Golf Section

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Golf April


Golf

US Masters The Azaleas and Dogwoods are in full bloom, there’s blue dye in the lakes, so it must be Masters time. April signals the first major of the golfing year; the US Masters at the stunningly sublime Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters is the only major to be played on the same course every year and what a course! Augusta was the brain child and dream of Robert Trent Jones. Bobby (as he was known) was the greatest amateur golfer of all time, winning 5 US Amateur titles and 1 Amateur Championship. He was good enough to take on and beat the best Pro’s of the day winning the US Open on 4 occasions and the Open Championship 3 times. He was and probably will always be the only golfer to win both Open’s and both Amateur crowns in the same year.

Robert Trent Jones

In 1930 he retired from competitive golf to concentrate on his law practice, but Jones had an idea and wanted to establish his ideal golf course on which his wealthy friends could play. He had some novel ideas about how he wanted it to be set up. He wanted to test the best players while also allowing the high handicapper to get around in a hundred without feeling like 16

giving up for good. But it was by pure chance that led Jones to find the ideal Architect to enable him to design a course that could do this. In 1929 Jones had been knocked out of the US Amateur at Pebble Beach early. So he took the chance to play Cyprus Point and Pastiempo, both designed by Alistair McKenzie, a physician from Leeds who thankfully had turned golf Architect. Jones and McKenzie teamed up to design the Augusta National, a course that ranks as famous in golf as St Andrews. The Masters Tournament came about at first as an invitational event for the best of the day. The date of April fell and the best had spent the winter golfing in Florida and South Carolina, so in Spring they were starting to head back towards the Northern courses and Augusta was on the way, especially if you had received an invitation from the great man. Horton Smith won the first tournament in 1934 but it was not until the following year that it really became known. This was when Gene Sarazen famously won, holing the second shot over the water at the Par 5 15th. It was this shot that Gene Sarazen reverberated around the golfing world and set The Masters alight.

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Golf

Augu

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al Tro phy

16th

12th green

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12th hole

The allure and desire to play at Augusta is high amongst all golfers The Masters has become synonymous with style, colour, flair and mystique. Augusta is unique in the fact that the only way to play there on any given day is as a member or a guest of a member. To become a member you have to be invited, no one can apply or ask and

if you were to ask this would not make any difference apart from the fact that this would then ensure that you would never have the chance of ever being asked again. The allure and desire to play at Augusta is high amongst all golfers but so few experience it for real.

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Golf

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On arrival he was assigned a caddy and was told the only time he should touch his clubs was when he wanted to hit a shot. That day he played his first round. He has a very low handicap (3), but before he went I had told him he would not hit below 90 and he didn’t due to the difficulty of Augusta and its fiendishly tricky greens.

Golf

Recently, a good friend of mine received an invitation from a member and as anyone would eagerly have accepted, he did so. He was to have two days at Augusta. On arrival at the security gate he was asked to produce his passport. He duly did and although he was on their visitors list he was informed he would have to wait outside until the member arrived. Not outside the clubhouse but outside the complex. Once the member had arrived he was allowed to drive up the most famous entrance in golf; Magnolia Drive.

The 13th hole

He gave up trying to figure out the greens in the end and just decided to let the caddy tell him where to hit the ball. But on the 14 he was dubious once again about taking his advice, as he thought it was a right to left putt, breaking about two foot. To his amazement the caddy was standing some 15 feet up the hill on the left, “you got to hit it here boss” he could not believe it. But up to now he had always been right, so he duly hit the ball to the point his caddy had shown him. Incredulously, the ball started

The Clubhouse

The magic, mystique and allure of Augusta doesn’t finish at the 18th green. The white wooden clubhouse looks like it came straight out of Gone with the Wind, a typical Southern Plantation house where the members proudly wear their famous green jackets and are required to do so. There are guest rooms at the club for members and their guests and if a member books in a guest, the member is also required to stay as well, not that staying and dining is a hardship.

turning and turning and turning back towards the hole and to his total astonishment it went in. After that he took the putt again and hit it where he thought it should go, only to see it slide off the green and finish some 20 yards down the fairway. I remember when Tiger first played The Masters and on the 1st hole he had a putt from about 15 feet for birdie, his next shot was from 10 yards off the green. So even the best have been fooled by Augusta’s greens.

The traditions that Augusta set are what m any aspire to. This is what m akes Augusta the benchmark fo r all private cl ubs. The club restaurant is regarded as one of the finest in America with a Wine List for Connoisseurs to die for. But here is the amazing bit, all wine prices are set at what the club originally paid for them. So a bottle of 1952 Chateaux Lafite worth now about $700 would cost what the club originally paid which was about $20.

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Golf 20

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Golf

So who will don the green jacket this year?

Phil Mickelson

Last year Charl Schwartzel birdied the final 4 holes to take the title on an eventful final day. Rory Mcilroy imploded on the final 9 holes having led for three and a half rounds. Tiger had been in a tie with only 8 to play and struggling home. Charl then stepped up and took his opportunity. Only two players have successfully defended their Masters crown. Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo, so the odds are against Charl. However, before he started his defence on that Tuesday which he won, there was the traditional champions dinner which was tinged with sadness as it was the first since the golfing world lost twice champion Severiano Ballesteros. Seve had won at Augusta on several occasions throughout his career and was truly one of the best golfers the world had ever seen. This was why it had been such a sad occasion for all the past champions. This year’s Masters is shaping up to be a very interesting and open contest with 4 Europeans to top

the world rankings, so could one of these take the title? Lee Westwood was showing good signs of form and has gotten close before. I don’t see Donald or Kaymer as a challenger this year. Phil Mickelson has shown he’s playing well at the moment and being a 3 time champion he knows what it takes to get the job done at Augusta and will be a serious contender. Tiger was looking as though he was getting back to his best at the Honda championship with a closing 62 but injury the following week at Doral could be a set back. New World number 1 Rory McIlroy is clearly in top form and if he can forget his implode last year he has to be a favourite. Justin Roses’s win at Doral shows he’s clearly playing well.

Rory McIlroy

h c t a w o t r u o The f and Tiger Rory, Phil, Justin

(if fit)…..

Tiger y

cIlro Rory M

Phil Mickelson

Rose Justin

Woods

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Golf

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As all golfers know, good golf starts with a good grip.

Golf

Back to basics 1

Bradley Smith

A PGA qualified professional for 36 years. Qualified for the senior open championship at Carnoustie 2010. Available for individual, group and playing lessons.

Email: Bradleygolf882@yahoo.com Mobile: 0034 600 345 882

2

Although most players find that it is better to have the left thumb to the right of centre, this will help with the rotation on the back swing and will enable you to square up the club face at impact.

5

It is important that even with the strong grip (pic. 2), the right hand still comes over the left thumb the same as (pic.4).

A Natural Grip; the left thumb goes down the centre of the grip.

3

4

Adding the right hand, the grip goes through the base of the fingers.

6

When closing the right hand over the left thumb, the right hand becomes a mirrored image of the left.

7

There are two basic grips in golf. This one, which is the interlocking grip (used by Jack Nicklaus/ Tiger Woods).

And this one, the Vardon Overlapping Grip. This is used primarily by those with bigger hands, although both are correct.

It is important to work on your grip and if you need to make a change then the best way to do this is to have a professional look over you. To practice this on your own, just hit chip or pitch shots until it becomes comfortable. A grip change is the hardest thing to do in golf but in the long run it is time well spent.

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Golf

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8

The easiest way to think of your posture is a goalkeepers start position.

11

At the same time your alignment needs to be square to your intended target line.

14

Above shows a bad takeaway, showing the hands taking the club inside. This will leave you with no room and quite often result in coming over the top on the way down.

Golf

t Grip AlignmenPosture and alignment are the Posture key to making a good swing. 10

9

Relaxed legs, hinged at the waist so that the arms hang freely.

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The address has to be as natural as possible to be able to make as free a swing as possible.

13

Shoulders, hips, knees and feet are also aligned to the target.

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The takeaway should see your left arm and club going straight back, creating width from your body with the turn.

Again, it is important to get your set up right. Ideally, the best way to do this would be to get a qualified professional to give you a lesson on this. Remember that the swing is a chain reaction movement. If your setup is wrong, then there is no way the chain reaction will maximize your potential.

As well, no turn and picking the club up results in a steep angle of attack losing a lot of power.

So if you are not getting the most from your game, go back to basics... Grip, Posture, Alignment.

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Golf

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Golf menandautotrader.com april 2012

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Golf

Relief from buggy paths st point of relief!

are First you have to determine the ne

1 Then you take your stance, place a Tee Peg where your club head is then with your driver (being your longest club) measure one club length and place another Tee.

2 3

Now drop from the shoulder height between the tee Pegs. The ball is in play providing it hasn’t gone forward or rolled more than 2 club lengths.

When the ball is off the path but your stance is on the path you may gain relief. Again, you must determine the nearest point.

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Golf

4

Place a Tee Peg where your club head is and measure one club length.

5

6

7

Drop the ball between the Tee pegs from shoulder height. If the ball rolls back and yet again you are standing on the path you must re drop again. If this happens a second time‌

You must place the ball on the exact spot where you dropped the ball! If because of a severe slope, you find it difficult placing the ball, you must place it as near as possible to where you dropped it (no nearer the hole).

8

When determining where to drop the ball you must go to the nearest point, NOT the most favourable! ( which would be the picture where he is on the right of the path). Sometimes it’s better to play from the path as you can see above dropping the ball to the nearest point will put the tree as an obstruction. So always before picking up the ball establish the nearest point.

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