Golf Digest - July 2022

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AT ST ANDREWS

JULY 2022

ROYAL AND ANCIENT

The Old Course’s first and 18th holes flanked by the North Sea and St Andrews.

12 Keep On Pushing The off-season is no time to get complacent as maintaining fitness is crucial.

by matt smith

by matthew brookes

The Starter 8 Education City G.C. Fifa 2022 World Cup in Qatar can be quite an Education.

Mind / Body 10 Undercover Caddie Why do we work for players who will inevitably fire us? with joel beall

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by ron kaspriske

66 The Loop How many of these holes-in-one count?

14 Journeys South Africa’s Garrick Higgo has known tragedy and triumph.

by coleman bentley

with gabrielle herzig

16 LIV Up To Standards The Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series delivers on its London debut.

50 Solve The Spinout One move to stop slicing, pulling and topping shots.

by matt smith

Then copy this move in Viktor Hovland’s swing.

Features

by matt smith

by jim mclean

52 Swing Sequence: Brace and Fire Want another 20 yards?

july 2022

22 Meet The Big Guns A who’s who of the top names now competing on the LIV series.

24 ‘We Got People Watching Golf Again’ Centurion Club in St Albans is making a name for itself through innovative events. by matt smith

28 LET Now A Tour De Force Olivia Cowan opens up on her future hopes, the Aramco Team Series and mixed competition. by matt smith COVER STORY

32 Play Your Best Without Your Best Stuff My tips to help you salvage your round. by max homa

150TH OPEN

40 Protector of the Old Course Gordon McKie is just the ninth superintendent since Old Tom Morris.

Amid the modern crises of distance and climate, his watch could be the most critical. by jamie kennedy

57 Golf Ball Hot List We tested 89 balls to get the 26 winners and 40 models that earned our highest recommendations. by mike stachura and e. michael johnson

cover photograph by jensen larson

st andrews: Carlos amoedo

6 Editor’s Letter A major feast of golf awaits over the coming month, with more than a hint of a Celtic flavour.

EDITOR’S LE TTER

Jam-packed July has a Celtic connection Ireland and Scotland take centre stage as a month-long feast of golf including the 150th Open awaits — sandwiched between two LIV events

By Matt Smith

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HATEVER THE CLIMATE in the world of golf at the moment has done to your appetite for the game, one thing is for sure, July is here with a varied and veritable feast of golf — and superstars — on the menu.

With the second LIV Golf Invitational Series event taking place at the start of the month in Portland, New Jersey, Greg Norman’s new series is only adding to an already packed schedule this month.

There is a strong Celtic connection in a hectic few weeks ahead for both the men and women, and the DP World Tour gets the ball rolling — literally.

First up is the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown in County Kilkenny, where Australia’s Lucas Herbert will be looking to defend the title he won 12 months ago at the same venue.

With the prize money doubled this year to $6 million, there will certainly be plenty to fight for in the build-up to the Open Championship.

As soon as the Irish Open is concluded, the golfing circus hops over to Limerick for the ever-popular JP McManus Pro-Am as the big guns come to town.

There is an absolutely stacked field set to play at Adare Manor, including nine of the world’s top 10. The likes of Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa will be joined by newly crowned US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, following his dramatic victory over Will Zalatoris at The Country Club, Brookline.

The fun event is a who’s who of golf with Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm all set to

“There is a stacked field at Adare Manor, with nine of the world’s top 10” 6

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take part in the two-day competition alongside Irish hopes Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Seamus Power — oh yeah, and some guy named Tiger Woods is also playing.

I don’t think there is a stronger field for an independent pro-am on the planet.

In an unrelenting, delightful schedule, next up is the co-sanctioned Scottish Open, the traditional warm-up for the Open itself.

There are many added incentives this year

silver lining US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick will be in big demand as he comes home to the UK

for the players, as the links at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, is only a short trip away from St Andrews, where this year’s Open Championship is to be held. Also — as part of the DP World Tour Rolex Series — a tidy $8 million is on offer to the insanely strong field (do you think they are preparing for something big around the corner?).

A-listers set to compete and acclimatise themselves with the unpredictable Scottish weather include (deep breath) major winners Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Danny Willett and Jordan Spieth, along with Olympic champ Xander Schauffele, 2021 FedExCup winner Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, defending champion Min Woo Lee, Sam Burns, Billy Horschel and Scotland’s own Robert MacIntyre. Hero of the moment Fitz-

patrick is sure to get a warm welcome, too, just north of the English border.

Then comes the big one as we celebrate the 150th edition of the world’s oldest major at the ‘home of golf’ in Scotland — St Andrews.

The final major of the year (is it only July? I am still getting used to this new calendar) will see Morikawa defend the title he won at Royal St George’s last year when he confirmed his spot at the top table in golf at the age of 25. With the likes of Scheffler, Burns, Zalatoris, McIlroy and that man Fitzpatrick in toasty-hot form, it is anyone’s guess who will come out on top.

Make sure you get there early if you are planning to attend, as those winding country roads on the east coast of Fife are tough to negotiate at the best of times, never mind with an additional 300,000 or so visitors on the tarmac. The event has long-since sold out and, with the chance of catching a glimpse of ‘Miracle Man’ Tiger on the fairways once again following his horror, life-threatening car crash 16 months ago, the Open is sure to see attendance records smashed along with the deepest, socialdistance-defying galleries.

The ladies also have a packed July as the Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth of five women’s annual majors, takes place at Evian-les-Bains in France, only a few weeks after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Evian defending champion Minjee Lee is one of the big names who will be living out of a suitcase for weeks as she and many others will head to Ayrshire from France for the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. With Jennifer Kupcho (2022 Chevron Championship winner) and 15 other major winners set to compete, this is as strong a field you will get in a Ladies European Tour/LPGA event outside of the majors.

All of which will take us to the end of the month, and if you haven’t had your fill of mouth-watering golf events by then, you can always take the belt out a notch and tuck back into LIV Golf as the third round takes place at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey.

Enjoy your meal!

matthew.smith@motivate.ae @mattjosmith / @golfdigestme

fitzpatrick: ross kinnaird/getty images • cl aret jug: richard heathcote/r&a/gettyimages

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editor-in- chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer managing partner & group editor Ian Fairservice editor Matt Smith art director Clarkwin Cruz editorial assistant Londresa Flores instruction editors Luke Tidmarsh, Euan Bowden, Tom Ogilvie, Matthew Brookes, Lea Pouillard, Alex Riggs chief commercial officer Anthony Milne publisher David Burke gener al manager - production S. Sunil Kumar production manager Binu Purandaran t h e g o l f d i g e s t p u b l i c at i o n s editor-in- chief Jerry Tarde director, business development & partnerships Greg Chatzinoff international editor Ju Kuang Tan

15o not out The world’s best golfers will fight it out over the Old Course in St Andrews for the famous Claret Jug at the Open Championship

golf digest usa editor-in- chief Jerry Tarde gener al manager Chris Reynolds editorial director Max Adler executive editor Peter Morrice art director Chloe Galkin managing editors Alan P. Pittman, Ryan Herrington (News) chief pl aying editor Tiger Woods pl aying editors Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Tom Watson

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

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Fifa 2022 World Cup in Qatar can be quite an Education Education City Golf Club in Doha offers the best of both worlds for golf and football fans

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e all know that a vast number of footballers are avid golfers — but this is the stuff of dreams for anyone who likes both sports.

Education City Golf Club — home of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters — has begun to establish itself as one of Qatar’s top golf courses since its opening in 2019.

And as far as backdrops go, this club has one of the best in the Middle East.

The 7,300-yard, José María Olazábal-designed layout is a stone’s throw — or short chip — away from the 40,000 Education City Stadium, one of the eight arenas hosting matches across Qatar at the Fifa 2022 World Cup this winter. With the likes of Denmark, Uruguay, South Korea, France, Portugal, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia set to play a number of matches at the stadium – right through to the tournament quarter-finals in December — Education City is a perfect venue for fans travelling to Doha for the World Cup who also want to squeeze in 18 holes, too. –matt smith

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photograph courtesy of the club

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MIND / ON TOUR

Undercover Caddie Why do we accept jobs from players with commitment issues?

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ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL BYERS

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AYBE YOUR BOSS IS A JERK. Perhaps you’re working in a temporary job or you’re not happy with what you do, but nothing better is on the horizon, and you have bills to pay, right?

Now you know why we work with caddie killers — players who hire and fire so many loopers you wonder where they all go. They’re actually not the monsters that name conveys. When fans think of caddie killers, they think of the players with short tempers who lose it on their caddies or the high-profile break-ups of a caddie leaving his player mid-round. Those dust-ups are dramatic and make for good headlines, and, yes, the players involved are usually branded for life as beefheads, but the truth is that this is a normal aspect of our profession, and the normal is usually mundane.

I’ve had two experiences with caddie killers. The first was when I was starting out. I had a couple of good runs, but they were all fill-ins or trials. I was looking for something more permanent. An agent called me up, saying his player — a younger guy who after being with one caddie for three years had gone through four caddies in the past 15 months — had been impressed with me and wanted to know if I’d take on his bag. We played a lot that autumn, logging five starts, and did well: He had his first top-10 in months and two other top-25s, and he never missed a cut. Seemed like after a couple iffy seasons this guy was getting back on track. A week before Thanksgiving I got a message from the player saying he really enjoyed our time and thinks we make a good team, but his old college teammate wants to give caddieing a try, and he feels indebted to the guy, so he no longer would need my services. I was a bit sore; anyone is after losing a job, especially when you did that job well. But you know what? I don’t blame him. He was trying to be a

good friend, and more importantly to him he had his confidence back. That friend didn’t make it to the summer before getting canned. The player went through another round of caddies and eventually lost his card.

My other experience was working for a player the fans love who had a reputation among caddies as a petulant child and had gone through two caddies in a short time before offering me a job. I found him to be a gentleman and one of the funniest guys I’d worked for. We missed the first cut. He almost won in

“I was sore after losing my job, especially when I did that job well. But I don’t blame him our second week, then made two cuts but with distant finishes. In our fifth event he started out well but pulled out on Friday with a wrist injury. On Sunday morning his manager called and said the relationship was over. However, before I had the chance to get upset, that manager said he had a college kid turning pro in a month and asked if I’d like to try out for that. Though that job was temporary, it led me to another job in the manager’s stable, and I’ve been with this current player for, heck, I’ve lost count of the years.

Yes, it was weird, and anytime you move on, people ask what happened.

Honestly, nothing happened. It just happened.

Fans see these relationships like Spieth and Greller and think that’s how it

is. Theirs is the aberration. Theirs is a marriage. As I try to tell the caddies who are just starting, if you’re looking for marriage, you’re going to get stomped. Think of these like flings.

Maybe it will work out. It probably won’t. Some flings will last a week, some for years, but there is going to be an end. Try to have fun and if something more lasting happens, congrats.

Admittedly I have a more positive outlook on this thing. Some guys won’t touch players with this stigma. But the way I see it, if a player has a reputation for riding caddies hard and cutting them at the first sign of trouble or for no reason at all ... well, to develop a reputation means he must have been out here long enough to earn that rep, and that means he’s a damn good player. You’ve seen what tour players make nowadays. Even if it’s going to be a short ride, it’s a ride that can still be profitable.

As for why we sign up for jobs that we know we’ll likely lose, well, the reasons vary. It’s hard to break into this industry and even tougher to stay in it.

If there’s an open bag, it doesn’t matter the hardships that could come with it. We have to make a living. Or maybe you do it to get yourself on the radar of agents or other players, so when another job comes available, they think of you. Honestly, deep down, we also believe that we can be differencemakers, that we’re the ones that will be different. Caddies are humble, yet each of us still has a bit of hubris. If you don’t have that type of confidence, you shouldn’t be out here.

—WITH JOEL BEALL

Undercover Caddie hopes this column doesn’t get him fired.

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BODY / OFF-SE ASON FITNESS

KEEP ON PUSHING The off-season is no time to get complacent as maintaining fitness is crucial

By Matthew Brookes

THE OFF-SEASON IS HERE as well as the heat in Dubai, but don’t let this stop you from improving your game. Now is the time to prepare yourself for the next golf season and, with professional advice, it’s so easy to do so. Off season for me normally has two sections and these are ‘post-season’ and ‘pre-season’. Both of these sections require different training methods. Today we are covering ‘postseason’ and this is all about increasing your bodies overall strength.

WATCH THE VIDEO ▶ Scan the QR Code to watch Matt bring this lesson to life.

1 barbell back squat

Visualize the Invisible

2 weighted pull-ups

Ahmed Abd el-WAhAb

3 barbell bench press BENEFITS Did you know that hitting a golf ball can be the equivalent of a three-rep max in the gym, so the greater your three-rep max in the gym the further you can potentially hit the ball. There are obviously other factors to consider, but this is the exact reason why the players on all tours are all working just as hard in the gym as they are on the golf course.

METHOD The training method is called ‘5x5’, which involves completing five reps

for five sets with up to 3 minutes rest between each set. This should consist of lifting as much weight as you can for those five reps, really helping to focus on increasing your strength.

COMPOUND Each workout will consist of compound exercises that focus on increasing the strength of your push, pull and legs. This will also help you increase the strength of your ‘Power Chain’ which is something I have talked about in past videos, so do check that out to find out more.

With the Swing Catalyst sensor plates you will be able to see the invisible forces at work in every swing. Book your session now!

SAFETY Professional advice is always important especially with this sort of training.

Having the correct movement patterns is vital when performing these exercises and past work or exercises need to be completed in order to prepare you for these types of lifts, to help reduce the risk of injury. matthew brookes is a PGA teaching professional and golf specific fitness trainer at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

golf.academy@hyatt.com

04 205 4666

dubaicreekacademies

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MIND / JOURNEYS

‘I Could Have Imploded Just as Easily’

You lose so much in golf that you have to realise you can still have a good week without winning

By Garrick Higgo with Gabrielle Herzig

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y dad loved the game. He taught me how to play when I was a child growing up in South Africa. When I was 9, my family made the 13-hour drive to Johannesburg to visit our newborn cousin. I can barely talk about what happened. My dad, Guillermo, my mom, Susan, my older brother, Michael, and my younger sister, Calis, and I were all in the car when another vehicle struck us. My father didn’t survive.

I got a letter from Gary Player, whom played the US Junior and lost to Matthew I’d met through my former swing Wolff in the semi-finals. University of coach and lifelong mentor, Cliff BarNevada, Las Vegas offered me a full ride. ●●● nard. Gary’s mother died when he was young, too.

I enjoyed college, but GARRICK HIGGO We developed a special I was itching to get out AGE: 23 bond. We call each other on tour. After one year, FROM: STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA and talk about everything.

I left UNLV to turn pro Before the 2016 US Amaand moved back to South teur at Oakland Hills, where Gary won Africa to play on the Big Easy Tour, the 1972 PGA Championship, he talked a developmental tour. In my first event, me through every hole. Gary tells it like I missed the cut, but I didn’t quesit is. If he notices parts of my game that tion myself or my decision. I wanted need improvement, he’ll let me know. to be a pro no matter what. In my sec●●● ond event, I won. ●●● After my dad died, we moved to Stellenbosch near Cape Town. It’s I moved up to the Challenge Tour. similar to Napa Valley but with more Then COVID hit. We didn’t play again mountains. My siblings didn’t play until June 2020. It was a hard time for golf, but I became serious about it as a so many, but I focused on the positives: teenager. My dad was an excellent rugI had a good practice set-up hitting by and cricket player. He was 6ft 10in. balls indoors with my TrackMan, and I I’m only 6ft, but I played rugby as a kid, got to spend time with my family who too. I made up for my lack of size by beI’d missed while travelling. ●●● ing cheeky: I mixed creativity with a bit of trash talk. When I was 13, I went in The tours started back up, and for a tackle, and my elbow snapped I played the 2020 Portugal Open, outward. My mom said: “That’s it. a co-sanctioned event with the DP No more.” The recovery was so long, World Tour. I teased my agent, “Don’t I couldn’t play golf for a year. book a return flight home for me. I’m ●●● going to win,” and I did. The win got When I was 17, I became the No. 1 me straight on to the DP Tour. All of my amateur in South Africa. In 2017, I plans changed after that day.

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The DP Tour was a big level up. I missed eight cuts in six months. My driving accuracy and consistency needed a lot of work. When you win, your expectations go up, but you lose so much in golf that you have to realise you can still have a good week without winning. I’ve learned to manage my expectations with the reality of pro golf. ●●● Then suddenly I had two European Tour wins in three starts. Because of the pandemic, my family and my fiancee, Chandre, whom I’ve known since we were in primary school, didn’t see those wins. My world ranking shot up to 51, and I qualified for the 2021 PGA Championship at The Ocean Course. It was the most people I’ve ever played in front of. ●●● PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan gave me an exemption to play in the Palmetto Championship. During the front nine on Sunday, I was just trying to hang on because I didn’t have my A-game off the tee. I like scrambling, and I made some great saves.

On the 13th hole, I snap-hooked a drive, and it ricocheted back to the forward tees, but I managed to save par. There weren’t many leaderboards early in the round, so I didn’t know that things were crumbling for Chesson Hadley.

The course looks simple, but if you hit the ball just a little off-line, there’s a lot of trouble. I could have imploded just as easily as the other guys, but I parred everything coming in. ●●● I was warming up for a potential playoff when I was told I had won.

It was an incredible moment to secure my PGA Tour card. My mom was there.

It was the first time in two years that she was able to watch me compete. During my press conference, Gary Player called me. He said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about anybody winning a golf tournament.” ●●● After that win, I’ve settled into a life in Sea Island, Georgia, with Chandre. She travels with me now, and I’m friends with the South Africans and Aussies on tour. After two years of living on the road, I’ve found where I’m supposed to be.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JENSEN LARSON

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LIV up to standards

BY MATT SMITH

GREG NORMAN’S GAME-CHANGING SERIES OPENS WITH A LONDON SPECTACLE

They said it would never happen. They said it was pie in the sky. They said it was “dead in the water”.

Yet come Thursday June 9, 2022, the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter teed it up for the richest tournament in golf history.

Sure, this was an event that was not short on controversy, given it was the first of eight events this year offering a total purse of $250 million and dangling a $4 million carrot to the winner.

It certainly caused more than a ripple over in the States, with the PGA issuing bans for its players competing at Centurion Club, just outside London, shortly after the 2.15pm shotgun start in leafy St Albans.

Those ripples came back across the pond to England and a stiff, pre-prepared statement was online within minutes. Lines were drawn.

“Today’s announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members,” LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said.

“It’s troubling that the Tour, an organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing. This certainly is not the last word on this topic.

The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London, and beyond.”

Then came the sledgehammers: Bryson DeChambeau was unveiled. Then Patrick Reed (and Pat Perez, but we will leave that for now). The gloves were off and the spectacle went on in England.

And what a spectacle it was. This was a tournament more akin to an F1 afternoon in Abu Dhabi rather than an a normal PGA or DP World Tour event.

The shotgun start, festival park and full-on access to the players gave fans an unprecedented experience.

Norman (LIV CEO and former world No. 1) was strutting around knowing something big was actually happening after a brief, impressive few months of planning.

There were airshows, competitions, activations, golf sims and DJs. There were after-game concerts 18

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SCHEDULE June 9-11

Centurion Golf Club (London) Champion: Charl Schwartzel

July 1-3

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club (Portland)

July 29-31

Trump National Golf Club Bedminster (New Jersey)

September 2-4 The International (Boston)

September 16-18 Rich Harvest Farms (Chicago)

October 7-9

Stonehill (Bangkok)

October 14-16

Royal Greens Golf Club (Jeddah)

October 28-30

Team Championship (Miami)

The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players in London.

– greg norman , liv ceo

each night with some big names such as James Morrison, James Bay and Craig David rocking the summer sunsets (I noticed some ‘fans’ rocking up for the gigs alone and forgoing the actual reason why we were here – each to their own).

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Glitz It all began in a studio in London on Tuesday night as LIV proved it was going to be different and prove it had arrived.

Kirsty Gallagher — daughter of Ryder Cup legend Bernie — presented a team draft, led by captains such

as Mickelson, Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen amid the glitz and glamour normally reserved by an NFL or NBA event.

The skippers selected their players — with the added pressure of a 54-second clock (they love the 54 theme) — and then we were set. It was actually happening.

The teams of four were ready to tee off for a gargantuan purse of $25 million for three days’ work over 54 holes, with no cut and every player guaranteed a pay day.

LIV do love the number 54 with their own name being the Roman numerals for the perfect under-par score over a day on the course, and also the number of holes played in each tournament. Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, event offered $54 million to any player who can hit the perfect score (his money is safe).

This all added to the camaraderie vibe that coursed over the, erm, course. The fans were loving the fact they had two leaderboards to check — individual and team — and they all seemed to feel they were part of something new as the shotgun start meant you could not take your eyes off the action for a second. “Don’t blink” is one of the LIV slogans. They were bang on.

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As it panned out, Charl Schwartzel went home with a collective $4.75 million in his pocket. Actually I am pretty sure every one of the 48 players went home happy as the magical ‘no-cut’ meant that even lastman Andy Ogletree hopped back to the States with $125,000 after a poor 24-over over 54 — yep, that number again — holes.

This is why a captain is so important. None of them would be here if it wasn’t for me.

– louis oosthuizen 20

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On the course It was a bit of a South African party in England as the Oosthuizen Stingers team block-booked the podium.

Schwartzel took top spot, holding off the unheralded Hennie du Plessis by a stroke on seven-under.

Fellow Stinger and South African Branden Grace took third spot.

Oosthuizen, who himself finished a tidy T10, joked on the podium: “This is why a captain is so important. None of them would be here if it wasn’t for me.”

Quite a week for the South Africans.

On we go With three sensational days — and some huge signings along the way — LIV has certainly made an opening statement few expected. Now we go on to Portland and see if the fans will embrace it just as much as they did here in the UK.

getty images

South African charge

THE LIV GOLF FIELD HAS GROWN STRONGER WITH NINE OF THE LAST 21 MAJOR WINNERS NOW IN THE FOLD — MEET THE TOP NAMES

Bryson DeChambeau

Age: 28 Born: Modesto, California Turned professional: 2016 Professional wins: 10 Highest ranking: 4

‘The Scientist’ announced his arrival during the London event. Probably the biggest hitter on tour — he smashed it 403 yards at the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions — he is renowned for his meticulous studying of the game. The 2020 US Open champ has recovered from a hand injury and is ready to play.

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Patrick Reed

Dustin Johnson

The man known as ‘Captain America’ for his Ryder Cup heroics in the 2014 and 2016 Ryder Cups has plenty of notable trophies among his nine pro titles, including the two WGCs and, of course, his famous victory in the 2018 Masters Championship at Augusta, where he held off Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler to claim the green jacket.

DJ is another huge hitter and certainly raised eyebrows across the golfing world when he announced he would be playing at Centurion. Alongside his 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters triumphs, he has six WGC victories — only a certain Tiger Woods has more — and he is the first player to win each of the four WGC events.

Age: 31 Born: San Antonio, Texas Turned professional: 2011 Professional wins: 9 Highest ranking: 6

Age: 37 Born: Columbia, S Carolina Turned professional: 2007 Professional wins: 28 Highest ranking: 1

Phil Mickelson

Ian Poulter

The six-time major winner has been the focus of much of the LIV Tour in the buildup to its launch in London, with many PGA Tour members criticising his move to the series. However, he has stuck to his guns and, despite his age, he is out to add more silverware to his trophy cabinet to sit alongside the astonishing 57 big trophies already on display.

While ‘The Postman’ has yet to win a major, he is a fan favourite around the world, thanks to his colourful outfits during tournaments. He is arguably most famous for his Ryder Cup exploits, having won the trophy five times, with 16 points in seven appearances. He has also won the 2010 WGC Match Play and the 2012 WGC Champions.

Age: 52 Born: San Diego, California Turned professional: 1992 Professional wins: 57 Highest ranking: 2

Age: 46 Born: Hitchin, England Turned professional: 1995 Professional wins: 17 Highest ranking: 5

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Meet the big guns

LIV Golf players (As of June 28)

Ancer, Abraham Bland, Richard Buranatanyarat, Itthipatx Canter, Laurie Chacarra, Eugenio

Lee Westwood

Age: 49 Born: Worksop, England Turned professional: 1993 Professional wins: 44 Highest ranking: 1

Despite winning 44 titles in an almost 30-year pro career — including the 2009 Dubai World Championship and the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship — Westy has the unwanted distinction of having played the most majors (90) without ever winning one. He is also the man who famously ended Tiger Woods record reign as World No. 1 in 2010.

Brooks Koepka

Age: 32 Born: Florida, US Turned professional: 2012 Professional wins: 15 Highest ranking: 1

We already had a Koepka in the field at Centurion for the first LIV event, but Brooks is a stellar signing.

Chase’s big brother brings a huge draw. He was US Open champ in 2017 and 2018 and did the double at the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. His much-publicised rivalry with Bryson DeChambeau will guarantee box office viewing.

DeChambeau, Bryson Du Plessis, Hennie García, Sergio Gooch, Talor Grace, Branden Harding, Justin Horsfield, Sam Inamori, Yuki Johnson, Dustin Jones, Matt Kaewkanjana, Sadom Kaymer, Martin Khongwatmai, Phachara Kim, Sihwan Kinoshita, Ryosuke Koepka, Brooks Koepka, Chase Kozuma, Jinichiro McDowell, Graeme Mickelson, Phil Morgan, Jediah Na, Kevin Norris, Shaun Oosthuizen, Louis Ormsby, Wade Ortiz, Carlos

Sergio Garcia

Age: 42 Borrn: Borriol, Spain Turned professional: 1999 Professional wins: 36 Highest ranking: 2

The thinning hair suggests ‘El Nino’ is no longer a little boy. He finally got over the line at a major at Augusta in 2017 after five agonising near-misses (second in the PGA in 1999 and T2 in 2008; T3 in US Open 2005; second in Open Championship 2007 and T2 in 2014).

The Spanish superstar has a record 28.5 points in 10 Ryder Cup appearances.

Abraham Ancer

Age: 31 Born: San Antonio, Texas Turned professional: 2013 Professional wins: 3 Highest ranking: 11

Despite being born in Texas, Ancer plays under the Mexico flag, where he was raised before moving back to the Lone Star State.

Among his top titles are the 2018 Australian Open and the 2021 WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational. He also finished in the top 10 of the past two PGA Championships and is regarded in the prime of his career.

Otaegui, Adrián Perez, Pat Pettit, Turk Piot, James Poulter, Ian Reed, Patrick Schwartzel, Charl Smyth, Travis Snyman, Ian Swafford, Hudson Tanihara, Hideto Uihlein, Peter Vincent, Scott Westwood, Lee Wiesberger, Bernd Windred, Blake Wolff, Matthew

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How Centurion is changing the game one tournament at a time

By Matt Smith

‘We got people watching golf again’

St Andrews, Augusta, Wentworth, The Country Club and beyond — all steeped in the history of golf. Now here comes Centurion, a relatively new club which has roots in Dubai.

The world watched as Centurion sold-out to 20,000-plus fans for the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series, which is remapping golf as it stands.

Then it held the brilliant Aramco Team Series Ladies European Tour competition for the second year, where Bronte Law thrilled the crowds with an epic putt to take the title.

Why all the fuss? Centurion is looking to the future while embracing the past. Just like the multiple innovative series it is hosting, here is a club that has its eyes firmly fixed on progress.

Don’t let the tall pines, rolling fairways and even the Roman names for each hole (Hertfordshire is steeped in Roman history) fool you, this picturesque course just outside Hemel Hempstead is a young pretender that is making a history all of its own.

You have to start somewhere, after all.

Over the past 12 months, and particularly over the past few weeks, Centurion has thrust itself/been thrust into the global spotlight by hosting the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event, featuring the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, much to the chagrin of the PGA Tour in the US. But this course was a perfect setting to begin an epic journey. Its fairways are overlooked by tall redwoods and the players’ scores themselves told a story as some of the biggest names in world gof struggled to come to terms with the undulating fairways and right nasty bunkers, with their weird, random contours.

Charl Schwartzel prevailed on a ‘mighty’ sevenunder over three rounds.

Alongside the LIV Golf events, Centurion has also gained popularity by hosting the aforementioned LET Aramco Team Series for the past two years, with the most recent event concluding hot on the heels of the Greg Norman LIV brainchild. Quite a fortnight for such a new club!

Golf Digest Middle East caught up with the man behind the whole masterplan at Centurion — a certain Scott Evans who helped set up Dubai Creek some three decades ago when golf was a new thing to the Middle East — on the final day of the LIV Tour event in June, so he could explain the journey and vision.

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Scott Evans Scott Evans turned professional in 1986 at Whitecraigs Golf Club in Glasgow, Scotland, under the guidance of Bill Watson, before heading off to Troon Golf & Country Club in Arizona to work alongside Dana Garmany. He spent around two years there before embarking on the next chapter of his career in Dubai.

In Dubai, Scott worked alongside Peter Downie, opening Dubai Creek in 1993. His next move was to Loch Lomond where he helped open the club. Then, at 28, Scott headed south to become Managing Director at Bearwood Lakes.

During this time while working with Ray Wilson of Southern Golf Construction, he saw many great courses being set up, including Kingsbarns, and Victoria Course in Portugal — this sparked a desire to build his own course.

It was when Scott was working in Spain in 2008 that the land where the Centurion Club is now located became available, and in 2010 together with business partners Bert Pronk and his nephew Andre Hendriks (Centurion Club Chairman), the site was purchased. The course opened in 2013, with the clubhouse and restaurant following in 2016. Centurion has now hosted events such as Golf Sixes, Aramco Team Series and LIV Golf, events that encourage change in golf.

“We have 12,000 spectators and 750 members in here on the final day at LIV Golf, 500 staff, 48 caddies, 48 players and one Greg Norman. We can’t all be wrong,” said Evans, Managing Director, co-owner and mastermind at Centurion.

And he certainly is looking forward.

“As a new club we have always embraced innovation. We held the Golf Sixes (a European Tour team event), and we started our relationship with Golf Saudi when we held the Ladies European Tour Aramco Team Series event here last year,” he added.

“I took a call from Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, and he suggested he wanted to do the first LIV event here. It was fantastic.”

Evans’ Scottish twang is familiar, despite his many years away from the home of golf. The Paisley-educated boy has travelled the globe in his pursuit and passion for golf, including taking him to Dubai to set up the Creek club back in the day. But his focus is on the here, now and how.

“We have just had the first Asian Tour event in the UK at Slaley Hall in Newcastle (the International Series — England), then LIV, then Aramco comes back to Centurion again, so why not?,” he asked amid all the flak from the PGA “It is fantastic, I use that word too much, but it is true. It is laying opportunities for everyone. That’s what it is all about. Where else can you see Asian and Australiasian and Japan Tour players mixing with Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson? When can you see rookie amateurs teeing it up against the best of the Ladies European Tour? That is what this is all about here.”

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It was not an easy journey for Evans and his team as they assembled a course for two back-to-back world-level events with only a few days in which to turn things around.

“It has been a lot of hard work for all my staff to put this together,” he said. “I think our greenkeepers have found out how good they are, and the course is possibly the star of the show.”

As part of the LIV Tour commitment, more than $12 million will go into local needy communities, and Evans has this front and centre.

“The local communities will benefit as all the investment will go to very local charities,” he said. “It is an amazing investment and will benefit the whole area in Hertfordshire.”

Evans was jokingly showing his age when it came to the ‘Formula One’ style aftershow parties that took place just over the 18th fairway from the clubhouse at the fans’ vilage, as the glitz and glamour took over from the chipping and hacking.

“I am past my sell-by-date but Craig David was fantastic. He was terrific,” he said. “And we had Jessie J, James Morrison and James Bay. What a spectacle to have here.”

It clearly wasn’t an easy gig (the whole event, not just Craig David) to put on, given it only came to fruition in February, but Davis and his team were up to the task.

“It was a momentous amount of pressure,” he admitted. “The crowd doubled from day one to day two, then doubled again to 12,000 on day three. We, of course had a few logistical problems such as water as even we were taken by surprise about the positive turnout here, regarding fans’ feet on the ground, but it is a new tournament and we are all on a learning curve on this road to success.”

In what may prove to be the most profound statement of this first week in a new journey, Davis said: “We got people got watching golf again” With the Aramco Team Series hot on the heels of the LIV Tour, there was no let-up for the veteran.

“I might take a day off tomorrow,” he said as Phil Mickelson walked past on the 18th and the shadows crept longer during the final day of the LIV event.

“We are always set up and ready to go. The course is there and the infrastructure is there, we just carry on.

“The Aramco event has a few changes, in terms of layout and the cuts. Given we have the men here too, it will be quicker, more dynamic and, of course, we will have bigger crowds on the back of the spectacular (not fantastic?) event that has unfolded this week.”

As for the future, Davis is open to innovation.

“It doesn’t have to be the same week in, week out,” he said. “We can mix it up a bit. Some weeks straight stroke play, sometimes shotgun, sometimes team events. There is no reason why they cannot all be on tour. Freshen it up, make it more exciting for the TV audience and make it more dynamic.

“I think it might catch on!”

ISSUE 3 RELEASED IN AUG 2022

Visit GolfDigestME.com to read the latest issue in Arabic.

LET NOW A

TOUR Thanks to events such as the ARAMCO TEAM SERIES, things have never looked brighter for the LADIES GAME

by MATT SMITH photographs SUPPLIED

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de FORCE FOR OLIVIA COWAN

olivia cowan is back and raring to go as the Ladies European Tour (LET) continues to embrace its new look and increased prize money.

The German star has caused a stir since she joined the LET in 2016, with her named seemingly a permanent fixture near the top of leaderboards most weeks.

Twelve months ago, Olivia won her first LET title when she claimed the innovative team crown at the inaugural Aramco Team Series (ATS) — London alongside Sarina Schmidt and Diksha Dagar.

With the event having just returned to Centurion Club for the second time at the end of June, the ATS continues to grow in popularity — among both the fans and players. England’s Bronte Law claimed the individual title and Team Nicole Garcia overcame Team Ursula Wikstrom in a dramatic final-day play-off at St Albans.

For the second year running, Centurion Club hosted more than 100 golfers (hot on the heels of the inaugural LIV Golf tournament for the men) to compete in the 54-hole individual competition alongside a team event for combined prize fund of $1 million.

Cowan, runner-up in the individual event in Jeddah last year, finished T37 on a return from injury, and also managed to add to her impressive time in the Aramco events with a hole-in-one on Day 2 at Centurion this time around. And it is fair to say she is a fan of the new-look series.

“I’d say, since these events have come on tour they are among my favourites, especially London as I have done well there and I always get a lot of support,” Olivia told Golf Digest Middle East.

“A lot of people you know come out to follow you, so that’s always fun.”

Oliva admitted that days before the Aramco Team Series was due to begin at Centurion Club she had not hit a golf ball in a long time due to a ‘tennis elbow’ injury.

“I was injured so my preparations have not been ideal,” she explained. “I was resting and getting my injury sorted. I had lateral epicondylitis, but it is feeling a lot better.”

The ladies game, and LET in particular, is enjoying increased exposure around the world these days thanks to investment from Golf Saudi and Aramco, who have added $5 million to the prize money this season through the five Aramco events, plus more competitions getting live broadcasts on TV and online. Cowan is welcoming the extra attention and the innovatiove new competitions.

“I think it is great that someone is taking an interest in women’s golf and they are trying to help us along with our future,” she said.

“Aramco have come in and put these events on around the world. They are obviously different to a normal tournament as they are team events — this is something we have all been missing. photograph courtesy of hublot

‘Aramco have come in and

PUT THESE EVENTS ON AROUND THE WORLD.

They are obviously different to a normal tournament as they are team events — THIS IS

SOMETHING WE HAVE ALL BEEN MISSING.’

“We grew up playing amateur golf and with the national teams, where you did have team events and we all loved it. So to bring that aspect back and bring it into the professional side was something that was missing, and they knew it, and it is great that they have helped up with that.

“They have also really helped with the financial side of things, it is just really great. We are now seeing a lot of players coming from the LPGA and wanting to be a part of it because it is quite lonely on tour — golf is quite an individual sport — so to be able to take part in something different and be in a team for a week, it is just a lot more fun.

“Everyone looks forward these events.”

With the team win last year and a hole-in-one at ATS — London 2022, Centurion Club is fast becoming a favourite place to play for Olivia. She is also delighted to see the men’s game get in on the act thanks to the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which saw the likes of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia compete for a total prize pot of $25 million (individual winner Charl Schwartzel took home $4 million, along with a share of an additional $3 million with his fellow ‘Stingers’ Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Hennie Du Plessis for claiming the inaugural team crown).

“I really like the course, it is a lot of fun to play and there are some quirky holes out there,” she said. “The LIV event is great too, as I think it is what golf needs at the moment. It just needs a few different ways to show off the game. So I think it is great.”

She hinted at widening the LIV scope to make it a mixed event like the recent Trust Golf competitions on the Asian Tour and the Scandinavian Mixed, which was won by the LET’s Linn Grant — the first time a female has won a DP World Tour event.

“I am a bit sad I am not playing the LIV events,” Olivia said with a smile. “I think the girls could participate too at some point. I think that would be good fun.”

Give it some time, Olivia, you never know…

While Olvia claimed the team title at ATS last year, she has yet to add to her three LET Access Series individual crowns since taking the step up to the full tour in 2016. A swath of top-10 finishes over the next few years culminated in a careerbest T2 at the 2019 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic before COVID-19 took its toll on golf around the world. But with golf back in full swing, Olivia is also back and still hunting that elusive top spot.

“I am confident in my game,” she said. “I have always been a steady player. I’ve always not had too many mistakes and I have always been up there. I guess I am just waiting for that little bit of luck to get me that win. But I am very confident looking ahead.

“Having a good mindset really helps, and I am excited going forward.”

Not surprisingly, Olivia has fond memories of her time in the UAE at the day/night Dubai Moonlight Classic — another innovation on the LET. july 2022

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‘Whenever I speak to players, girls or guys, they all say they would LOVE TO SEE MORE MIXED EVENTS

as they are a lot of fun. It is always good SHOWING THE GUYS WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER.’

and then three days of mixed, three different types of foursomes and that was the best. I was a bit surprised the Olympics didn’t do something like that.

I thought that would have been interesting.”

With more refreshing changes arriving in golf, maybe it will only be a matter of time.

WHIRLWIND WHITNEY

BY MATT SMITH

W

hitney Hillier is going places, and quickly.

The Australian maintained a blistering season on the Ladies European Tour with fifth place at the Aramco Team Series — London, five shots behind eventual winner Bronte Law at Centurion Club.

This adds to a whirlwind month or so for the Australian, as it follows on from her team victory at the inaugural ATS event and 2022 series opener in Bangkok last month and an agonising play-off defeat to Tiia Koivisto of Finland at the Jabra Ladies Open in France.

“It has been an incredible few weeks,” Whitney told Golf Digest Middle East. “The ATS team win was special for me because my mum was born in Bangkok and to win in her homeland meant a lot. My game has been trending in a good direction for a few years now, so its nice to see the hard work and patience paying off.

“To play well last week in London at

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team hillier: Whitney Hillier with her teammates Pattanan Amatanon, Chonlada Chayanun and Kirsta Bakker in Bangkok

the ATS has given me more belief and confidence to push for more success.”

The Aramco series has certainly been a happy hunting ground for Hillier, who admits she is enjoying a bit of variety on tour. “It’s a great concept to give what is usually an individual sport a team element, something we don’t usually get to experience, while also showcasing the level of golf on the Ladies European Tour in a format that is innovative and exciting,” she said, while also acknowledging the boost

the ladies game has received from the extra funding coming in from Aramco and Golf Saudi. “It’s huge for women’s golf,” she said. “To have the support and funding provided by Aramco and Golf Saudi shows their belief in what we do. Increasing our playing and earning opportunities is something we are all really grateful for.”

Like fellow players Bronte Law, Olivia Jackson and Olivia Cowan, Whitney is also happy to see the growth of mixed events on tour, such as the Scandinavian Mixed, where Linn Grant recently defeated the DP World Tour guys to claim the title.

“Playing alongside the guys is always fun, its something I’ve had the opportunity to do down in Australia at the Vic Open, so having the chance to do it around the world is exciting,” Hillier said. “Playing for the same prize fund sometimes brings about some complications, but it’s definitely always something I enjoy. It was great to see Linn win in Sweden, showing that us girls can really compete against the guys. The standard of golf in the ladies game is really good and is improving each and every year.”

cowan: courtesy of hublot • aramco team series: tristan jones/let

“Again, I think it great they are coming up with different ways to show off our sport, and show that you can play night golf,” she said. “I think it is great we have it on the schedule and it is a lot of fun.

“It can be tougher at sunset as you go from light into dark, it can mess with your eyesight, but it is a whole lot of fun.”

With the conclusion of the Scandinavian Mixed, Olivia is keen to see even more variety on tour to ‘mix’ things up along with the traditional tournaments.

“I think there should be more mixed events and crossovers on tour,” she said. “Whenever I speak to players — girls or the guys — they all say they would love to see more mixed events as they are a lot of fun, too. Of course we already have the one in Sweden (Scandinavian), and it is always good fun showing the guys what we have to offer.

“It is always hard to set them up to be fair, and there will always be critics, but that is the same for all golf.

“There should be more of it. I actually think there should be a team mixed event — one guy, one girl together in a matchplay format, I think that would be a lot of fun.”

This is a concept that has been raised for future Olympics, and Olivia is all for it.

“I actually played at the Youth Olympics, and we had a completely different set up from the actual Olympics,” she explained. “It was just one girl and one boy, and we had three days of individual event

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PLAY YOUR BEST

MY TIPS TO HELP YOU SALVAGE YOUR ROUND

WITHOUT

BY MAX HOMA PHOTOGRAPHS

BY JENSEN LARSON

YOUR BEST STUFF

I I’ll absolutely confess to being something of a swing nerd. When I work on my game with my main coach, Mark Blackburn, I want to see all the data behind what I’m doing and understand what’s happening under the hood. However, the conversations we have on Wednesday of a tournament week are very different than those in a practice session.

When it’s time to play, you need to think about position, not perfection. How do you leave this shot in a spot where you can hit the next one? If you do make a bad swing, how do you absorb that and move on without throwing your round away? That’s much more about mind-set, decision-making and discipline than it is about technique.

I’ve learned to be tough on myself for making reckless decisions and letting negativity from a bad shot bleed over — not for failing to execute a swing the way I wanted.

That’s what I’m after in this story — to help you get some of that attitude. I’ll help you play your best when you don’t have your best by taking you through my game from tee to green and showing you how I make decisions and pick shots that reduce risk and release pressure. I want you to have a similar process, so you don’t get trapped in a negative, defensive cycle. Then again, if negative, defensive cycles are your thing, that’s cool, too. You do you. We’ll be over here making good pars.

—with Matthew Rudy

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SETUP DRAW 3-WOOD

SETUP LOW-CUT DRIVER

DRIVING

DOWNSHIFT TO GET IT IN PLAY If you’re on a bad run of holes, it’s tempting to try something different off the tee or swing at 140 per cent — because, hey, what you’re doing isn’t working.

Instead, you should be tightening your choices under stress, not multiplying them. In those times, I get the physics of the clubs to work for me instead of trying to fight them. My advice is, return to your most reliable option off the tee, even if it’s not the best shot for the hole or you’re giving up distance.

Just get it in play.

Normally with my driver, I try to air it out with a cut. But when I’m not hitting

it great or accuracy is a must, I’ll go with two other options.

When I need to hit a draw, I’ll use my 3-wood. I move the ball position from in line with my lead shoulder — like I would for a driver — to the right side of the logo on my shirt.

I also set up closer to the ball. You can see my arms hanging closer to my body (opposite page, top left). Finally, I close my stance so my toe line is a little right of my target. All of this helps me draw it.

When I can still play a cut driver but have to find the fairway, I tee the ball down. You can’t even see it in this picture (opposite page, bottom left). I then aim at the left edge of the fairway, swing slightly out to in, and embrace the left-toright curve, finishing with this “held off” look (left). The ball doesn’t fly as far, but I also don’t have to send out a search party to find it.

CLOSED CLUBFACE

IRON PLAY

SET THE FACE, THEN SIMPLY PIVOT It’s natural to feel desperate when you can’t find the centre of the face with your irons, or you’re spraying the ball all over the place. I’ve been there, and the way out is to pare down as many things from your swing as you can. That means re36

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sisting the temptation to try to make the ball curve or adding speed with extra hand action through impact. Instead, start hitting good shots again by getting the clubface in a stronger position and letting your body’s pivot do the work. Let me explain.

If my clubface is sky-

CLUBFACE PARALLEL TO SPINE

ward at the top of the swing (above, left), it’s in a strong or “closed” position. Then as my arms drop in the downswing, I get the clubface parallel to my spine (above, right). Now it’s way more closed, I bet, than you have it at this point — and the sweet spot on the face stays behind me instead of lurching out toward the target line as I rotate my chest through.

When you get the clubface in this position halfway down, you’ll notice a

big difference in how the ball comes off the club.

You’ll compress it instead of wiping across it. Then it’s a matter of swinging more from inside the target line to straighten out shots if you’re hitting pulls.

Once you’re striping it and want to start changing trajectory and curve, adjust only one thing: Move the ball slightly forward to hit it higher and fade it, or move it back to hit it lower with more draw. That formula is key to consistency.

WEDGES

QUIET YOUR WRIST ACTION Keeping with the spirit of limiting choices when your game goes crooked, distance wedges are easier to hit under quieter hand-action conditions. The most forgiving wedge shot comes from a swing with a wider arc and minimal hinging and unhinging of the wrists.

When you’re struggling with these shots, it’s usually because you’re making a steep swing and hitting the ground in inconsistent places.

One shot is heavy and 20 yards short, and the next one is clean and 10 yards over the green.

Try a shallower, Steve Stricker method instead. Stay stable and make a backswing with very little wrist set (left).

With less set and a wider arc, the attack angle will be much shallower and the ball comes out lower.

You don’t need it to drop from the heavens to stop it, because your stability through the shot is going to produce cleaner contact and a lot of spin.

Even if you don’t catch it just right, the shallower attack angle gets the bounce of the club, its backside, sliding on top of the turf, so you still produce a decent shot. Remember, if you’re taking big pelts of sod when you hit these shots, you’re doing it wrong.

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SHORT GAME

RELY ON THE CUT SPINNER

VERTICAL SHAFT OPEN FACE

On days when you’re off with your driving or ball-striking, you can make things right with your short game. I use this “cut spinner” so much around the greens, it’s almost a default shot now.

What is it? It’s a low-trajectory pitch with a high-lofted wedge and an open clubface. When it lands, it hops, then checks up. When you need to get the ball close to the hole on fast greens, it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card — but it does take more practice than the standard technique.

First, set up closer to the ball with the handle vertical and the face slightly open (left). Most of your weight is going to stay on your lead side, and your head should drift slightly toward the target during the backswing.

Then, as you swing down and through, pivot around your lead leg, keeping the clubface open. Feel like you’re getting taller through impact and that your hands are following your body’s pivot. The handle of your wedge will point at your left hip after impact. If you hang back, you’ll wreck the shot, hitting it fat or thin.

The great thing about this shot is that the steeper angle of attack caused by swinging with so much weight on your lead foot makes it work from almost any lie where you can get the club on the back of the ball. Just remember: It won’t check as well if you play it from the rough. Allow for some more rollout.

PUTTING

HIT RESET WITH A FOCUS ON CADENCE Putting slumps get magnified when you don’t understand what’s producing them.

I figured out my issues and made my putting dramatically more predictable with the help of Mark and putting coach Phil Kenyon, but I’ll get you back on

track. First, my story.

I used to have runs where I’d ram putts in from everywhere, but my success obscured the fact that my lines and speed weren’t always great.

When I struggled or was under pressure, I couldn’t rely on my judgment.

Phil taught me the

AimPoint system to read greens accurately, so I could be confident I was starting the ball on the right line. Now, way more of my putts look like they have a chance to go in on cold weeks. When I’m hot, like I was at the Wells Fargo this year — where I gained 7.5 strokes on the field in putting — tzhe hole looks huge.

Even if you don’t use a green-reading system, you can still get a clean reset to your putting by pay-

ing attention to cadence.

Think about your putts in terms of rhythm and timing. A five-footer and 40-footer have strokes with the same beat and timing. The only difference is the 40-foot putt has a longer and faster swing.

Instead of worrying about missing the putt, focusing on cadence also redirects your attention to something positive. When you don’t have your best stuff, the right attitude can do wonders. july 2022

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GORDON McKIE IS JUST THE NINTH SUPERINTENDENT SINCE OLD TOM MORRIS. AMID THE MODERN CRISES OF DISTANCE AND CLIMATE, HIS WATCH COULD BE THE MOST CRITICAL

BY JAMIE KENNEDY • PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOM FURORE

It was an unusually cold Sunday morning in March when I made the trip to St Andrews, Scotland, in search of Gordon McKie, the head greenkeeper of the Old Course and just the ninth person to have that title since Old Tom Morris. Passing the Royal & Ancient clubhouse and across the practice range, I found the greenkeepers building (shed wouldn’t do it justice). I asked one of the men if Gordon was about.

“Gordon? He’s far tae important to be here on a Sunday!”

I was both disappointed and happy: Disappointed it was a wasted journey but happy that, by the sound of it, I was in search of the right man.

I went for a walk around the Old Course, circumnavigating the layout by the path that covers its outer edges.

Despite some grey weather, I pushed on, and when I reached the farthest point of the neuk, I found a lone greenkeeper tending to the championship tee on the short par-3 eighth hole. He was filling divots by hand.

As I got closer, I thought he looked similar to the man I was looking for.

With just enough service on my mobile phone to Google ‘Gordon McKie’, I pulled up a photo of him and matched it against the man on the tee.

It was indeed my man. The head of the greenkeeping staff at the Old 42

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Course, without even his team knowing it, was out on a Sunday tending to his links. I arranged to meet him a few days later at a time that fit his schedule and began prepping my questions on the topic of protecting the Old Course for the challenge of the 150th Open Championship and the legacy of the role that he now holds. mckie is tall, well built with short hair and almost always dressed for the elements. He arrived at the Links Clubhouse, right of the second hole on the Old Course, suitably dressed for a cold, windy day in St Andrews. We sat down for a coffee and immediately got into his position at the St Andrews Links, the organisation that manages and maintains all seven courses in St Andrews, the largest public golf complex in Europe.

“There’s no better job,” he says, with a not-so-subtle grin on his face. “It’s a huge honour, not just for me but for my family, to be the ninth head greenkeeper at the Old Course since Old Tom. I chat to a lot of people in my profession from around the world, and they are envious of what I, and my team, get to do. I don’t think there’s a prouder person on the planet than myself, being able to wake up each day and look over this land and after the golf course here.”

ANCIENT LAND

The Old Course’s fourth green and the town of St Andrews.

McKie came to St Andrews from Tain Golf Club in 1996 and worked his way from deputy head greenkeeper at the Eden Course to his position now overseeing the work on the Old Course.

He laughed when I asked at what stage does the planning for an Open Championship begin. “It never starts, and it never ends. The first Open was here in the 1870s, and every greenkeeper team since then has been preparing for the next Open.”

Back then, the team at St Andrews was run by Old Tom Morris. He and his son had won eight of the 12 Open Championships that had been played,

and in his role as ‘Keeper of the Green’, he prepared the course for the first Old Course Open in 1873.

Fast forward nearly 150 years, and McKie and his team are tasked with protecting the links and getting it ready to host the Open for the 30th time.

“We do today the same things that Old Tom would have done back then; we just do it in a modern way,” McKie says proudly. “We’re a maintenance team, not renovators. We are here to maintain the history of what this place is and try not to change it.”

“There’s not a lot we can do here to lengthen the course, so the tweaks tend

to be more strategic in terms of fairway widths, angles and sometimes even shortening holes or lines to bring more of the challenge.”

An example is 16th hole. Named ‘The Corner of the Dyke’, it’s a par 4 that bends from left to right, guarded on the inside by a tight out-of-bounds line and on the left side of the bend by the ‘Principal’s Nose’ bunkers, two scorecard-wrecking pot bunkers that dominate your eyes from the tee.

“Do we think about moving the tee up there on 16?” McKie asks. The distance to carry the bunkers from the standard championship tee is about july 2022

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‘I DON’T THINK THERE’S A PROUDER PERSON ON THE PLANET THAN MYSELF, BEING ABLE TO WAKE UP EACH DAY AND LOOK OVER THIS LAND AND LOOK AFTER THE GOLF COURSE HERE.’

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270 yards. “It would allow everyone in the field to take that bunker out of play if they wanted to, but they would need to cut the corner more, bringing outof-bounds into play. Now the left miss doesn’t find the third fairway; it finds the rough closer to the green, which, considering where the bunkers are positioned around the green, would leave a pretty miserable shot in.”

McKie reminisced fondly about the Women’s Open Championship, played for the first time on the Old Course in 2007. The women that week played from the original championship tees laid out by Old Tom in 1873.

“The women played from 6,600 yards, and it was amazing to watch.

Every hazard was in play. There were a lot of questions they had to answer with each shot. The course was being played as it was designed to be played.”

HANDLE WITH CARE

McKie advises his team on how to preserve the 17th hole’s Road Hole bunker.

Lorena Ochoa won her first major championship that week, winning by four strokes with a score of fiveunder. It’s worth noting that each of the last four men’s Opens played at the Old Course were won with scores of 14-under or lower.

So how can the Old Course present a challenge to the men in 2022?

McKie believes the strategy, specifically around the bunkers, is the key.

“There are 112 bunkers out here, and each of them can hurt your round,” he says. “It’s not about adding more or moving the ones we have; it’s about small things you can do to put them more into play and get the players thinking about them on every shot.”

In fact, the sand in those bunkers might feel different to players at the Open this year compared to previous years. McKie explained to me

that he is working with Grant Moir and Richard Windows from the R&A’s rules and agronomy teams, respectively, and that there will be less sand in the Old Course bunkers this year. That small change will give the bunkers a “tougher feel and depth” and perhaps make them even less appealing to flirt with.

“The other thing here at the Old Course is, it’s old,” McKie says. “If you want to change or remove a bunker, you’ve got to worry about finding out who it’s named for and making sure the family won’t be upset if you move it!”

Take for example ‘Cheape’s bunker’ on the left side of the par-4 second hole. It is named after Sir James Cheape, who bought the golf course from rabbit farmers back in the 1820s.

The land was then sold to the R&A, which helped develop it into what it is now. Imagine having to call Sir James’ family and explain to them that you were removing the bunker to create a more challenging angle for the likes of Scottie Scheffler. I’m not sure they would approve.

As for Old Tom’s family, his great, great granddaughter, Sheila Walker, still lives in the family residence above her great, great grandfather’s old shop on the corner by the 18th green of the Old Course. A typically private person, Walker opened her door to McKie and a select few members of the St Andrews Links last June to celebrate Old Tom’s 200th birthday. A cake was delivered to the house, and she and McKie enjoyed a piece while chatting and glancing out across the 18th fairway.

“I spent about 45 minutes there with her, just chatting about Old Tom and looking at old photos and notes that she had. The place is like a museum to the man. It was inspiring to see him at work and how hands-on he was.

It’s something I’ve tried to make a part of what I do, always being visible and being on the front line to help out and explain what we’re doing.”

McKie, originally from Glasgow in West Scotland, did have a deep knowledge of Old Tom’s life and craft dating back to his time before St Andrews. He

attended Scotland’s Rural College in Elmwood and studied Old Tom and his influence on greenkeeping and techniques he developed across the links at the Old Course.

“When I first came to work here in 1996, I read up on Old Tom and any books I could get my hands on.

I just wanted a feel of the course more so than the man, but I definitely got a feel for what his approach was and how key his decisions were in what we still do today.”

If McKie took inspiration from Old Tom originally, that influence was magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The grounds crew at the Old Course was trimmed from 14 fulltime greenkeepers to four, including McKie. The course was closed for three months, and the team began to see an entirely new piece of land and way of maintaining it. “We soon learned that less is more,” McKie says.

“There was no way we could look after the course like we did before, so we had to rethink priorities and leave parts of the course we would normally tend to, like bunkers and rough. What we saw was pretty amazing.”

It’s worth remembering that although the Old Course is a tightly packed property, the green complexes alone represent nearly 300,000 square feet that needed to be tended to.

With a staff of only four running things, McKie and his team had to be selective in how they looked after the land.

“Usually there are 40,000 to 50,000 rounds played on the Old Course each year,” he says. “During the pandemic, there was no golf played for 12 weeks.

There was very little foot traffic on the course, no trolleys, no buggies, no caddies. We saw this amazing growth in the rough. Instead of being matted down and formed by how people would walk across it, the grass began growing thicker and vertically.”

That kind of growth and rough is not something you would normally see at the Old Course. However, it might be something you see in July.

“Now that play is back,” McKie says, “we’ve roped off large areas of rough from golfers throughout the course to prevent that foot traffic and to take what we learned during lockdown and apply it to our preparation for the Open. We haven’t done that before.”

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RIPPLES IN TIME

Low light shows off the dips and bumps of the par-4 second.

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GREEN PRACTICES

McKie and his staff have cut back on water, fertiliser and fuel.

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the course and how it might be played by the best players in the world.

He smiled. “Obviously 17 is the ultimate risk-and-reward test, right? If you take the tight line, over the hotel, you will be rewarded,” McKie says. “If you go middle or left, it’s more difficult.

In previous Opens that rough on the left has been wispy and almost nonexistent, and players get it up around the green. This year that may be a different challenge.

“I remember having a chat with Ian Poulter about how hard the 17th hole played back in 2010,” McKie says.

“He was remembering when the hole played into the wind, and players were choosing to hit down the second fairway and leave themselves a 220-yard shot in. My response was simple: That’s your choice. The bold choice is to take on the hotel, take on the right side of the fairway and get the reward. That’s how the hole was designed, and there’s definitely a sense of pride in keeping that challenge in play.”

McKie and his team are also proud of their efforts to make their work sus-

tainable and green. “We consider ourselves industry leaders,” he says.

In 2015, he employed a staff of 75 to look after the course during the Open, but this year it will be just 50. The team is also cutting back on water use, fertiliser and fuel usage. As the story goes, a single greenkeeper double-cutting the fifth/13th green at the Old Course would have to walk up to nine miles.

That takes a while. However, in 2022, that is no longer the case. “We now have battery-powered mowers that double cut in one go. Those mowers are then charged by solar power, and the water that goes on the greens is bored from the ground beneath the course or from rainwater that is recycled in a storage tank by the greenkeepers shed.”

The 150th Open this July will run independent of gasoline: Solar panels and bio-fuel generators will supply the power for everything on the grounds.

In terms of being more green, it doesn’t get much greener than using Christmas trees to protect the Old Course. (Stay with me here.) In the weeks after Christmas each year, McKie

and his team take delivery of Christmas trees from people within the town of St Andrews. They are delivered to the East Sands car park by the greenkeepers building, and they are then cut down and buried into the sand dunes that surround the Old Course and other courses in the immediate area. Over time they will congeal and help establish a stronger foundation within the dunes to combat coastal erosion.

The Old Course, along with many notable courses in the area, is certainly in a battle against nature when it comes to coastlines. Techniques like these certainly help, but McKie admits that it’s an ongoing challenge.

“There’s no getting away from it,” he says. “If you look at the piece of land that the Old Course and other courses sit on here, it’s easy to see why. We’re surrounded by beaches and dunes, and a bad storm can take a chunk out of the coastline overnight. It’s a constant effort.”

Interestingly, members of the greenkeeping team at the Old Course, along with the other St Andrews Links cours-

es, actually manage and maintain the East Sands, the stretch of beach that borders the golf courses. They work with the local council to improve the quality of the beach and sand dunes and assist in the fight against erosion.

“It’s just something we want to do. We see how the world is going.”

I left my time with McKie thinking about exactly that. Time may have moved on, decades may have passed, but the Old Course and the way in which it is maintained have stayed largely, and proudly, the same.

Before leaving McKie to head back to his day job, I posed one last question: If Old Tom were sitting with us right now, maybe sipping on a coffee with a splash of whisky, what do you think he would think of the Old Course in 2022?

“I think he’d be proud of the team and proud of the course. I hope he’d see the course he helped create being maintained in the way he did. I’d like to think he’d give me a modest pat on the back and be happy with the job we’re doing.”

I’d tend to agree.

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP

McKie cuts the 18th green with his Toro electric mower.

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY JENSEN LARSON

SOLVE THE SPINOUT

One move to stop slicing, pulling and topping shots

By Jim McLean

A s you m ight e x pect, i watch way too much video trying to analyse what makes great swings great. One thing I noticed a while back is what’s happening with the lead foot when some of the all-time best start the downswing. Players such as Rory McIlroy, Greg Norman and even Jack Nicklaus let the heel of their front foot move toward the target as they

transition from backswing to throughswing. That action of the foot promotes a very strong weight shift to the lead side, and it demands that you start the transition the way you should — from the ground up. For many amateur golfers — perhaps you — the best thing this move does is eliminate the dreaded spinout, where your body rotates hard out of its original address position in the downswing, typically causing you to slice, pull or top your shot. You know if you spun out just by looking at your feet when the ball is gone. They’ll both be facing the target.

Here you see me doing a drill where I place a golf ball next to the heel of my lead foot (above, left). I then swing the club to the top, and as I start down, I try to bump the golf ball toward my target (above, right). The only way to do it is to shift my pelvis forward. If you try it, you will absolutely feel a lateral move of your hips toward your target. It will

also move the pelvis in a slight diagonal direction, creating room to properly swing down to the ball from the inside.

I realise for some of you that an attempt to move your lead heel toward the target will feel awkward or difficult to do, and you’ll quickly abandon it for your old swing. I’m asking you to stay patient. Even if you keep (or return) your lead foot in the same position in the downswing that it was at address, you’ll be on your way to hitting more powerful shots. The worst thing you can do is let that heel move away from the target, encouraging the spinout.

Being more aware of the movement of the lead foot when you swing will make you a better ball-striker.

—with ron kAspriske JIM MCLEAN, one of Golf Digest’s

50 Best Teachers in America, operates the Jim McLean Golf School at The Biltmore Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. july 2022

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BODY / SWING ANALYSIS

BRACE AND FIRE

Want another 20 yards?

Then copy this move in Viktor Hovland’s swing

By Ron Kaspriske

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imagine that you have a wedge parked under the target side of your lead foot as you take your stance. Not a golf club, rather the kind of wedge you use for a doorstop or to split firewood. As you swing your driver into the ball, use that wedge to push down and away from the target with your lead leg. That move is something Viktor Hovland does, and it’s one reason he’s among the best drivers on the PGA Tour, says Golf Digest Teaching Professional Josh Zander.

Hovland, second in total driving, the

tour’s stat that combines distance and accuracy, uses that push to “throw on the brakes” with his lower body, which allows his driver to zip past him and rocket the ball into orbit.

“That move will put the mass of your body behind the ball, allowing you to launch it higher with less spin,” Zander says. “If you usually hit down on the ball and/or slide toward the target, which are common faults I see in many downswings, this move is a game-changer in terms of picking up distance. You can even practise this PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOM FURORE

push off with an actual wedge. You’ll start sweeping it off the tee.”

Ironically, Hovland says he’s trying to curtail the move, preferring to sacrifice a little power for accuracy.

“I need to get my shaft a little forward at impact, so I’m not leaning back quite as much,” he says. “I try to flight it down... almost always trying to hit a cut.”

To produce that lower, more controllable fade, Hovland sets up with a flared left foot, which helps delay the clubface from closing, Zander says.

He also does a couple of other things

to help keep it in the fairway: “At the top of his swing, the face is shut as a result of bowing his left wrist. If he fully released from there, he would hook it,” Zander says. “But his left arm stays a little bent coming down, like Jordan Spieth in his heyday. It’s a clubfaceopening move, and that keeps it more stable through impact. Granted, it’s a power leak, not letting that arm extend, but he’s got plenty to spare.”

Hovland, 24, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour and seventh on the World Golf Ranking at the end of May, aver-

ages 307 yards off the tee with a driving accuracy of 65 per cent. Both are among the top 50 on tour.

“It’s still a very powerful swing,” Zander says. “Look at his torso rotation; it’s incredible. And he starts loading into that lead leg as he’s still going back. That gives him time to set up that push-off move through impact.

“Also, look at his head position. It’s well behind the ball and marks the low point of the swing. If you’re trying to hit up on the ball and launch it high with less spin, copy that.” july 2022

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BODY / GOLF DIGEST SCHOOLS

SET, SLIDE AND SCORE Put some touch into your chipping game

By Mike Bender

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There’s more Than one way to chip, but no matter the method, one goal stays the same: You need to use the clubhead’s bounce, or trailing edge, to consistently hit good shots around the greens. By striking the ground with the bounce first — and not the leading edge — you can execute these shots without worrying about hitting them fat. You can even be super aggressive with your swing , and the club will still skim along the turf. I recommend two chip-

ping methods for the recreational golfer: The hinge-and-hold method I’m demonstrating (above) and a stiffwristed technique that is executed exactly how it sounds.

The hinge-and-hold method requires more practice but can really add some touch to your short game when performed properly. Set up in a very open stance. As you swing back, hinge your wrists fully, which opens the clubface. Now here’s the key: When you swing down and through PHOTOGRAPHS BY J.D. CUBAN

impact, leave the shaft of the club leaning toward the target, making sure to maintain the hinge in your wrists while leading with the club’s heel. This exposes the club’s bounce, allowing the back side of the wedge to glide along the ground. Hold the finish with the face open and the clubhead below your hands.

Don’t have a lot of time to practise?

Then go with the stiff-wristed technique, which should help create consistently good contact. To use it, set

up with the shaft neutral or leaning slightly back (for higher shots). That will put your hands even or slightly be-

“The hinge-and-hold method requires practice but can add some touch to your short game”

hind the ball, which allows the club to rest on the bounce, making it difficult to chunk the shot. Then rotate your body back and through while keeping your arms and wrists stiff. Return the shaft to the same position it was at address, and you’ll give yourself the best chance to chip it close and get up and down. —with dave allen MIKE BENDER, one of the 50 Best Teachers

in America, runs the Mike Bender Golf Academy in Lake Mary, Florida. july 2022

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in association with

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT BALL Our 2022 Hot List gets your search started

BY MIKE STACHURA & E. MICHAEL JOHNSON

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BEN WALTON

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Urethane

BRIDG ESTONE TOUR B ●

As much as it might feel like it, the search for the best golf ball for you is not quite like finding the perfect partner online. Yes, there are dozens of options to sift through — for our Hot List this year, we tested 89 balls to narrow our selections to the 26 winners and 40 models that earned our highest recommendations. Like any number of dating apps, you can plug in some of your characteristics or desired attributes and get an online ‘match’. However, as with the search for a soul mate, finding the perfect ball is very much a personal choice based on direct experience.

We pride ourselves on helping golfers winnow the universe of golf ball choices, but you still need to carry the ball (literally) the rest of the way. Part of that process is learning about what individual ball models offer (their ‘profiles’, if you will). How do you do that? Well, a clubfitter is a great place to start. A quality fitter can provide you with launch-monitor numbers that might indicate differences in launch, trajectory and spin rate on long shots and short ones. In our research with the team at the premium clubfitting firm Cool Clubs and its swing robot, we again saw significant differences in how balls performed in the short game.

This is why we divide our list into two categories: Urethane Cover and Non-Urethane Cover. In simple terms, balls that have urethane covers (with a few notable exceptions) are generally the balls played on the professional tours. Non-urethane balls are all the rest, ranging from the softest two-piece balls designed for golfers with slower swing speeds to the pre-packaged 15-ball distance rocks to the latest experimental middleground offerings that feature a new, cheaper cover compound that is meant to grab and spin like urethane. (In our assessment, they haven’t quite found it yet.)

Our star ratings reflect three scores that comprise the total evaluation of each entry. Performance accounts for 65 per cent of the score and is based on our panel of player evaluations. We judge Innovation (30 per cent) based on technical documents submitted by manufacturers and our review with our Hot List technical panel of PhD scientists. Finally, Demand (5 per cent) reflects our review of the marketplace, tour use and general buzz. Feel is not a score but a rating based on our players’ input on the relative softness of each ball.

How you assess which dimpled sphere is right for you goes back to the qualities that you’re looking for. We’ve provided a baseline of what to expect with each of our selections on this year’s Hot List. Just like the perfect first date, though, ask enough questions. The right one will have all the answers.

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This foursome targets players in two swing-speed classes (more than and less than 105 miles per hour) with a softer option that spins more (XS for fast swing speeds and RXS for average swing speeds) and a firmer, flatter-flying model (X and RX). Not just about making your drives longer, these new models add new compounds that work with the urethane covers to help generate more ball speed off the longer clubs and more control off the shorter clubs. That includes creating a softer interaction on shorter shots so that the ball stays on the face longer for control and spin.

Even better, those elements are tweaked specifically for each ball to better align with how those players make contact.

TOUR B X

TOUR B XS

IS IT FOR YOU ?

X: The firm feel appeals to fast swing speeds. Ideal if your priority is distance with high short-game spin a close second.

TOUR B RX

XS: The cover gives more at impact so that you can swing more aggressively on short shots. This is ideal for golfers who have exacting short games. It’s also worth considering this ball even if you don’t have tour-level swing speed.

TOUR B RXS

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★★

I NNOVATI O N

★★★★★

D E M AND

★★½

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO F I R M ) TOUR B X TOUR B XS TOUR B RX TOUR B RXS

........... >> .... ...... << ........ ..... << ......... ... << ...........

RX: The lowest spinning ball on full shots, it accentuates distance and reins in slices and hooks.

Softer feeling than the X. RXS: Loads of short-shot spin here, but it’s made for non-tour swings off the tee.

This is Bridgestone’s softest feeling urethane-cover ball.

GOLF BALLS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, GOLD THEN SILVER, BY EACH CATEGORY.

in association with

CA L L AWAY CH R O ME S OFT ●

SRIXON Z-STAR ●

Callaway has invested $50 million in its Chicopee, Massachusetts manufacturing capabilities, but what likely matters most to consumers is that all three of these balls stay true to the original Chrome Soft’s commitment to soft feel. That focus is, of course, more challenging when you’re trying to create higher resiliency. (A Nerf ball is soft, but it can never bounce like a Superball.)

The change in this model’s rubber-formula core, however, strengthens the linking of the molecules for better energy at impact off of any club. New aerodynamics on the cover yield a more penetrating flight compared to past models.

RRP AED 280

CS

CS X

Srixon’s tour-level balls optimise distance with a very thin cover. This allows for a larger core that reacts with less spin compared to some higher-compression cores, increasing the potential for energy and distance.

However, because these balls have to be good for all types of shots, the new models have a slightly thicker cover to improve feel and spin.

Although that would normally reduce distance because of higher spin, a new, deeper dimple pattern is used to counteract this effect.

RRP AED 240

Z-STAR

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

IS IT FOR YOU?

Z-STAR XV

Z-STAR: Targets players who want greenside finesse. More playable for a broader range of swing speeds than XV or .

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

I S I T FOR YOU?

CS: This softest version is especially forgiving for average golfers with a broader impact pattern (mis-hits).

CS X LS

PERFORMANCE

★★★★★

I N N OVATION

★★★★★

DEMAND

★★★½

F E E L RAT IN G (SO FT TO FI R M ) CS CS X CS X LS

CS X: The two mantle layers decrease spin on tee shots but help produce a little more iron spin.

... << ............ ........... >> .... ............. >> ..

Z-STAR 

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★★

I NNOVATI O N

★★★★★

D E M AND

CS X LS: Similar in construction to the X, this ball gives the lowest spin on full swings and offers a flatter trajectory.

★★

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO F I R M )

Z-STAR XV

...... << ......... .......... >> .....

Z-STAR 

..........>>.....

Z-STAR

Z-STAR XV: The inner core on this dual-core model produces the extra ball speed that makes this the longest of the three balls. It also spins less off the driver and launches a little higher.

Z-STAR : It features the XV’s extra resilient core to appeal to faster swing speeds, but a thicker, softer cover gives extra spin on iron shots as well as chips and pitches.

S RIXON Q- STA R TO UR ●

Tour balls are great, but you don’t have a tour player’s swing. Srixon believes this soft-feeling model is better for you. It’s the company’s softest-compression model with a urethane cover, enhanced by a softer mantle layer, too. These balls use the same idea found in the core of the Z-Star tour-level balls, a core that gets incrementally stiffer toward the outer edge to produce energy and less spin on the longer clubs. The cover also borrows from the tour ball’s special coating that enhances friction on the shortest shots for maximum spin. RRP AED 189

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★½

I NNOVATI O N

★★★★½ ★ ½

D E M AND

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO F IRM) Q-STAR TOUR

... << .............

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

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Urethane

TAYLO R M A D E

TAYLOR M A D E

TITLEIST

TO U R R E S P O N S E ●

TP5 ●

AVX ●

When it comes to finding speed, the core gets all the headlines, but lowercompression cores designed for normal golfers don’t always exude speed. That’s why this ball finds extra zip in a usually overlooked element — the highly resilient mantle that was taken from the company’s tour-proven TP5 balls.

Distance also comes from the same aerodynamic dimple shape found in the tour balls. The flatterbottom dimple creates more lift to extend carry at the apex, when the average Joe’s ball moves as slowly as Joe Pro’s. Also, the aimenhancing “Stripe” version clearly changes how you see things.

RRP AED 220 Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae P ERFO R MANCE

★★★★½

I N N OVATION

★★★★½

DEMA ND

★★

F E E L RAT IN G (SO FT TO FIR M ) TOUR RESPONSE

... << .............

25

APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF BALL MODELS PLAYED ON TOUR EACH WEEK

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Everybody wants a golf ball that goes faster and farther, but TaylorMade’s latest improvements to its five-layer TP5 and TP5x focus a lot of attention on improving these balls as they lose speed.

Specifically, the dimples were redesigned with a flatter, less curved bottom.

The idea is to have an aerodynamic pattern that features reduced drag at the start of flight but converts to one that increases lift at the apex of flight when the ball is slowing down. That extends the back end of the flight by squeezing a little more carry when the ball is transitioning into its descent.

The ball’s five layers include an especially resilient fourth layer just underneath the cast urethane cover that helps improve initial velocity.

RRP AED 250

TP5

TP5X

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★★

I NNOVATI O N

★★★★★ ★★★½

D E M AND

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO F I R M )

I S I T FOR YOU?

TP5 TP5X

TP5: Added speed, but it’s still the softer model and appeals to a broader range.

The TP5 is best if greenside spin matters the most.

..... << ........... ......... >> .......

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

TP5X: Lower spinning on longer shots, it’s ideal if you like higher launch.

Firmer, its greenside spin is higher and feel is softer than the 2019 version.

The new AVX, like its predecessor, is a lowercompression, softer-feeling ball that flies off the driver a little lower than the Pro V1 and Pro V1x. That’s why it might boost distance for some average golfers who generate too much spin on their long clubs. What fans wanted was more spin on the shortest shots, so this year’s version features a softer urethane cover to help give those chips and pitches a little more grab and those putts a little more cushion. The extra oomph off the tee comes from a core that gets firmer toward the outer edges and new aerodynamics to optimise that lower flight.

RRP AED 350 Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★½

I NNOVATI O N

★★★★½

D E M AND

★★★

1,224 NUMBER OF DIFFERENT BALL MODELS ON USGA CONFORMING LIST

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO F I R M) AVX

.. << ..............

in association with

T IT L E I ST P RO V 1 ●

Titleist’s flagship balls — the most played on tour and the most sold in stores — got a tiny change designed to make a big difference down range. The new dimple patterns on the Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the first update in more than a decade, but they work better because of other performance enhancements throughout both balls. That includes new manufacturing processes for the core and a more resilient mantle layer. As a bonus, the covers are the softest ever for a Pro V1 or Pro V1x to provide more short-game control. RRP AED 350

PRO V1

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae PRO V1X

I S I T FOR YOU?

PRO V1: It feels the softest of the three and flies the lowest off the driver. Very similar short-wedge spin to Pro V1x.

PRO V1X: The highest flying off the driver and the highest spinning off the irons, so it’s a good choice if you’re looking for more height. Will feel firmer than the Pro V1.

—PRO V1X

P ERFORMANCE

★★★★★

I N N OVATION

★★★★★

DEMAND

★★★★★

F E E L RAT IN G (SO FT TO FI R M ) PRO V1 PRO V1X —PRO V1X

...... << ......... ......... >> ...... ........... >> ....

—PRO V1X: The firmest feeling of the three, it spins a little less than the others off the irons and around the green. It generally caters to those seeking high launch/low spin.

Our Ball Testing Is Different SHORT-GAME SHOTS ARE THE KEY Although the Golf Digest Hot List and Golf Digest Golf Ball Hot List share similar names, they are anything but in terms of player testing. In many ways, testing golf balls is far more difficult. For clubs, testing is done on a range setting with a variety of player types. Between adjustability and different shaft options, fitting plays an important role. The number of variables that can be discerned are plentiful. Distance, trajectory, turf interaction, spin, look, sound and feel all contribute to the impression of a club. However, golf balls are all round and primarily white and dimpled, so the “look” isn’t a significant factor. There are no fitting levers to work with, either.

Sound? Probably not. Meaningful player testing, however, can be done. Unlike clubs, all markings are blacked out.

Club testing is conducted with handicaps that go into the 20s, but ball testing entails better players exclusively, with the highest handicap a 5 and most scratch or better.

That’s because the vast majority of ball testing is done inside 100 yards and around the green on a golf course.

As such, a reliable short-iron game and significant shortgame skills are needed because it is these shots where differences appear and can be felt and seen. —E.M.J.

T IT L E I ST TO U R SP E E D ●

Although this multilayer Titleist ball moves away from the company’s typical cast urethane cover to the somewhat more affordable thermoplastic urethane cover, it still gives players who have preferred the distance of typical non-urethane cover balls a significant jolt of the greenside spin they’ve been missing.

In addition to that extra grab on pitches, this ball maintains the distance quotient these players demand through a newly energised ionomer mantle layer. It works with the core for added ball speed and reduced spin for better tee shots. AED 275

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★ ★★★★½

I NNOVATI O N D E M AND

★★

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO FIRM) TOUR SPEED

.......... >> .....

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

july 2022

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61

Urethane

in association with

WILS O N STA FF M OD EL ●

This four-layer ball is plenty complex, but its most valuable characteristic might be what’s missing. What’s there: a core that’s firm enough to build speed but soft enough to curb spin on tee shots, two mantles that lower spin (the softer inner) and enhance velocity (the firmer outer) and a thin urethane cover that helps with distance but is still soft enough for high short-shot spin. What’s not there? The “R” version’s uncoated cover helps foster the tighter dispersion elite players demand.

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★ ★★★★½

I NNOVATI O N D E M AND

★

F E E L RAT I N G ( S O F T TO F I R M ) STAFF MODEL

......... >> .......

Want to be 12 feet closer to the hole?

Our robot testing by clubfitter Cool Clubs reveals that our group still meant a six-foot longer putt. What’s five urethane-cover balls spin more than non-urethane-cover or 10 feet difference mean? On the PGA Tour, they make balls on shots around the green, sometimes twice as 10-footers about 41 per cent of the time, 15- to 20-footmuch. Using Foresight Sports FSX software, the differers 18 per cent of the time and 20- to 25-footers 12 per ence between the lower-spinning balls and the urethanecent of the time. If your chance of getting up and down cover balls essentially is the difference between a 10-foot more than tripled just by changing to a multilayer, ureputt and a 22-foot putt on a flat green (more than douthane-cover ball, would you do it? If you wouldn’t, maybe ble that on a sloping green). The balls in the middle of you’re playing a different game than we are. —M.S. ٤۰-YARD WEDGE ROBOT TEST

lower

LAUNCH ANGLE

LAUNCH ANGLE

higher

40-YARD WEDGE

lower

higher SPIN

URETHANE

NON-URETHANE

BRIDGESTONE TOUR B RX

SRIXON Z-STAR

TITLEIST PRO V1

◆ CALLAWAY ERC SOFT

BRIDGESTONE TOUR B RXS

SRIXON Z-STAR 

TITLEIST PRO V1X

◆ CALLAWAY SUPERSOFT

BRIDGESTONE TOUR B X

SRIXON Z-STAR XV

TITLEIST TOUR SPEED

◆ SRIXON Q-STAR

BRIDGESTONE TOUR B XS

TAYLORMADE TOUR RESPONSE

WILSON STAFF MODEL

◆ SRIXON SOFT FEEL

CALLAWAY CHROME SOFT

TAYLORMADE TP5

WILSON STAFF MODEL R

◆ TAYLORMADE SOFT RESPONSE

CALLAWAY CHROME SOFT X

TAYLORMADE TP5X

◆ TITLEIST TOUR SOFT

CALLAWAY CHROME SOFT X LS

TITLEIST —PRO V1X

◆ TITLEIST TRUFEEL

SRIXON Q-STAR TOUR

TITLEIST AVX

◆ TITLEIST VELOCITY

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SPIN

URETHAN

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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motivatemedia.com

Non-Urethane

CA LLAWAY

CAL L AWAY

S R IXON

TAY LORMADE

TITLEIST

ERC SOFT ●

S UPE R S OFT ●

Q- STAR ●

SOFT REPONSE ●

TOU R SOFT ●

When designing a golf ball, the dilemma designers often face is simple: How to get as much speed as possible off the driver and allow for performance around the green. The ERC Soft’s cover uses a collection of ionomers with an impact modifier additive that promotes full-swing shots with high-launch and low spin and avoids a firm feel. Like the original ERC Soft, this version features the Triple Track alignment markings in which a red line is framed by two blue lines to enhance the perception of target alignment. Rather than relying on spin for short shots, this ball’s durable ionomer cover reacts best for players who want their shots around the green to stop via height and little rollout rather than spin.

RRP AED 225

Designing balls in this category means focusing on attributes that help golfers play the game they are capable of rather than the one they aspire to. In many instances, that means giving them more distance, higher launch and a soft feel. Often a soft ball is going to be easier for players with slower or average swing speeds to launch high, and the lower compression is more forgiving because of its lower spin. A high launch, lowerspinning ball tends to enhance distance for a majority of players by reducing the amount of yards shots go offline. A new cover formula similar to the ERC Soft is designed to improve short-game control and contribute to the high-launch, low-spin distance formula.

RRP AED 140

Now in its sixth generation, this twopiece ionomer-cover ball has a lower overall compression compared to previous versions. That provides better distance off the tee and enhanced feel when approaching the green, particularly for moderate to slow swing speeds. How does it do that? The lower compression reduces spin off the driver, and the revamped core increases launch angle. The dimple pattern is designed for a more penetrating flight off the longer clubs, too. A coating on the cover creates a more elastic surface allowing the grooves to better grab the ball for enhanced friction. Golfers with some shortgame skill looking for a ball costing about half of premium balls might take a look.

RRP AED 189

A low-compression, three-piece ball with an ionomer cover, the Soft Response enhances distance and produces a softer feel in a manner two-piece balls simply can’t. Instead of addressing distance through a firmer cover (something done with some two-piece offerings), this ball uses a firmer mantle layer underneath the cover to increase speed for additional yards. In other words, this is a ball that can help generate plenty of speed for golfers who can’t always produce it on their own. That distance is belied by the soft feel at impact with just enough spin into and around the green created by the softer cover. In fact, this is the softest ball in the company’s lineup with a compression rating of 50, 10 points lower than its previous version.

RRP AED 140

The original Tour Soft was designed as a distance play in the category of softer-feeling golf balls. The follow up to that product took things a step further. As always, golfers were looking for more distance but with a touch of short-game spin.

To achieve both of those desires, Titleist engineers designed a larger core to provide the distance and surrounded it with a slightly firmer cover that works with the core to produce better short-game spin. What will likely go unnoticed by golfers but is what powers the ball’s distance is a new 342-dimple pattern that results in a more penetrating ball flight and a lower trajectory than some other balls in the category. That helps produce more rollout on tee shots for extra yards.

RRP AED 245

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

P ERFO R MANCE

PE R FOR M A N C E

PE R F O R M ANCE

P E R F O R M ANCE

P E R F O R M ANCE

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

I N N OVAT ION

IN N OVAT ION

IN N OVATI O N

I NNOVATI O N

I NNOVATI O N

★★★★★

★★★★

★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★½

DEMA ND

DEMAND

D E M AND

D E M AND

D E M AND

★★★

★★★★★

★★

★★

★★★

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

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........ >> .......

... << ............

... << ............

in association with

S RIXON

TI TL E I ST

TITLEIST

S O F T FE E L ●

TR UFE E L ●

V ELOCITY ●

This mainstay of the Srixon golf-ball family has been around for more than two decades and is in its 12th version. To increase distance this ball has a gradation core that is softer in the center before gradually turning firmer toward the perimeter. The design delivers more rebound at impact off the longer clubs.

For the ionomer cover, a 338-dimple pattern is used to help downrange flight as it enhances lift with reduced drag, a combination that results in more carry distance by keeping the ball in the air longer. The overall compression of 60 is about a third less than the Z-Star, the company’s softest tour ball, and the thin ionomer cover provides enough greenside spin to matter.

RRP AED 129

If you think Titleist only pays close attention to its tour-caliber Pro V1/V1x balls, consider that its latest version of its lowercost TruFeel ball required the company to make several adjustments to its manufacturing process.

One of the reasons was the use of a significantly larger (and low-compression) core that measures 1.6 inches. That meant re-writing all the software, re-designing the cup geometry and upgrading equipment to control the flow of materials in a precise manner. The reason for all the enhancements? The desire of the TruFeel player to gain distance and keep the pillowy soft feel the ball is known for. Of course, a larger core means a thinner cover, resulting in improved feel on short shots and putts.

RRP AED 185

The lower the price point, the more likely it is the consumer is looking for a single specific performance attribute rather than a ball that works well on all parts of the course.

For the Velocity player, that usually means a desire to hit it farther because, as we all know, it’s a lot cooler to say you pulled an 8-iron out of the bag from 140 than a 6-iron.

To achieve that, the company switched to a higher compression and a 1.55-inch core to give the ball more speed. But as with most golf-ball designs, one change brings another—in this case an alteration to the cover formula to make sure the spin didn’t get too high off the long clubs. Why is that important? Too much spin at higher ball speeds negates the distance gains garnered from the revised core.

RRP AED 210

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

Available at eGolf Megastore, or buy online at egolfmegastore.ae

PERFORMANCE

PE R FOR M A N C E

PE R F O R M ANCE

★★★★

★★★★

★★★★

I N N OVATION

IN N OVAT ION

INNOVATI O N

★★★★

★★★★

★★★★

DEMAND

DEMAND

D E M AND

★★★½

★★★½

★★★

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

FEEL RATING (SOFT TO FIRM)

.... << ...........

.. << .............

Distance Rollback?

USGA/R&A SCRUTINIZE THE ISSUE Is the USGA going to take away your golf ball? Maybe. Will there be new equipment rules that somehow might help average golfers but still roll back the guys on tour? Maybe. When golf’s rulemakers made it clear in 2020 that they were going after distance, it started a period of preliminary research and proposals. Although still years away, one idea from the USGA and R&A is to raise the golf-ball-test swing speed to 125 miles per hour to make most of the balls played on tour nonconforming. That doesn’t mean all current balls would be nonconforming.

It’s likely that a lot of two-piece, lowcompression models might still come up short when tested at the new speed. Still, nearly half of all the balls sold at retail likely would be nonconforming because almost half the balls sold today are the balls played on tour. The ruling bodies also have suggested eliminating a second current test (initial velocity) to open up new designs that help golfers with slower swing speeds. But is such a nonlinear-performing ball even possible?

Some insiders have suggested at best it would be a lot of effort to avoid a little less decline for slow-swing speeds. Maybe. Most manufacturers believe the change in test speed ultimately would still negatively affect all golfers, and not just off the tee. Either way, as has always been the case when it comes to the distance debate, there seems to be clear disagreement over what the facts might mean. One definitive fact: The USGA is taking comments until Sept. 2. What happens after that isn’t so clear. —M.S.

Scan the QR code to download eGolf Megastore App

............ >> ...

july 2022

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65

L

THE LOOP

Does This Hole-in-one Count?

Our trusty ace-o-meter has the answer

By Coleman Bentley DURING TOURNAMENT PLAY WITH A FREE BMW ON THE LINE

WHILE PLAYING A NINE-HOLE PAR-3 COURSE

CUT SHORT

BY WEATHER/EMERGENCY

WHILE PLAYING SOLO

DURING FOURSOMES PLAY, YOUR TEE SHOT

DURING A SIMULATOR ROUND

IF YOU OWN THE COURSE

DURING FOURSOMES PLAY, YOUR PARTNER’S TEE SHOT

AFTER KICKING OFF A TREE, CART OR OTHER SOLID OBJECT

ON A PROVISIONAL

DURING A ROUND 66

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