Golf Digest India - August 2017

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4

THINK YOUNG | PLAY HARD

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how to play. what to play. where to play.

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Contents 08/17

ArgentinA l AustrAliA l Chile l ChinA l CzeCh republiC l FinlAnd l FrAnCe l hong Kong l IndIa l indonesiA l irelAnd KoreA l MAlAysiA l MexiCo l Middle eAst l portugAl l russiA l south AFriCA l spAin l sweden l tAiwAn l thAilAnd l usA

Cover Story 24

Tiger: How Bad Is It? Six questions for a player who once had all the answers. by jaime diaz

80

Of Mood Swings, Bumpy Plane Rides & Breakfast Buffets

by Chuah Choo Chiang

India Digest 20

Newsmakers Update on Indian golfers around the world

32

Tête-à-Tête Generating Interest Among Women Essential To Growth Of Golf: Neelam Pratap Rudy

81

by josh buRaCk

Big Data 84

by Rohit bhaRdwaj

24

50

Club Round-Up Updates from courses across India

54

Junior Golf

56

Business Of Golf Industry updates

58

Corporate Digest Cornerstone Cup Karnataka Golf Festival

59

Duke of Edinburgh Cup

60

Lifestyle Hi-Life Updates on new launches of luxury products & travel

Let’s Welcome The Second Half Of The Season

Math on Your Side A focus on mathematical analysis is changing golf.

Here’s how it can boost your game. by mike staChuRa

88

New Study Unlocks 6 Swing Secrets by niCk CleaRwateR with matthew Rudy

94

Info-Seekers How Zach Johnson learned to weaponize his stats, plus two more data disruptors on tour. by guy yoCom

Features 98

Putt Better on Fast Greens The smart way to survive U.S. Open-style surfaces. by minjee lee

32 GETTING STARTED SPECIAL

100 Phil’s Insider64

First Tee Provides Juniors A Platform To Realise Golfing Dream

66

‘Neighbours’ Restore Greenbrier To Top Shape After Floods

38 Putt-ing For Future Glory

Trading Escape How a legal opening let Phil Mickelson wiggle out of an insider-trading case that snared Billy Walters. by jeffRey toobin

106 David Leadbetter

Stop duffing short shots

40 Parents’ Interest A Must

107 Jack Nicklaus

42 Busting Myths

Your game plan for uncomfortable shots

44 What Business Leaders/ Celebs Say

73

108 Tom Watson

46 Facilities Where You Can Get Started

Fitness Tips Empowering the hips

74

109 Butch Harmon

47 Handicap Service At Your Doorstep

Reed Signals Intention With Win In Exciting Hero Challenge

76

The Referee’s View Of A Heartbreak And Incredible Integrity

112 Undercover Tour Pro

48 Big Names Endorse India Learn Golf Week 14 golf digest india | august 2017

Drive it lower in crosswinds

Train with alignment rods for better accuracy

What if we had to play without caddies? with max adleR

Cover photograph: Golf Digest USA

Editor’s Letter

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Dear Readers,

A

nytime is good to start playing golf.

Now that the rains are in full swing, temperatures are bearable across most of India and evenings are sufficiently long that you can venture out after a working day for an hour’s class to start golf.

Jack Nicklaus

Our “Getting Started” section this month should be shared with all your friends and family who want to learn golf but don’t know how to get going. Three leading coaches – Anitya Chand and Romit Bose from Delhi and Write to me at rishi@teamgolfdigest.com or Bengaluru’s Tarun Sardesai have shared their on Twitter @RishiNarain_ tips on how to get started – so everything your friends need to know is in there. Further we have identified driving ranges around India which are easy to access so you know where to go. And once you’ve started and need a handicap certificate, we tell you how to get one without being a member of a golf club.

India Learn Golf Week is a golden opportunity for any newcomer as clubs across India make an effort to reach out to beginners – read about it in our pages.

The instruction pieces and features of Golf Digest are by far the best in the world and we are pleased to bring some of the most insightful analytics to Indian readers this month.

Our regular legendary contributors – Nicklaus, Watson, Leadbetter, Butch Harmon etc. once again share their tips with you.

Popularly known as The ‘Golden Bear’, Nicklaus is widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time. He won a record 18 Majors during his playing career and is regarded as the ultimate thinker and strategist on the golf course. He lies third on the all-time winner list on the PGA Tour behind Sam Snead and Tiger Woods with 73 titles.

Tom Watson

Watson is an eighttime Major champion, with five British Open titles to his credit, who defied age by becoming the oldest professional golfer at 60 years to lead the second and third rounds of the 2009 British Open. He topped the World Rankings from 1978 to 1982.

We hope to continue to get your feedback and comments regularly.

Butch Harmon

Happy Golfing !

Rishi Narain

TEAM GOLF DIGEST INDIA Editor & Publisher Rishi Narain Managing Editor Rohit Bhardwaj Assistant Art Director Guneet Singh Oberoi Subscriptions Monika Chhabra subscribe@teamgolfdigest.com Phone: +91-9999868051

Marketing & Advertising Nikhil Narain nikhil@teamgolfdigest.com +91-9999990364 Parth Premi parth@teamgolfdigest.com +91-9810455540 Srijan Yadav srijan@teamgolfdigest.com +91-9416252880

Published and Printed by Rishi Narain on behalf of Rishi Narain Golf Management Private Limited and Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, 18-35 Mile Stone, Delhi-Mathura Road, Faridabad-121 007, Haryana and published from 501, Sushant Tower, Sector-56, Gurgaon-122 011, Haryana. Editor: Rishi Narain. Contains material reprinted by permission from Golf Digest® and Golf World®.

Golf Digest India is a monthly publication of Rishi Narain Golf Management Private Limited.

16 golf digest india | august 2017

GOLF DIGEST INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS AND EDITORS-IN-CHIEF GD ArGentinA Hernán SimÓ, Jorge R. Arias AustrAliAn GD Brad Clifton GD Chile Rodrigo Soto GD ChinA Echo Ma GD CzeCh republiC Robin Drahonovsky GD FinlAnD Sami Markkanen GD FrAnCe Henry Trouillet GD honG KonG Echo Ma GD inDonesiA Irwan Hermawan GD irelAnD Linton Walsh GD KoreA Eun Jeong “EJ” Sohn GD MAlAysiA Patrick Ho GD MexiCo Rafa Quiroz GD MiDDle eAst Robbie Greenfield GD portuGAl João Morais Leitão GD russiA Fedor Gogolev GD south AFriCA Stuart McLean GD spAin Óscar Maqueda GD sweDen Oskar Åsgård GD tAiwAn Jennifer Wei GD thAilAnD Chumphol Na Takuathung GD usA Jerry Tarde

Harmon is best known for having been Tiger Woods’ golf coach during the prime of his career from 1993 to 2004. He has also worked with other Major champions such as Ernie Els, Stewart Cink, Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Fred Couples and Justin Leonard. Has topped many lists as the No. 1 rated golf instructor in the world.

David Leadbetter

Leadbetter, is without doubt the most celebrated golf instructor in history. His books, videos and DVD’s have sold in the millions worldwide. He came to wide notice in the 1980s when he rebuilt the swing of Nick Faldo, who then went on to win six Major championships. Apart from Faldo his students included Greg Norman (1997) and Ernie Els (1990–2008). Leadbetter changed golf instruction for all future generations from guesswork to science.

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MONTHLY LUCKY DRAW!!!

Newsmakers

PLAYERS IN THE NEWS The Open - Kapur and Lahiri both qualify but miss cut by a stroke Brutal weather conditions put paid to the brilliant efforts put up by the Indian golfing duo of Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri to make the weekend rounds of the British Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in England last month.

The Indian pair narrowly missed the cut by one stroke after fighting heavy winds frequently changing directions for matching 3-over 73s in Round 2 for an overall six-over 146. The cut fell at 5-over 145. For India’s highest-ranked golfer Lahiri, who got a late call-up to the world’s oldest Major due to withdrawal of Scott Piercy of the US, couldn’t capitalise on the brilliant opportunity with a cold putter only adding to his woes.

“Putter was a little cold today but I’ve done some good work this afternoon.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. #theopen #currypower,” Lahiri had tweeted on Day One of the tournament.

Kapur, who had topped the qualifiers at Woburn to book a place in the elite field, was disappointed to miss the weekend rounds but was satisfied having battled the turbulent weather. “It was brutal out there. First it was the wind then the rain and the wind switched on the back nine.

All in all I hung quite tough and played pretty well. I made a couple of bogeys on the back but I fought back. Unfortunately it was one shot too many,” Kapur told a news website.

“On a day like today, you know everyone is battling. At the start of the day I figured even-par would be a good score and I tried to hang on but I had a bad stretch in the middle of the round,” added Kapur.

Kapur has a knack of qualifying for Majors via 36-hole shootouts. The in-form Kapur clinched one of the 15 spots on offer to earn his third British Open appearance by topping one of the five Final Qualifying events staged in the United Kingdom earlier in July.

It’s turning out to be a highly productive year for the 35-year-old, who posted a win and a tied second finish on the Asian Tour in the first half of the season. This will be Kapur’s fifth appearance in a Major. He was part of the British Open field in 2006 and 2013 and competed at the US Open in 2014 and 2015. The Delhi professional holds the record for the best finish by an

20 golf digest india | august 2017

Previous Qualifications US Open – 2015 (MC) & 2014 (Tied 23rd) British Open – 2013 (Tied 73rd) & 2006 (MC)

“MAJORS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MY TOP PRIORITY AS A GOLFER. I LIKE THE SHEER HISTORY AND HONOUR ATTACHED WITH MAJORS. I AM SUPER EXCITED TO HAVE — SHIV KAPUR EARNED A TICKET TO ROYAL BIRKDALE” Indian at the US Open, courtesy his tied 23rd result in 2014. Kapur posted scores of 1-under 71 and 7-under 65 at Marquess’ Course in Woburn to finish two strokes ahead of Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter and Toby Tree.

“Majors have always been my top priority as a golfer. I like the sheer history and honour

attached with Majors. I am super excited to have earned a ticket to Royal Birkdale.

Memories of 2013 came rushing back to me when I saw my name on top of the leaderboard.

I had led for the first nine holes during the opening round that year,” Kapur told Golf Digest India from England.

Newsmakers

Lahiri scripts decent finish at Scottish Open

FAST FACTS

• A total of 7 Indians have played at the Majors - Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, Shiv Kapur, Anirban Lahiri, Gaurav Ghei and Gaganjeet Bhullar. They have a combined total of 41 Major appearances. All seven have appeared at the British Open.

• Gaurav Ghei was the first Indian to appear at a Major when he played the 1997 British Open at the Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland.

• Jeev Milkha Singh has made 14 Major appearances so far, the most by an Indian. Anirban Lahiri with 10 Major appearances is second on this list.

• Jeev Milkha Singh, Anirban Lahiri and Arjun Atwal are the only three Indians to have played all four Majors. Jeev is the only Indian to have made the cut at all Majors.

World No. 67 Anirban Lahiri scripted a decent finish at the $7 million Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open after returning to a European Tour event after a gap of more than 3 months. Anirban posted a brilliant 6-under 66 in the final round to finish tied 32nd in the Scottish Open, which is also a precursor to the British Open Championship, Europe’s sole Major.

Anirban won cool Euro 48, 955 (approx. Rs 36 lakh) for his effort.

Compatriot SSP Chawrasia failed to make the weekend rounds with a two-day total of 4-over 148 (72-76).

Two Indians in top-2 of Challenge Tour

Two professionals of Indian origin are helming the Road to Oman rankings for the first time in the European Challenge Tour history.

US-based Julian Suri, great grandson of Tamil Nadu cricket legend Buchi Babu, along with Aaron Rai, son of a Kenya-born Indian mother and an English fa t h e r, a re standing in the top-2 positions respectively on the feeder body of the European Tour.

Best Finish At A Major By An Indian US Masters Jeev Milkha Singh (Tied 25th in 2008) US Open Shiv Kapur (Tied 23rd in 2014) British Open Jyoti Randhawa (Tied 27th in 2004) US PGA Championship Anirban Lahiri (Tied 5th in 2015)

PGTI Calendar Dates

Event

Venue

Prize Money

August 3 - 6

TAKE Solutions Masters 2017

Karnataka Golf Association, Bengaluru

US$ 300,000

August 23-26

Haryana Open

Panchkula Golf Club

Rs 40 Lacs

Aug. 30 - Sept. 2

TAKE Classic

Kalhaar Blues & Greens, Ahmedabad

Rs 50 Lacs

Sept. 5-8

Kensville Open

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad

Rs 40 Lacs

Sept. 13-17

Jaipur Open

Rambagh Golf Club, Jaipur

Rs 30 Lacs

Sept. 19-22

PGTI Players Championship

Noida Golf Course

Rs 30 Lacs

Oct. 12-15

TAKE Open Golf Championship

Chandigarh Golf Club

Rs 1 Crore

Oct. 24-29

Gurgaon Open

Delhi NCR

TBC

Nov. 2-5

Panasonic Open India

Delhi Golf Club

US$400,000

Nov. 15-18

Bangalore Open

Karnataka Golf Association, Bengaluru

Rs 1 Crore

Nov. 22-25

IndianOil Servo Masters

Digboi Golf Links

Rs 35 Lacs

Nov. 30 - Dec. 2

BloombergQuint Open

Classic Golf & Country Club, Mewat

TBA

Dec. 6-9

Crompton Greaves Open

Bombay Presidency Golf Club

Rs 1 Crore

Dec. 14-17

16th Tata Open

Golmuri Golf Club, Jamshedpur

Rs 75 Lacs

Dec. 21-24

McLeod Russel Tour Championship

Royal Calcutta Golf Club

Rs 1.5 Crore august 2017 | golf digest india

21

Newsmakers Women’s Golf

TVESA CLINCHES FIRST TITLE AS PRO

LPGA Rookie Aditi Registers Best Major Result LPGA rookie Aditi Ashok logged her best ADITI’S RECENT RESULTS result at a Major with a tied-29th finish in Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last month. Aditi, who was playing in only her – T-28 ($14,782) second Major, shot one-over 72 in the final KPMG Women’s PGA C’ship round and finished at one-under 283.

– T-29 ($25,623) Her winnings were $25,623 (approx. Rs 16.57 lakh), her best on the LPGA so far. The Walmart NW Arkansas C’ship 19-year-old Indian also moved to 76th on the – T-25 ($17,519) LPGA Order of Merit. Aditi opened the week Meijer LPGA Classic with rounds of 69-69 on the first two days, at – T-32 ($13,612) which stage she was in contention for a top10 finish. She shot 73 on the third day and 72 US Women’s Open – Missed Cut on the final day.

Total Earnings Danielle Kang, sparked by a four-hole - $98,335 (approx. Rs 63.45 lakh) birdie streak on the back nine, charged to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship title at No. of events – 11 Olympia Fields.

Meanwhile, Aditi won Sports Illustrated’s annual Young Sportsperson of the Year award for her stellar performances in 2016. In her rookie Ladies European Tour (LET) season she won two titles – Hero Women’s Indian Open and the Qatar Ladies Open – besides making an Olympic appearance at the Rio Games last year.

VANI WINS THIRD TITLE OF THE YEAR

Gurgaon girl Vani Kapoor stormed to her third win in four starts on the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour with a commanding bogeyfree three-under 68 in the final round of the eighth leg played at Clover Greens in Hosur near Bengaluru.

The 23-year-old Vani, who has been dividing her time between the Ladies European Tour events and the domestic Hero WPGT earlier won the fourth and sixth legs and was Tied-3rd in the fifth leg.

22 golf digest india | august 2017

Tvesa Malik got her fledgling career to a flying start with a win in her first start as a professional in the seventh leg of the Hero WPGT 2017 on Friday. The 21-year-old Haryana girl, held her nerve on back nine and holed a late birdie on 15th to emerge a winner by one-shot over the more experienced Gaurika Bishnoi.

Tvesa, who turned professional barely a month ago and just before the start of the second half of the Hero WPGT 2017, also won a WPGT professional tournament in 2015. But at that time she was an amateur. Thus, she clinched the biggest pay of her career with winnings of Rs. 1,40,000.

Coach Anitya Chand, who has been training her since the last 3-and-half years at the DLF Golf Academy, was all praise for her ward. “She is a hard working girl. I haven’t seen many girls working in hot and humid conditions. She began working on her fitness 2 years back and that has lent more power to her drives. Her driver speed was 88mph 2 years back and has risen to 93mph now. I am trying to get her to 96-98mph, the speed associated with top LPGA girls,” Chand told GDI.

14-YEAR-OLD AMATEUR BECOMES YOUNGEST LET WINNER

Atthaya Thitikul, 14, became the youngest winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET) recently when she beat Ana Menendez of Mexico by two strokes in the inaugural Ladies European Thailand championship at the Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club in Chinburi on Sunday.

Atthaya produced a level-par 72 on Sunday to finish the week on 5-under 283.

She began her fourth round one shot behind Menendez after posting rounds of 70, 71 and 70. But the Mexican player dropped four shots on the front nine, handing Atthaya a two-shot lead at the turn after one birdie and two bogeys on her first nine holes.

At 14 years, four months and 19 days, Atthaya broke the previous record of the formerly top-ranked Lydia Ko, who at 14 years and eight months won her first professional event at the New South Wales Open in 2012.

TIGE gutter credit tk

what now,

24 golf digest india | august 2017

Photograph by First Lastname

ER? gutter credit tk

six questions for a player who once had all the answers by ja i m e d i a z

Photograph by First Lastname

month 2017 | golfdigest.com

25

before he became the latest and perhaps most powerful proof that no one is. Now, like everyone else, all Woods has is hope. ▶ Nevertheless, Woods’ fans had a lot of it coming into 2017. The 14-time major champion, who had just turned 41, had returned to competition after a 15-month absence, and he’d shown the kind of speed and easy rhythm that belied the three back procedures he had endured since March 2014. Woods seemed hopeful as well, signing up to start the year with an ambitious four tournaments in five weeks. But when he missed the cut in the first one at Torrey Pines and then withdrew in Dubai, citing back spasms after an opening 77, hope gave way to hurt.

At the Champions Dinner before the Masters, which marked his fifth straight missed major, Woods told Jack Nicklaus about his debilitating back pain. Nicklaus implored Woods to see his longtime physical therapist, and Woods had one session with Pete Egoscue, but four days later underwent fusion surgery on his lower spine. The next major he can even contemplate playing is the 2018 Masters.

All that was deflating enough, but at 3 a.m. on Memorial Day, Florida police found Woods’ car pulled off to the side of a thoroughfare near his Jupiter Island home, the engine running, a blinker on and Woods asleep behind the wheel. Woods was arrested and booked on DUI. The ensuing mug shot of a disheveled Woods and police videos of his failed fieldsobriety test opened him to public ridicule.

The reaction was reminiscent of what Woods endured after he crashed his car outside his home on Thanksgiving 2009 and was later revealed to have been having multiple extramarital affairs.

This time, Woods’ 2015 Mercedes had dents and two flat tires on the driver’s side, and he told police he had taken a combination of prescription drugs, including the painkiller Vicodin and the sedative Xanax.

Later, in a statement, he said he’d had “an unexpected reaction to prescription medication.” Woods, who appeared to fully cooperate with police, maintained he had not been drinking, which was supported by a .000 reading on an Intoxilyzer test.

The golf world expressed sympathy and support. “I think that he’s struggling, and I wish him well,” Nicklaus said. “I hope he gets

26 golf digest india | august 2017

out of it, and I hope he plays golf again. He needs a lot of support from a lot of people.

And I’ll be one of them.”

Woods was contrite in a prepared statement: “I understand the severity of what I did and take full responsibility for my actions.

I would like to apologize with all my heart to my family, friends and the fans. I expect more from myself, too. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this never happens again.”

On June 19, one day after the U.S. Open, Woods took to Twitter to announce his first move in that direction: “I’m currently receiving professional help to manage my medications and the ways that I deal with back pain and a sleep disorder. I want to thank everyone for the amazing outpouring of support and understanding especially fans and players on tour.”

“I’m not at liberty to say where he is, but he is receiving in-patient treatment,” Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, told ESPN.com.

“Tiger has been dealing with so much pain physically. And that leads to insomnia and sleep issues. This has been going on for a long time.”

But Woods is a bigger mystery than ever.

Complicating matters is the difficulty in knowing what to believe. Woods’ stop-start history of statements pertaining to injuries and his ostensible recoveries has fostered a deeply skeptical wait-and-see attitude.

When, after a 15-month absence from competition, he appeared to be swinging freely last December, Woods told the media, “I’m sitting here in front of you guys with a different reality because things have improved so

1 IS TIGER’S BACK SURGERY CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM, OR IS IT ANOTHER SETBACK?

A

s bad as the term anterior lumbar interbody fusion sounds, and as wince-inducing as imagining vertebrae being screwed and glued together can be, the fact is that the procedure often eliminates what is most debilitating for a golfer: nerve pain.

Three major-championship winners who had similar procedures—Lanny Wadkins, Lee Trevino and Retief Goosen—all considered the surgeries last resorts, but all emerged immediately free of nerve pain and came back to the game with a new eagerness.

Wadkins and Trevino had their procedures after their regular PGA Tour careers (Wadkins at 58 and Trevino at 64), but Goosen, the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open winner,

openinG paGes: palm Beach county sheRiff’s office/Getty imaGes

iger woods once seemed invincible

much.” But the next month he looked bad at Torrey Pines and worse in Dubai. Woods at first insisted he had been “in no pain at all,” and Steinberg said the spasms had nothing to do with nerve problems.

It ended Woods’ return to competition, although he continued to underplay his condition. After missing his second straight Masters, Woods attended an announcement for a new course on April 18 and said he was having “good days and bad days.” But he surprised everyone when he underwent the fusion surgery the next day in Dallas. “The surgery went well, and I’m optimistic this will relieve my back spasms and pain,” Woods said in his statement. “When healed, I look forward to getting back to a normal life, playing with my kids, competing in professional golf and living without the pain I have been battling so long.” Added Steinberg: “This surgery, we hope, eliminates the bad days.”

Five weeks later, Woods said in a post on his website that he’d required the surgery because of constant pain. “I could no longer live with the pain I had. We tried every possible non-surgical route, and nothing worked,” he wrote. “I had good days and bad days, but the pain was usually there, and I couldn’t do much. Even lying down hurt.

I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope.”

The post continued: “It has been just over a month since I underwent fusion surgery on my back, and it is hard to express how much better I feel. It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years. . . . There’s a long way to go, but as I said, words cannot convey how good it feels to be pain-free.”

Yet four days later, Woods’ ingestion of pain medication apparently was the cause of his severe impairment.

Many questions remain. Here are six.

confessions of an enabler

of the ’60s, never said a racist thing—as far as I can tell—after Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam died in 1975. And the racist things Ali said before that, he didn’t mean. Anyone who ever got close enough to look him in the eye saw only love there. That’s why we enabled the hell out of him.

“Black men scare white men

almost credible, saying in that mellifluous voice of his, “Tiger never lies. He told a lie once when he was a child, and it made him physically sick.”

There’s a pause on the recording, after which you can hear me across the room say, “Earl, he’s the biggest [bleeping] liar on the PGA Tour.”

Earl laughed.

Something Ernie said seven years ago, unlike almost everything that has been said since, has stayed true.

“What’ll he do in the Masters?” I asked.

“Contend,” he said.

“Really?”

“He’ll be fifth.”

(He was fourth.)

“But win it?” Ernie said.

“No chance.”

“Ernie, if he can finish fifth, he can win it.”

more than black men scare black men,” he told me late one night by the Congo River in Zaire. That had nothing to do with race and everything to do with me picking George Foreman in one. “You always wrong,” Ali said years later with dancing eyes. Yep, pretty much.

“He was a great kid,” Ernie Els said of Tiger in 2009, shortly after the Escalade hit the fire hydrant. “I mean, a really great kid. You knew him.”

Well, he was never a great kid. But he was a great player.

“A tough little guy, but a shy, nice kid,” Els continued. “You could see he had a lot of chip on him because of all his father’s influence. Earl was putting it on him to look the guys in the eye, and obviously he did an unbelievable job.”

I have an old tape of Earl Woods, the enabler-in-chief, who made even fabulist agent Mark Steinberg seem

“No, there’s a guilt. There’s a conscience. You can’t play your best without self-respect.

I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out, but I know one thing: It’s never going to be the same.”

It’s never going to be the same.

When Tiger was 4, Earl and Kultida took him to Kansas to visit Earl’s family.

The oldest sister, Hattie Belle, who raised the siblings after their parents died, stood in the yard tossing a football to Tiger. “I’ll watch him,” she told Earl and Tida as they headed off to the store.

But the moment they were out of sight, she dropped the football and picked up Tiger.

“They don’t touch him enough,” she told her sister Mae. “Look at those sad eyes.”

That’s what I thought when I saw the mug shot.

Look at those sad eyes.

From ali to pete rose to bobby knight to tiger, we were charmed by tom cal lah an

Ross KinnaiRd/R&a/Getty imaGes

I

’ve been looking for Tiger Woods’ “enablers” since that latest brush with roadside gravel and pathos. I was about ready to declare them unfindable when all of a sudden I turned a corner, and there they were.

It’s I. It’s we.

By the way, it’s you in particular. We’re all enablers.

Sixty-three million Americans enabled Donald Trump, and now he is alone and can’t be told anything. A few more million Americans (but 10 fewer states) enabled Hillary Clinton, who along with her party forgot the words of John F. Kennedy (“the torch has been passed to a new generation . . . ”) and instead passed it back to an old generation because that’s where the money, not to mention the ambition, was.

In my time, I was a great enabler of O.J. Simpson, and not only because, in the sportswriting dodge, we forgive a lot in a guy who’ll answer our calls. I liked him from the day in a Cincinnati hotel room when a bunch of us were measuring Simpson against the retired Jim Brown, and O.J. turned to me and asked, “Who do you say was the best? Me or Brown?”

“Gale Sayers,” I replied.

He laughed. Brown wouldn’t have laughed. Simpson won me with a laugh.

Brown was the best, incidentally, almost as good at shrugging off tacklers as he was at shrugging off allegations of violence against women.

I knew both Woody Hayes at Ohio State and Bobby Knight

at Indiana. (I played golf with Knight.) And I knew how it was going to end for both of them.

I think everybody did.

They got the big things right and the little things wrong.

Woody beat up sideline yard markers, practicing for beating up a Clemson middle guard named Charlie Bauman, who had just intercepted a pass from Buckeyes quarterback Art Schlichter, the most enabled miscreant in the annals of the Big Ten. That’s how Woody went out.

Knight, the all-time undisciplined disciplinarian, ordering haircuts while throwing furniture, also left on a banana peel. He sure was fun to enable.

So was Pete Rose.

Somehow, Pete skipped his true generation. Bootlegging memories from the old Yankee Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt, Rose spoke of Babe Ruth as if Pete was standing there when the Babe lifted his considerable self out of the bathtub and pulled on a white terry-cloth robe (“with the red BR on the left breast pocket,” Pete said, tracing Babe’s monogram with a finger).

Sitting in the dugout a couple of hours before a game, Rose watched knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro jogging in the outfield, and said, “You know, I’ve got 71 hits off Phil Niekro. I’ve got 41 hits off Joe Niekro. Damn, I wish Mrs. Niekro had had another son!”

Instead of being saddened by a man so single-faceted, we were charmed.

Muhammad Ali, touchstone for racism, the Vietnam War and the assassination decade

august 2017 | golf digest india

27

robbed of a race for the ages We all missed out on tiger’s push for nicklaus’ major record by dave s h e d l o s k i

Nicklaus’ summit, was poised to carry golf to new heights.

Instead, a golden era passed unrealized.

When the 99th PGA Championship begins Aug. 10 at Quail Hollow Club, Woods will be absent. Because of chronic back injuries, he’ll sit out his eighth major in a row. He has missed 14 majors since that 2008 U.S. Open and missed the cut in six others.

Yes, injuries have robbed him of reps, but there is little doubt that the traumatic events of late 2009, when revelations of his extramarital affairs became fodder for public ridicule and scorn, blunted his competitive preeminence.

Woods had 22 top-three finishes in majors through 2008. He has had one since the scandal.

“You can’t help but almost feel that golf was robbed, and I think we’re still shocked that the quest ended so abruptly,” says former PGA champion Paul Azinger. “I think we all were looking forward to the next 10 years, to see if he could handle that burden. And the way he had played up to that point, you had to believe he could. I think the world wanted to watch that.”

Nicklaus would have watched. “Of course, I would

28 golf digest india | august 2017

‘I ENJOYED MY NAME BEING MENTIONED BESIDE HIS EVERY TIME HE DID SOMETHING. IT KEPT ME RELEVANT.’ —JACK NICKLAUS have,” says the Golden Bear.

“No one wants to see their records broken, but if he did it, I would want to be the first one to shake his hand. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I enjoyed my name being mentioned beside his every time he did something. It kept me relevant. More important, it was good for the game.

I hope he does get healthy again, and if he does, I still fully expect him to challenge the record.”

Nicklaus, 77, remains the last link to the man he surpassed for the major record, Bobby Jones. Nicklaus’ ability to add context to Tiger’s pursuit of his record would have amplified the narrative exponentially.

Golf today is in a good place, nearly everyone agrees. A few from this next generation will become great. Not one, however, will be the next Tiger Woods, a unique, hypnotic talent.

“The aura about the guy was so special. And I miss that out here,” says Jason Day, one of several players who has owned the world No. 1 ranking since Woods relinquished his hold for good in 2014. “I remember once at Augusta he holed a putt at 9 for a par, and the place erupted like he holed out from the fairway. That was the Tiger effect. He made even the simple things seem big and important.”

And he did big things that were historic. Perhaps we should be satisfied, as Jim Furyk suggests: “Just be glad for what we got to see him do already.”

No, we’ll never know what we missed. We just know it could have been grand.

An opportunity lost. For him.

For us. For golf.

2000 PGA ChAmPionshiP: Jeff hAynes/AfP/Getty imAGes

T

ransformational eras have been rare in golf, and magical ones rarer still.

Perhaps none was more consequential than the early 1960s, when the charisma of Arnold Palmer conjoined with television to send the game’s popularity soaring.

Though purely speculative, it can be argued that more recent history might have proved more momentous had events occurred differently after the 2008 U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods had just earned his 14th professional major championship with a playoff victory over Rocco Mediate— despite competing on an ACL so severely compromised that he underwent reconstructive knee surgery days later. The victory capped a Hogan-like stretch of six wins and 11 topthree finishes in 14 majors.

Tiger was 32 years old.

A golfer’s career sweet spot.

And he seemed unstoppable.

Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 pro majors, perhaps the most iconic in sports, appeared easily within reach. After all, Nicklaus won seven major titles after 32. Phil Mickelson didn’t win his first until he was 33, and Hogan won his first at 34.

For perhaps the first time ever, the world’s most famous athlete was a golfer. And the world knew it. Each of the four majors produced record finalround television ratings for one of Tiger’s victories. Woods, certain to climb ever closer to

underwent a disc replacement in 2012 at 43.

“At that point, I couldn’t have played golf again without the surgery,” says Goosen, whose last victory came in 2009. “It was successful. I have zero back pain. I haven’t lost any range of motion or any speed and don’t have any trouble hitting the ball. My short game and putting aren’t as good, but that’s unrelated to my back.”

Woods also reported “instant nerve relief.” If that allows him, after his latest rehab, to again swing with freedom and speed, then Wadkins, Trevino and Goosen all agree he has a good chance to be a winner again.

“My prediction: He’ll come back in a blaze of glory,” says Trevino, the most bullish of the trio. “He’s not too old—far from it. If he gets fixed, when he comes back to hitting and feels no pain, he’s going to be so happy that he might be more dangerous than he was before.”

2 IF HE WAS PAIN-FREE, WHY WAS HE TAKING PAIN MEDICATION?

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oods maintained he incorrectly mixed prescription drugs, in this case Vicodin and Xanax—although only the toxicology report can definitively confirm what drugs were in his system. It recalled Thanksgiving 2009, when his thenwife, Elin, told police that Woods had active prescriptions for Vicodin and Ambien.

He also said he was pain-free.

Steinberg told ESPN.com that there is no contradiction in Woods professing no pain but then needing treatment to deal with a problem caused by ongoing pain.

“I don’t think you can put two and two together,” he said. “It’s such a complicated state, such a complicated situation. If you’re in that much pain for so many years . . . Tiger has been trying to figure out how to live a life and actually have a life. He is where he is right now. I’m glad he is taking responsibility.”

It’s unknown whether Woods had an unrelated injury or malady that prompted him to seek pain relief. The players who underwent back surgery said that though there was no nerve pain, they were sore for about a week from the incisions and general invasiveness of surgery. According to an acquaintance of Woods, shortly before his arrest and a month after the surgery, Woods said that he was still feeling pain from the incision in his midsection.

There is an account of Woods taking Vicodin as far back as 2008, when he was suffering from the torn ACL that caused him so much pain at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

According to his coach at the time, Hank

Haney, Woods took the drug during that year’s Masters, where he finished second but putted poorly. Woods came to believe that the Vicodin had affected his touch, and chose not to take it at Torrey Pines, substituting Motrin or Advil.

In the aftermath of Woods’ arrest, most observers avoided any suggestion that Woods could have a drug issue. But Paul Azinger was more candid. “He’s had a lot of back surgeries, he’s had knee surgeries, he’s had an Achilles issue. He’s had a lot of pain,” Azinger said. “It would be easy for Tiger to get hooked on that, that very addictive drug, if he’s hooked on it. I hope he’s not.”

3 HAS HE MISSED TOO MUCH GOLF?

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oods won five tournaments in 2013, but since then he has been a part-time golfer at best. And since August 2015, he has played in just three events.

Extended leaves from the competitive game don’t usually work out well, even for the greats. Bobby Jones retired in 1930 after winning the Grand Slam at 28, but he came back four years later to play in the first Masters as its host. Much was anticipated, but Jones noticed a jerk in his putting stroke on his second hole of the first round and “felt that something was radically wrong,” wrote Charles Price. On Jones’ fifth hole, now the 14th, the whir of a movie camera caused him to stop his backswing on his tee shot and left him strangely unsettled. “He knew at that instant that something had gone out of his game, forever,” Price wrote. “It wasn’t that Jones had lost his nerves. But something was keeping him from making his nerves work for him instead of against him.”

More recently, Trevino has no doubt he returned to the game not quite as good after being hit by lightning in 1975. Azinger lost his edge after cancer and chemotherapy kept him from competition for nearly two years.

Jose Maria Olazabal missed all of 1996 with a crippling case of rheumatoid arthritis.

Though he won the 1999 Masters, the illness and absence derailed what had been a steady climb toward greatness. Even Ben Hogan, who after his near-fatal accident in early 1949 won six of the next nine majors he played through 1953, believed he was never again as good as he had been in 1948.

Woods knows he has lost something in terms of speed and power. But it’s almost the definition of a great player to be able to make effective compensations for such inevitabilities. What matters is how much Woods has lost—and perhaps can’t recover—mentally.

As Nicklaus said, “You don’t know what’s going through somebody’s head when they’ve been injured as long as he’s been injured.”

4 IS HE TOO OLD TO COME BACK?

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nly one golfer since 1900 has won more than one major past the age of 42: Julius Boros took the 1963 U.S. Open at 43 and the 1968 PGA at 48. Hogan won three at 40 in 1953, but no more. Nicklaus won two at 40 and his 18th and last at 46. Harry Vardon was 41 and 44 in winning his last two Open Championships. Mark O’Meara won his only two at 41 in 1998.

In Woods’ favor is that elite athletes in all sports are staying on top longer. Against him is extra wear and tear—not just from his injuries, but also from the intensity with which he has competed on the big stage since his mid-teens—that some say aged him as a golfer beyond his years.

5 HOW WILL A NEW PUBLIC HUMILIATION HURT TIGER?

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oods, who over the past eight years has stoically weathered the aftermath of perhaps the fastest and most precipitous fall from grace ever in public life, will have to handle another similar hit. His children are now old enough to comprehend what the world is saying about their father.

He has surely further damaged his ability as an endorser—one whose once-yearly $100 million-plus off-course earnings has dropped to about $35 million. Can he keep from losing whatever is left of the confidence and sense of destiny that marked his attitude in his prime?

Then again, Woods might be inured to such feelings after having survived 2009. It’s also possible that his charge will be reduced, public judgment will cool and the arrest will fade from view.

Indeed, the inverse of the reaction in 2009—a widespread public aversion to piling on someone who has been through enough—could help Woods ride out the storm. Whatever he feels inside, or as cruel as social media can be, he has been supported by demonstrations of encouragement and sympathy from his galleries. He acknowledged as much after his latest surgery, saying, “I also want to thank the fans for your phenomenal support. It means more than you know.”

All through his dark period, Woods has learned that when he is able to show even a glimmer of his former talent, the sports world is captivated, and public sins or embarrassments are largely forgotten.

august 2017 | golf digest india

29

DOES HE HAVE A REAL SUPPORT SYSTEM AMONG OTHER PLAYERS?

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uch has been made in the past year of a new Tiger, more engaged socially. In his role as assistant captain at the Ryder Cup, he was praised for his generosity with knowledge. He is also on social media. But in more private conversations with several of his peers, some of whom Woods has called friends, what emerges is the isolated figure who is rarely seen—whether at Medalist Golf Club or his restaurant, The Woods Jupiter—and who shares little and trusts less. A particular Woods quirk is to text a player who is in contention to offer encouragement and good luck, followed by a few exchanges. And then . . . nothing.

Older players who have known him for years and feel a golf kinship confess that they have rarely if ever socialized with Woods off the course. Young players— some of whom say he was their inspiration growing up—and who relish the rare opportunities to still play with him, don’t feel close to him like they do an older player like Phil Mickelson, who has been a much more gregarious mentor.

What’s left to other players is now a mostly sad glimpse of an icon who, beyond impersonal jock banter, prefers distance.

“He’s a classic introvert, but one thrust into media stardom and the spotlight from early on and was the face of golf,” says Ryan Moore. “Being an introvert myself, that’s not easy to handle.”

At this point, nothing figures to come easy to Woods. He has just made his already difficult life harder. Perhaps a dedicated return to golf, which went from his haven to his burden, can offer a home base for a fresh start.

Of course, even as a golfer, he has far more than ever to do and far less time to do it. As Woods prepares to turn 42 in December, an old saying applies: Hope is a good breakfast, but it’s a bad supper.

Additional reporting by brian wacker.

30 golf digest india | august 2017

Our prediction on tiger surpassing jack’s record didn’t quite work out

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hen Tiger Woods won the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills,

it was his 13th professional majorchampionship victory and his fifth in his 12 most recent Grand Slam events. Those dozen majors also included a runner-up finish, two T-2s, a T-3 and a T-4. Yeah, Tiger was on a bit of a roll.

In Golf Digest’s January 2008 issue, we attempted to predict when Woods might surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 professional major titles. Our reasoning at the time: 2008 Tiger had finished T-3 and T-2 at the previous two Masters, so we figured he would win the next one, for his fifth green jacket, and that year’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where he had been dominant. That would have run his total to 15.

2009 We didn’t predict Tiger would repeat his 2002 U.S. Open win at Bethpage—we were picking him at Torrey in 2008 and at Pebble Beach in 2010, and no one has ever won three consecutive U.S. Opens—but we gave him the PGA at Hazeltine, where he had been the runner-up in 2002. Our count went to 16.

2010 There’s no such thing as a lock in golf, but we were bullish on Tiger winning that year’s U.S. Open at Pebble, where he had lapped the field by 15 shots in 2000, and the Open Championship at St. Andrews, where he had won by eight in 2000 and by five in 2005. That would have tied Jack’s record of 18.

2011 What a perfect place Augusta National would have been to break Nicklaus’ record, when Tiger was 35. (Jack won six of his majors after he’d turned 35.) By our accounting, Tiger would have matched Jack’s six green jackets, five PGAs and four U.S. Opens, one-upping him with four Open Championships: 19 total.

And who knows how many Tiger might have won after that?

As we said at the time, the argument against getting to 19 that quickly: Our predictions would have given Tiger six victories in his next 13 majors (or seven of 14, counting his 2007 PGA). The counterargument: He won seven of 11 majors from 1999-2002.

How it worked out: Tiger won the 2008 U.S. Open (above) but hasn’t come closer in a major than his runner-up in the 2009 PGA. What we didn’t take into account: Stuff happens. —mike o’malley

2008 U.S. OPEN: RObyN bEck/AFP/GEtty ImAGES

6

whoops!

Tête-à-Tête with Neelam Pratap Rudy

Generating Interest Among Women Essential To Growth Of Golf: Neelam Pratap Rudy

Proud Mom: Neelam Pratap Rudy (C) with her daughters Avshreya Pratap Singh (R) and Atisha Pratap Singh (L)

Exclusive 32 golf digest india | august 2017

Tête-à-Tête with Neelam Pratap Rudy

S

he was part of a high-flying career before developing an interest in golf. Neelam Pratap Rudy, the wife of Bhartiya Janta Party politician and current Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy, used to be the Chief of In-Flight Services at Alliance Air till 2003. Neelam had to quit her job after her husband was appointed as the Civil Aviation minister in the Atal Vihari Bajpayee government. A strongly opinionated individual, Neelam is part of many social organisations promoting sport among women. She is the chairperson of the sports committee at PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry. She is also a board member of The Golf Foundation and member of the FICCI Ladies Association.

A 15-handicapper, Neelam has won numerous corporate tournaments and has also been conferred with the Best Celebrity Golfer award in 2016. She is also the proud mother of Avshreya Pratap Singh and Atisha Pratap Singh. While Avshreya is the top-ranked women’s polo player, Atisha is a football player and an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer.

In an exclusive interview with Golf Digest India, the Rory McIlroy fan opens up on ways to grow the game in the country, favourite courses she has played internationally and what needs to be done to attract more women to the courses.

Neelam makes a pertinent point when she says if mothers play a sport their children are bound to take interest in it. Neelam’s elder daughter Avshreya (above left) is a polo player and Atisha is an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ rohit@teamgolfdigest.com

Enjoying a polo game with husband and Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy

With Hero MotoCorp Chairman, MD & CEO Pawan Munjal during the 2016 Hero Women’s Indian Open

GDI: Were you sporty in school/college days?

NPR: I was an all-rounder athlete in my school/college days. I was the district champion in badminton for 3 years. I was also into running sprints – 100 & 200 metres. I also represented Rajasthan in cricket. I used to be a Sophia College student in Ajmer. Sophia had a long history of excellence in sports.

There were trials going on for some intercollege tournament and one of the team members fell sick. The coach asked me if I wanted to play. I said I haven’t played cricket ever and he told me that a person who can run can play cricket. I was included in the team on his recommendation. Before my first match, I asked him what I needed to do and he told me to stop every ball behind the stumps. I did not let a single ball go out of my gloves and that’s how my cricketing journey began. I went on to represent Rajasthan in inter-state tournaments. I owe a lot of my success in golf to my athletic achievements.

GDI: What do you like most about the game?

NPR: Most of the people who take up golf don’t leave, it has that magnetic appeal. It is the only sport which equalizes a player; brings him at par with top pros due to its handicapping service. There’s no other sport where you can compete directly with a pro, he is going to demolish you with his form and skills. But handicap lends you that cushion that despite being 5 strokes behind a pro you can still beat him.

GDI: How and when did you start playing golf?

NPR: Golf happened to me by chance. I used to be the chief of in-flight services at Alliance Air till 2003. After my husband became Minister of Civil Aviation, I quit my job in propriety, so that my husband could perform his duties without conflict of interest. After a busy life at the airlines, I became totally idle and then my younger sister Kusum Anand, who used to play golf, asked me to take up the sport. She told me that it’s a time taking game and you will enjoy it, though I was not initially convinced. Hitendra Jain my friend – a golfer, finally persuaded me to take up the sport. He also introduced me to golf legend Ali Sher for training. Ali ji taught me how to hold a club and hit the ball. Having played cricket in my college days I picked up the game quite fast. I began connecting really well and that gave me a lot of confidence to continue playing the sport.

Hero MotoCorp Chairman Mr. Pawan Munjal offered me a spot to play in the Hero Honda Indian Open Pro-Am just 3 months after I picked up a club. My first handicap was 19 which fellow golfers acknowledged was quite good in such a short span. All this exposure gave me a crash course upon how to dress, what to do and what not to do etc.

And these things kept my interest in the sport alive.

GDI: How often do you play? What is your best round?

NPR: I play at least once a week. My best round is 3-over par at Qutab Golf Club in Lado Sarai, Delhi. At Delhi Golf Club, my best score has been 7-over par. Best handicap has been 12.

GDI: Name some tournaments you have won recently?

NPR: I actually have a mela of trophies (especially Pro-Ams) at my residence, many of them I have sent back to Patna due to lack of space. I won Maitri Golf Championship last year. I also won prizes in my handicap category at Northend Invitational tournament, Indo-Nippon Golf Tournament and Women’s Golf Day event on June 6 at Qutab course earlier this year. I had also won the Longest Drive contest at the BMW International meet last year apart from winning the 2016 Best Celebrity Golfer prize at the India Golf Awards hosted by Shaili Chopra.

GDI: Your close golfing friends?

NPR: I generally like to play with men as august 2017 | golf digest india

33

Tête-à-Tête with Neelam Pratap Rudy

2 1

3

1. Neelam with golf legend Colin Montgomerie 2. With one of her prized possessions 3. With sister Kusum Anand, who motivated her to take up golf 4. Playing at Noida

they are in lower handicap categories – from 8 to 12. Pratap Ahluwalia and ex-police officer Ranjan Brar are some of my friends. With women I play more socially. Anuva Saurabh and Aashna Monga are good friends with whom I have played a lot.

GDI: Interesting places you have played?

NPR: There’s a long list of interesting places I have played golf. I have played in Mauritius, Seychelles, St. Lucia on the Caribbean Islands. But the most interesting one I have to say was the one in Sydney, Riverside Oak Golf Resort. It’s so much fun to tee off with Kangaroos as spectators. They don’t disturb you only watch you hit balls and roam around the fairways.

GDI: Favourite course in india?

NPR: It has to be the Delhi Golf Club. Each time I play there it seems pretty challenging.

GDI: Favourite course overseas?

NPR: The Royal Kuala Lumpur course in Malaysia is a brilliant venue. The other favourite of mine is the Riverside Oak Golf Resort in Sydney.

GDI: Favourite player - men and women ?

NPR: Rory McIlroy is my favourite. The guy has a spring in his step. I saw him at close quarters in Dubai when I was there a couple of years ago to witness European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. I somehow managed to get a room booked along with my sister in the same hotel (St. Regis) as the players. I was amazed to see the galaxy of golf stars circling around me there. I shared tea with South African great Ernie Els. I also like Henrik Stenson. He has got a penchant of compressing his shots and has an awesome iron play.

Among the women I love Paula Creamer.

She is such a vibrant golfer – matches her set with her clothes, ties pink ribbons on her hair but the best part is she has a solid game.

GDI: Indian favourite?

NPR: It has to be Anirban Lahiri. I followed

34 golf digest india | august 2017

More public golf courses.

Just having driving ranges or small academies won’t do as people need to play the game not just learn the skills. There needs to be a comprehensive policy in place to develop golf.” him at Royal Troon during the British Open last year. Unfortunately he didn’t play well and I had to leave him for watching the magnificent duel between Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson. I fell in love with Stenson’s game there.

GDI: You are involved in sports through PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) - tell us about that role and what they do?

NPR: There was no separate sports vertical in PHDCCI, it was clubbed with culture. The first thing I did is that I got sports separated.

As chairman of the sports committee I started numerous campaigns including the ‘BetiBachao, BetiPadhao, BetiKhelao’ initiative. Under the scheme we awarded state associations Rs 2 lakh each to take care of training equipment required to introduce girls to sports and get them to perform better. I am also the goodwill ambassador for Delhi Police for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Under the scheme ‘NeelePankh’ we picked the best 25 girls from Delhi Police to train in various disciplines for 2020 Olympics. I also gave away Rs 75,000 along with training gear like tights, shoes, jackets and backpacks etc. We also organize a seminar “Sports for All” every year on August 12 where top sportspersons and industry leaders chart the path for

4

development of sports in the country.

GDI: What does Indian golf need?

NPR: More public golf courses. Just having driving ranges or small academies won’t do as people need to play the game not just learn the skills. There needs to be a comprehensive policy in place to develop golf. Golf being part of the Olympics is enough impetus for government, golf bodies and private builders to create a strategy for growth of the game.

GDI: How can we get more women to play golf?

NPR: This is a very interesting solution to the whole problem. Unless more and more women play sport, let alone just golf, they won’t send their children to the course. Most women in small towns keep asking their kids if they completed their homework or are they studying properly. Never do they ask them if they are playing well. This perception about sport can only change if they are themselves playing one or more sports. My elder daughter Avshreya is the best ranked polo player in the country. My younger daughter Atisha is a football player and an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer. Clubs and the industry need to find out ways to attract more women to the course. To increase golf’s following manifold, generating interest among women is very important.

GDI: What are your plans to develop golf?

NPR: The men’s circuit is doing well though there’s still scope for improvement. The area where I feel a lot needs to be done is women’s golf. We need to have a vibrant women’s tour.

How can one sustain his interest in the game if there is not enough money on offer? The Women’s Golf Asssociation of India (WGAI) has got able leadership in president Kavita Singh and secretary general Champika Sayal.

But they need to look at ways of enhancing the prize money and adding more events to the calendar. That’s the only way to attract more women to play golf professionally.

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Getting Started

INSIDE 38 Putt-ing For Future Glory 40 Parents’ Interest A Must 42 Busting Myths 44 What Business Leaders/ Celebs Say 46 Facilities Where You Can Get Started 47 Handicap Service At Your Doorstep

gutter credit tk

48 Big Names Endorse India Learn Golf Week

month 2016 Photograph

by First Lastname 37 | golfdigest.com

Getting Started

COACHES’ ADVICE Watching the ball fly boosts the interest of a kid

The first thing you learn is how to grip a club

Putt-ing For Future Glory A newcomer should begin by attempting short putts — line up the putter and hit straight to the hole, states Romit Bose n Ideally, take the child out to a golf facility and show them around. Familiarise them with the golf ball and junior golf clubs and observe their interest levels. Which kid can resist the temptation of a ball being hit! n I would definitely recommend organised golf camps and clinics as great ways to begin, but we need to look at each child individually and figure out their personal goals to determine the best place where we can start. n We need to look at, why the child wants to play. Is it because he/she has seen Tiger

Woods or other great players on TV and wants to be just like them? Is it because the parent or grandparent plays and the child would like to be part of the sport? Or is it that the parent

“We need to look at, why the child wants to play. Is it because he/she has seen Tiger Woods? Is it because the parent or grandparent plays and the child would like to be part of it?”

wants the child to be the next golf sensation and is pushing the kid into the sport? n Some basic etiquette should be taught to them by simply having the junior understand that they need to stand still and be quiet and not disturb others around them. Repetition and reinforcement (as all good parents and grandparents know) is a must. n Start with very short straight putts… the ones which do not have a break. Teach the child to line up the putter and hit straight to the hole.

TOP PROS BEGAN EARLY Rory McIlroy

4 years

38 golf digest india | august 2017

Tiger Woods

3 years

Jordan Spieth

10 years

COACHES’ ADVICE

Getting Started

Romit Bose feels organised golf camps and clinics are better places to start playing the game

n Parents need to teach the kid about the safety aspects first. Teach them where they should stand or not stand, where to hit from, how the ball and equipment can be dangerous, and how to protect themselves and others around them.

“Some basic etiquette should be taught to them by simply having the junior understand that they need to stand still and be quiet and not disturb others around them. Repetition and reinforcement is a must”.

Jack Nicklaus

10 years

AGE TO START

There are other questions to ask before coming to the answer and we need to figure out ‘How mature your child is?’ What are the attention skills of my child, does he have a good attention span? Most organized junior golf programs will not allow children under the age of 7 to participate. Also, most formal junior camps and clinics have limited participation and low student to instructor ratio for safety and learning time allocation reasons.

Anirban Lahiri

5 years

Romit Bose is Director, Romit Bose Golf. His students include top men’s professionals like Ashok Kumar, Amardip Sinh Malik, Himmat Rai, Mandeo Singh Pathania, Manav Jaini, Chiragh Kumar, C Muniyappa and Rashid Khan. Ace female golfers Anjali Chopra, Shreya Ghei, Gurbani Singh, Mehar Atwal, Ankita Tiwana and Ridhima Dilawari have also trained under him.

Gaganjeet Bhullar

7 years

august 2017 | golf digest india

39

Getting Started

COACHES’ ADVICE

Parents’ Interest A Must

Parents need to support/encourage their kids in every situation and avoid scolding him/her on a bad shot or chip, believes Anitya Chand n Kids shouldn’t be directly initiated into golf. For them golf needs to be an interesting outing. Make them play fun games – hopping sessions, short races, playing football or other sport of their liking. n A parent needs to accompany the kid initially to boost his confidence. n Parents are a provider and should restrain themselves from putting forth their opinion about the kids’ game. Avoid scolding him/ her on a bad shot or chip. Always try to encourage them saying ‘I know you will play the next shot better’ etc. Basically, a parents’

ARE YOU A 1%ER?

▶ What it takes

to be tops by keely levins

job is to support/encourage the child even when he is facing issues or tough conditions. n Don’t need to buy clubs at the start. Begin with a 6 or 7 iron. Buy a set only after you are sure you want to continue the game with utmost dedication. n It’s better to approach a good coach rather than hit a driving range. What is important is to start on a good note. Even 2 lessons with a decent coach is bound to generate your love for the sport. You can then choose to either go to an academy or hire an instructor.

The DLF Golf Academy is open to non-members too (only on weekends)

n The DLF Golf Academy is open to nonmembers as well. Any junior can avail lessons for a month (only weekends) with high-end swing analysis technology, clubs, balls and a golf instructor for a nominal Rs 5000. Club fitting is also available.

303 YDS

+5 - +0.4

`2 lakh

114 MPH

150+

`75,000

Average drive

Swing speed

40 golf digest india | august 2017

Handicap Index*

Annual rounds

Annual equipment spending

Annual caddie fees

data based on info from trackman golf, usga, golf datatech, caddie interviews. *men only. top 1% of women golfers = +5 - 3.1 index

COACHES’ ADVICE

Getting Started

One can start playing golf at any age depending upon his motivational levels and physical fitness

AGE TO START

4-5 years is the ideal age to start playing golf. Kids should be given a club only after assessing that their hands are strong enough to hold and swing a club. One can even begin in their 30s-40s depending on their fitness levels.

THINGS TO SAY TO ENCOURAGE YOUNGSTERS “THAT’S THE BEST SHOT YOU’VE HIT ALL DAY.” “YOU’VE GOTTEN REALLY GOOD AT PUNCHING OUT.” “REALLY SMART PLAY FOR YOU.”

Anitya Chand is Head Professional, DLF Golf Academy.

His students include top women’s professionals Vani Kapoor, Gaurika Bishnoi, Tvesa Malik, Afshan Fatima and autistic amateur Ranveer Saini

“YOU PLAYED A LOT BETTER ONCE YOU WARMED UP.” “I ADMIRE THE WAY YOU NEVER GET DISCOURAGED.” august 2017 | golf digest india

41

Getting Started

MYTHS VS REALITY

TSG Academy is India’s first fully residential golf academy for Class 8 to 12 kids

Busting Myths

Golf is perceived as a rich man’s sport and that is a myth. Its as expensive as you want it to be says Tarun Sardesai MYTH

Golf is an expensive sport and requires huge amount of money to start

All sport requires capital. Even if you play tennis you need to buy racquets, balls, shoes, wrist bands etc which are not very cheap. The cost depends upon what targets have you set for yourself.

The cost varies according to the way you want to play whether for fun, competing at corporate/amateur tournaments or turning professional. There are golf sets available for Rs 20,000 and also a specialized one which can cost between Rs 3 to 5 lakhs. Further one can choose to train with a local instructor at Rs 500-1000 or go to a well-known coach.

REALITY

42 golf digest india | august 2017

MYTH

Need to be a member of a club to start playing

Surprisingly most people have this perception that you can’t enter a club without membership. Actually you can just enter a club pay the green/caddy/cart fee and use their range or play on the course.

REALITY

MYTH

The best training method to start playing is hitting drives on a range.

There are no fixed methods to start. Things depend on the individual, his age, athleticism, interest levels. If someone intends to start golf in REALITY

their 30s or 40s he should start with putting and chipping unless he is inspired or loves the game. If a kid has been forced by a parent to learn golf I try to make it as much fun as possible. I don’t make him play but make him watch me hit drives, make some putts.

Once he gets hooked to the game that’s when the skill session should begin.

MYTH

Golf is a boring game and kids don’t like it

At my Academy in Bengaluru I have got a lot of juniors. What I have felt in more than 10 years is that younger kids enjoy the game more. It’s REALITY

MYTHS VS REALITY

Getting Started

“An instruction video isn’t good for teaching the fundamentals of the game. One has to hire an instructor or get a proper coach to start unlike other sports like cricket. Videos can only polish your game” the job of the coach/instructor to make it interesting and fun.

MYTH

One should buy a beginner’s set to start playing

It is not necessary to start playing with a beginner’s set. Sooner or later you will have to get a steel set for yourself. All depends upon your motivation levels. When you get a habit of playing with a particular set it becomes difficult to switch.

So, if you are serious about the game, better go for a mid-range or higher set.

REALITY

MYTH

Custom fitting is necessary

An average club golfer doesn’t need to go for club fitting. A set is good for at least 5 years unless you get bored of playing with it.

REALITY

MYTH

One can learn golf with the help of instruction videos, articles

An instruction video isn’t good for teaching the fundamentals of the game. One has to hire an instructor or get a proper coach to start unlike other sports like cricket. Videos can only polish your game after you have played the sport for a good amount of time. Having a strong foundation is a must to sustain interest.

REALITY

MYTH

Equipment A STARTER SET of 11 clubs made of graphite or any other alloy costs between Rs 20,000-25,000 MID-RANGE SET made of steel – Rs 50,000-60,000 SENIOR SET – Rs 1.2 lakh-1.5 lakh

Tarun Sardesai lending tips to former No. 1 amateur Viraj Madappa

One needs to follow too many etiquettes to enter a course

Golf has tried to maintain its classy appeal by putting certain rules. E.g. at Wimbledon the players need to wear white dress. If you are not disturbing other members or dressing properly and look presentable nobody is going to question your presence.

REALITY

Tarun Sardesai is a NGAI Class A Certified Teaching Professionl and the Director of TSG Academy in Bengaluru.

His students include women’s professionals Aditi Ashok, Sharmila Nicollet and top men’s pros Trishul Chinnappa and Viraj Madappa august 2017 | golf digest india

43

Getting Started

VOX POPULI

What Business Leaders/Celebs Say “Some 25 years ago on a rainy day my friend Arvind Swamy (who is a popular actor now) had nothing better do to but play some nintendo video games. We were playing the golf game and I was loosing pretty bad and he suggested I go learn the real game . So promptly the next day we went to the madras Gymkhana club, guindy to hit some balls . From the first shot I hit , I knew I wanted to play the game. Being an avid sportsperson all my life it didn’t take long for me to get going. I have been hooked on to the game ever since.

That was my introduction to golf.”

Arun Murugappan, MD, Murugappa Group HOME CLUB: TNGF Cosmo, Chennai

“I was introduced to the game by a few friends of mine, we would often get a tee off whilst spending time together. It is then when I was taken aback by the sheer brilliant elegance of the sport and haven’t looked back since.”

Manish Sharma, CEO, Panasonic India

44 golf digest india | august 2017

“While preten ding to be simple, Go lf is a very complicat ed and demanding sp ort. it is a great gam However e to unwind reflect and rep hrase one’s sanity while in dulging in its leisurely pace. ” Kapil Dev, 19 83 Cricket W orld Cup winning captain

VOX POPULI

Getting Started

“As an actor you are always exposed to a lot of action on the sets but golf is just the opposite where one is just left with his devices ahead of the shot.

It is one game I want to try and see how it fits into my personality. I enjoy the sport a lot, so much so that I have encouraged my whole family to play golf and we now indulge in family outings to enjoy the game.”

R. Madhavan, Actor

“I was 25 when I played for the first time.

Two main reasons: my wife’s family are very keen on players, and we were a group of friends that got inspired at the same time.”

Tom von Bonsdorff, MD, Volvo Auto India Home Club: Bruks Golf in Finland

“I don’t remember when and how I started playing golf but if I do I will beat the hell out of the guy.”

Aman Sawhney, CEO, Swiss Military Home Club: DLF G&CC, Gurgaon

“I was introduced to the game by my grandfather Ambalal Kilachand at the age of 6 and I used to play as part of his fourball.”

Akshay Kilachand Home Club: Willingdon Sports Club (Mumbai)

august 2017 | golf digest india

45

Getting Started

DRIVING RANGES

Facilities Where You Can Get Started PUBLIC ACCESS STANDALONE DRIVING RANGES DDA Siri Fort Driving Range, New Delhi Address: Siri Fort Sports, Complex August Kranti Marg, (Near Siri Fort Auditorium), New Delhi – 110 049.  011- 26497482, 6657 Golden Swan Country Club Off Pokhran Road No.1, Yeoor Hills, Thane (W) Mumbai - 400602  022-25856515/ 3798/ 4078 www.goldenswan.com Mohali Golf Range Phase 11, Mohali Near Chandigarh, Pin – 160065  0172-2211207 Chandigarh Golf Association Range Sector 6, Chandigarh Pin - 160019  +91-172-2742011, +91-172-3252658 www.cgaonline.in Paramount Golf Range, Gurgaon Address: Paramount Golf Range, PGR Management, Village Bhondsi, Gurgaon – Sohna Road, Gurgaon, Haryana – India  9004909008

Hamoni Golf Camp, Gurgaon Address: Hamoni Golf Camp, CK Farm, Carterpuri, Sector 23A, Gurgaon (Close to Palam Vihar, opposite Maruti Udyog factory),  0124-6526777, hamonigolf.com

SPT Sports Golf Academy, Noida Address: SPT Sports Golf Academy, Noida Stadium, Sector – 21, Noida – 201 301  9911686619 MA XIMUM www.sptindia.com Blue Ridge Golf Club Paranjape Scheme, Hinjewadi, Pune  +91 20 39803980, +91 9823242419

`500

to use driving range (including clubs and balls)

Kensville Golf Academy Vikram Nagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Pin - 380054  +91-8980012872 www.kensville.co.in

AKDR Golf Village 3/381, Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) Mettukuppam, Chennai, Pin- 600 097  +91 44 6528 7979 http://www.akdrgolfvillage.com

46 golf digest india | august 2017

Touché Golf School Agrahara Village, Jakkur Post, Yelahanka Hubli, Bangalore Pin - 560064  +9180-6537 6633, +91 98450 66755 www.touchegolf.com

IGU NHS MEMBERSHIP

Getting Started

Handicap Service At Your Doorstep Indian Golf Union’s (IGU) National Handicap Service Is The Only USGA Authorised & Issued Handicap In India With Worldwide Recognition Most men and women don’t know that they can get a handicap even without a membership of a golf club. The Indian Golf Union came up with the National Handicapping Service (NHS) to standardize handicaps across India as done in other major golfing nations.

NHS provides a simple, convenient and accurate system for golfers to post scores and maintain handicaps online (through mobile app, website and scorecards).

One can sign up for the IGU NHS handicap at www.igunhs.com for an annual fee of Rs 1,000.

NHS Features

Access to All

USGA Generated

Authenticity

Accurate & Fair

Email Notification

Track Your Progress

All golfers can have an official IGU NHS handicap, whether you are a member of a club or not

The NHS handicap index automatically adapts to the course you are playing on

IGU NHS handicap is generated by the USGA and hence is universally accepted

You will receive an automatic email with your updated handicap every 15 days

Scores submitted are verified by your marker or club to ensure transparency

You can view your previous rounds online and understand how your handicap is calculated

august 2017 | golf digest india

47

Getting Started

INDIA LEARN GOLF WEEK

Big Names Endorse India Learn Golf Week In an effort to make it easy for thousands of people to start golf, the Golf Industry Association (GIA) supported by the Indian Golf Union (IGU) and other golf administration bodies have launched India Learn Golf Week from Sept 25 – October 1, 2018. During this week, around 40 clubs will open their doors to around 500 beginners, thereby aiming to introduce upto 20,000 golfers to the game. Here is what well-known personalities in Indian Golf have to say about this exciting and path-breaking initiative.

Through India Learn Golf Week our intention is to get new players to the course who otherwise are hesitant to experience the game. We want to break the myth that golf is an elitist sport and is inaccessible. Thus our objective is to democratise the sport and take it to the masses. Some golf courses in the country are suffering due to lack of players so we want them to become financially sound again through this initiative.”

— Mohan Subramanian, Director, Golf Industry Association

“Golf is not just a game – it’s a lifestyle.

This game will teach you more than your teacher will. Join India Learn Golf Week.”

— Rahil Gangjee, Asian Tour professional

48 golf digest india | august 2017

It’s a great idea to organise the India Learn Golf Week. We need to have more players. We lack in terms of infrastructure and hopefully government starts paying attention. All sorts of sports leagues have been launched -- kabaddi league, badminton league, soccer league etc.

Golf is way behind what it should be in India.

I hope initiatives like these help expand our golfing community.”

— Gaganjeet Bhullar, 7-time Asian Tour winner

I love this wonderful sport called golf because it teaches you so much about life and people. You spend a lot of time in informal environments getting to know people and building relationships for life. Come and experience this wonderful game by joining India Learn Golf Week to be part of the largest sporting revolution in India.”

— Lakshman Singh, 1982 Asian Games double gold medallist (individual & team)

“I have been playing this game for over 50 years and have loved every moment that I have spent here. The kind of family, the kind of environment a golf club gives is superb. I would like you to start this game. Its worth taking up. Be a part of the India Learn Golf Week. I assure you would love being on the golf course. All the best!”

— Gangesh Khaitan, Two-time winner of IGU All India Senior Championship

For golf to grow it needs to be taken to B & C grade towns across the country.

While Cricket introduced by the British has multiplied in popularity, golf has failed to catch the attention of the masses. Initiatives like the India Learn Golf Week will go a long way in attracting people to the sport. I thank the Golf Industry Association and Indian Golf Union for coming up with such a brilliant project.

But Government needs to step in by building more public courses so that the individuals introduced to the game can sustain their interest.”

— Digvijay Singh, 2012 Panasonic Open India champion

Across The Country

CLUB ROUND-UP To share news on your club or updates from across the country, please email rohit@teamgolfdigest.com

IGU All-India Senior & Mid-Am

Khaitan wins at Golfshire Gangesh Khaitan scorched the Prestige Golfshire greens in Bangalore to once again lift the IGU All-India Senior Championship trophy last month. Gangesh came up trumps on a wind swept three days in testing conditions at the Bengaluru club with a three-round tally of 232. The fast undulating fairways, howling winds and tough pin positions created a stern test of golf for the competitors.

Gangesh topped the 50 years & above, 55 years and above and 60-64 year categories to qualify for the return Test of the India-South Africa series to be held at Leopard Creek Golf Club in September. The last time Gangesh won the title was in 2014 at Royal Calcutta Golf Club. He has been runner-up in the event 5 times missing out on the title twice to Amit Luthra – by 2 strokes in 2015 at Jaypee Greens and by 1 shot last year at Oxford Golf & Country Club in Pune.

“When I played my practice round I found the course to be way too difficult. I have been playing golf for 54 years now and will be representing India for the 47th occasion since 1970 in South Africa. This is indeed incredible to win against golfers of this stature,” Khaitan told Golf Digest India.

Rishi Narain rolled back the clock when he too put up a decent display after returning for an amateur tournament after a gap of 24 years. Part of the 1982 Asian Games gold

Rishi Narain (left) with Gangesh Khaitan

medal winning team, Rishi shot 240 to finish second in the 55 years & above category. He also finished third behind local favourite David D’Souza in the 50 years & above class.

The trio along with Anil Jule of Delhi will head to South Africa to represent the country for the India-SA return Test. They will also be joined by Gagan Verma, Simarjeet Singh, HS Kang and Sanjay Lakra from the MidAmateur (Age 30-49) section.

Gagan, who is a former national champion, won the Mid-Amateur event with a brilliant score of five-over 293 (77-73-73-70).

Rishi’s Asiad gold medal-winning partner Lakshman Singh emerged as the winner of the 65 years & above age category with a 3 round score of 262.

Top-15 finishers of the 55 years & above age category will be called for another round of selection at a yet to be decided venue in September for an opportunity to compete in the Asia-Pacific Senior Championship to be held at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club in Australia from October 18 to 20.

The top-15 finishers in the 55 years & above age category are — Gangesh Khaitan, Rishi Narain, Anil Jule, Vijay Kumar Bhadana, Capt K S Cheema, Sanjeev Mehra, Ram Singh Pradhan, Fazal Kazi, Sanjay Kolhatkar, Nirupam Dhar, Sanjiv Kalra, Ranganath V T, Amit Luthra, Swarandeep Singh Batth And Jaspreet Bakshi.

“WHEN I PLAYED MY PRACTICE ROUND I FOUND THE COURSE TO BE WAY TOO DIFFICULT. I HAVE BEEN PLAYING GOLF FOR 54 YEARS NOW AND WILL BE REPRESENTING INDIA FOR THE 47TH OCCASION SINCE 1970 IN SOUTH AFRICA. THIS IS INDEED INCREDIBLE TO WIN AGAINST GOLFERS OF THIS STATURE.” The 1982 Asiad gold-winning quartet of Amit Luthra (L-R), Rishi Narain, Lakshman Singh and Rajeev Mohta participated together after more than 25 years

- GANGESH KHAITAN

KEY RESULTS Mid-Amateurs (Age 30-49) 293 - Gagan Verma (77-73-73-70) 297 - Simarjeet Singh (75-75-74-73) 305 - HS Kang (72-79-76-78) 307 - Sanjay Lakra (78-79-74-76) Seniors (50 & above) 232 - Gangesh Khaitan (76-75-81) 234 - David D’Souza (77-77-80) 240 - Rishi Narain (80-83-77) 242 - Anil Jule (81-79-82) 55 Years & above 232 - Gangesh Khaitan 240 - Rishi Narain 55-59 Years 240 - Rishi Narain 249 - Capt. KS Cheema 60-64 years 232 - Gangesh Khaitan 242 - Anil Jule 65 years & above 262 - Lakshman Singh (88-84-90) 269 - Dr. VT Date (91-84-94)

Lakshman Singh won in the 65 years & above category

50 golf digest india | august 2017

Gagan Verma won the Mid-Amateur (Age 30-49) event

Across The Country Development

New course in Pink City

Jaipur, popularly known as Pink City, has a new 9-hole course for golf enthusiasts. The Royal Jaipur Golf Club designed by Pacific Coast Design plays to 3000 yards from back tees as a par-34 challenging layout with 64 bunkers. The golf course, on the outskirts of the city, is promoted by the owners of Delhi’s well known Appu Ghar (the famous amusement park) as part of a future residential and amusement hub. This is a relatively open facility with significant bunkering & two water bodies in play with 5 Par 4s, 3 par 3 holes and 1 par 5. The longest hole is a 500 yards Par 5 water bodies in play.

The Course has a driving range with 3 target greens upto 300 yards.

Caddy Welfare

Welcome Move

KGA conducts Caddy day tournament

Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course in Bengaluru organized its annual caddy tournament with well known pro Mari Muthu grabbing the top honours. A total of 130 caddies participated in the 2-day long event. Muthu came to limelight some years earlier for being women’s professional Sharmila Nicollet’s caddy.

He then turned pro in 2014 and scripted some solid finishes on the domestic circuit. He finished 3rd in the 2016 Chennai Open and 5th in this year’s Golconda Masters in Hyderabad. The tournament was conducted in Double Peoria format with playing and non-playing caddies categories.

L-R: Pro Mari Muthu (Winner of KGA Caddy Tournament), Harish Shetty (Secretary), Sanjay Nadgouda (ex-President) and Sandeep Madhavan (President)

KGA has been undertaking some good caddy welfare initiatives over the years, some of them are – 1. A medical Camp organised with the help of MVJ Hospital. A team of 9 doctors together with equipment were present to attend to caddies & their family members 2. Following this an eye camp was held, sponsored by Rotary Club Indiranagar 3. Dental camps also held

held in two batches, in the morning session, 98 caddies attended and in the afternoon session 93 attended.

The programme included tips on Personal Appearance, Essential actions such as taking charge of the bag, carrying sand, pitch repairers, ball markers etc., Behaviour on the course, Skills & Rules

5. Introduction of Caddies Benevolent Fund

7. Cashless Payments: With the introduction of digital money, ICICI Bank conducted a training camp to familiarise caddies with the use of digital payment facilities.

6. Course Training - On April 17, caddies were made to undergo a rigorous 3 hour training programme.

8. Introduction of smart uniforms; Toilet renovated so that caddies can use it for showers/Bath etc.

4. Health insurance scheme for caddies

Delhi Golf Club reserves slots for pro-golfers

According to newspaper reports, the Union Housing & Urban Affairs ministry, which has a say in deciding membership rules of the Delhi Golf Club, has allotted 10% slots to professional golfers from the quota for dependents of business members.

People had to wait up to 25 years to get membership rights in the super-exclusive Delhi Golf Club. Besides, a rule tweak will reduce membership renewal time for retired bureaucrats, a move seen as the government’s post-retirement gift for them.

The 1930-born coveted playground for the Capital’s rich and famous admits 160 members in the business slot for private individuals and around 40 in the Government Services category reserved for Supreme Court judges and government officials. Rules say 50% slots in business are reserved for dependents such as spouses and children of members.

The club currently allows non-member golfers, charging Rs 6,000 a day to play in the 18-hole course.

The decision to grant them membership is seen as a move to encourage competitive players as golf last year became an Olympic sport. Government officials pay a discounted membership fee of Rs 4 lakh. The fee in the business category is Rs 10 lakh, and a dependent pays Rs 3 lakh.

august 2017 | golf digest india

51

Across The Country

PGL members during a trip to Barcelona in 2014

Generating Interest

Women join hands to have golfing fun

At the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ

PGL Captains:

Industry experts have always highlighted that generating women’s interest in the sport is a must to help pave the way for the growth of golf.

Ladies European Tour’s Director Development Mike Round had also stressed upon making golf a family outing during the 6th India Golf Expo in Gurgaon a few months back.

While the golfing bigwigs are still contemplating ways to attract women to the fairways, a group of 29 women have joined hands to make golf a fun session.

These like-minded women from various golf clubs in Delhi NCR formed the Premier Golf League (PGL) in 2013. They not only conduct monthly medal rounds at different clubs across the country but also organise fun international trips with the expenses borne by the group.

This year the PGL conducted monthly medal rounds at DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon, Oxford Country Club in Pune, Karma Lakelands in Delhi NCR, Delhi Golf Club and DLF again.

They have conducted golf trips to interntional destinations like Spain and Thailand in the past. Last year they had played at the scenic Royal Springs Golf Club in Srinagar. The group also appoints one captain for conducting the affairs of PGL for the entire year. The captain is incharge of organising the medal rounds in different clubs and also arranging trophies, gifts which are distributed to the winners along with care packages.

“Having fun at the course is not a novelty. We want to tell other women as well that they can organise such interesting golf sessions at their courses. This year at Oxford I ensured that everyone had a colour co-ordinated dress while playing — black T-shirt with red collar and red bottoms.

“Everyone contributes for green fee, caddy fee, cart charges and F&B. DLF golf club has been very generous towards the non members of PGL by giving a preferential rate. Thus helping the non members to play more often at DLF,” 2017 Premir Golf League captain Mukta Malhotra told Golf Digest India.

2017 - Mukta Malhotra

52 golf digest india | august 2017

2016 - Punam Chawla 2015 - Astha Mital 2014 - Neetu Agarwal 2017 PGL captain Mukta Malhotra

2013 - Ekta Chadha

Members had fun time during the monthly medal round at the Delhi Golf Club

Across The Country Good weather made the outing in Srinagar all the more fun

Mukta Malhotra (L) with Pooja Batra at the DLF course

Participants at the Oxford Golf Resort

PGL Members: Mukta Malhotra, Pooja Batra, Neelam Pratap Rudy, Ekta Chaddha, Punam Chawla, Veera Singh, Neetu Agarwal, Astha Mittal, Namrata Dhir, Monica Jajoo, Latika Khaneja, Sonia Gupta, Abha Jain, Usha Kothari, Sonia Ajay Gupta, Anita Khanna, Shobha Khatri, Sangeeta Chopra, Sonia Dhir, Madhu Arora, Indu Seth, Mona Anand, Rama Chawla, Veena Sachdeva, Milllie Sethi, Simran Bajaj, Anu Kapoor, Sonal and Renu Malhotra.

The revamped DLF Golf & Country Club tested the members’ skills

Exciting prizes awaited the best performers

Karma Lakelands was the perfect venue to come close to nature for PGL members

august 2017 | golf digest india

53

Junior Golf

FAST FACTS n FORMAT - Played in the 9s golf format – greensomes & foursomes. n A total of 18 one-day City Challenge will be staged with 9 teams (plus ties) advancing to the Zonal Challenge. Top 9 teams from their age divisions in the Zonal Challenge will qualify for the National Challenge. n INDIVIDUAL EVENT: As both members play their own ball during the back 9, that score will also be considered as their individual score for the best individual prizes. n TEAM - 2 Member School Teams (Can be comprised of 2 boys, 2 girls or 1 boy & 1 girl) n Each team members will play off their own tee colour as per the Champions Junior Tour age specific yardage system.

New School Golf League To Begin This Month

S

chool kids are in for some exciting times ahead with Romit Bose Golf (RBG) announcing its largest School Golf League event nationwide starting August 2017. It is being done with the intention to promote and popularise the game amongst schools which will catalyse interest and growth within the school system and boost participation in golf at the grassroots level.

The need to popularise the sport at the junior level is essential for the growth of the game and an initiative like this will make the schools more aware of the phenomenal talent they have in golf. This will help promote the game to be taken up within the schools and also boost the growth of in-school golf learning centres.

Venues for City Challenges

Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Poona, Cochin, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Lucknow and Shillong

n AGE CATEGORIES - A school can field multiple 2 member teams as per divisions listed below. n JUNIOR DIVISION: both members must be 13-18 years old. n SUB JR DIVISION: 9-12 years n MINI JR DIVISION: 8 years and under n ZONES COVERED – North, South, East, West, Central, Northeast, Defence Services. n ALL ZONES WILL HAVE THREE EVENTS - for example West Zone will have a city event in Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Teams can play in only one out of three events in their zone. The zonal finals will be held in November and the national finals will be staged in December.

CHAMPIONS JUNIOR TOUR COMPLETES 3 ROUNDS

More than 350 kids ranging from 6-18 years participated in the first three legs of the Champions Junior Tour, part of Indian Golf Union’s Junior & Sub-Junior Feeder Tour. These kids took advantage of the 2-month long summer break to showcase their golfing skills.

These kids played under 9 different categories with age-specific yardages.

The first leg of the tour was held the Palms Golf Club in Lucknow from May 26-28. It was followed by the second leg at ITC Classic Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon from May 31 to June 2. Ludhiana’s newest course The Imperial Golf Estate staged the third leg June 7-11.

Underprivileged children and caddies’ children were not charged any registration fee.

54 golf digest india | august 2017

Kids with their trophies after completion of the Ludhiana leg of the Champions Junior Tour

Junior Golf Promising Junior

MAGNIFICENT MALINI EXCELS IN THE US

Malini Rudra, a rising junior at Syosset HS on Long Island, won the 91st Junior Girls Open Championship held on July 11 at Forest Hill Field CC, Bloomfield, New Jersey. It is the oldest junior girl tournament in the US organised by the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association.

Besides winning this prestigious tournament, Malini has grabbed a runners-up prize at the Nassau County Girls Varsity Championship held earlier this year. She also had a top-10 finish at the NYS Public High School Championship held at the Bethpage State Park yellow course.

Besides golf which is her passion, she is a state-ranked high school debater and academically has maintained an A+ grade in all her subjects for the past 5 years at her school.

Golf Digest India had highlighted Malini’s talent in the Junior Special issue published in December last year.

GURBANI, DIKSHA SIZZLE AT TAIWAN AMATEUR

2017 Indonesia Ladies Amateur winner Gurbani Singh finished runners-up in the Taiwan Ladies Amateur Golf Championship at the Sunrise Golf & Country Club from June 20 to 23. The Duke University student carded 75-74-74-74 (297) in four days to grab second place behind talented Thai Atthaya Thitikul (288; 75-70-72-71).

Gurbani Singh India’s No. 1 ladies amateur Diksha Dagar continued her golden run in 2017 with a runner-up finish in the two-day team event. Diksha ended 10th in the individual event with scores of 79-74-75-77 (305).

Another Indian Sifat Sagoo had a 12th place finish with scores of 81-74-76-75 (306).

Diksha had a tied 13th result at the Faldo Series Asia Diksha Dagar Finals in Vietnam from March 14-17. She then clinched a top-10 in a field of 76 players at the Malaysian Ladies Amateur from May 2-5 May. At the Queen Sirikit Cup held in Shanghai China from May 10-12, she finished 12th among 39 players.

The 14-year-old has two wins under her belt on the IGU circuit in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. She was also awarded Best Ladies Golfer prize at the annual PSPB golf tournament playing for Indian Oil.

JUNIORS MAKE MERRY AT 83RD ALBATROSS GOLF EVENT Albatross Junior Tour held the 83rd edition of their golf event at Jaypee Wish Town in Greater Noida. The juniors made merry in overcast conditions and learnt the art of playing in the rain through the tournament. With conditions getting tougher by the hour, juniors showed great character during the event.

Rachit Mankoti emerged winner in Category A of the Kensville Challenge

KENSVILLE LAUNCHES JUNIOR CHALLENGE

Winners

Category A: Boys – Harshjeet Singh Sethie Category B: Boys – Akshath Sharma Categroy A&B: Girls – Asmitha Sathish Category C: Boys – Vinamra Anand, Girls –Agrima Manral Category D: Boys – Gurnavjeet Singh Bhatia, Girls – Saumya S Nehra Category E: Boys – Prashant Agarwal, Girls – Zara Anand.

Ahmedabad’s premier course Kensville Golf & Country Club launched the year round Junior Challenge to promote the sport at the grassroot level in Western India.

Kids as young as 5 years old conquered the course with perfect teeing styles displayed by both boys and girls.

The first leg of the tournament was held in 6 different categories (A to F) according to age in June.

Category A saw Rachit Mankoti emerge the winner in the boys section, while Chelsea Thakkar took the top honours in the girls’ category A. From the Boys category, other winners were Vihaan Shah, Amin Shah, Daivya Patel and Veer. In the girls section Mahi Potdukhe, Meher Asnani, Ridhima and Pall Shingala were the winners.

WG Cdr A K Singh, Director General, Indian Golf Union graced the occasion with his presence.

The tournament will be played every 2 months till December 2018.

It will test the mettle of participants on the basis of points accumulated throughout individual chapters and rank every participant accordingly. august 2017 | golf digest india

55

Business of Golf

India Gets First-Ever

‘Synthetic’ 9-Hole Course T

he country got it’s first synthetic 9-hole course at the M3M Club in Gurgaon, architectural firm Golfplan confirmed. It’s for the first time that a golf facility will be using synthetic turf for all 9 holes. The luxurious project is being developed by Kevin Ramsey with the facility set to open for play in September this year.

The 9-hole, par-3 layout at M3M -- in addition to its 9-hole putting course and driving range -- are entirely synthetic with a lush-green product produced

by FieldTurf, the Calhoun, Georgia-based subsidiary of the French company, Tarkett Inc., that has supplied its product to some 7,000 sports facilities worldwide.

Golf has been far slower than football and soccer to adopt FieldTurf as a viable alternative to organic turf. But Ramsey explains why it was necessary to employ a synthetic surface.

M3M has two 35-storey towers

which block a big chunk of sunlight, essential to maintain the natural grass cover.

“We went synthetic here for a lot of reasons. That’s one reason right there: The shade created by these high-rises would have made it quite difficult to grow and maintain healthy turf here, no matter what variety was chosen. But mainly, it’s for the residents. This FieldTurf will always look good. There will be no dormancy, no off-color in the off-season. The trees will lose their leaves but residents will always look down from the 33rd floor and see this beautiful, lushgreen courtyard with pins -- 100 percent of the time.”

Even globally such a product has been executed only for the first time. One firm Southwest Greens has furnished product to the 6-hole short course at the Hong Kong Golf & Tennis Academy but the M3M project will debut as golf ’s first fully synthetic, standalone 9.

PGA Of America Joins Asian Golf Industry Federation The PGA of America, the largest working sports organisation in the world, has become an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF). Founded in 1916, the PGA of America is comprised of more than 28,000 golf professionals working in more than 35 countries around the world. “The PGA of America is one of the game’s most enduring and respected bodies. We welcome them to the Asian Golf Industry Federation family and look forward to helping them develop some new and exciting undertakings in Asia,” said Eric Lynge, Chief Executive Officer of the AGIF.

Arjun Chowdri, Senior Director of Global and Corporate Strategy, PGA of America, said: “We are excited to join the Asian Golf Industry Federation in our shared commitment to help develop and lead the growth of golf across Asia. The Asia region represents an incredible opportunity for the game of golf with PGA of America professionals being well positioned through their intensive education and onthe-job training to help drive sustainable growth for the region.”

56 golf digest india | august 2017

The synthetic 9-hole layout at M3M Club in Gurgaon

Equipment, Balls To Cost Less

Golf equipment like irons, drivers, wedges, putters and balls etc will cost less owing to lower taxation as part of centralized Goods & Services Tax (GST). The Indian Golf Union (IGU) took the lead followed by PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) and Golf Industry Association (GIA) in convincing the Ministry of Commerce for revising the tax rates for golf products and services. The proposed GST rate for golf equipment stood at 28% before it got revised to 12%.

GST Impact

12% 18% 28% Caps and Gloves

Golf equipment/balls

IGU membership Training/Coaching Services Capitation fee

Duffel bags/Golf bags

Business of Golf

Golf Holiday Demand ‘Will Keep Rising’ D emand for golf travel across the globe is expected to grow for the foreseeable future, but at a slower pace than in recent years, due to limits on supply in popular golf destinations.

That was the key message from the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) as the record-breaking ninth annual North America Golf Tourism Convention (NAC) took place at Trump National, Doral, Miami. The convention attracted 423 delegates from 36 countries.

During his opening address at the threeday event, Peter Walton, IAGTO’s Chief

Executive, made three projections for 20172020. He forecast that: • Demand for golf travel will continue to rise • Golf tour operators will, by and large,

“Our operator members saw their business increase by an average of 7.5% in 2016 which, although still very strong, is a couple of points below the average of the previous four years (9.8%).”

maintain their market share* • Golf tour operator sales will continue to grow year-on-year but at a reduced rate of growth of between 5% and 7% “2017 will mark the sixth year of consecutive growth for golf tour operator sales worldwide with forward bookings for this year up 7.1% year-on-year when measured in January, and 7.9% in April,” Walton predicted.

“Outbound markets performing particularly well and above the global average include India, China, Korea, Asia in general, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, with European markets overall just above par.

Redexim Targets $1 Million Sale In India One of the world’s leading turfcare equipment manufacturers, Redexim Charterhouse, is targeting $1 million in sales in the current financial year. The Indian turf management marketplace is ruled by Toro Irrigation followed by Jacobsen and John Deere. But with Redexim entering the market, the prices of products like aerators, scarifiers, top dresses, sweepers is bound to go down.

Besides targeting golf courses in the country they have also approached the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and All India Football Federation (AIFF) to help maintain their stadiums throughout the year.

“Indian golf courses up till now have been attended mainly by 1-2 companies, and really had not too many other options to turn to if they wanted to receive good after-sales service. Together with its Indian distributor Gallant Sports & Infra Pvt.Ltd, Redexim is setting up a professional sales and service organization throughout the country and we are looking for a sale of US$ 1 million for this financial year,” Hessel Rozema, Commercial Director of Redexim, told Golf Digest India.

A demo of Redexim’s Verti-Drain at the DLF Golf & Country Club

august 2017 | golf digest india

57

Corporate Digest

Get ready for the biggest golf festival

K

arnataka’s largest amateur golf tournament, the Cornerstone Cup Karnataka Golf Festival, with approx. 500 players competing to qualify for the World Amateur Golfers Championship, is set to be staged at the prestigious Karnataka Golf Association in Bengaluru from October 5 to 8.

In it s 9th e dition, the tournament will be played in five different handicap categories (05, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and 21-24) over four days, in an individual format, with the winners earning a spot in the World Finals to be staged in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from November 18 to 25, 2017.

L-R: Indian contingent Amitabh Poddar, BK Prabhakar, MS Nagaraj, Om Prakash and Prateek Pant at WAGC 2016 Prominent sports personalities like former India stumper Syed Kirmani, ex-India Test cricketers Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi and Sujit Somasundar, spin legend Erapalli Prasanna, ex-India hockey captain Ashish Ballal, former India relay runner Ashwini Nachappa and TV commentator Charu Sharma are likely to grace the tournament.

With s up p o r t f ro m t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f To u r i s m , Government of Karnataka, the CKGF aims to popularise golf tourism and establish Karnataka as a world class golf destination.

L-R: Cornerstone Properties MD BP Kumar Babu along with Pratap Singh and Kiran Poonacha share a light moment Each year golfers from Jammu, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore and Coimbatore travel to Bangalore to play in the event.

Winners of the Cornerstone Cup KGF 2017 will be announced at a gala dinner hosted at a five star property in Bengaluru on October 8. The gala dinner is one of the most memorable gatherings of golfers anywhere in the country.

The tournament is sanctioned L-R: Anand Srinivasan, Sandeep Madhavan, Vinod Chinappa by the Indian Golf Union (IGU), and Sanjay Nayar only golfers with valid IGU National Handicap Service handicap are eligible to represent India.

Several daily prizes, on course contests and the overall winners going to Malaysia make this an event to look forward to.

At the World Finals, the fivemember Indian contingent will compete with over 200 amateur golfers from 40 countries over four rounds of competitive golf in four different courses around Durban.

Mini Kuruvilla (left) and Ashwini Nachappa TV commenatator & Pro Kabaddi League founder Charu Sharma

58 golf digest india | august 2017

Corporate Digest

Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom, the venue of the Duke of Edinburgh Cup World Finals

Royal outing awaits Indians

T

he 5th edition of the Duke of Edinburgh Cup is set for the 19th of August at Prestige Golfshire, Bengaluru. 112 golfers will be teeing off in support of Bangalore’s most successful annual Charity golf event. The money raised will go to the benefit of the well known Christel House Charity.

Christel House is a charity for disadvantaged children to grow, achieve and realize their dreams. The mission is to help orphaned, abandoned and underprivileged children break the cycle of poverty and to make them self-sufficient and contributing members of our society. Established in 2000 with 320 students, today they have 900 students. Christel House students are pursuing degrees in Arts, Commerce, Software Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, and Medicine. The mission is to break the cycle of poverty & make every child a contributing member of society The highlight of the event is that two winners will once again qualify to play at the World Final of the Duke of Edinburgh Cup at Windsor, outside London, England during the last week of September.

The prize is an unforgettable and completely unique experience. Winners play the private golf course of the Royal Household on the grounds of Windsor Castle competing with participants from 7 other countries. The awards ceremony is a black tie dinner at the state ballroom of the castle in the presence of members of the Royal Family of Great Britain.

David D’Souza, winner of the first Bangalore edition and winner of the World Final in 2013 recalls his experience “A

Kratish Bopanna receiving the 2015 trophy from Prince Edward - The Earl of Wessex L-R: Raju Shahani (Christel House India), Satish Sharma (Apollo Tyres), and 2016 winner N P Thimmaiah

truly money-cannot-buy experience. Teeing off on the Royal private golf course right on the grounds of Windsor Castle and receiving the prize from the Earl of Wessex ( Prince Charles’ younger brother) is always going to be my No 1 career highlight. Winning made everyone take notice of the Indian contingent in our very first outing”.

Fellow Bangalorean, Dr. Kratish Bopanna who finished second last year at the World Final remembers his visit vividly. “I was delighted to receive the award from the Earl of Wessex and sip champagne in the golden state ballroom. We also made friends from like minded golfers from all over the world” The Duke of Edinburgh Cup aims to raise funds through a programme of charity golf events around the world to benefit young people and children in need globally. The annual golf tournament is held in 7 countries across the world.

David D’Souza receiving the 2012 winner’s trophy from Prince Edward

“A truly money-cannot-buy experience.

Teeing off on the Royal private golf course right on the grounds of Windsor Castle and receiving the prize from the Earl of Wessex” — David D’Souza august 2017 | golf digest india

59

Hi-Life Lifestyle

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60 golf digest india | august 2017

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Lifestyle

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FAVRE-LEUBA SPECIFICATIONS: Movement – Hand wound; specially designed mechanisms for altimeter and power reserve indicator.

Functions – Hours, minutes, second hands to display altitudes of 3000m. Subdial for displaying altitudes of 9000m.

Case – Titanium; bidirectional rotating bezel with iodised aluminium insert; screw in crown; sapphire crystal with antireflection coating on both sides; diameter 48mm; height 18.7mm; water resistant upto 3 bar/30m Dial – Steel gray; applied indexes; luminous indexes and hour and minute hands, red hand for altimeter.

Strap – Leather with pin buckle august 2017 | golf digest india

61

On the PGA Tour

First Tee Provides Juniors A Platform To Realise Golfing Dream

64 golf digest india | august 2017

On the PGA Tour

A

t one time, Harold Varner was just a teenager with big golf dreams. In 2007, Varner aspired to a professional golf career. He was 17, living in Gastonia, N.C., affiliated with The First Tee. Then he received an invitation to play in the PURE Insurance Championship, an official PGA Tour Champions event held in California at none other than Pebble Beach Golf Links.

His partner that week was Morris Hatalsky, and Varner took a big whiff of big-time golf, and just kept breathing it in. That week, with junior players paired with professionals, the HatalskyVarner team was better than everybody else, the duo winning the tournament. A year later, Varner was playing college golf at East Carolina University, and by 2012 he was the Conference USA Player of the Year. Today, Varner is in his third full season on the PGA Tour.

Ten years after Varner’s big

Harold Varner chance, PGA Tour Champions and The First Tee announced July 5 the 81 junior golfers selected to play in the 2017 PURE Insurance Championship.

Is there another Varner among the group? We’ll get

a glimpse September 19-24 when the Monterey Peninsula Foundation hosts the annual tournament at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif.

The 81 participants, ages 14 to 18, were selected by a national panel of judges based on playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and core values learned through their involvement with The First Tee, a youth-development organization that instills life-enhancing values and promotes healthy choices through the game of golf.

The juniors will be teamed with 81 PGA Tour Champions players and 162 amateurs as they compete for the pro-junior title. Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood is chairman of the event and he will oversee play conducted on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course on Friday and Saturday, with the final round contested solely at Pebble Beach on

Sunday.

“We are proud of this year’s juniors selected for the PURE Insurance Championship” said Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of The First Tee. “Being selected demonstrates their understanding and application of life skills, and ability to play elite golf.

We appreciate our partners— PURE Insurance, PGA Tour Champions, Pebble Beach Resorts, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Golf Channel— and their commitment to the event which is a life-changing experience for the juniors.”

In this 14th tournament year, more than 790 participants from The First Tee chapters have benefited from the opportunity to play in the tournament by meeting and learning from PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs in the field, utilizing the leadership and life skills they have acquired at their chapters.

The picturesque Pebble Beach Golf Links course played host to the PGA Tour Champions event

august 2017 | golf digest india

65

On the PGA Tour

‘Neighbours’ Restore Greenbrier To Top Shape After Floods W

hen The Greenbrier Classic began on July 6, it was a celebration of sorts for the thousands of residents of White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County and the great state of West Virginia.

The celebration continued long after Xander Schauffele walked away with his first PGA Tour title.

It was just a little more than a year earlier, June 23 to be exact, and just days before the 2016 event, that a devastating flood roared through the area in and around the Greenbrier and The Old White TPC—with deadly consequences. Nearly two dozen area residents died, homes were destroyed and hundreds of residents were displaced when nearly 10 inches of rain in less than a day battered the area.

White Sulphur Springs, home of the Greenbrier, was the hardesthit area in the state.

Out of this tragedy came a campaign called ‘Neighbours L oving Neighb our s’. The original plan of the campaign was to have fans bring a can of food or donate to those in need in exchange for a daily ticket during tournament week.

However, the flood changed everything.

On Tuesday of tournament week, more than a hundred people who played a role in the recovery efforts or were touched by the tragedy heard many feel-good stories from many of those people, including Bubba and Angie Watson, CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz and Major General James A. Hoyer, head of the West Virginia National Guard. During the luncheon, the PGA Tour Wives Association donated $5,000 to the ‘Neighbours Loving Neighbours’ campaign.

The Watsons witnessed the flooding first hand. The couple have a house in White Sulphur Springs and were at home when the flash floods struck. What they saw had an impact on the

66 golf digest india | august 2017

A plaque acknowledging the people of West Virginia who helped restore the course

On the PGA Tour

Kevin Chappell hits on to the 13th green during the final round of 2013 The Barclays at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey couple, married since 2004.

“It was just overwhelming for me, as a golfer, and everybody else,” Bubba Watson recalled.

“It just happened so fast. When [the rain] started I thought, Hey, it’s just a thunderstorm, and it will be over in 45 minutes.

It wasn’t like a major disaster was coming, or we didn’t think one was coming. But it quickly changed.”

Spurred to act, the Watsons, like many others, immediately sprang into action.

The next day Bubba was in The Greenbrier owner Jim Justice’s office along with first responders, members of the West Virginia National Guard and volunteers. It was through everyone’s effort that many lives were saved and some semblance of order was restored.

This week’s tournament will be a testament to the hard work and resiliency of the residents of this area that helped spur the amazing comeback from the devastation from a year earlier.

“You know, it’s weird to say, but this is a celebration.

This is a celebration of some hard-working people of the state of West Virginia and now Governor Jim Justice,” Watson said. “What a privilege and an honor to say I have a home here. This is my summer home, and my kids are going to grow up here and be a part of it. The

Most structures on the course were inundated due to the heavy thunderstorm

The fairways and bunkers were totally destroyed due to the large scale floods

dedication and drive the people had, to come from nothing after that storm, and still survive and rebuild, what could be better.

It’s neighbors loving neighbors; that’s what the true definition we should all be doing. Not just in West Virginia, but everywhere in the world. We should love all people and help all people.”

Nantz, the long-time voice of CBS Sports, was also touched by the story.

“This is going to be a weekend that is much bigger than a golf tournament. This is a story that has a huge heartbeat to it,” Nantz said. “It’s about a community rallying together to help one another. It’s really an American success story about the rebuilding of an area, about neighbors coming together and how this great charity has helped out in so many different ways. This is what America was built on, people helping others.”

“THIS IS GOING TO BE A WEEKEND THAT IS MUCH BIGGER THAN A GOLF TOURNAMENT. THIS IS A STORY THAT HAS A HUGE HEARTBEAT TO IT”

— NANTZ, CBS PRESENTER

august 2017 | golf digest india

67

On the PGA Tour

TOUR SNIPPETS

NIEMANN SHOWS IMMENSE PROMISE AT GREENBRIER CLASSIC It was a very solid week for players from South America playing in the Greenbrier Classic—one by an amateur and one by a rising star. On July 9 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz held the lead after the first, second and third rounds but struggled on the final day, shooting a 2-over 72 at The Old White TPC to tie for third. Munoz finished two strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele, a six-hole stretch on the front nine proving costly to Munoz as he bogeyed four of those six holes. The silver lining? Munoz was one of four players from the tournament to finish inside the top 12 who were not already exempt into The Open Championship. Munoz earned

Joaquin Niemann

CURTIS HOPES TO REAP HIS LUCK ON PGA TOUR

Curtis Luck

68 golf digest india | august 2017

Curtis Luck, the 2016 U.S. Amateur champion who also won the Asia-Pacific Amateur, collected his first top-10 in six professional starts on the PGA Tour when he tied for fifth at the Quicken Loans National outside Washington, D.C. The 20-year-old Luck followed his top-five finish into a tie for 29th at The Greenbrier Classic the following week. Luck has already won a professional tournament, the 2016 Western Australian Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Luck is attempting to join the Tour as a Special Temporary Member. That will happen if he can match or surpass the points earned by the player at No. 150 in the 2015-16 FedExCup standings (319

by Greg Owen). When Luck turned professional, he was No. 398 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Following his two made cuts in July, he had moved to No. 285.

the invite, along with Schauffele, Robert Streb and Jamie Lovemark.

While Munoz was contending for his first PGA Tour title, amateur Joaquin Niemann of Chile was displaying form that explains why he had recently become the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world.

Over his final 18 holes of the Greenbrier Classic, Niemann, who made his PGA Tour debut a month earlier at the U.S. Open (missed the cut), fired a final-round, 6-underpar 64. His effort helped him jump a tie for 67th when the day began into a tie for 29th. Niemann has enrolled at the University of South Florida in Tampa where he will be a freshman on the golf team as the Bulls begin their 2017-18 season.

CHAMPIONS TOUR ROOKIES TOMS, KELLY ENJOY SOLID RUN David Toms

A pair of 50-year-olds have enjoyed a rebirth of sorts this season as they’ve played their first seasons as PGA Tour Champions rookies. David Toms has posted three top-10s in 12 starts, including a tie for sixth at the Regions Tradition and a seventh-place finish at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. The 13-time PGA Tour victor and former Major championship winner (2001 PGA Championship) joins Jerry Kelly, who has seven top-15 finishes in nine starts in 2017. Kelly had his best week during his debut event, the Chubb Classic, where he tied for third.

© 2017 PGATOUR, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLAYER APPEARANCE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

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On the European Tour

TOUR SNIPPETS Fleetwood rises to the top in Paris Tommy Fleetwood moved to the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex as he won the second Rolex Series event at the HNA Open de France.

The Englishman arrived at Le Golf National as one of the form players on the European Tour but with a poor record on the course that will host next year’s Ryder Cup having never made the cut or even broken par in Paris.

He put that right in some style with a closing bogey-free 66 that gave him a 12-under par total and a one-shot victory over American Peter Uihlein.

For Uihlein there was the consolation of earning a spot at the Open Championship along with home favourite Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Swede Alexander Björk, who both finished in a share of third at 8-under alongside Dane Thorbjørn Olesen.

The victory is Fleetwood’s second of the season after the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship and the winner’s cheque of 1,040,824 euros moves him above the season’s only other multiple winner so far - Sergio Garcia - to the top of the European standings.

Rahm romps to maiden victory at DDF Irish Open Jon Rahm made his first European Tour win a Rolex Series event with an utterly dominant record-breaking victory at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation.

The Spaniard entered the final day at Portstewart Golf Club with a share of the lead but produced a brilliant closing 65 to get to 24-under and romp home by six shots.

His total to par is the lowest in the event’s history by three shots and is also the lowest of the season, beating Brandon Stone’s 22-under par total at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Scot Richie Ramsay and England’s Matthew Southgate were his nearest challengers, with Ramsay earning himself a place at The Open Championship alongside countryman David Drysdale and New Zealander Ryan Fox who were a further shot back.

World No. 13 Justin Rose and American Daniel Im also finished at 17-under, with Drysdale producing the lowest round of the week on Sunday with seven closing birdies in a 63.

“I HAVEN’T PLAYED MY BEST GOLF AND TODAY, FOR 15 HOLES, I PLAYED THE BEST GOLF I CAN EVER PLAY ON THE COURSE WITH THE WEATHER THAT WE HAD.” 70 golf digest india | august 2017

Tommy Fleetwood (centre) with the HNA Open de France trophy

“Today, it’s a day that I’ll never forget,” he said. “The way I felt coming down the stretch, the holes and the shots you have to hit. Winning, it’s the best feeling by far in golf and to do it on this golf course in this event, a Rolex Series event, just massive, massive bonuses.”

ROMERO IS BACK IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE IN GERMANY Andres Romero held his nerve down the stretch to claim his first European Tour title in ten years at the BMW International Open.

The final round at Golfclub München Eichenried came down to a four-way battle between Romero, Masters Tournament champion Sergio Garcia, Richard Bland and Thomas Detry on a day of high drama in Bavaria.

Tournament invite Romero produced a closing birdie to sign for a 65 and set the target at 17 under and with the final pairing of Bland and Garcia both carding late bogeys, the Argentinian won his first European Tour title since the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe in 2007.

Romero had not made a regular European Tour appearance since the 2012 BMW Masters and his last top ten came at the BMW PGA Championship in 2008.

“I’m really happy, after ten years winning on the European Tour, especially here in Germany.

I’m really, really happy,” he said.

On the European Tour

WORLD-CLASS FIELD CONFIRMED FOR SENIOR OPEN

Sweden’s Alex Noren kisses the BMW PGA Championship trophy

Noren named Golfer of the Month for May

Sweden’s Alex Noren has been named the Hilton European Tour Golfer of the Month for May following his stunning final round comeback in the BMW PGA Championship – the first tournament in the Rolex Series.

The 34-year-old overturned a seven shot deficit with a closing ten under par round of 62 to finish two shots clear of Italian Francesco Molinari at Wentworth Club.

It was Noren’s ninth victory on the European Tour and he sealed his place in history by winning the launch event for the European Tour’s Rolex Series

– a new category of eight premium events on the Race to Dubai each with a minimum prize fund of $7million.

The victory was also his fifth title in just 17 European Tour appearances – an incredible run which took him to a career-high of eight on the Official World Golf Ranking.

He can now add the Hilton Golfer of the Month Award for May to his trophy cabinet and he will receive an automatic upgrade to Diamond Status on Hilton Honors, Hilton’s award-winning loyalty program.

BLAND RULING IN GERMANY MARKS A EUROPEAN TOUR FIRST Richard Bland may have impressed last Saturday at the BMW International Open thanks to a breath-taking moving day performance in Germany, but the Englishman also played a part in a little bit of golf rules history after he found himself in a water hazard prior to a miraculous birdie.

At the par-five 11th, the 44 year old found the water to the right of the green and, when he discovered it was playable, he took off his shoes and socks before splashing out and holing the 25-foot putt for a barely-believable four in an incredible feat of imagination and skill.

Afterwards, it was flagged up by a TV viewer that on a replay, it could be seen that Bland had ever so slightly touched the water, causing a couple of delicate ripples in the water.

But due to the fact that Bland could not have reasonably seen the club touch the water with the naked eye, there was no penalty incurred owing to a recently-introduced rule to limit the use of video evidence when it reveals factual information which could not have been known or seen in real-time on the course.

Legends of golf will congregate on the south Wales coastline later this month for a Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex which lives up to its billing as a truly global gathering of many of the game’s greatest senior players at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club.

A total of 33 Major Champions, all celebrated winners across both the Regular and Senior Tours, will arrive at Royal Porthcawl from July 27-30 having amassed a remarkable haul of 67 Major titles between them.

The 144-strong field also contains 17 players who have won 37 Senior Major titles since reaching the age of 50, with an illustrious group of just four players – Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman and Tom Watson – having claimed Majors at both levels.

Additionally, the field is augmented by the appearance in Wales by ten past Ryder Cup captains from both sides of the golfing divide – namely Sir Nick Faldo, Langer, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, José Maria Olazábal, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam for Europe and Lehman, Corey Pavin and Watson from the United States. Pavin, of course, was captain in Wales in 2010.

INDIAN GOLF UNION PRESENT AT THE OPEN

L to R: Ishwar Achanta (Treasurer), legendary golfer Gary Player, Satish Aparajit (President) and CS Subramaniam (Council Member) of IGU at Royal Birkdale where IGU had scheduled various high level meetings with leading world golf administration bodies.

august 2017 | golf digest india

71

On the European Tour

All To Play For In The Road To Oman been the performances of the man one place behind him in the Rankings, Pulkkanen.

Much was expected of the Finn when he regained Challenge Tour status for the 2016 season following a dominant year on the Nordic Golf League, where he won five times on his way to topping the rankings.

The 27-year-old struggled to match those performances last year and as a result began the 2017 season with a low category but made a big impression in just the second tournament of the year, the Turkish Airlines Challenge.

As the 2017 Road to Oman entered its second third at the recent SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, we thought it was a good time for a recap on the European Challenge Tour season so far.

SURI ASSURED AT THE TOP Even at such an early stage in a very long season, one name has been dominating both the leaderboards and the rankings in recent weeks: Julian Suri.

The American was runner-up at the Open de Portugal at Morgado Golf Resort, with any disappointment at falling narrowly short surely tempered by the 55,550 points he earned for coming second in one of the most lucrative events on the schedule.

The 26-year-old followed that up with a maiden victory at the D+D REAL Czech Challenge, prevailing in a dramatic 36-hole duel with Tapio Pulkkanen, before a share of third spot at the Swiss Challenge presented

by ASG the very next week consolidated his strong position at the top of the Road to Oman.

The Floridian already has more than 100,000 points to his name this season, making his position in the top 15, who earn European Tour cards at the end of the year, all but certain – for context, last year’s final graduate earned 91,578 points.

Indeed, his lead at the top of the Rankings

Julian Suri is currently leading the Road to Oman rankings on the Challenge Tour

is already so large – almost 26,000 points separate him from second-placed Aaron Rai – that it would be surprising if he is not in contention for the overall No. 1 position come the end of the year.

TIP THE HAT TO TAPIO Rai’s early-season exploits – two wins followed by a Major Championship debut after he qualified for the U.S. Open – have been well documented but flying slightly under the radar, though no less impressive, have

BREAKTHROUGH B OYS AND RETURNING WINNERS With Rai the only player to have won more than once this year, the other eight tournaments have each had a different winner, and in recent weeks it has been a mixture of maiden champions and long-time absentees from the winner’s circle.

Joel Girrbach took his first Challenge Tour title on home soil in Switzerland, with Julien Guerrier repeating both his maiden and homeland success when he won the Hauts de France Golf Open two weeks later.

Oscar Stark sealed his breakthrough win at the Made in Denmark Challenge – presented by Ejner Hessel, but other recent winners have experience of sealing victories, albeit some time ago..

Brooks Koepka: From Challenge Tour Champion To Major Winner

I

It has been a fast but steady rise to the top of world golf for Brooks Koepka – and it all started on the European Challenge Tour.

Arriving in Europe in 2012 fresh from studying at Florida State University, Koepka wasted no time in making an impact on the professional game. His maiden win on Europe’s top developmental tour came after only eight events, with the American cruising to a three-stroke victory at the 2012 Challenge de Catalunya.

After an outstanding start to life in paid ranks the young Floridian really came alive the following season. A trio of quick fire titles in just nine tournaments meant the then-23 year old had earned his place on the European Tour after only 11 months on the Challenge Tour.

The Palm Beach native was quickly earning a reputation as a world-class talent, and his stock

“I LOOK BACK TO WHEN I WAS ON THE CHALLENGE TOUR. WHEN YOU HAD FOUR GUYS TRAVELLING IN A SMALL CAR... SO TO NOW BE US OPEN CHAMPION IS AMAZING” — BROOKS KOEPKA. was set to increase further in his first full season on the European Tour. A tied third finish in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic set the tone for a remarkable break-

72 golf digest india | august 2017

through season where Koepka also came close at the Omega European Masters.

But the powerful American would not have to wait long for a

return to the winner’s circle, announcing himself to the golfing world by holding off a challenge from Ian Poulter to triumph at the lucrative Turkish Airlines Open.

After becoming a P GA Tour winner for the first time in February 2015 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Koepka also excelled on arguably the biggest stage of all – The Ryder Cup. The first former Challenge Tour player to represent the United States in the biennial contest, Koepka won three points in four matches, playing a key role in helping his country reclaim the trophy. One of only two players to have made the cut in the last 13 Majors, the Floridian arrived at Erin Hills with a strong record.

Long off the tee, Koepka powered his way to a recordbreaking victory in Wisconsin – equalling Rory McIlroy’s record for the lowest score in relation to par in US Open history.

On the European Tour

FITNESS

EMPOWERING THE HIPS

As we have discussed here before, the legs play an important part in the golf swing. Having both stability and strength in the legs is important. The hips and the back of the legs (glutes and hamstrings) work very hard throughout the golf swing to both create and resist forces. An excellent exercise that develops many of these qualities is the ‘Single leg hip hinge’. It challenges your balance, core stability, hip/leg and upper body strength.

How it benefits your body

Being strong in the hips and legs is important to help you in virtually all day-to-day activities from walking, to standing up from a chair or stepping up on a step. The other big group of movements this exercise will help with is general bending/ lifting. Often when you bend over to pick something up you should be looking to bend from the hips and utilise the powerful hip and leg muscles rather than all the effort come from the lower back (think how you often pick a golf ball out of the hole and see how similar this exercise looks to that action!).

The large gluteal (buttock) muscles are hugely important and making sure they are strong is one of the most important things you can do in your training.

How it benefits your golf game

In this exercise the big hamstring muscles work very hard to control the lowering of the torso as the hip hinges into flexion.

As you come back up into an upright position the hip moves forcefully as it extends to a neutral position working the gluteals and hamstring muscles. Both of these actions happen in the golf swing with an explosive extension of the hips from the top of the backswing as your drive through the ball.

Getting strong and stable in the hip and knee and the muscles that control these joints will have great effects on your golf swing whilst helping to reduce the chance of many common injuries we see in golfers with weaknesses in these areas.

They can be done as part of your general fitness training as well as in your warm up. These are the same type of exercises that the European Tour professionals do on Tour.

HOW TO DO AN ‘SINGLE LEG HIP HINGE’ 1 2 3

Keep the knee on the leg you are standing on very slightly flexed and soft during the movement but remember the knee position shouldn’t change.

The aim of this exercise as the name would suggest is to ‘hinge from the hip’ as you lean forward and lower your chest towards the floor, driving the other leg back.

Aim to get the lifted rear leg and opposite front arm horizontal with the floor at the end of the hinge. To progress use a Kettle bell or Dumb bell to pick up and put down with each hinge movement. First do this with the arm on the same side your standing on then try on the opposite side (much harder)

Make sure you keep a neutral strong spine position throughout this exercise (avoid excessive rounding of the shoulders or back).

Come back up to the standing position by working hard through the standing hip/ gluts and hamstrings.

4

Repeat between 5-10 times for each set for 4 sets.

Remember to do this exercise on both legs!

Text: Nigel Tilley, European Tour Performance Institute & Physio Unit august 2017 | golf digest india

73

On the European Tour

Reed Signals Intention With Win In Exciting Hero Challenge

By V KRISHNASWAMY Irvine, Scotland: Patrick Reed, who dropped out of Top-10 after a series of disappointing results earlier this season, indicated that he is working his way back to form as he beat a star-studded field in the Hero Challenge one-hole knock out contest that set the tone for the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

The US $7 million Scottish Open has been the last tune up before the year’s third Major, The Open, which will be held at the Royal Birkdale this year. Reed, whose stature and rankings should have seen him achieve better results at Majors, has never had a Top10 finish in his 14 Major starts.

Reed 10th at 2016 Scottish Open and T-12 at the 2016 Open, has been keen to improve on that and this could well be the year.

74 golf digest india | august 2017

Reed beat Tyrrell Hatton in a close final at Dundonald Links ahead of the big week.

Chairman, MD & CEO of Hero MotoCorp, Pawan Munjal, gave away the prizes.

More than 3,500 fans packed the specially constructed par three on the 18th hole. Eight of the stars from this week’s field went head-

“ANY TIME YOU CAN HIT SOME QUALITY GOLF SHOTS AND HAVE SOME FUN WITH THE FANS IS ALWAYS A LOT OF FUN. PLAYING AGAINST SOME OF MY FELLOW RYDER CUPPERS MADE IT FEEL LIKE 2016 — PATRICK REED ALL OVER AGAIN.”

to-head in one-hole knockout contest, which made its debut on the European Tour last year.

India’s Anirban Lahiri making his first appearance in the Hero Challenge, won his first match against World No. 17 Matt Kuchar, who went into the water off the tee.

But Lahiri was beaten in the next clash with Tyrell Hatton edging him out in the semifinals. Earlier Rafa Cabrera Bello lost to Hatton who holed a 10-foot birdie.

From the other half, Henrik Stenson, the highest-ranked player in the field, was eliminated by defending champion, Alex Levy. But Levy himself was knocked out by Reed.

Reed had an interesting first round win over Scot Russell Knox, who was initially awarded victory after both parred the hole.

On the European Tour Patrick Reed displays his Hero Challenge trophy with Hero MotoCorp Chairman Pawan Munjal

Participants getting ready for the Hero Challenge. From left: Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Patrick Reed, the ultimate winner, presenter Vernon Kay, Henrik Stenson, finalist Tyrell Hatton, Anirban Lahiri, Matt Kuchar and Mr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman, CEO and MD of Hero MotoCorp.

With tied matches being decided by the tee shot nearest the pin, Knox was closer, but his shot was ruled out as it went into bunker and Reed was on the green.

In the final, both Reed and Hatton struck fine tee shots on a lovely evening on the North Ayrshire coast.

Hatton was within 10 feet but Reed went even better, with a shot to four feet seven inches from the pin.

Hatton failed to hole the putt, Reed made no mistake.

Television hosts Vernon Kay and Kirsty Gallacher presented the action, which also included a celebrity nearest to the pin shoot out, with former Westlife singer Brian McFadden emerging victorious over BBC breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty, actor James Nesbitt and former Scotland rugby player and Strictly Come Dancing star Thom Evans.

There will be two more editions of the Hero Challenge. They will be held alongside the British Masters and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Hero Challenge extended to 3 European Tour events India’s largest motorcycle manufacturer Hero MotoCorp are expanding their presence in golf. The company are title sponsors of events on the PGA Tour (Hero World Challenge), European Tour (Hero Indian Open) and Ladies European Tour (Hero Women’s Indian Open). Last year Hero MotoCorp had come out with a one-hole shootout on the European Tour called the Hero Challenge wherein 8 players go head-to-head in a knockout closest to pin contest.

The success of the inaugural Hero Challenge last year at the British Masters prompted the title sponsors to extend it to three European Tour events this year. The first Hero Challenge was held at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, a week prior to The Open championship. It will then return to the 3 million pound British Masters (Sept. 28-Oct. 1) and then finish at the $8 million DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November.

august 2017 | golf digest india

75

On the European Tour

Of A Heartbreak And Incredible Integrity

M

any say this game is or at least can be the best example of integrity in a professional sport.

Whilst in Sweden for the recent Nordea Masters, I received a call for a ruling in the office during the mid-morning play. This was strange as nobody had yet completed their morning round and the first of the afternoon starters still had some time before they were due to begin their second rounds. So, it was bound to be unusual...

As I entered the Tour’s office, the player was holding one of his wedges in his hand and asked whether he would be allowed to play.

He had arrived at the range to have some early practice on his short game when he suddenly noticed a kink in the very bottom of the shaft where it joins the club-head.

He handed me the club and I confirmed that yes, I could see the indentation in the shaft and that the angle of the club-face was

THE REFEREE’S VIEW John Paramor

HE HAD ARRIVED AT THE RANGE TO HAVE SOME EARLY PRACTICE ON HIS SHORT GAME WHEN HE SUDDENLY NOTICED A KINK IN THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE SHAFT WHERE IT JOINS THE CLUB-HEAD.

Philip Strikes Gold In Bad Ragaz For Sr Tour Crown

P

hilip Golding secured his third European Senior Tour title as he fired a final round 63 to win the Swiss Seniors Open by one stroke at Golf Club Bad Ragaz.

The Englishman, whose last victory came in 2014 at the French Riviera Masters, started the final day four shots behind overnight leader Mark Mouland but quickly raced up the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies from the second hole to the fourth hole.

The 54-year-old, who won the HNA Open de France in 2003, made further gains on the tenth, 11th and 12th holes and then birdied the 16th to move to 15 under par, which gave him a one-shot lead over former Senior Major Champion Mark McNulty.

“It’s been a couple of years since I won,” said Golding. “When you win, it doesn’t matter where you win, it’s fantastic. I’m really happy.

“I was thinking all the way round that I needed to keep pushing. I set a target of 16-under par and fortunately 15-under did the trick.

“I finished in the top ten here last year and two 65s on the weekend. I managed to putt a lot better this week. I changed my putter and it made all the difference.”

McNulty, who won the Regions Tradition in 2007, was pleased to have finished second in just his second regular Senior Tour event after carding a final round 64. In a share of third place were Welshman Mark Mouland and American pair Clark Dennis and Tim Thelen on 13-under par.

76 golf digest india | august 2017

some degrees away from where it should have been. Upon discovering the dent in the shaft the player and his caddie tried to remember the previous day’s events and after some soul searching, he realised that after one somewhat unsuccessful stroke, he had taken a vigorous swipe at the top of his golf bag and he was pretty sure that that had caused the resulting kink in the shaft of the wedge.

I then asked him if he had used it later in that round. He confirmed that he had and because he was not in the best of spirits, he failed to notice the damage that the earlier tantrum had caused.

He was told that, unfortunately, that leads to disqualification for using a club whose playing characteristics had been changed during the round and not in the normal course of play.

It was an unfortunate situation but another classic example of why golf retains its incredible integrity in this new age of sports entertainment.

European Tour Live coverage on MATCH

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On the Asian Tour

ACTION, TENACITY, ATTITUDE, TRIUMPH

whereitsAT # I

f there is one key takeaway from the first half of the 2017 Asian Tour season, it is that hard work and perseverance pay off.

The early season has seen the stellar rise of new winners who have taken years to win their first title as well as an equally resolute performance by veterans.

At the season-opening SMBC Singapore Open, the 50-yearold Prayad Marksaeng fended off stiff challenges from the region’s best players to win the prestigious title by a single shot and earning one of the highly sought after tickets to The Open.

The Thai was just eight days shy of his 51st birthday then, but proved that age was not a factor, adding another win to his nine Asian Tour crowns.

The subsequent two tournaments in Myanmar and Bangladesh soon saw the ascent of the young guns.

Australian Todd Sinnott secured a convincing victory at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open barely two weeks after finishing second at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January.

In doing so, he became the second fastest rookie to win after England’s Chris Rodgers who won the 2006 Pakistan Open.

Yo u n g Thai Jazz Janewattananond then continued to put the spotlight on the emerging talents on the Asian Tour when he triumphed at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open.

Having played on the Asian Tour since he was 14, the 21-yearold finally secured his first victory after years of hard work.

At the Maybank Championship which was cosanctioned with the European Tour in February, 2014 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, David Lipsky of the United States finished a shot back of Paraguayan champion Fabrizio Zanotti in second place.

Lipsky’s wait for his third

2

1

3

4

1. Rattanon Wannasrichan 2. Jazz Janewattananond 3. Todd Sinnott and 4. Nicholas Fung put together stellar performances to make the first half of their Asian Tour season memorable

Asian Tour title had to be prolonged as Zanotti staged a magnificent comeback to win the Championship after starting his final round six shots behind the leader.

From Malaysia to Perth, Australia, Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai was denied a grandstand finish by the brilliance of home favourite Brett Rumford, who beat him 2 and 1 in the gripping final of the ISPS HANDA World Super 6, which was the first event to revolutionise tournament golf with its exciting new format.

India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia became only the third player to make a successful defence of the Hero Indian Open since 1964 with his convincing seven-shot

victory. His compatriot Shiv Kapur ended an 11 years and four months wait for a second Asian Tour title when he won the Yeangder Heritage which was the first Asian Development Tour (ADT) event to be upgraded to Asian Tour status.

At the Panasonic Open Japan, a co-sanctioned event with Japan Golf Tour, Japan’s Kenichi Kuboya delighted the local crowd by taking home the crown while Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan also triumphed on home soil at his national Open.

Rattanon had already served his early intent with a stunning opening round 62 before he went on to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the Thailand Open,

FROM SWITZERLAND TO SINGAPORE, INDIA TO INDONESIA AND MYANMAR TO AUSTRALIA, THERE HAVE BEEN

78 golf digest india | august 2017

which was also the first leg of the newly-launched Panasonic Swing.

The Queen’s Cup saw yet another first-time Asian Tour winner in Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, who nicked a timely victory on Father’s Day after 66 starts on the Asian Tour.

Prior to his breakthrough at the holiday isle of Samui in Thailand, Fung had agonizingly missed out on a grandstand finish, most notably on three occasions where he finished runner-up in Indonesia (2013), Singapore (2015) and the Philippines (2016).

With a mix of familiar and newer talents, the Asian Tour promises to be THE place of exciting action especially with an upcoming schedule of events that covers the length and breadth of the world. #whereitsAT

On the Asian Tour

The Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course will hold an Asian Tour event after a gap of 5 years

TAKE SOLUTIONS MASTERS PRIMED FOR INDIAN DEBUT

T

AKE Solutions, a globally recognized domain expert offering end-to-end Life Sciences solutions, will title sponsor a new Asian Tour tournament in India for the next three years until 2019, officials announced.

The inaugural US$300,000 TAKE Solutions Masters, co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), will be staged at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) Golf Course from August 3 to 6, 2017.

Through this new collaboration between TAKE Solutions, Asian Tour and PGTI, at least 40 Indian golfers will have the opportunity to compete against the region’s leading golfers where a win will be rewarded with full playing rights on the Asian Tour until the end of the 2018 season.

The Asian Tour’s newest tournament will be broadcast around the globe through a one-hour highlights package to be produced

by Asian Tour Media. Previously, it sponsored the TAKE Solutions India Masters on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) bringing it to India for the first time in 2014 and 2015.

Such is TAKE Solutions’ commitment to the game that it also sponsors two domestic tournaments on the PGTI and Indian golfers including four-time European Tour winner S.S.P. Chawrasia and talented youngsters Khalin Joshi, Shubhankar Sharma and Chikkarangappa S. through personal endorsements.

H.R. Srinivasan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, TAKE Solutions said: “We have been associated with golf for over

a decade in our efforts to create better infrastructure and greater playing opportunities in India and internationally. Having previously sponsored tournaments on the domestic and ADT circuits, it is a natural progression to the next level with the TAKE Solutions Masters, on the Asian Tour and PGTI.” Asian Tour CEO Josh Burack welcomed the addition of the TAKE Solutions Masters onto the 2017 Schedule.

“It is the third new event to join the Tour in 2017 following the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth and Yeangder Heritage in Taipei and also follows the recent groundbreaking announcement of the China Golf Association-Asian Tour Strategic Partnership which will see the launch of up to four new tournaments in China later this year. It is wonderful news for the Asian Tour that Mr Srinivasan and TAKE Solutions have committed to fully support the TAKE Solutions Masters over the next three years, and with a view to slowly increase the prize fund as well in 2018 and 2019,” said Burack.

The KGA course has previously hosted a tournament on the Asian Tour in 2012 when Thai star Thaworn Wiratchant claimed victory at the Hero Indian Open.

“KGA is leading the way in promoting Karnataka as a golf tourism destination with the TAKE Masters on the Asian Tour putting us on the golf map through the TV broadcast of the highlights show into 200 countries where millions of viewers will see the facilities which Karnataka has to offer. We are delighted that the Asian Tour has once again

“KGA IS LEADING THE WAY IN PROMOTING KARNATAKA AS A GOLF TOURISM DESTINATION... KGA IS GOING OUT OF THE WAY TO ENSURE THE 150 INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION PARTICIPANTS ENJOY WORLD CLASS PLAYING CONDITIONS.” — SANDEEP MADHAVAN, KGA PRESIDENT selected KGA to host this prestigious event.

KGA is going out of the way to ensure the 150 international champion participants enjoy world class playing conditions and we invite golf enthusiasts from around India to visit us and enjoy some superb and thrilling golfing action,” KGA president Sandeep Madhavan said in a statement.

Golf Digest India has learnt that Madhavan aged 45 is the youngest to helm the prestigious golf club. Incidentally, he was the Chariman (Tournaments) when the Hero Indian Open was staged at KGA, which earned the right to stage the premier event due to brilliant course conditions. august 2017 | golf digest india

79

On the Asian Tour

Of Mood Swings, Bumpy Plane Rides & Breakfast Buffets A

BY CHUAH CHOO CHIANG

fter nearly 18 seasons on the Asian Tour, the time has come to bid adieu to a wonderful chapter of this scribe’s working life.

From Qualifying School in January, 2000 to my last tournament at the Queen’s Cup in Koh Samui recently, it has been a wild and enjoyable ride being part of a team narrating the growth of the region’s premier tour and its growing band of gung-ho golfers.

The privilege of being in a front row seat watching and chronicling winning moments and sharing the agony of defeat encountered

by Asia’s leading golfers has been a moneycan’t-buy experience.

From Switzerland to Singapore, India to Indonesia and Myanmar to Australia, there have been many bumpy plane rides on the 777s or propeller-engine aircrafts, plush stays in five-star hotels and cheapish joints, and countless of breakfast buffets – some fit for a king and others as greasy as those offered in Chinatown – that I could write a book about the travails on Tour.

Working at three Open Championships at St Andrews, which is the home of golf, and walking the hallowed grounds of Augusta National for the Masters Tournament will surely remain with me for a lifetime.

One of the best perks of the job, though, has been the privilege and opportunity to work closely with many of our cosmopolitan golfers who hail from different backgrounds, cultures and social standings.

Stars such as Thai legends Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant provided a wealth of great narratives for us to share with the golfing world while Korea’s K.J. Choi, Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, Chinese ace Liang Wen-chong and India’s Anirban Lahiri are just amongst some of those who offered fascinating tales that made the job as a storyteller all the more fulfilling.

Amongst some of my favourite stories was of Y.E. Yang’s historic first Major triumph for Asia in 2009. A late bloomer of the game, the softly-spoken Korean beat all odds by trumping Tiger Woods in a glorious head-to-head showdown at the PGA Championship which will be remembered for generations to come.

My only regret was that I wasn’t at Hazeltine to witness this achievement.

Following and writing about the rise of Thongchai Jaidee as a world-class golfer will also serve as an inspiration to many youngsters. After overcoming adversity where he threw away a lead in the 2000 Malaysian Open while chasing a maiden professional victory, he picked up the broken pieces to

80 golf digest india | august 2017

The writer with prolific Asian Tour professional Thongchai Jaidee

subsequently emerge as the first man in golf history to win three Asian Tour Order of Merit titles.

And then, there is the evergreen Thaworn Wiratchant, who provided the thrills both inside and outside the ropes. Such is his unorthodox golf swing that I am sure no punter worth his salt would have had the foresight to put money down on him to become Asia’s most successful player with a record 18 Tour titles. My best interview with him was also conducted in English after he won the Selangor Masters which he rarely offers to do!

We have enjoyed, in recent times, sharing the inspiring stories of Siddikur Rahman and SSP Chawrasia, who both grew up in humble surroundings before becoming multiple champions. The exciting emergence of young Asian Tour No.1s such as Seung-yul Noh, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Anirban Lahiri have all been fun and fascinating to follow where their fullest potential remains to be seen.

One thing which has stood out for me is the fact the new generation of Asian Tour

FROM SWITZERLAND TO SINGAPORE, INDIA TO INDONESIA AND MYANMAR TO AUSTRALIA, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY BUMPY PLANE RIDES ON THE 777S OR PROPELLER-ENGINE AIRCRAFTS

players are now displaying the desire to become world-beaters. Previously, Asian golfers were simply happy to be in a worldclass tournament but now, they go to these same events with the self-belief that they can win the title.

Holding this job has also meant being adept to the mood swings of our most animated golfers as part of the role include leading them into post-round media interviews. Learning the art of cajoling and allowing space for players to cool down after a bad day in the office is certainly a pre-requisite.

There was once an episode with a Singaporean golfer who kicked chairs in the locker room after his overnight lead was reduced through a last-hole bogey, an Indian contender storming past this scribe following a poor finish and another Aussie player grabbing the arm and going eyeballto-eyeball after losing a tournament with a missed putt on the 72nd hole.

All of these were certainly intense in the heat of the moment but when the dust had settled, we kissed and made up and enjoyed a beer or two at the hotel lobby bar. And in all honesty, such minor job hazards have paled in comparison to the assortment of wonderful memories that I have garnered from my time on the Asian Tour.

It is with crossed fingers that I hope the next adventure will be as fulfilling and rewarding!

(The writer is Director, Communications at Asian Tour) Images: Asian Tour

On the Asian Tour

Let’s Welcome The Second Half Of The Season Nicholas Fung of Malaysia celebrates his maiden win with his father

BY JOSH BURACK Like an enjoyable round of golf, we have now reached the turn and are readying for the back nine!

The first half of the year has been very positive featuring excellent collaboration with the European Tour at the start of our strategic alliance, our announcement of a new partnership with the China Golf Association, the formation of our new commercial team at our headquarters in Singapore and three new full field tournaments added to our schedule with the Thailand Open, Yeangder Heritage and TAKE Solutions Masters.

The TAKE Solutions Masters is the second Asian Development Tour (ADT) event after the Yeangder Heritage to be upgraded to Asian Tour status. We are very proud to welcome this tournament on our Asian Tour Schedule from August 3 to 6, 2017.

The TAKE Solutions Masters will offer a prize purse of US$300,000 and it will be played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course in Bengaluru.

The last time the Asian Tour staged an event in Bengaluru was in 2012 when Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand won the Hero Indian

LOOKING BACK AT THE FIRST HALF OF THE 2017 SEASON, WE’VE WELCOMED FOUR FIRSTTIME ASIAN TOUR WINNERS. THESE PLAYERS ARE STILL IN THEIR EARLY 20’S, SO IT SHOWS THE DEPTH OF TALENT THAT WE HAVE ON THE ASIAN TOUR. Open before going on to claim the Order of Merit crown for the second time in his career.

After five years, our Asian Tour members are excited to return to Bengaluru to fight for honours at this new tournament.

Did you know that our 2015 Asian Tour No. 1 Anirban Lahiri hails from Bengaluru? In fact, his close friend Chikkarangappa S. won the TAKE Solutions Masters on the ADT in 2014 and 2015. Now that the tournament is of an Asian Tour status, he will certainly be hoping to win the treble!

Looking back at the first half of the 2017 season, we’ve welcomed four first-time Asian Tour winners: Todd Sinnott of Australia, Jazz Janewattananond and Rattanon Wannasrichan of Thailand and Nicholas Fung of Malaysia.

These players are still in their early 20’s, so it shows the depth of talent that we have on the Asian Tour.

As we prepare for the busiest part of our season, it will be exciting to see if more young guns emerge as champions, or if the more experienced players take the trophies.

On the digital front, our #whereitsAT campaign has been met with resounding success.

We are excited to launch phase two of the campaign on 1 August with a series of monologue videos. This time, we will look at the success of some of our golfers including: Angelo Que, Liang Wen-chong, Chan Shih-chang, Scott Hend, Carlos Pigem, Pavit Tangkalmoprasert, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Siddikur Rahman and Jeev Milkha Singh.

As we round the turn and welcome the second half of the season, thank you for continuing to support the Asian Tour. Our team will continue working hard to keep the good news coming!

(The writer is Asian Tour CEO) august 2017 | golf digest india

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On the Asian Tour

On The Web

This section showcases the social media initiatives undertaken by the Asian Tour to connect with the young and urban golf aficionados

Asian Tour Live coverage on MATCH

INDIA DATE

IST

Fiji International Day 1

17.08.17

7:00

Fiji International Day 2

18.08.17

7:00

Fiji International Day 3

19.08.17

6:00

Fiji International Day 4

20.08.17

6:00

Available on TATA Sky (Channel No. 471) and DISH TV (Channel No. 644)

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Images: Asian Tour

gutter credit tk

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Photograph by First Lastname

»B1G — —

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»DATA

A FOCUS ON MATH EM ATICA L AN A LYSIS IS CH A NGING GOLF. H ERE’S HOW IT CAN BOOST YOU R GA M E

BY MIKE STACH U RA

ILLU S T R A T I O N B Y T A V I S C O B U R N

august 2017 | golf digest india

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»S »BIG»DATA»

STEPHEN J. SMITH WAS PERPLEXED IN GOLF’S TIME-HONORED STRUGGLE BETWEEN A CADDIE’S RECOMMENDATION AND HIS OWN OPINION. THE CADDIE HAD BEEN CLEAR: 6-IRON. BUT SMITH, A 43-YEAR-OLD ATTORNEY FROM DUBLIN, OHIO, WITH A 7.4 HANDICAP INDEX, FELT MORE LIKE 5-IRON. SO NATURALLY, HE IGNORED THE CADDIE AND WENT WITH HIS GUT. The 5-iron flew half a club too far, settling behind a tree root and leading to an infuriating 6. The caddie knew Stephen J. Smith better than Smith knew himself.

But the caddie wasn’t scowling, nor did he wrap a consoling arm around his man and steady him as they walked to the next tee. The caddie, as it turns out, doesn’t walk, and isn’t a he or a she. It’s a kind of machine called Arccos Caddie that can live inside your smartphone. And, having processed more than 70 million shots and 368 million geotagged data points, it not only knows Smith and his tendencies, it has the potential to know everything there is to know about every golfer and every shot that could ever be hit in every situation on any golf course from any lie and in any weather event there could be.

This is golf coming face to face with Big Data, a meeting that could change the game’s future, in this case restoring the bond between player and trusted caddie, even if the caddie is artificially intelligent.

Since the invention of the pencil, golf has been leaning in toward its numbers, and with the emergence of Big Data, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the game is about to get smarter than it has ever been. Smarter players, smarter course operators, smarter equipment manufacturers. The measurement and analysis of golf’s numbers will eventually change every element of the game.

Thanks to rapid advancements in computer science, A.I. has been making big news in all forms of business and marketing since

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its evolution from sci-fi fantasy just a few decades ago to everyday reality. A.I. is how Amazon knows what brand of toilet paper you need to order before you do, or how Netflix finds you the perfect movie for a Friday night despite the fact you’ve never heard of Giovanni Ribisi. A.I. is the foundation for commercial applications such as IBM’s Watson, that Stephen Hawking-like black box that crushed a couple of all-time “Jeopardy!” champs in a special man vs. machine match in 2011. A.I. is what drives your GPS system, and it’s what will be driving your driverless Google car in the not-too-distant future.

What A.I. says is, we are our data, and the numbers never lie. And now it has found in golf a natural place for its capabilities. Despite being a sport known for its volumes of words and mountains of images, golf is really a numbers game. And the numbers are huge, the very embodiment of Big Data. There is no more vivid example in golf than the PGA Tour’s ShotLink system, which tracks every shot hit every week and produces player data in 653 statistical categories, including the revolutionary strokes gained statistic, a predictive-analytics model that calculates how a player is performing from every place on

the course compared to the field. (For more on strokes gained, see page 93.)

Data at that level has been the exclusive domain of tour professionals—until recently. Over the past few years, in-round stat programs, like those from leaders Arccos and Game Golf, have tracked almost three million rounds and more than 250 million shots, providing amateur golfers with statistical profiles for every club in the bag. However, given that the GHIN system records 50 million rounds a year, it’s clear that golf is barely scratching the surface of Big Data.

This growing surge of information might be the game’s most promising frontier.

“Golf is one of the better sports for data,” says Game Golf founder and CEO John McGuire. “It’s very data-driven. Our job is to take the data, contextualize it, and make it useful. Data on its own is no good; data on its own is dry. It’s the stories you tell from the data. That’s what’s relevant.”

Perhaps the biggest step in golf’s Big Data revolution came this May when Arccos launched Arccos Caddie as part of a partnership with Microsoft using their Azure Cloud.

The Arccos 360 system ($249.99) works with a smartphone and measures shots using sensors placed in the grip of each club. The Arccos app is free, and Arccos Caddie is available for an additional fee. For now, Arccos Caddie provides club recommendations only off the tee. Why only off the tee? Because those recommendations can be made before a round begins, which makes it legal in the eyes of the USGA. If digital recommendations were “live” during a round, like on approach shots, they would violate Rule 14-3, which governs the use of artificial devices and unusual equipment, says Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s senior director of rules and amateur status.

“Golf is still a game of skill and judgment, and anything that can give a player an advantage and diminish that judgment is a problem,” Pagel says. “The compilation of two or more data points to provide some recommendation that takes that judgment away from the player, that’s where the issue comes in.”

What the rules-makers are wrestling with is this burgeoning interface between human knowledge and computed data. The work that Arccos Caddie does theoretically could be done by a human, but certainly not as fast. For example, Arccos Caddie analyzes not only a player’s data but the data of all similar golfers in its system and all golfers who have played that particular hole. Based on GPS information, weather forecasts,

IF DIGITA L RECOM M EN DATIONS WERE ‘LIVE’ DURING A ROU N D, LIKE ON APPROACH SHOTS, TH EY WOU LD VIOLATE RU LE 14 -3.

topographic maps and proprietary algorithms, it calculates the terrain and the forecasted wind and temperature and assesses their effects on your location. This all goes into the mix before it spits out a club recommendation and displays your predicted score, your odds of making par with that club and your odds of hitting or missing the fairway or green. And it does that in less than three seconds. For example, as Smith played the 175-yard 14th hole in our test, Arccos Caddie picked a 7-iron with a 45 percent chance of hitting the green, a 29 percent chance of coming up short and 19 percent missing left or right. The odds of making par: 52.3 percent. He took the advice, hit the green and made 3. It doesn’t read greens. Yet. “The knowledge base for Arccos Caddie is growing rapidly, but I would say even today, its understanding of golf data is already well beyond the collective understanding of us as humans,” said Sal Syed, Arccos co-founder and CEO. “It’s on another planet. The weird thing about machine learning is, it’s very hard to explain how it’s doing what it’s doing. Even the people who built it can’t do it.”

This machine mind is everywhere around us, and this new field of predictive analytics is what’s commonly called machine learning. In short, it’s the super-fast use of algorithms, computer-based decision trees, if/then propositions and rules that eventually point to a decision.

“This can get very complicated very fast,” says Raghu Machiraju, interim faculty director for translational data analytics at Ohio State University. “There’s no explicit mathematical model that could tell you on this day on this hole you should use this club, because there’s so much randomness in the process. So you create computing elements that are actually inspired by the neurons in your brain. It requires a tremendous amount of data, but eventually a lot of the learning in this context is not that dissimilar from the way you yourself would learn anything.”

In a TED Talk two years ago, data scientist Jeremy Howard noted that A.I. already is better in some instances at diagnosing cancer than expert pathologists are. “We now know that computers can learn to do things that we actually don’t know how to do ourselves. . . . The better computers get at intellectual activities, the more they can build better computers to be better at intellectual capabilities, so this is going to be the kind of change that the world has never experienced before.”

That is precisely the informational precipice upon which the rules of golf sit at the moment. There is a virtual data explosion that could let all golfers know not only how far they hit every club but whether they chip better with a 50-degree wedge than a 54degree. It knows with cyborg certainty that

getting advice from a caddie who has seen 70 million shots > I n t h e c h a r t s b e l o w, Arccos Caddie uses artificial i n t e l l i g e n c e t o m a k e t e e- s h o t recommendations for three golfers playing a short p a r 4. P e r h a p s s u r p r i s i n g ly, it recommends driver for the longer hitters and 3 - h y b r i d f o r t h e s h o r t e st.

You might have a theory o n w h y, b u t e v e n A r c c o s d o e s n ’ t k n o w e x a c t ly how its program's machine brain does what it does.

6-handicapper

option

driving club

expected score

1 ***

DRIVER

4. 2

2

2-HYBRid

4.4

3

4 -I R O N

4.4

12-handicapper 1 ***

DRIVER

4. 8

2

3-WOOD

4.9

3

5-WOOD

4.9

25-handicapper 1

DRIVER

5.6

2

5-WOOD

5.5

3 ***

3-HYBRid

5 .1

* * * B E ST O P T I O N a 25-handicapper on a short par 4 will score on average a half-stroke lower hitting a 3-hybrid instead of a driver off the tee, even though his 3-hybrid goes 42 yards shorter than his driver (see chart, above). Is that an unfair advantage? The ruling bodies want to maintain the human element in the game’s strategic decisions, Pagel says.

“More and more data points are going to exist that can be aggregated together,” he says, “so what does that mean for playing the game? The rules shouldn’t be viewed as a hindrance to technology and innovation. They provide structure so that we’re able to be thoughtful about where the game might go and ensure that it doesn’t become robotic.”

Still, delineating what kinds of information are allowed can be murky, and it risks alienating a generation that consumes more data in a single morning than its ancestors from a century ago did in a lifetime.

“I think as we introduce data and, more importantly, the analysis of data, I look at that as more efficiency,” said Mike Downey, director of sports technology engineering for Microsoft. “It’s not about making things easier; it’s about making your time more efficient. Golf lags behind all sports when it comes to those efficiencies. I can understand the reservation that we don’t want to let technology make everyone a great golfer, but that’s not going to happen.”

Maybe, maybe not. Golf’s data surge creates powerful information, self-knowledge that can have a profound effect not just on your scores but on your enjoyment of the game. Big Data, A.I., machine learning are all ways that, if properly mined, might increase interest in the game. (Data mining and machine learning already are shaping how courses are maintained, how sponsors gauge the use of their marketing dollars, even how clubs and balls are designed.) And this is without even considering the social aspects of a data-linked golf community, key features to the Arccos and Game Golf apps. Already these apps feature virtual contests between golfers playing courses all over the world at the same time. Arccos even lets you text your buddies with a diagram of how you just played your last hole.

“Bringing the Cloud to golf helps it stay relevant to the times,” Syed says. “If golf resists these developments, then golf won’t be a part of our lives. It seems a little backward to think that that should be disallowed.”

Back to Mr. Smith and his test run with Arccos Caddie. It was easy to see him beginning to develop a rapport with the app’s cold, hard numbers, eager to see what it would recommend at one moment, disagreeing with it the next. After a pulled 3-wood into a hazard, Smith felt he wasn’t alone: “I’m sensing some disappointment from my phone right now,” he said, joking only a little.

At the very least, the confirmation effect of the app’s advice was palpable—and Smith still wanted more. “I would have liked to have had it down in Myrtle Beach last week,” he said. He also found himself wishing it was there with recommendations on approach shots, particularly after one flared tee ball left him with a blind approach and water in play.

Syed says those expanded capabilities are coming to Arccos Caddie, perhaps before the end of the year. For now, though, the USGA clearly is still not completely endorsing the idea. But Syed thinks he has a solution: “I’ve looked at the rules, and nowhere do they define that a caddie has to be human,” he says. “So maybe there’s a loophole.” august 2017 | golf digest india

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»BIG»DATA»

I L L U S TRATIONS BY T ODD DETWILER

»BY NUMB3RS

»SW1NG

GOLFTEC T E ST E D 3 0, 0 0 0 PLAYERS TO FIND OUT WHAT MAKES A GREAT SWING GREAT

BY NICK CLEARWATER WITH MATTHEW RUDY

august 2017 | golf digest india

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•PRO

•HIGH-HANDICAPPER s h o u l d e r t i lt: pros turn the front shoulder d o w n w a r d; highhandicappers turn it more level.

h i p s w a y: p r o s s h i f t t h e h i p s toward the target more than high-handicappers do (below).

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T

he handicap system does a simple, elegant job of identifying a player’s ability. A 20-handicapper, a single-digit golfer, a club champion and a tour player all have different skill levels that lead to different scores. But what is it about a player’s swing that produces those various scores? There have always been plenty of theories, but we at GolfTEC have used cutting-edge measuring tools to quantify the swings of 30,000 golfers of all abilities. The result is the SwingTRU Motion Study, and its findings allow us to pinpoint those elements of good players’ swings that are the biggest separators from average or developing players. With the differences uncovered by SwingTRU, we can essentially build a “good player” composite. Here we’ll look at six elements of the backswing and downswing and compare the data collected from high-handicappers (players shooting over 100) to that of professional golfers. The closer you can get to the pro numbers, the better results you’ll see. It’s Big Data producing smaller scores with facts, not opinions.

◀ ◀ hip sway at the top

T

he term “sway” is one of those general-purpose instruction words every golfer has heard, but it can be confusing. Are we talking about the hips? The upper body? Let’s simplify it: The best players shift pressure over the back foot but without swaying the whole body off the ball.

Less-skilled players exaggerate that pressure shift with a big body movement away from the target. To do it right, feel like you’re moving your tailbone closer to the target than it was at address (far left, top), but without letting your head shift toward the target or over your back foot. The SwingTRU study shows pros’ hips on average move 3.9 inches toward the target on the backswing, and highhandicappers’ hips move 2.55 inches. But it looks like the high-handicapper is shifting away from the target here (far left, bottom)—so what gives? We measure hip movement using the tailbone as the reference point, and anytime you turn your hips, your tailbone will move closer to the target. The key is, it should move several inches closer, not two.

◀ s h o u l d e r t i lt a t t h e t o p

w

hen it comes to amateur players trying to hit the ball longer, the advice that steals most of the attention is “Get more turn.” But all turn is not created equal. If you focus only on turning the shoulders and not how they turn, you’re missing one of the key elements that separates you from the players on tour. For many golfers, the tendency is to turn the shoulders relatively level, as if you were turning to look behind you to talk to someone (near left, bottom). But tour players tilt their shoulders in addition to turning them. SwingTRU recorded the pros at 36 degrees of downward shoulder tilt at the top of the backswing and high-handicappers at 29.6 degrees. What does that mean for you? Feel like your front shoulder moves directly toward the ground on your backswing (near left, top). At first, this might seem like you’re only tilting, but trust me, you’ll be turning, too.

hip turn: pros rotate the hips o p e n f a st e r than highhandicappers.

▶ hip turn at impact

m

any of the swing mistakes amateurs make—like cutting across the ball and hitting a slice—happen because the upper body gets too active or active at the wrong time. Improving how you use your arms and chest is useful, but changing how you use your lower body also clears up some of those upper-body problems. Hip turn at impact is a prime example. Beginners tend to stall the hip rotation on the downswing and try to control the swing with their hands and arms (right, bottom). Tour players have their hips turned toward the target at impact almost twice as much (right, top).

The arms and club come through at the end of the chain reaction, not the beginning. In SwingTRU, the pros average 36 degrees open with the hips at impact; high-handicappers average 19.5 degrees open. Try these feels to increase hip turn: Get your belt buckle facing more toward the target than the ball at impact, and both knees pointed at the target a split second later. august 2017 | golf digest india

91

•PRO

•HIGH-HANDICAPPER s h o u l d e r t i lt: p r o s t i lt the shoulders u p w a r d; h i g h handicappers keep them more level.

H i p s w a y: p r o s d r i v e t h e h i p s toward the target more than high-handicappers do.

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◀ ◀ hip sway at impact

D

oes this sound familiar? On the downswing, you try to quiet your body to get more ball-striking consistency—and to avoid sliding through it, which you’ve heard is bad. Unfortunately, the byproduct of that is an insufficient pressure shift to your front leg on the way down.

As a result, you aren’t getting the most you can out of your swing. The best players at impact have shifted their hips ahead of where they were at address (far left, top), but less-experienced players move farther behind the ball (far left, bottom). SwingTRU data says the pros shift the hips on average 1.6 inches toward the target compared to the setup, and high-handicappers shift them .4 inches away from the target. For many students, thinking about what the hips do is too abstract. Instead, feel your front knee move toward the target on the downswing so that it’s over the outside of your front foot. If you’re used to hanging back, this will feel like a dramatic change. Get ready for some speed.

◀ s h o u l D e r t i lt a t i m p a c t

w

e’ve said the shoulders need to tilt downward at the top of the swing, and that concept should carry through to impact—except now the tilt is upward. Making an arms-dominated swing, which so many amateurs do, tends to produce relatively level shoulders at impact (near left, bottom). Better players have the back shoulder significantly lower than the front shoulder at impact (near left, top). The biggest jump in our SwingTRU measurements came between the best amateurs (0 to 5 handicaps) and the pros. That tells us that shoulder tilt is one of the hallmarks of the elite player. The pros in the study averaged 39 degrees of upward tilt at impact; high-handicappers 27.5 degrees. To achieve it, your belt buckle should be over your front foot at impact, with your head still over the middle of your stance.

Imagine a friend was holding an alignment stick against your ear closest to the target—your head would be moving away from that stick at impact.

▶ shoulDer benD in the follow-through

t

he difference between shoulder tilt and shoulder bend is direction: Tilt is the movement of each shoulder up or down in relation to the ground, like a teeter-totter, and bend is the amount your upper body is stretched back, away from the target. The easiest way to think about it is how proud you look in your finish position. Good players get very tall through the chest in the follow-through (right, top), with the spine extended and the neck bending a few degrees away from the target. The typical issue amateurs have is staying bent over through impact (right, bottom). When you do that, you aren’t getting the full benefit of the levers in your body or between your body and the club. Longer, taller levers produce more speed. In SwingTRU, the pros average 32 degrees of back bend, and the high-handicappers average 3.2 degrees. How can you get better? As you swing to your finish, try to feel like Superman or Wonder Woman, with an expanded, bulletproof torso and your front leg fully extended as if you just pushed off the ground to jump.

shoulder bend: pros finish with the torso st r e t c h e d back; highhandicappers st a y b e n t over.

n i c k c l e a r w a t e r, a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, is vice president of instruction for GolfTEC, based in Englewood, Colo.

GOOD PLAYERS LOOK TALL A N D PROUD AT TH E FINISH, LIKE SUPERMAN OR WON DER WOMAN . august 2017 | golf digest india

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_———— _———— »INFØ SEEK— ERS» »BIG»DATA»

HOW ZACH JOHNSON L E A R N E D T O W E A P O N I Z E H I S ST A T S, PLUS TWO MORE DATA DISRUPTORS ON TOUR

BY GUY YOCOM

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I L L U S T R A T I O N S B Y Q U I C K H ON E Y

gutter credit tk

Photograph by First Lastname

month 2017 | golfdigest.com

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I

N FALL 2011, GOLF STATISTICIAN PETER SANDERS ARRIVED, BRIEFCASE IN HAND, AT A HOUSE RENTED BY ZACH JOHNSON IN ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GA. AT JOHNSON’S INVITATION, SANDERS WAS TO SHOW TRENDS AND ANOMALIES BURIED

amid Johnson’s 600-plus performance stats measured by the PGA Tour’s ShotLink system. Then, incorporating measures of his own creation—the “secret sauce,” as Sanders puts it—he would recommend playing and practice strategies that would give Johnson and his seven-member team an edge as he entered the midway point of his career.

“My presentation began at 8 p.m.,” says Sanders, the founder of shotbyshot.com, a statistics-analysis firm that serves tour players as well as golf instructors, coaches and amateurs. “At midnight, I was still answering questions.”

Johnson, it turned out, liked stats homework. He enrolled at Drake University in 1994 aspiring to be an actuary, and upon turning pro and joining the mini-tours after graduation, tracked what numbers were available.

When he hooked up with teacher Mike Bender in 2000, he found a man who was even more analytical than he was. When Sanders came on in 2011, the team became among the first to weaponize performance stats.

Johnson, 41, almost cheerfully confesses to being a light hitter. His driving-distance average this year of 286.5 yards ranks 130th on tour. But Johnson also is accurate, ranking in the top 10 in driving accuracy for eight of the past 11 seasons. He argues that it’s a decent trade-off. “If you put me in the fairway at 170 yards, I’ll wear out the guy who is 110 but in the rough,” he says. Adds Sanders: “Every player on the PGA Tour averages under par when playing from the fairway. That applies even to players who miss the cut.”

So Johnson knows his focus must be the fairway. To support this, Sanders has oneupped ShotLink by factoring in the severity of Johnson’s misses. Drives are broken down to consider whether he was able to advance the ball normally, if he incurred a penalty for driving into a hazard or unplayable lie, or if the ball was lost or out-of-bounds. “It’s part of the secret sauce,” Sanders says.

Every week, Sanders sends the team a report card noting performance highlights, lowlights and trends. Early in 2012, Sanders emailed Bender that Johnson had fallen to 87th in strokes gained in putting. “We’ll fix that,” Bender replied. Within a month, Zach won at Colonial, won again at the John Deere and by late May had risen to No. 1 in that stat.

Central to the varied putting measures is three-putt avoidance, which on the surface

96 golf digest india | august 2017

dechambeau studies swing efficiency.

seems too broad for meaningful takeaways.

But Sanders has created a unique equation of three factors: (1) distance of the first putt; (2) distance of the leave—the length of the second putt; and (3) whether the first putt reached the hole. Sanders says reaching the hole with the first putt is key because the player obviously will hole more long ones.

He also notes that Johnson’s superb distance control means fewer three-putts even if he occasionally scoots the first putt four feet by.

Johnson is better than tour average in threeputt avoidance, and in 2015, the year he won the Open at St. Andrews, he ranked eighth.

At that initial meeting in 2011, Sanders suggested that Johnson, who has always excelled with his wedges and won the 2007 Masters despite not going for any par 5 in two, bomb away with his second shot on the par 5s rather than lay up to his pet distances.

This brought a spirited protest from Damon Green, Johnson’s caddie, who knew well his player’s skill from 70 to 100 yards. He relented only after Sanders installed a caveat to his advice. “I told them, if the green complex has a lot of danger, like the water on 13 and 15 at Augusta, by all means he should lay up,” Sanders says. “Otherwise the stats say he should go for it, because the quality of his short game is such that he’ll be closer to the hole after a pitch or bunker shot than he’d be with a wedge from 70 yards.”

Then there’s where he plays. An examination of Johnson’s results reveals that in his 14year career, he has played Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines only three times each. “I love those courses,” Johnson says. “But you can’t play everywhere, and I leave them off because I don’t putt very well on Poa annua greens.”

Sanders has included grass types when compiling his year-end presentations for the team, and Bender considers even more course-related factors. “If you look at Zach’s

history, his wins have come mostly at tournaments where the winning score is 15 under par or better,” Bender says. It’s true; all but three of Johnson’s 12 tour wins were on shorter, faster layouts where he’s likely to have his deadly wedge in hand more often than a middle iron. “Zach is very aware of this,” Sanders says. “One challenge is the trend toward courses being stretched out.

Choosing courses that suit Zach’s strengths can be a challenge.”

As time passes, there are fewer surprises in Sanders’ reports. And as telling as the revelations are, Johnson is quick to say that stats are but one piece of a larger picture. “First and foremost, I’m an athlete and a competitor,” he says. “Stats are not the be-all, end-all. There’s conditioning, diet and equipment. There’s mental toughness, which can’t be measured. There comes a point where I set the stats aside and go play.”

For now, Johnson and his team go forward hoping to receive a note similar to the one Sanders delivered after the John Deere Classic in 2015. “Zach missed a 15-foot putt to get into a playoff won by Jordan Spieth,” Sanders recalls. “After looking at his stats, I sent the team a note that read, ‘No report card this week. Zach’s game is firing on all cylinders. Go get ’em!’ The Open at the Old Course followed the next week. Zach won.”

Bryson DeChambeau looking at the golf swing as a geometry problem

B

ryson DeChambeau hammers a “roasty tater bomb” into a glaring Texas sky, the ball ending up a tiny dot 310 yards in the distance. Shifting to a higher gear, he launches what he calls his “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,” a towering shot suggestive of the NBA Hall of Famer’s legendary skyhook. They’re evidence that DeChambeau, who is 23 and in his rookie season on tour, is making progress on his latest quest: more distance with no loss of accuracy.

Soliciting the “how” from DeChambeau on the science of these shots is difficult, with the furious pace of his speech and advanced terminology. He mentions “power accumulators,” “triangle assembly” and “zero shifting plane,” terms from the enigmatic instruction book The Golfing Machine, which he has studied since he was 15. He talks about “thoracics” as the examination of muscle movement and “proprioception,” which means trying to make efficient body movement second nature.

We can barely keep up. DeChambeau is pursuing perfection using an astonishing number of tools that produce every measurement conceivable—of the club and his body, both static and dynamic. He uses the MySwing system, which has 18 body sensors and gives feedback in 3-D. He took part in

the Muscle Activation Techniques program to make his training safer and to improve his understanding of anatomy. He tracks his swing on a FlightScope launch monitor and uses the Quintic Ball Roll system, a launch monitor for putting—yes, putting—that produces detailed data on impact and roll dynamics on the greens.

The pull of data has led DeChambeau in many directions. Between smashing driver shots, he describes what he’s working on now. “I’m basically doing two things: I’m increasing my wrist flexion to apply more force, and I’m trying to return the club to impact with the shaft as straight as possible.”

DeChambeau breaks it down further.

“At the top of the swing, the shaft bends,” he explains. “Halfway through the downswing, the shaft recovers and bends in the opposite direction. That’s called ‘lead deflection.’

Then it starts to bend the other way again, three times in all. What I’m trying to do is unload the club and move my body so at impact the shaft is ‘intrinsic.’ That means straight.”

Why is DeChambeau obsessing over shaft deflection? Michael Neff, the director of Gears Golf and Sport Development, measured DeChambeau in January using a Gears analysis system that evaluates not only the golfer but the precise behavior of the club.

It showed, indisputably, that at impact DeChambeau’s driver shaft had 42 millimeters of lead deflection. By comparison, Rickie Fowler, one of the tour’s top drivers, had only 27.9 millimeters. DeChambeau saw a definite need to address the issue.

“I think what Bryson is really talking about is whether the clubhead is accelerating or decelerating at impact,” says Mike Schy, who has been DeChambeau’s instructor since Bryson was 12. “He wants the club to be accelerating correctly when it meets the ball, no sudden bursts of speed and no extra kick from the shaft. Above all, we don’t want to see any deceleration.”

DeChambeau recognizes the challenge of trying to tune his release through impact to the shaft deflection. “I know what I do in my swing, but in a sense I don’t know,” he says. “When I release the club, does it happen because I’m consciously telling it to, or is it unloading naturally?

“In terms of the big picture, I feel like I’m 95 percent of the way there, but there’s that last 5 percent still to go, which is actually a lot. It’s about being conscious through the whole swing, which is a different level of brain functionality.”

“I hope Bryson shares that last 1 percent with me when he gets there,” Schy says. “I don’t think anyone knows for sure what it is.”

Kevin Streelman Making every club earn a spot in the bag

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f you’re meeting Kevin Streelman for a guided tour through his bag, you might consider bringing a lunch, not to mention a slide rule and calculator. He presents each of his 14 clubs in tech-rollout fashion, the specs numerous and sometimes obscure.

“I’m Type B about everything except my equipment,” says Streelman, 38, a two-time PGA Tour winner. “When it comes to my clubs, I’m Type A, super-technical and very left-brained. It’s probably the one thing in golf I have complete control of.”

For his driver, Streelman uses a shafttesting machine that spews out 100,000 data points. He alternates between two: a Ping G and a Wilson Triton he helped evaluate while serving as a panelist on Golf Channel’s “Driver vs. Driver” TV series. He grinds his Wilson FG Tour irons to obtain a special sole camber that glides through the turf better. He shortened the shaft of his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter from 35 inches—Streelman says that’s an arbitrary measure that manufacturers came up with so the putter would extend above the rim

‘WH EN IT COM ES TO MY CLU BS, I’M TYPE A .

IT’S PROBABLY TH E ON E THING IN GOLF I HAVE COM PLETE CONTROL OF.’ Neff confirms DeChambeau’s deflection number is on the high side, the result of releasing the club relatively early in the downswing. “When you ‘crack the whip,’ or begin to throw the club into impact, the hands slow down as clubhead speed increases,” Neff says. “The earlier you throw, the greater the shaft deflection. Bryson’s hand speed at hip high is 22 miles per hour. David Toms, a short but accurate driver, achieves the same 22 miles per hour, but it comes closer to impact.

Toms has the lowest shaft deflection on tour.”

streelman is a hands-on technophile.

of a golf bag—to 33½ inches. Streelman did this after he considered that his legs are kind of short and that the putter length should reflect his 28-inch inseam.

That’s typical of Streelman’s eye for peculiarity and detail. It’s especially true with his three Wilson FG Tour PMP wedges. His desire for precision in the scoring clubs begins, curiously enough, not with his clubs but a spool of thick synthetic line 25 yards long that he carries in his bag. The line is tagged with duct-tape markers at three-yard increments.

When he practices, he stretches it out in the 75-to-100-yard zone and fires away at specific tags, seeing how close he can come to the best statistical measures on the PGA Tour.

To pre-set precise distances, Streelman installed a Project X 6.5 shaft in his 46-degree wedge—good for shots outside the 100-yard range—but opted for True Temper S400 shafts in the other two. He weighs each shaft before installation, checking that it’s 125 grams, as advertised. He makes sure they’re exactly 35 inches long and that the grip is a .580 model, with only a single wrap of tape to suit his hand size.

Those are just the basics. Streelman, who haunts tour equipment vans and seeks out leading clubfitters in his travels the way some people frequent museums, then shifts to a higher gear. At home in Scottsdale, he calls in “the best club guy in the world,” a club builder named Aaron Valdez, who manages the build shop at Cool Clubs.

Valdez makes his most complex adjustments to Streelman’s 46-degree wedge, which Streelman replaces, like all his wedges, several times a year. A 46-degree is normally classified as a pitching wedge, but Streelman wants some of the characteristics of a sand wedge, so he has Valdez bend a 48 to 46. This reduces the club’s bounce angle—the pitch from the leading edge to the bottom of the sole—so they start with a lot of bounce, 14 degrees.

Valdez grinds off metal from the heel and sole so the leading edge is not elevated when Streelman opens the face, then restores the weight with lead tape. The result is a wedge that neither digs nor bounces too much.

Streelman’s 52- and 58-degree models also are modified to perform from certain distances and situations. His 52-degree ends up with 12 degrees of bounce, which is a lot for a tour player, and his 58-degree has an especially wide flange, five-eighths of an inch.

This improves what Valdez calls “sole interaction” and particularly helps Streelman slide the club through sand on bunker shots.

It’s tedious work, catering to the tour’s biggest gearhead, but Valdez is up to the task.

“I keep Kevin’s exact measures on file,” he says. “But he also likes a certain overall look, a clean look, so I take a lot of photographs for reference. I don’t try to add special touches.

There’s art in making something simple.” august 2017 | golf digest india

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NICE&COZY

THE SMART WAY TO SURVIVE U.S. OPEN-STYLE GREENS BY MINJEE LEE

gutter credit tk

▶ When we’re at the U.S. Open, dealing with the fastest greens of the year, you’ll often hear the TV commentators say we need good feel for the speed if we’re going to avoid three-putting. That’s true, but feel is something you’re going to have only if you practice a lot—especially on fast greens.

What doesn’t require nearly as much work is learning to read the break. Putting comes down to two things: speed and break. And there’s nothing like trusting your line to make you put a confident stroke on a putt. Even if you don’t have the speed quite right, a good read and good stroke will help you get it down in no more than two. And you never know, you might sneak a few in on your first putt. Here is some more advice to survive U.S. Open-style greens. — w i t h k e e ly l e v i n s

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Photograph by First Lastname

TAKE THE LONG ONES SERIOUSLY

READ PUTTS IN A CIRCLE

IT’S OK TO CHECK AGAIN

CENTER THE BALL

MAKE A GOOD STROKE

▶ Even if it’s a putt you think you have no chance of making, don’t just step up and hit it. Take your time with the read. If you get it right, fast greens will help you get the ball close to the cup even if your speed isn’t perfect.

▶ I start from behind my ball and then walk along the high side of the putting line, around the back of the cup and then back along the low side. Why? My feet are absorbing a lot of information about the break and speed as I walk around.

▶ If you’re still not sure, do what I do: I take one more walk halfway to the hole to pinpoint the spot on the edge of the cup where the putt will drop.

This should confirm what you learned on the circle walk and the low-side green read.

▶ I create a pathway with four tees when I practice to make sure my putter is moving on the right path when it strikes the ball.

It should pass between the tees without striking any of them (below). If it hits one, I know my path was off. The point is, if you roll it on the right line from a short distance, you can usually get away with a stroke that’s too hard or soft on fast greens. Feel isn’t as big a deal on short ones.

▶ You can tell you hit the putt in the middle of the clubface by how good contact feels—and how smooth the ball rolls. If you hit it off the toe or heel, it won’t feel right.

FIND THE ENTRY POINT

CONFIRM IT FROM THE LOW SIDE ▶ Reading a putt from the low side gives you the best perspective of how much break there is. It’s a lot easier to see the slope from there.

▶ Hit 15 or so putts before you play to get a feel for the speed. Get confident, and the greens on the course won’t seem scary at all. minjee lee of Perth, Australia, has three LPGA Tour wins and is top 10 in putts per green in regulation (1.75).

gutter credit tk

▶ To find your line, try to determine where the ball will drop in the hole. That helps you see the path all the way back to your ball from the cup.

SAVE THIS FOR LAST

Photograph by First Lastname

Photographs by J.D. Cuban

A ESC PE AR IST! How a legal opening let phil mickelson wiggle out of an insider-trading case that snared billy walters by j e f f r ey to o b i n

Illustration by Eddie Guy

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Mickelson has long been known as golf’s consummate escape artist. His signature flop shot has turned innumerable misdirected approaches into tap-in pars. When his drive on the 13th hole at Augusta National in the final round of the 2010 Masters settled on pine straw, Mickelson fired a 6-iron between two trees and onto the green, setting up a birdie that would lead to his third green jacket. Yet all of those salvaged pars and dazzling birdies might pale next to the way Mickelson extricated himself from legal trouble earlier this year. In a trial that unfolded in a Manhattan courthouse, Mickelson was implicated in a three-way insider-trading scandal that ended with the two other principals facing many years in prison.

Mickelson’s fate? He just walked away—and he didn’t even have to testify.

The story centered on one of the more extraordinary figures in American sports: Billy Walters. Just as Warren Buffett made billions from doing what untold Americans do every day—picking stocks—Walters made millions from a similarly common activity: betting on games. Walters’ life story reads like a tabloid twist on the Horatio Alger myth. He was born 71 years ago in the impoverished hamlet of Munfordville, Ky. His father died when Billy was a year old, and his mother soon took off for parts unknown. Billy was left to be raised by his grandmother, who instilled in the boy a ferocious work ethic. At 7, Billy was cutting lawns; at 9, he had a paper route. The patterns—and passions—that would recur in his life were established early.

When he was just 11, as Billy often told the tale, he saved up his earnings—sometimes said to be $75, sometimes $120—and placed his first bet with a local grocer for his favorite team, the New York Yankees, to win the 1955 World Series. They didn’t. It remained “one of the most hurtful, memorable losses I’ve ever had,” Walters told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

After high school, Walters cultivated embryonic versions of the skills that would prove critical later in life—for selling cars, for gambling on sports, and for testing the limits of the law. In Kentucky, he ran through money (thousands), marriages (two) and misdemeanor plea bargains (one, for illegal gambling, later expunged from his record). But by the time he was in his mid-30s, the truth was that Walters was no better at wagering than he was at matrimony. He was broke more often than not, fre-

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b i l ly w a lt e r s a r r i v e s at f e d e r a l c o u r t i n n e w yo r k in april 2017.

Mark kauzl arich/BlooMBerg/getty iMages

PHIL

quently drunk, and his life was heading (at best) sideways. So in 1982, Walters made the best bet of his life by moving to Las Vegas.

There Walters quit drinking and connected with two certified geniuses in the infant field of computer-aided gambling. Ivan Mindlin was a surgeon, and Michael Kent was a mathematician who once designed nuclear submarines, and together they started what they called the Computer Group, which was a kind of Moneyball with real money. Using the primitive computers of that era, they analyzed college and pro football statistics to discover flaws in the point spreads established by the Las Vegas casinos. As a result, the Computer Group figured out how to place bets that would produce, on average, better results than virtually any individual could come up with. The geniuses couldn’t guarantee wins, like a single sure thing a week. Rather, they identified slight statistical anomalies in point spreads—which meant that they had to bet a great deal of money to profit from the insights gleaned from their computers.

That’s where Billy Walters came in. He was fearless about laying down hundreds of thousands of dollars a week, and he had the charm, contacts and know-how to spread the bets among the dozens of bookies and casino sports books that could handle that kind of action. This partnership of the nerds and the hillbilly gladhander made gambling history.

It’s difficult to confirm exact figures, but it seems clear that the Computer Group made tens of millions of dollars in the ’80s. Before too long, the big casinos tired of losing money to the digital savants, so they began, at first, limiting the amounts that could be bet on each game and then barring the Computer Group gamblers from their premises. This led Walters to create a network of assistants who would lay down the bets for the group.

As Walters later described those days, he said he would bet about $2 million a week during the football season—and he said he once won $3.5 million on the Super Bowl.

This kind of success drew attention from law enforcement. In 1985, the FBI raided the headquarters of the Computer Group, and Walters and more than a dozen others were indicted on charges relating to illegal interstate gambling. Walters was acquitted.

Later, the state of Nevada indicted Walters three separate times on similar charges. He was never convicted of anything. The prosecutions succeeded only in creating an aura of invincibility around Billy Walters. He became a major figure around town in Las Vegas, opening car dealerships, subsidizing local charities and playing a lot of golf.

Walters’ love of golf fit nicely with his passion for gambling. He was never a terrific player—he was about a 10-handicap— but he could handle pressure as well as any PGA pro. In a laudatory profile of Walters on “60 Minutes,” broadcast in 2011, he said he had won as much as $400,000 on a hole of golf. He also said that he once won $1 million on a single round—which he then lost at the blackjack tables that night. In the 1990s, Walters became friends with someone who was, in one respect, his mirror opposite: a great golfer and a mediocre gambler named Phil Mickelson.

During his long tenure in the public eye, Mickelson has never been coy about his love of gambling, especially on sports. His love of the long shot somehow seemed fitting for a player who also relished risk on the golf course. Over the years, Mickelson has been happy to let the word out that he made some major scores. Mickelson and a group of partners are said to have put $20,000 down on a preseason bet on the 2001 Super Bowl winner and won a reported $560,000. He also supposedly won big by betting on the Arizona Diamondbacks to beat the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series. But these successes,

clearly, were only part of the story. According to people familiar with Walters’ practices, he allowed Mickelson to keep an account for sports bets with him; Walters operated, in effect, as a big-time bookie for Mickelson. For example, according to a sworn statement by Mickelson’s business manager, on Sept. 19, 2012, Mickelson paid Walters $1,950,000 to cover a debt “related to sports gambling.”

Furthermore, his manager acknowledged, Mickelson “owed similar debts to Mr. Walters in the past, and had repaid them.” Against those kinds of losses, Mickelson’s fortunate bet on one Super Bowl looks less impressive.

Still, considering that in 2012 alone Mickelson made a reported $48 million from golf winnings and endorsements, his wagering looks like a pricey but affordable hobby.

Walters, on the other hand, had no such cushion. His downfall began when he tried to turn his passion for golf into a business, shortly before the post-2008 recession hit Las Vegas harder than anywhere. According to an investigation by Bloomberg, Walters and his companies bought four courses in Las Vegas during the boom years, but the recession pummeled the golf business, especially in Nevada. Walters had sold a course called Stallion Mountain, and to close the deal, he personally guaranteed the loan for the buyer. When the buyer defaulted, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation pursued Walters to repay $15.25 million, Bloomberg found. Later, he sold another course, called Desert Pines. He later said that a third course, Bali Hai Golf Club, left him with $49 million in “un-recouped costs.”

The recession apparently convinced Walters to forgo the risks of gambling and look for a sure thing: insider trading. And he had just the man to help him.

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MEETING THE BOARD MEMBER

alters met Tom Davis in the mid-’90s, when both men were flying high.

Walters was still king of Las Vegas in those days, and Davis was a board member of Dallas-based Dean Foods, which was one of the largest dairy

processors in the country. The two men shared a love of golf and gambling, though Davis was not nearly as successful as Walters was in the casinos. Indeed, where Walters was strategic in his gambling, Davis was merely compulsive—and his life turned into a cautionary tale. Davis made millions in his business career, but it was never enough to make up for what he kept losing at the tables.

After Davis lost $200,000 playing blackjack at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, he stole $100,000 from a shelter for battered women, in Dallas, for which he had raised funds in the past. Davis used the money to pay for a surprise party for his wife. Later, Davis took another $50,000 from the shelter.

Davis ultimately paid back the charity, with money that he borrowed from Billy Walters. In time, Davis borrowed nearly a million dollars from Walters, and in 2011, as both men were facing financial trouble, prosecutors say they concocted a scheme that was both simple and audacious. Walters gave Davis a cellphone that would be used exclusively for discussions about stock in Dean Foods.

Walters would call Davis’ usual cellphone and leave a message that said, “Let’s go have a cup of coffee.” That was the signal for Davis to call Walters back on what they called the “Bat Phone,” and give Walters inside information about issues affecting the stock price of Dean Foods—which they would refer to as the “Dallas Cowboys.” Of course, as a board member of Dean Foods, Davis was the classic insider and thus obligated to keep this kind of information secret. By sharing the information with Walters, Davis was breaking the law—and he knew it.

Insider traders can make money in two ways: They can buy stock when they know it’s going to increase in value, or they can sell when they know the value of the shares will soon fall. Thanks to Davis, Walters made money both ways. Walters first bought nearly four million shares of Dean Foods on Davis’ advice in 2008, and he sold it, again with Davis’ guidance, for $6 million in realized and unrealized profits shortly thereafter.

But the trading really took off in 2010, after Walters started loaning Davis money. (During this period, too, Walters introduced his friend Phil Mickelson to Davis, as Mickelson

mickelson sold his shares for more than $931,000 in profits. At the same time, he repaid his gambling debt to walters in September 2012. august 2017 | golf digest india

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was on the practice range of the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, to which Mickelson and Walters belonged.) Walters’ most profitable trades came after Davis tipped him that Dean Foods would be spinning off a subsidiary called WhiteWave. By the end of 2012, Walters’ trading in Dean Foods stock netted him realized and unrealized profits and avoided losses of more than $43 million.

At roughly the same time, Mickelson was making similarly profitable, if less-extensive, trading in Dean Foods stock. It began in July 2012, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, when Walters called Mickelson, who had placed bets with Walters and owed him money at the time. (Phone records showed frequent calls and texts between Mickelson and Walters during this period.) Mickelson had never before invested in Dean Foods stock, but Walters urged Mickelson to start trading in it. Mickelson bought Dean Foods the next trading day in three brokerage accounts he controlled.

About a week later, Dean Foods’ stock price jumped 40 percent following public announcements about the WhiteWave spinoff.

Mickelson then sold his shares for more than $931,000 in profits. At the same time, he repaid his gambling debt to Walters in September 2012, apparently in part with the trading proceeds. (Mickelson and his attorneys in the matter declined to comment.)

Soon, though, federal investigators noticed the suspicious trading in Dean Foods stock. One morning in May 2014, a pair of FBI agents appeared at Davis’ home in Dallas to ask him about his financial relationship with Billy Walters. Davis acknowledged knowing Walters but lied about nearly everything else, especially about whether he had ever supplied Walters with inside information regarding Dean Foods. Later, Davis lied about the same subjects in a sworn deposition before the SEC. Finally, though, at the end of 2015, facing a mountain of evidence and declining health, Davis decided to come clean. He pleaded guilty to 12 counts, including insider trading and lying to the SEC and FBI, and agreed to cooperate with the continuing investigation of Walters. In light of his multiple guilty pleas, Davis faced a maximum of 190 years in prison. By cooperating, Davis greatly reduced his chances for a long sentence.

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According to his lawyer, walters was too smart to involve a celebrity like mickelson in an insider-trading scheme.

Once prosecutors had Davis’ testimony in hand, they faced their next decision. It appeared that Walters and Mickelson were in very similar situations: Both had profited from inside information supplied by Tom Davis. But were they both guilty of insider trading?

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THE TIPPER AND THE TIPPEE

nsider trading is an anomaly among federal crimes. Congress never passed a specific law outlawing the practice, so prosecutors have improvised, generally bringing insider-trading cases under statutes that were originally designed to forbid ordinary business frauds. The Supreme Court and other federal appeals courts have approved most of these prosecutions, but not all of them, giving the law of insider trading an unusual degree of uncertainty. In short, it’s not always clear what constitutes unlawful insider trading.

Most insider-trading prosecutions begin with two people—known as a tipper and a tippee. The first is an individual with a duty to keep corporate information secret (also known as an insider), and the second is someone who sells stock based on the tip from the insider. When it came to Dean Foods, Tom Davis, as a board member of the company, was a classic insider, and tipper, and Billy Walters was a prototypical tippee. The complexity arises when the tippee passes inside information to a third party— in this case, from Walters to Phil Mickelson.

If Mickelson traded on this information (as he apparently did) but had no contact with the original insider (as he apparently did not), was Mickelson guilty of a crime?

The Dean Foods investigation took place as federal prosecutors in Manhattan were undertaking a major crackdown on insider trading. But just as the Dean Foods case was coming to a head, in December 2014, the prosecutors suffered a stinging setback in court. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which includes New York, threw out one of the prosecutors’ most important convictions. In that case, Todd Newman traded stock based on inside information that he had received secondhand—that is, from an individual who had

received it from a corporate insider. In other words, Newman was in a comparable position to Mickelson—who was separated from Davis, the source of the inside information,

by Walters. According to the Second Circuit decision in the Newman case, a tippee (like Mickelson) could only be found guilty of insider trading if he knew that the tipper (Davis) benefited in some way from giving the information to Walters. Because there was no evidence of what Mickelson knew about Davis’ motivations, Mickelson could not be charged, under the law of the Newman case. “There is no question that the Newman case hurt the chances of a case being brought against Mickelson,” said a government investigator involved in the Walters prosecution.

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MICKELSON AND THE TRIAL

n light of the Newman case, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan charged only Billy Walters with insider trading. Still, even though Mickelson was not at the defense table, he figured prominently in Walters’ trial. Indeed, Barry Berke, Walters’ lawyer, built his defense in part around Mickelson. In Berke’s opening statement to the jury, he said that Walters, as a sophisticated investor, would have known that the SEC would examine unusual trades in Dean Foods stock that were made before and after major corporate announcements. “When there is a big event for a company, whether it’s a merger, acquisition or a spinoff, the Securities and Exchange Commission looks to see who are the buyers leading up to that, and they investigate; that’s what they do. So if you’re Bill Walters, I would submit, and you believe that someone has given you illegal inside information, the last thing you would do is give it to Phil Mickelson, one of the most famous

athletes in the world, that is immediately going to attract regulatory scrutiny and lead back to Bill Walters.” In other words, according to his lawyer, Walters was too smart to involve a celebrity like Mickelson in an insider-trading scheme.

The dramatic high point of the trial came on the morning of March 21, 2017, when Tom Davis took the witness stand against his one-time close friend Billy Walters.

The government’s theory of the case was straightforward. Davis gave Walters inside information as a way of repaying Walters for the money Davis had borrowed from him. Asked why he gave inside information about Dean Foods stock to Walters, Davis testified, “I borrowed money from him. I became indebted to him.” Berke savaged Davis on cross-examination, dwelling at length on his theft from the women’s shelter and his repeated lies to the authorities. Davis acknowledged his misdeeds but insisted that he was now telling the truth. And Davis’ story was buttressed by cellphone records and Walters’ trading patterns, which matched with Davis’ description of their relationship.

Prosecutors had another way of backing up Davis’ credibility—by showing how Mickelson also traded in Dean Foods stock in a similar pattern as Walters. In the view of prosecutors, Walters gave Mickelson inside information so he could generate the cash to repay the golfer’s debt to him. According to financial records introduced at the trial, accounts controlled by Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, made 23 purchases of Dean Foods stock, at a total cost of about $2.46 million, in a single month, between July and August 2012. Then, on Aug. 8, after the WhiteWave spinoff was announced, the Mickelsons sold all their holdings, for a profit of nearly $1 million.

One witness at Walters’ trial could have clarified Phil Mickelson’s role: Phil Mickelson. But the golfer’s lawyers informed the prosecution and defense that if called by either side, Mickelson would decline to testify, based on his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. (Pursuant to the practice in Manhattan’s federal court, Mickelson could make that representation through his lawyers and avoid the humiliating spectacle

of taking the Fifth in public.) In lieu of Mickelson’s testimony, the two sides agreed on a substitute of sorts—a stipulation, or agreement, about Mickelson’s financial dealings, based on records provided by Boulevard Management, which conducts his financial affairs. The statement acknowledged that Mickelson paid Walters $1,950,000 in 2012, to settle a gambling debt, and that Mickelson had owed and paid similar debts to Walters in the past. The stipulation went on to say that Mickelson’s reported income in 2012 was about $48 million.

Even without Mickelson’s testimony, the prosecution believed that his trading in Dean Foods stock represented powerful incriminating evidence against Walters.

Brooke Cucinella, one of the prosecutors, said in her closing argument, “When [Walters] knew he had a sure winner, he let his friends in on the action. In the days leading up to the spinoff, the defendant told Mike Luce [president of The Walters Group and a friend] and Phil Mickelson to get in on Dean Foods’ stock. Now, we don’t know if he told them the source of the information. But you know that Mickelson, at least, thought that the information he was getting from Walters was good enough to invest over $2 million in Dean Foods stock, some of it in his children’s accounts. Mickelson had never purchased Dean Foods stock before—not once. The phone records show you that Walters and Mickelson were texting repeatedly on the days leading up to Davis’ visit to the Walters’ home, before he even got there. The defendant knew by then that the spinoff was looking good and that things were on track for Aug. 7. And he told Mickelson that the trade was a winner. Now, you know that on Aug. 8, Luce and Mickelson sold their shares. Mickelson made just under $1 million—money that ultimately he transferred right back to the defendant because of a gambling debt.”

In his closing argument for Walters, Barry Berke mocked the idea that someone as wealthy as Mickelson needed a stock tip from Billy Walters to pay off a gambling debt.

Berke said that Walters and Mickelson often shared stock tips, and they shared a connection at Barclays, which was one of Mickelson’s sponsors. “What you have is that in

In the view of prosecutors, walters gave mickelson inside information so he could generate cash to repay the golfer’s debt to him.

July of 2012, Mr. Walters had a high, high conviction that it was a good time to invest in Dean Foods. It was a free roll, it was beaten down, and WhiteWave may happen. . . . Some notion that it was because of a gambling debt,” Berke told the jury. “You see from the stipulation Mr. Mickelson always paid off, he didn’t need any tips, given he made $48 million in one year alone. . . . The prosecution’s theory is based on lies, speculation and innuendo.” The jury disagreed and found Walters guilty of all 10 counts against him.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Walters said, “I just did lose the biggest bet of my life.” Like Davis, Walters faces the possibility of more than 100 years in prison.

Mickelson did not escape totally free from his dealings with the insider-trading ring. Walters never cooperated with the authorities, so investigators never learned what, if anything, he told Mickelson about his sources of information about Dean Foods. The government had no proof that Mickelson intended to violate the laws against insider trading. But the SEC named Mickelson as a “relief defendant” in a civil case, meaning that the agency believed that he profited from insider trading in Dean Foods, even if he didn’t engage in it himself.

Mickelson settled this civil case by agreeing to surrender his trading profits of $931,738 plus interest of $105,291. In doing so, Mickelson neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the SEC’s complaint.

But Mickelson’s legal odyssey had a final twist. The Newman case, decided by the Second Circuit in December 2014, effectively prevented a criminal prosecution against Mickelson. But while the criminal prosecution of Walters was pending, the United States Supreme Court took up another case from California, which had limited insidertrading law in a nearly identical way that Newman had done in New York. In a unanimous decision in December 2016, the Supreme Court rejected the Newman rule and held that recipients of inside information could be prosecuted even if they didn’t know what the original tipper received. In other words, Mickelson might have been prosecuted if his case had arisen before December 2014 or after December 2016. But because the Newman case was the law in New York when his case came up, Mickelson dodged trouble on either side—just as he did between those two trees at Augusta. jeffrey toobin is a staff writer at The New Yorker, the senior legal analyst for CNN, and the author, most recently, of American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst.

august 2017 | golf digest india

105

The average drive, in yards, of a golfer who scores between 100 and 105. source: g ame golf

Fat-proof Pitching Stop duffing the short shots here’s something about shots from 30 to 60 yards that give a lot of golfers fits. The biggest problem is making a backswing that’s too long, and then, in fear of hitting the shot too far, slowing the club down as it approaches the ball.

The typical result is contact with the ground behind the ball—the dreaded fat shot. If this is your issue, here are four ways to make your pitching swing foolproof— or fat-proof, if you prefer.

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David Leadbetter operates 34 golf academies worldwide.

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1. CHOOSE WISELY

2. STAND NARROW

3. SHORTEN UP

4. COPY THAT

▶ You’ll have a lot more success if you use a wedge with the right amount of bounce. Bounce references a design feature that helps wedges produce crisp shots no matter the lie. For most lies, an adequate amount is 10 degrees of bounce, though less is helpful for firm turf or wet/ packed sand.

▶ You don’t need to make a big swing here. A narrow stance will promote a shorter, more balanced swing.

Stand with your heels a few inches apart and roughly 60 percent of your weight on your left leg. This stance will help you make crisp contact.

▶ It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get the ball to fly up to 60 yards, so making a big backswing is overkill. It also promotes the deceleration in the downswing we’re trying to avoid. A good rule for these shots is to swing back only until your lead arm is parallel to the ground.

▶ Acceleration is crucial. That doesn’t mean swing down super fast. It just means the club should be increasing speed through impact. Try to finish with the trail arm parallel to the ground, like a mirror image of the arms and club in the backswing.

Don’t fear hitting it too far.

106 golf digest india | august 2017

Photograph by J.D. Cuban

illustrations: todd detwiler

Play Your Best Step by Step by David Leadbetter

Strategy by Jack Nicklaus Play Your Best

“Designers often save this sort of challenge for the 18th hole.”

MAKE IT A THREE-SHOTTER The worst thing you can do is hit your tee shot in the stream. Working against you, this fairway cants in that direction, so any ball with a hard bounce to the left might get wet. If you’re playing the correct tees, the lone fairway bunker is likely in range, so the real estate between it and the water starts to look real narrow.

Not confident you can hit a left-to-right curving drive to hold the slope, or lace one dead straight? Then commit to reaching this green in three. Hit it here by aiming at the fairway bunker but using a club that can’t reach it.

CERTAINTY REQUIRED The green is guarded by water along the left, and the deep bunkers on the right are not a friendly bailout. Short also is no good, because the fairway there is a sliver, making the stream too close to meddle with.

In other words, holding this green is a mandate, so don’t go for it unless you’re confident you can be precise. To think you’ll just blast one up around a green complex like this and hope for the best is foolish.

BEWARE THE SKINNY FAIRWAY Unless you hit a great drive to set up an approach from a clean lie with a comfortable club, lay up. Where? This wide spot is 115 yards out, and there’s no reason to try to squeeze one in any closer to the hole.

How often will you get up and down from 60 yards than from 115—not enough to justify flirting with this water hazard.

Final Countdown Thinking through a tough finish ost golf holes, particularly the ones I design, give options. There’s a friendly route for the beginner and a riskier route where the reward forces the more skilled player to a decision. But some holes don’t offer much. They’re just plain tough, and your ability to execute shots on them makes or breaks your day. Designers often save this sort of challenge for the 18th.

The 494-yard, par-4 finish at Quail Hollow Club, site of this year’s PGA Championship,

M

is a great example. Designed by George Cobb and later altered by Tom Fazio, the 18th gets bogeyed a lot but birdied by those swinging with confidence. Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler made 3 here to seal their first victories on the PGA Tour.

When you get to the last tee box, not only is your body tired, but your mind might be, too.

Force yourself to assess the dangers coolly one last time. If you look hard enough, you’ll see a way to finish strong.—with max adler

▶ I like following the young talents. Even before he turned pro in 2007, I paid attention to Rory McIlroy. One month before he won his first PGA Tour event, the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail, I’d told him to stay patient; his time to win in the States was coming. Of course, he shoots a courserecord 62 in the last round to win by four.

I quickly wrote him a note that said, “I told you to stay patient, but this is ridiculous.”

Illustration by Chris O’Riley

Mcilroy: chris Keane/icon sMi/Getty iMaGes

advice quickly taken

Play Your Best For Better Players by Tom Watson

Lay Low What to do when wind is zipping across the fairway ecause of my success on the windy links courses in the United Kingdom, I get asked a lot about how to hit the driver lower when a strong breeze is in your face. My response: Why would you want to hit it lower? If you hit a solid drive at your normal trajectory, it’s going to go just as far, if not farther, than if you tried to play it low into the wind.

There are only two scenarios where it makes good sense to hit your driver lower than normal.

The first is when you know the ball is going to run a long way once it hits the fairway. The second is when the wind is really blowing across the fairway, and it’s going to greatly affect your normal shot shape. For example, strong gusts from the left could wreak havoc on someone who slices. That golfer needs to flight the ball lower just to keep it in play.

To hit your driver lower, make these adjustments: (1) Tee the ball a half inch lower than you usually do, and grip down on the handle about an inch. (2) Make a slightly shorter backswing. (3) Strike the ball with a level blow, meaning the clubhead should be moving low, just above the ground through impact.

A good swing thought is to quiet your wrists as you swing back and through. The ball will come out lower and be less susceptible to the breeze.

B

—with ron kaspriske

108 golf digest india | august 2017

1

1 grip Hold it lower on the handle.

2

2 backswing Stay compact.

3 impact Strike the ball with a level blow.

3

Photographs by J.D. Cuban

Tee to Green by Butch Harmon Play Your Best

How often a golfer who scores between 95 and 100 gets up and down for par. source: g ame golf

Target Practice Hit some field goals to rein in your shots y dad, Claude Harmon, had a great line for his students about aim: “If you aim at nothing, you’re always going to hit it.” To get a handle on where your shots are going, focus on starting direction.

Here’s a drill I’ve been using a lot lately with my players.

Take three alignment poles and

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set one parallel to your target line between your feet and the ball. Stick the other two in the ground five to 10 yards in front of you and two to three feet apart, creating a window on your target line. You can adjust the gap based on how easy it is for you to hit a field goal.

This is a great drill for monitoring your setup, which will help if you’re spraying the ball.

Using a 7-iron, step in and set the bottom of the club perpendicular to the pole at your feet—that’s a square face. Then set your body lines (feet, knees, hips, shoulders) parallel to the pole. Now you’re set up to split the uprights. Hit some balls going through this routine.

Remember to use your normal swing; don’t try to steer the ball through the poles with your hands. Drive your whole body through, and see how you do. butch harmon is at Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nev.

8%

learn to play draws and fades

For players who want to work the ball left or right, stick one alignment pole on your target line five to 10 yards out. To fade it, set the clubface square to the pole, but align your body to the left (open), then swing along your body line. The ball should start left of the pole and then curve toward the target (above). For a draw, square the face, set your body closed and start the ball right.

Photographs by Dom Furore

Play Your Best Equipment

The focus is on thinner, lighter and sleeker designs.

pxg 0341x ▶ PXG’s newest fairway wood has two fewer movable weights, but you won’t miss them.

A light carboncomposite crown contributes to a lower center of gravity so you can launch the ball high with less spin. An elastomer structure inside the head keeps the sound and feel just right. $650 ca l l away ste e l he a d x r

ping g 4 0 0 dr i v e r ▶ The G400 is a tad smaller than the G, making it sleeker aerodynamically.

But because of the G400’s thinner crown, fast-flexing forged face and rear tungsten weight, it’s more stable. That makes for a forgiving club that you can swing faster.

▶ This fairway wood is patterned after the shape of the company’s wildly popular large-face fairway woods from the turn of the century. Modern touches include a composite crown and a high-flexing face that wraps around the club’s crown and sole.

$435

$230

▶ A carbon-composite crown offers forgiveness in two ways: The saved weight makes room for a heavy tungsten insert that improves stability on mis-hits, and it allows the club to be larger than Cobra’s other hybrids to give you a confidence boost at address. $250

110 golf digest india | august 2017

The Sky is the Limit Think metalwoods can’t get any better? Think again o say that metalwoods have more room for improvement than any other club might seem confusing. After all, the USGA has set up more roadblocks on drivers, fairway woods and hybrids than any other clubs in the bag. But the largest clubs actually have more design options for increasing distance, forgiveness and flight. In fact, our longest-hitting clubs can get bigger or smaller or not change their looks at all and still improve.

How? With thinner, lighter crowns, sleeker shapes and internal weighting that optimizes your launch. But the biggest improvement might be to your self-confidence. Here are four new models to consider. —mike stachura

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Photograph by Ryan Zimmerman

gutter credit tk

c o br a ki n g o s h y br i d

Equipment Play Your Best

Problem getting up and down?

It’s likely not your putting.

Bunker Busters 5 wedges to solve the sand

ccording to statistics from Game Golf, the in-round stat tracker, the average 90sshooter gets up and down from the sand less than one in 10 times. The average 100-shooter converts less than one in 20 times, and the average 110-shooter is successful about one in 100 times, or about as often as a tour player rakes a bunker. So what’s the problem? Well, maybe our putting isn’t so great, but the real culprit is what’s happening in

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the sand. Or more likely, what’s not happening, as in the ball getting out of the bunker. We certainly encourage you to work on your technique, but immediate help is available. The five specialty wedges on this page have heavy soles and high lofts. That lets you take a normal setup and make your regular swing, blasting the ball out on the green with a regularity that defies those stat lines. Just remember to hit the sand first. Seriously. —mike stachura

to u r e d ge one out plus ▶ Yes, it has a wide and heavy sole, but a 90-gram weight at the end of the grip counterbalances the club for a more stable swing. $60

call away s ure o ut ▶ Offered in lofty 58- and 64-degree options, this wide sole model’s extra curve on the bottom improves speed through the sand.

cl e ve l a nd s m a rt s ol e 3 ▶ Now in its third edition, this wedge has a three-stepped sole that improves ground contact from three lies: sand, rough and fairway. $120

$120

c3 i c3 i 6 5 w e d ge ▶ This infomercial fave has 65 degrees of loft and a twoinch wide sole with extra bounce toward the back for maximum help. $100 fo u rt e e n h0 3 0 ▶ The hollow construction makes the head stable on mishits, and allows for more weight in the wide sole to power through the sand. $200

Photograph by Mark Hooper

On The Tee Mr. X

Undercover Tour Pro What if we had to play without caddies? ome players were sharing beers the other week—it was a Tuesday night, and all of us either had late tee times in the Wednesday pro-am or weren’t playing— when an interesting question came up: What would the World Ranking look like if we had to carry our bags? No caddies. Like going back to college golf. ▶ Staff bags, obviously, would go away. It’d be ridiculous for anyone to compete while lugging one of those 40-pound leather behemoths. Companies would have

S

112 golf digest india | august 2017

to be content with getting their logos stitched on normal stand bags. A lot of players, especially those with nagging injuries, would opt for the extra-lightweight Sunday bag, even if the smaller real estate meant forfeiting sponsorship dollars. All but the fittest guys would be worried about getting worn out.

But a slightly ratcheted physical challenge is the leastintriguing aspect. What the premise really gets at is, who relies on his guy the most? Take away the support blanket, make us each go out there alone—like 98 percent of everyday golfers do—and who would crumble?

At the top of the rankings, Dustin Johnson wouldn’t budge.

Sure, he enjoys having his brother, AJ, on the bag for companionship, but AJ has never saved DJ a shot. Rory McIlroy would be fine alone. Steve Williams would tell you different, but Adam Scott would be the same player.

I’m not sure Jason Day would hold up. It’s not like he listens to Col (Colin Swatton) that much for shot selection, but their relationship is deep, like father and son, that Col’s absence might really affect him. I could see Jordan Spieth dropping. His guy, Michael Greller, has more input per shot than just about any caddie out here. Get paired with them, and it’s a lot to listen to— though Greller knows how to say the right thing at just the right time to keep Jordan in a good frame of mind. Phil Mickelson and Bones (Jim Mackay) talk through shots maybe too thoroughly, but I give Phil credit for being quick over the ball. When the conversation is done, he steps in and hits. As much as their relationship garners attention, Phil doesn’t need Bones.

Phil would go on being Phil.

Pat Perez might not keep his card. Pat’s a friend, and I love

that he’s been playing awesome, but I think he’d be quick to admit that he couldn’t function without H (Michael Hartford). Those two have known each other for nearly three decades, and they have zero back and forth. If H says it’s a three-quarter 6-iron, Pat hits the shot right away.

Never considers hitting a full 7.

Several really talented young players simply need a lot of reinforcement. If they’re not told what they’re doing is right, they can’t pull the trigger.

Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele are two guys who would need to seriously readjust.

Kevin Na relies on Kenny Harms a lot. Paul Casey needs Johnny Long Socks (John McLaren), and he knows it.

Without caddies, the more autonomous players would rise, but the overall caliber of golf would slip. Modern scoring is owed partly to the fact caddieing is a much more serious business than 15 years ago. It has become a six-figure job that attracts people who would otherwise be making that much in other fields. Good caddies are blending statistics, psychology, nutrition and managerial skills to give their man any edge in a ridiculously competitive arena.

I’m not sure I’d stay in the top 100. My caddie has been on the PGA Tour longer than I have, and I lean on him a ton.

He saves me on reads, but more important, I can get irritated by the road’s little problems. My 3-wood needs work at the equipment trailer or the keys to the car are lost—my guy handles stuff like this so I can focus on golf.

Then again, there are players who’d be better off solo. Their caddies try too hard.

—with max adler

Ezra Shaw/GEtty ImaGES photo IlluStratIon

Here’s the question: Who relies on his guy the most?

Golfers We Like The Golf Life

Gone With the Whim A Canadian superfan’s big adventure in the Bahamas by max adler

eff Davidson is a 35-year-old from Nova Scotia who paints houses for a living. He also identifies as a huge Tiger Woods fan, but the 12-handicapper had never seen his hero in the flesh.

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So when Big Cat was set to return to competition after a 15-month absence, at the 2016 Hero World Challenge in December, it felt to Davidson like “maybe my only chance in life ever, because who knows what’s going to happen with Tiger?” (This was before Woods was charged with driving under the influence in May.) Davidson did know that if any tournament promised more than a paltry glimpse of Tiger, it was this annual competition to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. It features an 18-player field and tiny galleries.

For a month, Davidson scoured the Internet for tickets, but found none. On the Tuesday of tournament week, the hype surrounding Tiger’s

Gate-crasher: Jeff Davidson at the Hero World Challenge.

return neared a crescendo. To heck with it. Davidson purchased a plane ticket to the Bahamas for the next morning, which, for $500 round trip, seemed a last-minute steal to the sun-starved Canadian.

The only person perhaps more responsible than Woods for Davidson’s love of golf is Davidson’s mother—a fine player in her day—but he didn’t tell her about his plan. “If she’d known I was flying there with nowhere to stay, no one I know, and no ticket to the tournament, well, she would’ve begged me not to.”

The plane from Halifax took off in a snowstorm. On the ground in the Bahamas, Davidson took a cab to a back gate of the course, where a guard promptly intimated physical violence if the ticketless David-

son didn’t disappear. A kindlier guard explained: This was Tiger’s tourney, not some regular tour event, and Davidson was crazy if he thought he could talk his way in.

For the next hour, Davidson traipsed through jungle brush in flip-flops, following the concrete perimeter of the resort.

At the next gate, marked for volunteers, he offered his services.

Sorry, the woman said, but every volunteer needed strict security clearance in advance.

At the third gate, Davidson tried some “alternative facts.”

A friend’s wife had broken her collarbone yesterday, he said, so they weren’t coming, and this friend had emailed to put his name on the list. No, he couldn’t produce the email because his phone was dead.

At the final gate, word of the suspicious interloper with the friendly accent had circulated the walkie-talkie waves. Our man was escorted to a bus station faster than he could get out his next story about being a lost hotel guest.

His seatmate on the flight down was heading for the Atlantis Casino, so Davidson figured he’d go there to suck his thumb. Penny slots equaled free beers, and he’d stay up all night if he had to. Suddenly, buying the plane ticket and ditching all responsibilities at

home seemed like a selfish act (and, as was becoming increasingly apparent, foolish). He was determined not to spend more than the $200 in his pocket.

And who should be at the front desk? None other than the Golf Channel’s Steve Sands and Tiger Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava!

Davidson effusively professed his fandom for each, got autographs, and asked about tickets.

“It’s like the Fort Knox of golf courses,” Davidson said.

“Sure, meet me here in 10 minutes,” said LaCava, who was switching rooms.

From then on, everything bounced onto the green for Davidson. Though the guards recognized him, he got in and saw each shot of Tiger’s secondround 65. He crashed the Tiger Woods Foundation party, where he complimented Henrik Stenson on his club throw earlier in the day. Stenson laughed and took Davidson under his wing for much of the evening.

Plying the Atlantis concierges with small tips, Davidson stowed his backpack there and spent all but one night sleeping on the beach. “I was the only person on the beach and actually slept pretty well with just a towel.”

Watching Tiger was “mesmerizing, like seeing a ghost,” Davidson enthuses. “It’s the greatest tournament. Next year I’m coming with my buds and we’ll do it right. Even if Tiger isn’t playing.”

photographs: stan Badz/getty Images • IllustratIon: sean mccaBe

Had his mom known, “she would’ve begged me” not to go.

The Golf Life The Digest by Sam Weinman and Alex Myers

-meryl streep

-hugh grant

THINGS PEOPLE SAY ABOUT GOLF COURSES

(and what they really mean)

“IT’S PURE GOLF.”

means: pack a sandwich. there isn’t even a snack bar.

“IT’S RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU.”

means: they stopped making a yardage book.

“KIND OF AN OLDSCHOOL COURSE.”

THE LUXE LIFE

over-the-top golf club perks

east valley country club, gyeonggi-do, south korea A female caddie leads calisthenics on the first tee, then serves as a chauffeur, driving a fiveperson cart with all four players’ bags. kinloch golf club, manakin-sabot, va.

The club will perform a car detailing for guests while they’re on the course or in the clubhouse.

shanqin bay golf club, hainan island, china “Shadow service” includes two caddies per player (one at the tee and one in the landing zone) and a personal concierge accompanying you in the clubhouse— and wherever else you need help.

114 golf digest india | august 2017

the alotian club, roland, ark.

A massage therapist offers bodywork on the range, before or after you warm up. diamante, cabo san lucas, mexico Players warm up in private “caves” overlooking the range. There are loudspeakers, and you can choose the music while you hit.

means: the greens are rolling at about four.

“ONE OF A KIND.” means: not many courses are this poorly designed and terribly maintained.

“YOU REALLY HAVE TO THINK YOUR WAY AROUND IT.” means: you might get lost on the back nine.

SHOULD YOU GO BACK FOR IT? ▶ Ranking items you left

on the previous hole, from most to least important.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

wallet ▶ Unless it’s made out of Velcro and/or you’re a billionaire. smartphone ▶ Moves to No. 8 on this list if you’re due for an upgrade. putter ▶ It might be time for a new one, but it won’t help, so save your money. any other golf club ▶ Unless it’s that 3-iron you never get airborne anymore.

outer layer ▶ Unless it’s a sweater vest.

NEVER GO BACK FOR A SWEATER VEST. preparation h ▶ Depending on your, um, situation, it might be worth the embarrassment. hat ▶ Seriously, how did you leave a hat behind? headcover ▶ Unless it was hand-stitched by a dead relative. towel ▶ C’mon.

It’s a towel. You’ll live.

hugh grant: tekay • meryl streep tk • diners streep: gary gershoff/ Wireimage/getty images • grant: kevin mazur/getty images • diners: h. armstrong roberts/Cl assiCstoCk/getty images

I DON’T LIKE GOLF. IF I CAN’T DO IT RIGHT AWAY, I DON’T LIKE IT.

I’D LOVE TO SEE YOU BE BAD AT GOLF. I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU BE BAD AT SOMETHING. IT WOULD BE VERY COMFORTING.

Was playing from the forward tees embarrassing? Not in the least!

THE RIGHT DRINK FOR THE MOMENT first ace ▶ Macallan 18 Neat in an authentic whisky glass. career round

▶ Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Brut Rose Chilled in a champagne glass.

after 36 on a summer day ▶ Crispin Light Cider From an ice-cold bottle.

▶ THE BUDDIES TRIP FROM HELL HARDPAN NATIONAL

at the turn

UPTIGHT HILLS

▶ Arnie Fizz

THE LINKS AT DRONING BAGPIPE LOUDMOUTH RIDGE SMOG VALLEY SWAMPASS PRESERVE

ball, grain alCohol, sWeater vest: paul Windle • golfer: photodisC/getty images • loCker room: jason lee

WORTHLESS RANGER C.C.

WHERE CAN I BREAK PAR? ▶ My assignment: seeing how far forward this 13-handicapper would have to tee it

to shoot par or better. It took five rounds, each progressively shorter, before I carded a two-under-par 70 at Skyway Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J. I went around the nine-hole course twice, at a combined length of 4,936 yards. I encountered only one negative reaction, at Overpeck Golf Course in Teaneck, N.J. “You have a good swing; you shouldn’t be playing those forward tees,” said my playing partner. “It’s embarrassing!” It wasn’t the least bit embarrassing. It’s a fun challenge to try to make a birdie on every hole. Now I finally know how a tour pro feels. —stephen hennessey

▶ Negroni

YES IF . . .

MAYBE IF . . .

NO IF . . .

▶ It’s late December, and the shower

▶ Your body fat is lower than your

▶ That hernia scar is longer than a

▶ You’re reigning champ in the Greek

▶ You don’t combine it with a 50-sit-up

▶ You can perch a golf ball under your

▶ The locker-room staff is naked, too.

▶ You’ve stopped that towel-snapping

▶ You have a tattoo that reads

God flight.

handicap.

workout routine.

thing you did in high school.

gimme putt. pectorals.

“Belieber.”

swing oil ▶ A Bloody Maria Herradura Añejo Tequila, Bloody Mary mix, garnished with lime in a highball glass, with ice. golf date

SHOULD YOU GO NAKED IN THE LOCKER ROOM? stall is one row away.

Ketel One vodka, club soda, iced tea, lemonade in a high-ball glass, with ice.

Tanqueray No. TEN, Campari, sweet vermouth served in an old-fashioned glass with ice.

Order two. beverage-cart visit ▶ Any cold beer will do. quadruple bogey at the last to lose by one ▶ Grain alcohol Directly out of the bottle, with a straw.

august 2017 | golf digest india

115

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People in the U.S. expected to die from melanoma in 2017, according to skincancer.org.

Burn Notice Consider yourself warned: It’s hot out there screen test

rock that neon

▶ Generally speaking, wearing any sunscreen is better than none at all. But many products come with ingredients that are bad for you, says the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit health-research organization. Look for titanium dioxide or zinc oxide on your sunscreen’s list of active ingredients.

If it lists anything other than those two things, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

▶ All clothing offers some protection from ultraviolet rays.

However, some do a better job than others. Vibrant colors offer a higher ultraviolet protection factor, or UPF, than dull ones, for example.

And a new shirt off the rack isn’t as effective as it will be after it has been washed a few times, because shrinkage closes up the holes in the fabric. Also, wearing synthetic fabrics, like poly-

ester, generally offers more protection than natural fabrics such as cotton.

▶ The best time to avoid ultravioletradiation exposure is early or late in the day. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., golfers receive up to five times the amount of UV radiation in an hour needed to cause sunburn.

righty slighty

uva

▶ Most right-handers wear a golf glove on their left hand, so they often forget to take care of the back of the exposed right hand. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen there. While you’re at it, don’t forget your ears.

▶ Ultraviolet A rays are often the real culprit for health problems related to too much sun exposure. Unfortunately, many sunscreens sold in the United States focus on stopping UVB

spray away ▶ Good news for golfers: For years, physical blockers titanium dioxide and zinc oxide could be found only in lotion form. But several companies now offer these effective and highly recommended screens in sprays, making it more convenient for golfers to cover skin and reapply often. One caveat: Do not inhale while applying. These products might contain nanoparticles that are thought to cause lung cancer if breathed in large doses. Our picks: Honest Mineral Sunscreen Spray SPF 30 ($14); Bare Republic Mineral SPF 40 Sport Sunscreen Spray ($16).

dawn/dusk patrol

rays, despite claiming to block both.

UVA rays penetrate deeper into your skin and are responsible for developing the deadly cancer melanoma. They also contribute to developing free radicals that cause skin damage and suppress your immune system.

The most effective ingredient in a sunscreen to block UVA rays is zinc oxide.

pucker up ▶ Even dedicated sunscreen users often forget that the lips are very susceptible to sun damage, especially the lower lip, which is 12 times more likely to be affected.

Wearing lip balm with adequate

SPF (15 or higher) is important. And unlike sunscreen, these balms should be reapplied more often and more generously than you might expect. Reapplying every three holes is a good idea. Their protection doesn’t last nearly as long as sunscreen.

spf 50+ ▶ Any company marketing sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor above 50 is misleading you. Sunscreens need to be reapplied too often for an SPF above 45 to be necessary. It’s overkill. There’s also a good chance the product claim isn’t true and the SPF is a lot lower than what it states on the packaging. SPF 30 screens 97 percent of the sun’s harmful rays and will provide good protection provided it’s reapplied at least every two hours. For golfers, that means lubing up again at the turn.

#getnaked

hot shot Found at California’s Robinson Ranch Golf Club after a 2016 fire.

122 golf digest india | august 2017

▶ The Melanoma Research Foundation has a campaign to have adults 50 and older perform routine self-examinations for skin damage that could lead to cancer or other sun-related issues. Who better than you to give a thorough look? And is there a better hashtag? Just don’t do it on the course.

— ron kaspriske Photograph by Bill Hornstein

TAKE A

STAND

FOR HEALTH

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