ESSENTIAL READING FROM THE BEST IN THE GAME
9 771368 402034
MAGAZINE
99
GOLF INTERNATIONAL
ISSUE NO. 99 • £4.25 JAN/FEB 2011
US Open champion and Ryder Cup hero headlines a vintage year for European golf
McDOWELL FROM PORTRUSH TO PEBBLE...AND THEN SOME Improve your game
AR
TH IN E YE GE AR
Luther Blacklock simplifies swing plane, shaft ‘lean’ & ball position Exercises to improve your flexibility with Dan Frost Dr Karl Morris on the power of selective memory
MEMORABILIA // HOT PROPERTY // JAGUAR XJ V6 // LUXURY GIFTS FOR THE GIRLS
GOLF INTERNATIONAL
RICHARD SIMMONS
FIRST UP
MAGAZINE
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 Design: Tony Seagrave design@golfinternationalmag.com
All in all, a dream season... Speculation as to who might walk away with the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award was as irrelevant as ever around the time this issue went to press – although at least this year golf was included in the discussion. How could it not be? Fully forty years on since Tony Jacklin lifted the US Open trophy, Graeme McDowell’s epic victory at Pebble Beach not only inspired a glorious season for European golf but established the boy from Portrush as a bona fide superstar, a status he would underline with that sublime, history-making birdie-three at the 16th in his singles match with Hunter Mahan at Celtic Manor – one of the greatest holes of golf ever played under such pressure. GMac’s legend is far from written, but whatever happens in the future it is hard to imagine he will ever scale such heights as he did in 2010 – a performance that earns him our vote as golf’s World Player of the Year.
For the cover story to this Annual Issue, John Hopkins travelled to Dubai to interview GMac as he prepared a last-ditch assault on overhauling Martin Kaymer’s lead at the top of the Order of Merit. As it turned out, however, his season was done. [At least as far as Europe was concerned – a week later he out-played Tiger in his own tournament. Oh joy!] “I wanted to finish strong, but there was just nothing left in the tank,” he told Hoppy during the course of an interview originally scheduled to last just 30 minutes. An hour and a half later he was still talking, and, when you consider the demands that have been made on him these last few months, his generosity alone gives you as indication as to the character of one of Europe’s most engaging and popular of golfers. One of the more thoughtful and erudite, too, as you will discover in a far-reaching and entertaining interview that begins on page 50.
Talking of awards, what self-respecting magazine wouldn’t hand out a few other gongs at this time of year? The categories were being finalised as the entire staff here at Gi (on a good day a fourball) assembled for a pint in the local. Ten minutes later we had nailed it.
* Best Dressed Player of 2010? GMac. Natty cardigans, immaculately cut strides, crisp collared shirts...and all set off with that rather jaunty cap.
* Worst Dressed Player of 2010? (And he’s dangerously close to making this a perennial award). Sergio Garcia. Seems to have a thing for wearing trousers that look like tracksuit bottoms and shiny shirts you normally see on a sprinter. If he’s really serious about taking a sabbatical, perhaps he should try Track & Field?
Professional Teaching Panel: Robert Baker, Tim Barter, Peter Cowen, Jim Christine, 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 Photographers: David Cannon, Peter Dazeley, Ross Kinnaird, Andrew Redington, Getty Images, Charles Briscoe-Knight, Matthew Harris, Eric Hepworth, Steve Read
Regular Illustrators: Peter Clark, Harold Riley, Dave F. Smith, Tony Husband (www.tonyhusband.co.uk) 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
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Printers: St Ives Web Ltd // Tel: 01726 892400 Distribution: Comag // Tel: 01895 433600
* Best Celebration of 2010? No contest at all here. When Jeff ‘Boom baby, yeah!’ Overton holed his approach to the 8th in the fourballs on Ryder Cup Sunday, Bubba Watson produced possibly the funniest 30 seconds of television this year with a double fist pump and repeated echoes of ‘boom baby!’ long after the ball had settled at the bottom of the cup. Watson, as it happened, was a revelation at Celtic Manor, a whacky genius on the golf course and a breath of fresh air off it. Find it on YouTube. COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
* Best Pressure Putt of 2010? A few contenders, obviously: GMac’s at 16 in that deciding singles was monumental. As too was Edoardo Molinari’s snaking 30-footer for a two at the 71st hole at Gleneagles during the Johnnie Walker Championship – a putt he knew he had to make to keep alive his hopes of winning the tournament and making Monty’s side. But Kaymer’s cool-as-youlike last-gasp 15-footer to get him into the playoff at the USPGA with Bubba was pure class. * Most Improved Player of 2010? Applying the theory that the better you are the harder and harder it gets to lower your handicap, this one goes to Ian Poulter, a player who increasingly appears to have the game to match the hype, not to mention the wardrobe.
As for Lee Westwood, well the quality of his ball striking simply gets better and better. And to anyone with the temerity to suggest the 37 year-old was not worthy of the top spot in golf, Worksop’s finest delivered the perfect riposte: in the three tournaments he played immediately after toppling Tiger on October 31, the newly installed World No 1 was a cumulative 48 under par. Here’s to more of the same in 2011. Enjoy the issue – and best wishes for a very Happy New Year.
ISSUE 99 • JAN/FEB 2011
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Essential reading from the best in the game ISSUE #99 // JAN/FEB 2011
ANNUAL ISSUE Regulars
Columns
Features
12 LETTERS
38 AND ANOTHER THING
50 LIVING THE DREAM
Do you have an opinion youʼd like to share? Why not email us? You could win a custom-fitted Odyssey putter
19 PLANET GOLF
Off the beaten track: As this opening image suggests, Hankley Common is well worth investigating...19th Hole Q&A with Denis Pugh...New Gear – including the new FootJoy DryJoys Tour...Galvin Greenʼs range for 2011...Odyssey pay homage to Lefty...2-minute lesson – Giʼs Andrew Hall with a simple drill to help you stay ʻconnectedʼ....more sound advice from Dr Felix Shank...Jayne Story and Chi-Power Golf...donʼt miss our reader book offer...
122 THE AMATEUR SCENE
Colin Callendar suggests the gap between top amateurs and tournament pros is as marginal as itʼs ever been in the wake of some sensational performances in 2010. We also catch up with Walker Cup captain Nigel Edwards and salute all of the winners of leading amateur tournaments this past year
152 WORLD TOURNAMENT NEWS
Andy Farrell pens his end-of-year report, with a full listing of tournament results, money-lists and stats
Might the Ryder Cup opt for four-play? Following the delays at Celtic Manor, thereʼs every chance the format of the match may change, says Robert Green
40 ON THE AIR
Two major elemental battles: At both the Open and the Ryder Cup we were reminded of the totally irresistible power of the weather. Peter Alliss reflects on 2010
60 THE YEAR IN GEAR
Under-paid and over-looked... An invitation to a lavish awards ceremony could only mean one thing, right? Alas, no, laments Clive Agran
86 IS TIGERʼS RACE RUN?
42 AT THE 19TH
44 TOUR TALK
Positively good for the game: You donʼt dress the way he does unless you know youʼre something special – and how Ian Poulter has impressed. Sarah Stirk is a huge fan
44 BETTING
Advantage Europe: Giʼs betting correspondent Jeremy Chapman reflects on 2010 and anticipates more European success in 2011
163 THE LAST SHOT
Our tour is better than theirs: Not since the heady days of the ʻFamous Fiveʼ has European golf been in such rude health, writes John Hopkins
57 CALLAWAY DIABLO OCTANE BLACK
WIN
The Gi interview: Graeme McDowell US Open champion and Ryder Cup hero – there is no disputing who is the World Player of the Year. John Hopkins caught up with GMac in Dubai
Constructed with a complex carbon fibre composite, courtesy of a collaboration with engineers at Lamborghini, the latest Callaway Diablo Octane Black driver can help you to create some serious ballspeed – and we have 5 models that must be won
Equipment editor Dominic Pedler casts his eye back over the season in professional golf as he tells the story of 2010 via the hardware that made the headlines As recently as 18 months ago Tigerʼs quest to topple Jack Nicklaus as the gameʼs all-time greatest seemed a given. Now, things are very different. Robert Green questions whether the man who has dominated the game for more than a decade will ever make it to – let alone past – 18
140 NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS
With a tour that included Royal Portrush and Royal County Down, Clive Agran took his B-game to some of the worldʼs finest links golf courses. With exclusive photography by David Cannon (and his valuable tips on where to play if you can extend your stay...)
128 UNDER ARMOUR
Englandʼs Ross Fisher is one of a growing number of tour stars to trust in the concept of ʻlayeringʼ for the ultimate in comfort, freedom and performance on the golf course. Hereʼs your chance to win a complete wardrobe of their latest products
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102
106
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MEMORABILIA What a year!: Kevin McGimpsey identifies the highlights of a season that has seen a return to confidence in the leading auction houses...
ITʼS A GIFT... for the golfing girl in your life: Carly Cummins rounds up a tempting hamper of stylish items that would make the perfect present PROPERTY Time to turn those dreams into reality? Peter Swain plays estate agent with a look at a changing golf property market and a personal Top10 of the developments that have caught his eye MOTORING This Jag merits the badge: Giʼs motoring correspondent Anthony ffrench-Constant gives his verdict on the Jaguar XJ V6 Turbodiesel
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
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Probably the best instruction on the Planet! ISSUE #99 // JAN/FEB 2011 // ANNUAL ISSUE WITHIN PLANET GOLF 31
2-minute lesson: Andrew Hall demonstrates a quick and easy practice drill that will help you to keep the motion of the left arm more ʻin syncʼ with the rotation of your torso – a key feeling that will help you to discover the joys of more solid and more consistent ball striking this weekend 34
Chi-power GOLF: Jayne Storey reveals how practising exercises developed in the martial arts can help you to improve your ʻrootingʼ with the ground for better posture and a more dynamic body rotation 46
ON TRACK & ON LINE
78
JUST HOW SERIOUS ARE YOU?
90
ADDRESSING ALL ANGLES
Tour putting coach Paul Hurrion shares some of the fundamental lessons he believes can help every golfer build a more solid and repeating putting stroke Up and coming tour coach Dan Frost offers an energetic insight into the type of training exercises increasingly prevelant among serious golfers of all ages – golfers who understand the importance of keeping the key muscles in the body stretched and supple in readiness to make a good swing
46
78
90
114
Master PGA Professional Luther Blacklock simplifies the related concepts of shaft angle, swing plane & ball position with a lesson that will leave you with a clearer understanding of the basics
114 LAWS of MOTION Nick Bradley may be familar to you as the coach who helped Justin Rose hone his swing between 2006 and ʻ09, his most successful as a pro. He is also author of the fascinating book The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing from which this extract is taken to coincide with the publication of the paperback edition. And there will be a lot more from Nick through 2011
130 THE SMART PLAY Trilby Tour ambassador Steve Cowle suggests a simple & practical drill that will help you to fine-tune the quality of your impact with the sand for the control to get up-and-down more often .
136 THE MIND FACTOR Continuing his series in which he reveals the exercises used by some of the worldʼs leading golfers to harness and utilise the power of the mind for golf, Dr Karl Morris turns the spotlight on the power of our memory
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GOLF LATEST GEAR // 19TH HOLE Q&A // DR FELIX SHANK // 2-MINUTE LESSON // CHI-POWER GOLF
FOOTJOY
DRYJOYS TOUR
Celebrating a 21-year heritage as the No.1 all-weather performance shoe in golf, FootJoy has delivered on its promise of further improving one of the most successful micro brands in its portfolio in the shape of the latest DryJoys Tour. And while the weekly press releases may be tedious there is no doubting the validity of FJʼs claim: a hefty majority of the worldʼs professional golfers choose FootJoy – and a large percentage of those count the new DryJoys Tour as essential equipment for its levels of comfort, flexibility and style. Journalists at the October press launch of the latest designs were spellbound at behind-the-scenes footage of the myriad manufacturing processes that go into the production of a shoe that excels in every department, most notably in the stability of the platform and the traction the wearer enjoys through the Tri-Density Stability Pods clearly visible here on the outsole. The fusion of this new technology with the traditional styling for which FJ is renowned is the key to the continuiing success of the DryJoys brand, supple uppers crafted from the finest leathers and the option of customising your look through the MyJoys facility online only adding to the attraction of a shoe we will see a lot of in 2011. Available from January with a suggested retail price of £125. www.footjoy.co.uk
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 9
PLANET GOLF
THROUGH THE LENS
10 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
PLANET GOLF
Hankley Common (1890)
ENGLAND
HANKLEY COMMON
Last issue we focused on St Enodoc, a James Braid design blessed with one of the finest settings in the West Country, rolling as it does through the glorious dunes that overlook the Camel Estuary and beyond to the Atlantic. And it is to another Braid creation that we turn for some early inspiration this issue, Hankley Common, a classic Surrey heathland layout in so many ways reminiscent of Walton Heath, not least for the glorious sense of space within which you to enjoy the game. In 2011 Hankley will host Regional Qualifying for the Open Championship, and itʼs quite a test of golf. Played from the tips, the Purple Yards total 6,782, not long by modern standards but here the numbers are misleading; anything off line is at the mercy of the
ferocious heather and subtle bunkering. Notable highlights include the 187-yard 7th, a par-three to a slightly raised green that has regularly been voted one of the countryʼs finest short holes. Hankley first opened for play over 9 holes in 1897. In 1922 James Braid advised on the addition of a further nine, with the great Harry Colt adding his thoughts in 1936. And you are left with the impression that little has changed since; holes of immense character weave this way and that and you itʼs easy to appreciate the great Bobby Lockeʼs observation that the course is ʻthe closest resemblance to a seaside linksʼ you are likely to find inland. All in all then, well worth a closer inspection. Green fees for 2011 are set at £85 per round, £90 for a day ticket.
Tilford, Farnham, Surrey Tel: 01252 792493
Professional: Peter Stow Tel: 01252 793761 www.hankley.co.uk
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID CANNON/GETTYIMAGES.COM
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 11
PLANET GOLF
19TH HOLE Q&A
19TH HOLE Q&A
DENIS PUGH Sky Sports pundit, tour coach and club pro – Denis Pugh has never been busier. And, thanks to the exploits of a trio of his high-flying students, 2010 has been a most satisfying year. Richard Simmons dropped in at The Wisley for a chat
dence over that three-footer on the 18th
green than I did! But it was great to see
and what a story for the both of them.
Particularly Edoardo, given the way he
bulldozed his way in to the team in that
final qualifying event at Gleneagles. He
would get my vote as the ‘Europe’s Most
Improved’ player in 2010. He’s changed
his swing after losing his card in 2008
Gi. What’s been your personal highlight of the 2010 season?
and he’s going to go from strength to
strength. He was always a natural draw-
er of the ball. At the start of the season I
There have been a few, actually. But to
convinced him that he had to work on a
and Edoardo in the Ryder Cup was very,
to the right. That’s the ‘pro miss’. It just
be at Celtic Manor to watch Francesco
very special. It was funny, after all of the
straight flight with any miss just falling
clicked with him, and he worked so hard
build up, the weather delay on the
on his technique. When I saw him hitting
the Saturday morning Edoardo seemed
I told him he was going to have an epic
Friday only added to the tension. Come normal but I could tell that Francesco
was really feeling the pressure as the
balls here at The Wisley back in February
season. He actually made it into the
world’s Top 50 on the strength of four
clock ticked down. And for the first time
wins on the Challenge Tour and a big
emotion you read about. I followed the
world. A quite extraordinary rise from
on a golf course I experienced the real
win in Japan. Now he’s ranked 14 in the
players over the bridge to the 1st tee
the ranks.
I wasn’t balling my eyes out, but it was a
teamed up with the Molinari’s?
and the whole atmosphere just hits you. moment I’ll never forget.
Gi: And they clinched a massive point in their fourball on the Sunday afternoon? Right, and Francesco had more confi-
12 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
Gi. How did it come about that you
I received an email from Edoardo in
2004, totally out of the blue. At the time
he and his brother were coached by
PLANET GOLF Sergio Bertain, of the Italian Federation,
Essentially you want to take the ‘flippi-
whom I have known for many years.
ness’ out of the wrists. That is some-
Sergio liked the way I coached but more
thing that all coaches at tour level are
than that I think my association with
basically working on. You still need to
Monty and the knowledge of what it
have good forearm rotation – but you
takes to make it on tour is what he real-
don’t want to over-involve the wrists. I
Edoardo listed all of his and Francesco’s
impact allowing the balance to power
ly felt the brothers needed. In his email
am looking to get pressure through
achievements and asked if I might take
the levers through impact – but that
a look at them. His was quite a long
pressure must be applied on the correct
email. My reply was a lot shorter. It just
plane to maximise power and accuracy.
said ‘Yes’. Sergio remains a part of Team
Gi: Just as an aside, you talk about
Molinari and has been able to share in
swing plane, which is a confusing area
the success, taking them from school-
for a lot of golfers. What is your point
boys to the Ryder Cup.
of reference?
Gi: They appear very close but also to
I like to keep my eye on the plane of the
be very different characters?
left arm, the left wrist and the clubshaft.
They’re an interesting couple. Great
Those three areas are key, from my per-
mates off the golf course, while on it
spective as a coach. Simply stated, from
they are simply two golfers who happen
to be brothers. They don’t spend a lot of
the address position, my preference is
time in each others pockets, golf-wise.
great attention span for short-game
Italian – more expressive and prone to
someone who not only coaches him
Edoardo is the much more traditional
the mood shifts! He’s quite stubborn – he admits that – and he’s probably in
the top three arguers in golf [Mark Roe
and Robert Lee being the other two].
What he’s really good at is defending a losing position, even when he knows
he’s beaten. Around the dinner table,
practice. But with Roey on board he has technique but who then competes with him. And it’s not easy beating Roey. In
fact, I don’t think Francesco has beaten him yet.
Gi: Writing in the last issue, Tim Barter
stated that he thought Francesco was
arguably the best player in the world
Brothers in arms: The Molinariʼs celebrate their last-hole victory over Matt Kuchar & Stewart Cink in the Sunday fourballs – a vital point for Monty
that the left arm swings over the top of
the turning right shoulder. More specifi-
cally, the underside of the left arm just
touches the tip of the right shoulder as
the player completes his or her back-
swing. That’s what I’m looking for.
Taking things further I look at the
back of the left hand. Ideally it’s flat or
slightly bowed – either is acceptable. But
if the back of the left wrist is ‘cupped’ it
means there is likely to be more release
he’s always a lot of fun. There have been
tee to green.
of the wrists through impact – i.e. they
to drum into him the importance of a
and when he finds the groove, as he did
the shaft, I like to see it pointing at the
times where I’ve really had to work hard specific area we might be working on –
but once he gets it (as he did with the
ball-flight issue) he’s off and away.
That’s a huge complement to Francesco,
in the recent HSBC Championship, he is like a machine. For him, the key is that
his swing is based on being able to use
Francesco is the more reserved. But once
what I refer to as the three fundamentals
of humour. On the surface he seems to
leverage. When he has complete control
you get to know him you get the sense have a very even temperament but he
extremely efficiently: balance, plane and
of all three at all times he is very accu-
never ever accepts miss-hitting shots. He
rate with good power. Overall he is
to go off on one. He’s capable of a few
stands the intricasies of his
hides it, but he really has the propensity Monty moments. When you are that tal-
Faldo-like, in the way he underswing. There’s no secret move
ented you have an expectation to hit
in there. He simply works
Gi: What has been the main area that
and fundamentals right.
every shot perfectly.
you have helped them with?
Up until recently with Francesco it’s
been all full swing coaching with the
occasional look at the short game. But to
hard on getting the basics Gi: As a tour coach,
give us an insight into the technical aspects you look at in a
tell you the truth it was the short game
good swing?
why I recommended my Sky colleague
damen-
that really needed the attention, which is Mark Roe. He knows his stuff inside out.
It was not so much aspects of technique
Francesco needed explaining as the art
of practising of it. He just didn’t have a
Three fun-
tals:
leverage,
balance
and plane.
over-work the club. As for the plane of
ball-to-target line or left – and never
“I thought his [Monty’s] captaincy might have been a bit more up and down, emotionally but he was on the level. In fact, he captained in a way I wish he’d played majors, because he kept his emotional levels in check throughout”
PLANET GOLF
EDITED BY DOMINIC PEDLER
ODYSSEY
CALLAWAY
MICKELSON PUTTER IS A WINNER
RACY NEW MATERIAL
Marketing men looking for new equipment initiatives have sparked a new trend in tribute clubs built to the exact specifications of their tour starsʼ originals. Odyssey is a ʻmajorʼ player in the new niche market, and after the highly limited, online-only commemorative version of The Putter That Won The Masters, back in May, they follow up with a more commercially available limited edition of the same club. The Odyssey ProType PT 82 is a special blade built to the exact specifications used by Phil Mickelson to win his third Masters title last spring. Itʼs made from soft 1025 carbon steel and features Odysseyʼs White Ice insert with a tungsten weight behind it. The vintage finish and single white sightline that stretches down the back flange are particular cosmetics requested by Phil himself. “Iʼm very excited that the designers at Odyssey have produced this putter with the same design as my gamer,” says Mickelson. “Tournaments are won and lost on the green, which is why I rely on our design team to give me the best chance to win.” Austie Rollinson, the chief designer for Odyssey, explained the background to this intricate construction: “Phil came to us a few years back to develop this particular model as it was one heʼs been using since he was a junior. We made a steel version that he used to the win the USPGA but then he started experimenting with inserts and loved the feel it gave him. Thatʼs
where this putter came from.” The challenge for the engineers was to make room for the insert without changing the shape or the head weight. After much trial and error, the insert pocket was deepened and a piece of tungsten was used to achieve Philʼs favoured 320gramme head weight. Interestingly, the multi-layer insert has been carefully fine-tuned to enhance sound, feel and responsiveness including a roughening of the face to increase friction and promote a positive forward roll. “Itʼs an exact replica of Philʼs gamer in virtually every way and is sure to appeal to golfers the world over,” adds Neil Howie, President of Callaway Europe, adding that Odyssey putters have so far claimed 53 tour victories worldwide in 2010, including two majors [Graeme McDowell played a White Hot #7 in the US Open at Pebble Beach]. Guide: £269 www.odysseygolf.com
The evolution of ever stronger, lighter and more efficient clubhead materials continues with Forged Composite, a complex form of carbon fibre that is also transforming the motor industry. A case in point is the new Callaway Octane Black driver and its link to the latest Lamborghini. Golf club designers traditionally tap into the aerospace industry for the latest R&D on high performance materials. But Callaway Golfʼs new partnership with Italian super car legend, Automobili Lamborghini (announced at the 2010 Paris Motor Show) has opened up some fascinating new design avenues, as already evident in their latest lines for next season. The two companies have collaborated in the past (the crown of the Callaway FT-iQ was inspired by the sensual curves of the Lamborghini Reventon) but this formal meeting of minds has now yielded a new clubhead material, Forged Composite, which debuts in the body of the Callaway Diablo Octane Black driver and matching fairway woods. Replacing the conventional graphite that defined Callawayʼs flagship Fusion platform for almost a decade, Forged Composite is being touted as a giant leap forward in the way it promotes both greater transfer of power at impact (tests showing at least five extra yards over the Callaway Diablo Edge) and more accurate trajectories relative to both Fusion and all-titanium predecessors. Callaway explains that, with a density just onethird that of titanium (which remains the chosen face material) and a far higher strength-to-weight ratio, the new material can be used in much thinner amounts and with a level of precision (in terms of accurately setting the CG and MOI) that was previously unattainable with traditional graphite. Chief designer, Dr Alan Hocknell, reveals how the performance benefits of Forged Composite are down to an alternative physical form of carbon fibre that, when treated within a special isothermal forging process, is superior to the metal alloys generally used in golf clubs. “Whereas conventional graphite has a regular arrangement of carbon atoms, Forged Composite is derived
from the turbostratic form that is far stronger due to the irregular arrangement of the atoms,” says Hocknell. “When the fibres are intertwined using a special thermoset resin formula, the result is an incredibly strong yet pliable material that can be precisely moulded and set to within one thousandth of an inch,” he continues, adding that the resulting lighter, more efficient Diablo Octane Black clubhead is then paired with a longer shaft to promote further head speed and distance gains. The club also has distinctive new look, with the wavy configurations of the Forged Composite that visible beneath the crown being rather more random than the grid-like patterns of graphite in the old Fusion series. Elsewhere, the Octane Black retains a titanium face that incorporates Callawayʼs popular Hyperbolic Face Technology which chemically mills away excess material for a precise face thickness that promotes a a larger effective sweet spot and improved impact efficiency. The face also features a dark PVD finish that, as reported in our Munich report last month, is all the rage in so much golf equipment today. Meanwhile, more conventional graphite does make an appearance in the Project X graphite shaft, carefully configured to complement to the new clubhead which comes in both Standard and Tour versions (the latter with a slightly smaller head size, a full hosel and a one-degree open clubface preferred by many skilled players). “Forged Composite provides us with the ability to engineer performance enhancements like never before, and weʼve only just begun to tap the potential of this material,” says Hocknell in closing. “Weʼre looking forward to collaborating on future applications that push our designs beyond any preconceptions.” Finally, for motoring enthusiasts, co-developers Lamborghini feature the same Forged Composite in the suspension arms and internal panels of their Sesto Elemento supercar, where it apparently saves more than 100kg in weight and dramatically improves both the power-to-weight ratio and acceleration capability. And, if you know your Italian and your science, youʼll know that Sesto Elemento translates as Sixth Element which, on the Periodic Table Of The Elements, is carbon. * Donʼt miss your opportunity to win one of 5 Callaway Octane Balck drivers we have up for grabs this issue – see page 57.
GALVIN GREEN
MULTI-LAYER WARDROBE
Galvin Greenʼs reputation for producing very high quality rainwear allows the company to pull off a neat trick – it occupies around 23% of the UK and Ireland market, 10% clear of its nearest rival, while charging a premium price well above the majority of its competitors. Itʼs success has been built on doing things differently. The Swedish company has helped change perceptions of wet weather clothing via use of vibrant colour, outstanding design and an attention to detail celebrated by its ʻWe Never Compromiseʼ mantra. The companyʼs GoreTex rainsuits remain the centre of its product offer, with around two thirds of revenue coming from this sector. The task for Galvin Green, as its celebrates its 20th anniversary, is to retain its reputation for being on the technological bleeding edge whilst growing its non-rainwear product lines. This is a classic business conundrum: How to stretch the brand enough to grow the company without diluting its reputation. This is known in business school parlance as the Porsche 924 Dilemma – the German car company brought out ʻThe Peopleʼs Porscheʼ, a cheaper version aimed at aspirational sales reps, only to find that its core customers value exclusivity, and didnʼt want to be associated with other ʻpeopleʼ. Similarly, for Galvin Green the biggest decision its management faces is the products it doesnʼt make. Yes, it could get in to shoes, or wet weather gloves, or bags, or go another way, out of golf and into sailing or skiing, where incidentally the company began. But it has chosen none of these options, preferring a more measured approach to growth. This is a luxury afforded them by the companyʼs ownership structure – it remains wholly owned by its founder Tomas Nilsson – meaning unlike a publicly listed company, there are no shareholders demanding quick returns via unrealistic sales targets. This leaves Galvin time to develop new product that meet their customers exacting expectations. Over recent years it has introduced what it calls a ʻfull multi-layer wardrobe of golf clothing designed for all playing conditions anywhere in
the worldsʼ. These include the Gore-Tex PacLite Shell lightweight jacket and short sleeve jackets, the Ventil8 body wicking shirts and the Windstopper range of trousers and body warmers. To this range of clothing Galvin has gone head to head against American brand Under Armour, releasing its Compression range of skintight high performance suits, designed expressly for golf. These are divided in to two ranges – Compression 10 and Compression 20, the numbers relating to temperatures, e.g. 10 degree Celsius. These suits retail at £49 each and claim to help players stay fresher for longer by helping to move sweat away from the body. Galvin Green is selling a technology story here, which some older golfers may find difficult to take on board. We have been brought up to cherish ʻnaturalʼ fibres, such as wool and cotton, whereas Galvinʼs clothing is made of high quality polyester. This material has an image problem, carrying connotations of cheap work shirts. But, rather than causing us to sweat, polyester allows moisture to pass through it. Pull out a cotton polo shirt from the washing machine and note how heavy it is compared to a polyester version. This use of hi tech fibres may divide the generations on the golf course. But Galvin Greenʼs sales figures suggest weʼre getting the message.
PRAZZA BALL FINDER
THE HOLY GRAIL OF GOLF GADGETS?
Just as we went to press, news came in of this highly anticipated golf ball tracking device that weʼd been hearing about on the industry grapevine for over a year. OK, so special golf balls with built-in microchips that interact with a hand-held unit are not new but, until now, they have not worked with enough range, speed and efficiency to be an effective panacea for wayward golfers. While we wait for our own test sample, the
designers claim that the Prazza is the most advanced of its kind, using a high-quality golf ball with an ʻactiveʼ internal chip that delivers a signal strong enough to guide you unerringly to it within a 100m range. Already it has impressed some big names, including master coach Simon Holmes who demonstrates the device convincingly in a YouTube clip. Weʼll report back when weʼve tried it for ourselves.
INSTRUCTION
On track, By Dr Paul Hurrion EUROPEAN TOUR PUTTING COACH WWW.GELGOLF.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTYIMAGES.COM
&online
Whatever standard of golfer you may be, investing in a Putting Alignment Mirror is the quickest route to better fundamentals and a repeating stroke. There are numerous ways in which it can help you (visit my website for the comprehensive lesson!) but here are just a couple that will improve the path of your stroke and the quality of your impact with the ball – both of which are vital to hitting better putts
1. With your shoulders level, square the putter face between the line of tees within the mirror. The right hand is then placed gently on the left shoulder
16 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
2. Feel that the unit of your left shoulder and left arm works as one to draw the putter back smoothly
PUTTING WITH DR PAUL HURRION
DRILL 1
Groove a better swing-path through the ‘gate’ Improve the path of your stroke and eliminate inconsistent heel/toe strikes for more accurate and solid impact Tiger Woods is renowned for the way he can stand on a practice putting green and hole out from four to six feet or so, running the putter-head through a ‘gate’ of tee-pegs. I have watched him stand and hole putts like this for half an hour and not miss a single one. He often favours using just his right hand/arm, and it’s like watching a machine. Apart from anything else, it’s an incredible feat of strength – which putting is to a much greater degree than you might imagine. Here is my own take on that drill. As I advocate the right hand low putter grip, I encourage my students to practice with the left hand only, as this engenders a terrific sense of feel for pulling the left hand/arm and the putter through the ball and down the target line. Placing the right hand gently on the upper part of the left arm reminds you that the stroke is created with the
3. Left shoulder rocks up to swing the putter through the line of tees for solid contact with the ball
gentle rocking of the shoulders, the left shoulder moving down to create the backswing and then up to return the putter to impact and through to the finish. To start, square your putter face to the target line, and then place a couple of tees just outside the toe and the heel of the putter (there are slots in the mirror specifically for this purpose). Thus you create a ‘gate’ to test the accuracy of your stroke (you can narrow it as you become more proficient). The aim of the drill is to make a full stroke without touching either of the tees on the through-swing. Keep your eyes fixed on the back of the ball, your right hand comfortably on the upper part of the left arm, and gently rock the shoulders to create momentum. The left arm and the putter work in tandem. Gradually bring the tees closer together to reduce your margin for error and to test the path of your stroke even more.
4. Putter and left arm maintain relationship all the way to the finish
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 17
FEATURE GRAEME MCDOWELL
DR 18 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
COVER STORY
LIVING THE
EAM
As it turned out, the Race to Dubai eluded him, but for Ireland’s Graeme McDowell 2010 will be regarded as a watershed year in a career forever defined by that historic US Open victory – not to mention a hero’s role in a landmark Ryder Cup. John Hopkins found GMac in talkative mood Gi: Let’s start with the Race to Dubai – how do
and the Race to Dubai, so it has been great to
the face at weird moments. I remember the first
would assume are the more valuable major titles?
Obviously with my win in Valderrama, my third
emotional standing in the middle of the 4th fair-
quite as high as a major championship but not
a great last few weeks.
then travelled to Whistling Straits for the USPGA,
pretty prestigious accolade. Look at what Monty
Gi: Had you set yourself goals at the beginning
you classify Orders of Merit alongside what most
GMac: I put Orders of Merit up there, maybe not
far behind. An Order of Merit, Race to Dubai, is
did. Did he win eight? Seven in a row. Pretty
incredible. Martin Kaymer has had a magnificent
season and for me to be within touching dis-
tance sitting here at the start of the week is pretty good. It would be huge if I won. [As you will know, he didn’t.] If I didn’t it would still be a great season. I played five [tournaments] in a
row because I wanted to put the gloss on a great
season. I didn’t want to put my feet up. I wanted to finish strong. After Pebble Beach there was a four-week phase of regrouping and resetting
goals and the two I set out were the Ryder Cup
come in just under a million behind him.
in Singapore and fifth in Hong Kong, it has been
of the year and, if so, what were they?
GMac: Getting on the Ryder Cup team and
round of the Open at St Andrews and I got all
way. I was welling up. It all just hit me. When I
I was good and ready for a break. I took four or
five weeks off after that week in August and had
a reset. Which is why I’m so pleased to have
played as well as I have towards the end of the
putting myself in the mix on a Sunday afternoon
year. It has been a big deal.
at the start of the season. After that, getting back
Gi: How are the goals shaping up for 2011?
for the PGA Tour in the States next year. Those
like trying to turn up every week ready to go.
in a major championship. Those were my goals
in the winner’s circle again and securing my card were my goals for 2010 so I pretty much killed
them. After the win at Pebble there was obviously
a period of resetting. It took me four or five
weeks to get my head around the whole Pebble
thing. It would creep up on me and punch me in
GMac: More of the same! Nowadays I have goals
Trying to be at golf tournaments for the right
reasons, motivated and prepared to win. Again, I
want to put myself in the mix in the majors. In
2011 I want to experience the FedEx playoffs
and have a run at those. I have never played in JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 19
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WIN
THE NEW DIABLO OCTANE BLACK DRIVER
We’ve teamed up with Callaway Golf to offer five lucky readers the chance to win one of the the hottest drivers of 2011 – the new Diablo Octane Black. Each winner will be fitted by Callaway’s custom-fit experts at the company’s state-ofthe-art Performance Centre in Surrey and will be able to choose the model – either Tour or Standard – that best suits their game. The comprehensive fitting process uses high-speed cameras and proprietary analysis software to capture and analyse swing and shot data, enabling the fitting experts to improve player performance with clubs that complement the swing. For a chance to win, just answer this simple question... Q. Which motoring brand has Callaway collaborated with to design the Diablo Octane driver? (A) Ferrari (B) Porsche (C) Lamborghini
To enter: visit www.golfinternationalmag.com or send your answer on a postcard to ‘Callaway Competition’ Golf International, 10 Buckingham Place, London, SW1 E6HX COMPETITION ENTRIES CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT ON FEBRUARY 28, 2011.
EQUIPMENT
A YEAR IN GEAR
2010 What a year for European golf: GMac ends a 40-year drought at the US Open, Germany’s Martin Kaymer claims the USPGA while at Celtic Manor Monty’s men win back the Ryder Cup in one of the greatest matches in recent memory. Oh, and England’s Lee Westwood rounds out the year as the World No.1. All that and much, much more as Gi’s Dominic Pedler looks back on 2010 with the slant on the gear behind the headlines
22 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM NOV/DEC 2010
2010: THE YEAR IN GEAR
The new decade kicks off with the usual round of commercial endorsements and high-profile corporate transfers. Geoff Ogilvy moves to Titleist from Cobra and, helped by a new Titleist 909D3 driver acquired two days before the tournament, immediately wins a successive seasonopening SBS Championship in Hawaii. Rising rookie Chris Wood signs with Mizuno and will play a combination of MP-68 forged blades and more forgiving M-58 in the 3 and 4 irons. Another former amateur sensation, Shane Lowery signs with Srixon, while Paul Lawrie rejoins Wilson, the company with whom he won the 1999 Open championship. Meanwhile, European No.1 Lee Westwood, fresh from his defining victory in Dubai with 14 Ping clubs in the bag, extends the multi-year contract with the same company with which he has been affiliated since his junior days. January’s middle eastern sojourn usually throws up some off-beat equipment novelty and this time it was Sergio Garcia’s 675-yard whack with his new TaylorMade R9 Super Tri driver down Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Grand Prix Circuit at the inaugural ‘Whack From The Track’ golf challenge. (Still, it wasn’t enough to break the Asian Long Drive record of 721 yards set by Henrik Stenson in 2007). TaylorMade were back in the news days later as Martin Kaymer earned the first worldwide win for the company’s new five-piece Penta TP golf ball when winning the Abu Dhabi Championship. It wouldn’t be his last. The first month of the new groove reg-
JANUARY
With this shot in Abu Dhabi (below) TaylorMade staff player Martin Kaymer launched his assault on the Race to Dubai
ulations for tour professionals sees some diametrically opposed feedback from top names. Ernie Els explains how he is switching to the new, softer Callaway Tour i ball in order to compensate for the lost spin implied by the lower groove volume and blunter edges. In contrast, Ian Poulter cheekily suggests he will play a harder Titleist ball to increase his driving distance thereby reducing the premium on spin from shorter approach shots. The Great Groove Debate intensifies as Phil Mickelson threatens to exploit a loophole allowing the use high-spinning preAugust 1989 Ping Eye2 irons that had been specifically ‘grandfathered’ under the terms of the now infamous early-Nineties lawsuit between Ping and the PGA Tour. While Phil’s stance looks set to make a mockery of the new rules (and is roundly castigated by some of his fellow pros) it is entirely legal, as explained by Ping chief, John Solheim, who had predicted the fiasco but graciously left the door open for negotiation to limit the damage of this administrative farce. Shot Of The Month goes to Martin Kaymer’s 277-yard approach at the final hole of the Abu Dhabi Championship, with a 13-degree TaylorMade R9 3-wood fitted with a Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki 73-X shaft, which seals a birdie and a one-shot victory.
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 23
INSTRUCTION DAN FROST
Just how serious
are you? The bottom line? Improve your flexibility and you will play better golf. Immediately. By Dan Frost TOUR COACH, FROST GOLF ACADEMY, ESHER, SURREY // WWW.FROSTGOLF.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM CRITCHELL
One of the secrets to effective coaching is to first ascertain the physical capabilities of your students. If I’m working with a young professional trying to make it on Tour, then the likelihood is that he or she is reasonably fit and supple – fortunate to have the physical tools necessary to achieve an athletic, repeating swing. But the chances are that scenario would not apply to a middle-aged businessman who may only get out once or twice a week and who has little time spare to hit balls at the range. So, from the outset, both player and coach have to be realistic when it comes to goalsetting and expectation levels. Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that setting aside the time to work on improving your levels of flexibility is the quickest route to better golf for the majority of club players. And that is the crux of the message in this article: if you can find just 10 minutes a day to rehearse some golf-specific stretching exercises I
24 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
think you will be surprised at the improvement in your ability to make a better swing. Lots of golfers work on strength, but strength without flexibility does not increase speed – which is the key to power. Out on tour these days, it’s noticeable how many pros carry a stretching pole and many also use a Swiss ball and weighted training ball in their regular gym or home workout routines. None of these items is particularly expensive and my advice to anyone who is serious about long-term improvement is to invest in getting suitably equipped. Bottom line, the better your flexibility, the better able you will be to maintain posture and the fuller and more effective will be the rotation of your torso – the pivot motion at the heart of every good swing. Young or old, beginner or expert, regular stretching will immediately yield results and enable you to play to your true potential.
STRETCH FOR BETTER GOLF
Breathing is an important element of stretching. Don’t hold your breath – always exhale as you intensify the stretch, allowing the muscles to lengthen
Back & shoulder stretch
Anyone for a gym & tonic? Make the most of your winter training with golf-specific exercises to bolster your flexibility
Let’s get started with a general back, shoulder & lower body stretch that really wakes up your muscles and gets you ready to set yourself up in good posture and make a good swing. It won’t surprise you to learn that this stretch will be felt chiefly in the lower & upper back and shoulder area. It also engages the ‘core’ muscles which are responsible for the rotational control and generation of power in your swing. To start, stand with your feet spread to shoulder-width, grip the top of the pole with both hands (at arm’s-length) and create a slight flex in the knees. From here, the objective is to bend forward from the hips slowly pushing your arms up and away from your body while placing your head between your arms. There is also a good feeling of lengthening the spine (specifically good for achieving good body angles in the set up). Hold your fully stretched position for 30 seconds, then relax and repeat.
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 25
FEATURE ROBERT GREEN
As he embraces social technology, and thereby hopes to do likewise with his fans, the former world No.1 faces several challenges – not least his assault on Jack Nicklaus’s record haul of major championships. So Robert Green asks...
...where to next for tweeting Tiger?
S
ince the hitherto meticulously choreographed world of Tiger Woods went
all Ann Widdecombe just over a year
firmly in his grasp. Golf-wise, in fact, matters were out of kilter even before his car went out of control.
At the beginning of this year, Jack Nicklaus conceded
ago, the rest of the world has
that, with 14 majors to date, Woods was on track to pass
what used to pass for normality. For a
doesn’t win a major this year, he will find it hard.” And he
returned to something approaching
his record of 18, but he added a significant rider: “If Tiger
while at least, to resurrect and reinter-
didn’t. So will he?
officially best golfer is white, its most
his immorality, Woods lost his aura of invincibility in the
pret that (quite) old joke, the planet’s
I’d suggest he will. Amid being so widely castigated for
popular rapper is black, a country
minds of such wannabe peers as Ernie Els, perhaps the
Cup (see * at end of story) and
phenomenon that was Woods at his best. Tiger is now for-
with a coastline holds the America’s
Germany is keen on going to war,
even if nowadays it’s not in a military sense but rather
against the financial profligacy of other EU member states.
In defence of the last title he held, the JBWere Masters in
Melbourne, the tournament he won in November 2009
shortly before all hell broke loose, a final round of 65 pro-
pelled Woods up the field but only into fourth place. Right
golfer who has missed out on the most majors due to the
mally the world’s second-best golfer and it is impossible to
expect that the No.1, Lee Westwood, or other players of his vintage around Tiger’s age (Ian Poulter, anyone?), will ever
feel intimidated again by his presence in their company or
on a leaderboard. As for Rory McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa and
Matteo Manassero, Woods is just another top geezer there
for the toppling. Even if Tiger ever managed to get his game
now, the only thing he has to defend is his reputation. And
back to something approaching its peak (he will never scale
that extraordinary third US Open title at Torrey Pines in
but his putting stroke immaculate and nerveless), it would-
he hasn’t won a major championship since he hobbled to
2008, since when he has succumbed not only to the world’s most notoriously slow-speed motoring crash but also yield-
ed to Y. E. Yang after seemingly having got the 2009 USPGA
26 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
the heights of 2000, when not only was his swing so strong
n’t have the same effect that it had back then because his
previously utterly impenetrable persona has been banished forever. I mean, joining the Twitterati!
TIGER & 2011
Whether he’s playing badly or well, Woods has become even more of a focus for the media over the past few months
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 27
G N I S S E R D AD
L L A The natural lie angle of each individual club determines not only the correct distance you stand from the ball but also the relative position of the hands as you settle into a comfortbale posture
28 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2001
eet ad m o t red e clubhe rds o l i a t ith a h e t w a r a g u w t n o o i t bs thaact of plac long way ill reward y u l c f l ve go e simple s goes a les that w a h u as yo l needs, thll at addresset-up ang g n o l As individua d the ba body / your ctly behin tablish the ng swing. corre g you es e, repeati helpind, on-plan soun
S E L G N A By Luther Blacklock
PGA MASTER PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHEW HARRIS SHOT ON LOCATION AT WOBURN GOLF CLUB
Such is the importance of the set-up position in golf, the essential DNA of your
swing is – literally – in your hands as you step up to the ball. From the driver to the
wedge, the length of the shaft and the lie angle of the club you are using contain all
of the vital information you need to stand to the ball correctly and in the posture that is designed to produce the desired swing.
The principles of human movement have remained fairly consistent over the last
couple of centuries. Over that same period, clubmakers have refined and improved the
length, shape and structure of clubs with the result that the high-tech models we enjoy
today have evolved significantly to maximise the chances of us hitting the desired shot. I
believe that, by default, club designers and manufacturers have developed a greater
understanding of a golferʼs biomechanics than those of us who teach golf for a living. In other words, the modern club manufacturer is offering up all of the clues possible to
help you play your best golf. All you have to do (once you have clubs that are ʻfitʼ to suit
your own requirements) is understand what each of your clubs is telling you!
In this article, I want to explain how the length of the golf club is the greatest fac-
tor in shaping our swing plane (i.e. the angle at which the swing is inclined around
our body) and controlling the length of our swing. A modern driver is around 44” in
length, a pitching wedge would be around 35.75 inches. Consequently, the driver
requires a long, flat golf swing, whereas the wedge demands a shorter and more
upright swing. The clubs in between are swung within the spectrum of movement
between those two extremes. For that reason, most teachers tend to coach with a
six-iron, for that is the central one of the 13 long clubs in a golferʼs bag.
WHAT IS THE ʻLIEʼ ANGLE?
The “lie” of a golf club describes the angle between the leading edge of the clubhead and the shaft. And it varies on a graduated scale from the fairly
upright lie of your most lofted, shorter-shafted wedge (somewhere in the region of 64 degrees) to the flatter lie angle of the longest and least-lofted club in the bag – the driver (typically 59 degrees).
How does this affect your golf swing? Simple: the longer the shaft of the golf
club, the flatter it is designed to sit at address and the more around the body it will then be swung in a natural motion.
There is another important distinction to make at the set-up position with
regards to the way the club is designed to sit (or lie) behind the ball, and that
relates to the position of the butt-end of the club. You may think, as you work
through the bag, that the grip of each of the clubs falls at the same height – but
you would be wrong. In the main photo (opposite page) I am demonstrating the fact that the butt of the club rests highest with the driver and lowest for the
wedge, with the butt of the 6-iron halfway between the two. “Why donʼt they all
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 29
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GOLF INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2011
MEMORABILIA / WOMEN’S LUXURY / GOLF PROPERTY / MOTORING / & MORE...
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 31
W
Time to turn those dreams into reality?
Peter Swain plays estate agent with a look at a changing market and a personal Top-10 of developments to have caught his eye...
Las Colinas, half an hour’s drive south of
ith the deluge of new resorts
Mauritius close behind.
reduced to a trickle, it’s been
there’s never been so much choice combined with
has the makings of a real gem.
ments abroad. Several new
priorities, so within typical golfing property crite-
the superbly manicured layout meanders
arriving before the crash now a tricky year for golf develop-
and existing projects are seeing only stuttering
sales, and a number of future high-end schemes have been either postponed or shelved altogether.
refreshing to report on a success story. The new
Cabell Robinson designed 6,973-yard course at
In the first half of the year, the weak pound
hurt Brits lusting after pads in Euroland, while
the Celtic Tiger turned into a pussycat. The Irish, big buyers over the last 10 years, have almost
entirely disappeared from the scene leaving
stacks of empty property behind, not to mention a few distressed banks needing major bailouts.
All of which is bad news for developers but not
necessarily for buyers. Price falls in Spain, Portugal and Florida mean there is better value for money in those markets than at any time in the last 10
years. Turkey’s emergence has created even more
downward pressure at the budget end, so there
are some good deals out there.
New golfing destinations like Morocco and
Egypt are adding spice to life, and the Caribbean
continues to be the ultimate dream location, with
32 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2001
Altogether, if you’ve got some spare cash,
such good value. Different buyers have different ria, here are my favourites from the year.
Best new kid on the block
LAS COLINAS, SPAIN
With so many brash developments in the more
popular parts of Spain still struggling with nega-
tive publicity and all sorts of licensing issues it’s
Alicante in the relative peace and quiet of the
Costa Blanca, opened just a few months ago and Managed by the ever-dependable Troon Golf,
through orange and lemon groves, with a num-
ber of sweeping elevation changes adding to the
attraction of what is a challenging par 71 course
for players of all levels. You can just catch a
glimpse of the sea from the higher points of the
course – for a closer look, owners and guests can
head for the Las Colinas Beach Club, a fantastic
PROPERTY facility just a 20-minute drive away.
With building complete, 70% of the 124 mod-
(Facing page): Owners and visitors to the brand new resort of Las Colinas in the Costa Blanca enjoy not only a fine Cabell Robinson-designed golf course but 5 star beach club 15 minutes’ drive away; (Left): With its economy in the rough, Ireland is currently open to offers – fractional ownership at the K Club providing the opportunity to play the 2006 Ryder Cup course (Below): Set high above the harbour town of Funchal, Palheiro also boasts a Cabell Robinson designed golf course, while pastel-hued villas decorate the terraces
ern units are already sold, but there are still twobedroom apartments available for £200,000,
semi-detached villas from £290,000 and plush
four and five-bedroom detached villas starting
at £590,000, all with gardens and easy access to the communal pools. If you’re interested in tak-
ing a look a number of the units are available to rent making this a terrific destination for a few
days’ golf away from the British winter. lascolinasgolf.es
Best Ryder Cup venue
THE K CLUB, IRELAND
Before Celtic Manor came along most would
agree that the 2006 Ryder Cup produced some
of the greatest scenes in the biennial contest.
The 7,350-yard Palmer Course certainly provided a glorious backdrop to a memorable
European triumph, the classic parkland set-up
making the most of its setting along the fabled River Liffey near Dublin. In superb condition,
with big greens and even bigger bunkers, water
is in play on no less than 13 holes. The second
18, the Smurfit, has a wilder, linksy feel to it. The Ladycastle residential estate is on the
edge of the course, a short stroll from the clubhouse. House prices have been pounded by
ers should also make for Seve’s Porto Santo lay-
Ireland’s current economic woes, so fractional
out a shortish ferry ride away.
a year, two-bed apartments start at £114,000,
the Bay of Funchal, 79 pastel-hued villas and
firstlightinternational.com
course, with prices ranging from £282,000 for a
ownership is the way to go: for six weeks usage three-bed houses from £158,000. Best for short-haul winter breaks
PALHEIRO, MADEIRA
Another Cabell Robinson gem, snaking through the 200-year-old Blandy Estate high up above
the harbour town of Funchal, this is a splendidly old-school 6,656 yards of sheer golfing fun,
On the vertigo-inducing hillside looking over
apartments are being built, well away from the one-bedroom apartment to £1 million for a
three-bedroom villa with a private swimming pool. palheiroestate.com
Best for all-round sporting facilities
LA MANGA, SPAIN
Founded 40 years ago, the three championship
favouring players who can draw the ball around
18-hole courses have hosted Spanish Opens,
Santo do Serra is the other island course a
holidays. With 28 tennis courts, this is also a
the many left-to-right, heavily wooded doglegs. snaking 20-minute drive away, while adventur-
numerous tour events, and thousands of golfing
Davis Cup location. Eight football pitches, crick-
(Above): Royal Westmoreland is a magnet for the rich and famous; (below) closer to home, La Manga remains one of Europe’s premier playgrounds with a wide-ranging property portfolio
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 33
FEATURE NICK BRADLEY
Not only does the correct inclination of the spine pre-set the correct weight shift for a fully coiled backswing but it also creates the perfect launch conditions with the driver
Since its first publication in 2003 I’m delighted to say that I have received over five thousand emails and letters from golfers across the globe conveying how much The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing had influenced their game for the better. The fundamental messages and the stunning imagery featured in the book have been responsible for creating winners on every major professional tour including the record-breaking 2007 European Tour Order of Merit victory by Justin Rose; a feat that will unlikely be broken again. Speaking as a coach, 2010 was once again proof that biomechanical laws and common sense will, in the long term, always prevail over any ‘method’. Fads will continue to come and go, but if you seriously want to improve your game then look no further than these proven ‘laws’ and fundamentals of movement. The illusion of a ‘method’ I have a problem with ‘methods’ in golf (such as the recent ‘stack and tilt’ phenomenon). A ‘onesize-fits-all’ approach is immediately squashed when you consider the variables in weight, arm /leg length, dynamic capability and flexibility we profile individually. Any individual or team that shouts ‘our method is the answer’ should be given a wide birth; a ‘method’ sells us a ‘constant’ but as we all know, the golf swing is organic and constantly changing. I wrote The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing with one purpose in mind – to reveal the truth of the golf swing for what it really is and write and depict it in a unique way. And the fact remains that until we develop different shaped hands or an extra leg the golfing ability of a human being will always be determined by natural biomechanical laws and truths. I am delighted to share in this article four of the primary images featured within my book that capture a golf swing’s sense of geometry, shape, timing and dynamics. By studying and employing any one of these four truths (ideally all of them!) in your own motion I am sure you will experience new sensations that help you to play better golf. Looking ahead to 2011, I look forward to appearing regularly in Gi with a series of fresh and entertaining features – if you have any questions or if there is anything specific you would like me to address, drop me an email: nrbradleygolf@aol.co.uk
34 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
MOTION By Nick Bradley
DRIVER
LAWS
Note right foot at its widest with the driver, the sternum / spine angle at maximum tilt away from the target, pre-setting the weight shift and coil
TOUR COACH & AUTHOR ‘THE 7 LAWS OF THE GOLF SWING’
Pre-Setting Weight Transference
Law 2 was probably the first time in golf instruction that the bone
structure of a golferʼs body was displayed. Law 2 certainly was
the ʻreadersʼ favourite as it left no doubt as to how and why you should be standing to the ball. Whilst I agree that the weight
Mid-iron has sternum marginally tilted away from the target, presetting a marginal weight shift, which is all that is required
transference during the backswing should be minimal, the current ry) is only half of a story that needs to be told. Modern theorists will tell you that nothing can go wrong strike-wise with this cen-
tralised winding of the body, yet they turn a blind eye to the fact
that, equally, the sternum can move ahead of the ball during the
downswing. This is twice as problematic!
You can now see with the smaller pictures (right) how this
works with the driver through to the wedge. With its small and
slower motion, a wedge shot needs little if any weight shift at all. The spine and sternum can assume a frontal position which leans slightly target-ward with the right foot narrowed.
The mid iron, as you can see, has the spine marginally tilted
MID-IRON
theory of leaving it centred over the ball (as per stack ʻnʼ tilt theo-
away from the target with the nose directly looking down the sternum. With this marginal weight shift already pre-programmed,
the need to create weight transference or a conscious wind-up behind the ball is made obsolete. Why do we need a marginal
weight shift anyway? Because without something called ʻdisasso-
ciationʼ, which is a stretch between the upper and lower body, no strong kinematic chain or flow of force can ever occur in the
downswing.
Lastly, the driver; the right foot has widened and the spine is
A wedge shot requires barely any weight transfer – accordingly, the st-up sees the body angled toward the target weight favouring the forward foot
now at its maximum tilt away from the target. Apart from the auto-
matic weight shift I mentioned a moment ago, this rearward tilt
provides a perfect bodily launch angle for the driver especially if Iʼd like you to note one last detail in the image – it can be
found in the way the nose bone is always aligned to the sternum
and spine no matter what club. This has two benefits: it is safe
and structurally sound to have this linear relationship between the
head and the spine and secondly, it temporarily stalls the turn of
he torso early in the backswing allowing the club and body to
sync up nicely. Now thatʼs efficiency!
WEDGE
you position your hands slightly behind the ball at address.
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 35
AMATEUR
Young Italian superstar Matteo Manessero was by no means the only member of the class of 2010 to make a deep impression on this year’s professional scene. Colin Callander reports
These guys are the real deal THERE IS STRONG EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST that the gap between the leading amateurs
and their professional counterparts might be narrower than it has been at any time in the last 75 years.
That is just one of the conclusions that can
be reached at the end of an intriguing 2010
season in which one recent convert to the paid
ranks, Matteo Manessero, became the youngest
winner in European Tour history and two other
ing professional when he chased Spain’s Carlos
just 17 years and 188 days.
Challenge Tour.
Challenge Cup.
runner-up finish behind Ian Poulter at the UBS
made when England’s James Robinson
ing to catch up with the professionals could be
Romain Wattel, posted victories on the
Elsewhere, we witnessed more history being
became the first amateur to win on the PGA
EuroPro Tour and for good measure also
watched as the precocious Ricky Fowler
became the first American golfer to play in
the Walker Cup and Ryder Cup in successive
years.
Then, there was also the exploits of
England’s Matt Haines and Tommy Fleetwood,
both of whom started the season as amateurs
before excelling on the Challenge Tour. The former began the year by winning the South
African Amateur Championship and ended it
with an impressive victory in the San Domenico Grand Final, good enough to claim second
place on the Challenge Tour money list and to
book a place on next year’s European Tour. The
Del Moral all the way at the M2M Russian
The first signs that the amateurs were start-
found the previous year when Danny Lee
and the likes of Italy’s Manessero, Denmark’s
Fleetwood and Robinson will ever reach those
Hartø, France’s Wattel, and the English trio of
Haines, Fleetwood and Robinson, merely perpetuated that trend.
If the truth be told, no-one was too surprised
that Manessero made such an immediate
impact in the pro game. The Italian, who shot
to international prominence when he won the 2009 Amateur Championship at Formby and
The jury is still out on whether Haines,
giddy heights but, if nothing else, their exploits,
particularly when coupled with the fine performances of other relatively recent English con-
verts like Danny Willett, David Horsey and John
Parry, does illustrate what a fine job the English Golf Union is doing in developing new talent.
Indeed, that message was reinforced this year
when, despite losing the nucleus of their previ-
then claimed the Silver Medal at the subsequent
ous team, the English won both the European
just after making the cut at the Masters and
Home Internationals in Wales. Only a relatively
Open Championship at St Andrews, turned pro
then claimed second place at the Rolex Trophy
impressive amateur career by winning the 2010
became the youngest winner in European Tour
36 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
belief that the precocious Italian might well
develop into a major winner of the not-too-dis-
tant future.
and third at the Omega European Masters
English Amateur, the other not long after turn-
Hong Kong Open, consolidating the widely-held
(Johnnie Walker Classic) and Shane Lowry (3
Irish Open) both won on the European Tour
latter posted two second place finishes on the
same Tour – one just before he closed out an
Subsequently, he went on to post another
before re-writing the record books when he
history by capturing the Castelló Masters aged
Men’s Team Championship in Sweden and the disappointing share of eighth place, behind a
French team including the aforementioned
Wattel, at the World Amateur Team
Championship separated them from a hat-trick of British, European and World Team titles but
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
Continental amateurs, Andreas Hartø and
THE AMATEUR SCENE
their officials still had every right to be
There is no doubting the rookie star of 2010 – Matteo Manassero became the youngest ever winner on tour and is set to become one of the game’s superstars. Among a band of elite young players hoping to follow in the Italians footsteps are (clockwise from top left) Tommy Fleetwood, the current Amateur Champion Jin Jeong (also pictured with the silver medal at St Andrews) world-ranked No.15 James Byrne and England’s Matthew Nixon
proud of their achievements.
“I think it has been a good year. We have
seen a number of players come through in a
good way,” said the EGU’s Director of
Coaching, Peter Mattsson, before admitting
that his job, and those of the coaches of the
other home Unions, is not made any easier by the speed at which so many of today’s
young amateurs chose to turn professional.
“Golf’s a bit tricky,” he said. “You need players who are good, but not too good other-
wise they’ll disappear. We’re guilty (victims) of our own success at the moment.”
The scale of the problem is perhaps best
illustrated by the fact that the provisional 23-
man training squad for next year’s Walker
Cup match at Royal Aberdeen, which com-
prises 12 Englishmen (Laurie Canter, Tyrell Hatton, Billy Hemstock, Stiggy Hodgson, Tom Lewis, Chris Lloyd, Matthew Nixon,
Eddie Pepperell, Jack Senior, Matthew
Southgate, Andy Sullivan and Darren Wright)
four Scots (James Byrne, Ross Kellett, Kris
Nicoll and Michael Stewart), four Welshmen
(Rhys Enoch, Oliver Farr, Alastair Jones and
Rhys Pugh) and three Irishmen (Paul Cutler,
Alan Dunbar and Kevin Phelan) contains What’s more, as I write, the young
Englishman was about to compete in the
Second Stage of the European Tour’s
Qualifying School (alongside Lloyd,
Southgate, Nixon and Senior) and, were he to
come through that, and then the subsequent Final Qualifying School, it might mean that, for the first time since the match was inau-
gurated back in 1923 GB & I would face the
Americans with a complete team of rookies. [As it happened, only Lloyd, Nixon &
Southgate made it to the final Q-School
year pride of place in that category must go
on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
as this issue went to press.]
emulated Manassero by becoming the first
lar list at the end of the 2010 season was
stages, the 6-round examination in progress
to 20 year-old South Korean, Jin Jeong, who
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM & TOM WARD
just one player, Hodgson, with previous
match experience.
The leading British golfer on that particu-
Asian to win both the Amateur
Scotland’s James Byrne who claimed 15th
Jones, Michael Bonallack, Joe Carr, Charlie
Open Championship. That victory in the
final of The Amateur and also reaching the
all thoughts of turning professional. In fact,
of the amateur game’s biggest titles were
ishing 11th in the European Amateur.
having won the 2009 US Amateur and Han
was the fact the Scot was one of just seven
Gone are the days when the amateur
game was dominated by the likes of Bobby Green and Peter McEvoy, men who resisted
even that other archetypal amateur, Gary
Wolstenholme, has elected to switch codes,
Championship and the Silver Medal at the Amateur also meant that at the time all three held by South Koreans, with Byeong-Hun An
with marked success, it should be said, hav-
Chang-Won writing his name into the record
title at the Casa Serena Senior Open in the
Amateur.
ing won his maiden European Senior Tour Czech Republic and followed that victory
books as the winner of the inaugural Asian
America’s Peter Uihlein was the man who
with a third place behind Peter Senior and
broke this South Korean hegemony, defeat-
Open.
Chung, in the final of the 2010 US Amateur
Sandy Lyle at the Handa Australian Senior The amateur game no longer features
enduring heroes but it still produces a large
number of stand-out performers and this
ing Eisenhower Trophy team-mate, David
place as a result of losing out to Jeong in the semi-final of the Scottish Amateur and finSomewhat more worryingly, however,
British and Irish golfers to feature in the
top-100 – the others were England’s
Matthew Nixon (20th), Ireland’s Paul Cutler
(21st), England’s Tom Lewis (47th), England’s Andrew Sullivan (48th),
Scotland’s Michael Stewart (63rd) and
Scotland’s Ross Kellett (82nd) – which sug-
at Chambers Bay so it is perhaps fitting that
gests either that amateur golf in GB & I is
student should also end the season as No. 1
system does not portray a true reflection
the 21 year-old Oklahoma State University
about to enter a lean period or else that the
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 37
COMPETITION UNDER ARMOUR
WIN
THE ULTIMATE WINTER GOLF OUTFIT FROM UNDER ARMOUR® Under Armour is one of the fastest-growing golf brands in the world today with a range of innovative performance apparel and footwear lines designed to keep you warm and dry without weighing you down. But don’t just take our word for it. European Tour star Ross Fisher is one of a growing number of athletes who has discovered the benefits of a ‘layering’ system when it comes to maximising comfort and all-round performance: “My Under Armour clothing feels so comfortable that you barely know you are wear-
ing it,” says the 2010 Irish Open Champion. “The fit allows me to swing freely and unrestricted. When playing in winter weather, I always wear my ColdGear Mock. It eliminates the elements, keeps me warm and dry and lets me focus on my game whilst on the course.” Under Armour® is offering two lucky Golf International readers the chance to win an entire new winter golf outfit for their wardrobe. The garments are all part of Under Amour’s latest ColdGear® apparel line, designed to offer warmth without weight and eliminate the elements, keeping you dry and comfortable on the course this winter.
LAYER UP WITH UNDER ARMOUR
Our lucky winners will each receive an Under Armour Flurry ColdGear® Polo, a pair of ColdGear® golf pants, a ColdGear® ArmourStorm RainSuit, a ColdGear® Longsleeve Mock, a ColdGear® Focus II ¼ Zip top, a ColdGear® Arctic Beanie II and a UA Golf Umbrella. A welcome addition to every golferʼs wardrobe, the ColdGear® Longsleeve Mock is constructed from a highly advanced double-knit fabric and has a comfortable skin-tight fit with a brushed inner face that traps heat for added warmth. It allows total swing freedom and is designed to transport moisture away from the body to keep you warm and dry on the course. The Under Armour Flurry ColdGear® Polo Shirt sits perfectly above the Mock. It is made from the same innovative ColdGear® fabric to help regulate your temperature and keep you warm on a winterʼs day. Add to that a 4-way stretch to the fabric for freedom and comfort and you have an incredibly high-tech shirt that will improve your performance on the course. The Under Armour Focus II ¼ Zip is the ideal golf top to wear above your base layers on a really cold day. Itʼs made from a special bonded fabric thatʼs windproof and water-resistant and has a microfleece inner layer for added warmth. It has a durable and quiet outer layer that also repels stains and water, and a bungee cord to give a secure fit. The latest ColdGear® Golf
Pants are made from an incredibly lightweight stretch woven fabric with a DWR finish that repels water and is designed to transport moisture away from the body to keep you dry and comfortable. They have a terry-twill poly inner that traps heat keeping you really warm and two side and two rear pockets giving you plenty of storage options. The Under Armour ArmourStorm® RainSuit provides the ultimate barrier against the elements above all of these layers. It is an extremely advanced garment, designed to be worn in temperatures below 13º, and constructed in four layers to offer maximum waterproof protection without sacrificing breathability or swing freedom. No winter outfit would be complete without a hat to keep your head warm
and the UA Arctic Beanie II is the ultimate winter accessory. Weʼre also including an Under Armour Golf Umbrella to help protect our winners from those nasty winter downpours. With a 60º arc thereʼs
For your chance to win this fantastic prize, answer the question below: Q. Name the two-time European Tour winner who is an Under Armour ambassador and can be seen wearing the entire UA ColdGear® collection? (A) A. Ross Fisher (B) Ian Poulter (C) Graeme McDowell
To enter: visit www.golfinternationalmag.com or send your answer on a postcard to ‘Under Armour Competition’ Golf International, 10 Buckingham Place, London, SW1 E6HX COMPETITION ENTRIES CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT ON FEBRUARY 28, 2011.
For more information and a list of stockists, visit www.underarmour.com or call 0800 8276 6871
FEATURE STEVE COWLE
Feet and body line open to the target (but not excessively so); grip well down the club for heightened sense of feel and control.........
Rehearse keeping the clubface open through the impact area – visualise the open face exiting at the front of your circle
THE SMART PLAY Good players make the basic sand shot look easy for the simple reason they have absolute confidence in their ability to take a shallow & consistent cut of sand from beneath the ball. Let me show you a practice drill that will help you to fine-tune your feel for and control of the strike zone – the Trilby is optional!
40 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
By Steve Cowle PGA PROFESSIONAL & TRILBY TOUR AMBASSADOR WWW.STEVECOWLEGOLF.CO.UK
You want to know the secret to mastering sand shots? It all boils
down to (1) understanding how the sand iron is designed to work and (2) having the ability to make contact with the sand at a pre-
determined entry point behind the ball so that you have a real sense of control over the length and the depth of the divot you take. These
shots involve opening up the face of your sand iron to engage
whatʼs known as ʻbounceʼ and then using that to your advantage, lit-
erally bouncing the clubhead through the sand beneath the ball to remove a shallow divot of sand.
But the real crux of the matter is that you hone the ability to enter
the sand at a pre-determined point, which is where the drill your see here comes in. Itʼs a simple practice routine that provides you not
only with a great visual image as you set up to the ball and prepare
to play the shot but one that also provides you with immediate feedback, as you can see exactly where you enter / exit the sand and
how much of a divot you take.
For a shot of this distance – your typical greenside shot of around 15 yards – a halfto three-quarter length backswing is all you need. The more compact your swing the easier it is to repeat and control, and the more consistently you will take the required divot of sand
“Remember this sliding rule of thumb as you get set up to play a greenside sand shot: the softer the sand, the more you need to open up the clubface and even out your weight distribution; as the sand gets firmer, ease up on the 'bounce' and let your weight favour your forward foot”
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 41
INSTRUCTION
DR KARL MORRIS
Ben Hogan often said that when he played his best golf he would address the ball and ‘it was as if the shot had already happened’. Jack Nicklaus was absolutely convinced that he had never missed a putt from inside three feet on the back nine of a major championship. Tiger Woods in his own book said: ‘The secret to the mental game is the ability to instantly recall past success and then let go of failure.’ And the common thread running through these comments from three of the game’s all-time greatest champions? The power of the memory to cement thoughts and feelings associated with ultimate performance
Memories By Dr Karl Morris
EUROPEAN TOUR MIND COACH • WWW.GOLF-BRAIN.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: WWW.GETTYIMAGES.COM
and how they affect your golf today My guess is that if you think back to the last round of golf you played you will very quickly relate to the power your mind has over your performance: such as when you stand over a putt and you just know that you are going to make it; or – and rather more frequently – when you look at a certain shot and all you can see is the out of bounds running down the right side of the fairway...and guess where you hit it? Welcome, then, to the wonderful world of your MEMORY and the way it influences your performance. We underestimate the power and the effect our memories have on our golf at our peril. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the way that you utilise your memory will be one of the critical keys to your future as a golfer. In my own experience with some of the players I have worked with over the last few years it has become very clear to me that the way golfers use their memory is very different. The greats like Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have worked it out. Recently, the field of neuroscience has begun to question many of our old models on how memory works and one of the most exciting developments has been the suggestion that we can actually take an active role in programming the way our memory functions in terms of our golfing experiences.
42 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM NOV/DEC 2010
We have come to understand that our self-confidence and our sense of self-belief is a highly complicated matrix – a culmination of all our experiences in life and the way we INTERPRET those experiences. Neuroscience is now telling us that memories are actually quite fragile in so much as each time we recall a memory, it becomes ‘alive’ again and open to change. Just how important a discovery could that be? What the scientists are telling us is that if we re-visit a certain memory of a past event, while we obviously cannot change the past event what we can do is change our interpretation of it. So, if you lost a golf tournament tournament, you will always have lost the tournament, but what you can change is your interpretation as to the meaning of that defeat. And that is significant. If the meaning of that defeat is stored as the ‘worst thing that has ever happened’ then the chances are that your unconscious mind will go to work and PROTECT you from that experience ever happening again. So, the self-sabotage kicks in and finds ways of getting you to AVOID that situation. Poor performance is a great way of avoiding winning! Now, this doesn’t make much sense to our logical mind but to the unconscious mind it is job done, as you have been saved from the experience. There is NO LOGIC
THE MIND FACTOR
to this, it is just the way that the brain works. The little boy who put his hand up in a school assembly, said something and the whole class laughed, stored that memory as something to AVOID. Years later when as an adult he has to present in public to people and he is overwhelmed by tremendous fear it is the unconscious mind at work as a result of the way that the particular memory of speaking in public is stored. If, however, we can revisit a memory and RE-CODE it, then the unconscious mind will look and react so much differently. A fascinating study by Kenneth Paller at Northwestern University gives us an insight into what might be possible in terms of SHAPING our memories. Participants in the research project were shown pictures of certain objects and then asked to imagine other objects. Later investigators asked whether certain objects were seen or imagined. Often, imagined images were recalled as REAL! “We think that parts of the brain used to actually perceive an object and to imagine an object actually overlap,” Paller said. “Thus a vividly imagined event can leave memory trace in the brain that is very similar to that of an experienced event. When memories are stored for perceived or imagined objects, some of the same brain areas are involved.” Our ability to vividly imagine an event in sensory detail will literally leave a memory trace in the brain, as though
Great minds think alike: winning is a game of confidence, the mindset always ‘in the present’ and visualising success
the actual event TOOK place. So, begin to consider how you have been currently storing your experiences in your golf – REAL or IMAGINED? And how could you impact your future by taking charge of the PROCESS of your memory? Again to restate the point, you are not changing the actual physical event in the world, you are simply changing your interpretation. The following is a series of tools and techniques that can enable you to really take charge of the way your memory works for you. Make a commitment to use them to find out just how good you can be at golf. The alternative to using these tools is that you will get to the end of your golfing career and you have lots of memories of potential which have remained UNFULFILLED. As you imagine that now, what would that be like if you didn’t take action on this information?
MEMORY TOOLS & TECHNIQUES The 3 Moments Diary
Many years ago, when I spent time working with people who were struggling with life (as opposed to sport), it became painful (but at the same time fascinating) to get to know people who were seriously threatening suicide – to discover the kind of life experience they were having which drove them to the point of making this horrendous decision as to what their life amounted to. What I will never forget is that with a couple of draNOV/DEC 2010 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 43
Gi Travel
NORTHERN It’s no coincidence that Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy are such naturally creative artists with a golf club in hand – they are the products of a privileged environment, both having learned the game playing some of the finest links courses in the world. Clive Agran took a trip to the Emerald Isle PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID CANNON/GETTYIMAGES
44 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
NORTHERN IRELAND
It’s not difficult to understand the pull of home for GMac – Royal Portrush is one of Ireland’s revered links, this a view of the Dunluce Course
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 45
TOM COX
LITERALLY GOLF
From Worksop to top of t’world Comfortable in his new-found status as the world’s top-ranked golfer, Lee Westwood’s recent levity suggests he may well be good and ready to add the only thing that’s missing from his enviable CV: a major
I
n the end, nobody could have called it a memorable victory. It had been a struggling, scrambling kind of
round: more a triumph by default
than anything. More seasoned, fancied competitors
had fallen away, one by one, and when the winner
did finally sink the putt that confirmed that his
name would be on the trophy, even he looked surprised. Three months later, some would already
have forgotten. “Oh, did he win that?” they’d say. “Yes. He did, didn’t he. How odd.”
No, I’m not talking about Stewart Cink’s victory in
the 2009 Open, but mine, in the Lindrick Junior
eligible – had won with the same score. This was far from my greatest round as a teenage golfer, but it’s one that I’ve perhaps dined out on more than any
other. Westwood did once congratulate me on a
good round – to which I replied by doing something
a bit like speaking, only with more saliva – but when
PORTRAIT BY STEVE READ
Open of 1991, with a round of 80, in high winds, the
year after Lee Westwood – by this point too old to be
I spoke to him at the Belfry, four years ago, whilst
researching my last golf book, he didn’t remember me, and I’m pretty sure he won’t remember me now. I could hardly be described as the
Pete Best to his John Lennon, but for a while, our paths crossed, play-
ing in the Nottinghamshire County Team at the same time (me, albeit,
mostly as an incoming reserve, he as its departing star).
What was it like to be part of the same junior golf circle as the
future World Number One? Would I have believed Westwood could
reach such heights? Well, yes, but perhaps only because at that age,
having a tendency to ignore the mathematical unlikeliness of the situ-
It’s been a long journey from the junior ranks of Worksop to the very top of world golf – the challenge in 2011 will be to remain there
never disliked him as a player, and, in the
time when he was clawing his way back
from his wilderness years, I often found
myself shouting enthusiasm at my TV as he holed a putt with more enthusiasm
than I’d ever shouted when holing one of
my own. Now he’s reached number one in the World Rankings,
though? I’m happy, because it was time for a change. That said, I’m not sure that I’m as excited as I should be, as someone who once
ation, we all believed we’d be playing on the European Tour one day,
frequently changed my spikes in his wake.
Beat. If there was a difference between Westwood and his Worksop
one spot by winning The Masters, playing with a back on form
and Westwood’s club, Worksop, were always The Junior Team To
Personally, I wanted Westwood to blaze to the top of the number
teammates (who do now include another European Tour player, in the
Tiger, in the last round. There’s also something slightly surreal
were that much more dogged, that little bit less likely to spend time
me? Whose dad was a teacher, like mine? With a slightly odd dip in
form of Mark Foster) and the rest of us, it seemed to be that they
throwing tee pegs at one another in the back of pro shop. Did we
envy them? Yes. But I’m not so sure we fantasised about playing golf in the style that they did. It looked too much like hard work.
I still feel just a bit like this about Westwood. As “a fellow
Nottinghamshire lad”, I am compelled to support him, I’ve certainly
about seeing him at number one. A golfer from Nottingham, like
the middle of his swing, like (a much better version of) mine? Who
sometimes puts his tongue between his teeth in determination, like my Nottingham mate Dave used to do? Surely that’s not right!
There’s been a fair bit of talk about Westwood’s status as a rare
number one (though there have been others, such as David Duval)
LITERALLY GOLF
to reach the position without winning a major. If you visit his page
on the social networking site Twitter, and he hasn’t deleted the
comments since, you can see him getting defensive about this, in
reply to the American golf writer Alan Shipnuck. Westwood wrote: “I’ve won 3 times in the last year,” Westwood told Shipnuck. “I’ve
won 3 times in the last year, up there with most of the others. You seem to confuse winning majors with the no.1 spot!”
One bit of excitement associated to Westwood’s rise to top dog
status is his Twitter account itself. Westwood seems set free here,
even if he doesn’t seem completely comfortable with the technolo-
gy. “Fiat Uno? Posh! I had a Fiesta 1.1 L,” he wrote on November
28th, clearly in reply to someone, but mistakenly writing it as a gen-
eral tweet, viewable by everyone. And, then, “Sorry Captain Birdseye! Make sure she’s done the hoovering and washing before you let her
out tonight!” It’s faint praise, a little bit like saying “his essay writ-
ing was better than a moth caterpillar’s” but Westwood’s punctua-
tion and grammar is better than Poulter’s, and he is, in the words of
If there was a difference between Westwood and his Worksop teammates and the rest of us, it seemed to be that they were that much more dogged, that little bit less likely to be throwing tee pegs at one another in the back of the pro shop
joy of Twitter is that there appears to be no manage-
ment interference or censoring of opinion. Hence it’s far
removed from the guarded Westwood of earlier years,
whose interviews seemed like
an only slightly more animated version of the “I’d like to
thank t’green staff for t’condition of t’course” speech
he’d repeatedly trot out at
junior prizegivings in the late 1980s.
The former head honcho of
Nottinghamshire Junior Golf,
Roy Case, tells a story about
my friend Graham, “quite funny, for a pro golfer”.
asking the county juniors what they wanted to achieve in their golfing
Westwood’s new comic talent, in interviews. His ribbing of, in partic-
ment “I want to be the best.” He might need that first major before the
The Guardian’s Lawrence Donegan has already commented on
ular, Poulter and McIlroy, on Twitter, can make an observer feel
futures. Westwood, apparently, answered with the very simple state-
rest of the world believes he’s got there, but one senses his new levity is
they’ve been given a private invite to his teamroom – more so,
the result in his own belief in it: he can finally, if not relax, then at least
room. McIlroy apparently has some interesting opinions on “hair
pressed on his road to the top. He’s 37 now – not the youngest of
weirdly, than it actually felt like when I was invited to his team-
removal”; Poulter, meanwhile, is referred to as “Sparrowlegs”. The
give just a bit of an airing to the pro shop delinquent that he sup-
Number Ones – and he seems comfortable in playing The Big Daddy to
WORLD NEWS EDITED BY ANDY FARRELL • PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM Was this the European tour’s greatest ever year?
In terms of modern golf, you have to go back to
1985 to find another year when Europe won the
Ryder Cup and two Europeans won major cham-
pionship. That year it was Bernhard Langer at the
Masters and Sandy Lyle at the Open. What makes
this year remarkable is that the two Europeans who won majors did so at the least successful
championships for visitors from over here –
Graeme McDowell claiming the US Open for the
first time since Tony Jacklin in 1970 and Martin
Kaymer winning the USPGA, where only Padraig
Harrington in 2008 was the only European suc-
cess in a lifetime.
Of course, you can add in Louis Oosthuizen
winning the Open Championship, making it the
first time three European tour players have won
majors. And do not forget Ian Poulter (Accenture
Matchplay) and Francesco Molinari (HSBC
Champions) won two of the four World Golf Championships.
What else? Oh, yes, Lee Westwood displaced
Tiger Woods as the world No 1 and celebrated
Whether or not he plays again this season, Lee Westwood – who has confirmed he will remain
with a scorching performance in his last three
events in 2010, a cumulative 48 under par at the
HSBC, Race to Dubai and Nedbank Challenge –
winning the latter at a gentle canter.
Kaymer claimed the Harry Vardon Trophy for
topping the Race to Dubai money list after win-
ning four times, including three times in a row at
the USPGA, the KLM Open and the Alfred Dunhill
Links Championship. He was still being challenged
by McDowell when the pair got to the Dubai World Championship but the Northern Irishman never
threatened to get into the top-three so the German
Kaymer wraps up a golden season
took the title. Kaymer is only 25 and might have
won the crown a year earlier had it not been for a
go-karting accident. Westwood was the beneficiary then but now said of Kaymer: “The thing that
impresses me most is his mental strength. He
seems to have that steely German Langer-
Schumacher-Vettel look about him. If you’re think-
At the end of one of the greatest seasons in recent memory, Germany’s Martin Kaymer relieved Lee Westwood of the European crown, while the Englishman himself realised a lifelong dream as he did likewise to Tiger Woods at the pinnacle of the world game. Andy Farrell reports
ing of German sportsmen, they all have that sort of look – nothing fazes them.”
Kaymer said: “Of course it would be nice to be
the No 1 in the world but my goal was to win the
Race to Dubai and then think about becoming No
1 in the world – just as Westwood did.”
Of course the imponderable about the world
No 1 slot is how Tiger Woods will respond next
year. The signs are there that his work with new
coach Sean Foley is beginning to pay off (he was
leading his own tournament in the States as this
issue went to press) but even if he gets back into
the slot for all four rounds of a tournament, the
aura is gone. The likes of Kaymer and Westwood
would not be standing on ceremony as others
have in the past.
Westwood’s ascension to being the best player
48 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 2011
in the world came in spite of his limited schedule
NEWS IN BRIEF...
due to a calf injury. Yet his results continued to
That cheeky Ian Poulter. Each member of
be superb, finishing second at the HSBC
the winning Ryder Cup team gets a replica
Champions and third at the Dubai World
of the famous trophy and Poulter treated
Championship before that win at the Nedbank.
his on-line followers to pictures of him and
What could he produce if he can get back to
his family eating cereal from it. Then,
practising full-time? Winning either the Masters
when he won the UBS Hong Kong Open,
(where Phil Mickelson had his one sparkling
with a brilliant score of 22 under including
moment of the year) or the Open, where he fin-
a 10-under 60 in the second round,
ished runner-up to the runaway Oosthuizen –
would have given the European Tour an even better year. It would also have quietened those carp-
ing from the States that he should not be the
world No 1. Butch Harmon said: “Did Westwood
replied that he may have to skip the Players to
get in the majors, WGCs and adequate prepara-
tion for the majors. Hang on a minute. The PGA
win a major this year, or any year? I think not.”
Tour is not about to let slip such a highly ranked
has broken out between the two tours. Speaking
he could play at Sawgrass anyway.
Something of a transatlantic war of words
of the PGA Tour, Westwood, Poulter, Justin
Rose (twice) and Carl Pettersen all won in the
States and Luke Donald very nearly pipped Jim
Furyk for the FedEx Cup – that really would
have been the cherry on the cake of the European tour’s year.
player from their flagship event so he was told This might not be what Westwood, or
McIlroy, who admits to disliking Sawgrass,
wanted to hear. The point is that the scheduling of the Players in May means one more trip to
the States, and a trip that does not include a
major. Tim Finchem, the US tour commissioner,
Having become world No 1, Westwood then
has reshaped their schedule in recent years to
and that he was not interested in the FedEx Cup
It was meant to keep all the best players play-
declared that he was not joining the PGA Tour
because it was just about money and the play-
sprinkle the bigger events throughout the year.
ing in the States for most of the season. Finally,
offs clashed with his family’s summer holiday.
some players are saying, thanks, but no thanks
resigned his PGA tour membership after only
but we want to play in lots of other events
The young star wanted to spend more time at
biggest events in the States the likes of
Then, Westwood’s stablemate Rory McIlroy
one year, despite having won at Quail Hollow.
home in Belfast and at tournaments he enjoys
such as the European Masters in Crans. “If
you’re not playing well in the States it can be a
lonely place,” he said. “But if you're not playing
well on the European Tour you still have plenty of mates to hang out with.”
Kaymer has also declared his allegiance to the
European tour, on the same basis as Westwood
– we’ll play the biggest tournaments over there
around the globe. Seriously, after the ten
Westwood are allowed, how many others are worth playing in.
Finchem’s policy has also led to another
unintended consequence. There is now a dis-
tinctly two-tier tour in the States, with more of the leading players limiting themselves to a
similar schedule to Tiger. Take, for example, the
move of the Players from March, where it was
that if he has won a major and reached No 3 in
convenient for international golfers as part of
“I consider the European tour as my home,” said
for this was because there was no big tourna-
the world why does he need to change anything? the German. This is where I feel comfortable and I think you play against the best players in the world. You have all the great players here.”
This last sentence did not go down well the other
side of the pond but, really, what Kaymer meant is
that the likes of Woods, Mickelson, Furyk and Steve Stricker may not be members of the European tour but he gets to play against them regularly enough.
And when Europe’s finest turn up for events like
the BMW PGA and the Dubai World Championship, the Americans are hardly missed.
It turned out that Westwood played 11 times
in the States this year which was one more than
the Masters build-up, to May. Part of the reason
from his latest silverware. “I don't know, I
could get a lot of Cheerios in there, proba-
bly half a bag I would think,” he said, gesturing towards the silver cup. “But my
favourite Chinese dish, it would have to be
sweet and sour chicken.”
Seve Ballesteros has revealed laugh-
ter is his secret weapon as he recovers from a brain tumour. “Iʼm very
well. Little by little and week by week
I notice small improvements. Iʼm on
the road towards normality. The key
is to have a strong mind, to accept
the situation and to beat it. I have
been on a very strict diet and have
done a lot of exercise. Gym work on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
doing weights and stretching. I walk
two hours a day, I sleep well, rest a
lot... and I laugh. Itʼs important to
laugh a lot. Even though we are out
of work and suffering with the crisis,
laughing doesnʼt cost anything.”
Ernie Els won the PGA Grand Slam of
Golf for the second time, sneaking in front
of David Toms with three birdies in a row from the 14th at Port Royal in Bermuda.
Ironically, both Els and Toms were alter-
nates after Phil Mickelson and the injured
ment in May – at least in the States; we, of
course, have the PGA at Wentworth. Now Tiger and the rest had to play somewhere in May.
Tiger might play at Quail Hollow and the Byron
Nelson; Mickelson at the Nelson and the
Colonial – the leading players spread themselves more evenly around the events.
So bad has the situation become that a non-
sense of a rule that there would designated
tournaments of which the leading players
would have to play at least one became popular. But it was recently thrown out, nixed possibly
by the refusal of Tiger and Phil to comply or by
he is meant to be allowed without committing to
tournament directors who did not want the
be restricted to ten events in 2011, Westwood
had been told to. In an increasingly global game
fulfilling his 15 as a tour member. Told he would
Poulter was asked if he would be dine
sigma of players turning up only because they
JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 49