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US OPEN PREVIEW ERNIE REFLECTS ON 1997 CONGRESSIONAL: A BRIEF HISTORY
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GOLF INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
BALANCE
TOP WRITING Peter Alliss Robert Green Jeremy Chapman John Hopkins Bruce Critchley Dr Felix Shank The Major!
ISPOWER Dan Frost shows you how to build stability and improve the ‘sequencing’ of your swing
Master Blaster On the tee with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel Dazzled by the Azaleas Clive Agran’s Augusta debut Screen test Tom Cox on the battle of the broadcasters
THE Gi INTERVIEW Sky Sports’ David Livingstone on 20 years in the world's top golf job
ISSUE 102 • JUNE 2011 • £4.25
02
9 771368 402034
THE MANY GLORIES OF GOODWOOD / LATEST SHADES / GOLF IN ST MORITZ / MOTORING & MORE
GOLF INTERNATIONAL
RICHARD SIMMONS
MAGAZINE
FIRST UP
ESSENTIAL READING FROM THE BEST IN THE GAME
10, Buckingham Place, London SW1E 6HX Tel: +44 (0)20 7828 3003 Editor: Richard Simmons richard@golfinternationalmag.com Editor in Chief: Robert Green robert@golfinternationalmag.com Equipment Editor: Dominic Pedler dominic@golfinternationalmag.com
Seve: one of the
Design: Tony Seagrave design@golfinternationalmag.com Professional Teaching Panel: Robert Baker, Tim Barter, Pete Cowen, Jim Christine, Dan Frost, Andrew Hall, Simon Holmes, Paul Hurrion, Stuart Morgan, Denis Pugh, Stuart Smith, David Whelan & Jonathan Yarwood Regular Contributors: Clive Agran, Peter Alliss, Colin Callander, Jeremy Chapman, Tom Cox, Richard Gillis, Anthony ffrench-Constant, Michael Flannery, John Hopkins, Tony Johnstone, Kevin McGimpsey, David Purdie, Ronan Rafferty, Sarah Stirk, Jayne Storey, Paul Trow & Jake Ulrich
greatest, most gifted golfers the world has ever known
Photographers: David Cannon, Peter Dazeley, Ross Kinnaird, Andrew Redington, Getty Images, Charles Briscoe-Knight, Matthew Harris, Mark Newcombe, Eric Hepworth, Steve Read
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW HARRIS THE GOLF PICTURE LIBRARY
Regular Illustrators: Peter Clark, Harold Riley, Dave F. Smith, Tony Husband
Saturday May 7 2011, 7am. As the last remaining pages of this issue were sent to press in the early hours of Saturday May 7 it was announced that Seve Ballesteros had finally lost his battle with cancer following the brain tumour first diagnosed in October 2008. According to the five-time major champion’s official website, Seve passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family at his lifelong family home in Pedreña. He was 54.
Overseas correspondents: Karl Ableidinger Austria Jan Kees van der Velden Holland Spencer Robinson Hong Kong Mario Camicia Italy USA Andy Brumer Advertising/Publishing Director: Peter Simmons peter@golfinternationalmag.com Tel: (020) 7828 3003 • Mobile: 07827 995 080 Advertising Director: Nick Edgley nick@golfinternationalmag.com Mobile: 07774 703 491 Advertising Consultant: Ian Harkness ian@golfinternationalmag.com Tel: 01702 558512 • Mobile: 07980 464 378 US Travel Representative: Gary Edwards gary@coastalsc.com Tel: (00) 1 843 849 1308 Special Projects: Brosnan Event Management Tel: (020) 8691 6836 Printers: St Ives Web Ltd // Tel: 01726 892400 Distribution: Comag // Tel: 01895 433600
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BYKEVIN MURRAY
It was the news none of us ever wanted to hear but increasingly feared we would. Seve’s condition had worsened just three days earlier, during – by unfortunate coincidence – the week of the Spanish Open in Barcelona, where he had won the last of his 87 career titles in 1995. Word quickly spread that Ballesteros's situation had taken a critical downturn. Jose Maria Olazábal was too emotional to speak to the media in the aftermath of his second round – “I can’t talk,” Olazábal said. “I can only wait, and cry.” As the sporting world mourns the passing of a true legend, European golf wakes up today to the realisation it has, finally and painfully, lost its talisman. There is no other golfer who can replace him. Seve, the first man from this continent to claim a Masters title (in 1980 – a feat he repeated at Augusta three years later) and a threetime winner of the Open (in 1979, 1984 and 1988) was golf’s natural-born genius. And yet he remained one of us. In 2010, during his last television interview with the BBC, Ballesteros spoke of fighting cancer. “You can’t have it all in life,” he told Ken Brown. “One day you feel fantastic, the next you never know what is going to happen. You just take a look at how many days of glory I had before. It has been a fantastic life and this, what has happened to me, is what I will call destiny; one test that God is putting on me.” We dedicate this issue to Seve’s memory. May he rest in peace.
ISSUE 102 • JUNE 2011
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Essential reading from the best in the game ISSUE #102 // JUNE 2011 Regulars Columns
Features
14
54
LETTERS
8
Do you have an opinion you’d like to share? Why not email us? You could win the latest FootJoy shoes and wind-shirts
23
PLANET GOLF 19th Hole Q&A David Livingstone...Ewen Murray presents his personal Top 10 of the Finest Things in Golf...2 Minute Lesson with Jonathan Yarwood...Jayne Story and Chi-Power Golf...more advice from Dr Felix Shank... new gear for summer...The Major!... nEW The Rules Office – how’s your general knowledge? ...Divots..!
90
Trading places: it’s like a merry-go-round at the top of the official World Rankings, as at the end of April Lee Westwood’s numbers come up for the second time following his back-to-back victories in the Far East. Plus there’s a round-up of the latest tournament results from the world of professional golf. Edited by Andy Farrell
76
98 BETTING After the excitement of Augusta it’s to the Congressional Country Club, Maryland, for the year’s second major. Gi’s betting expert Jeremy Chapman talks US Open
19TH HOLE A gaping hole in an otherwise exemplary CV was plugged in April as Clive Agran at last experienced a week at Augusta
162 THE LAST SHOT How can it be, in the modern era, and with Europeans dominating the world order, that three of the four majors take place in the US? John Hopkins suggests our own PGA Championship should be the fifth
CONGRESSIONAL CONFESSIONAL Steve newell talked to the two-time US Open champion and recent inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Ernie Els, as he prepares to return to the scene of his 1997 victory
The contrasting reactions of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at the end of a mesmerising Masters spoke volumes, writes Peter Alliss
46
REALITY T.V. At his home in Diss, Norfolk, Tom Cox was glued to the action as this year’s first major was played out both on Sky and the BBC
42 ON THE AIR
46 152 WORLD TOURNAMENT NEWS
AND ANOTHER THING... Such was the drama that unfolded on the final day of this year’s Masters it was easy to forget that Charl Schwartzel produced a fantastic last round to win. Robert green didn’t
SHOCK & AWE Until you have actually set foot inside the gates of Augusta National it’s virtually impossible to describe the experience. Now he’s been, Clive Agran tries
66 40
THE AMATEUR SCENE Officially still an amateur, England’s Tom Lewis has racked up the air miles this year in a bid to test his game against the very best in two leading professional events - Gi caught up with him. Plus we bring you our regular round-up of amateur tournament news, while Colin Callendar reports on exceptional low scoring in the McEvoy Trophy
FIRST UP Talking to sports supremo Barry Hearn for the interview last issue set editor Richard Simmons thinking about how golf can attract a younger audience – and this might be the answer
CONGRESSIONAL COUNTRY CLUB As it prepares to host the US Open for the third time in its history, bruce Critchley examines the pedigree of Congressional
124 SLOW PLAY Malcolm Allen reveals to Gi readers some ground-breaking, not to say mind-bending, new initiatives that will probably be introduced into golf clubs in Britain, with the aim of making the game more...er, whatever
134 C’EST MAGNIFIQUE With green fees running between 30 and 60 euros, the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, 100km northeast of Paris, is fast gaining a reputation as a golfing destination par excellence. And that’s before you uncork the bubbly, as Andrew Marshall reports
140 JEWEL IN THE SUN For many Turnberry is the UK’s ultimate resort, a magical place where the world-class golf is more than matched by the hotel and – as Gi’s Dominic Pedler can testify – luxury apartments
144 TRAVEL PAGES
The 18th at Congressional possibly the toughest finishing hole in major championship golf
In association with our travel partner Your Golf Travel we bring you the very latest stay-and-play deals at home and abroad, including Palmares in Portugal’s Algarve, a luxury break at Gleneagles and a package to watch the Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle
PHoTogRAPHy by JoHn MuMMERT / CouRTESy uSgA
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THE MANY GLORIES OF GOODWOOD As Steve newell samples downs golf and five-star service
112
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE We check out the latest in performance sunglasses for golf
114
MEMORABILIA Auction-room expert Kevin Mcgimpsey answers more of your letters
116
HIGH ON ST MORITZ Peter Swain loaded his sticks on the train from Zurich for St Moritz
120
MOTORING Anthony ffrench-Constant drives the Audi A7 TDI Quattro S-Tronic
107
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Probably the best instruction on the Planet! ISSUE #102 // JUNE 2011 // MORE GOLF WITH THE EXPERTS...
WITHIN PLANET GOLF 30
2-Minute Lesson: Jonathan yarwood shows you how to develop a better wrist action 'whip' that will help you generate more speed, greater power
30
Chi-power GOLF: Jayne Storey suggests a series of easy-to-follow exercises that can help you to warm up the key muscle groups before heading out
48
ALL POWER TO HIM South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel produced the round of his life to win the Masters in a thrilling finale at Augusta, blending tremendous power with an exceptional putting touch to round out his week with a stunning 66. Here, life-long friend Andrew Park takes you step by step through the swing of golf’s newest superstar, highlighting the specific moves you should try to copy
66
BUILD YOUR SWING AROUND BALANCE Making his debut on our cover this issue, one of the UK’s leading young coaches, Dan Frost, reminds you of the importance of what he regards as golf’s lost fundamental – balance. With a series of dynamic drills, he illustrates how you can quickly and easily improve the stability, ‘sequencing’ and speed for better ball striking
130 IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PUTT During a seminar at The Belfry Dr Paul Hurrion unveiled his latest Quintic Ball Roll Analysis system that is now guiding regular golfers – as well as tour stars – to the correct specifications and stroke. Dominic Pedler was there for Gi 126 NEW SERIES: In the first of a new series shot on location at Lough Erne Resort, in Northen Ireland, Director of Golf and head pro Lynn McCool gives you the tools to play better sand shots 130 MIND FACTOR GOLF A Lesson in Learning: Armed with some illuminating new research, leading European Tour mind coach Dr Karl Morris says it’s not what you learn but how you learn that determines the rate of improvement
Improve your power moves with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, page 48 PHoTogRAPHy CouRTESy oF nIKE goLF
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PLANET GOLF
GOLF DAVID LIVINGSTONE // EWEN MURRAY’S TOP-10 // DR FELIX SHANK // CHI-POWER GOLF // THE MAJOR...
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planet golf
19Th hOLE Q&A
19TH HOLE Q&A
started at around the same time – he had
DAVID LIVINGSTONE
unkind to say it was the blind leading the
never done TV – and I don’t think it is too
His is surely one of the most enviable jobs in all of golf – as the ever-reliable anchor to Sky Sport’s comprehensive coverage David Livingstone travels the world watching the best players in the game. Editor Richard Simmons dropped in on him
blind. But you know that’s what has been so wonderful about Sky over the last 20 years. Sky itself was going through its formative years and it gave these incredible opportunities to people like myself. They stuck with us. If you look at Sky over the last 20 years its gone from being a training camp to being a finishing school. Anyone coming in now is the finished article.
Gi: You are one of a handful of presen-
Sky bought the rights to screen American
ters to have been with Sky Sports for the
golf and so the adventures began. In
full 20 years – how did it all start?
those days it was novel – the PGA Tour
help from sports psychologist Alan Fine?
DL: I started out as a classic news
seemed a world away. But Sky saw an
DL: One of the producers had mentioned to me that I had a tendency to um and
Gi: I read somewhere that you had some
reporter in the early 1970s, did all the
opportunity to screen live golf in prime
training and was fortunate enough to
time and I was just lucky. They gave me
err quite a lot – a subconcious habit that
move into sport from there. Mostly foot-
the opportunity to present the coverage,
had to be broken. It just so happened I
ball. Then I started working for Scottish
which was just a huge break for me. I
was talking to Alan about how he was
Television as a reporter and production
could never repay the debt to Sky.
helping David Feherty to overcome quit-
journalist. I was with BSkyB from Jan 1
ting on his shots. He told me about a
1990, the merger with Sky Sports taking
Gi: Was golf a passion at the time?
place later that year. Sky won its first
DL: I played a little bit and I knew golf, I
attach a financial penalty every time you
Premier League contract in 1992 and I
had worked in golf, but it was quite
made that particular mistake (it worked
was a reporter on live games for the first
something to go on to present live golf.
for Feherty – he won the Italian Open). I
six months or so of that season. Then
And I think it showed. Ken Brown and I
10 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
technique he used, which was basically to
was heading out to the TPC for the
something you don’t question it. So even
Players Championship, facing long hours
though I was half thinking to myself,
over four days, and I decided to try it –
‘hang on, what about the Masters?’, I said
and I didn’t umm or err once. I haven’t
this to Tiger. And Tiger just said straight
seen Alan since, he’d probably want a
back: ‘No, I made the cut in the Masters’. I
cheque off me!
knew right away what kind of a young guy he was. He doesn’t forget anything
Gi: What would you say has been the
and is a stickler for detail. We [Sky] were
ultimate high of your job?
on the run with him from the very start.
DL: I’d say quite early on, the first Ryder
He gave us a five year high, at least, even
Cup for Sky Sports in 1995, which turned
when he quit working with Butch. He was
out to be such a massive Ryder Cup. As
very good to us and always has been. Gi: What do you think of the way
close to their sell-by date. We knew it,
Tiger treats the media?
they knew it: Howard Clarke, Seve, Mark
DL: In the early days I kind of admired
James, Philip Walton, these guys knew
that part of him, I thought it was a clever
they were unlikely to make another Ryder
thing to be guarded. He was young and
Cup. They were in the team because of
didn’t want to say the wrong thing. But as
their huge experience and on that final
the years go by I just wish that he would
day they really made that experience
open up a little bit. Particularly after all
count. The way it all happened on that
the trouble he has been through. All this
final day – the Americans just in the lead
business about saying he wanted to be a
thanks to Corey Pavin’s chip-in at 18 on
‘better human being’, I think he could
the Saturday night – it was still the best
have helped himself by being just a bit
final day I have been at. A lot of people
more open to the media. Having said that
were questioning Sky’s longevity and
he has been quite self-deprecating recent-
commitment to golf and I think the cov-
ly. I have noticed he pokes fun at himself
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ACTIONIMAGES.COM
you know, at Oak Hill a few of the European team were getting up there
Thanks to butch Harmon’s relationship with Tiger, Sky Sports has enjoyed a good relationship with the 14-times major champion
tors, because I couldn’t believe how spectator-friendly the course was, how easy it was, for example, to cross over fairways and get from one part of the course to another. People talk about it being a hilly
erage we put together that week demon-
but he still doesn’t give away too much.
and a demanding walk, which is true.
strated something. Of course the result
I’m not criticising him – how can you –
And how easy it is to walk down to Amen
went so well for us. I think Sky derived a
but I wish he would just give back a bit
Corner – that’s the part of it for anyone
lot of benefit for that result, especially for
more.
who has been, you stand down there and
Gi: Give us a reason to love him a little
on TV. It really blows you away. From a
Gallacher winning at the third attempt.
think of all the years you have watched it
Gi: Happily, Sky’s arrival also coincided
bit more?
spectators point of view, how well they
with the birth of Tiger’s pro career.
DL: Absolutely. That’s the distinction
are looked after, beautiful picnic areas,
DL: I think the Tiger Woods story is the
between Tiger and Mickelson. It’s pretty
the concessions are reasonably priced. I
one we have all been privileged to have
obvious to me that Phil is the most
can really see why anyone who has been
been a small part of. With Butch
loved golfer in America while Tiger is
lucky enough to go just loves it and feel
[Harmon] working as part of the Sky
the most respected. I hope he doesn’t
such a part of it. In fact more than at any
team, and Butch being so much a part of
take offence to that – but how can he?
other golf tournament the crowd literally
Tiger’s development, we have had a ter-
It’s the way it is. How can you love
is a part of it – certain parts of the course
rific insight to the career of the world’s
someone when he doesn’t give you any-
need the crowds to define the playing
best player. And, through Butch, Tiger
thing. I think we all respect his golf
area and create the atmospehere.
actually became a little bit a part of our
game and his right and judgment as far
team for a time. The first time I met him
as his own PR and all the things that go
Gi: Knowing the affection for Peter
was at the US Open at Oakland Hills in
with it, which is fair enough up to now.
Alliss and the BBC how daunted were
1996, when he was still an amateur. He
But I want him so much to get love back
you at the prospect of broadcasting the
had played in the Masters that year and
from the galleries because he needs it
Masters?
made the cut. At Oakland Hills he had
after what he’s been through.
just about everything on his card from a
DL: On a personal level I was very nervous about the whole thing. There was a
2 to a 7, spectacular golf, fairly ‘green’ in
Gi: You hadn’t been to Augusta ahead
tremendous pressure. The BBC has cov-
places, but just so exciting. They brought
of this year’s Masters – did you get the
ered the event with distinction for so
him over to our studio for a live interview
opportunity to really experience the full
many years and they do things their way
on the Friday afternoon. The USGA offi-
thrill and spectacle of the place?
and we do it our way. We had to show a
cial accompanying him nudged me and
DL: My first day there was a practice day
great deal of respect and seriousness
said it was the first time Tiger had made
and I just walked the course as a punter.
about what we were doing but at the
the cut in a major, and you know, some
To me that was the biggest thrill of all at
same time we needed to stamp our own
times when a USGA official tells you
Augusta – just being one of the specta-
mark on the coverage. Sky Sports and the
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 11
planet golf
LATEST GEAR
In gear for summer From exotic white drivers and matching shafts to new irons, putters, bags and balls, Dominic Pedler brings you a selection of the latest equipment on the market. In the zone – Yonex eZone The Japanese masters of super stylish equipment return with the premium eZone series whose flagship drivers come in a choice of 450cc and 420cc heads, both with a classy traditional pear shape and a centre of gravity aligned exactly in the centre of the clubface (unlike so many rivals where the sweetspot can be particularly high in the face). The standard shaft is Yonex’ new Nanopreme model developed in collaboration with a US nanotechnology company to provide more power from a highly elastic form of graphite and more control and stability through impact. Guide: £299 (£349 with Yonex Rexis shaft). The eZone irons continue the theme of precision CG placement, starting with the lavish Composite iron which now lowers the CG dramatically with a cleverly concealed 20g tungsten sole weight within an L-shaped cavity construction that effectively hottens up the sweetspot across a larger area of the maraging steel face. While visually far sleeker than a typical hybrid-style set, the Composite still delivers an ultra forgiving performance helped further by the same Nanopreme shaft (£999, 5-SW). The eZone range also includes two top-end forgings: the Forged Type PB, a moderate ‘Pocket Back’ cavity that comes standard with the excellent Nippon 950 lightweight steel shaft (£999 4-SW); and the sumptuous MB Muscle Back which Japanese whizz kid, Ryo Ishikawa, is already playing. www.yonex.com/golf Nike’s Master plan – the 20XI golf balls Nike enjoyed some great publicity at Augusta as Charl Schwartzel took the green jacket playing a full bag of the company’s clubs as well as the One Tour D ball, while Masters week also saw the launch of the ball that will replace it: the Nike 20XI, in appropriately themed green logos and numbers. The R&D team highlighted the new core construction which, in place of traditional rubber, is made from a special injected-molded lightweight resin claimed to offer a 2-3 mph faster ball speed than previous offerings and also a greater MOI from the relatively heavier three outer layers. As with other rivals chasing Titleist’s dominance with their ProV1 and ProV1x double act, the 20XI comes in two versions, each with subtly different performance characteristics despite sharing the same 4-piece construction, 360 dimple pattern and urethane cover. The 20XI-X is designed for less spin along with a slightly higher compression and a slightly harder cover to promote distance. The 20Xi-S has a slightly lower compression and a softer cover engineered for increased spin and control. Stewart Cink is among those already claiming an extra 10 yards distance off the tee, while initial reports from Golf Ball Selector suggest both balls are lower launching, lower spinning and slightly firmer feeling than the One Tour range they replace, yet with excellent greenside control. www.nikegolf.com Carry and roll – Powakaddy’s latest golf bags While best known as the market leader in powered carts, Powakaddy’s bag range has grown significantly in recent years, with a new crop for 2011 in various categories and colour combinations. Designed specifically for use with an electric trolley, the Deluxe IV cart bag features features 13-way, full-length club dividers, water resistant zips and lining, velour lined valuables pocket, anti-wear patches and quick-fixing rainhood hat. The bag comes in two different material finishes and six colour combinations, including White/Chilli Red, White/Sapphire Blue in PVC (at £149.99); and Black/Blue and Black/White in nylon (£129.99). The Sport III bag is a lightweight but sturdy construction with two apparel pockets, 11-way club dividers, four side-mounted pockets and a drinks cooler pocket (£99.99); while, at the same price, the Ladies Deluxe is particularly stylish lightweight nylon design also with 14-way full length dividers to ensure no snagging of clubs. All feature Powakaddy’s innovative key lock system which securely fastens the bag to the key plate of all of the company’s electric carts. www.powakaddy.com 12 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
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planet golf
2-MINUTE LESSON
1.
Take a regular stance, but grip down towards the head end of a mid-iron, and then prepare to make a swing. To prime your motion, move the grip a couple of feet forward (above), then let it fall and gather up that momentum to continue into the backswing
With the lower body stabilising and ‘resisting’ the rotation of the upper body, completing your shoulder turn rewards you with a compact and fully coiled backswing
3.
14 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
4.
The key to this drill is that you really ‘crank’ the wrists back to set the clubshaft up in this 90-degree angle by the time your hands reach waist-high
Now for perhaps the key move: this release and crossover of the hands and forearms is what will enable you to create a real swish of the shaft through the impact area – speed
2.
5.
Develop a better wrist action ‘whip’ – and generate more speed By Jonathan Yarwood PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE CANNON/GETTY IMAGES WWW.GOLFJY.COM
Good players often disguise the quality of their hand action within the overall framework of their body movement. But if you asked a top player to hit a full shot without using much in the way of body turn, you’d be astonished at the power and distance they could achieve. And that is down to the sheer quality of hand action that accelerates the clubhead through the ball – something this drill will help you to improve in your own swing. Take a mid-iron, turn it around and grip all the way down the shaft towards the head end. Then take your regular set-up and get ready to make a full swing, the objective being to create as loud a swish as you can through the impact area. (Go ahead and try this with your regular motion and see what sort of noise you can make.) Now, here are the key points I want you to focus on to improve the quality of your wrist action and your ability to ‘load’ and unload the shaft in the pursuit of speed. To start, move the grip a couple of feet forward (inset), so that when you let it fall into the backswing you can pick up on its momentum and really ‘crank’ your wrists to have the clubshaft set in this 90-degree position (2) by the time your hands pass waisthigh. Don’t be afraid of really hingeing your wrists back on themselves; as you do this you will be aware of the grip-end of the club really gathering pace as it swings up on its way to the top (3). Moving into the downswing, and here comes the real crux of this drill: as you unwind, I want you to focus on swinging through this fully released position immediately post-impact (pic 4 and main image right). This crossover of the hands and forearms is one of the common denominators in all good swings; it is evidence that the wrists have fully and freely released the club and expended all of their stored-up energy. Within the framework of a consistent body action, that’s the key to generating clubhead speed.
Good ‘sequencing’ of the swing sees the arms release the club in tandem with the rotation of the body through the ball and towards the target. Here, you should be able to see your gloved left hand clearly beneath the right
“Use this as a warm-up exercise before you tee off and really loosen up the hands and wrists so that when you revert to a regular grip you can go after that same sensation of the wrists adding speed and ‘whip’ through the ball....” JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 15
planet golf
NEW SERIES 10 Teasers – True or False?
THE RULES OFFICE
1. A player may repair a pitchmark on the green even if his ball lies off the green.
PGA Professional and Rules expert Ashley Weller tees up a new series looking at some of the common areas that can cause misunderstanding – and poses 10 True/False teasers to test your general knowledge By their very nature the Rules of Golf can be quite
So, you’ve decided to declare it unplayable – how do
complicated when you get down to the detail. I have a
you proceed? You have three options, and to remem-
theory, yet to be proven, about club golf: if I could wit-
ber them, go back to school and think of your A,B,C:
ness every shot of every player in every group in the
‘A’ - AGAIN – play a ball as nearly as possible at spot
next Monthly Medal, I think I would witness a breach
from which the original ball was last played.
of the Rules by around 50% of the field. Not cheating,
‘B’ - BEHIND – Drop a ball behind the point where the
just unknowing breaches of the Rules. I hope this
ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole
new series will give you an awareness of how to pro-
and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no
ceed in a given situation – and give you confidence to
limit to how far behind that point the ball may be
use the Rules to your advantage.
dropped.
Ball Unplayable – Rule 28
lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer
‘C’ - CLUB-LENGTHS – drop a ball within two club“Remember your A,B,C.”
the hole.
Sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) we don’t hit the
Hint: If the ball lies in a bunker you may proceed
ball exactly where we anticipate and the ball ends up
under option A,B or C, but the ball must be dropped
in a nasty place. Whilst a Rory McIlroy might be able
in the bunker if proceeding under option B or C.
to extricate it with a heave of a wedge, the rest of us
ALL THE ABOVE OPTIONS CARRY A ONE-STROKE PENALTY.
2. If the player’s club strikes the ball more than once in the course of a stroke, the player must count the stroke and add a penalty stroke, making two strokes in all. 3. When proceeding under the Unplayable Ball Rule, the player may clean his ball, but may not substitute another ball. 4. If a player’s ball in motion is deflected or stopped by himself, the player is penalised two strokes. 5. A player is entitled to see his ball when making a stroke. 6. If a player’s ball lies on a wrong putting green he may play it as it lies. 7. A dropped ball must be re-dropped if it rolls to and comes to rest more than two club-lengths from where it first struck a part of the course. 8. When any part of the ball overhangs the lip of the hole, the player is allowed enough time to reach the hole without unreasonable delay and an additional 20 seconds to determine whether the ball is at rest. 9. A player may stand outside the teeing ground to play a ball within it. 10. In foursomes, penalty strokes do not affect the order of play. (For answers and the relevant Rule see below)
would do better to take a deep breath, assess our options, and possibly save ourselves a number of
THE PERILS OF GETTING IT WRONG...
shots by declaring the ball unplayable and proceeding
At the recent Texas Open, Kevin Na boarded the 9th tee
under the provisions of Rule 28 rather than take sev-
for his 1st round. After smashing his drive deep into the
eral hacks trying to get back on the fairway.
woods he declared his ball unplayable and returned to
First, some basics:
tually the same place Na lost his cool. Instead of return-
Q: Who is the judge as to whether a player’s ball is
ing to the tee to play 5, he took a wild swipe at the ball,
unplayable?
which ricocheted off a tree, hit him (incurring a further
A: The player makes the decision, regardless of how
one-shot penalty) and finishing even deeper in the trees.
good or bad the lie of the ball is.
Unfortunately for him, now his Option A (Again) would
the tee. However, when this ball also found its way to vir-
only mean him dropping where his previous stroke was
the course?
made, his option of returning to the tee having now dis-
A: The only place a player may not declare his ball
appeared. Many swipes later he got the ball back to the
unplayable is in a water hazard.
fairway, eventually holing out for a 16, a record for a par 4 on the PGA Tour.
DIVOTS BY TONY HUSBAND
16 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
1. True (16-1), 2. True (14-4), 3. False (may substitute another ball) (28), 4. False (19-2), 5. False (12-1), 6. False (25-3), 7. True (20-2), 8. False (16-2), 9. True (111), 10. True (29-1)
Q: Can the ball be declared unplayable anywhere on
Ashley Weller is a PGA Class AA member and has been Golf Operations Manager at Nizels Golf & Country Club, Kent since 2006. He is a member of the PGA Rules Panel, officiating at tournaments throughout the UK and Europe. In February this year he attended the world-famous R & A Tournament Administrators and Referees school at St. Andrews with delegates from 50 countries, passing the exam with a Distinction.
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PETER ALLISS
ON THE AIR
Different ways of handling adversity On the threshold of winning his first major championship, poor Rory McIlroy suffered a traumatic collapse at the Masters while Tiger Woods, as usual, carried on regardless
R
ory McIlroy's demise over the last nine holes of the
generation, but rarely has he been gracious. I find that difficult to
Masters caused much discussion in golfing circles.
understand. After all, it’s part of the game of life. I don’t think I ever
Not since Jean van de Velde's monumental blow-up
saw Muhammad Ali be ungracious in the same manner. He might
on the 72nd hole at the Open Championship at
have been a bit snappy on occasion, but there were always shafts of
Carnoustie in 1999 had there been so many errors
wit or a twinkle in the eye. Only on a handful of occasions have I
before so many eyes. In the space of three holes, McIlroy’s dreams were shot. His tournament ended, the caravan moved on. I’d say that 90% of commentators, writers and observers gave their considered opinion that McIlroy would take a long time to
seen that in the case of Tiger Woods. At Augusta, there were moments when Woods played majestically. He didn’t win but he looked back on track. How wonderful it would have been if he had come off the 18th green and, when asked the
recover. One or two even intimated that the wounds could stay forever. That’s why I was delighted to see, contrary to so many ‘expert’ opinions, he played so well the following week in the Malaysian Open. I can’t imagine what it must have been like flying from Augusta to Kuala Lumpur after suffering so many body blows, sitting with friends who would commiserate, arms round shoulders, trying desperately to find kind and sensible words of encouragement. You know the sort of thing – “Take the positives out of this”, “Learn from your mistakes”, “Don’t let it happen again”, “You’re only in your early 20s – there’s plenty of time”, and so on. Brian Moore, writing in the Daily Telegraph, had some very punchy words on the question of how sportsmen and women should behave in moments of adversity, particularly when the sporting gods have dealt them cruel blows. Comparing McIlroy with Tiger Woods and their like comparing Irish Stew to a hamburger. Moore thought McIlroy’s calmness could be seen as “worrying” and came up with the old line: “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” Moore speaks from the stance of playing a game at the highest level where the ball is
Is there a tougher job in golf when things ain't going Tiger's way? Money aside, of course
“shared”, where physical aggression comes very
usual questions, taken his hat off, rubbed his fingers through his hair, smiled, and said something like: “Oh, that was better. I really did feel I had a chance of winning coming down the stretch. You know, it was wonderful to get that feeling back.” The smile would continue and he might have said how he enjoyed the affectionate glow emitting from the crowd. But no. Po-faced and rude.
much into play. He played rugby, where they stamp, claw, gouge,
In the history of the game, no other great player has behaved in
punch and sometimes suffer irreparable damage in the cause of
the boorish manner of Tiger Woods when being interviewed. Go on,
sport.
put your thinking cap on, go back through all the faces of the great
Moore enjoys being controversial and I enjoy much of his writing,
champions you’ve seen play, and remember. I agree they didn’t all
but on this occasion I can’t agree. Golf is not a shared-ball game. It’s
jump about like Coco the Clown, but they did show a gracious side.
slow-paced, the demons are created in the player’s mind and he or
Perhaps it would be better described as “style”. Tiger certainly looks
she has to learn to deal with them. The dear late Sir Henry Cooper
stylish but on too many occasions his crassness shows and when
told me long ago that boxers had to learn to control their aggression
the opportunity comes along to reflect the warmth of the masses,
outside the ring. Within the ropes be a mean, fighting machine, but,
he spurns it. Well, that’s his business. It’s nothing to do with me
whatever you do, don’t get into a pub argument and hit someone on
and I don’t care. I’m just sorry that a player of such immense talent,
the nose, because your fists will be classed as lethal weapons.
who has been through some of the biggest personal turmoil of any
Tiger Woods is some 15 years older than McIlroy and, without question, has been a magical performer, the greatest by miles of his 18 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
human being, doesn’t appear to have the ability of looking in the mirror and doing a bit of self-analysis.
PHoTogRAPHy by ACTIonIMAgES.CoM
respective attitudes in front of the cameras is
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INSTRUCTION CHARL SCHWARTZEL
The key to winning often lies in capitalising on your good fortune and after chipping in for a three at the 1st and holing a wedge for eagle at the 3rd South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel certainly did that, ultimately closing out his final round at Augusta with four straight birdies for a gutsy 66.
ALL
POWER TOHIM Analysis: Andrew Park
MASTER CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR, DAVID LEADBETTER GOLF ACADEMY / ORLANDO SWING SEQUENCE COURTESY NIKE GOLF
Like just about everyone else I was engrossed in this
year’s Masters which must surely rank among the great major championships of the modern era. Not since Jack Nicklaus romped away with his sixth green jacket in 1986 have I found this tournament so utterly gripping – and the quality of the golf this year was exceptional. Writing in this magazine last year, following Charl’s back-to-back wins in his native South Africa, I noted that he was about to enter a phase of his career that would do justice to his tremendous talent, and the way he handled himself over those potentially treacherous closing holes to win his first major championship was just unbelievable. We all feel for Rory McIlroy but at the same time you have to stand up and applaud anyone with the guts to reel off four straight birdies to make a major breakthrough. And when you take a look at these fantastic images of his swing, (overleaf) it’s easy to see why Charl has long been regarded as one of the hottest talents in world golf. So for all of you young and athletic golfers out there, take a tion to the role of the legs/lower body in the coiling of the
The new Masters champion is helped into the green jacket by three-times winner Phil Mickelson
backswing and (even more important) the way the legs sta-
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ACTIONIMAGES.COM
good look at this fantastic swing, and pay particular atten-
20 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
POWER PLAY
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 21
MASTERS SHOCK & AWE
Shock & awe Until you have actually been there it’s impossible to fully understand what Augusta National and the Masters tournament is all about. Gi’s Clive Agran took the fast plane to Georgia PROLOGUE “What’s up with you?” my wife asked as she
handicapper with a tendency to slice that
found me leaping around the living room
was never very likely to happen.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW HARRIS
repeatedly yelling ‘Augusta’. “The Editor of
22 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM MARCH/APRIL 2011
Better at spelling than golf, I turned to
Golf International has just had a baby girl,” I
writing. More capable of splitting infinitives
explained. “How lovely,” my wife said,
than fairways, I eventually evolved into a
pleased that I was at last revealing a softer
golf journalist. However, on discovering
side to my nature. “Augusta’s such a pretty
what I did for a living, the first thing people
name.” “Actually it’s Alex. But it means,
would ask was: “What’s Augusta like?”
come April, he’ll still be changing nappies
Revealing that I had never been there was
(ho! ho!) and won’t be able to go to Augusta
embarrassing. No one was interested in how
for the Masters. And so there’s a good
many Open Championships I had witnessed
chance I’ll be able to take his place.”
or wanted to hear about the time I chatted
Like every other golf fan on the planet, I had long nursed an ambition to go to the
with Arnold Palmer, my credibility was shot. But at last, aged 62 and a third, I finally
Masters. My original plan was to actually
made it to Augusta and so you had better
play in the tournament but as an indifferent
want to know what it’s like.
AUGUSTA
MARCH/APRIL 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 23
MASTERS TV REVIEW
M yIMAgES.Co PHy by gETT PHoTogRA
g last-round 66 n ti a ll ti in sc a to s the f inal touch dd a l e z rt a w ch S
Reality TV At his home in Diss, Norfolk, Tom Cox was glued to the action as the year’s first major was played out both on Sky Sports and BBC Maybe it’s a little different if you’ve only discov-
had Colin Montgomerie ever looked more like a
answered, “The lowest score!”. It was jocular,
ered televised golf in the last couple of years
small child, granted to appear on TV courtesy of
but also with just the hint that, somewhere
but to the vast majority of British viewers, the
Jim’ll Fix It?
deep inside, he still believes himself capable of
idea of watching the first major championship
I think the idea of Sky at the Masters is a little
achieving that score.
of the year without the voice of Peter Alliss is a
too new for me to properly comment on. It’s a
Overall, though, Player, and particularly
little like going to your granddad’s birthday and
bit like the golf version of having a new mum.
Nicklaus and Palmer, seem at a happy pro
realizing that nobody’s invited your granddad. Yet, as the 75th US Masters kicked off, where
She could be quite a good mum, but, even so, I
golfer’s age now, having long since got past
wouldn’t be able to tell, because I’d miss my
those middle-aged moments when a top pro
was Alliss? The answer was that he was waiting
usual mum too much. One welcome addition
realizes he isn’t going to win any more, and
for the live coverage to kick in on Saturday,
was that, for the first time, we were treated to
strives to find a way to fill the gaping hole left
along with the rest of the BBC team, while, for
live coverage of the pre-tournament Par-3
where a workaholic determination to win once
the first time, Sky Sports broadcast exclusive
Contest. Had a non-golfer tuned in here, they
was.
coverage of the first two days. This was a disori-
would have seen a rather ebullient advert for
entating experience that brought with it many
the game, including the site of Gary Player, Jack
might be premature, but there is a sense – with the exception of his almost zesty back nine run
Reports of Tiger Woods being “washed up”
questions. What, for example, was that weird
Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer larking around like
pointy wand Mark Roe kept waving about in the
old school friends. Player, one senses, was tak-
on Sunday – that he is experiencing a slight
studio? Had nobody thought that snatch of soul
ing proceedings just that bit more seriously
flash forward to the emptiness of that unhappy
music to signal an ad (changed, thankfully, after
than the other two. “What does it take to win
champion’s mid-life crisis. If you taunted a
the first day) might get a tad annoying? And
The Masters?” he was asked, and immediately
wasp, forced it into a tiny red shirt, and forced
24 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM MARCH/APRIL 2011
AUGUSTA
Swee t justice
for Luke Dona
ld af ter hit tin g the flagstick
Sk y’ s Diana D o
at 18
ughert y & Mo nt
y
PHoTogRA PHy by gE TTyIMAgES .CoM PHoTogRA PHy by gE TTyIMAgES .CoM
ar sta – this ye e in the u g u A t a n o (above) wer n has e ver w No Aust ralia ot t (lef t) and Jason Day c both Adam S the way on Sunday thick of it all Just a perfe ct day for th e Par-3 Cont e st n io p m a h c w e n e h t e t la u rat f irst to cong RRIS TTHEW HA PHy by MA PHoTogRA
PHoTogRAPHy by MATTHEW HARRIS
e KJ Choi is th
S.CoM TTyIMAgE PHy by gE PHoTogRA
PHoTogRA PHy by MA TTHEW HA RRIS
MARCH/APRIL 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 25
INSTRUCTION DAN FROST
“For so many golfers balance is the forgotten fundamental of the swing – and, critically, one that plays a pivotal part in every aspect of the movement.”
Build
youraround swing Balance By Dan Frost SHOT ON LOCATION AT STOKE PARK • WWW.FROSTGOLF.COM PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN MURRAY
Swing plane, spine angle, ‘smash factor’, ‘late hit’, ‘X-Factor’, ‘V-Gap’ – and so the list goes on. Common phrases you may have heard banded about in reference to the swing. And while this may all sound rather sexy, the one key area of the golf swing generally overlooked as players go in search of extra speed and distance is balance. I see so many players tied up with complicated theory that they neglect this critical fundamental of motion. If only they focused on improving their dynamic balance all of these things would slot into place a lot more naturally. So, over the following pages, let me share with you some of the drills I use in my everyday coaching that really bring about immediate improvement not only in your overall sense of balance but in the ‘sequencing’ of your swing as you build stability from the ground up.
26 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
COVER STORY / BALANCE IS POWER
FOUNDATION Sound leg action keeps you ‘grounded’ Show me a golfer who displays excessive movement in the lower half of the body and I’ll show you a player who finds it incredibly difficult to enjoy any sort of consistency when it comes to winding and unwinding the body in the golf swing. With poor ‘sequencing’ and a limited wind-up in the backswing, the downswing is then devoid of that automatic recoil that characterises a dynamic movement. The forward motion, drive and release has to be manufactured (as opposed to being
With a small resistance band in place, your leg muscles should feel ‘engaged’ at the set up as you flex your knees and take your regular stance
reactionary) – and is all the poorer for it. This simple resistance band exercise is designed to improve the very foundation of your golf swing. All you have to do is loop the band just above your knees and make it tight enough so that when you are in a good address position, knees flexed, your leg muscles feel ‘engaged’. Focus on feeling the weight balanced in the middle of your feet, not biased towards the heels or toes. With the band around your legs you will be encouraged to
maintain a solid base to your swing, improving your balance dramatically, keeping your feet very quiet and ‘heavy’. With improved sequencing in the backswing (i.e. a much better working relationship between your arms and rotating upper body) you will develop a more efficient coil and reap the benefit of then unwinding the spring with real gusto – more speed, more distance and more accuracy. For starters, that’s a pretty good combination!
The key is then to maintain that sense of athletic stability in the legs as you initiate your backswing – feel the resistance in the knees as you turn and coil the upper body
This supportive leg action provides you with a terrific sense of balance – and this compact three-quarter swing with a full coil is more effective than a longer, looser alternative (inset)
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 27
FEATURE US OPEN PREVIEW
A few days before the start of the 1997 US Open Ernie Els and his then coach Robert Baker were plotting their way around Congressional Country Club’s revered Blue Course. They reached the par-four 17th, arguably the toughest hole on the course and given the nature of major championship golf, one that would probably play a pivotal role in determining the winner of this 97th US Open. Ernie dropped a ball in the middle of the fairway at around typical driving distance. At that time it was a 5-iron into a narrow sliver of a green with water guarding the left and back portion of the putting surface – very dangerous, very USGA. A soft draw was the perfect shot to what they anticipated would be Sunday’s high tariff, back-left pin position. Ernie pushed one shot right. He then hit another to the same spot. At the third attempt he produced the perfect shot and his ball arced from right to left and thudded down into the centre of the rock-hard green, gently rolling towards the imaginary pin location. Job done. Time to move on. A week later I travelled to Florida to shoot a magazine feature with Ernie. Robert Baker was there, too. He’d videoed those practice shots on Congressional’s 17th hole and now he showed me the footage. It was not the sort of moment one forgets. The shiny US Open trophy was glinting next to us on the kitchen table of Ernie’s Lake Nona home. He had won his second US Open and, yes, the 17th hole was what had sealed it for him. That Sunday, in the heat of the battle, he produced the shot of his life. A 5-iron, a soft draw, just as they’d rehearsed it a few days before. Foresight and cirIt doesn’t get sweeter than that. “Yeah, we kind of knew that could well be a crucial hole when it came down to it,” comments Ernie. “With that pin position on Sunday, the 17th wasn’t ever going to be a birdie hole, not realistically anyway. Making par there was huge as it happened, because pretty much everyone else was making bogey or worse.” Tom Lehman was one of them. The third round
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
cumstance had come together in perfect harmony.
leader and reigning Open champion had blown his chances when he sent his Titleist for an early bath on this penultimate hole. Ernie’s playing companion Colin Montgomerie bogeyed it, too. Ernie walked to the 18th tee, at that time a par-three over water, with a one-shot lead. Much could happen still. “I just thought to myself, ‘please God don’t hit it in the water’!” jokes Ernie. He didn’t. A solid shot into the centre of the green and a nerveless two-putt kept Monty’s challenge at bay and Ernie was a two-time major champion. “The thing that week, the really big thing, was my putting,” recalls Ernie. “We had to finish our third rounds on Sunday morning and I hit some key shots to make birdie on 15 and 17, but the par saves were even more important. I made some 28 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
Congressional Confessional Steve Newell talked to the two-time US Open champion and recent inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame Ernie Els, as he prepares to return to the scene of his 1997 victory. Life is good for the Big Easy, but can the mighty Congressional Club inspire him to rediscover the old magic?
ERNIE IN ’97
Having rehearsed the shot in practice, Ernie knew what was required when he faced a 5-iron to a tight pin at the 17th on the final day – and he nailed it. Monty matched Ernie’s closing 69, but a second round 76 proved costly
really big saves and that gave me a lot of belief going into my final round that afternoon. You need that belief in any tournament, but especially in the final round of a major championship.” History still reminds us that Ernie had soft hands and nerves of steel that final day. He holed a chip on the 10th hole for birdie, which gave him a share of the lead, and he kept holing putts. “I made a few nice little knee-knockers coming down the stretch,” he says with almost a cheeky smile. “Even the putt on 18 was no gimme, it was at least four feet, but I hit a sweet putt right into the heart of the cup.” Ernie was 27 years old. With his second US summer and with Greg Norman and Tiger the three of them had a bit of a ding-dong battle for the No.1 spot. They traded places almost on a weekly basis. For much of the first half of 1998 Ernie was the No.1 ranked player. Few could have foreseen, least of all Ernie that he would not make it to the top spot again. Equally, few could have predicted that Tiger would win 14 majors. “I played for ten years
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW HARRIS
Open in the bag, he played sublime golf that
when that guy dominated,” says Ernie. “He won 14 majors. Think about that, 14 majors and in such a short period of time. For guys like myself, Phil, Vijay, Davis, Fred Couples, to have played under a guy who was that good, we took a beating, not only from him, but from the media, too. It was a tough 10, 12 years for us. Maybe if Tiger hadn’t come along I’d have maybe won six or seven majors. Who knows?”
with no great form to speak of. His PGA Tour results were poor, with only a couple of top-10s all season, and the week before the US Open he missed the cut in the Kemper Open. The omens weren’t great, but his golf at Congressional was. There are parallels with Ernie’s form this season. Golf being the funny game that it is, perhaps Congressional could light a spark in his game as
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW HARRIS
Who knows, indeed? One thing we do know is that back in 1997 Ernie went into the US Open
it did in 1997. “Overall my game has actually been pretty
acquainted with Congressional’s greens, but
obviously I’m looking forward to going back for
good for a while,” says Ernie. “You’re always
much else about this course has been re-config-
the US Open for all sorts of reasons. I’ve played
working on things and trying to get better. That’s
ured since 1997. The USGA was not a huge fan
the course in its new configuration and I like
the nature of the game. I’m not changing things
of a par-threeclosing hole for a major champi-
what they’ve done. It’s a different golf course
in the way Tiger has and actually, on that point, I
onship. “With a PGA Tour-level player, you let
now, especially finishing on the old 17th hole.
have to say I have a lot of respect for what Tiger
them put a mid-iron in their hand, they're not
That might suit me!”
is trying to do. But as a player you have to keep
going to hit it in the water,” says Mike Davis,
working on things. I think that’s something the
senior director of rules and competitions at the
What definitely suits Ernie is life in Florida. He has a beautiful family home at the Bear’s Club in
average golfer doesn’t fully understand. We’re
USGA. So, the original 17th is now the 18th,
Jupiter and the quality of life could not be better.
not like robots; we can’t turn up and play the
although significantly extended in terms of its
“The kids love it here,” beams Ernie, “and Ben
same every day. Things change, your body
length, and the old par-three 18th has become
goes to a nice school and is doing great. He’ll be
changes, your swing changes. But the key thing
the 10th, still a par-three but running in the
nine years old this year and he’s starting to say
for me is the putting. The game is still fun, but I
opposite direction (see panel on page xx to
some words, forming sentences and so on. The
could do with making some putts. That’s why
appreciate the full extent of the course changes).
move has been good for him. It’s been good for
I’m not having four good rounds the same week. I’m not making enough putts.” Ernie shouldn’t have any trouble getting re-
Ernie has defended over 60 professional titles in his 20-plus years on tour and going back to the scene of a major win is extra special. “Yeah,
all of us.” Ernie doesn't tend to talk much about Ben or how his diagnosis for autism has impacted on JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 29
FEATURE US OPEN PREVIEW
At 494 yards the par-four 11th hole is a tough two-shotter played through an avenue of trees, with a creek lurking to catch anything right of the green
Congressional Country Club The 1997 US Open at Congressional Country Club produced an epic – and the stage is once again set for this historic haven of privacy to welcome the game’s greatest players, writes Bruce Critchley PHoTogRAPHy by JoHn MuMMERT / CouRTESy uSgA
30 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
CONGRESSIONAL COUNTRY CLUB
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 31
INSTRUCTION
In search
of the
Perfect Putt “Putting is an art not a science,” claims Ben Crenshaw, which is all very well when you’re blessed with the perfect stroke of that particular two-time Masters champion. But for the rest of us – and that includes tour pros such as Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy – science is very much transforming our under-
Following last month’s putting instruction featuring Dr Paul Hurrion’s work with Rory McIlroy, we focus on how the same coach’s Quintic Ball Roll putting analysis system is now guiding regular golfers – as well as tour stars – to the correct specifications and stroke. Dominic Pedler reports on the ultimate launch monitor for your putting.
standing of the mechanics of putting and the way both our stroke and our equipment influence the vital dynamics of the golf ball on its final journey. In the same way that conventional launch
Quintic does all this through a state-of-the-art camera which (operating at 260 frames-per-sec-
tion to their style of stroke far more swiftly and efficiently than ever before.
monitors such as TrackMan, Vector, FlightScope
ond) only needs to capture the movement of a
and Foresight GC2 have revolutionised the long
specially marked golf ball over the first 12 inches
pros (which, along with McIlroy and Harrington,
Previously privy only to Hurrion’s roster of tour
game, so the equivalent technology for the more
of its journey for the software to impute all the
includes Lee Westwood and Robert-Jan
modest – but most used – club in the bag is
clubfitter needs to know about your clubface
Derksen), the Quintic software is now available
now emerging as an essential part of the clubfit-
contact and the resulting influence on the ball in
to all through the network of Gel Golf Fitting
ting process for golfers of all levels.
terms of the roll and path of putt.
Centres around the country. You don’t have to
One session on the latest Quintic v2.4 system
While some of the parameters Hurrion himself
use a Gel putter to be assessed by a Hurrion-
will dramatically alter the way you think about
summarises below can get rather techie in
trained expert – though you may nevertheless
the very nature of putting: opening your eyes not
nature, it’s worth stressing that Quintic is emerg-
want to one a try (see sidebar on Grooves).
only to obvious alignment issues but, more fun-
ing as a highly practical tool, in practice, both for
damentally, to the nuances of ball speed, spin,
coaches as a teaching aid and for clubfitters
the business of equipment ‘micro analysis’ fol-
launch angle and the nature of true roll.
who can now match a player’s putter specifica-
lowing his time as personal biomechanist to
32 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
It’s worth mentioning that Hurrion came into
British javelin legend, Steve Backley, over the course of two Olympics. “As well as measuring all the speeds, angles and trajectories of the javelin itself we would analyse all the body movements, such as shoulder separation, etc, using everything from force platforms to 3D simulation,” he recounts. “Back in those analog days, the number crunching could take as long as 24 hours to get the data for each training session. Now with the latest digital putting technology, the numbers and the feedback to the player are instant.” Following Gi’s visit to The Belfry to see the system in action, here is Hurrion’s instant guide to the putting parameters that the Quintic v2.4 measures (illustrated by some accompanying screen grabs) and why they matter so much to your own putting game.
PAUL HURRION’S GUIDE TO THE QUINTIC V2.4 PUTTING DATA Unlike the long game, where hooks and slices and their causes are far easier to spot, many putting flaws are invisible even to the trained eye. So the Quintic process starts with helping the golfer to understand the result of any putt – why they missed the hole, whether through alignment or from a particular ball dynamic at impact. Have they pulled it? Have they hit it slightly out of the toe generating some hookspin? Was it mis-alignment at address? Or have they hit a good putt but just mis-read it? Unless you know what it is, you can’t work on your game in any meaningful way. It only takes half a dozen putts for Quintic to paint a highly revealing picture of a player’s putting profile. Here are the main things we look for:1) Ball speed Obviously the pace of any putt is crucial, but developing a consistency of ball speed for any given length of putt is an often overlooked factor. If you’ve got more than 1 mph variation in pace for the six putts of 20 feet in our typical
WIN
WIN A CUSTOM-FIT GEL PAUL HURRION SEDO II PUTTER! In association with GEL Golf, Paul Hurrion has launched a number of GEL Fitting Centres around the UK that reflect their philosophy that for the best results on the greens, putters need to be specially-fitted to the individual. Hurrion is convinced that whilst most golfers recognise the benefits of custom-fit irons and drivers, it won’t be long before custom-fit putters really taking off especially given the number of times a player uses his putter in a round of golf. Hurrion’s unique fitting procedure uses specially-designed GEL equipment (a fitting tool, GEL mirror and ProStance) and nine skill drills alongside the Quintic Ball Roll Software that tracks the performance of the ball as it leaves the putter face in a similar way that Trackman follows the flight of the ball off clubs and irons. “Once you know exactly what is happening to the ball thanks to factual data provided by the Quintic Software, it is easy to provide expert advice on how to alter the putting stroke, posture, change the set-up of the putter or even recommend an entirely different type of putter in order to improve a golfers putting skills and hole more putts,”
says Hurrion, who also linked up with GEL to co-design the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range of Groove Putters. GEL Golf’s unique groove and insert technology that it uses in all of its putters is based on scientific testing that has proved that the use of grooves in the putter face creates instant forward roll on the golf ball, thus reducing the unwelcome effects of skidding and giving a truer roll. The GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range uses light aluminium inserts allowing weight to be distributed elsewhere in the putter head, pulling the centre of gravity up the putter face increasing forward roll. The Hurrion putters also incorporate tungsten weights to create MOI, and dif-
test, you’re going to be struggling. You might hit most of them at 5 mph – but even a 1 mph variation will makes a difference of some 4 or 5 feet. The software also includes a special graph of ball speed over time, where we’re looking for a fairly straight line reflecting a uniform deceleration to confirm the golf ball is hugging the ground throughout the putt. A wavy line shows there are moments when the ball is in the air and the putt is therefore slowing at different rates. This information really helps the golfer to
To enter, simply answer the following question: How many drills come with the GEL Training Mirror designed by Dr Paul Hurrion Answer A: 3 B: 6 C: 9 To enter visit: www.golfinternationalmag.com/competitions or answer on a Postcard to: GEL Competition, Golf International Magazine, 10 Buckingham Place, London, SW1E 6HX COMPETITION CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT ON 31ST MAY 2011
understand the importance of pace and feel, and the clubfitter to identify what loft the player needs on their putter to get a smooth roll.
For more on GEL Golf, visit www.GELGolf.co.uk
2) Side spin
GEL Golf is offering three Gi readers the chance to be custom fit with a GEL Paul Hurrion Sedo II at the nearest GEL Fitting Centre with each fitting and putter worth over £200.
Just like any other club in the bag, the ball can
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 33
AMATEUR
England’s Ace If you are an amateur golfer taking on the profes-
Globe-trotting England International Tom Lewis epitomises the current crop of elite amateurs who are more than good enough to compete with the pros. It's a case of timing the transition, and for Lewis, the Walker Cup comes first, writes Adam Hathaway
sionals you need all the help you can get so it is probably not the ideal start if your driver snaps on the first tee. That is what happened to Tom Lewis, from Welwyn Garden City, when he competed in the Dubai Desert Classic in February. Somehow, despite hardly hitting a fairway and only finding six greens in regulation, Lewis got it round in one-over par, made the cut and finished in 59th place against the top players in the world and pocketed yet another silver medal for being high amateur. Lewis, still just 20, is hoping to turn professional the day after the Walker Cup in September but he has had plenty of experience of mixing it with and shining against the megastars. In November’s New South Wales Open at Vintage Golf Club Lewis nearly pulled off a memorable win against the paid boys shooting a final round 66 to get himself in a play-off with Peter Cooke and Peter O’Malley. O’Malley prevailed on the third extra hole but a week later at the Australian Open at The Lakes, ishing 12th ahead of the likes of Michael Campbell, Stuart Appleby and O’Malley. If had been a professional he would have trousered the thick end of £14,000 but you get the impression Lewis won’t be short of a few quid when he takes the plunge. Lewis’ ability to adapt to the company of professionals is typical of the young golfers being churned out by the England Golf Union and their 34 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ACTIONIMAGES.COM
Sydney, Lewis again made his presence felt by fin-
THE AMATEUR SCENE
training schemes.
NEWS IN BRIEF...AMATEUR SCENE...NEWS IN BRIEF....
Players such as Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew there earning a crust, if they are not all banking lottery-winning style sums of money every week, and some other contemporaries from further afield, Rory McIlroy and Matteo Manassero need one of Ernie Els’ wheelbarrows for their cash. Watching these players and from his own experience of playing with the pros Lewis knows there is a better than even chance that he will sink rather than swim in the paid ranks. “It is nice to know there are players out there who we feel we are as good as and they are earn-
Sleaford’s James burnett shot a level-par final round of 72 to claim the Lima International Championship in Peru by a runaway four shots. Burnett, 19, finished with a six-under par total of 282 – four shots ahead of joint runners-up Antonio Hortal, from Spain, and Uruguay’s Juan Alvarez. Burnett’s win was built around a second round 66, six-under par, and steady closing rounds of 73 and 72. Hugo Dobson from Fynn Valley helped England to the team event honours which they shared with a pair from the hosting club. Leading scores: 282 J Burnett (Eng) 71 66 73 72; 286 A Hortal (Spa) 74 70 73 69; 286 J Alvarez (Uru) 68 71 74 73; 287 A Jordan (Peru) 72 66 72 77; 287 A Ortiz (Costa Rica) 72 72 72 71: Team: 581 England, Lima GC; 583 Spain; 585 Peru
ing a living and making cuts,” says the former British Boys’ champion. “I played a lot of a lot of junior golf with Matteo and what he has done has been amazing. “I missed a lot of putts that week at the New South Wales Open. I didn’t really know what to expect but I got into a play-off and just didn’t produce. It was a shame to finish second but it opened a lot of doors for me and gave me a lot of confidence for the next week. “Then I didn’t really hole a lot of putts but I still got up there in the top 12. I went straight to Dubai, my preparation wasn’t great going straight there after a month in Australia and my driver snapped on the first tee, I couldn’t hit the fairways, only hit six greens and still shot one over in the first round. But it was another silver medal and a great experience.” The experience of his dad, Bryan, who was a European Tour professional for a couple of years in the 1980s will help as well. Bryan was one of a group of more than handy golfers, including Bobby Mitchell and Trevor Powell who emerged from Welwyn Garden City about 35 years ago. You might have heard of another one of them who had a reasonable amount of success in the pro game. His name is Nick Faldo. Lewis Snr now works at a Hertfordshire driving range but his experiences on tour will help his son on the daunting trip into the professional game. Lewis adds: “He can give me an insight. He has been there and done it and he knows what’s what. It is good to have that help.” Before all that is the hectic schedule of amateur events. When Golf International spoke to Lewis he was packing his bags for The Lytham Trophy. Then his diary told him he had a trip to Ireland coming up, a Walker Cup get together in Aberdeen and entries at every major amateur tournament this summer including the Brabazon Trophy, the English Amateur and the Amateur Championship. They don’t get must rest these lads but the treadmill will start in earnest if he gets his Tour card in the autumn. And Lewis is sure he will fit in, he is currently looking for a management company and it would be a shock if none of the big firms picked him up.
Cheshire’s bronte Law (above) made it seventh time lucky when she held her nerve through a sudden death play-off to win the Scottish Under 16’s Open Stroke Play Championship at Strathmore. The England girl international, birdied the third extra hole to beat Chloe Williams of Wales. The two girls had both finished the 36-holes of regulation play on two-under par – with Bronte completing her second round with a birdie on the 18th to force a play-off. Bronte said: “This is the reward for seven years of hard graft in this competition. It’s also my last time here and that meant a lot.” England won the team competition, thanks to Law, Amber Ratcliffe and English U15 champion Georgia Hall (Remedy Oak). Leading scores: 142 Chloe Williams (Wrexham) 70 72, Bronte Law* (Bramhall) 72 70 (Law won play-off at third extra hole); 143 Amber Ratcliffe (Royal Cromer) 74 69; 145 Ellie Goodall (Selby) 77 68; 148 Clara Young (North Berwick) 75 73. Hampshire’s Elaine and Charlotte barrow, from Brokenhurst Manor, won the Mother and Daughter 27holes Stroke Play Foursomes at Royal Mid Surrey by a shot from Christine and Charlotte Griffith of Walton Heath recently. Charlotte Barrow, aged 14, a five-handicap, follows in the footsteps of England girl international, Alex Peters, from Notts Ladies, winner of the event for the past three years with her mother, Ann. Leading scores: 114 Elaine & Charlotte Barrow (Brockenhurst Manor) (75 & 39); 115 Christine & Charlotte Griffith (Walton Heath) (78 & 37); 116 Jill Thornhill & Caroline Weeks (Walton Heath) (77 & 39); 118 Elizabeth Boatman & Alex Howe (Royal Worlington/Royal County Down) (79 & 39); 121 Carol & Lauren Blease (Burhill) (79 & 42) England girl internationals Alex Peters and Heidi baek teamed up to win the London Foursomes for the host club, The Berkshire. Peters’ home club is Notts Ladies, while Baek’s is Felixstowe Ferry in Suffolk, but both teenagers are also junior members of The Berkshire while they study at Wellington College. In the final they came through with a 3&1 win over
Sundridge Park, represented by Kim Morris, a twohandicapper, and former Dutch international, Tita McCart. The competition is open to clubs within a 45-mile radius of central London and attracted 87 entries for 64 places. The ballot came at a combined handicap of 16 compared with 20 last year. Cheshire’s Sue Dye is the English senior champion for the second time after beating Nottinghamshire's Janet 4&2in the final at York Golf Club – sealing the victory with back to back birdies. Meanwhile the all-Yorkshire final of Flight Two was won by Pat Wrightson of Huddersfield who beat Carolyn Kirk (Ganton) 2 up. Semi-Finals: Janet Melville (Sherwood Forest) beat Barbara Laird (Sandiway) at 20th; Sue Dye (Delamere Forest) beat Roz Adams (Addington Court Ladies') 2/1 Final: Dye beat Melville 4/2 nathan Kimsey from Woodhall Spa equalled the competition record when claiming the Peter McEvoy Trophy at Copt Heath Golf Club (photo page 102). Kimsey shot a four round total of 272 to equal the mark set by John Parry in 2004, give him a six shot win over Chobham’s Greg Payne and join Lee Westwood and Justin Rose on the winners list. The most remarkable round of the week however came from Ireland’s Dermot McElroy who broke the course record in the final round with a ten-under par 61 to finish fourth. The 17-year-old Irish Boys’ Champion followed Rory McIlroy round in 2005 when he shot a 61 at Royal Portrush and looks set to make the Walker Cup team this autumn. Leading finishers: 272 Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa); 278 Greg Payne (Chobham); 279 Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan); 280 Dermot McElroy (Ballymena); 281 Jack Colegate (Rochester & Cobham); 282 Jamie Bower (Meltham) & Gavin
ToM WARD
Nixon, Chris Wood and Oliver Fisher are all out
Moynihan (Donabate). Nuneaton’s Andy Sullivan (above) was in record breaking form at the Selborne Salver at Blackmoor carding a first round 60 to shatter the tournament’s lowest score and handing in a 36-hole total of 129, the best in the event's history. Sullivan had a ten-foot putt on his last hole, the ninth, for a 59 in the morning but his brilliance was more than enough to account for runner-up Neil Raymond of Corhampton. Raymond’s total of 131 would have won every Salver in history barring this one and Royston’s Stuart Phillips and Steve Brown from Wentworth were a furcontinued overleaf...
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 35
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GOLF INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE JUNE 2011
GLORIOUS GOODWOOD / SUNGLASSES / MEMORABILIA / MOTORING & MORE...
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 37
Make a date at glorious Goodwood If you were asked to picture a typical scene at Goodwood then horsepower of some description probably springs to mind, either the four-legged or
Golfer and motorsport enthusiast Steve Newell didn’t know which way to turn at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Press Day. After a mind-altering passenger ride in Ferrari’s dazzling new 458 Italia, he had his senses soothed on the springy fairways of the Downs Course and spoke to Lord March about the good life at Goodwood!
the four-wheeled variety. This majestic estate set in the sublime Sussex countryside hosts Glorious Goodwood, the famous five-day horse race meeting
ed over the years it is now worth visiting not least
Spa facilities, nowhere else in the world can offer such
every July, bookended by the Goodwood Festival of
to stand and stare at the art collection, which
an extraordinary and diverse range of luxury experiences as you will find here.”
Speed and the Goodwood Revival, the largest ‘car cul-
includes breathtaking paintings by van Dyck,
ture’ events in the world and a double-whammy cele-
Canaletto and Stubbs. That’s just the tip of the ice-
bration of all things motorsport from the classic to
berg at Goodwood, though.
the modern. There are people, literally tens of thousands of discerning people, who won’t miss these events for all the tea in China. Goodwood is truly one of the country’s great stately homes. Originally a small Jacobean house it
“There is so much our customers can take advan-
Fittingly for this regal location, you will also find the Royal & Ancient game. Golf has in fact been an attraction at Goodwood for more than a century,
tage of when staying here,” says Lord March.
although for much of that time it has been something
“Whether enjoying a sumptuous private event at
of a hidden gem. The original nine-hole course was
Goodwood House, getting behind the wheel at the his-
conceived by six Sussex gents way back in 1892. The
toric Motor Circuit, taking to the skies from
entrance fee and annual subscription was just one
was bought as a hunting lodge by the 1st Duke of
Goodwood Aerodrome or enjoying the Goodwood
guinea, but a lack of membership in any significant
Richmond, son of King Charles II. Greatly extend-
Hotel and its modern Health Club and Waterbeach
numbers was a major problem until the sixth Duke of
38 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
GOLF AT GOODWOOD
Golfers who take advantage of Goodwood’s innovative membership program not only have two fine golf courses to enjoy but also access to the stylish Kennels Clubhouse (left) in addtiion to the main clubhouse (above). In addition to the golf, motor racing, of course, is central to the Goodwood experience, the Festival of Speed (July 1-3) and the Goodwood Revival (Sept 16-18) being among the most anticipated events on the social calendar
modern accoutrements. The same principles have been applied to the golfing experience. “If we were to have golf at Goodwood,” explains Lord March, “we wanted it to be the best, but also different and aimed at a younger audience. I wanted golf to move on, to take all the authenticity and history we have in our various sports and deliver this to our golfing experience in a modern and exciting way, which is relevant today. The Kennels, the clubhouse for our members at Goodwood, is the physical embodiment of that.” Very special it is, too. The elegant Georgian façade of the Grade 1 listed Kennels clubhouse built in 1787 for the Duke’s faithful hounds, now houses a wonderfully stylish and contemporary interior where members can relax and enjoy a Richmond’s family stepped in and saved the day. It
golf at Goodwood,” says Lord March, “as the flexible
long lunch, supper, or homemade cake and a pot
then thrived and in 1962 it became the Goodwood
and affordable Credit membership has given people
of tea. In homage to the building’s origins, dogs
Golf Club.
more value to their golf and meant that when they
can become members, too. A collection of named
haven’t been able to play due to various reasons they
water bowls is lined up in the lobby!
Lack of membership at Goodwood hasn’t been a problem in its modern incarnation. A major ren-
haven’t been penalised with a standard golf subscrip-
“Golf at Goodwood is golf as it should be,” pro-
ovation of the Downs Course in 2004 coaxed this
tion. Our numbers have increased year-on-year over
claims Lord March. “In other words, simple, flexible,
James Braid classic into the 21st century and
the past three years, which shows that our member-
not in any way stuffy. Unusually and refreshingly,
despite the worst recession in living memory
ship program is perceived in a very positive light by
there’s no dress code and, yes, we encourage mem-
membership has since thrived thanks to the inno-
the local golfing community.”
bers to bring their dogs to the course and the club-
vative blend of traditional golf club membership
Lord March, who took over the running of the
house afterwards – after all it was the Kennels!”
and a new Credit membership, which allows
estate from his father in 1994, has a passion for per-
golfers to effectively ‘play as they go’.
fection and in all of Goodwood’s many showcase
of joy from a walk around the Downs Course.
events he skillfully blends traditional values with
Dramatic changes of elevation in the valleys and hills
“In all honesty, the recession has probably helped
Golfers and their pooches will get equal amounts
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 39
Look on the bright side!
TAG HEUER ‘GOLF’ With lightweight stainless steel arms that wrap around and hug the head for a comfortable fit, these new golfspecific sunglasses from TAG Heuer filter the perfect balance of sunlight to enhance contours and depth. Guide: £210 www.tagheuer.com/eyewear
Some might say the warmest April on record doesn’t bode well for the summer – but here’s hoping...
SERENGETI ‘MAESTRALE’ These Maestrale sunglasses are so lightweight & comfortable you will not realize that you have them on. Featuring exclusive lens technology including photochromic & polarized properties, spectral control, anti-reflective coating and impact resistance. Fantastic for sport, driving and casual wear. Guide: £149 www.serengeti-eyewear.com TAG HEUER ‘RACER’ A combination of high-tech fittings and noble raw materials ensure the RACER has all of the precision and performance qualities that are the hallmark of TAG Heuer Eyewear. Available in 7 frame sizes and 6 colours. Guide: £130 www.tagheuer.com/eyewear
OAKLEY ‘FLAK JACKET’ (below) The ever popular Flak Jacket series features an interchangeable lens design, so you can change your optics as easily as you change your club. The lenses feature a permanent Hydrophobic™ coating that repels water, oils and dust, the G30™ lenses actually enhancing your depth perception by boosting visual contrast. Guide: £135; www.oakley.co.uk
OAKLEY ‘FAST JACKETS’ (above) A brand new edition to the Oakley range and worn by Oakley ambassadors Rory Mcllroy and the ever-colourful Ian Poulter the Oakley Fast Jackets represent the next generation of performance eyewear from one of the world’s leading sports fashion brands. Available from May 2011. Guide: £190 (Polarized version £230) www.oakley.co.uk
SUNDOG ‘ATTACK’ The Melanin infused lenses developed in conjunction with Essilor lens of France represents one of the most important advancements in Sundog Eyewear, with significant benefits to vision. Mela lens filtration of the visible spectrum results in relaxed vision without the alteration of colours, actually providing for better natural colour distinction. The result is improved vision without fatigue – especially with bright sunlight and reflection from the ground. Guide: £59.99 www.sundogeyewear.co.uk
40 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
SUNGLASSES
ADIDAS ‘ADIVISTA’ (below) Engineered specifically for the needs of the golfer, the new Advista from adidas promises easy adjustability and ergonomically formed hinges for a perfect fit and wearing comfort. With its newly developed lens, the LST™ Vario (Light Stabalising Technology), these sunglasses are designed to adapt to every light condition. Guide: £135 www.adidas.com/eyewear
8
ADIDAS ‘RETEGO’ (above) Developed with the help of adidas ambassador Justin Rose, the Retego model bridges the gap between performance and fashion, delivering a confident look and crystal-clear vision. The specially curved lens filters are designed specifically for golfers, providing a wide range of vision perfect for playing ‘side on’. Guide: £120 www.adidas.com/eyewear
CEBE ‘EYEMAX’ This lightweight sports model offers a wide field of vision and features rubber nose pads/temple tips and anti-fog ventilated lenses. The impact resistant 1500 grey flash polycarbonate lenses promise 100% UV protection while the flash mirror coating helps to eliminate any glare in bright conditions. Guide: £50 www.cebe.com
BOLLE ‘VORTEX’ (above) & ‘DRAFT’ (below) The Vortex is a new half-rim model which is lightweight, comfortable and extremely flexible. The 100% UV protective B-clear lenses offer the highest optical clarity and great peripheral vision. The lenses are engineered for maximum impact resistance and feature a hydrophobic coating keeping your view perspiration and dust free. The Draft model offers the same performance in a smaller fit. Guide: £108 www.bolle.com
NIKE ‘SHOW-X1’ The shield lens Nike Show-X1 sunglasses promise grip, stability and comfort. They feature interchangeable lenses, adjustable temples and Nike Max Optics Lens Technology for precise vision at all angles. Ideal not only for golf but many other sports. Frames available in a variety of colour options. Guide: £129 www.golfsmith-europe.co.uk
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 41
ST MORITZ SAMEDAN – SWITZERLAND’S OLDEST COURSE
High on St Moritz St Moritz might be the celebrity skiers’ favourite, but can its two courses rival its Cresta Run and many pistes? Peter Swain hits the slopes
FOR THE SEASONED TRAVELING GOLFER, transport sets the tone for the trip, so when I arrived at St Moritz railway station to find a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce waiting to whisk me up to Badrutt’s Palace Hotel – all of 800 yards away – I knew right away that this was no ordinary golfing weekend. I had flown into Zurich a few hours earlier and taken a train for the two-hour journey south. In my experience, rail travel and golf bags can be a tricky combination, but, this being Switzerland, it all went like clockwork. Six thousand feet up, St Moritz is the latest Alpine skiing destination to make a pitch for the lucrative summer golfing market. Their boast that ‘golf balls fly higher at altitude’ obviously needed verification, so I had accepted an invitation to play in the hotel’s annual competition for heavy hitters. Founded by a committee of Brits in 1893, Samedan is the oldest course in Switzerland and one of the first clubs to be recognized in continental Europe. With the famous Cresta Run, created by thrill-seeking English tobogganists in 1884, 42 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
Courses in Switzerland are playable from June through to September, and if you time it right the colourful Alpine blooms will be out in force
TRAVEL / SWITZERLAND
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 43
AUDI A7 3.0 TDI Quattro SE S-tronic
Audi excels in the art of discretion
S
o, accepting the fact that it provided us with yet another Bank Holiday opportunity to jam soil under the fin-
With a marketing strategy that has seen the ultimate in product placement, Audi has elevated its status in the world of luxury refined motoring. And in the delectable shape of the A7 Quattro it boasts one of the finest saloons a lot of money can buy, as Gi’s correspondent Anthony Ffrench-Constant reports
gernails and bellow at the kids, how was it for you?
At the time of writing, the Royal Wedding is still
a slightly larger fortune in donations to said chari-
‘radical design’ route under Wisconsin wun-
ties Audi’s PR boss has inevitably become quite
derkind Chris Bangle, who baffled all and sundry
a week away. But, by the time you read this, the
matey with the Princes, what ruffled the feathers
with talk of ‘paradigm shifts’ whilst describing
pomp, circumstance and Kleenex will have all
of this particularly right wing branch of the Fourth
creased bodywork as ‘flame surfacing’ and (best
been packed away until it’s Harry’s turn, and the
Estate appears to be the news that most of the
of all) daytime running lights as ‘optical wave
only thing fascinating about the myriad fascina-
royal family currently biff about in Audis and that,
guides’.
tors inevitably on display remains the question of
though they do pay for them, they receive – gasp –
how it’s humanly possible to spend so much on a
a discount. Outrageous…
scant fistful of feathers that resembles nothing so much as a freshly shot crow. Giggling in church is utterly addictive, and the
Same as it ever was; Audi has long pandered to
With most of the results now resembling upturned, clinker-built boats with interiors exuding more than a whiff of the brash American, this
celebrities and VIPs with favourable lease or pur-
approach has not found universal favour. Such
chase terms and there’s absolutely no doubt that
remains the power of the brand, however, that it
opportunity to have a seriously good belly laugh
the resultant ‘halo’ effect has much to do with the
doesn’t seem to matter to most blue and white
over the hats has always been the best thing about
company’s UK sales currently going through the
propeller aspirants, who’ll still buy anything thus
attending a wedding. Let’s hope the friends of the
roof. Man Does Job, shock, horror…
badged that’ll take polish.
Windsors did not disappoint.
Indeed, one can only speculate as to just how
BMW’s argument that ‘something had to
hard the likes of luxury rivals BMW, Mercedes and
change’ appears to cut no ice with Mercedes,
build-up, however, has been the incendiary grump
Jaguar (anyone remember Jaguar?) are now kick-
which, rather, has simply focused on putting back
of one particular national newspaper at the news
ing themselves that, when it comes to putting
a deal of the money they so blatantly sucked out
that one of those friends, Audi’s head of public
noteworthy bums on seats, Audi appears to have
of the build process a few years back, to remark-
relations in the UK, secured himself a berth at the
cornered the market. Because, let’s face, if you’re a
ably good effect.
One of the more fascinating aspects to the
wedding breakfast. Somewhat disingenuously sidestepping the fact
premium segment car manufacturer these days, you really do need an edge…
Jaguar, meanwhile, under designer Ian Callum, has proved immensely successful at melding the
that having spent a small fortune over the years in
After decades of carefully crafted Ultimate
startlingly new with enough styling tradition to
sponsoring their annual charity polo matches and
Driving Machine marketing, BMW opted for the
both attract a new, younger breed and keep its
44 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
MOTORING
While the over-sized front grill may irk the occasional motoring journo’, you can do nothing but drool over the rear view of the A7. Onboard, it’s pure Audi, the ergonomically excellent cabin concealing every conceivable technology – at a hefty price should you lean on the frills and extras
ageing, diehard customer base happy, and seems now to lack only a marketing budget the size of Audi in the UK. All of which leaves Audi very much in the driving seat with cars which – despite the unnecessarily brash Big Grille which still reminds me of an inflatable doll wearing chrome lipstick – remain relatively discreet and ideally anonymous in comparison to most of the competition. Let’s face it, a second glance is the last thing any royal would wish for when out and about incognito… Now, accepting that the happy couple will have been cramped by ceremony into relying on horsepower of a somewhat more traditional nature, not see out by day…
Audi’s only opportunity to shine on the day itself
As with the more recent A6, technology is all
must have come in the guise of the going away car. And with new models currently thicker on the
important, and the A7 may be loaded to the gun-
ground that ticks on a sheepdog, the newlyweds
wales with diverse multimedia interface systems
will have hardly been hampered by choice.
which, with such goodies as the inclusion of web links to Google, will turn the car into little short of
Easily the classiest small car around at the moment (amazing what a difference a simple lick
a fully-functioning mobile office. Personally, I can
of contrasting paint to the roofline makes); the A1
think of little worse than escaping the office to go
might make an appropriately parsimonious statement. However, though a recent slog to Newcastle revealed it to be surprisingly comfortable over a long haul, I doubt the A1 would boast the luggage capacity appropriate to a freshly shackled bride. Besides which, given the persistent insistence of the sat’ nav’ in the specimen I drove that the Tyne be crossed via the wholly pedestrian Millennium bridge, the risk of first night marriage consummation failure is, perhaps, too great. The most recent addition to the Audi fleet and seven years in the making, the largely flawless A6’s only failing is that it seeks to appeal to the broadest possible customer spectrum by being so
...the A7 is the best looking car Audi has produced since the entirely handsome A5, and is notably gorgeous when viewed from anywhere astern. On board, all is exactly where you left it in your last Audi, which means it’s extremely well screwed together and properly comfortable...
many will surely find such a facility invaluable. Audi does tend to overload its press cars with toys; in the case of the 3.0 TDI Quattro SE S tronic I drove, to the tune of some £25,775 over the basic asking price of £47,200. You pays yer money…. A head-up display which fills the base of the windscreen with information such as speed and navigation instructions annoyed me terribly until I discovered how to switch it off. At which point I missed it so much I promptly reinstated it. Suggesting that you can, however, have too much of a good thing, a fiddly seat massage control system proved even more annoying, relentlessly
utterly anonymous that it is, frankly, almost too
pummelling my already perfectly comfortable
anonymous. A perfectly decent drive albeit, it’s far more of a technological tour de force than any-
for a drive in a car which doubles as an office, but
Its looks marred only by the size of that front
anatomy every time I tried to merely adjust the
thing of a thrill to helm, having rifled the A8’s on-
grille, the A7 is the best looking car Audi has pro-
board equipment parts bin so rigorously that the
duced since the entirely handsome A5, and is
only reason to now buy the latter is a requirement
notably gorgeous when viewed from anywhere
a Bang & Olufsen sound system which demands a
astern. On board, all is exactly where you left it in
wallet-fleecing £6300 for the privilege of watching
your last Audi, which means it’s extremely well
the tweeters ooze ICBM-like from the dash top
for greater cabin space. So with Prince Charles already ensconced in an
lumbar support. Most expensive by far of the options fitted was
A8, and the disappointing A5 Sportback serving as
screwed together, good looking, ergonomically
every time you start the car. Granted, the sound is
proof that even Audi can, on occasion, find itself
excellent and properly comfortable. The only
wonderful, but no more so than the far less pricey
with sand in the Vaseline, my prediction is that it
glitch being the propensity for a pale beige
Mark Levinson systems of Lexus fame.
was an A7 in which the newlyweds finally slunk
coloured parcel shelf to reflect so strongly in the
away from Buck House.
steeply raked rear screen that you absolutely can-
If, as is now often averred, we’re becoming increasingly more interested in on-board ‘infotainJUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 45
FEATURE RULES / UPDATE
A quick guide to the new rules on slow play Malcolm Allen reveals to Golf International readers some ground-breaking, not to say mind-bending, new initiatives that will probably be introduced into golf clubs in Britain with the aim of making the game more...er, whatever New regulations for slow play in golf will likely come into effect on April 1, 2012. Slow play is a major concern to players and officials of the game and the five- to six-hour round is not unusual in professional competitions. Many private clubs are also experiencing tedious, extended rounds in competitions. The R&A have long been concerned with this unwelcome trend and in Section 1 of the Rules of Golf, Etiquette: Behaviour on the Course, their advice on pace of play is clear. Unfortunately, it is often ignored. The R&A have
PENALTY FOR BREACH
accepted that if they cannot persuade golfers to avoid slow
OF RULE
play then they may have to regulate them. The new rules, if
For the slow player – none
adopted, will be used in both professional and amateur
For the following groups – a hint of impending doom
slow-play competitions.
Rule 2: The Walk
RULES OF GOLF APPENDIX IV Accepted Rules of Slow Play
(a). A measured pace is to be maintained, but never directly towards where the ball has come to rest. Should a partner be required to play first, the slow player must never walk for-
Rule 1: The Teeing Ground
ward of him regardless of whether his ball is in line of play
(a). No slow player will approach the teeing ground until it is
or not.
completely clear of other players. The initial approach will
(b). Within ten yards of his ball, the slow player will reduce
be made without a club or ball in order for the player to
his pace appreciably before circling his ball in order to
ascertain the direction and distance of the next hole. The
examine the ground around it. Before playing the ball, proce-
player may then return to his bag to select the required club
dures prior to the address as set out in Rule 1 of this Annex
and a ball.
will be adopted.
(b). After teeing-up, the slow player must retreat at least ten
(c). At no time during the walk will the player consider
yards, keeping the ball and the intended target in line, and
which club to use next or acknowledge the presence of any-
consider the shot for an appropriate length of time. He may
one else playing with or behind him.
then select another club or put on his glove, or do both of these things, before addressing the ball for the first time. A
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE
player may step back from the address no more than three
For the slow player – none
times.
For the following groups – at least two shots dropped through
(c). A player may have no more than six practice swings and
rising exasperation
five jiggles before the final address, which must last at least
Mickelson drives at 18 last year en route to his third green jacket. For fans everywhere, the opportunity to see Augusta in 3D will this year turn it into a whole new ball game
20 seconds before the stroke is made. The player must
Rule 3: Searching for lost balls
retain his position on the teeing ground until 10 seconds
In searching for a lost ball, the slow player will conform with
after the ball has come to rest.
Rule 12. In addition he must:
(d). On returning to his bag, the player will return the club to
(a). Never take his bag to within 50 yards of the search area.
the correct slot in no more than three attempts. All clubs,
(b). Never carry a suitable iron or two that may be used
including irons, will have head covers which require careful
when the ball is found.
replacement. Before moving to his ball, the player should
(c). Always search assiduously for a ball in stableford com-
remove his glove, adjust his clothing and consult his score-
petitions even when he is already three over handicap par
card.
for that hole.
46 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
A NEW DIMENSION
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE For the slow player – none For the following groups (now two groups of fourballs) – some shared blaspheming and an increase in the floridity of the complexion of any retired major.
Rule 4: The Putting Green Approach When approaching the putting green, the slow player will ascertain the route to the next hole and position his bag/trolley on the opposite side of the green to it. He will then approach his ball on a circuitous route from beyond the flag, at times stooping or moving backwards or sideways to establish the contours of the green from all angles, except that of his line of putt, taking care to remove all loose impediments anywhere on the green. Preparation On reaching his ball, he will mark it carefully and take it to his bag to clean. The cleaning process will not start until it is his turn to putt. After cleaning, he will replace his ball so that the maker’s name, or any self-inscribed mark, is lined up exactly on the calculated putting line. This may be adjusted no more than four times. The player will then enter the final phase of lining up. This must include:
round, tees and markers must be left in the pocket of the
(a). Calculating the line from the other side of the pin, from
normal pair of trousers in order to make them even more
both sides and again from behind the ball.
difficult to get at.
(b). Kneeling or crouching using the putter as a plumb-line
(c). Spectacles. These must always be cleaned, whatever the
or as a prop, preferably on someone else’s line.
weather conditions, after the first address and before the
(c). Removing the pin to gaze into the hole.
stroke. In wet weather, the club may be leaned against the
(d). Marking his ball carefully before adjusting its line follow-
player’s thigh while the cleaning process is conducted so
ing the second deliberation.
that it invariably falls to the ground, thereby necessitating
e. Retreating to the edge of the green to ask his partners if it
the use of a towel to dry the grip.
is his turn.
(d). Measuring devices (MD). MDs should be used prior to
The putt and sequential actions
earshot. It is especially important to measure the distance
every shot and the distance passed to anyone within (a). Unless a putt is holed, the slow player must not follow
from tee to pin on the par-fives. If the ball falls appreciably
the ball immediately. Instead he may check the line and
short or overshoots the green, the distance should be
practice his stroke a minimum of three times before mark-
checked again.
ing his ball and lining up again until such time as the putt is
(e). The scorecard. For accuracy it is preferable to mark the
holed. In a friendly, it is essential to hole out even though
scorecard on the green or close to it. This will render unlike-
the putt is given.
ly a false score being recorded due to a lapse of memory.
(b). Before leaving the green, two more practice putts are
The running total will be checked at least four times per
permitted to ensure the line is noted for future play. The
round prior to the address. At the conclusion of the round,
score should be registered before moving to the player’s
the scorecard will be completed on or close to the green.
bag/trolley and the scorecard checked while ambling along the front of the green to the next hole.
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULES For the slow player – none
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE
For the following groups (now four) – two broken clubs, a
For the slow player – none
damaged tree, a bruised dog and collective heart rates
For the following groups (now three) – much angry discussion
through the roof
and the suggestion of at least one seizure
Rule 6: Awareness Rule 5: Equipment
Except in the unlikely event that he might drive through or
(a). The Glove. The glove must never be put on until immedi-
hit a player in a preceding group, the slow player needs to
ately before the address and must be removed prior to the
be totally unaware of other players, including his partners.
walk. It must be removed one finger at a time prior to
The only exception to this rule will be in the bar after the
putting and placed partly in the hip pocket.
game when he will ask the players coming in behind him if
(b). Tees and markers. These must always be difficult to get
they had enjoyed their rounds.
at, often necessitating the removal of the glove or a search in the bag. When waterproof trousers are worn during a
The author is the secretary of Ashridge Golf Club. JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 47
INSTRUCTION SAND PLAY
Speed is of the essence: a commitment to accelerating the clubhead all the way through the sand – extending the arms free – produces the desired result
BUNKER
Does the very thought of finding your ball in a greenside trap fill you with dread? Help is at hand. In the first part of our new instruction series written by ladies for ladies, Lynn McCool, Director of Golf and Head Professional at the wonderful Lough Erne Resort in Northern Ireland, explains why learning to generate more clubhead speed through the sand is the secret to escaping successfully first time, every time. 48 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
BASICS By Lynn McCool
DIRECTOR OF GOLF & HEAD PROFESSIONAL, LOUGH ERNE / WWW.LOUGHERNERESORT.COM WRITTEN WITH CARLY CUMMINS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW HARRIS
It doesn’t matter whether you are eight or eighty years old, the one thing that the average lady club golfer has in common with all her counterparts is the belief that you can use the same technique as you would to chip the ball from greenside grass to play a regular bunker shot. Wrong. The simple reality is that if you want to glide the clubhead through the sand beneath the ball – your No.1 objective here – you have to commit to accelerating the clubhead through impact at significant speed. While there are the obvious benefits of clubhead speed for generating power and distance off the tee, few ladies appreciate that it is also required to play bunker shots successfully. Without acceleration to a completed follow-through it is virtually impossible to splash the ball out of the bunker and onto the green with any sort of consistency. In fact lady golfers aren’t alone in fearing the
dreaded sand shot; there are plenty of men who avoid going into bunkers at all costs, too. Even though men have greater natural strength and therefore the ability to generate clubhead speed, many don’t realise that they need to use this in a bunker and attempt to play sand shots with a delicate action that inevitably fails to get the ball out. So, the key to successful sand shots is acceleration with good arm extension – never quit. As with every shot in golf it is important to remind yourself of the basics, so I’m going to give you a refresher course in the fundamentals that will make the greenside sand shot easy. After that a selection of simple drills that you can practice to improve your clubhead speed. As you’re about to discover, once you learn to accelerate the clubhead through the sand you’ll never panic when faced with a bunker shot again.
LYNN MCCOOL
Bunker Basics The Set Up
Body alignment is just slightly open – not exaggeratedly so
No! Body line way too open
There are four fundamentals that you must get right in order to address the ball correctly in the bunker… 1. Select your sand wedge and grip down the handle about three inches, this will promote greater control. 2. Shuffle your feet down into sand. This will enable you to feel the texture of the sand and get some idea as to its consistency – i.e. deep or shallow, fine or heavy. It also gives your stance a solid base and prevents the feet from shifting as you make your swing, which is easily done on a soft, unstable surface. This stable base will also help lower your centre of gravity closer to the
‘Short’ grip for heightened sense of control
sand, giving you a much greater chance of splashing the ball out on a bed of sand. 3. Position the ball between the centre of your stance and left heel. This is a detail you should Clubhead hovered above the ball
experiment with until you find the position that matches up with the bottom of your swing arc, thus enabling you to slide the clubface underneath the ball. [With the ball too far back you will be prone to hitting bunker shots ‘heavy’ as the
Feet shuffled down into the sand for stability
club will still be on its descent; conversely, play the ball too far forward you are likely to thin a lot of these shots as the club is travelling ‘on the up’. 4. Hover the club above the ball. A common mistake many golfers make is to hover the club directly behind the ball just above the sand. This encourages a shallow takeaway and makes it difficult to get the club travelling on the correct steep
Body Alignment & Aim The ideal set up for a sand shot is to aim the body just a touch left of the flag, perhaps THINK ‘SOFT HANDS’ When it comes to grip pressure, imagine you have a delicate bird in your hands. In other words, change your grip pressure from the usual 7 or 8 on a scale of 1= light, 10 = tight, to around 3 or 4. With a lighter grip pressure you’ll be able to generate more clubhead speed
between 10 and 20 degrees, the leading edge of the club pointing at the target. What you don’t want to do is exaggerate this adjustment, so that you end up with your body aiming way to the left of the target (framed red above – a common fault that makes it very difficult to synchronise the movement of your arms and body). In reality modern sand wedges have such a good design that if you want to keep things really simple you can address the bunker shot with your stance and clubface virtually square to the target and there will still be plenty of ‘bounce’ in effect to ensure the clubhead glides through the sand and the ball pops out. Most important of all, once you are set up and ready to go, remember to engage your wrists early so that you pick the club up a little steeper in the backswing than usual – this will ensure that you create the angle necessary to slap the flange JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 49
INSTRUCTION
DR KARL MORRIS
A Lesson ın
It isn’t what to change but how to change your swing that determines your development as a player. Might this be the next frontier in golf instruction? On the basis of some remarkable new research into the way the brain processes and distributes information, leading European Tour mind coach Dr Karl Morris is convinced that methods of learning, rather than teaching, hold the key to experiencing accelerated improvement in performance
Learnıng By Dr Karl Morris EUROPEAN TOUR MIND COACH • WWW.GOLF-BRAIN.COM
magazines, look on YouTube and you will be inundated with concepts about the golf swing. Coaches talk endlessly about how they see a swing, how it should look, how biomechanically sound it is. We are in a way crazy with this in so much we are drowning in information but thirsting for knowledge.
hen you stop and think about it, it’s
W
quite astonishing the mountain of infor-
How can we look at the latest swing idea if we haven’t got
mation that exists on the mechanics of
the faintest idea on HOW we put that information into our
the golf swing. So much has been writ-
body as actual motion?
ten over the years about what consti-
For those of you who have spent time with me before you will
tutes a sound technique and what you
recognise the fact I firmly believe in good sound technique. I
have to do to build one. There are umpteen schools of
get very tired of people saying golf is ‘all in the head’. No, it
thought: you may favour a certain teacher, be that a David
isn’t! A good swing will hit better shots than a bad swing and
Leadbetter, Pete Cowen or Butch Harmon. You may believe in
no amount of mental training can make up for a dreadful
a certain ‘method’, be that the ‘One Plane’ or ‘Two Plane’ swing
technique. As I have said over and over again, a good mental
or the ‘Golf Machine’. And all of that is just fine because I am
approach will get the best out of your swing but it won’t make
not here to tell you what to do in your golf swing. I am going
a bad swing a good one.
to leave that to the professionals who are better qualified than
What is so exciting here is starting to look at the latest
I am. But what I am going to do is ask you to think about the
research on how your brain works to help speed up the
way in which you learn – and isn’t it remarkable that so little
process of making the swing changes you and your coach
has been written on that subject?
deem necessary to take your game to the next level.
The fact is, unless the information you receive from your
In many ways, this article started to take shape in my mind
chosen coach or method becomes actual physical motion, then
through a passing comment that I read a few years ago made
it is nothing other than information.
by the greatest ever British golfer, the six-time major champi-
Information is fine, it is the starting point, but we need to
on Sir Nick Faldo.
know how to change our swings so it becomes our actual bodi-
We all know the story of how Nick completely remodelled
ly motion. It becomes more than a concept, it becomes a phys-
his swing with the help of David Leadbetter. This process took
ical act we can perform and repeat.
Faldo a good couple of years of arduous work and a dramatic
We may not like to even consider this when so much is
decline in scores and performance. For a period of time, Faldo
talked about ‘muscle memory’ but to actually change your
was written off and got told time and time again he should
swing you have to change your brain. You have to alter the
have left his swing alone. Should have kept it as it was.
neural pathways in your brain which send the commands to your muscles. By understanding a little more of how our brain
Faldo ignored the advice, kept working hard and the rest, as they say, is history. However, Nick Faldo did say recently if he
works, we can then get down to the job of taking good techni-
had his time again, he would have still made the swing change
cal information and making it an efficient golf swing in as
BUT he would have enlisted the help of a sports psychologist
quick a time as is possible. We need brain compatible learning.
or a mind coach to speed up the process!
In many ways, it is absolutely stunning there is so much
How many times have you been frustrated when you have
information out there on what to do in your swing yet so little
been for a lesson, gone away and worked on your game think-
on how you go about it. Switch on the Golf Channel, buy golf
ing you have changed your swing, only to look on video and
50 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
THE MIND FACTOR ESSAY
Turning information into physical motion is the challenge that faces all who play the game – even the most supremely talented
see it is exactly the same! It can feel like all of that effort is getting you absolutely nowhere. Well, it is time to do something differently because the definition of insanity according to Albert Einstein was to keep doing something the same way and expect a different result! What I am about to share with you will involve you suspending your judgement for a while, taking in some new ideas and approaches and then being able to go out and take ACTION. Again, for those of you who have spent time with me before, you will recall how much I believe in the power of action. thinking about it. You need to get up and do. I also really like the idea of stacking the deck as heavily in your favour as possible. Everything I am sharing with you has the intent to give you the best possible chance to
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
You achieve nothing in life by
make the changes you really desire. And, be able to take the changes out on the course and
tional medicine had given them no hope. They have literally
perhaps, more importantly, for the changes to actually work
learned how to move again by recruiting new areas of the
out on the golf course under the pressure of a competition or
brain that have not been damaged.
tournament. It has been so interesting for me to be able to study the
How exciting a concept is that? And, more importantly, if the ‘correct training’ can get the brain to recover function after
world of neuro science and hear how the concept of ‘brain
damage, then surely with the ‘correct training’ we can change
plasticity’ has taken hold on the scientific world in the past 10
our golf swings?
years. If you had a meeting a decade ago with a bunch of neuro scientists and you had asked them if they thought the brain could be changed past a certain age, say 16 or 17, you would have got an unequivocal NO. It was deemed in the scientific community that once our basic development had taken place, then we were pretty much limited to what we had. Also, it was a firmly held belief that at a certain age, we started to LOSE our brain capability and function. Ask the very same community a decade later and you will get a completely different set of answers. The term ‘brain plas-
The way you swing the golf club is a result of neural patterns in the brain and this research is confirming it can be changed but we need to know how to change the brain. We need a system to best take advantage of this amazing piece of machinery – our brain. Part of the process of having ‘brain compatible’ learning is to understand what doesn’t work. In his marvellous book the User’s Guide to the Brain, Harvard psychologist John Ratey talks about learning movement skills and how we are able to transfer initial learning into long term memory. Consider this phenomenal research he refers to in his book
ticity’ refers to the capability of our brain to change, to grow
from the Johns Hopkins University: a team of neuro-scientists
and to alter its function. To such an extent that now there is a
found within the first 5-6 hours of practicing a new skill, the
real buzz about the fact it seems when there has been damage
brain shifts the new instruction from the short-term memory
due to accident or disease which results in loss of function of
to the areas responsible for permanent motor skills. As sub-
certain parts of the brain, then it seems other brain areas can
jects initially learned a task, the prefrontal cortex (involved in
be recruited with the correct training to ‘take over’ the func-
short-term memory and many kinds of learning) was relatively
tion of the area which has been damaged. It is very early days
active. When the subjects returned 51/2 hours later, they had
in the research but there has been anecdotal evidence of peo-
no trouble retracing the movements but, at this point, the pre-
ple with limbs which had ceased to function and that conven-
motor cortex and the cerebellum regions which control move-
European Tour Mind Coach Karl Morris has just released his latest product The Champion Code, an 8-CD programme detailing his work with major winners. To find out more go to www.golfbrain.com
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 51
TRAVEL CHAMPAGNE-ARDENNE
A taste of what you can expect – the magnificent château overlooks the 18th green at Golf de Troyes-la Cordelière
52 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
magnifique! Lying some 100km north-east of Paris, the historical province of Champagne-Ardenne is not only home to the world’s finest sparkling wines. Enjoying the most tranquil of country settings, among the outstanding stately homes and elegant châteaux you will also find some terrific golf. WORDS: ANDREW MARSHALL • PHOTOS: PAUL MARSHALL
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 53
Gi Travel
A Jewel in the Sun Britain’s most desirable golf resort completes the next phase of its multi-million pound makeover with the launch of luxury apartments and a range of family friendly activities to complement the famous hotel and its Open championship legacy. Dominic Pedler sampled the new, all-encompassing Turnberry experience in style
ALREADY BLESSED WITH ARGUABLY THE MOST IDYLLIC SEASIDE
hotel’s contemporary take on a hundred years of heritage. In fair-
setting in the British Isles, with unmatched views from the famous
ness, the new owners always promised to respect the property’s his-
hilltop hotel and a glorious history of Open Championship drama
tory (as we quoted back in Gi Issue 82 when reporting on the key
over the spectacular Ailsa links, it would have been easy for the
course changes). And, far from a few token gestures, many of the
Turnberry Resort to rest on its laurels.
internal changes, décor and fittings have been carefully reconceived
And yet due to both its exclusive status as an Open venue and the ambitious vision of new owners keenly aware of the constantly changing travel market, Turnberry has seen some stunning develop-
with reference to the hotel’s original plans and surviving photographs of when it first opened in 1906. Today’s detailed ceiling cornicing, Corinthian style pillars, art deco
ments over the last few years – both on and off its famous golf
light fittings and the delightful fan-shaped window structures are
courses.
just a few of the features that interiors specialist, Mary Fox Linton
The opening of the Lands Of Turnberry apartments this spring,
(whose portfolio includes One Aldwych and Browns Hotel in London)
eight spacious, self-catering properties perfectly positioned mid-way
has recreated – albeit with a modern slant – to highly atmospheric
between the hotel and the clubhouse, is the latest phase of a compre-
effect.
hensive refurbishment that began with the hotel’s own transformation ahead of the 2009 Open. Back-track to that previous winter and both the hotel and the Ailsa were closed for many months while the 800-acre property was
The overall success of the hotel (now part of The Luxury Collection of 70 similarly select destinations worldwide) is also down to the mix of influences and a variety of themes that cater to all customers and moods. For while the stylish restaurant offering classic
brought up to the lavish standards demanded by the Dubai-based
dining is even christened the “1906”, further down the mahogany
Leisurecorp – and indeed the R&A.
panelled corridor you’ll find a sports bar dubbed Duel In The Sun
Quite apart from some controversial course changes, there were fears that the hotel would lose some of its traditional charm, with its
(matching the renamed 18th hole it overlooks from on high), complete with four wall-mounted HDTVs, a billiard table and (of course)
colourfully loud carpets, creaky floorboards and tartan trim all part
a framed photo of Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus walking off that
of the faded glory of past decades that could have been eclipsed by a
same green in 1977.
sterile corporate makeover running to the tightest of deadlines. But, today, we defy even the most purist golfer not be knocked out by the new Turnberry experience, starting with the rejuvenated 54 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
Talking of which, pride of place among the refurbished bedrooms (all with mirror panelled wardrobes, freestanding baths and Turnberry signature tartan cashmere blankets) are four suites named
TURNBERRY, AYRESHIRE
after the winners of the four Opens held here down the years. The showpiece is The Watson Suite, comprising three adjoining rooms and a private balcony from which to reflect on the American’s heroics (if varying fortunes) in the Opens of ‘77 and ’09, not forgetting his Senior Open triumph here in 2003. However, for all the sumptuous luxury of the hotel and its always mesmirising panoramic views, many golfers – especially those in groups or in families – will prefer to be based in one of the smartly refurbished apartments at the foot of the hill, perfectly placed to
The approach to the par-five 7th hole on the Ailsa Course, where a running shot is often gathered towards the green; (left): following a multi-million pound refit, the Lands of Turnberry apartments offer five-star self-catering accommodation
enjoy all the hotel facilities as well as the ever expanding golf complex two minutes walk away. Branded The Lands of Turnberry, and individually named after other famous Scottish links such as Muirfield, Nairn and North Berwick, these spacious self-contained units (ranging from 2-6 bedrooms) are a particularly cost-effective way of sampling all the Turnberry trappings but now in flexible five-star self-catering comfort, as rated by the Scottish Tourist Board. My particular apartment, Prestwick, was actually far bigger than the Watson suite (I took a sneak peak for comparison), with two huge bedrooms and a matching living area embracing a newly fitted, open-plan kitchen housing built-in fridge and freezer and microwave while, elsewhere, all mod cons include power-showers and Wi-Fi. While it was tempting to nip over to the Tappie Torrie restaurant in the clubhouse (or back up to the hotel) for every meal, the independence proved a real bonus in practice – as I found when not wanting to miss a moment of the final round of the Masters on TV JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 55
WORLD
NEWS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ACTIONIMAGES.COM
Trading places
56 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
EDITED BY ANDY FARRELL
Normally, the world rankings do not generate
by Mark McCormack’s IMG – then the not so
warm and fuzzy feelings – more usually vehe-
official Sony Ranking – in 1986. The formula
ment denouncements, currently from the other
has undergone regular tweaking but the princi-
side of the Atlantic – but Lee Westwood got the
ples on which the ranking is devised remain
perfect 38th birthday present when he
the same. Points are offered for tournaments
regained the world No 1 spot from Martin
depending on the strength of its field, with
Kaymer.
more points for majors. Now that so many
Westwood won the Indonesian Open on the
Europeans are at the top of the ranking, those
Asian Tour and then had to wait and see if
European tour events in which they play can
Luke Donald won the Heritage in the States.
now feature more points than the same week’s
But Donald was denied by Brandt Snedeker so
event in America.
Westwood returned to the top of the pile. Such is the volatility of the rankings since
Each player’s points total is averaged over the number of events played. Although the
Tiger Woods’s long reign ended, both Donald
ranking is calculated over a rolling two year
and Kaymer, who was not even playing, could
period, points depreciate every three months
have overtaken Westwood the very next week
and after a year are worth half of their value.
but the Worksop man rose to the challenge to
Attempts have been made over the years to
win again at the Ballantines Championship
smooth out the step changes but the basic
after an epic back-nine duel with Miguel-Angel
premise means a player’s points average can
Jimenez. The pair had dined together the pre-
change even if they are not playing a particu-
vious night and Westwood had told the
lar week.
Spaniard, “See you in the playoff tomorrow.” Westwood birdied the last but Jimenez could not match him and fell one stroke shy.
Recent focus has increased on the weighting of the majors, with Sir Nick Faldo tweeting: #1 – that’s the system – but I think system
played in Korea. “When you’re No 1 it’s always
should give extra points for a major win.”
No 1 and I think I did do this week,” Westwood
for Westwood is that every previous No 1 who had not won a major subsequently went on to
and 13 pars was a special round of golf I think.
win one.
Westwood had said before the tournament that he was fed up with answering questions
“My next goal is to win a major champi-
with a brilliant short game and after missing
onship,” he said. “It’s the dream of all profes-
the cut in his first event of the year, the World
sional golfers to get to No 1 in the world rank-
Match Play champion posted his sixth succes-
ings, and I’ve done that. I haven’t won a major
sive top-ten finish at the Zurich Championship. Donald said: “I’ve had to work on every facet of my game. I can’t rely on just overpowering golf. I’ve got to really do a good job of playing within myself and playing to my
come, including three majors in quick succes-
strengths. I think I’ve done that the last couple
sion, Westwood may need to become a major
of seasons.”
champion to retain his status. Not for years
Even though Kaymer is a major champion,
has the ranking been as intriguing, even if
the USPGA winner admitted making a hash of
some clearly miss the reassurance of an undis-
his Masters campaign, where he missed the cut
puted figure as the game’s best player. The Official World Golf Rankings have always caused debate since their introduction
Volvo China open Luxehills International Country Club, Chengdu, China / 21-24 April BEL -24 65 67 66 66 264 € 350,946 1 Nicolas Colsaerts 2 Søren Kjeldsen DEN -20 65 71 66 66 268 € 140,086 2 Peter Lawrie IRL -20 68 64 68 68 268 € 140,086 2 Danny Lee NZL -20 66 68 69 65 268 € 140,086 2 Pablo Martin ESP -20 70 68 67 63 268 € 140,086 SWE -19 70 65 70 64 269 € 73,699 6 Christian Nilsson 7 Jamie Donaldson WAL -18 70 61 70 69 270 € 54,327 7 Grégory Havret FRA -18 66 66 68 70 270 € 54,327 7 Danny Willett ENG -18 70 66 69 65 270 € 54,327 10 Richard Finch ENG -17 69 67 71 64 271 € 36,639
Asian Tour
Indonesian Masters Royale Jakarta Golf Club / 21-24 April 1 Lee Westwood ENG -19 2 Thongchai Jaidee THA -16 KOR -13 3 Hyun-bin Park 3 Thitiphun Chuayprakong THA -13 BAN -13 3 Siddikur 3 Marcus Both AUS -13 7 Prayad Marksaeng THA -11 7 Kiradech Aphibarnrat THA -11 PHI -8 9 Antonio Lascuna 9 Prom Meesawat THA -8
68 66 66 69 67 70 70 65 67 68 70 70 68 68 69 70 66 72 69 68 70 70 69 66 67 70 69 71 69 68 71 69 67 70 70 73 70 68 69 73
269 $118,875.00 272 $81,375.00 275 $34,725.00 275 $34,725.00 275 $34,725.00 275 $34,725.00 277 $20,325.00 277 $20,325.00 280 $13,049.86 280 $13,049.86
where power appears to be dominating est drivers on tour and not actually one of the
With the summer’s big tournaments to
€ 288,466 € 192,308 € 108,349 € 79,964 € 79,964 € 60,579 € 51,925 € 43,271 € 36,693 € 36,693
unchecked, the Englishman is one of the shortstraightest. He makes up for that, of course,
ing. That’s the next thing, hopefully.”
Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Malaysia / 14-17 April 1 Matteo Manassero ITA -16 66 71 67 68 272 2 Grégory Bourdy FRA -15 71 69 66 67 273 3 Rory McIlroy NIR -14 69 64 72 69 274 4 Rafael Cabrera-Bello ESP -13 69 70 69 67 275 4 Alexander Noren SWE -13 64 69 71 71 275 6 Felipe Aguilar CHI -12 70 70 66 70 276 7 Simon Dyson ENG -10 70 64 76 68 278 BAN -9 68 71 71 69 279 8 MD Siddikur Rahman ESP -8 69 72 68 71 280 9 Alejandro Cañizares 9 Martin Kaymer GER -8 70 71 67 72 280
The prospect of Donald becoming the
about being No 1 without a major title to his
yet and that’s the missing thing. So that’s what
Maybank Malaysian open
world’s best is fascinating because in an era
name. After it he reiterated his prime objective.
I gave all my practice towards and my schedul-
Golf du Palais Royal and Golf de L’Ocean, Morocco / 31 March - 3 April 1 David Horsey ENG -13 67 71 67 69 274 € 250,000 2 Rhys Davies WAL -13 67 70 68 69 274 € 130,280 2 Jaco Van Zyl RSA -13 68 73 65 68 274 € 130,280 4 George Coetzee RSA -11 67 71 69 69 276 € 75,000 SWE -10 67 74 68 68 277 € 58,050 5 Oscar Floren FRA -10 71 68 71 67 277 € 58,050 5 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet 7 Mikko Ilonen FIN -9 74 64 69 71 278 € 41,250 7 Richie Ramsay SCO -9 70 74 66 68 278 € 41,250 9 Tetsuji Hiratsuka JPN -8 71 68 70 70 279 € 31,800 9 David Lynn ENG -8 75 69 67 68 279 € 31,800
Already the system sees the majors getting
around without making a bogey, five birdies
great to do it back-to-back two weeks in a row.”
Trophee Hassan ll
the highest points awarded and the good news
said. “It was very tough out there and to go
Professional golf is all about winning, and it’s
The Race to Dubai
“Nothing at all against Donald or Westwood as
It was the very first time a world No 1 had nice to come to a place and play like the world
EuRoPEAn TouR 2011
for the fourth straight year. The German had been developing a draw to go with his natural fade and recalled: “The first day I was trying to
ballantine’s Championship Blackstone Golf Club, Icheon, Seoul, Korea Republic / 28 April – 01 May 1 Lee Westwood ENG -12 72 68 69 67 276 € 367,500 2 Miguel Angel Jiménez ESP -11 70 67 69 71 277 € 245,000 3 Sang-hyun Park KOR -10 67 72 70 69 278 € 138,033 4 Dustin Johnson USA -9 70 69 71 69 279 € 110,250 5 Soon-sang Hong KOR -8 69 72 70 69 280 € 85,334 5 Alexander Noren SWE -8 70 69 67 74 280 € 85,334 7 Jbe Kruger RSA -7 73 70 69 69 281 € 56,889 7 James Morrison ENG -7 69 69 72 71 281 € 56,889 7 Brett Rumford AUS -7 71 63 73 74 281 € 56,889 10 Dae-hyun Kim KOR -6 71 69 71 71 282 € 40,866
PgA Tour Shell Houston open Redstone Golf Club, Humble, Texas / 31 March-3 April 1 Phil Mickelson -20 70 70 63 65 2 Chris Kirk -17 66 69 69 67 2 Scott Verplank -17 73 65 65 68 4 Aaron Baddeley -13 73 65 66 71 4 Steve Stricker -13 67 72 67 69 6 Robert Allenby -12 68 72 67 69 6 David Hearn -12 69 70 66 71 8 Greg Chalmers -11 70 73 66 68 8 Padraig Harrington -11 68 69 70 70 8 Brandt Jobe -11 69 72 68 68
268 271 271 275 275 276 276 277 277 277
$ 1,062,000 $ 519,200 $ 519,200 $ 259,600 $ 259,600 $ 205,025 $ 205,025 $ 159,300 $ 159,300 $ 159,300
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 57
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
Martin Kaymer’s reign at the top of the official world rankings was short lived as England’s Lee Westwood enjoyed back-to-back wins in the Far East to reclaim the No.1 spot. And now, more than ever, he intends to validate his status with a major, writes Andy Farrell
JOHN HOPKINS
LAST SHOT
All the requisite major credentials?
W
hen The Players Championship was rescheduled
side of the Atlantic and asked him the following question. “Would I
from March to May, the change was thought to be
be any more stupid than usual if I said I thought it was time The
part of an overt attempt for it to become a major
Players became a major championship? After all, it has just about the
championship. Hold it in May and there would be a
best field of the year, a whopping purse, a good golf course, usually
run of five major championships, one a month start-
plenty of excitement.”
ing with the Masters in April.
The tone of his voice brooked no argument. “I don’t see why there
Attempts to make The Players Championship a major continue all the time. Not long ago the old clubhouse was demolished and a
should be another major championship on this side of the Atlantic,” he said. “Let’s share them around.”
77,000 square feet new one was built in its place ready to open 364
A result of the move from March to May was to put the most
days later in time for the next year's event. Cost? £20m. “It is amaz-
important event on the PGA Tour in the US into the close proximity
ing what you can get done when money is no object” one official of
of the most important event on the European Tour. The BMW PGA
the PGA Tour in the US, said. Few courses are as well cared for as the stadium course at The Tournament Players’ Club at Sawgrass, which has had an underground system to suck out surface water known as a Sub-Air system. It also has a Shot-Link system, an expensive means of measuring the length of every shot from drive to putt of every player in the field. Few courses have such magnificent practice facilities, though Augusta National’s raised the bar a little last year. Cost of course improvements at Sawgrass down the years? £30million. Major championships do not have pro-ams. The Players does not have a pro-am. It has the money to make sure that the length of television commercials is reduced from 15 minutes each hour to eight during The Players. They have the space to provide parking places for the brand new courtesy car each player is lent for the week, no space more than a wedge from the clubhouse. This attention to detail for an event that regularly attracts the
Everything about the PGA at Wentworth – from the preparation of the course to the facilities provided for the spectators – screams ‘major’. And why shouldn’t the European Tour’s flagship event carry the same clout at its US equivalent?
strongest field in golf has resulted in an annual clamour for The Players to become the fifth major championship. This cannot happen. It cannot become a major championship of its own accord. The more it tries to become one, the more it reminds me of the man who is desperately anxious to join an exclu-
Championship is the centrepiece of what might be called the weeklong annual general meeting of the European Tour. Which in turn causes me to suggest that if there is to be a fifth major championship then it should be the BMW not The Players. Location? Fine. “We’re within 15 miles of the heart of one of the world’s great cities,” Darren Clarke said. Transportation links? Fine. “Heathrow is only minutes away,” Henrik Stenson said. Accommodation? Fine. “There are many more quality hotels in this area than in Jacksonville,” added Paul McGinley. Wentworth is where the US won the 1953 Ryder Cup, where the World Match Play Championship started in 1964 and brought such
sive club and sets about doing everything he can to be invited when
autumnal pleasure. It has served as the headquarters of the European
he would stand a far better chance of not doing anything at all and
Tour for years, employees and visitors travelling up the winding,
waiting for the members to invite him. You can want something too
rhododendron-lined road, past pine, fir and beech trees, to a castellat-
much.
ed clubhouse. All very understated. All very British.
At a recent Players I ran into a leading official of the game on this 58 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011
Practice facilities need to be improved. Different makes of ball sup-
PHoTogRAPHy by ACTIonIMAgES.CoM
Is it right in the modern era that three of golf’s four majors should be staged in the US? Moreover, if the US PGA counts as a ‘major’ then why is our own PGA Championship not awarded such recognition?
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