Golf Digest India - December 2017

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 8

RNI NO. HARENG/2016/66983 DECEMBER 2017 `150

THINK YOUNG | PLAY HARD

PUBLISHED BY

TERRIFIC TREBLE ADITI WINS 3RD LET TITLE IN ABU DHABI JUNIOR GOLF

HERO WOMEN’S INDIAN OPEN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

JACK SINGH BRAR Exclusive Official Media Partner

9TH ALBATROSS INTERNATIONAL FALDO SERIES INDIA FINAL

Henrik Stenson

Charley Hoffman

Adam Scott Jordan Spieth

Tommy Fleetwood

Rickie Fowler

Justin Thomas

Bill Haas

AROUND THE WORLD, PERFORMANCE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS.

25,727 197 #1

IN WORLDWIDE PLAYERS

#1

NEAREST COMPETITOR 3,778

Charl Schwartzel

IN WORLDWIDE WINS

NEAREST COMPETITOR 27

Webb Simpson Bernhard Langer

Danielle Kang

Paul Casey

Rafa Cabrera Bello

©2017 Acushnet Company. Source: Darrell Survey, Sports Marketing Surveys Inc. Northmountain International. Based upon results through 19/11/2017 on the U.S. PGA, U.S. LPGA, Champions, Web.com, South African, Asian, Korean, OneAsia, Australasian, Japan, Canadian PGA and PGA European Tours.

Russell Henley

titleist.com.sg

© 2017 Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.

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

l l

Contents 12/17

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

20

India Digest 16

Newsmakers Update on Indian golfers around the world

18

Exclusive Interview Englishman Jack Singh Brar Looking To Connect With Indian Roots

56

Signs of the Times What’s the difference between kids getting autographs and pros doing the same thing? Billions of bucks.

60

Why You Slice If you know the causes, you’ll stop going right.

by cuRt saMpson

by Rohit bhaRdwaj 20

Cover Story Aditi Ashok Clinches Third Title On The Ladies European Tour In Abu Dhabi Hero Women’s Indian Open

22

French Rookie Camille Chevalier Clinches Maiden LET Crown

28

LET conducts 2-day Achievers’ Camp for juniors

by ashley Moss 64

by will Robins 65

66

The Core How food choices can affect your scores.

67

Ditch the Wrench Four drivers that don’t need to be adjusted.

68

Style: Watches of the Pros

by Ron kaspRiske

by aMan MisRa 32

Girls glam it up In Cool Gurgaon

by Mike stachuRa

by MaRty hackel

Junior Golf

40

34

Indians Impress At 9th Albatross International

36

KGA to stage Faldo Series India Final

38

Club Round-Up Updates from courses across India

40

Get to the Top Like a Tour Pro by patRick nubeR

by Rohit bhaRdwaj

70

The No-Practice Bunker Solution Stress-free sand play.

70

Shiv Kapur Grabs First Asian Tour Title On Home Course

74

The Return Of The Dragon

by Rohit bhaRdwaj by josh buRack

Tête-à-Tête With Bob Parsons

by Rohit bhaRdwaj

44

Business Of Golf Industry updates

46

Corporate Digest Volvo World Golf Challenge

88

Lifestyle

98

18 Holes with Devang Shah

76

Garcia awarded European Tour Honorary Membership

80

Fitness Flexing your body’s biggest muscles

by claude haRMon iii

82

Changing Course The USGA’s Mike Davis shifts with the game and the culture.

PGA Tour-China: A Stepping Stone To Success

84

Terrific Treat For Asian Fans

85

Marchesani wins maiden title at Clearwater Bay

Features 48

50

22

Back to Basics How to keep it old-school in a high-tech world.

with jaiMe diaz

8 golf digest india | december 2017

Cover photograph: Ladies European Tour/Tristan Jones

Editor’s Letter

GOLF DIGEST USA EDITORIAL

Dear Golfers,

T

he season for golf tournaments is well and truly upon us and November saw three international events in successive weeks in the capital.

ChAirMAn & eDitor-in-ChieF Jerry Tarde exeCutive eDitor Mike O’Malley CreAtive DireCtor Ken DeLago MAnAGinG eDitor Alan P. Pittman Deputy eDitor Max Adler

November was also a good month for Indian golfers. Shiv Kapur won the US$400,000 Panasonic Open at Delhi GC and Aditi Ashok won at Abu Dhabi on the Ladies European Tour.

These happened soon after Gaganjeet Bhullar and Ajeetesh Sandhu’s triumphs on the Asian Tour in October.

At the junior level, we witnessed a stellar Write to me at rishi@teamgolfdigest.com or performance by the 6 feet 4 inches tall, 15-yearon Twitter @RishiNarain_ old Harshjeet Singh Sethie from Delhi at the Albatross International at ITC Classic Golf Resort, Gurgaon, where he shot a final round 8-under par 64 to beat Saurav Rathi by one stroke! There is abundant junior talent in India.

The challenge is to find ways to give them enough international exposure against the best juniors across the world so they can rise to the top ranks in the professional game.

At the Hero Women’s Indian Open, the highlight for me was the junior clinic organised for top-ranked kids across the country and to hear from some of the world’s best womens players like Carlota Ciganda. Professional Tours across the world are the biggest inspiration for youngsters and its nice to see the WGAI making efforts to reach out to kids - steps which will eventually create more champions. The Panasonic Open also conducted a junior clinic at Delhi Golf Club. I am certain that we will soon see intense engagement between juniors and our domestic champions on the PGTI. The PGTI conducts over 20 tournaments every year, and this lends an opportunity to many kids in smaller towns to get closer to the action and get motivated by our top Indian pros.

Enjoy the beautiful golfing weather for the next couple of months. Don’t forget to write in to us.

Happy Golfing!

Rishi Narain

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

Marketing & Advertising Nikhil Narain nikhil@rnsportsmarketing.com +91-9999990364 Krishna Kant Dubey kk@rnsportsmarketing.com Parth Premi parth@rnsportsmarketing.com +91-9810455540

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 - 122101, Haryana. Phone Number - 0124-2841370, 1371, 1372. 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.

10 golf digest india | december 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 inDiA Rishi Narain 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

ARTICLES eDitoriAl DevelopMent DireCtor Craig Bestrom senior eDitor Ron Kaspriske senior writers Bureau Jaime Diaz, Dave Kindred, Tim Rosaforte, Ron Sirak, Guy Yocom AssoCiAte eDitor Stephen Hennessey AssistAnt eDitor Brittany Romano eDitor-At-lArGe Nick Seitz writer-At-lArGe Dan Jenkins ContributinG eDitors Dave Anderson, Peter Andrews, Tom Callahan, Bob Carney, Marcia Chambers, David Fay, John Feinstein, Peter Finch, Thomas L. Friedman, Lisa Furlong, Matthew M. Ginella, John Huggan, Dean Knuth, David Owen, Steve Rushin, Dave Shedloski, Roger Schiffman, Geoff Shackelford INSTRUCTION senior eDitor Peter Morrice senior writer Matthew Rudy plAyinG eDitors / pGA tour Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Rickie Fowler, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Nick Price, Jordan Spieth, David Toms plAyinG eDitors / lpGA tour Paula Creamer teAChinG proFessionAls Rob Akins, Todd Anderson, Chuck Cook, Sean Foley, Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, Hank Johnson, David Leadbetter, Jack Lumpkin, Jim McLean, Tom Ness, Renee Powell, Dean Reinmuth, Randy Smith, Rick Smith, Dave Stockton, Josh Zander proFessionAl ADvisors Amy Alcott, Dr. Bill Mallon, Gary McCord, Randy Myers, Judy Rankin, Lucius Riccio, Ph.D., Dr. Bob Rotella, Ben Shear, Ralph Simpson, Frank Thomas, Stan Utley EQUIPMENT senior eDitor Mike Stachura equipMent eDitor E. Michael Johnson AssistAnt eDitor Keely Levins teChniCAl pAnel John Axe, Ph.D.; Martin Brouillette, Ph.D.; Thomas E. Lacy Jr., Ph.D.; David Lee, Ph.D.; John McPhee, Ph.D.; Dick Rugge; George Springer, Ph.D. GOLF COURSES senior eDitor / ArChiteCture Ron Whitten ContributinG eDitor Topsy Siderowf GOLF DIGEST INTERNATIONAL GROUP senior DireCtor, internAtionAl Develop Ment & strAteGy Angela Byun ContributinG eDitor, internAtionAl Ju Kuang Tan

Our Contributors JACK NICKLAUS Regarded as the greatest player of all time Winner of a record 18 GRAND SLAMS

TOM WATSON World’s #1 ranked professional golfer from 1978 to 1982 8-TIME Grand Slam Champion

BUTCH HARMON Considered as the #1 rated golf instructor in the world Best known as TIGER WOODS’s coach (1993-2004)

DAVID LEADBETTER The most celebrated golf instructor in history Changed golf instruction for all future generations from guesswork to science

Golf Digest India is the exclusive official media partner to:

The World's Richest Tour 12 golf digest india | december 2017

Covers 27 countries, with approximately US$210 million in prize money

The region's pre-eminent Tour covering 21 countries, with around US$115 million in prize money

On The Web

SMS

WHAT’S

SMS

TRENDING

This section showcases trending social media posts published by Golf Digest India

Connect with us 14 golf digest india | december 2017

@golfdigest.india

@IndiaGolfDigest

@GolfDigestIndia

Newsmakers

PLAYERS IN THE NEWS Randhawa falls just short

Jyoti Randhawa came close to winning his ninth title on the Asian Tour when he shared the lead in the third round of the US$1 million Resorts World Manila Masters with Miguel Tabuena of Philippines at 15-under 201. Three birdies on the front nine had lent him an outright lead before bogeys on Hole no. 11, 12 and 14 put paid to his chances. The 45-yearold Gurgaon golfer finished in a share of 5th place to pocket US$ 37,150 (approx. Rs. 24.2 lakh) as his reward. In all, 11 Indians made the cut with 6 finishing in the top-20 amassing a total of US$ 102,775 (approx. Rs. 66.9 lakh).

16 golf digest india | december 2017

Newsmakers Professional Golf Tour of India

Bengaluru Open champ Mane claims No. 1 spot Ahmedabad-based Udayan Mane zoomed to No. 1 spot on the PGTI Order of Merit after clinching the inaugural Bengaluru Open Golf Championship at the Karnataka Golf Association course last month.

The 26-year-old prevailed by one shot at the Rs. 1 crore PGTI event for his third title of the season, as Honey Baisoya (71) missed a two feet par putt on the last hole. Mane totaled 20-under-268 for the week to surpass the previous 72-hole course record set by local pro Chikkarangappa S. (13-under 275) during last year’s TAKE Open.

Mane took home a winning cheque of Rs. 15 lakh to move up from second to first in the PGTI Order of Merit as his season’s earnings went up to Rs. 36,58,851.

“I began the week with no expectations as I didn’t play the practice round and the Pro-Am and therefore didn’t have a feel of the course. But I’m glad that I played with heart, kept my nerves in a high pressure situation and got the job done. I played like a peaceful warrior… I had almost prepared myself for a playoff when Honey (Baisoya) missed that last putt. I was quite surprised by that because he had been putting like a demon all week. It feels like both of us won the tournament since it was such a close contest and Honey played so well,” Mane said later.

Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta (67) took the third spot at 17-under 271 while Bengaluru golfers Khalin Joshi (66) and Rahil Gangjee (67) shared fourth place at 14-under-274. Gangjee signed off with an eagle on the last hole.

Udayan Mane receives the winning cheque after completion of the Bengaluru Open Golf Championship

TOP-10 ON PGTI ORDER OF MERIT AFTER BENGALURU OPEN POS

Golfer

Play

Win

Cut

Top-10

Total Prize (`)

1.

Udayan Mane

13

3

12

6

36,58,851

2.

Shamim Khan

14

2

14

10

29,58,250

3.

Honey Baisoya

12

2

11

7

28,33,288

4.

Khalin Joshi

11

0

11

7

22,86,469

5.

Mukesh Kumar

11

1

11

5

19,29,662

6.

Harendra Gupta

14

0

14

7

19,11,617

7.

Ajeetesh Sandhu

8

1

8

7

18,64,970

8.

Aman Raj

14

0

10

5

17,36,318

9.

Amardip Sinh Malik

12

1

9

4

17,29,436

10.

Anura Rohana (SRI)

13

1

10

4

16,34,736

Women’s Golf

VANI BAGS 4TH WIN OF THE SEASON Vani Kapoor played steady golf to submit a fine card of one-under 71 that gave her a comfortable three-shot win in the 14th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour held at the DLF Golf & Country Club. She totaled 4-over 220 and finished three clear of Gursimar Badwal (74). Amateur Pranavi Urs (74) came third — a stroke behind Badwal.

“It’s a big relief to win at the DLF, which is my home course and I have always wanted to do well here,” said Vani. This was the fourth win in six starts for Vani Kapoor on the domestic Tour.

Gaurika Bishnoi managed to cling to the top spot on the Hero Order of Merit and became the first player to cross Rs. 10 lakh in earnings this season.

december 2017 | golf digest india

17

Newsmakers

Know Jack

Residence: Hampshire, England Turned Pro: 2017 Amateur Record: Won 3 out of 4 matches for Team Great Britain and Ireland in the 2017 Walker Cup 2012 Faldo Series Grand Final Champion

Exclusive

Englishman Jack

Looking To Connect With Indian Roots

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ

H

e has been praised by the likes of former Asian Tour No. 1 Jeev Milkha Singh and reigning Panasonic Open winner Shiv Kapur for his skills. Jack Singh Brar had a brilliant amateur career before he turned pro in October. The Hampshire native clinched the Faldo Series Grand Final in 2012 and there was no looking back. Recently, Jack won three out of the 4 matches he played for Team UK against Team USA in the Walker Cup, which was enough to convince him that he could hold fort against the best in the world.

18 golf digest india | december 2017

THE GAME IS AT A GOOD PLACE. I THOUGHT IT’S THE BEST TIME TO TURN PROFESSIONAL…

Jack began playing golf at the age of 5 with motivation from his father, who still continues to caddy for him. “My dad started playing golf when he was forty, and I just followed him. He fell in love with the game and then, so did I… My dad is currently caddying.

But in the long term, he won’t be on the bag.

We didn’t want to change anything in the transition from being an amateur to going pro. So, we kept it the same,” Jack told Golf Digest India from London.

Needless to say that 14-time Major champion Tiger Woods is his biggest inspiration.

“Its got to be Tiger (Woods) for me.

Obviously, I’ve missed watching him on TV over the last few years. I think growing

Newsmakers

WE’RE ORIGINALLY FROM PUNJAB REGION. I HAVEN’T BEEN THERE SINCE I WAS ABOUT SIX. up, I mostly just watched him. I’ve read his books. And dad used to share me those clips of when he was of my age, and what he had achieved… Obviously just watching him, on TV, and winning… Its just… He is a very inspirational person,” the 21-year-old added.

The English prodigy got a few starts on the European Tour including the Alfred Dunhills Links Championship at the famous Old Course, St. Andrews. But having taken the decision to compete full time on the European Tour, he will be competing in the Qualifying School before using limited starts to his advantage.

“I had always wanted to turn pro this year… I felt I was maturing and I just thought I’d played enough amateur golf. Obviously playing the Walker Cup was a big deal for people in the USA. I just didn’t feel I’d get much out of that amateur golf. I think it’s the right time. The game is at a good place.

I thought it’s the best time to turn pro… I feel I am ready to compete on the European Tour. I will be going for the second stage of the Q-School in November. I have some opportunities to prove myself. If things still don’t go the right way… I’m definitely feeling confident,” said Jack, who is coached by Dan Frost since 3 years.

Interestingly, Jack has 7 guaranteed starts on the Challenge Tour which has already thrown two Indian-origin golfers – Aaron Rai and Julian Suri – on Europe’s top golf tour.

Come 2018, and Jack will be looking

forward to connecting with his roots when he travels to New Delhi for the $1.75 million Indian Open.

“My grandfather came over in the 60s and started working. He was originally from India. And so was my grandmother. Then they moved to Singapore. Later my dad, his brothers and sisters came over to UK. We’re originally from Punjab region. My grandma still goes over to meet her relatives. I haven’t been there since I was about six. I just remember the farm and the cows,” the Brokenhurst Manor ace said.

It will also lend him the chance to try out Punjabi cuisine, watch Indian movies and explore the culture of his grandparents.

JACK’S FAVOURITES Golf course around the world: Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi. It has got a great layout and stunning views.

Golf Course on your wish list: Augusta National, Georgia, USA Movie: Pearl Harbour TV series: Big Bang Theory Actor: Ryan Reynolds Actress: Jennifer Lawrence Music: Hip Hop

WHAT’S IN MY BAG Driver/Fairway Woods: TaylorMade M1 Driver, M2 3w Hybrid: M1

Drink: Apple juice Food: All pastas Essentials in your travel bag: Bose headphones

Irons: TaylorMade PSI

Mid-round power snack: Nuts or Protein bar

Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 58 +52

Idol: Tiger Woods

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Mallet Ball: TP5 Shoe: Nike Lunar Control Vapour 2 Glove: Nike Tour Classic ll

Sport apart from golf: Football (Supports Southampton FC) Holiday destination: Los Angeles and Dubai (Loves the weather)

december 2017 | golf digest india

19

Newsmakers

TERRIFIC TREBLE Aditi Ashok Clinches Third Title On The Ladies European Tour In Abu Dhabi

LPGA Stats

Official Money: US$156,340 (85th) Top-10 finish: 1 Avg. Drive: 238 yards (153rd) Greens in Regulation: 66.5% (109th) Driving Accuracy: 75.92% (46th)

LET Stats

Official Money: Euro 78,720 (13th) Top-10 finish: 1 Avg. Drive: 241 yards (123rd) Greens in Regulation: 75% (26th) Driving Accuracy: 77.48% (32nd)

20 golf digest india | december 2017

Newsmakers

O

ne word you can associate with Aditi A shok is Prize money won ‘determined’. The 19-yearold golf prodigy had a lakh) stellar debut on the Ladies European (approx. Rs 54.5 Tour, where she won two titles and posted 7 top-10s.

After becoming the first women’s golfer to represent India at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aditi went on to script back-to-back victories at the US$400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open and the Euro 500,000 Qatar Ladies Open. She also became the first golfer from the country to clinch the National Open since its inception in 2007.

Aditi then went on to qualify for the most lucrative Ladies Professional Golf Association of America (LPGA). However, she could not replicate her form in her rookie season on the LPGA, clinching only one top-10 finish out of 20 starts.

But that did not deter Aditi from ‘keeping up the faith’ and following the strenuous golf routine. Support and words of encouragement from parents Ashok Gudlamani and Mash helped. But it was her determination that separated her from the other Indian women professionals.

In just her fifth start on the LET this year, Aditi kept attacking the flags and went on to complete a hattrick of titles at the Euro 515,000 Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi. Her tournament tally read 18-under 270 (67-66-68-69), a stroke ahead of runner-up Georgia Hall of England.

Her consistency meant she was in the top-2 from the opening round at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. Her terrific effort landed her the third international title and a winner’s cheque of Euro 70,787 (approx. Rs 54.5 lakh).

With no sponsors till date and only her parents to support her ambition, one can imagine the difficulties she must be facing while spending huge amounts on travel and accommodation to compete in the US. However, Aditi made it clear that she doesn’t intend to shift base despite getting full playing rights on the LPGA for 2018.

The Bengaluru lass also skipped the US$2.1 million Blue Bay LPGA at the Hainan Island, China, to defend her title at the DLF Golf & Country Club even though there was no cut applicable.

“Playing golf is what I love to do. Money (expenditure) is secondary, it always was even as an amateur. Living in India and playing the LPGA is not exactly cost effective, but that’s the way it is. I aspired to be on the LPGA and here I am. I think all of this is an investment in myself,” Aditi told reporters during the press conference for the US$400,000 Hero and I also got to play five Majors this year, so Women’s Indian Open in Gurgaon. it was a great experience as a rookie. I’ve just “The first half of the year [on LPGA] was had one Top 10 so I haven’t really played as tough because I had conditional status and well as I had hoped on the LPGA, but the LET most of the time, I wasn’t really sure I would win last week was really positive.” be playing that week but luckily, by summer, A sked what was the one porI had better status. I played in a lot of LPGA tion in her game where she needed events and that was really important to me to improve in order to give the LPGA

€ 70,787

Aditi Ashok receives the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open trophy from UAE’s Minister of State for Happiness, Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi

Clockwise from above: Aditi Ashok delivers her victory speech after the final round. Aditi and father Ashok share a light moment.

The winning putt at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi

Money (expenditure) is secondary, it always was even as an amateur. Living in India and playing the LPGA is not exactly cost effective, but that’s the way it is. I think all of this is an investment in myself. players a tough fight, the 19-year-old signed off saying, “A lot of girls hit longer than me so if I picked up a little more in my distance, I will be happy. And in the US, many have played in the same venue for so many years sometimes I think that becomes an advantage. Knowing the courses well will help me.” december 2017 | golf digest india

21

Women’s Golf Hero Women’s Indian Open

MARSEILLE MADEMOISELLE French Rookie Camille Chevalier Upstages Michele Thomson Of Scotland To Clinch Maiden Hero Women’s Indian Open Crown

22 golf digest india | december 2017

Images: K. Jairaj Chaudhri, Dharam Diwakar, European Tour/Tristan Jones

Hero Women’s Indian Open Women’s Golf STAT PACK 2017 Field: 114 players No. of Indians: 17 Indians Who Made The Cut: 4 2016 Field: 112 players No. of Indians: 17 Indians Who Made The Cut: 5 2015 Field: 114 players No. of Indians: 19 Indians Who Made The Cut: 4

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ rohit@rnsportsmarketing.com

T

he 11th edition of the US$ 400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open added a third successive rookie to its illustrious list of champions when France’s Camille Chevalier put on a valiant effort to snatch the coveted title from overnight leader Michele Thomson of Scotland. The win also helped a ‘stressed’ Camille secure her playing rights on the Ladies European Tour (LET) for the next two seasons.

“This win is super special. I really didn’t think about winning. I was just trying to play well on every shot and stick to my game and keep my concentration. I wasn’t thinking about Michele’s game,” an excited Camille told reporters after birdying the last two holes to bag US$ 60,000 as prize money. Her overall tally read 12-under 204 (68-69-67).

“I was more concerned about keeping my card for the LET next year, because I was border-line, so I’m really happy to be

L-R: Aakash Ohri (Executive Director - DLF Home Developers), WGAI President Kavita Singh, 2017 Hero Women’s Indian Open winner Camille Chevalier, Hero MotoCorp CMD Pawan Munjal and LET chairman Mark Lichtenhein

december 2017 | golf digest india

23

Women’s Golf Hero Women’s Indian Open

France’s Camille Chevalier holes a crucial birdie on the 17th hole to level scores with leader Michele Thomson of Scotland

keeping my card because I was so stressed about it,” added the 23-year-old from Marseille, France.

The Frenchwoman began the final round three strokes behind former policewoman Michele, who had shattered the DLF Golf & Country Club’s course record by a massive three strokes in Round 2. But a cavalier approach coupled with a strategy to create birdie chances tilted the scales in her favour.

Earlier, the Scot had built a 7-shot lead in her front nine to raise expectations of a win but a massive meltdown on the finishing stretch – where the 29-year-old dropped back-to-back bogeys on the turn along with a heartbreaking double bogey on the 14th to reduce the lead to one. Camille then upped the ante by sinking 5 birdies in the last 8 holes including back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th. The duel was decided by the approach shot on the finishing hole, where the Frenchwoman’s ball caught the slope to land within 3 feet.

Michele had no option but to applaud her opponent. “The putter went cold on the back nine but I can’t take anything away from Camille. She played really well and congratulations to her. I will take back a lot of positives, and will try and do one better next time,” said Michele.

Among Indians, local pro Vani Kapoor put up a brave performance to finish tied sixth. Defending champion Aditi Ashok was the next best Indian on the leaderboard at 13th place with a 3-day score of 4-under 212.

24 golf digest india | december 2017

“THIS WIN IS SUPER SPECIAL. I REALLY DIDN’T THINK ABOUT WINNING. I WAS JUST TRYING TO PLAY WELL ON EVERY SHOT AND STICK TO MY GAME...”

WINNING TOTALS IN LAST 5 YEARS 2017: 12-under-par (DLF Golf & Country Club, Gary Player course) 2016: 3-under-par (DLF Golf & Country Club, Gary Player course) 2015: Even-par (DLF Golf & Country Club, Gary Player course) 2014: 11-under-par (Delhi Golf Club) 2013: 8-under-par (Delhi Golf Club)

PAST CHAMPIONS IN THE FIELD Aditi Ashok 2016 Thidapa Suwannapura 2013

Hero Women’s Indian Open Women’s Golf Justine Dreher of France used a 7-iron to script a hole-in-one on the 150-yard par-3 16th during the second round of the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Justine received an Omega watch as her reward

LEADING SCORES: 12-under 204 Camille Chevalier (FRA; 68-69-67); 205 Michele Thomson (SCO; 70-64-71); 208 Anne Van Dam (NED; 71-70-67), Carlota Ciganda (ESP; 70-68-70), Sarah Kemp (AUS; 71-66-71); 209 Vani Kapoor (IND; 69-68-72), Celine Boutier (FRA; 71-66-72), Klara Spilkova (CZE; 69-70-70); 210 Meghan MacLaren (ENG; 69-70-71), Titiya Plucksataporn (THA; 71-68-71).

TOP WORLD RANKED PLAYERS (INSIDE TOP-200) Carlota Ciganda No. 20 Aditi Ashok No. 81 Florentyna Parker No. 121 Beth Allen No. 130 Belen Mozo No. 198 Thidapa Suwannapura No. 199

Left: Spain’s Carlota Ciganda makes a putt during the second round of the tournament.

Above: Vani Kapoor receives a Hero Pleasure bike from Hero MotoCorp CMD Pawan Munjal for being the highest Indian finisher

december 2017 | golf digest india

25

Women’s Golf Hero Women’s Indian Open

CAPTURED!

Welshwoman Amy Boulden (L) and Hannah Burke of England

Spain’s Maria Parra

Spain’s Nuria Iturrios

A peacock roams around the 15th green

rs Cove Head Fancy

Meghan MacLaren

6 PLAYERS FROM TOP-20 OF 2017 LET ORDER OF MERIT Carlota Ciganda No. 6 Klara Spilkova No. 9 Florentyna Parker No. 12 Aditi Ashok No. 13 Anne Van Dam No. 16 Ana Menedez No. 19

THREE WINNERS FROM 2017 LET SCHEDULE Klara Spilkova (Lalla Meryem Cup) Florentyna Parker (Mediterranean Ladies Open) Aditi Ashok (Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open)

26 golf digest india | december 2017

A keelback water snake

Hero Women’s Indian Open Women’s Golf

Clockwise from top: Heavy smog enveloped the DLF Golf & Country Club for the entire period of the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden and Spain’s Belen Mozo along with her caddie play with a mask

MASKED AMBITIONS

A thick cloud of smog enshrouded Delhi NCR and DLF Golf & Country Club in particular to make life difficult for the European professionals playing the Hero Women’s Indian Open. For the second year in a row, Particulate Matter (PM) index crossed dangerous levels (2.5) forcing overseas golfers to play the first two tournament rounds with a mask.

Many players complained about sore eyes, irritation in the nostrils, headache and nausea, and requested the organisers to schedule the US$ 400,000 event either at the start or at the end of the Ladies European Tour (LET) calendar.

Michele Thomson of Scotland

EMOTIONAL JOURNEY “If tears could build a stairway And memories a lane, I’d walk up to heaven And bring you home again.”

Reads the tattoo on the left bicep of Scotland’s Michele Thomson. It is in fond memory of her mother Eleanor, who passed away when Michele was 11 years of age. Michele first came to India in 2007 to compete in the India Ladies Masters at Eagleton Golf Resort in Bengaluru. On a sponsor’s spot in this year’s Hero Women’s Indian Open, Michele surpassed the course record of 5-under-par set by Thailand’s Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (in 2015) and Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord (this year) on the Gary Player layout by 3 strokes. The Scottish Amateur champion turned pro in 2009 but left playing golf just 6 months later as she found the LET pretty ‘lonely’.

She joined the police in Aberdeen as a beat constable and worked for two years before switching to a pro shop in American President Donald Trump’s course.

It was while watching golf on TV in 2013 that she made a decision to turn pro and secured full playing rights on the Ladies European Tour in 2016. And now there’s no turning back. december 2017 | golf digest india

27

Women’s Golf Hero Women’s Indian Open

LET conducts 2-day Achievers’ Camp for juniors

Clockwise from left: World No. 20 Carlota Ciganda of Spain helps a junior set-up during a clinic at the DLF Golf & Country Club. Former LPGA regular Simi Mehra talks to kids. Scotland’s Carly Booth looks on as an amateur displays her driving skills. Indian pro Neha Tripathi shows how to use the irons

BY AMAN MISRA

I

n April 2017, Mike Round, Director of Development on the Ladies European Tour (LET), visited New Delhi for the 6th India Golf Expo. Speaking to a gathering that included the entire Indian golf industry, Round stressed on the need for working together to grow the women’s game in the country similar to what has been an ongoing process for years in Europe.

Fast forward to November, the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI), the Indian Golf Union (IGU) and the LET (supported by R&A) worked in tandem to facilitate an achievers’ camp for young golfers from across the country.

Held during the Hero Women’s Indian Open at the DLF Golf & Country Club, the juniors came in from cities that included Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi NCR among others. This was the first time that such a camp was held on the LET. WGAI secretar y-general Champika Sayal was referring to the success that Bengalurubased Aditi Ashok has had, including three wins on the LET. Asked how golf can b e p opulariz ed in India,

Ashok said: “If golf could be introduced at a school level in India, I think we could have many more juniors playing the game.”

The camp began with an introduction to the workings of the LET as an organisation.

The juniors were also given a brief history of the Tour that was launched back in 1978, rounding up the session with a few visuals that showed the 2016 season in review and the Solheim Cup. Wo r l d No. 2 0 C a r l o t a Ciganda, the highest-ranked player in the field, next conducted a clinic for the

28 golf digest india | december 2017

Hero Women’s Indian Open Women’s Golf

juniors, their parents, and members of the host club.

Ciganda discussed the importance of education, her routine before playing a competitive round and her practice schedule. Kids were then invited to hit balls with her. To the delight of everyone present, Ciganda put on a ball striking clinic before India’s Simi Mehra took centre stage.

While Se Ri Pak is universally acknowledged as South Korea’s trailblazer, Mehra was the first Indian to play on the LPGA Tour. “When I was 14, I told my mother I wanted to play on the LPGA Tour. It wasn’t easy to do so considering that no one from India had ever done it before. Annika (Sorenstam) once helped me with my putting stroke before a round. She then went on to tell me that we must play together against the course, and battle like lions. We need strong, independent athletes like her in our country.”

Day two of the camp saw Champika Sayal take centre stage. Sayal, whose experience with the sport goes back 45 years, spoke to the juniors at the DLF Golf & Country Club about how they could go ahead with careers in the game. “I want every junior who takes up golf to believe that the game is their BFF (best friend forever).”

Later the kids were ushered to two clinics held by India’s Neha Tripathi and Scotland’s Carly Booth. Tripathi who is one of the leading players on the WGAI, spoke about the essentials attached to the full swing including judging distances, the importance of a pre-shot routine and the pressure attache d to playing the game professionally.

“When I was growing up playing golf, there were not even these many kids as there are in this camp today. Goes to show the gradual growth of the game,” she said.

Booth has two wins on the LET apart from clocking a stellar junior and amateur career during which she broke numerous records. On the DLF driving range, she hit a few shots for the juniors explaining her reasons to turn professional early and balancing all aspects of life as an athlete. When asked by a junior what her most pressurepacked moment as a professional was, she spoke about her win at the Swiss Open back in 2012.

“We were in a three-way playoff (including Germans Anja Monke and Caroline Masson) during which we birdied the par-5 18th hole three times each. It took an eagle during the fourth extra hole to finally shut the door and take the trophy home. ”

Juniors get a taste behind-the-scenes Ladies European Tour’s International Director, Mike Round, speaks during the Achiever’s Camp for kids

The kids also had a first-hand experience of the media centre and interacted with LET official photographer Tristan Jones

BY AMAN MISRA The juniors were shown around the tournament village on Sunday morning before heading off to the course to watch proceedings of the Hero Women’s Indian Open final round.

David Clutterbuck from the Ladies European Tour (LET), who worked on live scoring this week, explained to the aspiring golfers how the entire system of documenting goes on during a tournament. Each individual hole is assigned a volunteer who in turn keys in shot-by-shot proceedings of the field digitally as they pass by.

They were then taken to the hospitality tent to show them the operations behind the scenes that keep a professional golf tournament running smoothly without any hindrances, before being ushered into the all-important media tent.

Mike Round, International Director (Development) of the LET, spoke about the generation of reports and features on websites, magazines and newspapers that make their way around the golf world, and how it all starts from here.

When the rookie Camille Chevalier of

France holed out to win the tournament, the juniors were given a front seat to the action including the trophy presentation and a photograph with the winner.

LET chairman Mark Lichtenhein was happy to see the juniors as an important part of the tournament. “It just shows the underlying role our golfers have in bringing on the next generation. This comes more naturally to the women athletes as role models. We’ve made huge strides over eight years since we began co-sanctioning the Indian Open. The next step would be to make this a four-day tournament with live television coverage. India, in my opinion, has huge potential for golf. We could even have a mini Pro-Am where the juniors can play a hole with the professionals.”

DAVID CLUTTERBUCK, WHO WORKED ON LIVE SCORING, EXPLAINED TO THE KIDS HOW THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTING GOES ON DURING A TOURNAMENT december 2017 | golf digest india

29

Women’s Golf Hero Women’s Indian Open

Pranavi Urs: Flag hunting her way to low amateur

BY AMAN MISRA At lunch after the final round of the Hero Women’s Indian Open, a few lady professionals were asked what they were doing at the age of 14.

Noemi Jimenez and Isabelle Boineau both said they were playing junior golf, and attending school, trying to break 80.

Secretary-General of the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI), Champika Sayal, said she was looking for golf balls in the bushes at the Delhi Golf Club.

Not Pranavi Urs, who played her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) event at the recently completed Indian Open. Playing alongside seasoned professionals on a sponsor exemption, the Mysuru girl shot scores of 77, 70 and 79 at the challenging DLF Golf & Country Club (Gary Player course) to finish the event in 61st place, as the only amateur to make the cut.

“I was constantly looking at the projected cut on Day 2. Coming up the 18th and making a birdie to finish the round was the best feeling of the entire week,” said the junior who practices and plays at the Jayachamraja Wadiyar Golf Club in Karnataka.

When asked about her experience this week, Urs spoke about soaking up the atmosphere.

“Players on the LET walk very fast, sometimes it was difficult to keep up with them!”

“I’M VERY HAPPY WITH THE WAY THIS WEEK HAS GONE. I KEPT FLAG HUNTING. THE PROFESSIONALS I PLAYED WITH (PAMELA PRETSWELL AND SARAPORN CHAMCHOI) KEPT ENCOURAGING ME AND SAID I COULD TURN PROFESSIONAL IF I WANT TO.”

Kylie Henry’s Team Reigns Supreme In Pro-Am Competition

Clockwise from left: Former cricketer Nikhil Chopra in action during the Pro-Am. WGAI President Kavita Singh (second from left) applauds the winning Pro-Am team of Kylie Henry of Scotland, Kunal Jaidka and Vishal Bakshi. Ex-cricketer Madan Lal competes in the Pro-Am

30 golf digest india | december 2017

Hero Women’s Indian Open Women’s Golf

L-R: Team Asia comprising Supamas Sangchan (THA), Thidapa Suwannapura (THA), Gaurika Bishnoi, Sharmila Nicollet with WGAI president Kavita Singh, Hero MotoCorp CMD Pawan Munjal and Team Rest of the World including Carlota Ciganda (ESP), Belen Mozo (ESP), Beth Allen (USA) and Anne van Dam (NED) after ‘Skills Challenge’

TEAM ASIA HOLD REST OF THE WORLD IN SKILLS CHALLENGE

T

eam Asia comprising Sharmila Nicollet, amateur Gaurika Bishnoi, Thais Thidapa Suwannapura and Supamas Sangchan held Team Rest of the World which included former Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit champion Beth Allen and World No. 20 Carlota Ciganda along with Belen Mozo and Anne Van Dam. Both teams won two skills each to finish the tie level at 2-2. With Rs 60,000 on offer for each skill, the teams earned Rs 1,20,000 apiece and that was shared among the four players in each team.

Playing on the 18th green, the teams were first required to pitch from 100 yards and then try and hit the Hero Scooter, which was strategically placed right in the centre of the lake next to the 18th.

They were then required to come out of the bunker before signing off with the long putt contest.

Sharmila Nicollet (second from right) and Thidapa Suwannapura (extreme right) celebrate Team Asia’s win in the ‘Long Bunker Shot’ contest

WITH RS 60,000 ON OFFER FOR EACH SKILL, EACH 4-MEMBER TEAM EARNED RS 1,20,000 AS REWARD Belen Mozo (L) congratulates Beth Allen after she hit the scooter to clinch victory for Team Rest of the World

World No. 20 Carlota Ciganda won the long putt contest by landing her ball to within 2 feet of the cup

RESULTS: 100-YARD SHOT: Team Asia (Sharmila Nicollet – 3 feet 9 inches) PRECISION (HITTING THE TARGET HERO SCOOTER): Team Rest of the World (Beth Allen) LONG BUNKER SHOT: TEAM ASIA: (Thidapa Suwannapura- 1 foot 10 inches) LONG PUTT: Team Rest of the World (Carlota Ciganda – 1 foot 8 inches) december 2017 | golf digest india

31

Women’s Golf Hero Women’s Indian Open

dy, L-R: Victoria Lovela

Gabsa rolin Lamper t, Isi Olivia Cowan, Ka

L-R: Aditi Ashok with her parents Mash and Ashok Gudlamani Carly Booth

Andrea Wong and Jenny Haglund

GIRLS GLAM IT UP IN COOL GURGAON

F

lowing gowns, little black dresses and flowery prints were on display as overseas women golfers upped the oomph factor at this year’s Welcome Party for the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Welshwoman Amy Boulden wore an attractive cold shoulder dress while Carly Booth of Scotland sported a tight gold-coloured top paired with black palazzo pants. South African Nicole Garcia further added the glam quotient with a peach-coloured figure hugging dress.

American Andrea Wong and Jenny Haglund of Sweden wore traditional Indian Salwar & Kurti to take the local members by surprise. Among Indians, Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall showed up in vivid colours at DLF Pavilion. The crowd enjoyed a plethora of dishes along with some great international music and wine.

Nicole Garcia and Kylie Roig

z Barrio, Maria Parra, Mar ta San Sobron Nuria Iturrios and Luna

32 golf digest india | december 2017

Hero Women’s Indian Open Women’s Golf L-R: Inci Mehmet, Meghan Maclaren, Valdis Jonsdottir, Michele Thomson, Kiran Matharu, Amy Boulden

Lauren Taylor and Meghan Maclaren

hie L-R: Valentine Derrey, Sop uel-Bettan Sandolo and Sophie Giq

L-R: Sarah Schober, Malanie Maetzler, Christine Wolf

L-R: Tonje Daffinrud, Patricia Sanz Barrios, Isabelle Boineau, Liz Young, Ellie Givens, Noemie Jimenez, Ana Menendez and Chloe Leurquin

Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor

L-R: Isabell Boineau, Ton je Daffinrud, Andrea Won g, Patricia Sanz Barrio, Chl oe Leurquin

Back L-R: Emma Nilsson, Lina Boqvist, Sofia Gustavsson, Isabella Ramsay Front L-R: Jessica Karlsson, Lyn Carlsson, Cajsa Persson and Maelene Stavnar

december 2017 | golf digest india

33

Junior Golf

Indians Impress At 9th Albatross International

O

ver 160 junior golfers teed off at the 9th Albatross International Junior Golf Championship held at ITC Classic Golf Resort, Gurgaon, from November 7 to 10. The prestigious event, which is ratified by the R&A for World Amateur Ranking Points and recognized by the Indian Golf Union (IGU), witnessed 44 overseas junior players - from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Australia - compete.

The highlight of the tournament was Delhi amateur Harshjeet Singh Sethie [winner, Category A (15-17 years)] whose splendid performance, culminating with a brilliant round of 8-under 64 on the third and final day (a tournament record no less), capped an impressive display by Indians.

Apart from a glittering trophy, Harshjeet was awarded a 1-year full-time scholarship by Hills Golf Academy, Queensland, Australia.

Further, the Indian pair of Harshjeet and Raghav Chugh (winner Category B) claimed the Category A+B team title with a combined score of 432, ahead of Taiwanese duo of Yu-Yu Chen and Ting Yu Chen (454).

Speaking to Golf Digest India, Harshjeet praised the opportunity provided to kids by Albatross Junior Tour.

“It is a great event and every year we look forward to playing in it. We are really happy that we had a strong team this year and we converted it into victory,” said Harshjeet.

Raghav also echoed the sentiment saying: “This is the best junior event in the country and it is always a pleasure to be part of it. For me this event is a great exposure as I get to compete against the best Asian amateurs.”

For the first time, coaches from the University of Indiana, Bloomington, and the Academy of Arts, San Francisco, travelled to India to scout talent and offer scholarships and admissions to the best players.

Said Lauren Harling, Associate Head Women’s Golf Coach at the University of Indiana, “What a pleasure to be a part of the 9th Albatross Junior Tour Championship and be a resource for those who are interested in college golf in the United States. India is full of great talent and the future of junior golf is bright!”

Elaine Harris, Head Women’s golf coach at Academy of Art University, further added, “It was a great experience to present at the 9th Albatross International alongside IJGA this year. I hope we were able to help student athletes and their families understand a bit more about the pathway to playing collegiate golf and I hope to continue a partnership and help junior golfers pursue their dreams.”

G olf Dige st India awarded a complimentary one-year subscription to 10 Indian players who returned best scores in each age category.

34 golf digest india | december 2017

Winners of the team event in various categories pose with their trophies

Cat. A winner Liyana Durisic of Malaysia receives her prize from Indiana University’s Lauren Harling

Harshjeet Singh Sethie receives a 1 yr subscription of Golf Digest India from Managing Editor Rohit Bhardwaj

Runner-up Nozerina Alisa of Malaysia receives her prize from Academy of Art University’s Elaine Harris

Aksel Moe of Thailand receives Cat. C runner-up prize from coach Pro Likhit

Junior Golf

The highlight of the event was Delhi amateur Harshjeet Singh Sethie, whose splendid performance, culminating with a brilliant 8-under 64 on the final day, capped an impressive display by Indians

Action during the 9th Albatross International

KEY RESULTS

* Indians unless stated

Category A (15-17 years) Boys (Winner) – Harshjeet Singh Sethie (214: 77-73-64), Runner-up: Saurav Rathi (215: 74-73-68) Girls (Winner) – Liyana Durisic (222: 74-74-74; Malaysia), Runner-up: Ananya Barthakur (224: 74-76-74) Category B (13-14 years) Boys (Winner) – Raghav Chugh (218: 72-73-73), Runner-up: Yu-Yu Chen (221: 74-76-71; Taiwan) Girls (Winner) – Jahanvi Bakshi (219: 73-74-72), Runner-up: Nozerina Alisa (230: 78-83-69; Malaysia)

The 26-member Thailand contingent was the biggest overseas team to compete in the event

Category C (11-12 years) Boys (Winner) – Pongsapak Laopakdee (208: 68-72-68; Thailand), Runner-up: Aksel Moe (215: 70-71-74; Thailand) Girls (Winner) – Hunar Mittal (218: 73-75-70), Runner-up: Varatkarn Kunkaew (222: 72-76-74; Thailand) Category D (9-10 years) Boys (Winner) – Ingtawan Wangrungwichaisri (229: 81-75-73; Thailand), Runner-up: Aarav D Shah (236: 82-72-82) Girls (Winner) – Cholcheva Wongras (219: 76-74-69; Thailand), Runner-up: Teemapat Pateetin (231: 78-76-77; Thailand)

Players groove to Indian numbers during the opening ceremony of the 9th Albatross International Golf Championship at ITC Classic Golf Resort, Manesar, Gurgaon

Category E (6-8 years) Boys (Winner) – Rattanabodin Tassaneetipagorn (110: 35-38-37; Thailand), Runner-up: Kartik Singh (112: 38-38-36) Girls (Winner) – Namo Luangnitikul (108: 37-35-36; Thailand), Runner-up: Prarthana Khanna (126: 42-41-43). december 2017 | golf digest india

35

Junior Golf

Encouraging Talent

KGA to stage Faldo Series India Final

O

ver the past few years, the golfing community across the country has been debating which is the nation’s golfing capital.

Golfers from Kolkata dominated the early 80s and 90s, at the turn of the new century it was Delhi and the tide now seems to be moving towards Bengaluru. It is hard to dispute this fact.

Bengaluru boasts world-class golf courses like Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) and no other city in the country has ideal weather conditions throughout the year for golf. And interestingly, the top-2 Indian golfers in the world, Anirban Lahiri and Aditi Ashok, hail from Bengaluru.

Over the years, KGA has hosted the Indian Open (2012), 2 editions of the Asia vs Europe Amateur team golf event and the Karnataka Golf Festival. 2017 proved to be a remarkable year for the club as it hosted the inaugural US$ 300,000 TAKE Masters on the Asian Tour and the Rs 1 crore Bengaluru Golf Open on the PGTI circuit along with the Karnataka Golf Festival.

The KGA is all set to host the 117th All India Amateur Championship from December 4 to 10 and the Faldo Series India Final in January 2018.

Talented golfers Khalin Joshi, C. Muniyappa, Sharmila Nicollet are some of the prominent names who have come from KGA Academy and have made a name for themselves on the professional circuit.

With KGA staging the upcoming Faldo Series India Final at the dawn of 2018, the club has shown that it is certainly among the nation’s premier talent pools.

Image: Prabhash Thakur

ELIGIBILITY The top-10 ranked players on the IGU Merit List in each of the following categories (Boys: Under 16, 18 & 21. Girls: Under 16 & 21) will compete for a coveted spot to represent India at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Danang, Vietnam in March 2018.

The series is supported by golf’s governing bodies the R&A, European Tour, Ladies European Tour, Asian Tour and Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation; 40 annual national qualifying tournaments now take place in over 30 countries worldwide, across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North and South America.

Over the years, Indian junior golfers have tasted success at the Faldo Series. Rashid Khan won the Asian Finals twice, in 2007 and 2009, Abhijit Chadha in 2011, and - most recently - Arjun Prasad in 2015. Notable winners of the Faldo series over the years have been superstars Rory McIlroy, Yani Tseng on the LPGA Tour, & young sensation Carly Booth.

The Faldo Series Asia will be marketed by Rishi Narain Sports Marketing.

PALAKSHI EXCELS AT PARIS MEET

10-year-old Palakshi Sehrawat secured second position at the US Kids Golf Paris Tour held from October 25 to 28. The Suncity World School (Gurgaon) student has also qualified for European Golf Tour scheduled in May 2018 in Scotland by virtue of her brilliant effort. US Kids Golf have even agreed to sponsor her fee for the event.

36 golf digest india | december 2017

INDIA FINISH T-8TH IN NOMURA CUP

The Indian contingent comprising of Kshitij Naveed Kaul (281: 74-68-69-70), Rayhan Thomas (278: 69-70-70-69), Varun Parikh (302: 72-74-80-76) and Aalaap II (295: 79-71-74-71) finished tied eighth in the Nomura Cup staged at the Sungai Long Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur with a combined total of 847. Thailand proved they are a force to reckon with clinching the Nomura Cup for the first time with an overall tally of 808. Dubai-based teenager Rayhan

carded a 10-under-par total to post the best finish by Indians in the individual event. Rayhan ended tied 12th, 8 strokes behind eventual winner Kammalas Namuangruk of Thailand.

Across The Country

CLUB ROUND-UP

To share news on your club or updates from across the country, please email rohit@rnsportsmarketing.com

Spreading Camaraderie

Naveen wins Prestige Masters Series After 6 gruelling qualifying rounds that started in May, the Prestige Masters Series 2017 grand finale came to an end at the Prestige Golfshire Club near Bengaluru. Staving off a stiff challenge from a field of 60 finalists, Naveen Wahi from Prestige Golfshire Club

emerged victorious to take home the coveted title. The Prestige Masters Series was

organised in association with GEC Open international golf tour as the Bengaluru leg of

WITH THIS WIN, NAVEEN ALSO SEALED AN ELUSIVE SPOT ON THE INDIAN CONTINGENT FOR DUBAI CORPORATE GOLF WORLD CUP

the 5-city Indian swing. With this win, the Prestige Masters champion sealed an elusive spot on the Indian contingent for Dubai Corporate Golf World Cup — the world final of GEC Open 2017 in association with OMA Emirates.

Welfare

Special Olympics conduct national camp at DLF G&CC

Special Olympics Bharat conducted a national coaching camp-cum-championship at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon from November 12 to 17. The camp comprised differently-abled golfers and also served as the selection trial for the 2019 World Games in Abu Dhabi. 14 golfers from across the country competed in four different stages — Level 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Ranveer Singh Saini won the championship by beating his rivals over 4 days of competition. Ranveer won the final round with a 17-stroke margin to pocket 4 gold medals. Bengaluru boy Ankush Saha won 3 silver medals and a bronze, while Kushagra Gaur from Gurgaon claimed 3 bronze medals and 1 silver.

38 golf digest india | december 2017

Ranveer Saini (R) receives his prize from coach Anitya Chand (C) and Rama Chawla, GM, DLF Golf & Country Club

Across The Country Cricket legend Kapil Dev tees off at the ITC Classic Golf Resort

Recreation

ITC Classic hosts 21st All India Police Meet

The 21st All India Police Golf Tournament was held on October 22 and 23 at ITC Classic Golf Resort, Manesar. 107 officers from 29 different State & Central Police Forces participated in the event. It was a grand affair where the top officials swapped their uniforms for a run at the golf course. The first day was graced by the chief secretary of Haryana, DS Dhesi, who inaugurated the RN Sports Marketing MD Rishi Narain with Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore hands the “Best Golfer Award” event along with Kapil Dev. Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to Pushpendra Singh Rathore (Border Security Force) The chief guest for the second day was the Sports Minister, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. The 2004 Olympic silver medallist spoke about how he started playing golf and was on the verge of turning scratch when a twist of fate led him to shooting.

Winners were declared based on combined scores over 2 days in net and gross (Team and Individual).

The event also coincided with the Golden Jubilee celebration of Haryana.

Pushpendra Singh Rathore, who won the gold medal in golf at the World Police & Fire Games in Los Angeles (USA) earlier this L-R: Kulvinder Singh, DGP-Haryana Police BS Sandhu (receives “Best Team-Nett year, finished as the best golfer over 2 days. Award”), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and KK Sindhu

PUSHPENDRA SINGH RATHORE, WHO WON THE GOLD MEDAL IN GOLF AT THE WORLD POLICE & FIRE GAMES IN LOS ANGELES (USA) EARLIER THIS YEAR, FINISHED AS THE BEST GOLFER OVER 2 DAYS

december 2017 | golf digest india

39

Tête-à-Tête With Bob Parsons

BOB PARSONS

PERSONIF PXG Founder Tells Rohit Bhardwaj The Philosophy Behind Manufacturing The Best Customised Clubs On The Planet

40 golf digest india | december 2017

Tête-à-Tête With Bob Parsons

IED

december 2017 | golf digest india

41

B

Tête-à-Tête With Bob Parsons

ob Parsons needs no introduction in the golfing circuit. His equipment firm Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) which sold their first club in 2015 has gone on to attract star professionals like Lydia Ko (a former World No. 1 on LPGA), 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and the current CIMB Classic winner Pat Perez among others.

Parsons is best known as the founder of GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name provider. He is widely recognized for his entrepreneurial and philanthropic efforts. Currently, Bob is a member of the GoDaddy Board of Directors and is the CEO and Founder of YAM Worldwide, which is home to his ventures in the fields of motorcycles, golf, real estate, marketing, production, innovation and philanthropy.

A U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Parsons attended college at the University of Baltimore on the G.I. bill and graduated magna cum laude. His alma mater presented him with an honorary doctorate in 2008 and named him Distinguished Entrepreneur in 2010.

From starting a software company (Parsons Technology) in his basement in 1984 to running the likes of GoDaddy, which is valued at US$2.3 billion, Parsons has earned respect the hard way.

Parsons along with his wife Renee founded The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation in 2012 and the firm has awarded more than $133 million to charitable organizations till date.

The PXG founder spoke to Golf Digest India on a plethora of issues including the philosophy behind manufacturing the best customized clubs on the planet and the scope to improve equipment technology keeping in mind the R&A’s (Royal & Ancient Golf Club, St. Andrews – golf’s world governing rules body) guidelines.

Excerpts:

1 2

6

3

PXG player ambassadors 1. Anna Rawson 2.

Lydia Ko 3. Zach Johnson 4. Paige Spiranac 5. Ryan Moore 6. Charl Schwartzel

5

42 golf digest india | december 2017

4

Tête-à-Tête With Bob Parsons

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ rohit@rnsportsmarketing.com GDI: With many golf equipment brands already present what prompted you to launch PXG? BP: I’m obsessed with golf equipment and how the right clubs can help improve anyone’s game. Before launching PXG, I spent a quarter of a million dollars annually trying the latest equipment. Irons, drivers, shafts, grips – you name it, I’ve played it! I knew what worked and what didn’t, what was real and what was just hype.

PXG was born out of my desire to do things differently and design the best performing golf equipment on the planet.

putter bra nd on si lv er

GDI: What did you have to do by way of R&D to develop the new technology?

BP: I believed if the normal constraints of time and money were removed from equipment design, development and the manufacturing process, incredible advances were possible. Turns out I was right.

GDI: Who are some of the top players playing PXG and how have they fared?

BP: Tour validation is important. We have signed some of the best talent in the game to put our equipment in play because, at the end of the day, its all about performance.

With wins on all three major US tours by our small professional staff, the message is clear, PXG is for real!

Our stellar roster includes James Hahn, Billy Horschel, Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson, Ryan Moore, Pat Perez, Charl Schwartzel, Austin Ernst, Christina Kim, Lydia Ko, Brittany Lang, Alison Lee, Ryann O’Toole, Sadena Parks, Gerina Piller and Beatriz Recari.

putter dagger bl ack

putter pxg bat at tack

drivin g iron pxg 0311x chrome

GDI: Do you think there is scope for equipment to be further improved given the R&A limitations on COR etc.?

BP: In 1899, Charles H Duell, the Commissioner of the U.S. patent office famously said, “everything that can be invented has been invented”. Clearly, he was wrong.

GDI: Is there room for further improvement to golf club technology?

BP: Absolutely! As far as PXG is concerned, what we’ve accomplished so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

Parsons Xtreme Golf PXG started as a passion project – making money was not the priority. Fueled by a relentless determination to deliver the world’s finest golf equipment, PXG was developed by and for golf fanatics seeking unparalleled performance from their clubs. With no cost or time constraints, PXG committed to the long process of researching various alloys, exploring new technologies and identifying the unique properties that would make PXG clubs perform unlike anything else.

Putter mu sta ng si lv er driver pxg 0811x

putter gunboat black back

Founded: September 2014 Sold First Club: June 2015 First Tour Player: Ryan Moore Tour Staff: 17 players (James Hahn, Billy Horschel, Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson, Ryan Moore, Pat Perez, Charl Schwartzel, Austin Ernst, Christina Kim, Lydia Ko, Brittany Lang, Alison Lee, Ryann O’Toole, Sadena Parks, Gerina Piller, Paige Spiranac and Beatriz Recari)

w ed ge sugar daddy back

december 2017 | golf digest india

43

Business of Golf

PGTI Hopes To Get World Ranking Status In 2018

J

ust a couple of decades earlier, it was a fairly common sight to see foreign players thoroughly dominate premier golf events taking place in India.

However, with the game’s growth in the interim, defeating Indians at home has become rather rare.

To some extent, players owe this development to the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) which, since formation in 2006, has grown steadily and now offers more than Rs. 10 crore in total prize money across 20plus events. With the number of events, the standard of play, and level of competition rising every year, Indians are receiving great exposure at home before embarking to play overseas.

But despite PGTI becoming a member of the Association of Professional Tours, its events don’t carry ranking points — closing the door to top overseas players. Next year, that is likely to change. “Come 2018, PGTI will become an Open Tour. It means we will allow golfers from across the globe to compete in India.

This would result in PGTI events carrying world ranking points. That will bring more competition and hopefully more sponsorship from the government and corporates,” PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy told reporters during the Panasonic Open press conference.

L-R: PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy, Asian Tour COO Cho Minh Thant, Panasonic India President Manish Sharma, golfers Mukesh Kumar, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Paul Peterson of USA and Shiv Kapur

“We have already sent a proposal to the Official World Ranking body L-R: PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy, Asian Tour COO Cho Minh Thant, Panasonic India President Manish Sharma, for approval. am sure we will a confirmation golfersI Mukesh Kumar, Ajeetesh Sandhu,get Paul Peterson of USA and Shiv Kapurfrom them in the — Uttam Singh Mundy, PGTI CEO coming year”

Addressing Pressing Golf Matters Giles Morgan’s call for golf to modernise will continue to resonate within the industry.

Morgan, Global Head of Sponsorship with HSBC, struck a chord with many golfers and golf officials during a presentation at the award-winning All That Matters conference in Singapore, Asia’s leading music, sports and entertainment industry gathering.

Speaking during a panel session on golf, Morgan urged those involved in the game to make it a priority to speed up the pace of play and called on professional players to do more to engage with spectators.

Aware that four hour-plus rounds are a turn-off for television viewers, Morgan said: “Golfers need to get on with it and hit the ball.

The game also has to shed its pomposity … and players must get on with the fans.”

Along with fellow-panellists Josh Burack, the Asian Tour’s Chief Executive Officer, and Sean Pyun, Vice President and Managing Director of the LPGA, Morgan advocated the introduction of new formats to spice up the game and increase its appeal to a broader audience.

As far as sponsorship is concerned, Morgan said that as business objectives change for companies, so sponsorship must change with them.

He said: “When you think of our golf

44 golf digest india | december 2017

Anderson Assumes Asian Golf Industry Federation Vice-Presidency

Giles Morgan portfolio, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that we are after certain demographics in certain countries, and we appeal through the prism of golf which has its own sets of values and tradition of fair play.”

Golf Digest View Most golfers in India have no idea that influential people worldwide are actually working on making pro golf more attractive for fans. PGTI would also do well to pay attention to these opinions and similarly develop a strategy to make PGTI more fan and sponsor friendly.

Golf industry stalwart Rudy Anderson has assumed the role of Vice President of the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF).

Confirming the appointment at AGIF’s annual meeting at TPC Kuala Lumpur, Richard Walne, President of the AGIF, said: “As a Board member for the past two years, Rudy has made an outstanding contribution. We look forward to receiving the benefit of his experience and continued input in the years ahead.”

A graduate of Siena College, Anderson has held senior positions within the international private club, golf and resort business with ClubCorp in the United States, China, Southeast Asia, Europe and South Africa.

Over the span of his career he has developed and managed world-class private golf and recreational clubs and has transacted more than US$675 million in golf course assets. Anderson, who is President of Pacific Links International, takes over as Vice President from Paul Burley, Global Head – IMG Golf Course Services. However, Burley will remain on the Board of Directors, taking over as Treasurer.

Corporate Digest

Volvo World Golf Challenge

Volvo World Golf Challenge Picks Up Pace CHANDIGARH LEG

Chandigarh leg winners Shalini Sheoran (L) and Sahil Sehgal

A

fter a 2-week break for Diwali, the Volvo World Golf Challenge picked up right where it left off. The 3rd leg was held at Panchkula Golf Club on November 3. The weather being in near perfect condition, close to 110 golfers participated in an afternoon start. Sticking to its tradition of producing some of India’s finest golfers, the Chandigarh leg was keenly contested. The two winners from Chandigarh were Sahil Sehgal and Shalini Sheoran. There were other prizes on offer - Longest Drive was won by Sandeep Sandhu, Closest to Pin by Ajay Singla and the Straightest Drive by Rajbinder Singh Chahal. HS Kang, one of India’s leading amateur golfers, shot a remarkable round of 4-under for the day.

The following week, action moved to “City of Nawabs” Lucknow at The Palms Golf Club & Resort.

The layout was challenging and yet the golfers were up to the task and shot some low scores. The winners from Lucknow were Ajeet Singh and Sachin Gupta. Sachin Gupta drove with his fourball from Kanpur to participate at the Lucknow event and he was happy he did. The format of play was Double Peoria, where handicaps were adjusted using “12 hidden holes”. The event captured

On-course contest winners pose for a group photograph at the end of the Chandigarh leg

The Indian National Final winner will compete with golfers from 39 other countries at the World Final in 2018

46 golf digest india | december 2017

Friendships and fun go hand-in-hand during Volvo World Golf Challenge

Volvo World Golf Challenge

Corporate Digest

LUCKNOW LEG

All category winners pose with their prizes after completion of the Lucknow leg at The Palms Golf Club & Resort

Action during the Lucknow leg of the event

The format of play was Double Peoria, where handicaps were adjusted using “12 hidden holes�.

WINNERS Chandigarh Leg Winner Cat A (Handicap 0-15): Sahil Sehgal Winner Cat B (16-24): Shalini Sheoran Lucknow Leg Winner Cat A (Handicap 0-15): Ajeet Singh Winner Cat B (16-24): Sachin Gupta all the drama and unpredictability of a great golf event as Rishi Khanna lost by 4 despite shooting an incredible 3-under-par for the day. He did not leave disappointed as he won Longest Drive. Other winners were Prem Prakash and Vikram Bhargava, who respectively won Straightest Drive and Closest to Pin. The event will now head to Ahmedabad (November 18), Pune (November 24), Mumbai (December 1), Hyderabad (December 8) and Bengaluru (December 15).

The National Final, which will be staged in Bengaluru on December 16, will see 18 regional round winners battling it out for a spot in the World Final. The Indian National Final winner will then compete with golfers from 39 other countries at the World Final in 2018.

A participant lines up his putt during the Volvo World Golf Challenge

Volvo World Golf Challenge 2017 Schedule DATE

VENUE

October 7

Rambagh Golf Club, Jaipur

October 13

Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Gr. Noida

November 3

Panchkula Golf Club, Chandigarh

November 10

The Palms Golf Club & Resort, Lucknow

November 18

Kalhaar Blues & Greens, Ahmedabad

November 24

Oxford Golf & Country Club, Pune

December 1

Willingdon Sports Club, Mumbai

December 8

Hyderabad Golf Association, Hyderabad

December 15

Prestige Golfshire, Bengaluru

NATIONAL FINAL December 16

Prestige Golfshire, Bengaluru

Completed legs

december 2017 | golf digest india

47

Play Your Best Back to Basics

5-Minute Clinic How to keep it old school in a hightech world by claude harmon iii ou can confirm what you’re doing (or should be doing) with your golf swing using technology such as a TrackMan radar or a BodiTrack pressure mapping system. But you don’t need those devices to make a bunch of useful adjustments from the types of data they gather.

Here we’re going to talk about some of the things those machines measure, and how you can use mostly low-tech, old-school methods to hit better shots without the need for a computer screen.

In other words, no batteries required. —with matthew rudy

Y

50 Best Teacher Claude Harmon III is at the Butch Harmon Floridian in Palm City, Fla. He works with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

1 add power

You Have to Load to Unload ▶ A lot of amateurs don’t hit the ball with authority because they don’t create much potential energy in the backswing. Mostly, they’re using only their arms to get ready to hit the ball, which means they’re trying to unload something that never got properly loaded. Long-andstraight drivers like Brooks Koepka get their upper body turning on top of a stable lower body, and they create a pressure trace on BodiTrak that shows them shifting into the trail foot’s heel by the middle of the backswing. If you make that kind of weight shift (right), you’re putting fuel in your tank. Now you can create real speed.

2 shrink your misses

Get on a Better Driver Path ▶ TrackMan reveals the path your club is taking to the ball, but you don’t need its confirmation to fix two common faults. If you slice, it’s likely your path is too outside-to-inside in relation to your target line. To fix this, tee another ball behind and outside your ball (near, right). Avoid the second ball for a swing less out-to-in.

A too-steep swing that produces shots low and right can be fixed if you put a second ball in front of and outside your ball. Missing that second ball means you caught yours on the upswing (far, right).

48 golf digest india | december 2017

illustratioN: tim l ahaN

4 manage your game

Join the Information Age

3 find the sweet spot

Learn How to Smash Your Driver ▶ TrackMan’s smash factor is the ratio between ball speed and clubhead speed. Dustin Johnson’s ratio of 1.52 indicates he’s hitting the center of the face every time. You get such a jump in ball speed from a center strike that you should make it a priority.

Use foot spray (above) to check your contact when you practice.

‘GOOD PLAYERS SHIFT BACK AND THEN SHIFT FORWARD. BAD PLAYERS DO THE OPPOSITE.’

▶ Your ball flight tells you a lot about what you’re doing with your swing, but with the help of technology like Cobra Connect, you can get even more specific.

A sensor in the end of the driver grip (below) sends a stream of information about your game to an app on your smartphone. You can see how fast you swing, how far you carry the ball and how much it rolls. It’s like having a version of the PGA Tour’s ShotLink for your own game.

This can help you pick better clubs and understand what your tendencies are, so you can practice the right stuff.

5 hit better irons

gutter credit tk

Quit Hanging Back ▶ Good players shift to their trail leg in the backswing and shift toward the target in the downswing. Bad players do the opposite, and shift to the trail leg coming down, which causes what TrackMan shows as a positive angle of attack. In this case, positive is not a good thing. It means the club is ascending at impact. You want to hit down on the ball for good iron shots.

For better iron play, practice one-handed shots while pushing your hips toward the target before you get to the top of the backswing (left). This shift will feel way, way early, but you’ll get downward, flush strikes.

Photographs by Dom Furore

CHANGING

by jaime diaz mike davis exudes golf. Even in a generic

COURSE

THEUSGA’S MIKE DAVIS SHIFTS WITH THE GAME & THE CULTURE

50 golf digest india | december 2017

gutter credit tk

corporate building in Warren, N.J., serving as interim USGA headquarters while the Far Hills administrative building undergoes renovation, his office feels a bit like a golf shop from the 1980s, with a persimmon paean of Hogan and MacGregor woods, along with some classic blade putters.

Affectionately hefting the Spalding Cash-In that carries fond memories of his victory in the 1982 Pennsylvania State Junior, he says, “I believe this putter right here is still the best for holing short putts. But don’t miss the sweet spot on a long one.” ▶ Whether playing the game or working it, fulfillment has never been a problem for Davis. He joined the USGA in 1990, and in 2006 he took over the course setup for the U.S. Open, a job he still oversees. In

gutter credit tk

illustration by | jason seiler

2011, Davis succeeded David Fay as executive director, and in 2016, the title of CEO was added. But Davis’ tenure has come at a time when the game is being buffeted by multiple forces in a shifting culture.

Adding to the challenge have been the two most recent U.S. Opens in which the USGA was criticized for course conditioning (the greens at Chambers Bay) and administering the rules (Oakmont). It has all thrust the 52-year-old Davis—admittedly more comfortable keeping a low profile—into a more proactive public mode. As the 2017 Open at Erin Hills approached, he shared his candid thoughts on the state of his organization and the game, riffing on subjects ranging from distance to Donald Trump to mulligans . . . and how big a lead he’d need with 18 holes to play to feel somewhat confident of winning the Open.

‘I

HIS GOLF COURSE

started playing when I was 8 with my dad at Chambersburg Country Club in south-central Pennsylvania, but growing up I played a number of small-town public courses in the area. One was a nine-hole course that had sand greens, South Mountain. And there was another nine-holer that was almost laughed at around Chambersburg called Conocodell, where we played some junior events. It was really just a field to play. But it was fun. About eight years ago, I went in with my best friend from high school and bought about half of it.

“It’s beautiful land, with a trout stream running through it. It had become a little overgrown, so we upgraded it a little, took out some trees. But the greens might be seven on the Stimpmeter, the bunkers are far from smooth, and the fairways are cut at an inch. I kept telling my friend, ‘I want this course to stay scruffy.’ It’s a throwback.

Other than the cars in the parking lot, you’d think you were in the 1970s.

“I didn’t want to market it. I just want to help the course make it however I can, because it meant something to me. I love that it’s golf for everybody. The green fee is under $10 for juniors and seniors; people are out there in jeans. In some ways in this job you get a little jaded being around these great golf courses all the time. But there is this other side of it that we can never forget. I’ll go back once or twice a year, go out there and talk to the golfers, just getting their perspective on what matters to them, and what makes it fun.”

‘I

THE JOB (AND THE JOBS)

never had any interest in being executive director. I loved what I was doing overseeing the rules and competitions. At the heart

52 golf digest india | december 2017

of it, that’s who I was. I grew up playing competitive golf, and I love golf-course architecture. There were so many parts of this that fit me. With the job now, there are a lot of days when I’m dealing with budgetary issues, personnel issues, board issues. When I feel like I’m in the middle of a political thing, it’s the part of the job that I just don’t care for. And you start to say, I’ve gotten away a little bit from the things that I love. Having said that, the part of this job that I love more than anything is when I feel like I’m contributing to the game. That makes me happy.

“I talk to the staff a lot, I talk to the board a lot, and I say, ‘We’re not always going to get things right, but if we’re true to what’s good for the game of golf, we’re going to be strong in the long term.’ We’re in this pool of golf, and the organizations governing golf worldwide all kind of have their own swim lanes.

And I’ve felt like, for the USGA, we have the ability to really think long term.

“It’s not about profit, and it’s not about putting the USGA in the most favorable light.

Because sometimes with governance, it’s like you can’t do anything right in some people’s eyes. But you just keep saying, What’s the right thing? And you just take the punches when you’re going to take them. The anchoring ruling would be an example of that. We got black and blue over that whole thing. It’s debatable, but I think long term we did the right thing for the game.

that’s the group that’s responsible for the overall direction. Looking back on the list of past executive directors—Joe Dey, Harry Easterly, P.J. Boatwright, Frank Hannigan, David Fay—I spent time with and looked up to all those guys. I’m proud to say I was an executive director of the USGA. “But I like the fact that I’m now making more decisions. Until a year and a half ago, according to the bylaws, the president of the USGA was the CEO. And it’s really been interesting. I certainly did not push for that [change]. But to the credit of the board, they looked at it and said, ‘What organization would change its CEO every two years? What organization would have a CEO when they’re not even at the headquarters?’ But the key thing is that the executive staff is making decisions where you don’t feel hamstrung by an antiquated system.”

‘W

NEW MISSION

e have absolutely changed. I’m going on my 28th year, and in-house there was always the principle that, whether there are five million golfers, 25 million golfers or 5,000 golfers, what we do is for the game.

Just this abstract thing that we are all about the game. Well, about six years ago, we changed the mission. What we’re focused on now is that it’s still the game, but it’s also

‘FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS, HARD EQUALED GOOD. NOW YOU’RE DEFINITELY SEEING THAT GO IN THE OTHER DIRECTION, WHERE FUN EQUALS GOOD.’ “Have I grown comfortable being the face of the USGA? I would say, probably, no. But I’ve grown to where I understand that it’s necessary. We’ve always tried to be humble, and do the right things, and not spend money on marketing, because that’s money you could be spending on junior golf, research, whatever. Having said that, there’s a strong argument to be made that if you don’t have a good brand, that actually affects your ability to influence and to perform. So we need to do a better job on who we are, what we do, ’cause most people look at it and say, ‘Oh, they’re the people who run the U.S. Open; they’re the people who try to embarrass the players every year. They’re the people who write The Rules of Golf. We hate the rules of golf.’ Nobody likes to be governed. But we have so many good stories to tell, we ought to be telling them.

“I would never introduce myself as the CEO. I still prefer being called executive director. We still have to report to the board—

about those who enjoy playing the game. So it’s about golfers. So when people say, ‘Is the USGA trying to grow the game?’ then yes, we’re now at that point where we’re engaged in those things. We want to collaborate and use some of our monies to be a part of the focus on participation. But on the other hand, what’s dreadfully missing is the other part, which has become our central focus. Because if you’re trying to bring all these other groups into the game—juniors, women, pick your group—but it’s not enjoyable, and the golf courses can’t sustain themselves, it’s never going to work. You’re going to bring these people in, they’re going to try it, they’re not going to enjoy themselves, and they’re going to leave. I’ve asked my counterparts in the industry, ‘When you bring all these people in, and they’re not staying, why is that?’

“It starts with the golf course. What’s enjoyable? There’s no one answer. How I enjoy a golf experience, or how a beginner might, or someone who is an elite golfer, it’s going

to be different. But there are certain things.

People, by and large, want to play well. Some people want to be challenged more than others. Nobody likes looking for golf balls.

So golf courses can present a setup where people are playing from the proper tees, there aren’t a lot of forced carries, the rough is not so high that we’re always looking for somebody’s ball.

“Speaking of balls, the rules say you can’t have anything electronic to help you find your ball. Well, why not? Just think about Topgolf, and the chips in those golf balls.

“When it comes to pace of play, everybody wants to say that golfers are the problem. They’re part of the problem, but we find that the bigger problem is the golf course and how it’s managed. You’d be surprised at how many golf courses in the United States have their tee times for four golfers set up at intervals of eight, seven, even six minutes. It doesn’t work mathematically. So we’ve gone out with a program that is really trying to educate owners and operators, telling them you can get as many golfers around in a day by expanding the intervals. And by the way, everybody is going to have a better experience, and more repeat customers.

“When I talk to architects, for about 40 years, hard equaled good. Now you’re definitely seeing that go in the other direction, where fun equals good. These practices of narrower fairways, higher rough, not encouraging play from the proper tees, it’s no good. And how courses are maintained has positively changed. For decades, many golf courses watered only their greens and tees.

nomically not good, and dormant Bermuda is a very good playing surface. I hope in the future we see a scenario where there is no over-seeding. Period. The notion that everything has to be perfectly maintained, it’s bad for the game, and bad for enjoyment.

“When I came onboard at the U.S. Open, fairways were cut at half an inch. Then it got to a quarter of an inch. Let me tell you, it’s night and day. When the ball is right against the ground, the average golfer can’t trap the ball the way a really good player can. The fairways at Merion were cut to a quarterinch at the 2005 U.S. Amateur, and the ball would barely stay on the fairway because of the slopes. So, for the 2013 U.S. Open there, we went back to half-inch fairways, which I thought was pretty radical. The fairways actually started to look a little shaggy, and I was afraid the pros were going to complain about flyers. But we didn’t get one complaint from one pro. And the members and their guests were like, ‘This is wonderful—now I can get under the ball.’

“Growing up, we didn’t hear about people skulling chip shots. Now you hear about the chip yips. So we’ve been trying to message, ‘Keep your fairways drier, but longer.’ It’s good, because for the average player, their ball hits and gets a little bit more distance. For the good player, it actually becomes more strategic, because you have to worry about what your ball is going to do after it lands, where is it going to bounce and roll to if it’s drier. The average player can bounce balls into greens.

“There are other issues in making golf more enjoyable. How comfortable is a golfer

‘WHEN I LOOK BACK AT THE USGA OVER THE DECADES, MY BIGGEST REGRET WOULD BE WHAT HAS HAPPENED WITH DISTANCE.’ But in the past quarter-century, we’ve gone to watering basically the whole course. You could argue it has taken some of the charm out of the game.

“A lot of innovations have made the game better, but there are some where you would say, ‘I’m not sure that’s really good for the game.’ Like the speed of greens. Today, people equate fast greens with good greens.

But fast greens cost more to maintain. Fast greens are more susceptible to disease. Fast greens compromise some of the architectural integrity of great courses. Fast greens have absolutely caused more cases of the yips. And they’ve hurt pace of play. So there’s an innovation where we say, ‘OK, we’ve innovated with new grasses and new mowers, but has that really been innovation?’ It’s like over-seeding. It’s very expensive, and agro-

on the golf course? It’s so common for a beginning golfer to feel like he or she doesn’t understand etiquette, how to mark a ball, or This happened, and I don’t understand the rules. It’s why we’re trying to modernize the rules. If even most elite golfers can’t understand these things, we have a problem.

I remember sitting down with Peter Dawson [former chief executive of the R&A] and saying, ‘We have to be radical about this. We have to approach this thing from outside the box. And if we’re not going to be outside the box on some thinking, shame on us, because we’ll never get there.’ Because golfers who are not comfortable on the golf course are just not going to play as much golf, so we’re getting more engaged with those issues.”

‘I

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE U.S. OPEN AND THE DJ RULING

remember when Dick Rugge [former USGA senior technical director] came up to me after the 2007 U.S. Open and said, ‘We’ve now had three good U.S. Opens in a row [Pinehurst, Winged Foot and Oakmont], and we’re now a better equipment and standards department.’ What he was saying was that if there is credibility with how our biggest championship is run, then it builds faith in other things. And if you can’t get the U.S. Open right, all of a sudden, there can be a perception that you don’t know what you’re doing with testing equipment.

“So mistakes at the U.S. Open matter.

And we were aware of that last year after Oakmont [the controversial handling of the ruling against winner Dustin Johnson].

You think about it when it’s happening. You think about it a week later. And you think about it when you read a thousand very critical messages that came in. You can’t say, ‘Oh, we had such a good Open except for that one thing.’ Because nobody can look past that one thing. And I understand that.

“The irony at Oakmont is that some things went extremely well. You couldn’t have gotten much unluckier with the weather, but the course still performed beautifully.

I can’t think of another golf course that could take that much water and still be that kind of test. We got a great champion. Dustin Johnson doesn’t get enough credit for how well he handled that. But we made mistakes and have learned from them. But it was also kind of a perfect storm. I’d guess that 99 percent of golf people still do not understand exactly what happened (see Golf Digest, September 2016). Tour players don’t understand what happened. DJ himself was operating under the old rule, telling the official that when his ball moved, he hadn’t addressed the ball, which is a term that didn’t exist in the new rule. So you had a player not understanding the rule, us getting incorrect information, then having the video evidence. I’m very comfortable that DJ should have gotten the one-stroke penalty, the way the rule was written. I hated the rule, but you have to apply what it said then. Thankfully we have since changed it.

“Where we got it wrong was, instead of waiting for DJ to get to the scoring area to apply the penalty, we should have just said, ‘DJ, I know you don’t understand this, but you got a one-stroke penalty—play on.’ The way it happened, no one knew where they stood, and so it was unfair to the other competitors.

“If I had a mulligan on that one, once I found out what had gone on, I would have quickly gotten myself into the Fox booth and talked more about it. I wasn’t on the december 2017 | golf digest india

53

rules committee at Oakmont—we had some people who are better with the rules than I am—and they handled it. But that might have been one of those places where it would have been helpful to have the leader of the organization. In a moment of a crisis, you’ve got to step to the plate and deal with it. I learned from that.

“There was a positive result from the DJ situation. I told my colleagues at the R&A, ‘This rule about the ball moving on the green continues to plague us. It’s burned the tours, and it makes the rules look stupid.’ So we fast-forwarded a rule change, which we wouldn’t have fast-forwarded without what happened at Oakmont.”

‘T

THE LEXI RULING

here was a lot of reaction from the golf community when Lexi Thompson, in the middle of her final round at the ANA Inspiration, was assessed a four-stroke penalty for a rules breach that was brought to the attention of the LPGA by a television viewer from the previous day’s coverage. We were all affected by it, and nobody likes to see that happen.

It’s cases like these that we have kept top of mind as we’ve worked to modernize the rules, to hopefully positively change those outcomes in the future. One of the proposed changes says, ‘The player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if later shown to be wrong by other information,’ and it will reduce the need for video review in certain circumstances. It’s our responsibility to thoughtfully evaluate the overall effects of video technology on the game, especially because we’ve seen the impact that these situations can have.”

‘F

THE GREENS AT CHAMBERS BAY

rom an agronomic standpoint, we had the U.S. Amateur there in 2010, and it played beautifully, and the fescue greens putted beautifully. The problem at the U.S. Open was there had been a rough winter coming in, and the greens got some thick-bladed Poa annua that mixed with the fine-bladed fescue, and they looked horrible and they putted horrible. But there was virtually nothing we could do about it. So if I had one regret, I wish we could have approached the situation with players in a more transparent way. If we had said to the players in the week coming in, ‘Listen, you’re going to see greens that, condition-wise, Chambers Bay is not happy with and we’re not happy with,’ it wouldn’t have become so confrontational.

We tried to stay positive about it, but I think

54 golf digest india | december 2017

what that ended up unfortunately doing was us being perceived as ignoring a problem.”

‘A

MOVING TO FOX, AND THE USGA WAR CHEST

s far as the Fox television deal [a 12-year contract, announced in 2013, for $1.1 billion], there are different ways of looking at it. I watched us go from ABC to NBC [starting in 1995], and there were a lot of hurt feelings back then, the same way that there are a lot of hurt feelings with the transition from NBC/Golf Channel to Fox. On the other hand, getting another big network like Fox involved in golf probably has been a good thing, you could argue, for golf holistically. I would hope people would look at it as those are extra monies coming to the USGA, and we’re a nonprofit.

Our monies must go back into the game. So rather than golfers saying, ‘They went for the big money,’ and almost looking at it negatively, you’d like to say, this is actually more money coming to the game of golf. We’re not somebody who would pocket that money.

“Having a war chest is hugely important.

It’s somewhere around $320 million that the USGA has in its investment portfolio. People say, ‘Why can’t you take that $320 million and put it back into golf?’ Well, that money allows us to do a couple of things. One, it’s insurance for something that could happen in the future so that we can keep operating.

That could be anything. What happens if the U.S. Open is not played for a few years? It’s happened six times since World War I. If 9-11 had been on 6-11 at Bethpage, we wouldn’t have played that U.S. Open. The other thing is having enough money to do what you think is the right thing in governance. That’s really important. Because there were times when the USGA didn’t act because it decided it couldn’t afford to lose a potential lawsuit.

We want to do what’s right for the game, and if we get sued and we lose, so be it, but we’re going to stand by our principles. But having said that, we’re at that point where we think that level is very healthy.

“We try over a rolling five-year period to break even. In 2017, we’ll lose money. We’re spending on a lot of things that we have to invest in now for the future, like technology. But as our revenues keep going up, our investment in the game goes up. We aren’t at a place where we’re seeking to grow this investment portfolio. We’re just getting a return on the investment itself.”

‘W

DISTANCE DEBATE

hen I look back at the USGA over the decades, my biggest regret would be what has happened with distance. It’s been the thing, probably more than any, that has been the most harmful to the game.

Billions of dollars have been spent to alter golf courses—and for what? If I said in front of a thousand golfers, ‘Who would like to hit the ball shorter?’ would any hands be raised? They’d think I had lost my marbles.

Nobody wants to hit the ball shorter. On the other hand, increased distance has had a profoundly negative effect on golf courses.

They’ve had to expand, they’ve had to use more resources to maintain. It takes more time to play. It takes more land and construction costs for new golf courses. And in some cases, architectural integrity has been compromised. Are any of these things good?

“Golf is the only sport I can think of where the equipment changes have continually affected the playing field and the size of it. That can’t be the right thing. Imagine equipment innovation in football, basketball, baseball, hockey or tennis requiring stadiums to expand. Crazy, and that’s exactly what has happened to golf courses in the past century. Distance is all relative. So is there a way to get equipment to fit a playing field, if all playing fields aren’t the same size? At a recent innovation symposium in Vancouver, I imagined a future that might have varied-distance golf balls, a concept that could be used under the current Rules of Golf. It sounds radical, but if you could have, for example, an 18-hole golf course sitting on, say, only 70 acres, it would take you only a couple of hours to play it. And by the way, it would be cheaper to maintain because of less labor, less fuel for the mowers, less irrigation and fertilizer. You start to say, that makes sense. And in theory, those cost savings could be passed along to the golfer.

I sometimes wish we could just snap our fingers and say, ‘We’re going to roll the entire golf world back on distance.’ But the stark reality is that would be chaotic and would likely not be supported by the masses.

“Beyond just distance, there also has been the issue of golf equipment making the game easier to play. Innovation has had so many wonderful benefits for the millions who play the game. We all love getting that new driver that flies longer and straighter.

It’s magical. On the other hand, innovation has de-skilled the game at the elite professional and amateur level. This disparity between the elite and recreational golfer has made governing equipment more challenging as the years have passed. This is an area that the R&A and USGA really should

explore, and I hope we will. Both organizations are steadfast in our belief that one set of playing rules has and will continue to serve the game very well, but at the same time we ought to be open to at least exploring the possibility of giving the game more choices when it comes to equipment and its effects on the golf course, and the skill required to play the game.

“Up to today, we’ve really not talked about it. But with the R&A and the USGA’s responsibility to look out to the future, there’s a genuine interest to say, ‘Maybe we won’t get there, but shame on us if we don’t at least talk about it.’ ”

‘T

DEALING WITH TRUMP

hat’s a beautiful piece of land that John DeLorean and his family used to own. It’s 10 minutes down the road from our headquarters, so when it was being developed, I remember thinking, Oh, boy, this could be a championship site.

There were financial problems, and Trump came in and really did a great job finishing up the project. Say what you will about him, he’s always had this incredible love of the game. He approached us, and we ended up holding our Junior Amateur Championships there in 2009. If you were to ask Jordan Spieth, ‘Of all your events playing junior golf, what was the best?’ I’d be surprised if it’s not that event. Because the club was awesome.

I sat down with Trump, and I said, ‘This cannot turn out to be the Donald Trump Boys and Girls Junior.’ He said, ‘I get it.’ And he was a gracious host. He was walking in the galleries, and he wasn’t trying to be the show, and he didn’t get in the way. And then he approached us again, saying, ‘I’d love to have a Women’s Open.’ We did the agreement. Fast-forward to him running for president, and it got tricky.

“And what we’ve said all along, because this country has become so polarized, we kept saying to ourselves, ‘You’re a golf association; you’re about golf,’ and we just do not want to get engaged. To the extent that we can get out of presidential politics, because there is no upside to that. Half the people feel one way, half feel the other way.

“So as you look back as this election was coming up, we were eerily silent. When he wins the election, our focus becomes, ‘What’s in the best interest of the Women’s Open and women’s golf?’ Would it be best if we delayed this event, and moved somewhere else, maybe came back when he wasn’t president? But it became such a complicated thing that we decided we’re going to move forward. No matter what we did, people would be upset. This is just one of those times where we have to say, ‘We’re just going to have to deal with the repercussions and put on the best championship we can.’ ”

‘P

HANDICAP INTEGRITY

eople wonder why we’re no longer allowing rounds by a player playing by himself to count for handicap purposes. As we’re embarking on this world handicapping system, one of the things inherent in The Rules of Golf is player integrity.

It’s all about that. But if you look at handicapping on a worldwide basis, the United States and Canada were the only two places where a player could submit scores playing only by himself. As we went into this, we realized that the credibility of somebody’s handicap was really important, and in fairness, there are places in the United States and probably in Canada where we found that all of someone’s rounds alone got questioned, and we thought, Well, that’s not good. But this really came down to the way golf is played in Australia, Asia, Europe, South America. By the way, a person can still play alone with a caddie or a marker and have that round count. But this really came down to uniformity.”

‘W

ANCHORING BAN

e are exceptionally pleased with how it’s worked out, because the change hasn’t been as hard as some people thought it would be. The whole goal was to ensure that the game long term was played with the player holding a club with a free-swinging motion, which we feel is part of the essence of the game. We had seen some troubling signs, like young players being coached to anchor, and even long wedges being stuck under the armpit. As for the projections that hundreds of thousands of people would leave the game, we haven’t seen any evidence of that. This was not about getting the long putter out of people’s hands.

We even showed methods in which the putter could be used without anchoring, which is the method Bernhard Langer now uses. I only wish the USGA and R&A had done this a quarter-century before. I know it caused some hard feelings among people and hard feelings among some of the organizations, but thankfully we’ve gotten that behind us. It was no fun going through it, but it was the right thing for the game.”

‘H

NUGGETS

ow big a Sunday lead would I need to feel I could hold on to win the U.S. Open? With every hole on television? My Index is 3-something.

[Long pause.] Somewhere between 20 and 25 strokes. [Laughs.] It’s embarrassing. I’ve played U.S. Open courses while preparing the

course, sometimes by myself. From that back tee, you start hitting it in the rough, and things can spiral. I’d say, if you gave me a 25-stroke lead, and a couple of weeks to practice, I think I could bring it home.” ▶ “I don’t take mulligans when I play golf. I stopped after playing with Peter Dawson a few years ago. His point was, the first tee shot is probably one of the hardest shots of the entire day. Whether you’re a little nervous, or stiff, or haven’t figured out which way it’s going that day, it’s one of the most challenging shots in golf. And to automatically know you can get another one ruins the challenge.

Peter, as he can be, was eloquent about it.

I said henceforth, I’m never going to take another mulligan, and I haven’t.” ▶ “I’ve started to use a range finder.” ▶ “A few years ago, my wife and I closed on a small house in Jupiter, Fla. It turned out the original owner who had it built was Toney Penna. For a lot of years, I played a Toney Penna driver.

That house just feels right.” ▶ “My first 10 years or so with the USGA, I’d still play in some amateur invitationals, but I gradually stopped. I do still play in the Seminole Pro-Member. I’ve invited Annika Sorenstam to be my partner the past several years. She still hits it right in the center of the clubface and down the middle. It’s a thrill to watch.”

‘W

HIS LEGACY

hen I leave, I would love to have somebody say, ‘You know what, over the past X amount of years, I’ve seen a nice improvement in what the USGA is doing for the game.’ That would be good. But I cringe when I hear the phrase ‘the Mike Davis era.’

I’m looking forward to getting out of the limelight, I really am.

“When the time comes, I want to do some volunteering, to stay engaged with the game.

A bit of involvement in golf architecture would be fun. I’m not qualified to actually design my own course, but I’d love to team up with someone. Just to help. Just to go out and dig in the dirt. I’d love to do that.

“Until then, what’s going to drive me is that there are a few initiatives that I want to see to their end or at least far enough along where I can say we’re in great shape. I’d like to see if we can’t make some progress on giving more choices on the equipment front and alleviating some negative impacts. It will be great when that gets done.”

december 2017 | golf digest india

55

$IGNS OF T

56 golf digest india | december 2017

THE TIME$ ▶

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KIDS GETTING AUTOGRAPHS AND PROFESSIONAL CHASERS DOING THE SAME THING? BILLIONS OF BUCKS

by c u r t s a m p s o n

december 2017 | golf digest india

57

DEPENDING ON WHO’S TALKING, THE ANNUAL WORLDWIDE COLLECTIBLES MARKET COULD BE APPROACHING $400 BILLION.

58 golf digest india | december 2017

on signing.”

We found only one other player who agreed with Henrik, and that was the infinitely patient and recently deceased Palmer.

“Someone would hand him 10 of something, and he’d sign all 10,” says Alastair Johnston, Palmer’s longtime agent, with a sigh and a laugh. “I’d ask him why. He’d say, ‘Well, these guys have to make a living, too.’”

The autograph scene on tour presents a dilemma with many confusing aspects: The players are quite aware that willingness to put one’s name on things over and over again is the very definition of good-guy-ness. Arnie would, until the cows came home: great guy. (Ditto Phil, Rickie and, yes, Jordan.)

During their competitive years, Hogan and

Woods most often couldn’t be bothered.

But Ben and Tiger didn’t have to autograph your program; no one has to. The tour does not compel players to sign, nor are tour events required to provide a place for them to do so. A golf star can just walk on by, or sign for kids only. When Brooks Koepka did exactly that, and an adult collector kvetched, “Why not mine?” Koepka replied, “Because I’m not making your money today.”

But the kids-only policy isn’t that simple, for some teens and tweens are also in it for the money and offer their signed flags online as fast—probably faster—than any adult. And though there are occasional unseemly battles, such as the war by the shore at Pebble, every ardent collector agrees that golfers are the best of all athletes: the most affable, the most willing and the easiest to get to, especially when compared to baseball players.

“Manny Ramirez,” one Orlando bagman said.

We looked to Annika Sorenstam for some

Previous Pages: andrew redington/getty images • this Page: augusta national/getty images

ON

a big screen inside a big tent at Bay Hill, at the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the great man’s death, MasterCard debuted its new commercial. One topical vignette in the ad portrayed Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell wading into a crowd of excited kids holding up pens. poulter We’re gonna sign everything. mcdowell Arnie would. poulter Arnie definitely would. mcdowell Yes, he would. ▶ Damn right he would. Palmer’s forbearance and endurance with autograph seekers was among the many qualities that made him golf’s de facto patriarch and PR MVP. This same day they unveiled another tribute in the plaza near the first tee, a 13-foot statue of The King apparently hitting a pull-hook. A metal Arnold signing programs with perfect penmanship wouldn’t have been as dramatic a pose, but it would have been just as true to his legend. ▶ Sixty steps from the sculpture of the patron saint of autographs, a cadre of professional signature seekers huddled by the white picket fence bordering the putting green. There were eight of them, each clutching a clear plastic shopping bag stuffed with . . . stuff. How they dress is their other tell—more L.L. Bean than J.Lindeberg—but this group of mostly middle-age men effected at least a muny-course look: golf shirts with the tails out, khaki-colored cargo shorts and sensibly priced athletic shoes. They stood still and silent in the cool blue morning, as patient and motionless as birds waiting for worms.

On the other side of the fence, two dozen of the world’s greatest golfers chipped, pitched and putted.

“What do you think of those guys with the bags?” I asked various of the world’s greatest.

“What do you think of what Jordan said?”

A month before, at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Spieth had gone to the ropes to meet the people, especially the kids, as he usually does after a practice round. It didn’t go well. He was still a little steamed during his post-round presser.

Q “I know you sign a lot of autographs, but coming off 18 today some guys ragged on you pretty hard for not signing . . . and it got a little testy?”

A “Yeah . . . these guys that just have bags of stuff to benefit from other people’s success when they didn’t do anything themselves.

Go get a job instead of trying to make money a r n o l d pa l m e r s i g n e d a n off of the stuff that we have been able to do. e s t i m at e d t h r e e m i l l i o n . . . They frustrate us. And so I turned around autographs in his career. and they, one of them, dropped an f-bomb in front of three kids, so I felt the need to turn around and tell them that wasn’t right.

And a couple of them were saying, ‘You’re not Tiger Woods; don’t act like you’re Tiger.’ . . . Normally I let Michael [Greller, his caddie] get into it with them. . . . Scums. . . . It just bothered me.” (Added Spieth later in the week: “I shouldn’t have used that word, but I was a bit frustrated.”)

“Some of the players are really proud of Jordan for standing up like that,” said Keegan Bradley.

“I couldn’t agree with him more,” said Cody Gribble.

“They can be intimidating,” said Geoff Ogilvy. “They tend to be pushy. It’s pretty full-on. You see a man’s arm coming at you from between kids. Although I didn’t mind signing about a thousand Golf World covers after I won the U.S. Open.”

Henrik Stenson evinced the minority, laissez-faire attitude about the autograph pros: “I’m providing for them, too. So I keep

clarity. She sat at a table beneath the bronze Arnie and affixed her name to this and that.

Her policy, she says, is to sign anything— even a competing brand of golf ball, even before a tournament round. But only one per customer, please: After the autograph pros got theirs, she quietly told an assistant to make sure they didn’t get back in the queue for another.

transcendental graPhics/getty images

A

inside the scrum

man and his two daughters stood nearby, sneaking peeps at Annika.

On vacation from Portsmouth, N.H., visiting his dad, said Travis Nadeau.

This year at Bay Hill, and regularly at the Dell Technologies Championship outside Boston, the adorable and golf-smitten Nadeau kids collect autographs for their girl caves back home; a ball signed by Danny Lee is a prized possession. “He wrote, ‘To my best friend’ on it, said Teagan, 8.

What about the grown men competing for Danny Lee’s attention—any problems with them?

“They follow us,” said Delaney, 10. “Then they move in front of us.” Travis shook his head sadly.

Ignoring the rules of personal space and taking turns. Shoving. Using outdoor voices in golf’s churchy setting. Inducing children to get signatures for them, making it impossible not to be reminded of Fagin and Oliver Twist; and now, profanely insulting one of the most popular sportsmen in the world.

But decorum ruled when AP went to the ropes, and “Please” and “Thank you” filled the air, in part because The King signed everything for anyone. An estimated three million autographs in his lifetime. Legibly: big A, big P, and the 10 attached little letters were even and distinct; it’s no surprise or coincidence that Sam Saunders, Arnie’s grandson, has the clearest signature on tour. At home in Latrobe, Pa., Palmer dutifully autographed items by the truckload, and returned to senders on his own dime. It cost him a fortune.

Palmer was dogmatic on the subject. As Peter Jacobsen recalled, Arnie would put down his glass of Ketel One on the rocks, twist of lemon, and instruct his young friend to always be nice. Don’t scribble your name, for God’s sake. Sign a golf ball if they want (which is a pain; try it). Don’t come off the 18th green mad; people don’t care if you just shot 60 or 80. And don’t disrespect the guy who is obviously going to sell your autograph.

W

big business, as in billions

hat has changed, we suppose, is that they made only one Arnold Palmer, and there is an increasing demand for things signed by

golfers, and such items appreciate. Depending on who’s talking, the annual worldwide collectibles market could be approaching $400 billion, and the subset of autographed sports things, from football helmets to baseball bats to golf balls, is between $1 billion and $2 billion.“Now is the time to invest in Jordan Spieth memorabilia, the youngest player ever to dawn [sic] the Green Jacket,” asserts Sports Memorabilia (sportsmemorabilia.com), although Tiger actually had an earlier dawn.

SM lists a 2015 Masters flag, signed by the champion in a cramped scrawl, at $1,463.99; the same item with “Jordan” written above “Spieth,” in a spacious hand: $4,363.99. Legibility is crucial to value.

The time had come to stand among the foot soldiers. Autograph chasers, as they are known in the biz, lack a collective noun: a desperation, perhaps? A scribble? For interminable minutes we observed Danny Willett’s wristy chipping style. When finally he made to leave the scene, one of us called out.

“Danny, will you sign?”

He would. Two handfuls of amateur collectors had joined the group. During an orderly, wordless interaction, the high-strung Englishman hurriedly scratched black ink on 10 yellow nylon rectangles and on two tournament programs. His John Hancock consists of a giant D above a vertical chop that resembles a pictograph of a picket fence.

Though prices fluctuate, we found a Masters flag signed by the 2016 champion for as little as $100 on eBay. From the actual sale price, deduct the cost of the cloth—about $25— eBay’s 10-percent commission, shipping, the price of a ticket, clear plastic bags and cargo shorts, and no one was getting rich on Danny.

I introduced myself and my mission to the group. “Is that how this is done—eBay?” Silence. They regarded me balefully, with weapons-grade stink eye.

“Is there enough money in this for you to travel from one tour stop to another?”

Silence. The desperation looked like eight untipped waitresses.

Then, from the tall one, “No comment.”

“No comment? Really? Is it because you fear a negative story? Well, the negative story is already out there. Maybe you can help me tell a positive . . . ” “No comment.”

Then they all turned their backs, a full Amish shun, impressively synchronized.

A little later, they moved en masse to the other side of the green, and they didn’t appear to enjoy my company there, either.

They seemed like a team—and they probably were. Tampa-based dealer Charles Poulos, a still-occasional chaser, explained the usual MO: groups of two to five or larger will travel in the same van and stay in the same inexpensive hotel room. They pool expenses but not income. Their bags are filled

with consigned flags, hats, trading cards and photographs waiting for the Midas touch of a golfer’s pen.

“I’ll get on a collectors’ website and ask, for example, ‘Who’s going to [the PGA Tour Champions event in] Branson?’” says Poulos, whose full-time job is in IT. “Someone will say, ‘I am. What do you need? What will you pay?’ And if I trust him, I’ll send a guy—usually, two guys—20 or 30 items. I expect to get half or a third of what I want.

It’s an incredibly tough life for those who do it full-time. They don’t make a lot. It’s discouraging when I see some guys bring their kids out [to secure autographs]. It’ll be the middle of the week, and I’ll think, Why aren’t these kids in school?”

Poulos, who is essentially a middleman, sells to five other dealers, one of whom is in the United Kingdom. The best stuff—for example, not just a run-of-themill Fred Couples-signed Masters pin flag, but one on which Freddie was induced to write “’92,” the year he won—is offered to the big hitter in the business, Green Jacket Auctions.

Green Jacket co-founder Bab Zafian, whose expertise is autograph authentication, wishes first of all to emphasize that chasers are the salt of the earth, hard-working Americans who rise at 5 and go to work.

“Would Jordan Spieth go up to a janitor and insult him?” Zafian says. “Don’t look down on anyone. It’s a job, like anything else.”

But it’s not a job like anything else, and Zafian acknowledges that society sometimes breaks down by the yellow rope. He has been out there himself, many times. “When they’re pushing kids out of the way, I’ll say so everyone can hear, ‘Come on, let the kid in there!’ I’m not being fake. Once Jack Nicklaus saw my courtesy and made a point of signing for me.”

Compared to Poulos, Zafian offers a relatively rosy opinion regarding chaser income: “You’ll see a guy who looks homeless, someone you want to hand a dollar to; that guy could be making $100,000 a year. Even if they get only $10 per autograph, if they get 50 or 75 a day . . . ” The group I watched for three days weren’t getting anything close to that.

Writers are chasers, too, of course, of stories—so here’s a defense of my brothers the Orlando Eight weren’t willing to provide.

They fill a need. When they’re not rude, they’re polite. They’re determined. They are, as advertised, early risers. And they are organized; Vaughn Taylor has won three times on tour, but he’s no household name, so he was surprised when a collector recently asked for signatures on four Vaughn Taylor photographs beautifully printed on heavy stock.

If Vaughn wins the U.S. Open, or something, they’ll be worth something. december 2017 | golf digest india

59

gutter credit tk

left circle Slicers see this as the target. right circle This is the actual target.

why youslice

understand the causes, and you can—finally!—stop going right. by ashley moss

I

grew up on the lesson tee. Sometimes taking lessons, but mostly watching my dad [teacher Mike Malaska] give them or listening to legends like Jim Flick and Bob Toski. Now I’m teaching, too, and I can say that one thing hasn’t changed: Golfers hit slices. And the more they use their instincts to try to stop those slices, the farther right the ball goes, which we’ll get to in a minute. ▶ That’s my dad playing the slicer (left), and me holding the rings. We’re showing the difference between the target and what a slicer sees as the target (more on that below). This demonstration sums up how we feel about teaching: Once you understand the root cause of a problem—a misconception, a faulty feel, an illusion—it’s easy to fix. Now let’s go to the lesson tee. —w i t h p et e r mo r r i c e fault | yo ur vie w of the target makes it look left fix | sq uare up to something a lot closer

gutter credit tk

▶ Here’s an exercise we do that shocks many golfers. Stand behind the ball and sight the middle of the fairway through an object, like the ring I’m holding in my right hand. Then take your setup and have someone move the ring until you see the fairway through it again—that’s the one in my left hand. Go back behind the ball, and see the difference. This visual challenge, called parallax, is caused by your eyes being to the side of the ball at address. Parallax makes slicers try to pull the ball to hit their target. But the more you

Photographs by Dom Furore

swing left, the more likely the clubface will be open to that path at impact, which causes a slice. ▶ The best way to counteract parallax is to use an intermediate target. From behind the ball, pick a spot three to five feet down your target line. When you set up, square the clubface to that spot first, then set your body perpendicular to the face. Trust your aim and try to make the ball start just right of the intermediate target.

You’ll be hitting from the inside with the clubface closing at impact for a draw. Yes, a draw. december 2017 | golf digest india

61

fault | yo ur grip le aves the clubface open fix | find yo ur natural hand p osition ▶ For the grip, a lot of golfers have heard two things: (1) Point the thumbs down the shaft, and (2) The palms face each other. Unfortunately, these tips are slice producers. They put the left hand (for righties) in a weak position, rotated outward too much. Most people naturally have some inward rotation in their hands; if they stood facing you, you’d see some of the backs of their hands.

When you take a weak grip with a square clubface at address—like most slicers do—the face will turn open when you swing down and your hand goes into its natural inward rotation. Slice City! ▶ Here’s how you find your ideal left-hand grip. Stand with your arms at your sides and tilt into your golf posture. Look at the position of your left hand (left, top). When you grip a club, try to match that position. For most people, that means seeing two or three knuckles when they look down at address (left, bottom). The right hand is simple: Cover the left thumb so the right palm is facing the target. Now your grip is good to go.

fault | yo ur instinct is to swing to the left fix | le arn what an inside path feels like ▶ The golfer on the opening page—the one who sees the target to the left—tries to pull the ball and, therefore, comes over the top. That means the downswing is over the top of, or steeper than, the backswing. Problem is, this move inhibits arm rotation through impact. Think about it: If the club is coming down steep and you let your arms rotate, you’ll miss the ball to the outside. The only way to hit it from a steep downswing is to pull your arms in and drag the grip to the left. That’s why over-the-top swingers slice: The arms don’t rotate, so the face stays open. ▶ Try the split-grip drill to feel arm rotation (above). Set up with a 6-iron, then separate your hands six inches on the grip. Practice swinging back and through. You can hit balls, too. You’ll naturally keep the club to the inside on the downswing, and your left arm will fold against your side as you go through. You’ll feel the top of the grip slow down into impact as the right arm rotates over and rehinges the club into the follow-through. That’s exactly what should happen in your normal swing.

62 golf digest india | december 2017

fault | yo ur sho ulders le ad the downswing fix | swing yo ur arms past yo ur body ▶ Another thing that gets the over-the-top slicer in trouble is the instinct to try to square the clubface by twisting the shoulders toward the target. If you remember one thing, let it be this: The hands, not the body, square the face.

To calm your upper body, feel like your chest is pointing at the ball at impact and the clubhead is releasing past you. Jack Nicklaus used to say he felt like the buttons on his shirt were facing the ball when he hit it. ▶ Look at this photo of me (above): Notice that my upper body looks pretty passive, with my arms and the club orbiting around me. The momentum of the clubhead is pulling my body through, not the other way around. A good drill for learning to swing past your body is to drop your back foot away from the target line so you’re in an exaggerated closed stance. Practice from that position, and you’ll learn to swing into the ball from the inside before the club exits to the left. Imagine you’re hitting the inside-back quadrant of the ball. That’s how you beat a slice.

Ashley Moss founded Born2Golf and teaches at Mesa (Ariz.) C.C. Mike Malaska is at Superstition Mountain (Ariz.)

G. & C.C.

‘let the momentum of the club pull you through.’

december 2017 | golf digest india

63

Play Your Best Instant Lesson

by will robins play a lot of golf with my students, and I watch them closely when their ball is heading toward a bunker. Their reactions range from simple inquiry (“Did I make the sand?”) to panic (“Did it stay out?”) to the grim and desperate (“Noooo!”).

Most amateurs, sad to say, are at the wrong end of the scale.

If you despise these hazards, I’ll tell you what I tell my bunker-hating students: It’s not your technique; it’s tension that’s holding you back. Get rid of tension, and the technique

I

comes out. So here’s a relaxation cue: You can miss the shot and still come away with a good result. In fact, you can hit one, two, three, four inches behind the ball and put it on the green.

Now that’s stress free!

Using visualization works, too. Picture you’re splashing a handful of sand onto the green (below). Can you do that if you chop down steeply? No. Can you do that if you quit on the shot? No. That simple thought—a handful of sand onto the green—keeps the club skimming through the sand

and accelerating to the finish.

Having good feel also helps, so imagine what the club needs to do through the sand. Grab your sand wedge and make a few practice swings outside the bunker, trying to brush through the rough—no divots, just sweep with speed. Then get in the sand and repeat.

Back to your shot process, let me be clear: I’m not talking about the mental game, as in staying focused. Hell no, sand shots are emotional. You have stress, which causes a steep swing that crashes into the sand. You have to push out bad thoughts with positive feelings.

Remember, you get to miss it, as long as you keep up some speed and splash sand onto the green. You’ll experience success, and as fast as you got that bad mojo, you’ll turn it around.

So go hit some good ones.

Will Robins, a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, is based in Folsom, Calif.

64 golf digest india | december 2017

IS PRACTICE THE KEY TO PLAYING BETTER? NOPE

I

n 2004, my wife and I were caught in a tsunami in Thailand.

It was the last day of our honeymoon. We went from a hotel lobby to what felt like the middle of the ocean in seconds. The next 12 hours were spent on various rescue boats, followed by three months in a hospital. Months later, with my days as a player basically over, I turned to teaching golf as a way to make money. I quickly realized that my new perspective made me a good coach. Golf is a lot less important when you’re happy to be alive—and that came across. I’ve discovered that what helps every golfer I meet is taking the edge off, making golf less of a grind.

Golfers need to learn to play the game, not perfect the swing. There are ways to improve without working on technique. I have students who’ve dropped 10 shots in a handful of weeks without going to the range.

So take the challenge: Check out my video series with Golf Digest, “Get Better Without Practicing.”

Learn more at golfdigest .com/go/getbetter.

ben walton (2) • illustration: tim l ahan

Stress-Free Sand Play How to beat your fear and get it out every time

Technically Speaking Play Your Best

“Move your hips slightly toward the target on the backswing.”

N

Y

Groove Your Irons Consistency starts with the hips by patrick nuber

he most common frustration of our new students is inconsistency with their irons. They aren’t producing many shots that go the distance and direction they expect.

There are plenty of reasons for that, but of all the variables GolfTEC measures, we’ve found the biggest indicator of ball-striking quality with irons comes from how a player’s hips move (see chart).

Better players consistently position their hips closer to the target at the top of the backswing (blue golfer, above). This makes it easier to swing an iron on a shallower angle of attack and a slightly inside-out direction—key to producing good shots.

Many amateurs sway from the target as the club reaches the top of the swing (red golfer, above). You might do this because you’ve been told that, to generate more clubhead speed, you should “move off

illustrations by todd detwiler

T

the ball” or “shift away from the target” during the backswing. For most, this directive to make a lateral move manifests into a big sway, followed by a struggle in the downswing to shift back toward the target in time to hit a solid shot.

If you’re swaying, do the opposite when you hit shots.

Move your hips slightly toward the target during the backswing, and keep them there when you swing down.

To train this move, place an alignment stick in the ground next to your lead hip and bump it as you take the club back. Your head should remain relatively still. If you can repeat this move on the course, you’re going to start getting the results you want with your iron shots. —with matthew rudy

▶ GolfTEC’s SwingTRU motion study measured 40,000 people and found that better players are closer to the target at the top of the backswing than higherhandicap golfers. The difference might seem small—in many cases less than an inch— but that distance is significant in terms of getting the club to bottom out in front of the ball the way it should in a good iron swing.

where amateurs are at the top

0.3” BEHIND 0-5 HDCP PLAYER

0.7”

1.2”

1.5”

Patrick Nuber is GolfTEC’s Director of Teaching Quality.

He’s based in Centennial, Colo.

6-10 hdcp

11-20 hdcp

21-30 hdcp

31+ hdcp

The Golf Life The Core

Even healthy snacks such as raisins and grapes can trigger a crash.

Golf in the Fog How food choices affect your scores ou’re tired. You’re agitated. You’re hungry.

You’re struggling to concentrate. This round feels more like yard work than a pleasant stroll. Question: How refreshing was that Gatorade you had before teeing off? Was your bagel toasted just right?

It’s no mystery why you feel like crap. It’s science. Your body is desperately trying to regain control of itself after you set off a sugar bomb in your bloodstream. First, your glucose level spiked. That probably occurred about 30 minutes after you teed off. Then, to bring the amount of sugar in your bloodstream down, your body released the hormone insulin to process it. But with a massive insulin release comes all those physical reactions that just led to your third double bogey.

“When you crash from a significant release of insulin, you also get a release of cortisol, and that triggers a flight-or-fight response,” says Dr. Ara Suppiah, a sports-medicine expert and team doctor for the 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup team. Suppiah is a medical advisor to several players on the PGA Tour. “When the body’s survival mechanism kicks in, your ability to control the intricate and complex movements of a golf swing, let alone focus over an important putt, become so much more difficult than if your blood-sugar level remained relatively steady and in a healthy range.”

The influence of food and drink on performance is not widely understood, so Sup-

and then a crash, but even foods in the 11 to 19 range can be iffy. Watermelon’s glycemic load is 3.6.

One way to counter the effects of high-glycemic foods is to combine them with fatty foods. This tempers the insulin reaction. If you’re eating a tunasalad sandwich on white bread, you’ll have a milder reaction if it has mayonnaise on it. If you must have a Coke, drink it with a burger. A good formula to remember: If the total grams of protein, fat and fiber are higher than the total grams of carbohydrates, you’re in the safe zone.

What if you feel like you’re starting to crash from a sugar high during a round? Eat a small snack: a meal-replacement bar, some trail mix, a banana. “Seems counterintuitive to eat some more,” Suppiah says, “but it will help stall the effects of the crash.”

—Ron KaspRisKe

Y

piah decided to spend some time with his golfers checking their blood-sugar levels as they played and to observe how they responded when their levels were brought back down by insulin. He took readings every four holes on players such as Henrik Stenson and Gary Woodland. He found that there were great variances in when the crash occurred and how long it lasted, but all his players experienced bad side effects.

“They all reported feeling sluggish and struggling to focus,” Suppiah says. “But the quicker the blood-sugar level came down as a result of an insulin release, the more often they reported feeling tired and, believe it or not, hungry even though they just ate. It was very distracting to performance.”

Knowing this, Suppiah’s advice is to stop and think before you eat or drink something during a round. That’s not to say you should avoid calories when you play. On the contrary, you have to get something in your system or fatigue will set in— even if you ride in a golf cart.

66 golf digest india | december 2017

Just don’t eat or drink things that are high in sugar. “Ideally, you don’t want to raise your blood-sugar level beyond 120, and a good range is between 65 and 85,” Suppiah says. “I realize you’re not going to be monitoring this number while you play, but you can avoid sugary choices.”

Some of those things might surprise you. Plain, white-flour products (bagels, pretzels, sandwich bread) can easily trigger a reaction. Even seemingly healthy snacks like raisins and grapes should be avoided.

An orange Gatorade has a Glycemic Index (GI) score of 89, not all that far from table sugar (100). But keep in mind that GI tells only part of the story. Some foods are high on the GI, such as watermelon (72), but you’d have to eat a significant amount to spike your sugar level. Researchers at Harvard distinguished between GI and something they called “glycemic load,” which takes into account portion size.

Anything rated 20 or higher will likely cause a sugar spike

MULLIGAN MEALS Some suggested ways to avoid sugar crashes while playing you’re eating this?

eat this instead

Granola bar

Gluten-free, meal-replacement bar

Pretzels

Raw nuts

Hot dog on a bun

Hot dog sans bun (or wrapped in lettuce)

French fries

Popcorn

you’re drinking this?

drink this instead

Gatorade

Gatorade diluted with water

Beer

Beer, paired with a fatty food

Soda

Fresh-brewed iced tea (with a teaspoon of sugar)

Orange juice

Apple juice

Illustration by Serge Bloch

Equipment Play Your Best

miura h ayat e ▶ The high-strength titanium-alloy face flexes for maximum ball speed. The sole weight in the heel, which a Miura fitter can customize, helps correct a slice. p r i c e $640

c l e v el and l au n c h e r h b ▶ The thin, sloping crown flexes at impact to improve launch and speed.

Saved weight is relocated low, deep and in the heel for more draw.

cob r a fm a x ▶ This speed-boosting driver emphasizes a lighter shaft and swingweight. Internal weighting low and toward the heel helps launch the ball higher. price $300

p r i c e $300

Ditch the Wrench

he appeal of adjustable drivers is near an all-time high, according to industry researcher Golf Datatech. Some 85 percent of golfers say they are at least interested in purchasing a driver with a rotating hosel and/or movable weights. But there are manufacturers betting that at least some golfers need a driver that doesn’t change—one that’s just engineered to hit it higher and mitigate a slice. To achieve this, manufacturers have chosen to forfeit the fitting options and save the costs by making their clubs nonadjustable. Do they have a point? Well, Golf Datatech’s research shows that although one in two low-handicappers are very interested in adjustable drivers, only one in three high-handicappers are. Here are four new nonadjustable drivers to consider. —mike stachura

T

ve rt i ca l gro ove gol f d riv e r ▶ The 17 score lines run vertically across the face, not horizontally. The goal: more accuracy and better feel. price $400

Photograph by Ryan Zimmerman

illustration: l aurent Cilluffo

Some drivers offer fixes without the adjustability

The Golf Life Style

Joined at the Grip The hands of golf meet the hands of time olfers and watches go together like hands on a club. Though they don’t often compete with them on, you’ll see a lot of tour pros going straight to their bags to find that favorite timepiece once their round is done. Here, nine pros share what they love so much about their No. 1 watches. —marty hackel

G

1 brooks koepka

2 emiliano grillo

3 patrick reed

4 justin thomas

“This is a newer model of the first Rolex I ever owned. Getting it to commemorate my U.S. Open victory makes it all the more special.”

“It’s edgy and sharp. I can dress it down or dress it up with the interchangeable band.”

Photographs by Giovanni Reda

“This watch reminds me of [my win at] Frys.com, a great first year and to keep moving forward. It’s the best-looking watch on the market.”

“I got this watch around Christmas.

I loved it when I first saw it because of the casual yet classy look, and I can wear it with really any outfit— even swim trunks.”

5 jamie lovemark

6 sergio garcia

7 morgan hoffmann

8 rory mcilroy

“I fell in love with this watch because it’s understated and classy. It also pairs well with a black polo or a suit.”

“This was my first Breitling, and it’s my favorite to this day. As a pilot, I use it when I fly to make sure my fuel timechange is precise.”

“I got this from my friends at Omega the week of Augusta, and I will never forget it for that reason.”

“This unique watch commemorates my 2016 Ryder Cup experience at Hazeltine.”

1 rolex oyster perpetual sea-dweller, $11,350. This new version of a

watch that debuted in 1967 has a larger case and the name Sea-Dweller in red. 2 audemars piguet royal oak offshore diver, $19,000. Its dial features its trademark méga tapisserie. 3 hublot unico depeche mode, $24,100. Depeche Mode is a celebrated British rock band that recently released a new album. Proceeds go to “charity: water,” which brings clean drinking water to developing countries. 4 rolex oyster perpetual yacht-master, $11,500. It features a 904L steel-and-platinum case and bracelet, plus a dial made of dark rhodium. 5 officine panerai luminor base logo acciaio, $4,750. This hand-wound mechanical has a 56hour power reserve and features Panerai’s signature crown-protecting bridge. 6 omega seamaster planet ocean “deep black” co-axial master chronometer chronograph, $11,700. This Greenwich Mean Time watch tracks two time zones and serves as a diving watch with a special rubber-and-ceramic bezel. 7 breitling chronomat blacksteel, $10,350. A true pilot’s watch, this timepiece tracks two time zones, and you can easily adjust its bezel in the dark. 8 omega seamaster aqua terra “ryder cup” master co-axial, $7,350. Its silver dial is decorated with a dimpled golf-ball pattern. 9 audemars piguet royal oak concept gmt tourbillon, price upon request. Highlights include its titanium case, ceramic bezel, openwork dial and precision tourbillon.

9 ian poulter

“I love the Audemars Piguet Concept.

It’s different, classy, innovative, striking, luxurious.”

december 2017 | golf digest india

69

On the Asian Tour

HOME COMFORT Shiv Kapur Puts Up Strong Display At Delhi Golf Club To Pocket Panasonic Open India, His First Asian Tour Title On Home Course

17

under 271 TOTAL

66.67% Greens In Regulation (GIR):

66.07% Fairways hit:

1.49 Avg. Putts

298

yards Avg. Drive

70 golf digest india | december 2017

On the Asian Tour

KAPUR’S GLOBAL WINS Asian Tour - 3 2005 Volvo Masters of Asia 2017 Yeangder Heritage 2017 Panasonic Open India European Challenge Tour - 2 2013 Gujarat Kensville Challenge (Kensville G & CC) 2013 Dubai Festival City Challenge Grand Final

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ rohit@rnsportsmarketing.com

T

aking a break can be a boon; Shiv Kapur proved just that by fulfilling his long-awaited dream of winning his first international title at his home course – Delhi Golf Club.

The Asian Games individual gold medallist had missed the previous two Asian Tour events because of a relapse of dengue, practising only once in the past one month.

Kapur carded a 4-under 68 in the final round to lift the US$400,000 Panasonic Open India after a few nervous moments did try to derail his ambitions. But the memory of the time he spent with his 3-month-old daughter Veda early in the morning calmed his nerves and encouraged him to fight back despite stiff challenge being put up from American Paul Peterson and a bunch of fellow Indians.

The golfer had watched close friends Chiragh Kumar and Gaurav Ghei walk up to the 18th green to thunderous applause and picking up a glittering trophy and he had also harboured similar hopes of emulating them one day; which he did in dominating fashion in front of his parents Ravi and Renu Kapur, wife Maya and his newborn Veda.

“It’s an amazing feeling. This victory has not really sunk in yet but when I was walking down the 18th, I was really trying to hold back emotions. I was telling myself ‘just finish the race, finish the race’ and it’s just amazing to be able to do it. To be able to win in front of all my friends and family is wonderful. I grew up playing golf here and told myself I got to win at the Delhi Golf Club one day. So no words can actually describe how I’m feeling right now. The reception I got when I was coming up the 18 was just amazing. It was well worth the wait,” an emotional Kapur told reporters later. He pocketed US$ 72,000 (approx. Rs. 46.6 lakh) for his effort.

“TO BE ABLE TO WIN IN FRONT OF ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY IS WONDERFUL. I GREW UP PLAYING GOLF HERE AND TOLD MYSELF I GOT TO WIN AT THE DELHI GOLF CLUB ONE DAY. SO NO WORDS CAN ACTUALLY DESCRIBE HOW I’M FEELING RIGHT NOW. THE RECEPTION I GOT WHEN I WAS COMING UP THE 18 WAS JUST AMAZING. IT WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT.” — SHIV KAPUR

Did you know? l The Delhi Golf Club (DGC) is Shiv Kapur’s home course and his Panasonic Open India victory is his first as a professional at DGC l Kapur jumped to 11th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit from his previous position of 18th with total earnings of US$254,719. He also moved 120 places in the Official World Golf Rankings to be placed at 206th following his brilliant effort l The Delhi golfer also zoomed to the top spot on the Panasonic Swing rankings.

Kapur with 2,665 points is trailed by Rattanon Wannasrichan of Thailand (1,800) in second place and Gaganjeet Bhullar (1,014) in third position. With this win, Kapur also earned a direct entry to Panasonic Open Japan next year. The topthree finishers in the Panasonic Swing final ranking, which culminates with the 2018 Panasonic Open Japan, will earn US$70,000, US$50,000 and US$30,000 respectively via a bonus pool reward scheme. The winner of the Panasonic Swing will gain an exemption into one designated European Tour tournament in 2018 l Indians dominated the leaderboard with only Paul Peterson of the United States breaking into the top-10. An unprecedented amount of US$208,302 (approx. Rs. 1.34 crore) out of US$400,000 prize money was earned by the 9 Indians who finished in the top-10

Prize money won

00 US$ 7246,0 .6 lakh) (approx. Rs

Shiv Kapur receives the winning trophy from Panasonic India President & CEO Manish Sharma

december 2017 | golf digest india

71

On the Asian Tour

Clockwise from above: Ajeetesh Sandhu, Paul Peterson, Shamim Khan, Sudhir Sharma and Shiv Kapur with his caddie during the Panasonic Open at Delhi Golf Club

INTERNATIONAL WINS BY INDIANS ON INDIAN COURSES SINCE 1991 Delhi Golf Club 21 wins out of 28 events DLF Golf & Country Club 5 wins out of 10 events Royal Calcutta Golf Club 2 wins out of 6 events Kensville Golf & Country Club 2 wins out of 3 events Eagleton Golf Resort 2 wins out of 2 events ITC Classic Golf Resort 1 wins out of 2 events

72 golf digest india | december 2017

INDIAN YOUNG GUNS WOW FANS

Young guns like Karandeep Kochhar, who turned pro earlier this year, and unheralded 30-year-old Sudhir Sharma of Army Golf Club in Meerut wowed Indian fans with their solid display during the Panasonic Open India at the Delhi Golf Club. Kochhar had won a pro event while still being an amateur last year.

Both of them, along with Mhow pro Om Prakash Chouhan, shot into limelight for coming in contention and finishing as a runner-up to Shiv Kapur. Chouhan has won 5 titles on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) circuit.

Panasonic Open India, the second most lucrative pro tournament in India, has always been a stepping stone of sorts for Indian players who attempted a breakthrough on the international front.

The US$400,000 event has produced 6 Indian winners out of 7 editions — including maiden wins for Anirban Lahiri (2011), Digvijay Singh (2012), Chiragh Kumar (2015) and Mukesh Kumar (2016).

On the Asian Tour the way coming in and that aggressive The 35-year-old was in the mix golf paid off,” the two-time European since the opening round when he Challenge Tour winner said. carded a 7-under 65 to trail in-form Interestingly, Kapur had ended Ajeetesh Sandhu (at 8-under 64), a 12-year-long title drought on the who was coming on the back of Asian Tour in April and there is no twin victories in Taiwan and Japan. looking back after his Panasonic Kapur then recorded a steady round Open heroics. “It’s amazing to have of 3-under 69 in Round 2 to remain two wins this year and I’ve to thank a within one stroke of Peterson. The lot of people for believing in me and reigning Yeangder Heritage chamsupporting me. The form is good and pion eagled the 18th hole from 30 feet the confidence is high, so there’s no to catch hold of Peterson in the lead. reason why I cannot win again,” a But expectations of clinching delighted Kapur said. the elusive title in front of home Winning the second of the five-leg fans started to weigh heavily upon Panasonic Swing Kapur. He woke up series meant Kapur at 2am ‘with all sorts “WHEN I STOOD AT THE LEADERBOARD ON rose to the top of thoughts’ that 14, I SAID TO MYSELF I GOT TO TAKE THE led him to playing TOURNAMENT BY THE SCUFF OF THE NECK. of the standings with 2,665 points, a bit ‘conservative’, booking his berth however not for long. I’M NOT GOING TO PLAY CONSERVATIVELY for the season A bogey on the 10th ANYMORE AND I TOOK OUT MY DRIVER. I finale in Japan and prompted him to ATTACKED THE FLAG ALL THE WAY COMING earning an exempbring out his best. “I IN AND THAT AGGRESSIVE GOLF PAID OFF.” tion to a dedicated was very aggressive — SHIV KAPUR European Tour the first few days but I event next year. had a pretty conservaThe event in its 7th edition saw tive strategy today. I just wanted to record 49 Indians out of 72 makeliminate the mistakes on the card ing the cut with 15 finishing in the and I started off playing really steady. top-20 and 6 local pros — Chiragh I had a three-putt on 10 which sort of Kumar, SSP Chawrasia, Om Prakash got me going. I was like ‘come on, I Chouhan, Ajeete sh Sandhu, can do this’. I birdied 11 followed by Karandeep Kochhar and Sudhir 12 and then 14 and 15. When I stood at Sharma — claiming the runner-up the leaderboard on 14, I said to myself spot alongside Peterson.

‘I got to take the tournament by the Delhi GC member Shamim Khan scuff of the neck. I’m not going to play and Honey Baisoya shared 9th place conservatively anymore’ and I took with matching totals of 12-under 276. out my driver. I attacked the flag all

LEADING SCORES: 271 - Shiv Kapur (IND) 65-69-69-68.

274 - Chiragh Kumar (IND) 68-71-71-64, Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 64-73-72-65, Karandeep Kochhar (IND) 71-68-69-66, S.S.P. Chawrasia (IND) 67-69-69-69, Sudhir Sharma (IND) 69-70-66-69, Om Prakash Chouhan (IND) 70-69-66-69, Paul Peterson (USA) 69-64-70-71.

276 - Honey Baisoya (IND) 69-68-71-68, Shamim Khan (IND) 66-69-69-72.

278 - Prom Meesawat (THA) 69-71-71-67.

279 - Angad Cheema (IND) 73-70-71-65, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 70-70-72-67, N. Thangaraja (SRI) 75-69-67-68, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 67-71-68-73.

280 - Manu Gandas (IND) 72-67-71-70, Aman Raj (IND) 66-73-69-72.

Asian Tour Order of Merit After Resorts World Manila Masters POS

PLAYER

EARNINGS (US$)

1.

Gavin Green (MAS)

$567,336

2.

David Lipsky (USA)

$461,179

3.

Scott Hend (AUS)

$434,029

4.

SSP Chawrasia (IND)

$378,378

5.

Phachara Khongwatmai (THA)

$358,352

6.

Jazz Janewattananond (THA)

$305,925

7.

Poom Saksansin (THA)

$299,678

8.

Daisuke Kataoka (JPN)

$284,489

9.

Prayad Marksaeng (THA)

$272,308

10.

Shiv Kapur (IND)

$265,469

11.

Richard T. Lee (CAN)

$243,059

12.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND)

$235,530

13.

Juvic Pagunsan (PHI)

$232,971

14.

Micah Lauren Shin (USA)

$218,238

15.

Panuphol Pittayarat (THA)

$210,903

16.

Younghan Song (KOR)

$208,231

17.

Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND)

$193,420

18.

Carlos Pigem (ESP)

$192,413

19.

K.T. Kim (KOR)

$180,466

20.

Todd Sinnott (AUS)

$179,545

 RECORD

Amateurs Make Merry In Panasonic Open Pro-Am

L-R: Harendra Gupta (pro), Arvind Saxena, Sanjay Singh and Ravi Burman after winning the evening session of Panasonic Open Pro-AM

L-R: Aditya Gupta, Shankar Das (pro), Joydeep Nayar and Pankaj Sharma after winning the morning session of Panasonic Open Pro-AM

49 INDIANS OUT OF 72 MADE THE CUT FOR THE TOURNAMENT, WITH ONLY FIVE OVERSEAS PLAYERS IN THE TOP-20

december 2017 | golf digest india

73

On the Asian Tour

THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON

BY JOSH BURACK Asian Tour CEO

N

L-R - CGA deputy secretary general Pang Zheng, Asian Tour chairman Jimmy Masrin, CGA chairman Zhang Xiaoning and Asian Tour CEO Josh Burack

ine years is a very long time, especially when it comes to professional golf. To put things into perspective, within a nineyear period from 2005 to 2014, Thaworn Wiratchant was able to win 14 Asian Tour titles. And for the Asian Tour, nine years have passed since we last staged a tournament in China in cooperation with the China Golf Association (CGA). The long wait is finally over. The Asian Golf Championship (AGC) was played in Xiamen within Fujian Province from November 30 to December 3.

While the AGC was a small tournament with a purse of US$350,000, we were all very excited as it officially marked our re-entry into Asia’s biggest market. Our partner, China Golf Dragons (CGD), will also work with us to promote at least two events in China in 2018 and another two tournaments there in 2019 according to the five-event contract we’ve signed. On the commercial front, we are thrilled to have Rolex on board as the Official Timekeeper for the first event.

The AGC field was made up of Asian Tour members and professionals from the China valuable Panasonic Swing points. Shiv Tour. Golfers from the China Tour will be Kapur showed immense class and poise to eligible to take up associate memberships win his second Asian Tour tournament in with the Asian Tour, with the top-five non2017. Congratulations! Evident from the loud exempt players from the China Tour Order cheers heard throughout the four days, he’s of Merit receiving spots into the Final Stage certainly a hometown favourite! of the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2018.

Next, we had the US$1 million Resorts Other positive news is we’ve just entered a World Manila Masters. Everyone should new media partnership with GOLF Magazine be aware about the attack that happened Korea. As part of our East Asia strategy at the integrated resort earlier this year on which sees our commercial team putting more focus on China, Korea and Japan for tournament development and our search for tour-wide partners, we aim to increase our awareness and overall coverage of the Asian Tour in these territories. This deal with Korea’s biggest golf publication will help us achieve greater visibility in this important market for the Asian Tour.

What’s also exciting is the battle for the top positions on our Order of Merit (OOM).

After a very busy November, Malaysia’s Gavin Green remains in the lead.

November kicked off with the US$400,000 Panasonic Open India, which was held at the historic Delhi Golf Shiv Kapur acknowledges the crowd after holing the winning Club. In addition to the putt for the Panasonic Open India title at the Delhi Golf Club prize money, golfers earned

NINE YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE WE LAST STAGED A TOURNAMENT IN CHINA. THE LONG WAIT IS FINALLY OVER. THE US$ 350,000 ASIAN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP (AGC) WAS PLAYED IN XIAMEN WITHIN FUJIAN PROVINCE FROM NOV. 30 TO DEC. 3

74 golf digest india | december 2017

June 2. The Asian Tour and our players donated to Children of Resorts World Manila Foundation through fundraising efforts organised during the event. We sincerely hope that these contributions will help make the lives of the children affected by the attack better.

What a drama-filled final day we had in Manila! Young Micah Shin called a penalty on himself after discovering that he had an extra club in his bag.

However, the 21-year-old overcame a two-stroke deficit and forced his way into contention. He got into a playoff with Thailand’s Arnond Vongvanij and went on to beat his opponent at the first playoff hole to win his maiden Asian Tour title.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate Gagangeet Bhullar for capturing the Macao Open title. At 29 years, he is the youngest golfer to win eight Asian Tour titles. While he is unlikely to beat Thaworn’s accomplishment, the many victories that he had on the Asian Tour would nevertheless put him on cloud nine. #whereitsAT

On the Asian Tour

On The Web

Images: Asian Tour

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

december 2017 | golf digest india

75

On the European Tour

TOUR SNIPPETS

Clément Sordet

AMAZING GRACE SHINES IN SUN CITY Branden Grace produced a stunning closing 66 to win an eighth European Tour title and delight the home fans at the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player.

The seventh Rolex Series event of the season had brought an elite field to Gary Player Country Club and they did not disappoint, with the final group of Grace, Victor Dubuisson and Scott Jamieson producing an enthralling final-day battle.

The trio shared the lead with 4 holes to play but a brilliant 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th moved Grace to 11-under and handed him a one-shot victory over Jamieson. Frenchman Dubuisson was then at 9-under, 2 shots clear of China’s Li Haotong - who produced the lowest round of the week with a 64 - and 3 ahead of two-time Major Championship winner Martin Kaymer.

Grace hit all 18 greens in regulation in his final round as he moved alongside Louis Oosthuizen into a tie for fourth on the list of all-time South African European Tour winners, behind only Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel.

SHOT CLOCK MASTERS TO MAKE EURO TOUR DEBUT IN 2018 The 2018 Shot Clock Masters in Austria will be the first tournament in professional golf to use a shot clock on every shot as part of the European Tour’s bid to combat slow play.

Earlier this year, the European Tour experimented with a shot clock on one hole at GolfSixes – a move which proved popular with both players and fans – and the concept will now be used for the first time at a European Tour event at Diamond Country Club, from June 7 to 10, 2018.

In a marked difference to the GolfSixes model however, this tournament will embrace the Tour’s official timing policy (similar to policies used across the world) over 72 holes, with an intent to showcase a European Tour event played at a more compelling pace.

In accordance with this official policy, each player in the 120-man field will have 50 seconds for the first player in a group to play any given shot, 40 seconds for subsequent players. Players will incur a one-shot penalty for each bad time incurred and these will be shown as a red card against their name on the leaderboard.

76 golf digest india | december 2017

SORDET SEALS SEASON-ENDING VICTORY IN OMAN Clément Sordet claimed a memorable second victory of the season at the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final as Scott Fernandez and Bradley Neil dramatically clinched European Tour cards on the final day of the 2017 European Challenge Tour season.

Fernandez and Neil both turned in 33 to climb the leaderboard but started to falter on the back nine, each bogeying the 17th before making impressive pars on the last hole in the knowledge that a dropped shot would be costly.

They took the 14th and 15th cards for next season, Neil finishing 4,436 points ahead of Heisele for that final position,

and they will both now embark on rookie seasons on the European Tour.

By contrast, Sordet’s progress to a fourth Challenge Tour title seemed relatively serene.

The Frenchman stretched his overnight lead to four shots with2early birdies and, with the charges of Erik van Rooyen and Estanislao Goya falling away, he walked down the 18th with a 2-shot lead.

A comfortable par saw him sign for a 2-under-par round of 70 and a 15-underpar total, taking the 25-year-old to second place in the rankings, with Marcus Kinhult runner-up and Fernandez and van Rooyen sharing third place on 12-under-par.

HORSFIELD GALLOPS ONTO THE EUROPEAN TOUR AFTER DRAMATIC Q-SCHOOL FINALE

Sam Horsfield claimed an impressive 8-shot victory at Qualifying School Final Stage on a dramatic sixth and final day at Lumine Golf Club.

The Englishman closed with a staggering 8-under-par 63, the best round of his professional career and the joint-lowest round of the week, to reach 27-under-par overall.

On another day of good scoring in

Tarragona, all eyes were on the qualifying line, as 33 players earned European Tour cards.

Past European Tour winners Kristoffer Broberg, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and Anders Hansen were among the qualifiers while youngsters Jazz Janewattananond, Connor Syme and Jonathan ‘Jigger’ Thomson will embark on rookie years in the Race to Dubai.

On the European Tour

Jon Rahm (R) receives the Sir Henry Cotton Award from European Tour CEO Keith Pelley

“IF YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD ME AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR THAT I WOULD BE SITTING HERE - FOURTH IN THE RACE TO DUBAI, PLAYING THE WAY I’VE DONE IN THE ROLEX SERIES, BECOMING ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - WHEN I WASN’T EVEN A MEMBER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR - IT’S A REALLY SPECIAL FEELING.” — JON RAHM

Jon Rahm Named 2017 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie Of The Year Jon Rahm has won the 2017 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award on the European Tour after a remarkable breakthrough season which included a record-breaking victory at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation in July.

The current World Number Five – who lies fourth in the Race to Dubai – received the award from European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley ahead of this week’s seasonending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the Spaniard will be looking for a strong finish to an already impressive campaign.

Rahm sealed the accolade on Sunday night in South Africa after none of his closest competitors – South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli, Englishman Jordan Smith, Hideto Tanihara

of Japan and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox – could finish strongly enough in the Nedbank Golf Challenge to give themselves a chance of overhauling the Spaniard in The Race to Dubai in the final week of the season.

It has been a meteoric rise to the top of the world game for the 23-year-old, who turned professional in June 2016 following after a glittering amateur career where he represented Arizona State University in the United States, winning 11 titles and reaching World Amateur Number One along the way.

Rahm then joined the European Tour and almost immediately emulated three of his Spanish golfing heroes – Seve Ballesteros, José María Olazábal and Sergio Garcia – with a stunning win in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, storming to a breathtaking six-stroke

LI WINS FINAL HERO CHALLENGE OF THE YEAR

L

i Haotong won the final Hero Challenge of the 2017 season after the Chinese sensation defeated Alex Noren in the final of the innovative shoot-out event, which took place ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

In a new format for the fourth edition of the event, eight players were faced with an island green at the Nasimi Beach Club - where the player beach party for the DP World Tour Championship was taking place – and needed to hit the ball as close to the pin as they could.

A maximum 25 points were awarded for finding the inner circle around the pin, while ten points were awarded for efforts in the outer circle and five points for any other shot staying on the

China’s Li Haotong receives the Hero Challenge trophy from Hero MotoCorp CMD Pawan Munjal pontoon green. Players had 60 seconds in the opening round, but just three balls each thereafter.

The 22-year-old Li emerged victorious with a 50-45 win over his Swedish counterpart after hitting the centre target twice in an exciting high-scoring finale, having entered the event as the seventh seed.

victory at Portstewart Golf Club with his 24 under par total of 264 being the lowest in the tournament’s illustrious history.

Rahm becomes the first Spaniard to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award since Pablo Larrazábal in 2008, and the fifth in total, with Gonzalo FernandezCastaño (2005), Garcia (1999) and Olazábal (1986) also having claimed the honour.

Rahm said: “It’s a very, very satisfying feeling to win this award. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that I would be sitting here - fourth in the Race to Dubai, playing the way I’ve done in the Rolex Series, becoming Rookie of the Year - when I wasn’t even a member at the beginning of the year - it’s a really special feeling.”

European Tour Live coverage on MATCH

INDIA DATE

IST

Australian PGA Championship Day 1

30/11/17

8:00

Australian PGA Championship Day 2

01/12/17

8:00

Australian PGA Championship Day 3

02/12/17

8:00

Australian PGA Championship Day 4

03/12/17

8:00

Joburg Open Day 1 Session 1

07/12/17

14:00

Joburg Open Day 1 Session 2

07/12/17

17:30

Joburg Open Day 2 Session 1

08/12/17

14:00

Joburg Open Day 2 Session 2

08/12/17

17:30

Joburg Open Day 3

09/12/17

15:00

Joburg Open Open Day 4

10/12/17

15:00

Available on TATA Sky (Channel No. 471) and DISH TV (Channel No. 644) december 2017 | golf digest india

77

On the European Tour Rules official interacts with a group of players during the Presidents Cup at Liberty National

THE REFEREE’S VIEW Andy McFee

THE HAND OF JORDAN

J

ordan Spieth and Patrick Reed had reached the drivable 12th hole at Liberty National all square in their fourball match against Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day. Louis had driven the ball to the back fringe of the green and had a putt of about 30 feet for an eagle two whilst the other three players all had to play pitch shots onto the green with Jason Day to play first.

Jason hit it stone dead and his next stroke was conceded giving the International Team a three at worst.

Patrick played to about 18 feet and Jordan got his pitch a little closer at about 10 feet. A very sinkable putt for him!

Louis could be bold with his putt for a 2 and he was, but it rolled by the hole and just kept going on the ultra-quick greens at Liberty National, much to the amusement of the American fans. The ball was gone and was clearly not coming back so with Jason already in for the three, Jordan stopped the ball before it came to rest and threw it back

to Louis who did not object, raise an eyebrow or make a claim‌ he merely said thank you!

I saw it all unfolding in front of me but was powerless to prevent it.

As I saw what Jordan was about to do, I shouted to try to stop him, but there was far too much noise for him to hear me.

When Jordan stopped the ball of his opponent whilst it was still in motion, he was in breach of Rule 1-2 by exerting an influence on a moving ball. It did not matter that the ball had passed the hole - that currently is irrelevant in this rule. The penalty in matchplay is a loss of hole but in fourball play, Rule 30-3f makes it clear that the effect in the match is to disqualify Jordan from the hole being played, but it has no effect on his partner provided he did not gain anything

WHEN JORDAN SPIETH STOPPED THE BALL OF HIS OPPONENT WHILST IT WAS STILL IN MOTION, HE WAS IN BREACH OF RULE 1-2 BY EXERTING AN INFLUENCE ON A MOVING BALL. 78 golf digest india | december 2017

from the breach and there was no adverse effect on the opponents.

With Jason already in for a 3 there was no adverse effect on the opponents and there was no gain either for Patrick.

The referee has to act on any breach he sees. He or she has no choice. It does not turn on whether or not the opponents want to make a claim or let it pass.

So, Patrick could putt for a three to halve the hole but when he missed and made 4, with Jordan unable to count, the hole was over and won by the International Team with a three to a four.

The bottom line is do not touch your opponents ball whilst it is still moving. Let it come to rest before you concede the next stroke or do anything else.

On the European Tour Spain’s Sergio Garcia receives the honorary membership from European Tour’s Keith Pelley

Honorary Life Members

Garcia awarded European Tour Honorary Membership

S

ergio Garcia, the reigning Masters Champion, has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour in recognition of his triumph at Augusta National in April.

He becomes the 53nd player to be added to the exclusive list and is just the third Spaniard to receive the accolade, after Seve Ballesteros (1983) and José María Olazábal (1994).

The 37-year-old was felicitated by Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, during Real Club Valderrama’s President’s Dinner at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, where Garcia entered the weekend in contention for a 14th European Tour title.

“This is an incredible honour for me,” said Garcia. “To join Seve and José María on the list of Honorary Members for the European Tour is

very special and adds to what has already been a life-changing year for me, on and off the course.

“I have always loved playing on the European Tour and I have had so many unforgettable moments there, while there is no more special privilege than representing Europe in The Ryder Cup. I am humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as Seve, José María and the other great players on this list.”

Pelley said: “It is an absolute privilege to present Sergio Garcia with Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour. The world of golf rejoiced at his Masters triumph in April and this week, where he is the host of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, is the perfect setting to commemorate that victory.”

Garcia was also presented Honorary Life Membership of Real Club Valderrama by the club’s President Nuno De Brito De Cunha.

EUROPEAN TOUR JOINS FORCES WITH TATA COMMUNICATIONS As the Official Global Connectivity Supplier of the European Tour, Tata Communications will distribute the video feeds from 47 European Tour tournaments in 30 countries and across five continents to 40 broadcasters using its global superfast network and Media Ecosystem, reaching close to half a billion golf fans.

Tata Communications’ global network reach and capabilities will ensure a high quality viewing experience for fans regardless of whether they are watching the live action or tournament highlights on TV or a mobile device (OTT).

To give its core fan base new golf experiences and to attract new younger fans to the sport, the partnership will enable European Tour to test in action with Tata Communications technologies

such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) and live 360°video to create a more ‘connected’ tournament experience.

“Joining forces with Tata Communications will kick-start an exciting new digital era for the European Tour,” said Michael Cole, Chief Technology Officer of the European Tour. “Digital innovations like 360°video, IoT and AR all rely on global superfast connectivity. So, by creating a single, scalable, global technology platform underpinned by Tata Communications’ capabilities, we will be able to create more powerful, engaging and immersive golf experiences, grow our global audience, and open up new commercial opportunities for the sport.”

1978 John Jacobs OBE 1978 Bernard Hunt MBE 1978 Dai Rees CBE 1982 Peter Butler 1983 Seve Ballesteros 1983 Tony Jacklin CBE 1985 Sir Henry Cotton MBE 1985 Fred Daly MBE 1985 Max Faulkner OBE 1985 Bernhard Langer 1985 Sandy Lyle MBE 1987 Sir Nick Faldo MBE 1992 Ian Woosnam OBE 1994 José María Olazábal 1995 Bob Charles 1995 Arnold Palmer 1995 Gary Player 1997 Colin Montgomerie OBE 1998 Ernie Els 1999 Paul Lawrie OBE 1999 Greg Norman 2001 Vijay Singh 2002 Retief Goosen 2003 Peter Alliss 2003 Bernard Gallacher OBE 2004 Neil Coles MBE 2004 Christy O’Connor 2004 John Panton 2005 Michael Campbell 2007 Angel Cabrera 2007 Padraig Harrington 2008 Trevor Immelman 2010 Martin Kaymer 2010 Graeme McDowell MBE 2010 Louis Oosthuizen 2010 Tom Watson 2011 Darren Clarke OBE 2011 Rory McIlroy MBE 2011 Charl Schwartzel 2011 Lee Westwood OBE 2012 Luke Donald MBE 2012 Brian Huggett MBE 2012 Tommy Horton MBE 2012 Mark James 2012 Roger Chapman 2013 Dave Thomas 2013 Justin Rose 2014 Jack Nicklaus 2016 Peter Oosterhuis 2016 Danny Willett 2016 Henrik Stenson 2017 Sam Torrance 2017 Sergio Garcia

december 2017 | golf digest india

79

On the European Tour

FITNESS

FLEXING YOUR BODY’S BIGGEST MUSCLES What is the biggest muscle in the body?

The biggest muscle in the body is the Gluteus Maximus. Along with the Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus, they make up the largest muscle group in the body (the gluteals or buttocks).

Why are they important?

They are a large and powerful group of muscles that are involved in movement of the hip and thigh, keeping the body upright when you stand. They are vital workhorses for nearly every activity from standing up from a chair, pushing off from the ground when you walk and run, to going up stairs.

How will strengthening my gluts improve my golf swing ?

The gluts work hard to create and control movement in the hips/trunk. They are the biggest muscles in the body for a reason: they can exert powerful forces when needed. The golf swing is a complex movement that involves movements on many planes and the gluteals work hard to create and control internal rotation, external rotation and extension of the hips - movements that happen in the golf swing.

What exercises can I do to improve the strength of my Gluts ?

There are a number of exercises you can do to target the gluts, from squats and lunges to stepups and dead-lifts. A great exercise to start with - one that works the gluteals hard – is the glut bridge. It is easy to learn, has lots of good progressions and can also be done without the need for any equipment.

Text: Nigel Tilley European Tour Performance Institute & Physio Unit

HOW TO DO A GLUT BRIDGE

Lie face up on the floor with knees bent at 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor. Gently draw the lower back into floor and then lift your hips off the floor, squeezing the gluts until the hips get to a neutral position. Hold that position for 5 seconds whilst squeezing the gluts and then slowly lower your hips back to the floor. To start with repeat between 5 to 10 times and for 3 sets.

You can vary this exercise in many ways including the speed of movement, time of hold and by adding components to challenge each leg, such as single leg bridges, knee extensions, alternate heel taps and unstable surfaces.

80 golf digest india | december 2017

images: EuropEan tour/gEtty imagEs

On the European Tour

“IT’S LIKE A BUS, YOU WAIT AGES FOR ONE AND THEN TWO TURN UP AT ONCE.” — JUSTIN ROSE

Rose in full bloom in Turkey Justin Rose birdied the last hole at the US$7 million Turkish Airlines Open to make it backto-back wins after winning the WGC-HSBC Champions on October 28.

The Rolex Series events have brought high drama to the European Tour all season and it was no different at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort as Rose and playing partner Nicolas Colsaerts, tied at 17-under, stood on the 18th tee.

Both men put their approaches to eight feet but it was Rose who held his nerve to make a birdie, sign for a 65 and claim a tenth European Tour title which heaped the pressure on fellow Englishman Fleetwood heading into the final two events of the season.

The Olympic champion leapfrogged Sergio Garcia into second in the rankings and the gap is now just 134,839 points at the top as Rose aims to be Europe’s No. 1 for the second time after winning the Order of Merit in 2007.

South African Dylan Frittelli finished alongside Belgium’s Colsaerts at 17-under after a 64, a shot clear of three-time M aj or champion Padraig Harrington and two ahead of defending champion Thorbjørn Olesen. As well as that victory at the Olympic Men’s Golf

Competition - which was not a European Tour win - Rose now has a Rolex Series victory to add to the 2013 US Open and two World Golf Championships, the latest of which came at WGCHSBC Champions.

The win also makes Rose just the third player to follow up a World Golf Championships win with another victory the succeeding week after Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Rose holed a 15-footer for birdie on the second but threeputted from the fringe on the next before taking advantage of the par-5 seventh and hitting a sublime approach to tap-in range on the ninth.

That put him in a four-way tie for the lead at the turn alongside Frittelli, Harrington and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Frittelli had made five birdies in a row from the fourth which incredibly included chip-ins on the fifth, sixth and eighth, while Harrington made a birdie-bogey start then chipped in on the sixth and hit a smart approach into the ninth.

Colsaerts also started birdiebogey then holed a monster putt on the fourth before holing a ten-footer on the 11th to briefly make it a five-way tie at the top.

The par fives were proving key and Frittelli birdied the 12th before Rose got back alongside

“THE JUICES WERE FLOWING. IT WAS GREAT TO BE ABLE TO PUSH IT UNTIL THE END. I WAS SURPRISED THAT NONE OF THE OTHER GUYS WERE MAKING SUCH A PUSH, WHERE I WAS ONLY TWO-UNDER AFTER 11, 12 HOLES AND STILL WITHIN REACHING DISTANCE. OBVIOUSLY THE FINISH WAS GREAT. IT’S BEEN A WHILE TO BE ABLE TO ALMOST CLOSE IT AND IN SUCH A FASHION.” — NICOLAS COLSAERTS by doing the same and both men then made the most of the 15th along with Colsaerts.

Harrington made one of the par saves of the season on the tenth after putting his tee-shot in the trees and second in the water before holing from 60 yards. He went bogey-birdie over the next two holes but when he put his second into the 15th to 12 feet for an eagle, he was in a share of the lead.

A brilliant shot from a fair-

way bunker from Colsaerts set up a birdie on the 16th and a four-way tie but Rose followed him in from eight feet to take the lead on his own.

Colsaerts made it three in a row on the 17th thanks to an approach to seven feet and he and Rose headed to the 18th tee neck-and-neck where, ahead on the green, Frittelli holed a 12-footer to bring a fist-pumping celebration and help set up the late drama.

december 2017 | golf digest india

81

On the PGA Tour

PGA Tour-China

A Stepping Stone To Success

S

itting next to PGA TOUR C ommissioner Jay Monahan during a press conference at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions were Dou Zecheng and Zhang Xinjun. Monahan was in Shanghai to announce that PGA TOUR-China, after a one-year hiatus, would return to the professional golf calendar in 2018. Dou and Zhang were playing in the HSBC Champions.

Their participation was significant because it was the first time two Chinese players would play as PGA TOUR members.

Monahan pointed to Dou, 20, and Zhang, 30, as a good reason why PGA TOUR-China is back.

“This is significant, really significant, for Chinese golf,

Zhang Xinjun

because Zecheng and Xinjun are the first two players from China to hold PGA TOUR membership.

They followed the path from PGA TOUR-China to the Web.com Tour, to the PGA TOUR, and they are ideal examples of what you can do when you have immense talent, you dream big and you play on PGA TOUR-China,” said Monahan.

W

ith its return in 2018, Monahan noted the P GA TOUR- China

schedule will consist of a full schedule of tournaments and will begin in spring 2018, with each event offering a prize purse of at least 1.5 million RMB, up from 1.2 million RMB in 2016. As is the case with all three PGA TOUR international developmental Tours — PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada – PGA TOUR-China will provide players a path to the PGA TOUR through the Web. com Tour, with the top-five money-winners at season’s end

IN EARLY NOVEMBER, PGA TOUR-CHINA STAGED THE SECOND ANNUAL CLEARWATER BAY OPEN IN HONG KONG, AN EVENT ON THE 2016 SCHEDULE

82 golf digest india | december 2017

earning 2019 Web.com Tour membership. In addition, there will be at least 15 additional players who will have access to the latter stages of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament.

In early November, PGA TOUR-China staged the second annual Clearwater Bay Open in Hong Kong, a tournament that was on the 2016 schedule and will be part of the 2018 slate.

Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club had such a positive experience hosting a PGA TOUR-China tournament for the first time that it wanted to maintain the momentum it had developed.

Dou and Zhang are at the forefront of what PGA TOUR-China can mean to players’ careers as they became the first golfers

On the PGA Tour

Dou Zecheng

from China to earn PGA TOUR cards after their strong 2017 Web. com Tour seasons. Dou finished 17th on the money list and Zhang placed 21st. Australia’s Brett Drewitt was the first former PGA TOUR-China player to earn PGA TOUR membership, when he moved to the TOUR from the Web.com Tour for the 2016-17 season.

“Through the PGA TOUR China organized by the Chinese Golf Association, we have the opportunity to grow our careers and also on the Web.com Tour this year with our performance, we were both very fortunate to enjoy some success which has led us to our PGA TOUR card right now,” Dou said during the press conference.

“The essence of PGA TOURChina is what the PGA TOUR offers, namely a world-class brand, global credibility and Web.com Tour access that gives players a path to the PGA TOUR. In addition, we’ve seen several players who have played in China move to the Web.com Tour and then advance to the PGA TOUR. It was thrilling to watch Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang both realize their dreams by following this path all the way to the highest level of golf, the PGA TOUR,”

PGA TOUR-CHINA WILL HOLD QUALIFYING TOURNAMENTS, FOR PLAYERS FROM MAINLAND CHINA AND REST OF THE WORLD said Ty Votaw, Executive VicePresident of PGA TOUR Global Business Affairs.

P

rior to the start of the 2018 regular season, PGA TOUR-China will hold Qualifying Tournaments at tobe-determined sites, for players from Mainland China and players from the rest of the world, respectively. As golf continues to grow, PGA TOUR-China expects to attract a truly international membership, with the majority of the players coming from Asia.

“I think the value to the game is immeasurable, and I think we’re going to see that play out for a long time to come,” said Monahan, speaking about PGA TOUR-China’s place on the golf landscape. “But the value to us, again, it goes back to, you look at the way that our partnership with the [China Golf Association] has developed through the years to coming here with the World Cup in 1995 and playing it four times to having the WGC-HSBC

Champions in 2009 to hoping an office in Beijing in 2013 to establishing PGA TOUR China in 2014.

“Obviously,” Monahan continued, “we feel very strongly about this market and its ability to use our platform to pull more young people in the game and help grow the game. Any time you do that, that’s especially a benefit to the PGA TOUR.” “We believe PGA TOUR-China will present outstanding competition every week played at strong golf courses throughout the country. Our 2018 season ensures that we’ll continue providing exceptional playing opportunities for our players,” said Greg Gilligan, Managing Director of PGA TOUR Greater China. “ We strongly feel P GA TOUR-China is good for golf in China and for Chinese and international players,” Gilligan continued. “We are very happy to again operate in 2018 and beyond.”

P

GA TOUR-China began in 2014, and the TOUR immediately added credibility in a country where golf is still a relatively young sport. In the three years of its existence, PGA TOUR-China has sent players to the Web.com Tour and subsequently the PGA TOUR, with players also winning on the European Tour and performing well on the Asian Tour. PGA TOUR China Series immediately established itself as a high-quality golf tour, a place where up-and-coming players could hone and display their talent.

In 2014, then 19-year-old Li Haotong of China won three tournaments in his home country and advanced to the Web. com Tour and held membership on that circuit before moving to the European Tour after winning the 2016 Volvo China Open. He represented China at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Earlier this year, Li had the highest PGA TOUR finish by an alumni when he was third at The Open Championship in England.

Following in Li’s footsteps is Dou, another 19-year-old from China, who played in the PGA TOUR’s season-opening event, the Safeway Open in California.

december 2017 | golf digest india

83

On the PGA Tour

Terrific Treat For Asian Fans Justin Thomas

T

he PGA TOUR’s annual Asian odyssey served up a marvelous treat for golf fans across Malaysia, South Korea and China during a spectacular month in October, delivering edge-of-the-seat action for the most avid golf fans and those new to the game as well.

Three tournaments delivered three worthy champions, and each provided inspiring tales that will resonate along the region’s fairways in the years to come. Golf is a sport that rewards hard work, relentless preparation, extreme attention to detail and a never-give-up spirit. Those attributes were identified in each of the champions of the three October events.

The CIMB Classic, celebrating its eighth edition, was hailed as a battle of young guns, with two-time defending champion and newly crowned FedExCup winner, Justin Thomas, 24, headlining the US$7 million Malaysian showpiece alongside Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, 25.

Both young stars are the epitome of today’s generation of golfers who are now dominating the sport in what is becoming quite an exciting post-Tiger Woods era.

Thomas and Matsuyama are lean, mean and fearless, and arrived in Malaysia as hot favorites following a combined 11 tournament victories during the preceding 12 months.

Much was expected from the dynamic duo, both ranked in the world’s top five, but by the end of a thrilling week, it was a 41-year-old veteran who was laughing all the way to the bank following an emphatic, if not, fulfilling victory.

Pat Perez is a self-confessed, happy-golucky golfer who opposes fitness or diet regimes and believes in enjoying life to the

84 golf digest india | december 2017

Justin Rose

Pat Perez

fullest. He wears high-top golf shoes and keeps his hair long and flowy, reminiscent of 1980s rock stars.

“I'm not going to change anything,” said Perez after running away with a four-shot triumph in Malaysia. “I’m still not going to work out. I’ll still have a bad diet, and I’m going to enjoy myself. I don't get ahead of myself, I don’t look in the past, I’m just kind of doing it. I think I’m the last guy that expected to win this week, to be honest with you. I did not think I was going to win.”

Just over 18 months ago, the colorful American, who grew up in the same era as Woods, was sidelined following a shoulder injury. When he began his comeback, the gremlins in his mind planted seeds of doubt, but he received a boost through a sponsor’s invitation to play in the 2016 CIMB Classic.

A tie for 33rd seemed irrelevant then, but Perez went on to post a top-10 in his next start before going on to win the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico for his second career PGA TOUR title. That victory sparked Perez to a career best 15th position in the final FedExCup standings during the 2016-

“IT’S AN UNBELIEVABLE HONOUR TO WIN THE INAUGURAL CJ CUP. IT’S A GREAT WAY TO CAP OFF THE YEAR.” —JUSTIN THOMAS

17 season and victory at the CIMB Classic in October was validation that redemption does belong to those like Perez who keep up the fight despite adversity.

As Perez earned the plaudits in Malaysia, Thomas headed to the CJ CUP very much low on gas for his final tournament of 2017.

An opening 63 was the rejuvenation that he needed on Jeju Island, known as the Hawaii of Korea. But buffeting winds over the next three rounds in the nation’s first official PGA TOUR tournament ensured a dogfight.

Running on what seemed purely adrenaline, the 2017 FedExCup champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year, Thomas clawed his way into a playoff with Australian Marc Leishman by making a closing birdie in regulation and then securing a stress-free birdie on the second playoff hole to land his career seventh PGA TOUR victory.

“It’s an unbelievable honour to win the inaugural CJ CUP. It’s a great way to cap off the year. I’m really excited to do nothing for a while,” said Thomas.

The Asian swing concluded in Shanghai with world No. 1 Dustin Johnson bidding to become the first man to hold three World Golf Championships titles in the same calendar year.

Following three exquisite rounds of 6863-68, the long-hitting American opened up a commanding six-shot lead heading into the last round at the HSBC Champions.

However, the powerful Johnson was uncharacteristically blown off course on a blustery Sunday, with a disappointing 77, ruining his hopes of making history.

England’s Justin Rose seized advantage of Johnson’s mishap, firing a glorious 67 which included five birdies on his back nine to triumph by two shots.

On the PGA Tour

Australia’s James Marchesani

Marchesani wins maiden pro title at Clearwater Bay

P

GA TOUR-China didn’t have a full schedule in 2017, but that didn’t stop the international developmental tour from putting on a show anyway. Australia’s James Marchesani sank a pressurepacked six-foot birdie putt on the final hole in Hong Kong in early November to win the first title of his pro career, at the PGA TOUR-China’s Clearwater Bay Open.

Against a South China Sea backdrop, Marchesani, who started the day 4-under as one of three co-leaders, shot a 3-under 67 at Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club for a 7-under 273 and a one-stroke victory over playing partner, England’s Callum Tarren.

Eugene Wong, a Canadian of Hong Kong descent, shot a bestof-the-day 66 to secure third place, at 4-under. By finishing inside the top three, all three players also earned starts in the first three tournaments of the 2018 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR

Latinoamerica schedules.

The tournament, however, belonged to Marchesani, who spent much of the day trailing Tarren. The round truly became a battle of two 27-year-olds looking for their breakthrough wins as pros, with the Australian snaring an eagle on the par-5 15th and a birdie on the par-5 18th to eventually triumph.

“I feel pretty good for a pretty good reason because the trophy’s mine. It’s been a long week but a very good one, and I’m very pleased to notch that first win,” said Marchesani, who tied for second in August at the PGA Tour of Australia’s Fiji International.

Marchesani is the event’s second successive Australian winner. He said a few tips from inaugural champion Daniel Nisbet may have helped—

and he may even follow his compatriot’s lead in playing across two tours after his victory earned him full membership on next year’s PGA TOUR-China.

“I played behind Dan in the pro-am, and when we stopped between holes, we went back and forth with a few ideas about

MARCHESANI IS THE EVENT’S 2ND SUCCESSIVE AUSSIE WINNER. HE SAID A FEW TIPS FROM INAUGURAL CHAMP DANIEL NISBET MAY HAVE HELPED

where to hit it, where not to hit it. It was good to get a couple of tips. Hopefully I’ll come back next year and defend or another Aussie might pip me,” Marchesani added.

“It’s still pretty early to decide,” Marchesani added, “but PGA TOUR-China plays mid-year, which is the gap for our Australasia Tour so it should work in pretty well. I can play on both and swing back and forth and play a full schedule for the entire year.”

december 2017 | golf digest india

85

On the PGA Tour

TOUR SNIPPETS KENTUCKY LANDS FIRST PGA TOUR EVENT SINCE 1959 The Barbasol Championship is moving courses – and states. With new host facility Keene Trace Golf Club serving as the backdrop and Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin heading a delegation of state and local dignitaries who joined PGA TOUR executive Andy Pazder, the TOUR announced October 18 that the event will become Kentucky’s first PGA TOUR tournament in decades. It is scheduled for July 16 to 22, 2018.

The fourth-year event will be contested on the Arthur Hills-designed Champions course in Nicholasville, approximately 10 miles from downtown Lexington. The move for the Barbasol Championship follows a successful three-year run at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Grand National course in Opelika, Alabama.

It will be the first PGA TOUR

tournament to be held in the state since the Kentucky Derby Open was contested in Louisville from 1957-59.

Gary Player claimed his first TOUR victory in the 1958 event. PGA TOUR Champions also held the Bank One Classic in Lexington from 1983-97.

The tournament will carry a purse of $3.5 million and award 300 FedExCup points to the champion. Officials are looking to make the 2018 Barbasol Championship a regional celebration that showcases the Bluegrass State and area attractions, including its famous horse farms and distilleries. The event is expected to have an economic impact in excess of $20 million.

In July 2017, Grayson Murray emerged from a Barbasol Championship field that included seven major championship winners to claim his first PGA TOUR victory.

IN JULY 2017, GRAYSON MURRAY EMERGED WINNER FROM A BARBASOL C'SHIP FIELD THAT INCLUDED 7 MAJOR WINNERS

GENE SAUERS RECEIVES COURAGE AWARD The PGA TOUR announced November 7 that PGA TOUR Champions member Gene Sauers, who overc ame Stevens-Johnson syndrome to resume a full playing career before winning the 2016 U.S. Senior Open, has been named the recipient of the PGA TOUR Courage Award.

PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan presented Sauers with the award at Phoenix Country Club, site of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the seasonending event on PGA TOUR Champions.

The PGA TOUR Courage Award is presented to a player who, through courage and perseverance, has overcome extraordinary adversity, such as personal tragedy or debilitating injury or illness, to make a significant and meaningful contribution to the game of golf. Sauers is the third-ever recipient of the Courage Award, joining Erik Compton and Jarrod Lyle, who received the award in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

SAUERS REMAINED ON THE PGA TOUR TILL THE 2004-05 SEASON, BUT TOOK A 7-YEAR HIATUS FROM COMPETITION WHEN A MISDIAGNOSIS OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS TURNED OUT TO BE STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME

86 golf digest india | december 2017

“Gene’s determination in defeating Stevens-Johnson syndrome and resuming a successful PGA TOUR Champions career serves as inspiration for anyone suffering through a life-threatening condition,” said Monahan. “It required tremendous fortitude for him to overcome nearly insurmountable odds, and we are thrilled to present him with the 2017 PGA TOUR Courage Award.”

Th e C o u ra ge A w a rd includes a $25,000 charitable contribution to be distributed to a charity of the award recipient’s choice; this year’s contribution will be given to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a non-profit international center for treatment and research and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Clinician scientists at the Infirmary c o n d u c t re s e a rc h t h at aims to improve diagnostic tests, treatment option and prevention strategies for patients with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

Grayson Murray

US$56.6 MILLION ON OFFER FOR 2018 CHAMPIONS TOUR

PGA TOUR Champions announced its 2018 schedule, and Darren Clarke, Chris DiMarco, Dudley Hart and Robert Gamez took special notice.

All four players turn 50 in 2018 and are eligible to play PGA TOUR Champions, a Tour that announced November 8 the 2018 tournament schedule. The 24-event Regular Season will again give way to the third annual Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, which will be used to determine the season-long Charles Schwab Cup champion. The Tour will contest events in three countries and 20 states, with total prize money of $56.6 million.

The 2018 season will feature two new events, with The Ally Challenge marking the PGA TOUR's return to Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan, the week of September 10-16, and the Sanford International contested the following week (September 17-23) at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Images: PGA Tour

FOLLOW THE RACE FOR THE FEDEXCUP ALL SEASON LONG

COVERAGE AVAILABLE ON

© 2017 PGA TOUR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Player appearance subject to change.

Hi-Life Lifestyle

To share news on your products or updates on new launches, please email rohit@rnsportsmarketing.com

GADGET

PERFECT TAB FOR WATCHING GOLF ON THE GO Consumer electronics giant Samsung took the covers off the Galaxy Tab A 2017 recently, touting the tablet as a “mobile entertainment powerhouse”.

The 8-inch WXGA TFT display (1280 x 800 resolution) boasts 480 nit brightness and its robust build (weighing a little over 350g) comprises a variety of materials – a glass front and a rear black metal plate, with both sandwiching the plastic chassis in-between.

Priced at INR 17,990, the device is powered by a Snapdragon 425 (quad-core, 1.4GHz), coupled with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM (expandable via microSD up to 256GB). Samsung’s digital assistant Bixby makes an appearance too, although its only restricted to Bixby Home and Bixby Reminders.

In all, with a screen optimised for videos and a battery befitting a binge watcher, Samsung’s latest offering should find takers among those with a penchant for watching golf videos on the go.

Specifications Display

8.0” 1,280 x 800 (WXGA) TFT

Chipset

Snapdragon 425 (quad-core)

Memory

2 GB

Internal Storage

16 GB; expandable via microSD up to 256 GB

Camera

Rear -- 8 MP AF, f1.9 with LED Flash Front -- 5 MP, f2.2

Connectors

USB Type-C, 3.5 mm ear jack

GPS

A-GPS + GLONASS

Dimensions/Weight

212.1 x 124.1 x 8.9 mm/364g

Battery

5,000 mAh

OS/Upgrade

Android Nougat (7.1)

Video Playback

FHD (1920 x 1080 p) @ 30 fps

WATCHES

LUXURY ON YOUR WRIST Saluting the essence of India and the Middle East, Vacheron Constantin — the world’s oldest watch manufacturer — unveiled a couple of exclusive overseas timepieces. These special editions blend the open-minded spirit of both regions.

The 18K pink gold bracelet (2305V, for ladies) is domed, graced with a satinbrushed finish and the bezel comes set with 84 round-cut diamonds (total weight of approx. 1.0 ct).

The Overseas Chronograph watch (5500V, for men) bears the Hallmark of Geneva and is equipped with Calibre 5200, the new self-winding chronograph movement. It also comes in an 18K pink gold 42.5mm diameter case.

Price: 2305V (ladies) INR 34,70,000

88 golf digest india | december 2017

Price: 5500V Chronograph (men’s) INR 36,36,000

Lifestyle

FASHION

FOR THE PERFORMER

Skechers Go Golf Pro is one of the most advanced golf shoes.

It combines a classic design with replaceable spikes, and is completely waterproof. Its comfort traction outsole provides sturdy, turf-gripping performance that keeps you playing your best from the tee to the green.

• Waterproof, premium leather • Lightweight performance cushioning • High-performance Resamax cushioned insole • Replaceable softspikes Price - Rs. 14,999 onwards

LUXURY

GET SET TO PARTY WILDEBEEST BAR (BLACK) A beautiful, monochrome bar cabinet in ebony.

It has a compartmented interior and shelves to store bottles, buckets and other glassware.

Attached is a drawer and an extra storage segment on top. Opening the cabinet reveals a lovely, roomy interior and by lifting the top you can catch a glimpse of the gorgeous, studded mirror. This captivating cabinet will certainly be the center of attention at your next party Dimensions - 28 x 18 x 42 inches Price - Rs. 75,500

WRANGLER BAR (BROWN) This gorgeous brown bar cabinet is a must-have; it will sit beautifully in any corner of your home. It features a segmented interior to store glassware, bottles and other accessories. You can easily hang your wine glasses, store your rum bottles and stock your trays and buckets. On top is a drawer and a platform to use when serving drinks. A simple and elegant piece like this one is certain to wow your guests Dimensions - 36 x 22 x 51 inches Price - Rs. 139,000

compiled by karthik swaminathan

december 2017 | golf digest india

89

Lifestyle

In partnership with THE MAN magazine

SPLURGE

Make a statement off the course Auspicious Dragon from Lladro Price: `7,68,300

Lucaris Desire Collection Price: On request Chivas Nappa Dori limited edition pack Price: Chivas 12 `3,850 / Delhi Chico La-Royale collection by AM Eyewear Price: `25,000 onwards; G-23, South Extension, Delhi

Shahnaz Husain Premium Black Deo for Men. Price: `269 / 130ml Puma Netfit Price: Rs 11,999; puma.com/netfit

The Moustache Must-Have at The Stylease Price: Rs 550 / rent 4 days / buy Rs 2,000; thestyletease.com

Lapis Bard Savile Row Credit Card Holder from William Penn.

Price: `4,000; Available exclusively at William Penn stores across India.

Candlestand from THEWHITETEAK COMPANY Price: `12,950; whiteteak.com

Beverly bar cabinet from IDUS Price: Rs 1,92,500; 10/57 Kirti Nagar Industrial area, New Delhi

90 golf digest india | december 2017

HOLE-INONE CLUB

GOLF DIGEST HELPS YOU COMMEMORATE THIS MEMORABLE ACHIEVEMENT Share details of your Hole-In-One and get inducted into the Golf Digest India Hole-In-One Club

Its Free!

PLEASE VISIT GDIACERS.COM TO REGISTER YOUR HOLE-IN-ONE

CONGRATULATIONS ACERS (Jan 1, 2017 onwards)

Aroush Tagore Tollygunge Golf Club November 12, 2017 Sidharta Das Mukerji Tollygunge Golf Club November 5, 2017 Sudhir Bhatia Qutab Golf Club, Delhi September 15, 2017 Ashok Mundra Bombay Presidency Golf Club August 10, 2017 Praveen Biyani DLF Golf & Country Club July 23, 2017

SAVE UPTO

44%

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 7

RNI NO. HARENG/2016/66983 NOVEMBER 2017 `150

THINK YOUNG | PLAY HARD

PUBLISHED BY

INDIANS ON A ROLL G AG A N JEE T B H UL L AR & A J EE T ESH SANDHU

+ INDIA LEARN GOLF WEEK

Exclusive Official Media Partner

Cover November Final.indd 1

10/25/2017 2:41:16 PM

NOW L DIGITA

visit golfdigestindia.com

SUBSCRIBE

TO THE WORLD’S MOST WIDELY READ GOLF MAGAZINE Term

No. of Issues

Cover Price

Your Price

Savings

Discount

1 Year

12

` 1800

` 1200

` 600

33.33%

3 Years

36

` 5400

` 3000

` 2400

44.44%

Please send your cheque, drawn in favour of Rishi Narain Golf Management Pvt Ltd A /c Media, to Rishi Narain Golf Management Pvt. Ltd. 430-432 Suncity Success Tower, Golf Course Extension Road, Sector 65, Gurgaon 122101, Haryana Do remember to include your name, postal address, mobile number and email

TO SUBSCRIBE: SMS

GDI to +91 9999868051

Call

+91 9999868051

Email

subscribe@teamgolfdigest.com

Pay online www.golfdigestindia.com/subscribe

18 Holes with Devang Shah

‘Would love to play Augusta’ Devang Shah is Managing Director of one of India’s leading real estate developers, Navratna Group.

A passionate golfer, he constantly works towards developing the sport in the country and has been doing so for many years.

Shah and Navratna built Kalhaar Blues & Greens, one of the India’s top championship courses, in 2012.

Shah also serves as Chairman of the Junior Development Committee at the Indian Golf Union (IGU) and as President of the Golf Industry Association of India (GIA). He spoke to Golf Digest India about his love for the game.

GDI: What is your home

1 club?

Kalhaar Blues & Greens, Ahmedabad GDI: When did you start

2 playing golf?

GDI: What do you love 3 about the game?

The variables, the fact that you play against yourself, and the similarities the game has with life!

GDI: Who do you play golf

4 with the most?

With my friends: Parthiv Mehta, Rajiv Vasa and Aditya Shah. Its always Parthiv and myself against Rajiv and Aditya.

GDI: How about your 5 dream fourball?

Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Donald Trump and me GDI: Favourite golf course 6 in India and abroad Kalhaar Blues & Greens (KBG) in India. My favourite course abroad is Bethpage Black. Among others, I’d love to play on the fabled Augusta National GC! GDI: How often do you get to play?

7 Thrice a week: Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, when I am in Ahmedabad

98 golf digest india | december 2017

Jack Nicklaus among men and, among women, Annika Sorenstam.

GDI: Describe your

10 most memorable

January 27, 1997

“...A GOLF COURSE IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO SPEND 4-5 HOURS WITH THE PERSON YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH. THE ENVIRONMENT IS RELAXED.”

GDI: Favourite male and

9 female golfers

GDI: Your thoughts on doing business on the golf 8 course?

I have already built a successful business around a golf course!

On a more serious note though – a golf course is the perfect place to spend 4-5 hours with the person you want to do business with. The environment is relaxed.

And you also get time for more thoughtful questions and answers in between conversations.

golfing experience I had my first, and till-date only, Hole-in-One on September 22, 2012, on the day my golf course was opened! Now that’s what I call “the Golfing Gods smiled on me”. Its perhaps the rarest of events that an owner achieves a hole-in-one on the day his golf course is inaugurated!

GDI: Do you use any golf

11 apps on your phone?

Yes, I use PGATour.com, EuropeanTour.com and Asiantour. com. I have also requested PGTI to have an app soon!

GDI: Your current handicap?

12 Handicap Index 2.6

GDI: Your lowest handicap?

13 Handicap Index 2.6

GDI: On an average how

14 long do you drive the ball?

About 270 yards with my driver GDI: Your favourite

15 holiday destination

New York

GDI: Favourite dish on

16 your home course

Masala Oats

GDI: Mid-round power

17 snack

Always a cup of tea with butter toast while playing at KBG. Otherwise, bananas and nuts.

GDI: Favourite 19th hole

18 drink

Nimboo Pani, if I’m at KBG. Else, a glass of beer when I’m not in Ahmedabad.

Total Number of pages (including cover pages) is 100 Monthly Magazine, RNI N0. HARENG/2016/66983