2dfvdfv

10 TIPS FROM THE TOUR

TRAVEL SPECIAL!

U

RIP IT WITH RORY CHIP & PITCH CLOSE STIFF YOUR IRONS

GREATEST UK GOLF RESORTS TOP 100

GOLF RESORTS

My4keystoplayinggreatgolf

ALL-NEW40-PAGE STAY&PLAYRANKING

WORLD EXCLUSIVES

TARS OF HE YEAR

TOMMY FLEETWOOD SERGIO GARCIA JON RAHM JORDAN SPIETH

HIT MORE FAIRWAYS

3NEWDRIVERSTESTED FEBRUARY 2018 DEC 7–JAN 4

£4.70

HAVE Y O U R S E LF A C UST O MI Z E D C H R I ST MA S!

E X C LU S I V E P R O M OT I O N C O D E F O R GW R E A D E R

GWXMAS2017 O RDER N OW AT W W W . V I C E G O LF.C O M

*While placing your order for any model of VICE golf balls, simply enter the promotion code GWXMAS2017 into the relevant field during checkout. VICE Golf will subtract the printing cost from the total value of your order. This code is valid until December 31st 2017.

Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough Business Park, Peterborough, PE2 6EA. Tel: 01733 468000 Email (editorial): golf.world@bauermedia.co.uk

FROM THE EDITOR

If you or someone you know are aged between 16 and 24 and are interested in work experience opportunities at Bauer Media go to www.gothinkbig.co.uk

‘ThewholedesignethosofAugusta National was created for a previousgenerationoftechnology’ Geoff Ogilvy didn’t so much open a can of worms as rip the entire lid off the debate about the modern golf ball when he discussed his concerns for the future of the game with the media at the Australian Open. The argument to ‘roll back’ the ball is not a new one, but it has gained momentum in recent months with the game’s governing bodies intimating they are looking for solutions and several high-profile players, including Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Colin Montgomerie, commenting that the golf ball simply flies too straight and too far.

Ogilvy claims modern equipment has rendered many of the world’s great golf courses obsolete for the top players, citing that Brooks Koepka couldn’t hit anything longer than a 7-iron into a hole on the longest major championship course in history – Erin Hills – at this year’s US Open.

Take Augusta National, for example. The whole design ethos of the golf course was built with a previous generation of club and technology in mind. Replace 250yard drives with 350-yard drives and much of the bunkering and many of the green complexes no longer make

sense. Whereas in the past, players had to select specific lines off the tee in order to access certain pins and to hold greens, today they can simply bomb the ball into the National’s generously wide fairways and launch stratospheric iron shots into the greens. Similar arguments and examples can be applied to many of the championship courses.

This discussion is so multifaceted and wide-ranging that presenting a one-size-fits-all solution in 300 or so words is impossible. Golf club design technology, improved swing technique, coaching and fitness, as well as enhanced agronomy have all contributed to players hitting the ball further than ever. At the end of the day, it will be down to the game’s governing bodies to make an informed and considered decision.

In a future issue of Golf World, we’ll publish a feature that explores this subject in depth. Hopefully, the conclusions we reach will help them make the correct one.

Enjoy the issue.

Nick Wright, Editor nick.jwright@bauermedia.co.uk @nickjameswright

FOUR WAYS TO ENJOY GOLF WORLD

PRINT & DIGITAL

Subscribe to Golf World Save up to 63% and get 24 Srixon AD333 Tour balls when you subscribe.

See p24 or visit greatmagazines.co.uk

FACEBOOK

facebook.com/golfworld1 For regular updates, behind-thescenes pictures and expert insights, follow Golf World on Facebook.

TWITTER

@GolfWorld1 Keep up with GW’s take on the game by following us. Tweet us your views and they could make the magazine.

YOUTUBE

youtube.com/GolfWorldMag From equipment and course reviews, to instruction and interviews. Search Golf World UK and subscribe to our channel.

EDITORIAL Editor Nick Wright (01733 468633) Senior Editor Kit Alexander (01733 468283) Contributing Editor Nick Harper (01733 468382) Group Art Director Hakan Simsek (01733 465135) Art Director Paul Ridley (01733 468466) Senior Production Editor Rob Jerram (01733 468631) Editorial Assistant Stephanie Etchells (01733 468243) Digital Editor Camilla Tait (01733 468096) Contributors Justin Rose, John Huggan, Chris Bertram, Stuart Hood, Brian Wacker, Lee Westwood, Paul Dunne, Jamie Donaldson, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Russell Knox, James Morrison, Geoff Ogilvy, Stuart Martin, Derek Murray, Howard Boylan, Duncan Lennard, Angus Murray, Duncan Lennard, Enric Lopez, Chris Jenkins, Steven Orr, Stuart Dowsett, Zach Johnson, Jacques Portal, Isobel Cardew, Gary Lees. All Getty images unless stated.

ADVERTISING Commercial Director Donna Harris (01733 366481) Key Account Director Tom Lee (01733 466490) Key Account Manager Ben Peck (01733 363206) Travel Director Ken Gill (07810 377146) Telesales Executive Iain Henderson (01733 366429) Telesales Executive Jake Burton (01733 366428) Inserts Contact Howard Foster (0161 877 7455) Digital Commercial Director (Sport) Jim Burton (01733 468893) Senior Sales Operations Gabriella Challis (01733 366345) Advertising Production (01733 468878) Print & Production Controller Richard Woolley (01733 468377) MARKETING Direct Marketing Manager Julie Spires (01733 468164) Marketing Manager Susan Rogers (01733 468565) Head of Newstrade Marketing Leon Benoiton (leon.benoiton@flgroup.co.uk) BAUER CONSUMER MEDIA Editorial Director June Smith-Sheppard Head of Digital Charlie Calton-Watson Group Direct Marketing Director Chris Gadsby Finance Director Lisa Hayden Group Finance Director Gary White Managing Director Patrick Horton Group Managing Director Rob Munro-Hall CEO Paul Keenan SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES Visit www.great magazines.co.uk/GW, call 0845 601 1356. Overseas call +44 1858 438828. Back issues: UK £4.70; overseas £6.15. UK call 0845 601 1356; overseas call +44 1858 438828. Email: bauer@subscription.co.uk

PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION Printed by Southernprint, Unit 3, Factory Road, Upton Industrial Estate, Upton, Poole, Dorset, BH16 5SN. Trade Distribution by Frontline, 117 Park Road, Peterborough PE1 2TR. Tel: 01733 555161.

Golf World is published 13 times a year in the UK by Bauer Consumer Media Ltd, registered address Media House, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA. Registered number 01176085. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in any form in whole or in part, without prior permission of the publisher. All material published remains the copyright of Bauer Consumer Media Ltd. We reserve the right to edit letters, copy or images submitted to the magazine without further consent. The submission of material to Bauer Media whether unsolicited or requested, is taken as permission to publish in the magazine, including any licensed editions throughout the world. Any fees paid in the UK include remuneration for any use in any other licensed editions.

We cannot accept any responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, images or materials lost or damaged in the post. Whilst every reasonable care is taken to ensure accuracy, the publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions nor do we accept any liability for any loss or damage, howsoever caused, resulting from the use of the magazine. Complaints: Bauer Consumer Media Limited is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (www. ipso.co.uk) and endeavours to respond to and resolve your concerns quickly.

Our Editorial Complaints Policy (including full details of how to contact us about editorial complaints and IPSO’s contact details) can be found at www. bauermediacomplaints.co.uk. Our email address for editorial complaints covered by the Editorial Complaints Policy is complaints@bauermedia.co.uk.

Your guide to February’s issue

Golf World’s Top 100 Resorts Celebrating the 100 greatest golf resorts in Great Britain and Ireland. So, in reverse order...

REGULARS

INSTRUCTION

FEATURES E O N TVHE R CO

07 THE SPIN

27 TOUR TIPS

Did the European Tour deliver in 2017? What is golf’s perfect schedule? And is angry golf actually good for you? We have the answers.

Tour tips to improve every area of your game. Lee Westwood, Paul Dunne and Russell Knox are here to help.

Please be upstanding for the nine biggest stars of the last 12 months – for the men and women who shone brightest in 2017.

21 JUSTIN ROSE

42 JUSTIN THOMAS

56 A YEAR IN REVIEW

Our star on tour looks back on a mightily impressive end to the year, and explains why the game is in a very strong place right now.

The star of 2017 offers you four key tips for better golf in 2018. And it’s fair to say, this man knows what he’s talking about.

It was a very good year, not to mention, in some instances, a very strange year. Take a step back as we re-tell the story of 2017.

22 JOHN HUGGAN

139 SCORE SAVERS

74 THE GOLF WORLD TEST

Finding himself on the other side of the world, our man reacquaints himself with Australia’s Sandbelt – and falls in love all over again.

No ailment in golf is new, and no problem cannot be ironed out with a few simple pointers. A better game starts on page 139.

Golf’s most exhaustive test drills down on three leading mid-price drivers and reveals which is the best for you and your game.

INTERVIEWS 38 JUSTIN THOMAS

D WORL GOLFCLUSIVES EX

EQUIPMENT

37 STARS OF THE YEAR

E O N TVHE R O C E O N TVHE R O C

COURSES

120 TEST ZONE

127 MUST PLAYS

Golf’s biggest star of 2017 reflects on a breakthrough year of truly epic proportions – and looks ahead to raising the bar in 2018.

Putting the latest equipment through its paces – so you can make more informed decisions before you hand over your cash.

For six months every year, Finland’s Kytaja Golf offers some of Europe’s finest, most picturesque golf. Grab your calendar and pack a bag.

44 JON RAHM

122 HEAD-TO-HEAD

130 THE NEW PEBBLE BEACH?

With three victories to his name, Europe’s fastest rising star surprised many in 2017.

Here he explains why he didn’t surprise himself.

In the market for a new pair of golf shoes, consider the Ecco Biom Hybrid 3 and adidas’ Tour 360. Then let us help you decide.

Said to possess ‘echoes of Pebble Beach’, Chris Bertram had to taste Hong Kong’s Clearwater Bay for himself. But does reality match the hype?

48 SERGIO GARCIA

123 BUYING GUIDE

132 TOP 100: ROYAL BLED

After the year of his life, and a little later than expected, the Masters champion reflects on those four days that changed his life forever.

From club construction to finding the right specs for your swing, choosing irons can be a costly minefield. Turn here for expert advice.

Long blessed with some of Europe’s finest scenery, does the three-year renovation propel Royal Bled to even greater heights.

February 2018 Golf World 5

Inside the stories that matter

Hit or miss?

The European Tour featured plenty of changes in 2017. But which worked – and what needs improving for 2018?

Keith Pelley has been a driving force for change since he was appointed CEO of the European Tour in April 2015. This season saw more changes than any other since the Tour began in 1972, including the lucrative Rolex Series, more matchplay and a focus on digital coverage. While many changes have been positive, some haven’t quite hit the mark, and others created unexpected consequences. This is our review of the innovations and how we’d improve things in 2018.

The Best Man Won Despite some questioning the format, the European Tour are absolutely correct to keep the Race to Dubai as a year-long money list. Tommy Fleetwood was the best player throughout the entire season (wins in Abu Dhabi and France, plus two second places and a 4th in the US Open) and loyal to the Tour (24 starts), so he’s a deserving winner. Of course, the FedEx Cup Playoffs have their advantages but what they win in creating an exciting end to the season with superstar fields, they lose in fairness and finding the right winner.

A Flawed Finale The DP World Tour Championship was an exciting finish to the season, yet if Justin Rose hadn’t notched backto-back wins just before the final event, it would have been a victory lap for Fleetwood. But the problem really lies in the final few events prior to the Tour Champs The Andalucia Valderr Masters was the last c for the Tour’s rank and to guarantee cards for next season – then tw weeks later Padraig Harrington earned enough money on a sponsor invite in Turke to knock Lasse Jensen out, yet that money didn’t count on the Ra to Dubai (a weird quirk all money earnt on sponsor invites in prior events counted). Also, Turkey was a no cut event with only 78 players earning their spots by their Race to Dubai position.

But so was the following week’s Nedbank Challenge, meaning the players who teed it up in Turkey were all but guaranteed a start in South Africa so there wasn’t the do-or-die excitement the FedEx Cup delivers. It feels like the end of the European Tour schedule is caught in no man’s land between a play-off and a fair reward for yearlong performance, causing a messy, anti-climactic finale.

Admirable Innovation With glasses that scream ‘fearless individual’, we shouldn’t have been surprised that Keith Pelley’s innovations came thick and fast in 2017. Since

8 Golf World February 2018

Denmark win the sadly flawed GolfSixes...

becoming European Tour CEO in 2015 Pelley has overseen dramatic nging from player during rounds and one-hole knockout golf played out under floodlights and towers of fire. As he told GW in anuary, “We are in the ntertainment content usiness – and golf is our tform.” This year has even more ambitious ution, with the Tour cial media and creating their most ambitious event to date, GolfSixes, with music, celebrity hosts, increased fan interaction and a shot clock on one hole. Next year they’ll take that further with the Shot Clock Masters.

It hasn’t all worked, but Pelley is to be applauded constant innovation, particularly as some predecessors seemed happy to sit back and preserve the status quo.

Too Many Ideas Having written al of the above, it’s hard not to wonder if the European Tour and Keith Pelley have a coherent long-term plan, or if they’re working to a throw-enough policy to see what sticks. Oh to be a fly on the wall at one of the European Tour’s brain storm sessions, where monkey tennis

golf must already have been suggested. We applaud fearless pioneering, but less-is-more would feel more professional.

The Rolex Rewards When unveiled in November 2016, it was said the European Tour’s new Rolex Series would provide “a strong financial offering for our young players so they don’t have to go to the United States.” Eight events and $57.5m in prize money later, it worked. At the BMW PGA Championship, the strength of field and ranking of the winner both rose significantly on the previous year. Each subsequent Rolex Series event followed the same pattern, with a stronger field and, mostly, a higher calibre of winner. Now, nobody’s naive enough to pretend this wasn’t linked to a big jump in purses and winners’ cuts, but such is the way of the modern world and modern Money talks. t talks every pean language.

The Formats The European our should also e commended

for trying different formats aside from the traditional 72-hole strokeplay. The matchplay initiatives at the World Super 6 Perth and the Paul Lawrie Matchplay are especially welcome and worked well in practice.

These new events will live or die by the strength of their fields. So the European Tour has to move them to a position in the calendar when they can attract more star names if they are to really become legitimate and established. There’s no more engaging spectacle for fans and sponsors than the game’s elite going head-to-head in matchplay, so the European Tour is onto a winner if they can deliver this at least a couple of times a year.

The TwoTier Tour The downside of the Rolex Series? With the elite players building their schedules around the majors, WGCs and the big-money Rolex Series, mid-level and rookie European Tour members have been forced to rely on the other events for starts and earnings. The disparity in the purses of the big and small events is so massive that it’s very difficult for a player to earn enough money in the smaller events to compete with players in the big events, even if their form is better. Each of the 16 bigger events has a purse

THE SPIN

UP Brooks Koepka Laps the field to win the Dunlop Phoenix Open. In the process, he also crushed the spirit of one of his closest competitors (see Hideki, below).

Tiger Woods Despite the injuries and the fact he’s majorless in almost 10 years, faith in Tiger remains strong. Vegas bookmakers list him at 20-1 to win the Masters.

Jonathan Thompson The giant (6ft 9in) cancer survivor finishes birdie-birdie to come through Q School and earn his card for 2018 and earn a hug from his tearful father.

Shugo Imahira

And Tommy Fleetwood wins the Race to Dubai.

DQ’d from the WGC-HSBC Champions for missing his third-round tee time? No worries: he still takes the last-place cheque for $43,000. Buy a watch, son.

of over £5.25 million, while there are 22 other tournaments each worth less than £2 million. The European Tour has to find a way to maintain parity emerging players chance, while also attracting star na

The Access L The European To solution to the tw system this seaso Access List, wher 10 players not oth exempt from an O Merit that didn’t i the Rolex Series events, WGCs and two majors that don’t have open qualifying earned a full European Tour card the following season. It was clear the Tour weren’t convinced by this solution as they did little to publicise it.

They wanted this to give players coming onto the Tour a chance, but only three of the 10 who retained their cards through it were not on Tour the previous season. And so it was quietly scrapped. We wait to hear if and how it will be replaced.

GolfSixes OG Not all of the new formats were a hit. GolfSixes was billed as a

revolutionary event, but it just wasn’t that good. The field was poor (it was the week before the Players) it didn’t count towards o Dubai and the format didn’t deliver ement of traditional y. The weather was o the players were ped up and crowds ow, which didn’t look on TV. You could that was unlucky, but always a danger in in early May. is on the calendar for e time in 2018 but erious tweaks if it’s to e existing golf fans act new fans.

Embracing The Modern Age It isn’t instantly clear what tangible benefit the Tour’s social media output has to the organisation. Videos of a child asking Rory cheeky questions, an all-star Mannequin Challenge, a rogue reporter calling Lee Westwood ‘Liam’… To those who ask what the point is, remember Pelley’s view that he is in the “entertainment content business”.

Offering a window into the lives of the Tour’s stars may or may not have any tangible benefit, but it breeds goodwill, it’s fun and it’s entertaining. And sometimes, that’s all it really needs to be.

The Barometer The biggest winners and losers in the world of golf this month.

Henrik Stenson Injures rib and misses the Race to Dubai finale.

But says he didn’t injure it while hanging on wires doing WGC-HSBC Champions publicity.

Hideki Matsuyama Finishes 10 shots adrift of Koepka in the Dunlop Phoenix Open, then breaks down. “There’s a huge gap between us,” says the world number 5. “It seems there are many issues to address.”

Grayson Murray Another Twitter storm. “Does anyone care (about the seniors) is the real question….. those guys were relevant 10 plus years ago.” Later, too late, he deletes the tweet.

Tiger Woods Overtaken on the all-time list of prize money earners by Roger Federer – $110,235,682 to $110,061,012. How Tiger will get by, we just don’t know.

DOWN February 2018 Golf World 9

OPINION

The European Tour has become a battle of access

The European Tour’s Money List is now just a reflection of who can play in the richest events.

One of the questions we asked in the office on the Monday morning following the conclusion of the European Tour season was, “Who do you think the officialdom at the European Tour would have preferred to win the Race To Dubai – Tommy Fleetwood or Justin Rose?” We agreed that, despite the fact Rose was the bigger name and therefore would have been the bigger story, Pelley and co. secretly would have been thrilled that good old Tommy Fleetwood came through. After all, Fleetwood had won the Money List – to call it by its old name – the ‘right’ way, by committing to pretty much a full schedule on the European Tour. Despite being fully signed up, legitimate European Tour members, the likes of Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose really only arrived on the scene once the ‘serious’ business of their 2017 PGA Tour and FedEx Cup schedules were done and dusted.

The flip side to that critique, of course, is that had Rose not won back-to-back tournaments at the Turkish Airlines Open and the WGC-HSBC Champions heading into the final week of the season, Fleetwood would have been a couple of million euros clear of his nearest challenger and the question of who would be crowned Race To Dubai

Rose’s form made for a thrilling Race to Dubai finale, but Fleetwood. deserved the win.

‘Fleetwood won the Money List the right way, having fully committed to the Tour’ champion would have been a somewhat moot one.

While Keith Pelley has thus far delivered in his mission of increasing prize money and attracting star names to this side of the Atlantic, his initiatives have inadvertently created a multitiered Tour – the 100 or so regular players who have earned their cards, those who get to

participate in the Rolex Series, and those who can count the cash earned from the four WGC events and major championships as official European Tour prize money.

Let’s not forget that, in addition to his victory at the start of the season in Abu Dhabi, a sizeable chunk of Fleetwood’s European Tour earnings came

from his top-four finish at the US Open (major), his runner-up finish at the WGC–Mexico (WGC event) and his victory in the French Open (Rolex Series event).

What all this means, of course, is that long gone are the days when a player could win the European Tour Money List without venturing outside the continent for too long. The Tour is both richer and poorer because of it.

THE RISE AND FALL Which players have risen and fallen most this year – based on the Official World Golf Ranking*.

Player

Points avg diff

Rank diff

Player

Points avg diff

Rank diff

Jon Rahm Justin Thomas Justin Rose Marc Leishman Tommy Fleetwood Pat Perez Xander Schauffele Dustin Johnson Brian Harman Brooks Koepka

+6.2975 +4.1142 +3.1271 +3.1268 +3.0319 +2.8797 +2.7673 +2.399 +2.3735 +2.1298

V130 V9 V10 V43 V80 V66 V269 V2 V115 V7

Patrick Reed Jim Furyk Jimmy Walker Henrik Stenson Russell Knox Adam Scott Bubba Watson Rory McIlroy Danny Willett Jason Day

-1.6849 -1.7526 -1.7995 -2.1359 -2.1456 -2.9414 -3.0894 -3.1804 -3.3286 -4.6709

W 15 W 116 W 36 W 5 W 47 W 21 W 58 W 6 W 80 W 11

*Because of the difference in OWGR points available to players, the most accurate way of charting their rise or fall is through Points Average Difference.

10 Golf World February 2018

THE SPIN

1992

Born in Long Beach, California on March 17. Starts playing golf at the age of three.

2011

Enjoys a decorated amateur career, finishes low amateur in the 2011 US Open (T21, below) and shoots lowest round by an amateur in Tour history with a 60 in the second round of the Travelers. Finishes top 25 in his first four Tour starts.

2017

2017

2012

Turns pro in June and earns his PGA card for 2014, but suffers stress fracture of a vertebrae. “It felt like somebody stuck a knife in my back.”

HOW HE GOT HERE

Cantlay wins the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, rising to 42nd in the world rankings and back into the ‘next big thing’ conversations.

“There’s not a lot of give up in me,” he says afterwards.

And, when asked of his goals for this season and beyond, he replies: “Definitely majors”. To be continued.

Finally fit, Cantlay makes the cut in all 13 starts. Earns enough in the second start (a second-place) to secure his PGA Tour card for the rest of the season and rises from 1,419th to 239th in the world.

Becomes one of only two rookies to reach the FedExCup Playoffs, then makes it through all four events. And then...

Patrick Cantlay The Shriners Hospital For Children Open champion has overcome severe injury and heartbreak on his road to PGA Tour glory.

2014

Struggling for fitness, Cantlay makes just two cuts in five starts, a T23 at the Greenbrier Classic his highest finish. “I felt good coming back,” he said, “but I woke up one day and it just felt weird. It felt wrong.

I wasn’t overly concerned. I thought it’d go back to normal but it just didn’t.”

Cantlay is granted an 11-tournament medical extension.

2016

2015 Makes just a single PGA Tour start, finishing 76th at the OHL

2016

With a reworked swing built designed to be easier on his body, Cantlay is close to a return – until pain shoots down his back again.

He’s advised to sit out at least another 10 months.

“It was really low,” he said.

“It was demoralising.”

In February, while bar-hopping in Newport Beach, Cantlay’s caddie and friend, Chris Roth (below), is struck by a car in a hit-and-run.

“By the time I got to him, there was nothing I could do,” he said. For a couple months after that, “nothing mattered.”

February 2018 Golf World 11

Five

BURNING QUESTIONS Paul Casey After a three-year absence, World No.14 Paul Casey has rejoined the European Tour for the 2017/18 season. He tells GW about the reasons for returning, his Ryder Cup ambitions and his plans to get back in the winner’s circle in 2018.

1

The obvious opening question: Why have you rejoined the European Tour?

The Ryder Cup has been a big part of my career, so to not be part of the team for nearly 10 years has been tough for me.

When I left the European Tour a few years ago, I was really struggling with my game and needed to concentrate on it in America, while also committing to my wife and new baby. Now, both of those aspects of my life are in a really good place, so it made sense to rejoin the Tour.

Add in the fact that I’ve missed contributing to golf in England, and understandably I am looking forward to getting back in to playing in Europe.

2

How big a part did European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn play in this decision?

Yeah, Thomas played a big part.

When I heard he’d been selected as captain, I was extremely pleased for him. We started talking soon after and have not stopped since. He has been a massive support and his backing of me and my game have been a huge confidence boost.

3

Do you feel like you have unfinished business with the Ryder Cup? I wouldn’t say unfinished business, but it is an event that I have a lot of history with and it is a definite goal of mine to make

12

Golf World February 2018

the 2018 team. I’ve found it pretty difficult to watch the event on TV over the last few years, so am genuinely so excited at the prospect of making the team next year. If I can get myself in to position to qualify and be one of the senior members of the team, I will relish the opportunity to play for Europe again.

4

What are the key difficulties of playing two tours – and how will you attempt to overcome these in 2018?

Dividing your time tends to be the biggest issue. I’ll probably still play the majority of my golf in the US, but I’m working on my schedule and plan to play the tournaments I like and the places I have fond memories of as this should hopefully help me post a few good results. Given this, it makes sense for me to start my year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. It’s a tournament that I’ve won before and love going back to.

CASEY’S CUPS 2004 RYDER CUP

P2 W1 L1

9½ USA – 18½ EUROPE 2006 RYDER CUP

P4 W2 H2 L0 18½ EUROPE - 9½ USA 2008 RYDER CUP

P3 W0 H2 L1 16½ USA – 11½ EUROPE OVERALL

P9 W3 H4 L2

5

Finally, it seemed like you were on the leaderboard just about every week in 2017.

What sparked this great form and what do you need to do to turn these strong performances into a win?

My good form really began when I started putting well last May. That helped my scoring and then I just gained confidence from being near the top of the leaderboard for a few weeks in a row and it kind of snowballed from there. To kick on and turn those performances in to a win in 2018, I just need to stay patient and keep trying to play my best golf. The standard of golf on both the PGA Tour and European Tour is so high at the moment, and I feel like I have just come up against a better man on a few occasions. Every time I was in and around the lead in 2017, the leaderboard was always stacked with big name players. But I’m confident that if I just keep on doing what I am doing, my time will come.

THE SPIN

INSTRUCTION

Learn from thebest TheEuropean Tour’sstatsleaders revealtheirsecrets.

DRIVING Rory McIlroy Topped the PGA Tour’s Driving Distance stat in 2017 (317.2yds) “Keeping the clubface looking at the ball for a fraction of a second longer in the takeaway – with the ‘magic triangle’ of arms and chest moving neatly together – helps me get the club in the right slot at the top. The left arm should be straight and the right arm soft as you push back with the left shoulder and hand to keep the face looking at the ball rather than rotating open in this initial takeaway phase. Then,

simply turn your shoulders to get the club consistently on plane at the top. From there, the downswing starts from the ground up and you can drop the club down and attack the ball from the inside.”

IRON PLAY Tommy Fleetwood Leads the European Tour’s Greens In Regulation stat (77.4%) “In iron play, impact is always my main focus. Too many golfers obsess over other positions but impact is the moment that matters. When the club reaches this position, I want it doing as little as possible, so I don’t want the hands working.

This takes timing out of things so it’s a much more repeatable and consistent action. To achieve more stability, I try to hit against a firm left side with my left thigh staying solid at impact. Like hitting against a wall, it helps my bottom half stay square that little bit longer before turning through to the target.”

WEDGE PLAY Tim Wilkinson Topped PGA Tour’s strokes gained around-the-green

stat (.538) “The key to pitching and chipping around the green is being able to land the ball precisely where you intend to.

That’s obviously easier said than done but I find the best way to do this is to control distance with your pivot. Keep you wrists and elbows ‘soft’ and control the swing with your pivot.”

BUNKERS Rickie Fowler Topped the PGA Tour’s Sand Save stats in 2017 (68.66%) “Never let the negative emotion of the previous shot carry into a bunker shot. Attitude separates more players than talent in this game so stay positive and embrace the chance to hit a great shot from the sand. Your stance will vary depending on the circumstances but as a general rule, get yourself as centred and as balanced as possible. Set the club above where you want to enter the sand. Make a long, smooth swing and slide the clubface under the ball. Commit to the shot fully, keep the face open as you follow through and the ball should pop out and stop fast.

Now, go make that putt.”

PUTTING Marc Warren Leads the European Tour on Putts per Green in Regulation (1.71) “The key to putting is balance – both front-to-back and left-toright. You want to be as steady as possible – planted. Do that and it’s easier to maintain your posture, which in turn makes consistency of pace, tempo and strike much easier. At address, I lift my toes to get my weight on my heels and the balls of my feet, which is not to say my weight is too far back. Lean forward and the heaviest part of your body – your head – is forward. To counteract that, your backside has to go the other way. And when you go into any kind of motion, your instinct is to find the natural balance point. That means keeping your head perfectly still throughout the stroke, which is possible if you can maintain balance and posture. With the stroke, itself I stand square to the putt. I practise with a chalk line or a piece of string to train my eyes to look right down the line – that’s key to starting the ball on the track I want.”

Stats correct as of November 15.

February 2018 Golf World

13

THE NUMBER

Planning the perfect schedule

How many tournaments is the right number to maximise a players chances of winning big? ’Tis the season when tour professionals sit down with their teams and chat about the things they could tweak to make next year even better than this one.

These conversations will differ from player to player, but one thing they will all feature is a discussion on scheduling. “I’m looking at playing more events next year,” said Rory McIlroy last month. “I think the Ryder Cup will be my 26th event.”

We can only applaud Rory’s decision, because after studying the playing schedules for the world’s top 10 over the course of 2017, we can see that only two members of this elite group played fewer than 24 events over the course of this year: Rory and the equally injury-hit Dustin Johnson.

After running the numbers for 2017, this was one of four key findings we discovered…

JANUARY 2018

MONDAY

TUESDAY WEDN

1

8

1

The Magic Number There is obviously no such thing as a perfect schedule, with the top 10 all entering slightly different events outside of the majors and WGCs. However, what we can conclude is that 25 individual events per year seems to be the golden number for most players. Half of the world’s top 10 played that number of events in 2017 – and between them accounted for 14 victories, three majors and one PGA Player of the Year title.

EVENTS PLAYED IN 2017* Dustin Johnson Jordan Spieth Justin Thomas Hideki Matsuyama Jon Rahm Justin Rose Brooks Koepka Henrik Stenson Rory McIlroy Rickie Fowler

21 25 25 25 26 25 25 22 18 24

4 wins 3 wins 5 wins 2 wins 2 wins 3 wins 1 win 1 win 0 wins 1 win

*Excludes The Presidents Cup

14 Golf World February 2018

2

One Season, Three Parts The game’s elite stars seem to split the season into three distinct parts.

1. ‘Pre-Masters’, when they play seven or eight events.

2. ‘Major season’, when they compete in between nine and 11 tournaments.

3. ‘Post-US PGA’, when they enter at least six more tournaments.

Seven of the top 10 played at least seven times in the 13 weeks before the Masters, but none of them played more than eight times.

‘Rory’s decision to make the Ryder season makes sense. Between them, in 2017 won 14 titles, including three Each of the top 10 played at least nine times, and none played more than 11 times in the 18 weeks between the Masters and the US PGA. If we look at PGA Tour Player of the Year Justin Thomas’ schedule we see he played eight events before The Masters, 10 during ‘major season’ and seven in the Post-US PGA stretch, amassing five victories and his first major.

3

The Fifth Amendment Playing five events in a row is considered to be a bad idea, in as much as

not one member of the top 10 played more than four weeks in a row at any time in 2017. Those players tended to group runs of two or three events together in a bid to minimise the amount of time they would spend travelling.

A look at the last 12 months shows that Henrik Stenson’s 2017 schedule was one of the least ‘travel friendly’, with the Swede clocking up two of the top 10’s longest journeys between events played in consecutive weeks. A single victory and a season curtailed by injury may just be an unfortunate coincidence.

THE SPIN

Tyrrell might be angry, but at least he’s honest I’d much rather watch an irate Tyrrell Hatton than another emotionless robot, says Kit Alexander.

Cup his 26th event of next players who played 25 events of the year’s majors’

4

Work, Rest Or Play?

Our final area of investigation found that it is still unclear whether it is better to play or rest the week before a major. Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas competed the week before their US Open and US PGA triumphs, Sergio Garcia and

Jordan Spiet sat out the w before their Masters and Open victori Of the world top 10, only R Fowler playe the week bef each major.

Confession time. I’m an angry golfer – and it’s through that red lens that I view Tyrrell Hatton.

The 26-year-old has attracted criticism for his outward displays of frustration and temper on the golf course, but I can empathise with him because I do exactly the same things.

I’d be lying if I said I’d never thrown a club, thumped the turf or muttered a profanity. I’m not proud of that type of behaviour – and neither is Tyrrell from the conversations I’ve had with him – but strange things can happen to your personality when it isn’t going your way on the course.

Golf can make you do and say things you never would in any other environment.

I’ve learnt to control this behaviour as I’ve got older and Tyrrell is working on it as well, but it’s not easy. It’s almost like an out of body experience. You can see yourself expressing your emotions in a way you probably shouldn’t, but you just can’t stop yourself. It’s like there’s something inside you and you have to let it out. It’s like having a verbal or physical tick feel – angry golf Tourette’s, if you will.

While there are obviously lines of etiquette and decency that should never be crossed in golf, it’s not a bad thing to express yourself. From a personal perspective, I feel better when I let it out in some way. Externally, I’d rather see someone get a bit frustrated or angry after a bad shot or break than showing no emotion whatsoever. Any time you watch Tyrrell play you cannot doubt how much he cares – that’s unequivocally a good thing.

Every golfer has their own personality and idiosyncrasies.

All too often, we as viewers, don’t get to see the real person behind the golf swing. I’ve been fortunate to experience many of the world’s professional players as people – not just as golfers.

Inevitably, I like some of them more than others, but I certainly find all of them more interesting as a result.

It’s a lot easier to care about a person with a story than it is a player with a characterless swing, and I firmly believe golf would benefit from more players who display themselves as honestly as Tyrrell does.

Masters Sergio Garcia rested

US Open Brooks Koepka played

The Open Jordan Speith rested

US PGA Justin Thomas played

Rest 5 Play 5

Rest 8 Play 2

Rest 7 Play 3

Rest 0 Play 10

February 2018 Golf World 15

World’sfirstconnectedirons

NEW GEAR

Cobra has extended the Connect shot-tracking system into the irons in their new F8 range.

Cobra first partnered with Arccos to offer golf clubs that track your shots and analyse your game in last year’s F7 drivers. Now they’ve now extended that game-changing technology into every iron, hybrid and wood in their new F8 family.

Every club has an Arccos 360

sensor embedded in the grip, which automatically tracks every shot and plots your locations and distances on more than 40,000 courses. That data provides Smart Distances for each club, calculates your ‘strokes gained’ in each area of the game and ives you an individual handicap

for driving, approach, chipping, sand play and putting.

Cobra Connect players using the Arccos 360 app will also get a free five-round preview of Arccos Caddie. This shows a player their optimal strategy on any hole by analysing every shot they’ve taken with Arccos, plus

120 million+ shots hit by the Arccos community and 368 million geotagged data points on more than 40,000 courses.

It even factors in elevation data and weather conditions. Arccos Caddie usually costs $7.99 per month or $49.99 for a year. www.cobragolf.co.uk

F8 and F8+ drivers

F8 fairways and hybrids

Cobra’s first Precision Milled Forged face enables the more precise production so it’s 3% thinner and 10% lighter. This boosts ball speeds across the face, and improved bulge-and-roll curvatures help accuracy. Plus, an ultra-light Carbon Fibre crown, 360° Aero Technology to boost aerodynamics and the My Fly8 adjustable hosel. The F8 is an oversized head for forgiveness and the F8+ is a traditional shape for workability and a penetrating flight.

See the King F8 driver tested on p74. £329

Cobra’s patented Dual Baffler Rail system is used to retain more clubhead speed at impact.

The heads are a premium multi-material construction with 360° Aero Technology to improve aerodynamics. The F8 fairway has a larger address profile and lower CG for more distance and forgiveness, while the F8+ has a more compact head and penetrating flight. The F8 hybrid is available as a traditional length or an F8 One Length version.

16 Golf World February 2018

£199 for fairways, £169 for hybrid

THE SPIN

Sam Horsfield snaps a celebratory selfie after Q School success.

Advantages of shot tracking Explained by Mike Yagley, Senior Director of Innovation/AI for Cobra.

NewbloodonTour

Five standouts from the European Tour’s new intake for the 2018 season. Remember the names.

Africa could be the catalyst for a breakthrough year.

Sam Horsfield Q School graduate

The 21-year-old Englishman was the only player to shoot all six rounds in the 60s on the way to a seven-stroke victory at Q School.

Ian Poulter has been tipping him for big things for a number of years and he looks set for a big rookie year as a pro.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Q School gradu te The seven-time E Tour winner has s the last three years in America, but the had an underwhe 2017 on the Web He’s got the gam experience to fly the world rankin familiar surround the European To

Aaron Rai

Challenge Tour graduate Following three wins on the Challenge Tour by July, the 2015 EuroPro Tour graduate spent the second half of this year finding his feet on the European Tour. He adjusted well with two top-10s and only two missed cuts in seven starts. We expect the Englishman to build on that in 2017.

Connor Syme Q School graduate

The 22-year-old Scot earned his European Tour card just two months after playing in the Walker Cup. He missed the cut at The Open as an amateur last summer but he’s made the weekend in his first three European Tour starts as a pro – finishing T12, T15 and 64.

Erik Van Rooyen

Challenge Tour graduate Van Rooyen finished the season impressively with a win and four top-10s in his last 12 events. A fast start to the 2018 season at the tournaments in his native South

F8 irons The new E9 PWRSHELL Face makes the face 20% thinner and an elliptical Sweet Zone generates faster ball speeds across a wider area of the face. Carbon Feel Technology inserts are positioned to deliver a soft yet solid feel.

Progressive Set Construction varies the cavity and spin for each club to optimise performance.

The F8 One Length are all the length of a 7-iron, with specific flighted shafts and wider sole widths in the 4- to 6-irons for a higher trajectory.

£649 (iron shafts), £749 (graphite)

THE PERCENTAGE GAME

Challenge Tour or Q School – whose graduates fared best on the European Tour in their first season*?

Retained card for the following season

65%

Lost card

25%

35% Lost card

CHALLENGE TOUR

Retained card for following season

75%

Q SCHOOL

February 2018 Golf World 17

*Based on stats from 2010 to present

“Using advanced analytics to make smarter, data-driven decisions on the course can dramatically improve the performance of any player. That’s clearly supported by Arccos 360 users improving by up to five strokes after using the system for one year. The firstever fully connected set, will help more players make better-informed decisions about practice time and on-course club selections.”

YOUR VIEWS

Dear Golf World...

SILLY SCHEDULING

I know there are several good and logical reasons for this happening, but I can’t be alone in thinking the 2018 European Tour season starting in 2017 is a joke.

Worse still, the new season has started just seven days after 2017 has ended!

This can only surely lead to viewing fatigue among the golfing public.

Terry Killworth, Manchester

A PALE IMITATION?

Sky Sports’ golf coverage is

second to none. Sadly, with a couple of exceptions, the same cannot be said of their commentary team.

They seem incapable of doing anything other than commentating on what has just happened or ‘predicting’ the player’s intentions only after he’s taken the shot.

Anecdotal discussion and historical knowledge are conspicuous by their absence.

All we are left with is what appears to be almost scripted commentary dictated by presumed Sky guidelines.

Please, Sky, if these people have the ability, let them off their leashes. If they don’t, replace them with a team that can make golf as entertaining to listen to as your coverage is to watch.

Ian Land, email

Editor’s reply: Sky Sports’ golf team do many things very well, but their coverage could benefit from more colour. The presenters have a pretty tight remit so a bit more freedom wouldn’t go amiss, either.

PRIZE LETTER OF THE MONTH TEARS FOR TIGER John Huggan’s piece on Tiger Woods in your January issue was magnificent.

Having never previously been a fan of Tiger’s, I now realise why he is how he is and at last have a little sympathy for him.

He has clearly lived a strange life, with no real close friends in golf to have a laugh with. He’s been forced to be on the outside looking in, never part of the inner circle.

Tiger did things on a golf course that his peers had no way of copying it’s just a pity

@GolfWorld1 www.facebook.com/golfworld golf.world@bauermedia.co.uk Golf World, Media House, Peterborough, PE2 6EA

THEM AND US

I have just returned from a trip to Dubai, where I was lucky enough to fit in three rounds of golf. I chose my final round as the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates – what better way to end the trip than by getting a round in on a course they would soon be playing the Race to Dubai finale on?

However, it became apparent soon into the round that the course was very much being prepped for the upcoming season-ending event. Lots of turf was being laid on most holes and the greens were incredibly slow in relation to the top courses in Dubai, in particular Al Zorah and Dubai Creek.

The lesson, I suppose, is to always check in about the state of the course when playing it so close to a big tournament!

Or just wait and play it afterwards!

Mark Wyss, Email

ONE HAPPY CUSTOMER Tiger Woods and parents Kultida and Earl. He has had a “strange life”.

he could neither see nor understand that there is much more to golf than picking up trophies.

I now feel sad for the man and hope that if he does

return to the game, he comes back with a new attitude and is able to appreciate and enjoy the game we all play and love so much.

Barry Y. Crane, Email

end us your views and you could wina£199.99Motocaddybag ter of the month wins a new Motocaddy 2017 Dry-Series cart bag. Weighing only 2.4kg, 100% waterproof with heat-welded seams and thermo-sealed zips. It has seven spacious, y-open pockets; 14 full-length dividers and offers compatibility with Motocaddy’s SILOCK™ bag-to-trolley connection system. www.motocaddy.com

18 Golf World February 2018

Get in touch...

On reading the letter printed in your January 2018 issue, in which a fellow reader was clearly disillusioned with the club-fitting service he had ‘endured’, I felt compelled to share my recent experience with American Golf.

Having been fitted previously for a set of irons a number of years ago, I arranged an appointment and turned up with a specific set of fitting requirements; to replace my set of irons, driver, woods, wedges and putter with fullyfitted replacements. No mean task in a single session.

However, I spent the next three hours testing a number of options in each club

WE ASK YOU ANSWER Three hot topics you addressed on Twitter this month.

Who should be named the @European Tour Golfer of the Year 2017?

Justin Rose Another

4%

22% 47% 27% Is Sky’s punditry up to the same high standard as its presentation?

category on the simulator, with the attentive fitter offering numerous angle and shaft options from their comprehensive stock.

I also had the opportunity to test a number of the latest putters on the ‘putting area’, which helped immensely in choosing the right model.

The result was a complete overhaul and replacement of my bag. And while it wasn’t cheap, that fitting has resulted in me gaining over an extra 20 yards in distance and greater consistency across each club.

This was achieved through the experience and knowledge of the fitter, the technology and analytical tools on offer, plus the fitter’s willingness to work with my preferences.

So, to every reader who is contemplating being fitted for their new clubs, I would actively encourage each and every one of you to go for it.

Mike Hislop, St Helens

BITTEN BY THE BUG

Moving towards 40, I decided I needed a new life challenge and having heard so many friends eulogise about birdies and eagles on a Saturday night, I thought I’d give golf a go.

I popped into American Golf and nearly fainted when I saw the price of drivers and

Tommy Fleetwood

top branded irons. Not put off, however, I picked up some second-hand Cleveland irons and a TaylorMade driver and headed to the local range.

I pulled out the driver, looked down the range and genuinely wondered if I would be too long for it... then I swung hard at the ball and missed completely.

I had just had my first air shot – and the answer to my question of how hard could it be? However, I am no a quitter so I booked some lessons to learn the basics.

Six lessons in, I was finally connecting with the ball and experiencing the exhilaration that’s difficult to explain to non-golfers.

A few rounds followed with mixed results, and on occasion I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. But I made progress and finally, last Friday I had my reward, shooting 87 and beating my previous best by 12 shots.

Everything went right f the 1st tee, and I was buzzing. I now want to enter my first competition. I just can’ believe it took mesolon Tommy Fleetwood, sho in the 2017 European To season, a full week befo the 2018 season began

to take up this great game.

JamesWorld,Email

HOME COMFORTS

I travel frequently for work and have started playing golf abroad a lot and it’s struck me how expensive it is.

For example, green fees were in excess of £125 in Singapore for what was a very average public course. In Bali, I paid £85 for a sunset deal – a huge amount for a course with five holes under repair.

Memberships are the cost of house in Singapore, with £130,000 being offered for a well-maintained but unremarkable course.

Southern Spain has some cracking golf, but €100 for peak hours is considered the norm around Marbella – and that’s very hard to justify.

Such premium prices are the reason golf often has a reputation of being a rich man’s game. Fortunately, in the UK we have so many ff rdable options. The value here if you look for it; it is much harder to find verseas.

Sergio Garcia

With suggestions the modern ball goes too far, would you like to see a restricted tournament ball introduced to pro tours?

Yes – it’ll save courses

55% 45%

No – one ball for all

@EuropeanTour chief exec Keith Pelley admits a ‘World Tour’ may be a future option. Would it be a good move?

Yes - one tour makes sense

54% 46%

No - keep all tours separate

alum Austin, Teddington Golf World reserves the right to edit all letters submitted to Your Views for style and length purposes.

Join in the Twitter polls and conversations at: @golfworld1

February 2018 Golf World 19

The Number.1 Home Golf & Fitness Training System

Explanar Complete

Designed by Luther Blacklock, PGA Master Professional

Turning swing thoughts into swing feelings

FEATURING: Plane Fin • Power Roller • Radial Stance Mat •

ALSO AVAILABLE: Pro Model £1395.00* +CARRIAGE

Junior Model £349.00* +CARRIAGE

The Original Explanar Complete Home Golf & Fitness Training System includes the following: • • • • •

*All prices shown are inclusive of VAT.

110

Explanar Hoop Explanar ‘Plane Fin’ Long Power Roller (Driver to 5 Iron) Short Power Roller (6 Iron to Sand Wedge) Radial Stance Mat

Explanar Complete is now available at the exceptional price of:

£499.00*+CARRIAGE

Log onto: www.explanar.com

R ON

Justin Rose

Thereweremanypositivesfor me in 2017, but it was a breakoutyearforanewgeneration of 20-somethings.

I

t’s been a nearly year really, if I look at the Masters and Race to Dubai.

They were a couple of achievements that would have been amazing and moved the needle in my career. But to finish top 10 in the FedEx Cup and 2nd on the Race to Dubai takes a lot of consistency and I’m really pleased about that. I’ve smartened up my world ranking and got back into the top six with a couple of wins late in the season so it’s all signs of a good year and consistent golf.

You never know when the form is going to pop because there’s always a lag effect with the hard work you put in. It all started to turn around before the win in China, really. The FedEx Cup was a really solid run of events – I finished 2nd at the BMW Championship and I really could have won the Tour Championship if my front nine on Saturday had been a bit different – so I knew I was close to playing well. But obviously the WGC HSBC Champions was one of those surprise wins where you get a bit of help from the leader. I stayed on a roll and went back-to-back at the Turkish Airlines Open.

All the hard work was done a long time prior to the results popping. I went through a mini swing change in the summer and made some tweaks to take a little bit of pressure off my back. It takes a little while to feel comfortable but it’s paying dividends now.

It’s been a weird mix of emotions because a month ago (in mid-October) it was just a bonus to even be in the hunt for the Race to Dubai, and then with nine holes to go in the DP World Tour Championship I had it in my hands and I was controlling it. So it ended up being disappointing, but if I look at the bigger picture I’m proud of the way I gave myself an opportunity towards the end of the season.

Some people have questioned my decision not to play the Nedbank Challenge the week between Turkey and the Tour Championship, but I justified that decision by being in contention in Dubai. I’ve been playing for a long time now and I’ve figured out what works for me. My goal was to play well in Dubai and I did what I thought I needed to do

‘We’vegotalltheseyoungstoriesandTigercoming back . Golf could be set for its most exciting time ever’ to do that, and I did play well. I was two swings away from winning that tournament so the margins are so small.

I’m pleased for Tommy Fleetwood. He had it in the bag pretty much all year. Of course, I’d have loved to have stolen it but he’d have felt pretty hard done by if I’d won the last three to pinch it. It’s a huge turnaround to go from where he was 18 months ago to where he is now. When you play with him now, he looks like the real deal. He hits the ball beautifully and he’s got a great temperament.

Something’s clicked for him and he looks very complete. He showed a lot of resilience and kept coming back, especially in Dubai when he would bounce back from a bad run with a bunch of birdies. It’s a huge achievement.

It’s been a massive year for the young guys, with so many of them winning multiple times. There hasn’t been a dominance by one particular player because there’s been a dominance by the world’s top 10. Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm have won so

much this year and earned a tonne of world ranking points. That age group has really stepped up and the world’s top six players have distanced themselves.

The guys that are 15th or 20th in the world have a lot of golf to play if they want to break into the top five.

There’s great camaraderie between the young guys now, especially Jordan and Justin. People like to see that, but they also like to see a dominator. People love a story around someone just being the best, so if there’s too much parity there’s a danger it might not keep people’s interest as much. Although both tours are in a very healthy spot right now. They can market it around four or five guys – not just Tiger Woods. But we’re obviously coming to a very interesting stage now where we’ve got all these young storylines and Tiger coming back into the mix. We could be set for the most exciting time ever in golf.

Justin Rose is a US Open champion and Olympic gold medallist who has played on the PGA and European Tours for 18 years.

February 2018 Golf World 21

STRAIGHT TALKING

John Huggan

On the other side of the world lies a stretch of courses that cannot be matched on this, or any other planet.

T

his column is taking shape within the media centre on the eve of the 102nd Australian Open at the Jack Nicklausdesigned Australian Club. Which means I’m in Sydney in late November (yes, yes, but someone has to do it). And five days from now your humble and industrious servant will move south to the city of Melbourne, the Victorian capital that is home to the famous Sandbelt and some of the best golf courses on this and probably any other planet.

Royal Melbourne is the truly special place within a star-studded supporting cast that includes Kingston Heath, Victoria (where five-time Open champion Peter Thomson and 2006 US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy are members), Metropolitan, Woodlands and Kingswood-Peninsula. Six-time major champion Nick Faldo once argued that the composite course at Royal Melbourne might be the best in the world. And he may well be right. The combination of 12 holes from the West Course and six from the East first seen at 1959’s World Cup is certainly part of that elevated conversation.

On the Sandbelt, the middle of any fairway is only occasionally the best place to be. The ingeniously strategic relationship between bunkers and greens means it is nearly always better to play from the edge of a fairway rather than the centre. The wrong side of those fairways is no good at all. The firmness of the greens means you have virtually no chance of getting the ball close. So the effective playing area is narrow, even when the fairways are physically wide.

In totality, the Sandbelt is Australia’s version of the great heathland courses dotted around London. But it is also unique. The ground is bouncy. The greens are hard and fast – sometimes too fast. And the greenside bunkering, the edges of the lips cut into the putting surfaces – is like nowhere else in the game. Others have tried to build Sandbelt bunkers elsewhere, but with little success. They only work in Melbourne because of the soil and the climate, framing many special and memorable green complexes.

22 Golf World February 2018

‘Royal Melbourne is a course Alister MacKenzie could have built specifically for Seve’s peerless creativity’ Difficult too. There is no fringe between sand and green, so there is no soft apron to help stop the ball quickly.

Of course, the greens don’t need rough around them. It’s all short grass. The greens are defended by the bunkering.

Even from a good lie it is almost impossible to get within 20 feet of the flag. So there is always a side where you can’t miss. If you do, you’re making a bogey. Unless you are, say, Seve.

Seve won the 1981 Australian PGA Championship at Royal Melbourne, a course Alister MacKenzie could have built specifically for the peerlessly creative Spaniard. The width gave the three-time Open Champion space to play. He figured out the strategy soon enough. And his genius short game was given full credit. Even more than MacKenzie’s Augusta National – where the original design philosophy was modelled on the Old Course at St. Andrews – it was the perfect playground for Seve’s imagination and inventiveness.

Great courses logically contain great holes and the Sandbelt is no exception.

Three stick out for this observer.

The par-4 6th on Royal Melbourne West is a wonderfully sharp left-to-right dog-leg that tempts from the tee, teases on the slightly uphill approach and tortures around the sloping green.

The 15th at Kingston Heath is the best par 3 in Melbourne and surely the finest uphill short hole in golf. The elusive green is but a sliver of green amidst a sea of bunkers.

And the 15th at Victoria is a vexingly interesting 300-yarder where anything from a 6-iron to a driver is a viable option from the tee. It is a confusing hole, one where the question asked is simple, but the possible answers are complex. Play it every day for a week and it is still not entirely clear what to do from the tee.

Maybe that’s why I like the Sandbelt so much. Constantly changing yet always the same, there is nothing else like it.

John follows the PGA and European Tours and has written for Golf World for more than 26 years, as well as authoring seven books.

Great gifts GREAT GIFTS

FOR JUST .99 £ OR LESS

24

Magazine subscriptions make the perfect presents, with a personal touch. Choose from over 70 magazines for just £24.99 or less!

Order today...

Big selection of titles, there’s something for everyone!

No crowds – order online Free e-card with every order Post-Christmas delivery

www.greatmagazines.co.uk/christmas QUOTING HOL1 Terms & Conditions: The amount of issues for £24.99 will vary by title, you cannot renew any existing subscription on this offer. Payments can be made by credit/debit card or PayPal. Offers close on 27th December 2017. Offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Calls from a BT landline will cost no more than 4p a minute. Call charges from other landline providers or mobile phones may vary. Order lines open 8am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat). UK orders only. For overseas orders please phone +44 (0)1858 438828.

Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes. For our full terms and conditions go to http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/offer-terms-and-conditions.

SU CRIBE TO S ON I Receive 24 Srixon AD333 Tour balls as a welcome I Free home delivery or instant digital edition access I Save 63 per cent with our superb print & digital offer

R YOUT GIOFN AD333

24 SRIX BALLS TOUR 2 WHEN £7 WORTH SCRIBE T0 B YOU SU WORLD GOLF

Golf World is Europe’s most in-depth golf magazine, aimed at golfers who want the most authoritative insight – from the Tour and major championship reviews to instruction, gear and courses. As a new subscriber, you’ll enjoy superb savings and receive each issue delivered straight to your door or device before it hits the shelves.

Plus, sign up now and you’ll receive a superb welcome gift – 24 Srixon AD333 Tour balls, worth £72.

Nick Wright, Editor

OFFER 1

PRINT EDITION 13 issues for £39.99 (recurring payment) 13 issues for £45 (one-off payment)

OFFER2

DIGITAL ONLY 13 issues for £34 (recurring payment or one-off payment)

OFFER3

PRINT& DIGITAL 13 issues for £44.99 (recurring payment) 13 issues for £50 (one-off payment)

Subscribe online or by phone quoting AEAA Call 01858 438884 Online www.greatmagazines.co.uk/GW

Terms & Conditions: Save 63% when you choose the print and digital option. Subscriptions will start with the next available issue. Prices include postage for print and packaging. The minimum term is 13 issues. After your first 13 issues your subscription will continue at this offer price unless you are notified otherwise. You will not receive a renewal reminder and the recurring payments will continue to be taken unless you tell us otherwise. This offer closes on January 3, 2018. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Cost from UK landlines for 01 numbers per minute is (approximately) 2p to 10p. Cost from mobiles per minute (approximately) 10p to 40p. Costs vary depending on the geographical location in the UK. You may get free calls to some numbers as part of your call package – please check with your phone provider. Order lines open 8am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat). Overseas? phone +44 1858 438884 for further information. Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes. For full terms and conditions please visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk/offer-terms-and-conditions.

you k you’r If you want clubs that lau farther, and have a sweet Texas, visit Golf Addiction for PXG - the world’s fines

Unit 2 Potterdyke Development Lombard Street, Newark NG24 1XG 01636 676 856 www.golfaddictionuk.com/pxg

Unit 4 Elizabeth Business Park Tigers Road, Leicester LE18 4TN 0116 278 5550

Instant fixes from the stars

LEE WESTWOOD

‘My simple fixes for the most common faults I see’ I play with a lot of handicap golfers in pro-ams and social games at Close House and it’s amazing how many of them all make the same mistakes. Most of them are so simple to fix, as well. Here are my favourite tips to help you cure the most common faults I see with fairway woods, ball-striking, club selection, pitching and putting.

SWEEP THE BALL WITH FAIRWAY WOODS

Amateurs usually try and lift fairway woods into the air but you want to sweep it off the turf.

Trying to help the ball into the

air makes your whole body come up on it through impact so you’re even less likely to get

the ball airborne. Set up with the ball a couple of inches inside your front heel and a vertical shaft. Maintain your levels by

feeling like your chinstays on a shelf throughout the swing to sweep the ball away with the slightest of descending blows.

KNOW YOUR AVERAGE YARDAGES TO HIT MORE GREENS Handicap golfers don’t hit enough club a lot of the time so they often find themselves coming up short. Most of the trouble is at the front of the green so you’re usually better off being long than short. It also doesn’t help that most people think they hit the ball further than they really do.

Choose your club based on your average carry distance and favour the longer club if you’re in doubt – unless there’s serious trouble just over the green. I write my average carry distances on my clubheads as a reminder.

SWING WITHIN YOURSELF FOR BETTER BALLSTRIKING Professional golfers hardly ever swing flat out with any

28 Golf World February 2018

club, but amateurs are always trying to hit the ball too hard. Make a rhythmic and compact swing and your ball-striking will improve so you’ll actually hit it longer and straighter

without swinging as hard.

You need to hit down with irons to take the ball then turf, so the ball needs to be before the lowest point of your swing. The shorter the club, the narrower your

stance should be. But don’t overdo it. The golf swing is an athletic move so if you go too wide you’ll have too much stability and not enough mobility and vice versa if you go too narrow.

TOUR TIPS

CLUBHEAD PASSES THE HANDS WHEN PITCHING Don’t lean the shaft forward too much into impact when because this delofts the club and makes the leading edge sharper so you

have to be more precise to hit the ball consistently. Prevent this by letting the clubhead overtake the hands a little in the

follow-through. There should only be a slight forward shaft lean at impact so the club maintains its loft and the

bounce on the sole increases your margin for error. Pitching with your feet close together is a good drill to improve pitching.

DON’T PEAK TOO EARLY Looking up too early usually turns everything to the left so you end up pulling the putt and missing. Keep your head still and looking at the spot where the ball was until it reaches the hole and you’ll keep the face square through impact. Practise with something under the ball to help you focus on that spot.

A smooth rhythm and rocking the shoulders to power the stroke are vital components for good speed control.

PAUL DUNNE

‘Get the club in position with my two-piece takeaway’ I do a little rehearsal of my takeaway before I start to swing – a bit like Rickie Fowler does. I have a habit of dragging the

clubhead back on the inside and getting it behind me really quickly in the backswing. I’m trying to take the club away a

bit slower and keep my hands a bit lower and on the inside so the club gets a more up and on the outside. The false takeaway

really helps to reinforce this feeling before I make my full swing. I like to think of the takeaway as a two-piece move.

FIRST MOVE Turn the chest away

SECOND MOVE Bring the club up

I move the clubhead away from the ball by turning my chest while keeping the clubhead in front of me. Taking my time and doing this really smoothly helps create a nice, controlled rhythm to the swing. Only the chest is moving until I reach the position you see here.

Then I bring the club up with my arms – while maintaining the connection between my upper arms and chest – until the clubhead is just above my hands, as you can see here.

This sets the club on a neutral plane so I don’t have to manipulate it in the rest of the backswing.

TOUR TIPS

JAMIE DONALDSON

‘Stay connected and control your swing length for accurate pitching’ 1 Feet closer and weight forward Your feet should be closer together than a normal shot, but the exact width of stance comes down to the individual. This is not an exact science. Your weight should be a little further forward than normal to encourage the descending blow you need through impact.

2 Keep your arms and chest connected I want to feel a connection between my arms and chest all the way from address to impact.

There’s inevitably going to be a little bit of wrist action in the swing, but it’s the movement of the torso that is the biggest factor in the creation of momentum. I like to practise pitching with a golf glove under each armpit. My aim is to strike

the ball solidly without the gloves falling out. If I achieve that, I know the connection I’m looking for has been maintained throughout the swing.

3 Short and controlled backswing The left arm should never go past horizontal, or 9 o’clock, in the backswing. If you go further than that you’re probably hitting something more akin to a full shot than a pitch. A good image to have – swinging in front of a mirror helps – is to think of the left arm and the club forming a right angle. That’s as far as you can go and still be hitting what I would define as a pitch shot.

4 Control distance with swing length The length of the swing is down to experimentation. You need to

know how far you can hit the ball with all lengths of backswing, which should be the same length as the followthrough. You can also grip down and use different clubs to change distance, but master the different lengths of swing before you add these extra factors.

5 Learn to alter the trajectory The simplest way to change the trajectory is to use a different club. Or you can shift the ball position within your stance – but only a little. If you move the ball forward it will automatically come out a little higher; move it back and the shot will fly lower.

6 Maintain your knee flex I gave a guy a pitching lesson during a Pro-Am recently. The

flex in his knees was changing during his swing so he couldn’t hit the ball consistently. Knee flex is a key component in pitching. Whatever flex is comfortable for you at address, try to maintain that all the way to the finish. If it changes, so will your height and so will the angle that the club comes into the ball – so you’ll either hit it thin or fat.

7 Move the ball back from a poor lie The key to pitching well from a less than ideal lie is making solid contact. Most times, I just move the ball back to the point where I can hit the ball before the ground. That is absolutely key.

You want that steeper swing and to hit down through impact.

The ball will come out lower and run more, but you just have to accept that from a poor lie.

February 2018 Golf World 31

KIRADECH APHIBARNRAT

‘Clubhead control is more important than how your swing looks’

My natural shot used to be a draw but I’ve changed to a cut for more consistency. I am now much more consistent and I hit more greens because I’m

comfortable at controlling the club path and face angle. I don’t look at my swing on video or think about different positions, and I don’t mind how

my swing looks. If my swing is feeling good and I’m in control then I know I can hit the ball to the target. It doesn’t matter how good your swing looks if

you don’t know where the ball is going to go. You will become a much better player if you can control your swing path and face angle through impact.

Set up for the shot shape you want

Match the club’s delivery to the shape

You have to decide what type of shot you want to play first – a draw or a cut. I love to select the shot shape depending on where the pin is. For me, I play a cut by seting up with my club and body aiming at the target and my natural action releases the clubhead just left of the target so the ball starts left and fades back. It’s the opposite for the draw so I make sure my clubface and body are facing a little right to start the ball just right of the target and hit it from the inside for draw spin that curves it back.

I’ve been playing for more than 20 years now so a lot of things in my swing happen automatically and I don’t think about where my club is in the takeaway or at the top. What happens around the impact zone is the most important part of the swing so I focus on that in relation to which way I want to move the ball.

The delivery changes depending on the shot. For a cut, I naturally hold the clubface open a little longer through impact. If I need a draw, I let the clubface naturally rotate through impact.

32 Golf World February 2018

TOUR TIPS

RUSSELL KNOX

‘Build awareness by closing your eyes’ The most common mistake I see from amateurs is rushing the swing with poor tempo and bad balance.

Everything is just out of sync in their swing, which causes loads of faults and bad shots. Improving tempo and feeling the sequencing of your bodies movements is a really hard thing to do, so I like to hit shots with my

eyes closed in practice.

This turns on your other senses and heightens your awareness of what your body is doing. You feel the tension areas in your body, the weight transfer and your body positions as you swing, so it’s a great way to identify what isn’t working in your technique.

Try it with a short iron

and start by making dry swing without the ball until you get comfortable.

The key is to make a real swing as if you were really trying to hit the ball and listening to what your body is telling you. It may look and sound a bit strange but you’ll be amazed by how much it heightens your awareness of what your body and club are doing.

Better balance Swinging with your eyes closed will immediately improve your balance, which is vital for solid striking.

February 2018 Golf World 33

JAMES MORRISON

‘Turn your upper body to create that tour pro spin when you chip’ The average punter is obsessed with creating backspin. You need loft and clubhead speed to

generate the kind of spin that makes the ball grab and stop, but most amateurs haven’t got

the technique to do it because they use their hands too much.

All the top wedge players like

Thomas Bjorn say you have to chip with your chest – the hands just come along for the ride.

Centre of your stance

Keep your lower body quiet

The ball should be in the centre of your stance and you should favour your front foot with your weight. I like to position my front foot a little closer to the target line than my back foot because it encourages the chest to turn to the left on the way through.

Simply turn your chest away from the target with minimal wrist hinge to make your backswing. The clubhead should stay outside the hands to keep in on a neutral path and maintain the loft on the club. Your lower body should stay very quiet.

Use your core muscles

Match your follow-through

The swing down and through impact is entirely powered by the chest.

Using your big core muscles rather than your hands and arms generates much more clubhead speed so you will create more backspin without losing your touch, finesse and precision.

The follow-through should match the length of your backswing. Amateurs try to use too many shots around the greens but if you hone this action you will be able to chip the ball close from most situations by simply changing the length of swing and club.

34 Golf World February 2018

OUR TIPS

n’t chase icky pin n position dictates ggressive you e. If it’s close to the of Sin (or any other y feature or hazard other hole), you will ably have to play e to the safe side e flag, especially if re not hitting a full so won’t be able to erate the height or n you need to stop the quickly.

GEOFF OGILV Y

‘A short, o par 4 still requires a good stra The 18th hole at St Andrews is one of the most famous in the world. It’s short and wide with no bunkers and no water, but the fairway is so wide that it can make you nervous. “I can’t miss this,” is often the last thought through your head. You know you have to drive as far right as you dare, but that brings the out of bounds into play. So you end up aiming further left, at the clock on the R&A clubhouse, which leaves the worst angle int the pin. The safest place to hit your drive is also the hardest place to make birdie from. The only way you can have a short birdie putt is to hit at least one your first two shots really well.

Everything is dictated by the Valley of Sin. Which is, of cours the genius of the hole.

ve yourself e best angle want to leave the est and safest angle ttack the flag for your ond shot, especially en there’s a hazard ricky feature like Valley of Sin in play. cide where you want play your second shot om and hit your tee ot to get you into that osition, while allowing nough margin for error at your common miss ill still be fine.

Concentrate on the tee shot It’s all too easy to aimless smash your tee shot whe you’ve got such a wid target to hit, but tha when you get yourself in trouble. Give it the sam attention as any other t shot. Pick a specific targ go through your norm routine, visualize the s you want to hit and com to its execut

© ILLUSTRATION GARY LEES

HOW I PLAYED IT I’ve played it many times, but most memorably in the final round of the 2005 Open. The three I made jumped me up to a tie for fifth, so it was a pretty big birdie. My tee shot finished

30 yards short of the putting surface and 20 yards in from the out-of-bounds fence. That left a little pitch-and-run that broke about 25 feet from rightto-left and finished eight feet

from the cup. It was a pretty straightforward shot, made simpler by the fact I could take the Valley of Sin out of play because the ground slopes so much towards the pin.

February 2018 Golf World 35

JOIN US ONLINE Four great ways to engage with Golf World across our social and digital platforms

YOUTUBE

FACEBOOK

Want more detailed equipment reviews? The video version of our Golf World Test features more opinion, interviews and advice.

Youtube.com/golfworldmag

Check in regularly for behind-the -scenes content from our latest interviews and shoots, and to enter our exclusive prize draws.

Facebook.com/golfworld1

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

Talk to our team of editors 24/7 as we tackle the most important subjects in golf – and some of the not so important ones, too!

Twitter.com/golfworld1

See exclusive images of players courses and equipment. Improve your golf with our #TuesdayTips and #FridayFix series.

Instagram.com/golfworldmag

2017

STof theRS

YEAR

19-PAGE SPECIAL SECTION

Exclusive first person insight and in-depth analysis from the players who lit up 2017, including Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm.

“It was

, as as

38 Golf World February 2018

STof theRS

JUSTIN THOMAS Player of the Year YEAR 2017

as go od .

I’m

a

e or m ot

l

ing ow kn nt de nfi co

The US PGA winner stepped out of best friend Jordan Spieth’s shadow in emphatic fashion this season, writes Brian Wacker.

in a nw I ca

lot.”

ustin Thomas is a few months older than Jordan Spieth but has been trying to catch up since the two were teenagers. You might have heard they are friends, even seen a picture of the two hanging out during the 2007 Evian Junior Masters, a sandwich sticking out of Thomas’ mouth. The two first met earlier that spring, on the driving range prior to the final round of the Junior All-Star outside Dallas, Texas. Each had shot 68 and they were tied for the lead. Spieth came over and introduced himself because the two were paired in the final group.

“I thought that was cool,” Thomas remembers all these years later. He remembers the result, too.

“He beat me that day. I think I finished third, I don’t know, second. I didn’t play very well.”

Spieth, on the other hand, shot 71 in the second round and coasted to a five-stroke victory over Thomas and two others. Later that summer, it was Thomas who got the better of Spieth in France, finishing second in the boys’ division of the Evian Junior. That earned him a spot in the Evian Masters Pro-Am with Juli Inkster, and Spieth tagged along as his caddie.

“He wasn’t very good,” Thomas laughs.

Spieth, of course, was better with a club in his hand and it didn’t take long to see that. He left the University of Texas after just three semesters, turning pro with no status on any tour in 2013. By the time the year was over, Spieth was the youngest American to play in a Presidents Cup. Thomas was a prodigious talent in his two years at Alabama, where he led the Crimson Tide to a national championship, was

J

February 2018 Golf World 39

named Player of the Year and set numerous records. But he didn’t turn pro until the autumn that Spieth played in that Presidents Cup and it took him another year to get his PGA Tour card.

Living in the shadows

By the time Thomas ďŹ nished his ďŹ rst season on the PGA Tour, Spieth had lapped him, having won a Masters, US Open and FedEx Cup title to catapult him to World No.1. At the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Spieth had already amassed 11 titles, more than $25 million in on-course earnings and played in two Ryder Cups and two Presidents Cups.

Thomas? He had just one victory. “He wasn’t jealous (of Jordan),�

Justin’s dad and coach Mike Thomas says. “But he was mad that he wasn’t doing the same things.�

He wasn’t shy about hiding it, either.

Patience, after all, is a virtue often lost on the young. One particular example ampliďŹ ed that notion. In the ďŹ nal round of the 2015 Wyndham Championship, Thomas was, in the most polite of terms, having a temper tantrum, throwing clubs, dropping f-bombs and carrying on with every bad shot he hit en route to a back-nine 40. A father was following along with his young son and took exception to the rookie’s behavior, so he tweeted at Thomas, telling him what a big fan of his he and his boy were – until that day. “I was embarrassed,â€? Thomas admits, recalling the moment. “I made myself look bad in front of not only the fans but a little kid, and I want to be a role model.

Mission(mostly) accomplished Thomas hit most of his goals in 2017 1. Make the Tour Championship ✔ 2. Win at least once ✔ 3. Be in ďŹ nal two groups of a major on Sunday ✔ 4. Win a major ✔ 5. Make Presidents Cup ✔ 6. +0.25 or better in ‘strokes gained putting’ ✔ 7. +1.0 or better in ‘strokes gained – tee to green’ ✔ 8. Top 10 in all around stats ✔ 9. Average under par on par 3 10. Average under par on par 4 ✔ 11. Average under par on par 5 ✔ 12. Top 30 in scrambling 13. Top 10 in half my starts 14. Under 70 scoring average ✔ 15. Less short sides ✔

40 Golf World February 2018

So I reached out and told him I was really sorry and I would try to do better.�

Surging into the limelight

In 2017, he did – and then some!

Thomas won ďŹ ve times, including his ďŹ rst major at the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, shot a 59 in Hawaii, recorded a 63 in a major at the US Open, had ďŹ ve other top-10 ďŹ nishes, captured the FedEx Cup and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year.

How’s that for stepping out on your own? “The overwhelming factor was his patience level,� says Thomas senior. “There wasn’t even a close second (as a factor in his progression). I think that’s what has held him back over the last couple of years. “He was in a little bit of denial and saying things like, ‘I’m just aggressive.’ Nonsense. This year when the media asked him what the difference was he would comment it was his patience. He was acknowledging that was the issue. It was refreshing.�

And relaxing. Unbelievable as it might sound for someone talented and spoiled enough to play the game for a living and get very wealthy doing it, Thomas wasn’t exactly happy early on in his career, at least inside the ropes. “I wasn’t mad, but it was maybe a little frustrating sometimes seeing some friends and peers my age do well,� says the younger Thomas. “Not because I wasn’t cheering for them – because I feel like I was as good as them. It was just immature of me. I mean, the fact of the matter is, over the course of a long career, we’re going to beat each other. “In the middle of my second year on tour (2016) I was pretty down, though. I was miserable, I was having no fun on the course and questioning what was going to happen in my career, because I’d missed some cuts. Every time I had a chance to do something good, I didn’t. It sucked. I was down. I wasn’t enjoying it.�

Listening to the right advice

Living near Jack Nicklaus’ home club in

his potential come through.”

The difference was evident on a regular basis, including at Firestone during last season’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “He made a double bogey on the ninth hole one day, and he came walking off the green and you’d think he made birdie,” says Paul Thomas, Justin’s grandfather. “Everything was OK. I told him (during this year’s US PGA) when we talked that he was good enough to win anywhere. He hits the ball as well as any guy out there, and he has shots that other guys don’t have.”

It just took Thomas a little time to figure that out, too.

“I’m a lot more confident knowing I can win out here a lot,” he reveals. “And patience in terms of when to be aggressive and when not to be. I know if I don’t have my best game I can’t fire at every flag. I also know I don’t need my best stuff every week and that I need to be smart and manage my game well when I don’t have my best stuff.”

The chase is on

‘Talking to Tiger and Jack about success, I wanted to know how to handle it the best I could or things they learned’ Florida, The Bear’s Club, Thomas sought out the Golden Bear for advice and got plenty of encouragement, too, over what was supposed to be a brief get together that stretched into a few hours over lunch. The same would come from another player who lived in the area, Tiger Woods. When it comes to golf, are there any two better brains to pick?

“It’s fun to talk to (Tiger) because when you get him going about golf, he’s so into it; he’s a golf nerd,” reveals Thomas. “But I pick everybody’s brain.

Anything I can learn, I want to know.

“Talking to Tiger and Jack about handling success, I wanted to know how to handle it the best I could or things they may have learned. A lot of it was to just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s such a common thing when you first get

on tour or have more money to change something, but you have to realise you got to where you are because of what you did, so don’t try to change things just because you want a better swing.”

Others played a significant role, too, including veteran caddie Jimmy Johnson, the long-time looper for Steve Stricker who took over Thomas’ bag just as Stricker’s career was winding down. He proved a calming influence inside the ropes, particularly when the excitable Thomas found himself in contention.

“I think what he learned is he’s got to play his game and not force it,” Johnson says. “Just let the course come to him and not try to over power it. Play a little smarter. He was trying too hard. I don’t think he was as much frustrated as he was trying too hard. He just had to let

There were technical areas of improvement as well, including on the greens, where Thomas focused on making his eyeline over the ball more accurate and shortening his pre-putt routine as well as his stroke. The latter making the stroke easier to control and thus more accurate. Thomas went from 131st on the PGA Tour in ‘strokes gained - putting’ to 47th in 2017. His already strong iron play – Thomas ranked 6th in ‘strokes gained - approach shots’ and has quickly become one of the best ball-strikers in the game – and ability to bomb it off the tee combined to make him a threat to win every event.

The end result in addition to all those accolades? Thomas achieved all but three of a long list of goals he set for himself at the start of the season (see boxout, left), a chore that dates back to his collegiate days and something he has done every year he’s been on Tour.

It hasn’t hurt to have Spieth there along the way, either.

“We can share experiences with each other that we can’t really describe or explain to anybody else that’s our age – or very few, I should say,” Spieth admits.

“It creates a unique relationship.”

And one that no longer casts a shadow over Thomas. With Thomas so impressively closing the gap on Spieth’s numbers this year – Jordan leads majors 3-1 and PGA Tour wins by 11-7 – the close friends off the course have set the stage for an engrossing rivalry on it.

February 2018 Golf World 41

HOW TO PLAY WINNING GOLF

BY JUSTIN THOMA

My four success keys will help you take your game to another level, t 1

Choose when to be aggressive with your approach shots

“I’m an aggressive player. I like to make birdies. It’s how I’ve always played. But sometimes that can get me in trouble, and I had to learn how to not be so aggressive when I didn’t have my best stuff. I can usually tell pretty quickly in the round if my ball is doing what I want, or if it’s not starting on the right line or doesn’t have the shape I’m trying to hit. On days like this, I’m mostly trying to just hit the green, which is something most amateurs should shoot for too. When you’re feeling good and your swing is on, go ahead and fire at the flag as long as there’s no trouble if you’re a little bit off. The shots I’m most aggressive with are my scoring clubs – 9-iron and down – or if the pin is in an easy spot like the middle of the green. Another way I try to compensate when my game isn’t totally on is having a go-to shot, a shot I can hit no matter what. For me, that’s a cut.

It’s a safe shot because it’s easier to control and even if it’s off the ball won’t get away from me too much. You’ll even see me do this when my game is on, teeing my driver lower and hitting a cut to keep it in the fairway. It’s a good way to build confidence and ultimately save strokes.”

3

ractise three different putting speeds to improve your success

“I never understood trying to hit the ball within a three-foot circle of the hole. What happens if you miss that circle by three feet? Or miss the three-footer you just left yourself? That can kill your confidence and add up on the scorecard. I try to make every putt and focus on only one circle, the hole. Still, sometimes I have bad putting days so this year I worked really hard on making my bad putting days better.

The only way to do that is practise. When I putt, it’s all about speed.

Line is important but you can take a lot of different lines depending on how hard you hit the putt. Before every round, I take three balls and hit each putt at three different speeds – soft, medium and firm. The first one is about trying to die it in the hole, a medium pace takes a little less break and the firm one takes out even more break. I especially practice a lot from outside 10 feet. Firstly, because it was an area I really struggled with two years ago. But also because not a lot of approach shots are going to land inside 10 feet so it’s important to have a good feel for longer putts.

This will help avoid three-putts. A lot of amateurs I see in pro-ams aren’t even aimed in the right spot, but if they have the right speed they can still get the ball close to or into the hole. Once you have the speed of your three different strokes down, it’s a lot easier to figure out the line and hole the putt or at least leave a tap in.”

42 Golf World February 2018

2

Stay patient and accept that some things are out of your control

“Early in my career I was extremely impatient. I felt like if I made a bogey that I needed to follow it up with a string of birdies. That’s just not the case. Golf is about managing your bad shots as much as the good ones – if not more so. That’s where patience comes in. Let’s say I’m faced with a tough hole and hit a good drive but the ball bounces into a bunker. I hit my approach onto the edge of the green but it rolls off the back and I don’t get up-and-down so I make a bogey. That can be frustrating because I feel like I hit every shot the way I wanted to but got screwed. But th when you have to convince yourself tha sometimes the result is out of your cont On the flip side, sometimes you’ll hit a b shot but get a good bounce. Golf has a way of evening things out that way. The key is to remind yourself of that and not get too wrapped up in when things don go your way. It’s easier said than done b that’s where a good caddie or playing partner can help. Instead of talking abo the bad break you just got, steer the conversation to something else. It doesn’t even have to be about golf.

Anything to take your mind off the fact that you just got hosed.”

4

Learn from other players and heed sensible advice

“I like to pick the brains of other guys on Tour. If there’s something they can tell me that will help make me better, I want to know about it. We all know so much about golf and are all really good at what we do, but we want to get better so if someone says they’re not jealous about some parts of other people’s games, they’re lying. Two guys that helped me a lot with my bunker game were Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler. They’re both great from the sand. Rickie is laid off in his normal swing, so when he opens the face up in bunkers the club is in a perfect slot to get under the ball and pop it out high and soft.

My tendency is to be steeper and sometimes I get really vertical, which causes me to be more shut instead of having the club come in from behind me with the clubface more open at impact. Rickie could see this when I had him video some bunker swings for me. You might not have Tiger or Rickie to lean on, but a good teacher or even playing partner can spot things you’re doing. A second set of eyes doesn’t hurt, so if something isn’t working in your swing ask your playing partner to take a look. Better still, get some lessons with a teaching pro.”

STof theRS

YEAR 2017

FLEETWOOD Race to Dubai winner

The 26-year-old announced himself to the world with a stunning return to form in 2017.

S

ixteen months ago, Tommy Fleetwood had slipped outside the top 180 in the world and he was fighting to keep his European Tour card. The turnaround has been incredible. The former world amateur number one won the French Open and Abu Dhabi Championship, finished second in the WGC - Mexico Championship and Shenzhen International and fourth in the US Open on the way to topping the 2017 Race to Dubai.

“Wentworth 2016 (the BMW PGA Championship) has always been the benchmark to see where I’ve come from because that was my lowest moment,” reveals Fleetwood. “I turned up on Thursday morning and I genuinely wanted to pull out because I didn’t think I could get it off the first tee.

I was embarrassed how I was hitting it.”

He finished last year strongly with seven top-15s in his final nine events of the season – and he took his game to a whole new level this year.

“A year-long accomplishment is massive and it holds a lot of respect amongst your peers. It shows the level of consistency and amount I’ve improved as a player and a person. I had the big finishes when I was playing well. I missed some cuts when I wasn’t, but not many.

I was always making headway.”

Becoming only the fourth Englishman to top the European Tour’s Order of Merit is a wonderful achievement, but arriving on the world stage is just the first day of the rest of Fleetwood’s golfing life.

“This has been a big year for my career. I’ve put myself on the world stage with some of the performances. I’ve got a lot of experience after the last two, three years. I know you can go down the wrong path and I’ve got people around me, myself included, that know how to stay on the right path. My ultimate goal is to be the best player in the world. Whether I achieve it or not is another thing, but I’ll always strive for that.”

STof theRS

YEAR 2017

RAHM Rookie of the Year

In his first full season, Jon Rahm claimed three wins, including the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. In an exclusive Golf World interview, the young Spaniard tells us how he arrived so quickly and why he’ll be around for a while yet.

P

hil Mickelson told us he was good.

In fact, he told us Jon Rahm was among the world’s 10 best players before the imposing Spaniard had even finished his stint at Arizona State University (ASU). At the time, it seemed like typical ‘Lefty’ hyperbole, but 18 months later, we’re all ears. Rahm is ranked fourth in the world, and is already tipped to win majors. Golf World editor Nick Wright talked to him about his incredible transition into the pro game.

Photography by Chris Stanford at Trump National, Charlotte

GW: You’re going to be on the plane to Paris next year for the Ryder Cup. Is making the team a major goal?

JR: Of course. I’m Spanish. If the Ryder Cup is not in my blood already, it’s going to be. I absolutely love match play. I love representing a team and playing with team-mates, so it’s right up my alley. I think I showed in the match play tournament against Dustin Johnson [the World Golf Championships–Dell Technology Match Play] that I’m not a person who quits easily.

It will be a surprise for some Americans to see you in the European outfit. Many think you’re one of them…

I’m going to enjoy that. It’s easy to believe I’m American.

I’m an ASU graduate, my accent isn’t as strong as some of the other famous Spanish players and my name doesn’t sound Spanish at all. It’s not like Severiano. But hey, born and raised in Barrika, Spain, a town of 1,400 people as deep in the Basque country as you can get.

Who would you like to partner in Paris?

It would be amazing to team up with Sergio or Rory. I believe Rory and I have a very similar mindset. It’s grip

the driver, hit it as hard as you can, make as many birdies as possible. It would be fun to play with Sergio, too. We’re both Spaniards, and we have similar-looking swings. I think we’d complement each other well. I already played with Rafa [Cabrera Bello] in the World Cup, so that would be fun, too.

With Sergio winning the Masters and your standout year, it’s been another good season for Spanish golf.

Following on from the Seve and Olazabal era, we now have three guys from Spain won have won worldwide.

Sergio’s won on both Tours, I’ve won on both Tours and Rafa won the Scottish Open this year. With Sergio’s breakthrough major, golf is getting some credibility and notability in the Spanish media.

The players you mentioned came from families with links to golf. How did you get involved in the game?

Sergio’s dad played golf, Ollie’s dad worked at the golf course and Seve lived right next to the course. But we were the furthest from a golf family you have ever seen.

My dad did free rock climbing, free skiing, mountain hiking and parasailing – extreme sports. But he went with a couple of friends to watch the Ryder Cup at Valderrama in ‘97. When they got home, they said, “Let’s try this”. Golf was so unlike him, but that’s how he started playing and the rest of the family followed.

Is he any good as a player?

He’s a solid nine or 10-handicapper. And he can play to it wherever he goes, which is impressive. It’s funny, he says to me, “You’ve been playing golf since you were a kid. I started playing golf at 40. What I did was way harder than what you did”.

February 2018 Golf World 45

What were your expectations when you turned professional last year?

I almost won my first professional start, in the Quickens Loans National at Congressional, so it was pretty clear where my mindset was at. I almost won three weeks after that in Canada, too. I have never been shy to say that I compete to win. I’ve had my fair share of criticism for that. It’s sometimes mistaken for cockiness or arrogance, but it’s really just confidence in oneself. As a competitor, you have to have belief in yourself.

Nobody else is going to believe in you.

That first win didn’t take too much time to arrive…

I learned a lot from being in contention at Congressional and in Canada, so I was waiting for the next time to be in the mix. I knew what I had to do and I was not going to let that go. I’m kinda similar to Tiger in that I compete for nothing else but to win. I don’t go to a golf tournament to make the cut, to have fun, or to do this or do that. I compete to win. Kinda like Seve, too. Very Seve-like.

What else has been instrumental in helping you compile such a season?

My girlfriend has helped me a lot, especially with my diet. My caddie Adam Hayes has valuable advice for everything.

He’s been on Tour 18 years. He’s seen a lot of players and he’s seen how things should and shouldn’t be done. Everybody he’s caddied for, he’s won with. He deserves credit for my win at Torrey.

How did he help there?

I was in a fairway bunker on 13 in the final round and had 240 yards to the green. It wasn’t an easy shot and we had a long wait. I asked him, “What are we thinking?” He didn’t look at anything, not even the lie of the ball, and said, “Bro, flagstick all day!” I was like, you don’t have to tell me twice to be aggressive. I hit a 4-iron to 15ft, made eagle and the rest is history. Not every caddie with a rookie would have had that mindset.

You ran DJ very close twice in WGC-Dell Match Play. What were your thoughts going up against the world No.1?

It was to win. My thinking was that all I had to do was beat one more guy.

Actually, the first two holes, I had him. I had good birdie looks and he had long birdie putts and safe pars. He was not hitting good shots and he was not making good swings. It wasn’t until 3 – I got a bad break when my ball bounced through the fairway into the thick rough

46 Golf World February 2018

‘I’m Spanish. If the Ryder Cup is not already in my blood, it’s going to be.

I absolutely love match play’ and I ended up making bogey – when things shifted for him. He probably got lucky being one-up over the first 3. Then I started piling up mistake after mistake.

You were five down but clawed your way back into it. How did you do it?

I was thinking, you know, he’s human.

Let’s hope he can make a couple of mistakes and I can get a run going. He made those mistakes at 9 and 10. Then I got aggressive and made birdies on 13, 15 and 16. At 17, I had him on his toes again. You could tell by his attitude he did not expect or want to be there.

down the slope. I was really inches away that day from being the WGC champion against Dustin Johnson. But that’s golf.

It’s been said it looked like there was some friction between yourself and DJ that day. Did you sense that?

We get along, he’s a great guy and we have fun but it’s the final of a WGC – so it was serious. We never talked much and once I saw him three-putt 10, it was the last time I looked at him. Once I started making birdies, you could tell he was not having it.

He just didn’t expect it. He was five up after nine and four up on the 13th tee.

Four holes later, he’s one up on the 17th.

You had him on the ropes at 18, too…

I hit the perfect drive, the perfect drive and I ended up in the worst spot possible.

DJ’s a great player, but he laid up. And that 2nd shot he hit, he was still scared.

He was not confident. He hit a bad shot, missed it left of the pin, where you’re not supposed to miss it, and short. His ball was about a foot from going all the way

Are you ready yet to win a major?

There’s a formula I need to figure out to help me play my best golf in the majors. I don’t know what that is yet but it will come. How many players have won a major in their first year? It took Phil 10 years – the only one who has been really fast is Jordan Spieth. It takes time.

STof theRS

YEAR 2017

The design of the year

On an immense tract of rolling dunescape overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on Portugal’s Silver Coast near Lisbon, Cynthia Dye has created an instant classic.

A

sk a golf course architect to tell you about the terrain upon which they have crafted their newest design and invariably they’ll tell you it was the most spectacular parcel of land they’ve been able to work with in their entire career. But when Cynthia Dye, niece of the legendary architect Pete Dye, describes West Cliffs as “the most natural golf course site imaginable” there’s no need to raise a sceptical eyebrow. It really is that good. In fact, it was the highest new entrant in our Golf World Top 100 Courses – Europe ranking, coming in at 25. To put that into perspective, it was the highest new entry in more than a decade.

“It now takes something exceptional to

enter the European Top 100 in the top 25,” says Chris Bertram, Golf World’s courses and travel editor. “For a newcomer to come in so high, it has to be exceptionally good. No more than five golf courses in the list are as aesthetically pleasing.”

Less than an hour’s drive north of Lisbon on the Silver Coast, West Cliffs is the first Dye design in Portugal. The sister course of Praia D’el Rey, which is ranked just five places lower at 30 in the very same ranking, has been gently ‘eased’ into a natural landscape of rolling sand dunes and coastal vegetation, and offers sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean from each hole. For more information, go to: www.westcliffs.com.

SERGIO

STof theRS

YEAR 2017

The Masters Champion In an interview with Brian Wacker, Garcia reflects on his Augusta win and his first eight months in the Green Jacket.

Portrait by Howard Boylan

W

hat is it like to be the Masters champion?’ I get asked this all the time. Of course, it’s wonderful! We worked so hard for it for so many years and it’s amazing to win a major and achieve one of the goals you set. But I’m still the same person, the same goofy guy. I do the same things and hang out with the same people. I don’t feel any different, really. It gave me extra confidence, of course, and it feels like now when I’m in a situation to win I seem to handle it a little bit better. I’m more comfortable in that position mentally and physically. That maybe wasn’t always the case.

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t frustrating at times, but expectations are good because if you don’t have them it means you don’t have confidence in yourself. It was more frustrating when I didn’t play that well on a Sunday of a major than when I played well and just got beat. But it’s a good learning process. A lot of those situations helped me when I got into position at Augusta.

“You go through stretches where you feel more comfortable, relax more, let things happen, good or bad.

More than anything in the last year or so I have learned to do that. Golf is a frustrating game. You feel like you have it under control then you lose it. So I’ve just tried to understand that and be better about that.

“We bring the Green Jacket everywhere because we won’t get to after next year. It’s been great fun. I thought I knew how big the Masters was but until you win it and see the reactions from people and how much it means to them, you don’t fully realise just how big it truly is.

“If I had to choose one thing that was the most fun I would say being honoured at El Clasico, getting to wear the Green Jacket while I did the ceremonial kick-off for Real Madrid and Barcelona. Hearing the whole stadium chanting your name is spectacular.

“Most people want to take a picture with the jacket and try it on. Unfortunately they can’t, but they like to touch it.

The jacket itself is quite light and comfortable. It’s definitely different, not just because of the colour, but also how iconic it is and what it means. So you can’t just do whatever you want with it. You have to be respectful. It’s a big responsibility and it’s been an amazing honour to call myself a Masters champion.”

48 Golf World February 2018

‘Until you win it and see the reactions from people and how much it means to them, you don’t fully realise just how big it truly is.

EL

STof theRS

YEAR 2017

fect partnership

S

R

al Birkdale’s driving range on a chilly July Sunday, Jordan Spieth er proved why they are undoubtedly the strongest pairing in golf.

unday, July 23, 2017. Jordan Spieth, arguably the most ruthless frontrunner in world golf, was in big trouble. A mere 15 months after surrendering a seemingly impenetrable five-shot lead on the back-nine of the Masters, the 23-year-old Texan was staring at the dark prospect of squandering another major from pole position on the grid.

After hitting – it is reasonably safe to assume – one of the worst drives of his life on the 499-yard, par 4 13th at Royal Birkdale in the final round of the Open Championship, Spieth stood near the crest of one of the most remote dunes on the property and peered down at his golf ball, barely visible amid a tangled mess of ferns and fescue. Figuring out his next move was challenging enough under any conditions, but Spieth’s mind was in a whirl, racing as fast as the 17:02 to Liverpool that had hurtled past the course a short while earlier.

Having started the final day three shots clear of his playing partner Matt Kuchar and seemingly in cruise control, Spieth had nervously bogeyed three of the first four holes and his swing was starting to fall apart at the seams. By the time they walked off the 12th green, the two players were tied for the lead at eight-under par. Spieth was five-over for the day, Kuchar two-over.

His hands wedged firmly against his hips, Spieth surveyed the surrounding dunescape and weighed up his options. Having swiped his tee shot further right than a UKIP manifesto, the route back to the fairway from such a horrendous lie was both unpredictable and risky. After a lengthy deliberation, he took the sensible option and declared the ball unplayable, leveraging the rules to take a penalty drop on the edge of the practice range adjacent to a line of manufacturers’ Tour trucks and trailers. The good news was that Spieth would have a decent, flat lie for his third shot. The bad news was that neither he nor his caddie, Michael Greller, had any clue as to how far they were from the hole.

In his five years working full-time for Spieth, the only time Greller was ever required to tap the skills he had acquired in his nine years as a maths teacher was in ensuring the numbers on his player’s scorecard added

up correctly at the end of the round. But while Spieth was negotiating with rules officials as to the exact location for his drop, Greller was scrambling over the dunes, analysing the angles and crunching the numbers to give his player an accurate yardage. A quick Pythagorum calculation revealed the distance to the front of the green was some 230 yards away.

“While he was doing that, it gave me the time to work my sixth grade maths numbers,” Greller says. “A squared plus B squared equals C squared; it was 125 yards off from where Kuchar was. It was a matter of trying to get as good a number and line as I could. He thought it was about 270, I thought it was 230, so that was alarming.”

As we all know, Spieth went on to pull off an incredible blind 3-iron over the dunes to within pitching range of the green, where he got up-and-down for one of the best bogeys in major championship history.

“Typically, if you asked me who has the better yardage, me or Michael in a lot of situations, when we’re on a crazy angle, I’d pick myself,” Spieth says. “But on that one he seemed very confident. He was very adamant about what club to hit, because sometimes when that happens I’ll still go with what I think. But he was right on.”

A strong shoulder to lean on

Greller’s input on 13 wasn’t the only time during that final round where he had to play a strong supporting role for his player and come up with the right words at the right time. He told Spieth to “Get over it” after his bogey at the first hole, and he refused to take the club back from him on the 5th hole until the pair had bumped fists.

But his most crucial intervention came at the 7th hole.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, Spieth and his girlfriend had flown down from Dallas to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to spend a few days relaxing relax before making the trip across the Atlantic to Southport. During the break, Spieth had dinner one evening with Olympic Gold medallist Michael Phelps, basketball legend Michael Jordan and a couple of other well-known American sports stars, including 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples. Spieth posted a picture of the group on Twitter and Instagram.

As Greller turned to walk off the back of the green, he beckoned Spieth over and pulled him to one side.

February 2018 Golf World 51

‘Unless Spieth could earn $101,295 in seven events, he and Greller would find themselves toiling away on the mini tours’

Michael Greller played a key role in helping Jordan Spieth recover to make an incredible bogey on the 13th hole at Birkdale.

“He said to me, ‘Do you remember that group you were with? You’re that calibre of an athlete. You belong in that group. But I need you to believe that right now because you’re in a great position in this tournament. This is a new tournament. We’re starting over here,’” Spieth said.

“Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps are the greatest to ever do what they did, and I’m not. But if you believe you are, you’re almost as good as being that. It’s so hard in that situation to believe that, but having just the slightest bit of belief in it makes you so confident, and I thought that was so well said. It was just such the right time.”

Spieth, who probably initiated the trend of tour players referring to “we” instead of “I” when describing their rounds, later publicly acknowledged Greller’s role in his Open victory, telling the media, “This [the Claret Jug] is as much his as it is mine.”

Relationships and recommendations

Greller’s journey from maths teacher and part-time looper to PGA Tour caddie was six years in the making. In 2006, during the school summer holidays, Greller stopped by the US Amateur Public Links Championship, which was being played at Gold Mountain GC near Seattle. Greller wanted to see how the nation’s best amateurs fared over his home course so he opted to walk with the defending champion Clay Ogden. Greller noticed that one of Ogden’s playing partners, Matt Savage, was carrying his own bag.

After having lunch with Savage and his father, Greller offered to caddie for free to ‘feel more involved with the event’. “After spending an hour or so with him, I could tell he was an awesome guy, really down to earth,” Savage recalls. “I didn’t think he’d get on my nerves like some random guy.” Savage made it through to the match play

52 Golf World February 2018

stage before losing in the semi-final.

Savage’s coach back home in Louisville, Kentucky was Mike Thomas, the head professional at Harmony Landing CC and father of a promising teenager by the name of Justin.

Yes, that Justin. A few years later, when Thomas qualified for the US Amateur at Chambers Bay, Savage put Thomas and Greller in touch. A year later, in 2011, Thomas passed on the favour by recommending Greller to his best friend in golf for the US Junior Amateur – Jordan Spieth.

Despite the fact that Spieth won the event for the second time that year with Greller on the bag, Greller had no fixed plans for turning his hobby into a full-time profession – even when the pair teamed up again at the following year’s US Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco, where Spieth finished low amateur. That all changed a few months later.

Just before Christmas, Greller picked up the phone at his Tacoma home. On the other end of the line was Shawn Spieth, Jordan’s father, with an intriguing offer: Quit your day job and come and caddie full-time for my son.

It was a risky proposition for both parties. Greller was a largely inexperienced caddie while Spieth at the time was merely a promising college player. Greller would have to take a year’s leave of absence from teaching to get the bag, while Spieth was entering the 2013 season with no PGA Tour or Web.com Tour status other than seven potential sponsor’s invites. Unless Spieth could earn a minimum of $101,295 in those seven tournaments to earn unlimited exemptions, he and Greller would find themselves toiling away on the far less lucrative mini-tours. Fortunately, Spieth earned $521,893 in his first tournaments, Greller phoned Narrowsview Intermediate School to make his leave of absence permanent, and one of the great player/ caddie relationships was up and running.

STof theRS

ALAN HOCKNELL YEAR 2017

The club designer The standout driver launch of 2017 was the Callaway Epic with Jailbreak technology.

Head of R&D, Dr. Alan Hocknell, explains how he and his team made the breakthrough. pic was a combination of several existing technologies and a brand new one. The Exo-cage, sliding weight track and adjustable hosel could all be found in some form in different Callaway products prior to Epic, but we enhanced them to work with a technology we had been working on for almost four years.

E

1 UNEXPECTED ANOMALIES

“It’s a little known fact that Callaway has a specialist innovation group dedicated solely to investigating the anomalies that arise during the R&D process. When we were developing the Big Bertha Alpha driver in 2013, we noticed the tungsten Gravity Core, which was housed in a carbon tube connecting the sole to the crown, started to produce unexpected clubface behaviour at impact. So we decided to study it.”

2 ONE BAR EVENTUALLY BECOMES TWO

“We discovered the performance benefits were dramatic when the vertical support was moved closer to the clubface. Eventually, one carbon tube became two three-gram titanium bars.

When placed parallel to each other, the bars resembled those of a jail cell. ‘Jailbreak technology’ was born.”

3 BIG IMPROVEMENTS IN BALL SPEED

“Before Epic, most of the talk about ball speed focused on face flex, but Jailbreak actually makes the area behind the face stiffer by connecting the crown and the sole. It also prevents the clubhead from expanding excessively at impact. So the face is more efficient and more forward energy is created. This led to an increase in ball speed of up to three miles per hour. At Tour Pro swing speeds, that equates to seven or eight yards.

However, testing showed an even greater benefit for regular golfers with slower swing speeds and more inconsistent strike patterns.”

US Open champi

STof theRS

YEAR 2017

54 Golf World February 2018

The American has followed an unusual path to becoming a major winner, but he’s a better person and a more rounded golfer because of it, says Kit Alexander.

Y

ou could be forgiven for thinking Brooks Koepka is just like any other strapping young American pro who cruised through college and straight onto the PGA Tour. There’s very little to counter this stereotype from what you will likely have seen and read about the 27-year-old. All too often, guys that drive the ball over 300 yards are pigeon-holed as onedimensional bombers, and many of our American cousins are slow to acknowledge anything that happens outside of their borders. But there’s so much more to Koepka’s game and journey to become US Open champion than initially meets the eye.

Testing his game in Europe

He played his college golf at Florida State, winning three times and becoming an All-American three times. There’s nothing unusual there.

But what followed was a bamboozling curveball for many onlookers. Instead of following the tide and many of his friends onto the Web.Com Tour, he elected to play on the Challenge Tour when he turned professional in 2012. Americans with such pedigree venturing outside their own nation to launch their professional career is virtually unheard of.

He settled quickly, winning on his eighth Challenge Tour start in Spain and finishing 43rd on the Order of Merit. The following season he racked up three wins by June – in Italy, Spain and Scotland – to earn his European Tour card. In his first 12 months as a pro he’d played right across Europe and as far afield as Kazakhstan, Kenya and India.

“In the States sometimes it can almost be too easy,” admits Kopeka. “The way you travel, the fact you always have perfect weather. It’s different in Europe.

Going to play the Challenge Tour was really cool; to travel the world at 21 years old, and do what you do for a living, is pretty neat. I love travelling. It helped me grow up a little bit and really figure out that, ‘Hey, play golf, get it done, and then you can really take this somewhere’. I built a lot of confidence off that.”

Waste Management Phoenix Open. He’d climbed into the top 20 in the world rankings but now chose to focus on his native PGA Tour.

“I didn’t think I would work my way up this quickly,” Koepka said at the time. “But playing the Challenge and European Tours led to this.

“I’ve worked hard the last three years and I’ve seen it pay off. I’m still learning as I go, trying to pick guys’ brains, playing practice rounds with guys who’ve won majors. That’s important because they’ve got experience around the course. They know how to win, and picking their brains is a big thing for me.”

He’s not just a one-dimensional bomber

As well as a more worldly perspective off the course, Koepka’s travels and the variety of courses he’s experienced have created a wellrounded golfer inside the ropes.

Sure, he averaged 311.1 yards off the tee on the PGA Tour last season, but you don’t get into the world’s top 10 and win a major just by hitting it a long way.

He was 7th in driving distance, T4th in fairways hit, 1st in greens in regulation and T51st in putting on the way to victory at Erin Hills, a naturally contoured course with tall fescue rough and a constant breeze that was presented in cooler and damper conditions than are usually expected in mid-June. It must have been just like being back in Europe.

It was an undeniably impressive performance, but those stats don’t really do justice to how good a putter he is – he ranked 12th on the PGA Tour in ‘strokes gained - putting’ last season, picking up 0.475 strokes on the field on average per round.

Somewhat surprisingly, it’s his iron play that could be considered the weakest part of his game. He boasts prodigious length off the tee and a putting ability not often seen from such a power hitter, so if he can link the two with some decent approach play, he’s going to be very difficult to beat. Tellingly, that’s exactly what he did as he won the US Open by four shots.

‘The Challenge Tour helped me grow up. I got a lot of confidence from that’

Playing his way home

Just a month after sealing his final Challenge Tour victory at the 2013 Scottish Hydro Challenge, the Floridian made his first major appearance as a professional at The Open (he missed the cut as an amateur at the 2012 US Open just before turning pro). He failed to make the weekend at Muirfield, but did play all four rounds at the USPGA Championship three weeks later. He recorded a top 10 on the European and PGA Tours before the year was over.

His first European Tour win came at the Turkish Airlines Open the following season and he won his maiden PGA Tour title in his first start of 2015 at the

A true world champion

Koepka took a chance when he crossed the Atlantic in the summer of 2012 – and that gamble is paying off in emphatic style. His CV includes eight professional wins in six countries across three continents.

“I look at all the places I’ve won and it’s really special. I’d love to get a map and just look at all the places I’ve won. But to win my first major in the United States is pretty special.”

For many, a major victory could be seen as the end of the road, but Koepka is intent on adding plenty more wins to that map. “The way my game is set up I think I can win multiple times a year, I really do. And I think this was hopefully major number one and there’s many more to come.”

February 2018 Golf World 55

THE WINNERS & LOSERS OF 2017

A YEAR IN REVIEW From the majors to the mishaps and the glory to the guillotine, 2017 was another great – and at times strange – year in golf. So join with us as we rewind to celebrate the biggest winners and losers of 2017.

February 2018 Golf World

JAN

“Erica actually got pissed off with it. He was texting me in the middle of the night and I was like, ‘Tiger is in the gym’” Tiger’s 4am texts don’t impress Rory’s fiancée, Erica Stoll

JT STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOWS Coming into 2017, Justin Thomas was best known for being Jordan Spieth’s best buddy. And then Hawaii happened. In the first week of the PGA Tour’s two-week stint in Pacific Islands, the big hitter from Kentucky cards four rounds in the 60s to secure a three-shot victory at the SBS Tournament of Champions. And in the second, he makes all sorts of history – opening the Sony Open in Hawaii with a 59 to become the seventh player in PGA Tour history to break the 60 mark and following it up with rounds of 64, 65 and 65 to claim a seven-shot win and set a bunch of new PGA Tour scoring records.

“It was a fun week,” he smiles “I played great golf and am excited about where my game is, and how comfortable I am feeling.” And to answer those who hadn’t expected back-to-back victories? “I have always expected to be in contention every time I play and now it is happening.”

Jon Rahm tastes victory for the first time, an eagle on 18 securing the Farmers Insurance Open.

Looking for omens? The last man to win that tournament with an eagle was Tiger Woods in 1999.

“I have never felt so tired ever in my life,” says Rahm. Bernhard Langer shows no signs of slowing down, winning the Mitsubishi Electric Championship for his 30th seniors title, and right now, nobody’s asking any questions of ‘that’ putting stroke.

58 Golf World February 2018

Rickie Fowler celebrates his 28th birthday by hosting a party.

Judging by the images he posts on Instagram, his guests were Cindy Crawford and the Ryder Cup. Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston didn’t get an invite but hatches a plan for a “Birdie, Beer & Beef” triathlon, with Beef and John Daly taking on

Steven Bowditch and Boo Weekley.

Details and specifics are thin on the ground, but it sounds typically Beef. After 17 months out, Tiger Woods returns to competition in the Farmers Insurance... and misses the cut. It’s his seventh MC in his last 16 official starts, after four in his first 13 seasons.

Untroubled, he tweets: “Just like everybody, I’m getting ready for that first full week in April.”

Number of consecutive days Mark Johnson tweets Sergio Garcia to ask if he can caddie for him.

Sergio finally breaks and says, “Si” for the British Masters.

206

WINNERS & LOSERS

FEB

“Obviously, a win is a win, but you’ve got to learn to finish out Sundays like a true champion. He hasn’t learned how to do that yet” Johnny Miller rains on Rickie Fowler’s parade – a four-shot win in the Honda Classic

DJ: A MAN ON FIRE Finally, for the first time in a career full of stops, starts and question marks, Dustin Johnson ascends to top spot in the world rankings after destroying a star-studded field at the first WGC of the year, the Genesis Open. DJ’s ascent owes something to the ongoing struggles of dethroned world number one Jason Day, who drops out with a double ear infection and flu, but more to a run of form that has seen him play 23 official tour events over the past 12 months, winning four of them, including the US Open, and 1 t v 1 t 1 r v t t r r r

WINNERS & LOSERS

Hideki Matsuyama confirms his manmost-likely to break big status by winning the Waste ment Phoenix he also did in From his last nine arts, Matsuyama’s ecord reads 1st, nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, nd, T27, T33, 1st – hat maiden major seemed a case of when and not if. ordan Spieth dds the ninth n of his still mbryonic career, hooting a bogeyree final round to e AT&T Pebble Pro-Am. Sergio edges out Henrik n in the Dubai Classic, the victory ing him back into rld’s top 10. On the f three MCs, Bryson mbeau withdraws he Genesis Open. should be a rule if t a sponsor invite thdraw after 28 your (sic) not d any other invites year,’ snipes on Murray. Ror y plays ca’s pre d Trump abelled ist’ and ” for do is wasn sement al state nd,” he , quite simply, d of golf.” And a new ess World Record is the longest putt ade: at 395 feet, by YouTube tricksters.

A new USGA/R&A report claims that since 2003, driving distances have gone up just 0.2 yards per year – an average gain of 1.2%.

Yep, that’s what they say.

MA R

10

The number of players in the world’s top 25 who bother to turn up at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational – the first since The King’s passing last September.

WINNERS & LOSERS

Dustin Johnson wins again… and again. First the WGC-Mexico Championship, then in his next outing in the WGC-Dell Match Play for his third successive victory. He cements his ition at the top the OWGR and akes it mpossible to see anyone other than DJ winning next month’s Masters. What could possibly stop him? The USGA/R&A announce 50 proposed rule changes designed to, for the most part, speed up play, remove penalties for minor infractions and simplify the game. If confirmed, they will come into effect on January 1, 2019. At the second time of asking, amid the glare of condemnation the world over, Muirfield votes to allow women members, the vote passed by 498 to 123. As a result, the course becomes part of the Open rota again. And in the women’s game, Lucy Li qualifies for the first major of the ladies’ season, the ANA Inspiration, having won the AN Inspiration. she’s 14 mig make more headlines had she not already play the 2014 US Open at the age of 11.

60 Golf World February 2018

“I’m just hoping I get my deposit back. You laugh like I’m joking; I’m serious here. I understand I won a nice cheque, but I don’t like to throw money away” Adam Hadwin’s Valspar win earns him a Masters spot – which means he has to postpone his honeymoon

BALL WARS KICK OFF The Kirkland Signature golf ball is the equipment story of the year, a bargain fourpiece urethane-cover ball sold through Costco for a fraction of the price of the ‘tour quality’ balls sold by Callaway, TaylorMade and Titleist. Unable to keep pace with demand, the Kirkland quickly sells out – and that’s when things get really interesting. Having received a letter from Acushnet Holdings Corp – makers of Titleist balls – in which it was accused of infringing on 11 patents and false advertising with the claim their balls “meet or exceed the quality standards of leading national brands”, Costco refuse ton back down, filing a complaint against Acushnet and looking for a judgement that the company is “not infringing any valid patent rights owned by Acushnet by its sale of its Kirkland Signature golf balls.” It goes to the courts, with the promise of no quick resolution.

$48

Cost of a dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls

$14.99 Cost of a dozen Costco Kirkland Signature balls

APR

“Honestly, I just threw up a little in my mouth, and I was like, well, shoot, I guess this is what nervous feels like” Wesley Bryan very nervously wins the RBC Heritage

OH, SERGIO! At the 74th time of asking in a major championship, after four second-place finishes and 22 top 10s, on what would have been Seve’s 60th birthday and despite a final-round wobble and the best efforts of his playing partner Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia finally, unexpectedly, gloriously lands his first major. Having missed the chance to win outright with a five-foot putt on 18, it goes to a sudden death play-off, where a birdie to Rose’s bogey on the first extra hole gives a familiar tale a fresh twist. Helped into his green jacket and reminded that he’ll never again be asked how it feels to be the Best Player Never To Have Won A Major, Sergio smiles.

“Now I’ll have to answer, I don’t know if I’ll be the best player to have only won one major,” he says. “But I can live with that.”

“BECAUSE OF WHERE MY HEAD WAS AT, SOMETIMES, I DID THINK, ‘AM I EVER GOING TO WIN ONE?’ I’VE HAD SO MANY GOOD CHANCES, SO, IT DID CROSS MY MIND...”

WINNERS & LOSERS At the Masters, Dustin Johnson’s push for global domination slows when he slips on the stairs, injures his back and has to withdraw. He joins Tiger Woods, who pulls out on the Friday before Masters week, stating he’s “not tournament ready”. Jordan Spieth plays but posts his lowest ever Masters finish, T11 – which is no disaster unless your previous three were a 2nd, a ‘W’ and another 2nd. Lexi Thompson loses the ANA Inspirational after being hit with a four-stroke penalty

for misplacing her ball and signing for the wrong score – but only after a TV viewer emails in to blow the whistle on her. “Is this a joke?” she asks when informed of the penalty.

She rallies to make the playoff, with three birdies over the last six holes, but still loses out.

Miguel Angel Jimenez wins his fourth PGA Tour Champions title, at no point using a banned

putting stroke. Rory McIlroy marries American girlfriend Erica Stoll at a low-key wedding at Ashford Castle in Northern Ireland, with Stevie Wonder providing the music.

And an 84-year-old woman running for a council spot in Glasgow announces that she would bring back the guillotine and abolish golf courses if voted in.

She isn’t voted in.

he number f runner-up nishes Luke Donald is up o in the RBC Heritage. ince 2009 e’s finished nd, 3rd, nd, 37th, rd, 2nd, 15th, 2nd and, this month, 2nd.

February 2018 Golf World 61

MA Y

“I can only dream of being as good as Brandel (Chamblee). It’s very easy sitting on your arse” Ian Poulter refutes claims he played to finish second at The Players

GET OUT OF THE CAR, MR WOODS Tiger Woods’ descent takes a distressing turn when he’s arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The 14-time major winner is found passed out in his Mercedes on the side of the road, close to his home in Jupiter, Florida. After sorry footage emerges of Woods walking in a line for police officers and generally looking dazed and dishevelled, toxicology reports find him to have five different drugs in his system. A large mural of Woods’ sorry mugshot duly appears on a wall in Melbourne, going viral on social media.

In a statement Woods reveals that he’s been self-medicating to treat “back pain and a sleep disorder”. On the night of the suspected DUI, he says, he suffered an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications and adds: “I will do everything in my power to ensure this never happens again.” Woods later pleads guilty to a charge of reckless driving and enters a rehabilitation programme.

“I WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW THAT ALCOHOL WAS NOT INVOLVED. WHAT HAPPENED WAS AN UNEXPECTED REACTION TO PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS. I DIDN’T REALISE THE MIX OF MEDICATIONS AFFECTED ME SO STRONGLY” – TIGER WOODS

WINNERS & LOSERS

Alex Noren shoots a finalround 62 to win the BMW PGA Championship.

Only Hideki Matsuyama can match the Swede’s five wins worldwide since last Ju Alas, Rory McIlroy misses the European Tour’s flagship event when his rib injury resurfaces, caused by practising or dancing at his wedding. J B Holmes capitulates spectacularly at the Players. Co-leader through 54 holes, an 84 sees him finish T41. Si Woo Kim plays better to become the event’s youngest ever winner, aged 21, while Ian Poulter finishes T2. Only three weeks earlier, Poults had discovered he would retain his PGA Tour card for the following season thanks to a technicality spotted by Brian Gay’s wife. He thanks the Gays by buying them a gift card. Keith Pelley’s latest European Tour innovation sees the inaugural GolfSixes event. Its most notable ingredient is a shot-clo Peterso the firs fall foul playing slow. A John D wins fo first tim years, t Insperit Invitatio

Bernhard L ger ts Jack klaus’ er record winning ninth A Tour mpions or. But the se over his ting stroke etting der.

JUN

“When Dustin Johnson goes to the first tee he’s got to take his balls in a wheelbarrow; he’s not afraid of anything” Butch Harmon throws a troubling mental image into our minds

PAIN AND PATIENCE

WINNERS & LOSERS Jordan Spieth breaks free from his supposed slump (no wins in 10, three of them MCs) by winning the Travelers Championship, improbably holing out from a bunker and engaging in a strange butt-bump celebration with caddie Michael Greller.

Jason Dufner wins the Memorial, burying a 32-footer on 18 to secure victory, while Daniel Berger takes the FedEx St Jude Classic for the second

consecutive year thanks to a pair of weekend 66s. Padraig Harrington might have challenged, but was forced to withdraw injured after being hit on the elbow by an amateur he was coaching. On the European Tour, 6ft 3in Italian bomber Renato Paratore holds off Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Wood to win the Nordea

Masters. Ariya Jutanugarn beats Lexi Thompson and In Gee Chun to win the Manulife Classic and top the Rolex Rankings. Phil and Bones divorce after 25 years together, this after Lefty skips the US Open and puts his pursuit of the career grand slam on hold to attend his daughter’s graduation. Tiger Woods reveals he’s “receiving professional help” for dealing with pain medications. And President Trump drives a golf cart all over one of his greens, just because.

£2,000,000

The US Open set-up lottery continues. Two years after pitting the players against the much-criticised Chambers Bay, and 12 months after presenting an extremely penal Oakmont, the USGA brings its flagship event to a monstrously long links-style course with wide fairways and massive greens. “Erin Hills will be tough if the course dries and wind blows,” they assure us. Neither happened. And thus the game’s ‘ultimate test’ becomes little more than a long drive and putting contest. Sounds perfect for Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, right? Wrong. For the first time since the Official World Golf Rankings were introduced in 1986, the world’s top three miss the cut in the same major. This leaves the stage clear for a seventh consecutive first-time major winner. Rickie Fowler makes the early running. Then Justin Thomas throws his sponsored hat into the ring with a record-equalling Saturday 63.

Then Brian Harman seems set for a shock victory, until 27-year-old Floridian Brooks Koepka cards three consecutive back-nine birdies to stomp out the competition. “Hopefully this is the first of many major wins,” he smiles.

With Koepka’s US Open win, punter Jordan Baker is halfway to winning a gambling grand slam. If Rickie Fowler wins the Open and Justin Thomas the PGA Championship, Baker will trouser £2m for his £2 bet. Go Rickie!

February 2018 Golf World 63

JUL

“With regard to the anchoring ban on the PGA Tour Champions, it’s appalling.

I have never seen such gross disregard for the spirit of the game” Brandel Chamblee ignites the Bernhard Langer anchoring debate. Langer’s response: “It’s human to be jealous”

SPIETH CLIMBS OPEN MOUNTAIN After completing a three-stoke victory to become the second-youngest golfer to claim three legs of golf’s grand slam, Open Champion Jordan Spieth looks at the leaderboard, turns to his caddie and jokes, “17 pars and a birdie would have been fine.” It would have, but it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as memorable as the Texan’s tumultuous final round. “Today took as much out of me as any day that I’ve ever played golf,” he later admits, after compiling a compelling 69 that included early wobbles, wayward drives, a 3-iron from the practice range, monster putts and a run of four holes played in fiveunder par. “I credit my caddie for getting me back on track,” he adds. Spieth’s sidekick isn’t the only bagman who performs verbal heroics at Royal Birkdale. “You’re Rory McIlroy, what the f*** are you doing?” snaps JP Fitzgerald when his boss falls to fourover. It works. Rory fights back to finish tied 4th, one stroke ahead of South Africa’s Branden Grace, who made history by shooting a Saturday 62 – the first ever in a major.

1

ge of the ungest er winner a major ur. ailand’s thaya itkul won the ropean Tour to beat Lydia Ko’s record by 17 months.

64 Golf World February 2018

WINNERS & LOSERS Jon Rahm’s rise up the world rankings gathers more pace, a six-shot victory in the Irish Open propelling him to 8th in the OWGR. Tommy Fleetwood wins the French Open, his second victory of the season and, at this point, only Dustin Johnson has earned more OWGR points since the start of the year.

Worryingly, several European Tour pros claim that their clubs

are tampered with during the tournament. Our guess is it’s the janitor. Kyle Stanley wins his second PGA Tour title, the Quicken Loans National, five years after his first, and struggles to keep it together during the postround interview. Danielle Kang takes her first LPGA title, and it’s a major no less, with the KPMG PGA Championship. And Scott McCarron beats fellow anchorer Bernhard Langer by a

stroke to win the Senior Players Championship and keep the debate over morals and legality front of mind. Elsewhere, female golfers are instructed that a new dress code now outlaws ‘plunging necklines’ and revealing skirts.

And Web.com Tour player Andrew Yun hits a fan with his tee shot and then does what professional golfers do: hands her a signed glove to salve his conscience. The only problem: Yun has run out of gloves and so has to ask for it back.

AUG

“It was a long afternoon. I mean, I can tell you I have no nails, no like nothing. . . I’m just looking forward to getting hammered tonight” Roberto Diaz goes ‘all Beef’ after securing his PGA Tour card

NO MORE DOUBTING THOMAS The build-up to August’s US PGA was all about Jordan Spieth. Could the 24-year-old become the youngest golfer to claim all four majors, usurping Tiger Woods in the history book? No, he couldn’t. Spieth fails to get going and ends up in a tie for 28th. But while the young Texan struggled, one of his spring break buddies breaks through. A closing 75 when in contention at June’s US Open saw Justin Thomas come into the year’s final major with a question mark over his ability to close out the game’s biggest events. He silences these doubts with a sublime final round of 68, where the only time he finds any real trouble is while he’s walking to Quail Hollow’s 17th green. “I was eating some snacks and I almost choked,” he reveals. “I was like, you’ve got to be kidding. Is this a sign? Am I really going to choke?” No, he wasn’t. The 24-year-old rolls in a 71st hole birdie putt to stretch his lead to three, before closing with a risk-free bogey to seal his first major victory. “I want to win every major,” he later states. “But with my dad and granddad being PGA professionals, the PGA has a special place in my heart. It’s a great win for the family.”

Dustin Johnson wins for the first time since he fell down t at Augusta – coming ba five behind to win the N Trust on the first playoff But it’s hardly a fair figh Jordan Spieth leaves himself 174 yards into th green by playing straigh down the fairway. DJ ha his tee shot 341 yards ov lake, leaving him 94 yard sticks it to within four fe the birdie and the win.

Hideki Matsuyama shoots a 61 at n route to a five-shot WGC-Bridgestone onal, for his third win of eason and second WGC a combined 12 shots). ng dropped to his st rank for three years ), Rory splits with longe caddie J P Fitzgerald d announces that his rib ury has ended his ason. The US women tain the Solheim Cup

with a dominant 16½ to 11½ romp.

Jordan Smith wins his first European Tour title at the Porsche European Open. Bernhard Langer wins again, this time the Senior British Open for his fourth win of the year, three of them majors.

And five years after missing the 15-inch putt that would have won her a first major at the ANA Inspiration, I K Kim wins the Ricoh Women’s British Open for some kind of redemption.

The number of months it took Henrik Stenson to win again after his epic 2016 Open victory. This month’s Wyndham title was also his first nonmajor win on the PGA Tour since 2013.

13

WINNERS & LOSERS

February 2018 Golf World 65

SEP

1.28

The time it takes Wesley Bryan to complete his final round at the BMW Championship – and shoot a 69. OK, so he’s playing solo and out of contention, but look, it can be done!

WINNERS & LOSERS

In a month of new arrivals, Englishman David Skinns leaves in the middle of the Albertsons Boise Open to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, despite being potentially two rounds from earning his PGA Tour card for the first time. No such qualms for the European Tour’s Lee Slattery, who misses the birth of his second child because he had to play while he was “on a run of good form” – he tuned in via FaceTime.

Following the fashion, Jason Day ditches his long-time caddie Colin Swatton, but retains his services as coach and mentor, sticks his mate on the bag and finishes fourth. Matt Fitzpatrick wins the European Masters in a playoff, Bernhard Langer wins for a fifth time this season, this time the PURE Insurance Championship. Anna Nordqvist secures her second career major, this time the Evian Championship. The US cruise to a 19-7 victory over GB &I in the Walker Cup. And a J Golf Tour eve temporarily suspended when Kim Jo Un tests his nuclear missiles in neighbouring North Korea.

66 Golf World February 2018

“You get distracted on the wrong hole at the wrong time and it’s extremely penal and it’s really f*cking annoying” Fans allowed to use their phones at tournaments. Ian Poulter is clearly not a fan

REMEMBER THE NAME (AND HOW TO PRONOUNCE IT) Almost every year, an obscure golfer finds his way on to the leaderboard at a major, enjoys his 15 minutes of fame and is then never heard from again. In 2017, the world expects that obscure golfer to be Xander Schauffele (pronounced Sho-flay). But instead of returning to the shadows after finishing 5th in the US Open, Schauffele goes on to win this month’s Greenbrier Classic. This victory gets the 23-year-old into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Then, after playing the final six holes of the season’s penultimate event in six-under par, he qualifies for the Tour Championship, where he becomes the first rookie to win the PGA Tour’s grand finale. “It is just unreal,” beams the Californian after beating Justin Thomas into second place. The victory earns Schauffele more than $3.5 million, which sounds a lot until you discover that Thomas’ runner-up finish helps him claim the $10 million FedEx Cup winner’s bonus to take his prize money for the season over the $19 million mark.

“I’m mad that I didn’t win the tournament, but I realise what an honour winning something over the course of a season is,” says Thomas, before having his press conference interrupted by a call from his grandfather.

OCT

“I’m not going to change anything. I’m still not going to work out. I’m still gonna have a bad diet and I’m going to enjoy myself. I’m really not going to change” Pat Perez wins the CIMB Classic, aged 41, and bucks the trend

GUESS WHO’S BACK! (AGAIN) Just days after telling the world he could “definitely” envisage never playing professional golf again, Tiger Woods announces that he’s been cleared to make a full return to the game and will play again!

In full-on Tiger tease mode, he first releases footage of him hitting “smooth” irons.

Then tweets a 10-second video of him hitting driver while dressed in his Sunday red – and by almost all accounts, hitting it well. Finally, just days after pleading guilty to reckless driving and entering a ‘diversion’ programme after May’s DUI arrest, he announces that he will make his competitive return in the Hero World Challenge between November 30 and December 3. As long as his back holds out between now and then. The bookmakers list Tiger as a 50-to-1 underdog, with the odds on him withdrawing just 7/2.

Because, well, we’ve been here before.

1,180th

WINNERS & LOSERS To the surprise of nobody, Justin Thomas is rightly and officially named PGA Tour Player of the Year – a year in which he wins five times, including his first major. Justin Rose wins his eighth P despite going into the round 10 shots behind leader Dustin Johnso Paul Dunne holds off the no longer injured Rory McIlroy to win the British Masters, despite McIlroy finish

64-63 to confirm that this year was really not his year. Brendan Steele wins the PGA Tour’s Safeway Open for the second consecutive year, at the same time as Tyrrell Hatton is ng the Alfred Dunhill Links for econd year running. Tommy Fleetwood and Ross Fisher didn’t win the Alfred Dunhill, but with a 63 at Carnoustie and a 61 at the Old Course, hey smashed those course ecords. In the month’s sorriest le, PGA Tour journeyman Matt

Harmon is on the cusp of earning his PGA Tour card at two under with two to play at the Web.com Tour Championship, then misses a three-footer for birdie, then three putts for a bogey and snaps his putter in two as his dream disintegrates. In better news, Ian Woosnam finally enters the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sergio Garcia and TaylorMade announce they are splitting up after 14 years. And Team USA wins the Presidents Cup, but then Team USA always does.

$250,000

Tiger’s pre-Hero World Challenge world ranking, sandwiched between Juan Francisco Sarasti and George Gandranata. A win at the Hero could catapult him inside the top 150.

The number of dollars you have to stump up to play a single round of golf with Phil Mickelson, as part of a foursome, with the proceeds going to charity.

It’s steep, but, hey, a nice lunch is included.

February 2018 Golf World 67

NOV

“I can’t believe how far I’m hitting the golf ball. I’m back to hitting it my full numbers and not really trying to do that” Tiger Woods cranks up The Comeback, and raises our hopes once again

LAST MAN STANDING In what is first a marathon 47-event season, then a single-tournament sprint, the European Tour’s Race to Dubai comes down to the final round of the DP World Tour Championship.

Three men enter the final day with the seasonlong title still a mathematic possibility: longterm leader Tommy Fleetwood, Masters champion Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose, the latter chasing a hat-trick of victories to seal his late charge. And with seven holes remaining, things look good for the 2013 US Open champion and Golf World columnist, fourunder for the day and two shots clear. But Justin rose and then Justin fell, three bogeys in the next five holes derail his charge and hand the tournament to Jon Rahm and the Race to Dubai to Fleetwood. The hirsute Englishman crawls over the line with a T21 finish, taking the title and its near-£1m bonus.

In an act deemed by many to be daylight robbery, Bernhard Langer misses out on a fourth consecutive Charles Schwab Cup by not winning the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Those people point out Langer’s seven victories this season make him a more suitable recipient than Kevin Sutherland, whose win at the final event is his first on any tour since 2002. “It was never meant to be fair,” shrugs Herr Langer. It was meant to be play-offs.”

68 Golf World February 2018

Lexi Thompson wins the seasonlong CME Race to the Globe in the LPGA Tour’s final event of the year, and with it the $1m bonus, plus the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average on Tour at 69.114. Which is good news. But it overlooks the fact that by missing an unmissable two-foot putt on the 18th, she misses out on the play-off for the CME Group Tour

Championship, the LPGA player of the year title and, likely, top spot in the women’s rankings. Still, $1m!

PGA Tour rookie Austin Cook lands his first title, a four-stroke victory in the RSM Classic. Luke Donald withdraws from that tournament and is admitted to hospital with chest pains, though happily he soon receives the allclear. And Donald Trump posts his first handicap-counting round since becoming president of the United States. His 68 is met by disbelief.

$40m

WINNERS & LOSERS The amount Arnold Palmer earned in the year since his death. He is now Forbes’ second highest-paid dead celebrity, way behind Michael Jackson ($75m).

THE HEAVYWEIGHTS OF MODERN ROCK 132 PAGE COLLEC TOR EDITION ’S

ON SALE NOW

AVAILABLE IN ALL WH SMITH STORES AND OTHER GOOD RETAILERS

BUY ONLINE AT QTHEMUSIC.COM

F From world famous championship links and outstanding parkland layouts to traditional private clubs and five-star resorts, Ireland has a wide range of golf experiences to meet every golfer’s needs. We highlight some of the best golf experiences the country has to offer.

‘All 18 holes at Old Head deliver unobstructed ocean views while nine holes play directly along the clifftop with the waves crashing some 300 feet below’

Advertorial Feature

Cork and the South

Located in the southern tip of the country in the province of Munster, the county of Cork is often overlooked by golfers travelling to the Emerald Isle in favour of the more high-profile west coast links or the plethora of high quality courses in and around Dublin. But the south has plenty to offer visitors, both on and off the course.

From a golf perspective, the region boasts one of the world’s most spectacular golf courses in Old Head Golf Links, Kinsale (pictured), a seasoned Irish Open venue in Fota Island, as well as an unsung gem in the five-star Castlemartyr. In addition, with more than 30 golf courses affiliated to the Munster section of the Golfing Union of

Ireland (GUI), there are plenty of intimate smaller-scale golf courses to sample.

The region’s flagship golf attraction is Old Head, which is built on a slender diamond-shaped peninsular that extends two miles into the Atlantic Ocean and is connected to the mainland by a slither of land barely wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic. All 18 holes deliver unobstructed ocean views while nine holes play directly along the edge of the cliffs with the waves crashing 300 feet below.

It is a piece of golf real estate like no other on the planet.

In contrast, the Fota Island Resort’s Deerpark

course – one of three championship-quality layouts on the property – is parkland golf at its finest. Deerpark, which hosted the 2014 Irish Open, is characterised by undulating terrain, multiple water hazards and aggressive bunkering. The on-site luxury hotel has 123 en suite rooms, eight penthouses, a spa and a club bar that stocks 80 different whiskeys!

South West Ireland

The Castlemartyr Resort offers five-star luxury.

Set within the grounds of an old manor estate in East Cork, Castlemartyr Golf Resort features a 6,728-yard inland linksstyle course designed by Ron Kirby, who crafted Old Head and Mount Juliet, and collaborated with Jack Nicklaus in the design of the original Monarch’s Course at Gleneagles. The course, which plays as two loops of nine, is known for its immaculate presentation and year-round conditioning.

Among the best of the more traditional public and private members clubs in the region are Cork GC, an eclectic heathland/ parkland hybrid designed by Alister MacKenzie that transitions through a variety of landscapes from bluffs to quarries, and the 124-year old Fermoy GC, which flows between avenues of pine trees, gorse and heather.

Cork itself is a city of some 150,000 people that sits on the River Lee and at the head of Cork Harbour, the second biggest natural harbour in the world. It genuinely rivals Dublin as Ireland’s party capital.

Among the multitude of attractions are Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone, Cobh Harbour, the English Market, Shandon Bells and the Elizabeth Fort.

With no fewer than five links courses in Golf World’s 2016 Top 100 – GB&I ranking, and with Killarney and Adare regarded as two of Ireland’s best parkland courses, this region presents some of the very finest golf the country has to offer.

The South West is also a major tourist destination in its own right. The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, the Ring of Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, The Skellig Islands and the Cliffs of Moher are among the many breathtaking natural attractions that form the backdrop to many of the region’s finest courses.

While there is a wide range of golf on offer, it is simply impossible to ignore the championship courses that adorn the south west coastline. From Ballybunion to Lahinch to Waterville to Trump Doonbeg to Tralee, classic links golf lurks at every junction. But to visit this region and only play the star attractions is a onedimensional approach and, without doubt, a missed opportunity to sample the great strength in depth this region boasts. Great value golf of all genres abounds. Skellig Bay, a clifftop course adjacent to the world famous Waterville, flows across a headland and between ancient dry stone walls. To the north, Dromoland Castle offers excellent parkland golf within an old estate and fivestar resort luxury. Dooks, on the Ring of Kerry, has become a must-play links following Martin Hawtree’s extensive renovations a little over a decade ago, while arguably the most under-the-radar gem is the second course at Ballybunion. The Cashen was designed by Robert Trent Jones

‘With five links courses in Golf World’s Top 100 – GB&I courses ranking, this region presents some of the very finest golf the country has to offer’

Ballybunion in south west Ireland is famed for its towering dunes.

The recently remodelled Trump Doonbeg Resort.

Sr and has a spectacular back nine that traverses some of the property’s most dramatic dunescapes.

Accessibility to the South West is now better than ever. Ireland’s motorway network makes it easy to reach this region from Dublin, while there are direct flights to Shannon from London, Birmingham and Manchester. Our recommendation is to base yourself in Waterville and enjoy the delights of one of the world’s truly great golf towns.

North West Ireland

Often unfairly viewed as the ‘undiscovered country’ when it comes to golf, this region presents a succession of thrilling links courses along a ragged and often sparselypopulated coastline that stretches this way and that from County Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsular all the way down to Connemara in County Galway. The region’s low-key reputation means that green fees represent great value and the golf courses are, for the most part, relatively quiet.

Starting at the most remote location on the peninsular, Ballyliffin Old was developed in 1973 and maintained a relatively low profile until Nick Faldo paid an impromptu visit back in 1993. The sixtime major winner was enamoured by the layout, stating it was “the most natural

Advertorial Feature

H E R oEck T T E Kn G t Airport

Wes rts in Ireland to seven airpo o/Mayo g ts li c S e e n n th o lf c n cated o t for all the go o L . d n n o Engla is convenie tw it o only border, es. Sligo is als Dublin, cours minutes from 4.

N 0 hours 3 ht up the M4/ straig

The 27 holes at Carne Golf Club are characterised by massive sand dunes.

links I have ever played.” He returned 13 years later to give the Old Course a facelift and it’ll take centre stage when it hosts’ the European Tour’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open from July 5-8 in 2018. The addition of a second links course, the Glashedy, has also cemented Ballyliffin’s reputation as a must-play destination.

The nearby 45 holes at Rosapenna overlook Sheep Haven Bay. The original course dates back to the days of Old Tom Morris and the original holes he crafted remain playable to this day. However, the must-play 18 is Sandy Hills. Designed

by Pat Ruddy in 2004, the course has developed a fearsome reputation thanks to dense rough, pinball-style fairways and challenging green complexes.

Just down the road, Portsalon, one of Ireland’s oldest clubs, is a natural links that seamlessly blends backdrops of mountains, sand and sea. The front-nine meanders through towering dunes before the course dips inland and becomes even more spectacular.

With the Wild Atlantic Way leading you from one great course to the next, you’ll come across the 27 holes of Carne Links, which are wrapped within some of the most gargantuan dunes on the planet. It’s a riproaring rollercoaster ride of a course with tees and greens perched high on crests or nestled into the foundations of huge sandhills. Within this big dune country you’ll also encounter Enniscrone, where undulating fairways, blind shots and plateau greens are the order of the day. For more info visit ireland.com.

County Sligo Golf Club was designed by Harry Colt. Boasting quality and intrigue, the course arguably has more variety than any other Irish links course. The views are stunning with the limestone-topped Benbulben mountain ever-present.

There are immense parkland courses, too, with Westport perched on the shoreline of Clew Bay, under Ireland’s most holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, while Ballinrobe, designed by Eddie Hackett, is highly regarded by Padraig Harrington.

VISIT IRELAND WITH YOUR GOLF TRAVEL We offer great packages to all three regions. Choose from the following: Cork & South Q From £479pp sharing for two nights, one dinner, three rounds of golf Q Key selling points: Play Old Head, stay in five-star accommodation Q Stay at Castlemartyr, play rounds at Old Head, Fota Island and Castlemartyr Q April 12, 2018 – May 3, 2018 (weekend supplements apply)

North West Q From £275pp sharing for two nights, three rounds of golf Q One in 12 goes free Q Stay at four-star Rosapenna, play rounds at Old Tom Morris Course at Rosapenna, Sandy Hills at Rosapenna and Portsalon Golf Club Q March 24, 2018 – October 20, 2018

South West Rosapenna resort, home to 45 holes.

Q Inclusions: From £285pp sharing for two nights, three rounds of golf between March 1-16, 2018. £385pp sharing for two nights, three rounds of golf between March 17– April 18, 2018 Q Stay in five-star accommodation Q Stay at Trump Doonbeg, play two rounds at Doonbeg, one round at Lahinch Golf Club (Old) Q March 1, 2018 – April 30, 2018 ((£20 weekend supplements pp pp y) apply)

FOR MORE INFORMATION SPEAK TO A YOUR GOLF TRAVEL EXPERT ON 0800 193 6618 OR VISIT yourgolftravel.com/gw-ireland

ThelatestmodelsfromPing,CobraandClevelandofferimpressivetechnology

Cobra King F8 Price: £329 Loft: 10.5° Adjustability: Eight loft and draw settings, two moveable weights

Cleveland Launcher HB Price: £279 Lofts: 9°, 10.5°, 12° Adjustability: No

The Big Test

at a more affordable price. But how does each one perform?

MID-PRICE RANGE

Ping G400 Price: £389 Lofts: 9°, 10.5° Adjustability: Loft can be changed up or down by 1°

L

ooking at today’s driver options, you could be forgiven for thinking the latest focus for development has been their price tag. In 2014, leading drivers from TaylorMade and Callaway, the SLDR and Big Bertha, cost £349.

Just three years later, their flagship models, M1 and GBB Epic, have leapt to £479 and £469 respectively.

Driven by increasingly sophisticated adjustability and multi-material construction, these higher price points have seen the driver market stretching out – stretching indeed to the point where there is room for a separate category between the premium and the budget. It’s here that this test focuses.

At £389 and £329, Ping’s G400 and Cobra’s King F8 just about fall into this category. Employing adjustability and a range of materials, they can legitimately claim the versatility and performance delivered by clubs at the top end of the driver spectrum. Completing the trio is the intriguing new Launcher HB from Cleveland, a club that strides bravely into the non-adjustable world recently abandoned by the rest. Launcher represents a more simple tool for a lower price at £279.

We tested the drivers at the superb Monte Rei Golf and Country Club, the Eastern Algarve’s premier golf resort. Drivers were specced for our four-man testing team of World and European Clubmaker of the Year Derek Murray, Monte Rei head professional Stuart Martin, Golf World editor Nick Wright and senior editor Kit Alexander.

ABOVE (L-R): Kit Alexander tests out the Ping G400; Derek Murray sets up the Trackman system.

Power

Aerodynamic innovations like the crown turbulators of 2015’s G30 and the drag-thwarting Vortec of last year’s G reveal a focus on club speed in Ping’s G franchise. Those technologies are retained and enhanced in G400, but a new forged titanium face insert means this driver also shows more interest in a faster ball. Ping say a hitting area some six per cent thinner than G’s adds up to 1-2mph more ball speed.

Cleveland believe design compromises demanded by adjustability mechanisms have cost club golfers around 10 yards. Consequently, Launcher HB has been created to deliver a high, powerful flight with no need for tinkering. Its Flex-fin sole consists of radiating sections designed to promote spring, while the Cup Face – which moves the face weld back from the hitting area – boosts ball speeds across the face.

Cobra’s King F8 also targets speed through a new hitting surface. Although forged from 811 titanium like the outgoing F7’s, this new face is the brand’s

first fully-machined creation. Cobra say it is three per cent thinner than previous models, assisting energy transfer. F8 also introduces aerodynamic ridges around the face, designed to reduce drag.

Our testing on TrackMan revealed that purely on power, Cobra’s F8 had the edge. Three of the four members of our team recorded their longest drives of the day with it, both in terms of carry and total. F8 also won out when the team’s two longest carry and total distance results were averaged.

That being said, all three were pretty closely matched. While the F8 averaged five yards more carry than the Launcher HB, it was only 2.5 yards longer in total, with the G400 squeezed in-between.

The tightness of our results suggests it would not be worth basing your buying decision on power alone.

Sound and feel

Ping placed a significant emphasis on improving the G400’s phonetics – and they’ve nailed it. Designers tweaked ‘internal architecture’ to find a muted thud similar to a door closing on a luxury car. Our team agreed it emitted a deep and satisfying tone, and that it was impressively consistent across the face.

Perhaps more surprising was how pleasing the Cobra and Cleveland felt and sounded. Both brands

IS ADJUSTABILITY IN A DRIVER REALLY WORTH YOUR EXTRA OUTLAY? Cleveland attribute the Launcher HB’s fixed head to a perceived anxiety about moveable lofts and weights, and point to the fact that, once a driver is ‘dialled in’, costly technology

76 Golf World February 2018

becomes redundant.

Additionally, adjustability technology affects an engineer’s ability to optimise CG and boost MOI. While the adjustability can then help you optimise

the club, does that really leave you any better off for the extra cash?

Our results suggest the answer to that question is ‘slightly’. The Launcher HB’s highlaunch, low-spin head

competed impressively against the other two clubs, with tailoring loft and CG only offering marginal gains – mostly through correcting spin rates.

The value of

adjustability is in optimising spin. If you can find a fixed head that delivers your ideal rates, it’s hard to justify the extra outlay adjustability brings for no real benefit.

The Big Test

have history with volume, Cobra’s L4V and Cleveland’s HiBore Tour XL making most lists of golf’s loudest drivers. But both King F8 and Launcher HB do a great job of feeling fast while curbing that strident sound. Again, the consistency of sound led the team to agree all three brands had done an excellent job with their face technologies.

Consequently, it was hard to differentiate for sound and feel, although as the test progressed the slightly more consistently solid feel of the Ping and Cobra edged ahead of the Cleveland.

Forgiveness and dispersion

The G400 employs tungsten in a driver for the first time since 2014’s i25, this time concentrated in a rear sole weight to raise head stability. The new forged face has also been engineered to improve ball speeds across the face.

The Flex Fins and Cup Face of the Launcher HB double as forgiveness aids, structured to improve flex and speed from heel to toe. A super-light hosel helps shift weight low and deep for a high MOI. Cobra’s E9 face hotspot zoning has been around since 2001’s King Cobra SS and remains at the heart of the club’s forgiveness. But the new face’s thinner and lighter hitting area also targets ballspeed protection, while a light carbon crown also aids forgiveness by allowing a lower, deeper CG. We used TrackMan to assess each driver’s smash factor – club speed to ball speed ratio – and distance consistency. The Ping and the Cobra both delivered solid average smashes of 1.47, with the Cleveland fractionally behind at 1.46. The Ping delivered the more consistent smash by a hair.

But as we charted shot dispersion, the clubs began to pull apart. Ping demonstrably registered the tightest grouping as an average across all four testers, while Cobra’s King F8 showed the widest dispersion on distance and direction. This suggests

WHY ‘CG’ IS A BALANCING ACT A driver’s centre of gravity naturally sits close to the centre of the head. Just a tiny change in its location can make a big difference to its launch and spin characteristics. Through weight in the face and hosel, the CG position tends to sit slightly forward, which lowers impact loft, spin and MOI. None of this is good news for the average golfer. Engineers combat this by making the chassis and face lighter so they can reposition weight to create a low and back CG, which raises launch, spin and head stability.

How moving the CG affects performance CG forward: lower launch, lower spin, lower MOI CG backward: higher launch, higher spin, higher MOI

CG up: Lower launch, higher spin CG down: Higher launch, lower spin

CG into heel: draw spin CG into toe: fade spin

February 2018 Golf World 77

THE TECH EXPLAINED ByDerekMurray

Launch and spin

Ping G400 Improved aerodynamics include a more streamlined shape, more defined crown turbulators and turbulence-defying Vortec technology. Ping claim 15% less drag.

A new face insert, forged and heat treated, is thinner and lighter than the outgoing G model. Its increased face flex contributes to Ping’s claim of a 2mph ball speed boost.

Head stability is boosted by a customisable tungsten weight, deep in the head. MOI is further enhanced by the thin and light Dragonfly crown that increases perimeter weighting.

Cleveland Launcher HB Cleveland’s stepped HiBore crown moves weight and CG lower and deeper in the head, boosting a high-launch/low-spin impact. This new version helps ball speed by aiding face compression.

‘Flex fins’ refer to the series of sole ridges radiating back from the heel and toe. They are designed to offer extra compression on off-centre strikes, boosting mis-hit ball speeds and forgiveness.

that although all three delivered power efficiently, the Ping offered the most control and the Cobra the least.

However, King F8 also offers the most adjustability, and the chance to tighten dispersion.

Ping’s famously low and deep CG is designed for easy launch and effective spin rates. The brand’s introduction of the thin and light Dragonfly crown in last year’s G effected a significant CG drop over the previous G30; in the G400, accentuated crown sculpting moves CG slightly lower still.

The stepped crown of Cleveland’s Launcher HB is a toned-down version of the aggressively-sloped crown introduced in 2009’s HiBore Monster XLS. It helps get weight and CG lower and further back.

Weighting at the back of the sole boosts that low/ back CG and assists a high-launch, low-spin flight.

Cobra’s F8 is the only driver with CG adjustability; two settings allow a back bias for better launch, and a heel bias to encourage a draw. But generally, the lighter face and crown contribute to a low, deep CG. The team’s perception that no one driver launched the ball especially higher or lower than the other was confirmed by TrackMan. On average, the three drivers launched within just a quarter of a degree of each other when set at equivalent lofts.

‘Ultimately, this test revealed just how expertly engineered modern drivers are’ A new cup face creates higher COR across the face, effectively expanding the sweet spot to increase ball speeds, from the centre and into the heel and toe.

Cobra King F8

On average, the Cobra spun 300rpm more than the Ping and nearly 500rpm more than the Cleveland. Cobra also delivered the highest flight for three of our testers. Those figures confirmed that F8, while the most powerful, felt a little harder to control – but the excellent Smart Pad adjustability will help.

It was interesting to note how the Launcher HB, with no adjustability, delivered some impressive high launch, low-spin data. An average launch of nearly 14º and a spin rate of 2,857rpm would serve the majority of club players very well.

Summing up

360° Aero technology is a system of trips placed around the edge of the clubface, positioned to reduce drag and improve clubhead speed.

A new CNC milled and forged face allows a more precise creation of thickness and weight, improving ball speed protection and enhancing the E9 Sweet Zone technology.

MyFly8 with Smart Pad adjustability allows eight loft settings, including three draw options.

Adjustable weight in the sole allows for two CG settings, one for height and one for draw.

Q Derek Murray is an award-winning independent club fitter and a leading expert in golf club technology. He’s based at ForeGolf at Killeen Castle, Ireland.

78 Golf World February 2018

Ultimately, this test revealed just how expertly engineered modern drivers are. All three delivered easy, strong launch, excellent forgiveness and controlled spin. It led to performance margins arguably too tight to base a buying decision on these factors alone. Your decision, then, will come down to other factors. For sheer value it’s hard to see past the Cleveland Launcher HB; for brand value and solid reliability the Ping G400 is a very safe buy. But with its striking looks, superb Smart Pad adjustability and the Cobra Connect shot-tracking tech in the grip, Cobra’s King F8 certainly has the sizzle.

Our team agreed that while your wallet would buy the Cleveland and your head would buy the Ping, your heart might just favour the Cobra.

Watch bonus content from all of our equipment tests on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/golfworldmag)

The Big Test

HOW THE THREE DRIVERS COMPARED

A snapshot of how they performed – and what type of golfer they’ll suit.

COBRAKINGF8

PINGG400

CLEVELAND LAUNCHER HB

SOUND AND FEEL

An enjoyably muted yet powerful sound represents a step forward for a brand that has produced some loud drivers. Delivered a trademark solid and satisfying feel.

The deep, resonant impact tone perhaps felt more solid than powerful. The excellent feel is reassuring and consistent.

POWER AND FORGIVENESS

Marginally the most powerful, with a higher flight.

Indifferent dispersion results underscore the value of its adjustability.

The G400 showed its pedigree when it came to forgiveness.

The tightest dispersions for line and length make it the go-to club for control.

The shortest, but only by a handful of yards. Dispersion lagged behind the Ping but forgiveness was very impressive at this price point.

Spun the most and flew the highest, suggesting it is best suited to slower swingers or anyone with a low flight, although adjustability broadens its reach.

The highest launcher by a fraction at an average 14.08°, while average spin rates of around 3,000rpm are ideal for those with slightly slower swing speeds who need help keeping the ball in the air.

Delivered the lowest spin rate of the three drivers, though an average of 2,857rpm is impressively close to TrackMan’s recommendation of 2,6002,800rpm for the average swinger.

Adjustability sees the driver suit a wide range, though a spinny, high flight in neutral suggests it will best suit the golfer who sees the ball drop out of the sky.

Cobra Connect data is great for technophiles.

Its strength lies in the tight dispersion, so it represents an excellent choice for anyone who needs help hitting the fairway.

This driver’s plug-and-play nature will draw anyone not interested in fiddling with the club; the power, spin and launch engineered into the head has been cleverly calibrated to suit most club golfers.

A driver that needs adjustability to harness its exuberance, but sharp looks and dynamic tech provide a sizzle the others struggled to match. Not necessarily the best performing, certainly the most exciting.

The G franchise tends to take b but Ping has again foun to improve a fine driver with improved sound and feel, plus enhanced head stability.

It’s a brave move to tell golfers they don’t need adjustability, but this driver has the data to back it up. An excellent value option that barely drops off the pace set by more expensive models.

SPIN AND LAUNCH

PLAYER PROFILE

VERDICT

Just the loudest, though not so harsh as to draw negative comments.

Face felt powerful and delivered a consistent tone.

AN EXCLUSIVE GOLF EXPERIENCE > Two nights accommodation in an executive room > Full Scottish breakfast > Golf at Meldrum House, Cruden Bay and Murcar Links Golf can be arranged at Trump International and Royal Aberdeen, subject to availability and supplements.

£375 per person

Club Class Golf

based on two people sharing a double or twin room Ranked in the Top 100 Scottish Golf Courses by Golf World magazine.

Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland AB51 0AE t: +44 (0)1651 872294 e: events@meldrumhouse.com AN IDYLLIC LOCATION, A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE.

www.meldrumhouse.com

TOP 100 GOLF RESORTS

NE W

IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

The first ranking of the British Isles’ premier places to play and stay.

EVERY TORPT 100 RESOED ANALYS IN FOUR S CATEGORIE

WHICH COUNTRY HAS FIVE OF THE TOP 10?

TWO ENTRIES RECEIVE OUR HIGHEST MARKS EVER Cover image: Gleneagles

Discover championship links style golf at Fairmont St Andrews. Two world-class courses, The Torrance and The Kittocks, that wind their way around 520 stunning acres of utterly breath-taking scenery.

With views overlooking the historic Home of Golf and St Andrews Bay, our exquisitely presented golf resort is a naturally beautiful setting for golf experiences.

Get in to the swing of things, to view our offers visit fairmont.com/standrews *terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability.

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

WELCOME If any of you are wondering whether there is a need for yet another Top 100 ranking, I’d urge you to reserve judgement on its worth until the end. While I can understand Top 100 fatigue among anyone not massively interested in Courses & Travel, I believe there is a great deal of merit in this inaugural list.

Because unless you are exceptionally well travelled (and if you are, please get in touch so you can join our panel), there will be many names in this ranking that you’ve never heard of and, just as importantly, resorts that you were unaware were as impressive as they are.

I, therefore, suspect there will be a lot of eyebrows raised at what appears in this ranking – but it is actually when that is not the case I think it is time to retire them as a concept. Undoubtedly, on this occasion, the fact no-one has ever compiled a Top 100 ranking of GB&I Golf Resorts before (and just watch others follow suit now the hard work has been done) means there will be more surprises than usual.

Applying our evaluation formula to identify the best places to stay and play in Britain and Ireland has been a fascinating and exhaustive (as well as exhausting) process. I believe the final list makes for illuminating reading and it has

certainly encouraged me to enjoy as many of the 34 resorts I haven’t already visited as soon as possible. I hope this Top 100 has the same effect on you.

Please get in touch with your views on the ranking – especially with regards to any resorts you feel are harshly omitted.

Believe me, we tried very hard to unearth the best of the best, but try to be kind if we’ve innocently committed any crimes...

Chris Bertram Top 100 Editor

How high will the thrilling Machrihanish Dunes rank?

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

HOW WE CREATED THIS TOP 100 GB&I RESORTS Who did it, how was it decided... and what counts as a resort?

Who decided the list?

What qualifies as a resort?

We sought views from a number of figures within the golf travel industry as well as well-travelled golfers whose opinions we also seek for the Top 100 Courses lists.

There are too many names to mention here, but I’d like to pick out Kevin Markham for his invaluable assistance in assessing Ireland for us once again.

Simply, accommodation (usually a hotel) and golf course with the same owners on the same site. This accounts for 97 per cent of this Top 100. There are three notable exceptions where the course and hotel are not cheek by jowl; but they are both within a 10-minute journey in a free shuttle – and while in some ways we felt like being militant about the criteria in this respect, we don’t feel these seem out of place. Also, it is probably true to say we favoured ‘classic’ resorts with lots of accommodation and amenities as opposed to great courses with minimal accommodation.

Why use marks?

We now routinely use them in our Top 100s and note that others are following suit. Marking might never have been more useful than it has been in deciding this inaugural list. With so many disparate aspects to a golf resort, breaking it down into the four categories was fundamental to producing what we feel is an authoritative list. The marks indicate clearly what to expect from a resort by highlighting strengths and weaknesses. It makes it so much easier for you to identify the kind of resort that suits your tastes – and helping you make good choices with your golf breaks is our aim. Oh, and we ended up with a contest so tight that lots of places were decided on countback.

Why was value not a factor?

It makes an already difficult project impossible. Perhaps 20 years ago it would have been possible to add ‘Value’ as a section, but with so many golf travel companies offering a myriad play-and-stay deals, it would make a mockery of such a mark. You can easily work out which resorts offer the best value: source a few deals and if a top-20 resort can be secured from the same prices as something in the 70s, it must be sensational value.

KEYTHEMES OF THIS FIRST LIST 1. The golf is still king

Courses represented nearly half of the overall mark; you had to have a presentable course to get in the 100, and if you have a great course, you were guaranteed a high placing. Quality mattered, but so did quantity – and courses with second or even third courses have done exceptionally well as a result of their strength in depth.

Because we award so many marks for the golf, the consequently low marks for the lesser courses suggest they are sub-standard; they aren’t, we just want the elite courses suitably rewarded.

2. Room range We definitely favoured resorts with a breadth and depth of accommodation.

Limited but sensationally good accommodation could be marked highly, but we favoured resorts with varied and extensive options.

3. Golf+ We didn’t want this to be a ‘Courses with Rooms’ list so that anywhere with a nice Dormy House got in. It would have become so similar to a Top 100 Courses ranking. Non-golf amenities aren’t crucial for all golfers, but they can ‘make’ a couples or family break.

4. Marks are key

Archerfield’s elite golf and accommodation.

HOW DID WE RATE THEM?

You might not read every word of this Top 100, but if a resort takes your fancy, do check out its marks; it really will give you a good idea of its emphasis – whether it’s for pure golfer connoisseurs or able to keep a family of four happy for a week.

Each resort contender was marked out of 100 in these four categories: Golf course/s - 40 points; Accommodation - 25pts; Non-golf amenities - 25pts; Setting - 10pts.

Golf course/s

Accommodation

Non-golf amenities

Setting

The quality but also the quantity of the holes. We largely followed our Top 100 Courses rankings as a guide while a second course was often pivotal as it gives you the option of never having to leave the resort for golfing variety.

Fairly self-explanatory... but given there was a separate category for non-golf amenities, this one focused on the range – as well as the quantity of accommodation – rather than facilities other than dining options.

Yes, a lot of points, but if we simply marked on courses and accommodation, anywhere with so much as a Dormy House would be eligible and it would be so similar to the pure Courses list as to reduce its worth and relevance.

You will see a lot of 7s in this category, which was the standard for a golf resort sitting in peaceful countryside, as most do. But we wanted to give some credit to resorts that have the ‘wow’ factor when you pull open your curtains.

84 Golf World February 2018

TheManor House

Ashbury Hotels

6HW LQ WKH IRRWKLOOV RI 'DUWPRRU 1DWLRQDO 3DUN 'HYRQ 7KH $VKEXU\ +RWHO LV WKH LGHDO YHQXH IRU \RXU JROI EUHDN

7KH 2QO\ 6SRUW &UDIW 6SD +RWHOV LQ WKH 8.

At least 27 holes of FREE golf with each night of stay! Ďł dž Ď­ ,ŽůĞ Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒĆ?Äž KƉĆ&#x;ŽŜĆ?

Kigbeare 15th 415 yards, Par 4

• OVER 400 BUGGIES to Hire from ÂŁ8 - ÂŁ16 • ALL Breaks FULL BOARD • FREE tĹ?ŜĞ ŽŜ ^ƾŜĚĂLJĆ?

tÄž Ä‚ĆŒÄž Ä‚ĹŻĆŒÄžÄ‚ÄšÇ‡ ƚĂůŏĹ?ĹśĹ? Ä‚Ä?Žƾƚ ĆŒÄžĆšĆľĆŒĹśĹ?ĹśĹ? Ä¨Ĺ˝ĆŒ Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒ ŜĞdžƚ ĆšĹ˝ĆľĆŒ ĂŜĚ Ç Äž ǀĞ ŜŽƚ Ä?ĞĞŜ ŚŽžĞ Ä¨Ĺ˝ĆŒ ĎŽĎ°ĹšĆŒĆ?# Bakes71 - Trip Advisor

• FREE ^Ć‰Ĺ˝ĆŒĆš ĆŒÄ‚ĹŒ >ÄžĹ?Ć?ĆľĆŒÄž Θ ^ƉĂ &Ä‚Ä?Ĺ?ĹŻĹ?Ć&#x;ÄžĆ?

Pines 17th 442 yards, Par 2

• FREE 'ŽůĨ WĆŒÄ‚Ä?Ć&#x;Ä?Äž &Ä‚Ä?Ĺ?ĹŻĹ?Ć&#x;ÄžĆ?

Oakwood 16th 172 yards, Par 3

• FREE dĞĞĆ&#x;žĞ WĆŒÄž ŽŽŏĹ?ĹśĹ? ^ÄžĆŒÇ€Ĺ?Ä?Äž / ǀĞ ĹśÄžÇ€ÄžĆŒ ƉůĂLJĞĚ Ć?ĆľÄ?Ĺš ĨĂŜƚĂĆ?Ć&#x;Ä? Ä?Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒĆ?ÄžĆ?

Stephen W - Trip Advisor

0800 781 9713

ashburygolfhotel.com

N

2XU )DQWDVWLF &RXUVHV $OO RQ 2QH 6LWH

EW

!

Kigbeare Pines Beeches Oakwood Ashbury 9 + Pines Front 9 Ashbury 9 + Pines Back 9 ĹŻĹŻ tÄžÄ‚ĆšĹšÄžĆŒ Ć?ĆšĆŒĹ˝ ^Ć‰Ĺ˝ĆŒĆšĆ? WĹ?ĆšÄ?Ĺš Θ ZƾŜŜĹ?ĹśĹ? dĆŒÄ‚Ä?ĹŹ Willows

ƾƚƾžŜ ƚŽ ^Ć‰ĆŒĹ?ĹśĹ?

EKt ώϹ(Ϗϰ(ϭ • FREE Golf

ĐŞ WĆŒĹ?Ä?Äž ĆľĹ?Ĺ?Ĺ?ÄžĆ? ÎŹ

hĹśĆŒĹ?ǀĂůůĞĚ ŚŽĹ?Ä?Äž

Par 72 Par 72 Par 69 Par 68 Par 69 Par 71 Par 54

6528 6400 5803 5502 5775 6111 1939

Early 2018 Bargain Breaks: 4 Night Midweek Breaks from ÂŁ190pp - FULL BOARD! ϭϤ dĞŜŜĹ?Ć? Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒĆšĆ?

12 Badminton Courts

ZÄ‚ĹśĹ?Äž Ä?Ć&#x;Ç€Ĺ?Ć&#x;ÄžĆ?

28 Snooker Tables

Water Slides

Hydro Spas

3 Swimming Pools

Ď­ dĆľĆšĹ˝ĆŒÄžÄš ĆŒÄ‚ĹŒĆ?

Ä‚Ćš ƚŚĞ DÄ‚ĹśĹ˝ĆŒ ,ŽƾĆ?Äž Θ Ć?ĹšÄ?ĆľĆŒÇ‡ ,ŽƚĞůĆ?--11 Bowls Rinks

Pedal Karts

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

100 Rolls of Monmouth

99 The Heritage

98 Heacham Manor

The Hendre, Monmouth

Killenard, Co.Laois

Hunstanton, Norfolk

Course 16 Accommodation 16 Amenities 12 Setting 7 Total 51

Course 15 Accommodation 17 Amenities 12 Setting 7 Total 51

Course 13 Accommodation 17 Amenities 14 Setting 7 Total 51

What it offers: Three superb self-catering cottages for short or week-long breaks allied to a course that is a fixture in our Wales Top 50.

GW verdict: Famously the former home of the Rolls Royce family, the course is divided by woodland and features water hazards.

Accommodation is limited but excellent.

What it offers: A championship course by Seve Ballesteros that is in our Irish top 100 plus wellappointed self-catering apartments. Amenities include a floodlit 5km-long walking/running track, restaurants, bars and a tennis court.

GW verdict: The suites are absolutely beautiful – an even bigger draw than the Top 100 course.

What it offers: A course of contrasting nines, with native trees, shrubs and lakes inhabiting a open, rolling front half with trees dominating a parkland back nine. The 45-room hotel ranges from standard up to the opulent Manor Suite.

GW verdict: Nice course and super hotel make it a great base for a trip to Norfolk’s iconic links.

97 Penrhos G&CC

96 Patshull Park

94 Wychwood Park

Aberystwyth, Ceredigion

Pattingham, Shropshire

Crewe, Cheshire

Courses 14 Accommodation 15 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 51 What it offers: A wide variety of holiday accommodation, from luxurious log cabins to elite modern caravans and even a ’motel style’ hotel. Amenities include an indoor pool, gym and spa facilities – and two championship courses.

GW verdict: David Williams’ 1991 course is backed by nine holes, and great accommodation.

Course 15 Accommodation 15 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 52

Course 15 Accommodation 18 Amenities 12 Setting 7 Total 52

What it offers: Capability Brown-designed parkland turned into an 18-hole course, plus 75 acres of fishing lakes and an extensive health and spa centre. Modern, well-equipped bedrooms.

GW verdict: The former manor house of the Astley family has been converted to a hotel nicely. The John Jacobs course is very pleasant.

What it offers: A course with an open feel in leafy Cheshire plus airy accommodation headlined by the award-winning ‘Steam, Bake & Grill’ restaurant, bar and welcoming clubhouse.

GW verdict: Part of Principal Hotels’ De Vere arm, the course has staged the Europro Tour and the stylish hotel is a real attraction.

93 Shrigley Hall

92 Lingfield Park

91 Greetham Valley

Macclesfield, Cheshire

East Grinstead, Surrey

Oakham, Leicestershire

Course 15 Accommodation 15 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 52

Course 14 Accommodation 16 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 52

Courses 16 Accommodation 15 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 53

What it offers: Based around a Victorian country house on the edge of the Peak District. A Donald Steel course plus a neat independent hotel, fishing, bike hire, and spa/health club with pool.

GW verdict: Peaceful destination with a course on often sharply-undulating terrain and a very pleasant hotel in a historic building.

What it offers: The course was created in 1987 among 200 acres of parkland next to the famous race course. The hotel boasts a fitness centre, heated indoor pool and a luxury ‘Breathe’ spa.

GW verdict: The Harvey Jarrett-designed course is pleasant, the hotel is impeccable. Makes possible a great golf and racing combination.

What it offers: Two contrasting 18-holers, a ninehole par-3 course and floodlit range. Eight lodges complement the 35-bedroom hotel, bar and restaurant. The resort also boasts a gym, fishing, bowls, petanque, birdwatching and walking routes.

GW verdict: Easily accessible, this 276-acre resort is countryside haven for couples and groups alike.

86 Golf World February 2018

North Shore Skegness, Lincolnshire Course 17 Accommodation 14 Amenities 13 Setting 8 Total 52 What it offers: James Braid track is the ultimate ‘course of two halves’. There are some proper links holes for part of it but then pure parkland ones. The hotel overlooks the course and sea.

GW verdict: The links holes here are superb and while the hotel isn’t fancy, it is also a terrific base from which to play Seacroft five minutes away.

90 Ufford Park

89 Worsley Park

88 Telford Hotel

Woodbridge, Suffolk

Manchester, Lancashire

Telford, Shropshire

Course 15 Accommodation 17 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 54

Course 13 Accommodation 19 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 54

Course 15 Accommodation 16 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 54

What it offers: Nice parkland course built around a central five-acre conservation area with water in play on 12 holes. Winters well too. In the hotel there are 90 well-appointed en-suite rooms, a health club, spa and indoor swimming pool.

GW verdict: Lovely all-round venue in a peaceful 120-acre site. Note the consistency of the marks.

What it offers: Built around a delightful Victorian building, once home to the Duke of Bridgewater, the parkland course is probably overshadowed by a hotel be used by visiting European teams playing Manchester Utd and City.

GW verdict: The course by former Ryder Cupper Michael King and EGD is solid. Hotel is excellent.

What it offers: Sits in a UNESCO World Heritage Site with views over the Ironbridge Gorge. Has an 18-hole course headlined by the thrilling 8th.

Also a four-star, 114-bedroom hotel with two restaurants, a spa and hi-tech health club.

GW verdict: Picturesque woodland course and a neat hotel; very good option in the Midlands.

February 2018 Golf World 87

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

Heron’s Reach

Blackpool, Lancashire Course 14 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 54 What it offers: Set within the Village Hotel Blackpool, which offers comfortable rooms and a health & fitness centre with an indoor and heated outdoor pool. The course is a stout parkland but has some risk-reward holes, such as the par-4 2nd... just 251 yards, but with out of bounds on the right.

GW verdict: A really good all-round destination, probably especially suited to larger groups.

86 Linden Hall Morpeth, Northumberland Course 15 Accommodation 17 Facilities 15 Setting 7 Total 54 What it offers: A fine Jonathan Gaunt design in unspoilt Northumberland countryside and a country house hotel with an indoor swimming pool, spa, and two AA Rosette restaurant.

GW verdict: A stately feel to this Macdonald venue, and proof of its quality is the fact it does nicely in this list despite having just one course.

85 Mottram Hall Prestbury, Cheshire

Tewksbury Hotel Tewkesbury, Glos.

Course 15 Accommodation 17 Amenities 15 Setting 7 TOTAL 54 What it offers: Delightful parkland allied to sumptuous rooms with luxurious beds and stunning views. A health club and spa too.

GW verdict: After a £3million refurbishment, the rooms are now of exceptional standard and play a key part in earning Tewksbury this spot, along with the major course upgrade by Peter McEvoy.

Course 15 Accommodation 16 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 54 What it offers: A four-star, 120-bedroom hotel and championship course that has had £1.5m spent on it. The UK’s first Alfresco thermospace spa plus an AA Rosette-awarded restaurant.

GW verdict: The parkland course is framed by oak and beech trees and is enhanced by one of the best hotels in the QHotel group.

83 Tudor Park Bearsted, Kent Course 14 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 54 What it offers: A Donald Steel design from 1988 set in a 200-acre deer park of rolling hills and wooded valleys plus a neat hotel including onebedroom suites with separate living areas.

GW verdict: A short course that will flatter rather than punish plus indoor pool, gym, spa and renowned grill room. Nothing to dislike here.

82 Wokefield Estate

81 Westerwood

80 Hawkstone Park

Reading, Berkshire

Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire

Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Course 14 Accommodation 18 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 55

Course 15 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 55

Courses 19 Accommodation 17 Amenities 12 Setting 7 Total 55

What it offers: Currently undergoing a multimillion-pound refurbishment that will take it to new levels of opulence, it has a championship course, pool and gym, plus outdoor activity course in the grounds. The rooms are plush.

GW verdict: Part of Principal Hotels’ De Vere arm, it offers good golf and a classy hotel.

What it offers: Q Hotels’ only Scottish venue has a four-star, 148-bedroom hotel with refurbished spa and health club plus two restaurants that all back up the Seve Ballesteros-designed course.

GW verdict: Seve’s course meanders among birch, fir and heather; tranquil, considering it is so accessible to Glasgow. Typically solid QHotel.

What it offers: Three courses in extensive parkland surrounding a medieval castle and the cliffs of the world-famous 18th Century Follies.

Newly-refurbished modern rooms in the hotel.

GW verdict: With the Hawkstone (the No.1), the Championship and the Short courses, you need never leave here on a long weekend break.

79 Thorpeness

78 Sprowston Manor

77 The Roxburghe

Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Norwich, Norfolk

Kelso, Scottish Borders

Course 20 Accommodation 17 Amenities 10 Setting 8 Total 55

Course 15 Accommodation 19 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 56

Course 18 Accommodation 20 Facilities 11 Setting 7 Total 56

What it offers: A highly-regarded heathland by James Braid that is a serial Top 100 England contender. Various rooms in the stylish hotel, where terrific food is the main other attraction.

GW verdict: If you only want golf and super accommodation, this is ideal. Lacks amenities for a family break, but otherwise lots to like here.

What it offers: An ancient country retreat with a course revamped totally by Ross McMurray in 2003. Stately feel to the hotel, which has a indoor pool and spa plus beautiful rooms.

GW verdict: McMurray’s use of the original course’s mature parkland plus additional land improved the course – and the hotel is grand.

What it offers: The idea of keen golfer the Duke of Roxburghe, this has a regal feel off the course via an intimate country house hotel. The course

by Dave Thomas is muscular but scenic.

GW verdict: The course has been in all of our Scottish Top 100s and the accommodation is in the top 30 of this list. Beautiful, tranquil setting.

76 Dunston Hall

75 Selsdon Park

74 Highbullen

Norwich, Norfolk

Croydon, Surrey

Umberleigh, Devon

Course 15 Accommodation 18 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 56

Course 17 Accommodation 16 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 56

Course 14 Accommodation 17 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 56

What it offers: A £2million refurbishment of the four-star, 169-bedroom characterful hotel, which has a health club and two restaurants. Solid 18-hole course plus a nine-hole Footgolf course.

GW verdict: The course blends nicely into the 150 acres of beautiful parkland and this is a super option for a tranquil break in Norfolk.

What it offers: Part of the Principal Hotels’ De Vere arm, it is a 199-room hotel with royal connections and a JH Taylor-designed course from 1929 with plenty of character.

GW verdict: Currently up for sale, it is a fantastic opportunity; it has historical appeal and a course and hotel that could be absolutely superb.

What it offers: A woodland-parkland course, while all hotel rooms have been refurbished. Has a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi plus tennis, indoor and outdoor pools, fishing and shooting.

GW verdict: A gentle course whose highlight is the 11th – played from an elevated tee to a green guarded by water – and lots of amenities.

February 2018 Golf World 89

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

73 Hill Valley

72 Barnham Broom

71 Hellidon Lakes

Whitchurch, Shropshire

Norwich, Norfolk

Daventry, Northants

Courses 17 Accommodation 16 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 56

Course 16 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 56

Courses 16 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 56

What it offers: A pool, gym and spa within a four-star hotel back up the two courses designed

by Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas in 1975.

GW verdict: The championship-length Emerald – which sweeps along undulating fairways and around natural water hazards – and 4,801-yard Sapphire are complemented nicely by the hotel.

What it offers: Frank Pennink’s Valley sits among trees with a few water features and big bunkers while Donald Steel’s Hill has wider fairways. Plus plush rooms and a leisure complex with squash.

GW verdict: Excellent for couples with its super spa and high-calibre rooms, or groups with its 36 holes and excellent bar and restaurant.

What it offers: Extensive spa and health club facilities and a four-lane bowling alley, no less, accompany the four-star, 106-bedroom hotel, restaurant, two bars – as well as 27 golf holes.

GW verdict: Water features and risk-reward holes are a strong theme to the 27 holes here. A lesser-known but very strong QHotel venue.

70 Formby Hall

69 Staverton Estate

68 Hollins Hall

Southport, Merseyside

Daventry, Northants

Shipley, West Yorkshire

Course 15 Accommodation 19 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 57

Course 16 Accommodation 18 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 57

Course 15 Accommodation 18 Amenities 16 Setting 8 Total 57

What it offers: A modern 18-hole championship course and a nine-hole Par 3. All 76 rooms refurbished for 2017 in the slick four-star hotel and the spa is immense, with a huge pool.

GW verdict: Perfectly solid modern course and the real appeal is the hotel, which is the perfect base for a break on England’s Golf Coast.

What it offers: An undulating parkland lined by mature trees and guarded by water and sand.

Off the course, a modern country house feel to the opulent accommodation that boasts a gym, heated swimming pool, sauna, and spa pool.

GW verdict: Principal Hotels’ De Vere venue offers swish rooms and an under-rated course.

What it offers: A Ross McMurray-designed course in secluded Yorkshire countryside and a really good Marriott hotel with excellent leisure and dining elements in particular.

GW verdict: McMurray nicely routed the course on undulating land that offers superb views.

Quietly excellent hotel for a memorable stay.

66 The Oxfordshire

65 Forest Pines

64 Cardrona

Thame, Oxfordshire

Brigg, Lincolnshire

Peebles, Borders

Course 18 Accommodation 18 Amenities 14 Setting 7 Total 57

Course 18 Accommodation 16 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 57

Course 14 Accommodation 18 Amenities 17 Setting 8 Total 57

What it offers: A muscular Rees Jones design from 1992, plus 46 executive bedrooms and four luxury suites as part of a similarly robust hotel.

Spa and health club form the key facilities.

GW verdict: Familiar European Tour host adds a layer of ‘experience’ to a stay here. Great venue for groups – if they like a bold challenge!

What it offers: Three loops of nine that live up to the resort’s name. There’s also a really nice fourstar, 188-bedroom hotel with two restaurants, two bars, and a recently-refurbished health club and spa including gym and swimming pool.

GW verdict: Really good all-rounder that fully deserves its place ahead of bigger names.

What it offers: A typically robust Dave Thomas course in tranquil Scottish Borders countryside and an unassuming Macdonald hotel that has a terrific spa, comfortable rooms and superb food.

GW verdict: We are big fans of this hotel, which is not especially flashy but the sort of place where a weekend break never feels long enough.

90 Golf World February 2018

Dorset G&CC

Bere Regis, Dorset Course 16 Accommodation 18 Amenities 15 Setting 8 Total 57 What it offers: Secluded woodland location for a pretty 27-hole course by Martin Hawtree that is complemented by exceptional, spacious log cabins right next to the course. Woodland walks, bowls, fishing and a fitness centre complete the picture.

GW verdict: More than just a great base for your trip to play Dorset’s stellar heathlands (although it is that too). Really nice golf holes, superb cabins and fair bit to do off the course.

ONE F 2019OR

The M achrie will c entr The h y in the re ategorica fre lly otel is being shed list in be an is any finish 2019. thing e dn lik renov ation e as impre ow and if o it s s f iv remo t te ret he links co e as the r e u a r s t e o Islay will b n the isla , this nd of e for th a contend er e top 20.

February 2018 Golf World 91

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

63 Murrayshall

62 Belton Woods

61 Manor House & Ashbury

Scone, Perthshire

Grantham, Lincolnshire

Okehampton, Devon

Courses 21 Accommodation 18 Amenities 12 Setting 7 Total 58

Courses 18 Accommodation 16 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 58

Courses 14 Accommodation 15 Amenities 22 Setting 7 Total 58

What it offers: A Scottish Top 100 course and a contrasting No.2 that is more than matched by beautiful accommodation ranging from cosy single bedrooms to luxurious suites.

GW verdict: Murrayshall is ider and longer, Lynedoch is shorter and narrower among bracken. Gorgeous spot for a couples’ break.

What it offers: A lot of golf – 45 holes in fact – plus a four-star, 136-bedroom hotel with two restaurants and luxury lodges. Refurbished leisure club and spa including new fitness studio, new treatments rooms, tennis courts and café.

GW verdict: Ideal for groups who want three days of golf but don’t want to get in the car.

What it offers: What doesn’t it offer? There are four 18-hole courses and two nine-holers (one a Par 3) plus over 70 sport, craft, leisure and spa activities as well as the 222-room Ashbury hotel and 204-room Manor House to stay in.

GW verdict: It’s busy and hectic, but perfect with family or if you want an active break with friends.

60 Old Thorns

59 Stoke by Nayland

58 Oulton Hall

Liphook, Hampshire

Colchester, Essex

Leeds, Yorkshire

Course 15 Accommodation 18 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 58

Courses 17 Accommodation 18 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 59

Course 15 Accommodation 21 Facilities 16 Setting 7 Total 59

What it offers: A Peter Alliss-designed course among mature woodland with significant elevation change. Plus a large, well-equipped hotel – as well as spacious flats – with a big spa and gym, great dining and even a Starbucks!

GW verdict: Well-equipped resort and a brilliant base for Hampshire and Surrey’s superstars.

What it offers: Two 18-hole championship courses in a Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a two AA Rosette restaurant, a plush 80-bed hotel plus five lodges, a big spa and a gym.

GW verdict: Two nice courses set among lakes, streams and mature woodland. Modern-feel hotel eases it into the 50s in our ranking.

What it offers: There are 27 holes of parkland golf by Dave Thomas plus a hotel of real style that features two restaurants, a Champagne bar, outstanding spa and health club facilities.

GW verdict: Four-star hotel is the key lure and for a couples weekend this is ideal – and within half an hour of Leeds city centre’s attractions.

57 Meon Valley

56 Dartmouth Hotel, Golf & Spa

55 Breadsall Priory

Shedfield, Hampshire

Blackawton , Devon

Morley, Derbyshire

Courses 19 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 59

Courses 19 Accommodation 18 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 59

Courses 19 Accommodation 17 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 60

What it offers: Hamilton J Stutt’s championship course winds between lakes, streams and among woodland areas. The Valley, around the ruins of a Roman village, is a nice accompaniment.

GW verdict: Thirty-six pleasant holes plus a really nice hotel with spa, fitness and pool make this one of Marriott’s most well-rounded venues.

What it offers: Two 18-hole courses allied to 35 en-suite twin or double bedrooms in a Best Western group hotel plus new self-catering properties and a comprehensive spa.

GW verdict: Under-stated but impressive, with the Jeremy Penn courses offering pleasant parkland golf. Peaceful break in a neat complex.

What it offers: Two courses set in 400 acres of parkland near the Peak District National Park.

The Priory by David Cox opened in 1977 and was later joined by the Moorland by Donald Steel.

GW verdict: Peaceful location for 36 holes of consistent parkland-moorland golf and a neat hotel that lives up to Marriott standards.

92 Golf World February 2018

Stay and Play Prices from £79 for 1 night and from £151 for 2 night breaks

STAY & PLAY BREAKS AT HEACHAM MANOR All breaks include: > Superb accommodation > 3 course evening meal > Full Norfolk cooked breakfast > 2 Rounds of quality golf on our 18 hole golf course > Groups welcome – 1 in 10 go free

THE NORTH WEST NORFOLK GOLF TOUR Golf Breaks on the North Norfolk Coast

Three Excellent Courses – One Great Hotel

Prices for 2018 now from £222pp Enjoy three days of golf on three bea courses of Hunstanton, Heacham & two night’s dinner, bed & breakfast a

HUNSTANTON GOLF CLUB

HEACHAM MANOR GOLF CLUB

KING’S LYNN GOLF CLUB

Advance booking recommended. Book online or call 01485 536030 www.heacham-manor.co.uk HEACHAM MANOR HOTEL, HUNSTANTON ROAD, HEACHAM, NORFOLK PE31 7JX

Golf Breaks at Murrayshall Hotel & Golf Courses from

£84.50 per person

Stay in award winning luxury and experience a golf break in the heart of Scotland...b Our golf breaks include dinner in our Stutts Bar restaurant, bed and breakfast and one round of golf over one of our two 18 holes courses. Discounted green fee rates for additional rounds and 1 free place in every 12 guests.

Murrayshall has been under new ownership since November 2016, during this time we have refurbishedba number of our bedrooms, the cocktail bar and main restaurant,bwhile improving the golf courses in 2017, visit our website at www.murrayshall.co.uk to see the exciting transformation that has taken place.bb

To Book: Call us on 01738 551171 or Email golf@murrayshall.co.uk

GLENEAGLES THE GLORIOUS PLAYGROUND When Gleneagles first opened its doors in 1924 it quickly became known as a ‘Riviera in the Highlands’. Today, the breadth of its attractions, including three championship courses and a wealth of country pursuits, positions it as a sporting estate filled with fun and adventure.

“The finest parcel of land in the world I have ever been given to work with.”

THE PGA CENTENARY COURSE DESIGNER, JACK NICKLAUS

Advertorial Feature

J

ust an hour’s drive from Edinburgh and Glasgow airports lies what has been the high-profile face of world-class golf and hospitality in Scotland for more than 90 years.

Gleneagles: ‘The Jewel in The Glen’, ‘The Riviera in the Highlands’, an iconic 850-acre estate that proudly enjoys its reputation as a leading luxury destination.

Today, under the new ownership of Ennismore, Gleneagles is entering a new era, and it is thriving. The estate has witnessed a multi-millionpound investment project that has seen the quintessentially British hotel transformed with opulent décor that takes its inspiration from the roaring 20s when the hotel was a bolthole for high society.

Its 232 luxury bedrooms and suites have been enhanced with beautiful detailing, fabrics and craftsmanship and each celebrate the stories of Gleneagles’ past through specially-curated furnishings, antiques and art.

New restaurants, bars and cafes – The Birnam Brasserie, The American Bar, Auchterarder 70 and The Garden Café – sit alongside long-time Gleneagles favourites like The Strathearn, one of the last bastions of Highland fine dining, the re-invigorated Century Bar and ‘Andrew Fairlie’, Scotland’s only twoMichelin starred restaurant.

DID YOU KNOW? In 1910, Donald Matheson, GM of the Caledonian Railway Company, first had the idea for Gleneagles while on holiday in Strathearn. His railway line ran through a picturesque valley and he was so impressed by the surrounding countryside that he created a vision for a large country house hotel built in the style of a palace which would provide leisure to the travelling public in the form of golf.

Unashamedly though, Gleneagles has built its reputation as a sporting estate, and golf sits at its very heart, attracting a complete spectrum of enthusiasts, from complete novices to the game through to international golfing aficionados, corporate guests and world-renowned celebrities.

Boasting three 18-hole championship golf courses in its King’s, Queen’s, and The PGA Centenary layouts, plus an enticing nine-hole PGA National Academy Par 3 Course, it is understandable why 75,000 rounds of golf are played at the Perthshire estate each year.

The King’s, designed by renowned golf course architect, James Braid and offering views across the Ochil Hills, Grampians and Trossachs,

The 18th hole on the Queen’s Course features woodland and ditches.

A WARM APRÈS-GOLF WELCOME AWAITS… Gleneagles’ Dormy Clubhouse is a firm favourite with families, friends and golfers. The open fire and inspiring views across the King’s and Queen’s courses create the perfect atmosphere for relaxation, while a menu of grill classics and specialities from the tandoor oven appeal to all

tastes and appetites.

Auchterarder 70 is a new, informal craft beer bar named after the hotel’s original telephone number.

The 1920s style evokes the rich nostalgia of this famous clubhouse with reclaimed oak parquet block flooring, fluted oak wall panelling, and decorative

opened for play in 1919.

The course subsequently hosted an historic ‘International Challenge Match’ between British and American professionals, including James Braid, which is seen as a forerunner to The Ryder Cup. The course hosted a famous match between the ‘Big Three’ of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player in 1966 and Lee Trevino famously said about The King’s: ‘If heaven is anything like this, I hope they save me a tee-time.’

The course was enhanced in 2016 during an extensive restoration programme that included taking the fairway cut lines back to the original James Braid design, alongside a comprehensive bunker liner refurbishment project that aided

gloss-painted timber-arched panelling, which references Gleneagles’ railway station and carriage seating.

Auchterarder 70 represents the beginning of an investment project that will see the Dormy House reinvented in early 2018, This will include the addition of a new, modern retail shop.

The Dormy Clubhouse and Auchterarder 70 offer wonderful environments, whatever your mood.

Indulge in more than 50 other activities…

Guests can try falconry, horse riding, tennis, offroading, cycling, gundog training, clay pigeon and game shooting, archery, fly fishing and even ferret racing!

Or something more relaxing at the awardwinning ‘The Spa at Gleneagles by ESPA’, or unwind in The Health Club, complete with two indoor pools, bubble pool and thermal suite.

drainage and improved the aesthetic look of all 18 holes.

Its sister course, The Queen’s, entering Golf World’s Top 100 Great Britain and Ireland ranking in 2016, was originally a nine-hole course and was extended to 18 in 1925. It’s recognised as one of the finest par-68 golf courses in the UK. Threading through high ridges on the north and west sides of the Gleneagles estate, The Queen’s offers a variety of woodland settings, lochs and ditches as water hazards, as well as many moorland characteristics.

Similar to The King’s, The Queen’s has undergone recent renovations that have seen drainage enhancements made to 89 bunkers and fairway cut lines drawn back to Braid’s original design.

Both courses have seen their fairways widened by as much as 40%, seeing many fairway bunkers now surrounded by fast-running cut grass, rather than deep rough, increasing the challenge off the tee and penalising any wayward drive.

Its final 18-holes – the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course – is an American-style layout that rose to prominence as it hosted Europe’s thrilling and historic victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup.

The King’s Course is back to its original best following a fantastic renovation.

GLENEAGLES IN NUMBERS… 2: The ‘Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles’ fine dining restaurant, owned by Scottishborn chef Andrew Fairlie, is the only two-Michelin starred restaurant in Scotland.

5: Hours by train from central London to arrive at Gleneagles’ own railway station.

320: Length of the double-ended driving range at the PGA National Golf Academy.

850: Acres of Perthshire countryside forming the Gleneagles estate.

2019: Centenary year for the King’s and Queen’s courses, and host year for The Solheim Cup. 30000: Annual rounds of golf played at Gleneagles.

GLENEAGLES INTERNATIONAL PRO-AM 2018 Play, dine and celebrate in the footsteps of golfing legends.

The International Pro-Am is now in its third year, and blends world class golf with five-star ‘Glorious Playground’ hospitality. It takes place from 24-27 July, 2018.

The event combines four days of competition played over Gleneagles’ three world-class courses with luxury accommodation, fine dining, outstanding prizes, and an exceptional social programme.

The Pro-Am is perfect for individual golfers and their partners, groups of friends, club professionals and amateurs, who want to be a part of a unique tournament event at one of the most iconic and prestigious golfing venues in the world.

Interested parties should call 0800 389 3737 or email resort.sales@gleneagles.com for further information and booking, or visit: www.gleneagles. com/event/international-pro-am

Advertorial Feature

SPECIAL GOLF PACKAGES Golf and More Enjoy an overnight stay with full Scottish breakfast and use of The Health Club leisure facilities. Choose to play The PGA Centenary, King’s or Queen’s Courses. Prices from £395pp (Ts&Cs apply).

Kingsbarns Golf Break Gleneagles has teamed up with Kingsbarns Golf Links to create a package that lets you experience the very best golf Scotland has to offer.

Between May 1, 2018 and September 31, 2018, guests can enjoy (based on two people sharing a classic room) an overnight stay including full Scottish breakfast, one round on either The PGA Centenary, King’s or Queen’s and one round at Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Prices from £615pp (Ts&Cs apply).

Swing and Dine

It will once again position itself centre-stage in 2018 for the European Golf Team Championships, the first professional male and female event, which tantalisingly leads on to the hosting of the 2019 Solheim Cup, where the European team will be led by Scot, Catriona Matthew.

Gary Silcock, Director of Golf at Gleneagles, neatly sums up its golf operation: “You could be forgiven for thinking that being host venue for The Ryder Cup 2014 was the pinnacle of the journey for us. We, in fact, see it as the beginning, and our story will continue to get stronger and stronger.”

“Illustrating this is the fact that all three courses will host major events in 2018. The PGA Centenary will welcome the European Team Championships, the King’s will stage the 100th playing of the Scottish Stroke Play Championship, and the Queen’s will welcome the second Mixed event for Scottish Golf.”

Gleneagles is also the bedrock for

Above The 18th green on the King’s course, with the 1st hole and the Glen as a beautiful backdrop.

nurturing new talent into the game, and its PGA National Golf Academy, with bespoke short and long-game practice facilities, prides itself on delivering tailored golf lessons, golf club custom-fitting services (including a very special next-day delivery on fully customfitted Mizuno irons!), and junior golf camps and schools for the players of tomorrow.

In order to deliver world-class customer service and facilities, Gleneagles has invested heavily in people, alongside the headline enhancements to its golf courses. It now boasts 52 greenkeepers (including nine apprentices), and has 11 PGA professionals on staff, the highest number in Scotland – it had five at the beginning of 2015.

“The investments we will continue to make in our golf team are having a direct, and very positive, influence on our customers and the five-star experience they enjoy every day, playing at Gleneagles,” concluded Gary.

Enjoy an overnight stay including dinner in the Strathearn Restaurant and access to the Health Club. In addition, choose to play on The PGA Centenary Course, King’s, or Queen’s.

Prices from £515pp (Ts&Cs apply).

The Major Package Valid from Sunday to Wednesday, includes a two-night stay with full Scottish breakfast and use of The Health Club leisure facilities. In addition, play a round on The PGA Centenary Course, King’s, or Queen’s.

Prices from £830pp.

The Sweet Spot Valid from Sunday to Wednesday, includes a one night stay with full Scottish breakfast, use of The Health Club leisure facilities and two rounds of golf. Guests can choose either The PGA Centenary Course, King’s, or Queen’s. Prices from £475pp.

WWW.GLENEAGLES.COM

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

54 Stapleford Park

53 Portal

Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

Tarporley, Cheshire

Course 15 Accommodation 19 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 60

Courses 19 Accommodation 18 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 60

What it offers: A Donald Steel course among 500 acres of Capability Brown grounds and a sumptuous hotel within a Grade I listed mansion, a luxury spa, archery, falconry and clay pigeon shooting, horse riding, croquet and swimming.

GW verdict: Classic English parkland but the classy hotel and its amenities are the big lure.

What it offers: Two 18-hole courses and a nineholer, the largest indoor golf academy in Europe and a large hotel with a good spa and restaurant.

GW verdict: The Championship is the No.1 but this venue is given ballast by the Premier – with arguably the best hole on site in the 7th, cut out of a quarry – to get it to the cusp of the top 50.

51 Luton Hoo

50 The Mere

Luton, Bedfordshire

Manchester, Lancashire

Course 15 Accommodation 20 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 60

Course 16 Accommodation 20 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 60

What it offers: A bold course in Grade 1 listed parkland among oak, beech and sweet chestnut that was created out of the old Victorian nineholer and a five-star hotel within a 18th century Mansion House. A spa, tennis, bike hire, shooting.

GW verdict: Loads to enjoy at this classy venue, headlined by a stylish hotel and its amenities.

What it offers: A course with heritage that is regaining more of a heathland feel, plus a swish hotel that is a ‘place to be seen’ in Cheshire. A spa and terrific food give an appealing picture.

GW verdict: Just one course but a high-end feel to everything here. Might be a surprise in our top 50, but only to those who haven’t been.

49 Prince’s

48 Forest of Arden

Sandwich, Kent

Meriden, Warwickshire

Course 22 Accommodation 19 Amenities 11 Setting 8 Total 60

Courses 18 Accommodation 18 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 60

What it offers: An Open host and an additional nine that are being worked on by Mackenzie & Ebert to bring them up to the same standard.

Fantastic on-site lodge accommodation.

GW verdict: Look at the marks; if non-golf facilities aren’t key, this is a top-10 venue as the links golf, accommodation, and food is superb.

What it offers: Two courses – the Arden by Donald Steel built on Lord Aylesford’s 10,000-acre estate in the 1970s, and the shorter Aylesford – plus a well-equipped Marriott hotel.

GW verdict: Host of seven English Opens, while it might lack the glitz off the course of others in this list, it is a very strong 36-hole venue.

98 Golf World February 2018

Castlemartyr

Waterford Castle

Bowood Calne, Wiltshire Course 14 Accommodation 20 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 60 What it offers: The home of the Lansdowne family for over 250 years, Bowood House lies in the centre of a beautiful rolling Capability Brown-landscaped estate that includes a large lake. Dave Thomas designed the modern championship course.

GW Verdict: Thomas’ course is perfectly nice, but it is the amenities – including an adventure playground and soft play for kids – and the 43-room boutique hotel that give Bowood this lofty spot.

WALES’ SWEET SPOT There are few places in the UK that offer golfers the range of facilities and as many inspiring golf holes as the Vale Resort – the ideal venue for your next golf break or away day.

• • • • • • •

143 luxury 4* bedrooms 2 championship courses Award winning dining options 19 treatment room spa Extensive leisure facilities FREE WIFI FREE parking

B&B + 18 holes

THE FIVE THAT JUST MISSED OUT...

Leicestershire venue is originally a 17th Century Manor House, but now houses a privately-owned four-star, 72-bedroom hotel of some character. It is a nice accompaniment to the parkland course – with water features and mature trees – from 1976.

2 Castlemartyr Another Irish super resort that boasts a national Top 100-ranked course along with excellent off-course facilities and sumptuous, classical accommodation. Located in Co. Cork, it has loads to do for children in addition to traditional country house pursuits.

3 Leeds Castle Has accommodation in the grounds via several holiday cottages, Stable courtyard and Maiden’s Tower B&B, and Knight’s ‘Glamping’, giving families and couples the chance

to escape to the countryside.

The Castle, the historic Gatehouse exhibition, the Dog Colar museum and the Battle for the Skies RAF museum offer different kinds of amenities. Oh, and a historic nine-holer by the esteemed Sir Guy Campbell.

D,B&B + 36 holes

£69 pp*

from

2018 Society Days

£99 pp‡

from

£35 pp†

Pleased to be in Golf World Magazine’s Top 100 Resorts In Britain & Ireland

4 St Mary’s G&CC St Mary’s near Pencoed has 24 en-suite bedrooms furnished to the highest standard. In the oldest part of the building they have retained many of the original walls and fireplaces dating back to the 16th Century.

Nice parkland course.

5 Waterford Castle Des Smyth design is Ireland’s only true island course – surrounded by the River Suir and reached by ferry – plus 45 selfcatering family lodges as well as the 19 luxurious rooms in the ancient castle. Non-golf facilities to keep everyone happy too.

01443 667800 | www.valeresort.com Hensol Park, Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan, CF72 8JY *Terms & conditions apply, subject to availability. ‡Sunday Driver. † Mon to Thur, 3rd April to 31st Oct 2018 Minimum 12 players.

GW11 17

1 Ullesthorpe Court

from

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

47 Dale Hill

46 Aldwark Manor

45 Meldrum House

Wadhurst, East Sussex

York, North Yorkshire

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire

Courses 20 Accommodation 17 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 60

Course 18 Accommodation 19 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 60

Course 20 Accommodation 20 Amenities 13 Setting 7 Total 60

What it offers: There are 35 stylish en-suite bedrooms, plus an indoor pool and wellequipped gym. The Ian Woosnam, by the former Masters champion, is the No.1 course and is backed up impressively by The Dale Hill.

GW verdict: Two consistent courses on the Sussex Weald and a very nice small hotel.

What it offers: Set within 120 acres of parkland, the River Ure meanders through the course. The rooms mix a contemporary wing attached to the 17th Century manor house. Spa and health club.

GW verdict: The four-star, 53-bedroom hotel and its AA Rosette restaurant add to a scenic course to get this QHotel venue in the top 50.

What it offers: A Scottish Top 100 course as well as hotel that offers luxury and comfort.

GW verdict: You can only play the course – an interesting design by Graham Webster – if you stay in the hotel, and even it’s not cheap, we’re saying both are worth the expense. A quietly excellent venue with a homely feel to the luxury.

44 Rudding Park

43 Goodwood

42 Fota Island

Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Chichester, Sussex

Cork Harbour, Cork

Courses 16 Accommodation 20 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 61

Courses 22 Accommodation 19 Amenities 12 Setting 8 Total 61

Courses 20 Accommodation 18 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 61

What it offers: A Martin Hawtree championship course plus the cool Repton six-holer – including the 5th, based on the 17th at Sawgrass. A stately feel to the hotel, which is indubitably sumptuous.

GW verdict: Luxurious Yorkshire venue with a superb hotel in fabulous estate grounds and spa – plus a very enjoyable woodland course.

What it offers: A James Braid design that has just been renovated by Tom Mackenzie and is part of a sporting estate with a delightful hotel.

Health club has a gym, pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, fitness classes and tennis.

GW verdict: One for the connoisseur. A touch of class at this 36-hole Sussex retreat.

What it offers: Three championship-standard courses – Deerpark (Irish Open host), Belvelly, and Barryscourt – and a five-star hotel, or selfcatering lodges. Water sports, forest activities plus a stylish spa and fine dining.

GW verdict: Lots of golf, stylish accommodation and enough amentities to be a top-40 venue.

41 Mar Hall

40 The Vale

39 Mount Wolseley

Glasgow, Renfrewshire

Cardiff, Wales

Tallow, Carlow

Course 16 Accommodation 20 Amenities 16 Setting 9 Total 61

Courses 18 Accommodation 18 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 61

Course 17 Accommodation 18 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 61

What if offers: A course on the edge of the Clyde that was designed by the late Dave Thomas and his son, plus a genuine five-star hotel.

GW verdict: From four-poster beds to exquisite bathrooms and opulent decor this is one of the finest golf hotels in Scotland. The course is overshadowed, but still aesthetically pleasing.

What it offers: One of Wales’ most stringent championship courses and a very presentable second course as well as an excellent hotel with a wide array of amenities including a fine spa.

GW verdict: Really doesn’t lose much in comparison to Celtic Manor – and that is no mean feat. You will not be disappointed here.

What it offers: Christy O’Connor Jnr designed this lush, water-punctuated parkland. Opulence in the hotel, its rooms and restaurants while there are extensive leisure facilities including a pool, sauna, steam room and kid’s play room.

GW verdict: Great for families, with indoor and outdoor activities, and a Irish Top 100 course.

100 Golf World February 2018

Experience two fabulous Surrey courses with a round at Foxhills Club & Resort.

Just 12 minutes from Sunningdale and close to the M25 and M3, Foxhills is the scene of 2017’s PGA Cup. Swing into action on the tight, tree-lined Longcross course, named in England’s Top 100 in 2015 and 2017.

Or tackle the Bernard Hunt, home WR WKH ÀQDO URXQG RI WKH 6HQLRU 3*$ Professional Championship since 2014.

Foxhills has Championship golf down to a tee.

Stonehill Road Ottershaw, Surrey KT16 0EL t: 01932 704465 foxhills.co.uk

Wish you were here Ufford Park Woodbridge

1 night Golf Breaks from only £98* per person includes complimentary use of the Health Club with it’s gym and pool.

Looking for the perfect all year round venue for your golf break?

Set in the heart of Suffolk and located just off the A12, our 18 hole, par 71 course is ideal for the beginner or the experienced player.

Book your tee time online, visit the on-site AmericanGolf superstore and practice your swing on our 2 tier floodlit driving range, all before you even set foot on the lovingly cared for, award-winning, top winter course.

CELEBRATING

7

YEARS 1

*Terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability.

1992-2

t 0844 477 1829 (local rate) w www.uffordpark.co.uk Yarmouth Road| Woodbridge | Suffolk | IP12 1QW

0

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

38 Heythrop Park

37 Trevose

36 Hanbury Manor

Enstone, Oxfordshire

Padstow, Cornwall

Hanbury Manor, Hertfordshire

Course 16 Accommodation 20 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 61

Course 22 Accommodation 17 Amenities 14 Setting 8 Total 61

Course 18 Accommodation 19 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 62

What it offers: Sitting on a 1710 estate there are two hotels: the elegant, historic Heythrop Park and stylish modern Crowne Plaza. A course by Tom Mackenzie. A spa plus children’s activities.

GW verdict: Take your pick of accommodation, and you’ll enjoy the course among woodland, lakes and streams. Ought to be better known.

What it offers: A English Top 100 course that is a GB&I contender, and has just been enhanced by Tom Mackenzie. On-site lodge accommodation catering for groups of between two to six.

GW verdict: One for the connoisseur who wants links golf and a spectacular setting, and possibly as a base from which to play St Enodoc et al too.

What it offers: A course by Jack Nicklaus II that nicely incorporates features from an earlier nineholer by Harry Vardon plus a 17th Century country house that is the basis for a luxury hotel.

GW verdict: Located in 200 acres of parkland yet with great access to London and airports, it lives up to its billing as a five-star resort.

35 Foxhills

34 St Pierre

33 Carden Park

Ottershaw, Surrey

Chepstow, Wales

Chester, Cheshire

Courses 25 Accommodation 17 Amenities 14 Setting 7 Total 63

Courses 20 Accommodation 20 Amenities 16 Setting 7 Total 63

Courses 19 Accommodation 19 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 64

What it offers: A English Top 100-ranked course plus one that is more or less as good, in addition to a delightful hotel with excellent spa facilities.

GW verdict: Longcross and Hunt offer 36 terrific holes and it is a great base for a Surrey trip.

Limited non-golf amenities but the spa is first class and the food terrific.

What it offers: Two courses and a refurbished hotel. Built around a charming 14th Century manor and 11th Century church the Old course has a famous par 3 over water to finish and is complemented by the more forgiving Mathern.

GW verdict: A £1.8m hotel facelift and £2m Old course revamp has got this resort in top form.

What it offers: Two 18-holers – the Nicklaus and Cheshire – plus swish accommodation and activities from archery, tennis and a spa to a children’s playground, falconry and biking.

GW verdict: One of England’s prime venues by virtue of its accommodation, extensive amenities and 36 holes, the Cheshire being a good No.2.

32 Brocket Hall

31 Slieve Russell

30 Manor House

Welwyn, Hertfordshire

Ballyconnell, Cavan

Chippenham, Wiltshire

Courses 21 Accommodation 21 Amenities 15 Setting 7 Total 64

Course 18 Accommodation 19 Amenities 20 Setting 7 Total 64

Course 16 Accommodation 22 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 64

What it offers: Two championship courses in mature parkland, named after Prime Ministers who once stayed here, Palmerston and Melbourne. Individual, uber-stylish bedrooms.

GW verdict: Exquisite accommodation and very even courses by Alliss/Clark (with the river in play) and Donald Steel (among woodland).

What it offers: Top 100-ranked course by Paddy Merrigan wraps around lakes with water all over the back nine. Lovely bedrooms plus lots of facilities: tennis, leisure and spa centre, and a kid’s club specialising in arts and crafts.

GW verdict: The best Irish golf resort you’ve never heard of? This ranking does not flatter it.

What it offers: A spectacular Cotswolds bolt hole, it is the kind of place where you sleep on handmade mattresses after dining on Michelinstarred food. A 1992 course by Alliss and Clark.

GW verdict: Golf is just a small part of its fivestar appeal. Fishing, croquet, gardens, tennis, exquisite dining... it’s well worthy of our top 30.

102 Golf World February 2018

M O R E

T H A N

C H A M P I O N S H I P

Discover a new definition of luxury. Located on 200 acres of manicured Hertfordshire parkland, this stately Jacobean international hotel and country club boasts a wealth of 5-star amenities and is only 25 miles from Central London.

Once host to the English Open our 18 hole championship golf course now features within the European Seniors Tour.

Whether you’re dining on the terrace or being pampered in the spa, allow the team at ‘London’s Original Country Retreat’ make your stay a very special one.

R E S E RVAT I O N S Please call +44 1920 487 722 or visit marriotthanburymanor.co.uk Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club Cambridge Road, Thundridge, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 0SD

G O L F

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

29 Bovey Castle

28 East Sussex National

27 Close House

North Bovey, Devon

Uckfield, Sussex

Newcastle, Northumberland

Course 17 Accommodation 20 Amenities 21 Setting 7 Total 65

Course 22 Accommodation 19 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 65

Courses 25 Accommodation 23 Amenities 10 Setting 7 Total 65

What it offers: A lovely course from 1926 by J F Abercromby plus a five-star hotel with loads for kids to do as well as activities that range from making sloe gin to shooting to archery.

GW verdict: Intended to be the Gleneagles of England – and not unlike it. The golf is nice, but as the marks suggest, isn’t the key attraction.

What it offers: Two 18-hole courses of similar standard that have hosted the European Tour in the 1980s. A very comprehensive on-site hotel.

GW verdict: The golf here is a nice surprise – much better than standard resort fare. So with 36 holes and a good hotel, it gains a top-30 position some may view as lofty.

What it offers: Two courses – the Colt in the Top 100 England, plus the Filly – offer two 18-hole parklands on undulating land, while the fabulous bedrooms are within 50 steps of the clubhouse.

GW verdict: Analyse the marks; minimal facilities but we rate the courses (notably Colt) and the accommodation so highly it gets a premium slot.

26 Dalmahoy

25 Rockliffe Resort

24 Slaley Hall

Edinburgh, Lothians

Darlington, Teesside

Hexham, Northumberland

Courses 26 Accommodation 16 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 66

Course 19 Accommodation 21 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 66

Courses 23 Accommodation 17 Amenities 18 Setting 8 Total 66

What it offers: Two 18-holers – the East by James Braid is a monster at over 7,400 yards – while the West is shorter and a good mix of 4s and 3s. A Marriott hotel in a charming building.

GW verdict: With courses of pedigree, this Solheim Cup venue is perfect for a long weekend of golf and sightseeing in Scotland’s capital.

What it offers: A fine modern course by Marc Westenborg, a five-star hotel as well as separate luxury suites and a superb spa and dining.

GW verdict: A top-25 position for this onecourse resort shows how highly we rate the opulent accommodation and its exceptionally well designed modern championship parkland.

What it offers: In 1,000 acres of Northumberland moorland and forest, the 141-bedroom, four-star hotel sits within an elegant Edwardian mansion and is surrounded by two championship courses.

GW verdict: While the Hunting is clearly the No.1, the Priestman gives Slaley real strength in depth.

Nice hotel and loads of outdoor activities too.

23 Spey Valley

22 Cameron House & The Carrick

21 Dromoland Castle

Aviemore, Highlands

Helensburgh, Argyll

Newmarket-on-Fergus, Clare

Course 20 Accommodation 19 Amenities 19 Setting 9 Total 67

Course 15 Accommodation 23 Amenities 20 Setting 10 Total 68

Course 18 Accommodation 24 Amenities 19 Setting 7 Total 68

What it offers: Three hotels and 18 Woodland Lodges provide the accommodation and there is a Dave Thomas course that is a Scottish Top 100 stalwart – all in the Cairngorms National Park.

GW verdict: It offers top-20 quality; amazing scenery, fine course, lots of nice accommodation and activities such as pool, soft play and cinema.

What it offers: One of the few 10s for setting in this list, you never tire of opening your bedroom curtains and looking out over Loch Lomond. The Carrick course is a five-minute drive away and is a mix of solid holes and spectacular ones.

GW verdict: The hotel is key to this place, despite The Carrick being a Scottish Top 100 course.

What it offers: An Irish Top 100 course by Ron Kirby yet it is the secondary attraction here; the highlight is staying in this mesmeric castle of grand staircases, ornate open fireplaces, narrow stone passageways, handsome hallways, antique chandeliers and luxurious rooms.

GW verdict: An unforgettable experience.

104 Golf World February 2018

2018 Golf Breaks at Macdonald Hotels & Resorts GOLF BREAKS GO WITH A SWING AT MACDONALD HOTELS WITH A CHOICE OF CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF COURSES ACROSS THE UK. Stay in luxurious accommodation and enjoy award-winning food, prepared using only the finest and freshest produce.

Book before 31st January 2018 and receive: • 1 in 12 go free • 20% off drinks • Free bacon rolls on arrival Terms and conditions apply.

Offer must be booked before 31st January 2018 and is for groups of 12 or more.

Call 0344 879 9048 to book your golf break today MACDONALD SPEY VALLEY GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, AVIEMORE MACDONALD C ARDRONA HOTEL, GOLF & SPA, PEEBLES MACDONALD LINDEN HALL GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, NORTHUMBERLAND

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

20 Portmarnock Hotel

19 Machrihanish Dunes

18 Druids Glen

Malahide, Dublin

Machrihanish, Argyll

Newtown Mount Kennedy, Wicklow

Course 22 Accommodation 20 Amenities 18 Setting 8 Total 68

Course 28 Accommodation 20 Amenities 11 Setting 9 Total 68

Courses 26 Accommodation 18 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 68

What it offers: This links on Dublin’s outskirts by EGD and Bernhard Langer is genuinely good while the stately former home of the Jameson whiskey family has been beautifully converted into a hotel. Both overlook the Irish Sea. GW verdict: Top 20 is the least it deserves after astute investment on and off the course.

What it offers: GB&I Top 100 links that is rising inexorably towards the top 50. Its hotel is 10 minutes’ drive away, but is hardly a negative as it overlooks the iconic 1st tee of Machrihanish Old. GW verdict: The David McLay Kidd links is golf in the raw, the Ugadale Hotel offers real comfort.

The adjoining cottages are sensationally good.

What it offers: A robust resort between the Wicklow Mountains and the Irish Sea. Two Irish Top 100 courses and a 145-room hotel, extensive dining options and a spa and health club.

GW verdict: Glen is the No.1 – by Pat Ruddy & Tom Craddock – but the Glen is a fine No.2. Noone would have blinked if it had been top 10.

17 Rosapenna

16 Archerfield

Letterkenny, Donegal

Gullane, East Lothian

15 St Mellion

Courses 32 Accommodation 17 Amenities 10 Setting 9 Total 68

Courses 29 Accommodation 25 Amenities 7 Setting 7 Total 68

Courses 28 Accommodation 17 Amenities 18 Setting 7 Total 70

What it offers: A GB&I Top 100 links and a fastrising Irish Top 100 links, plus a majestic setting

by Sheephaven Bay. A roomy hotel where you will enjoy your Guinness long into the night.

GW verdict: A links connoisseur’s pilgrimage.

There’s nothing flashy about Rosapenna… except the world-class holes of rugged seaside golf.

What it offers: Two Scottish Top 100 courses; the Fidra starts among towering pines, the Dirleton a pure links. Luxury detached houses among the pines might be our favourite in the whole list.

GW verdict: We didn’t want ‘courses with rooms’ but the quality and quantity of golf and peerless accommodation get Archerfield this lofty slot.

What it offers: A course that’s been a GB&I Top 100 entrant backed up by a very presentable No.2. A super hotel full of amenities – so it can cater easily for couples, families and groups.

GW verdict: Sits above several resorts that might think they would be ahead of St Mellion, but this Cornish complex impresses in all ways.

14 Fairmont St Andrews

13 The Grove

12 Old Course Hotel & Duke’s

St Andrews, Fife

Watford, Hertfordshire

St Andrews, Fife

Courses 25 Accommodation 23 Amenities 18 Setting 8 Total 74

Course 26 Accommodation 24 Amenities 17 Setting 7 Total 74

Course 23 Accommodation 23 Amenities 18 Setting 10 Total 74

What it offers: Two Scottish Top 100 courses with superb settings overlooking the sea, as well as a fabulous hotel with a wealth of amenities.

GW verdict: Sits just outside the Auld Grey Toun so you don’t get the magic of St Andrews itself but you do get a seriously enviable location and one of the best hotels in this entire list.

What it offers: One of the few parkland courses in our GB&I Top 100 yet the hotel might even surpass the golf, offering a mix of modern and historic rooms, all with elegance and glitz.

Excellent spa and some superb dining too.

GW verdict: Commendable Kyle Phillips course that is overlooked by a handsome, plush hotel.

What it offers: The most famous golf hotel in the world that allows you to look down the 18th of the Old when you wake up. The Duke’s, 10 minutes away, is a Top 100 Scotland fixture.

GW verdict: The distance between the course and hotel is a mild drawback but the hotel and setting are superb. The Duke’s a fine heathland.

106 Golf World February 2018

Saltash, Cornwall

6 7 $ < 3 / $ < $ 7 7 + ( % ( 6 7 5 ( 6 2 5 7 , 1 7 + ( ( $ 6 7 0 , ' / $ 1 ' 6 $ 6 9 2 7 ( ' % < 7 2 ' $ < 6 * 2 / ) ( 5 7 5 $ 9 ( / $ : $ 5 ' 6

1 , * + 7 5 2 8 1 ' 6 ' , 1 1 ( 5 % ( ' $ 1 ' % 5 ( $ . ) $ 6 7 ) 5 2 0 - 8 6 7 e

) R O O R Z L Q W K H I R R W V W H S V R I F K D P S L R Q V R Q W K H & K D P S L R Q V K L S $ U G H Q % U L W L V K 0 D V W H U V ( Q J O L V K 2 S H Q D Q G S O D \ L W V P R U H I R U J L Y L Q J V L V W H U F R X U V H 7 K H $ \ O H V I R U G G X U L Q J \ R X U V W D \ Z K L F K D O V R LQFOXGHV D KHDUW\ E XIIHW GLQQHU DQG D ILOOLQJ H Q J O L V K E U H D N I D V W 2 S W L R Q V D O V R D Y D L O D E O H I R U QLJKW 5RXQGV

&DOO SRS LQ RU YLVLW 0DUULRWW*ROI FR XN

) 2 5 ( 6 7 2 ) $ 5 ' ( 1 0 $ 5 5 , 2 7 7 + 2 7 ( / &28175< &/8% 0D[VWRNH /DQH 0HULGHQ &9 +5

2IIHUV VXEMHFW WR DYDLODELOLW\ UDWHV IOXFWXDWH WKURXJKRXW

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

11 Lough Erne

10 The Belfry

9 Mount Juliet

Enniskillen, Fermanagh

Wishaw, Warwickshire

Thomastown, Kilkenny,

Course 26 Accommodation 23 Amenities 19 Setting 8 TOTAL 76

Courses 31 Accommodation 19 Amenities 19 Setting 7 TOTAL 76

Course 25 Accommodation 24 Amenities 21 Setting 7 TOTAL 77

What it offers: A Sir Nick Faldo-designed course that has been in our GB&I Top 100 and is a very strong contender to re-enter in the 2018 ranking, allied to a gorgeous, charming five-star hotel.

GW verdict: Has just one course; with even a much lower-key No.2 it would be in the top five – that’s how good what does await here is.

What it offers: Three 18-hole courses including the multiple Ryder Cup host and a revamped hotel with restaurants, bars, a nightclub, a luxury spa and Health Club. Families are catered for with mini golf, playground, and child’s pool.

GW verdict: Recent investment gets it into the top 10 – and it is very hard to beat for groups.

What it offers: A regular in our GB&I Top 100 and a unquestioned five-star hotel with a range of luxury suites. Equestrian centre, archery, falconry, fishing and a spa add to the golf.

GW verdict: Could easily be higher in the top 10, the margins are so fine at this top end. Consider it one Ireland’s truly exceptional golf resorts.

Celtic Manor Newport, Wales Courses 30 Accommodation 21 Amenities 20 Setting 7 TOTAL 78

8 Adare Manor Adare, Limerick Course 24 Accommodation 25 Amenities 20 Setting 8 TOTAL77 What it offers: A revamped course that was one of Ireland’s inland best even before millions were spent on it, and a beautiful manor house hotel.

GW verdict: We have enough feedback on the work at Adare Manor to know it deserves to be top 10 – but even eighth might be underselling it.

May well be a top-three contender in 2019.

7 Carton House Maynooth, Kildare Courses 29 Accommodation 23 Amenities 19 Setting 7TOTAL78 What it offers: Two Irish Top 100 courses plus a luxury hotel set in a huge, tranquil estate west of Dublin. The Montgomerie has hosted the Tour and is the No.1 – but some prefer the O’Meara.

GW verdict: Thirty-six holes of high-calibre golf and swathes of luxury equal the third consecutive five-star Irish entry in the top 10.

108 Golf World February 2018

What it offers: A Ryder Cup host that is backed up two more 18-hole courses and a hotel whose exterior looks a little austere from a distance but is in fact beautifully appointed inside.

GW verdict: Value plays no part in the ranking but Celtic Manor does offer luxury at as good a price as you can feasibly expect. Terrific allround resort with the Twenty Ten course adding that intangible ‘I was there’ factor.

ROSAPENNA HOTEL & GOLF RESORT Co. Donegal, Ireland

Luxury hotel on site providing exclusive golf & accommodation packages for couples, four balls and larger groups Set within the beautiful Sheephaven Bay with golden sandy beaches just minutes from your hotel bedroom.

The ideal venue for a golfing break on two of the finest links in Ireland.

The Sandy Hills Links is currently ranked No.50 in the 2016 Golf World Top 100 in Great Britain & Ireland. Both championship links are ranked inside the Top 100 in Ireland by Golf World 2017, the Sandy Hills Links at No. 15 & the Old Tom Morris Links at No.44

Downings, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Ireland • T: 00353 (0)74 915 5301

THE GREAT ESCAPE

• E: golf@rosapenna.ie • W: www.rosapenna.ie

With an 18 hole championship golf course and an award-winning luxury hotel, Rockliffe Hall is the ultimate golfing venue.

After you’ve enjoyed your game, relax in the award winning Spa, dine in your choice of three restaurants, and enjoy five-star luxury accommodation.

Rockliffe Hall... get away from it all.

www.rockliffehall.com Hurworth-on-Tees Darlington County Durham DL2 2DU +44 (0)1325 729999 enquiries@rockliffehall.com

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

Trump Ireland Doonbeg, Clare

Course 28 Accommodation 25 Facilities 15 Setting 10 TOTAL 78 What it offers: The US President’s Irish property has been studiously cared for under the Trump ownership. There has been little change off the course – a wise decision as it has always been sumptuous and characterful – but the course has been successfully refurbished. Its mark of 10 for setting was a very easy decision.

GW verdict: Greg Norman’s original was excellent but the Martin Hawtree tweaks have been nicely assimilated and confirm the artist formerly known as Doonbeg as one of Ireland’s finest links. The cottages are in our top-three favourite accommodation in the entire list – which given the competition, is a spectacular endorsement.

Stoke Park

Stoke Poges, Bucks Course 22 Accommodation 25 Amenities 24 Setting 7 TOTAL 78 What it offers: A 27-hole English Top 100 course of considerable pedigree that is being astutely updated, nine holes at a time. And if you want to know how good the hotel and amenities are, look at the marks.

GW verdict: The Harry Colt course is very good and getting better while the rooms – both in the historic mansion and swish modern ones in the spa building – are majestic. The children’s playground, peerless tennis facilities, immense spa and indoor and outdoor pools are exceptional. And dining in Humphrey’s will be at least the match of anything in this list

110 Golf World February 2018

The Great British Escape Stoke Park is a luxury 5 AA Red Star Hotel, Spa and Country Club set within 300 acres of beautiful parkland and offers world-class sporting and leisure facilities.

Facilities include: • • • •

• •

49 Bedrooms and Suites Award winning Spa 27 hole Championship Golf Course 3 Restaurants and Bars, including Õ « À޽à ­Î ƂƂ , ÃiÌÌi] w i `

}® 13 Tennis Courts (indoor, grass and >ÀÌ wV > V >Þ® Indoor Pool State of the art Gym with Fitness, Hot Yoga and Spinning Studios hosting up to 50 classes per week Crèche Games Room

•

Playground

• • •

35 minutes from London, 7 miles from Heathrow Airport and a short drive from Windsor makes Stoke Park an ideal location and perfect setting for stopovers and luxury breaks.

For more information or to book, please contact our Reservations Team on 01753 717172 or email reservations@stokepark.com

Unlimited Golf.

Unlimited โ Wow.โ ฦ า $ ! & STAY & PLAY OFFER โ ข Two nights in the luxurious &]-7-ัด; o -];v โ ข Daily breakfasts โ ข Unlimited golf at our GB&I Top-100 course at Machrihanish Dunes

66*

ยฃ

FROM

PP

TO BOOK YOUR VISIT, CALL +44 (0) 1586 810 019

*Includes VAT and ยฃ3 per night resort fee. Rate shown is valid January-February for 8 r;orัด; v_-ubm] | o ฦ ล 0;7uool 1o -];v !-|; v 0f;1| |o - -bัด-0bัดb| -m7 v;-vom

MachDunes.com

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

The K Club

The interior at Th Club is breath e K taking.

Straffan, Kildare Courses 26 Accommodation 25 Amenities 20 Setting 7 TOTAL 78 What it offers: A Ryder Cup course and a pleasant No.2 plus opulence in spades in the hotel, whose rooms are bigger than many London ďŹ&#x201A;ats. Fishing, falconry, kayaking, cycling, shooting, archery, wine and whiskey tasting, and tennis add to the glorious scenario here.

GW verdict: Luxury and pedigree at this stately venue for a golf break. Relive Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ryder Cup domination from 2006 then enjoy the facilities off the course. The rooms have to be experienced to believe how good they are.

February 2018 Golf World 113

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

Trump Turnberry Turnberry, Ayrshire Courses 40 Accommodation25 Amenities 21 Setting 10 TOTAL 96 What it offers: A course that has been our No.1 in GB&I and which has been markedly improved by Martin Ebert, who has made a similar success of the second course too, now known as the King Robert the Bruce. The hotel is also now uber-glitzy.

GW verdict: In every other Top 100 we have decided using a marking system, this total would have been good enough for the No.1â&#x20AC;Ś by some distance. That 96 points is incredibly not enough for the No.1 shows how good the resort over the page is.

Turnberry has the best setting in the list and the best course in the list, allied to a ďŹ ve-star hotel that is still improving further. It is therefore a destination that guarantees lifetime memories.

THE REBIRTH OF TURNBERRY

By Chris Bertram

Turnberry has long had a ring of class and allure, but while playing and staying there has always been special – not least for the location – I always felt it was underperforming.

It has cost a lot of money, but Turnberry is now the resort I always felt it should be.

Once our No.1 course in GB&I, it had fallen to No.15 since I started overseeing the ranking.

It is safe to say it will rise when the ranking is refreshed in 2018 as a result of the work by Martin Ebert. The Ailsa now matches its peerless location and the King Robert the Bruce has been similarly improved.

Turnberry also flattered to deceive off the course. It had enjoyable Scottish character, but it wasn’t dripping with five-star luxury. Now it is opulence personified.

Yet while the now chic rooms and impeccable dining will live long in the mind, it is true to say the most memorable aspect of a visit here remains pulling open the curtains to look down on the Ailsa – or indeed gazing at the links from your breakfast/dinner table.

The Turnberry Resort now delivers exactly what it should.

February 2018 Golf World 115

Gleneagles Auchterarder, Perthshire Courses 40 Accommodation 25 Amenities 25 Setting 9 TOTAL 99 What it offers: Three 18-hole courses, where the lowestranked is a Ryder Cup venue. The King’s and Queen’s are GB&I Top 100 entrants and the PGA Centenary a Scottish Top 100 course. The accommodation takes the breath away; the dining is as varied as it is exquisite; the amenities unsurpassed; and the location in the Perthshire hills famously serene.

GW verdict: An almost farcical score – and it could easily have been a perfect 100, for the setting would be considered a 10 by many. The ‘courses’ mark (and Turnberry’s) meant many in the list’s second half had to receive 15s and 16s. A resort that everyone in the family will love, no matter how fussy their taste. Simply, a guarantee of total success from a golf break.

116 Golf World February 2018

MY VERDICT ON

GLENEAGLES

By Mark Sansom

The moniker ‘Glorious Playground’ does Gleneagles justice. If you’re into eating, shooting, golfing and sleeping, there’s arguably no finer resort in the UK. Breakfasts are decadent, lunches long and dinners in the twostar Michelin Andrew Fairlie restaurant an eulogistic expression of Scottish produce.

The courses are tough but fair. The King’s, particularly, rewards straight play and a hugely undulating front nine means any cobwebs will be sufficiently blown away by the halfway house.

Order the Scottish square sausage bap. It’s just greasy enough to see you through the final, flatter nine holes and into the open-firewarmed arms of The Dormy restaurant with spike bar.

The wine list here is excellent and fairly priced, while its range of bar snacks will fortify enough to trudge your clubs into the main hotel and resume your spot at The Century bar which – if you’re anything like me – you will have only left some hours earlier.

Mark Sansom - editor, Food&Travel

February 2018 Golf World 117

TOP 100 RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

WHERE TO FIND BRITAIN & IRELANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BEST RESORTS Your at-a-glance guide to the location of the finest places to play and stay in our inaugural Top 100.

23 45

1 22

63

81

41 12

19

17

14

11 16

26 64

86

77

2 68

87

31

44

25

24

27 46

89 7

4

70

20

3

8

53

80

18

33

73 85

88

9

34

39 42

50

48

94

54

10 69

66

100

40

37

62

93

38

74

78

72 79

32

96 82

84

91

95

98

71

97 61

65

55

99

21

58

13

90 36

5

59

6 51 30 15

56

29

83

52 67

60

92

35 75 57

43

28

47

49

76

100 Rolls of Monmouth 99 The Heritage 98 Heacham Manor 97 Penrhos G&CC 96 Patshull Park 95 North Shore 94 Wychwood Park 93 Shrigley Hall 92 LingďŹ eld Park 91 Greetham Valley 90 Ufford Park 89 Worsley Park 88 Telford Hotel 87 Heronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reach 86 Linden Hall 85 Mottram Hall 84 Tewksbury Hotel 83 Tudor Park 82 WokeďŹ eld Estate 81 Westerwood 80 Hawkstone Park 79 Thorpeness 78 Sprowston Manor 77 The Roxburghe 76 Dunston Hall 75 Selsdon Park 74 Highbullen 73 Hill Valley 72 Barnham Broom 71 Hellidon Lakes 70 Formby Hall 69 Staverton Estate 68 Hollins Hall 67 Dorset G&CC 66 The Oxfordshire 65 Forest Pines 64 Cardrona 63 Murrayshall 62 Belton Woods 61 Manor House & Ashbury 60 Old Thorns 59 Stoke by Nayland 58 Oulton Hall 57 Meon Valley 56 Dartmouth Hotel, Golf and Spa 55 Breadsall Priory 54 Stapleford Park 53 Portal 52 Bowood 51 Luton Hoo

50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Mere Princeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Forest of Arden Dale Hill Aldwark Manor Meldrum House Rudding Park Goodwood Fota Island Mar Hall The Vale Mount Wolseley Heythrop Park Trevose Hanbury Manor Foxhills St Pierre Carden Park Brocket Hall Slieve Russell Manor House Bovey Castle East Sussex National Close House Dalmahoy Rockliffe Resort Slaley Hall Spey Valley Cameron House/Carrick Dromoland Castle Portmarnock Hotel Machrihanish Dunes Druids Glen Rosapenna ArcherďŹ eld St Mellion Fairmont St Andrews The Grove Old Course Hotel & Dukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lough Erne The Belfry Mount Juliet Adare Manor Carton House Celtic Manor Stoke Park Trump Doonbeg The K Club Trump Turnberry Gleneagles

7

5

Number of resorts in top 10 with top accommodation marks

Number of Irish resorts in the top 10 (9 in top 20)

TOP 100 IN NUMBERS

81

Number of full-length holes at Manor House & Ashbury

66

Number of English resorts in the Top 100

4

Number of Ryder Cup venues in the top 10

0 %â&#x2C6;&#x2019;+#. â&#x2C6;&#x2014; !! â&#x2C6;&#x2014;

â&#x2C6;&#x20AC; 3 (%! (â&#x2C6;&#x2014;% â&#x2C6;&#x2014; â&#x2C6;&#x192; / 14 2 â&#x2C6;&#x2039; %â&#x2C6;&#x2019; + â&#x2C6;&#x20AC;(% + #â&#x2C6;&#x2039;â&#x2C6;&#x2039; â&#x2C6;&#x2014; (&&( ,#(â&#x2C6;&#x2039; â&#x2C6;&#x2014; â&#x2C6;&#x192;! +, !, â&#x2C6;&#x2014;â&#x2C6;&#x2039;((â&#x2C6;&#x2039; , â&#x2C6;&#x2039; +) ,â&#x2C6;&#x2014; ,& â&#x2C6;&#x2039;,"

///", /â&#x2C6;&#x192; + â&#x2C6;&#x2019;â&#x2C6;&#x2014;1) â&#x2C6;&#x2014;â&#x2C6;&#x192;" ("â&#x2C6;&#x2019;â&#x2C6;&#x192; ((â&#x2C6;&#x192; 1 $ "'$" +, 1 1 $ "'*" " â&#x2C6;&#x2014;&+ - 5(â&#x2C6;&#x2039; #,#(â&#x2C6;&#x2039;+ ))%1"

The new products creating a buzz

JUSTTHE STATS

P tter

ov

nd i

er

Each manufacturer has its own materials and groove patterns for producing a smooth roll and consistent speed across the face, but which one works the best?

A quality, consistent roll is essential if you want to be a good putter. The faster you get the ball rolling purely end over end (a higher roll percentage) and the more consistent the ball speed is across the face, the easier it is to gauge your speed.

Controlled and consistent speed is central to accuracy.

Tour pro Ashley Mason and seven-handicapper Kit Alexander tested putters from ďŹ ve leading brands with distinct faces. They hit a series of 12-foot uphill and 30-foot downhill putts, with TrackMan 4 recording the data.

120 Golf World February 2018

EQUIPMENT

PING

ODYSSEY

TAYLORMADE

Head: Spider Tour Sightline (£269.99) Face tech: The Pure Roll Insert combines 45° grooves with a softer polymer to increase topspin and improve forward roll across varying surfaces.

Head: ER6R (£299) Face tech: Precise face milling imparts progressively more energy transfer on off-centre hits to roll the ball a consistent distance.

It also gears the ball back to the centre on mis-hits.

Head: Indianapolis (£449) Face tech: The deep cross-hatch grooves control the sound and feel to match the distance the ball rolls. The small groove inside each diamond improves the roll.

Ashley, 12 feet Roll %: 88 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 7.6mph Distance: 13.58 feet Kit, 12 feet Roll %: 88 Club speed: 4.7mph Ball speed: 8.2mph Distance: 14.50 feet Ashley, 30 feet Roll %: 96 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 7.2mph Distance: 34.41 feet Kit, 30 feet Roll %: 95 Club speed:4.2mph Ball speed: 7.2mph Distance: 34.41 feet

Ashley, 12 feet Roll %: 90 Club speed: 4.6mph Ball speed: 7.7mph Distance: 13.98 feet Kit, 12 feet Roll %: 88 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 8.0mph Distance: 14.76 feet Ashley, 30 feet Roll %: 95 Club speed: 4.5mph Ball speed: 7.7mph Distance: 32.58 feet Kit, 30 feet Roll %: 95 Club speed: 3.8mph Ball speed: 7.2mph Distance: 31.27 feet

Ashley, 12 feet Roll %: 89 Club speed: 4.4mph Ball speed: 7.5mph Distance: 13.85 feet Kit, 12 feet Roll %: 88 Club speed: 4.2mph Ball speed: 8.0mph Distance: 14.24 feet Ashley, 30 feet Roll %: 95 Club speed: 4.4mph Ball speed: 7.1mph Distance: 32.64 feet Kit, 30 feet Roll %: 94 Club speed: 4.4mph Ball speed: 8.2mph Distance: 34.74 feet

Ashley, 12 feet Roll %: 91 Club speed: 4.5mph Ball speed: 7.5mph Distance: 14.04 feet Kit, 12 feet Roll %: 89 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 7.8mph Distance: 14.04 feet Ashley, 30 feet Roll %: 96 Club speed: 4.4mph Ball speed: 7.1mph Distance: 32.25 feet Kit, 30 feet Roll %: 95 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 7.6mph Distance: 35.53 feet

Ashley, 12 feet Roll %: 87 Club speed: 4.5mph Ball speed: 7.7mph Distance: 13.71 feet Kit, 12 feet Roll %: 88 Club speed: 4.6mph Ball speed: 7.9mph Distance: 13.98 feet Ashley, 30 feet Roll %: 95 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 7.4mph Distance: 31.53 feet Kit, 30 feet Roll %: 94 Club speed: 4.3mph Ball speed: 7.4mph Distance: 34.55 feet

COMMENTS: This face immediately felt firmer and sounded louder than the others, but the ball speeds were actually in the middle of the pack.

The results were impressively consistent so it’s certainly a forgiving face, although it was hard to tell whether you mis-hit the ball from the sound and feel.

COMMENTS: The Microhinges create a solid hit and the level of sound you’d expect as you change distances.

It’s at the faster end for ball speeds although it didn’t feel like the ball was launching too quickly, so the control was there while there was never any trouble getting the ball to the hole.

COMMENTS: The face feels softer than the others and this, coupled with a clubhead that feels lighter, means you have to put a little more energy into the stroke. This wasn’t a problem at short range, but it did become a touch inconsistent at longer range because of this. The impact sound is very quiet.

COMMENTS: The sound and feel are slightly on the firmer side but it doesn’t feel like the ball launches fast, which is a pleasing combination. It feels solid at impact. It started the ball very close to the intended line.

Relatively low club speeds were needed for the ball to run out to the intended distance.

COMMENTS: Lovely feel off the face, with a pleasing ‘click’ at impact.

You can almost feel the top spin being applied to the ball.

It was at the top end for ball speed, but it never felt out of control. The sound and feel did match the distance and it maintained speed well on offcentre hits, which aided its accuracy.

VERDICT: The firmer feel and louder sound would suit slower greens, but it actually rolled the ball a little better on the slick downhill putt. A good performer at this price if you like the sound and feel.

VERDICT: The roll was very good and the sound and feel was pleasing. The Microhinge Face Insert created good consistency across the face A really

VERDICT: The roll and accuracy was very good out the centre, but there was a drop-off on off-centre hits.

Better for skilled players and fast

VERDICT: It was the best on test for purity of roll at both distances. All the data suggests the face is doing exactly what it’s designed to do with

VERDICT: A little surprising the roll percentages weren’t a bit higher, although the face does an excellent job at regulating sound and feel

Head: Sigma G Craz-E (£175) Face tech: An elastomer insert behind the aluminum face softens feel without slowing ball speed.

The True Roll Face equalises ball speed across the face.

Head: O-Works Red #7S (£179) Face tech: The stainless steel Microhinge Face Insert is designed to boost topspin.

It’s moulded into a Thermoplastic Elastomer Feel Layer.

EVNROLL

TOULON

ping.com

February 2018 Golf World 121

HEADTO-HEAD

Ecco Biom Hybrid 3 V Adid s Tour360 om a pair of footwear heir top technologies. they compare?

ECCOBIOMHYBRID3(£190) The Tri-Fi-Grip breaks the sole into three segments for stability, durability and rotational support. The upper is Yak leather for breathability and durability, with 100% Gore-Tex waterproof protection. The fit combines a snug heel with a roomier forefoot area and Biom Natural Motion Technology brings the player closer to the ground. Available in January.

It’s sleeker and sportier than the Biom Hybrid 2 and the toe looks less square at address, although it’s still quite a traditional look that doesn’t look out of place off the golf course. There are five colours available, including plain black and white, plus this hero pattern.

The new hybrid sole is a leap forward. The traction is excellent and stability is never an issue while swinging, even in wet conditions and on steep slopes. The sole never clogs with debris so you always get maximum performance. The Tri-Fi-Grip has made the sole much more durable if you wear them away from the course.

Ecco pride themselves on straight out of the box comfort and these deliver. The heel fits snuggly and the extra room in the toe area gives your feet room to move without feeling loose. You’re lower to the ground than the Adidas but there’s enough cushioning for complete comfort. They live up to the waterproof guarantee, as well.

GW VERDICT 122 Golf World February 2018

ADIDAS TOUR360 (£149.95)

TECHNOLOGY

The new Outsole Top Plate sits above the cushioned Boost midsole to accommodate foot flection without sacrificing stability. Sprintskin Technology on the inside of the upper lining adds further support. The 10-cleat Puremotion outsole is more flexible and the Torsion Tunnel provides independent flexibility between heel and forefoot.

LOOKS AND STYLE

Adidas are the kings of the sporty and athletic golf shoe and this model looks fantastic. It’s simple and clean, yet distinctive and cool. The three stripes are immediately recognisable from distance and the profile looks just right when you look down at address. The white shoe is the hero product but more colours will be released in 2018.

TRACTION AND STABILITY FINESSE SHOT PERFORMANCE

The cleats are well positioned for stability and comfort. It really feels like the shoe is hugging your foot as you swing, with a a snugger fit in the toe compared to the Ecco. As with any cleated shoe, you have to clean them out when you play in winter.

The Boost foam in the midsole makes it comfiest shoe underfoot on the market Your legs and feet feel fresh after the round and you still feel well connected to the ground despite the thicker sole than the Ecco. The leather upper is durable and totally waterproof. The inside of the heels is now more durable with the leather lining.

Both of these shoes are absolutely fantastic – they’re the only models our testers are now wearing. Which is best for you will boil down to your personal preference. The hybrid sole of the Ecco provides excellent versatility and superb traction without having to worry about keeping the soles clean. The Adidas looks and feels more athletic and that Boost foam is a revelation for underfoot comfort and cushioning. Both are at the very top of the market for comfort and performance.

EQUIPMENT

BUYING GUIDE

Which irons are right for me?

There are many choices to make with irons – from the club’s construction to finding the right specs for your swing.

Almost every major manufacturer has increased the number of iron models they offer over the past year.

While having more options is a good thing, it does make finding the right set for you a lot more tricky.

Understanding how the club’s construction affects its performance and how you can tweak the set-up specifications to improve your strike and ball flight is central to identifying the irons to help you most.

Club construction

How the clubhead is made and the shaft that links your hands to that head is at the core of how it performs.

Game improver, super game improver and distance irons tend to be cast.

The materials and processes involved in casting produce heads that offer more distance than feel.

Better player clubs are usually forged for greater feel and softer sound – but forging is a more expensive process.

Forged or cast heads?

FORGED

CAST

PROS

Number one is the great feel, but they also tend to have a beautiful classic look with more compact heads. They produce a lower flight and it’s easier to work and shape the ball.

They’re generally longer because they create faster bal speeds, greater forgiveness and a higher flight. The larger head can inspire more confidence at address.

CONS

The smaller heads are less forgiving on off-centre hits and the faces wear out faster. The long irons can be tougher to hit and they tend to be more expensive.

They can sound ‘clicky’ and it can be harder to improve ballstriking with them as they mas the poor strike. They often come with poorer shafts because they’re cheaper.

VERDICT

Go for forged if you’re a fairly decent ball-striker who enjoys working iron shots and aren’t trying to stick to a tight budget.

Go for cast if you want more distance, need help getting the ball in the air and don’t need to ‘feel’ the ball on the face.

124 Golf World February 2018

How steel, graphite and single-length shafts perform Graphite shafts tend to be softer in profile, provide a softer feel with less vibration (this can be beneficial for people with arthritis and other ailments) and also come in a lighter weight compared to most steel shafts.

In general terms, graphite shafts tend to perform better for slower swing speeds and golfers who need help generating a higher flight with their irons, such as seniors, ladies and juniors. Better players and faster swingers will usually have greater clubhead control and speed, and better balance between shaft and head with heavier and stiffer steel shafts.

Single-length irons (commonly all a 7-iron length) enable the golfer to have the exact same set-up and swing for every iron. This can improve the consistency, quality of the strike and confidence at all skill levels. They produce consistent gapping for most players and make the long irons easier to hit, so they’re definitely worth a try if you struggle with consistency.

It’s worth noting that there isn’t always a direct correlation between the flex you need in your driver and irons. A full fitting is essential to find out what best suits your game and body.

Single length won’t work for everyone – but is well worth a try.

EQUIPMENT

Set-up specifications

The right style and specs will help you produce a better flight and be more accurate.

Will more distance be better for me?

The key to iron performance is hitting the ball consistently close to specific targets. With this in mind, many players will benefit from more distance... but not all.

If you already hit it quite far (i.e.

165 yards carry with a 6-iron) then more distance won’t really help. It will just create a large gap between your PW and speciality wedges.

That said, you never want to give up distance where you don’t need to – it’s easier to hit an 8-iron over a 6-iron. Distance is a benefit as long as you aren’t sacrificing accuracy and stopping power.

The key things to look out for are backspin and descent angle.

You want as close as possible to 1,000rpm times the number on the club for spin and as steep a descent as possible that doesn’t limit your distance.

What are my current shots saying?

Your common misses around the green and your clubface could be telling you your clubs don’t have the right specs.

1. Long, left Shaft flex is too soft, l too upright and/or loft is too stron 2. Long, straight The loft is too strong and/or the shaft is too long 3. Long, right Shaft is too stiff, lie i too flat, loft is too strong and/or th spin is too low.

4. Pin high, left Check lie angle.

5. Pin high, right Check lie angle.

6. Short, left Shaft flex is too soft, loft is too weak, lie is too upright and/or there’s too much offset.

7. Short, straight Shaft is too soft, loft is too weak, spin too high, sha too stiff and/or launch is too high.

8. Short, right Shaft too soft or to stiff with incorrect kick point, loft too weak and/or lie angle too flat.

High in face Your clubs might be too long or too heavy.

Toe side Your clubs might be too short in length, but it can also be a sign of swing path issues.

PRACTICE...

‘CARPET CUP’ PORTABLE HOLE

PRACTICE...

‘DOUGHNUT’ HOLE REDUCER

PRACTICE...

‘RIGHT ANGLE’ PUTTING ALIGNMENT

1

2

4

6

3

5

7

8

PRACTICE...

‘PURE PUTT” PUTTING GATE

Low in face Your clubs might be too short in length or too light.

Heel side Your clubs might be too long in length or the lie might be too upright.

...PERFECT WWW.GROOVEFIX.COM

020 8240 0527

100% BRITISH MADE L I FETI M E G UARANTEE USE GW05 AT THE CHECKOUT & SAVE 5% ON ORDERS OVER £25.00

Car insurance as individual as you are

Say yes to... cheaper car insurance, and yes to our Cheapest Price Guarantee* Compare car insurance quotes today and see if you can get covered for less

mustard.co.uk or call 0330 022 7406 ล $_bv o@ ;u bv |o 0;-| o u 1_;-r;v| omัดbm; 1-uฤท -m ou lo|ou0bh; bmv u-m1; t o|; $_; ] -u-m|;; omัด -rrัดb;v |o -mm -ัด roัดb1b;v -m7 |o |_; 0-vb1 roัดb1 rub1; omัด $_bv o@ ;u ; 1ัด 7;v |;ัด;r_om; t o|-เฆ omv -m7 omัด -rrัดb;v |o r;ul-m;m| u;vb7;m|v bm |_; & ฤท ; 1ัด 7bm] |_; _-mm;ัด vัด-m7v ); u;v;u ; |_; ub]_| |o u;t ;v| ruoo= o=ฤท -m7 -ัดb7-|;ฤท -ัด|;um-|; t o|;v -v ;ัดัด -v ruoo= o= |_; bm=oul-เฆ om o ruo b7;7 |o o0|-bm |_; t o|;v ล ; ] 1or o= 7ub bm] ัดb1;m1; ou เฆ ัดb| 0bัดัดล 0;=ou; o u ] -u-m|;; bv _omo u;7 l v|-u7 1o h bv - |u-7bm] m-l; o= - ;u omv l;u ;7b- blb|;7 _o -u; -m -rrobm|;7 u;ru;v;m|-เฆ ; o= (-v| (bvb0bัดb| blb|;7 _o -u; - |_oubv;7 -m7 u;] ัด-|;7 0 |_; bm-m1b-ัด om7 1| |_oub| m7;u C ul u;=;u;m1; m l0;u ฦ ัตัตฦ ฦ ฦ

The best places to play right now

MUST PLAY BALTIC DRAMA

KytajaGolf Finland

If you had to think of an idyllic Scandinavian setting for a golf course, it is a fair bet you would have something akin to what awaits at Kytaja in mind, writes Chris Bertram. A tranquil lake, thousands of pines and a tumbling landscape punctuated by rocks dominate here make for one of the most serene and picturesque venues in Continental Europe.

The weather isn’t Iberian and the playing period is realistically no more than six months, but for a tranquil golf break of breathtaking scenery, air so pure you can almost taste it and exceptionally good golf courses, Kytaja takes some beating.

Its other key appeal is the onsite accommodation; opulent

houses of varying sizes overlooking the lake that are available for hire. They allow you to savour the ultimate ‘get away from it all’ break in tasteful luxury. You never need to leave the site either, because the clubhouse serves terrific food and there are 36 holes of Top 100-calibre golf to enjoy.

We say 36 of Top 100-class golf because while the North West is not in the Continental Top 100, it so easily could be.

The difference between it and the South East (which is in) is negligible… and probably nothing more than the latter having a spectacular lakeside stretch to finish. That is probably

the most memorable part of Kytaja’s golf but the rest is hardly tedious, rising and falling over characterful terrain that offers exciting tee shots and cosy green complexes. Both by Canadian Thomas McBroom, the NW followed the SE a year after the latter opened in 2003. www.kytajagolf.fi

1. Linna

2. Parnu Bay

Forty minutes north of Kytaja, this European Tour Properties venue is a fixture in Golf World’s Continental Top 100.

Designed by Tim Lobb when he was with European Golf Design, it sits sympathetically among mature pines.

Now you need to get the Helsinki-Tallin ferry (a very pleasant experience) to arrive in neighbouring Estonia, then drive an hour to the coast to the tourist town of Parnu. Here you find a course by the Finnish architect Lassi Pekka

Tilander that entered our Continental Top 100 at No.45 this year. And it’s so good, that had it come in 20 places higher, it wouldn’t have been exaggerating how good it is. As beautiful as it is clever, we’ll focus on Europe’s new superstar in our April issue.

ROAD TRIP

ACROSSCOUNTRY CLASSI

You should hop into Estonia too.

Kytaja has 36 holes of Top 100-calibre golf on site, so you are visiting for a long weekend – but there is a fabulous road trip waiting to be enjoyed for the adventurous with a bit more time. We undertook it this summer, and it was one of the highlights of 2017.

COURSES

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS Kytaja is 45 minutes north of Helsinki.

As the capital of Finland (and it’s a cool city worth spending some time in incidentally) there are decent flight options: Finnair fly from Heathrow and Norwegian Air fly from Gatwick while Finnair and BA go from both Manchester and Edinburgh.

MUST PLAY

IDEAL FOR WINTER

Palm Golf Marrakesh Marrakesh is without question one of the most appealing short-haul destinations for British golfers seeking some winter sunshine, and this Robert Trent Jones Snr design is one of the best courses in the vibrant Moroccan city.

Located in its tranquil northern outskirts – but just 30 minutes from the modern Marrakesh Menara airport – Palm Golf is part of the Palmeraie complex that also includes hotels (see below).

The 27-hole course sprawls over 120 hectares that include 11 lakes and as ever in Marrakesh, the Atlas Mountains form the backdrop to many shots.

The first 18 holes form what is comfortably the main course, routed in two loops either side of the clubhouse and hotels.

3. Estonian G&CC Tilander also designed Estonian’s Sea course, which has frequently been in the Continental Top 100 and is another European Tour Property.

Its name is a little misleading; while there are some sea views, it is a high-calibre parkland.

Water is a regular threat, coming into play as early as the 3rd, which is a short, risk-reward par 4 where a pond waits hard to the right side of the green to penalise those having a crack off the tee. Turning round, the same pond protects the right of the par 3 that follows.

It also dominates on the 9th and then at the start and end to the back nine, with the 17th – with no dry land between tee and green – offering a classic matchplay hole.

There is more than just water drama here though, with benched greens, gullies and awkward dog-legs to keep you interested. There aren’t lots of trees to negotiate though, so there are often chances to open your shoulders. www.palmeraieresorts.com

PLAY

STAY

VISIT

Marrakesh has lots of courses but we’d point you towards four for your extra rounds: Assoufid, the most consistent course in the city; intriguing resort venue Royal Palm; distinctive Noria; and the muscular new Palm Ourika.

In the Palmeraie Palace next to the 2nd hole. It is aptly named because this hotel is ornately decorated in regal fashion. It has huge pools and a popular evening buffet, but we might have actually preferred the a la carte menu.

You can go camel riding literally round the corner from Palmeraie. But you’ll definitely also want to head into the souks and haggle for the many bargains that exist. They are quite extraordinary places to savour.

February 2018 Golf World 129

The Roxburghe Kelso Nestled in 500 acres of wooded parkland just an hour from both Edinburgh and Newcastle, the Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course is the escape of your imagination.

Formerly the Sunlaws Estate, the Duke of Roxburghe acquired it in the 1960s and transformed it into the archetypal aristocratic retreat that sits 77th in our new Top 100 GB&I resorts.

Imagine four-posters in the tastefully appointed bedrooms, a grand inner hall and historic library, roaring log fires you won’t want to extract yourself

130 Golf World February 2018

from. Imagine the full range of sporting pursuits, with a Clay Pigeon Shooting School of Excellence and some of Scotland’s finest salmon fishing.

Then allow yourself to imagine an estate circled by one of Scotland’s best inland courses, cut through the rolling woodland and winding along the River Teviot.

However wild your aristocratic imagination runs, it almost certainly won’t have come close. www.roxburghe-hotel.net

MUST STAY

THE DUKE’S ESCAPE

COURSES

MUST PLAY

CLASSIC ECHOES

Clearwater Bay Hong Kong When you hear a course has ‘echoes of Pebble Beach’ it’s hard not to simultaneously get excited while fearing disappointment. That was the background to our visit to Clearwater Bay in Hong Kong.

Built on a rock outcrop that juts into the South China Sea yet just 30 minutes from downtown Hong Kong, Clearwater Bay enjoys an enviable location.

Redesigned, rerouted and lengthened by Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett in 2006, the Ocean front nine begins in breathtaking fashion with four holes hugging the tip of the peninsula.

It includes perhaps Clearwater’s finest, the par-4 3rd. Rocks and

water line the entire right side meaning there is a carry of over 180 yards to reach the fairway – or 210 to take the Tiger line on this awesome dog-leg right.

The Highland nine sits on more undulating terrain and doesn’t have quite the thrills of the Ocean but the views never leave you.

It can be windy, especially in winter, so a course that is midlength by today’s standards maintains its bite, with further interest provided by tempting riskreward scenarios from most tees.

Comparisons with Pebble Beach are kind, but you won’t leave disappointed.

Green fees: £200, cwbgolf.org

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS While Hong Kong’s subtropical location makes it a year-round destination, March to April and October to November are the best times to visit for golfers, being warm and dry rather than stiflingly hot and humid. Flight time from the UK to Hong Kong is just under 12 hours. www.discoverhongkong.com

February 2018 Golf World 131

TOP100

CONTINENTALEUROPE

ROYAL BLED RANK 48

N

Royal Bled has for 80 years offered one of European golfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most spellbinding settings. Chris Bertram travelled to Slovenia and discovered the three-year renovation of the course means it now matches its majestic Alpine scenery.

COURSES

I

t would be very easy for the word ‘fairytale’ to dominate the next five pages. The town of Bled, in the heart of Slovenia, truly is that sort of place.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine there exists a town that justifies the description more completely.

Sitting at the foot of steep, densely-forested hills, Bled cuddles a cobalt-blue lake whose serenity is disturbed only by the strokes of rowers. In the middle of the still water sits a small almondshaped island where a legendary church and museum peak beyond the trees that adorn it. And of course there is a statuesque castle – every fairytale needs a castle – that peers down on this dreamy scene as it clings impossibly to a sinewy rock that protrudes beyond the towering firs.

Even the coldest heart is surely warmed by visiting Bled and while few will feel short changed by making a trip here – flying in to the capital Ljubljana or even Trieste in Italy – golfers have additional reason to start looking into flights; one of Continental Europe’s finest 50 courses is plotted high up the hills that look down on the town.

A mile from the lake’s shore, Royal Bled was founded in 1937 as a retreat for the Yugoslav royal family, a welcome slice of history that adds the requisite aristocratic element to this fairytale setting (and more of that later). The royals hosted their patrician friends here in the summer, and it really isn’t hard to imagine the great and gilded of Europe being entertained in this utopian playground.

If it is not snow-capped peaks of the Julian Alps that form the background to your view at Royal Bled it will be the thundering water of the River Sava in the valley below or the sight of the aforementioned castle, which is wrapped in a cloak of mature pines as it reaches into the clouds.

The scene is spellbinding no matter which direction you face. You take a picture on your phone as you look off the back of the elevated 2nd tee and think it will be a terrific screensaver when you get home, but by the time you get to the 18th, it’s fifth or sixth in your list of favourite images.

A fixture in Golf World’s Continental Top 100 since the list’s inception, Royal Bled’s setting was likely enough to seduce all panellists who visited. However there was a

feeling the course – which fell into disrepair after World War Two before a re-birth by Donald Harradine in the early 1970s – was punching below its weight after years of minimal investment. That situation dramatically changed in December 2013 when it was bought by Serbian couple Dragan and Gordana Solak. Dragan started a digital media company – notably broadband – in the tumultuous early years of his homeland’s existence and enjoyed such success that it was bought by an investment firm in October 2013.

The Solaks are keen and good golfers, Dragan catching the bug after his staff gifted him a lesson at Belgrade’s only golf club. Realising her husband’s instant passion for golf, Gordana took it up too. She is now a very accomplished player and won the club championship in September.

Royal Bled was one of the Solak’s favourite courses, but they believed it could be even better – and invested their money and time in proving their hunch correct. “It was like a sleeping beauty that had been neglected over many years. We wanted to wake it up,” Gordana tells Golf World.

After completing their purchase, they found old plans for a redesign of the course – which had been drawn up by Howard Swan of Swan Designs – among a pile of papers in the former greenkeeper’s office. Impressed with what they saw, the Solaks contacted the Swans and, by now with son William on board too, the Suffolk-based firm updated the plans and were given the nod to carry them out over the next three years of a project that finished this summer.

For many, the two-shot 14th will be the highlight of Royal Bled.

‘The topography echoes Gleneagles in the way it flows with elan across the land’ “My first visit coincided with low cloud so I couldn’t see the mountains and valleys,” William tells Golf World.

“However, I could see the course’s basic design features – routing, green and tee locations – were very strong.”

So, only minor changes were made to the routing and individual holes other than extending the yardage to the point (7,275 yards) it could – and indeed may well – host modern professional events. In contrast, greens, tees and bunkering were completely reconstructed, the fairways were thoroughly renovated and there was aggressive tree management. Where once there was no water, now there are 10 lakes totalling over 12 acres, all connected by streams that feed the new hi-tech irrigation system. The surrounding mountains are reflected in them too.

The Solaks, whose lack of pretension gives multimillionaires a good name, did everything to a high spec.

Local materials and the Slovenian workforce (mostly from a local farmers’ cooperative) were augmented by products and expertise from nine countries across Europe.

The effort has reaped reward, Royal Bled rising 17 places to No.48 in our new Continental Europe Top 100 Courses ranking in August. Yet that leap is just the start; once the extensive work settles in, a similar rise in 2019 is feasible.

Likening Royal Bled to any UK course is an asinine task, but its topography does echo that of Gleneagles’ historic courses in the way it flows with elan across land that regularly rises and falls. Both nines have sections on the higher plateau and lower valleys, with the finest and the most exacting holes spread across them. Stringest tests appear at the 4th – a straight but relatively narrow hole that is now 40 yards longer – the 9th with a shared green that oozes three-putt potential – and the 11th – previously SI18 but now SI2, with a funky green set on an angle that is acutely hard to hold. Then there are two absolute brutes to

134 Golf World February 2018

The 16th requires a drive and approach around the lake edge.

COURSES

A NERVOUS AFFAIR RIGHT TO THE END William Swan analyses the 14th of the King’s.

“The drive is very inviting, with the elevated tee and wide fairway encouraging golfers to ‘give it a rip’; on a hot day it is possible to drive it a long way through the thin alpine air. However, while distance is important, position is key. The best angle to attack the green from is far left, especially when the pin is at the back.

That means holding your nerve and aiming as close to the lakes that separate the 14th from the 16th as possible. Long hitters beware that the third lake eats into the fairway by an

HOLE 14

PAR 4, 392 YARDS

extra 15-20 yards, so don’t be too greedy. The approach is just difficult, with anything short or right likely to caught up in the pines and anything long or left heading for water. If your drive is short or has leaked right, the sensible option is to lay up short of the bunker and try to make an up-and-down. The subtle valley to the right of the green is another bailout option, although this leaves a fiendishly difficult chip across a narrow green that runs away from you and straight into the water.”

The lake being hard to the left makes all approaches feel anxious affairs.

The wide fairway looks inviting but a brave line left reaps rewards.

February 2018 Golf World 135

The 9th and 18th holes share a tricky double green.

finish, the 17th twisting along the edge of the plateau for a very full 474 yards off the tips, then the 18th from an elevated tee down to that wicked double green. It is far from all taxing though. There are gorgeous par 3s at the 7th – with the back drop of ‘The Chair’ mountain – and 13th, while the 10th mixes artistry and challenge, played to an island green and an unforgiving start to the nine.

Yet the best of Royal Bled might be the sporty par 4s at the 6th and 8th, the latter’s semi-blind tee shot hit over a ravine to an infinity fairway and then up to a beautifully-bunkered green.

Others may pinpoint the reachable par-5 12th to a raised green or the magnificent two-shot 14th (see column, previous page) on a back nine where the lakes are much in play. Some may well point to the bottleneck 15th, reminiscent of the 12th on Gleneagles Queen’s.

Despite the overhaul, it is already pristine, a credit to young Irish greenkeeper Simon Connaughton. The greens slick and true – but they do not lack devilment, something Swan is especially satisfied about. “Without doubt the most enjoyable element is the greens,”

he adds. “This was at the forefront of the brief and I’m confident we have some fun putting surfaces. The challenge on and around the greens work in partnership with the wide fairways which allow the course to be set up as either encouragingly accessible to holidaying golfers or fiendishly difficult for top amateur or professionals.”

The club’s cute Lakes course will also be renovated, while the clubhouse refurbishment has given it 10 elegant bedrooms that make this one of Europe’s most desirable play-and-stay options.

It is part of an admirable regeneration of one of Europe’s pedigree golf clubs. Indeed, the King’s was officially re-opened in July by a real, live Princess. She was Princess Elizabeth Karadordevic of Serbia – whose father was Prince Regent of Yugoslavia and who holidayed in the area as a child – who recently bestowed the ‘Royal’ title on the club. And as a friend of the Solaks, if you visit Royal Bled for yourself it is not impossible you will bump into this fascinating lady.

A Princess strolling the fairways among idyllic snow-capped peaks is certainly consistent with a bona fide fairytale destination.

HOW WE RANKED THE KING’S COURSE AT ROYAL BLED DESIGN

PRESENTATION

CONSISTENCY

The course works the helpful landscape nicely with a solid routing. Nothing to dislike.

The Solaks would expect high standards for their outlay and they are certainly getting it. Immaculate.

It does have its highs but there aren’t any notable lows. As everything settles down, will feel even more special throughout.

17.5 17.6 14.0 14.9 7.2 7.1 OUTOF25

OUTOF20

OUTOF20

OUTOF15

SETTING

PLAYABILITY

Beautiful. Only the truly spellbinding Lofoten in Norway boasts a more breathtaking location.

Generally wide fairways make it accessible to all off the tee, but the greens will cause problems to all.

136 Golf World February 2018

OUTOF10

OUTOF10

HOLES Plenty of really good holes here, notably the par 4s at the 6th and 14th as well as the short 7th... and devilish 10th.

78.3 OUTOF 100 TOTAL As the work beds in, expect Royal Bled to keep rising. It is a top-30 contender in the list without question.

EQUIPMENT & ACCESSORIES

THE LITHIUM SPECIALISTS

The Locker Room

EQUIPMENT & ACCESSORIES

topcaddy@btconnect.com | topcaddy.co.uk | 01236879815

TUITION LEARN TO TEACH GOLF If you have a passion for golf and would like to change your career, then why not enroll on one of our world famous accelerated teacher training courses.

The EGTF run recognised courses all year round, and our training program is open to anyone with a passion for learning to teach golf.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;THE STEPPING STONE TO REALISING YOUR DREAMS AND CHANGING YOUR LIFEâ&#x20AC;?

PHONE: 00 44 (0) 1643 706010 EMAIL: egtf@mail.com WEB: www.egtf.co.uk

The World Golf Teachers Federation

EQUIPMENT & ACCESSORIES VWLOO WXUQLQJ KHDGV

Qualify as a recognised golf coach Earn extra income as a full or part time

Accreditation level 3 in coaching golf awarded by ABC

8S ½ RH SYX QSVI and claim your free eBook on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How to become a successful independent golf coachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; use the contact details below.

Visit www.becomeagolfcoach.com or call 08450 949445 to receive your information pack The professional alternative

3HUVLPPRQ QRXQ D WUHH RI WKH HERQ\ IDPLO\ QDWLYH WR WKH (DVWHUQ 8QLWHG 6WDWHV D KDUG ZRRG ZLWK SURQRXQFHG JUDLQ SDWWHUQ WUDGLWLRQDOO\ VRXUFHG IRU RQO\ WKH ÂżQHVW JROI FOXEV GULYHQ FORVH WR H[WLQFWLRQ E\ FKHDS PDVV SURGXFHG PHWDO DOWHUQDWLYHV XQLTXH SHUIRUPDQFH TXDOLWLHV LFRQLF 'ULYHUV )DLUZD\V 3XWWHUV 0RGHOV JUDSKLWH DQG VWHHO VKDIWV OHDWKHU KHDGFRYHU GHOLYHU\

SHUVLPPRQJROI FR XN WHO

GOLF WORLD 137

TAKING YOUR GAME TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Need a handicap certificate? - Tel. 020 8391 4666

Contact sales on 01733 366409

www.golfclubgb.co.uk

The Locker Room

UK COURSE GUIDE

HOLIDAYS IN ENGLAND

Please mention

FROM

£73.95

when responding to advertising

Cardigan Golf Club

HOLIDAYS IN ENGLAND Wish you were here Ufford Park Woodbridge Looking for the perfect all year round venue for your golf break?

Set in the heart of Suffolk, our 18 hole, par 71 course is ideal for the beginner or the experienced player.

Book your tee time online and practice your swing on our 2 tier floodlit driving range.

Golf Breaks from

£95*

A Welsh Jewel that will live in your memory forever

per person

Views of Cardigan Bay from every hole

*Terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability.

t 0844 477 1829 (local rate) w www.uffordpark.co.uk Yarmouth Road | Woodbridge | Suffolk | IP12 1QW

HOLIDAYS IN ENGLAND

www.cardigangolf.com

HOLIDAYS OVERSEAS

the new c palmar! by constance, mauritius opens november 2017

mauritius 12 nights all inclusive in paradise all inclusive | flights | private transfers free daily golf | free golf buggies!

Contact sales on 01733 366409

TAKING YOUR GAME TO THE NEXT LEVEL

2018 Golf Breaks from £85

Tel: 01239 621 775

£1,995 pp (summer 2018) £2,595 pp (winter 2017/2018)

CORNWALL GOLF BREAKS Summer 2018

1 Night Golf Break including B&B plus 2 Rounds of Golf starts from just £85pp!!

book now Book NOW for 2018 and secure with only a 10% deposit

t: 028 9023 2112 e: enquiries@chakatravel.com

golf holiday specialists For further information, please call Club Reception on 01566 86903 or email: reservations trethornegolfclub.com

138 GOLF WORLD

exclusive golf partners for the resort

Instant fixes to take to the course

WHAT IF...

Pitchingiscostingmeshots

It’s always tempting to go straight at the flag when you’ve got a wedge in your hands from inside 100 yards, but this isn’t always the best play. You must take the lie, conditions and pin position into consideration.

You won’t be able to guarantee the

contact and trajectory or spin the ball as much from longer grass so play the percentages from the rough. The wind and firmness of the green will also dictate how quickly you can stop the ball. Don’t be afraid to aim 10 or 15 feet towards the centre of the green if the

pin is tucked near the edge to ensure you don’t leave yourself a tricky upand-down if you miss.

But if you’re playing from the fairway to a central flag then it’s green light time to take dead aim and knock it stiff. By Enric Lopez

LONG GAME / PRACTICE / CHIPPING / PUTTING / STRATEGY

SCORE SAVERS WHAT IF...

It’salongandslopeyputt

There’s nothing more frustrating than a three-putt, but they are a common error for the vast majority of club golfers. Your chances of threeputting might be higher than your chances of two-putting when you’re this far away on a fast and slopey green, but these simple tips will help you lag it to tap-in range. By Stuart Martin

Walk to the hole

Going from your ball to the hole helps you process the length in your mind and feel the breaks in your feet. Once you’re at the hole, you can really see how the ball will break over the last few feet. Work out what angle the ball will fall straight into the hole from and visualise the break back from there to give you the line you want to start it on.

It can help to break really long putts down into two or three sections.

Square face at impact You have to stroke the ball with a square face at impact so you can start the ball on your intended line because anything offline will be magnified on a long putt, especially when there’s a lot of break involved. Rock your shoulders and maintain the triangle formed by your shoulders and arms at address throughout the entire stroke – with minimal wrist hinge – to promote a square face with the speed you need on longer putts.

Stuart Martin is the HeadProfessionalatMonteRei Golf & Country Club, Portugal.Allhisinstruction was shot on location at theJackNicklausdesigned course. www.monte-rei.com

WHAT IF...

I’minconsistentwith greensidebunkershots A lot of players struggle from greenside bunkers because they simply don’t understand how they need to hit the shot. If you aren’t set up correctly then you’re never going to be able to splash the ball out with control and hit it consistently close to the hole. The greenside bunker splash is actually quite a simple shot when you understand how to

1 low your ould the

Be specific with distance Pace is absolutely vital on long putts and giving it a specific number will help you be more precise. Work out the percentage pace you need if a flat putt of that distance is 100 per cent. Downhill will be under 100 per cent and uphill is more than 100 per cent.

This putt starts uphill but the majority of it is downhill so it’s a 75 per cent putt – if it’s 40 feet long, it will play like 30 feet.

Th

1

2

3

Move the ball forward

Lower your hands

Shallow attack angle

Positioning the ball just inside your lead heel sets the swing arc’s low point under the ball. It helps the clubhead enter the sand a couple of inches before the ball and gives you more time to get back to a neutral impact position.

Your hands directly above the clubhead creates a neutral shaft angle so the trailing edge of the sole is below the leading edge, which helps it glide through the sand.

Stand a touch further from the ball than normal to give yourself room to add knee flex and drop the hands lower. Lowering the handle pre-sets a slight cocking of the wrists that resists forearm rotation through impact and maintains the loft and bounce. Keep 60 per cent of your weight in your lead side throughout and make sure you don’t sway so you keep entry point into the sand consistent.

A wide and shallow attack increases your margin for error by helping the club glide through the sand instead of digging.

Promote a shallow attack by calming your wrist cock on the way back with a light grip pressure and extension in your lowerhand wrist. On the way down, picture yourself throwing a ball in your lower hand upwards, past your lead shoulder as your arms swing through.

SCORE SAVERS WHAT IF...

My driving is inconsistent

A lot of driving problems are caused by a fast transition that doesn’t allow you to complete the backswing before you start the downswing because you’re in such a rush to get back to the ball. The upper body moves first in the downswing, which forces an over the top move and prevents you building power. A more efficient transition and downswing will help you hit the ball longer and straighter. By Stuart Martin

Pause at the top Feel like there’s a slight pause at the top of the backswing – just like Hideki Matsuyama – to help a smooth transition. Even if it feels like you’ve paused for a long time, the reality is it will only be a split-second if you watch your swing on video.

CREATE LAG ON THE WAY DOWN The downswing starts from your lower body and is led by your core and hips rotating through.

The upper body follows. This creates the lag you see here, which allows you to release maximum energy into the ball.

ATTACK THE BALL FROM THE INSIDE When the upper body moves first you will attack the ball from the outside and slice it. The correct downswing sequencing helps you attack the ball from the inside and on the up.

Tempo and sequencing

A fully completed backswing helps you make a smooth transition into a properly sequenced downswing.

Practice by trying to hit your driver 50 yards shorter than you normally would to improve your tempo and sequencing and you’ll probably increase your driving distance.

WHAT IF...

I’mhittingmyironstoolow

There are many examples of good advice being interpreted incorrectly. One of the most common ones I see is hitting irons with the shaft leaning forward at impact to compress the ball. You want some forward lean, but it’s easy to over-do it and get the shaft leaning too far forwards, which produces low ball flights and inconsistent strikes. By Steven Orr

Too much shaft lean

The correct shaft lean

This de-lofts the clubface too much and the attack angle becomes too steep so you take a deep divot and hit lowdriven ball flights. The more forward shaft lean you have at impact, the less loft there will be on the clubface. You’re essentially turning a 7-iron into a 6 or even a 5-iron. The steeper attack angle also reduces your margin for error at impact so you’re more likely to hit the ball inconsistently, which makes it very difficult to be accurate.

This largely comes about from good movements in the downswing, without you having to force the shaft into that position. To achieve this, make sure your body continues to turn as you come towards impact and let the shaft release. You’ll hit the ball with the correct loft and compress it with a shallower attack angle that produces smaller divots. Your ball-striking will be more consistent and your trajectory will be high and strong.

SCORE SAVERS WHAT IF...

I’mchippingtoanelevatedgreen

Any time you miss an elevated green you’re going to be faced with a tricky recovery shot because you’re playing uphill with a steep slope between you and the green. There are three different ways you can play this shot. You must guarantee your next shot is a putt while maximising your chances of getting it close and saving your par. By Stuart Martin

What are your options?

From a good lie, you can fly the ball onto the green, land it softly and let it release slowly to the hole. If the ball isn’t lying as well or you’re not a confident chipper, you can hit a bump and run into the slope. It’s easier to play than flying it onto the green, but it’s harder to judge the bounce and reaction on a steep slope. The third option is putting with a hybrid. The hybrid is better than a putter because the ball launches a bit faster so you don’t have to swing as hard to get it up the slope.

Three keys to flying it on to the green

WHAT IF...

I wanttomakethe mostofwintergolf Winter is here, but that’s no reason to put the clubs away. You can have a lot of fun and even improve your game by continuing to play through adverse conditions. By Stuart Dowsett

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE

1 GO AND CHECK THE GREEN Always go up to the green to check how much room you have to land and release the ball and what slopes there are. It often looks like you don’t have as much green to work with as you think when you’re below the green.

You’ve got to be up for the challenge and stay positive.

You know you’re going to face adverse weather like cold temperatures, wind and rain, and the course condition isn’t going to be as good as the summer, so prepare yourself mentally to deal with this. If you’re playing a competition, half the field probably don’t fancy it so you can give yourself a big advantage.

DRESS FOR THE CONDITIONS

2 SET UP FOR SIMPLE LOFT Put the ball centre or slightly forward and use your most lofted club. Open the face a little and position your hands directly above the ball to increase the bounce on the sole of the club. Aim a little left to offset the slightly open face.

3 TURN YOUR CHEST THROUGH Hinge your wrists a little on the way back and then turn the chest through the shot with minimal wrist break to slide the club under the ball rather than hitting at it. This action will naturally create plenty of height and backspin.

There’s a lot of great clothing these days, and the right combination of layers and fabrics will keep you warm, dry and able to swing with freedom in even the worst weather. Make sure you have a woolly hat, mitts and rain gloves, and keep your cleats clean and in good shape for maximum traction.

WARM UP YOUR MUSCLES It’s always important to stretch and warm up before

you play, but especially so in colder temperatures. The golf swing is an athletic movement so warmer muscles will help you hit the ball further. A properly prepared body is also less susceptible to injuries.

USE A SOFTER GOLF BALL Many amateurs go to a firmer ball in the winter, but the opposite is more beneficial. A lower compression ball could help you create more carry distance and have a little more feel, which is a bonus with cold hands. You won’t hit the ball as far in winter but most courses move the tees up anyway.

IMPROVE YOUR TECHNIQUE With fewer competitions, winter is the perfect time to improve your technique. Work with your pro to create a plan that will help you achieve a specific target through the winter. It’s much easier to produce lasting improvement with a specific plan and not worrying about scores.

W

hat was the hardest day you’ve ever had on a golf course?

Sunday, Medinah, 2012 Ryder Cup. Davis Love III and I have talked a lot about it and how it was a great week but the result and that final day, blowing the lead, was tough to take. That day was just really hard to swallow. It still hurts.

What would you do if you weren’t a golfer?

I would’ve gone back to school and got my master’s degree in business of some sort probably. But looking back on it all these years later, I think I would have wanted to go into athletic administration or, and this is totally random and not connected, something along the lines of architecture. Not golf courses but residential, buildings and so on.

What’s your best skill outside of golf?

I immediately just go to sports and don’t know if I can single one out. I don’t like talking or bragging about myself but back in the day I could shoot a basketball. I can’t play defence, rebound or run very well, but I could shoot it.

I also played a lot of soccer growing up and could’ve played collegiate soccer. I’m glad I stuck with golf.

Who’s your favourite actor or actress?

Will Ferrell. I like comedies and he’s just the best. It’s sort of dumb humour but it’s brilliant.

He’s really, really funny. He’s also the only actor I’ve ever met and he was hilarious.

What was the best part about winning the Open Championship?

Outside of the obvious of winning it, actually having your name etched onto the Claret Jug is just so cool. Just the fact that it sits on a trophy that’s 140-plus years old with names who pioneered the game and legends, and on a trophy that depicts and represents the birthplace of the game as well, is just amazing.

BARE MY SOUL Zach Johnson

Who has been the biggest influence on your life?

College football, without a doubt. I was raised in Iowa and went to the University of Iowa so I’m a Hawkeyes fan. I’m a season ticket holder.

A lot of other sports would be in there, too – college basketball, the NFL, I love soccer. But on a Saturday afternoon in my off-season, you’ll

146 Golf World February 2018

What’s the best present you ever got?

I’m not even a car guy but my wife got me a 1967 Shelby Mustang for my 40th birthday.

My uncle was a Ford dealer growing up and 99 per cent of the time when I would go to see him he had a Shelby Mustang in his showroom. If there’s one car to own, that’s it.

What’s the most annoying question you get asked and why?

Definitely who is your favourite golfer to play with and your least favourite to play with. I can’t stand it, mostly because you get it all the time, at parties, pro-ams and everywhere else.

Have you ever broken a club?

My wife Kim, and my parents. My parents because the manner in which I was raised, especially now that I have kids and knowing what society and the world is all about. My wife because she makes me a better person and totally loves me despite my faults.

What’s your favourite sport other than golf?

find me at an Iowa game or watching them on television.

Not that I can remember. I remember a long time ago witnessing someone breaking a club and it didn’t go so well. They injured themselves. So I was like ‘man, I don’t want to end up like that’. I did toss my putter to my bag from a good yardage once though, and it kinked my shaft so I had to take it out of play.

I guess that sort of counts.

‘Thefactmyname sits on a trophy that’s 140-plus years old with pioneers of the game and legends, is just so cool’

Do you have a favourite band or musician?

It’s hard to pick one. The list is way too long.

But I tend to stick with the genre and the bands I grew up listening to in college.

Dave Matthews sticks out, but I like a lot of classic rock, too.

for your next Ireland Golf Vacation visit

PORTSTEWART ROYAL PORTRUSH

BALLYLIFFIN

CASTLEROCK

PORTSALON

Tory island

Giants causeway

ROSAPENNA

Buncran Foyle ferry

N56

Coleraine

Derry Letterkenny

NARIN & PORTNOO

A2

Derry Airport

N13

A26

Larne

Strabane

Ballybofey

Antrim

N15

N15

N56

A2

A6

A5

ROYAL BELFAST

M2 HOLYWOOD

Belfast

Donegal town DONEGAL G.C BUNDORAN

CARNE

A24

LOUGH ERNE G.C.

N15

ENNISCRONE

Belmullet

A1 agh

A4

Enniskillen

Sligo

A3

N59

N59

SLIEVE RUSSELL

N17

Swinford

N5

N5

N4

Knock Airport

WESTPORT

M1 N4

N59

Claremorris

CO. LOUTH

Drogheda

Longford

N4

N3

MULLINGAR KILLEEN CASTLE

Clifden

Mullingar

CONNEMARA

Tuam Galway Airport N17

N59

Kinnegad

KER HILLS

Athlone

N4

THE HERITAGE

Naas

TRUMP DOONBEG

nnon SHANNON rry

M7

CARLOW

R551

Limerick ADARE

New

Killarney

BEAUFORT

N71

M8

N20

Cork

N22 LEE VALLEY

KENMAR RING OF KERRY

Dungarvan

CASTLEMARTYR G.C. RK

FOTA ISLAND

Bandon Bantry

ROSSLARE ST. HELENS BAY

TRAMORE

FAITHLEGG

Towns / Cities

Airports

GOLF CLUBS

Ferries

Midleton

Kenmare Macroom

HOGS HEAD

Rosslare ferry

WATERFORD CASTLE

Fermoy

N25

niscorthy

N11

N25 Wexford

N24 Waterford

Castleisland MALLOW Kerry Airport N72

KILLARNEY

WATERVILLE

Cahir

Tralee

Mallow Caherciveen

N30

MT. JULIET

N20

Gorey

M9

M9

Cashel

Adare

N21

DOOKS

Arklow

MT.WOLSELE

Kilkenny

Listowel

N69

EUROPEAN CLUB

Carlow

N69 Tarbert

Wicklow

N9

Shannon Airport

N68

Kilrush

Killorglin

DRUIDS GLEN

M11

DSTOCK Nenagh DROMOLAND

Ennis

N67

RATHSALLAGH

Portlaoise

Roscrea

M18

N85

N67

Dingle

POWERSCOURT TULFARRIS

LAHINCH

DINGLE G.C.

Dun Laoghaire ferry

Lisdoonvarna

Cliffs of Moher

TRALEE G. C.

Dublin Airport

Dun Laoghaire

K CLUB

N67

BALLYBUNION

THE ISLAND PORTMARNOCK PORTMARNOCK LINKS ST ANNES ROYAL DUBLIN

Dublin

Tullamore

M6

Ballybunion

ROGANSTOWN

CARTON HOUSE

N80 Ballinasloe

Aran Islands

Navan

ST. MARGARETS

GLASSON

Galway

BEARNA

SEAPOINT

N3

N5

Westport

N59

WARRENPOINT

Dundalk

N5

Castlebar

ROYAL CO.DOWN

Newry

CONCRA WOODS

van

Carrick on Shannon

ARDGLASS

Newcastle

naghan

Ballina

N26

Belfast Airport

M1

A32

CO. SLIGO

N59

MALONE

A5

Ballyshannon

Cork Airport Kinsale

Cork ferry

N71

Skibbereen Clonakilty

OLD HEAD

EXCLUSIVE

NOW

50%

£11.99

Wilson Staff DX2 Balls [12]

OFF

. £11.99

£ . £34.99

SAVE

SAVE

£45

£40

Nike Lunar Control Vapor Shoe

Calvin Klein Tech Vest

WHEN YOU BUY THE SUIT

£ . £79.99

Adidas Climastorm Waterproofs

. £99.95

Over 120 stores nationwide. Shop 24/7 at

americangolf.co.uk Terms and conditions: Information correct at time of going to print. Subject to availability and whilst stocks last. Certain colours or products available online only and in selected stores. All images are a guide only. New product available on selected launch dates. Check with your local store before travelling.