Worldwide Golf December 2017

T H E M I D D L E E A S T ’ S N O .1 G O L F M A G A Z I N E

EST

1999

Worldwide Golf

DECEMBER

2017

P E T E R COW E N AC A D E M Y O P E N S IN DUBAI

JON RAHM T H E R O O K I E O F T H E Y E A R S M A S H E D I T I N 2 01 7 A N D N OW H E ’S E Y E I N G M A J O R G LO RY

P L AY E R ++ JI AUNL I PAON USLTU REIR F O C U S + NICOLAS COLSAERTS

+ PU T T ING G U R U P HIL K E N YO N O N L I F E ON T H E GR EE N

Worldwide Golf is the Official Media partner to the European Tour in the Middle East and the official magazine of the Emirates Golf Federation

+ A M I X E D B AG T I T L E I ST ’S U LT I M AT E F I T

+ + + +

S H A L LOW AT TAC K , LO N G E R D R I V E C H I P P I N G M A ST E R C L A S S C H A N G E T R A J E C TO RY O N D E M A N D DRAIN MORE PUTTS

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Nedbank Challenge a Great Success It is always a pleasure to host the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, and Branden Grace was a worthy winner while Tommy Fleetwood deserved to win the Race to Dubai after a stellar year

HAT a wonderful event the Nedbank Golf Challenge was, and I was proud to be the host. And what a wonderful winner we had with Branden Grace. He was three shots behind overnight leader Scott Jamieson but with four holes remaining he had played his way into a three-way tie for the lead.

He moved ahead of the pack by holing a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th to go one-shot ahead and kept his lead for a memorable victory. Branden was a hugely popular local winner with the cheering crowds at our Gary Player Country Club at Sun City in becoming the first South African to win the tournament since Trevor Immelman won it in 2007.

It’s an honour and a privilege for me to host the Nedbank Golf Challenge and with the tournament being the seventh and penultimate event in the 2017 Rolex Series. No doubt it was an enormous success.

With the pin placements in such difficult positions it was a tough challenge for all the players, but Branden won it in the style of a champion to jump from 34th on the Race to Dubai into the top ten.

I was pleased to see two other South Africans making it into the European Tour’s season-ending climax, at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Richard Sterne and Haydn Porteous. Richard finished 19th in the Nedbank to squeeze into 60th place from 61st place. Haydn was 12th at Sun City to move from 65th to 57th in the Race to Dubai rankings.

It was good to see Tommy Fleetwood in the field.

He’s a really likeable young man and he’s had an outstanding season. He shared 10th place in the NGC to add a few more precious points to his ranking, which helped him win the Race to Dubai and

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pocket bonus money of $1,250,000. The DP World Tour Championship was a nail-biting finish with Jon Rahm winning by just one shot, while Justin Rose seemed to be cruising to victory but had to settle for tied fourth.

In last month’s Worldwide Golf I appealed to ‘the powers that be,’ to do something to stop the golf ball making our traditional, iconic golf courses redundant. While I congratulate Jon on his victory I warned that athletes like the 6-foot-2-inch Spaniard, who hits the ball a country mile, will take control of the world game and turn courses like St. Andrews into obsolete courses from a major championship perspective.

A young man named Jonathan Thomson won his playing card for the 2018 European Tour season at Qualifying School last month. He’s 6-foot-9-inches tall and will soon be among the longest hitters on Tour. He played in our Gary Player Invitational at Wentworth so I saw this first hand. I wonder where we will be 12 months’ from now let alone 12 years.

Although the Nedbank Golf Challenge was an overwhelming success it was unfortunate that there were very few Americans in the field, with the exception of Peter Uihlein, Julian Suri and David Lipsky. With total prize money of more than $7.5 million on offer you would think that the players’ managers should be satisfied that their charges can win sufficient prize money and world ranking points without having to insist on appearance money.

It’s more difficult than ever to make sure that the best tournaments in world golf like the Nedbank and DP Championship will attract the best players and the time has come to reconsider a true world golf tour similar to the ATP Tennis Tour.

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CONTENTS 14

COLUMN

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THE STARTER

PETE COWEN

DAVID HOWELL

RAFA CABRERA BELLO

This month we take a look at the famous Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club, assess all the latest happenings in the game and some of the most memorable quotes of 2017.

PGA Master Professional Pete Cowen looks back on a successful year for his stable of European Tour professionals and looks ahead at what Team Europe need to do to win back The Ryder Cup.

European Tour veteran David Howell gives his unique insidethe-ropes insight into life on the European Tour and is full of praise for Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood.

Spanish star Rafa Cabrera Bello talks about his year, his goals for 2018 and beginning a new chapter in his life as a married man.

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Jon Rahm

Worldwide Golf tracks the rapid rise of Jon Rahm from low-amateur honours at the 2016 US Open to three-time winner in 2017. Pictured above is Chief Executive Keith Pelley presenting Rahm on his European Tour Rookie of the Year award. The young Spaniard has the golfing world at his feet and his victory in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship highlights just how far he’s come in such a short space of time.

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FEATURE

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TOUR NEWS

Julian Suri

Road to Mongomo

The DP World Tour Championship closes out another Race to Dubai season and 15 hard working Challenge Tour graduates can look forward to life on the top tier in 2018 at the conclusion of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.

We sit down with Julian Suri, a player to watch in the coming months and years. The New Yorker has a determined competitive spirit and is keen to win again after a successful 2017.

We preview the action as the latest instalment of the 3e Actuaries Open looks set to put Equatorial Guinea firmly on the golfing map.

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CONTENTS FEATURE

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Peter Cowen Academy Big news in Dubai as the Peter Cowen Academy opens its doors at Emirates Golf Club. The coach to leading Major champions and Ryder Cup stars talks about the importance of the Academy in devoloping future stars from the region, particularly UAE Nationals.

Instruction

FEATURE

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Hit Longer Drives Shallow your angle of attack to hit it longer off the tee with Michael Bolt, PGA Professional at Trump International Golf Club, Dubai.

Phil Kenyon Putting coach to many of the top names in the game, Worldwide Golf visits Phil Kenyon in his lab to find out what goes into being a great coach and how he deals with so many different personalities on Tour.

Chipping Away Stephen Deane, Head Professional at Emirates GC, pinpoints some key fundamentals when it comes to chipping it close.

Change Trajectory on Demand

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Tour Destination

Quick Five

This month, our series on European Tour Destinations heads to Southern Spain, to the Finca Cortesin Resort, a former host venue of the Volvo World Match Play Championship.

Five things you didn’t know about Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts

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Correct shaft length

Worldwide Golf Editor Alex Gallemore gets fitted with the correct length of shaft for a new Scotty Cameron putter.

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Nick Cork, Senior PGA Professional at Abu Dhabi GC showcases a drill to help you control your shot trajectory, which, in turn, will help you make better decisions.

Keep the Face Square Jaco Stander, Teaching Professional at Saadiyat Beach GC highlights a putting drill that will help maintain a square face through impact.

Titleist’s Ultimate Fit

Chris Beaumont, Titleist Golf Club Marketing and Interactive Manager, talks about their ‘Ultimate Fit’ experience.

Unlimited Putting Choice

eGolf Megastore’s custom-fit specialist, Regardt van Rooyen, showcases their huge range of putters.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Does money really matter for the big names?

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ne season finishes – another begins, yet I’m still trying to figure out the scheduling of many of the big-name players in the game. Maybe there is an air-miles bonus in addition to the Race to Dubai to consider?

Prior to the DP World Tour Championship, Tommy Fleetwood had played three back-to-back events in China, Turkey and South Africa. He looked dead on his feet at times on the Earth course and having narrowly, although deservedly, bagged the Race to Dubai you would have expected him to have jumped on a private jet and flown back home for Christmas with his young family.

Nope, instead, he flew straight to the Far East to tee it up in the UBS Hong Kong Open. He must be desperate to swerve nappy changing duties, interrupted sleep or Christmas shopping.

After Garcia won his home event he decided to take some time out and, in doing so, effectively handed Fleetwood the Race to Dubai honours for 2017. That was before Justin Rose went on a late charge in China and Turkey to make things interesting. Yet Sergio, who did tee it up in Dubai, joined Tommy in Hong Kong and then he went on to tee it up in the Australian PGA Championship where the prize money total was just 1.5million Australian dollars.

So, if Sergio’s schedule was to play three events in succession why didn’t he play the last two Rolex Series events in Turkey and South Africa where $14.5 million and as many Race to Dubai points was up for grabs?

Without wishing to sound mercenary, perhaps he was just clocking up a couple of 2018 European Tour events to include

in his required number which is needed to retain membership and be eligible for The Ryder Cup? The big players these days don’t need the money, unless they’ve made poor investment choices or have family issues to deal with. For most of the time, scheduling is centred around Majors, Ryder Cup points and sponsor commitments.

This is where the Tour events in the Middle East succeed. As the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic now give the star players two events back-to-back in glorious conditions before they can head back to the States.

Throw in the Qatar Masters and the newly appointed European Tour event, the NBO Oman Golf Classic, and they’re almost there for their five events outside the WGCs and Majors to retain their European Tour status. The DP World Tour Championship falls perfectly at the end of the season as the showcase event that doesn’t clash with Major scheduling.

Last month Emirates Golf Club and the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club became full Peter Cowen Academies. It’s been in the pipeline for a while, but it means that Pete will be out to Dubai more often to work with his Tour players and teaching staff at the two courses.

His players might prefer to be hitting balls in glorious sunshine at the start of the year instead of pounding balls in the freezing cold and pouring rain at Pete’s UK base in Rotherham, in the North of England. Though, don’t be surprised if you see Pete brushing up on the range and pouring his own drinks in the Emirates clubhouse, as old habits die hard.

ISSUE No.198 DECEMBER 2017 • Published by: Worldwide Sporting Publications Ltd • Published in Dubai by: Prografix • PO Box 24677 • Dubai, UAE (Tel) +9714 340 3785 Editor-in-Chief: Mike Gallemore • Executive Editor: Gary Player • Editor: Alex Gallemore (alex@wspglobal.com) Publisher: Mike Gallemore (mike@wspglobal.com) • General Manager Dubai: Richard Bevan (rick@wspglobal.com) • Editors: Todd Staszko, Scott Grayston, Ashraf Ahmed • Production/Design Editor: Thameem Rayyan • Editorial Panel: Gary Player, Mike Gallemore, Alex Gallemore, Richard Bevan, Todd Staszko • Photography: Getty Images • June 2009 SSN 1- 46805671 • Approval UAE National Media Council: Ref.816 30/5/2007 Trade Licence No. 1/104375/15280 • Worldwide Golf specifies that post-press changes may occur to any information given in this publication and takes no responsibility for goods or services advertised

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FOCUS ON ONE OF THE MOST RENOWNED COURSES IN THE UAE

THE COURSE Emirates Golf Club The oldest grass course in the region is set to host the leading lights on the Ladies European Tour this month and then welcome the stars of the European Tour in January.

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HE oldest and most recognisable golf course in the Middle East, the Majlis at Emirates Golf Club, is ready to host two world class events this month and next, as both the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the European Tour roll into Dubai.

This month’s Omega Dubai Ladies Classic – formerly known as the Ladies Masters – has been the season-ending event on the LET since the tournament’s inception in 2006.

In that time it has seen the likes of Annika Sorenstam, Lexi Thompson and Shanshan Feng prevail. China’s Feng has won the title four times, including the last three in a row, winning in 2015 by a record 12 strokes.

Since the Majlis course opened in 1988, it has earned the reputation as one of the finest in the world and as host of the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic since 1989, it has seen its layout broadcast around the world to millions of golf fans for approaching 30 years.

Past winners include global superstars Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Rory McIlroy and Ryder Cup heroes Colin Montgomerie, Fred Couples, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson to name just a few.

Defending Champion Sergio Garcia is confirmed to defend his title and a supporting cast of stars are set to assemble to challenge the Spaniard, with a prize fund of $3m and the famous ‘Dallah’ trophy to play for.

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In Numbers

Rolex Series Events Recap THE Rolex Series events were one of many successful innovations intriduced by the European Tour in 2017, with world-class fields heading to some of the finest destinations in the world to compete in elite tournaments and equally elite prize money.

Earnings of players was up across the board as in 2016, Graeme Storm finished 111th in the Race

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to Dubai to retain his card with €247,000. This year Marcel Siem ended just inside the bubble with €388,000 in the bank, while Tom Lewis, who finished 135th, went back to Q-School with €227,000 for the season. The Rolex Series has given a boost to all levels of Tour player and the events will play a significant part in deciding who makes next

year's Ryder Cup team, with the rule that no qualification points are awarded for events played elesewhere in the same week as a Rolex Series event.

This affected Graeme McDowell when he finished in 10th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which was played opposite the Turkish Airlines Open. The numbers speak for themselves.

All eight Rolex Series events were won by players who are now ranked inside the top 30 on the Official World Golf Ranking

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Alex Noren's final round 62 en route to winning the BMW PGA Championship was the lowest round (ten under par) of the Rolex Series events. Marcus Fraser also shot 62 at the Italian Open (nine under par)

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There were three aces during the Rolex Series events – Joost Luiten and Peter Hanson at the Dubia Duty Free Irish Open and David Horsey at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open

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Paul Dunne, who was one of only two players to compete in all eight Rolex Series events, made 127 birdies in his 32 rounds – six more than any other player

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Jon Rahm was the only player to win multiple Rolex Series events (DDF Irish Open and DP World Tour Championship) and he earned €2.39m from the elite events, more than any other player on Tour

The total ammount of prize money across the eight events was $57.5million.

Events have a minimum fund of $7m but the Nedbank Golf Challenge ($7.5m) and DP World Tour Championship ($8m) both offered bigger purses

l 2017 Rolex Series winners: Alex Noren, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Justin Rose and Branden Grace

The 2017 Road to Oman winner Tapio Pulkkanen had the honour of hitting the first shot of the 2018 Race to Dubai at the UBS Hong Kong Open last month. The Finn missed the cut after shooting rounds of 77-75.

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Miguel Angel Jimenez continues to defy his age.

The 53-year-old became the oldest player in European Tour history to shoot 63 as he moved up the pack to finish in a share of seventh place at the UBS Hong Kong Open after starting the day in 35th. n The European and Asian teams have been confirmed for the third staging of the EurAsia Cup in Malaysia next month. Europe's team, led by Captain Thomas Bjørn, consists of Rafa Cabrera Bello; Paul Casey, Paul Dunne; Ross Fisher; Matt Fitzpatrick; Tommy Fleetwood; Tyrrell Hatton; Alex Levy; Alex Noren; Thomas Pieters; Henrik Stenson and Bernd Wiesberger. n Asia will line-up with Kiradech Aphibarnrat; Gavin Green; SSP Chawrasia; Li Haotong; Phachara Khongwatmai; Poom Saksansin; Anirban Lahiri; An Byeong Hun; Hideto Tanihara; Sunghoon Kang; Nicholas Fung and Yuta Ikeda. Europe currently leads the all-time standings 2-0.

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ADITI Ashok underlined her status as one of the best young players in the game when she clinched her third title as a professional at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. The 19-year-old overcame England's Georgia Hall to win by one stroke.

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HITS Cameron Davis sealed his home open with a stunning come-from-behind victory at the Australian Open.

A final round 64 saw him win by one shot ahead of former champion Matt Jones and Jonas Blixt, with overnight leader Jason Day fading to fifth place.

Luke Donald had a scare when he was hospitalised after suffering with chest pains before teeing off at The RSM Classic last month. The Englishman was given the all clear after seven hours of tests and confirmed that his heart 'looked good'.

Donald will return to action next year after a now extended off-season.

Lydia Ko proved she is human after all with a winless season on the LPGA Tour. The young prodigy has 14 titles to her name already in her career but 2017 will be a year to forget for Ko. Eight-time US PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker returned to action at The RSM Classic for his first outing since June after suffering with an ongoing sternum injury. The Ryder Cup star cut out carbs and sugar from his diet in a bid to reduce inflammation around the injury and the move helped as he finished in a productive share of 29th place.

ASHOK ON TOP INDIAN STARLET WINS IN ABU DHABI

Teeing it up

News, Facts and Figures from around the Tours

Ogilvy wades into golf ball debate

Koepka defends the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan with ease

Aussie cites baseball as an example to follow Former US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy has joined the many voices calling for authorities to dial the ball back in order to save old courses. "In Major League Baseball they use wooden bats," began the 40-year-old. "But everywhere else they use aluminium bats. Now, when the major leaguers use aluminium bats they barely have to touch it and it completely destroys stadia.

That’s kind of what’s happened to us – we’ve completely outgrown the stadia. So do you rebuild every stadium in the world? That’s expensive. Or make the ball go shorter? It seems relatively simple from that perspective.’’

Japan's Top-ranked player Matsuyama finishes slowly

Jutanugarn takes Tour Championship as Thompson misses a tiddler American misses chance to become World No.1 but still wins the Race to the CME Globe There was high drama at the end of the LPGA Tour Championship as a birdie-birdie finish from Ariya Jutanugarn saw her take the title ahead of Lexi Thompson after the American had missed from inside two feet on the final green.

The Thai clinched the tournament to end the season on a high although Thompson did win the seasonlong Race to the CME Globe but missed out on the opportunity to become World No.1 for the first time.

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US Open Champion Brooks Koepka defended the Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Golf Tour with a mammoth nine shot victory. World No.5 Hideki Matsuyama finished in fifth place, ten strokes back, and admitted that he has work to do to catch the likes of Keopka.

“I feel there's a huge gap between us,” he said.

“I don't know whether it's a lack of practice or whether I lack the strength to keep playing well, but there are many issues to address.”

Matsuyama was runnerup behind Keopka at this year's US Open and is still in search of that elusive maiden Major title.

Cancer survivor earns Euro Tour Card Jonathan Thomson navigates through Q-School to complete emotional journey The towering 6' 9" Jonathan 'Jigger' Thomson will be a new face on the European Tour next year after the bighitting Yorkshireman successfully navigated Q-School last month.

The 21-year-old, who between the ages of seven and 12 underwent extensive chemotherapy to combat lymphoblastic leukaemia, has only been a professional for just over a year. "Me and my dad had a hug and shed a tear on the 18th," said Thomson after he finished 18th to earn his card.

QUOTES OF THE YEAR

“I learned to accept what Augusta gives and takes.”

"It sounds good"

– Sergio Garcia breaks his Major Championship hoodoo at The Masters

– Dustin Johnson goes deep after learning he became World No.1 in February

“It feels amazing and crazy, because I had no intention of trying to win this morning.”

– Alex Noren reflects on his final round 62 which secured the BMW PGA Championship

“We felt that last time in Germany we had lost it. This time we don't feel we lost it. They just played better than us.”

– Catriona Matthew breaks down Europe’s loss at the Solheim Cup in Des Moines.

The Scot will be Europe's Captain in 2019 at Gleneagles.

“Every single shot was stressful. Every putt was stressful. I just kept trusting in my own game and trusting in my putting. Now it feels pretty awesome.”

– American Danielle Kang wins the Women’s PGA Championship for her first Major

“Boy, that was eventful.”

– Jordan Spieth reflects on his Open Championship triumph at Royal Birkdale

“You can’t say you don’t care about distance, because guess what?

Courses are expanding and are predicted to continue to expand.

The impact it has had has been horrible…

The reality is this is affecting all golfers and affecting them in a bad way. All it’s doing is increasing the cost of the game.”

– Mike Davis, USGA CEO, candidly talks about the increases in golf ball technology

“I’m excited to say this – for next year I am going to rejoin the European Tour,” – Paul Casey

signals his intentions to get back into Ryder Cup reckoning in Paris

“My ultimate goal in life is to be the best player in the world. That will always be the same. Whether I achieve it or not is another thing but I’ll always strive for that.”

– Tommy Fleetwod underlines his goals after winning the Race to Dubai

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COLUMN

PETE COWEN:

Thomas Bjørn will have his work cut out but the Americans will be beatable in Paris.

Looking back on 2017 and ahead at Europe’s Ryder Cup mission in Paris A year is a long time in golf and although the Americans were dominant in the Majors in 2017 there is lots to golf to play before Europe and the USA go head to head in September

T HAS been a funny old season for the guys I coach.

Over the last 23 years we have had an average of 12 wins a year on the Race to Dubai but this year we only managed to get eight, although we had 22 runnersup places. So, it’s been a good season, but not a great one.

Fourteen of my players qualified for the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, although Henrik Stenson had to withdraw. This is testament to the players getting into the top 60 and having a reasonably good season, even if I didn’t get as many victories as I’d have liked.

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Pieters conundrum

The qualities and talent of Thomas Pieters is remarkable but he is too much of a perfectionist for his own good, which can be his downfall. This has happened to him frequently during this season. You’ve got to remember that last year when Henrik (Stenson) won the Race to Dubai, he ironically finished last in the DP World Tour Championship, so I’m hoping Thomas will follow the same pattern next year!

Crazy about Kiradech

One of my guys I’m really proud of this season is Kiradech Aphibarnrat who has been great. He’s managed to lose a couple of stone and he’s got himself a bit fitter, which is brilliant to see. He’s a tremendous golfer, great putter and has the drive and ambition to be the best player there is, which makes him a pleasure to teach.

Stars of the bunch

Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton have both had an excellent year and both look certain to get into The Ryder Cup team. Ross Fisher has also stood out. He’s been very unlucky not to win anything. Overall, I’m disappointed that the Europeans have only won one Major (Sergio Garcia’s Masters Tournament). We can’t let the Americans walk away with the big tournaments prior to them facing up to the Europeans at Le Golf National in France next September.

Changing of the guard

We have seen a changing of the guard in the European Tour with Jon Rahm sealing victory in the DP World Tour Championship and Fleetwood winning the Race to Dubai, which is great for the game. Thomas Pieters should have had a better year and Matt Fitzpatrick is disappointed that he hasn’t won on a regular basis but he has to remember he’s only 23 and has already won four times. He is far too hard on himself! When Danny Willett gets fitter and stronger again he will return to form in 2018 after a poor 2017 season.

2018 – Ryder Cup

We’ll probably see six rookies in The European Ryder Cup team in Paris in September, so Thomas Bjørn is going to have to face the problem of lack of experience and intimidation on the big stage. However, should we regard someone like Jon Rahm really a ‘rookie’! He’s fourth in the world now and is certainly a force to be reckoned with, so I’d have no fear of him doing well against the Americans. Tyrrell and Tommy are also in the top 20 in the world now so they should hold their own on any stage and put up a good fight to wrest back the trophy, especially with ‘home’ support.

There’s no doubt that the Americans are looking strong with several thrilling youngsters coming through under the age of 27. Brooks Koepka is going to have a great season again and has a good chance of winning more Majors.

Dustin Johnson is unstoppable when he’s on form. Spieth and Justin Thomas are obviously quality players, too, but if we get our team right, Europe can certainly compete with them. The layout is totally different to courses in the States, apart from the last three or four holes but, hopefully, the contest will have been decided by then! Plus the fact that several European players are very familiar with The Ryder Cup course at Le Golf National.

Tommy Fleetwood won this year’s HNA Open de France on the course and Alex Noren, Jon Rahm, Lee Westwood and Thomas Pieters were all in the top twenty.

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COLUMN

DAVID HOWELL It’s been a great year for the European Tour and the Rolex Series has been a runaway success

Fleetwood’s remarkable rise is no shock After leading the Race to Dubai for most of the season it was fitting that Tommy Fleetwood should hang on an win at the expense of the fastfinishing Justin Rose, who once again showed his class in defeat N 2012 I played 9 holes practice at Leopard Creek in South Africa with a young man from Southport England. As I recall, he had just won the Challenge Tour Road to Oman to earn his card to play on the 2013 European Tour.

I remember that he hit the ball incredibly hard and seemed quite self-assured. He got injured soon after and didn’t do much of note for quite some time. His name, you guessed it, is Tommy Fleetwood, Europe’s number one player for the 2017 season.

What a rise through the ranks Tommy has made, from a youthful bundle of potential to one of the Tour’s most recognisable characters and one of its best players. The same year he became a father, too. Whatever happens to Tommy in the future, 2017 will go down as a seminal year for him. Nobody deserves the success more. As always in sport, talent needs to be paired with discipline and desire to make a difference, and Tommy has given his all to the game.

How fitting that in the first year of the Rolex Series events, the Race to Dubai was won by a former Challenge Tour player who honed his talents on the Challenge Tour. It was a thrilling final day at Jumeirah Golf Estates as Justin Rose looked set to win the Race to Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship having just won two events back-to-back.

He certainly put pressure on Fleetwood on the first 9 holes in the DP World Tour Championship. Then, having played near-flawless golf for 63 holes, Justin, made a couple of mistakes, which cost him dear. Needing to finish second to win the Race to Dubai, he left himself a 90-foot eagle putt on the last. One whole year of golf coming down to just one putt at the end. He missed it and had to settle for a share of fourth place and second place in the final Race to Dubai – and Europe crowned its new number one.

It felt like it had been a quiet year for Justin with the let-down of not winning the Masters, in a play-off with

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Sergio Garcia. But Justin is looking forward now and not back and in Tommy, we have heralded the next generation of English star players.

In the midst of the drama, as is often the case at the DP World Tour Championship, the winner almost got lost in the moment. Jon Rahm won his second Rolex Series event of the year, having won the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. Jon is so good it’s easy to forget he’s still a rookie.

His rise to stardom is nothing short of spectacular. Only 18 months ago he was a college golfer, now he’s fourth in the world, holds three titles and is just about golf’s hottest property.

Ryder Cup Captain, Thomas Bjørn, can hardly believe his luck. A genuine top level star player from Spain has just appeared before his eyes, Rose is playing the best golf of his life again, Fleetwood is going all out to surge into the European side, and the likes of Ross Fisher, Tyrrell Hatton and friends are regularly shooting the lights out. The Ryder Cup is the future, but we should focus on the success of the Rolex Series. The uplift in prize funds at our biggest events has rivalled the PGA Tour and provided our top players with the platform to shine increasing interest from players worldwide. The new dawn is a good one. To hold on to your playing rights you had to earn £80,000 more this year than last, that’s a big pay rise in anyone’s language.

One thing is clear – you need to play well in the Rolex Series events throughout the season whether you’re at the top or bottom of the Race to Dubai. Travelling the world to compete is expensive and a big cheque every now and then eases the pressure.

The Tour looks very different than it did only a few years ago. The Rolex Series, with eight huge events of global status, has ceated fantastic progress for the European Tour and it’s only the beginning of this new chapter. Whatever happens next, one thing can never be changed: Tommy Fleetwood won the 2017 Race to Dubai, and he can be very, very proud indeed.

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COLUMN

RAFA CABRERA BELLO excited to begin a new chapter in my life as a married man and pursuing my goal of making the Ryder Cup team in France.

Looking forward to the next chapter The days of the European Tour schedule being a nine or ten month season are long gone and it is now very much a global tour which lasts the whole year round, giving us players more chances than ever to reach our goals. Without question mine for 2018 is to make the Ryder Cup team. fter what has been an extremely rewarding but very tiring year of golf, I’ve finally played my last event of 2017, which was actually the first event of the 2018 season – the UBS Hong Kong Open.

The modern-day European Tour simply doesn’t stop apart from a small break over Christmas. The Tour just keeps going and with events taking place in almost every corner of the globe these days it’s really more of a ‘World Tour’ than a ‘European Tour’ which gives players plenty of opportunities to reach their goals.

A major goal of mine in 2018 is to make The Ryder Cup team and help Europe try to win the trophy back from the USA. I had my first taste of the competition last year and it’s something that once you’ve had a taste, you can’t wait to go back for more.

For the second year in a row I narrowly missed out on victory in Hong Kong, which was disappointing as it would have put down a strong marker in my bid to make Thomas Bjørn’s team. But congratulations to Wade Ormsby for finally winning his first title after something like 13 years on and off the Tour.

I know how tough it is to win out here. I was in the hunt many times after winning my second title at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2012 but had to wait until this summer, when I won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, for my third title.

I felt like I had a great chance to make it four in Hong Kong. I was tied for the lead going down the last and my mindset was that I was going for the win, rather than trying to get into a play-off with Wade. My

A

caddie and I decided I should take an 8-iron with my approach and I hit an aggressive shot straight at the pin. I thought I’d hit a perfect shot and it was probably a metre short of being just that, but the ball rolled back down the front of the green and into the bunker.

I left myself a putt of around eight foot for par, which was longer than I would have liked in that situation, and unfortunately it just missed and slipped past the right edge of the hole.

Of course I’m disappointed that I missed the opportunity to win, but at least I put myself in the position where I had the opportunity and I’m doing that on a consistent basis which is what great players do. It was still a good performance to end a very good year of golf in which I won a Rolex Series event, enjoyed my highest finish yet on the Race to Dubai – seventh place – and got to grips with playing on the US PGA Tour where I came close to my first win at the FedEx St Jude Classic.

But you can be sure I’ll back in Hong Kong next year to try to finish the job as I definitely feel I have unfinished business there.

For now, I’m looking forward to a break from golf and by the time you read this I’ll be a happily married man. My wedding is going to be in Gran Canaria with around 400 guests including family and lots of friends – some of them from the Tour and lots of nongolfers as well. My partner Sofia and I are then flying off on our honeymoon for two weeks. It will be a wonderful celebration and the start of a new chapter in my life.

See you in 2018!

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Fleeting finish

“At the start of this year I felt more confident, and when you’re in form you have to make it count and the win in Abu Dhabi and then the runner-up finish at the WGC-Mexico, those results showed me that I can compete with the best fields in the world. I’ve loved the attention I’ve got this year – it was new to me but I feel like I took it in my stride.” – Tommy Fleetwood

DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FACTS AND FIGURES: n A total of 63,099 spectators attended the DP World Tour Championship, which was broken down as follows: Thursday – 10,546 Friday – 21,496 Saturday – 15,486 Sunday – 15,571 n 70 Jumeirah Golf Estates’ groundkeepers diligently attended to the award-winning Earth course

Thrilling end to 2017 at Jumeirah Golf Estates WITH the top 60 players on the European Tour competing for a total of $13,000,000 in prize money in the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai, this year’s tournament kept audiences around the world and at Jumeirah Golf Estates enthralled in the most

exciting finish the tournament has ever seen. The winner of the Race to Dubai went right down to the wire as Tommy Fleetwood deservedly made it across the line despite a roller-coaster final round.

Although Justin Rose seemed to be cruising to victory in both the

Race to Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship he stumbled down the back nine to let in Spain’s Jon Rahm for a memorable comefrom-behind victory. It was the most fascinating DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai conclusion ever!

WWG charts Tommy Fleetwood’s career, from humble beginnings growing up a 7-iron away from Royal Birkdale in Southport in the North West of England, to European Tour No.1 as the newly crowned Race to Dubai Champion.

2008: Finishes runnerup at the Amateur Championship at Turnberry.

2009: Wins the Scottish Amateur Stoke Play and represents GB&I in the Walker Cup. 2010: Enjoys a stunning year, winning a clutch of amateur titles including the English and European titles and finishes runnerup on the Challenge Tour’s

English Challenge at Stoke Gleneagles in a three-man he nearly withdrew at

by Nayland play-off.

Wentworth because he didn’t know where the ball 2011: Wins the was going off the tee.

Kazakhstan Open and later becomes the 2017: Has a career year youngest ever player to with wins in Abu Dhabi top the Challenge Tour and France and gets over rankings. the line to win the Race to Dubai with top tens in Italy 2012: Has a steady but 2014: Runner-up three and South Africa, keeping Justin Rose at bay. stressful start to life on times on Tour to finish the European Tour and 19th in the Race to Dubai. manages to retain his status with top ten finish 2015: Manages just four in the South African Open top tens all season but still – his last event of the year. ends the campaign 24th.

2013: Clinches his first European Tour title at

2016: Struggles with his game, later admitting

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n Over 1,500 irrigation sprinklers kept the course watered and in top-class condition. n There were 1,832 Grandstand seats overlooking holes 1, 9, 17 and 18 n There was US$13,000,000 in prize money from the DP World Tour Championship prize fund (US$8,000,000) and the Race to Dubai Bonus Pool (US$5,000,000). n More than 200 chefs prepared 15,000 dishes to players, spectators and tournament staff throughout the week. n Over 1,490 rehydration drinks were consumed by the players during the course of the tournament week. n 253 volunteers from all around the globe officiated at Jumeirah Golf Estates to help manage the crowds at the UAE’s most popular golf event. Under the leadership of Chief Marshal Jenni Hoskins – 150 UAE residents; 103 internationals; 173 men; 75 women; 169 returning volunteers; 84 new volunteers and 18 volunteers who have participated in all nine editions of the event were officiating on site this year. n In the nine years of the DP World Tour Championship a total of US$450,000 has been raised for tournament charities, Friends of Cancer Patients, and Special Needs Foundation.

Road to Oman 2017: The Graduates France’s Clement Sordet wins the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final as the 15 leading players earn their place on the European Tour Schedule for 2018 THE QUALIFIERS IN NUMBERS:

5 24

graduates finished the season inside the top 200 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

the most appearances this season, by Scott Fernandez, who missed only three events.

2 26 9

former Junior Ryder Cup competitors in Marcus Kinhult and Bradley Neil

the average age of the top 15, with just four players of the 15 aged 30+

Final Road to Oman Rankings 1 Tapio Pulkkanen 2 Clément Sordet 3 Erik Van Rooyen 4 Aaron Rai 5 Marcus Kinhult 6 Julien Guerrier 7 Oliver Farr 8 Ryan Evans 9 Chase Koepka 10 Pedro Oriol 11 Jens Dantorp 12 Steven Brown 13 Adrien Saddier 14 Scott Fernandez 15 Bradley Neil

FIN FRA RSA ENG SWE FRA WAL ENG USA ESP SWE ENG FRA ESP SCO

210,799 181,312 160,876 139,435 139,419 137,525 133,768 126,676 123,570 105,108 104,737 104,155 100,843 94,673 93,168

different nationalities – three Frenchmen, three Englishman, a pair of Spaniards and Swedes and one each from Wales, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Finland.

FIVE TO WATCH ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR IN 2018 Scotland’s Bradley Neil clinched the 15th and final card through the Road to Oman after he signed for a final round 69 in Oman to finish in a share of ninth place and move up three places on the ranking. Neil won the 2014 Amateur Championship and turned professional the following year with a +5 handicap.

America’s Chase Koepka is the younger brother of former Challenge Tour player and reigning US Open Champion, Brooks.

The Floridian followed in Brooks’ footsteps through the Challenge Tour rankings to the European Tour and will hope to emulate him and become a winner at the highest level. Chase had five top tens last year.

England’s Aaron Rai earned his European Tour card in July when he collected his third win of the season in France.

The 22-year-old finished third on the Road to Oman and made his Major Championship debut after qualifying for the US Open at Erin Hills.

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Tapio Pulkkanen peaked when it mattered as he became the first Finn to top the Road to Oman rankings with over 210,000 points from 20 starts. Pulkkanen won the lucrative Kazakhstan Open and posted five additional top tens to finish top of the pile.

France’s Clément Sordet ended his campaign on a high with victory in the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final to finish second on the Road to Oman. Sordet, who turned professional in 2015 after going to college in Texas, made a hole-inone en route to victory.

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World Round-Ups

Tour News

The European Tour came to a dramatic conclusion with Justin Rose piling the pressure on long-time Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood before coming up just short at the DP World Tour Championship.

ROSE CLINCHES SECOND WGC IN CHINA JUSTIN Rose stepped into the winner's circle for the first time since his Olympic Gold Medal in August 2016 with a two-stroke win over Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Henrik Stenson at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. The Englishman picked up the second WGC title of his career and his tenth title on the European Tour, 15 years after he won his first tournament at the Dunhill Championship.

DP World Tour Championship

RAHM THE MAN IN DUBAI

WGC-HSBC Champions

ROSE GOES BACK-TO-BACK WITH TURKISH DELIGHT ENGLAND'S top-ranked player was at it again as he won back-to-back titles for the first time in his career with a one-stroke win over Nicolas Colsaerts and Dylan Frittelli at the Turkish Airlines Open. Rose made a superb birdie putt at the last to seal the win after Belgian Colsaerts had missed his birdie chance.

Turkish Airlines Open

GRACE ENDS HOME DROUGHT AT SUN CITY

Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player

US PGA Tour News

Below: Ryan Armour gets his hands on his first piece of PGA Tour silverware at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Bottom: Patrick Cantlay wins the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

BRANDEN GRACE became the first South African to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City hosted by Gary Player since Trevor Immelman in 2007, with a gutsy one-stroke win over Scott Jamieson. "This is awesome," said Grace. "This is the one event that as a South African you want to win.

It's Africa's Major for a reason and what a special place Sun City is."

JON RAHM signed off on an inredible rookie campaign with a superb, confident victory at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The Spaniard, who was named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year prior to the event, carded a final round 67 to win by one shot ahead of Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Shane Lowry. In addition to the tournament, the Race to Dubai was also settled in dramatic fashion as Tommy Fleetwood held on to win after Justin Rose stumbled down the stretch. With Fleetwood in the clubhouse and in a share of 21st place, Rose needed to finish in a share of second place but dropped three shots in five holes to fall into a share of fourth.

The US PGA Tour's wrap-around season gives a chance for the rookies and journeymen to shine with many of the top stars absent.

FOUR first-time winners put their name in lights on the US PGA Tour last month as the wrap-around events took centre stage. Ryan Armour clinched his maiden win at the Sanderson Farms Championship with a commanding five-stroke win over Chesson Hadley in Mississippi.

Next up, former Amateur World No.1 Patrick Cantlay had his first taste of success in the big league with a play-off win over Alex Cejka and Meen-Whee Kim at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Cantlay carded a final round 67 to match Cejka (63) and Kim (66) and after the trio all made bogey on the first play-off hole Cantlay wrapped up the win with a par on their second trip down the 18th hole in extra

time. Patton Kizzire was the next man to start his collection of titles with a one-stroke win over Rickie Fowler at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico. Down at Sea Isand in Georgia, Austin Cook shone brightest to win a first career victory at The RSM Classic.

Rounds of 66-62-66-67 saw the 26-year-old from Little Rock prevail by four strokes ahead of J.J. Spaun with veteran Brian Gay in third place.

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Patton Kizzire celebrates his win in Mexico

"Now my goal is to make a good long run in the Play-offs and make a run at East Lake ...and try and win the FedExCup," – Austin Cook offers an ambitious outlook on 2018.

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“I want to be able to get enough breaks in my year to be able to rest and play my best golf towards the end of the year for The Ryder Cup is and especially ahead of the Majors, which is where you want to be at your peak." - JON RAHM

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JON RAHM

On the

Rahmpage IT’S been a fun ride so far, and Jon Rahm is in no mood to take his foot off the gas. The Spaniard’s meteoric rise to becoming the highest-ranked European came courtesy of a superb victory in the DP World Tour Championship, and next year he wants to go one better and win the tournament and the Race to Dubai.

To win more than $4 million in prizemoney in his rookie year is no mean feat. But for Rahm, he reckons the best is yet to come.

“Hopefully, I can keep playing like this and, hopefully, I can win here again next year," he says. "Maybe I’ll be coming out to Dubai with a chance of also winning the Race to Dubai,” said Rahm, the Tour’s Rookie of the Year, who finished third on the ranking behind Justin Rose and winner Tommy Fleetwood.

“It didn’t feel good that, mathematically, I had no chance to win it. I’d like to play better and be in with a chance of winning the Race to Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship.

“Looking at next year, I don’t have anything mapped out because I’ve not really got a schedule set in place. I have six weeks off before I return to action and during that time I’ll look into my schedule for the year ahead in detail.

“I want to be able to get enough breaks in my year to be able to rest and play my best golf towards the end of the year for The Ryder Cup and especially ahead of the Majors, which is where you want to be at your peak.

Close to home “It’s hard, to be honest, having to combine both the US PGA Tour and the European Tour, especially at the start of the year because the PGA Tour on the West Coast is so close to home for me in Arizona. Being the defending champion at Torrey Pines in San Diego it’s going to be hard not to defend my title and come over to the European Tour.”

Rahm’s rise from making his first professional start in June 2016 to winning three times in 2017 – once on the PGA Tour and twice on the European Tour – has been nothing short of spectacular, and the 23-year-old is keen to keep moving forward.

“I’m a really ambitious person,” he said. “I know it’s going to be hard to top my first year because it’s been a really, really good debut year. In fact, it’s been a really good year in general. Now I’m going to work with my mental coach, reassess the year, consider what I’ve done really well, what I’ve done really badly and set my goals for next year. Hopefully, I’ll win more titles and get higher up the

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JON’S FAVOURITE CLUB:

TaylorMade M2 2017

Loft: 10 degrees (actual loft).

Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75TX. Length: 45.25 inches.

Grip: Golf Pride New Decade MultiCompound (Red/Black).

Swing weight: D2.5.

“Having a driver in your hands that gives you the confidence to go after the ball can really make a difference. At this level we’re always looking for an edge, and I think mine came when I switched to the TaylorMade M2 driver with the TP5x ball. I went from carrying it 305 yards to being able to get up there around 320. That’s at least one less club into a hole, which is significant.”

Rahm’s DP World Tour Championship winning Formula 37 out of 56 Fairways Hit (ranked 24th) 56 out of 72 Greens in Regulation (ranked 25th) 313.4 yards Driving Distance (ranked 1st) 1.64 Putts per GIR (ranked 3rd) 25 birdies or better (ranked 1st) 6 Bogeys or worse (ranked 7th)

– JON RAHM

RAHM’S RAPID RISE TO FAME AND FORTUNE: June 2016

551

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

Rahm finishes the US Open at Oakmont as the leading amateur in 23rd place and he rises 215 places in the world.

June 2016

285

July 2016 OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

A share of third place at the Quicken Loans National in his professional debut sees him make another huge leap.

142

January 2017 OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

Earns more world ranking points with a share of second place in the Canadian Open.

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46

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

Breaks into the top 50 with a memorable victory at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, courtesy of a raking 60ft eagle putt on the final hole.

March 2017

14

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

Finished fifth at Pebble Beach and then third and second at the two World Golf Championships in Mexico and Texas to enhance his growing reputation.

On the Rahmpage Jon Rahm is presented with the DP World Tour Championship trophy by His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

ranking than number four in the world.”

Another big goal is making Thomas Bjørn’s Ryder Cup team in Paris next September, and formulating a schedule that will see him finish in one of the eight automatic qualifying spots is key for Rahm.

His win in Dubai puts him in the team, currently, but there is a lot of golf to be played on the long road to France.

“I have felt just like a rookie this year, because everything I've done and everywhere I've been was for the first time,” said Rahm. “It’s all been so new to me.

That’s why I feel like a rookie. Every city, every place, every course has been brand new for me. It’s a totally new experience.

"So it’s hard to know, at this point, what I have learned from my various successes.

One thing I will say is that I love coming to Europe, clearly. I have had a lot of success in Europe and I want to keep coming.

"It’s been a lot of fun and, hopefully, I can keep on playing good golf. Playing in The Ryder Cup is my ultimate life goal. It creates a bond for life and it’s something I really want to be a part of.”

Now that Rahm’s whirlwind year has May 2017

9

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

A second-placed finish at the Dean & Deluca Invitational, puts him inside the top ten for the first time.

come to an end – and in the most fitting fashion with his victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates – was he at all surprised at all his achievements?

“That’s a question I answer everywhere I’ve been this year,” laughed Rahm. “Never in a million years would I have expected to do what I’ve done, to accomplish what I’ve achieved and to be in the position I’m in: Top five in the world, fifth in the FedExCup on the PGA Tour, third in the Race to Dubai, Rolex Series Champion, Torrey Pines Champion. I may have hoped for it, but I wouldn’t have believed I could accomplish all this.

'Wonderful Feeling' “What I’ve done this year, especially on the European Tour, to go from no member status – nothing – to an affiliate member, to European Tour Champion at a Rolex Series event and to be twice a Rolex Series Champion, with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and winner of the DP World Tour Championship, is unbelievable.

“I’m extremely honoured and humbled

June 2017

8

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

A missed cut at the US Open comes as a surprise but he bounces back with stunning victory at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open a Rolex Series event.

September 2017

5

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

A run of four consecutive top tens throughout the PGA Tour’s Play-Offs sees his stock continue to rise.

Worldwide GOLF 37

to see my name on the list of winners of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai: Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Alvaro Quiros, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy, Matthew Fitzpatrick. They are all great players. Some are European Tour legends. It’s gratifying to join that list and see my name on that great trophy.

It’s a wonderful feeling.

“I feel like every star, planet or anything that needs to be aligned for me to accomplish all this, has been aligned.

"I really don’t know why. I’ve got myself into a lot of situations where I could get something done every week. That’s why I have made a lot of high finishes. I’ve been getting mentally ready for this, my rookie year, for a very long time. I’m grateful to have been able to have a really successful rookie year. I just hope this is not the highlight of my career.”

With so much achieved in such a short space of time the sky is the limit for the supremely talented Spaniard.

Expect him to be a towering figure at the forefront of European Golf for the foreseeable future. n November 2017

4

OFFICIAL GOLF RANKING

Victory at the DP World Tour Championship sees him become the highest ranked European in the world, ending the season with just over $4m in prize money.

Julian Suri Worldwide GOLF 38

Exclusive

NEW YORKER Julian Suri has made his mark on the world stage this year in the style of a champion. In the space of just one season he has progressed from the American mini-tours to become a winner on the European Challenge Tour to winning on the European Tour and qualifying to compete in the grand finale, the DP World Tour Championship, where he shared eighth place with Tyrrell Hatton on 16-under, three shots off the winner, Jon Rahm. We caught up with the American in Dubai to talk about his rapid rise and his goals for 2018.

T

HE likeable Suri, who has made his home in Florida, is one of golf’s rapidly rising stars. He’s a man on a mission to join golf’s elite as quickly as possible.

“Exactly a year ago I missed out on making my playing card for the 2017 European Tour season at Qualifying School by just one shot, but I got onto the Challenge Tour. I was runnerup in the Open de Portugal, which took me to the top of the Challenge Tour ranking, and I went on to win the D+D REAL Czech Challenge by four shots in May," he says.

"I had been looking forward to playing in a European Tour event and then at the seventh attempt I won the Made in Denmark tournament in August and managed to make it into the top 60 in 59th place to qualify for the DP World Tour Championship.

"I’ve loved being in Dubai and the Earth course really suits my game. It’s been a great year. Coming from where I did, It was pretty cool to do what I have done in just 12 months and to be here at the DP World Tour Championship is testament to all the work I’ve been putting in.”

Suri’s career path might have followed a different route had it not been for the magnetism of a certain Tiger Woods. As a youngster, Suri was a keen tennis player but he had his head turned to focus on golf by the iconic 14-time Major winner.

“My dad was a tennis coach and tennis was my main sport, although I had started playing golf when I was five years’ old,” he explains.

“As a teenager it was around the time that Tiger came on the scene and he was a huge

attraction. I got hooked on following golf and started to get more interested in the game. I played at Duke University, graduated in 2013 and turned pro at the end of that year.

“I was grinding it out on the mini-tours in the States but struggled with my game. I thought that maybe the European Challenge Tour had a higher ceiling and decided to make the switch.

“I loved playing on the Challenge Tour. It was a real education for me in so many ways. Playing on different courses, in different countries, where the food was different and, in many countries the language was different was a great experience. I’d always wanted to travel the world and what a great way to do it. My mum is from India and my dad is from Mexico and I was born in New York and now live in Florida, which probably explains why I took to globetrotting.

“Playing on the Challenge Tour and now the European Tour taught me to be patient and how to handle it when things go wrong. It was a great learning experience. I learned how to compete week to week with the Challenge Tour constantly producing worthy winners and tight leaderboards.

“Coming from the United States I found the standard of the Challenge Tour much higher,” he says. “When I was in the US people would ask me why I was playing on the Challenge Tour – was it because it was easier than the US mini-Tours? My answer was that veryone over here on the Challenge Tour can play.

“It teaches you to make birdies and be aggressive in every part of your game. It teaches you how to take care of things, like hiring a car and sorting out your

“Playing on the Challenge Tour and now the European Tour taught me to be patient and how to handle it when things go wrong. It was a great learning experience.”

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Julian SURI

Julian Suri pictured with the trophy following his victory during the final round of Made in Denmark at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort

accommodation, and finding your luggage when it gets lost –four times – as well as concentrating on playing golf. It was certainly a big learning curve.

“As an American it was difficult to adjust but I was made to feel very welcome from everyone on the Tour. I got to know the guys on Tour and I had a couple of friends over here. It took a little adjustment.

“I didn’t need any motivatingand I certainly didn’t have any laurels to rest on.

I was trying to progress every week. abd try to play better every time I teed it up. I added fuel to the fire in trying to achieve as much as I could on my first year on Tour.

"I really enjoyed my time on the Challenge Tour. I was looking for the opportunity to play an event on the main European Tour and when it came I took full advantage. I managed to win in Denmark and things just turned around. I kind of rolled the dice and won.”

With the victory, Suri’s goals changed.

He had status on the European Tour and suddenly found himself with a good chance of finishing in the top 60 and getting as high up on the Race to Dubai as possible.

“I’m not one to relax,” he smiles. “As a New Yorker I have a bit of pitbull in me. I want more. I want to be winning events. I want to be playing when the heat is on and continue to get better.”

Suri’s top ten finish at Jumeirah Golf Estates saw him end the campaign in 52nd place on the Race to Dubai and with a full season to look forward to in 2017-18, he made a superb start with a share of second place at last month’s UBS Hong Kong

Open, which opened up the new season just one week after the DP World Tour Championship.

“It was good,” said Suri of his performance in Hong Kong. “I did what I wanted to do, which is what I did all week.

I’ve just been hitting it so pure from teeto-green. I kind of saw the green light on the back nine and made a couple of putts

“The European Tour are doing a good job in loosening up a bit.

The GolfSixes event is cool and I’d love to represent the US in that tournament.

Also, it’s a great move to group the bigger events together as it makes for better fields and that creates more competition.” there but didn’t really make much coming down the final stretch, which is kind of disappointing. I feel like this is the best I’ve hit it all year. I gave myself a million chances and didn’t really make anything all four days. The way I’m hitting it, I should have been double this score or close to it.”

Although Suri was disappointed with a runner-up finish he's he’s keen to come

Worldwide GOLF 41

back to Dubai in the new year and use the Desert Swing as a springboard for more success.

“The courses out here in Dubai are similar to those I grew up with back home in Florida – resort courses with big greens and big slopes,” said Suri. “They’re Bermuda grass, too, the same as the courses out here.

"Playing good golf is what matters. I played my first Open at Royal Birkdale and that gave me a taste – now I want to play more Majors. The Open next year is at Carnoustie and I enjoyed it there during the Dunhill Links Championship. That and Valderrama are my favorites. Valderrama is such a demanding course and when I shot a 65 I thought I’d slayed the dragon.”

In addition to the Tour’s venues leaving a lasting impression, Suri is impressed by the Tour’s new innovations and wants to play his part in the Tour’s growth.

“The European Tour are doing a good job in loosening up a bit,” he says. “The GolfSixes event is cool and I’d love to represent the US in that tournament. The Hero Challenge is also fun and that has certainly been a useful addition to the Tour at the bigger events. Also, it’s a great move to group the bigger events together as it makes for better fields and that creates more competition.”

With a habit for quickly progressing and ticking off his goals, don’t be surprised to see Julian Suri flying high, mixing it with the best and stepping into the winner’s circle again on the European Tour in the coming months. n

Mongomo The stage set for

SHOWPIECE B Y:

Richard Bevan

The excitement at Worldwide Golf is palpable and it’s not because the distant sleigh bells of Father Christmas approaching can be heard. It’s better than that. Much better. The reason for the barely concealed hysteria spreading through WG Towers is the team’s impending return to the Sub Saharan delights of Mongomo, deep in the Equatorial Guinean jungle, for the 2017 3e Actuaries Open which takes place at the Presidential Golf Course from December 14-17.

HE prestigious event, Equatorial Guinea’s Golf Championship – which aims to become ‘Africa’s Major’ and is open to both men and ladies – has grown in profile rapidly in its four years of existence and, under the astute guidance of Tournament Host Olawale Opayinka, is now one of the world’s finest stand-alone tournaments.

We made our first foray to the little-known country located in northeast Africa for the 2016 event. We were pleasantly surprised to find a warm and welcoming nation with worldclass hotels and facilities, not to mention a golf tournament of the highest quality played on the stunning Presidential Golf Course and featuring a melting pot of nationalities from a host of top quality tours including the PGA Tour, the LPGA, the Ladies European Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the Tour de Las Americas.

This year promises to be even better with a field of 110 players – 101 pros representing 34 different countries with a prize fund of US$150,000 for the men and US$100,000 for ladies – with the split for the top three, the same for each.

“2017 is brewing up to be a magnificent edition,” said Opayinka. “We are thrilled to have arrived at a place where the some of the best golfers in the world will be taking part. Africa’s best men and women will be matching up against their counterparts in Equatorial Guinea at the heart of Africa, as

“I’m looking forward to going back this year as I had such a great experience before, meeting players from all over the world and helping to promote golf in Equatorial Guinea and Africa.” – CHARLIE WI, FORMER PGA TOUR PLAYER

well as hosting top class players from around the globe. We are looking forward to some great golf and we’re champing at the bit to offer our best hospitality in our usual tradition.

“This year is very special because it elevates us to the platform we always aspired to reach and gives us the motivation to believe that by 2020 we will be the incontrovertible African Major.”

Heading the field is England’s Craig Hinton, who booked his spot in the 2016 event by securing the last place in the DSA Architects ‘Road to Mongomo’ Qualifier presented by Worldwide Golf, via a play-off at the now departed Al Badia Golf Club. The 28 year old, who topped the 2016 MENA Tour Order of Merit, went on to win the main event in Equatorial Guinea and he’s relishing his return to Equatorial Guinea.

“I managed to squeeze my way through the play-off and then go on to win the main event which truly was a great way to close out

Worldwide GOLF 42

the year,” said Hinton. “One of my friends on the MENA Tour, Luke Joy, had told me great things about the tournament, and I’ve always enjoyed seeing new places. It was certainly a very different experience to any event I had competed in before. We normally travel alone or in a small group, whereas this felt like we all came together together.

Like all the players who took part last year, Hinton was extremely impressed by the Presidential Golf Course, a hidden gem in Equatorial Guinea. “The golf course is an outstanding layout and one that I would certainly not get bored of playing day in day out,” he said. “It is a wonderful track and all the players loved playing it last year.”

The USA’s Charlie Wi, who earned close to US$10 million playing on the US PGA Tour, made his debut at the 2016 event, and the 45 year old was quick to sign up for a return trip to Mongomo this year. “I was playing the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA

ROAD TO MONGOMO

All the players at the 2016 event were full of praise for the Presidential Course in Mongomo.

The President and First Lady of Equatorial Guinea were guests of honour at the 2016 3e Actuaries Open.

Tour when Olawale sent a LinkedIn request and I accepted,” recalled Wi. “I was little skeptical at first so I did some research about the tournament. Our e-mails went back before I finally agreed to play the tournament. I was really curious about the tournament and Equatorial Guinea.

“It was a long journey to get there from Los Angeles but I’m glad I took it. When I got there, I met Olawale and what a gentleman and a great person he is. The hotel is truly 5-star and the golf course is certainly challenging and well laid out.

“I’m looking forward to going back this year as I had a great experience, meeting players from all over the world and helping to promote golf in Equatorial Guinea and Africa.”

The star-studded ladies field includes three Olympians – Belgium’s

Craig Hinton is mobbed by local children after winning the men’s event last year.

England’s Luke Joy was among the first MENA Tour players to make the trip to Mongomo in 2015 and he loved the experience so much he came back the following year.

Chloe Leurquin and Austria’s Christine Wolf, both Ladies European Tour players, and the LPGA’s Maria Jose Uribe, all of whom competed in Rio last year.

Also teeing it up in Mongomo will be five-time Longest Drive World Champion Sandra Carlborg from Sweden and compatriot Linda Wessberg, winner of three titles on the LET who played in the 2007 Solheim Cup, the same year she finished tied seventh in the Women’s British Open.

“The ladies field for 2017 is one that gives us great excitement and is evidence of how far we have come with this event,” said Opayinka.

“It promises to be a fascinating competition with some of the finest international talents competing alongside the best African women players.”

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Former LPGA player Paz Echeverria won last year’s women’s event. Craig Hinton holds the men’s trophy.

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ROAD TO MONGOMO

Grand Hotel Djibloho T

he Grand Hotel Djibloho will once again be home for the players and officials during the 3e Actuaries Open tournament week and what a hotel it is.

Located in the heart of the Equatorial Forest the hotel offers accommodation of a truly international five-star standard.

Featuring 380 spacious rooms, four suites and a sumptuous Presidential Villa, the hotel offers the height of comfort and relaxation.

There are three world-class restaurants and four bars along with an onsite nightclub and state-of-the art gym, wellness centre, tennis courts and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. There is even a golf course!

“I literally had no idea what to expect when I arrived in Mongomo the first time I played the event in 2015 – the hotel could have been a shack with a roof for all I knew,” said Luke Joy, a MENA Tour player who is attached to Yas Links. “But I can honestly say it’s probably the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in – and I spend a lot of time in the UAE where they have some of the nicest hotels in the

world so that’s saying something!”

While the hotel and golf course made an impression on everyone at last year’s event, the US$24,000 winner’s cheque that Craig Hinton received for his victory was the perfect end to a great 2016 season. But above all else, it was the warm reception the people of Equatorial Guinea extended to the players and the heartfelt hosting meted out by the 3e Actuaries CEO, which had the biggest impact.

“Olawale Opayinka’s hospitality during the week was outstanding,” recalled Hinton.

“What a genuine, kind and giving person he is. His positive attitude the whole time allowed for such a great trip.

“One moment in my life I will never forget, and I’m truly thankful to have experienced, was the closing ceremony. I was surrounded by local boys and girls, cheering and chanting. It was so humbling and really gave a meaning to the tournament. I can’t wait to get back and defend my title this year.”

And neither can we...

Worldwide GOLF 45

PHIL

KENYON

THE PUTTING S C I E N T I ST BASED in Formby, just down the road from the famed Open Championship venue of Royal Birkdale in Southport, Phil Kenyon has developed a reputation as the ‘go-to’ putting guru for many of the leading European Tour stars. At the Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence, Kenyon is based at a state-of -the-art workshop which caters for all levels of putter.

Out on Tour he is, or has been, on hand to give his advice to the likes of Major Champions Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood.

Worldwide Golf visits Kenyon at his Putting School to find out what goes into putting coaching, his love of the science behind the putting stroke and the intricacies of handling world class sportspeople.

WWG: How did you first get into golf and then end up as a putting coach?

Phil Kenyon: Well, I was lucky really in that I had a mentor in Harold Swash who I knew from a young age when I played golf as a youngster. He was a very good friend of my father’s and I spent a lot of time with him when I was growing up playing amateur golf. After I left university I turned professional and tried to compete for a while as an aspiring playing professional. It was only when I realised I wasn’t going to reach my goals that I got into coaching. So it was a natural progression to look at that side of the game because I’d been around it for such a long time.

WWG: What did you pick up from Harold?

Phil Kenyon: I learned a lot from Harold. He was ahead of his time in the way that he approached putting. He came from an engineering background and thought about ball-roll dynamics and angles and putter design – various aspects.

He took a scientific look at putting, whereas others might have been looking at it more artistically. The reality is that there is art and science to it. Harold taught me the principals that you need to grasp in order to putt well. Without his introduction I wouldn’t be where I am today.

WWG: With putting, it seems that there might be a plateau in terms of how much there is to know about it, but are you constantly pushing and looking at improving and learning more about it?

Phil Kenyon: I’d say I’ve got more questions than answers at the moment. You’re always trying to improve yourself as a coach and learn more about the game, so if I think that I’ve hit a ceiling then something has probably been lost along the way.

I enjoy the research and development aspect of learning more and trying to figure things out – to probe and search. That’s the enjoyable side of it.

WWG: How did you start working with the guys on the European Tour?

Phil Kenyon: When I first started coaching we had a studio with Harold Swash so we had good players coming in on a regular basis and I was learning my trade and being exposed to some very good players. Suddenly, a great opportunity arose when I was asked to attend some events for a manufacturer that Harold was associated with at the time – and that gave me an insight into Tour life. I attended eight events and I forged some good relationships which gave me a bit of a head start and accelerate my route to working with that level of player. 4

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THE PUTTING SCIENTIST WWG: How have putters changed with technology – weights etc – in the past 20 years or so? Did you see the change when putters started getting some serious attention at R&D level?

Phil Kenyon: There’s definitely been a change but it hasn’t been at the same rate as we’ve seen with drivers and irons and other clubs – full swing clubs.

Headweights have generally got heavier, the average loft is lower and there’s a whole variety of grip sizes. Many aspects of putter characteristics are changing.

Head shapes have also changed a bit but many have stood the test of time – many from Harold’s era in the 50s and 60s are still in play. Where Harold deserves credit is that over recent years more manufacturers are looking at improving a putter’s ball-roll dynamics, and that was what Harold started examining many years ago with his designs and the features he was looking at.

WWG: You work with the likes of Stenson, Rose, McIlroy and Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood – big names who all have different characteristics. How do you work with them on their putting strokes prior to an event?

Phil Kenyon: Well, as you say, they are all different so the first thing is to identify what the relevant things are for them to work on – to help them start it on line more frequently, help them control their speed better, or even help them with their green reading. They’re different people and have different learning methods and they spend their time differently when practicing, so it's an individualistic process and the skill is working that out to achieve the best results. It can be simply trial and error.

WWG: You’ve been out to Dubai a few times – what are the greens like out there from your point of view?

Phil Kenyon: The greens in the UAE are generally very good. There are variations from course to course in speed and grain, and I would say that the consistent characteristic across all the courses is that there is a strong grain. The challenge with grain is trying to predict how it affects break. In most cases the grain generally grows with the direction of the slope – as grain grows in the direction that water would flow. So, obviously water would flow downhill and grain would therefore grow downhill. When

you get to low-lying areas where it’s flat, grain could settle and then grow in different directions. Obviously, grain growing downhill will affect the speed of the putt because there’s less friction and in the flat areas the grain is growing in the opposite direction and that increases friction which can take break out. Grain is notoriously difficult to read, so if you can become good at predicting the grain then you’re in a good position to take on the courses in Dubai.

WWG: How important is Dubai on the players’ schedule?

Phil Kenyon: Dubai and its development of golf, relative to the European Tour, has been fantastic. The events at the start of the year provide a great platform for the rest of the season. I go out to Dubai a few days earlier to practice with the guys in before Abu Dhabi. With the events in China and the Far East it’s a good stop in between. Dubai is a great place to get some work done.

WWG: When you’re in Dubai do you spend your time at ETPI or do you hover around the different clubs with different players?

Phil Kenyon: We’re very fortunate that at the ETPI at Jumeirah Golf Estates the Tour players can use the excellent facilities, so a lot of the guys who I work with go down there and spend quite a lot of their time there but some of the other guys I work with practice at Emirates Golf Club where Pete Cowen’s Academy is. Some of the players I work with also work with Pete down at The Els Club and some players practice there, so I kind of move around the clubs a bit and use the different facilities – and all of them are great.

WWG: How was it working with Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose at the DP World Tour Championship with both of them going for the Race to Dubai title?

Phil Kenyon: There was no conflict with timings. They’re both very professional and they appreciated me just being professional when we’re working together I’ve just got to make sure I do my job for each player. They’ve both got respect for each other and they're good people. The greens at JGE were nicely prepared. By playing on the same course each year they build up knowledge. They get a feel for it. The greens are quite grainy but, as I say, the preparation is excellent so there’s nothing out of the ordinary to take on board.

Worldwide GOLF 49

The Peter Cowen Academy launches in Dubai M

ASTER PGA Teaching Professional and coach to the stars, Pete Cowen, is now the face of the teaching academies at Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. This is exciting news for golf in Dubai. Cowen’s world renowned unique and successful teaching philosophies will be incorporated at Dubai’s two most established golf clubs and taught to the teaching staff who will pass them on to the students.

Cowen’s success speaks for itself. He coaches Major champions Henrik Stenson and Padraig Harrington as well as the 2017 DP World Tour Championship winner Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Pieters, and many more. The Emirates Golf Club’s Teaching Academy has been associated with Cowen for close to a decade but this upgrade will see a renovation of the facilities and a change in teaching methods. This invaluable Pyramid of Learning is great news for all concerned, particularly with Cowen making himself available in Dubai more often to overlook this golfing gem.

Worldwide Golf spoke exclusively to their columnist Pete Cowen at the launch of the Academy at Emirates Golf Club about the motivation behind the change and what golfers in Dubai can expect from the enhanced training facility that offers both beginners and established golfers alike the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the golfing greats and improve their game.

“The Peter Cowen Academy here will attract players to come and train from around the globe at Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club,” said Cowen. “I want to train the teaching professionals so they coach in a similar way that I do. The aim is to

Worldwide GOLF 50

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“I’m hoping this new Academy encourages more local UAE Nationals to take up the sport. If the coaches have a better structure that I implement, hopefully we’ll produce a European Tour player like we did in Belgium, which is a very small country, too." - PETE COWEN be able to produce a dozen great coaches who we can send all over the world. When my professional players like Thomas Pieters are on their way to Asia to compete they can come down and use the Pete Cowen Academy, so it will help them.”

The former European Tour winnerturned-golf-coach first opened an Academy in Rotherham in the North of England and spent nearly $2million in 13 years to keep it running and help the sport grow, without making a profit, due to lack of funding.

Players like World Number One Lee Westwood and Masters Champion Danny Willett enjoyed using the facility and benefitted from his coaching methods. Now they won’t need to go to Yorkshire to learn from the golfing genius. Not only will this be a massive help for the European Tour players competing in the Middle East and Far East, but also golfers based in the UAE. “I’m hoping this new Academy encourages more local UAE Nationals to take up the sport,” Cowen added. “If the coaches have a better structure that I implement, hopefully, we’ll produce a European Tour player like we did with Pieters in Belgium, which is also a very small country. The coaches here at Emirates Golf Club are excited that they will learn some new things and progress in their profession.”

It’s not just the coaching that is going to change. There will also be new facilities, introduced for the first time in the UAE to attract more people to the game by making the sport more fun.

“One man who is also a familiar face for Worldwide Golf readers is head teaching

professional Stephen Deane, who is largely responsible for promoting this renovation and is delighted to work under such a highly-respected name in the sport.

“It’s absolutely fantastic that we are going to have a Peter Cowen Academy Dubai based here at the Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club,” said Deane.

“Pete’s coaching methods are Tourproven so their quality and success speaks for itself. He’s had over 250 Tour wins with his players and his philosophies are fantastic. You’ll see a massive improvement for the teaching professionals at the Academy which will, in effect, benefit the students who are receiving lessons.

"It really is a win-win scenario. The knowledge Pete will pass on will be invaluable and just by having his name here, people acknowledge that they will be getting top class teaching.” The charismatic

Irishman started working at Emirates GC in 2008 and has known Cowen ever since, and has shared Pete’s knowledge and expertise with thousands of aspiring golfers over the years. Now he’s looking forward to learning even more from one of the greatest coaches to ever grace the game.

“I’ve learnt a lot from Pete and have passed that on to my students. If you implement a lot of Pete’s ‘toothbrush’ drills (something you should practice every day), which we have gone through in previous editions of Worldwide Golf, there’s no doubt that you’ll see improvement.”

It will be intriguing to see how these two Pete Cowen facilities in Dubai compare with the state-of-the-art European Tour Performance Institute at Jumeirah Golf Estates but it’s a major positive for Dubai that the coaching capacities are maximised to create a larger influx of people taking up the sport, particularly UAE Nationals. n

“I’ve learnt a lot from Pete over the years and have passed that on to my students. If you implement a lot of Pete’s ‘toothbrush’ drills (something you should practice every day), which we have gone through in previous editions of Worldwide Golf, there’s no doubt that you’ll see improvement.”

- STEPHEN DEANE

Worldwide GOLF 53

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CONGRATULATIONS TO JON RAHM, WINNER OF THE 2017 DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI

The European Tour and its players would like to thank DP World, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Emirates, BMW, Rolex, sponsors and all the Government of Dubai authorities including the Dubai Health Authority, Ambulance Services, Civil Defence, Dubai Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Roads and Traffic Authority, Security and Health and Safety Officers, Trakhees, Dubai Sports Council, Dubai Tourism and Emirates Golf Federation for making the 2017 DP World Tour Championship a success.

Stuart Taylor PGA Professional

"I’ve never seen anyone’s putting being exactly like another guy. Tiger Woods to Arnold Palmer … everyone is different."

- SCOTTY CAMERON

Understanding the importance of putter length

Worldwide GOLF 57

Length sets eye position Stuart Taylor, PGA Professional, ProSports International is perfectly placed to explain, having recently returned from spending a day with the legendary Scotty Cameron in California: "The ideal putter length sets your eyes 1-2” inside of the target line to allow you to execute the proper arcing putting stroke while maintaining good posture and balance. (See the Path illustration) "If your putter is too long, your set-up posture will be too upright with your eyes set too far inside the target line. For a right-hand golfer this results in a path that starts too far inside and putts pushed to the right.

"If your putter is too short, your set-up posture will be too hunched over with your eyes set too far outside the target line. For a right-hand golfer this results in a path that starts too far outside and putts pulled to the left."

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HIGH SPEED THIN FACE DESIGN The high strength, ultra-thin steel face is just .075” thick, maximising ball speed to promote extra distance.

PRECISE FIT PXG’s adjustable hosel can change the loft

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Loft 13° 15° 18° 21

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Length 43½" 43" 42.5½" 42"

FIXING TROUBLE ON

DECK Thanks to modern technology I'm averaging over 280 yards off the tee but I can't reach par 5s in two. This is down to my lack of confidence with fairway metals. I find the heads too small and the shaft to similar in length to the driver. On the occasions when I plucked up the courage to take on a shot from around 250 it just ends up in a high cut that goes nowhere. In fact, my hybrid plays longer. Having a game that only gaps to 220 yards is embarrasing. I've heard good things about the PXG fairway woods, particularly how forgiving they are across the face, so I called up Alex Riggs, PXG Ambassador Middle East to see if we can cure my fear of the dreaded fairway metal.

_ By Alex Gallemore Worldwide GOLF 58

Ending with a strong flighted soft draw

Starting off with the high spinning cut!

- ALEX GALLEMORE WORLDWIDE GOLF EDITOR - ALEX RIGGS PXG AMBASSADOR MIDDLE EAST

HIGH SPEED THIN FACE DESIGN The high strength, ultra-thin steel face is just .075” thick, maximising ball speed to promote extra distance.

Alex Riggs: OK we have got the 0341X 5 Wood which is 18 degrees. The big benefit from the 5 Wood as a gapping club is that it really looks good on the eye, it’s got enough loft on it so you can trust it from different situations whether you’re in the rough or on an uneven lie. You can also trust that by fitting the shaft appropriately you will get a higher launch with a lower spin. So you don’t have that worry about the golf ball ballooning into the wind.

Alex Gallemore: When you are anxious with any club in your hand, TrackMan and a top professional looking over your shoulder doesn't help matters.

My first dozen balls were high spinning cuts. Nothing to do with the club, all down to my lack of conidence. Being tense, limited my rotation and I was just striking the ball with my arms. Alex Riggs reminded me to relax and open my shoulders and not to worry about the result. A few solid strikes later and we were starting to see a more positive strike and ball flight.

Alex Riggs: The biggest benefit with the

TECHNOLOGY THAT PERFORMS Innovative design from inside to out, the 0341X fairway woods lower spin, while increasing ball speed, launch angle and carry distance.

0341X is that it's built for low spin for a strong ball flight but you’ve still got the loft of 18 degrees to get the ball airborne.

Once Alex started to open his shoulders and turn, I could start to dial in the numbers.

The initial shaft was a soft stiff shaft, which was always going to be a good starting point. We quickly changed to a firm stiff shaft but spin rate was a touch too high. By dropping it down to 17 degrees we started to achieve those missing numbers Alex was looking for.

We were carrying an average of 237 yards with a perfect decent angle to hold greens, with the ball running out less than 10 yards.

On off-centre strikes we weren't losing too much in ball speed and Alex was still able to carry 230 yards.

The smash factor wasn't consitent but given more time I would have fitted Alex with a shaft that was a quarter to half an inch shorter than the stock shafts we used in the test. There wouldn't have been much of a loss in swing speed but the smash factor would have improved and increased ball speed.

Worldwide GOLF 59

Conclusion I sprayed the PXG 0341X all over the range and used every millimetre of the face in doing so.

But the club still delivered the numbers. Once Alex matched the shaft and loft my confience was starting to grow and I believed I could hit the shot I was despirate to visualise.

My bad ones looked good but that shaft length remained a problem.

I'm confident with the 40 1/4 inch shaft in my hybrid but 42 1/2 inches in the 0341X just felt a little long and the club got away from me a few times in the transition.

Out of the last five balls four were on the money and one was out of the neck yet still carried 228 yards.

Like all PXGs the 0341X is a premium club and it delivers on performance. It comes with highend shaft and fitting options and delivered the confidence-builder I was looking for. I just need to get saving up!

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HOME ON THE RANGE WORLDWIDE GOLF TALKS TO CHRIS BEAUMONT, TITLEIST GOLF CLUB MARKETING AND INTERACTIVE MANAGER, ON THE SUBJECT OF THEIR ULTIMATE FIT EXPERIENCE ON THE RANGE WITH THE PROS AND HOW THE BRAND HAS EMBRACED THE MIXED BAG PHILOSOPHY

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Worldwide GOLF 62

Titleist's Ultimate Fit WAS this the first time you brought the Ultimate Fit experience to Dubai?

CHRIS BEAUMONT: This is the first time we have done it in Dubai and it’s the first year that we have partnered with the European Tour to do the Ultimate Fit in general. We’ve done it at three of the Rolex Series events: The BMW PGA Championship, the Scottish and Irish Open and we also did it at the British Masters, so it was great for our lucky competition winners to tee it up with some of the best players in the world at the DP World Tour Championship.

Will we see the Ultimate Fit in Abu Dhabi?

CB: The Ultimate Fit has been a great way for Titleist to partner with the European Tour to give golfers that once in a lifetime experience of being on the range next to the best players in the world. These types of experiences are very important to both us and the Tour, so we will be working with them very closely ahead of the 2018 season to see what we can do to give more golfers these type of opportunities.

You mentioned the tournaments that you’ve been to, how do the golfers in the UAE compare to the ones from other tournaments?

CB: To be honest, a lot of the golfers out here seemed to be really comfortable standing next to some of the best players in the world.

Over the four different events we have had some nerves and some interesting shots, but overall the experience to hit balls next to the best players in the world has been an opportunity that was a once in a lifetime experience that will not be forgotten.

Do you think this is an evolution of the Tour players?

CB: Absolutely. We are currently standing at about 70% of our Tour pros who use a blended set – that may just be one or two clubs difference but we have now seen that transcending down to the amateur ranks. I think that’s mainly down to the fact that more golfers are being fitted and you can go through the process of being able to trial different clubs and compare their performance.

What can we expect from Titleist in 2018?

CB: At Titleist we are very consistent in our belief that we have a two year lifecycle for our products, and see no reason for this to deviate in 2018.

Tour player wise, have you got anybody new who is coming onto the team?

CB: There will always be player movements and changes amongst manufacturers, but ahead of 2018 getting started, you will just have to wait and see...

Is there any way that Titleist Europe can use their relationship with Titleist in America to get any of the big name players or brand ambassadors to play in Europe?

CB: We definitely leave that down to the player.

What I would say is that with the Tour becoming a lot more global, we are seeing more players competing around the world so, hopefully, we can see more of the best players playing in what I would argue is the best Tour out there. It's really not our responsibility to outline where our Ambassadors should play.

Do you find that everyone just goes for the driver first time when they’re getting fitted?

CB: At the first of our three Ultimate Fit experiences, it was 917 drivers that we were fitting on the range. Then at the British Masters, we opened up with new irons and hybrids because that’s what we had just launched at the time. This event was the first time we have given the consumer the opportunity to get fitted to anything they want, and I must admit we would have thought that most people would have gone for the driver. It was quite interesting to see a whole host of different clubs used, whether it be wedges, irons or hybrids, it was good to see a mix of products used.

How important to Titleist is the Rolex Series?

CB: Being a partner of the European Tour, I think we are a huge fan of any stage where there is an opportunity to get more people understanding the game and getting the best players in the world here to play different events is a real bonus.

Are Titliest open to fit and sell a mixed bag to the amateur golfers?

CB: It’s so important for each golfer to try and find the right clubs for them because there is no standard, regardless of your handicap.

Everyone has a unique swing, so your golf clubs should be unique to you. We’ve got some high handicappers who might be an AP2 / CB combo and then we’ve got some better golfers who might be an AP1 /TMB combo.

What’s your favourite club in the UAE? CB: I really like Abu Dhabi Golf Club and the Els Club

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Do you find it a fitting climax that the final event is staged here in Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship, or do you think it should be moved around?

CB: I love the fact that it has a home and this is where everybody’s going, plus it’s called the Race to Dubai and I think it’s a real fitting end.

Best experience off course in the UAE? CB: The coolest thing I have done out here is being able to run the Yas Marina Circuit which I have done a couple of times now, although it nearly killed me!

80% of customers get fitted for a driver and only 5% for a putter

PUTTING CHOICE UNDER ONE ROOF

Regardt Van Rooyen Senior Custom Fit Specialist eGolf Megastore

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PUTTING is one area of the game many of us chose to ignore, as holing a putt probably doesn't feel as satisfying as smashing a drive after a long day at work.

We all know deep down that the putter is the club we use the most but for some strange reason, many of us, including myself, overlook the importance of getting fitted correctly.

The technology in putting has evolved and there are many new ways to get you back on line and sinking more putts. Shaft length, grip size and face balance are just some of the criteria in the selection process but number one is ... how does it feel?

Regardless of it ticking all the technical boxes, unless you feel confident standing over the ball you will never feel comfortable with the club and, most likely, it will end up in the garage with the others.

In Dubai it's great to have the eGolf Megastores. Not only do they offer free fitting as part of their service but they have most of the brands and styles for you to try.

Factor in plenty of time as it's a trip worth taking. I caught up with Regardt Van Rooyen, their Custom Fit Specialist, to discuss what's flying off the shelves and about the various brands they have to offer.

– By Alex Gallemore Can you try and explain why the TaylorMade Spider putter has been so successful on Tour – and also from a retail point of view this year?

RVR: When Jason Day found success with the prototype version and rose to World No.1 in 2016, the club – coupled with the red finish – became a popular choice among players. It was a colour that hadn’t been seen in putters before. The more visibility it got on Tour the more popular it became among amateurs. The putter performs well because the weights are at the back to create an improved MOI (Moment of Inertia) which gives it more stability through impact. It also features an interesting groove pattern on the face, which is slightly at an angle. The depths of the grooves create less backspin and more topspin, which leads to improved roll.

When you see people coming into the store to get a putter how do they go about it? Is it just what looks good on the eye or is there a formula?

RVR: There's a bit of a formula. We have almost every single putter on the market here so the first thing I would ask the client is what do they like the look of and is there

Do eGolf charge for that service?

RVR: : No, we don't. It's absolutely free and it’s a simple process. It takes less than an hour and a half as we look at lie angles, weight, length and set-up, and we can do that with every single putter in the store.

What brands are you able to get here at eGolf Megastore?

RVR: We have TaylorMade, PXG, Cleveland, Scotty Cameron, Bettinardi, Ping, Titleist, Odyssey and Evnroll. As I said, we stock almost all the putters that are out there.

any specific colour they prefer. For me, it’s all about getting the putter fitted properly.

I need to make sure the customer is happy with the feel of the putter and the look of it.

What’s the percentage of people getting fitted for a driver to being fitted for a putter?

RVR: We see around 80% of our customers getting fitted for drivers and only around 5% for putters, which is a pretty bad ratio given that in a round of golf you use the putter far more than the driver. It’s a lot more important than any other club in the bag – so getting fitted with a comfortable one in imperative.

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I recognise most of those brands that you’ve just mentioned but the one that has caught my attention was Bettinardi.

Can you tell us about them?

RVR: Bettinardi is a company that only creates putters – they don’t specialise in anything else. Their putters have a very soft feel, one of the softest out there, and they really focus on the look of the putters as they think it’s doubly important to have a putter that looks good when you’re standing over the ball. They also have a wider line on their putters to give added confidence when aligning it behind the ball, and they incorporate matt finishes to stave off unwanted glare.

PLAYER S P OTL I GHT

I

an Poulter has come close to winning in the Middle East on plenty of occasions and he is hoping to get his 2018 off to a flying start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Omega Dubai Desert Classic next month.

“Yes I’ll be going to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the start of next year,” smiles the Englishman after sneaking into the top 60 on last year’s Race to Dubai to take his place in the field for the DP World Tour Championship. “I’m going to rest up, and get in the gym and hopefully I’m going to come in to 2018 pretty strong and I’d like to start the season off strong in the region and hopefully be successful with a trophy.”

Poulter has recently begun working with Pete Cowen and he’s happy with how things are going so far.

Working with Pete

IAN

POULTER

The fiery Englishman will return to the region next month to get his season underway and he talks candidly about his relationship with Pete Cowen and what he makes of the young stars making big waves on the European Tour, with one eye on The Ryder Cup.

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“I like Pete a lot; in my eyes he is extremely simple to work with,” he says. “If you’re on the range and your hitting the ball well he allows you just to get on with it - which is great.

I think sometimes you can too in depth and that leads to unnecessary practice, you always need to stay fresh and Pete has a great eye for golf.”

With an exemplary Ryder Cup record, Poulter is looking forward to seeing what the new faces will bring to the team in Paris next September.

“I think what Tommy Fleetwood has been able to achieve this year is incredible,” he says. “The level of consistency and the wins he has had means he is prime for Ryder Cup, I think he has proven himself on the main stage and is strong enough as a player to cope with what the Ryder Cup offers.

“I also like the look of Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm – those two should make the team on merit. Jon has just won in Dubai and Hatton’s continued form will get them in The Ryder Cup team. Those two guys are passionate and fiery and that’s exactly what a Ryder Cup team needs.”

T I P S

F R O M

T H E

R E G I O N ' S

L E A D I N G

P G A

P R O F F E S I O N A L S

Changer GAME

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Shallow your angle of attack to hit

LONGER DRIVES WITH PGA PROFESSIONAL MICHAEL BOLT, TRUMP INTERNATIONAL GOLF CLUB, DUBAI

T

HE 'attack angle' is a measurement of how steep or shallow your clubhead is moving through impact, and it has a direct effect on how much distance you are able to generate with the driver.

Often we find most amateurs will swing too steeply into the ball, between a -4 and -6 descending blow. Great drivers of the ball will present a shallower angle of attack, maximising the amount of loft presented to the ball. A shallower attack angle will launch the ball higher with a lower spin rate, both of which will help maximise distance.

The below diagram shows Trackman’s Driver Optimiser. This proves that changing the angle of attack from a negative to a positive can result in an increase of distance with the same swing speed and impact factors.

Club Speed Attack Ball Speed Launch Spin Rate Carry (mph) Angle (deg) (mph) Angle (deg) (rpm) (yards)

100 105 110 115 120

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-5 0 5 -5 0 5 -5 0 5 -5 0 5 -5 0 5

146 148 149 154 156 157 162 163 166 17171 172 178 179 180

7.2 10.0 12.4 6.4 9.1 11.7 5.6 8.7 11.1 5.3 8.0 10.7 4.5 7.7 10.3

3118 2570 1887 3071 2461 1810 3005 2471 1716 3030 2396 1681 2929 2382 1636

216 230 239 231 243 254 245 260 268 261 274 285 273 290 300

Total (yards)

Dynamic Loft (deg)

262 278 293 278 294 309 293 310 326 307 325 342 322 340 358

9.3 11.7 13.7 8.4 10.7 12.9 7.5 10.2 12.2 7.1 9.5 11.7 6.2 9.0 11.3

INSTRUCTION BELOW we hit two drivers with a very similar swing speed, aiming to manipulate the angle of attack. The Trackman statistics show the significantly shallower angle of attack (+2.5) resulted in a far higher launch angle and an increase in carry distance of nearly 30 yards. This allowed the club to operate more efficiently through impact, presenting the full loft of the club, utilising the swing speed created and keeping the ball in the air for longer.

The modern-day drivers, if struck properly, produce a much lower spin rate than drivers of yesteryear. As a result, it is crucial to achieve the high launch angle in order to keep the ball in the air for longer, through achieving the optimum combination of launch and spin to maximise distance.

Below is a simple drill to help you practice hitting the ball on the upswing to increase your angle of attack.

Place a sleeve of golf balls roughly a grips length away from the ball and tee it slightly higher than normal.

FROM the address position, try to make a wider arc during your swing, aiming to swing up on the ball launching it over the box with a high, flat trajectory.

This drill should help you encourage the club to work on an upward angle through impact.

Experiment with exaggerating this feeling and watch your driving distances increase!

If you’d like to learn more about how to control you angle of attack and increase your distance, contact the Trump International Academy: mbolt@trumpgolfdubai.com.

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WATCH THE VIDEO AT WorldwideGolf WWGolfMag

G

reat news for Dubai Golf and our Academies this month.

For almost ten years we’ve been The Dubai Golf Academy in association with Master Professional Peter Cowen, but we are absolutely delighted to now be known as The Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

This fantastic announcement across Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club is a significant step forward and globally recognises the quality of instruction available at both Academies.

Following on from our previous articles discussing some of Peter Cowen’s signature drills we will now analyse the basic chip and pitch shot during the next couple of months.

CHIPPING

Away

BY STEPHEN DEANE, HEAD PROFESSIONAL, EMIRATES GOLF CLUB

FESTIVE PACKAGES 2

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0

1

7

INSTRUCTION WRIST HINGE

IN order to develop a great short game you have to understand the mechanics of the wrist.

The wrist moves four ways i.e.

• Up (cocking), • Down (down cocking), • Side to Side (hinge back and hinge forward).

For chipping we use a wrist hinge rather than a wrist cock!

Picture one shows the mechanics of the wrist used during the backswing phase of the chip shot. A right wrist hinge matched with a subtle left wrist hinge is perfect! A this point the heel is slightly off the surface.

VERTICAL SETUP

WE prefer a more vertical set-up as discussed in previous articles with the shaft. Even feeling the heel sits slightly off the surface. This just makes it easier for the club to drop onto the ball during the downswing/impact phase.

From this position, you simply let the weight of the club drop onto the ball, giving you the characteristic of a rolling ball rather than a flighted approach, which would be the technique from further away from the pin.

Downswing/Impact - the ideal strike will happen if you let the weight of the club naturally drop onto the back of the ball so you don't add too much power and over-elevate the ball.

This is a simple shot but one which can dramatically improve your short game if practised and played properly.

We look forward to seeing you at The Peter Cowen Academy Dubai very soon.

For more information on the basic chip please watch the attached video and keep an eye out for our exclusive Peter Cowen festive packages advertised below.

ACADEMY PACKAGE

Three x 45 minute individual lessons One month Academy access And much more AED 1,050

www.dubaigolf.com

FALDO PACKAGE

Six x 45 minute individual lessons Round on the Faldo 60 minute equipment fitting with Trackman And much more AED 2,250

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THE CHOICE IS YOURS

FOR this shot you can use anything from a 5-iron to a pitching wedge, depending on the slopes you're faced with and the amount of rough grass you have to fly before the ball reaches the truer rolling fringe or putting surface.

During the finish the butt end of the club points towards the left pocket as a result of the hinging back and forward mechanics of the wrist. This allows the natural force of the club to drop on the ball and start it rolling with ease.

WATCH THE VIDEO AT WorldwideGolf WWGolfMag

Change trajectory on

DEMAND

B

EING able to control your trajectory gives the club golfer the opportunity to improve decision-making/visualisation and hit shots that will lead to better scoring on the golf course. Having low trajectory in windy conditions, a high trajectory to land the ball softly on firm greens and a constant trajectory to maximise launch angles can be achieved by simply changing your ball position/followthrough.

Learning these three finish positions will: • • •

Achieve consistent trajectory Add to your shot-making skills Enable you to escape trouble more effectively

CONSTANT TRAJECTORY

To achieve consistent trajectory which has a consistent launch angle and spin rate, your ball position will need to be neutral in your set-up for the club you will be using.

You will make a standard golf swing and the angle which is created at impact with your arms and hands (this angle can vary golferto-golfer) needs to be maintained into your followthrough which, in turn, will create the ideal ball flight on a consistent basis.

LOW TRAJECTORY

Nick Cork

Senior PGA Teaching Professional at Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Your ball position will move back two inches closer to your trail foot in your set-up. You will make a standard golf swing and through impact your arms and hands will keep the clubhead extending low to the ground and into an abbreviated followthrough. A reference in your followthrough would be the trail arm below your leading shoulder.

Making a standard golf swing while adjusting your ball position and followthrough to change and control your trajectory will make harder shots easier. Make these three different followthrough positions a habit and you’ll find your scores will lower.

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HIGH TRAJECTORY

Ball position will move forward two inches closer to your lead foot in your set-up.

You will make a standard golf swing and through impact your arms and hands will extend and move the clubhead upwards into a high hands followthrough.

A reference in your followthrough would be the hands finishing high above the shoulders.

WATCH THE VIDEO AT WorldwideGolf WWGolfMag

INSTRUCTION

Jaco Stander

Teaching Professional at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club

Keeping the face square

‘Putting with one hand improves your ability to sink them with two’ Jack Burke Jr, 1956 Masters and US PGA Champion

Set-up: Find a flat putt on the green about 6 feet away from the hole.

Then set up two tees either side of the putter face.

This will help you with clubface alignment and controlling the path of the stroke.

Stroke: Making sure the putter face and back of the left hand (right handed golfers) are both aiming down the line of the putt, make a stroke with your left arm rocking back and forth and see how the ball rolls towards the hole.

Grip: Make sure the left side of the putter (right handed golfers) runs straight down the lifeline of your hand towards the tip of your middle finger, before closing your hand. Doing this, connects the back of your left hand to the face of the putter and allows your left hand to lead the putt better.

Finish: After the putt’s been hit, hold your finish position. What you want to see at this stage is how the back of your left hand and the putter face are both aiming down the line of the putt as the ball drops into the hole. This will give you direct feedback on how square you’ve managed to hold the putter face through impact.

WATCH THE VIDEO AT WorldwideGolf WWGolfMag

Try this drill next time you’re out on the putting green to sink more putts

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"Make Giving a Truly Rewarding Experience"

Fundraising& CharitySpecialists Auction Event

Sixteen10 organise incredible fundraising events which unite charities, corporates and individuals.

We are committed to raising money for charities through auctions at gala dinners and corporate events across the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

www.sixteen-10.com

+971 (0) 4 554 6408

info@sixteen-10.com

EVENTS

Harry Redknapp, Mike Tindall, Michael Campbell and Brian McFadden joined in the fun at the Swing Against Cancer Grand Final, the Mike Clark Golf Day at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Swing Against Cancer Golf Series 2017 is a smash hit Worldwide Golf and Sixteen10 hit a hole-in-one with this year’s Swing Against Cancer Charity Golf Series, raising over $100,000 for Friends of Cancer Patients and aiding the treatment of two Dubai residents suffering from cancer, one of whom is just two years old.

T

he inaugural Swing Against Cancer Golf Series reached its conclusion at the star-studded Mike Clark Golf Day at Jumeirah Golf Estates and the event provided the perfect finale to what was a phenomenally successful charity initiative, which exceeded all expectations.

This year, Worldwide Golf and Sixteen10 have together raised over $100,000 for the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), with the funds being shared amongst two UAE residents in urgent need of treatment; Waleed, a 37-year-old Sundanese man, and a 2-yearold Egyptian boy with leukaemia.

Kicking off with April’s Worldwide Golf Open, the Swing Against Cancer Golf Series gained momentum as the year progressed with prestigious sponsors including DSA Architects International, DHL, Prosports International, Multiplex, Flash Entertainment, H Hotel and Virgin Atlantic lending crucial support to ensure golfers were treated to events of the highest standard.

The local golf community backed the series in a big way with events hosted at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, The Els Club, Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Emirates Golf Club and Jumeirah Golf Estates while many of the region’s PGA professionals teed it up in one or more of the tournaments.

Celebrities from the worlds of sport and entertainment in the shape of football legends Gary McAllister and Harry Redknapp, England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall, 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell, and Westlife star Brian McFadden, also got in on the action.

“The support and enthusiasm the Swing

Against Cancer Golf Series has received from the local community has been truly heart-warming,” said Richard Bevan, General Manager, Dubai Office, WSP Global, publisher of Worldwide Golf. “We’ve been astounded by the number of people who have wanted to help, whether by giving up their time, their expertise or by supporting the series financially. The fact that the money raised is going directly towards the treatment of individuals who really need it, is something everyone involved can be extremely proud of and we thank all those who helped us reach and surpass our target. We’re already planning the 2018 series which we hope will raise the bar even further.”

MIKE CLARK GOLF DAY The Swing Against Cancer Golf Series 2017 professional winner Ryan Smith, was awarded a luxurious golf break for two at the Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa in Phuket, Thailand, while amateur winner, Christopher Smerdon, won a fantastic prize playing with some of the world’s greatest golfers at the Rolex Pro-Am for the DP World Tour Championship, along with hospitality at the event, a stay at the Atlantis, The Palm and a golf lesson with renowned coach to the stars, Peter Cowen.

Harry Redknapp, who played in the grand final, said: “It was a pleasure to come to such a wonderful golf course in Dubai and support this great cause. Cancer affects so many people around the world and the more we can do to try to fight it, the better. The guys at Sixteen10 and Worldwide Golf have done a terrific job with the Swing Against Cancer Golf Series and to raise the amount of money they

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have is fantastic.”

Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall, who played in the Mike Clark Golf Day last year, which raised US$50,000, reiterated Redknapp’s sentiment, saying: “It’s great to be a part of such a worthy cause and help out where I can. To double the money raised for the charity from last year shows the event is going from strength to strength. It’s a cause I’m looking forward to supporting again next year.”

Waleed, one of the UAE residents for whom the funds were raised, added: “I’d like to extend my thanks to Sixteen10 and Worldwide Golf for their generous donations that will allow me to continue my treatment, and I hope they continue their association with FoCP, as it is has a real effect on those battling cancer and their families.”

Reza Sazegar, Managing Director of Sixteen10, and good friend of Mike Clark, recalls the tragic circumstances which started the Mike Clark Golf Day in 2013 and the amazing legacy it has created by inspiring the Swing Against Cancer Golf Series: “On 16th October 2012, a dear friend and incredible person Mike Clark lost his battle with cancer. It is a truly rewarding experience to help others fight and beat this awful illness through the inaugural Swing Against Cancer Golf Series.

“Cancer affects all of us in one way or another and if we can help make even the smallest difference, it’s our duty to pull together and do something about it. This is just the start of something special and Sixteen10 along with Worldwide Golf are fully committed to unite a community to fight against cancer and leave a legacy for future generations.” n

E M I R A TE S G O LF C LUB

Gupta Crowned Emirates Junior Open Champion

Singh & Kaur Dominate in Al Dobowi Gurbax Singh and Satnam Kaur claimed the Al Dobowi Mixed Amateur Open 2017 at the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course after carding a net 69.2 while Vipen Sethi and partner Amarjeet Radia were runners-up with a score of net 70. Third place was taken by David Formas and Sandra Chia who posted a score of net 70.6.

Arjun Gupta scored a fantastic gross 70 on the Emirates Golf Club’s Faldo Course to claim the Emirates Junior Open while Niklas Korjonen came in second after carding a level par gross 72. Vijay Haridas completed the podium with 73 gross.

Hyeonji Kang was crowned the Girls Champion after shooting a two over par 74 to win by an impressive three shots.

In the Boys “A” division it was Liam Mullen who emerged victorious shooting a net three under 69.

The Boys “B” division saw Mousa Shannah run away with the title by carding a nine under 63 net.

Snigdha Goswami won the Girls division title (HCP 0 - 36) with a net 68 followed by Hannah Alan who finished with a net 73.

Radia sweeps November Ladies Medal Amarjeet Radia was the overall winner of the Ladies November Medal and the Silver “A” Division champion at Emirates Golf Club after scoring an impressive net 68 on the Faldo course, while Cathy Lajotte secured second place with a net 70.

In the Silver “B” Division, Shiba Khan held off some tough competition to claim victory with a net 69, beating Josie Tracey who carded a net 74.

Rajni Sud won the Bronze Division with a net 75.

Kush Shama and Team Enjoy MiDCOM Group Diwali Festivities Jignesh Sangani wins the OMA Emirates November Medal Jignesh Sangani won the OMA Emirates November Medal on Emirates Golf Club’s Faldo course after scoring a net 66. Anil Shivanna was four shots behind with a net 66 while Andrew Robinson was just one shot further back in third place.

In the B Division Gurjit Grewal shot a 69 net to beat eventual runner-up Jugwinder Brar by one shot and Mike Butler secured third place with a net 71.

The C Division was won by Suresh Shewakramani who shot a net 73.

Kush Sama, Harjive Oberoi, Naresh Handa and Pankaj Varma won the MiDCOM Group Diwali after carding a fantastic scramble score of net 56.1 on the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course.

Anil Shivanna, Nitin Kripalani, Surjit Namli, and Gaurav Verma finished in second place with a net 58 while third place went to the team of Bhupesh Sharma, Naresh Bhambhaney, Sameer Joshi and Komal Sharma with a net 59.1.

Elise Hanson wins the Past Captains Trophy in fine style Elise Hanson emerged victorious ahead of nine other former Lady Captains to win this year’s Past Captain’s Trophy, while in the Blind Partners competition Antonia Ludvigson and Glory Xavier took the spoils with a countback win over Christiane Sprunck and Viv Caley.

Hanson finished with 37 points to win the main prize on the day while the scoring was tight in the Blind Partners section with the top two pairs finishing with 68 points. Ludvigson and Xavier compiled a better inward nine score to take the honours while third place went to June McDonald and Rajni Sud with 67 points.

THE TRAC K , ME Y DAN GOL F

The Address Montgomerie Ladies Claim Victory In Inter Club Challenge The Address Montgomerie Ladies came out on top in the Inter Club Challenge at the Track, Meydan Golf, after a terrific team score of 247 Stableford points (Best 8 Stableford scores from 10).

Abu Dhabi Golf Club were ten points behind in second place while Dubai Creek Golf &Yacht Club claimed third place with 234 points. Women’s Golf Middle East completed the leaderboard with a total of 228 points.

Elizabeth Samuel of The Address Montgomerie Dubai was the overall winner after scoring a super round of 38 points.

Team Appaiah Collects Pink Ball The team of Arathi Appaiah, Veronique Rosset, Monica Palao and Swati Singh won the Pink Ball competition after carding a score of net 59.9 while the team of Martha Wong, Lynne Dickinson, Naima Maya and Mitsuko Emmerson were runners-up with a net 61.

Just one stroke further adrift in third place were Fiona Berry, Sue Hopwood, Viv Caley and Cathy Lajotte with a net 62.

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ARABIAN GOLF EM I R ATE S G O LF F E D E RATI ON

UAE Ladies Golf Team Finishes Fourth as Al Hajeri Takes Fifth Place at The Junior and Ladies Arab Golf Championship in Tunisia Last month the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Junior and Ladies National Golf Teams travelled to Tunisia to compete in the 2017 Junior and Ladies Arab Golf Championship and put up some solid displays in Sousse.

Leading the way for the UAE was Mohammed Al Hajeri (pictured below right), who finished in fifth place in the Individual 18 & Under Division, while the Ladies team came fourth in the Team Division at the El Kantaoui Golf Club.

Al Hajeri posted an opening round 87 but improved with a 79 and then a 75 to finish in fifth place with a 241 total, just two strokes behind a medal place. Al Hajeri and his fellow Under 18 team members finished in ninth place overall.

The Ladies Team had a good outing, finishing fourth overall as Reema Al Heloo led the way with rounds of 95-78-91 for a total of 264. Along with Reema, Hamada Al Suwaidi fired rounds of 88-92-96 for a 276 total and Rabab Al Haj shot rounds of 100-102-107 for a 309 total.

The UAE 15 & Under Team was made up of

Rashid Al Emadi, Obaid Al Heloo, and Khalid Al Mutawa and they finished fifth with a score of 531.

For successive years it was Morocco who outshone the rest of the competitors as they won both the 15 and Under and Ladies Team Divisions while also taking Silver in the 18 and Under Team Division. Tunisia took the top prize in the 18 and Under Division and Silver in the 15 and Under and Ladies Divisions. Khalid Mubarak Al Shamsi, Secretary General of the Emirates

Golf Federation and National Team Manager said: “The Emirates Golf Federation is proud to have participated in this event, which always shows the direction and strategy of the Arab Golf Federation in developing golf across the region. The UAE Teams will build on this event and look forward to the upcoming GCC Golf Championships.”

D U B A I C R E E K GO L F A ND YACHT CLUB

Scratch Captain John Fellingham on top after superb 69

Clark Francis takes the spoils after memorable two-day battle at the 25th Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup Clark Francis triumphed after two days of play to win the landmark 25th staging of the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup last month.

Francis opened up with 37 points on day one at the Trump International Golf Club and then produced an exceptional performance of 38 points the following day at Dubai Creek for a two-round total of 75 points and a countback win over Antoin Breen.

Breen had led after a 38 on day one but Francis’ stronger finish at the Creek saw him prevail in what was a closely contested event.

“This is such a huge honour to have won this event,” said Francis. “It always is a superb two days, and of course this year was no different.

Thank you to Colm and Dubai Duty Free once again for putting on a superb competition.”

Despite losing out on the overall title, Breen did win the Men’s Division while the best-scoring

visitor was James Maxwell. Amarjeet Radia took the spoils in the Ladies Division with an excellent two-round tally of 69 while a superb 66 saw Jessica Beh win the overall visitor prize.

The Seniors Division saw Cees Vandooren clinch the ‘Super Super’ Senior title with a 65 while the ‘Super’ Senior title went to Bharat Ghodkhindi with a 74-point tally.

Commenting on the success of the tournament, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free said: “Thanks to my team at Dubai Duty Free and to Trump International Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf Club for the successful running of the 25th Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup. “I would also like to thank all our friends from the duty free industry who travel without fail to participate on this two-day competition and made this event truly memorable.”

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John Fellingham cruised to victory in last month’s OMA Emirates Medal, in association with Genesis, after signing for a superb score of 69. The scratchteam captain was in complete control, and even afforded a triple bogey on the sixth as he cruised to victory. Two weeks prior, Fellingham had won the Socius Pairs and he continued his hot form and with the victory he also collected some valuable Order of Merit points.

In the Men’s Division ‘A’ Ashok Sindu topped the pile with a 71, one shot clear of Shahram Shamsaee while in Division ‘B’ James Kang carded a 70 to win by one from Saurabh Kumar.

In the Ladies Division the red-hot Glory Xavier took the prize with an excellent round of 70 as she added to her burgeoning trophy cabinet.

Glory Xavier Continues to Shine Glory Xavier claimed victory at the November Ladies Monthly Medal after a score of 69.

Claiming the Division A title was KS Kang with a superb score of 69, missing out on the overall prize through her back nine score. Lianne Scatterty was victorious in Division B with a 71.

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ARABIAN GOLF A L H A M R A G O LF C LUB

AL AIN EQUESTRIAN, SHOOTING & GOLF CLUB

Max Burrow’s Magic earns him a RAK Challenge Tour Place Max Burrow produced a magical performance in the 12th edition of the RAK Men’s Amateur Open to secure a spot in the 2017 RAK Tour Challenge European Challenge Tour event. In the 36-hole event Burrow made a fast start with a 69 to take a two-shot lead over Rob Bain into day two. Burrow then carded a solid 71 for a 140 total and a four stroke win over Simon Dunn with Steve Kelbrick in third.

The winner qualified for a spot in the RAK Tour

Challenge 2017 event, the penultimate event on the European Challenge Tour season sponsored by Ras Al Khaimah Tourism & Development Authority.

Burrow carded rounds of 73-78 in the Challenge Tour event and although he missed the cut, he held his own in what was a dream come true for any amateur golfer.

In the net prizes Jae Woong Lee took the spoils with a 137 tally and a six-stroke win over Bradley Mogire with Richard Cuddihy in third.

Practice Pays Off as Ensig Claims AESGC LAdies Open title Denmark’s Sara Engsig claimed the overall gross prize with a superb one under par 69 after spending two days practicing on the course earlier in the week.

Natalii Gupta was two shots behind after shooting a gross 71 with Deborah Chang claiming third place with a gross 73.

Jamie Roslyn Camero blew away her rivals with a net 64 to take first place in the net division with Jayoung Lee 5 shots behind in second.

Woo wows at Harradine Cup

AYLA GOL F C LU B

Byung Jin Woo posted a score of 37 points to emerge from a tight leaderboard and win the 11th staging of the Harradine Cup last month. Woo carded five net birdies in his round as nines of 18 and 19 saw him win by one ahead of Dave Faulkner.

Third place required a card countback as Esam Al Fahim and Billy Mitchell both scored 34 points and it was Al Fahim who prevailed with a better back nine. The fixture, one of the major dates on the Al Hamra calendar, was once again generously sponsored by Peter Harradine and Harradine Golf who designed and built Al Hamra back in 2007.

Antonia Casquet and Mihail Bucataru Share November Medal Glory Scoring proved difficult in November’s Monthly Medal as only five players broke par with the best scores of the day coming from Antonia Casquet and Mihail Bucataru (pictured above) who both posted scores of net 68 to share the spoils.

Ahmad Mustapha Victorious in November Monthly Medal Ahmad Mustapha claimed the November Monthly medal after a solid round of 82 at Al Hamra Golf Club. John Wilby’s back six score of 30 was enough to see him pip Dave Faulkner into the runners-up spot after they both carded 84.

Jayson Coyne, Tony Cashman and Ju Hun Lee all had the same score of 73 in the Net Division but it was Coyne who claimed the title after scoring a back nine 37.

Campbell and McDowell Combine to take UAEWCGFC Qualifier Hamzan Salman Strolls to Victory in Autumn Stableford Hamzah Salman took home top prize in the Autumn Stableford at Ayla Golf Club, Aqaba, Jordan, after a stunning round of 43 points saw him overcome Javier Canseco, who was his nearest competitor by 10 points.

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Twenty-two pairs took to the field at the UAE World Corporate Golf Challenge Qualifier, all dreaming of eventually winning a spot in the World Final in Portugal in 2018. Sam McDowell and Patrick Campbell took first place with an overall total of 69 points with Mihail Bucataru and Bogdan Schiopu taking second place and also qualifying for the regional final after a countback.

C ON A R E S GO L F SO C IE TY LEAGUE – SHARJ AH GOLF AND S H OOT ING C LU B

Teams looking for momentum as the Conares Society League heats up

A

FTER the first selection of fixtures in Round 2 of the Conares Society League two teams have taken full advantage of their early momentum to open up big leads at the top of their respective divisions.

In the Conares League the KEGS (1) team followed a win and a loss in their opening fixture against the Dubai Irish Golf Society with victory in both their matches against SGB Naboodah to take their tally to nine points and sit three points clear of the Rising Etihad Golfers. SGB Naboodah and the GODS both sit on three points after four fixtures, with the GODS losing both their matches to the fast-starting Rising Etihad Golfers in Round 2. Team Asia also have three points but are yet to play their Round 2 fixtures.

Nine points is also the tally for the BMW League leaders Happy Hookers after they picked up six points from their matches against the

Conares League KEGS - 1 Rising Etihad Golfers Team Asia GODS SGB Naboodah BMW League Happy Hookers The Angry Birdies GTI Golf Society British Dads FIGME SGSC League South African GS White Rose Golf Society UAE Mazimba Golfers Gulf Rock Sport2Business 1

Filipino Golfers in the Middle East (FIGME).

The Happy Hookers had taken three points in their first round fixture against the British Dads and they lead the league by four points ahead of the Angry Birdies.

After four matches the Angry Birdies have five points thanks to a victory and a tie against the FIGME in Round 1 and a tie and a loss in their Round 2 fixtures with GTI Golf Society. Propping up the table is the FIGME team but there are still plenty of matches left for them to make a charge for the play-offs.

Tony Stroud and Leon Larkin from the KEGS (1) topped the field of 16 pairs to win the day’s prizes on a score of 45 Stableford points to win a pro shop voucher each for their efforts, while second place was won by Alastair Woolley and Owen Gilbert, also from the KEGS (1).

The fixtures in the SGSC League saw two

Played

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3 2 1 1 1

1 0 1 3 3

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9 6 3 3 3

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Worldwide Golf League Indian Expats KEGS 2 Dubai Irish (DIGS) Sport2Business 2 Dubai ExPutts

teams win both their matches to take maximum points and share the top spot. The South African Golf Society (SAGS) and the White Rose Golf Society both won their two matches against the UAE Mazimba and Gulf Rock respectively while Sport2Business (1) are yet to play their first fixture.

The Worldwide Golf league has a clear leader in the Indian Expats after two wins in their opening two fixtures while KEGS (2) and the Dubai Irish Golf Society both have a victory and loss against each other in their opening fixture.

The Sport2Business (2) team are in last place with two losses while the Dubai ExPutts are yet to play a fixture.

The prizes on the day went to Mick Conneely and Michael Vinas with a haul of 48 points with second place going to Ryan Taylor and Brian Williams.

Played

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Tony Stroud and Leon Larkin celebrate their victory.

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Runners-up Alastair Woolley and Owen Gilbert are pictured after play.

ARABIAN GOLF S HA RJA H GO L F & SHO OTI NG CLUB

Majestic Mi Young Cho Wins Midweek Centro Stableford

Awesome Alderman Seals Victory in the Gross Mid-Amateur

A round of 18 Stableford points gave Mi Young Cho (pictured below) victory in the Midweek Centro event at Sharjah Golf and shooting Club. Samuel Joseph finished a close second with 16 points while third place went down to a scorecard play-off between Ramesh Wijeratne and Misbah Ahmed with Ramesh coming out on top to seal third.

Captain Rai Gets Season Off to a Flyer

Chris Alderman won the Mid-Amateur Gross Strokeplay event at Sharjah Golf and shooting Club after a dominant performance saw him take victory by a three shot margin over defending champion Ricky Dominguez.

Hassan Yazdi had earlier posted 78 to make him the clubhouse leader but had to settle for third place after an impressive run of birdies from Alderman and Dominguez.

A D D R E SS MO N TG O ME RI E

Loftus Claims Montgomerie Men’s Open Glory

Sara Engsig Clinches Montgomerie Ladies Open Title

Stephen Loftus shot a superb gross 137 to beat the field of 96 and claim the Montgomerie Men’s Open in his first ever visit to the Dubai course.

The Irishman shot 67 on the first day which included seven birdies to take control of the twoday event. Loftus didn’t look back from there and after a second-round 70, victory was assured.

Mike Mezei finished second with a net score of 141 with John Burki winning the net category with a total of 138.

Sara Engsig claimed the Montgomerie Ladies Open with a fine gross total of 74 with Deborah Chang finishing as runner-up 3 shots behind with a total of 77. Elizabeth Samuel won the net division on a countback after finishing on 74 with Adina Cameron. The Stableford division for handicaps of 29+ was also decided on a countback with Oksana Hess taking the victory on 30 points followed by Karen Spinks who also scored 30 points.

The season-opening weekend was a busy affair as the Orient travel, Malaysia Truly Asia Monthly Medal marked the beginning of both the net and gross Order of Merit and newly appointed Club Captain Mukti Rai took the spoils with an impressive round of 67. Rai made seven net birdies and a net eagle as he romped to victory with a 5-under-par round for a three-stroke victory ahead of former Captain Vivian Verma. Third place went to No Ma Yeou with a 71 while in Division ‘A’ Richard Mason took the spoils with a 73. The same score was good enough for Gary Hibbert in Division ‘B’ and in the Gross Division William Xu won with a 74, one clear of Sinar Suraj.

The Order of Merit race is set to end in April.

Tim Craig makes his move in Round 2 Round two of the Orient Travel, Malaysia Truly Asia Monthly Medal and the Malaysia Truly Asia Net and Gross Order of Merit supported by Emirates saw Tim Craig make up for lost time as he posted a net 71 to win and move up the Order of Merit.

After missing the opening round, Craig was keen to get his Order of Merit campaign off to a flying start and he did just that, taking the day’s prize with an impressive round to move into a share of third place on the Order of Merit.

Finishing second behind Craig was Gary Hibbery with a 71 while Nathan Fisher took the spoils in Division ‘A’ and Sajid Tanwir topped the pile in Division ‘B’. In the Gross Division John Mills shot a 77 to win by one from Adam Smith.

S A A DIYA T B E A C H GO L F CLUB

Jaffar top man in monthly Stableford Low Scores for 22 teams in the annual Saadiyat Gourmet Golf day The annual Gourmet Golf tournament saw 22 enthusiastic teams battle it out over the stunning championship golf course last month and coming out on top with a net 54.1 was the team of Kyle and Stephanie Smith and Adele and David Scott.

Finishing in second place with a score of 55.2 were Adam Grundy, Gary Rawlings, Khalifa Al Masaood and Toby Adams, while third place went to Leeann Suttles, Chris Rossmeisl, Ping Li and Lina Tyson.

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In challenging conditions Ahmad Jaffar topped the table to take home the trophy with a score of 32 points in the return of the Unitechnik monthly Stableford at Sharjah Golf and shooting Club.

Sajid Tanwir took home the division two trophy while Jumadi Bin Husani collected the best gross score of the day.

With no members, we welcome all who love the game Set in 300 acres of Hertfordshire countryside just 18 miles from central London and with easy access from all London airports, The Grove offers visitors an exceptional golfing experience.

Choose from a range of rates and packages, then simply book, pay and play.

THE GROVE | Chandler’s Cross Hertfordshire WD3 4TG T: 01923 294266 | E: tee.time@thegrove.co.uk | www.thegrove.co.uk

TRAVEL WORLDWIDE GOLF

Since 2006 Finca Cortesin has been committed to the environment, sourcing reclaimed water from the nearby village of Manilva, and the facility is certified to the ISO 14001 environmental standard.

FINCA CORTESIN Located in the rolling hills of southern Spain between Marbella and Sotogrande, with the Mediterranean to one side and the tranquil Casares Mountains to the other, Finca Cortesin is one of the most picturesque and prestigious golf facilities in Spain.

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W W W. E U R O P E A N T O U R . C O M / D E S T I N A T I O N S

T

HE undulating fairways of the par-72 Championship course at Finca Cortesin has hosted three editions of the Volvo Match Play Championship and the renowned Jack Nicklaus Academy enhances the venue’s reputation as one of the leading places to play golf in southern Spain.

Together, Cabell B. Robinson’s course design and Gerald Huggan’s landscaping have combined to create a harmonious atmosphere, with lush surroundings including typical Mediterranean flora and forest.

Opened in 2006, the golf course

offers five different tee positions, making it appealing to players of all levels and in July this year, Finca Cortesin completed a comprehensive upgrade of its greens – becoming the first golf course in Spain to feature a new, environmentally-friendly type of Ultra Dwarf Bermuda grass on all its putting surfaces.

Some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including TPC Sawgrass, Quail Hollow and East Lake Golf Club have enjoyed huge success since converting to Ultra Dwarf Bermuda grass greens, and golf industry expert Ken Mangum believes the many benefits from the new investment will help take the five-star golfing experience at Finca

The resort’s other world-class facilities include the elegant 67-suite Hotel Cortesin, which was recently ranked one of the best 50 hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveler UK Magazine, a 6,000sqm Beach Club and an award-winning spa, featuring Spain’s only snow cave.

Cortesin to an even higher level.

Mangum, ex-director of golf courses and grounds at Atlanta Athletic Golf Club and head consultant on the project after being recommended

by Finca Cortesin head greenkeeper Ignacio Soto, said: “Many great courses around the world have used the Ultra Dwarf greens system for several years. Overall, they are more environmentally-friendly, cost effective and sustainable.

“The new greens will offer more great days of play, especially during warmer times of the year, and fewer pitchmarks will be visible.

“The dark green colour and surface uniformity will provide good speed and firmness throughout the season.”

2017 Masters Champion Sergio Garcia compared the greens at Finca Cortesin with those at Augusta National for their quality and speed when he played here.

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DESTINATIONS

W O R L D M A T C H P L AY

Finca Cortesin hosted the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

LE GOLF NATIONAL FRANCE

MAXX ROYAL BELEK GOLF RESORT TURKEY DIAMOND COUNTRY CLUB AUSTRIA PGA CATALUNYA RESORT SPAIN JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES UNITED ARAB EMIRATES LIGHTHOUSE GOLF & SPA RESORT BULGARIA SAUJANA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB MALAYSIA LONDON GOLF CLUB UNITED KINGDOM TERRE BLANCHE HOTEL SPA GOLF RESORT***** FRANCE GOLF CLUB ST.LEON-ROT GERMANY THE DUTCH THE NETHERLANDS BLACK MOUNTAIN GOLF CLUB & RESORT THAILAND MOUNT JULIET ESTATE IRELAND ALBATROSS GOLF RESORT CZECH REPUBLIC BOM SUCESSO PORTUGAL TRÓIA RESORT PORTUGAL CONSTANCE BELLE MARE PLAGE MAURITIUS MARCO SIMONE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB ITALY VERDURA RESORT ITALY FINCA CORTESIN HOTEL GOLF & SPA SPAIN

“As a golf resort, it’s absolutely fantastic with a beautiful hotel and great facilities. Considering the original piece of land they had to work with, they have created an excellent course.

I don’t think I could have designed such an outstanding golf course on such a difficult terrain. There are big gaps between the holes, which is a good thing because you never really see another hole while you’re walking down the hole you’re playing.” – Rory McIlroy at the 2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship.

COURSES LINNA GOLF FINLAND

QUINTA DO LAGO PORTUGAL ESTONIAN GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB ESTONIA KUNGSÄNGEN GOLF CLUB SWEDEN

DESTINATION UNDER DEVELOPMENT

ROSSINGTON HALL UNITED KINGDOM

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FIVE THINGS

5 THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME… NICOLAS COLSAERTS AGE:

35 | FROM: Schaerbeek, Belgium | TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 2000 | PROFESSIONAL WINS: 9

1

POWER PLAY

MILD STYLE I’m unable to eat any spicy food.

Chilies give me the hiccups instantly!

I don’t play in tournaments in Johannesburg because the ball goes too far. I have to hit a nineiron from 200 yards!

4

EXTREME JUNKIE I love skiing and am a single handicap on the slopes.

3

SURPRISING

I’ve never had a hole-in-one (believe it or not)!

5

NO TOM CRUISE

I’m petrified of heights so you won’t see me going up the Burj Khalifa whilst I’m playing in Dubai!

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