Golf Digest - January 2022

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P LU S WHY THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL IS A GAMECHANGER FOR THE ASIAN TOUR THE CASE FOR 2022 BEING THE YEAR OF RORS LIVING GOLF WITH SHANE O’DONOGHUE

L ATE BLOOMING GOLF SAUDI GLOBAL AMBASSADOR JASON KOKRAK

WHAT’S THE KRAK?

DUSTIN JOHNSON

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BIG BANG UNICO GOLF Black texalium case. In-house UNICO movement, equipped with a unique mechanism dedicated to golf scoring.

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Tee Sheet 01/22

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

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▶ w i l l r o ry m c i l r oy return to major championship w i n n i n g ways in 2022?

26 Year Of Rors The case for 2022 being the year Rory McIlroy makes a major return to form. by kent gray

8 Editor’s Letter We’re celebrating our 150th edition in culturally approprite style.

Play 14 From The Ground Up Create more power. by matthew brookes

The Starter 10 Yas Links Abu Dhabi The DP World Tour’s calendar year opener couldn’t want for a more picturesque, or challenging, canvas. by kent gray

16 Rookie Wonder Meet Germany’s next Martin Kaymer. Maybe.

20 Old Tips, New Takes One-handed pitch shots.

36 A Game Of Chance Why the Saudi International is so important to the Asian Tour’s next gen.

by david leadbetter

by kent gray

Features

18 What’s In My Bag LPGA’s Nelly Korda.

24 Desert Swing Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa headline the resumption of the DP World Tour season after last month’s worrying false start in South Africa.

with e. michael johnson

by kent gray

by kent gray

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40 Living Golf CNN’s Shane O’Donoghue might just own the best media job in golf. by kent gray

46 A Conversation With Dana Fry & Jason Straka The design gurus behind Yas Arces Golf & Country Club.

54 #JupLife Hanging in Jupiter, Fla., the de facto capital of professional golf. by alan shipnuck

58 Speed Lab Tour the hi-tech setup of Chris Como, coach of Bryson DeChambeau, to find more yards. by matthew rudy

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Cover photograph by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

mcilroy, kokrak: getty images • yas links ad: kevin murray

cover story 30 Mr Ambassador Meet American late bloomer Jason Kokrak, one of 25 big names set to headline he 4th Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

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Editor’s Letter

150 Not Out KENT GRAY kent.gray@motivate.ae Twitter: @KentGrayGolf / @GolfDigestME

OLF DIGEST MIDDLE EAST first hit the shelves in November 2009 to coincide - by no happenstance - with the launch of the European Tour’s shiny new Race to Dubai.

Now, 149 print editions and 13 JGE season-deciders later, the game stands on the precipice of an even more seismic moment. Like every issue that has led to this one, we’re not lost for words or well-sourced insight into the one subject dominating all - the fascinating power–play for the pro game.

We honestly haven’t a clue how this fast-moving, multi-faceted thriller will play out beyond imminent decisions that will reverberate around the globe for years to come, whoever wins and whatever transpires.

What we can say for certain is that the Middle East’s role in the future of golf has never been more influential.

The European Tour has become the DP World Tour with now six events, three of them premier Rolex Series affairs, to be played on Middle Eastern fairways in 2022. The Asian Tour has muscled its way back into the region with the help of a $200 million Saudi investment, while the field for next month’s Saudi International – the reawakened circuit’s 2022 season-opener - is nothing short of epic. Not that it’s 100 percent locked down as the PGA Tour-DP World Tour alliance fight tradition’s corner against an opponent – the Greg Norman-fronted and Asian Tour-aligned LIV Golf Investments – that has finally emerged from the shadows and come out swinging. Don’t dismiss the Premier Golf League as a long shot contender either, nor how complicated all this sparring has become.

Our sesquicentennial edition – and the title’s accompanying website – continues to demystify the biggest story since GDME’s launch 12 years ago with passionate arguments in print and online from those plumbing for the status quo and others pitching a revolution.

To mark the milestone, Golf Digest Middle East has proudly become the world’s first Arabic language golf magazine with the 150th edition you’re reading also fully transcribed for our growing audience in Saudi Arabia.

Not since the Royal & Ancient game first met grass in the Middle East with the opening of Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course in 1989, has the game here enjoyed a more culturally appropriate moment.

Whatever happens next is anyones guess. The only guarantee? That the region will have a big say and that Golf Digest Middle East will chronicle it.

Enjoy the Morikawa v McIlroy prize fight at this month’s 17th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links and the repeat double-act at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, which has been upgraded to $8 million Rolex Series status for its 33rd edition a week later on the Majlis.

Stay tuned too for what we suspect will be fluid field updates for the $5 million Saudi International and coverage of the new $2 million Ras Al Khaimah Championship which will be played in the same Feb. 3-6 timeslot.

The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and a fifth Desert Swing event – still to be announced at time of print – will follow after that. Great golf and behind the scenes intrigue – for 150 issues and counting. Thanks for thumbing these pages and clicking along on this increasingly captivating ride.

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“The Middle East’s role in the future of golf has never been more influential.” editor-in- chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer managing partner & group editor Ian Fairservice editor Kent Gray art director Clarkwin Cruz editorial assistant Londresa Flores instruction editors Luke Tidmarsh, Euan Bowden, Tom Ogilvie, Matthew Brookes, Lea Pouillard, Alex Riggs chief commercial officer Anthony Milne publisher David Burke gener al manager - production S. Sunil Kumar assistant production manager Binu Purandaran T H E G O L F D I G E S T P U B L I C AT I O N S editor-in- chief Jerry Tarde director, business development & partnerships Greg Chatzinoff international editor Ju Kuang Tan GOLF DIGEST USA editor-in- chief Jerry Tarde gener al manager Chris Reynolds editorial director Max Adler executive editor Peter Morrice art director Chloe Galkin managing editors Alan P. Pittman, Ryan Herrington (News) chief pl aying editor Tiger Woods pl aying editors Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Tom Watson

Scan the QR Code to read, download and share the latest, and back issues, of Golf Digest Middle East.

head office: Media One Tower, PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE Tel +971 4 427 3000; Fax +971 4 428 2270 dubai media cit y: SD 2-94, 2nd Floor, Building 2, Dubai, UAE Tel +971 4 390 3550; Fax +971 4 390 4845 abu dhabi: PO Box 43072, UAE Tel +971 2 657 3490; Fax +971 2 657 3489

london: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, E-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae GOLF DIGEST and HOW TO PLAY, WHAT TO PLAY, WHERE TO PLAY are registered trademarks of Discovery Golf, Inc. Copyright © 2021 Discovery Golf, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Volume 72, Issue 2. GOLF DIGEST (ISSN 0017-176X) is published eight times a year by Discovery Golf, Inc. Principal office: Golf Digest, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y., 10036. Discovery Golf, Inc.: Alex Kaplan, President & GM; Gunnar Wiedenfels, Chief Financial Officer. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices.

golfdigestme.com /GolfDigestME january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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Yas Links Abu Dhabi The DP World Tour’s calendar year opener couldn’t want for a more picturesque, or challenging, canvas mateurs lucky enough to call the UAE home and international visitors in the know have been smitten for years. Now the rest of the golf world will be let in on the joys of Yas Links Abu Dhabi. Of all the 2022 Desert Swing events, the switch of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship from Abu Dhabi Golf Club after 16 editions is easily the most mouth-watering prospect. Kyle Phillips’s desert-links gem, ranked 48th in Golf Digest’s global Top 100 courses, has returned to its former glory after a challenging two-year dip in conditioning due to water challenges.

Here’s hoping the famous Arabian Gulf breezes waft in over the mangroves to give Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy and co. a taste of the challenge presented by the undulating layout, particularly so on the stunningly difficult three-hole closing stretch which has been the scene of many amateur hour meltdowns. –kent gray

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Photograph by Jacob Sjöman

Play Fitness power with Matthew Brookes

From the ground up Looking for more power? It’s all about kinetic sequence forces ROUND INTERACTION. It’s the talk of the tour and there’s no reason why amateurs, just like the pros, can’t generate more power through the ground to help increase club head speed.

Here at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, we’re lucky enough to have a new 3D motion plate from Swingcatalyst, a ground breaking bit of kit which helps us see every little detail of ground interaction.

The technology allows trained users to cross reference key horizontal, torque and vertical ground forces against averages collected by Swingcatalyst from PGA Tour players.

From there, any amateur looking for more distance – (let’s be honest, who isn’t?) is invited to the Peter Cowen Academy at DCGYC where we can build a fitness programme to help you increase the output of the key ground forces. Here’s three of my favourite exercises you can try out with the help of the “whats that strap”.

–WITH KENT GRAY

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180 vertical jumps

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With the machine to your right, place your left shoulder through the strap with the strap coming across the chest, then rotate anti-clockwise 180 degrees. Now with a big load and rotating to your right, make an explosive 180 degree rotational jump to your left so you finish facing the other way to your starting position, making sure you finish controlled and balanced.

box jumps ▶ Scan the QR Code to watch Matt bring this lesson to life.

lateral leaps

1

With the cable machine to your right, place your left arm through the strap with the strap going behind you and over your back. Now get into a single, right leg balance, in golf posture and load into your leg with a shoulder rotation towards the machine.

From this position, push off to your left away from the machine and land controlled onto your left leg. This exercises generates both accelerating and de accelerating forces, vital for the golf swing.

unlock your hidden potential with

3

Select a box height that is safe enough for you to jump onto.

Then, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart and your hands placed on your hips, start completing the descending movement of a squat, which is the loading phase of this exercises.

Now explode into a vertical jump and land on the box as softly you can. Loud landings should be avoided as much as possible.

Complete each exercise with 10 reps per side, over three sets and with up to 60 seconds rest between each set. Better still, join us at DCGYC and we can set you on the right path to better golf. From the ground up.

Matthew Brookes is a PGA teaching professional and golf specific fitness trainer at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

Are you making the most of your potential? With the use of our new 3D motion plate technology from Swing Catalyst, combined with TPI and Bio Swing screenings, we can tell you if you are!

Find out more by calling 04 205 4666 or email golf.academy@hyatt.com.

mark mathew

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Rookie Wonder

History points to the second year in the pro ranks generally being tougher than the first. Matti Schmid is up for the challenge. hings turned out pretty well the last time a German won Sir Henry Cotton Rookie-of-the-Year honours on the DP World Tour.

Matti Schmid, the freshlyminted 2021 recipient, certainly wouldn’t mind a career mirroring that of Ryder Cupper Martin Kaymer who has kicked on from his breakout year on the then European Tour in 2007 to capture two majors, a Players Championship, the WGC-HSBC Champions and, at last count, eight regular season DP World Tour titles.

Three of those were achieved at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where UAE fans are likely to get their first decent look at 24-year-old Schmid. The venue for the $8 million Rolex Series event might be different this time with the shift to from Abu Dhabi G.C. to Yas Links but the focus on Schmid, who finished T-23 in the truncated seasonopening Joburg Masters in late November, will be no less intense.

Schmid rose to prominence by winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at the 149th Open Championship in July before turning professional immediately after his T-59 finish at Royal St George’s. Within just

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seven appearances as a pro, he’d secured his DP World Tour card for 2022.

After making the cut in his first two starts, he highlighted his undoubted talent by finishing runner-up by three strokes to Kristoffer Broberg at the Dutch Open in September.

A top-10 finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and a T-11 at the Mallorca Golf Open rubber-stamped his membership, Schmid eventually finishing 114th in the final Race to Dubai Rankings.

“To win the Silver Medal at The Open Championship was a very special achievement but going out into the professional ranks is a different challenge.

I think that I am capable to compete at the very highest level which gives me the confidence for the future,” said Schmid, who also claimed a top 15 finish as an amateur at the BMW International Open in June.

“To secure my card on the DP World Tour in just seven starts is something I am proud of and to win this award is just a wonderful bonus and a nice reward for the hard work I have put in. It was a very intense year, but I am delighted with my start to life as a professional.” — kent gray

“It was a very intense year, but I am delighted with my start to life as a professional.”

matti schmid (ger) dp world tour age 24 owgr 225th lives maxhutte-haidhof

Photograph by Getty Images

Play Equipment

What’s in My Bag Nelly Korda driver specs Titleist TSi1, 10°, Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 6S shaft. ▶ Ever since my rookie year, I’ve struggled to find a driver that suits me. I like to hit a draw, and when I tested this one, I fell in love with it. The slightly smaller look appeals to me, too. I won at Lake Nona the first week I put it in the bag. fairway woods/hybrid specs Titleist TSi2, 16.5°, Fujikura Ventus Red 70S shaft; Titleist TSi2, 21°, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue 75S shaft; Ping G425, 19°, Fujikura Ventus 80S. ▶ I like that I can see the face on the 7-wood at address. I feel like I can hit it high, and that’s what I need because I tend to have a low trajectory. irons specs Titleist T100 (5-PW), Aerotech SteelFiber i80cw F4 shafts, Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips.

driver

253

▶ I’ll take a look at the new T100s at some point, but the consistency of these will be tough to beat. I hit controlled shots at all times, a lot of 90 percentres. But when you hit controlled shots, you’re generating more speed. I’ve had irons in the past that got a little jumpy with that, but not these.

3-wood

240

wedges

7-wood

230

19˚hybrid

202

specs Titleist Vokey SM8 (50°, 54°, 58°), Aerotech SteelFiber i95cw S shafts.

5-iron

187

6-iron

178

7-iron

163

8-iron

155

9-iron

140

pw

128

50˚

115

54˚

100

58˚

84

—with e. michael johnson

club

yards*

* carry distance

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fun flair ▶ I always raid the putter-cover stash when I go to Scotty Cameron’s studio.

This one is fun. I’ve had it for a couple of years. I also have a U.S.A. one from the Solheim Cup. In all I probably have more than a dozen putter covers.

by the numbers ▶ My ball superstition is using numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 on Thursday through Sunday. I was using the 2017 version of the Pro V1 until going to the 2021 model this year. I get more peak height and carry, and it feels great around the greens.

▶ A 4-degree gap has been my wedge setup since I was a junior. My bounces are pretty standard, and I don’t change them very often. My boyfriend’s favorite number is 22, so my 58-degree has 22s all over it. It reminds me of him while I’m playing. putter specs Scotty Cameron by Titleist Special Select Squareback 2 tour prototype, 35 inches, 3.5 degrees, Scotty Cameron Pistolini grip. ▶ This putter has a longer flange than the putter I was using, and that longer alignment line works for me. As a junior I used a lot of mallets, but I had a choppy stroke back then. Going to a blade I could see and feel my stroke smoothing out.

travel buddies ▶ These tiny stuffed animals hang on my bag, and I travel around the world with them. My best friend gave me lions, and I have ones from my mom, caddie and from a Czech children’s show. It’s quite the group.

Photographs by Steve Boyle

korda: chloe knott/r&a via getty images

age 23 lives Bradenton, Fla. story Six wins on the LPGA Tour, including the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Also won the 2021 Olympic Gold Medal. sister act I’ve been swinging golf clubs since I started walking, using those cute plastic golf clubs at first. As I got older, I was never really lacking for golf equipment. I was always getting hand-me-down clubs from my older sister, Jess, and I would be very happy when I would get a full set. I was that annoying little sister who got everything.

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Play Old Tips, New Takes by David Leadbetter

Neither the club nor the body should outrace the other.

Sync Your Short Shots It’s key to controlling distance around the greens here’s nothing new about practicing pitch shots with only your dominant hand.

It helps you get a better feel for how the club’s path should shallow out and glide along the turf, not dig into it. But did you know this practice

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20 golfdigestme.com | january 2022

method also can be used to sync the swinging of your wedge with the rotation of your body? That harmony is key to hitting these shots a predictable distance.

The club and your upper body should be moving at roughly the

same speed as you swing through.

By placing your non-dominant hand on your chest as a reminder like I am here, you’ll soon get a feel for the proper blending of arm swing and body turn for these short shots.

Neither the club nor the body should outrace the other. If they move at a smooth-and-accelerating pace, you’ll gain more control of the ball around the greens. —with ron kaspriske david leadbetter is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional.

Photographs by Walter Iooss Jr.

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Whichever way you look at it, it promises be compelling…

After a frustrating false-start in South Africa, external forces will again be at play behind the scenes as the DP World Tour season resumes in the UAE. By Kent Gray

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o matter where you stand on professional golf’s fascinating, multi-pronged and still thoroughly muddied tug-of-war, it’s hard not to feel genuine sympathy for Keith Pelley and his team at the DP World Tour.

After a whiz-bang World Expo presser to announce the circuit’s historic new title sponsorship on the eve of the Race to Dubai decider, a bright new dawn beckoned.

Eventual champion Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy ensured lashings of big-name drama at the last hurrah for the former European Tour and with that, everyone kicked back for the off-season. Four very short days later and the 2022 season – remembering we are still in November of 2021 - began with the circuit’s welcome return to South Africa.

But just when it seemed all the health, logistical and fiscal challenges of the past 20 months had largely been navigated, the Omicron variant popped in to stymie CEO Pelley and Co. once more. There were actual storm clouds for good measure too.

The scheduled three-event SA swing lasted all of 36 holes. The only one who could take any solace from what was essentially a false-start to the first ever DP World Tour season was Thriston Lawrence. The 25-year-old Sunshine Tour member was declared the winner of the truncated Joburg Open when the scheduled third round – the event having already been reduced to 54-holes due to hastily imposed travel restrictions – was washed out. Zander Lombard and Ashley Chesters weren’t grumbling either after joining Lawrence in nabbing the three invites to July’s 150th Open at St. Andrews on offer at Randpark. It was some reward for two days work.

And so to the UAE and the start of the calendar year, traditionally when the big guns – and global eyeballs - return after a slightly more relaxing off-season.

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (Jan. 20-23) and Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic (Jan. 27-30) offer a supercharged start to the new five event Desert Swing. Fans in Al Hamra will look forward to the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital (Feb. 3-6) and expect FIFA World Cup-themed subplots at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters (Feb 10-13). There was still intrigue at the time of press as to where the fifth event of the swing – a “Middle East event TBA” according to the DP World Tour website – will be played from Feb.17-20.

AGAIN

D E S E RT SWING

2022

LET’S START

But it is the back-to-back Rolex Series events at Yas Links and Emirates Golf Club that will dominate attention before the Asian Tour steals the spotlight with its star-studded, $5 million season-opener in Saudi Arabia - directly opposite the new RAK event.

After their indirect showdown at JGE, Morikawa and McIlroy are again the headline acts for the $8 million Rolex events. Morikawa returns to the UAE bolstered by becoming the first American to win the DP World Tour Championship and R2D title but also bruised by his final round meltdown at Tiger’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Quite how he let slip a five-stroke, 54-hole lead and his chance to become world No.1 in the process will undoubtedly get some airtime in Abu Dhabi but don’t expect any lingering mental hangover.

McIlroy has hinted at a return to his majorchampionship winning ways but will first want to shed his nearly-man tag in Abu Dhabi where he’s a four-time runner-up. Perhaps the much-anticipated move to Yas Links will signal a change of fortune; it will certainly be eye-candy for global TV audiences and thus a boon for UAE golf tourism.

All the usual early season suspects, including Tyrrell Hatton and Paul Casey who will defend in Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively, are expected to return. But like the end of last season, the narrative for the start of the new year is likely to be focused on behind the scenes negotiations and manoeuvres across neighbouring borders as much as by what happens inside the ropes.

The golf world is being transformed before our eyes, whether traditionalists like it or not. And once again, the Middle East is the epicentre of change.

Whichever way you look at it, it promises be compelling — and perhaps even more challenging for Pelley and co. than the past 20 months.

january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

25

2022 D E S E RT SWING

Has the curious case of Rory McIlroy over the past 26 months made a compelling argument for 2022 being the year the Northern Irishman makes a major return?

By Kent Gray

Rors Year of

so much has happened in the past year, much less in golf, that it takes a bit of mental dexterity to rewind all the way back to last year’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. ▶ You may recall Rory McIlroy opening the $8 million Rolex Series event with a 64, a classy eight-under romp around The National layout that hinted an end to the Northern Irishman’s inexplicable slump, by then 14 months in the making, was finally nigh.

getty images

McIlroy

went on to take a one-stroke lead into the final round at Abu Dhabi Golf Club only for a ho-hum 72 to leave him five strokes adrift of eventual champion Tyrrell Hatton.

Fast-forward to late November and McIlroy again seemed poised to win on UAE soil for the first time since his Dubai Desert Classic-DP World Tour Championship (DPWTC) double in 2015.

But as has been his way of late, a comfortable lead for most of the final day evaporated in an uncharacteristic flurry of three bogeys in his final four holes on Earth. While Collin Morikawa was birdieing five of his last seven holes to become the first Race to Dubai winner from America, a seething McIlroy was violently rearranging his wardrobe.

It was viral-worthy fodder for social media and served as an easy visual metaphor for a year when the four-time major champion threatened to go on a tear but will instead be remembered for ripping it up. His polo, that is.

So why will 2022 be any different for the 32-year-old?

For starters, last year wasn’t that bad. With victory in the Wells Fargo Championship in May, McIlroy ended an 18-month winless drought with his 19th PGA Tour title. In October, he parked a forgettable Ryder Cup campaign the previous month by capturing the CJ Cup, impressively overcoming a nine-stroke deficit through 36 holes with weekend scores of 62-66 in Las Vegas. In the process, McIlroy became just the sixth player to win 20 times on the PGA Tour before their 33rd birthday.

Sure, there were more than a few blips too, like a missed cut at The Players and another shot at the career Grand Slam over before the weekend started at Augusta National. Let’s not forget the disappointment of missing out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics (after sneaking into a seven-way playoff), nor camouflage his mediocre 1-3-0 record as Europe were humbled 19-9 at the 43rd Ryder Cup matches in September.

The too-ing and fro-ing between coaches (new-ish) Peter Cowen and (old but reinstated) Michael Bannon further muddied the waters although it seems McIlroy reached a tipping point after the tears at Whistling Straits.

Perhaps the game that had got him to world No.1 wasn’t so bad after all? It was a realisation that seemed so obvious to outsiders, yet a trap those who make it to No.1 seem to fall into.

Sure, I’m the best in the world but imagine how good I could be if I just make a few little tweaks here and there.

McIlroy spent much of 2020 trying to catch up to swing speed and yard hungry Bryson DeChambeau while the rest of the world wondered why he would even consider tinkering with that already beautifully fluid driver swing, the calling-card of his career.

Thankfully, the first results of McIlroy’s Ryder Cup reckoning were there for all to see at the CJ Cup and for three-quarters of the DPWTC too.

“I’m a big boy now, even if my body is not the same,” he said after an opening 65 at Jumeriah Golf Estates.

“I’ve had injuries and I can’t quite get it into positions that I used to get it into. I’ve been around the block a bit. Still, if I have problems or struggles, I should be able to sort them out myself.

“Instead of looking to others to fix my issues, I’m going to take more responsibility. That’s what I did after the Ryder Cup. I put my head down and spent a lot of time alone on the range.

I asked myself, what is it I do well and what do I need to get back to?”

When you win four majors before your 25th birthday to enter golf lore alongside Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, unfeasible expectation invariably follows. McIlroy was morphed from a precociously talented Irishman into a global phenomenon overnight with some even wondering if he might surpass Nicklaus’ tally of 18 majors given his bolt out of the blocks.

Instead of looking to others to fix my issues, I’m going to take more responsibility.

january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

27

▶ frustrated McIlroy has gone seven major-less seasons but has the tide finally turned?

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I’m a big boy now, even if my body is not the same...

Claustrophobic scrutiny ensued. Through it all, McIlroy has remained true to himself and one of golf’s best interviews, willingly taking us all along for the topsy-turvy ride — warts and all. Mixed with a game that is peerless when he’s at his best, it’s hard not to root for Rory.

There’s a reason why he was elected to the chairmanship of the PGA Tour’s influential Player Advisory Council. Simply put, he’s one of the most intelligent, widely respected and historically well-versed players still doing the business inside the ropes. Indeed, if there was one thing that McIlroy achieved in 2021 that deserves credit above all else it was lobbying the game to start binning those infernal green reading-books. Long may those pages, which slow play and rob the game of the almost lost art of green-reading, be consigned to the pages of history.

28 golfdigestme.com | january 2022

cIlroy’s stance on issues impacting the game are considered with a mix of historic reverence and contemporary candidness. It includes a belief the world’s best should be able to play where and pretty much when they want to, even if he has no interest in teeing it up in places such as Saudi Arabia himself.

The last seven, major-less years have undeniably scarred McIlroy but they’ve also matured him. There were more than a few hints of that hardened but not yet fully tempered mental fortitude in 2021, on and off the course.

He’s been around so long too that it’s easy to forget that there is still an awful lot of runway left for European golf’s talisman to add to his legacy in the majors. Remember Phil Mickelson was a relatively ancient 50 when he won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island last May. McIlroy doesn’t turn 33 until May 4 this year.

Before then, he’ll will have another shot at that elusive green jacket but not before starting his year with back-to-back starts in the UAE as part of a Rolex Series headline double-act with Morikawa, the world No.1 in waiting.

McIlroy’s return to the upgraded Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic for the first time since 2018 will be closely scrutinised. Before chasing a third Dallah Trophy on the Majlis, a favourite old hunting ground, he’ll seek the fabled and elusive Falcon trophy on a new course for the DP World Tour but not for McIlroy himself.

Perhaps the switch from Abu Dhabi G.C. to the desert-links of Yas Links will prove the catalyst for McIlroy to finally consign four runner-up finishes and four more third-placed finishes – including last year - in the UAE capital to history.

He teased as much last January. Whatever transpires over the UAE fortnight, you can be sure every round, if not every swing will be analysed with microscopic intensity. Has Rory truly rediscovered the Rory of old? Can he overcome the mental fragility that has crept into his game the past two years? Were the seven years since winning his third and fourth major titles in 2014 - the PGA and Open Championship - just a blip along golf’s turbulent superhighway?

It seems an age since the last Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but if McIlroy’ can get out of his own way at Yas Links, maybe we’ll get an even more exciting reflection of the year to come.

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SAUDI INTERNATIONAL

What’s the

it took jason kokrak nine years and 233 starts to claim his maiden PGA Tour win at the CJ Cup in Nevada in October 2020. If you have followed the American’s career, the, ahem, methodical approach to success will come as no surprise. Indeed, each step up golf’s pecking order has taken Kokrak a while to conquer but once he’s made the grade, watch out.

So it has proved on the PGA Tour where the 6ft 4in Canadian-born American has gone on to add two further titles to his tally in a stellar 2021. The victories at the Charles Schwab Cup and the Houston Open make Kokrak one of the players to watch at next month’s PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers – not to mention his ability to thwack a ball with the best of them.

Golf Digest Middle East caught up with the world No.21 to discuss his hot-boil game and his chances at Royal Greens Golf & County Club in the Asian Tour’s $5 million season-opener.

You’ve been in red hot form at the back end of the year with two wins – what has been the key?

I have always been a slow learner but I knew once I could get into the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour that I could do it again and again. It has been that way at every level for me and now I have the confidence I can do it at this level. Plus, I have a great team around and have really relied on my caddie, David Robinson, to help with reading the greens. With DRob on the bag, he tells me where to hit it and I do my best from there. It seems to be working out really well.

How does this change things for your 2022 goals and the level you want to take your game to?

No real change, keep playing good golf and see what happens from there.

I want to take the next step and start competing to win Majors and one of my main goals is to make the Presidents’ Cup Team in 2022.

GOLF SAUDI

BIG-HITTING JASON KOKRAK IS EXCITED FOR HIS RETURN TO THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL AND THE START OF THE 2022 ASIAN TOUR SEASON

Golf goes hand in glove with Saudi Arabia’s Vision2030 strategy, the sport’s inherent socio-economic benefits, core values and qualities snuggly fitting the Kingdom’s ambition to unite its population, diversify lifestyles and promote the nation’s overall general health.

Golf Saudi’s role is to unlock the universal appeal of the game across six key pillars in order to create mass excitement with key demographic targets. The pillars are: Access and Infrastructure; National Team and Elite Development; Mass Participation; Events; Tourism and Sustainability.

Golf Saudi’s mission is to facilitate uptake and participation in Saudi Arabian golf through the delivery of world-class facilities, operational excellence, and implementation of best practices while harnessing wider commercial opportunities within golf. The organisation’s goals for 2025 include ensuring 3.5million+ nationals get to try golf for the first time, including more than 135,000 school children. The goal is to create 29,000 regular golfers. Golf Saudi also aims to welcome 5,000 international golf tourists to the Kingdom per annum.

The positive impact of hosting and organising high-profile championships, such as the Aramco Team Series, the PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers and the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF is an important aspect of promoting a modern Saudi lifestyle, where an abundance of entertaining events set out to enrich the lives of many citizens and inspire generations in fields that interest and excite.

Photograph by Getty Images

january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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GOLF LESSONS Pioneering Saudi professional Othman Almulla appropriately had the honour as Golf Saudi launched a nationwide tour of schools to raise awareness of the Saudi International.

The 35-year-old MENA Tour regular visited Riyadh’s Tarbiyah Namouthajiyah School in December with the Saudi International trophy and turned teacher as part of Golf Saudi’s push to introduce children to the game. Other star players will tag in at other schools in the countdown to the Asian Tour’s new $5 million flagship event from Feb. 3-6.

“I hope to see a new generation of both male and female golfers representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across the globe,” said Almulla who led SNAG (‘Starting New At Golf’) lessons.

“We had a great opportunity today to share insights about golf, and particularly the important role that the Saudi International plays in promoting the sport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is just the first step in many big steps coming to tell the community about the sport that I love.

“I think the sport of golf is unique because it gives you an experience to test yourself every day. It teaches you patience, perseverance in tough conditions and resilience. While most sports do that as well, the tests that you see on the course are very similar to the ones these students have to get past in life.”

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The innovative and globally accepted SNAG certification programme includes all the basics of golf, helping beginners build skills. It can be played both indoors and outdoors, ensuring anyone can learn, play, and teach golf – alongside the sport’s core values.

Golf Saudi is spearheading one of the world’s most progressive golf development strategies, with its Mass Participation programme forming the cornerstone of this strategy.

The programme remains a top priority for the organisation as it seeks to attract and inspire the next generation of Saudis to take up the game and develop future homegrown champions.

Ahead of 2025, Golf Saudi has targeted the creation of 2,200 jobs and developing approximately 29,000 new golfers.

“Our goal is always to bring golf to as many Saudis as possible,” said Golf Saudi CEO Majed Al Sorour.

“We want to give young people an opportunity to develop skills and highlight golf’s unique values that can aid their development – both in future careers and their everyday lives.

Excitement is building towards our biggest ever Saudi International that will continue to impact the golfing landscape here and inspire more nationals than ever to engage in this amazing sport.”

“I AM THANKFUL THE PGA TOUR HAS GRANTED ME A RELEASE TO PLAY THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL.”

Do you enjoy the chance to come to the Middle East and play on different tours and conditions?

Yes, last year was my first trip and although the full experience was impacted by COVID, I loved the golf course and style of golf required to play well.

I have now played pretty much in every corner of the globe and I like the way my game adjusts when I play in different conditions, on different styles of courses and different grasses. I think my game translates well to whatever the game of golf is going to throw at my week in and week out.

How important is it for you and your fellow pros to have the ability to play where you want and experience the Asian Tour and Saudi?

Obviously, as independent contractors I believe we should be able to enjoy what the game of golf can offer us and, if our play affords us that opportunity, we should be able to take advantage of it. I want to be able to see the world as a result of what I accomplish in the game and playing the Asian Tour and in the KSA is a big highlight for me. Also, I am thankful the PGA Tour has granted me a release

to play the Saudi International and I am excited to come over and compete again this year.

What was your experience like previously playing the Saudi International?

In a word, awesome. I can’t wait for this year to get to experience more of the KSA since I didn’t get the chance last year due to COVID. But as far as the golf and the golf course and the amenities the tournament provides the players, it was an awesome, world experience. january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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For the

M

ass Participation forms one of Golf Saudi’s key pillars, with the aim of introducing, educating and entertaining citizens about golf. This will be done through both on and off course programmes to build touchpoints, including:

4

Golf Club Membership – Golf Saudi is aiming to increase golf club membership to 20K by allowing price-sensitive access to all forms of the game (on and off course) with golfing experiences becoming available for less than $20.

1

5

2

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Registered Golfers – Golf Saudi hopes to achieve 29,000 registered golfers in the Kingdom via a comprehensive awareness campaign to promote golf and where to play. This campaign is targeting over five million Saudi nationals

Ladies First Club – The establishment of the club in 2020 inspired participation and represents the progress Saudi Arabia has made in the women’s game, with 1,000 young girls signing up to play the game in just four days. The equality movement is not only a critical element of driving society forward, but core to Golf Saudi’s future plans and crucial for Saudi Arabia’s successful future transformation.

3

Let It Fly – Launched in early 2021, this campaign introduced the game of golf to a whole host of new audiences within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An entertaining and modern approach, which will excite a younger generation of Saudis through the development of urban golf, school programmes, gamification, and group events. Let It Fly is a complementary pathway for any Saudi National to begin playing golf for the first time.

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First Time Trial – By 2025, Golf Saudi would like more than 3.5 million Saudis to have actively tried golf, by offering regular opportunities for introductory lessons by Golf Saudi/PGA Professionals

Juniors – Golfing camps are being setup for children, with a minimum of one camp per week at each golf course. Each camp will consist of roughly 30 children. The target is to have five female sign-ups at every golf course in the Kingdom on their respective six-week beginner programmes. This target will increase to 10 sign-ups by 2022 “Quite simply, our goal is to bring the game to as many Saudis as possible, so they are able to experience and enjoy first-hand the benefits and value of the sport,” said Golf Saudi CEO Majed Al Sorour.

“Golf Saudi aims to introduce, entertain and educate Saudis about golf. Our view is that when Saudi citizens play a sport, if they have fun, it is far more likely that they are going to come back, pursue it and potentially become future golfers and that is exactly what our Mass Participation programme aims to achieve.”

GREEN AGENDA Since its announcement at the Golf Saudi Summit in February 2020, the Green Agenda has caught not just the golf industry’s attention but also mobilised the wider Saudi business community.

The Green Agenda set out policies for an environmental national governance strategy, addressing best-practice principles that allo stakeholders to benefit equally through state-of-the-art sustainability initiatives, guidelines, and operations.

This was followed in November 2020 by an over-arching programme called the National Sustainable Golf Strategy, of which the Green Agenda is now a key component.

The National Sustainable Golf Strategy plans to build a national golf ecosystem with the ambition to grow its international presence and participation, creating jobs for Saudis in the process and establishing the world’s first environmentally governed golf ecosystem.

Progress has been quick with Golf Saudi becoming a signatory of United Nations Sports for Climate Framework in July 2021, as well as agreeing a series of partnerships with STRI Group, Atlas Turf and GEO Foundation to develop and fos-

ter respective cooperation focus on the latest technologies, future-proof design, and cutting-edge sustainable thinking.

“Our courses will be regenerative through native green infrastructure, while being low, if not entirely, carbon neutral venues,” said His Excellency Yasir Bin Othman Al Rumayyan, the Chairman of Golf Saudi. “With investment and innovation, we will implement pioneering actions across; Carbon Accounting, Water Management, Turf & Plants and Green Energy & Infrastructure.” ▶ red sea delight Royal Greens Golf & Country Club will again host the Saudi International.

What features of the course and holes really stand out for you?

The layout was great for a long hitter like me so I really enjoyed how it played tee to green.

Is it a bonus to play such a competitive field with the best players from across the globe early in the season?

Definitely is a bonus to play against the best players in the world in differ-

ent environments, different countries, etc. It is a way for us to grow the game and show the world how talented the best players in the world are.

What do you make of the strides Golf Saudi have made to grow the game domestically and across the world – especially in growing the women’s game with the Aramco Team Series?

I was very interested in the Aramco Team Series because it was trying to

bring the women’s game to markets they don’t traditionally play in. I think it did a great job of accomplishing its mission. Additionally, as a Golf Saudi ambassador one of my main objectives is to help develop the game in KSA to juniors and women but also to show the world all the KSA is doing. Hosting big events is just one element. Golf is now being integrated into the school’s curriculum, access and infrastructure are better than ever and the national teams have just had one of their best years ever with talented Saudi amateurs winning some big regional events – which qualifies them for the Saudi International.

What’s your schedule for the early part of 2022?

I will play the first two PGA Tour stops in Hawaii, then take a week off to get ready for the trip to the Saudi International. After that, I will try and play enough so my game is ready for the Masters. Also, I would like to see if I can work in another Asian Tour event at some point during the year. january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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Photographs by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour

ASIAN TOUR

A game of

CHANCE look beyond the household names headed to the saudi international and you’ll discover a band of ASIAN TOUR PLAYERS itching for a chance to test themselves at the highest level

by kent gray given the delicately-poised power play for men’s professional golf, the posse of superstars lured to Jeddah will inevitably hog the headlines in the countdown to the $5 million Saudi International. ▶ But for a lesser known but no less ambitious group of players, the 2022 Asian Tour season-opener is a potentially life changing moment — even without the guarantee of the six and even seven figure appearance fees that have emboldened the 25 household names. ▶▶▶ january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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38 golfdigestme.com | january 2022

ABOVE: Chan Shihchang won the Asian Tour’s first event back after a 20-month pandemic enforced shutdown.

PREVIOUS PAGES (clockwise from top): Chan Shih-chang, Joohyung Kim, Phachara Khongwatmai and Sadom Kaewkanjana.

“THE ASIAN TOUR’S TALENT POOL RUNS DEEP… [WITH PLAYERS] MORE THAN CAPABLE OF COMPETING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.” – JOOHYUNG KIM

Paul l akatos/asian tour

The switch from DP World Tour to Asian Tour sanctioning represents not only a first chance for players to cash-in on the circuit’s suddenly fiscally flush footing and a rare OWGR points bonanza, but to also introduce themselves to the wider golfing world.

Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang and Thai Phachara Khongwatmai are well-positioned to do just that after winning the two Phuket events last month that heralded the Asian Tour’s return to action after a 20-month pandemicenforced hiatus.

Chan won at Blue Canyon Country Club and Khongwatmai at Laguna Golf Phuket to move up to fourth and second respectively (behind Aussie leader Wade Ormsby) in the OOM where the top-30 players are guaranteed starts at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

There are still the 7th and 8th events of a severely disrupted season (one that will take a whisker more than two calendar years to complete) left to play but even without contending at this month’s Singapore double-header, the duo are high enough to be guaranteed starts in Saudi.

As Joohyung Kim noted when the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Bubba Watson were unveiled as Saudi International drawcards, the Asian Tour’s new “flagship” event is a boon for players from South East Asia.

Don’t be surprised if the South Korean 19-year-old is one of those making a statement at Royal Greens either; he’s up to third in the money race after T-2 and T-7 finishes (the

latter despite back-to-back four and three putts in the final round) in the Asian Tour Phuket Series.

“The Saudi International will give us a new opportunity to compete against the world’s best, something many Asian Tour players have never been afforded,” said Kim who became the second youngest Asian Tour winner at 17 years and 149 days when he captured the 2019 Panasonic Open in India.

“Given the way events and ranking points are weighted on different tours, it was historically more challenging for players rising through the Asian Tour to find their way into the biggest events. But the Asian Tour’s talent pool runs deep and, as we see every week, players from a diverse cross-section of nationalities are more than capable of competing at the highest level.”

Another name to watch is Sadom Kaewkanjana, the 22-year-old Thai in the midst of a ridiculously consistent run. Before finishing T-2 with Kim at Blue Canyon and T-5 at Laguna, Kaewkanjana rattled off four wins, two runner-up finishes and a worst result of T-8 in seven All Thailand Golf Tour starts.

As three-time European, 10-time Asian Tour and 2016 Asian No.1 Scott Hend noted in a reply to a Tweet listing Kaewkanjana’s 2021 achievements: “Nice kid as well with good etiquette…His game is solid. Will be one to watch in the coming years.”

Joohyung agrees all the Asian Tour players need is a consistent canvas on which to display their considerable abilities. That seems assured for the next decade at least courtesy of the two game-changing deals struck by the Asian Tour late last year. The first with Golf Saudi ensures the Saudi International will be the circuit’s marquee event until 2031, the second promises 10 premier, $1 million-plus purse events annually courtesy of a $200 million investment from the PIF-bankrolled and Greg Normanfronted LIV Golf Investments.

“More big events will help to create a more prosperous Asian Tour and, without doubt, create new talent that can compete on the biggest stage,” said Kim. “It’s going to give the sport in Asia and around the world a very welcome shot in the arm.”

SECOND TIER

ADT-MENA merger

ON CARDS W

ith mooted start-up leagues threaten- ABOVE: Ryan Lumsden won the last MENA Tour event before the COVID-19 ing professional golf’s status quo, the lockdown. Last month the Scot made the most of a MENA Tour-sourced invite to the full Asian Tour resumption with a $17,000 payday courtesy of a T-10 game’s focus has never been more finish at the Laguna Phuket Championship. sharply focused on the pointy end of the focus for the second-tier will be on “quality, not quantity”. player pyramid.

“For the longest time the MENA Tour was run slightly With a $200 million investment in 10 new premier events and the upgrading of the Saudi International to its $5 mil- different, their business model was kind of run on higher lion “flagship’ season-opener from 2022, the Asian Tour membership and entry fees rather than sponsorships for has suddenly found itself a central, Saudi-funded figure in each individual event.

“I think the entry fees might have been $400, $500 per a fascinating play for global relevance.

Whatever transpires, CEO and Tour Commissioner Cho tournament, there was almost like a pay to play tour but Minn Thant is determined not to forget player development we wanted to work with [MENA Tour Commissioner] David in Asia, the all-important foundation of the pyramid that Spencer and his team to actually establish sponsors that ensures long-term viability. The strategic vision will be work together with each tournament to provide prize money music to the ears of the MENA Tour’s competition-starved and obviously put money into infrastructure and staging, run it like the Asian Development Tour.” membership.

With the key focus on getting the main Asian Tour circuit Despite repeated attempts, the Middle East and North Africa circuit has not been able to resume play since its back up and running after a 20-month hiatus, Cho says pandemic-enforced shutdown immediately following the 2022 will be a “rebuilding year” for the ADT before “we go strong” in 2023 and beyond.

Journey to Jordan 2 Championship in “I think the key thing for the DevelAquaba in early March 2020. There are opment Tour is these guys are playing hopes of a restart in 2022 with events for a lot of money. It’s expensive to set co-sanctioned by the Asian Developup tournament bubbles and things like ment Tour (ADT). Eventually a full mergairfares and hotel fees, regardless of er is on the table. what level of tournament you’re play“I mean the MENA Tour-ADT merger ing, are pretty much the same. So or collaboration or whatever you want – Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant we’re going to have to make sure that to call it seems very logical,” said Cho. “We’re working on these new LIV Golf Investments tourna- we have efficiently scheduled tournaments.

“My aim is to do three in Thailand, three in Indonesia, ments, were working on the Saudi international but we can’t forget about the guys who are beyond 70th or 80th position maybe three in the Middle East and then maybe three on the Asian Tour. We’ve got to keep those [main tour] Asian somewhere else that you fly in once, play three events and Tour regular events going, perhaps use some of the [$200] then you’re out, or something like that so that it’s efficient.

“I think we need to focus on quality rather than quantity investment to top up some of those [main circuit] prize monas well. There’s no point travelling to a country, incurring all ies and also prop the Development Tour up as well.”

For 2022, don’t be surprised to see a three-event Middle those costs and only playing for $60,000. I’d rather play for East swing in a 12-13 event ADT season. Cho’s insists his more money with less events.”

“The MENA Tour-ADT merger or collaboration or whatever you want to call it seems very logical.”

january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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Living Golf

G O L F SAU D I

FROM TEEING IT UP AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL TO SHARING TEE TIMES WITH THE LIKES OF JACK NICKLAUS, RORY MCILROY AND ANNIKA SORENSTAM, SHANE O’DONOGHUE IS LIVING AN EXTRAORDINARY GOLF LIFE

BY KENT GRAY

getty images

you know him as the globe-trotting host of CNN International’s Living Golf and yes, please rest assured that Shane O’Donoghue is loving every minute of golf’s dream media gig. ▶ The Irishman joined the show as host in 2011 after working for the national broadcaster, RTE, for 15 years. There’s also been stints commentating with the BBC golf team and with European Tour Productions, even time to pen a book about the men and women who paved the way for today’s Irish stars, Legends in their Spare Time. ▶ But it is Living Golf that has made O’Donoghue one of the most recognisable members of golf’s international media corp, and certainly one of the happiest.

We caught up with the man from Tipperary at the Aramco Team Series-Jeddah, the final leg of a new four-event Ladies European Tour series at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. The ATS is the brainchild of Golf Saudi who, fittingly, came to the rescue as a title sponsor after Living Golf went off air in 2019.

In a wide-ranging interview, O’Donoghue shares behind the scenes highlights from the show, unrealised golf and professional ambitions, gives his take on Golf Saudi’s wide-ranging investment in the game — “it’s very real” — and gives his take on Greg Norman’s role as the CEO of LIV Golf Investments which has invested $200 million into the Asian Tour and reportedly has plans for a start-up league of its own.

●●●

i come from a golfing family. my mother is the real star of the house, with

course records and titles aplenty. She’s won the club match play championship at her club in each of the last five decades and is targeting a sixth decade as we speak. I was decent as a junior but didn’t stand out. I became a passionate lover of golf history whilst very young. I was never destined to be great golfer. My other main hobby as a teenager was radio. I began with my local radio station when I was 14, hosting my own show.

All the while, I was playing a lot of golf and watching whatever I could on TV. I dreamt of working one day alongside Peter Alliss on the BBC’s coverage of the Open Championship. I never dreamt of playing in the Open.

I realised that it was a futile exercise, when I saw a 15-year-old Padraig Harrington play shots that I could never hit at a Provincial Boys Championship in 1987. I’ve enjoyed following him instead. ●●●

my current handicap under the new world handicapping scheme is 3.4, which is too low for me. I’m really a

five handicap at present, and it takes a bit of grinding to play to that, in all honesty.

I’m a member of one of the greatest clubs in the world, Portmarnock Golf Club. It’s a magnificent links test on Dublin’s Northside. The history there is immense and it’s a must play for visitors to the Emerald Isle.

I’m a decent driver of the ball and am fairly strong with my irons. My short game is weak, january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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▶ living the dream Shane O’Donoghue poses for a photo during a practice round prior to the 2011 Masters Tournament

▶ majlis magic with Mark O’Meara during the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic Pro-Am

however. I don’t practice a great deal and it shows in my play around the greens. If I play regularly, it sharpens up a bit, but it needs serious improvement.

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my dream holiday would be 4-6 weeks in australia, playing every single golf course

i first played the iconic emirates golf club in 1997 on my first ever trip to dubai. There was very little surrounding the

IT’S GOING TO BE FASCINATING TO SEE WHAT EVOLVES IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM TERM [IN SAUDI ARABIA]. THEY’RE VERY SERIOUS OPERATORS AND ARE INTENT ON CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES. 42 golfdigestme.com | january 2022

I nearly got to play there in 2015, but it fell through. I’m hoping to make it happen in 2022.

course then and it was a shock to arrive for my next visit in 2011. The area around the course had mushroomed into the Emerald City. The course remained the same. I had just begun hosting Living Golf on CNN and we played in the Pro-Am at the Desert Classic with former champion, Mark O’Meara. To win the Pro-Am made it all the sweeter. I love the course. I also like Dubai Creek. Down in Abu Dhabi, I love Saadiyat and in particular, Yas Links. ●●●

i’ve lost track of the countries we’ve visited filming living golf. I feel very for-

tunate to do this job and play golf in so many territories. In the last few weeks I’ve played golf in Iceland, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. It’s a dream job, really. I’ve definitely played golf in more than 40 countries…and counting. I always wanted to travel the world through my work. To include golf in all of that is fantastic. ●●●

it’s a small team that puts the show together. A producer, a cameraman and

me. It’s fun to do it and the guests that we meet are extraordinary. The show has such a big reach, being seen worldwide every month. Our responsibility is to tell great stories about golf’s popularity and growth in a

variety of countries and to share the stories of some remarkable people in the sport, be they legends of the game, to game-changing architects, administrators and guardians of our sport. To do that in an informative and entertaining way is the challenge. Always do your best is the motto, each and every time. ●●●

the show was off the air in 2019. I was lucky to work with European Tour Productions at several events that year, which kept me relatively busy and on the scene, but to a lesser extent. Golf Saudi came on board towards the end of the year, which was great and really welcome, as they saw the value in getting behind what was a successful format and one that had enormous reach through CNN International, which is seen globally. COVID-19 certainly challenged us throughout 2020 and I found myself travelling very little and instead broadcasting

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around Melbourne and the renowned sand belt. I’ve never been Down Under, so it would be the ultimate bucket list trip for me. The best course I’ve had the pleasure of playing has, undoubtedly, been Augusta National.

I’ve had the extreme good fortune to be drawn out of the media lottery at the Masters Tournament on three occasions! You get to play the course from the Members tees, on the Monday after the tournament, with all the Sunday flags. I won’t bore you with the details of each round but it’s a privilege to get to play it.

pine valley is top of my bucket list.

Experience the very best of

with all the latest news, reviews and activites to help you discover what the Kingdom has to offer

WhatsOnSaudiArabia.com whatsonksa

NEGATIVE COVERAGE AND CRITICISM IS INEVITABLE AS THEY’VE VERY QUICKLY BECOME SERIOUS DISRUPTORS. from home. The real challenge was to maintain high production values which, thanks to CNN’s various bureaus and talented film crews, made the show possible. Now that we are travelling a bit more, we are gradually getting back to visiting great locations and covering newer, exciting stories, first-hand.

The future is bright. ●●●

the aramco team series has proved to be a very successful new format and a huge boost for the ladies european tour. The reaction from players has

been hugely positive with more of the LPGA players spreading the word to their peers and more and more of them playing in the series. That will continue going forward. It would be great to see it develop on the men’s circuit, but the European Tour and PGA Tours have full schedules, so it remains to be seen if the Asian Tour can be the first?

These are interesting times indeed with plenty of speculation about how best to cater for the golfing audience. Does it need to change? Can it change? The next few months will reveal a lot, given the arrival of some new playmakers. ●●●

i played with emily kristine pedersen in the ats-jeddah pro-am and she’s one of the best strikers that i’ve ever seen. So impressive with her long game. I

saw her win in Saudi last year. She cleaned up, winning the Ladies International and the Team Series with her team and individually.

She deserved to win the Race to Costa Del Sol. She has every chance to make it onto the LPGA next season (she has since gained her card via Q-School) and to see her hole the winning putt in the recent Solheim Cup shows that she has a lot of steel and class. I’m a big fan. ●●●

it’s a dream job for sure so it’s hard to pick one best experience. I’ve been cov-

ering Rory McIlroy since he was 13 and interviewing him all the way. I had a chance to play with him once and it was different level.

Amongst the legends, I’ve played with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Juli Inkster and Annika Sorenstam, all of whom have achieved the career Grand Slam. Hosting Living Golf has allowed me to interview everyone really.

I couldn’t have dreamt that big when I was a

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young golfer and aspiring broadcaster, but in the back of my mind I never thought that it was impossible…and here we are. ●●●

what saudi are doing in golf is very real. They’re seriously developing golf in

Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea is set to become a true destination for visitors, holidaymakers and golfers alike. There’s also

a great deal of development of the sport in Riyadh and elsewhere in addition to making the sport accessible to all. You really have to visit and see for yourself. They have big ambitions and 2030 will see a lot of their vision come to fruition. ●●●

yes, they have deep pockets and have attracted a great deal of attention

▶ clockwise from left Pat Ruddy, the owner and designer of the European Golf Club Club, showed O’Donoghue one of his 6000-strong library of golf books in May, 2013; with Emily Kristine Pedersen at last year’s ATS-Jeddah Pro-Am; interviewing Greg Norman at the 2021 Golf Saudi Summit; An Open Championship chat with Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods

pat ruddy: getty images • pedersen, norman, palmer: golf saudi

with their recent moves. Negative cov-

erage and criticism is inevitable as they’ve very quickly become serious disruptors.

I can only really talk about golf and from what I’ve seen over the last two years, they are developing and investing in the sport in a myriad of ways. It’s going to be fascinating to see what evolves in the short and medium term. They’re very serious operators and are intent on creating new opportunities. ●●●

it’s fantastic for the asian tour and it will put them on a whole new level.

The [$200m LIV Golf] investment is massive and can only be good for the professional game. As former partners of the European Tour, they have now become competitors.

That makes for an intriguing few years ahead. ●●●

reg arding the impending liv golf league, it’s vital that they get buy-in from

many elite players and a broadcast contract that will showcase this potential gamechanger. I’m not privy to all the details at this moment in time, but we should expect to get some clarity very soon, if it’s going to kick-on in 2022. The cat is out of the bag now, they’ve

announced themselves, but what will it look like and who’s going to be on show? We are all waiting to see what’s about to happen. ●●●

greg norman is very commercially driven. He was the most successful player

of his era, who had a real sense of his own value and brand from his 30s onwards. As a global player, he has always had a unique perspective of value and worth and surrounded himself with great business people as his career evolved in the 1980s. He was a genuine superstar as a golfer and parlayed that into developing his brand, which continues to be strong. He should’ve won more majors for sure and he endured some heartache as a player, but he continued to grow in business in a way that very few others have managed to do. ●●●

norman is uniquely qualified to talk with players and agents, knowing what

he truly does, having talked the talk and walked the walk for so long. It looks like this will be his lasting legacy and he’s gone all-in,

WE’RE IN FOR CHOPPY WATERS AS THE VARIOUS PARTIES SHOW THEIR HANDS. PERHAPS IT’LL TAKE A GREAT WHITE SHARK TO SURVIVE THE BATTLES AHEAD.

to lead this initiative. Can he deliver? Well, he’s never been one to take the easy route.

Like his playing style, he goes for it big-time, and has a real desire to change things. He’s now 66 years of age and knows that the time is now if he’s to deliver on what he has long felt to be needed in the elite pro game. ●●●

i worked with greg on fox sports d uring its initial foray into golf broadcasting in 2015. He’s a very serious

individual, who is self-taught and hugely self-motivated. Interviewing him on stage at the Golf Saudi Business Forum in January, 2021, we spoke about his brand and business and moved on to talking about his attempt to start a World Tour in the early 1990s and he really opened up about his dreams then and was also quite candid about the hurt that he felt when it was quashed by the PGA Tour’s top brass at the time. You got the impression then that he still had a lot to prove, so it really came as no surprise to see him named CEO of LIV Golf Investments. ●●●

life is not a dress rehearsal, so will this league and all that it entails the final act of a truly incredible career?

Will the best in the modern game join with golf’s new Pied Piper? Will they be given release from their respective Tour’s to sample the goods on offer? And will this Promised Land give golf fans what they crave, outside of the Majors? A playing field for the best of the best, on a more global circuit, 10 times each year? We’re in for choppy waters as the various parties show their hands. Perhaps, it’ll take a Great White Shark to survive the battles ahead. january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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A CONVERSATION WITH

YAS ACRES GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, A FIRST MIDDLE EAST CREATION FOR FRY/STRAKA GLOBAL GOLF COURSE DESIGN, HAS OPENED TO RAVE REVIEWS. SO WHAT’S NEXT? WHERE WILL GOLF DEVELOPMENT LEAD THE AWARD-WINNING DUO? (SPOILER ALERT: IT’S BACK TO THE MIDDLE EAST.)

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BY HAL PHILLIPS

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think of course designers in the Middle East and famous names such as Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Greg Norman and Colin Montgomerie roll off the tongue. ▶ Aficionados will connect Karl Litten with the pioneering Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club and Gil Hanse to Trump International Golf Club Dubai, while Kyle Phillips has a legion of fans courtesy of his desert-links gem, Yas Links. ▶ Lesser known are Dana Fry and Jason Straka of Ohiobased Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design.

That is about to change with the opening of their first Middle East design Yas Acres Golf & Country Club, a thus-far nine hole sister course to Yas Links Abu Dhabi.

yas acres: john magdalinos • fry & straka: little tree studios

The first foray into the region has only emboldened the award-winning architects who particularly like what they are seeing in Saudi Arabia — developments at sites with “Crazy ridiculous topography with massive vertical rock formations and canyons and reefs and coastline — with no permitting issues” as Fry says.

“I’m confident Jason and I will get the opportunity to work there, and we frankly cannot wait to get our hands on one or two of those sites. I’m quite bullish on Saudi design prospects in general because there are so many unbelievably dramatic settings already set aside for golf there. I predict that when those projects are up and running, it will change the way the world thinks about golf in this region.”

The duo sat down with veteran journalist and GOLF magazine course-rating panellist Hal Phillips to discuss Yas Acres, ▶ ohio to the world their work elsewhere around the Jason Straka and Dana world and the future of course Fry have made their first architecture in Saudi and beyond. foray into the Middle —with kent gray East on Yas Island

When were you last in Abu Dhabi, Dana?

Dana Fry: I was last there in February of 2020, just after the PGA Show, in Florida, and just before the pandemic hit.

But I’m headed back this coming January, 2022. Aldar, the developer at Yas Acres, has asked me to come over — at the request of Troon Golf, who will manage the facility. I will make this trip and take my stepson Noah with me.

So you enjoy the work overseas?

Jason Straka: That is the understatement of the century.

Dana has never spent this much time in the U.S. without an international break.

DF: That is very, very true. Much of that travel, in the last 10 years, had been to China, Vietnam, Brazil and, of course, the UAE. Our firm has six finished projects in China alone.

We used to have seven, but we lost one in Shenzhen, when it was plowed under.

Another victim of the Chinese government’s crackdown on “illegal” golf courses?

DF: I guess that’s what you’d call it. What a shame. We were very proud of that course. Thankfully, Qizhong Garden GC in Shanghai, among others, is still thriving. The LPGA has played an October tournament at Qizhong Garden for the last three years.

What is the state of the Yas Acres project?

DF: The ceremonial first tee shot was Nov. 23 and I’m told the course is now officially open. Troon has asked me to come visit the site because they’re about ready to open and have questions about some grass lines, changes to some native areas, adding more turf in some areas, creating more native in others, etc. I’ll attend to those matters when I visit those last two weeks of January, during the two European Tour events, one at Yas Links and the other at Emirates GC. What can you tell us about when the second nine at Yas Acres will get underway?

DF: I’ll know more after this visit. The travel situation in the last two years has made overseas work more difficult.

Luckily, we’re about as busy in the United States as we’ve ever been. But international projects are traditionally a big part of our business, and we have several projects emerging from different stages of hiatus. We’re ramping back up at a very exciting and high profile job in Cabo del Sol, for example, in Mexico, at the southern tip of Baja California.

That project is finally moving again and it’s really going to be something special.

JS: We have designed and are now building a new course in Vietnam. That project is scheduled to open in 2022.

Jason, as of September, you are the new president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. What is involved there, and what do you hope to accomplish during your term?

JS: Well, I have some administrative goals for the Society that your readers would probably find pretty boring, but my biggest goal is to promote a better understanding of what our organisation actually does to promote and strengthen january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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the sport. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

The Miami, Florida area is dealing right now with local legislation that, if passed, will hugely affect the golf course design and maintenance business. They called ASGCA to come in and educate the legislators on what this will mean to golf, which, of course, is a huge industry in Florida worth billions and billions of dollars It seems as though architects and ASGCA are seen as neutral and honest brokers when it comes to a wide range of golf matters?

JS: I think that’s right. ASGCA is called into the meetings of so many sister organisations: the PGA, the various tours, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

We have an upcoming meeting with the USGA where we’ll participate in a truly hardcore discussion about how to handle the distance issue. It’s an honour and a huge responsibility — to have that sort of role and influence. The Society frankly hasn’t done as good a job as we could have through the years explaining that role, of marketing that role, to the rest of the golf business, to golfers themselves.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard an architect speak quite so glowingly of a competitor’s work...

JS: Dana makes an exception for Kyle. They went to high school together.

DF: Kyle is a very old friend of mine.

We played high school golf together in suburban Kansas City, Missouri.

We also played with Tom Pernice, who spent many years on Tour. But Kyle does great work and Yas Links is special. I don’t know that any architect will ever get such a great site, in this particular part of the world, again.

The stars aligned there. That said, while Yas Links is an excellent golf course, it does not feature the elevation we have at Yas Acres. The other factor that makes Yas Acres special is the size of our property. We had 156 acres to work with there — for just the first 9 holes alone! Merion Golf Club has 18 holes on 108 acres, just to put it in perspective.

▶ night life Yas Acres Golf & Country Club’s opening nine is now in play.

“I HAVE NO PROBLEM ACKNOWLEDGING THAT YAS LINKS IS WITHOUT QUESTION THE BEST COURSE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.” –dana fry 48 golfdigestme.com | january 2022

yas acres: john magdalinos

Dana, I know that architects don’t necessarily feel comfortable comparing their work to that of fellow architects, but would you care to compare and contrast the Yas Links and Yas Acres projects?

DF: Well, it’s the same developer but that’s about all that connects the two. They are so different. And I have no problem acknowledging that Yas Links is without question the best course in the Middle East. In all honesty, I don’t know who’s second, but it’s not even close. It’s a great piece of land where one whole side of the property hugs the sea, leaving a great corridor for golf that Kyle Phillips used very well indeed.

So we have incredibly wide corridors of pure sand. We’ve been able to create some really compelling contours and hole environments because of the unique space we have. All the holes interact directly with an enormous man-made ridge that runs through the property — what we call the Big Dirt. We’ve designed tee boxes, fairways and green sites that all interact with the Big Dirt. That sort of elevation also allows for lots of running water and streams that also interact with this ridge in various ways. Naturally, our design called for substantial desert vegetation of the entire course, but especially the ridge.

Without that, it’s difficult to make a landform that big look natural.

Where do you two see golf development growing most meaningfully in the next 10 years?

DF: I don’t think there’s much question: the Middle East.

We’re already working here, of course, and it’s impossible to miss the concerted effort — from the Saudis, from decisionmakers in the UAE and others — to make this part of the world a viable golf destination, especially for Europeans.

JS: That’s true, but I think golf has entered a new phase when it comes to development — starting with the U.S. recession in 2008. New course development has given way to the renovation of existing course properties, in all the major markets. And that slowdown was only magnified by the new-development ban in China.

DF: Yes, and the Middle East is the glaring exception to this trend. That’s part of what makes the region so intriguing to developers and to us, as architects.

What’s your opinion on the current standard of course design in the Middle East today? I know you like Yas Links but what about all the other courses that have been built here?

DF: I think the overall quality of golf is pretty darned

high. It’s way better than the southern half of Florida, for example, because you can cut and fill in the Middle East and not worry about the high water table.

What’s the connection between “cutting and filling”, and creating compelling course architecture?

JS: It’s all about the Big Dirt. On a flat site, you need to find the material to create really compelling landforms. On a flat desert site, you essentially mine that material by excavating lakes and other water features. You can’t do that in a place like South Florida. In Dubai, you can.

DF: That’s right, and it’s really one hallmark of how Jason and I work, as architects: On a flat site, we’re traditionally strong advocates of creating a giant man-made ridge that runs through a property. That’s what we did at Yas Acres.

That’s what did at Calusa Pines, in Naples, Florida. That is what we’re doing outside Philly, where the Union League of Philadelphia owned a golf course in the famous pine barrens of southern New Jersey, near Pine Valley. We’re not just renovating there. We’re completely reimagining 27 holes, all of them interacting some really Big Dirt — a ridge that rises to 80 feet above sea level in some places. It’s going to be amazing.

When does that project reopen?

DF: There are three nines there, so the course never really closed. We have managed to keep 18 holes open throughout reconstruction, working one nine at a time. But we’re close: 3.5 holes from finishing all 27 holes. Even then, though, we might be a couple years away from completing the job because re-vegetating the Big Dirt, this giant man-made ridge, is painstaking work.

JS: But it has to be done, and done right, because a manmade landform will never look right, will never look natural, if it’s not married back into the ecosystem via all this native vegetation. january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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▶ playable Generous landing areas off the tee, large green complexes, ample water and plenty of sand highlight Yas Acres

“…IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO MISS THE CONCERTED EFFORT — FROM THE SAUDIS, FROM DECISIONMAKERS IN THE UAE AND OTHERS — TO MAKE THIS PART OF THE WORLD A VIABLE GOLF DESTINATION, ESPECIALLY FOR EUROPEANS.” –dana fry

You two designed a high-profile tournament venue at Erin Hills, where the U.S. Women’s Open will be played in 2025.

JS: We noticed Golf Digest Middle East recently published a ranking of the top 100 public courses in the U.S. — and Erin Hills was no. 9 on that list.

Erin Hills has already hosted a men’s U.S. Open, and a U.S. Amateur. When did you recognise the USGA was so taken with the place?

DF: David Fay [former executive director of the USGA] started coming to the golf course in 2004, a couple years before construction. He fell in love with it, the grand scale of it. There are 600 acres there. Perfect for galleries, for all the infrastructure required by modern Open championships. They became enamoured of it.

This explains how quickly Erin Hills was awarded important competitions.

JS: Once a course gets the Amateur — and the championship goes well — the U.S. Open is the next logical step. The USGA was also looking for a Midwestern venue where it could take important championships. It looks to us like they’ve settled on Erin Hills for at least one of the courses in that role. The

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2022 USGA Mid-Amateur will be held there, too, then the U.S. Women’s Open arrives three years later.

DF: The USGA likes scale, but they also like topography and Erin Hills has tremendous topography. In my opinion, that’s another reason the Middle East holds such great potential as a golf destination.

What do you mean by that?

DF: Well, most of the golf built in the region so far has been developed on flat sand sites where all the topography has been man-made. That is not necessarily a limitation. I’ve seen the Tiger course here, the Gil Hanse course [Trump Dubai]. These are really high-level resort tracks. The Els course at Jumeirah is quite good, too. The course that hosts the Dubai Desert Classic [the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club] is another amazing development. I don’t think Americans in particular have an appreciation for all this, because it’s so far away. But the hotels and restaurants — and the dramatic surroundings being created all around these golf courses — make these some of the finest resort destinations anywhere in the world. And like I’ve said, most of it has been very well done. But I’ve also seen some of the sites where they’re planning for courses in Saudi Arabia, and the settings are off the charts. Crazy ridiculous topography with massive vertical rock formations and canyons and reefs and coastline — with no permitting issues. I’m confident Jason and I will get the opportunity to work there, and we frankly cannot wait to get our hands one or two of those sites. I’m quite bullish on Saudi design prospects in general because there are so many unbelievably dramatic settings already set aside for golf there. I predict that when those projects are up and running, it will change the way the world thinks about golf in this region.

yas acres: john magdalinos

So that’s the exercise you’ll be undertaking at Yas Acres, as well?

DF: Yes, but not on the same scale. The Big Dirt at Yas Acres is big, but not as big as Union League. Nothing is that big.

The vegetation palette in Dubai is also quite different, of course. More spare. And here the delays in opening the first nine, and eventually the second nine, will work in Yas Acres favour. More time for that vegetation to mature.

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DISCOVER 100 PHOTOG RAPHS OF THE UAE SHOT BY PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY

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I T ’ S D I N N E R T I M E I N J U P I T E R , F L A . , A N D 1 0 0 0 N O R T H I S T H E P L A C E T O B E . T H E R E S TA U R A N T O P E N E D I N 2 0 1 8 A N D I M M E D I AT E LY B E C A M E A N E X U S O F G E R M A N E N G I N E E R I N G , I TA L I A N TA I L O R I N G A N D S O U T H B E A C H P L A S T I C S U R G E R Y. Jutting into the Loxahatchee River is a private dock so that diners can arrive in style; Dustin Johnson has been known to cruise up in his 82foot Viking. (The lounge upstairs, available only to the 300 members who pay $4,000 to join and $4,000 in annual dues, carries Fireball cinnamon whisky to whet the whistle of Johnson and his glamorous fiancee, Paulina Gretzky.)

Michael Jordan gets a lot of attention for being a part owner, but the man behind the man is Ira Fenton, a low-key powerbroker who helped finance Jack Nicklaus’ The Bear’s Club across town. That private golf club has about three dozen elite tour pros as members, and its popularity helped inspire 1000 NORTH when Fenton sought to replicate the clubby atmosphere and first-rate service of The Bear’s Club. “If you put together a tournament with just our restaurant’s investors, you’d have a very strong field,” Fenton said recently over a decadent meal, interrupting himself often to greet by name the servers and hosts, all of whom had the fresh-scrubbed good looks of Abercrombie models. Those investors include Johnson, Ernie Els, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Luke Donald, Keegan Bradley and Camilo Villegas. “It’s a fun thing to be a part of,” Bradley says, “and it guarantees you can get a table on a Friday night, which is getting harder these days.”

Jupiter’s popularity has solidified its stand-

1. Brooks Koepka 2. Debbie Terlato 3. Bill Terlato 4. Sherrye Fenton 5. Ira Fenton 6. Rory McIlroy 7. Padma Mantena 8. Raj Mantena 9. Ernie Els 10. Liezl Els 11. Tucker Frederickson 12. Ahmad Rashad 13. Jena Sims

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ing as the centre of the golf universe. Educated guesses place the number of pro golfers of varying status in the area at five dozen. Set to join them is the consummate California dude, Phil Mickelson, who bought a place on Jupiter Island, where he and wife Amy will feather their empty nest (and enjoy the benefits of no state income tax, which Phil has long desired).

When Jordan wanted to create his private 18hole fiefdom, the Jupiter area was the only place he considered. The result is Grove XXIII, which opened in 2019 and is already the gathering spot for stars from various sports who indulge in jocular money games and other rituals of malebonding. Grove is in horse country about 15 miles from The Bear’s Club, farther north than was once considered fashionable. But its mystique helped inspire Steve Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, to purchase 1,200 nearby acres, on which he is reputedly planning to build three private courses. It’s a good bet, given that every club in town has a long waiting list, and in the COVID era, well-heeled northerners continue to arrive in droves. The Wall Street Journal reported that Palm Beach, half an hour to the south, has had 35 homes sell for at least $30 million since March 2020, with two eclipsing $100 million. Jupiter, which has not one but three tiki bars clustered around its iconic lighthouse, is beachier than Palm Beach, which Luke Donald describes as “more old money, more swanky, more stuffy.” But with almost no available inventory, the high-end home prices around Jupiter have similarly spiked; Greg Norman sold Tranquility, his eight-acre spread on Jupiter Island, for $55 million. (The season in South Florida used to be October through April, but many new arrivals are staying year-round, beating the summer heat by playing golf early in the morning.)

North Palm Beach is home to venerable Seminole, but that’s not a place where tour players hang out. Old-timers Ray Floyd and Nick Price are the only pro golfers among the membership. In Jupiter, The Bear’s Club has long been a popular spot, with many tour pros living on the premises. In 2017, Rory McIlroy bought Ernie Els’ 13,000-square-foot house for low eight figures and then did an extensive remodel.

The practice facility at The Bear’s Club is legendary, with each pro enjoying buckets of his or her preferred model of golf ball, which are meticulously sorted by the staff. Nicklaus recently reworked the par-3 course. “You can tell when a big tournament is coming because the range is packed,” says Jessica Korda, one of a dozen or so LPGA Tour players who make their home around Jupiter and often practice side by side with the guys. If The Bear’s Club is where players go to work on their game, Medalist is the place to test themselves against each other. DJ and Rickie are regulars, and it was Tiger Woods’

pro golf’s tropical playground

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preferred place before his car crash in 2021. The Grove has a spectacular practice facility, but it’s more about the hang. The sleek clubhouse has a dizzying number of TVs, and the real ballers drink Cincoro Extra Añejo from Jordan’s personal tequila company. A 750-millileter bottle retails for $1,800. (Mickelson, the game’s preeminent raconteur, has already joined the Grove.) Those are the big three among the Jupiter area’s private clubs, but there are a bunch of other notable spots: the swank Floridian, which is more to the north but still popular with tour players; classy Old Palm, which has traditionally been the landing spot for European Tour expats; secluded McArthur, which is joining the building frenzy with a new second course, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw; and Jupiter Hills, a 1970 George Fazio design that, like many Jupiter residents of a certain age, has had a lot of work done.

All of these courses are private, which means Jupiter will never be a destination for golf tourists. But it is a kind of fantasy camp for the surgeons and stockbrokers at the clubs who get to rub elbows with golf greatness. “If some 18-handicapper asks me how to play a certain shot, I’m always happy to help them,” Johnson says. “You never know what kind of advice they’ll be able to give you in their profession.”

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Plenty of these deep-pocketed duffers like to engage tour players in money games, but details are always scarce. “If there were any great stories of guys playing for huge money—and I’m not saying there are—you wouldn’t hear about them,” Bradley says. “There’s kind of an honor system to keep things private.”

FOR TOUR PROS, JUPITER IS THE ULTIMATE

Jupiter, Florida, the de facto capital of professional golf, is 90 miles north of Miami, 155 miles southeast of Orlando and about 55 nautical miles from the Bahamas. There are 16 golf courses in Jupiter and another 78 within 20 miles of the town, the vast majority of them private. But for the 60plus members of the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour who call Jupiter home, the eight golf clubs that really matter are (from top) Floridian, McArthur, Medalist, Grove XXIII, Jupiter Hills Club, Bear’s Club, Seminole and Old Palm. The restaurant, 1000 NORTH, which opened in 2018 and counts Michael Jordan as part owner, has emerged as a gathering spot for golf’s elite.

Several PGA Tour players are investors, members or both.

“I can’t live anywhere else now,” says Keegan Bradley, a Jup resident for more than a decade.

playground. “I can’t live anywhere else now,” says Bradley, a Jup resident for more than a decade. “The courses are so good, and the practice facilities are the best in the world. I can show up any day of the week to a handful of courses and get a game against tour winners, major-championship winners, future Hall of Famers. Obviously, the weather is perfect, and the lifestyle is great. But if the goal is to keep my game razor sharp when I’m home, I can’t get done what I need to get done anywhere else in the world.”

If one house symbolises the glamour and impetuousness of #JupLife, it is a sleek bit of American Dream on River Drive, with a backyard that spills out onto the Loxahatchee River and a private dock. Bradley bought the house after winning the 2011 PGA Championship and later sold it to Brooks Koepka, who had U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell’s wife, Kristin, an interior decorator, redo the inside in a style january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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‘ I C A N S H O W U P A N Y D AY O F T H E W E E K T O A H A N D F U L O F C O U R S E S A N D G E T A G A M E A G A I N S T T O U R W I N N E R S .’

— K E E G A N

B R A D L E Y

that could be called macho chic: lots of stone and metal with pastel touches. When I visited in late 2017, the garage was a riot of kayaks and stand-up paddle boards, and the walk-in wine room was a nice spot for Koepka’s glittering U.S. Open trophy. As he continued to pile up major-championship victories, Koepka moved to a gaudier place on a bigger, more private lot, selling the house to yet another tour mainstay, Daniel Berger. After winning at Colonial last year, Berger bought a Bahama 41 speedboat to park out back. (What Teslas are to Pebble Beach, the Bahama 41 is to Jupiter.)

If Berger can cash a few more oversize checks, he might be able to cross the river to the west side, where Pennock Point Road is the most prized address. That’s where Fowler and Justin Thomas live. Johnson lived there for a long stretch, too, while he was building a modernist Xanadu farther up the river. “It’s a small world,” Johnson once told me. “I’ll be in the backyard chipping, and Rickie will cruise by on a paddle board. Or I’ll be in the boat and see JT or [longtime tour player Steve] Marino messing around at their place. You just kind of wave and keep going. You see them around town sometimes doing normal things. I’ll say, ‘Hey.’ We don’t talk about golf or anything like that.” (As cliquey as it can be, not every pro manages to fit in; Matthew Wolff recently decamped from Jupiter, buying a house in his old college town of Stillwater, Okla. “There’s not a lot of people my age down there,” says Wolff, 22.)

The biggest and most extravagant golfer’s house in the area is Woods’ 12-acre compound on Jupiter Island, extending from the Intercoastal all the way to the Atlantic, with a famed backyard practice area. His arrival is a key moment on Jupiter’s timeline, which begins in 1966 when Jack Nicklaus—fleeing Ohio’s harsh winters and lured by the bountiful deep-sea fishing—settled at Lost Tree Club in what is now considered North Palm Beach. That immediately made South Florida a thing. (Cary Middlecoff soon moved down the street.) In the early 1990s, the second wave of big-time golfers arrived, led

by Greg Norman and Nick Price, who took turns as the game’s dominant forces of that era. Norman built a macho club in his image, Medalist,

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though he hasn’t come around as much since disputes about course alterations and losing control of the board. Price built McArthur, which reflects his more refined sensibilities.

Jesper Parnevik settled in the area, luring a cadre of fellow Swedes, but Orlando remained the golf world’s centre of gravity, especially after Woods established residency upon turning pro in 1996. Orlando’s hegemony was cemented in the popular imagination by the annual Tavistock Cup, a monument to excess that pitted the glittering names from two of O-town’s warring golf clubs, Isleworth and Lake Nona. Landlocked and touristy, Orlando had only one real appeal: an international airport. But in 1999, the tour’s new TV contract kicked in, having been negotiated in the wake of Woods’ game-changing Masters victory. Previously unimaginable riches flowed into the sport. Private jets that had once been the province of only the biggest stars were suddenly within reach of the tour’s middle class.

(In 1998, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway

▶ boomtown Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els and Brooks Koepka are among the dozens of top tour players attracted to the Jup lifestyle.

acquired NetJets and quickly reshaped the private-aviation industry, and the company would sign three dozen players as “ambassadors.”)

With tour pros no longer tethered to the Orlando airport, they began migrating toward the ocean, like salmon. (Those who have stayed in Orlando skew European because they can fly nonstop to the Continent on commercial airlines given that going private across the ocean is a big ticket.)

The jet centre at tiny Palm Beach airport (PBI) quickly became a de facto PGA Tour clubhouse, and when the cost of a private jet is split among five or six golfers, it becomes almost defensible.

Woods famously wooed one of Parnevik’s nannies, a cosmopolitan law student (and, yes, former bikini model) named Elin Nordegren, who made it clear she had zero interest in living in Orlando. In 2006—two years after the splashy wedding—Tiger paid $40 million for his sprawling estate. He tore down the existing structures and built his dream house, complete with two swimming pools, a home gym and an oxygen

therapy room. (By the time construction was finished so, too, was Woods’ marriage.) Seeking to put his branded stamp on the neighborhood, he opened his restaurant in 2015. The Woods Jupiter aspires to be a high-brow sports bar, though the prices suggest Peter Luger; the 10-ounce filet mignon is $53. Unlike the sleekly dressed staff at 1000 NORTH, the waitresses and bartenders at The Woods are a scrappy bunch who look like they have lived a little. In 2017, Tiger became romantically involved with the restaurant manager, Erica Herman, and they have settled into a contented domesticity.

Tiger also nabbed professional golf’s biggest boat, a 155-footer he named Privacy. As the name suggests, Woods uses his yacht to get away from it all. The water is at the centre of #JupLife.

Many of the restaurants have private docks, and reservations are encouraged—for the boats more than the humans. Johnson and Donald are among a group of enthusiastic chasers of marlin, sailfish and mahi. “Berger thinks he’s good, but january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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▶ happy hour It wouldn’t be a stretch to find Koepka, his fiancee, Jena Sims, and McIlory mingling at 1000 NORTH’s exclusive lounge.

when we’ve gone out, he’s caught nothing, so I’ll believe it when I see it,” woofs Donald.

Of course, some of Berger’s best work comes without a rod in hand when he is “boating”—the local parlance for hanging out at sand bars with hot women and cold beverages. (The most popular sand bar juts off Jupiter Island and is known as Tiger Beach because Woods’ house is about 1,000 feet away, though he is never glimpsed behind the towering hedges.) The popular imagination of Jupiter as a sexy, sudsy place comes

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largely from the social media feeds of three extremely photogenic and often scantily clad influencers: Gretzky, Jena Sims (Koepka’s fiancé) and Tori Slater (Berger’s girlfriend). Their beaus make occasional cameos in their posts, offering stiff dance moves, doing backflips off their boats or, in Koepka’s case, wearing sneakers and an untucked t-shirt on even the fanciest occasions.

It’s hard to argue with Donald, who says, “This place is a bit like Fantasyland.”

Like any town, Jupiter is cleaved by its haves

‘ I T ’ S A S M A L L W O R L D .

I ’ L L B E I N T H E B A C K YA R D C H I P P I N G , A N D R I C K I E W I L L C R U I S E B Y O N A PA D D L E B O A R D .’

— D U S T I N

and have-nots. The area’s young, aspiring pros are not investors in 1000 NORTH but regulars at the Square Grouper, a tiki joint with leathery dudes behind the bar pouring Creamsicles, which are made with whipped-cream vodka, orange juice and cream. They taste like your childhood, plus a dash of regret. The mini-tour rabbits can’t afford (and are not invited) to join the glamorous clubs, so they congregate at Abacoa, Bear Lakes, Ironhorse, Seagate and other less-fancy joints that will cut them a deal on

J O H N S O N

mini-memberships. The cost of living is so high that sharing apartments is common, though in a new twist on chain migration, players who make it to the big leagues will sometimes lend a hand; when Dominic Bozzelli made a better life for himself on the PGA Tour, he allowed his friend Gavin Hall to live in his house for two years, rent-free. “He knows how hard it is to make it and was nice enough to help me out,” says Hall, 26, a Texas grad who is chasing it on the Forme Tour, a Florida-based micro-mini that sends its top-five point earners to the Korn Ferry Tour.

He could live somewhere cheaper and less glamorous, such as Jacksonville, but like the hedge-fund managers swelling the waiting lists at Jupiter’s private golf clubs, Hall wants to be close to the action.

“Every day I’m around players from the Challenge Tour, Canadian Tour, Latinóamerica, Korn Ferry,” he says. “All of these guys are busting their butts to get better—it’s motivating.

Every now and then you get invited to play with established [PGA] Tour guys. To see up close how those guys operate, how they hit the ball, how they carry themselves, that’s invaluable.”

The Minor League Golf Tour hosts no-frills tournaments throughout South Florida, and it recently visited the Country Club of Coral Springs, an easy drive down I-95 from Jupiter.

Thirty players kicked in $495 apiece to compete in (and fund) the three-day event. Only 12 made the cut and therefore earned a paycheck. The winner, Patrick Allgeier, went 19 under par to take home $2,200. Rohan Ramnath finished 11th, good for $480—a net loss even before factoring in gas money.

“It’s an interesting situation, to be surrounded by so much wealth and so many great golf courses and famous golfers while a lot of us are just struggling to get by,” says Ramnath, who graduated from Harvard with a degree in applied mathematics. “It’s a pretty stark illustration of how much your life can change if you shoot better scores.” There are trophies to be won and history to be made, but nowadays there is little doubt how the spoils would be spent.

Says Ramnath,“A big house on the water in Jupiter, that’s definitely the dream.” january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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BRYSON DECHAMBEAU FOUND 30 YARDS IN CHRIS COMO’S LIVING ROOM. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN GET SOME.

BY MATTHEW RUDY PHOTOGRAPHS BY COOPER NEILL

january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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When the Players Championship was cancelled after one round in 2020 because of the onset of the pandemic, Chris Como figured golf was headed for an extended disruption.

“As I was on the plane back home to Dallas, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but I knew I needed a place to work that I wouldn’t get locked out of,” says the newly voted No. 2 on Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers ranking.

He quickly traded his downtown apartment for a 3,100square-foot, five-bedroom house that met one important benchmark— a main room with enough height and size to accommodate a basketball hoop and three-point line for down time, and a full 3-D camera system for teaching.

Through early 2021, Como, Bryson DeChambeau (who lives minutes away) and teaching assistant Brian Ziegler (who is now DeChambeau’s caddie), spent hundreds of hours in this living-room “speed studio” working on the building blocks for swinging faster. You might not have the $100,000 in swingmeasurement gear Como has at his pad—or DeChambeau’s relentless drive to squeeze out every yard he can—but you can borrow from what they learned to hit it farther right now. Let Como show you how four pieces of tech informed his teaching, and how you can use that info to make your fastest swings.

remove your governor “This might sound funny, but an important early step toward swinging faster is giving yourself permission to do it,” Como says. “Like some race cars that are restricted from going beyond a certain speed, think of it as removing the internal mental governor that holds you back from swinging faster.”

Weighted clubs have been around forever, and they’re designed to get you moving a heavy object faster so that your driver feels lighter. “The Stack ($350, right) is a modern interpretation of that concept,” Como says. “It’s a heavy club with a brain, and its app tells you when to change weights as you create more swing speed.”

Measured feedback from an app is great, but you can get faster right now without the tech, Como says. Grab a golf shaft and swing it harder and harder (above), trying to make the whoosh sound louder and louder (and as late in the through-swing as you can). “When you focus solely on the making the whoosh noise, your swing will start to organise itself automatically to create more speed,” Como says. “You won’t have to think about swinging faster, your instincts will take over, and you’ll just do it. That’s a powerful idea to take back to your regular golf swing.”

▶ go heavy to swing faster The Stack, a weighted club with a computer chip (right), trains you to swing the driver faster—with the speed coming in the right place. january 2022 | golfdigestme.com

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use the ground better The $30,000 GASP 3-D force plates that Como is standing on (below) measure how players shift their weight during a swing. “You need to increase your push off the ground to make the club go faster, and the force plates indicate how and when to do it,” Como says.

Borrowing from the footwork patterns of speed freaks like World Long Drive Champion Kyle Berkshire, Como was able to improve DeChambeau’s ground-force production. “Your lead foot needs to push much earlier than you might think—right from the top of the backswing,” Como says. “And it should push down in a diagonal direction, angling to the left of the target (for right-handers). That early, angled push gives you much more space to make your downswing and helps you get the momentum you’re generating out through the clubhead into the ball.”

The way to feel the proper shift: Put a chair angled behind you and rehearse a downswing with the club stopping around impact. Your pelvis should rotate toward the chair, even bump it (right), Como says.

▶ push and shift Force-plate technology (below) confirms that your club will move faster if you push hard into the ground right from the top of the swing.

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support your upper body A $40,000 3-D, motion-capture system like GEARS—Como is wearing its sensors (right)— will tell you important things about spatial relationships in the swing. The markers on the suit reflect light to a ring of cameras, and the system records how those markers move during the swing, providing more evidence about what long hitters do—and what you can copy without spending thousands on the tech.

“You want to pay attention to the relationship between your pelvis and your sternum,” Como says. “You know how we learned from the force plates to get your pelvis turning with diagonal force? Pair that with a quieter upper-body early in the downswing, and you’ll store more power for flash speed.”

The takeaway? Feel like your sternum is stacked over your pelvis at the top of your backswing, but as your hips turns through in the downswing, keep the buttons on your shirt lined up over your belt buckle as long as you can (below). This delayed release of the sternum toward the target provides an extra source of speed creation down by the ball.

“Where you want it,” Como says.

perfect the secret stretch A guided workout station with virtual training, like the $3,000 Tonal device you see behind me, was a godsend to avoid public gyms during the pandemic, Como says.

This device also grooved a key power move that got DeChambeau crushing his drives.

“Here I’m in a side-on, lat pull-down position (left), but I’m not trying to yank the cable down,” Como says. “I’m concentrating on stretching my lead arm across my chest.

It’s the same stretch you should feel in transition, where your body is starting to turn back toward the ball, but your arms are still finishing their trip up to the top of the backswing.”

Compare DeChambeau’s current swing to what he was doing a few years ago, and that stretch should now be immediately recognisable. “It’s similar to the way your arm should continue to go back as you step forward to throw a ball,” Como says. “You’re initiating the whip or sling sequence that is the centrepiece of speed.”

You can use a cable machine at the gym or even some stretch bands anchored to a highpoint in your home to train this move, Como says. “And then feel that arm stretch when you take your driver to the top and are about to start down (below),” he says. “You’ll be loaded up to put some real power into the ball.”

▶ crack the whip This Tonal virtual exercise machine (above) helps train the snap speed needed for power.

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