H. Taylor, the layout has been modified substantially over the years and is changing again right now. New housing beside the short 8th has necessitated a redesign, with architect James Edwards building an impressive and well-bunkered green further left that means even my most vicious slice will no longer worry the neighbours! In mid-May, I played my first new course in seven months, my longest barren spell in over 40 years. I thoroughly enjoyed the short but tricky North Middlesex, which struck me as an extremely friendly club. It’s under 5,700…

In the 1980s, golf entered a remarkable boom time, spearheaded by the success of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and others. Suddenly, everyone wanted to play, and The R&A reported that we needed a great many new courses in the UK&I to fulfil potential demand and grow the game. Several hundred were built before the new millennium, and while a good number have stood the test of time, many have fallen by the wayside. Within a few miles of my home in Kent, the likes of Austin Lodge, Broke Hill, Cranbrook (aka Hemsted Forest), Deangate Ridge, Kent National (aka Moatlands) and Woodlands Manor have all closed their doors in the last few years. The oldest of these only dated back to 1969, so it’s sad…

1 Ball position is very important. Many golfers have the ball too far back in the stance so there’s not enough loft at impact. With fairway woods, make sure you have the ball just inside your left heel, which is far enough forward to help shallow out the angle of attack a little. 2 The second thing you need is a nice wide base, so your stance should be shoulderwidth or a fraction more. Too narrow and you’re going to get too much weight towards the left foot. Your weight should be evenly distributed between your feet at address – think 50/50. 3 Finally, if you get ball position and weight distribution right, your shirt buttons or zip should sit a little behind your belt buckle. This angle or tilt…

1 How the left wrist looks at the top of the backswing can be a good indicator of how you’re likely to return the club to the ball. 2 Using a tee peg down the back of your glove that just overlaps the wrist joint as here can provide a tell-tale clue that all is not right at the top. 3 In a push, the ball starts right and stays right because the clubface is too open at some point. A root cause can be a cupped left wrist at the top, and you’ll feel a little pressure via the tee peg if you’re guilty of this. The left wrist should be flat with the tee peg pointing perfectly down your forearm. 4 In a pull, the clubface is too…

Ping 2021 putters The Ping 2021 range offers consistency and predictability in both feel and performance in an eye-catching design that will help improve your game on the greens. A multi-material construction and soft, responsive dual-durometer insert pave the way to new levels of forgiveness across all 12 blade, mid-mallet or mallet designs in the Ping 2021 range. Shallow, uniform grooves across the face combine with that insert to create confidence and precision on short putts and distance control on longer putts. In the Ping 2021 putter range, the Fetch model’s iconic ball-retrieving circular cutout is no longer visible at address, but remains as a useful design feature in the sole so you can fetch the ball without bending down. There’s also a new Harwood model, which uses the same…

Wow, what an advert Phil Mickelson is for the older golfer. However, what he’s achieved is not an accident. I’d guess he has worked harder on his fitness in recent years than when he was a young man. The reward has been to extend his career and obtain another Major, putting the Senior Tour on hold for now. We over-50s may not be able to reach his fitness level, but we should all really try. Even if we fall short, it is not wasted effort. Not only is it good for our general health, but increased flexibility can only be good for our swings and keep us competitive for a few more years on the course. I am sure many readers will know golfers still playing into their 80s and…

Yuka Saso clinched victory in the US Women’s Open at San Francisco’s famous Olympic Club at the age of just 19 years, 11 months and 17 days. Incredibly, Saso, who birdied the third extra hole to defeat Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in a play-off, was the exact same age as Inbee Park when she won this title back in 2008. It was not without its drama, however. In fact, victory looked out of reach as early as the 4th tee after back-to-back double-bogeys left Saso five behind leader Lexi Thompson. Thompson still led by five with eight holes to play as she finally appeared destined to win her second Major, but things soon began to unravel. A double on the 11th sparked a back-nine collapse and by the 72nd hole, she…

Designed to complement its existing offerings, Odyssey has launched the DFX range of putters. Despite being positioned more at an entry-level price point, there is plenty to like about the looks and performance on offer. There are five head shapes that all feature Odyssey’s softest insert – 20 per cent softer than the popular White Hot insert that features in the White Hot OG range – for golfers who want a smooth feel and roll. The putters boast a stealth all-black head design from the body to the insert itself. This makes the white alignment lines (and balls) stand out clearly to help golfers start the ball on their chosen line. The five shapes are some of the most iconic the brand has ever produced, with numerous worldwide wins: the…

Photography GETTY IMAGES, KEVIN MURRAY Royal St George’s in Sandwich stands out in several ways. It was the first course outside Scotland to host The Open in 1894; it is the only current Open rota venue in the south of England; and it plays over the most rumpled fairways of any links on which the world’s best compete for the Claret Jug. It’s true to say it probably provides the most scope for unlucky bounces, something that has not always sat well with some of the biggest names in golf, with some quite loud anti-voices to be heard both before and after 2003’s surprise winner, Ben Curtis, had been crowned. Yes, a couple of blind shots remain off the 4th and 7th tees. And yes, it has thrown up other…

The shortest of the four par 3s certainly looks the most innocuous on the scorecard, for 162 yards requires very little club for most top pros these days in normal conditions. But even though it does play the easiest of the one-shotters, it still averaged over par in 2011. The four bunkers short of the green are really far enough short not to pose much of a threat, other than on serious misstrikes or misclubbings on windy days when the pin is at the front. But the shortest of this quartet, in particular, does serve to obscure part of the green, so when the pin is on the left, you won’t be able to see the foot of the flag. This was the case when Neil and I played, and…

When the open was cancelled last year, it was the first time that golf’s oldest Major hadn’t been played since the Second World War. The R&A explored every option before finally pulling the plug, but the safety of everyone involved had to come first, and it was clear that the Covid-19 pandemic would put that in jeopardy. The decision was made with a heavy heart, but it was the right one – few people would contest that. A year on, and while life – or sport for that matter – is still anything but normal, we can be pretty much certain that 2021 will give us The Open we’ve all been craving. Getting number 149 in the books was never going to be an easy task. It’s taken a monumental…

1 People who tend to overswing lose the concept of how far the club is going back and think it’s neutral at the top or going back to the right position. A good way to remedy things is to try and feel that your left arm is travelling to no further than parallel from the ground. Swinging to what you feel is a half or three-quarter backswing length will often actually get you swinging to the correct length. 2 Having a poor hold on the club can also lead to an overswing. One of the best things you can do is to shorten your left thumb to help support the club more. The tip of your thumb should be about half to three-quarters of an inch away from the tip…

For consistent pitching, keep your spine over the ball at both address and impact. If it tilts away too much, as is the tendency when looking to get the ball up, you’ll struggle. A great way to stop flicking at the ball with the wrists is to practise with your right hand only – this gives you a feel for the natural sequence. With two hands, golfers often flick at it; with the right hand only, they never do!…

Contrary to what some golfers believe, the Rules of Golf never allow you to simply declare your ball to be lost. If you hit your ball into a bad spot, even if you decide you don’t want to look for it, your opponent or playing companions may still do so, and if they find it, or think they have found it, you can’t just ignore it and must take steps to identify it. In most instances, certainly in stroke play, most golfers wouldn’t look for a ball against your wishes. However, there may be some tactical reasons for an opponent to search for it in match play. If your ball is found within the permitted three minutes, you will have to deal with it from where it is found, however…

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Royal Porthcawl Following a six-year absence from one of my all-time favourite golf courses, I was extremely keen to see what had changed. Gorse clearance and tidying, and the opening up of wasteland/scrape areas, are very impressive, and the new grass pathways have made for a far more aesthetically pleasing and footfriendly experience. This is an expansive course with great pedigree. It features on world lists, has hosted top-level championships, has inspirational sea views all the way and has more than enough charm to keep you fully engaged even if your game is off. A round here, so long as the wind is not too playful, is one that you simply won’t want to end. Its greatest strength is that rather than individual standout holes, there are 18 interesting and…

Ballybunion Cashen The Old course at Ballybunion is one of the most famous in the world, and although there are some who don’t favour its tight lines, tricky angles and generally small greens, the Cashen course is great fun, scenic and memorable. Designed by Robert Trent Jones – renowned for his bold statements and enthusiasm for the dramatic – it opened for play in 1984 and makes for an adventurous companion to its celebrated sibling. Play it when the wind is behaving and you should have a smile on your face all the way. GF: round: €80 Blairgowrie Lansdowne The Lansdowne course at Blairgowrie in the beautiful Grampian Mountains was designed getting on for 50 years ago by Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas. It too runs through delightful and dense…