Golf Digest Middle East - April 2024

JON RAHM

A CAREER BREAKDOWN OF THE MASTERS CHAMP

THE MASTERS

WHY WE NEED AUGUSTA RIGHT NOW

WHEN WAS THE COURSE AT IT’S BEST?

WHAT IS NEXT FOR GOLF IN SAUDI?

JOURNEYS: WITH EWEN FERGUSON

ADJUSTING AUGUSTA

Holes like the par-3 16th remind us that at Augusta National, change is constant.

6 Editor’s Letter

Spring has sprung, it’s time for the first men’s major of the year.

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

The Starter

8 La Réserve Golf

Links: Pure Golfing Drama In Mauritius

A masterpiece crafted for an unforgettable golfing experience.

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

Mind / Body

10 Undercover Caddie

My player wouldn’t stop cheating, so I quit. WITH JOEL BEALL

12 Journeys Ewen Ferguson WITH

14 Saying Goodbye To Broadcast Legends

This year’s Masters will be the last for CBS’ Verne Lundquist and Sean McManus. BY

44 Getting On The Course

We look at where to play, which tees to use, essential course etiquette and the rules.

BY SCOTT EDWARDS

46 Bend It Like Bubba Two-time Masters

winner explains how he hits his infamous slinging shots.

BY BUBBA WATSON

64 What’s in My Bag Adrian Meronk

66 The Loop

Champions Dinner etiquette do’s and don’ts.

BY COLEMAN BENTLEY

Features

16 No Stopping Saudi

The Kingdom is becoming the next golfing heavyweight in the Middle East.

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

20 Challenge Coming

The Challenge Tour returns to the UAE for two-weeks in Al Ain and Saadiyat Beach.

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

COVER STORY

22 Return Of Rahm

Now playing on LIV Golf, Spain’s John Rahm returns to Augusta as defending champion in a wild time for golf .

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

26 A Beautiful Ache

The surprising joys of attending the Masters in unsettled times.

BY CHRIS JONES

34 In Search Of The Greatest Augusta

The course has evolved continuously since the first Masters in 1934.

Which version was best?

BY DEREK DUNCAN

AGF News

42 All the recent news from within the Arab Golf Federation including Golf Saudi CEO Noah Alireza.

Hot List 2024 PART 3

49 Fairway Woods

58 Hybrids

Major Moment

The opening men’s major of the year will once again bring with it drama

By Harry Grimshaw

SPRING HAS SPRUNG, so in golfing terms that means one thing, it’s Masters time!

Jon Rahm will be heading down magnolia lane as the defending champion at Augusta National, but this year is different. The 29-year-old returns to the site of his second major championship, this time as a LIV Golf member.

After joining LIV for the 2024 season, Rahm was automatically suspended from the PGA Tour, but winning last year’s Masters gave him a lifetime of Masters starts. Along with that came a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour (which he is suspended from), a place in the US Open (which he already has exemption for), The Open Championship, and PGA Championship for the next five years.

It’ll obviously be a vital time for Rahm to gain some Official World Ranking Points (OWGR), even though he is World Number Three and doesn’t really need them for a while. But this is the first event he has played since joining LIV that will give him OWGR points. The last one he managed to gain some was over five month’s ago in the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates Dubai in November 2023.

are recognised within the existing ranking system,” Norman wrote to his constituents. “Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”

It won’t be just Jon, a fair few of his fellow LIV compatriots will be looking to do the same. Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson and Joaquin Niemann who has gained an invite into the tournament after his recent run of good form across the DP World Tour and Asian Tour.

Huge story to come out of the golfing world was the return of Anthony Kim, the now 38-year-old, has made a comeback to golf by signing for LIV as a Wildcard player. A bit of rust was to be expected in the American’s game as it was over a decade since he last tee’d it up in a professional event. LIV Golf Jeddah saw him finish 53rd (last) and LIV Golf Hong Kong was three spots better out of a field of 54 players. He then went onto the Asian Tour’s International Series in Macau to finish 130th out of 144 players… Closer to home this month, we have the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca returning to the UAE for a double header. The two-week swing is being hosted at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club for the Abu Dhabi Challenge followed up by the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.

Proving even more important, after LIV Golf gave up its bid to gain OWGR accreditation.

In a letter to LIV members, LIV CEO Greg Norman told players that they will no longer attempt to appease the qualifications to earn OWGR points, which is a primary avenue into major championship fields for those otherwise not exempt through past victories.

“We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments

The Asian Tour are in Saudi Arabia for the third edition of the US$ 1 million Saudi Open at Riyadh Golf Club in which 12 playing opportunities will be distributed amongst the top Arab players based on WAGR/OWGR performances at top events across the region recently.

La Réserve Golf Links: pure golfi ng drama in Mauritius

Co-designed by Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, with panoramic ocean views from every hole, this exhilarating new course plays hand-in-hand with nature alongside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Experience the epitome of luxury and elegance at the Indian Ocean’s newest golfing gem, La Réserve Golf Links. Nestled within the southern shores of Bel Ombre in Mauritius, this exquisite golf course, opened in December 2023, guarantees pure golfing drama amidst a backdrop of unrivaled natural beauty.

Co-designed by acclaimed course architect Peter Matkovich, known for creating some of the world’s most iconic golf courses, with the links expertise of Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, this 18-hole championship course is a golfer’s paradise, combining strategic challenges with breathtaking vistas.

Enjoy the gentle ocean breeze as you descend a dramatic 200m elevation change from the first tee, the highest point on the course, to the Clubhouse, captivated by the panoramic views of the course and Indian Ocean stretching out just in front of you.

La Réserve Golf Links is not just a golf course; it is a masterpiece meticulously cra ed to provide an unforgettable golfing experience. The first and only contemporary links golf course in the Indian Ocean seamlessly blends with its natural surroundings, featuring elements of traditional links courses, with long links-style grasses, pot bunkers, undulating terrain, run-off areas and natural hazards that add an element of excitement to every shot. —harry grimshaw

Mauritius

La Réserve Golf Links

AF EW TIMES EACH YEAR a story will emerge about a cheating scandal in pro golf. That is not a lot when you consider how many shots are televised and that fans have cameras on their phones waiting to catch the slightest bit of impropriety. When I was caddieing on tour more than 30 years ago, there weren’t many cameras, and no one had a phone in his or her pocket. Unless it was egregious, whatever happened usually went unpublished. I know because I saw cheating regularly, and it made me quit my job.

I spent close to a decade on the PGA and European tours during the 1980s and ’90s. In those days, it wasn’t that hard to pick up a loose bag. I was a good amateur and had a few college friends turn pro, so I bounced around with them. I tagged along with one guy to Europe, but he eventually flamed out after a few years. I jumped on an up-and-comer’s bag, and within a year we won our first event. Because he was good—and more importantly, because the money was so much better—we decided to head to the PGA Tour the next season.

I’m naive and certainly not the most observant, but I still know the game, and I thought I knew people. Yet one time, after a good finish in Europe, I was on a train to the next tournament eight hours away. As caddies do, we shared a cabin, and as we were loading up, someone noticed a bodega in the station. “You’re buying,” one of the caddies said to me, “since you guys took money from us.” During the ride, the caddie accused my player of cheating when he got around the green, saying he would bend over his ball in the rough like he was reading the break, only to use the heels of his shoes to pat down the grass and make for an easier chip.

I brushed it off; neither I nor my player was European, so I thought it could be a bit of xenophobia. My player could also be a bit theatrical after good shots and bad, which didn’t help, either. I wasn’t worried, especially because none of the other caddies had heard or seen anything like that, but that’s not something you forget. Though it took a while to prove, I ultimately discovered

the caddie was telling the truth: My player was a cheater.

A few years later, we were playing in the old Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic in Virginia. We were short-sided and in a brutal lie—the exact situation the caddie from the train had described. If you gave us a bogey, I would have gladly said yes and moved to the next tee. Yet my player squatted over the ball, acting like he was examining a scuffed-up area on the green (this was back in the day when you couldn’t repair spike marks, kids) as he dug his heels behind the ball, improving his lie. When he rose from the position, suddenly I could see the number on his ball, which I couldn’t before. He nearly holed the shot and made par. This was on a Saturday; that shot kept us in contention, and we had a solid finish.

There was no doubt in my mind what I had witnessed, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a one-off. During the next two months, I noticed he had other tricks. Everyone knows the move where a player takes a practice backswing behind the ball to clear a path in the rough. My guy had an interesting spin on this stunt. He would stand behind his ball and perpendicular to it while he was swinging. It was a move that, while exponentially riskier because of possible contact with the ball, seemed more inconspicuous to his competitors. I also noticed he was liberal when marking his ball on the green, often moving the ball to the side of his marker to avoid any imperfections on the green that were in his line. It only made a slight difference, but at that level, a slight difference can be worth thousands of dollars.

I confronted him about it at a hitand-giggle a few months later in his home country. I thought we had a good relationship and that he would take my word not as condemnation but as concern. I genuinely think he is a decent person, which is why I was shocked at what I saw. I could tell by how flustered he was that he knew he was caught. At one point he even said I didn’t know the Rules of Golf. I told him I didn’t tell anyone, but if I sensed he was cheating again, I would walk away mid-round.

I felt like we both left that conversation with an understanding. Clearly, he didn’t; three months later, he was doing the heel-behind-the-ball trick again during a Florida event. I didn’t walk away mid-round, but I quit after the tournament. I couldn’t stand by and watch someone cheat. I know what you’re thinking: Why didn’t I speak up? It’s not a caddie’s place to call rules infractions, even on his own player.

However, I overvalued my worth. I thought I’d be able to get another fulltime bag. Instead, I spent most of the season on part-time or fill-in duty, all with guys well below the caliber of the player I had left. Part of me wondered if my old player had put the word out on me or if his management spread false rumors about the split. Looking back, I think it was just bad luck, and maybe hubris on my part. The next year I got a regular bag, but he lasted only two seasons on tour before losing his card. I spent one more year hopping from bag to bag before I quit and got a normal 9-to-5 job running a golf-training program in the United States. I recently retired and now work at a club looping when they get low on caddies. Hey, it’s what I know, and I’m good at it.

That guy I left had a very good career. No major victories, and I’m guessing most fans under 40 don’t know his name, but he had a bunch of wins and is doing just fine in retirement. I have no idea if he kept cheating when I left; I never was paired with him in another round, and I never heard any rumblings that he was doing the things I witnessed.

Does the decision weigh on me? I didn’t leave life-changing money, but I missed out on quite a bit of it. I know I passed on that financial security for a clear conscience, and I’m sure I could have retired a lot earlier, which is tough to take. At least my integrity is intact.

—WITH JOEL BEALL

Undercover Caddie says cheating isn’t common in pro golf, or players are very sneaky.

‘I’ve won twice on tour, and there is still no better

feeling than winning’

As an amateur I was winning big events, and still at that young age it would give me the same confidence I have now.

By Ewen Ferguson with Harry Grimshaw

Igot into golf in Glasgow back in the day with my dad as he was a good golfer. He held a couple of golf records in the area and used to win all the club championships at The Bearsden Golf Club, in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. At the time, I must have been around five years old, I thought it was just so cool that he was able to do that.

Some people might not know, but I went to school in the USA when I was 14. I went over to Hilton Head Island and played all the AAGA events there, competing against likes of Joaquin Niemann and all these boys. Being so young then it was just brilliant and I just loved golf. It was then I came back and started doing really well as an amateur.

● ● ●

I won the Boys Amateur Championship in 2013 when I was 17, then the Scottish Boys Championship and Scottish Boys Strokeplay. You don’t realise at the time who you are beating, but fast forward to now, they are some of the best golfers in the world. It would still give me all the confidence needed at that young age. Boys Home International, European Boys Team Championship, European Amateur Championship, and the Walker Cup were all obviously incredible to be a part of as well. Just being a part of all those as an amateur are memories I will never forget.

● ● ●

Having a good amateur career, I was lucky enough to get a couple of starts on the Challenge Tour and eventually keep my card on the tour. Next step was

to then get onto the DP World Tour, but then Covid hit. Weirdly, I actually think Covid helped my progression. I played around 20 events on the DP World Tour in 2020 because they froze everyone’s categories, so it was a free year basically. I didn’t play too badly that year, but it was great experience. Then the following year, 2021, I was like “right this is my year, let’s go for it”. I started working with a new coach Jamie Gough, which really helped as I used to play with a big nasty draw. He then got me fading it and controlling the pace of my swing more, so my wedge game dramatically improved. So I definitely owe a lot to him.

● ● ●

My maiden DP World Tour win came in 2022 just down the road in Qatar. So I love going back there! It was incredible to win such a historic event in such a cool part of the world, which I now call home.

● ● ●

That win I think persuaded me a bit more to move out here, which was around 18 months ago now – I feel like I just play better in the Middle East, different grass, different styles, just something I wouldn’t get back at home. So

the move has honestly helped me play better all over the world.

● ● ●

It’ not just me living here, in my building down in the marina, we’ve got loads of DP World Tour golfers there. Richard Mansell, Adri Arnaus, Guido Migliozzi, Renato Paratore, Adrian Meronk so there is loads of us there. It’s quite funny, we bump into each other in Spinney’s picking up the groceries! But we always hang out for dinners, golf obviously, and play paddle tennis together all the time so it’s a nice community we’ve got and all being around the same age helps, so it’s really nice.

● ● ●

I’ve been with Modest! Golf Management now for 5 or 6 years, which is founded by Niall Horan. It’s great because he is obviously golf obsessed and I love my music, especially country music, so we have a lot in common. He actually sorted me out meeting Lewis Capaldi recently which was unreal. That’s the thing with Niall, he throws me into his side of the limelight, which is away from golf which I like, because it’s nice to see things from a different perspective. I obviously repay him by agreeing to partner with him in as many pro-am’s that I might be in!

● ● ●

At the moment I’m playing well. But I just really want to win again. I’ve won twice on tour now, but I just need to figure out what it is that you need to do to get that little good break of the ball when you’re in contention and I just get over line again. There’s no feeling like winning, it’s just unbelievable.

EWEN FERGUSON DP WORLD TOUR

LIVES DUBAI, UAE

Saying Goodbye to Two Broadcast Legends

This year’s Masters will be the last for play-by-play announcer

Verne Lundquist and CBS Sports chief Sean McManus

By Jim Nantz

At the 1960 Masters , as Arnold Palmer steadied himself over a winning birdie putt, a young CBS anchor named Jim McKay dropped his voice to a whisper: “Arnold Palmer has been 30 years on this Earth. He has never had a more important moment than this one.” It would be his final call at Augusta. Earlier in the week, McKay had found a pay phone mounted on an exterior clubhouse wall to return a call to an ABC visionary named Roone Arledge. McKay was riveted by what he heard, an invitation to span the globe as host of a fledgling show called “Wide World of Sports.”

This year at the Masters, arguably the most successful sports executive since

Arledge is going to close his own storied career. Sean McManus, 68, Jim McKay’s son, has led CBS Sports since December 1996. His first Masters as president was Tiger Woods’ “Win for the Ages” in 1997 and, like Tiger, his accomplishments are lengthy and legendary. Most notably, he nurtured the partnership with Augusta National, returned the NFL to CBS and secured massive longtime partnerships with the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and, most recently, the Big Ten.

For all Sean has accomplished, there’s nothing in his portfolio he has taken more pride in than his stewardship of the game of golf, especially the Masters. No one from the executive branch has presided over CBS’ presentation longer

than Sean, and he did it during a critical period of innovation. His ability to integrate new technology into CBS’ broadcasts is one reason he has earned 20 Emmy Awards. It’s a far cry from when 12-year-old Sean joined his famous father at the 1967 Jacksonville Open and spent three days cleaning ashtrays and emptying wastepaper baskets while his dad called the action. Sean’s freelance pay was $20 total. The same guy went on to engineer a $2-billionper-year arrangement with the NFL.

Twenty years after Sean’s father jumped from CBS to ABC, another iconic commentator made the opposite move. Verne Lundquist joined CBS Sports from ABC in 1982 and quickly joined Frank Chirkinian’s team at Augusta. This will be the 40th and final Masters broadcast for Verne, 83, in an illustrious career that included calling SEC football and figure skating at the Winter Olympics.

Verne’s calls are as much a part of Masters lore as the players who pulled off the unimaginable shots. There isn’t a lover of golf who doesn’t remember Jack Nicklaus at the 17th hole in 1986 and Verne’s “Maybe . . . yes, sir!” and Tiger’s hole-out from behind the 16th green in 2005: “Oh, wow, in your life have you seen anything like that?” Verne, with his timing, passion and the sheer richness of his voice, has a way of transporting viewers from their living rooms to Augusta National.

At CBS, he has always been “Uncle Verne,” a trusted mentor colleagues could lean on. I met him in 1985 in Montgomery, Alabama, when I was the sideline reporter for the Blue-Gray College Football Classic. On Christmas Eve, the night before the game, Verne and his wonderful wife, Nancy, were sweet enough to invite a young, timid broadcaster to dinner. I was grateful for that gesture and in awe, too. My feelings have never changed.

When it comes time to sign off from Butler Cabin on Sunday evening, April 14, you might detect a touch of melancholy in my voice. It’s difficult to say goodbye to these two incredible gentlemen and friends who for decades helped popularise the greatest event in golf.

Jim Nantz is playing his first round ever on the Old Course at St. Andrews this summer.

SAUDI ARABIA IS GOING FULL STEAM AHEAD INTO BECOMING THE NEXT GOLFING HEAVYWEIGHT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

– WE LOOK AT HOW, WHY AND WHEN?

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

NO STOPPING SAUDI

With golf in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia having only been introduced in 1949, on what was a sand golf course called Rolling Hills Country Club in Dhahran. It’s stunning to see the current speed at which the game has taken off at, and the way they have quickly got into the swing of things .

The golf push we are seeing in Saudi is part of a larger “Vision 2030” strategy, campaigned by Saudi Arabia’s, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with golf being a part of bolstering the kingdom’s entertainment and tourism offerings.

There are three professionals in Saudi Arabia who have had a first-hand part of the growth. Othman Almulla, the country’s first professional golfer and his counterparts Faisal Alsalhab and Saud Alsharif who have both a year under their belts as professionals.

Golf Digest Middle East sat down with the trio, as they talked through the route, vision and journey the Kingdom is taking within the game of golf.

“To see how the landscape of golf in the region and the Arab world has changed dramatically has been A) super exciting to be a part of and B) super fortunate to be a part of these opportunities that we have been given,” said Almulla.

“I think we can see year in and year out the growth. It’s amazing to see the opportunities myself and my two fellow Saudi professionals, Faisal and Saud are getting. We are being given opportunities to playing on the Challenge Tour and on the Asian Tour against some amazing golfers.”

“Golf opens doors and possibilities to show that it is a career path – growing up for me and my friends football was our path, golf wasn’t,” said Alsalhab.

“But now, what the government is doing with Vision 2030, the Ministry of Sports and all the federations that are getting involved, it is such a big opportunity for every youth in Saudi to show they can do something different.”

Almulla continued, “I think we are always looking for the immediate change and a lot of the things that are being put in place now will have a dramatic effect in 10 years from now.

“Yes, we do have our own personal goals and things we want to achieve in our own game but I think it’s important to know that it’s a long term game that we are all playing.”

“A lot of countries that have developed golf have had the game for 100 plus years, whereas just the transformation we have had here in Saudi Arabia in five years, it has been unbelievable. So I’m excited to see where the next five years will take us.

“We have us three professional male golfers, so hopefully some of the Saudi national ladies will follow suit and take advantage of the game with the help of the Ladies European Tour and having events like the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, this will then also hopefully inspire more of the Arab population take up the game.”

SAUDI OPEN

Presented by PIF

Riyadh Golf Club

17 – 20 April 2024

Purse: US$1 million

Othman might be classed as a ‘veteran’ in the game, even though he is only 37-years-old, himself alongside Faisal and Saud still get the buzz of their home Open to look forward to in April.

The Saudi Open presented by the Public Investment Fund is being staged for the third time at Riyadh Golf Club, on a course that has undergone major changes by the team at Golf Saudi, with Riyadh Golf Club as their HQ, in being transformed to stage the Asian Tour’s US$1 million tournament.

This year’s Saudi Open will infact see the strongest Arab playing field amassed for this most recent leg on the 2024 Asian Tour schedule. 12 spots will be distributed amongst the top Arab players based on their World Amateur Golf Ranking and Official World Golf Ranking, chosen through their performance at top events across the region to give them the opportunity to compete in Riyadh.

“I am definitely looking forward to it,” said Alsalhab. “It’s the event that you want to do well in.

“You are playing your home course and you have family and friends there so you want to do well for them – and you want to show new people that they can support you and maybe pick up the sport as well.

“They have pulled back some tees and built some tee boxes. They can get the greens running super quick. The overseed has come through so the rough is up and they’ve even built a new clubhouse.”

“A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT ARE BEING PUT IN PLACE NOW WILL HAVE A DRAMATIC EFFECT IN 10 YEARS FROM NOW” – OTHMAN ALMULLA

“WHAT’S IN STORE FOR SAUDI GOLF, I DON’T THINK ANYONE IS READY FOR IT” – FAISAL ALSALHAB

Despite turning pro at the age of 23, Saud Alsharif is the youngest Saudi professional out of the trio, as he looks to thrive on the tournament pressure come April, “The Saudi Open is obviously in its third edition of the event on the Asian Tour,” said Alsharif.

“I have a tremendous amount of pride representing the green and white every week wherever I might be playing in the GCC and around the world. But this week when we are on home soil, there will of course be pressure.

“The golf course is progressing tremendously. It’s looking more like a championship golf course and a lot of credit goes to the Golf Saudi team and the people in charge. So they have done a great job.”

Othman emphasised Saud’s comment, “I’m so excited to be a part of it and to compete in Saudi Arabia. We have some amazing golf courses, and I can’t wait for us to excel at home and do things for everyone to be proud of.

“I think it’s of a little taste of what’s to come. We have a lot of hugely exciting developments all around the country. One of my partners NEOM have some incredible golf developments that are going to be revolutionary, but to see the steps that Golf Saudi has taken in developing one of our older golf courses in Riyadh Golf Club, which has a place in a lot of our hearts has been really really cool.

“Yes, there are new courses to come, but we don’t want to forget the heritage of Saudi Arabian golf, yes it’s not very old but it’s our heritage and it’s where we started playing golf so it’s cool to see the development of that golf course.”

It’s hard for the whole world not to notice what Saudi is doing in golf. With the backing from the likes of the Public Investment Fund, Golf Saudi and the Arab Golf Federation, they now host multiple big money tournaments in which the world’s best golfers travel to the Kingdom to take part in.

LIV Golf Jeddah, the PIF Saudi International, Aramco Team Series, Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF, Saudi Open Presented by PIF and the Aramco Team Series Riyadh are the standout events in which the Kingdom. The future looks big.

“I 100% don’t think I would have had the opportunity to turn professional or play in the big events that I did at the time had I not had Golf Saudi and the Arab Golf Federation supporting me,” said Almulla.

“I’m not sure when, but it’s only a matter of time before the next champion golfer will come from the Arab region. You need to have opportunities and that’s what they are providing, and I really really believe that the future is bright for Arab golf.

Faisal agreed, “What’s in store for Saudi golf, I don’t think anyone is ready for it.

“We have seen how well the Middle East has done for golf in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Qatar etc and now it’s Saudi’s turn, and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people.

“Golf is still very new in Saudi Arabia, but the numbers have tripled of Saudi’s participating in the sport. The media in Saudi Arabia is now covering the sport which is a huge thing for our economy, and there are big things for the game of golf in Saudi Arabia so it’s exciting to be a part of that journey,” Almulla said.

“To be able to show people and give them an opportunity to reflect on an athlete from their home country who speaks the same language as them, has the same up bringing and same culture as them, and to see them playing on the world stage – maybe not achieving things that people are expecting just yet, but you have to take these steps to get there.

“You have to participate first, make cuts, have top finishes and then you start winning.”

“I HAVE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PRIDE REPRESENTING THE GREEN AND WHITE EVERY WEEK”

– SAUD ALSHARIF

Above: Riyadh Golf Club will once again be host to the Asian Tour’s Saudi Open Presented by PIF in April.

CHALLENGE

THE CHALLENGE TOUR RETURNS TO THE UAE FOR A TWO-WEEK STINT IN THE EMIRATE OF ABU DHABI

By Harry Grimshaw

The European Challenge Tour,

alongside the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and Abu Dhabi Sports Council, are gearing up once again in Abu Dhabi, to showcase the best crop of global professional golfers who are trying to get their feet onto the DP World Tour.

The 30-tournament long Road to Mallorca Rankings season, touches down in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in mid April for backto-back events in the capital.

Having already travelled to South Africa for their opening 4 events, and more recently India for a double header – the Challenge Tour now has it’s eyes firmly on Abu Dubai for the Abu Dhabi Challenge followed up by the UAE Challenge.

The second edition of these events highlight the beginning of the 10 year agreement between the DP World Tour, Challenge Tour and the EGF in developing the game in the region.

Last year’s Abu Dhabi Challenge and UAE Challenge each had 30 spots allocated to the EGF to continue to provide a pathway for both Emirati golfers and residents of the UAE, with several members of the UAE National Team being given the opportunity to play against the stars of the golfing world.

The standout performance from last year was Joshua Grenville-Wood ( pictured right), a tie for second in the Abu Dhabi Challenge and a tie for 18th the following week, completely transformed his 2023 season. Accentuating the importance of these events for the country.

“Given the current landscape of golf in the Middle East and across the world it is important to have partners that have the same vision as the EGF,” said His Excellency General Abdullah Al Hashmi, EGF Vice Chairman. “At the EGF we are committed to working with all tours and governing bodies to help shape the future of the sport we love.”

12 months ago, the Abu Dhabi Challenge was competed at the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, where Ricardo Gouveia memorably eagled the final hole to win in dramatic fashion after posting a six under par final round of 66. The 32-year-old would go onto graduate onto the DP World Tour at the end of the 2023 season.

But this time around, tournament organisers have opted for a brand-new host venue for the first of two Challenge Tour events in the UAE in April, with Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club (AESGC) stepping up to the plate ( pictured above).

Over the past nine to twelve months, the agrononmy team at AESGC have built ten new

COMING

ABU DHABI CHALLENGE

Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, Abu Dhabi

18-21 APR 2024

prize fund US$300,000

UAE CHALLENGE

Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Abu Dhabi

25-28 APR 2024

prize fund US$300,000

tee boxes on the desert style course, to bolster the par 70 track to now over 7100 yards, therefore making it possible to compete with the up and coming stars of the DP World Tour.

“Our biggest challenge to date has been the rough,” said Shane Peacock, Director of Golf at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club.

“We usually mow it 51mm, the paspalum here in the winter tends to go dormant and doesn’t really grow much during the colder season. The (Challenge) Tour has advised what their ideal height is and I’m very confident of hitting that.

“We’re really looking forward to hosting this tournament in April and showcasing all our hard work. It’s going to be great to have such a strong field in Al Ain.”

Following the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Challenge, the tour will then make it’s way towards the coast and the picture perfect Saadiayt Beach Golf Club, for the UAE Challenge ( pictured above).

Designed by Gary Player, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club which overlooks the Arabian Gulf, has sustainability at it’s forefront as it utilises existing saltwater lakes and beach dunes in its highlyrated design.

The club provides a sanctuary for over 160 bird species, 250+ mountain gazelles and a rejuvenation of native plants. They also play an

AT THE EGF WE ARE COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH ALL TOURS AND GOVERNING BODIES TO HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT WE LOVE”

– HIS EXCELLENCY

GENERAL ABDULLAH

AL HASHMI, EGF VICE CHAIRMAN

active role in supporting the efforts of Saadiyat Island’s Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Programme. On the nine kilometre Saadiyat Beach several hawksbill turtle nests contain around 90 to 100 eggs.

As well as being situated on the coast, with wind likely to be a factor, the par 72 course has 60 bunkers and is a real test with more than 7,750 yards in front of you (from the tips).

At last year’s UAE Challenge, Germany’s Max Rottluff was the last man in the field for the tournament but still managed to set a new course record of 63 in round two, before going onto fi nish off the tournament with the winners trophy and by the end of the season, like Gouveia, securing a ticket to the DP World Tour.

RETURN OF RAHM

WE BREAKDOWN THE STUNNING NOW A MEMBER OF LIV GOLF

CAREER OF THE WORLD NUMBER THREE

BY HARRY GRIMSHAW

JJON RAHM heads to Augusta National as the defending champion of The Masters. In what has been a tumultuous six months for the former World Number One, we break down the career, of the now Legion XIII captain, and delve into what has led him into the position he finds himself in now.

Growing up in the small coastal town of Barrika, in northern Spain, aged just two, Rahm was taken to the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderamma by his parents who weren’t even fans of the game. But that expericence of seeing Severiano Ballesteros lead the European Team to victory over the Americans got them hooked. That then naturally led Jon to picking up the game himself aged six.

Taking the game more seriously around 12 years of age he got good, quick. And by 14 he was travelling around the country and winning amateur tournaments while also studying at high school in Madrid. It wasn’t long before Jon began making a name for himself and decided to choose golf as a career.

Deciding on Arizona State, Rahm was coached there by Tim Mickelson, where he won 11 college tournaments second only to Tim’s brother Phil.

He became the only player to win the Ben Hogan award twice and come 5th, as an amateur, in the Phoneix Open on the PGA Tour in 2015. Three shots back from eventual winner Brooks Koepka.

On 1st April 2015 Jon became the World Number One Amateur, a combined feet of 60 weeks total. A record which still stands today. Picking up the 2015 Mark H. McCormack Medal in doing so.

Finishing out his amateur career in 2016 after playing the US Open and col-

lecting the low amateur medal, Rahm made the decision to turn pro, forfitting his place in the Open Championship. A decision that maybe was a blessing in disguise, as the very following week he competed in the PGA Tour’s Quicken Loan’s National where he finished in a tie for 3rd place, earning his qualification spot back into the Open at Troon. Rahm was off and running.

Playing off temproray membership on the PGA Tour, Rahm would go onto still earn enough points to hold a PGA tour card for the 2017 season.

And it again didn’t take him long to make his mark. In January 2017 he claimed his first PGA Tour victory by winning the Farmers Insurance Open (pictured right) after holing a 60 foot eagle putt on the 18th hole – moving him from 137th to 36th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

In his second WGC event, the WGCDell Technologies Match Play, Rahm debuted as the No. 21-seed in the field of 64 and made it through to the final where he was runner-up to Dustin Johnson in the championship match –but still moving up to a new career-high world ranking of 14th.

He also enjoyed a stellar first season on the then European Tour in 2017 - in which he was named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year – and he became the first player to win multiple Rolex Series events with victories at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

“What I’ve done this year, especially on The European Tour from no member, nothing, to an affiliate to European Tour Champion to actually be a Rolex Series Champion and to now twice Rolex Series Champion and winner of the DP World Tour Championship, it’s something unbelievable,” said Rahm.

He kick started the 2018 season with his second PGA Tour victory, making it his fourth win in 38 professional starts and a move up to second in the OWGR. A ratio of wins only better than Tiger Woods from the last 30 years.

Rahm won on home soil for the first time as a professional, emerging victorious at the Open de España on the European Tour, then going onto make his Ryder Cup debut in 2018, beating Tiger Woods in the Sunday Singles as Thomas Bjørn’s side stormed to an his-

toric victory at Le Golf National.

The Zurich Classic was Rahm’s third PGA Tour title and a second Dubai Duty Free Irish Open title was added to his trophy cabinet at Lahinch Golf Club in 2019 to become the first three-time Rolex Series winner. Rahm defended his Open de España title that same year, winning his fifth European Tour title

in just his 39th appearance - ten fewer than his golfing idol Seve Ballesteros.

A year which was capped off by winning the season long Race to Dubai after his victory at the European Tour’s season finale, the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

He sent records tumbling at the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship, carding a ten under par round of 61, which included a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th at Chapultepec Golf Club, to record the lowest round of his career and the joint lowest round in the history of the World Golf Championships.

Those wins came in a year when he sprung to global prominence and victory at the Memorial Tournament rose him to World Number One, becoming

just the second Spaniard player to do so after Seve.

“It’s pretty surreal to think it’s happened this quickly, right, in less than 10 years,” said the now World Number One.

“I mean, how many people get to achieve a lifelong dream, in their mid20s? It’s incredible. To be the second Spaniard to ever do it, given there’s not many Europeans that have gotten to this spot, it’s a pretty unique feeling, so I’m going to enjoy it for a while.”

There was only one more goal to reach for Rahm and that was a Major Championship. He wouldn’t have to wait long.

Rahm started the final day of the 2021 US Open three strokes back, and birdies on the 17th and 18th holes at Torrey Pines gave him a one-stroke victory over Louis Oosthuizen, for his first Major Championship and to become the first player from Spain to win the US Open.

Rahm would finish no lower than T8 in the four Majors in 2021, winning the US Open, T3 at The Open, T5 at the Masters and T8 at the US PGA Championship.

A second Ryder Cup appearance for Rahm was in the bag as he claimed Europe’s top performer at the 2021 Ryder Cup, earning 3.5 points as he formed a formidable partnership with Sergio Garcia at Whistling Straights, whom he also cites as a hero and influence.

He would have to wait 11 months for his next victory which came in the Mexico Open in May 2022. A catalsyt for Rahm as he would go onto emulate Ballesteros’s feat of winning three Open de España titles in the modern era as he won his third national Open in just four appearances. While also becoming the first player to win the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai on three occasions as he finished two strokes clear of a world-class field at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

His hottest stretch of golf surely would be classed at the start of 2023. Three PGA Tour victories in the span of just seven weeks as he notched the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The American Express for the second time, and Tiger’s Genesis Invitational. Lining him up peferctly for a run at Augusta… After a rain-affected third round of the 2023 Masters, play resumed on Sunday morning, where Rahm overturned a four-stroke deficit with 30 holes left

RAHM FINISHED NO LOWER THAN T8 IN THE FOUR MAJORS IN 2021 - VICTORY AT THE U.S OPEN, T3 OPEN, T5 MASTERS, T8 US PGA

ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS

2015 Mark H. McCormack Medal

2017 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year

2019 European Tour Race to Dubai Winner

2019 European Tour Golfer of the Year

2019 European Tour Player’s Player of the Year

2020/21 PGA Tour money list winner

2021 PGA Player of the Year

2020/21 Byron Nelson Award

2021 Vardon Trophy

2021 European Tour Player of the Year

to play, eventually finishing two strokes clear of LIV Golfers Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson at Augusta National.

A second Major Championship for Rahm also made him become the first player from Europe to have won both the US Open and the Masters, the later being on what would have been Seve’s birthday and 40 years since his second Masters title.

“For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it’s incredibly meaningful.

“To finish it off the way I did -- an unusual par, very much a Seve par, it was in a non-purposeful way, a testament to him, and I know he was pulling for me today, and it was a great Sunday.”

Signing off a super 2023, Rahm earned three points from four matches as he made his third Ryder Cup appearance at Marco Simone in Rome. From hitting the opening tee shot on Friday afternoon to going head-to-head with

then World Number One Scottie Scheffler in the Sunday Singles. Rahm helped Europe regain the trophy after losing it two years prior at Whistling Striaghts.

In what seemed like everything was going one way for Rahm, in a surprise decision in December 2023, it was then announced to the golfing world that Rahm was joining LIV Golf. Shockwaves in golf, as in February 2022, amid discussion of the LIV Golf League, Rahm said, “I wanted to take this time to say that this is my official, my one and only time to talk about this, where I am officially declaring my loyalty to the PGA Tour.”

But what changed? Fast forward to the start of 2024, Rahm was quoted explaining his decision.

“When I said that [in June 2022] I fully meant it and it was true. Now, when they slap you with a large amount of money in your face, your feelings do change. I try not to be a materialistic person, but I do owe it to my family as

well to set them up for success the best I can, and having kids I think changed that quite a bit.

“Well, the weeks leading up to the announcement weren’t the easiest. Even through the process of negotiations, it was just very, very deep waters compared to what I’m used to.

“Once it became public, the reaction was pretty much what I expected. The ones that are close friends that maybe had an idea or not have supported me, and obviously there’s some people that are going to disagree with any decision we make in life.”

A decision that seemed to have proved dividens for Rahm as he has already picked up his first team trophy with Legion XIII in the season opening LIV Golf Mayakoba.

Next up for him is LIV Golf Miami, the week before he heads to Augusta National to defend his title and aims to become the first LIV Golfer to win The Masters. We will wait and see.

THE SURPRISING JOYS OF ATTENDING

THE MASTERS IN UNSETTLED TIMES

A ACHE BEAUTIFUL

BY CHRIS JONES

SOLITARY REFINEMENT

A competitor enjoys a quiet moment on the range.

TToday, nearly a year removed from the 2023 Masters, it seems impossible that three Augusta pines fell in front of the 17th tee and didn’t find any of the thousands in attendance on that windswept, grey Friday afternoon. One woman was caught between them, where she stood frozen to the spot, able only to cover her head with her hands, and even she escaped unscathed, like Buster Keaton finding the open window in a collapsing house. The dark humour that follows near misses was as instant as the relief: Maybe, someone joked, she was afraid of breaking Augusta National’s policy against running.

By first light Saturday, the fallen trees had disappeared, removed by an army of workers who had fired up their chainsaws before Friday’s crowds had finished filing out. The craters left by their upturned root beds had been filled and leveled and covered with green wood shavings, rendered invisible to anything less than close inspection, and every pine cone and needle had been picked up as though with tweezers. The only remaining sign of the trees were the impressions their trunks had left on the rain-softened ground.

It was a sobering lesson in expendability. Three Augusta pines had stood, approaching 100 feet tall and straight as ship’s masts, and then for an hour or two they were the world’s most famous windthrow, and then they had evaporated from some of golf’s most sacred territory in the middle of one of its most storied tournaments, and all of it had happened so quickly and discreetly that it was possible to join the gallery in the thin haze of Moving Day morning, stand in the spot where hours before people had fled for their lives, and wonder less at the fine line between life and death than the one that separates memory from dream.

Visiting Augusta National for the first time had been disquieting already. It’s strange to know your way around a place you’ve never been, to recall events in sharp relief that you didn’t witness. Your first day at Augusta won’t give you a daylong case of déjà vu, exactly. It will leave you with a beautiful ache, a bittersweet mix of gratitude for having arrived somewhere you’ve always wanted to go and mourning for the different place your imagination has made

it. You will feel lucky and sad. You will feel joyous and unnerved. You will feel a sense of community and unbelonging, as though you’ve been in the company of friendly ghosts.

Even for its most famous repeat visitors, Augusta National has an uncanny knack for being familiar and otherworldly at once. “To just look at the golf course, it looks like it’s been here for over a hundred years and hasn’t changed,” Tiger Woods said during his pre-tournament press conference last year. “And each and every year we come here . . . ”

He stopped, and then he started again. “Everything has changed since I first played here,” he said.

Woods had played No. 17 when it still had the Eisenhower tree. He can close his eyes and remember curling shots around an obstacle big enough to have been named for a president but is no longer there.

Soon the same hole would have three fewer trees. The suddenness of their absence would make Augusta National feel even more like a place that always was and never could have been.

WITHOUT A PHONE, YOU WILL SPEND HOUR AFTER BLISSFUL HOUR IN THE MOMENT, ENGAGED IN THE WORLD AROUND YOU.

SOME PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU THAT the single best thing about Augusta National is the pimento cheese sandwich, still sold wrapped in green plastic for $1.50. Those people are lying to you, and you should never trust them again. The pimento cheese sandwich isn’t even the best sandwich on the grounds.

That would be the Georgia peach ice cream sandwich, Heaven’s dessert.

No, the single best thing about Augusta National is the enforced absence of cellphones. It is a glorious directive, made greater for how fanatically it’s enforced. A patron wearing his cap backward will be asked to turn

it around, sir, please and thank you. A patron who pulls out a cellphone will never be seen again.

Not a lot about the Masters can be described as quaint anymore. Were it less perfectly managed, today’s Augusta National would feel a bit like a golf-themed amusement park. Instead, it stands in ben walton

INTO THE MIST Bryson DeChambeau makes his way to the practice green.

testament to how smoothly something can run if you throw bottomless resources behind it. Three trees can fall, and overnight every other tree on the course can be checked for its stability, allowing golf to be played the next day, largely commercial-free for the good folks back home.

Reporters used to bang away at typewriters in a Quonset hut with a corrugated tin roof. Now they walk up a double staircase in a 30-foot-high atrium to make their way to a gorgeous amphitheater with a panoramic view of the driving range and enough brass to instrument an orchestra. It’s worth spending an hour in the similarly new and expansive gift shop to marvel at the excess. Last year, there were whispers one man spent $36,000 on souvenirs and didn’t walk out with that many bags.

Luckily, the caretakers of Augusta National have made enough nods toward its former quaintness to bulwark the romance of the place: manual leader boards maintained by old men on ladders; white coveralls on the caddies and green jackets on the winners; affordable food and a host of unfailingly lovely volunteers only too happy to help; unforgettable, untouchable Magnolia Lane.

However, when it comes to keeping today’s Masters feeling like the Masters of yore, the phone policy might be the best of their firmly held lines. You’ll likely approach Augusta National along Washington Road. One moment, you’ll be stuck in traffic, threading your way past the Arby’s and Olive Garden. The next, you’ll cross through a towering hedgerow into a small, self-contained universe where, for the first time in decades, you’ll feel a strange serenity, and it’s because you won’t see a single person doing something stupid on a phone.

Imagine what that single policy necessitates of you, and so makes possible for you. Without a phone, you will have no way to tell time, unless you remember to wear a watch. (Commemorative watches are available in the gift shop if you feel the itch.) You will spend hour after blissful hour in the moment. You will know your way around innately, but if you need assistance, you will have to ask someone for directions or consult a paper map. If you want to separate from your companions, you will need to pre-arrange your rendezvous, the

way you once made playdates. You will not really know what’s happening on the course except for the history that’s unfolding directly in front of your eyes. Augusta National’s famous roars will alert you to nearby greatness, but until an old man climbs a ladder, you will have to endure a thrilling wonder.

Most important: Everyone around you is head up, shoulders back, face forward; everyone around you is available for amiable conversation to pass the time between groups; everyone around you is watching golf without filters or obstructed views; everyone around you is engaged in the world around them, determined to take everything in before they, or it, must go.

GARY PLAYER HELD HIS OWN PRESS conference after he hit his ceremonial tee shot last year. Woods had already made his observation that Augusta National has become golf’s Ship of Theseus, and the subject of change was in the air. Player speaks in prophecies and

pronouncements, and not surprisingly, he offered a short, emphatic declaration on the subject: “Change is the price of survival,” he said, and then he banged his invisible gavel.

Golf is in the middle of a seismic period. The distance debate has gripped it for years, perhaps forcing golf-ball rollbacks now that the courses themselves, including Augusta National, have nearly exhausted their own elasticity. Last year, the tee box for No. 13 was moved so far back, it was hard to see the players make their drives. The year before, No. 11 wasn’t just made longer; trees were felled (on purpose, this time), and the pond was expanded, too. Woods was feeling unsettled because he had hit the mental tipping point that comes after a certain accumulation of small changes. Even at Augusta National, increments can multiply into something dramatic, and suddenly you’re walking on the moon.

Now, the LIV revolution is also in full throat. Jon Rahm, last year’s Masters

BRUTE FORCE

Brooks Koepka finished T-2 in 2023.

ben walton

TAKE A MOMENT TO REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE, LUCKY TO BE ALIVE WHEN SO MANY ARE GHOSTS. STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT

Last year, the tee box for No. 13 was moved so far back, it was hard to see the players hit their drives.

champion, won “on behalf of the PGA Tour” when he came from behind to beat defector Brooks Koepka. In 2024, Rahm will defend his title as one of them.

On bad days, it can feel as though a good walk spoiled has become a good sport ruined. Or maybe Gary Player is right: Nostalgia is a limiting, even dangerous exercise. Player’s allergy to it probably stems in part from his growing up in Apartheid South Africa; for him, the past has been something to escape, not embrace.

Sentimentality is equally fraught in the American South, where every pining for “how things used to be” demands more than a little specificity. Wishing Augusta National was the way it was risks side-wishing for the return of unimaginable sin. Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Lee Elder couldn’t integrate the Masters until 1975; the club’s all-Black caddie corps worked the tournament exclusively until 1983; Ron Townsend, the club’s first Black member, wasn’t admitted until 1990. Augusta National’s galleries remain overwhelmingly, unnervingly white, but it says something about forgiveness—or selective blindness, at least—that the Masters still occupies the place in American society that it does. If things hadn’t changed, right about now someone would be burning the clubhouse to the ground.

So, when you finally get there, and you’re feeling a little melancholic about what you thought you’d find at Augusta and the modern realities of the place, maybe make the long, circuitous walk to the tee at No. 11. It’s Augusta’s Idaho: not on the way to anywhere, but worth the detour if you’re in the mind for reflection.

It’s quiet back there, quieter than just about anywhere else on the course. You’ll be able to secure a spot right against the ropes, and great golfer after great golfer will appear before you as though they are on your time, not theirs, and lace fizzing drives that you can follow into the sky, framed by the trees and the slope. It will feel like they are performing for you and only you. Here, they will say. Watch what I can do

Then, after you have had your fill of watching some of the last pre-rollback golf balls being obliterated, follow one ben walton

of the groups down to the green, and wade into the great mass of humanity that has assembled at the apex of Amen Corner. See the reflections of the colorful crowds in the oil-black ponds. Watch golfers make one of the fantastic walks of their lives over the Hogan Bridge. Close your eyes and listen to the buzz of anticipation, followed by the rhapsody of result. Then open them again and take a moment to remember where you are, lucky to be alive when so many are ghosts.

IF LIFE IS A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE,

golf is a game of choices. Some people watch the Masters by following their

ROARS AND CONTOURS

Surveying the course from a distance, like on No. 2, is a visual treat in itself.

favorite golfer or group; others stake out a daylong spot at the first tee or on the rise by No. 12 or in the bleachers at No. 16; a few wander and stop and wander again, following roars and instincts. If your first day at Augusta National happens to be a Sunday, however, your choices will be narrowed until you have only one: to watch the tournament come to its end, and so bear witness to one of America’s most magnificent assemblies.

As the morning turns into afternoon, and as groups finish and depart, there is less and less golf to watch, and folks start funneling toward the final hole like mercury finding the drain.

If you hang back a little and watch the scene from a distance, as though you’re a battlefield general surveying the movement of armies—the by-then empty eighth fairway will be a good spot—you will forsake a close-up view of the winner’s final putt. In exchange, you will watch thousands of people make a pilgrim’s walk to watch another man’s life change forever. If the light is right, which it probably will be, and if the temperature is right, which it probably will be, you’ll forget your laments and misgivings about what the Masters and golf and maybe America have become, and for a few sweet minutes you’ll feel good about their shared possibilities again.

Last year, some members stood on the clubhouse veranda, drinking lemonade, watching Rahm make his walk to the green. Their eyes were halfclosed, shielding themselves from the low sun’s blinding light. “You can’t have a day like today without a day like yesterday,” one of them said. He was talking about the weather, which had been stormy on Saturday, too, although not nearly blustery enough to knock over more trees. He could have been talking about our present and our past, the way our paths have combined to lead all of us here, together, and how tomorrow will change depending on how we live today.

Way back on Tuesday afternoon, before another tournament’s worth of memories had been laid on top of Augusta National like a blanket—before Jon Rahm became Masters champion and then joined LIV—an older woman had stood admiring an enormous tree down and to the left of the ninth tee.

She was there with a younger couple, wearing matching Masters-brand golf shirts, fresh from the gift shop. The couple had ridden all the rides, and they stood listless and maybe a little bored, as though they didn’t know what to do next.

“Aren’t you amazed by it?” the older woman asked, ducking under the branches to get a better look at her tree, ancient and beautiful.

The couple didn’t answer.

The older woman looked across at them and then looked back up at her tree.

“You should be,” she said.

WAYWARD PINES

Three trees fell near the 17th tee on Friday, but nobody was injured.

IN SEARCH OF THE GREATEST AUGUSTA

THE COURSE HAS EVOLVED CONTINUOUSLY SINCE THE FIRST MASTERS IN 1934.

BY DEREK DUNCAN

WHICH VERSION WAS BEST? (HINT: IT’S NOT NOW)

OOne of the peculiarities of Augusta National is how little the club’s alterations impact the perception of the golf course. Improvements have taken place nearly every off-season since the inaugural Masters in March 1934, from greenside modifications to major reconfigurations of different holes. Intended to keep the course relevant for the contemporary professional game, many of these changes have gradually mutated the course’s appearance and historical design concepts. Yet despite Augusta National’s evolving character, it continues to be perceived as a monolithic entity. In Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, Augusta National has slipped outside the top 10 just once since 1966 and has been a fixture in the top three each year since 1985.

The Augusta National of 2024 is like the Augusta National of 2004 to the same degree that the course of 1974 is like the course of 1934, which is to say not very much. Slice into Augusta at any given point on its timeline and the presentation and playability will be unique. It begs the question, was there a moment when the club came the closest to an ideal presentation? Is it possible to pinpoint a time when the symbiosis of shot demands, hole lengths, fealty to the intended strategies, playing conditions and club and ball technology were in perfect harmony? In other words, if we were to enshrine one version of Augusta National in the Golf Course Hall of Fame, which year would it be?

1930-’40s

UPHEAVAL OF A FOUNDATIONAL DESIGN

6,700-6,800 yards

Average winning score: 281 (-7) Lowest winning score: 279 (Ralph Guldahl, 1939; Claude Harmon, 1948) Many architecture purists would argue for Alister MacKenzie and Bob Jones’ original 1932 idea of an inland course that emulated the shots and strategic concepts of St. Andrews, with wide fairways allowing for preferred but risk-laden lines of attack into steeply contoured greens. As engaging as the founding design might have been, making the case for early Augusta National would be difficult because of the turf conditions of the 1930s.

As with most southern golf courses, Augusta National was planted with Bermuda grass, which goes dormant in the winter. When dormant Bermuda grown on clay soil dries out (Augusta is built on clay), it gets rock hard. When it’s wet—and southeastern winters and early springs are notoriously rainy—it becomes soppy and almost unplayable. Tom Watson recalls Byron Nelson telling him it was common for clover to be growing in the fairways. Even after overseeding greens and fairways with cold-tolerant perennial rye, a practice the club still endeavors each fall to provide a grassy cushion and deep green color, course conditions would have been irregular and at the mercy of Mother Nature in an era of limited underground drainage and primitive fertilizers and herbicides, as well as irrigation.

Nor were Jones and club chairman Clifford Roberts satisfied with the design from a competition perspective: The first major course revision happened almost immediately with the swapping of the nines after the 1934 tournament (the current 10th was originally the first). Before the 1938 and 1939 Masters, architect Perry Maxwell made significant alterations to the seventh, ninth, 10th, 12th and 14th holes, among others. The carousel had begun to turn.

The 1940s were a decade of upheaval. After victories by Jimmy Demaret, Craig Wood and Byron Nelson, the course sat fallow during World War II when the Masters was suspended for three years, grown over and es -

sentially turned to pasture. After the war, the club engaged Robert Trent Jones to oversee another series of alterations, including the creation of the longer, modern 11th hole with an enlarged water feature next to the green and the new par-3 16th cocked 90degrees from the old and playing across a broad pond.

HOLE 12 / 1948

For decades holes like the par-3 12th were rugged, hard and vulnerable to nature.

SLICE INTO AUGUSTA AT ANY GIVEN POINT ON ITS TIMELINE AND THE PRESENTATION AND PLAYABILITY WILL BE UNIQUE.

FROM THE 1950S THROUGH THE 1970S, MANY HOLES REQUIRED CONTROLLED LONG IRONS

OR EVEN WOODS INTO THE GREENS.

1950-’70s

AN EQUABLE TEST COMES INTO ITS OWN

6,900-7,040 yards

Average winning score: 281 (-7)

Lowest winning score: 271 (Jack Nicklaus 1965; Ray Floyd 1976)

By the early 1950s, Augusta National had essentially matured into the grounds we recognise now, even down to the blue dye in the ponds, added for the first time in 1951. The decades between then and the late 1970s rep -

resent a halcyon period of relative stability when the course consistently measured about 6,950 yards, 250 yards longer than when it opened, putting it in the same weight class as U.S. Open stalwarts like Oakmont, Oakland Hills, Oak Hill, Inverness and Winged Foot. Despite hole-to-hole fluctuations, this yardage remained roughly intact through the end of the 1990s.

Because club and ball technology advanced slowly during this time, Augusta National’s hole lengths and shot

demands were in balance with equipment. Driving distances did not change much, and there remained continuity between the types of shots Sam Snead and Ben Hogan hit and those of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Holes like five, 10, 11, 13, 15 and 18 required controlled long irons or woods into the greens, followed by spin control on shorter shots and putting touch on what were considered among golf’s fastest greens, even if they were honey-drip slow by today’s expectations (a

USGA study in 1977 determined their Stimpmeter speed was just seven feet, 11 inches compared to an estimated 13 feet or higher now). From 1950 to 1979, the average winning score was 280.6 (-7.4 in relation to par), including record-breaking years of 271 by Nicklaus (1965) and Raymond Floyd (1976), only a stroke lower than 1934 to 1949 (281.7).

Course conditions had improved since the 1930s and ’40s, but many of the same problems persisted. The turf was the best the players competed on each year, but the surfaces were still primitive compared to contemporary standards, and the quality of the fairways continued to be determined by the elements. Warm temperatures in February and March might foster early Bermuda growth that enhanced the ryegrass lies, but in normal or colder years the Bermuda remained stunted, and the rye could be sparse, patchy or muddy. “You didn’t know what they would be from year to year,” Nicklaus told The Augusta Chronicle in 2016. “In 1965, I shot a [then tournamentrecord] 17 under par. In 1966, I won a playoff after shooting 288. That’s 17 shots higher, and the difference was the fairways.”

The Bermuda-based greens were also hard and difficult to hold with long second shots. Players rarely dominated the par 5s like they do now. “I was always long enough to reach the par 5s, but I couldn’t keep it on the greens,” Floyd told Golf Digest. “I was coming in with 2- and 3-irons, but the greens, because they were Bermuda grass, were too firm. I used a 5-wood in 1976 because I could hit it high and soft, and I ran away with the tournament.”

1980-’90s

THE GREENS GET SCARY GOOD

7,040-6,985 yards

Average winning score: 279 (-9)

Lowest winning score: 270 (Tiger Woods, 1997)

Even if course conditions were ideal for the era, no version of Augusta National could reasonably contend for “best” before 1980, the year the greens were converted to bentgrass. This change, with the use of improved strains of rye overseed in the fairways, moved the course into the current period of

agronomy and aesthetics, including manicured bunker edges. During the early ’80s, some of the greens were almost unplayable because the slopes were too severe for the higher speeds of the bentgrass.

“On No. 9 in the final round when I won in 1981,” Watson remembers, “I hit the ball just over the back edge of the green. As soon as I putted it, I started walking and putting my glove back on because I knew it was going to go right off the front of the green.”

As the bent greens matured, they became increasingly grippy as well, so much so that shots routinely began spinning off greens. “You used to play a long iron to 18 and have it bounce a couple of times and stop,” Tommy Aaron said during the 1986 Masters. “Now you hit a 2-iron and it can come right back down the hill at you.”

The faster bentgrass greens required players to modify their games and forced the club to adjust the greens, softening contours on holes like four, six, eight, nine, 14 and 18. “You couldn’t breathe on the ball or it would take off and roll off the green,” Hale Irwin said. “Now you can at least breathe on it.”

The final piece of Augusta National’s maintenance matrix was put into place in the 1990s when Marsh Benson, the director of golf course and grounds, invented a subsurface air-circulation system, now known as SubAir, that aerified the rootzone and could vacuum water from the playing surfaces. The system greatly improved green-togreen consistency—helping fix perennial problem greens like the par-3 12th, located on the lowest, coolest part of the property—and gave Augusta National unparalleled control over the playing surfaces.

2000s and 2010s

‘TIGER-PROOFING’ BEGINS

6,985-7,475 yards

Average winning score: 278 (-11)

Lowest winning score: 270 (Jordan Spieth, 2015)

Until the early 2000s, the modifications the club had made over the previous 50 years were primarily about adapting to developing turf and maintenance breakthroughs. By 2002, the alterations became more defensive. Average driving distances on the PGA Tour in-

creased by more than 22 yards between 1980 and 2001. Even more concerning, the average winning score between 1990 and 2001 was 276.3, four strokes lower than the average winning score the previous 40 years (280.6).

The 15th hole is a useful barometer for understanding how the distance gains provoked Augusta National to embark on the most consequential architectural changes since the 1950s. Until 2002, the demands of the second shot to the 15th green, played downhill and over a water hazard, had changed little since Gene Sarazen knocked a 4-wood into the hole for a double eagle in 1935. Players almost always had 220 to 230 yards remaining after good drives, putting them in position to contemplate trying to reach the tabletop green with long irons or woods. During the final round of the 1975 Masters, Nicklaus had about 235 yards to cover the water and chose to hit his 1-iron, which settled 12 feet from the hole. Eleven years later in 1986, Nicklaus played a 4-iron from 200 yards to the flag (the hole measured 20 yards shorter than in 1975) setting up a historic eagle. En route to his 1998 victory, Mark O’Meara played a 3-iron from 220 yards, leading to the first of three birdies over the final four holes.

By the mid-2000s, players were driving the ball much longer. After the hole was lengthened to 530 yards in 2006, drives continued to yield approach shots in the 200- to 210-yard range, often just 5- and 6-irons. By the late 2010s longer hitters were looking at second shots well under 200 yards, notably Sergio Garcia’s Sunday 176-yard 8-iron in 2017.

To counteract the driving distances, Augusta National added 520 yards between 1999 and 2006. It has since extended the course an additional 100 yards, bringing the official total to 7,545. More consequentially the club began to place a greater premium on accuracy off the tee by narrowing the holes, initially by adding a “second cut” of rough in 1999. “We felt that we could no longer let them swing from the heels,” said then Masters chairman Hootie Johnson. The second cut did little to affect scoring. “You could argue it wasn’t what Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie had in mind,” says Ernie Els, “but it didn’t bother me as much as it bothered some people.”

NO VERSION OF AUGUSTA COULD CONTEND FOR ‘BEST’ BEFORE 1980, THE YEAR THE GREENS

WERE CONVERTED TO BENTGRASS.

HOLE 17 / 1995

“I still say the golf course is harder when it was mowed wall to wall because the errant shot went down in creeks and down into the trees and into the pine straw,” says Floyd. “The rough stops the ball going into bad places. You don’t make 8s and 9s after that like you could in the past.”

The efforts to enforce accuracy intensified between 2002 and 2011 when groves of mature pines were planted on holes like seven, 11, 15, 17 and 18 in areas that were formerly fairway. The right-side driving option on 11, for instance, was entirely removed, eliminating an angle into the green that some players preferred. No matter how effective the measures have

been in protecting the perceived sanctity of the course, the narrowing was a blow to the founding MacKenzie-Jones-St. Andrews philosophy of Augusta National, where the greens and hole locations were expected to extract punishment for wayward play, not trees and longer grass. “You’ve just got to plod along,” Tiger Woods said in 2008. “It’s playing more of a U.S. Open than it is a Masters.”

2020s

POWER REIGNS SUPREME

7,475-7,545 yards

Average winning score: 275 (-13)

Lowest winning score: 268 (Dustin Johnson, 2020)

We’ve just entered this era, so we’ll keep our assessment brief. Augusta National can direct round-to-round scoring to some degree through hole locations and green firmness, but the club has continued to add yardage. It’s now unlikely anyone but the longest hitters can compete over four rounds. In the 2023 Masters, 31 of 86 participants averaged 300 yards or more off the tee (including those missing the cut), and more than half averaged 295 yards or more. The average driving distances of the top eight finishers from each of the past four Masters are 304.8, 308.5, 300.2 and 304.4 yards, respectively. Also, the last six winners have all been double digits under par, the longest streak in Masters history.

MacKenzie and Jones envisioned farranging fairways so that players could maximise angles into greens.

The ‘Greatest’ Augusta National

Where does that leave the discussion of which Augusta National belongs in the Hall of Fame? The club’s maintenance prowess and ability to control the playing surfaces would bolster an argument that the course has never been better. Conversely, the pure length has put the green jacket out of reach for perhaps half the field, making it improbable that crafty feel players like past champions Ben Crenshaw, Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal or Gary Player could contend. The narrowing of numerous fairways has eliminated an important degree of decision-making that was always critical to scoring well. Crenshaw summed it best in 1986, comparing Augusta’s cerebral calculations to more penal courses like TPC Sawgrass. “At Augusta, it is strategy, strategy, strategy,” he said. “Augusta’s strength is around the greens and the ability to place tee shots according to the pin locations.” Now, on too many holes, the prevailing criteria is to just get the ball in the fairway, exactly Crenshaw’s critique of the TPC.

If not the 2000s, 2010s or now, then when? Any decade like the 1950s that drew out the best from champions like Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff and Jackie Burke Jr. deserves consideration. From 1960 to 1966, no player won the Masters who wasn’t Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus or Gary Player. The Augusta National of this period demanded an array of shots through the bag, risk-taking and nerve, but inconsistent conditions and the hard Bermuda greens of the era would preclude selection of any iteration of the course before the 1981 tournament.

The 1980s were a fascinating decade, a Golden Age of European talent that saw a variety of skillsets capable of navigating Augusta and its sleeker greens, including Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and, in 1991, Ian Woosnam, along with Watson, Crenshaw, Craig Stadler, Nicklaus and Larry Mize. Turf conditions, however, had not consistently reached the utopian levels they would in the next decade and beyond—there was still ample room for improvement.

It all came together from 1995-’98: wide fairways, controlled conditions and length proportional to equipment.

That places the debate in the midto-late 1990s, after the club had begun installing the SubAir systems (1994) and approaching maintenance nirvana, but before the addition of the “second cut” of rough that looked awkward and deviated from Augusta’s heritage. Our choice for Augusta National’s most ideal version is the course of 1995 to 1998. Before the severe lengthening, any type of player might still contend. Surrounding Tiger Woods’ record-setting 18-under-par victory in 1997 were wins by 43-yearold Crenshaw (1995), a 38-year-old Faldo (1996) and 41-year-old O’Meara (1998). Though driving distances were increasing, the architecture remained an apt foil for the spinny, wound golf balls and smaller metal-head drivers of the time, and players still needed to

play long irons and woods into the par 5s (and even some par 4s), illustrated by Faldo’s minutes-long deliberation between his 5-wood and 2-iron for the second shot at 13 after he had tracked down Greg Norman in 1996.

Some say that MacKenzie, who died in 1934, wouldn’t recognise Augusta National if he saw it today. He probably wouldn’t with the altered holes, razored bunker edges, imported groves of pine, Perry Maxwell’s greens and the immaculate turf. But if he were transported to 1998, it’s likely he would appreciate the course for rewarding a spectrum of physical and tactical skills, a course that required bravery, guile and experience as much as power. That, at least, was the Augusta National he believed he and Jones had designed.

HOLE 10 / 1990s

AGF NEWS

SALEM ALABDALLAT FROM JORDAN BECOMES THE YOUNGEST ARAB RANKED ON WAGR AT AGE OF 12

CURRENTLY PLAYING OFF A HANDICAP OF TWO , Salem has won multiple global titles already, including the Pan Arab Junior Championships, Egypt Junior Open and the Jordan Juniors Open.

UAE BOYS WIN GOLD AND MEN CLAIM SILVER AT GCC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS IN DOHA

TEAM UAE came away with the Gold Medal in the 15th edition of the Boys 18 & Under Championship and the Silver Medal in the 26th edition of the Men’s Championship. The UAE Boys 18 & Under team dominated the competition winning by 54 shots.

Morocco’s Maha Haddioui

on the positive shift of powers in the Arab world of golf

“I’M VERY GRATEFUL FOR the opportunity that has been given to women’s golf and the trust, especially from Aramco. To me, that’s a big statement. People don’t just put their money into something. It means they believe in women’s golf, and there’s so much further we can go.”

ARAB GOLFERS SHINE IN FIRST AFRICA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

a record amount of eleven golfers from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia competed under the Arab Golf Federation at the maiden Africa Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek, South Africa.

PIF SAUDI INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCED AS ASIAN TOUR’S TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR

THE ASIAN TOUR members cast their vote in favour of the star-studded season-opening PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers as the 2023 Tournament of the Year.

Golf Club of Lebanon with strategic sustainability at forefront of clubs future

the club has implemented a range of measures in recent years aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and safeguarding the natural habitat on its premises.

EMIRATES GOLF FEDERATION AND JUNIOR ASIAN GOLF ACADEMY

EVENT SERIES ACROSS ASIA

opportunities to compete

International Series will be in Asia Pacific countries.

THE SAUDI OPEN 2024 WILL SEE THE STRONGEST ARAB PLAYING FIELD

AMASSED FOR THIS LATEST LEG ON THE ASIAN TOUR SCHEDULE

12 spots will be distributed amongst top Arab players based on WAGR/OWGR, performance at top events across the region and of course the Pan Arab Championships for Pros and Amateurs.

GETTING ON THE COURSE

We look at where to play, which tees to use, essential course etiquette and the rules.

By Scott Edwards

p laying for the first time on the course can feel daunting, but so far in this series we have gone through shots and techniques to help us deal with most situations that we may face. This is your guide to getting out on the course, we are going to look at where to play, which tees to use, key areas on the course and essential course etiquette and rules.

Golf courses can come in many shapes and sizes, from monstrous Championship courses to much more friendly par 3’s and pitch and putt

courses . For our first experience we want to make it as enjoyable as possible, so picking a course that matches our current ability is key. Generally, we are best off starting small and building up, for example a par 3 course or a 9 hole course playing no more than 2500 yards (or an 18 hole course around 5000 yards).

Areas on the course have defined names in the rules, the key ones are; teeing area, penalty area, bunkers, putting green.

The teeing area is where we start each hole, the ball can be placed (on

a tee or the ground, your choice!) between the tee-markers and up to 2 club lengths back. Penalty areas are typically bodies of water, or any area marked by red or yellow stakes. As the name suggests, there is a penalty if we choose to take relief from these areas!

Bunkers are specially prepared areas of sand, often a hollow in the ground. Lastly the putting green is the area on the hole specifically designed for putting, and is the shortest cut grass on the hole.

Almost all courses will have at least 3 different tees to choose from; forward tees (often red), middle tees (often yellow) and back tees (often white, blue or black). The back tees are usually reserved for competitions, the middle tees are for general play with experienced golfers and the forward tees for people new to the game or those who feel their distance is more suited to starting closer to the green.

Depending on experience and how far we can hit the ball, our best option may even be to play from closer to the hole than the forward tees. As a rule of thumb if we are able to consistently hit the driver around 150 yards or more on the driving range then we should have no problem playing from the forward tees, if shorter than that, we want to start from the fairway.

Completing holes in an appropriate time, or keeping a good ‘pace of play’ is an important piece of golf etiquette. As a rough guide, it should take no more than 10 minutes to complete a par 3, 13 minutes to complete a par 4 and 15 minutes to complete a par 5. To help you maintain good time and avoid unnecessary rushing we can start at the forward tee and also we can implement our own rules (if we are just playing a social round, not a competition) such as playing “ready golf”.

When you get to a course, introduce yourself to the professional , explain that you are new to the game and see if they have any students of a similar ability or if they can recommend anyone to play a round with.

‘I just try to exaggerate it to make sure the shape does what I want it to do’

BEND IT LIKE BUBBA

The two-time Masters champion talks us through how he hits his infamous slinging shots

By Bubba Watson

No matter what I’m doINg, cutting or drawing the ball. The reason why I bend it, as much as I do, is that it is just easier to bend it a lot than to just bend it a short distance. Bending it five yards or 20 feet is just harder to do. That’s why I try to bend it more than the average player, just to make it easier for me.

When I’m hitting a draw, I obviously close the face so then it spins the ball and makes it go from left to right, with me being lefthanded, and then I’ll leave the club face open when I’m hitting a fade so the ball goes right to left for me. I will always try to exaggerate it just so it makes it easier to make sure the shape does what I want it to do.

It’s honestly something I’ve always done. Playing back home in Florida, growing up we had pine straw trees and dirt so I always had to shape shots low, high, around corners and around the trees. So I’ve always had to do it.

HOW I HIT MY DRIVER

A ‘normal’ drive for me is to make the ball go from right to left.

I’ve built my driver to hit a cut so it makes it easier, especially under pres-

sure, for me to know that it’s going to do that. Then when I’m under even more pressure I cut it even more, because it’s easier to move it a lot rather then a little bit. I want to be able to just free it up and be able to move it from right to left.

Opening-up the stance, making sure the club face is open and so you’re swinging from outside to inside, makes the ball cut more. I try to do that just to eliminate, the really bad swing that might be over the top and maybe double cross it. So I’ll try to bend it more just so that I know under pressure this is what it’s doing.

Back in the day it was a thought process and now it is all feel process. Now I just aim the ball a little bit more right when I try to curve it more. My average stats these days, when driving the ball, are probably 300 yards carry and about 117or 118mph clubhead speed. My ball speed is around 175 on a normal shot and I can scare 180 if I’m going after it.

EASIER TO SHAPE THE BALL

Shot shaping is like a putt in some sense. A dead straight putt is hard to hit from outside ten feet, and I believe it’s the same thing when off the tee

or with an iron shot. It’s hard to hit it dead straight. So I’m always trying to shape it some way or the other, just so that makes it easier for me and eases the tension in my head. So I think shot shaping makes it a little bit easier.

FELLOW RANGEGOATS SHAPERS

Matt Wolff is always moving his shot. He try’s to play a little draw with his irons, and with his driver he likes to cut it. But only being 24, Wolff can pump it and move it pretty far so he shot shapes it a little bit. Then Peter Uihlein and Thomas Pieters shape it, but only small amount which is standard for most guys but Matt definitely moves a little bit more, especially off the tee.

—w I th harry gr I mshaw

BUBBA WATSON is the RangeGoats GC Captain on LIV Golf

WOODS

The most utilitarian club is the fairway wood. Part-time driver, full-time long-range specialist, the fairway wood serves multiple purposes. Underneath its slimmeddown exterior lies driver-like technology designed to give you the yards you need. Another highly versatile club is the hybrid. As long irons fade out, hybrids are going even deeper into golfers’ bags (many companies now o er 8-hybrids) because they tend to be easier to hit for average golfers. Some hybrids can be mini-fairway woods in disguise, too, making them a viable option for those seeking more control from the fairway. Here are the best of each category for those needing more headcovers in the bag.

CALLAWAY PARADYM Ai SMOKE MAX RRP AED 1,895

• The shallow face makes it easier for a broad group of players to launch shots.

• A carbon-composite crown and sole save weight that is moved forward for low spin and rearward for forgiveness.

• 15, 16.5, 18, 20, 21, 24, 27 (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

CALLAWAY PARADYM AI SMOKE MAX D RRP AED 1,895

• Favors players who swing out to in and add loft at impact.

• The weight saved from the carbon-composite crown and sole feeds a weight in the back to help increase launch.

• 15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

CALLAWAY PARADYM A i SMOKE ♦♦♦ RRP AED 1,895

• The compact head with a slightly taller face is designed for players who make consistent center contact.

• Angled sole plate has heel and toe relief for more versatility from a variety of lies. •15, 18, 21 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

CALLAWAY PARADYM AI SMOKE MAX FAST RRP AED 1,895

• The lightweight specs, including head, shaft and grip, provide more control and speed potential for moderate swing speeds.

• Lofts are a degree higher than standard to produce a higher launch.

• 16, 19, 22, 25 degrees (fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

COBRA DARKSPEED LS

• A multimaterial construction pairs a titanium body and face with a lightweight carboncomposite crown and heavy tungsten sole weights.

• Three interchangeable sole weights can lower spin or tweak fades and slices.

• 13, 14.5, 17.5 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

COBRA DARKSPEED X

• The center of gravity is lower and more forward than in the Darkspeed Max for less ball spin and a slightly lower trajectory.

• The face wraps around the sole to improve speed on shots struck lower on the face.

• 15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

COBRA DARKSPEED MAX

• The shallow face inspires confidence on tighter lies.

RRP AED 1,675

• The wraparound L-shape insert improves on- and o -center face flexing for distance.

• Expect Max to launch higher and with more spin compared to Darkspeed X.

• 15.5, 18.5, 21.5 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

MIZUNO ST-G TITANIUM

RRP AED TBC

• The compact head should attract better players with faster swings looking to control spin.

• This has a higher launch with less spin than other Mizuno fairway woods.

• 15, 18 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Coming soon to eGolf Megastore

PING G430 LST

RRP AED 2,995

• A heavy tungsten sole plate pushes the center of gravity low to reduce spin.

• 15 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

• A carbon-composite section in the crown wraps around the heel and toe to save weight.

PING G430 MAX

RRP AED 1,995

• High-strength steel face wraps into the crown and sole for better ball speed.

• A backweight provides stability on o -center hits.

• The carbon-composite crown helps to produce a neutral ball flight with less spin.

• 15, 18, 21, 24 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

PING G430 SFT

• Designed to fight a slice with heel-side weighting and more upright lie angle and lighter weight than the Max.

• Should launch the ball higher and with more spin, too.

• 16, 19, 22 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

PXG 0311 BLACK OPS

• The carbon-composite crown is one-fourth the density of titanium but just as strong, lowering the center of gravity and creating more flex in the face.

• Three movable sole weights can add forgiveness or minimise a slice or fade.

• 15, 17, 18, 21 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TAYLORMADE Q i 10 TOUR

• This year’s track sits lower for less spin in all settings.

• 15, 18 degrees (with a 12-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

RRP AED 2,195

• Accommodates multiple launch and spin profiles through a 50-gram weight in the sole that slides in a track from front to back.

TAYLORMADE Q i 10

• Designed for more forgiveness and better launch on low-face impacts.

• 15, 16.5, 18, 21, 24 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TAYLORMADE Q i 10 MAX

RRP AED 1,695

• The taller face and longer front-to-back measurement improve ball speed and mis-hit stability.

• A shallow face provides confidence for average golfers to get the ball in the air.

• 16, 19, 22 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

RRP AED 1,695

• The sole slot and lower variable-thickness-face pattern increases the way the face flexes on low strikes.

• This model targets players with average swing speeds or faster who are looking for o -center-hit forgiveness and easier launch.

• A high-strength steel alloy in the face o ers the potential for more distance.

• 15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

• The larger size and taller face make it a good driver alternative on shorter holes.

• It has the deepest CG of any Titleist fairway wood for extra stability on o -center hits.

• Its strong loft provides more ball speed potential than standard 3-wood lofts.

• 13 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

• An adjustable sole weight has five settings ranging from fade to neutral to draw.

• More settings mean more precision. The weighting is also deeper for extra stability.

• Expect slightly less spin and a flatter launch angle than with the TSR2.

• 13.5, 15, 16.5, 18 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

FAIRWAY WOODS/HYBRIDS

TITLEIST TSR1

RRP AED 1,595

• Though 30 grams heavier than last year, this model is still the lightest Titleist fairway wood (20 grams less than the TSR2 and TSR3).

• A deep, centered weight increases stability on o -center hits and elevates launch.

• 15, 18, 20, 23 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 MOST FORGIVING, FAIRWAY WOODS, ALL HANDICAPS

CALLAWAY APEX UW

RRP AED 1,595

• Compact head, angled sole and shorter shaft provide shotmaking versatility.

• A neutral center of gravity produces shots with steeper landing angle, consistent spin and less of a draw bias.

• 17, 19, 21 degrees (with a fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 10 BEST RATED, FAIRWAY WOODS, LOW-HANDICAPS

SRIXON ZX Mk II

• Sti and flexible areas around the face create more ball speed.

RRP AED 1,395

• An angled interior weight pad lowers the center of gravity for more direct energy transfer and better launch.

• 13.5, 15, 18, 21 degrees (with a fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 10 BEST RATED, FAIRWAY WOODS, LOW-HANDICAPS

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL RATING

HYBRIDS

CALLAWAY PARADYM Ai SMOKE

RRP AED 1,595

• A more sweeping sole camber ensures smoother turf interaction from a variety of lies.

• Designed to provide direct iron replacement for the Ai Smoke irons.

• 18, 21, 24, 27 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 BEST SOUND/FEEL, HYBRIDS, LOW-HANDICAPS

CALLAWAY PARADYM Ai SMOKE HL

RRP AED 1,595

• These heads are designed for players looking for more height from their long clubs.

• Designed through the use of AI, the face improves ball speed across a wider area.

• Designed also as a one-to-one direct iron replacement for the Ai Smoke HL irons.

• 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 BEST LOOKING, HYBRIDS, MIDDLE-HANDICAPS

CALLAWAY PARADYM Ai SMOKE MAX FAST RRP AED 1,595

• Its lighter weight helps players with moderate swing speeds generate more velocity.

• Larger shape yet shallow face and increased sole camber inspire confidence.

• Designed as a one-to-one direct iron replacement for the Ai Smoke Max Fast irons.

• 21, 24, 27, 30, 33 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 10 HIGHEST FLYING, HYBRIDS, HIGH-HANDICAPS

CALLAWAY PARADYM SUPER HYBRID N/A

• Oversize frame and titanium face o er extra ball speed and forgiveness.

• This model targets players looking for more distance compared to standard hybrids and those who struggle to hit fairway woods.

• 16, 18, 21, 24, 27 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

CLEVELAND HALO XL RRP AED 1,245

• Built for players looking to launch the ball higher.

• The taper on the sole rails keeps the leading edge closer to the ground across a range of attack angles.

• 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

COBRA DARKSPEED RRP AED 1,295

• A thin, high-strength steel face insert wraps under the leading edge to create a flexible region lower on the face where most impacts occur.

• The One Length version (7-iron length) is also available.

• 17, 19, 21, 24, 28 degrees (with a fixed hosel) TOP 5

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

OVERALL RATING

HYBRIDS

COBRA KING TEC

• Weights can be set forward to address speed, spin and mis-hits.

RRP AED TBC

• Targets better, faster-swinging players with its built-in lower-spin and firmer tipped stock shaft.

• 17, 19, 21, 24 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Coming soon to eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 QUIETEST, HYBRIDS, ALL HANDICAP GROUPS

MIZUNO ST-Z 230

• Polymer-filled slot in the sole provides extra face flex.

RRP AED 1,295

• The size is compact without being intimidating yet substantial without being bulky. • Designed to hit a neutral ball flight.

• 16, 19, 22, 25 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 BEST LOOKING, HYBRIDS, LOW-HANDICAPS

MIZUNO ST-MAX 230

RRP AED 1,295

• Oversize shape makes for highest stability on o -center hits in company history.

• It launches higher with mid-spin compared to the standard model.

• The sole bevel at the front of the slot improves turf interaction.

• 19, 22, 25, 28 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 10 MOST FORGIVING, HYBRIDS, HIGH-HANDICAPS

PING G430

RRP AED 1,695

• A carbon-composite crown makes room for a tungsten rear sole weight that adds launch and improves mis-hits.

• Adjustable hosel o ers better players three flat settings for more options.

• 17, 19, 22, 26, 30, 34 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

PXG 0311 BLACK OPS

• Thin but strong face insert creates speed, higher launch and less spin.

RRP AED 1,645

The interchangeable sole weights in the heel, toe and rear help tune ball flight or cor-

• The interchangeable sole weights in the heel, toe and rear help tune ball flight or correct mis-hits.

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

• 17, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31 degrees (with an eight-way adjustable hosel) TOP 5 BEST RATED, HYBRIDS,

TAYLORMADE Q i 10

RRP AED 1,475

• Conventional size and mid-high flight will resonate with most player types.

• Internal weighting is split between front and back for a mix of forgiveness and consistent o -center-hit ball speed.

• 19, 22, 25, 29, 33 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 BEST SOUND/FEEL, HYBRIDS, LOW-HANDICAPS

OVERALL RATING

HYBRIDS

TAYLORMADE Q i 10 TOUR

RRP AED 1,525

• The deep face, higher toe and compact size provide better players the look that encourages workability and control.

• Performs best for those with a steeper, iron-like angle of attack.

• 17, 19.5, 22 degrees (with a 12-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TAYLORMADE Q i 10 MAX

RRP AED 1,475

• The size makes for TaylorMade’s most forgiving hybrid with higher flight and mid-spin.

• The heel and toe relief allow the wide sole to glide more smoothly through the turf for golfers with sweeping strokes.

• 20, 23, 27, 31, 35 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TITLEIST TSR3

• Caters to players looking for more workability.

RRP AED 1,525

• Adjustable sliding weight sits flush with the sole and has five settings heel to toe.

• 19, 21, 24 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TITLEIST TSR2

RRP AED 1,525

• A wider heel to toe and deeper body encourage forgiveness and higher launch.

• Favors average to above-average players who have a sweeping swing.

• Heel and toe portions of the sole have pockets of relief for improved turf interaction.

• 18, 21, 24 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TITLEIST TSR1

RRP AED 1,595

• The larger wood-like size and the wider sole provide forgiveness on mis-hits and turf interaction.

• Its higher launch and backspin can help moderate swing speeds.

• 20, 23, 26, 29 (a 16-way adjustable hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

SRIXON ZX Mk II

RRP AED 1,145

• The compact head is designed to produce green-friendly landing angles.

• A weighty, wide and turf-gliding sole helps the heads launch slightly higher and easier for those with a sweeping stroke.

• 17, 19, 22, 25, 28 degrees (with fixed hosel)

Demo this club and get a custom fit at eGolf Megastore

TOP 5 BEST SOUND/FEEL, HYBRIDS, HIGH-HANDICAPS

OVERALL RATING

AGE 30

LIVES Dubai, UAE

STORY Adrian became the first Polish golfer to win on the DP World Tour after he won the 2022 Horizon Irish Open. He has a further three wins on the tour, and now plays his golf for Cleeks GC on LIV Golf.

WHAT'S IN MY BAG : ADRIAN MERONK

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT

I started playing PING in my second year of college and this is only my second model with PING. They fit me just right. They are forgiving and I can shape the ball easily and I just love the look and the feel o the face. WITH HARRY GRIMSHAW

DRIVER

SPECS Ping G430 Max with 10.5˚ loft, fitted with Fujikura Speeder Evolution V1 661-X shaft

PING is the best when it comes to drivers and woods, they are forgiving, and I’m able to control my trajectory really well which gives me confidence.

3-WOOD

SPECS Ping G425 Max with 14.5˚ loft, with Fujikura Speeder Evolution V1 757-X shaft

Similar to my driver, my 3-wood is able to bring me more of a consistent spin performance and increases my ball speed for more distance. It also includes the PING innovations known as Facewrap and Spinsistency which delivers more distance and spin predictability.

IRONS

SPECS Ping iBlade (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts

As I mentioned previously, I’m still playing with the PING iBlade irons that launched back in 2016. I have always been able to shape the ball easily with these, so find it hard to change away from them really. But if they work for me, why would I?

WEDGES

SPECS Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50˚12˚ F Grind, 54˚-10˚ S Grind & 58˚-10˚ S Grind), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts

My Titleist Vokey’s are great at distance control and spin. When I am around 130 yards and in, I know I can trust these. They are tuned for lower flight and higher spin which is what I love.

PUTTER

SPECS PING Vault 2.0 Ketsch

It actually took me a while to get used to a putter, but then I found this PING Vault 2.0 Ketsch and I’ve used it for four years now. It’s the one club I really trust. It’s got a new custom-weighting system, and is precision-milled with the True-Roll face pattern.

I always use the same ball marker, it’s a one Bermudian dollar coin. I just randomly found it and then started to use it. I just like the way it looks, it’s nice.

LINE IT UP

I play with a Titleist Pro V1X and I mark it with a black alignment cross. I have always done this and it helps me with my putting.

PUTT PUTT

I have a lot of putting aids in my bag. I do really like my putting drills and always have three of four aids in my bag at a time. My caddy doesn’t approve having to carry them though!

Champions Dinner Etiquette Do’s and Don’ts

Manners are everything at Augusta National—especially at the dinner table

By Coleman Bentley

DON’T DISCUSS PGA TOUR-PIF POLITICS AT THE TABLE.

DO TELL JOKES INTO ONLY THE GOOD EARS OF THE HONORARY STARTERS.

DON’T GET CAUGHT WITH A NON-CONFORMING BUTTER KNIFE.

DO REMOVE YOUR RANGEGOATS HAT IN THE DINING ROOM.

DON’T ANCHOR YOUR SALAD FORK.

DO CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH CLOSED EVEN WHILE TIGER RECOUNTS HIS 16THHOLE CHIP-IN.

DON’T DREDGE UP FOURDECADES-OLD CHEATING ALLEGATIONS.

DO

FOLD YOUR NAPKIN INTO AN AZALEA WHEN YOU HEAD TO THE LAVATORY.

DON’T SNEAK IN YOUR OWN WAFFLE HOUSE.

DO

REMEMBER THE DRESS CODE: JACKET AND TIE.

DON’T PRACTICE AIMPOINT WITH YOUR PEAS.

DO LET THE GUY WHO JUST GOT A $300-MILLION PAYDAY PICK UP THE CHECK.