National Club Golfer August 2013 Issue by Sports Publications

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Connoisseur Clive packs his bags for Africa

FIFE’S

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Inland Ladybank is so good it will tear you away from St Andrews

WEEKEND BREAK IDEAS

THE BIG TEST...

Gleneagles, East Sussex National, St Pierre and England’s Golf Coast

FAIRWAY WOODS

We review new models from all the big names

ALSO INSIDE

DOES YOUR BALL

SUIT YOU?

Being fitted for the right Titleist will save you shots

THE

OPEN

2013

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE Open preview in association with

EXCLUSIVE

INSIGHT

ARNOLD PALMER

TIGER WOODS

EXCLUSIVE

‘The King’ on his pride at revitalising the Open

Why it’s now or never in his pursuit of Jack

How to tame Muirfield, by the ‘87 and ‘92 champion

SIR NICK FALDO

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NCG pp 6 Contents 21/06/2013 15:40 Page 6

CONTENTS AUGUST 2013 | WWW.NATIONALCLUBGOLFER.COM

ON THE TEE

YOUR GAME

EQUIPMENT

PLAY AWAY

110

131

These two great rivals, as you have never seen them before...

Use your hips like a Tour pro and add some extra distance

Titleist explain the benefits of getting a bespoke ball

We’ve teamed up with GolfBreaks in this special focus

112

124

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WE’D RATHER BE PLAYING: ST ENODOC

LAUNCH IT HIGH, SPIN IT LOW

QUICK TIP FOR HOLING OUT

WHY YOU MUST BE FITTED... FOR A BALL

THE NCG TEST: FAIRWAY WOODS

ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TURKEY

CONNOISSEUR CLIVE IN... KENYA

Why this Cornish links is one of the finest in England

Use this putting drill to improve your pace and precision

Our team of varying handicaps run the rule over 19 models

Did our intrepid correspondent enjoy his African adventure?

120

104

149

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Improve your flexibility with our expert guide to stretching

If you fancy getting a tan then a pair of these will help

Solheim Cup venue is a terrific play-and-stay option

FOOTJOY COMPETITION

STRETCH LIKE A CHAMPION

FASHION: SUMMER SHORTS

WEEKEND BREAK: ST PIERRE

ALSO INSIDE

151

Editor Dan Murphy on his favourite courses

The most under-rated course in Fife? We think it might be...

WHERE TO PLAY IN THE HIGHLANDS

CLASSIC COURSE: LADYBANK

OPEN PREVIEW

50 60 66

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NCG MEETS ARNOLD PALMER We talk to the man who saved the Open Championship

THE STORM OF 2002

THE US OPEN – WHAT WE LEARNED

How Justin Rose became a Major champion at Merion

The downpour like few others at the Open 11 years ago

SIR NICK FALDO Insight and reflection from Muirfield’s double champion

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NCG pp 8 Ed Comm 21/06/2013 15:34 Page 8

FREE GOLF! SUBSCRIBE TO NCG AND GET A FREE ROUND

WORTH £85!

TRAVEL TO GUIDE TURKEY

40 PAGES OF TRAVEL

CALL OF

KENYA

and to play Where the amazing stay in Belek region

Connoisseur Clive packs his bags for Africa

FIFE’S

SECRET STAR

Inland Ladybank is so good it will tear you away from St Andrews

WEEKEND BREAK IDEAS

THE BIG TEST...

Gleneagles, East Sussex National, St Pierre and England’s Golf Coast

FAIRWAY WOODS

We review new models from all the big names

ALSO INSIDE

DOES YOUR BALL

SUIT YOU?

Being fitted for the right Titleist will save you shots

THE

OPEN

2013

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE Open preview in association with

EXCLUSIVE

INSIGHT

TIGER WOODS

EXCLUSIVE

ARNOLD PALMER ‘The King’ on his pride at revitalising the Open

Why it’s now or never in his pursuit of Jack

How to tame Muirfield, by the ‘87 and ‘92 champion

SIR NICK FALDO

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dan Murphy DEPUTY EDITOR Mark Townsend STAFF WRITERS Joe Harrison James Tompkinson Joe Whitley CONTRIBUTORS Chris Bertram Colin Callander PHOTOGRAPHY Getty Images Thinkstock CHIEF DESIGNER Andrew Kenworthy DESIGNER & WEBMASTER Daniel Cooper PUBLISHER Tom Irwin SALES EXECUTIVES Neil Braddish Tom Lenton Jamie Miles DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE Eve Burton FINANCE & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Will Shucksmith (ACA) ACCOUNTS Emma Abbott CHAIRMAN Peter Burgess PRINT/REPRO Precision Colour Printing, Telford SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: 0113 289 3979 12 issues including P&P: UK £42; Europe £48; World £58

Editor’s comment M ANY congratulations to Justin Rose on becoming a Major champion. He thoroughly deserved his US Open win at a fiendishly difficult Merion. There are all manner of statistics that demonstrate how well he played but perhaps none more than the fact he played all 72 holes without making a double bogey. No-one else in the field could claim as much. Watching Rose play with such command in these ultimately testing circumstances was to see a man whose swing and mind were under control. As the world-class likes of Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel and Steve Stricker simply fell apart in the early stages of the final round, Rose remained unflustered and even out-lasted a multiple Major champion in Phil Mickelson. For a player who has rarely finished outside the top 10 over the last 18 months or so, the concern for the 32-year-old was that he only had one win to show for it, at the WGC CA Championship last March. That led some observers, me included, to question if he was ruthless enough to take advantage of a chance when it presented itself. I sensed a change in him at last year’s Ryder Cup. Beating (that man again) Mickelson was not in itself a career-changing event for a player of Rose’s calibre; but winning a tight match, crucial in the context of the entire contest, in such fist-pumping fashion showed us a side of the South-African-born Englishman that had not previously been apparent. Rose has talked a good game for a number of years but as he now admits it was not until 2010 that he really felt like he had got over the mental turmoil brought on by those 21 consecutive missed cuts that marked the start of his professional career. As ever in sport, one achievement, even as monumental as this, leads simply to the next challenge and Rose will arrive at Muirfield for the

SPORTS PUBLICATIONS LTD Unit 2, Arena Park, Tarn Lane, Scarcroft, West Yorkshire LS17 9BF, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 113 289 3979 e-mail: editorial@sportspub.co.uk ISSN 1354 2532 Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. Readers are advised to check pricing and details of availability before making any journeys. All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. The views expressed in National Club Golfer do not necessarily represent the views of the company or the editor. Every care is taken in compiling the contents but the publishers assume no responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from participation in any offer, competition or advertising contained within National Club Golfer.

Open with what are likely to be unfeasibly high expectations. Maybe NCG is a month ly magazine distri one of his buted to the go lf clubs of Grea countrymen can t Britain. Written specific enjoy a quiet buildally for you, the serious golfe r, we aim to up to the oldest provide an insigh tful Major and take and trustworthy guide to all advantage of the aspects of the game distraction to ensure that the wait for the next English Major champion is nearer 17 days than years. It was too long. love the US Open and this was certainly one of the better ones in recent memory. It was also played on a wonderful old course – Merion is in a different league to the likes of recent venues Olympic and Congressional. However, I think the USGA went a little too far in their almost maternal desire to protect what they clearly feared was a vulnerable course. You only had to see fairway bunkers as islands in the rough to see how tight they made the landing areas while the rough was as unsubtle as it used to be in the bad old days before graduated rough was introduced. I respect the concept of this being the most challenging week of the year but there would have been no shame in letting the winning score this year be eight or nine under par. Still, the right man won, so it can’t have been that unfair.

TWO HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS ISSUE... P45: 2013 OPEN – OUR PREVIEW We are especially proud of this year’s preview, including as it does interviews with one of the game’s icons, Arnold Palmer, and one of the Open’s legends, threetime champion Sir Nick Faldo. And lots more...

P131: ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TURKEY I visited the Belek area for the first time earlier this year and it didn’t take long for me to realise why it has become so popular, so quickly. So we thought a proper guide to where to play and stay was long overdue...

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WICE in the last five years Tiger Woods has missed the Open Championship. In in 2008 and both cases (at Birkdale reason was Sandwich in 2011) the the World injury. The prospect of No 1 – or the likes of Phil and Mickelson, Bubba Watson not Dustin Johnson – simply the bothering to travel because enough is Open was not important we have unthinkable. And for that Palmer. to thank Arnold Daniel that the We take it for granted the best players from all over the world, and especially compete Americans, will want to what makes for the Claret Jug. It is it, for many of us, the greatest event in the golfing calendar. case. But it was not always the austerity And especially not in the it cost of the post-war 1950s when than more to cross the Atlantic could be won in prize money. the These were dark days for the 1920s Open Championship. In and Bobby and 30s, Walter Hagen Jones had dominated, winning the Second seven times. Following Americans World War, few of the across. coming even bothered be a The Open had ceased to draw – and for several reasons. Perhaps most compellingly, and they could earn more money a arguably compete against at home. stronger field by staying The travel was much more arduous and relatively expensive

OPEN PREVIEW

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than it is now. to them, And rather insultingly else, the Americans, like everyone were expected to pre-qualify, longer which made the trip even travel and meant they had to of a place without even a guarantee in the field. the Their absence was turning event, Open into a second-class of likes the albeit one graced by Thomson, Bobby Locke and Peter in this era. both prolific champions Palmer, already a working-class that in a hero in America, changed to make stroke when he decided to the the long journey across in centenary Open at St Andrews 1960.

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14 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp 14-15 MOTM 21/06/2013 12:10 Page 15

MOMENT OF THE MONTH

HERE was a touch of irony as Justin Rose ended England’s 17-year wait for a Major. The 48 Majors since Sir Nick Faldo’s victory at Augusta had been staged against a narrative, in English terms, of angst and doubt. Lots of very fine English golfers were (in the new Millennium) now routinely in the field for the Majors, but we wondered if any had the game and gumption to win one. Yet when the drought ended, it was done in the most sure-footed manner imaginable. Rose was clearly pumped up as he played the 18th, but he was also calm and clinical. It was unfussy, and deeply impressive. His performance at Merion showed what we really ought to have known: he has plenty about him. As a teenager, he finished fourth in the Open; no-one does that. On turning pro, he plumbed the depths but battled back; few do that. When he lost his father and mentor, he stayed on an even keel; many are unable to do that. Rose has faced adversity and overcome it. He has done so by adapting his swing or his life, and that is what he did at Merion. He assessed the course, devised a strategy and executed it. Nothing especially novel there – it’s what Tiger Woods used to do routinely. While others, their wits numbed by the ‘sameness’ of the set-up of PGA Tour courses, cried foul at the necessity to hit the ball in the fairway, Rose adapted his game to the different examination paper So did Mickelson, Schwartzel, Mahan et al, fine ball-strikers all. Merion produced a stellar leaderboard and was, in our eyes, a triumph for the USGA and its championship chief Mike Davis (only the par-3 3rd was dubious). Some queried the exacting finish and its unlikely capacity for a late charge. But Rose did charge – by making pars. Pars were birdies coming in, and Rose produced them in a fashion which bestowed legendary status on Sir Nick (in fact, Rose’s par on 18 was made with less fuss than in either of the fabled Muirfield wins). When England was wondering if Rose had the game to clinch a Major, he answered emphatically.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 15

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NCG pp 17 Captured On Film 21/06/2013 13:34 Page 17

ON THE TEE

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CAPTURED ON FILM

DECEMBER 14, 1992 Things you never thought you'd see: Faldo helps out Seve

HEY were the most disparate of rivals. One was the swashbuckling crowd favourite who won his Majors with panache and flamboyance. The other was the single-minded grinder who cared little for entertaining the watching galleries. Yet there was enormous respect between Severiano Ballesteros and Sir Nick Faldo. It was shown, memorably, in an emotional embrace after Europe fought back to win the 1995 Ryder Cup. And here is evidence that three years previous, Sir Nick had put aside his rivalry with the Spaniard to help him with his game. The venue was Tryall in Jamaica, where they were competing in the Johnnie Walker World Golf Championships. Whether technical input to Seve's natural, flowing swing was a good thing, is another matter...

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 17

NCG pp 18-19 WRBP St Enodoc 21/06/2013 12:09 Page 18

ON THE TEE

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ST ENODOC A links that combines sensational scenery with gloriously quirky holes

Par-5 thrill St Enodoc’s 16th is an immense hole

18 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

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HIS is the 16th at St Enodoc, which forms part of one of the best finishing stretches in British and Irish golf. This seaside course in Cornwall is most famous for the 10th hole which climaxes with a green next to the burial place of the poet John Betjeman. But that hole is overshadowed by the closing trio. The 16th is a wonderful par 5 which plays blindly over the crown of a hill and then swings up and round to a green protected by lots of sand. The next is a long par 3 where it is all too easy to end up short and right in a deep pit... and then have a devilish bunker shot to the green. You then board an elevated tee and fire your last drive between significant lines of dunes before trying to find another putting surface which sits higher than the level of fairway.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | JUNE 2013 19

NCG pp 20 Mini Open Great Debate 21/06/2013 12:07 Page 20

ON THE TEE

| QUICK TIP |

HAVE YOUR SAY: Tell us your views by writing to the address on p6 or by emailing letters@sportspub.co.uk

GREAT DEBATE: IS MUIRFIELD THE BEST OPEN VENUE? Or has the Old Course at St Andrews got something to say about that? Two NCG writers lock horns...

YES

It’s clearly the classiest host course on the Open rota, says Dan Murphy

CLOSE your eyes and think of the last hole of the Open. It’s a long par 4, basically straight, with bunkers on both sides of the fairway and a handsome old clubhouse standing behind the green. You’re picturing Muirfield – the classiest of our Open venues. Jack Nicklaus is on record as saying that the further south you go the less he likes our Open venues, which was primarily a barb aimed in Sandwich’s direction. I would agree with him in the sense that an Open just feels more ‘proper’ when it is in Scotland. These days most of the players are too diplomatic to say what they really think but let me assure you that even in private very few of them will have a bad word to say about Muirfield this month.

The reason they like it so much is because it’s fair. The challenge is in front of them and visible. It is also arguably the greenest of our Open venues, and has flat fairways. The reason that some pros don’t like Sandwich is because it gets very bouncy and unpredictable. It is very unlikely that freak bounce or piece of misfortune will be the deciding factor at Muirfield this month. The opening hole is a classic – a stark and austere beginning to the round. And the closing stretch is as good as it gets. It culminates in a classic 3-5-4 finish that presents the chance of eagles, double bogeys and heroic closing pars. Just thinking about it, I can’t wait for the action to begin.

20 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

The Old Course still has the magic for me, says Mark Townsend

RECENTLY, 26 years hence from my last round at the Old Course, I revisited the old girl and it was every bit as special as 1987. Then, four of us had spent a week here to celebrate the end of our O Levels. The first glimpse of the 1st and last holes was at 5am after catching an overnight sleeper from London. Nobody had slept but nothing could take away from the quiet beauty of two holes that seemingly sat in the middle of this wonderful town. A town which is worth the pilgrimage alone. Every night would be spent walking the course, trying to make some sense of the strategy required, and two of the days lapped up, having come through the ballot for the price of £16. Now as an equally excitable 42-

year-old the precise memories of those two days came flooding back and, even with winds of 50mph whipping things up, it was like nothing else. Explain much of it to someone who has never been and you will get some funny looks: “At 17 you drive over some railway sheds next to a hotel before playing to a green which is next to a road. Then the last is a driveable par 4 with no bunkers and a 100-yard wide fairway.” But to play these holes, or even walk them, and there is an everpresent sense of what has gone before. It’s truly magical and no other course can come close as an experience. There is a very good reason the Open returns here every five years.

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NCG pp 24 OTT Di Meets...Gethin Jones 21/06/2013 12:03 Page 24

ON THE TEE

INTERVIEW |

Why and when did you take up golf? I was a late-comer. I dabbled as a kid with a secondhand half set, but started playing a lot about 10 years ago maybe. I became a member at Celtic Manor three years ago, I love playing there. It is pure escapism for me, and despite being with your mates, you’re actually always playing yourself. I love that mental challenge. I play as often as I can. I’m off 18 on the Twenty Ten, and probably 14/15 everywhere else! It’s a tough course when the wind is up! I don’t have an official handicap – I must sort that! What are your golf ambitions? As every golfer knows you need to be practising regularly to get to single figures. I sometimes get to play a lot, but more often I struggle to get out because of work commitments. I’ve never had a lesson, so hopefully, if my family are reading this, Christmas is what, six months away... Do you prefer inland or seaside golf? I find links quite tough, again I think because I haven’t had a lesson. I’m not really sure of myself from 100 yards in. I also don’t have the short game for those little chip and run shots! I’m quite Hollywood, love to get some height and (try) to land it next to the pin... Not always easy in wind though. I really want to play some golf in Scotland, which I’m going to sort out this year. I got to play Wentworth last year, and absolutely loved that. Were you at the 2010 Ryder Cup? Were you proud of Wales? I didn’t miss a minute. It announced Newport and Wales on a global scale. The weather is talked about a lot – but I think it only added to the drama. The crowds were fantastic, one of the best sporting occasions I’ve ever been to! Whenever I take mates to play the 2010, we always have a crack at G-Mac’s putt on the 16th. I’ve still not succeeded! In 2012, I watched it all from a patrol base in Helmand Province. I was filming the 3rd series of ‘Remembrance Week’ for the BBC. Sport is a huge reminder the

“I ONCE INTERVIEWED TOM WATSON AND WAS WITH HIM FOR TWO HOURS. I COULD HAVE LISTENED FOR TWO WEEKS” Broadcaster and Lynx ambassador Di Dougherty chats to television presenter Gethin Jones feeling of togetherness to support their team. Because of the time difference, I remember going to bed at 3am, and things weren’t looking good. We were being picked up in a Merlin at 6am... by the time I next heard the news I couldn’t believe it! The comeback of all comebacks.. Will Europe retain the next Ryder Cup at Gleneagles? Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?! Do you follow golf on TV and who are your favourites? I’m really into watching golf, so I really enjoy playing a course where I know what shots the pros have made on the same holes. I always stay up way too late to watch whatever tournament is on

24 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Sky. I love watching Rory, the circus that always follows Tiger, and Poulter in the Ryder Cup. Do you get nervous playing? You know the answer to that, Di! I was the first to tee off for Wales at the Celebrity Cup with 600 people watching. Wasn’t it you on the microphone encouraging everyone to start a slow clap? Terrifying! I just tried to slow my swing down. And then I closed my eyes! It went straight. Who is your favourite golfer? I once interviewed Tom Watson for 5 Live. I was with him for two hours, but could have listened for two weeks! I was obsessed with Seve and Woosnam as a kid. n Visit didougherty.com and follow her @DiDougherty1

DI TEAMS UP WITH LYNX “I became the ambassador for Lynx last year and the brand is growing from strength to strength. We all remember Ernie Els and Fred Couples winning Majors with Lynx equipment, the company are building on that heritage and are keen to remember their history in today’s modern market. The company also recognises the importance of the women’s Tour and is very keen to support female British golfers. Design, style and performance are key for Lynx and their innovative ideas are clear to see in their new ranges.” lynxgolf.co.uk

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NCG pp 26 US Open Five Things 21/06/2013 12:01 Page 26

ON THE TEE

| TOUR |

FIVE

THINGS WE

LEARNED AT

THE US OPEN

Mark Townsend on Rose, Lefty and Merion

ABOUT ROSE’S WIN... n This was his eighth US Open start (previous best T5 on debut in 03) n ... and 37th Major start, his 3rd at Kiawah last year his previous best n Non-Americans have won three of the last four US Opens and the last four Majors n Rose’s victory lifted him to a careerhigh of third in the world rankings n Rose went through the week without making a double bogey. His worst round was a 71

ROSE PLAN COMES TOGETHER

MERION A WELCOME BREAK FROM THE NORM

A BIRTHDAY TO FORGET FOR PHIL

Last year Justin Rose topped the Greens in Regulation category, this year he is leading the Total Driving. If both were needed anywhere it would be Merion’s 18th hole. Just 11 birdies had been recorded at the toughest hole on the course all week and none over the last two days. Rose striped his drive alongside Ben Hogan’s plaque and then hit the sweetest of 4irons, which might not have registered on the GIR stats, but came close to securing the four. Rose has said he hadn’t truly got the 21 successive missed cuts at the start of his career out of his system until 2010. The other slight doubt was over his putting on the biggest stage, not any more.

The suspicion is that we won’t be returning to Merion for another US Open having had to wait 32 years for this one. The property isn’t big enough to stage such an event, the practice ground is a 15-minute drive away and there is nowhere else for the East Course to go. Which is all such a pity. While the USGA occasionally messed up with par 3s that required drivers, much of the week was magical. Holes of around 350 yards played over their par and greens befuddled players who are used to holing everything from inside 10 feet. But the winning score was just one more than the USGA’s ideal and anyone on the leaderboard would have been a worthy winner.

Phil Mickelson has now finished runner-up six times but this was the first time he arrived on Sunday with a lead. It was the same daughter who was born the day after his second place in 1999 who he flew home to see graduate on the eve of the tournament. A wedge shot to the 10th dropped but little else did, Mickelson hit more greens than any other player but only had nine birdies (and that eagle) by the end of the week – Donald, Rose and Day each had 15. "Heartbreak," he said. "This is tough to swallow after coming so close. This was my best chance of all of them. I had a course I really liked. This was as good an opportunity as you could ask for. It really hurts."

26 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

TIGER STILL STUCK ON 14 Supposedly this was to be Tiger’s week with not much call for the driver. The only thing he came away with was his equal worst 72-hole score in a Major to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his last win. He was in the hunt after two days but 10 over at the weekend, his worst closing efforts in a Major, saw him finish T-32. He didn’t break par in any round. A sore left elbow he first hurt at the Players did not help. But the real problems at Merion came around the hole – the World No 1 blamed the grain on the creeping bent grass. The search goes on for No 15 with neither of the year’s final two chances, Muirfield and Oak Hill, being previously happy hunting grounds.

NCG pp 28-29 OTT Highlands 21/06/2013 11:55 Page 28

ON THE TEE

HEAD FOR THE

HIGHLANDS Why northern Scotland is Dan Murphy’s favourite destination

| GRASS ROOTS

If this month’s Scottish Open at stunning Castle Stuart, just outside Inverness, does not whet your appetite for a trip to the Highlands then nothing will. Given the choice of heading to any part of the British Isles, I think I’d opt for the Highlands. It just feels like such a treat to be there and in my experience the locals are warm, welcoming and knowledgeable about the game.

Pure class A view towards the pristine 16th green at Nairn

THE BEST GREENS I’VE EVER PUTTED ON NAIRN

WHERE I’D LIKE TO PLAY EVERY DAY ROYAL DORNOCH

After Castle Stuart, the next place on your bucket list should be Nairn – venue for the Curtis Cup last year, where GB&I's finest female amateurs successfully defeated their American counterparts. Their greens may well be the purest in the land – you can hear the ball rolling along the pristine seaside turf. Old Tom Morris and James Braid both had a hand in crafting a 6,701-yard course that is pure links for most of the way before turning briefly inland on the back nine. The views are special throughout. The handsome town of Nairn boasts one of the driest climates in Britain, so you can plan your trip with confidence.

Maybe I’d change my mind if I was there in a bleak period of winter, but I just can’t get enough of Royal Dornoch. It is a quintessential links. The sea is visible from practically every hole, the fairways are fast, the greens are often raised and the town lives, breathes and sleeps golf. It has a certain romance about it. With every round you play, the course reveals a few more secrets, and that makes you want to come back for more. Ahead of my first visit several years ago, Dornoch was a mere speck on the map some 200 miles north of Edinburgh. Now it seems that much more accessible to me. I love it.

28 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

A VERY SPECIAL TREAT SKIBO CASTLE Until very recently, the only way you could play at Skibo Castle, just outside Dornoch, was as the guest of a member. Now you can arrange a visit (it costs £300, including a lunch that will also live in the memory) to see for yourself the result of a huge programme of renovations and improvements to Donald Steel and Tom MacKenzie’s original design. The conditioning of the course is quite simply breathtaking and the overall experience is hard to beat. With water seemingly in every direction, Skibo enjoys a setting of rare beauty and now it has a layout to match. Some parts of the course face the sea while others are alongside a loch. This is one of Scotland’s very finest courses.

PERFECT FOR A SUMMER’S EVENING FORTROSE & ROSEMARKIE Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, Fortrose & Rosemarkie lies 15 miles north of Inverness. The links course on the Chanonry Peninsula may be short by modern standards but it was laid out masterfully by James Braid. Featuring plenty of gorse and some unpleasantly deep bunkers, the putting surfaces are immaculate. Watch out for the stroke-index one 4th. This signature par 5 features gorse and rough unseen from the tee as well as a tricky green. The club has recently installed new bar and lounge facilities and is hosting three national junior tournaments this summer.

NCG pp 28-29 OTT Highlands 21/06/2013 11:55 Page 29

SPECIAL COURSES

AND 5 MORE TO DISCOVER

NAIRN DUNBAR

THE QUINTESSENTIAL LINKS EXPERIENCE Moray Founded in 1889, Moray boasts two courses. The 7,000-yard Old offers one of the best closing holes in golf. The New was designed by Henry Cotton and offers tighter fairways and smaller greens.

Nairn Dunbar offers a mix of traditional links and woodland holes. Several new fairway bunkers have been added in recent years.

REAY

A HOME FROM HOME

Britain’s most northerly links is supremely natural and dates back to 1893. Just to the west of Thurso on the north coast, there’s no need to book here!

Golspie Battered by violent storms over the winter, Golspie is happily recovering well. The tangible sense of community here will certainly help – you won’t find a course in which more pride is taken by the members and greens staff.

MUIR OF ORD

CHARM AND HISTORY Brora This evocative links occupies common land, meaning that animals graze on the fairways. There are some fabulous holes – as well as great on-site accommodation.

Located just north of Inverness and laid out by James Braid, you’ll love the mix of heathland and moorland. Watch out for the tricky greens here that catch many visitors (and members!) out.

TAIN This Old Tom Morris original is a joy to play and the warm welcome you will receive makes it a must-visit. There are some wonderful holes.

THE PRETTIEST COURSE THAT I KNOW Boat of Garten I haven’t played anywhere else quite like Boat. With the Cairngorms to the south and the River Spey and Strathspey steam railway bordering the course, the location is sensational. Only 5,876 yards off the back tees, it winds its way gently uphill and down between the purple heather and rows of firs and silver birches. Stunning.

ELGIN Founded in 1906, inland Elgin is classy throughout. The 14th, Spectacles, is especially memorable at this 6,449yard, par-71 layout.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 29

NCG pp 30 OTT Quick Tip 21/06/2013 11:54 Page 30

ON THE TEE

Analysis by Gary Alliss, pro at Ladbrook Park. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;King of the Swingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has twice captained the PGA Cup side. w: ladbrookparkgolf.co.uk

| QUICK TIP |

HOW TO AVOID

THE SHANK

LIKE WEBB SIMPSON Why the 2012 US Open champion occasionally pipes it

DOWN TO THE LATE HIT Webb Simpson is undoubtedly a very fine player but is rather prone to hitting the dreaded J Arthur Rank, or Lucy Locket. Why should this be? Well, the problem arises from the extreme lag position, or, if you will, the late hit position that he obtains on the downswing. It is not easy to see in the two-dimensional photograph here, because the club shaft, while on plane, is coupled to a very narrow swing arc.

HOSEL NOT CLUBFACE Look how close Webb's right elbow is to his right hip. Many times his right elbow drops several inches below the position of his left elbow, whereas most top players' elbows are relatively level with each other during the downswing. What does this result in? When the arc narrows excessively, Simpson is forced to do one of two things; straighten his body, resulting in poor contact and also to swing the club away from his body in order to make room for the through swing. As the arms move out, the hosel of the club presents itself to the ball and, hey presto, a shank results.

30 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp 31 OTT Hazel Irvine 21/06/2013 11:52 Page 31

ON THE TEE

INTERVIEW |

ENJOY OPEN

SUNDAY AT

TOPGOLF

‘THE STUDENT RATES WERE SOMETHING LIKE £35 TO PLAY ALL FIVE COURSES’ BBC Sport presenter Hazel Irvine looks ahead to the Ricoh Women’s British Open over the Old Course in St Andrews – her home town and where she went to university What role has St Andrews played in your life? I was born there and lived there for my first four years. I was born at the Craigtoun Maternity hospital which became an old folks’ home and has now become part of the Duke’s Course. I have actually played there so it is quite surreal playing at where you were born. Round every corner there are floods of memories and I still think the university is the best place you can study. How much has the town changed since then? All the pubs have been through various incarnations so a number have changed but the Balaka curry house never changes and the Victoria Café is still there. We used to go to the Niblick pub and we used to run down for last orders from the halls of residence. I used to stay in the Hamilton Hall, which is next to the R&A clubhouse and has now been taken over by Herb Kohler, so the Dunvegan pub was always a big

one as it was so nearby. I was in on the top floor in room 90 so I had a fantastic view of the 1st and 18th so every morning I used to come striding out with my best friend Anne in the lead up to our finals, march down the side of the 1st fairway and across Granny Clark’s Wynd and straight back up to the library.

A lot of the time I am lobbying like crazy to try and get the players into the studio as you get a different kind of interview as they are naturally more relaxed, they are sitting down with a drink and it’s warm and you can explore a little bit more than their round.

How much golf were you able to play? We had an exemption system in the first couple of years where if you did reasonably well in your studies you didn’t have to sit your exams at the end of the year. So my rationale was that if I worked my guts out I could play golf in the last term. The student rates were something like £35 to play all five courses and you could skip out and imagine yourself taking the imaginary applause of the imaginary crowds.

Who do you particularly enjoy speaking with? There are some really engaging personalities; Yani Tseng is a particularly charming individual and is great fun, they are all media savvy. It’s always a pleasure to see Catriona Matthew, sometimes she brings the girls in and her husband Graeme is lovely and is such a quiet driving force. Her win at Lytham has to be among my favourite memories in sport. She was one of my first ever interviews on Scottish television in 1987 and we were as nervous as each other.

What does your role entail once the coverage begins?

n The Women’s British Open takes place from August 1 to 4

TopGolf, the unique practice and golf entertainment venues, are preparing to host their second Classics tournament of the year. The Pythons and Pints Classics matchplay tournament will be played on Sunday July 21 to coincide with the final day of the Open at Muirfield. The tournaments provide a fun way to compete against both friends and other TopGolfers, show off your skills and win some excellent prizes. TopGolf venues are where the competition of sport meets your favourite local bar. With an innovative point scoring system which rewards both distance and accuracy, each of TopGolf’s three centres across the south of England provides a new way to hone your skills. Boasting undercover, heated bays which are perfect when the weather is poor – TopGolf also offer high-quality coaching and fitting experiences. Each TopGolf site has a Flightscope radar unit and slowmotion video capture software provided by V1 which can be accessed by all guests – both for coaching and custom-fitting purposes. Fitting adjustments can also be made on site. An outstanding food and drink menu is available throughout the day and adds to the experience of playing with TopGolf. Visit TopGolf.com/theclassics

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 31

NCG pp 32 OTT Powakaddy Comp 21/06/2013 11:51 Page 32

ON THE TEE

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E have teamed up with leading trolley brand PowaKaddy in their 30th Anniversary Year to offer one lucky reader the chance to win one of their brand-new Freeway Sport electric golf carts. Two runners-up will receive a PK Premium Cart Bag from the company’s marketleading bag range. PowaKaddy recently declared it’s time to make ‘Freeway Your Way’ on the fairways this season. This follows the launch of three stylish and performance-infused models that herald the dawn of its world-famous Freeway franchise. The new Freeway Digital+ is an enhanced version of the awardwinning Freeway Digital model that was first launched in March 2012. This feature-packed electric trolley represents a truly ‘best in class’ product. It effortlessly combines elegant styling and precision engineering with easy-touse functionality. The 200W whisper-quiet motor ensures it is

engineered to the highest possible specifications for outstanding performance on all terrains. Other highly functional features include PK’s revolutionary, threeway simple-to-use folding mechanism; a battery tray including a built-in interchangeable battery connection that can be utilised with lithium and lead acid batteries; and a unique bag grip and Key Lock system that, when utilised with any PowaKaddy cart bag, restricts all lateral movement. Highlight features include: n New battery indicator and Power on/off LED indicator n Soft-touch ambidextrous digital ‘T’ bar handle complete with builtin responsive 9-speed control roller n LED display screen, and electronic digital distance function n Lightweight and robust oversize frame with sporty low-profile fivespoke wide wheels To enter, which is free, visit www.nationalclubgolfer.com

32 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

I PLAY BENROSS. Tim Clark / Handicap 6 Club Champion / Burhill Golf Club

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NCG pp 34 OTT Raymond 21/06/2013 11:50 Page 34

ON THE TEE

INTERVIEW |

“I LIKE PEOPLE WATCHING. THERE’S NOTHING WORSE THAN HITTING A GOOD SHOT NO ONE SEES” St Andrews Links Trophy winner Neil Raymond is in prime position to be selected for the Walker Cup, says Dan Murphy At the ripe old age of 27, Neil Raymond is a veteran in amateur golf terms. These days, the best players typically turn professional in their early 20s. From Corhampton, in Hampshire, Raymond was still playing off a handicap of five when he was 18. That might sound impressive to most of us but when you think that new US Open champion Justin Rose had already nearly won the Open, turned pro and was a household name before his 18th birthday then you see why Raymond is considered a late developer. “I’m older because I was born before them!” says Raymond when asked about the age gap compared with his fellow Walker Cup hopefuls.

“I didn’t really play a lot of golf when I was growing up, I played a lot of football and cricket. And then I got the opportunity to work in the pro shop at my home club. “All of a sudden with a bit of practice and a few lessons the handicap came down.” Two years ago Raymond came to national prominence by winning the Brabazon at Burnham & Berrow – a title he retained last year at Walton Heath. Now with his St Andrews Links Trophy win he is surely in position for a Walker Cup call up for September’s match at National, in New York. “It proves to me how many birdies I can make if my putter gets hot,” he said. “Strangely enough I actually hit it better at

Lytham (in the Lytham Trophy) and I was in great shape until I made a nine. To walk off having not hit it my best and still won is

HOW THE LINKS TROPHY WAS WON The double Brabazon champion was lying 16th at the halfway stage, but closing rounds of 68 and 69 helped Raymond post a winning score of six under par. “I was seven behind with two rounds to play,” he said. “It was my putting really that changed.” His victory is the third by an English player in four years following the successes of Tom Lewis (2011) and Matt Southgate (2010). “I’ve always wanted to win at St Andrews so this is special,” he said.

a brilliant feeling. Hopefully it’s had a very positive impact on my Walker Cup chances. “Nigel Edwards (England Golf’s director of coaching) watched me coming down the stretch. Hopefully he can see that I’ve got a bit of bottle.I like people watching me. It gives me a buzz. There’s nothing worse than hitting a good shot and no one seeing it or saying anything. “Nigel said well done on a great finish. That means a lot coming from him because he’s a winner. And I think my success and those of the likes of Garrick (Porteous, who won the Scottish Amateur) and Max (Orrin, who won the South East of England Links) shows the progress we are making as a country.”

Job done Raymond with the St Andrews Links Trophy

Picture courtesy of St Andrews Links Trust

34 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

I PLAY BENROSS. Chris McLaren / Handicap 12 Artisan Member / St George’s Hill Golf Club

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NCG pp 36 OTT Lloyd, Stats 21/06/2013 12:06 Page 36

ON THE TEE

INTERVIEW |

CHRIS LLOYD My first top 10 on the European Tour

TATISTICALLY PEAKING

281

The percentage of players who hit the green on Merion’s tough 18th in regulation. The hole played a full 0.76 shots over par and yielded only 11 birdies.

MERION BITES BACK For the second year in a row, and contrary to popular opinion in the build-up, the winning score at sub-7,000-yard Merion was one-over-par 281.

Eddie Pepperell

T has been an interesting month; I have briefly (it lasted two rounds in Madeira) flirted with the belly putter, got a new caddy and come close to winning my first event on tour. St Omer is a co-sanctioned tournament with the Challenge Tour so you have to think that it is a better chance to win as the field isn't quite as strong as normal. Thankfully I managed to take advantage of that and I had a very good attitude all week. To put it politely it was quite a funky course. You might hit some good shots and not get rewarded so you had to keep your head on and do the simple things well. I was one off the lead going into the back nine and that's what it's all about. I then didn't quite give myself enough chances from the fairway and I missed a couple of putts that I hadn't in the first three days. The nerves were there but you are so in the moment that they are only in the background. My fifth place was also very handy for the re-rank on the European Tour. It involves those players finishing 11-20 on the Challenge Tour standings last year and everyone who got their card at Q School and then those players get thrown into a big pot and the players are reranked on their earnings from this year. Going into it I was 21st and I

moved up to 13th so that should hopefully equate to some more starts. At the moment I will probably have seven to nine events left but that could be more if I have some top 10s. I've also had Open Qualifying at Sunningdale which I haven't done before. Last year I tried my luck at Local Final Qualifying at Southport & Ainsdale and I was second after the first round but then fell away. It's quite a strange experience as you're trying to work out when to attack and when to defend as it's a bit of a shoot-out over two rounds but, if you don't do anything too silly and shoot a couple of three-under rounds you should be OK. One player who has just made his Major debut is my good friend and room-mate Eddie Pepperell who qualified at Walton Heath after playing so well at the PGA at Wentworth. He changed coaches less than a couple of months ago and that seems to have made a big difference. My change has come on the bag. I had been with my old caddy for 18 months and it's never great splitting up but sometimes you need a change of direction and so far it seems to be working.

• Chris Lloyd is from Bristol and is a rookie on the European Tour having come through Qualifying School

36 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Twenty-nine Phil Mickelson’s runner-up finish at the US Open is his 29th on the PGA Tour, the highest among all active players. Tiger (28) is second.

TOP10 WORLD RANKINGS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Tiger Woods Rory McIlroy Justin Rose Adam Scott Matt Kuchar Phil Mickelson Luke Donald Brandt Snedeker Graeme McDowell Louis Oosthuizen

3 July 11-14 Scottish Open July 18-21 Open Championship

COMING UP...

AV. PTS 13.06 9.52 8.19 7.35 6.69 6.17 6.07 5.97 5.59 5.28

18 NUMBER OF WINNERS IN LAST 19 MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. RORY MCILROY IS THE ONLY MAN WITH TWO.

HOME US OPEN WINNERS Only three of the last 10 US Open winners were born in America. They are: Webb Simpson (2012), Lucas Glover (2009) and Tiger Woods (2008).

JULY

I PLAY BENROSS. Ian Yates / Handicap 18 Guildford Golf Club

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02/04/2013 11:06

NCG pp 38 Columnist ACC 21/06/2013 11:49 Page 38

CHUBBY CHANDLER Preparing for another Open Championship assault T doesn’t seem two minutes since Darren Clarke fulfilled his lifetime’s objective of claiming the silver Claret Jug. But that was two Opens ago and now we’re heading for Muirfield and another week at golf’s oldest and greatest championship. I can’t wait, it’s always that good a week. It’s safe to say that Open week is one of my busiest – arguably the busiest of the year. Players, sponsors, colleagues, friends old and new and a variety of acquaintances and potential business associates all want five minutes of my time or the opportunity to show off the latest gizmo guaranteed to knock shots off a player’s round. It’s always a tough task allocating time, but players must always come first at a Major championship because these are their most important weeks. I try not to offer advice unless it’s solicited because a player needs to have a clear head going into a Major and not have to think or worry about anything other than the job ahead. I don’t spend too much time on the range because ISM always has its own watering hole and feeding station where players and families gather after practice or play and if anybody needs my ear there, then they’ll always have it. I’m lucky that we have some excellent field officers at ISM and they are my eyes and ears when I’m not around. I try to have a quick word with all our players, but generally keep my distance unless I have something really important to discuss. We are in pole position at Muirfield because the ISM hub house is no more than 100 yards from the 1st tee so we can expect more visitors than usual. Many of our players pop in at one stage or another during the week and it’s a very relaxed atmosphere and a perfect wind-down theatre. We’ve had some very special meetings at our hospitality headquarters over the years but none bigger than two recent ones. The Jigger Inn, adjoining the Old Course Hotel and the infamous 17th hole on the Old Course at St Andrews, was our base when Louis Oosthuizen became ISM’s first Major champion in 2010. Players, officials, media, relatives, friends and sponsors all had their picture taken with

38 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Life’s ambition Darren is a proud Open champion

Louis and the Claret Jug, but even that long and liquid celebration was eclipsed the following year when it was handed over to Darren at Sandwich. The party with every man and his dog and an obligatory media presence went well into the night and the world was put to rights in every conversation over many hours. An hour before his morning-after press conference Darren was still in the clothes he had worn coming off the 18th green some 18 hours earlier so he had a pretty quick turnaround before addressing the nation. There won’t have been many Open celebrations like it. Nothing would give Darren more satisfaction if he can’t collect a second title at Muirfield than to welcome his good friend Lee Westwood to the club. Nobody has come closer in the last five years and not quite got over the line than Lee, who has added a new dimension to his game since leaving Worksop for the first time and setting up camp in Florida’s West Palm Beach.

Everybody has seen a big improvement in Lee’s short game this year and that has definitely been helped by taking advantage of the vastly superior winter practice facilities available around his new home. Hopefully he’ll have all aspects of his game firing so that he can continue his quest for a first Major. Muirfield is an exceptional course and its defences, like all British links venues, depends on what the heavens have to offer throughout the week. Hopefully the summer will have arrived before we get to the east coast of Scotland, but even if it has it’s a safe bet that we’ll still need wellies and umbrellas at some stage of the week.

• Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler is the managing director of International Sports Management. His clients include Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Michael Vaughan and Stuart Broad. www.sportism.net

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NCG pp 40 Columnist CC 21/06/2013 11:47 Page 40

COLIN CALLANDER Why John Daly has convinced me it’s time to change the rules on Open Qualifying T was in the summer of 1992 I got my first chance to watch John Daly live and I can still remember being mightily impressed by his attitude and the huge distances he struck the ball. The enigmatic American had caused one of the shocks of the century the previous August when he won the PGA Championship and one of the benefits of that momentous victory was that he earned an exemption to play the following year’s Open at Muirfield. That was to be Daly’s first taste of British links golf so it was remarkable he made the cut with rounds of 74 and 69. But after subsequent rounds of 80 and 75 he was the first to admit he had felt all at sea on links terrain. “I couldn’t work out what the hell was happening most of the time,” he told a group of writers who collected around the recorders’ hut to interview him after a 75 saw him finish last among the players who played all four rounds. But I will be back and I will get better. I will find a way to play this (links) game.” Readers will know that Daly was as good as his word because three years later he travelled to St Andrews and become part of that select group to have won the world’s oldest professional golf championship at the Home of Golf. With that victory Daly became an overnight hit with even the most traditional British golf fans but that was then and this is now and I must admit I view his return to Muirfield with more than a little trepidation. He is now a shadow of the player who on the odd occasion could scale the heights in the 1990s. Since that victory at St Andrews he has missed the cut nine times in his 15 subsequent appearances in the championship and as I write he is languishing in 213th place on the PGA Tour money list with earnings of $32,941. It is hardly the sort of form expected from a competitor in the world’s best golf tournament and it has led me to believe the R&A should have a long and hard look at the exemption criteria it employs for the championship. Yes, it is impossible to come up with the perfect system, but I believe the time has come to review both the 10-year exemption for former champions and the clause that gives a place to any Open champion under the age of 60 on the eve of that year’s championship. I might be inclined to leave the first of those

Relaxed Daly on his Open debut at Muirfield

40 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

‘The Open should be reserved for the era’s best players’ categories alone but I would get rid of the second and reallocate those places elsewhere. That would mean Sir Nick Faldo would not be able to tee up this year on what will be an emotional return to Muirfield but that might be a blessing in disguise because he’s a TV commentator now and is exceedingly unlikely to perform at anything like his 1992 level. The Open should be reserved for the best players of the current era and for that reason I am not sure the current system, which allocated places to qualifiers in Africa, Asia, America, Australasia and Europe, is the best way to distribute limited places either. The best players from all these areas already have the chance to qualify in other categories so I’d dismantle that structure altogether albeit at the same time also award places to the first three players on the Asian, Australasian, South African and Japanese Tours rather than the current one (or two in the case of Japan).

That would safeguard the Open’s deserved reputation as the game’s most multinational major and it would also free up a few more places for the Final Qualifying events which, thanks to an excellent R&A initiative, are to be played around the British Isles at Glasgow Gailes, Hillside, Woburn and Royal Cinque Ports between 2014 and 2017. We saw from the crowds that gathered for the BMW PGA Championship and the US Open Qualifier at Walton Heath that British fans want to watch quality golf so it makes sense to widen the potential audience by moving the Final Qualifiers away from the immediate vicinity of the championship itself. Finally, call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I cannot help but feel if you want to play in the Open you should be prepared jump on a plane to get here. That is a major commitment if there are only to be three or four spots available at each venue but find a way to increase that number to eight or 10 and I don’t think that is too much to ask at all.

• Colin Callander is a former editor of Golf Monthly and this year celebrates his 30th anniversary working as a golf writer

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NCG pp 45 Lead to The Open 21/06/2013 15:25 Page 1

THE 142nd OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Muirfield, East Lothian. July 18-21

IN OUR PREVIEW 46 What now for Tiger? 50 Arnie’s love of links 54 Our letter to Justin 60 The storm of 2002 66 Sir Nick’s flashback Open preview in association with

NCG pp 46-49 Open Scene Setter 21/06/2013 12:45 Page 46

OPEN PREVIEW

ENGLAND STILL EXPECTS – AND IS STILL OWED There will be plenty of focus on new US Open champion Justin Rose at Muirfield (and it is thus difficult to see him doing well). But as welcome as Rose's win was, it doesn't entirely change the bigger picture which shows English golfers that have underachieved since Sir Nick Faldo's prime. Only Luke Donald knows what was really going through his mind in the days after Merion as he reflected on playing the final day alongside his friend Rose. The two began on the same score and in the penultimate group. Donald was out in 41 and a closing

75 left him a tie for 8th. He was never really in contention on Sunday – and that is the story of his entire Major career. Meanwhile Lee Westwood was experiencing his now-customary Major putting issues and probably did well to finish 15th in the circumstances. For the out-of-form Ian Poulter, there was encouragement to be taken from an improved showing but he still disappointed considering he was right in position at the halfway stage. There is no reason why all four should not contend. But which, for various reasons, will arrive in East Lothian in the mood to emulate Faldo and win the Open at Muirfield?

46 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

“Englishmen have underachieved in the Majors since Faldo’s prime”

R&A AND HCEG UNDER ATTACK The game's governing body continue to insist that media mischief-making accounts for the amount of coverage the issue of gender discrimination attracts rather than a public uproar. You can be the judge of that but it would be naïve to expect the week to pass without some kind of fuss. To recap, here is a selection of

pertinent facts. The R&A does not have any female members. The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, whose club is Muirfield, do not have any female members. Ladies are allowed to play at Muirfield. Single-sex clubs represent around one per cent of golf clubs in Britain. Some of these single-sex clubs are ladies-only. The R&A was actually only formed in 2004 and is distinct from the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The former is responsible for the Rules of Golf and the Open Championship, among other things. The latter dates back to 1754 and is a private members' club with around 2,500 members

NCG pp 46-49 Open Scene Setter 21/06/2013 12:45 Page 47

in association with

OPEN PREVIEW

ONE FOR THE PURISTS Why peerless Muirfield will present a supreme examination paper â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but also attract a spot of controversy BY DAN MURPHY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES

worldwide. It is one of several clubs in St Andrews that have playing rights over the Old Course. Some of these are men-only and one is ladies-only (St Regulus). The Old Course (and the New, Jubilee, Eden, Balgove, Strathtyrum and Castle courses) is run by the St Andrews Links Trust, a charitable organisation. There are no gender-related restrictions on play at any of the courses.

TIGER IS STILL THE STAR ATTRACTION The Open represents the only chance British fans get to see Tiger Woods play each year. And despite it all, he remains the prime attraction and the first name most

HOW TO CATCH ALL THE LIVE ACTION 142nd Open Championship Muirfield East Lothian July 18-21 TV coverage BBC: All four days live Radio coverage BBC Radio 5Live: Regular updates and live commentary

fans look for at the championship. Curiously though, you have to go back to 2006 not just for the most recent of his three Claret Jugs but also the last time he was in genuine contention.

Twice in the last five years, he has not made the trip. In 2008 he had just suffered his knee injury, and in 2011 he also had to skip the US Open through knee and Achilles issues. In addition, he missed the cut at Turnberry in 2009, with off-course distractions almost certainly playing a part. He was not a factor at St Andrews the following year while a triple-bogey at the 6th put paid to any chance he had at Lytham 12 months ago. His only previous appearance at Muirfield came in 2002 when he arrived as the reigning Masters and US Open champion with the Grand Slam on the cards. Well placed at the halfway stage, he posted what remains his worst-ever

score as a professional, a thirdround 81 in the infamous storm (see page 60). So, depending on which way you look at it, he is either overdue a good Open or he is undeserving of his usual status as overwhelming pre-Major favourite. Apart from the Old Course, Muirfield is probably the course that best suits him on the Open rota. So if the weather is relatively kind then he will not often have a better chance to win.

END OF QUALIFYING AS WE KNOW IT In the next few days a variety of (mainly club) professionals and amateurs will congregate at

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 47

NCG pp 46-49 Open Scene Setter 21/06/2013 12:46 Page 48

OPEN PREVIEW

No trouble Els’ sublime recovery on the 13th in ‘02

Dunbar, Gullane, Musselburgh and North Berwick for final qualifying in the hope of earning one of the last few places for Muirfield. Most will already have come through a Regional Qualifying event. From next year onwards, these events will take place not at courses close to the Open venue itself but instead at fixed venues across Britain – namely Glasgow Gailes, Hillside, Woburn and Royal Cinque Ports. The logic is that players will not have to travel the length of the country to attempt to qualify for the Open but there is a certain sadness of the end of an era. Until 2006, these events took place on the Sunday and Monday of Open week. Then they were moved forward. Now they will be played elsewhere.

WILL IT BE A HAT TRICK OF 40-SOMETHING WINNERS? The term 'veterans' might be pushing it, but, being honest, not many of us anticipated Darren Clarke or Ernie Els winning the Open in the last two years. It is an appealing notion, that winning this championship calls for more subtle skills than the other Majors. And that experience and know-how are more important than raw power. We like to think that only 'proper' golfers can win our Open, and that only the smartest Americans can find the answers to the unique questions our links courses pose. It is true to a degree – exhibit A being Tom Watson – but it is hard to claim that the Open produces a

48 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

higher class of Major champion. Ten years ago we had Ben Curtis cause the shock of shocks and he was immediately succeeded by Todd Hamilton. Watson himself was denied by Stewart Cink, a decent winner but not exactly one to set the pulse racing. Muirfield, however, has an exceptional track record when it comes to identifying champions. If the past teaches us anything, it is that our champion golfer of the year will be a worthy one.

IT’S 50 YEARS SINCE BOB CHARLES The year was 1963, the venue was Lytham and New Zealand's Bob Charles became the first lefthander to win the Open. Half a century later and he remains the only one. At Sandwich in 2011 it

looked for a while as though Phil Mickelson might join him, only to miss a very short putt on the 11th green on the final day and fade away. Only the brave would back Phil at the Open – his record is distinctly mixed. But he has contended twice and he would be a very popular winner. And if not Mickelson then maybe Bubba Watson. This year he has not been as consistent as last but his creative skills and non-linear mind ought to be a better fit for the Open than his own national championship. And don't forget that he began the final day in contention last year, even if he eventually finished T24th.

COURSE CHANGES Muirfield is one of, if not the, players’ favourite courses.

NCG pp 46-49 Open Scene Setter 21/06/2013 12:46 Page 49

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LAST TIME AT

All yellow The scenes at Muirfield in 2002

MUIRFIELD

They like it because a) it is invariably presented in immaculate condition b) the fairways are largely flat and c) as Jack Nicklaus once said of it, “what you see is what you get”. What the players will see this year is a course lengthened by 158 yards from 2002.

swap with their neighbours at the Renaissance Club. The 17th now stretches to 575 yards thanks to a new back tee that is actually quite close to the 2nd fairway. Elsewhere, at the 2nd and 6th the back of the greens have been restored to their old Harry Colt shapes.

“Muirfield has an exceptional track record when it comes to identifying champions” There are seven new back tees at 2, 4, 9, 14, 15, 17 and 18 with the bunkering being tightened around the greens. The most significant developments are at two of the par 5s. The 9th, with its low boundary wall running down the left is now 46 yards longer thanks to a land

AT LYTHAM

Alun Evans on how Els won his first Claret Jug

Over and out Tiger’s Lytham chances ended in this bunker

Finally, the 10th fairway has been moved half a fairway to the left to allow more room on the practice ground, where an ‘extremely high fence’ will stop players clearing it as they did when they last visited here. In total the course will play at 7,192 yards and to a par of 71.

A LOOK BACK

ERNIE ELS won the 2002 Open at a Muirfield stretched to over 7,000 yards for the first time. Els, mysteriously, after winning two US Opens in the mid 90s, stopped winning Majors when clearly one of the best players in the world. It was nip and tuck in 2002, with the final round coming down to an unprecedented fourway play-off over four holes after Els almost threw it away. Two clear on Saturday when some of the most appalling of weather conditions had blown away almost all of the fancied runners, his lead meant nothing when Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington and Thomas Levet charged on Sunday. When Els dropped two shots on 16, it looked all up, but he responded well with a birdie at the next and a par at the last to join the other three on 278. The four-hole playoff saw off the Aussies, leaving Levet and Els to a sudden-death play-off − the first in the Open. At the first hole, Els’ recovery from sand was enough to subdue the Frenchman. In a very tightly packed field, Elkington had made the cut by one. He’s the only player in Majors history to have done that and gone on to contest a play-off for the title.

LAST year's Open at Lytham saw Ernie Els clinch his fourth Major title a decade after the last one. But the tournament will be remembered for Adam Scott's spectacular collapse more than the South African’s solid play on the final day. Els began his round six shots adrift, but found himself in contention after a decent 68. He then went back to the clubhouse and watched Scott bogey each of the last four holes and blow a four-shot lead – a sight that is much easier to look back on now that the Aussie has broken his Major duck. Of the stragglers, Tiger Woods seemed ominously poised at -6 heading into the final day, but a triple-bogey at the 6th and bogeys on 13, 14 and 15 saw him fall out of contention. Graeme McDowell also saw his challenge end early. The Northern Irishman was well placed at -7 heading into Sunday, but a disappointing 75 left him in a tie for fifth place with fellow Brit Luke Donald. Then world number one Donald was one of only two players in the top five to card an under-par round, but never really threatened to mount a serious charge.

LEADERBOARD: Pos. Player 1 Ernie Els 2

Adam Scott

T3 Tiger Woods Brandt Snedeker T5 Luke Donald Graeme McDowell T7 Nicolas Colsaerts Thomas Aiken T9 Geoff Ogilvy

Par -7 -6 -3 -3 -2 -2 -1 -1 Par

Miguel Angel Jimenez Par

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NCG pp 50-53 Open Arnold Palmer 21/06/2013 12:48 Page 50

OPEN PREVIEW

THE GODFATHER

NCG pp 50-53 Open Arnold Palmer 21/06/2013 12:48 Page 51

in association with

WICE in the last five years Tiger Woods has missed the Open Championship. In both cases (at Birkdale in 2008 and Sandwich in 2011) the reason was injury. The prospect of the World No 1 – or the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson – simply not bothering to travel because the Open was not important enough is unthinkable. And for that we have to thank Arnold Daniel Palmer. We take it for granted that the best players from all over the world, and especially the Americans, will want to compete for the Claret Jug. It is what makes it, for many of us, the greatest event in the golfing calendar. But it was not always the case. And especially not in the austerity of the post-war 1950s when it cost more to cross the Atlantic than could be won in prize money. These were dark days for the Open Championship. In the 1920s and 30s, Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones had dominated, winning seven times. Following the Second World War, few of the Americans even bothered coming across. The Open had ceased to be a draw – and for several reasons. Perhaps most compellingly, they could earn more money and arguably compete against a stronger field by staying at home. The travel was much more arduous and relatively expensive than it is now. And rather insultingly to them, the Americans, like everyone else, were expected to pre-qualify, which made the trip even longer and meant they had to travel without even a guarantee of a place in the field. Their absence was turning the Open into a second-class event, albeit one graced by the likes of Bobby Locke and Peter Thomson, both prolific champions in this era. Palmer, already a working-class hero in America, changed that in a stroke when he decided to make the long journey across to the centenary Open at St Andrews in 1960.

Dan Murphy speaks exclusively to Arnold Palmer, whose trip to St Andrews in 1960 was the catalyst for the modern-day Open

NCG pp 50-53 Open Arnold Palmer 21/06/2013 12:48 Page 52

OPEN PREVIEW

So what made the then reigning Masters and US Open champion decide to cross the Atlantic in the first place? “My father was a professional and from the time I can remember playing and competing he always said: 'You know, Arnie, you've got to play internationally to be great',” said Palmer. “And of course that sunk in. He was a very influential guy in his conversations and his feeling about the game. Something that made it even more important to me was that the president of Latrobe Country Club, Harry Saxman, said: 'Well, if Arn's going, you and I will go too'. “So he brought my father and they went to the Open at St Andrews with me, which was great. It was an excitement that set up my life for playing international golf. It's very special to me that my father came to St Andrews with me. That's important.” The great adventure actually began with a trip to Dublin for the World Cup, in those days known as the Canada Cup, where Palmer was paired with Sam Snead. The venue was Portmarnock, arguably the finest course in the Republic of Ireland, and it was here, in July 1960, that Palmer gained his first experience of links golf. As with all the greats over the years, the intricacies of the seaside game revealed themselves quickly to the American. “Yes, I picked it up. Before getting to St Andrews, my only experience up until then was Portmarnock for the World Cup. That was the first links course of that nature I had ever played. “I played with Sam Snead and we won the team but Flory van Donck – do you remember him? – he won the tournament individually – he beat both of us, but we won the team. And that was my first experience. “I played well there and I loved it. I loved the Irish and I loved the setting and the atmosphere and the environment and everything. That was fun.” Palmer and his father continued on their way to Scotland, where he would begin a lifelong love affair with St Andrews and the Old Course. First

impressions, though, were slightly different. “Well, I suppose the proper language would be 'surprised' at St Andrews,” he said. “I had read a lot about it and knew quite a bit about it but much to my relief – and I say relief because it was scary to play St Andrews the first time and not know where any of the hazards were and the bunkers – I had Tip Anderson as my caddy and he was wonderful. He was the greatest. He knew everything and he could direct me. Without him I would have been lost. “It would have taken me a lot longer to pick up where I did and play as well as I did.” St Andrews local James ‘Tip’ Anderson, who died in 2004, was

at Palmer's side in every single Open Championship he played. "Tip was the epitome of the ‘old world’ caddie,” said Palmer. “A man of few words, wry Scottish wit, loyal, punctual and, of course, very good at what he did." Alongside Anderson, and on his Open debut, he would finish second behind Kel Nagle. “It took me a while before St Andrews became so special to me. It's knowing where to hit the ball and using the memory that you have to direct you, to tell you where and to get into the 'feel' for the golf course. “You can almost hit it away from where you think you should hit it to be in that safe position. And that was something I had never experienced.”

THE KING’S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD 1960

St Andrews

2nd

1976

Birkdale

1961

Birkdale

WON

1977

Turnberry

1962

Troon

WON

1978

St Andrews

1963

Lytham

T26

1979

DNP

1964

DNP

1980

Muirfield

1965

Birkdale

1981

Sandwich

T23

1966

Muirfield

1982

Troon

T27

1967

DNP

1983

Birkdale

T56

1968

Carnoustie

1984

St Andrews

1969

DNP

1985

Sandwich

1970

St Andrews

1986

DNP

1971

DNP

1987

Muirfield

1972

Muirfield

1988

DNP

1973

Troon

T14

1989

Troon

1974

DNP

1990

St Andrews

1975

Carnoustie

1995

St Andrews

52 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

T10 12

T16

T55 7 T34

MC DNP MC

In the end, despite a classic Palmer charge on the final day, he came up one short. But that was not quite the end of his first European adventure, thanks to an unscheduled trip to Paris. “I got on very well with the British press, who supported me greatly. A lot of things happened and the Pat Ward Thomases and the Henry Longhursts and that group collectively endorsed what I was doing and in fact they got into it so heavily that they convinced me to play the French Open the following week. “They got me in the press room after the Open and pulled and pushed and after many hours of talking and doing the recourse of the Open – that I had just lost – they talked me into agreeing to go. “It was the following week and of course they talked Gary Player into it too, by telling him that I was playing! So he said he'd go. “So we got there – and they wouldn't let us play. They said our entry was late. Well, I got there on Tuesday morning and I was in New York Tuesday afternoon.” A year later, at Birkdale, and Palmer was back. But in those days, even players of his stature had to earn a place in the field. “I don't know if I expected to win but one of the things I thought was a little bit funny was that by ‘61 I had won the Masters – twice – and I had won the (US) Open and I had to qualify for the British Open. Over 36 holes. Both times that I won I had to qualify, which was a little bit... “And that's when I said to the R&A after I'd won that I wouldn't return if I had to qualify and that's when they changed the rules. “Well, I never said a word until then but I thought it was kind of unusual. I mean, one of the reasons that the American players didn't go to the Open was because they had to qualify and they wanted to ensure after making the trip that they were going to play.” In those days, it was two rounds on Thursday and two on Friday. Having qualified, Palmer had to cope with extreme weather; heavy winds and rain on Thursday led to Friday's play being abandoned and the second half of the event taking place on Saturday.

NCG pp 50-53 Open Arnold Palmer 21/06/2013 12:48 Page 53

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“Thursday was the day I won the tournament. It was so bad I shot such a low score it put me aside from the rest of the guys and afforded me the chance to win.” He also hit one of the most famous shots in Open history, a recovery from some deep willow scrub to blast his ball on to the green some 150 yards away when a penalty drop seemed more likely. “Compared to St Andrews, yes, you can see it, it's pretty open to play. I like Birkdale – obviously. And I enjoyed the fact I knew where the problems were. Tip knew the course very well. So that worked out very well.” Palmer eventually won by a shot from Dai Rees and therefore had the satisfaction of coming to Troon the following year with the Claret Jug in his possession. Was it satisfying to come back as Open champion? “You could say that!” he exclaims. “Without question. “At Troon, of course I loved it. I played some of my best ever golf. As you know, the fairways at Troon are pretty humpbacked, and I was hitting it good enough to keep it right in the middle and that gave me the opportunity to get a pretty good lead and keep it. “And Nagle was right there again, it was he that I beat. Palmer finished six clear of the Australian and 13 ahead of Brian Huggett and Phil Rodgers in third. “Yes, it was somewhat a separate event. It was nice to go down the 18th and enjoy it and I love Troon.” Anderson last caddied for Palmer in the 1990 Open. "We still saw each other from time to time after that, when I visited Britain," Palmer said. "I hope that Tip had one last beverage the day he passed away. It would have been most appropriate." As for the man himself, might his British fans get one last chance to see him gracing our fairways? “I have a lot to do with St Andrews still, I love the course and the town. And the British fans, well, they were great. They want me to come over this year for the 600th anniversary but it's a long way for me to go – I'm 83 now – so we'll see.”

NCG pp 54-55 Rose Letter 21/06/2013 16:00 Page 54

OPEN PREVIEW

in association with

DEAR JUSTIN... Last month Mark Townsend wrote off the chances of England’s ‘Golden Generation’. It was only right he put the record straight and saluted our new US Open champion

NCG pp 54-55 Rose Letter 21/06/2013 16:00 Page 55

Golfer NATIONAL

June 17, 2013

CLUB

Mark Townsend Deputy Editor National Club Golfer Leeds

Justin Rose US Open champion Orlando Florida

Dear Justin, ‘At 32 Rose has more tim

e than his peers, though ag ain, few Major memories to call upon’. In the last issue, writing off your Major cha this was nces. I reckoned you had to before earning your Major go thr ou gh the clo sesha stripes. You had top 10s to ve process your name but had never Therefore I didn’t think yo rea lly co nte nd ed . u really had it in you, at lea st not yet. How wrong I was. From the side of Hogan’s plaque we saw one of the great long and straight as you like fro iron shots of our generation m all of 229 yards, when , as sweet mo st of us wo uld have struggled to take It’s not always about the the clu b aw Majors which we all obsess ay. about, there are those key PGA Tour events, which ad moments in Ryder Cups, WG d the crucial final layers of Cs and big belief and confidence. And there are more lessons to be learnt than just nearl y winning a golf tourname missing your first 21 cuts nt. There are the learning as a professional, setting up curves of ho me in an oth er country, rebuilding your odd slump and, most notab swing, going through the ly, losing your dad at the ag e of just 22. Having gone through some thing similar, albeit later in my life, I detest and dread Reminders aren’t needed Father’s Day in equal meas of what you’re missing but ure. they are there everywhere; social media. For you, they in card shops, restaurants were there all over scorebo and all over ards and never too far aw as always, tried to give yo ay fro m the next question to wh ur best answer. Playing the ich you, most important round of yo on Father’s Day in public; u life , yo u had to ha ndle your emotions you could pull the peak do wn on your cap but the ca meras will still get you. Th place for the modern sport ere is no hiding sman or woman. It seems to me you are like lots of us; a huge part of the way you conduct yourself coach Sean Foley’s text on is to make your dad proud Sunday morning told you . Your to ‘jus t go out there and be the man and be the man that your tha t yo ur da d taught you to be kids can look up to’. You did that on the course and fol We’ve been lucky this yea low ed su it, in spa des, off it. r, Adam Scott bounced ba ck from what went on at Lytham to capture his first and now you have landed Green Jacket your first Major. Both of yo u are widely regarded as tw handle the good and the not o of the good guys and me so good times the same. Wh n who ich must be so hard at tim things as silly as a funny es, yo ur life lon g dre ams crushed by bounce or a spike mark, but still you have to grin and bea England might have had to r it an d mo ve on . wa it 43 years for another US Open champion but the prevailed was almost worth ma nn er an d class in which you the wa it. my simple rationale behind

Yours sincerely,

NCG pp 56-59 Open Muirfield’s Champions 21/06/2013 13:37 Page 56

OPEN PREVIEW

Muirfield’s CHAMPIONS Renowned golf historian Alun Evans focuses on five of the men to have triumphed on the East Lothian links. In different respects, all are legends

NICKLAUS 1966 JACK In 1966 the R&A finally decided to fall in with the other Majors and play the Open over four days for the first time. The mighty Jack Nicklaus, also for the first time, won his first of three Open Championships, somewhat later than most expected. Since 1958 when he won the Masters, Arnold Palmer, golf’s new poster boy, was driving all before him. Gary Player’s victory at Muirfield in 1959 was followed up by a win in the 1961 Masters and 1962 PGA Championship, and this threat to his hegemony kept Palmer on his toes enough to fire

him to four more Majors coming into the US Open of 1962. Pudgy blond Jack Nicklaus, shortly out of the amateur ranks, then dealt Arnie a mortal blow – in only his second professional Major, he had the gall to pull back two shots on Palmer and then beat him in a play-off. From that day, Jack became the man to beat. Which is why it’s surprising, despite collecting four US Majors, Nicklaus didn’t drink from the Claret Jug until 1966. It was nonetheless the quickest that any player had achieved wins in all four Majors until Tiger Woods in 2000.

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HILTON 1892HAROLD A member of Royal Liverpool, Hilton was one of golf’s original royalty. He would go on to become a fourtime Amateur champion, win the US Amateur and triumph in two Opens as an amateur (only bettered by Bobby Jones). Over two days and 72 holes for the first time in the championship, the new 4,890-yard 18-hole course was hardly taxing, and scoring would not have looked out of place in more modern events (Hilton’s last two rounds were 72, 74). Winning by three, he became only the second amateur (and Englishman) to raise the Claret Jug. Two years earlier, his clubmate at Hoylake, John Ball Jr, became the first on both counts, but could only tie-second this time (the only 1-2 for amateurs in any Major).

COTTON 1948HENRY Aged 41, Henry Cotton won his third Open on the Championship’s return to Muirfield after the ravages of World War II. Cotton announced his intentions in leading by four going into the second half of the week thanks to a courserecord 66 in round two. He then played solid golf in the heightening wind to extend his winning lead to five. Apart from the triumvirate’s gross tally, Cotton’s haul of wins was the best in the 20th century by a Brit, a feat tied only in 1992 by Nick Faldo. It is frustrating to think he may have been able to champion a revival in British golf at a much earlier time than someone like Tony Jacklin did in the 1970s had he grasped the US Tour nettle. Cotton had the class to contend; he didn’t have the desire.

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BRAID 1906 JAMES

MUIRFIELD’S

CHAMPIONS

The links of East Lothian were still much to the liking of James Braid, however, and he condemned Taylor and Vardon, in that order this time, to the minor placings again. It was back-to-back Muirfield successes for the Scotsman, and back-to-back Opens, having won the previous year at St Andrews. Between 1894 and 1914, these three golfing greats would garner 16 of the 21 Open titles on offer, and on the occasion none of them won, at least one of them would finish 2nd or tied-2nd. A total of 187 ‘golfers’ entered in 1906, and with the clutter now beyond the pale, it had to stop. Qualifying for the championship would be introduced for the first time the following year.

1892 Harold Hilton 1896 Harry Vardon His first championship win – out of six. Here was the dawn of the Great Triumvirate (Braid joined the club a little later). After a 36-hole play-off, Vardon beat Taylor by four. 1901 James Braid James Braid won his first Open of a decade in which he would collect five in all. His soon-to-become shadows, Messrs Vardon and Taylor, followed him home. 1906 James Braid 1912 Ted Ray A Jersey man like Harry Vardon, it was because his compatriot and the ‘other two’ held sway for so long that Ray didn’t win more. Here he beat a field of 62 qualifiers by four shots. 1929 Walter Hagen On his first visit to Muirfield, the showman Hagen won his fourth Open in eight years and 11th (and last) Major in all. His second-round 67 was an Open record. 1935 Alf Perry Surrey’s Alf Perry, beat a homeorientated field by four. It was a good fortnight for the Perrys. Tennis hero, Fred (no relation) won at Wimbledon a week later. 1948 Henry Cotton 1959 Gary Player It looked good for a first home win in eight years until 23-year-old Gary Player, four behind the leaders after 54 holes, shot a 68. Player’s first Major win of nine. 1966 Jack Nicklaus 1972 Lee Trevino

TREVINO 1972LEE The one where Trevino finished Jacklin forever. After an amazing sequence of five birdies over the last five holes in the third round – some jaw-droppingly unbelievable in their luck, others courtesy of sublime shotmaking of the highest order – Lee Trevino gnawed away

at the lead of the 1969 champion to head the leaderboard going into the last day by one. It was Jacklin, having drawn level at 16, who had the edge after both had played their approaches to the 17th. Jacklin was safely on the green in three, while Trevino

had overcooked his and was lying awkwardly against the collar of first rough behind the hole, having played four. Of course, Trevino sank it; Jacklin crumbled – some say forever. He certainly didn’t contend in a Major again.

1980 Tom Watson Lee Trevino’s comeback hopes were dashed by a brilliant 64 on the Saturday (the event closed on a Sunday for the first time) by Watson who won comfortably in the end. 1987 Nick Faldo 1992 Nick Faldo 2002 Ernie Els

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THE STORM

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OF 2002

It was the tale of the Open 10 years ago. And Dan Murphy was right in the middle of it...

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VEN through the roof of the media centre, you could sense a sudden loss of light. It was as though the electricity had momentarily failed. I made my way outside to see the halfway leaders on the 1st tee. It was dead calm, unnaturally so, and suddenly cold. Making their way through the post-round formalities in the nearby recorders’ hut were the likes of Justin Rose, Steve Elkington and Justin Leonard. Having made the cut more or less on their number, they had shot fine if not exceptional rounds of 68 in calm, dry and still conditions. Little did they know that each would begin the final day inside the top 10. Back inside, on the TV coverage, you could see the storm moving ominously, inevitably, over Muirfield. Everyone knew bad weather was on its way – and it arrived bang on schedule. Then the first rain drops could be heard splattering against the side of the tents, along with the giveaway clanking of flag poles. Within a minute or so the conditions were unrecognisable. When the players are forced off the field in a cricket match, they always say that the light is worse than it appears on TV. I found that hard to believe in this case so grabbed my jacket and headed outside again. I managed about five seconds before I was soaked and ducked back in again. It was long enough to see the lights on in the clubhouse and watch thousands of spectators dashing for safety. Those just beginning their third rounds did not have that luxury. For the next hour and a half, the best they could do was survival. This was rain of the horizontal variety, and it whipped across the exposed East Lothian coast in merciless fashion. It was cold, too, resulting in conditions not entirely unfamiliar to the British golfer – but even in early March they would have been considered severe. As we all know, it is just about possible to play in such heavy wind

and rain – but only with the right gear and mentality. It was clear that Colin Montgomerie, for one, had neither. Inexplicably, he did not even have a jacket on and persisted with a sodden leather glove and a

wool jumper that just got heavier and saggier. It was as though he had not even seen a weather forecast. Tiger Woods did at least have an outfit that looked the part – though I doubt it had been

WHAT THE PLAYERS MADE OF THE 2002 STORM Ernie, Sergio et al recall the freak weather which swept over Muirfield It’s the toughest round I’ve ever played. You couldn’t hardly hold an umbrella. My caddy and I wondered if it was the worst weather ever in the Open. It has been 131 years. – Soren Hansen It was one of the worst days I’ve ever played in. It was so bad, almost unplayable out there. It was basically survival during a two-hour period. The weather was as bad as I can ever remember. It’s unbelievable it should happen in July, it was more like a December or January day. – Des Smyth I had four different jackets in the bag and my caddy thought we were going to have to take a trolley just to carry my extra clothing. I think I went through about all of it by about the 4th. We were standing on the tee at the par 3 and it’s maybe 179.

Maggert had a 2-iron out and it started blowing even harder and our umbrellas almost went inside out and then he pulled out a driver. At that point, I thought ‘oh, game on’. I ended up hitting a 2 iron as good as I could hit it just short of the green. – Scott McCarron I hit driver, 3-wood on 10, not even a chance of reaching the green. I flushed both of them – 50 yards short of the green. On 11 I hit a great drive and a 5-iron to the green from 155 yards. – Sergio Garcia It was some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever seen in an Open. I’ve seen it be calm in the mornings, blow in the afternoons, but I’ve never seen it like this. It was like night and day. – Ernie Els

designed with this sort of weather in mind. They shot rounds of 84 and 81 respectively. The latter remains Tiger’s worst ever score as a professional to this day. To his credit, Tiger manfully faced up to the world’s media afterwards and followed it up with a closing 65. Monty rapidly disappeared and eventually finished second-last among those who played all four rounds. The rest of the field was hardly faring much better. My abiding memory is of Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama huddled against a wooden advertising board on the 4th tee and looking like anything other than a world-class tour player. For a brief period, anyone managing to record a bogey seemed to move up the leaderboard while, periodically, a name would simply disappear from the first page, never to return, following an especially painful seven or eight. Gradually, the names of Rose and Leonard climbed upwards. They ended the day in a tie for third. Weather like this rarely lasts for long and so it was that the wind relented and the rain abated. I remember thinking at the time what an injustice it would be if the winner did not eventually come from those players who had faced the worst of the conditions. You could hardly criticise the two Justins for their spectacular moves through the field but two rounds barely good enough to make the cut plus one in the high 60s hardly seemed to compare with what the leaders had gone through. As the sun emerged for the first time since early morning it was fittingly Ernie Els who sauntered up the 18th as though the whole afternoon had been a stroll with a two-shot lead. That round of 72, one over par, will go down as one of the bravest of his career. Little more than 24 hours later, after a play-off with Elkington, Stuart Appleby and most stubbornly Thomas Levet, we could look back and say that it had provided the platform for the gifted South African to win his first Claret Jug.

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OPEN PREVIEW

THE OPEN SCRAPBOOK

Mark Townsend sifts through the archives to discover some fascinating tales of Open heroics from a bygone age

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Aberdeen Journal, July 9 1948 Johnny Bulla, the US golfer who has just returned from playing in the British Open, is reported to have stated in Ohio that British Open golf tournaments may be boycotted in future by Americans unless the British attitude towards US players changes. “The galleries as well as the players seemed to resent us,” said Bulla. “At first I thought the British just didn’t like me but I realised that all the Americans were resented. The British professionals are very unfriendly.”

Manchester Evening News, May 18 1903 When the championship was first held at Muirfield Andrew Kirkaldy brutally described the course as ‘an auld watter meedie’. Other professionals were equally contemptuous, there being no small amount of feeling at the time at the desertion of Musselburgh by the Honourable Company. Much has happened since and Muirfield may be classed as among the country’s best. While the professional record is 72, and the amateur 73, anything under 80 represents exceedingly good golf.

The Evening Post, Angus, May 16 1903

The course is an excellent one (says Golf Illustrated) and provides an ample test. The ground is perhaps rather flat for an ideal links and is softer than most seaside courses, gives less run on drive, but makes pitching to pin somewhat easier than on hard ground. The greens, as a rule, putt true and are not too keen. The wall surrounding course is apt to lead to cramped play.

Hull Daily Mail, May 9 1929

Aberdeen Journal, September 23 1892 The open golf championship tournament commenced at Muirfield on the links of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. This year marks an important change in the conditions and the venue. Formerly every three years the championship fell to be played at Musselburgh, over which the Honourable Company were won’t to play. Last year however that club acquired new links at Muirfield and as they, along with Prestwick and St Andrews, founded the Open in its present form, the right of taking the tournament to their ground belonged to them. The prize money has risen greatly, from £10 and a worthless medal to £36.

Never has Hagen looked more determined than today. With a total disregard of time, the crowd, or anything else, he studied every shot, and he saved stroke after stroke by painstaking methods. Occasionally he showed a smile but otherwise his tanned face above his white jersey was of a man determined to win through. There are no superlatives descriptive of Hagen’s round, which broke the course record by two strokes.

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OPEN PREVIEW

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HOW TO WIN THE OPEN AT

MUIRFIELD By Sir Nick Faldo,

champion in 1987 and 1992 The man who twice conquered the field at the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers explains what it takes to triumph on the fabled links â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and why it is such a revered test BY DAN MURPHY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES

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F all the courses on the Open rota you are least likely to hear a bad word from the game’s best players about Muirfield. This East Lothian links is the antithesis of quirky, as Herbert Warren Wind eloquently explains: “Muirfield’s great quality is its frankness – its honesty. There are no hidden hazards, no recondite burns, no misleading or capricious terrain. Every hazard is clearly visible.” Where Turnberry is stunning, Muirfield barely offers a sea view. Where Birkdale has huge spinal dune complexes, Muirfield is essentially flat. Where St George’s fairways are often fiery and rumpled, Muirfield’s are a touch greener and even. Where the Old Course calls for several blind or

semi-blind shots, Muirfield’s fairways and greens are almost invariably visible. Where Carnoustie has the sinuous Barry and Jockey’s Burns to tiptoe around, Muirfield has no water hazards. Where Lytham’s bunkers are deep and prolific, Muirfield’s are less intimidating. Where Troon is an in-and-out links, Muirfield constantly changes direction. Where Hoylake has some internal out-of-bounds, Muirfield has none, indeed only on the 2nd and the 9th do you have any feeling of being on the perimeter of a large and almost circular piece of land. *** The great champions *** “It’s a great golf course,” says Nick Faldo, twice Open champion here, in 1987 and again five years later.

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“The greens are amazing. In 2002 I saw there’s not a single flat spot. I don’t know how I read them so well in my day.” That puts him and James Braid in a little group of their own as the only men to to achieve that feat. Indeed, only the best have even won once round here – the list of Muirfield champions includes the likes of Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Henry Cotton, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson. “All of them: even Trevino, Els, they’re great champions. I love it, I love all that. It’s fun to be part of that group of guys.” So what exactly is it about Muirfield? Why does it have the definitive list of champions

(though Tiger Woods might have something to say about that) and why is it universally regarded as the best in the eyes of those who will be contesting the Claret Jug? “It’s got everything but, at the end of the day, it’s the fact that I walked up that 18th fairway twice and won two Opens there in a row, which means for a while I dominated Muirfield,” says Faldo. “It was a very cool time in my career, and time of my life. So it had a big effect. “It’s so natural, it’s a different style because all the bunkering’s cut into the hollows whereas,

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Old Blue Eyes? He did it his way. Sir Nick’s 1992 speech

Tricky second The angled 3rd green is long but narrow

generally, we build them up. “So it’s all these funny little shapes, that always act like magnets, and when you’re down there they’re only three, six-feet wide. It always makes them awkward, like little saucers. So, it’s a serious test.” With one supreme hole after the next, every part of your game will be tested and it is virtually impossible to pick fault with any aspect of the playing experience. “It demands a little bit of everything,” says Faldo. “Obviously a bit of strategy, you’ve got to keep it out of that hay, you’ve got to keep it out of the bunkers and play to the right side of the greens.” Its famous choreography sees the front nine run in a circular sweep around the perimeter,

returning to that famous redroofed clubhouse in time for an inward loop that is exactly that. The result of this ingenious design is that you never play more than three consecutive holes in the same direction. The angles are constantly changing and so too is the wind, and that is what makes Muirfield such a formidable and complete test. “It’s demanding because of the wind. Because the golf course turns so much it’s almost like a double figure of eight. So you’re always getting cross-breezes right to left, left to right, smack into you, so that’s quite unusual. “It’s fair as well, you get rewarded. The fairways are tough to hit but, if you hit them, you’re rewarded, simple as that. You play fairways, middle of the greens,

SCORECARD

there, you’re going to do great but that is quite a challenge. “The greens are amazing because they’re so natural. I didn’t appreciate them then and then when I went back in 2002, when I went down and saw the greens, I thought, ‘it’s so difficult, there’s not a single flat spot, there’s not an obvious slope, they just turn and twist’, so actually reading them, I don’t know how I did it so good in my day. But I thought they were really difficult, I didn’t appreciate how many small little twists and turns there were.” To stand on the 1st tee, looking at the gentle curve of the fairway to the right, the tall grasses shimmering in the breeze, is one of golf’s greatest pleasures. It’s also one of the most demanding opening holes on the Open rota.

Hole

Yardage

Par

447

364

377

226

559

461

184

441

554

Out

3,613

469

387

379

190

475

448

186

575

470

3,579

Total

7,192

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“You know darn well if you touch that rough, you’re just wedging it out so that’s always tough to handle on an opening tee shot,” says Faldo, who turns 56 on the first day of the championship. “Then, even if you hit a decent shot, generally, in the good old days, we were hitting 3 irons into the 1st.” Muirfield was originally laid out by Old Tom Morris but what stands today is largely the result of the remodelling carried out by Harry Colt in the 1920s. His peerless design never stops posing demanding questions. “There’s a good nine of the holes that are tough,” says Faldo. “I mean, we talked about my 18 pars on that Sunday but, hang on a

minute, there’s nine holes out there you’d be blooming lucky to make a par on the Sunday of an Open.” Many of them come in a closing stretch that builds towards the iconic final hole, a long, straight par 4 played gently uphill towards the clubhouse. “I wouldn’t really know where you’d say it begins, maybe from 14 in, after the par three up the hill and you turn. They’re all tough from there. “They all have fantastic design attributes. Again, I think fortunately when I was going there winning I didn’t appreciate how difficult 16 was, the hole location, how much that green falls off, lucky I didn’t appreciate that.

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“The guys who can control a trajectory will do well. It is important to understand the run-ins to the smaller greens” “I’d got better vision then. I just didn’t look, I hit it, then I hit it again. On 16, that left side of green was way more difficult than I realised, and then 17, you’ve got the bunkers off the tee and even though it can play as a two-shot par 5, that second shot, if you leave that right, you really are struggling. “And then 18 is two really demanding shots. And that green again, that green is way smaller and way more undulating than I really remembered.”

Can he think of a better closing hole? “No, not really, I think that’s why everybody likes it.” That brings us to the burning question – what it will take to conquer Muirfield later this month. “It all depends what gets thrown at them. I think guys who can control a trajectory, it’s pretty important because, especially the second time, I really understood the run in to the smaller greens. “We had them already mapped

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out and so I actually could use some of those humps and bumps to my advantage and that’s really important to know because you see a pin and you think ‘I can’t go at that pin’ but you can find a way of bouncing it off a hump. “Or you’ve got to know, this is uphill, this is downhill, this is left to right, you need to know that, how to feed it into the greens. I think that was a major part of winning the second one for me.” *** Faldo’s return *** Faldo is a full-time TV analyst in the States these days and last played in the Open at St Andrews in 2010. The lure of Muirfield, though, has proved irresistible. “I’ve been fighting it for years,”

he said. “It suddenly just hit me. I thought, ‘Come on, this is one more walk,’ and I’ll probably never get a chance to walk at Muirfield. If I can just hit a few solid long irons, who knows what could happen? I could just go play and enjoy the shot.” Faldo has chosen his son, Matthew, to caddie for him during the week – as he did during the 2007 Senior Open Championship that was also at Muirfield. We should not, though, expect this to be part of a comeback. “I would love to still be able to play like I used to but I’m just really into so many other things now. “It’s nice to play but I’m not a ceremonial golfer. I’m not going to

PERFECT MATCH: THE OPEN & MUIRFIELD Alun Evans recalls the Honourable Company’s long history with the championship Muirfield is the third most used peripatetic golf course in the Majors, after St Andrews and Prestwick. This summer it will be the venue for the 142nd Open Championship – the 16th occasion is has played host. Muirfield became the home to the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1892, after the club was forced to move from its cramped nine-hole Musselburgh links in order to retain its status as Open Championship host. The event, under the auspices of the HCEG, had taken place at Musselburgh on six occasions between 1874 and 1889, in a rota with Prestwick and St Andrews; but the site became hemmed in by Edinburgh’s burgeoning suburbs, as well as increasing numbers of

golfers and had nowhere to go. The new links at Muirfield, some 15 miles along the Firth of Forth to the east of the city, was set out by Tom Morris in time for the Open of 1892. You can still get Alun's book From Old Tom to the Tiger on amazon.co.uk, as well as the new update, Alun Evans' Golf Majors Book, 2013. In the latter publication, apart from updating all reports and records since 2010, the background for this year's Majors is set in context.

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go there and chop it round. You’re not going to enjoy hitting 77 but 77 might be the best you can do. There’s no fun in me going out there and struggling for five hours, I just wouldn’t want to do it.” *** Honouring champions *** “I don’t think we should take a place in the field but I think it would be very interesting to do something,” says Faldo. “I’d definitely bowl up on a Thursday and go and play 18 as a special group and if they put up a salver for us, fantastic. I think that would be fantastic. Just for 18 holes, send us out. Just put us out in the middle of the field for an hour, something like that. “We’re not going to go out at 7 in the morning, I don’t get up that early. “Or at the end of the last hour of play, would kind of make sense. “I think that would be really quite nice if we went and just played 18, if you want to go and play. Maybe just make it who

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makes the most birdies wins. You don’t have to put a score down. “The hardest thing is, it’s wonderful to be acknowledged but you don’t want to be out there

making 18 consecutive pars on a final day at Muirfield where he trailed for much of the time. With two holes to play, Paul Azinger led by a shot, only to bogey both of

“You don’t want to be making 84, there’s no fun in that. I don’t want people to say ‘oh poor Faldo, he can’t get it airborne’. making 84, there’s no fun in that. I don’t want people to say ‘Oh poor Faldo, he can’t get it airborne’. I’m not into that.” *** Faldo’s victory years *** 1987 – 18 straight pars and Zinger Having taken the decision to interrupt a highly successful career and rebuild his swing with David Leadbetter some three years earlier, this was the moment all the hard work paid off. Many had questioned the logic but here was Faldo’s justification as he landed the first of what would be six Majors. He did it the hard way,

the last two holes. Faldo sent a 5iron into the heart of the final green to land the Claret Jug. 1992 – The best ever four holes Faldo matched the achievement of James Braid almost 100 years earlier by becoming the second to win two Opens at Muirfield. After a second-round 64 in breezy conditions he had dominated the championship, only to fall back on the final day as John Cook, the American playing in his second Open, made a surge. Standing on the 15th tee, a four-shot lead at the start of the

day had turned into a one-stroke deficit. With three bogeys since the turn, Faldo resolved to play the best four holes of his life. A drive and 5-iron into three feet set up an unlikely birdie at the 15th, then he got up and down to save par at the short 16th. Faldo finessed a long iron into the heart of the 17th green and duly made a two-putt birdie “That second shot I hit, the 4iron I hit on the 17th on the Sunday in 92, was one of the best 4-irons I ever hit because I aimed 20 foot left and I hit it 20 foot left. “If I necked it and missed it right, with that pin right, you wouldn’t get up and down because it’s just concrete, you wouldn’t be able to stop the darn thing.” At the last, a 3-iron was fizzed into the early-evening gloom and ran up to the back of the green. Even then, the two-putt par for the Jug was no formality but he cosied a very slippery downhiller to the hole side and tapped in.

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NCG pp 77 Equipment Lead 21/06/2013 11:45 Page 77

EQUIPMENT Comprehensive and objective gear tests | The latest releases | Competitions | Fashion | Accessories Nike have officially launched their NG360 golf app in Europe. The Apple-only application has been incredibly popular in the USA, and was named one of iTunes' top 10 sports apps. In a nutshell, NG360 is a simple, effective, and free way to track your scores, understand your stats, and improve your skills. It

Smooth operation The controls are easy to use, simple to grasp and it works quickly

works quickly and is easy to operate. Indeed, once the app is switched on and you've found the course you are playing (it is pre-loaded with 5,000 in Europe), filling in details is child's play. Simply indicate where your tee shot went, put in your score and number of putts, and it does the rest.

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NIKE LAUNCH NG360 APP SELWYN SEYMOUR

OUR TESTERS

STUART SADLER

Handicap: 6

What he says: I’ve always played Titleist balls. I did have a go with the new Nike ball but found I had more control with my Titleist. There wasn’t much difference in distance. What he looks for: “Control is most important for me, it’s not really about distance. I trust Titleist and I’m comfortable with them. New ball policy: I always use a new ball in a competition. AFTER

BEFORE Current ball: Bridgestone e6

Recommended balls: Pro V1 and Pro V1x Selwyn’s findings: I’ve always played Pro V1 and this just confirmed it. The x felt a bit firmer off the face when putting. Richard says: The x does generally fly a little higher but with lower spin. He is also used to the Pro V1 and that does come into it. Verdict: Pro V1

What he says: The e6 was recommended to me by James, our club pro. What he looks for: Round the greens I want control. But I don’t want a ball that is so soft that it costs me distance off the tee. New ball policy: It’s a new ball in a competition. AFTER Recommended balls: Pro V1 and NXT Tour S Stuart’s findings: I hit the

THE TITLEIST

RANGE

Handicap: 17

BEFORE Current ball: Titleist Pro V1

PRO V1

NXT Tour S best. I just hit better shots with this ball. It might be psychological. I couldn’t see any difference on the greens. The Pro V1 felt a bit softer on full shots. Richard says: Stuart launched his pitch shots higher, which suited the the NXT Tour S as he wasn’t reliant on spin. I agree this is a good ball for him. Verdict: NXT Tour S

Engineered to deliver exceptional distance, consistent flight, very soft feel, ‘Drop-and-Stop’ greenside control and longer-lasting durability. SRP: £51 per dozen

PRO V1X Designed for golfers seeking high launch and low spin for long straight distance, consistent flight, ‘Drop-and-Stop’ greenside control and longer lasting durability. SRP: £51 per dozen

NXT TOUR

GEOFF TOWERS

CRAIG WATT

Handicap: 11

Both NXT Tour and NXT Tour S deliver low driver and long iron spin for outstanding distance and also offer excellent short game scoring performance and soft feel. SRP: £34 per dozen

Handicap: Scratch

BEFORE Current ball: Titleist Pro V1

BEFORE Current ball: Nike 20XIx

What he says: I was using the NXT Tour and it wasn’t bad at all. I liked the sound and feel but it didn’t seem to last very long so I swapped back. What he looks for: I’m always after a little bit more distance. New ball policy: A new ball for a competition

What he says: I’ve always been a Nike man. This ball gives stability in the wind and is long off the tee. What he looks for: Control and distance. New ball policy: 18 holes then change – presuming I haven’t lost it by then!

AFTER Recommended balls: Pro V1 and NXT Tour S Geoff’s findings: There

was a real difference between the two. I much preferred the NXT Tour. The flight was better every time out on the course and it felt just as soft. It maybe sounded a little bit harder. It definitely went straighter! Richard says: I’m a great believer that if someone just gets on with a ball and likes the feel then that is job done. Verdict: NXT Tour S

AFTER Recommended balls: Pro V1 and NXT Tour Craig’s findings: It was Pro V1x all day long. I lost maybe 15 yards of

distance with the NXT, and there wasn’t as much feel when I was chipping. I was impressed with the Pro V1x so I’m going to do some testing against my Nike! Richard says: We knew really he’d go with the Pro V1x. The spin would have been very low with the NXT and especially with Craig’s natural draw, so that’s what cost him distance. Verdict: Pro V1x

With thanks to Moor Allerton Golf Cub in Leeds for the use of their facilities, and particularly head professional James Whitaker - www.magc.co.uk

WHICH TITLEIST BALL

NXT TOUR S Golfers can find an NXT Tour that meets their personal preferences as NXT Tour S provides a softer compression feel and is available in white and high-optic yellow. SRP: £34 per dozen

VELOCITY The explosive distance of the new Velocity ball is the result of leadingedge design, proprietary technology and the unparalleled precision of a world-class manufacturing process. SRP: £28 per dozen

DT SOLO Titleist developed the new DT SoLo with one objective in mind: design the softest compression feel possible and deliver the long distance and control that are the DT standard. SRP: £21 per dozen

IS BEST FOR YOU? We all know Titleist produce quality balls, but are you sure you know which one suits your game the best? Four NCG readers find out, via a ball fitting... 86 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

OUR READERS HAVE A BALL CUSTOM FITTING WITH TITLEIST

Golfer |TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY

WOODS Our team have been busy trying out 19 of the best new models on the market...

19 CLUBS RATED BY TEST TEAMOUR OF STRONG GOLFERS

FAIRWAY WOODS: OUR EXTENSIVE TEST OF NEW MODELS

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

101

FAIRWAY WOODS

WHAT WE LEARNED Our conclusions from a full day testing fairway woods

MORE LOFT COULD EQUAL MORE DISTANCE We found that, generally speaking, more loft for our non-professional testers led to much more carry distance – especially off the fairway. Whether because of the shorter shaft improving strike, or extra height and spin keeping the ball in the air longer, it was obvious that both 4 and 5 woods were travelling at least as far as 3 woods and comfortably further than models with less than 14˚. Everyone is different, though, so make sure you have a fitting before you buy anything. DISTANCE ISN’T EVERYTHING Unless, like one of our testers, you do not carry a driver, choosing a fairway wood based on distance alone is a false economy. For a lot of people, they will end up having no gap between it and their driver, thus making one of the clubs redundant.

We highly recommend that you bear this in mind when you come to buy. HITTING DOWN IMPROVES PERFORMANCE… This point probably belongs in our instruction section, but one thing that our non-pro testers found was that their attempts to hit up or out at the ball, almost like a driver, ended in thins or loss of distance. A quick word from Ryan – and statistical proof on the TrackMan launch monitor – illustrated that hitting down on the ball resulted in better spin rates, more consistency, distance, and a nicer flight. It’s something worth noting if you struggle with your fairway woods. …AND MEANS YOU MAY NEED A DIFFERENT SHAFT TO YOUR DRIVER It’s a common misconception that once you have found a driver shaft, your fairway wood shaft should match it. However, our testers

found that shafts with totally different characteristics to their driver model performed brilliantly. This is probably due to the fact that it is put under different pressures when it comes into contact with the ground, whereas the driver only touches the ball. This could be true for you, too – have a fitting to find out. MIX AND MATCH FOR ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE It is easy to buy a 5 wood that matches your 3 wood in every way, but we found that some models performed better in one loft than another. For example, the Callaway X Hot was an amazing 3 wood but probably a bit too bulky to be used off the deck in higher lofts. We think you could easily mix in a X Hot Pro 5 wood, though, which was amazing off the fairway, and cover all bases. Indeed, generally speaking, a lot of players will benefit from large, forgiving 3 woods, and compact, shallow 5 woods.

THE #1 SHAFT

IN GOLF 30 YEARS OF TOUR SUCCESS 101

OUR VERDICT FROM A DAY TESTING THE LATEST FAIRWAYS

NCG pp 78 Equipment TaylorMade, Bushnell 21/06/2013 09:40 Page 78

IN-DEPTH REVIEW

BUSHNELL

Face the facts The R1 gives you seven face angle options to perfect your flight

TOUR V3 LASER

There is no question that this laser is one of the most reliable and technologically advanced on the market. Bushnell have long been the market leaders when it comes to lasers so I was really looking forward to getting my hands on the Tour V3. It displays yardages very quickly and with a great deal of accuracy, and the build quality is second to none. The new rough plastic casing took a bit of getting used to for me. Yes, it is durable and fits in the hand nicely, but compare it to my existing laser, Bushnell’s Tour Z6, with its luxurious soft rubber coat, and it just wasn’t the same. What is supposed to set the Z3 apart from the competition is Jolt technology, which vibrates when the laser's Pinseeker function – prominent on all Bushnell lasers – locks on to the flag. It’s very useful for improving your trust in a distance when firing at a flag with a busy background, but I can’t honestly say I found it much easier to use than my Tour Z6. All of Bushnell's lasers tell you when the flag is locked by displaying an icon, so the vibration merely stops you having to look to the left. I suppose that the Jolt function is designed to eliminate having to fire at both the pin and the trees behind to work out the right distance, but as an experienced laser user I do that automatically anyway. Vibrations aside, this is a very reliable and well-made device that performs impeccably. The fact that it says Bushnell on it is enough for me – it’s a guarantee of quality when it comes to lasers. There’s also a Slope version available for those wanting a laser to use in practice. SRP: £279 (slope version £299) Reviewed by Joe Whitley

Aerodynamics The clubhead has been designed for minimal drag, increasing speed

Inverted cone A special design in the face boosts ball speeds for maximum yards

TAYLORMADE GIVE YOU ANOTHER COLOUR OPTION

BLACK IS BACK! TaylorMade have launched a black version of their popular R1 driver to cater for players interested in their technology but put off by white crowns. CEO Mark King said: “For three years we have only made white drivers and have heard from a number of golfers who just prefer the look of black. “Our commitment has always been to provide golfers with the best performing golf equipment. “The R1 Black gives players who prefer that colour access to our industry-leading technology.”

The industry-leading driver specialists have released their first non-white model in three years

The R1 Black driver has debuted on tour and has already been seen in the bags of Peter Hanson and Dustin Johnson. The likes of Martin Kaymer and Jason Day obviously see the white as an aid to alignment – the reason TaylorMade say they went to the colour – as both of them have kept the white versions in their bags. All technology in the head remains the same. The new version is available now. Expect to pay £349 (£399 for the TP version).

CHECK OUT RIFE’S NEW PUTTER LINE

VAULT 001 SERIES Check out the new RollGroove face technology The Vault 001 series is designed to cover all bases and give golfers of all abilities and preferences an option. The one thing they all have in common is Rife’s RollGroove face technology that is designed to deliver a quick, true roll. The seven-strong line is led by the Legend - a mallet with

78 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

adjustable weighting and serious stability. Other standouts include the bi-metal Prodigy (pictured below), which has a steel face and an aluminium chassis for maximum feedback. Expect to pay between £124.99 and £149.99. Visit www.rifegolf.com for more information.

BURTON PUTTERS Fancy trying out some of the most luxurious and high-performance brass putters money can buy? Burton Putters are running a demo day at Stoke Park on August 31 and at the Robert Rock Academy at Darnford Moor the day after. Their hand-made range is already proving a massive hit on the continent and could revolutionise your game on the greens. Go to www.burton putters.com for more information and to see more photographs.

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NCG pp 80 Equipment GoKart, SkyCaddie 21/06/2013 15:29 Page 80

LONG-TERM TEST

SKYCADDIE

GIMME GPS DEVICE

There is no doubting that this is a top class GPS that is easy to use and offers reliable yardages as SkyCaddie continue to show that they do not just make top-of-therange devices. The Gimme costs £40 more than the entry-level Aire, which provides the same information, but offers a bigger handset and a colour screen. The unit is the perfect size to fit in your palm and, much to the delight of many who just can’t get along with touchscreens, is operated using buttons, albeit ones that were a touch squidgy for my liking. The screen is bright and vivid and, even if attached to your bag, the numbers can be seen easily from a distance. It doesn’t take long to acquire signal and find the course you are on and the battery life is good. This model is aimed at the golfer who wants to be able to use it out of the box with minimal fuss. Some clever features include being able to measure shots using ‘mark your shot’ and the scorecard, which is ideal if you’re playing a practice round and don’t want to mess around with a card and a pencil. With 30,000 courses preloaded and a SkyCaddie ‘Par membership’ (front, middle and back-of-green distances) as standard, there is no need to pay any extra charges, which is refreshing, given this seemed to be the only negative we could find with previous SkyCaddie products. The Gimme retails at £169.95.

EASY TO USE AND SMART-LOOKING ELECTRIC TROLLEY

GOKART AUTOMATIC Ease of operation is usually one of the main barriers between a player and an electric trolley. The other is generally the fact that they are seen to be aimed at the older generation. If either of these points apply to you, be sure to check out the GoKart Automatic. This innovative new trolley has only one switch and no buttons. To operate it, you simply hold on to the handle and start walking. The pressure you exert starts up the motor and matches the speed of your

steps. To stop, simply stop walking while holding the trolley and it will stay with you. If you want it to carry on running while you walk next to it, get to your desired speed and let go. It’s as simple as that. The main appeal to most, though, will be the modern looks. With a contemporary colour palette and a laid-back look, it will look great holding the bags of everyone from a young upstart to a seasoned veteran. There are several colour options and different batteries. Prices start at £299.

REVIEW: CALLAWAY’S NEW

HEX CHROME BALL This mid-ranger has already won on the PGA Tour Callaway launched a new ball last month designed to fit a gaping hole they saw in the market – something that boasts tour-style performance at an accessible price point. In our opinion, the Hex Chrome+ certainly justifies the claim in terms of performance. It spins well, flies a long way and feels nice and soft. It is also, as Callaway claim, comfortably

Reviewed by Joe Whitley

80 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Joe Whitley takes this innovative new trolley for a test drive...

cheaper than their flagship ball the Hex Black. However, although it is cheaper than the Black, the Chrome+ is by no means a ball for everyone. At nearly £40 a dozen, it will still attract primarily better players. But if you can afford it, this ball will perform almost as well as anything in the top-end category SRP: £34.99

REVIEWED

MIZUNO RIDER II

CART BAG With endless space to store everything you could possibly need on the course, and a great look, the Mizuno Rider II is up there in terms of both appearance and functionality. SRP: £160

THE EVOLUTION OF PRECISION Feel the Exact Distance... FEEL THE JOLT

New for 2013

Also Available in Slope Edition

JOLT Technology provides the golfer with short vibrating bursts to confirm PinSeeker is activated and the laser has locked onto the flag. JOLT Technology eliminates all doubt.

“The vibration gives immediate confidence that you’ve got the distance to the flag.”

THE N°1 LASER RANGEFINDER IN PROFESSIONAL GOLF *

Lee Westwood

www.bushnellgolf.eu @BushnellGolf

*Research data provided by Darrell Survey Co., 2012 All Bushnell GPS and laser rangefinder models, except the Bushnell Pro 1M Slope Edition and the Tour V3 Slope Edition, are legal to use when local USGA & R&A rule 14-3/0.5 is in effect. © 2013 B.O.P. ®, ™ denote trademarks of Bushnell Outdoor Products. PinSeeker is a registered trademark of Worldwide Golf Enterprises, Inc.

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NCG pp 83 Titleist Ball Fitting 21/06/2013 09:43 Page 83

WHICH TITLEIST BALL

IS BEST FOR YOU? We all know Titleist produce quality balls, but are you sure you know which one suits your game the best? Four NCG readers find out, via a ball fitting...

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2013-04-23 18:06:03

NCG pp 85-86 Titleist Ball Fitting 21/06/2013 09:49 Page 85

hich ball is best for you and have you ever considered what you might be missing out on with others on the market? Are you looking for maximum distance off the tee? Or is spin on your approach shots the most important factor? Maybe you are seeking better feel when chipping and putting? For many durability is the key. And for others still, it simply comes down to economics and value for money. All of these are really good reasons to make a choice, but what really matters is that having reached a conclusion you get the ball you are looking for. And unless you go through a fitting like this or do some extensive testing of your own then it’s hard to know for sure. Perhaps, like many of us, you are the kind of golfer who

automatically reaches for a Pro V1 whenever a competition comes along. And if so, that’s great – it’s overwhelmingly the most popular

THE FITTING

PROCESS

ball in golf, both with amateurs and on tour for a reason. But do you actually know what you are gaining in terms of

Richard Harries explains the principle differences between the various balls in the Titleist range and outlines the brand’s fitting philosophy when it comes to balls

“Ball fitting is relatively new for us,” says Richard Harries. “We are a green-to-tee ball-fitting company. It’s not all about speed and spin – it’s about your preferences, like colour and feel and price. The fitting element is all about performance but your preferences are at least just as important.” “There are a lot of myths about Pro V1 and x. ‘I don’t hit it hard enough to compress it’ is a comment I hear a lot but although it feels different you can’t even see it on super-slowmotion cameras.”

Our testers were invited to do some chipping and putting with all the balls from the Titleist range to compare the feel and performance. Richard then used a TrackMan launch monitor to watch each player hit full shots with a range of clubs from wedge to driver. While assessing the data, each tester had the chance to tell him what they thought of the feel and flight. Richard then recommended two balls for each tester to take out on to the course to play some holes with and offer feedback.

performance, beyond the confidence of knowing you are using the best and a ball that has won countless Majors? Or maybe you don’t believe there is really that much of a trade-off at all in performance between a premium ball at £50 per dozen and a budget one at a fraction of the cost. We know these are questions that deserve answering. So for some straight-talking and to find the answers, we invited Titleist’s custom fitting specialist Richard Harries to Moor Allerton Golf Club in Leeds to give four of our readers the benefit of his expertise. The idea was to empower them with some key information then let them test out the theory for themselves and put the balls into practice. Here’s what happened.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 85

NCG pp 85-86 Titleist Ball Fitting 21/06/2013 09:50 Page 86

SELWYN SEYMOUR

STUART SADLER

Handicap: 6

Handicap: 17

BEFORE Current ball: Titleist Pro V1 What he says: I’ve always played Titleist balls. I did have a go with the new Nike ball but found I had more control with my Titleist. There wasn’t much difference in distance. What he looks for: “Control is most important for me, it’s not really about distance. I trust Titleist and I’m comfortable with them. New ball policy: I always use a new ball in a competition. AFTER

OUR TESTER

RANGE

BEFORE Current ball: Bridgestone e6

THE TITLEIST

PRO V1

Engineered to deliver exceptional distance, consistent flight, very soft feel, ‘Drop-and-Stop’ greenside control and longer-lasting durability. SRP: £51 per dozen

PRO V1X Designed for golfers seeking high launch and low spin for long straight distance, consistent flight, ‘Drop-and-Stop’ greenside control and longer lasting durability. SRP: £51 per dozen

NXT TOUR

GEOFF TOWERS

CRAIG WATT

Handicap: 11

Handicap: Scratch

BEFORE Current ball: Titleist Pro V1

BEFORE Current ball: Nike 20XIx

AFTER Recommended balls: Pro V1 and NXT Tour S Geoff’s findings: There

AFTER Recommended balls: Pro V1 and NXT Tour Craig’s findings: It was Pro V1x all day long. I lost maybe 15 yards of

Both NXT Tour and NXT Tour S deliver low driver and long iron spin for outstanding distance and also offer excellent short game scoring performance and soft feel. SRP: £34 per dozen

With thanks to Moor Allerton Golf Cub in Leeds for the use of their facilities, and particularly head professional James Whitaker - www.magc.co.uk

NXT TOUR S Golfers can find an NXT Tour that meets their personal preferences as NXT Tour S provides a softer compression feel and is available in white and high-optic yellow. SRP: £34 per dozen

86 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

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NCG pp 89-91 Fairways Test Intro 21/06/2013 11:33 Page 89

Golfer |TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY

WOODS Our team have been busy trying out 19 of the best new models on the market...

19 CLUB RATED BY S TEST TEAMOUR O STRONG F GOLFERS

NCG pp 89-91 Fairways Test Intro 21/06/2013 11:33 Page 90

THE TESTING PANEL CONSISTENT PRO

JAMES WHITAKER Moor Allerton head pro Current fairway: Nike VR_S Covert (15˚) He says: I like to use my fairway wood for both tee shots and off the deck so I need something versatile, powerful and reliable. This has it all.

POWER HITTER

RYAN RASTALL MAGC assistant pro Current fairway: Nike VR_S Covert (15˚) He says: I very rarely need to use a fairway wood off the deck so I need something that goes a long way, but not too far as I want to maintain a healthy gap between it and my driver. I want something I can shape to get the right angle for approaches.

Valuable feedback Pete (above) and Ryan let us know their thoughts

LONG BUT STREAKY Handicap: 7 Current fairway: Ping Rapture (14˚) He says: I am scared to death of my driver so use my fairway off the tee almost exclusively. Therefore I need it to be forgiving enough for my bad swings and fairly powerful so I’m not coming in from too far out. STEADY MID-HANDICAPPER

PETE CHIPPINDALE Handicap: 12 Current fairway: TaylorMade RBZ (15˚) He says: I like my fairway wood to be easy to hit, with a light shaft. I want it to be able to perform both off the deck and off the tee.

EXPERT ANALYSIS GOLF CLUB ENGINEER

BRAD SCHWEIGERT PING GOLF Brad Schweigert is Ping’s director of engineering and is based at their global headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.

THE NCG PROMISE We pride ourselves on offering unbiased, independent reviews

Photography by Joe Whitley

JOE WHITLEY

ABOUT THE TEST

3 WOOD WOES

FAIRWAYS OUT?

METHODOLOGY AND AIMS Our aim was to identify a selection of fairways that we could recommend with maximum confidence to the club golfer. We invited all the top manufacturers to send in their 3 and 5 woods and offered them the opportunity of providing specifications to suit our testers. We hit them both off a tee and off the deck, and used a TrackMan launch monitor, so we could look at trends including distance, carry, dispersion and launch angle. Most important, though, was how each wood felt to the individual player. Ultimately, whatever the launch monitor may tell you, the most important thing is how a club feels. Key factors included: • Sound and feel • Dispersion • Looks • Distance • Playability • Shelf appeal • Price • Flight

Is the 3 wood now the hardest club in the bag for an average player to hit well? Brad: The difficulty with hitting fairways woods centres on the club’s primary function, which is to provide the most distance from shots off the ground. To try and deliver more distance, many 3 wood designs have become longer in length and stronger in loft. Longer clubs with lower lofts are more difficult to control and so the player’s consistency diminishes. Unfortunately, most golfers purchasing new clubs aren’t presented with or don’t understand this trade-off. Too often, performance is measured based on those one-out-of-10 perfect hits in a fitting bay or range setting. Unfortunately, on the golf course we only have one ball and one shot. We genuinely want to help people play better.

As drivers get more lofted and hybrids become ever-more popular, is the fairway wood an endangered species? Brad: The short answer is no. The larger shape and face size makes the inertia higher than a hybrid and positions the CG in a more ideal location, low and back. Essentially, the fairway wood is more forgiving and better suited for launching the ball easily into the air. Higher-lofted drivers are poor choices from any lie other than the tee as the face height causes the impact to be low on the face. This results in a low-launching, highspin trajectory. One alternative is to play the fairway wood at a shorter length. The decrease in length helps with tempo and aids with making more consistent contact similar to when a player uses a hybrid.

90 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp 89-91 Fairways Test Intro 21/06/2013 11:33 Page 91

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY WOODS

Rigorous test James looking at the Covert in great detail

@ Moor Allerton Golf Club, Leeds

For the best in

CUSTOM FITTING

We use Trackman for the ultimate in accuracy WHY SO SHALLOW? Why do so many fairway woods, like your G25, have shallow faces? Brad: The G25’s shallow face is a critical performance attribute for distance, forgiveness and confidence. A shallow face saves mass from the face region providing discretionary weight to lower the CG and increase the inertia. The low and back CG helps launch the ball high with the proper spin leading to distance gains. Higher inertia directly attributes to more fairways. Confidence is the final factor and the shallow face height aids with one’s ability to hit cleanly. Why haven’t you used titanium in fairways since Rapture? We continue to research the area of advanced materials to try and develop high-performance designs and we actually have some exciting things in the works.

3 OR 4 WOOD? Whenever we compare the performance of 3, 4 and 5 woods on a launch monitor, there is a clear trend of of improved performance in terms of increased carry, total distance and greater consistency with the higher lofts. So would most average players hit a 4 better than a 3? “Our research clearly shows that the average player will increase distance and consistency with a 4 wood compared to a 3 wood,” says Brad. “In fact, most players’ average distance increased six yards! With a 5 wood, distance generally decreases; however, consistency does improve.”

Authorised fitting centre for

AJUSTABILITY You recently introduced adjustability into your Anser fairway woods but not G25s. Why was that? Brad: Most golfers are looking for a fairway wood that looks and feels great, is forgiving, long and easy to hit in the air from both the turf and the tee. We are confident the G25 fairway provides those characteristics at a great value. Our adjustable features can potentially help fine-tune trajectory; however, most players will find that they can be easily fit to the optimal trajectory within the G25 family. Our research indicates that most players adjust their club during a fitting and refrain from making changes after purchase, so for the most part adjustability serves as a fitting tool. That said, there are obviously exceptions to the rule.

www.jwgolf.co.uk

0113 266 5209 QUOTE ‘NCG’ for a free fitting

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 91

NCG pp 92 Fairways Test 21/06/2013 11:30 Page 92

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY WOODS

JOHN LETTERS TR 47

PROGEN CHROMO

WILSON STAFF D100

SRP: £149

SRP: £99

SRP: £129

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JoW: I really like the colour scheme of black and blue and the head sits really well. This year’s John Letters gear really does look the part. RR: The head looks good, but for me perhaps there’s too much weight in the head. PC: Even I could feel the whip in this. It says stiff on the club but my own club, which is regular, feels stiffer. Long though.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS PC: Looks alright and feels good. I felt confident that the shaft would deliver. I was hitting it as far as I would expect to. RR: The shaft feels nice and strong and the head looks good behind the ball. The head isn’t to my liking, but the shaft is good. JaW: Slightly closed at address but works very well out of the rough. It seemed very easy to hit off the deck.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS RR: The shaft is very light and, as such, it was easy for me to turn over. Felt solid off the face. Decent distance and a nice flight. JoW: An inviting head shape and a nice, powerful feel. Quite light but ideal for high handicappers looking for more distance. PC: A decent club, but nothing stands out for me, other than the shaft graphics that are a bit jazzy for my liking.

LYNX BOOM BOOM 2

MD GOLF ICON

MACGREGOR M59

SRP: £199

SRP: £69.99

SRP: £89.99

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JoW: The shaft is quite soft so I would have loved to have tried it in a stiffer flex for greater consistency. However, it still goes well. PC: The head colour is not for me. The red is off-putting. It’s a shame because as a club I really liked it and it went very well. RR: The 5 wood feels better than the 3 wood. The components are very high spec.

92 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

TESTERS’ COMMENTS PC: Consistent distances and there’s quite a lot of it. The white is nice and classy. RR: Low-profile heads, which produced a high launch off the deck. The distances are consistent. Both lofts feel good, great for a mid-handicapper. JaW: It sits nice, looks good, well worth a try. The light shaft is good, well built.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS PC: Quite a big head but looks OK. Not the best performance on test but still pretty good, but for the money it’s fine. JaW: I think this will really help you to square the face if you tend to leak your shots. JoW: The matt-white looks good but the way it joins the neck exacerbates the offset. If you hit a low fade, this is ideal.

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NCG pp 94 Fairways Test 21/06/2013 11:28 Page 94

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY WOODS

PING G25

MIZUNO JPX825

COBRA AMP CELL

SRP: £199

SRP: £99

SRP: £189

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JaW: The standard shaft is nice and light and the head looks lovely and sits well. RR: Very nice looking, a stable shaft and a brilliant flight. Good distance, too. JoW: Can’t argue with the performance but I thought it was quite a small head, which surprised me. In fact if it had said ‘i25’ on the bottom I wouldn’t have been surprised! PC: Looks lovely but not the easiest to hit.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JaW: The best looking head Mizuno have ever made for me, once you square it up. It feels nice and fast out of the middle. PC: Good but not exceptional for me. JoW: The fastest Mizuno woods I’ve used. They look good, too. It’s nice to see some Mizuno woods that are on a par performance-wise with their irons.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS PC: The straightest club I hit all day. It looks good and sits well. Very modern looking. RR: I liked this. One piece of advice – think about going up a flex if buying off the shelf. JoW: The head shape is nice but the way it is decorated isn’t to my liking. Very busy from the shaft to the head. Powerful, though, and has mass appeal.

NIKE VR_S COVERT

CLEVELAND CLASSIC XL FAIRWAY

TOUR EDGE EXOTICS XCG6

SRP: £189

SRP: £159

SRP: £249

TESTERS’ COMMENTS PC: Goes really well, there is no doubt, but I don’t like the finish on the head. RR: Feels really good off the head, the face is fast but it’s easy to control. Distance is good. JoW: The shape is lovely and I don’t mind the finish. Would be nice to have a black option, though. The face feels fast. I find the tick on the crown more off-putting than the colour.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JoW: Performance-wise this was top class. The head shape is lovely but at address it sits closed to my eye. The shaft is incredibly light but by no means soft. Lots of shelf appeal. PC: One of the longest of the day for me. Doesn’t look the best but certainly works. JaW: It’s got a closed face but quite a small head which is an unusual combination.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JaW: A nice clean head with a lovely shaft. Did very well for me – the longest on test. RR: The head looks great. It produced a nice powerful flight. The shaft is great, very stable and justfies the price tag. JoW: Awesome. It helps that the shaft is great as standard. The footprint of the head is quite large but that will only inspire confidence.

94 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

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NCG pp 96 Fairways Test 21/06/2013 11:24 Page 96

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY WOODS

LEGENDARY DISTANCE

GREAT SPEED AND SHAPE

TAYLORMADE RBZ STAGE 2/ RBZ STAGE 2 TOUR

ADAMS SPEEDLINE SUPER S/ SPEEDLINE SUPER LS

SRP: £189/£229

SRP: £149/£199

TESTERS’ COMMENTS RBZ STAGE 2 PC: I don’t like the graphics but the light shaft suits me well and it flies a long way. JaW: Very quick off the face. The crown is busy but it looks fine to me – I can see past it. RBZ STAGE 2 TOUR TP RR: It feels better balanced in this version. Harder to hit left than the standard model.

TESTERS’ COMMENTS SUPER S PC: Easy to hit and quick off the face. I like the shape but am not sold on the slot. JoW: For me it spins a lot and has a very large footprint. It’s easy to hit and balanced. SUPER LS RR: This was one of the longest for me. A great flight. Looks good too.

STYLE, SUBSTANCE & CONSISTENCY

GORGEOUS COMPACT HEAD

PING ANSER

CALLAWAY RAZR FIT XTREME

SRP: £220

SRP: £199

TESTERS’ COMMENTS RR: This feels very solid, the shaft is stable and the face is lively. What more do you need? I’d say the shaft felt softer in the 5wood but it still flew nice and high. PC: Nice looking, it certainly sits well and I felt very confident with it. A very good club with a proper standard shaft. JoW: It’s got a lovely powerful noise, possibly the best of all we tested.

96 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

TESTERS’ COMMENTS RR: This was probably my favourite club on test. The small head looked amazing and I got more distance out of it than anything. For the average player it’s probably not an obvious option. JaW: A really nice compact head with a great standard shaft. I recommend it for someone with a fast club head speed because it doesn’t spin much.

FAIRWAY WOOD

DISTANCE:

IS IT GETTING OUT OF HAND? NO, says Joe Whitley who loves another option off the tee A 3 wood that goes as far as a driver is something I’ve been dreaming about since I started playing golf. Erratic doesn’t begin to describe my play off the tee, so something with a shorter shaft that still gets it out there, on paper at least, is my dream club. There are several models in this test that do just that – and more. In fact, I think many of them are comfortably as long as my driver. What the all-out distance models, like the RBZ Stage 2, and the Callaway X Hot Pro, deliver is serious driver-like power with much more accuracy and consistency. Is there any better combination off the tee? I don’t think so, and for the foreseeable future, my driver will remain in the garage, gathering dust. YES, says Dan Murphy - it is in danger of making the driver obsolete First things first – I have never hit fairway woods that go as far as this new breed of monsters. They are ridiculous. I would say the best part of 20 yards longer for me. And not just one shot but on average. Now that’s exciting. And of course my thoughts immediately turned to how I could put one of them into play. But the more I thought about it the more it struck me that this extra length would be of limited use – and might even make things more complicated. Unless of course I didn’t want to carry a driver any more, in which case it would be an easy decision. But I like hitting driver. And one of the reasons is that it has a head at least twice as big as any other club. So if it came to a pressure situation, which club would I rather look down on? Without doubt it would be the driver. For the time being, I’ll stick with what I’ve got... if only I could find a driver that went 20 yards further every time, that really would be a cause for celebration.

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NCG pp 98 Fairways Test Medals 21/06/2013 11:23 Page 98

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY WOODS

BENROSS RIP SPEED SRP: £89.99

Golfer GOLD NATIONAL

MEDAL

TESTERS’ COMMENTS JaW: I sell a lot of these and it’s not hard to see why – it looks good, is great value, and performs as well as anything. What more can you ask for? RR: This is a proper club. The shaft is really strong and it flies off the face like a rocket. Serious distance and a gorgeous flight. You can feel the head much easier than most other budget clubs. JoW: A very solid club. Feels fast yet consistent out of the middle. The shape is nice and the standard shaft is proper. Superb value for money. Performance-wise for me, it was narrowly inferior to the Titleist, but poundfor-pound there is nothing better. PC: It feels good and looks fine, very conventional. It spins very low due to the shaft, which brought me a lot of distance.

TITLEIST 913F/913F.d SRP: £215

TESTERS’ COMMENTS 913F JaW: I hit proper shots with this, it went a long way and right down the middle. Lots of control and superb consistency. The fitted shaft provided a great flight. Solid, stable and went a long way consistently. I would put this in my bag in a flash. PC: Undoubtedly beautiful to look at but at address it is quite intimidating to me. However, I love the sound and flight. 913F.d JoW: As a high-spin player, this was right up my street as it dramatically lowered the rpm and improved distance. Additionally, it is more forgiving than the F.

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CALLAWAY X HOT/X HOT PRO SRP: £179

TESTERS’ COMMENTS X HOT JaW: It is certainly all about distance with this club, and if that’s what you’re after it’s hard to look past it. This has definitely put Callaway back on the map. JoW: The head is a bit too large and deep to be versatile from all lies for me. It was most effective off the tee. PC: I like the head shape and the feel. It doesn’t seem hard to hit and was among the longest on test for me. X HOT PRO JoW: If you want X Hot distance but a shallow head that can be picked off the deck, go for this. JaW: As powerful as the normal X Hot but launches lower because of the smaller head. Excellent. 98 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

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NCG pp101 Fairways WWL 21/06/2013 11:22 Page 101

Golfer | TESTS... NATIONAL

CLUB

FAIRWAY WOODS

WHAT WE LEARNED Our conclusions from a full day testing fairway woods

THE #1 SHAFT

IN GOLF 30 YEARS OF TOUR SUCCESS 101

NCG pp103 Fitting Centres 21/06/2013 16:41 Page 103

ADVERTORIAL FEATURE ANDERS MANKERT

LEEDS GOLF CENTRE

MID SUSSEX GOLF CLUB

Location: Leicestershire

Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Location: East Sussex

Run by PGA Professional and Team Titleist member Anders Mankert, this facility uses the latest FlightScope 3D technology and has a fully equipped fitting studio where customers hit out and can both see and follow the flight of the ball for maximum feedback. Specialising in Titleist, Ping and Yonex equipment, they carry all stock shafts along with a wide range of upgrades and tour shafts. Free tour stamping is available on all Vokey wedges when National Club Golfer is mentioned! One of only 20 official Scotty Cameron trial centres in the UK. 01162 750 549 • www.andersmankert.co.uk

For a full 50 per cent off fittings, simply quote National Club Golfer when booking (offer expires August 31, 2013). Leeds Golf Centre is home to FlightScope's latest technology coupled with the vast experience and unbiased nature of our expert staff. You can rest assured that you are receiving the finest service in Yorkshire. We also use Ping's N-Flight and Mizuno's DNA software to refine the process further for customers who prefer those brands. Address: Wike Ridge Lane, Leeds, LS17 9JW 01132 886 000 • www.leedsgolfcentre.com

Home to two swing studios equipped with Flightscope X2 launch monitors and a team of six PGA Club fitting experts, Mid Sussex always ensures that you get a first class fitting experience. They stock all the most popular brands, including Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Ping, Mizuno, Yonex, Cleveland and PGA. They are also one of only three Scotty Cameron Putter fitting centres in the UK. During June and July 2013 the fitting fee is refunded in full with a purchase. For more information and to book, give them a call on the number below. 01273 846 567 • www.midsussexgolfclub.co.uk

CELTIC MANOR GOLF CLUB Location: South Wales Home to the Titleist National Fitting Centre and TaylorMade Performance Centre in Wales. We have two fantastic new additions - both Ping and Nike are now on board in our brand new custom fitting suite. Optimise your launch angle, swing speed, and spin rate using our Trackman Pro Launch Monitor or FlightScope and Ping's very own N-flight technology. Experience the SAM Putting Lab for the ultimate in putter fitting. Free custom fitting by a trained and accredited PGA fitting team, terms and conditions apply. 01633 410 312 • www.celtic-manor.com

TRUE FIT GOLF CENTRE Location: Warrington - Experience the fitters’ knowledge with the most accurate launch monitor available - Flightscope fittings on a 22-bay driving range with private custom fitting area - Fittings only £25 per session - Free range balls on the day of your fitting - Reshafts, re-gripping and loft and lie adjustments while you wait - Free round of golf after your Flightscope fitting - All major suppliers catered for, including TaylorMade, Ping, Callaway, Mizuno, Titleist & Yonex 01925 791 790 • www.truefitgolfcentre.com

EQUIPMENT INSIGHT

FITTING CENTRES To get the most from your gear, you need a proper fitting. Here are 8 top options from across the land...

When it comes to custom fitting, many of us are in the dark. Indeed, many average players think they are not good enough for a shaft change to make any difference. The opposite is most definitely true, and by visiting one of these fantastic facilities you will be investing in a set that will revolutionise your game. MIA Sports Technology are one of the leaders of innovation when it comes to the technology behind both instructional and club fitting computers. The company design, develop and install state of the art golf teaching and club fitting solutions across the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and Australasia. Their mission is to bring state of the art facilities to golfers, whatever their level, creating the opportunity for them to experience technology that

historically has been only available to the world’s leading Tour professionals. Whether its club fitting, video coaching or putting analysis the technology available from leading brands FlightScope, V1 Pro, the number 1 video analysis software in golf, or Science and Motion Sports, ensure customers can enjoy and benefit from the most advanced technology available in the world today. www.miasportstechnology.com

HIGHGATE GOLF CLUB

PETER FIELD GOLF SHOP

PRESTWICK GOLF CLUB

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Location: Norfolk

Birthplace of the Open Championship

This great facility is equipped with the latest FlightScope X2 launch monitor and Gasp video teaching analysis, meaning no matter what you need - a lesson or some new clubs - they are expertly positioned to offer you the best package. They stock all the top brands, including Callaway, Ping and Titleist, and analyse all parts of your swing - club head speed, flight, spin and launch angle - to improve everything they can. Get in touch with Robin Turner using the below contact details to book. 02083 405 467 robinturner@highgategc.wanadoo.co.uk

At Norfolk's largest independent retailer, Peter and his staff offer bespoke custom fittings that will get the very best out of your game. With 3,500sq feet of shop space and a specialist custom fitting suite complete with four expert staff members mean there are few better facilities. All stock can be customised and this allows consumers to still select a set of clubs within budget. In addition to club fitting, Peter Field also offers wedge, putter and ball fittings. Simply put it has everything you could wish for. 01603 740 979 • www.peterfieldgolf.co.uk

Location: Prestwick, Scotland Club Professional David Fleming provides on-course or practice-area custom fitting with the latest Flightscope X2 equipment and V1 coaching. Along with his PGA Professionals, David will analyse every aspect of your game to select the best equipment for you at competitive prices. We fit the latest clubs from the leading manufacturers, including TaylorMade, Ping and Titleist. Ideally located on the west coast of Scotland, fitting appointments are available every day bookable in advance. 01292 479 483 • www.prestwickgcproshop.com

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 103

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NCG pp109 Instruction Lead 21/06/2013 16:07 Page 109

Instruction section in association with

The UK’s Largest Golf Retail Group

YOUR GAME Hit it further and straighter | Hole more putts | Sharpen your short game | Golf psychology | Fitness tips

ACCELERATE

EVEN ON

TIP FROM A TOU R PRO

HALF SHOTS European Tour winner Thomas Aiken on how to add another shot to your armoury When you hit half shots, you can control the distance with your followthrough. I look to replicate the takeaway with the through swing and always accelerate to a finish. I control the ball flight with my followthrough and you have to stay over the ball, if you don’t you have no compression of the ball and no control of the flight.

QUICK TIP If you think about keeping your chest over the ball until after you have struck it that is a good way of thinking about it. When you are at the range tee a ball up and hit balls at 50 per cent power. To help this turn your left toe inwards and you will feel how much it then feels to be over the ball.

European Tour golfer Thomas Aiken is a full staff Dunlop player who has won twice on tour including this year’s Avantha Masters. Dunlop’s 2013 golf range is available to buy now from SportsDirect.com

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READER

HEN you watch a tour player you see the ball launch off the tee and disappear into the distance but what is actually happening to the ball when it leaves the clubface? To hit the ball huge distances they are achieving a high launch angle and a low spin rate. They obviously have wonderful ball speed but improving these factors will make the ball travel further. To do this the player creates sufficient axis tilt at impact. Axis tilt is the degree of separation between the lower axis (belt buckle) and upper axis of the body (breast bone).

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PRECISION I usually see people at impact with the driver with these points on top of one another and no axis tilt. This results in a more

descending blow with the driver, creating low launch and high spin. This is a recipe for lack of distance.

Stick an alignment stick or bag around eight inches forward and push your hips slightly forward by around four inches whilst

STOP

This shows one of my favourite distance control drills. You have a scoring zone made up of a goal (two tees) and a back board (a club). Your aim is to get each of your three putts from each distance marker into the scoring zone. If you score, award yourself two points. If you are short, score 1! In order to be effective in your practice make a note of your drill set-up so that you can repeat and measure your success over time.

keeping the head in the same position. This will give you some pre-set axis tilt. This will be your set-up position.

Your focus must be on distance, by doing this you will build the habit of hitting putts at a consistent pace and build confidence by seeing success more often than failure.

LAUNCH IT HIGH,

SPIN IT LOW How your hips can help add some yards 110 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Put an end to those ugly chip shots

FLICKING

Two fun drills (if you get them right) to help you on the greens

When playing the shot it is important to have the alignment stick resting against your left side. This prevents the wrists from flicking when executing the shot which keeps the loft on the clubface consistent, making the outcome of the shot far more repeatable.

Now the fun bit! Once you have completed your 36 putts your challenge is to hole three putts in a row from three feet with your eyes closed! Focus on feel and trust as you do this. If you hole all three you have completed the drill. If you miss one, complete one revolution of 12 putts and try again. This continues until you have holed three in row with your eyes closed.

Shot on location at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club

From there you would hit balls concentrating on sliding the hips more towards the bag on the downswing. Keeping the hips forward and the head in the same position will help you have

enough axis tilt to launch the ball higher and create a shallow enough descent to keep the ball spin rate down. This will give you extra yards through the air and give you some valuable run.

Shot on location at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club

Graeme Bell is head professional at Linlithgow GC. He is one of over 1,000 Foremost pros from all over the UK. For more visit www.foremostgolf.com and www.graemebellgolf.com

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 111

UCCESSFUL putting relies on pace and line. Many people believe that line is the most important factor but I would challenge this perception. The line is dependent on the pace at which you hit it. If you are to read putts better and hole more as a result you must spend some time working on your pace.

Similar problems seem to crop up in the way many amateurs chip. The flicking of the wrists is a common fault that leads to very inconsistent striking. A great practice drill to help improve your technique is to put an alignment stick under your grip.

Ryan Rastall is a customfitting specialist and Nike Golf ambassador based at Moor Allerton, Leeds. Visit www.magc.co.uk or call 01132 661 154 to book a lesson or fitting.

Neil Darnell is the head pro at Mannings Heath which is home to two championship courses in Sussex. He is one of over 1,000 Foremost pros from all over the UK. Visit www.manningsheath.com

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 113

116 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

The set-up will also be improved as using the alignment stick in this way puts the hands ahead of the ball, which along with placing more weight on the left side, will produce the downward strike needed on this type of shot and give you a far better action.

ALSO INSIDE n LAUNCH IT HIGH P110 And still spin it low n PACE GAMES P112 How to tune your putter n STOP FLICKING P116 Stop the wrists taking over your chipping

NCG pp110-111 Bell Foremost 21/06/2013 15:28 Page 110

READER

FREE w OFFER oo + FREE d fitting le = Bette sson r golf Vis foremo it stgolf.c om

LAUNCH IT HIGH,

SPIN IT LOW How your hips can help add some yards 110 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp110-111 Bell Foremost 21/06/2013 15:28 Page 111

THE UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LARGEST GOLF RETAIL GROUP WWW.FOREMOSTGOLF.COM

I usually see people at impact with the driver with these points on top of one another and no axis tilt. This results in a more

From there you would hit balls concentrating on sliding the hips more towards the bag on the downswing. Keeping the hips forward and the head in the same position will help you have

descending blow with the driver, creating low launch and high spin. This is a recipe for lack of distance.

enough axis tilt to launch the ball higher and create a shallow enough descent to keep the ball spin rate down. This will give you extra yards through the air and give you some valuable run.

Stick an alignment stick or bag around eight inches forward and push your hips slightly forward by around four inches whilst

Shot on location at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club

keeping the head in the same position. This will give you some pre-set axis tilt. This will be your set-up position.

Graeme Bell is head professional at Linlithgow GC. He is one of over 1,000 Foremost pros from all over the UK. For more visit www.foremostgolf.com and www.graemebellgolf.com

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 111

NCG pp112-113 Darnell Foremost 21/06/2013 15:39 Page 112

PACE AND PRECISION

Two fun drills (if you get them right) to help you on the greens

Your focus must be on distance, by doing this you will build the habit of hitting putts at a consistent pace and build confidence by seeing success more often than failure.

Shot on location at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club

Neil Darnell is the head pro at Mannings Heath which is home to two championship courses in Sussex. He is one of over 1,000 Foremost pros from all over the UK. Visit www.manningsheath.com

NCG pp112-113 Darnell Foremost 21/06/2013 15:39 Page 113

THE UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LARGEST GOLF RETAIL GROUP WWW.FOREMOSTGOLF.COM

OK, I think I have made my point about distance control. The other element of putting that can help commitment to your putts is a confidence that you won't miss the one back! This drill will ensure those short-range putts become automatic. Set up three tees at each point of the compass around the hole at three, four and five feet. Hit each putt in turn and then move to the next set of three and repeat. Once you have completed one revolution do twice more to make 36 short putts in total. Now the fun bit! Once you have completed your 36 putts your challenge is to hole three putts in a row from three feet with your eyes closed! Focus on feel and trust as you do this. If you hole all three you have completed the drill. If you miss one, complete one revolution of 12 putts and try again. This continues until you have holed three in row with your eyes closed.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 113

walk 18, feel like you played 9 Crocs hybrid golf shoes combine legendary Crocs comfort with the stability and traction of a modern golf shoe. The patented one-piece technology not only dramatically reduces the weight of the shoe, but also increases player comfort and improves traction and stability. All this makes Crocs the first truly hybrid golf shoe. And it delivers on performance, comfort and style.

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NCG pp115 Webster Instruction 21/06/2013 15:44 Page 115

THE UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LARGEST GOLF RETAIL GROUP WWW.FOREMOSTGOLF.COM

TREASURE CHEST

How to improve your strikes with the wedges

UNDRED yards and in is such an important part of the game, and if you master it, your handicap will drop and your trophy cabinet will fill. The key to creating a consistent strike and controlling your spin is a downward blow on the ball by leading the hands into the ball. During the downswing we are looking for the shaft to lean ahead of the ball into impact, and the hands to stay ahead of the blade.

This drill helps to promote this. Start by holding the club halfway down the shaft and half swinging. As you make the forward swing toward the ball, make sure your hands lead the blade. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you will certainly bruise your ribs with the grip, as the clubhead releases. Feel as though you are playing the shot with your chest, as your body turns towards the target. This is a superb drill to help you create a better strike and more control with your wedges.

Shot on location at Hacienda Del Alamo in Murcia www.clubdegolfhda.com

Daniel Webster is head professional at St Annes Old Lnks in Lytham. He is one of over 1,000 Foremost professionals from all over the UK that give top-class tuition. Contact www.web4golf.co.uk

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 115

NCG pp116 Rastall Instruction 21/06/2013 15:45 Page 116

STOP

Put an end to those ugly chip shots

FLICKING Similar problems seem to crop up in the way many amateurs chip. The flicking of the wrists is a common fault that leads to very inconsistent striking. A great practice drill to help improve your technique is to put an alignment stick under your grip.

Ryan Rastall is a customfitting specialist and Nike Golf ambassador based at Moor Allerton, Leeds. Visit www.magc.co.uk or call 01132 661 154 to book a lesson or fitting.

116 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

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NCG Academies 21/06/2013 15:10 Page 2

PLAY | LEARN | ENJOY

WINTER GOLF ACADEMIES Golfer NATIONAL

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T R A V E L

Escape the cold this winter and join us for a week of playing and teaching at fabulous 5-star Penina in the Algarve.

transform your game; for the social golfer they are great fun weeks, with the added benefit that you leave a better golfer.

Our teaching weeks have something for everyone: for the better player it is the ideal way to get your game in shape for the new season; for the higher handicapper it could be the week you make the changes to

We organise informal competitions with great prizes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and our unique handicap system ensures everyone has a chance of winning. Think a ski trip for golf, in better weather â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10 hours of tuition, five rounds, a 5-star

resort and a great climate when winter is gripping the UK! Our head teaching professional Richard Ellis leads the weeks, and is supported by a team of top PGA professionals. Richard is one of the top teaching pros in the UK. He has gained hands-on experience from working with some of the best-known coaches and players in the game.

Call +44(0) 1753 754355 or Email golfpro@golfbreaks.com or visit www.golfbreaks.com/pga-pro for more information

NCG Academies 21/06/2013 15:10 Page 3

TRIP DATES

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I was nervous about coming but we had a great fun, learned a lot and I can't wait to come back! – Olivia Brown, Novice with no handicap

”

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I would highly recommend these trips. It is individually tailored and you get lots of attention from the three pros – Nigel Hall, 17 Handicap

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I am hitting it great! Highly recommended as an intensive week to get your game in shape – Johnny Marsh, 6 Handicap

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WHAT’S INCLUDED 5 nights’ B&B at 5* Penina 4 rounds of golf 2 hours’ coaching per day Complimentary transfers Complimentary range balls

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& We’ve partnered with Golfbreaks.com to deliver these weeks. Golfbreaks.com are the largest golf travel company in Europe and as a member of ABTA & IAGTO, you can be safe in the knowledge that you are travelling with a recognised and respected industry leader. Golfbreaks.com are also ATOL bonded and can book flights for these trips. T R A V E L

NCG pp120-121 Sheehy Fitness 21/06/2013 15:46 Page 120

NEXT MONT H IDIOT’S WEIGHT GUIDE TO TRA FOR GO INING LF

NINE WAYS TO STRETCH LIKE

A CHAMPION A few minutes in the comfort of your own home can result in massive gains for your flexibility for golf

120 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

The football fans among you might remember the start of the Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal way back in 1996. When his reign began, he his career. One of the key inherited a lot of experienced techniques Wenger and his team English players who ‘did things had introduced was stretching the traditional way’. Wenger and this month I show you how takes a more holistic view of just a few minutes now and again fitness, and inevitably there was can help your golf too. scepticism from his new squad. John Sheehy is a personal And yet, within a year, a trainer based at David Lloyd grizzled old pro such as England gym in Leeds. He is also a defender Martin Keown was golf professional. Call 07988 449936 hailing Wenger’s methods, or visit davidlloyd.co.uk insisting they had added years to

NCG pp120-121 Sheehy Fitness 21/06/2013 15:47 Page 121

Hook a towel round your shoe sole. Lean back gently so you are flat on your back and extend your leg to stretch the hamstring. Hold for five and switch legs.

Now turn over and lie flat on the floor with the palms of your hands pointing forwards, just wider than shoulder width apart and your chin off the floor.

Now push your upper body up so that your arms become totally extended, without any bend in the elbows. This stretches your lower back perfectly.

Sit on the floor with your legs relaxed. Place your right foot over your left knee and add to the buttocks stretch by putting your left elbow on your right knee.

Once you’ve held the previous exercise for five and repeated on the left leg, add some upper body stretching by turning to look in the opposite direction. Repeat for left.

Lie on your back again and simply grab the thigh just under the knee. Slowly but gradually pull it towards you. A great hamstring stretch. Repeat for left.

Nearly there – and you can see how quick this stretching routine is. It’s another of my sofa sessions... while you watch golf on TV. So, with your arm in front of you...

... then simply pull the top of the right hand towards your head using the left. Do it gently as there are a lot of small muscles in there we are firing up to work.

Then do the reverse – and swap to the left hand. This nicely stretches the wrists and forearms... and like all these exercises make you much more flexible for golf.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 121

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very golf break at Machrihanish Dunes is filled with magical, memorable moments. But with golf this spectacular and package rates this low, you might just want to book two. Read the reviews of our UK Top-100 links course and four-star hotels on TripAdvisor™. Then book your visit—and prepare to be wowed.

www.MachDunes.com tel: 01586 810 000 | e-mail: info@machdunes.com The Village at Machrihanish Dunes | Machrihanish, Scotland

Win Your Way In. Visit our website today for your chance to win a 3-day unlimited golf break for four! *Offers valid 1 May - 31 October 2013. Rates listed are per person per night including VAT based on high season double occupancy in a Classic Room at The Ugadale & The Royal Hotels. Midweek rates apply Sunday - Thursday only. †Group rates based on four person occupancy in The Ugadale Cottages. Lower rates available in shoulder seasons. Subject to availability and not inclusive of £3 per night resort fee.

NCG pp123 Lead to Travel 21/06/2013 15:48 Page 123

PLAY AWAY Exciting destinations | Latest deals & offers | Connoisseur Clive | Travel hints and tips | Competitions

DESTINATION OF THE MONTH

Gleneagles, Scotland leneagles are offering visitors the opportunity to play the PGA Centenary Course ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup with a range of new stay and play packages. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course has undergone a range of changes ahead of the Ryder Cup, but extensive work has now been completed, barring minor alterations at the request of European captain Paul McGinley. This means that visitors can take on the same challenges that the likes of Woods, McIlroy and Rose will face in 2014. The quality of the PGA Centenary Course was underlined by Nicklaus, who described it as ‘the finest parcel of land in the world I have ever been given to work with’. With a range of tee-time offers starting from £240 for a fourball, this is a fantastic time to travel to Scotland and gain the full Gleneagles Ryder Cup experience.

to is holiday To book th re o m r fo r so Gleneagle erb p su e th t ou details ab rt visit 5-star reso or eagles.com www.glen 7 3 7 389 3 call 0800

NCG pp124-125 Connoisseur Clive Kenya 21/06/2013 15:48 Page 124

Connoisseur

Clive

LONG HAUL | Africa

KENYA

Once he’s escaped the Nairobi traffic, our man enjoys a golfing safari like no other

Clive is our undercover roving reporter, who tells it like it is. NCG’s bon viveur plays off 13, always finds the best places to go and is an expert in enjoying himself, on and off the course I have been working tirelessly, at least once a month, on my swing and clubhead speed over recent months but I have now found a far easier method to add 20 yards to my soaring drives. One of the great things about golf in parts of Kenya is that the ball flies much further than it does at home due to the altitude. Nairobi is 5,900 feet above sea level, which is certainly worth bearing in mind when there is water and hazards aplenty, as there are at Muthaiga. At least there is always some young entrepreneur about ready to sell you back the balls you lost over the earlier holes. And usually at a small fraction of the price you first paid for them.

Clive’s Cigarometer Kenya scores...

124 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp124-125 Connoisseur Clive Kenya 21/06/2013 15:48 Page 125

XCUSE me while I shake the red dirt of Kenya from my golf shoes. Four of us have just returned from an exhilarating, if exhausting, golfing safari. The very first thing that strikes the first-time visitor to Nairobi International Airport is the wall of heat that engulfs you. The second is the traffic snarled up the moment one steps outside. Although our hotel was just a few kilometres away it took an age to get to it due to the completely mad congestion. Think Rome or Naples on a really bad day and then factor it up by 10 and you will be getting somewhere near. Our driver, wearying with the queue, set off down the wrong side of the road, with horns blaring from oncoming drivers. On arrival at the first-class Sankara hotel, the air conditioning comes as a delight having spun in through the swing doors. The only shame was heading back out into the gridlock of Nairobi to get to our first course. Ideally we would have liked to have stayed and played at the Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club, a resort course on the edge of the city with accommodation on site, although for reasons we never truly got to grips with from our golf course booking agent the hotel simply did not want our fourball on the course. So we crawled the six kilometres from our hotel to Muthaiga golf club instead. Muthaiga is a decidedly upmarket membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; club and home to the annual Kenyan Open. Widely rated as the best in the country it is a testing walk over the front nine as, while friendly and knowledgeable caddies are available and indeed compulsory, buggies are not an option. The club was originally founded as a 9-hole course in 1913 and extended to a full 18 in 1928. South African designer Peter Matkovich conducted a major overhaul of the layout in 2004, bringing it up to tournament standard. It was unfortunate that, before our visit, Kenya had been enduring the same vile weather as the UK with torrential rains which left parts many of the course sodden with tee shots plugging and greens far more sluggish than usual.

And relax Not really a problem at Vipingo Ridge

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TheGrove_July13:Layout 1

13/06/2013

13:20

Page 1

Championship golf, just minutes from central london. With no members, The Grove welcomes all who love the game.

£5

Add a delicious meal to your round for just £5 in The Stables Bar. Excludes discounted green fees.

Dates for your diary...

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Follow all the action from the majors at The Grove with a fun and exciting day of golf, food, prizes and live screenings.

Our Pairs tournament offers the chance to win a trip to China, Audi R8 track day, TaylorMade equipment and more!

Play the course from the Black tees in an exciting tournament set-up and win a trip to Costa Navarino, Greece!

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THE GROVE | Chandler’s Cross Hertfordshire WD3 4TG Telephone: 01923 294266 | Email: tee.time@thegrove.co.uk

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NCG pp127 Connoisseur Clive Kenya 21/06/2013 15:50 Page 127

LONG HAUL | Africa RIFT VALLEY

VIPINGO

Early bird The sun about to rise at Rift Valley

My playing partner and I found the front nine, at 3,608 yards off the medal tees, a lot tougher than the flatter, shorter back nine, although that was largely due to our caddies getting to know us. On the 1st, a 426-yard left-toright hole with a river torrenting past on the angle of the dogleg, after a pushed drive my caddie handed me a 9 iron and said ‘Safety! Lay up’ and pointed to a bush near the river. I hit the shot perfectly and the ball flew high, straight and true, deep into the watery depths never to be seen again. This is a long, lush track with monkeys skipping about many of the fairways and, if the day is particularly hot, it makes sound sense to start early in the morning or else take a break after nine and enjoy a refreshing Tusker beer and a tasty bite at the colonial-style clubhouse. Just make sure that you have bought the necessary vouchers before hand.

Kenyans delight in form filling, and bureaucracy when entering the country and hotels can become tiresome. It is the same at Muthaiga where you need to buy sufficient credit before you can spend anything at the bar. In our case this took numerous shuttle runs back to reception in order to get sufficient funds to order the number of post-round Tuskers we felt we richly deserved having played in the heat of the day. Yet, having acquitted ourselves honourably on the course, and rewarded our caddies for their green-reading skills we headed back off into the traffic and the airport as we were bound for Mombasa and the Indian Ocean coast. Rather than weary you with another traffic-jam anecdote I shall now make a brief mention about the caddies. They expect a tip and most members give their caddies 500 Kenyan shillings, which is around £3.80.

Given how little these guys earn during the course of a week – despite the Kenyan Prime Minister earning more than the US President, the average income in Kenya is around £490 a year – we tended to tip 1,000 shillings for a good caddy and more for outstanding work. There is a splendid scheme that was founded in Mombasa by a young British gap-year student known as Glad’s House Charity, which aims to help the numerous homeless, parentless street children of the city. As well as providing them with homes and education the charity aims to find many of the older ones work and caddying is one of the jobs that many of the children have taken to. The superb Vipingo Ridge golf club, a few miles outside central Mombasa, employs a number of Glad’s House youngsters and, unlike some other clubs, pays them a fixed wage on top of their tips, so

that a scrum does not form when visitors arrive as can occur elsewhere with hard-up caddies desperate for a bag to carry. It was here that I met young Safari, a cheery, slim young Mombasan who had the ability to read greens on the splendid Baobab course with the accuracy of a heat-seeking missile. There is nothing about Vipingo Ridge that I could fault, other than the fact that I wished that we could have stayed in the contemporarySwahili style homes that are available to rent for holidaymakers with their high ceilings, plunge pools and stunning views across the course and out to sea. The course is designed by former Kenyan Open winner, David Jones, and has four tee box positions ranging from 7,314 yards to 5,883 yards in two loops. It is a delight, with spectacular raised greens, elevated tees and water coming into play on six holes, including the superb last three.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 127

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CALL: 01788 521800 www.whitefieldsgolfclub.co.uk Bed, Breakfast & Two Rounds Golf. Please quote ref: NCG1 to receive free range balls on your stay. Draycote Hotel & Whitefields Golf Course and Club, London Road, Thurlaston, Nr. Rugby, Warwickshire CV23 9LF Tel: 01788 521800 Fax: 01788 521695 Email: davidmills@draycotehotel.co.uk Terms & conditions apply. Subject to availability.

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NCG pp129 Connoisseur Clive Kenya 21/06/2013 15:51 Page 129

LONG HAUL | Africa If ever there was anywhere nature intended a golf course to be it was at Vipingo Ridge, with the fresh breezes and natural splendour of the site. Plans are now well advanced to build another 18 holes. Enjoying a splendid lunch of a chicken Caesar salad washed down with a brace of the ubiquitous Tuskers while gazing down the 18th at the Baobab was one of the great highlights. Golfing enthusiasts to Kenya should not miss an opportunity of staying and playing here. Indeed, the team at Vipingo can co-ordinate helicopter and small aircraft transfers for guests who want to combine the delights of the course with the excitement of a safari. And talking of Safari, the young caddy richly deserved his 2,000- shilling tip for his allround excellence and uncanny green-reading skills. We played one other course while we were in town although sadly my playing partner and I only got as far as the 9th hole as we did not tee off until midday and, unlike Vipingo, no buggies were available at Nyali, another private members’ club and very

much the Mombasan equivalent of Muthaiga. Playing golf when the temperature is touching 100˚ made play pretty uncomfortable which is a great shame as there is much to admire at Nyali, without ever approaching the drama of Vipingo. Before the heat overtook us we had struggled with the 3,522yard length of the front nine that has seven holes over 400 yards. Being back at sea level there is no distance advantage to be gained here either so get used to hitting lots of driver and fairway metals, and be on your game otherwise the jungle will greedily gobble up your balls. And if you are going to play the full 18 make sure that you go out first thing in order to enjoy the rest of your day somewhere by the ocean. If you are heading as we did from Mombasa to the Great Rift Valley then insist that you fly direct, unlike us, who flew back to Nairobi before enduring a most tortuous bus journey. A small aircraft can fly you direct to where you want to stay and play which is most definitely the Great Rift Valley Country Club.

FACTFILE Air Kenya fly daily flights from London Heathrow to Nairobi www.kenya-airways.com Sankara Hotel Nairobi (www.sankara.com) can arrange collection for guests from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta international airport THE COURSES www.muthaigagolfclub.com www.vipingoridge.com – resort director St.John Keliher can arrange bespoke deals (stjohn@vipingoridge.com) www.nyali-international.com GREAT RIFT VALLEY LODGE & GOLF RESORT www.heritage-eastafrica.com or email FOffice@riftvalleyresort.co.ke

For general enquiries contact the Kenya Tourist Board c/o its London agent on Kenya@hillsbalfour.com

The Great Rift Valley is one of the great natural wonders of the world extending 3,700 miles from Northern Syria to Mozambique and is at its deepest north of Nairobi where a welcome awaits at this most excellent small hotel. I cannot remember many courses where I have had more fun. We started early, when wild zebra were still gently ambling across the 3rd green – you can drop without penalty if your ball comes to rest in a zebra or wildebeest hoof mark. And as the early-morning mists lifted so the full beauty of this area came into play. Lush and green with the ball flying miles through the thin air as we were now 7,000 feet above sea level, we raced round in a threeball. Our caddies were aghast that we completed the 5,900-yard 18hole track in two hours and 45 minutes but we were back in the bar and ready for a late breakfast that genial hotel manager, Gregory Wabuge, and his smiling staff were only too happy to deliver. And perhaps washed down with an early yet reviving Tusker.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 129

STAY PLAY Escape the pressures of modern living with a golf break at Close House, the ultimate golfing getaway. Fine food, luxury accommodation, picturesque scenery and a very warm welcome will make your experience unforgettable in beautiful Northumberland surroundings. Close House offers two stunning golf courses, the Filly and the Championship Colt Course. The Championship Colt Course was opened in May 2011 by Lee Westwood, the Attached Tour Professional. Less than a year after opening, the Colt Course at Close House has already been awarded a top 100 golf course status in England. All our golfers can enjoy the state of the art floodlit driving range and golf academy, No.19 clubhouse, golf shop and the opulent 18th century hotel with it’s beautiful furnishings, champagne bar and newly opened Argent D’Or restaurant.

“I am delighted to be the Close House Attached Tour Professional. I think it is a perfect course that has the capability of staging a major tournament in years to come” Lee Westwood, The Close House Attached Tour Professional

To book your golf break please call us on 01661 85 22 55 email enquiries@closehouse.co.uk or visit www.closehouse.co.uk

CLOSE HOUSE HOTEL & GOLF, HEDDON ON THE WALL, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE15 0HT TELEPHONE 01661 85 22 55 WWW.CLOSEHOUSE.CO.UK

NCG Insert Golf Breaks Cover 21/06/2013 11:28 Page 1

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO GOLF IN

TURKEY All you need to know about Belek, the world’s fastest-growing golf destination in association with

INSIDE THE GUIDE: 132 Why Turkey is so popular 134 Faldo’s Cornelia resort 136 Gloria’s 54 holes 139 Follow Tiger to Antalya 140 Monty’s gift to Belek 142 Classy action at Sueno

Huge resort Gloria boasts 54 holes of classy golf

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Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood will all be competing at the European Tour’s inaugural Turkish Airlines Open in November this year. Here is your chance to win a fantastic all-inclusive break at the brand new Kaya Palazzo Hotel and watch all of the action unfold. PRIZE INCLUDES: • 7 nights’ all inclusive at The Kaya Palazzo Hotel, Belek for 2 people (4th - 10th Nov) • 2 rounds of golf at Kaya Eagles • Tournament tickets Thursday - Sunday • All transfers To enter, please visit www.golfbreaks.com/2013-turkish-open-competition.aspx Closing date is 30th September. For full terms and conditions please visit the competition web page.

Call us on 0845 543 6674 - we’re open 7 days a week or visit

Golfbreaks - National Golfer 297 x 210 Turkey Advert.indd 1

21/06/2013 12:35

NCG pp131 Golf Breaks Welcome 21/06/2013 14:06 Page 131

TURKEY SPECIAL | Welcome

in association with

Gloria’s glory Their greens are typical of those at Belek

WELCOME I

t really wasn’t very long ago that a golfing holiday abroad on European soil pretty much meant a straight choice between Spain and Portugal. How things have changed in the past decade. Turkey is suddenly the first choice for thousands of British golfers looking to enjoy the guarantee of swinging in the sunshine. Golf is a new sport in Turkey but they did have several factors in their favour. One, as things have turned out, is certainly the economic factor of not being in the Euro. Iberian resorts simply can’t or won’t compete on price. Another is the wonderful climate that the

south coast region of Belek enjoys. There also happens to be an array of five-star hotels meaning that you can enjoy yourself off the course as well as on it. But more than any of these factors, important as each of them are, are the courses themselves. To paraphrase Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign strategy: It’s the golf, stupid. I recently made my first visit to Turkey and immediately knew that I

MY RECOMMENDATIONS Best course: Carya Best finishing hole: Montgomerie Maxx Royal Best practice facilities: Antalya GC Best experience: Turkish Hammam

should have been coming out here for years. I had heard enough glowing recommendations from friends, family and professional colleagues to know that Turkey was well set up in every regard. What I had not quite realised was how good the golf was. Crucially, the land is perfectly suited to our sport – the sandbased soil creates the kind of playing conditions you might more readily associate with the famous Surrey heathlands. In my experience, the conditioning of the courses in Turkey is outstanding – and that is something that cannot always be said in the Algarve, for example.

For this, our first-ever comprehensive guide to Turkey, we chose to partner with Golfbreaks.com. This made perfect sense as they are Europe’s largest golf travel company and have a reputation that you can rely on. We hope that the following 16 pages both whet your appetite and provide all the information that you need to embark on a Turkish trip to remember.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 131

NCG pp132-133 Golf Breaks 7 Reasons 21/06/2013 14:08 Page 132

TURKEY SPECIAL | Why it’s so popular

SEVEN REASONS TO GO 1

THE GOLF IS GENUINELY TOP CLASS Many of the 14 courses in the Belek golfing hotspot (in fact, there are only 20 courses in the whole of Turkey) are quite literally built on sand – and that’s one reason why they play so well. Quick-draining and firm, the conditioning is generally excellent so you can anticipate some crisp iron striking and putting on some quick and true surfaces.

THE COURSES ARE SO NEAR EACH OTHER You pretty much accept that there is going to be some sort of travel from one course to the next when on a golfing holiday –

132 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

it’s the price you pay for wanting to play at different places. But not here in Turkey. Unless you go to play at Lykia Links, which is still within half an hour of most hotels, you’ll be in transit for little more than 10 minutes, and often less.

THE HOTELS ARE OUTSTANDING Many of them are brand new, most are less than five years old and just about all of them are set up with the travelling golfer in mind. NCG stayed at Calista recently, which might just be the best in the Belek region. It does not have its own course but the fabulous

heathland track Carya is just across the road so it makes next to no difference. Here you will assuredly never go hungry or thirsty thanks to an array of bars and restaurants and after a long day’s golf what better way to recuperate than with a traditional Turkish Hammam – a combination of massage, steam bath and shower that must be experienced to be believed.

IT’S ALL SO EASY From the moment you land at Antalya Airport you can just relax. The hotels will cater for your every need, taking care of your

NCG pp132-133 Golf Breaks 7 Reasons 21/06/2013 14:08 Page 133

in association with

TO TURKEY... short transfers to and from the courses. That will leave you free to worry about the important things – like working on your short game or choosing between a glass of well-deserved wine or a refreshing beer once you’ve finished.

The courses are literally built on sand – one reason that they play so well.

IT’S GREAT VALUE Most of the hotels deal on an all-inclusive basis so you know exactly what your holiday is going to cost. And considering the

Is it any surprise this is the fastest-growing golf destination?

quality of the overall experience, you get a lot of bang for your buck. For example, travel with Golfbreaks.com and you can enjoy a sevennight break staying at Sirene Belek Hotel on an all-inclusive basis with three rounds of golf from just £439. You get a free room upgrade and one in eight go free! See page 138 for details.

THE WEATHER For almost all the year you’ll be swinging in your shorts. Certainly it is gloriously hot between May and September inclusive, and for a couple of months either side of this period it

is warm and usually dry with just the odd shower at times. Even from November to March you won’t need layers of jumpers, but we can’t guarantee you won’t need an umbrella just occasionally.

THE FLIGHT There are an increasing amount of flights direct to Turkey and the even better news is that it only takes four hours to get here – considering that the weather is so good, that is a real bonus. To get this sort of weather, you usually have to travel for 11 hours and possibly end up in a different time zone.

Water torture The 9th hole on Gloria’s New course

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 133

NCG pp134-135 Golf Breaks Cornelia 21/06/2013 14:10 Page 134

ornelia's two five-star hotels in Belek offer stylish accommodation and access to worldclass golf facilities.

The jewel in the crown on the Sempronia loop is the par-4 13th, where another dogleg fairway and a heavily bunkered green are more than capable of wrecking your card.

The De Luxe resort provides everything from standard rooms to luxury suites complete with private jacuzzis and terraces, while the Diamond resort boasts suites specifically designed for golfers – with space for up to five people.

While there is no definitive 18-hole championship layout at Cornelia, the last hole on the Gaius loop would provide a fitting end to any tournament.

Both also lie less than five minutes from one of Continental Europe's Top 100 courses. Designed by sixtime Major champion Nick Faldo, the layout at Cornelia opened in 2006... just nine months after construction work began.

All airport and golf transfers included Don’t forget to ask Golfbreaks.com about flights!

CORNELIA DIAMOND GOLF RESORT & SPA

5★

Play at: Cornelia GC Faldo Course

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade and range balls

1 IN 8

From

This par 4 boasts lakes on both sides of the fairway, while water continues down the right all the way up to the putting surface. Away from the course, Cornelia also has an open-plan clubhouse as well as bar and restaurant facilities. Finally, a team of David

Leadbetter-trained instructors also operates on-site to help golfers ensure they get the most out of their stay.

SOME NON-GOLF ATTRACTIONS With activities such as windsurfing, tennis and water-skiing all available on-site, you don't have to venture far in search of entertainment. But if you do wish to explore, then the well-preserved Aspendos Coliseum is well worth a visit. The Troy Aqua and Dolphinarium also lies close by. Featuring water slides, a dolphin show and a surfing simulator, the park is perfect for children and non-golfers.

CORNELIA DIAMOND GOLF RESORT & SPA

5★

Play at: Cornelia GC Faldo Course

FREE

£825

TURKEY SPECIAL | Cornelia Resort

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & Unlimited Golf FREE room upgrade and range balls

134 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

RESORT

5★

Play at: Cornelia GC Faldo Course

1 IN 8

From

CORNELIA DE LUXE

FREE

£529

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade and range balls

CORNELIA DE LUXE RESORT

5★

Play at: Cornelia GC Faldo Course

1 IN 8

From

FREE

£755

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & Unlimited Golf FREE room upgrade and range balls

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£469

NCG pp134-135 Golf Breaks Cornelia 21/06/2013 14:10 Page 135

in association with

To book visit www.golfbreaks.com/turkey or call 0845 543 6674

CORNELIA RESORT Home to a highly rated Sir Nick Faldo-designed course

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 135

NCG pp136-137 Golf Breaks Gloria 21/06/2013 14:10 Page 136

TURKEY SPECIAL | Gloria Resort

To book visit www.golfbreaks.com/turkey

GLORIA GOLF RESORT

Enjoy the extensive spa facilities and world-class golf at this stunning Belek resort

ET in Belek at the foot of the Taurus Mountains, the fivestar Gloria Golf Resort offers 583 luxurious rooms and three first-class courses. Standard rooms feature Wi-Fi and satellite television access as well as a minibar, while the resort's executive villas provide kitchens, sitting rooms and en-suite bedrooms. Guests also enjoy access to the resort's spa and dining facilities, which can cater for all tastes. The Turkuaz restaurant is perfect for those eager to sample the local delicacies, while the Harem A La

Carte and L'Ancora A La Carte restaurants offer a range of options for the less adventurous palate. There is a similarly vast array of golfing attractions to help you work up an appetite. The best known of Gloriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s courses is the Old Course. Designed by French architect Michael Gayon, the par-72, 6,759-yard parkland layout opened in 1997 and is one of the oldest courses in Turkey (the Belek revolution only began in 1994). Thanks to Gayonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input, it is also one of the best in Belek. he has cleverly placed seven lakes and over 60 bunkers to make for some truly memorable holes.

136 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS Away from the main hotel, Gloria offers two other resorts, both are a seven-minute bus ride from the courses. The Serenity Resort is a truly fabulous, high-end complex with 202 standard rooms as well as luxury rooms with jacuzzis and twin beds. It also provides a two-storey VIP villa featuring its own steam and sauna room as well as a large terrace and swimming pool. The Verde Resort overlooks the Med and offers a full range of spa facilities as well as varied dining options, including French and Far Eastern cuisine.

You are immediately introduced to these threats at the opening par 5, which features an intimidating approach over water. Water also impacts heavily on the course's signature hole. While by no means the longest hole at only 306 yards, the 16th features a large lake to the left of the fairway as well as an out-of-bounds stretch to the right. To make matters trickier, the green is heavily bunkered. The club added a second 18-hole layout in 2005. Already the host of top-class tournaments, the 6,823yard, par-72 Gloria New Course features undulating, tree-lined

NCG pp136-137 Golf Breaks Gloria 21/06/2013 14:11 Page 137

in association with

or call 0845 543 6674

GLORIA GOLF RESORT

5★

Play at: Gloria GC - Old & New Course

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds From FREE room upgrade

1 IN 8

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£535

GLORIA GOLF RESORT

5★

Play at: Gloria GC - Old & New Course

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds From FREE room upgrade

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FREE

£769

GLORIA SERENITY

5★

Play at: Gloria GC - Old & New Course

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds From FREE room upgrade

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£619

GLORIA SERENITY

5★

Play at: Gloria GC - Old & New Course

fairways and poses an altogether different challenge. The 3rd hole in particular lives long in the memory. Known as ‘Quarry’, you have to clear a cluster of rocks to reach the short green at this 165-yard par 3.

that becomes evident on the ominously titled 9th hole – ‘Watery Grave’. You also find yourself flirting with the drink at the fabulous, signature 17th. Modelled on the famous 17th at Sawgrass, you could find your card in tatters if you miss the

‘Water also impacts on the Old Course’s signature hole, the 306-yard par-4 16th’ Those who developed a fear of water on the Old course will find no solace on the New. The course features four large lakes, a fact

island green at this memorable 147-yard short hole. For those travelling with nongolfers, the club's 9-hole layout is the perfect place to spend an sunny afternoon. Measuring just shy of 3,200 yards, the Verde course is open to players without handicaps. However, two large lakes and 28 bunkers mean that the course offers more than enough to keep the serious golfer interested too.

OFF-COURSE ATTRACTIONS... Away from the courses, Gloria boasts a comprehensive fitness centre which incorporates a team of personal trainers. All three resorts also offer a range of floodlit clay and all-weather tennis courts, as well as a pair of full-length football pitches. Guests can also make use of the on-site water sport facilities; surfing, waterskiing and scuba diving. Those who simply wish to relax can make use of the private beach and poolside bar, or just sit back and take advantage of the 24-hour room service. All in all, a comprehensive leisure resort.

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds From FREE room upgrade

£899

GLORIA VERDE

5★

Play at: Gloria GC - Old & New Course

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds From FREE room upgrade

1 IN 8

FREE

£499

GLORIA VERDE

5★

Play at: Gloria GC - Old & New Course

All airport and golf transfers included Don’t forget to ask Golfbreaks.com about flights!

1 IN 8

FREE

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds From FREE room upgrade

1 IN 8

FREE

£719

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 137

NCG pp138-139 Golf Breaks Sirene & Antalya 21/06/2013 14:13 Page 138

TURKEY SPECIAL | Sirene Hotel & Antalya Golf Club

SIRENE HOTEL

SIRENE BELEK HOTEL 5★ Play at: Antalya GC PGA Sultan & Pasha

The perfect base for Antalya’s 36 holes of quality golf

HE Sirene Hotel is a five-star resort which is located at the heart of one of Belek’s biggest attractions: Antalya Golf Club. It is a matter of metres away from the 1st tees of both the PGA Sultan and the Pasha courses – as well as being right next to Belek’s sandy beaches and the Mediterranean sea. The hotel comprises a main building – which contains a large proportion of the rooms and suites on offer – and the village, which is where 209 villa rooms are set among the hotel gardens. The Sirene also boasts five

restaurants, a health and fitness centre, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and a comprehensive spa.

‘Sirene boasts five restaurants and a comprehensive spa’ The hotel has a staggering number of seven bars, and is able to offer famous cocktails and any kind of drink you fancy. As well as Antalya’s two courses (the PGA Sultan hosted the Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals last year), the Sirene is also a good base for

138 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Belek’s other golf attractions. Its central location means that it is close to the likes of the Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Gloria and Cornelia resorts. Should you also wish to experience some of the culture that Turkey has to offer, the bustling and vibrant city of Antalya is also just 30 minutes away and offers a taste of modern and historic Turkey, boasting shops, historic sites and visitor attractions. However, the quality of the facilities at Sirene means that you may well not venture any further than the pool, beach or the fairways of the PGA Sultan and Pasha courses.

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade

1 IN 8

From

FREE

£715

SIRENE BELEK HOTEL 5★ Play at: Antalya GC PGA Sultan & Pasha

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade

1 IN 8

From

FREE

£439

NCG pp138-139 Golf Breaks Sirene & Antalya 21/06/2013 14:13 Page 139

in association with

To book visit www.golfbreaks.com/turkey or call 0845 543 6674

ANTALYA GOLF CLUB

There are 36 holes of classy golf here, and one of the courses staged Tiger v Rory in 2012

HE home of two courses – the PGA Sultan and the Pasha – Antalya Golf Club was the host of the inaugural World Golf Final last October and is an outstanding facility in the heart of the Belek area. The quality of the Sultan course was recognised last year when eight of the world’s top players, including the top two players in the world – Rory McIlroy and – Tiger Woods were invited to compete in the Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals for a top prize of $1.5m. In fact, during that week McIlroy finished with a combined score of

four over for his four rounds – proof that the PGA Sultan course provides the sternest of challenges. Both courses at the club were designed and built by European Golf Design, who are responsible for creating many of Europe’s top new courses – including both the Twenty Ten and Montgomerie courses at Celtic Manor. The PGA Sultan is the premier venue. It opened in 2003 and is a muscular course of 7,100 yards. Mature trees, deep bunkers and water hazards guard narrow fairways and fast greens, providing a true championship test to the visitors who tackle her.

the fairways and protecting the undulating greens. Extensive practice facilities are also available at the venue, which has a 44-bay, 300m driving range along with other outdoor practice areas designed to replicate the challenges faced on the course. The PGA Sultan is more exacting than the Pasha, which opened a year earlier and provides opportunities for more gentle holiday golf as long as the correct tees are chosen. At 6,350 yards, the Pasha is immaculately manicured, with water hazards and pine trees lining

One of the most complete facilities in Belek, its reputation continues to be enhanced.

All airport and golf transfers included Don’t forget to ask Golfbreaks.com about flights!

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 139

NCG pp140-141 Golf Breaks Maxx Royal 21/06/2013 14:14 Page 140

WHERE TO STAY THE Maxx Royal Hotel offers incredible five-star luxury in a serene setting with immaculate grounds and a 300m beach situated a matter of minutes from the 1st tee of the Montgomerie Maxx Royal. The venue is perfect for those seeking complete luxury and a hotel in close proximity to one of the best courses in the Belek region.

TURKEY SPECIAL | Maxx Royal

To book visit www.golfbreaks.com/turkey

All rooms in the hotel are suites, and the venue contains no fewer than five swimming pools, six restaurants and 14 bars. Alongside exceptional golf, a variety of other leisure activities are available – including football, tennis, archery, air rifle shooting and an on-site spa. The hotel is also just 1km away from the centre of Belek, making it ideal for accessing other parts of the resort. Another excellent accommodation option in close proximity to the Montgomerie course is The Voyage Belek. This five-star hotel is slightly smaller than the Maxx Royal, but is equally impressive – offering 10 restaurants, extensive leisure facilities and a spa and wellness centre. The hotel is nestled in the sweet Belek forest and is surrounded by pine trees, but also has one of the few sand-only beaches in the region.

VOYAGE BELEK

5★

GOLF RESORT

Play at: Montgomerie Maxx Royal GC & Sueno - Pines or Dunes

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 4 Rounds Home of the European Tour’s Turkish Open

VOYAGE BELEK

5★

GOLF RESORT

Play at: Montgomerie Maxx Royal GC & Sueno - Pines or Dunes

1 IN 8

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140 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

From

FREE

£489

MAXX ROYAL BELEK GOLF & SPA

5★

Play at: Montgomerie Maxx Royal GC & Sueno - Pines or Dunes

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 4 Rounds Home of the European Tour’s Turkish Open

MAXX ROYAL BELEK GOLF & SPA

Play at: Montgomerie Maxx Royal GC & Sueno - Pines or Dunes

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£939

5★

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 4 Rounds

From

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£699

NCG pp140-141 Golf Breaks Maxx Royal 21/06/2013 14:14 Page 141

in association with

or call 0845 543 6674

MONTGOMERIE MAXX ROYAL

A beautiful rolling parkland designed by the Ryder Cup legend

HE likes of US Open champion Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell are expected to join Tiger Woods in an elite field at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in November this year, when the venue will host Turkey’s first European Tour event as part of the new Final Series. The Series forms the climax of the Race to Dubai and the venue awaiting Europe’s elite in Turkey will certainly provide the perfect setting. Set within 104 hectares of picturesque mixed pine forest and sandy ridges, the Montgomerie Maxx Royal is a venue of outstanding quality. Designed by former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, the course has quickly earned a reputation as one of the best tracks in the region.

From the backs it measures 7,093 yards, and is neatly made up of six par 5s, six par 4s and six par 3s. The fairways meander through mature pine trees and with eight lakes in play, water hazards are a frequent feature throughout. The signature hole comes at the par-5 5th, which for longer hitters is reachable in two. The approach to the green is played over a vast lake, so it can be safer to lay up at the front of the hazard as opposed to taking a long approach in an attempt to set up a birdie or eagle. The venue also has an exceptional five-star hotel (see left) and extensive practice facilities such as a full golf academy, driving range, teaching centre and putting studio. The clubhouse menu combines traditional Turkish food, sandwiches and international dishes.

All airport and golf transfers included Don’t forget to ask Golfbreaks.com about flights!

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 141

NCG pp142-143 Golf Breaks Sueno & Riu Kaya 21/06/2013 14:15 Page 142

TURKEY SPECIAL | Sueno Resort & Kaya Hotels

SUENO RESORT

SUENO HOTELS

5★

GOLF RESORT

Play at: Sueno - Pines & Dunes

There are two fabulous courses to choose from here

HE Sueno resort is one of the few resorts in Belek which boasts two 18-hole layouts – the Pines and the Dunes – without the need for a transfer from the hotel to the 1st tee of either. The Pines is the premier layout, measuring a shade over 7,100 yards and offering a real championship test. As its name suggests, the course features an abundance of pine trees and these – along with astutely located bunkers and a small number of water hazards – line the pristine fairways. As it is located in close proximity to the

coast, the turf has a wonderful sandy texture. The most impressive hole is surely the par-4 18th. Aptly named 'mirage', the drive plays out to what appears an impossible dogleg, with two bunkers cutting into the fairway and a lake appearing to be directly behind. The effect is actually an optical illusion from the tee, with a good amount of fairway separating the bunkers from the lake and thus providing a decent landing area. The shorter Dunes course is a perfect complement to the Pines, providing a slightly less demanding round with more room for error.

All airport and golf transfers included Don’t forget to ask Golfbreaks.com about flights!

142 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

The Sueno hotel has its own private beach along with two large swimming pools, three distinctive restaurants offering a variety of international cuisine, eight bars, a range of leisure activities, a fullyequipped spa and 174 five-star bedrooms. The rooms are split between 124 standard rooms, 46 senior rooms, six suites and two king suites, each with air conditioning, plasma satellite TV and a balcony. The rooms at this luxury golf resort – which opened in 2007 and offers football, tennis, bowling, and two pools – offer enviable views over either the courses or the sea.

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & Unlimited Golf VIP bedroom setup

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SUENO HOTELS

5★

GOLF RESORT

Play at: Sueno - Pines & Dunes

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£525

NCG pp142-143 Golf Breaks Sueno & Riu Kaya 21/06/2013 14:15 Page 143

in association with

To book visit www.golfbreaks.com/turkey or call 0845 543 6674

KAYA HOTELS

Play at Kaya Eagles, stay at Rui Kaya or brand-new Kaya Palazzo

OCATED on the edge of the Mediterranean among mature pines, Kaya Eagles Golf Club and Rui Kaya offer a distinctive option in the Belek area. The 18-hole isn’t the biggest or best-known of Belek’s courses but it is one of the most charming. It is a solid but not daunting challenge which makes for a highly enjoyable round. That said, the greens have subtle contours while the existence of eight lakes means water is a frequent hazard. The backdrop of

HOTEL RIU KAYA

5★

BELEK

Play at: Kaya Eagles & Sueno

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade

different treatments and massages to soothe, pamper and revitalise.

and is a highly impressive new facility.

If you like the idea of playing Kaya Eagles then you should stay at either the Rui Kaya or Kaya Palazzo hotels. The former is a five-star venue with 518 rooms which is equally good at satisfying the needs of golfers and families.

The hotel offers marvellous views of the ocean and the magnificent garden while the restaurants can satisfy any palate.

Covering 3,500sq metres, it offers every treatment imaginable and is backed up by everything from a kids’ club and conference centre to a staggering range of restaurants serving, among others, Turkish, Italian, Asian and Lebanese food.

Situated just yards from the beach, it has two pools, an extensive range of children's activities, as well as two fresh water swimming pools, an indoor pool, a sauna, Jacuzzi, Turkish bath and a Spa with myriad

HOTEL RIU KAYA

5★

BELEK

Play at: Kaya Eagles & Sueno

1 IN 8

From

the Taurus mountains make it a serene, scenic place to play.

FREE

£575

Winter Sun 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade

The Kaya Palazzo is the shining new superstar as far as Belek hotels are concerned. It opened its doors in June 2013

KAYA PALAZZO

5★

GOLF RESORT

Play at: Kaya Eagles & Sueno

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Table tennis, mini golf, volleyball, soccer, aerobics, bowls, canoe and other aquatic activities are on site while there is an exclusive programme for children.

FREE

£485

Autumn 7 Nights’ All Inclusive & 3 Rounds FREE room upgrade to suite sea view

KAYA PALAZZO

5★

GOLF RESORT

Play at: Kaya Eagles & Sueno

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There is also a wide range of rooms to choose from, such as sea view rooms and suites with private pools, as well as an amazing number of 10 bars – from an Irish bar to a Vitamin one.

FREE

£769

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www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 143

Europe’s largest golf travel company

ALL INCLUSIVE GOLF BREAKS TO TURKEY £439 7 NIGHTS FROM

Don’t forget to ask us about flights!

Call us on 0845 543 6674 - we’re open 7 days a week or visit

Golfbreaks - National Golfer 297 x 210 Turkey Advert.indd 2

21/06/2013 09:18

NCG pp145 Masters Plug 21/06/2013 14:52 Page 145

Fancy going to the

Masters next April? Turn over to make the dream a realityâ&#x20AC;Ś

Become a fan facebook.com/ nationalclubgolfermagazine

Masters Promo Open 20/06/2013 16:43 Page 2

Golfer NATIONAL

CLUB

GO TO THE

2014 MASTERS Enjoy a week at Augusta that you will never forget

Ever fancied going to the Masters at Augusta but didn't think it was possible? Well, think again. We can arrange the whole trip for you – from flights and accommodation to those all-important entry badges. This trip of a lifetime could be the perfect way to celebrate everything from a 50th birthday to your wedding anniversary. It could even be the stag do to end all stag dos, and all you have to do is make your way to the airport. We have devised a selection of superb Masters hospitality packages for 2014 that are brilliant value for money. With prices starting at just £2,295 per person, you could watch Adam Scott defend his Green Jacket for less money than five nights in a posh London hotel.

Where will I stay? Columbia – a town an hour away from Augusta. At the event, your base will be the 1018 Club, 400 yards from Magnolia Lane. Are flights included? No, due to the diverse needs of our guests. We can book your flights if you need us to. Which airports can I fly from? The two most popular are Manchester and Heathrow. How long is the flight? From Manchester, the flight to Philadelphia is eight hours. Then there is a 70-minute hop to Columbia.

How much golf can I watch? The decision is yours - our packages range from one day at the course to four but we can accommodate any request. Can I play golf when I'm there? Of course - let us know at the time of booking and we’ll organise it for you. How much is it going to cost me? Prices start from £2,295 per person. We require half of the money up front. How much spending money will I need? Once you are out there, drinks and food are free in the hospitality area so, in theory, you don’t have to spend a penny more.

Call 01132 893 979 email masters@sportspub.co.uk or visit

www.nationalclubgolfer.com/masters 2 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Masters Promo Open 20/06/2013 16:44 Page 3

THE JUNIPER TOUR £2,295per person*

Arriving on Friday this tour includes viewing of the alwaysexciting final round, transport to and from the course, three nights' accommodation in the Marriott Hotel, and full hospitality at our exclusive venue at Northwood. What the price includes: • A pass to see the final round of the 2014 Masters • Transport to and from Augusta • Three nights four-star hotel accommodation • Hospitality at the 1018 Club • Golf on Saturday can be arranged • Full itinerary and event documentation *based on twin sharing, flights not included

THE MAGNOLIA TOUR £3,695per person*

You will arrive on Thursday for the first of your four nights' accommodation at the Marriott Hotel, Columbia. The Magnolia package includes viewing of the tournament on Friday and Sunday with the option of playing golf on the Saturday. What the price includes: • Live action Friday and Sunday at the Masters • Transport to and from Augusta • Four nights four-star hotel accommodation • Hospitality at the 1018 Club • Golf on Saturday can be arranged • Full itinerary and event documentation *based on twin sharing, flights not included

THE REDBUD TOUR £4,995per person*

THE HOLLY TOUR £6,695per person*

You will arrive on the Tuesday April for six nights' accommodation and three days at Augusta. Golf on Thursday and Saturday at top quality local courses is included. What the price includes: • Live golf on Wednesday, Friday & Sunday at the Masters • Transport to and from Augusta • Six nights of four-star hotel accommodation • Hospitality at the 1018 Club • Golf on Thursday at Woodcreek GC with transfers • Golf on Saturday at Hounds Lake with transfers • Full itinerary and event documentation *based on twin sharing, flights not included

The golf enthusiast's dream package. You will arrive on the Monday and stay at the Sheraton Hotel for seven nights, viewing the golf on four days and playing on Tuesday where many of the players live and practice during Masters week. What the price includes: • Live golf on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday • Transport to and from Augusta • Seven nights of four-star hotel accommodation • Hospitality at the 1018 Club • Golf on Tuesday and Thursday, with transfers • Full itinerary and event documentation *based on twin sharing, flights not included www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 3

Puredrive 20/06/2013 16:12 Page 1

NCG pp149 SFTW St Pierre 21/06/2013 14:52 Page 149

GB&I | South Wales St Pierre The 3rd and 7th (below). The 17th (bottom)

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

MARRIOTT ST PIERRE

Home to a famous tournament venue, a fine second course and an excellent hotel arriott St Pierre has played host to a variety of top tournaments since it was founded in 1962. The Curtis Cup and the European Tourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dunlop Masters have both been staged at the Welsh parkland, while Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Solheim Cup team took on their American

counterparts here in 1996. Measuring 6,741 yards, the par71 Old Course is built around an 11-acre lake and is littered with ancient trees. It also offers one of the finest finishes in Welsh golf. The long, uphill 16th features a sharp dogleg fairway, while the 17th boasts a greenside water hazard. Water also plays a part on

the par-3 18th, where a lake stands between the tee and an elevated, bunkered green. The Mathern course is considerably shorter than its sister layout at 5,748 yards, but has been vastly improved over the last few years. Now boasting a modern irrigation system and a collection of repositioned bunkers, the

course is home to some top holes. The 14th is a particular highlight, where you have to cross two lakes to reach the green. The luxury resort also boasts 148 guest rooms and a golf academy which is open to members and visitors. www.marriott.co.uk

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 149

Links With History 21/06/2013 10:12 Page 1

NCG pp151-152 CC Ladybank 21/06/2013 14:56 Page 151

GB&I | Classic Course CLASSIC COURSE: No. 111

LADYBANK This Fife beauty is among Scotland’s very best inland courses, says Dan Murphy

OU do not go to the Kingdom of Fife to play inland golf. Or so you might think if you did not realise what you were missing at Ladybank. With St Andrews just 15 miles further down the A91 that connects the Auld Grey Toun with the M90, you could be excused for not even noticing the signposts as you pass by. But the really wise travelling golfer stops off here on the way in or – and this would be my personal

Images courtesy of Lukas Pelech Atelier

preference – makes Ladybank the final stop before returning to the real world. The gradual transformation of Ladybank from a six-hole layout to the championship pine-clad course that stands today is something of a mystery. The original design was the work of Old Tom Morris, the four-time Open champion and keeper of the greens at both Prestwick and St Andrews, in 1879. That became nine in 1910, which was extended to the 18 we

FACTFILE Ladybank Golf Club Ladybank, Fife, KY15 7RA 01337 830 725 www.ladybankgolf.co.uk Green fees Weekdays £54 per round, £79 per day; Weekends £64 per round

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 151

NCG pp151-152 CC Ladybank 21/06/2013 14:56 Page 152

LINKS RY ISTO H WIT H des a one-

te provi This websi book so you can p o sh stop at Fife s te ecial ra rounds at sp craig, Lundin, cots classics S Check and Crail. Ladybank for the om .c ry isto linkswithh er ff ial o s latest spec

see today in 1961. The architects in both cases are unknown. Certainly, by the late 1970s, a spacious new clubhouse had arrived and the club had moved up in the world by becoming a regular venue for final Open qualifying whenever the championship was at St Andrews. That is quite an accolade when you consider the seaside alternatives in the area; the New and Jubilee in the town itself, Lundin, Leven, Crail, Scotscraig and Elie to name a few. Arriving here is a treat. As you drive through forest, tempting glimpses of secluded green fairways offer a taste of what is to come. It is already clear there will be perfect, close-cropped lies on the fairways and true putting surfaces. Wind down the window and you can breathe in the clean air and savour the sweet aroma of the trademark pines. Laid out on flat land, many of the fairways are lined on both sides by said trees. Elsewhere there are outcrops of heather and broom.

You must drive the ball well because otherwise your second shots will invariably be chip outs or, at best, recovery shots running at awkward angles across the proper line of play. There are shades of heathland about Ladybank but only in certain parts is this a course to be played by running approaches in or using the contours to your advantage. And although it stretches to a meaty 6,750 yards, the premium is on accuracy rather than distance more often than not. Few holes are straight, while two of the three par 5s are doubledoglegs. None are the obvious birdie chances you might aspect. If Ladybank has a relative weakness, it is its short holes which are relatively unremarkable. The strength is surely in a succession of fine par 4s, especially the five that that form the closing stretch. This begins with the longest two-shotter on the course, and also the straightest.

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SCORECARD Hole

Yardage

Par

373

587

390

164

344

374

576

178

15 1

401

Out

3,387

172

412

211

528

462

390

392

417

16 6

436

3,420

Total

6,807

Following on is a more typical Ladybank hole, where position is more important at the angle of the dogleg to set up an attractive short iron to a sunken green. The principle difficulty on the 16th is working out how much of the corner to shave off. Play too cautiously off the tee and you will have the same again into the green but the further left you go the greater the need to hit a certain distance without running through the fairway â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or never reaching it. The 17th is uncomplicated but not easy while the last calls for, ideally, a strong draw over the quarry to bring the large, flat final green into view. All this is yours without seeing or hearing a car. Better still, Ladybank is blessedly sheltered from the wind. Which is why it is recommended to play here on your way back from the coast, when you are in need of some seclusion to regain your rhythm and rediscover your ball-striking.

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20/03/2013 09:44

NCG pp154-155 ATOC Ganton 21/06/2013 14:54 Page 154

anton is a geographical curiosity. How can it be that a course some 10 miles from the seaside and surrounded on all four sides by North Yorkshire farmland possesses all the characteristics of a traditional Scottish links? In terms of location, Ganton does not necessarily fit neatly into a golfing trip and can be thought of as something of an outpost. The nearest golf of comparable quality is in Leeds, at Alwoodley and Moortown, while you would have to go to Seaton Carew, in Hartlepool, before you found another links course. Yet those who know best make it their business to visit Ganton because it is certainly worth taking the trouble to travel here. Expect firm, sand-based fairways and fabulously true putting surfaces on a course where accuracy from the tee is everything. Over the years, Ganton has hosted the Ryder, Walker and Curtis Cups, and while it is hard to imagine the Solheim coming here any time soon to complete the set, there will be some international team golf to savour as soon as next month. The Home Internationals pit the finest men’s amateurs from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales against each other in a round-robin format. The Scots are defending champions, having won on home soil at Glasgow Gailes last summer. Two-time Brabazon winner Neil Raymond, fresh from his recent win at the St Andrews Links Trophy, will hope to help England to success in a match that will provide a final opportunity to impress GB&I’s selectors ahead of September’s Walker Cup match at National Golf Links, New York. Potential England squad members enjoyed a couple of days of training at Ganton in April, when they were able to enjoy some fine early-season conditions at a course that has a deserved reputation for being in exceptionally good shape throughout the winter months. With its firm, fast-running fairways, cavernous bunkering and an abundance of gorse, it is a course where positioning and strategy are paramount.

GB&I | North Yorkshire A TOUCH OF CLASS

GANTON

This golfing oasis is one of Britain’s finest inland layouts

For further information visit gantongolfclub.com

154 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp154-155 ATOC Ganton 21/06/2013 14:54 Page 155

Picture: Kevin Murray

TOP-CL ASS GOLF... FOR FR EE T

he Home Internatio nals take place at Ganton from August 12 to 16. En try is free and spect ators are w e lc o m e. Travel North Yo to rkshire on any of tho days and se you will se e the star of the futu s re up close .

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 155

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NCG pp157 Lead to Club Golf 21/06/2013 16:04 Page 157

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CLUB GOLF Tackling the issues that matter to you

ALLOWED

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THIS MONTH’S TOP STORY ANCHORING: WHAT’S ALLOWED AND WHAT’S BANNED The R&A has approved a rule that bans anchored strokes. Rule 14-1b will take CLUB G effect from January 1 in associa OLF tion with 2016 and is set to affect both professional and amateur golfers. The rule does not prohibit the use The finest Britis www.glenb h knitwear of long putters, but raegolf.co m states that players must swing the club freely and avoid making an anchor point with any part of the body. “We took a great deal of time to consider this issue and received a variety of contributions from individuals,” said Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A. “We recognise that this has been a divisive issue, but after thorough consideration we remain convinced that this is the right decision for golf.”

BANNED

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ALLOWED Images courtesy of the R&A

Why do greenkeepers use sprinklers in summer? Tina: During the summer, greens are put under stress due to hot weather and a shorter height of cut. Therefore sprinklers are used to maintain a healthy sward. Rob: Grass plants not only require minerals and sunlight, but also water to survive and photosynthesise. It is also required for seed germination. Water is lost constantly but more so during periods of high temperature, windy conditions and high light intensity. Without water a grass plant cannot cool itself and may die. Water is also needed for washing nutrients into the soil profile, as well as washing in topdressing to produce true putting surfaces.

by mowing the fairways against me? Kim: No, the reason you have the mowing facing you (dark stripe) is the machine has to come back towards the tee mowing. If we did not mow both ways a seven-hour job would be a 14-hour job. Some clubs prefer block-cutting fairways. Others, like us, normally mow up and down then do the left to right, right to left. This does help that situation but sometimes you lose the defined line you get if you mow the same way every time. The greens committee may well have a reason for the way the fairways are mown at each club. Tina: Although it may seem that way, direction of cut should be changed on a weekly basis to prevent turf lying.

Is my greenkeeper deliberately trying to make it harder for me

How do you stop greens changing shape over the years

due to the way they are cut? Rob: This is normally down to greens staff taking care when they are doing their final lap of the green when cutting. Greens can change shape slightly over the years and taking photos now and again can help to ensure they don’t change too much. Should we paint holes to make them more visible or should we insert plastic rims? Bear: In my opinion, neither! Both are an unnecessary cost to your club’s greens budget. Plastic rims are useful to help reduce wear and hole collapse but painting holes is really only useful when you’re watching the golf on TV. If your playing partner tends the flag then all you need to do is aim for the pin centre. Where are the best putting

surfaces you have ever seen in the UK? Bear: Hard to say but in Scotland it has to be Loch Lomond and in England it would have to be either the London Club or Foxhills. Kim: Fulford Heath will be top because I look after them! On a parkland course it would be the Belfry and a links course would be Perranporth in Cornwall. My course is full or rabbits, what can be done? Bear: This year I have tried adding blood, fish and bone to my divot repair mix to try and deter rabbits digging in the usual areas. I have repaired some rabbit scrapes with this and they seem to stay away but they will inevitably move onto other areas. The unfortunate solution is to shoot them or you could just let them roam their natural habitat.

ABOUT OUR EXPERTS Kim Blake Club: Fulford Heath, Birmingham, Worcs Richard ‘The Bear’ Garrard Club: Merlin, Cornwall Tina Young Club: The Palace H&GC, Torquay, Devon Rob Davy Club: Walmersley, Bury, Lancashire

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Our greens staff reply to your questions

Ryder Cup It doesn’t get much more intimidating...

Golf psychologist Jon Finn begins a new series designed to help you deal with common challenging situations – starting with the dreaded opening tee shot HAT is the worst opening drive that you have ever hit? Picture it. Where was it? What were you playing in? What kind of day was it? Did anybody laugh out loud after you had hit this terrible shot? We have all been there, and there is nothing worse for your confidence than opening the round with a poor tee shot. The goods news is that you can increase your chances of hitting great 1st tee drives. All you have to do is follow these three simple steps.

PICTURE THE SHOT See the shot that you want to hit before you hit it. Close your eyes and picture the best tee

shot that you have ever hit. Where was it? What were you playing? What kind of day was it? What did it sound like when the ball came off the club face? What shape was the shot? How far did it go? If it is not easy for you to see THE NEUROSCIENCE BEHIND MY TIPS Your brain is a survival tool which is designed to pick up threats. The first tee is one of the most threatening places for your brain as you can potentially make yourself look very bad in front of others. These tips will help to calm your amygdala – the brain’s threat-detection centre – and engage your pre-frontal cortex – the logical part of your brain. NEXT MONTH: Jon turns his attention to holing crucial short putts

this shot write down a description of it, and practise playing it over and over again in your mind’s eye. The next time you are setting up to the ball on the 1st tee picture the best tee shot that you have ever hit in your mind’s eye.

KEEP IT SIMPLE Keep your swing thoughts simple. When we are not very confident on the 1st tee too many swing thoughts can get in the way. A good way to keep your swing thoughts simple is to use a 1,2,3 count during your swing. For example, say 1 to yourself as you initiate the backswing; say 2 to yourself to initiate the down swing; and say 3 to yourself as you strike the ball. Feel free to adapt this to fit your swing i.e. use a 1

(initiate backswing), 2 (strike ball) count instead. Swing your club to the rhythm of a 1,2,3 count in your head; initiating the backswing on 1, and striking the ball on 3.

REPLAY THE PERFECT SHOT As you put the club back into your bag replay the perfect shot in your head, even if you didn’t hit. This technique will help you to deal with bad shots better, and build your confidence. You will hit unsatisfactory shots on the golf course. It is how you deal with them that will make or break your round. Picture the perfect shot in your mind’s eye as you are putting your club back in the bag.

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Area Guide

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SOMETHING FOR

EVERYONE Joe Harrison explains why England’s Golf Coast caters for all tastes and budgets, with world-class courses and accommodation

Jon Finn helps you think better on the links

176 Where to play in the north west of England

176 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

CLUB GOLF News & Reviews

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WALES All the latest news and course reviews from the Principality

Starlet on world stage A Tonyrefail youngster has qualified for the World Junior Championship. Ffion Tynan, a 10-yearold from Rhondda Cynon Taf, has already shot a hole-in-one and has her sights set on turning professional.

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CLUB GOLF

Honour for Tenby

Wales' oldest club has become a GUWaffiliated coaching centre. Tenby and the West Coast Academy are now part of a junior development programme.

Fundraiser at Langland Bay raises over £2,000 The generous members of a Gower club showed their generous side as they raised over 2,300 for charity. The Langland Bay club – which plays over thrilling clifftop terrain – hosted a golf day in aid of the Alzheimer's Society.

p: SA3 4QR

County Champion: Langland Bay, Swansea About Founded in 1904, Langland Bay is conveniently located just five miles from Swansea and can be reached easily via the M4. It is also home to one of the top courses in the region, as well as indoor teaching and fitting facilities. Visitors and societies are always welcome.

yards, this classic James Braid design features several changes in elevation as well as fast, small greens which pose a true test of your putting nous and nerve. It also offers plenty of trademark Braid sand and water hazards while a stern par of 70 that more than makes up for the short yardage.

The Course While not the longest at just 6,026

Top Hole The signature 16th at Langland

Brynhill plans scrapped Developers have scrapped plans to build 180 homes on the grounds of a Welsh club. Members at Brynhill had hoped that the development scheme would secure the club's financial future.

Y C HA

CONTACT

t: 01792 361721 langlandbay golf club.com

O N • CO

Striping on fairways, use of sprinklers, painting holes and dealing with rabbits...

www.glenbraegolf.com

HOW TO...

FLUSH YOUR OPENING DRIVE PRE-SHOT

ABOUT of the the inventor Jon Finn is a unique programme, Pre-Shot training which helps golfers training approach He developed it in scores. consultant shoot lower Golf Psychology his role as nine years. over the past to the PGA can be accessed Pre-Shot training apps, physical through iPhone workshops. products and k Visit pre-shot.co.u

UESTION TIME

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SEND US YOUR QUESTI ONS...

This is a regular feature – so please email the points you’d like answered to: editorial@ sportspub.c o.uk

Y C HA

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Bay lives long in the memory. Known ominously as ‘Death or Glory’, the 153-yard par-3 features a shelved, protected green. Card Wrecker Watch out for the stroke index one 6th. Featuring out of bounds and a bunker to the front of the green, the 449-yard par 4 is known as one of the toughest holes on the Gower coastline.

Cardiff golf challenge

Celtic Manor hosts celebs Some of the biggest names in showbusiness lined up for a charity golf event at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor. Famous names including local heroes Craig Bellamy and Rob Brydon competed for the Celebrity Cup. The stars were joined by golf legend Colin Montgomerie, who made an appearance to raise money for the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation (in memory of his late mum).

Hot summer deals at Cottrell Park

Elite amateurs to arrive

The club has also partnered with the nearby Copthorne Hotel to offer play-and-stay golf breaks for £69pp. For those seeking a more lasting relationship with Cottrell, the club – which is just 10 minutes from Cardiff – has flexible membership deals as well as pay-and-play options.

Some of Wales' top venues will host the best amateurs in Europe in the course of the summer. Royal Porthcawl, Aberdovey and Celtic Manor will all stage major Welsh championships, while the Golf Union of Wales is set to introduce new events at Nefyn and Builth Wells.

A south Wales venue has announced a range of new package deals for visitors to enjoy this summer. Cottrell Park is offering £20 ‘Summer Sizzle’ packages which include 18 holes of golf and free buggy hire and refreshments, or a round followed by the dish of the day in the clubhouse.

186 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Four Cardiff golfers will take part in a charity golf challenge this summer. Ridgeway members Craig Thomas, Mike Mayer, Alex Matthews and Craig Campbell are all aiming to play 100 holes in a day at the Caerphilly club to raise money for Cancer Research Wales. “If we can go round in 998 minutes and play to our handicaps for the whole day, this would equate to 1726 shots in total, or one shot every 34 seconds,” said Campbell. “We're all getting stuck into training and looking forward to raising significant funds.”

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Welsh starlet is set for the world stage

NCG pp158 Club Golf Ads 21/06/2013 09:43 Page 158

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he Emilia Romagna region of Italy offers a wonderfully rich source of culture and gastronomy as well as 20 excellent golf courses – all very affordable. Situated in the north of Italy, it is a region of architectural splendour and rugged landscapes stretching to the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Apennine Mountains to the west. Restaurants? Don’t even try to count them! Anywhere off the beaten track and you’ll find one all check-clothed and ambience. In Italy, restaurants have to be good to survive; food there is part of the life-style. For golfers it ticks every box and is easily accessible by air to Bologna or to Parma. Bologna & Modena - In the central area, Golf Club Bologna offers panoramic views across the countryside, while Modena Golf & Country Club is one of Italy’s most distinguished courses. Designed by Bernhard Langer, you are blessed with 27 holes with winding fairways and numerous water hazards. Nearby San Valentino Golf Club is a delightful, testing layout surrounded by an untouched landscape of woodland.

Golf Club Le Fonti is another eye-catching 18-hole parkland course with a warm family feel. Meanwhile, Molino del Pero is set in the towering Apennine Mountains, is a good all-round test. There are also 9 hole courses at Monte Cimone and Casalunga. Four ‘musts’ are a visit to Bologna plus the Ferrari, Ducati and Lamborghini museums. The Adriatic Coast - Here you will discover the outstanding Adriatic Golf Club set amidst pine forest and coastline; a 27-hole layout has hosted the Italian Championship. Elsewhere, Rimini Verucchio Golf Club, Riviera Golf Resort and Riolo Golf la Torre are parkland layouts with water aplenty whilst Golf Club I Fiordalisi is a charming little nine-holer. Other courses include C.U.S Ferrara Golf Golf Club “Le Cicogne” Faenza (9 holes). Away from the golf, the Adriatic Coast is blessed with wonderful beaches and water parks – most notably at Mirabilandia. On the coast there’s nothing quite like the relaxing spa town of Riolo, and the fortress and medieval hamlet of Brisighella.

GREY OWL GOLF

Let us organise your bespoke golfing break FRANCE • BELGIUM • SPAIN • ITALY Contact Bill Anslow - Tel: 01206 841994 • Fax: 01206 841995 Email: bill@greyowlgolf.com • Web: www.greyowlgolf.com

158 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Parma & Salsomaggiore - Finally, for something different, the spa towns of Salsomaggiore and Tabiano are perfect places to savour a typically medieval meal in the castles of the former Duchies of Parma and Piacenza. All this comes courtesy of Emilia Romagna Golf and Driveline Golf, one of the UK’s leading golf specialist tour operators who have featured Italy for many years. Special Offer – 4 nights B&B + 3 rounds of golf starting from £242 For further details and for bookings, call 01462 817955 or email clubhouse@drivelinegolf.com

www.drivelinegolf.com Champs de Bataille - France

NCG pp159 Greenkeeper QT Pt VII 21/06/2013 14:55 Page 159

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GREENKEEPERS’

UESTION TIME Striping on fairways, use of sprinklers, painting holes and dealing with rabbits...

Is my greenkeeper deliberately trying to make it harder for me

How do you stop greens changing shape over the years

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 159

NCG pp160 Club Golf Ads 21/06/2013 09:50 Page 160

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160 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp161 Bob Williams GCMA 21/06/2013 15:00 Page 161

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GCMA Focus

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THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING OUR GOLF CLUBS

Clear choice Clubs need to make astute decisions

Bob Williams, CEO of the Golf Club Managers’ Association, concludes his series looking at what our clubs can do to prepare for the future

CREATING A CUSTOMER SERVICE ETHOS Unfortunately the golf club image is still tainted by snobbery and an air of being unwelcoming. While a number of golf club staff are extremely well versed and trained in hospitality and will endeavour to ensure the customer – member or visitor – is dealt with in the most welcoming manner, there still remain a number of entrenched members who will go out of their way not to accept a new member or a visitor into their club. My pet hate is the front door being locked, this has got to be the biggest statement to say ‘you are not welcome here’!

GETTING THE BALANCE OF THE BUSINESS RIGHT This is the area that will be different from one club to the next. Many clubs will be totally

membership-orientated; the next will be totally reliant on the visitor or green-fee income and others will see the food and beverage business as their lifeblood. It may be the club sees all the revenue pathways as equally important. However, it is imperative as the club looks to the future and plots its strategy going forward it understands the importance of its revenue streams. Golf societies may be an attractive quick-fix, however if it continually stops a regular group of members playing, who then decide to take their business elsewhere, it is obviously not good business practice.

WHAT ARE YOU – A BUSINESS OR A CLUB? This is the one area which members have a real problem getting to grips with. It really doesn’t make too much difference whether the club is proprietary or

private members, the member will still think of it as a club. Many clubs are registered as a not-forprofit organisation, hence the runof-the-mill member will not want to see the club accounts portraying a surplus at the end of the year as this will suggest their subscription was too high! Overall the policy of the club has to be set out and agreed for the future development of the club; as stated previously this really needs to form part of the forward-thinking strategy.

need to deal with the situation, yet this is a time when clubs who deal with the changing situation will come through with a leaner product that is more profitable and providing a better facility. Unfortunately there will be some casualties, but I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing. In summary, clubs need to look hard at their business model, appoint the right people for the right jobs and ensure customers receive a quality product.

HOW THE GAME IN THE UK CAN PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE Overall this will be one of the most challenging times for a lot of golf clubs in the UK. However it will also be a time when the individual golfer will have more options and more opportunities than ever before. There is no definitive answer to how golf clubs

ABOUT THE GCMA It supports over 2,300 secretaries and managers and their clubs through 17 regional secretaries via services such as an information service and huge library, access to training courses and regional networking meetings.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 161

Littlestone GC 21/06/2013 09:51 Page 1

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www.littlestonegolfclub.org.uk Tel: 01797 363355 New Romney | Kent | TN28 8RB

NCG pp163 Jon Finn How To 21/06/2013 15:01 Page 163

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HOW TO...

FLUSH YOUR OPENING DRIVE E-SHOT ABOUT PR ntor of the

the inve unique Jon Finn is ramme, a aining prog golfers s lp Pre-Shot tr he ch proach whi it in training ap developed scores. He er w lo t nsultant co shoo gy lo ho Golf Psyc s. his role as st nine year over the pa A G P e ssed ce to th ac be n aining ca Pre-Shot tr , physical hone apps through iP hops. ks or w d products an o. ot.c uk Visit pre-sh

Ryder Cup It doesn’t get much more intimidating...

PICTURE THE SHOT See the shot that you want to hit before you hit it. Close your eyes and picture the best tee

(initiate backswing), 2 (strike ball) count instead. Swing your club to the rhythm of a 1,2,3 count in your head; initiating the backswing on 1, and striking the ball on 3.

www.nationalclubgolfer.com | AUGUST 2013 163

NCG pp164 Club Golf SE 21/06/2013 15:02 Page 164

CLUB GOLF News & Reviews

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Orrin wins Lagonda

M Youngsters take up Skills Challenge Young players from across the south of England have taken part in the first round of the 2013 National Skills Challenge – an initiative aimed at getting more youngsters into golf.

Crowley’s Critchley joy Brocket Hall starlet Gabriella Cowley shot three under in inclement weather at Sunningdale to win the Critchley Salver by a shot. The 17-year-old England international shot 71 despite torrential rain and freezing winds.

Y C HA

Youngsters in inner-city London were given a first taste of golf thanks to a Golf Foundation project in Tower Hamlets. The 16-18 year olds played their version of the Ryder Cup in a local park.

CONTACT

t: 01296 4 259 westonturvi 49 llegolf. co.uk p: HP22 5Q T

‘Spyder-cup’ is a big hit

Y C HA M

O N • CO

Kent’s Max Orrin secured his second significant victory in the space of three weeks when he won the Lagonda Trophy at Gog Magog. That win followed earlier success in the South East Links Championship at Royal Cinque Ports.

County Champion: Weston Turville, Bucks About Established in 1973, Weston Turville is renowned for its views of the surrounding Chiltern Hills. The course is located two miles from the centre of Aylesbury and just an hour from the capital, giving it an enviable location. The Course It measures just over 6,000 yards – so is not the longest course by

modern standards – but its par of 69 makes finishing in the red an extremely difficult task. Couple the low par with an abundance of expertly positioned water hazards, heavily defended greens and thick rough, and you have a course that is ready to punish any wayward shot. Top Hole The short 6th plays a club further

than you think due to its elevated green. There is water in front of the tee and the green falls sharply off the back, which presents a challenging ‘up and down’. Card Wrecker The 428-yard 15th features a 90degree dogleg left while the green is heavily guarded by both sand and water, making the approach as demanding as the drive.

Shire unveil new Seve statue

Record round for Wallis

A life-sized statue of Seve Ballesteros has been erected at The Shire London. Borehamwood-based metal designers Joro Originals designed and built the piece, which recreates Ballesteros’ iconic fist-pumping victory celebration at the 1984 Open Championship at St Andrews. Arsenal footballers Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey are pictured with the new statue of the legendary Spaniard.

Seniors star returns to childhood club

Heath nets London Pairs

Goring and Streatley welcomed Carl Mason – a multiple Tour winner and the most successful European Senior Tour golfer of all time – back to the place where he began his career. Mason offered advice to young players at the club. Reflecting on the qualities needed to be a

Top UK professionals competed in the inaugural TP Tour London Pairs Open at Ealing, with European Tour player James Heath triumphing alongside his Challenge Tour partner Adam Gee. The TP Tour seeks to attract pros requiring the chance of competitive golf throughout the season.

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successful golfer he said: “It does take a lot of hard work, patience and persistence to succeed. “You’ve got to devote yourself to it, there’s no doubt about it, but the rewards can be great. “Lots of practice, a good coach and an inward self-belief will help you along the way.”

Three-time Southern Order of Merit winner and current PGA Playoffs champion Richard Wallis carded an historic round of 59 to win the PGA Southern Open Pro-Am at The Drift in Surrey. Wallis’ score was in fact a 14-under-par effort because The Drifts is a par-73 layout. It is a round which will long be remembered in PGA Southern Region cricles – and of course by the man himself. “I’m absolutely over the moon to shoot this score,” said Wallis. “I’ve shot low scores before, but never in an official PGA event like this,” he added.

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SOUTH EAST

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re heading south for the summer then here are a collection of great courses to make your trip a memorable one EAST SUSSEX NATIONAL

WHITEHILL

WEALD OF KENT

MOOR PARK

Boasting two outstanding courses, East Sussex National is one of the best venues in the south. Combining precision design with natural beauty, the course has played host to past European Tour events and its turf has been graced by the likes of Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els. The venue also boasts a 104 room hotel complete with spa, pool and gym, making for an ideal play-and-stay venue.

One of the finest rural courses in Hertfordshire, Whitehill was founded in 1988 yet already looks and feels mature beyond its years. The course is undulating, with well-placed ponds and bunkers and trees adding to firm fairways and greens. With such a rural setting, it is difficult to believe that the course is situated a matter of minutes from the A10 and sits close to the M11 and M25 motorways.

A beautifully maintained parkland course and hotel set in rolling countryside with distant views. The course contains many elevations, lakes and hazards along with well-maintained and wide fairways. The substantial clubhouse offers stunning views over the lakes and golf course, and features a bar, restaurant, function suites, conference rooms and a large patio area to enjoy the sunshine.

Set amidst 300 acres of mature woodland and finest Hertfordshire parkland, Moor Park features two championship golf courses, the High and the West. Designed by Harry Colt in 1923 to blend into the grounds of the estate, the course frequently plays host to both county and national championships. The 17th century mansion house provides an outstanding clubhouse setting.

Fitting finish The 18th at East Sussex National

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MAIDSTONE ROAD, HEADCORN, KENT TN27 9PT

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Group Golf Days A number of group packages and bespoke golf days are available 7 days a week. We can cater for all your needs and requirements including:

n Corporate Golf Days n Club/Committee Trips n Hotel Golf Breaks n Day Out with Friends

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Or build your own to tailor a package to your specific needs. Packages from £21pp

Twilight Golf From £15 per player Monday – Sunday anytime from 4.00pm

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SWEETWOODS PARK

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BROCKET HALL

WELWYN GARDEN CITY

OLD THORNS

BROCKET HALL This 18th century estate boasts two outstanding championship courses, which are aptly named after the two prime ministers which once resided at Brocket Hall - Lord Palmerstone and Lord Melbourne. The Melbourne course was opened in 1992 having been designed by Peter Alliss and Clive Clark, while the Palmerston course showcases some of Donald Steel’s finest work. The club’s new ambassador programme features the likes of European Tour star Simon Khan and 2010 world long driving champion Joe Miller.

SWEETWOODS PARK Opened in 1994, Sweetwoods Park is set on the Kent-Sussex border and is rated among the finest courses in the south of England, as well as being a regular host on the EuroPro Tour.

The 18-hole, par-72 parkland layout features a collection of lakes, streams and undulating terrain. It is also one of the more picturesque layouts in the region, and is set in the “Wealden Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”.

WELWYN GARDEN CITY Founded in 1923, this is the home club of six-time major winner and former Ryder Cup captain Sir Nick Faldo, as well as European Tour winner Tom Lewis. Set in undulating parkland, the course is established as one of the finest in Hertfordshire, and its narrow fairways and small greens have seen many scorecards ruined with just a touch of wayward hitting from both tee and fairway. Its superb drainage makes it a truly year-round course, and its location is truly enviable – just a matter of minutes from the M25.

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WESTON TURVILLE Although this course is not particularly long, measuring just over 6000-yards, a par of just 69 combined with a number of expertly located water hazards and well defended greens makes for a terrific test. The course is located at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, and offers stunning views over the surrounding landscape. The clubhouse is also renowned for food and hospitality, and the club is perfectly located just an hour from London.

OLD THORNS Located in the rolling hills of north Hampshire, Old Thorns is home to a fantastic course and a superb hotel. Designed by Peter Alliss, the par-72 track features gaping bunkers, tight, tree-lined fairways, many water hazards and fast, sloping greens.

The stand-out hole here is the 5th - a short downhill par 4 which might see you reaching for the driver in an heroic attempt to locate the putting surface. The resort has undergone millions of pounds of renovations since it was acquired by the Shaw family in 2007, including extensive work to the on-site hotel.

CROHAM HURST Croham Hurst was founded in 1911 and is the work of renowned designers Fred Hawtree and James Braid. It has been described as “one of the nicest courses in the South East of England” by 2010 European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie. The club has just completed a £300,000 refurbishment project which included the building of a new clubhouse roof and exterior, and thanks to new cutting equipment, the greens are some of the best in the area.

NCG pp169 Club Golf SE Ads 21/06/2013 09:14 Page 169

CLUB GOLF £29.50

18 holes, golfers brunch and a drink

Welwyn Garden City Golf Club 2013 SOCIETY PACKAGES

Outstanding golf at an unexpected price, that’s not an accident!

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Everything we do at Sweetwoods Park from the course to main course, meets even the highest levels of expectation. Because excellence doesn’t come by chance. Now enjoy outstanding golf for less…Quote ‘first class golf’ when you call to book and enjoy 18 holes, a golfers brunch & a drink for just £29.50. T&C's apply*

To book call 01342 850 729 Ext 1

*T&C's available at www.sweetwoodspark.com ‘Croham Hurst is one of the nicest courses in the South East’ COLIN MONTGOMERIE

SOCIETY & CORPORATE GOLF DAY INFORMATION - 2013

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South Croydon Surrey CR2 7HJ t 020 8657 5581 office@chgc.co.uk chgc.co.uk

PACKAGE A PACKAGE B PACKAGE C PACKAGE D £74.00 £69.00 £54.00 £62.00 Coffee & Bacon Rolls, Coffee & Bacon Rolls, Coffee & Bacon Rolls, Coffee & Bacon Rolls, 36 holes, Light Lunch 28 holes, Light Lunch 18 holes, 2 course 18 holes, & 3 Course Dinner & 3 Course Dinner Light Meal 3 Course Dinner

PACKAGE E £48.00 Full English Breakfast, Coffee/Tea 18 holes

WELWYN GARDEN CITY GOLF CLUB

Mannicotts | High Oaks Road | Welwyn Garden City | Herts | AL8 7BP

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West Kent Golf Club

MILKING LANE, DOWNE BR6 7LD

Small number of memberships available Societies & green fees welcome

Please contact us for further information

Tel: 01689 851323 • Email: andy@wkgc.co.uk

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CAVERSHAM HEATH Measuring 7,151 yards, Caversham Heath is a championship venue of considerable length located on the borders of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The course was designed by David Williams and is built to USGA standards. The club has recently invested £150,000 to improve clubhouse facilities and build a new state-ofthe-art putting studio. The club also welcomes visitors and offers a number of group packages which cater for corporate golf days, society visits and individual groups.

TUDOR PARK CAVERSHAM HEATH TUDOR PARK

Kent’s rolling hills and wooded valleys make the county a gorgeous location for golf, as evidenced by Tudor Park, a PGA standard championship course attached to a Marriott Hotel and Country Club. The course features long, narrow fairways bordered by beautiful, mature pine trees and undulating greens, offering fantastic views of the countryside. Tudor Park has also hosted prestigious events including the PGA EuroPro Tour and the Kent PGA Pro-Am.

WEST KENT

This historic club will celebrate its centenary in 2016, but has history stretching back to the 19th century as the home of Charles Darwin backs onto the 12th hole. Made up of three par 3s and two par 5s, the course winds through valleys, flanked by steep meadows and a wide variety of trees. Much of the banks surrounding the course are of great scientific interest with a number of orchids and butterflies creating a natural habitat.

LITTLESTONE A Final Qualifying course for the Open in 2011, Littlestone offers the classic links challenge of tight lies, pot bunkers and slick greens. The nearby coastline enjoys a unique micro-climate which makes it one of the driest places in Britain and a perfect place for golf. The club has also linked up with a range of local guesthouses to offer a variety of brand new stay-andplay packages, starting from £110. 170 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

NCG pp171 Club Golf SE Ads 21/06/2013 09:17 Page 171

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Wolfedale GOLF COURSE WE OFFER • Full range of equipment • PGA Qualified lessons • 6 hole Starters Course • Golf Shop and repairs • Full bar facilities • Equipment hire

Situated in beautiful parkland with panoramic views over the tranquil Dorset countryside.

THE CADDY BAR Relax and enjoy the full bar facilities offered in our friendly Caddy Bar. We have local real ale, local food, tea & coffee. Bar snacks are also available.

For more information please contact us on Golf Shop: 01305 260186 Caddy Bar: 01305 262486 www.wolfedalegolf.co.uk

REAY, CAITHNESS, SCOTLAND, KW14 7RE

Edinburgh Road, Galashiels, Scottish Borders TD1 2NE

Reay Golf Club lies on the edge of Sandside Bay in the far north of Scotland offering panoramic views of the North Atlantic from every hole on the course. The course is a true example of a links course, as you would expect when the legendary James Braid had a hand in its design.

Tee Times?

A challenging 18 hole, 6021 yds SSS 69/70 parkland course set adjacent to the River Gala, 2 miles North of Galashiels on the A7 & 30 miles South of Edinburgh.

Green fees £25 per day

GREEN FEES £32 round, £42 day - Weekdays & Weekends

Not here...just turn up and play! Phone 01847 811288 • E-Mail info@reaygolfclub.co.uk www.reaygolfclub.co.uk

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Golfer NATIONAL

New GPS Buggies & online booking available Special offer - 4x ball - £80 (£100 inc. buggies) Phone: 01896 752260 (Option 3)

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Launceston Golf Club Spectacular views over the Devon and Cornwall border

GREAT DEALS FOR GREEN FEES AND SOCIETIES call us on 01566 773442 or e.mail secretary@launcestongolfclub.co.uk

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BRORA GOLF CLUB A “James Braid” Traditional Links Course

“ Brora is one of the finest natural links courses I have had the pleasure of playing” – Peter Thomson CBE

ARS 2 YE RANTY WAR

Shown with optional arm rests The TRIO Golf Cart and the Eventer help you enjoy a full 18 holes of golf a day. Sit back and relax in the sprung seat, as you drive between holes, conserving your energy for when you really need it - playing your shot. Forward and reverse gears give manoeuvrability. TRIO is stable, virtually maintenance free, and assembled in under two minutes. So, if you need that extra help, and are interested in extending the enjoyment of your golfing life, phone us today!

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PATTERSON PRODUCTS For further information please contact the secretary Tel: +44 (0) 1408 621417 Fax: +44 (0) 1408 622157 Email: secretary@broragolf.co.uk Website: www.broragolf.co.uk Brora Golf Club, Brora, Sutherland KW9 6QS

172 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

Bring Style to the Course

Unit 6, Fordwater Trading Estate, Ford Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8HG.

Tel: 01932 570016/Fax: 01932 570084 www.patterson.co.uk

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SCOTLAND News and course reviews from the Home of Golf

Balbirnie sink Belhaven

Y C HA M

CONTACT

M New memberships at Cathcart Castle Cathcart Castle have announced their new membership prices. An annual adult membership is £790, with junior membership at £200 for the historic James Braid parkland layout – which dates back to 1895.

County Champion: Cally Palace, Galloway About Attached to the hotel which bears its name, Cally Palace is an outstanding course in Dumfries and Galloway. The course can only be played by hotel guests, creating both an exclusive and serene feel. The hotel offers a variety of golf break packages all year round. The Course Designed by renowned architect

Tom Macaulay, it has a surprisingly established feel considering it was only built in 1994. The fairways meander around mature trees and make full use of the natural contours of the land and the Cally Lake, which forms the basis of many water hazards. Top Hole The par-5 13th is the signature hole, with the Cally Lake in play

Fife have claimed their second Scottish Area Team Championship title in three years after beating the Lothians at Crail. The 3.5-1.5 score included Fife’s Scott Crichton making a hole in one at the par-3 13th.

for both the drive and approach. This is a classic risk/reward hole, with water in front of the green to deter longer hitters from reaching the green in two. Card Wrecker The par-5th 8th measures 590 yards and has water and sand hazards. Three good shots are needed to reach the heavily guarded green.

Scots golf worth £1bn

Wentworth agony for Warren Scotland’s Marc Warren came agonisingly close to winning the European Tour’s flagship event in the BMW Championship, losing in a play-off to Matteo Manassero. The Glaswegian’s consolation was a cheque for close to £300,000 and a jump to 16th in the Race to Dubai rankings. Fellow Scot Richie Ramsay secured a top 10 spot while David Drysdale enjoyed a good week to finish inside the top 20.

Englishman claims Scottish Amateur Fife see off Lothians to clinch team title again

Y C HA

Bearsden’s Ewen Ferguson won the first Stephen Gallacher Foundation Trophy at Cardrona to boost his chances of winning the Scottish Hydro SGU Boys Order of Merit.

Cardrona joy for Fergie

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O N • CO

Balbirnie Park won the Belhaven Best Captains & Secretaries Championship Regional Qualifier (East), posting a blistering better ball score of 65. John Donnelly and captain Hugh Bowie finished three shots clear of the team from Carrbridge.

Garrick Porteous became the third Englishman in the last five years to claim the Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship, winning the event by four strokes at Southerness. The 23-year-old from Bamburgh Castle is currently ranked 67th in the world, but harbours

hopes of representing Great Britain and Ireland at the Walker Cup in New York later this year. When asked about his Walker Cup ambitions, he said: “It’s a big win for me early in the season, so we’ll just wait and see. “There are more big events to come, as it’s a hectic time.”

MP Alexander opens new Abernethy facility Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, marked the opening of a new practice facility at Abernethy. The Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey opened the practice area, which has been designed to promote coaching and junior development.

Golf in Scotland is now a £1billion industry, according to new research conducted by KPMG in association with Oxford Economics. The ‘Value of Golf to Scotland’s Economy’ found the industry generates £1.171bn in revenues, including direct, indirect and induced effects. Golf directly contributes £496m to Scotland’s GDP annually, equivalent to 0.4 per cent of the country’s total economic output. Hamish Grey, CEO of the Scottish Golf Union, said: “This clearly demonstrates the significant value of golf to Scotland’s economy.”

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SELF CATERING FLAT IN NORTH BERWICK North Berwick is a pleasant attractive seaside town 25 miles from Edinburgh which is well suited for family and golfing Holidays. Located in the centre of North Berwick, this compact second floor flat sleeps up to four people and is 50 yards from the beach and is immediately adjacent to shops and restaurants.

Charges per week range from £200 to £325 For further information and bookings please contact: Anne and Ian Kirkpatrick 2 Hillview Road, Edinburgh, EH12 8QN Telephone 0131-334 5951 e-mail: ian_g_kirkpatrick@hotmail.com

fortrose&rosemarkiegolfclub James Braid’s 18 hole challenging course within the narrow Chanonry Peninsula. Breathtaking scenery and a dolphin colony in the adjacent firth are additional attractions for discerning golfers from far and wide who make a visit to Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club a must on their golfing calendar.

Office: +44 (0)1381 620529 / 620733 Twitter: @FortroseGC1888 Facebook: Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club Links

Celebrating 125 Years Host club of the Scottish Boys & Girls U-14 Open Championship - 11-12 Aug 2013 Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club Ness Road East, Fortrose, Scotland IV10 8SE

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NCG pp174-175 Club Golf Scotland Ads 21/06/2013 09:01 Page 175

Muir of Ord golf course was established in 1875 and is part of the James Braid trail. Visitors are welcome. Visitor Fees: Weekdays & Sun - £25 per round • £32 day ticket • Sat - £35 a round Twilight Golf: Mon to Sat - £10 after 5pm • Sun - £10 after 3pm Club Hire, Trolley Hire, Buggy Hire and Electric Trolley Hire available

Tel: 01463 870825 • www.muirofordgolfclub.com

Two Classic Links. One Perfect Venue.

One of the driest climates in the UK. Two classic 18 hole Scottish links courses at one venue. Old Moray Championship links designed by Old Tom Morris in 1889. New Moray (over 30 years old) enhanced by Henry Cotton. Heart of the north circuit of world-class links, including Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Nairn, Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay and Trump. Best value in golf. Coastal capital to the Malt Whisky Trail.

Moray Golf Club LOSSIEMOUTH – SCOTLAND

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NCG pp176-177 England's Golf Coast 21/06/2013 16:01 Page 176

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SOMETHING FOR

EVERYONE Joe Harrison explains why Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Golf Coast caters for all tastes and budgets, with world-class courses and accommodation

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NCG pp176-177 England's Golf Coast 21/06/2013 16:01 Page 177

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here are many reasons why Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Golf Coast is considered the premier golfing destination in the country. It boasts accommodation and off-course options to suit every need and budget as well as an impressively high number of championship courses. In addition to seven of the Top 100 courses in Great Britain and Ireland, the region is also home to several regular Open qualifying venues. The three star names are Open hosts Royal Birkdale (pictured), Royal Liverpool and Royal Lytham & St Annes, which have hosted the Open championship 31 times between them. Indeed, Hoylake is set to make that 32 when it stages the tournament next year. With three main destinations to choose from, we try to help you narrow down your choices before you book a break to the region.

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NCG pp178 Club Golf NW Ads 21/06/2013 09:30 Page 178

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A compact 18 hole heathland course perfect for a half day outing - closest course to Liverpool centre Visitor rates from £20, societies welcome Membership special offers available - ladies, men & juniors

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Macclesfield Golf Club Established 1889

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Where quality is always assured To arrange your golf outing please visit the club website www.fairhavengolfclub.co.uk or contact the office on 01253 736 741 Email: info@fairhavengolfclub.co.uk

178 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

For Details Contact: Bob Littlewood 01625 423227 or E Mail: secretary@maccgolfclub.co.uk

NCG pp179-180 England's Golf Coast 21/06/2013 16:32 Page 179

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RIP WIN A T RAL WIR TO THE wall and

ball at Hes pa. enjoy a four l Hotel & S You could ornton Hal Th ar te st et 4at e 3 AA Ros stay at the dinner in th es a ud sp cl ry in xu lu The prize use of the urant and ospa, ta dr es hy R r oo ns td Law m pool, ou over cluding 20 oom. Wor th facilities, in R m ea st d an a un sa gym, ter now at £1,250! En om lubgolfer.c lc a www.nation Last drop The final hole at Royal Lytham

WHERE TO STAY...

LIVE IT UP IN LIVERPOOL If you are booking with friends, then there are few better places to stay than the centre of Liverpool. Providing all the trappings of a big city – including a vibrant nightlife – it also offers proximity to a number of top-class courses. For accommodation, look no further than the Beatles-inspired Hard Day’s Night Hotel. Featuring ‘Fab Four’ memorabilia and specially commissioned artwork, the Grade II-listed hotel offers 105 rooms as well as bar and restaurant facilities. It is also located in the very centre

of town, within stumbling distance of some of the city’s premier night spots. Playing suggestions: Wallasey and Formby both lie roughly 20 minutes from the centre, while Royal Liverpool is located half an hour away

OLD-SCHOOL FUN IN SOUTHPORT For the golf nut in search of slightly less lively surroundings, the ideal base lies 20 miles down the road in Southport. Located within 15 miles of seven of the best courses in the region, the town centre still offers ample opportunity to grab a beer or a bite to eat.

There is also plenty of choice in terms of accommodation. The luxurious Birkdale Guest House is set half a mile from Royal Birkdale and under two miles from Southport & Ainsdale, while the Ramada Plaza is based on the promenade and provides a more modern option. The stylish Vincent is also situated close by and offers cocktails and high-class dining. Playing suggestions: Royal Birkdale and Hillside are both two minutes from the centre, while Royal Lytham & St Annes is roughly an hour up the road

UNWIND IN THE WIRRAL

It is possible to enjoy the region’s golfing treats in slightly more tranquil surroundings. Offering a range of small hotels and guest houses, Wirral is the perfect base for a more traditional golfing break. Away from the noise of the city centre, guests can unwind at the Wirral Lodge or enjoy a meal at the Holiday Inn’s Marco Pierre White restaurant, both of which are within a 10-minute drive of some of the region’s top courses. The town centre itself offers a range of traditional pubs as well as a brewery and two theatres. Playing suggestions: Royal Liverpool, Caldy and Heswall all lie within 10 minutes of the centre

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BEST OF THE

NORTH WEST If you’re heading this way to play one of the big three, then you really should consider visiting one or two of these Golf Coast gems

ST ANNES OLD LINKS Regularly voted one of England’s top 100 courses, St Annes Old Links hosted qualifying for the Open at Royal Lytham last year. The signature 9th has also been ranked as the 9th best hole in Britain. Known as ‘Cannon’, the 174-yard par 3 features a green set in between two dunes. The course is easily accessible by road and lies close to the end of the M55. Nearest town: Lytham St. Annes

FAIRHAVEN Described by commentator Peter Alliss as “a real hidden gem”, Fairhaven is home to one of the best tracks in the north west. Boasting an unusual blend of links and parkland, the James Braid design features punishing bunkers and a range of risk-reward holes. The course has been reshaped over the past few years, with renowned architect Donald Steel overseeing work on the 7,015-yard, par-71 course. Nearest town: Lytham St Annes

LYTHAM GREEN DRIVE Founded in 1913 as a nine-hole layout, this Mackenzie design has

played host to the likes of Harry Vardon and Walter Hagen. It has also been regularly updated over the years and now measures just over 6,300 yards. Featuring tree-lined fairways and fast, true greens, it will test any golfer. The club hosted Open qualifying when the championship was held at nearby Royal Lytham. Nearest town: Lytham St Annes

68 undulating heathland layout. Designed by Harry Hilton, the course features small greens, strategically-placed bunkers and a range of top holes. The club is also the nearest golfing facility to Liverpool city centre and offers a range of visitor packages. Nearest town: Liverpool

APPLEBY Founded in 1894, Appleby is easily accessible from both the A66 and M6 and is a regular county championship host. There is a well-stocked pro shop and welcoming clubhouse but the main attraction is the course, which has been described as the ‘Sunningdale of the North’. Featuring fast, true greens and pot bunkers, the easywalking and ever-scenic layout is also known for its firm turf which is a delight to strike from. Nearest town: Penrith

WIRRAL LADIES Up until the late 1990s, Wirral Ladies was an all-female club. But now, the committee is mixed and men are allowed to enjoy the par-

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WIRRAL CLASSIC RETURNS The Wirral Golf Classic presents an opportunity to play Hoylake – next year’s Open venue – and three other fine links for just £229. The popular event takes place from September 23-27 and also includes Open qualifying venue Wallasey, Heswall – venue for the Junior Open Championship in 2006 – and Caldy, a qualifying venue for the Ricoh Women’s British Open. Call 0151 625 9994 or visit wirralgolfclassic.co.uk to learn more.

Old school St Annes never fails to impress

GARSTANG HOTEL Designed by PGA master professional Richard Bradbeer, Garstang is home to some of the country’s best inland greens. The par-68, 6,115-yard layout also boasts excellent drainage that makes it playable all year round. Away from the course, the club boasts a floodlit driving range as well as bar and dining facilities and is one of the most popular wedding venues in the region. Nearest town: Preston

HESWALL Originally designed by Jack Morris – the nephew of Old Tom Morris – the course at Heswall has been updated over the years by the celebrated likes of Harry Vardon and Donald Steel. All three have combined to extend the course to 6,556 yards and add a range of hazards to the undulating layout. Watch out for the par-5 5th. Measuring 605 yards, the stroke index one hole features large ditches on the fairway and a multitiered green. They offer some brilliant play-and-stay deals at nearby Thornton Hall. Nearest town: Liverpool

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Brampton Golf Club Take one large tract of beautiful, rolling, sprawling, gloriously unspoilt Cumbrian heathland. Add in the creative architectural flair of five-time Open Champion James Braid. Allow to gently mature for 100 years. Enjoy! This is unpretentious, unfussy, pure golf that will keep you smiling no matter how you are playing.

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Personalized quotes and tailor-made tours to suit all golfers Visit our website www.southportgolftours.com Or contact us on +44(0)1704 551001 Email info@southportgolftours.com

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The finest British knitwear

Area Guide

Appleby (far left), Fairhaven and (below) Brampton

in association with glenbraegolf.com

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ENGLAND'S GOLF COAST:

INSIDER’S GUIDE TO

ACCOMMODATION Where to stay on your trip to the north west of England...

LIVERPOOL HOTELS Hard Days Night Hotel www.harddaysnighthotel.com Hotel Indigo www.hotelindigoliverpool.com

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SOUTHPORT HOTELS

the nort lf break to anning a go pl e ar vantage of u ad yo ng If ki ell wor th ta w is it For just en west, th f Package. t Annes Gol S uld enjoy am co th s Ly iend the group of fr a d an ds at u yo ast and roun ￡169pp, and breakf d be St ’ d ts an gh two ni en Drive Lytham Gre Fairhaven, Links. Annes Old om lfbreaks.c go am th www.ly

Ramada Plaza Southport www.ramadaplazasouthport.co.uk Royal Clifton Hotel & Spa www.royalclifton.co.uk The Vincent www.thevincenthotel.com GUESTHOUSES / B&Bs

CALDY Originally opened as a nine-hole layout, James Braid extended the course at Caldy in 1931. Now measuring 6,714 yards, the par-73 layout boasts excellent drainage meaning that it is playable all year round. It also features a range of clifftop and inland holes as well as extensive practice facilities. Visitors are welcomed warmly all year round, while events can be tailored for societies. Nearest town: Liverpool

heritage. It features trademark Braid bunkering and undulating terrain – hazards which impact on the course’s signature hole. Known as ‘Braid’s Best’, the 437-yard 17th requires two of your best shots. Nearest town: Lancaster

play as long as 6,600 yards off the back tees and features several hazards. The signature hole is the 9th. Featuring a drive over a pond and an approach over a ravine, the 377-yard par 4 is capable of wrecking your card. Nearest town: Liverpool

BROMBOROUGH Situated at the heart of the Wirral peninsula, Bromborough has hosted a number of amateur and professional championships. It also boasts a layout that can

BRAMPTON Renowned as one of Cumbria’s best-kept golfing secrets, beautiful, rolling, sprawling, gloriously unspoilt Brampton has been described as a ‘Mini Gleneagles. The James Braid course measures 6,407 yards and features some wonderfully designed holes. The unusual design presents a different challenge from every tee. Unpretentious, unfussy, pure golf that will keep you smiling no matter how you are playing. Nearest town: Carlisle

LANCASTER Located just off the M6, Lancaster boasts a medieval clubhouse that has played host to English kings in centuries gone by. The James Braid course also has plenty of

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CHECK OUT SOUTHPORT TOURS If you are looking to pay one of these north-west gems a visit, then it is well worth taking advantage of some of the great deals available from Southport Golf Tours. Offering trips to the likes of Fairhaven and Bromborough (pictured), the group has extensive experience organising golf breaks on England’s Golf Coast. For prices and package details visit www.southportgolftours.com

SHRIGLEY HALL Located 20 miles outside Manchester, Shrigley Hall boasts a four-star hotel and extensive leisure facilities. But the main attraction is the 6,134-yard, par-71 layout. Designed by renowned architect Donald Steel, the course offers a mix of parkland and woodland and a range of top holes. Watch for the stroke index one 12th. Featuring a tee shot drawn round some trees, the 376-yard par 4 also boasts a hilltop green to keep you guessing. Nearest town: Stockport

MACCLESFIELD Originally opened as a nine-holer, this is one of Cheshire’s oldest clubs. The hillside course is only 5,943 yards, but features a lot of difficult par 4s – none tougher than the 8th. Featuring a drive over a creek and out of bounds down the left, its 434 yards are just waiting to wreck your card. Nearest town: Macclesfield

Ambassador Townhouse www.ambassadortownhouse.com Birkdale Guest House www.birkdaleguesthouse.co.uk Bowden Lodge www.bowdenlodge.co.uk Edendale House www.edendalehotel.co.uk The Leicester www.theleicester.net Lynwood House www.lynwoodhotel.com The Warwick www.thewarwicksouthport.co.uk

WIRRAL HOTELS Hillbark Hotel www.hillbarkhotel.co.uk Holiday Inn Express Hoylake www.hiexpresshoylake.com Thornton Hall Hotel & Spa www.thorntonhallhotel.com GUEST HOUSES / B&Bs Mere Brook House www.merebrookhouse.co.uk Peel Hey www.peelhey.com Wirral Lodge www.wirrallodge.co.uk

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A gently undulating course with mature woodlands that provides an enjoyable challenge to golfers of all standards. The course has hosted over last the 10 years, the English Men’s Seniors and English Amateur Matchplay Championships, the Cheshire Matchplay and this year, the Cheshire/Lancashire county match.

Bromborough is “Wirral’s Parkland Jewel®” We are proud of our course and also our role in the development of Paul Waring, currently making his name on the PGA European Tour.

Hosted the Final Qualifying event for the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham Venue for the Girl’s Home Internationals in August 2013 FOURBALL SPECIAL AVAILABLE FOR JUST £208 INCLUDING LUNCH WINTER GREEN FEES FROM £40 PER PERSON Quality Winter Golf - no temporary greens or mats

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Tel: 01253 723 597 www.stannesoldlinks.com

CALDY GOLF CLUB Playing at Caldy is one of the most rewarding golfing experiences one can enjoy on the Wirral Peninsula. Golfers from home and abroad are always welcome to share the Club’s challenging course, excellent Clubhouse facilities and a few minutes away from Royal Liverpool.

Breathtaking views can be enjoyed from the cliff top holes across the estuary towards Hilbre Islands and the coast of Wales. Caldy is a superb 6714 yard SSS 73 course and intensive investment on drainage, USGA tees and greens over the past few years has resulted in an immaculate course which offers the opportunity to play full course golf all year round.

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CLUB GOLF News & Reviews

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NORTH WEST Cheshire | Cumbria | Lancashire | Merseyside

Hoylake handed Walker Cup in its special year

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M A six-year-old from Rossendale in Lancashire has qualified for the Junior World Golf Championships. Alfie Burnett, who only took up golf 15 months ago, will represent Team GB at the tournament in San Diego later this summer.

CONTACT

t: 01565 8 72 148 wilmslowg olfclub. co.uk p: WA16 7 AY

Lancashire starlet set to represent Team GB

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Royal Liverpool will stage the 2019 Walker Cup matches. The Hoylake links, the venue for next year’s Open Championship, will mark its 150th anniversary by hosting the event.

County Champion: Wilmslow, Cheshire About Founded in 1889, this fine parkland course is one of the oldest in Cheshire and one of the finest in the county. It is also a member of the James Braid Association. No fewer than six future Ryder Cup captains – Jacklin, Gallacher, Langer, Woosnam, Torrance and Faldo – have all played here. More recently, it has been a regional qualifier for the Open and

last year it opened a state-of-the-art Player Performance Centre. Also, the entrance fee for ladies has now been removed for the first 15 who join as new members. The Course A thinking man’s course, Wilmslow is home to plenty of bunkers and shaped fairways that can be hard to find. The par 3s are outstanding, with the 9th, in front of the

clubhouse, arguably the pick. Top Hole The sweeping par-5 18th presents a chance to finish in style but only if you can avoid the slopes, streams and sand. A good birdie chance. Card Wrecker Picking the line off the 15th tee is a poser and a narrow and sloping green is guarded on all sides.

Stars play Mottram A host of sporting stars lined up for a golfing event at De Vere Mottram Hall. Darren Gough and Harry Redknapp played alongside the likes of Colin Montgomerie and Sam Torrance at the Cheshire venue.

Sir Alex Ferguson is the new captain of Cheshire club Mottram Hall. The former Manchester United boss will hold the title of 'honorary captain' for the next year. “An association with someone who has achieved so much and with such longevity is testament to the grand plans that we have for the resort,” said Mottram Hall's director of golf Daniel Hodson.

Salford group’s golf and cycling test

Peover backs hospice The generous members of a Cheshire club have raised more than ￡1,200 for charity. Players at Peover took part in a golf day in aid of St Luke's Hospice.

Five new holes now open at Regent Park

Mottram Hall appoint Fergie

A group of golfers from Salford took part in an unusual charity golf challenge. Duncan Matthews and 15 friends played four rounds in four countries over the course of a weekend in aid of cancer research charities. The group also cycled 165 miles to reach the courses

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in England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Matthews, who has been fundraising since the death of his father, said: “It was superb but very, very difficult. On our first day in Scotland we were swinging against 40mph winds.” The event has already raised over ￡11,000.

Coaching boost for Cheshire youngsters Promising young golfers in Cheshire are poised to benefit from a new coaching scheme. The Cheshire County Academy is open to players aged 14 and over and includes coaching on all aspects of the game from seven local PGA professionals.

A pay-and-play course in Bolton has reopened following an £800,000 renovation. Former municipal course Regent Park has unveiled five new holes and has also announced plans to open a floodlit short-game facility. Much of the course used to be set on marshland and was predictably prone to occasional flooding. “I'm relieved and excited,” said owner Robin Day. “It's been a great deal of hard work over the last four or five years, but it's been done for the right reasons and we are nearly there.”

NCG pp185 Club Golf NW Ads 21/06/2013 10:08 Page 185

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CLUB GOLF News & Reviews

in association with glenbraegolf.com

WALES All the latest news and course reviews from the Principality

Starlet on world stage

The Course While not the longest at just 6,026

Top Hole The signature 16th at Langland

Fundraiser at Langland Bay raises over £2,000 The generous members of a Gower club showed their generous side as they raised over ￡2,300 for charity. The Langland Bay club – which plays over thrilling clifftop terrain – hosted a golf day in aid of the Alzheimer's Society.

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Wales' oldest club has become a GUWaffiliated coaching centre. Tenby and the West Coast Academy are now part of a junior development programme.

CONTACT

t: 01792 3 61721 langlandb aygolf club.com p: SA3 4Q R

Honour for Tenby

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A Tonyrefail youngster has qualified for the World Junior Championship. Ffion Tynan, a 10-yearold from Rhondda Cynon Taf, has already shot a hole-in-one and has her sights set on turning professional.

Cardiff golf challenge

Hot summer deals at Cottrell Park

Elite amateurs to arrive

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CLUB GOLF News & Reviews

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M Victory for Amor Ben Amor has won the Wiltshire County Boys’ Championship at Cumberwell Park, following in the footsteps of his older brother Jamie, who secured victory in the 2012 event.

Devon finally claim South West title again Devon have secured victory in the South West County Championship at Dudsbury for the first time since 2005. The team will now progress to represent the South West against other counties at Minchinhampton (above) in September.

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Burnham and Barrow’s Ellis Cook carded a wonderful final round of 69 to win the Somerset County Championship by five shots from current county captain Phil White.

CONTACT

t: 01841 5 20208 trevose-gc. co.uk p: PL28 8JB

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Cook wins Somerset County Champs

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Latham wins Men’s Senior Richard Latham won the English Men’s Senior Championship at Bristol and Clifton to secure his first national title. Latham carded a 10-over-par score of 221 to win the tournament by three shots.

County Champion: Trevose, Cornwall About When the elite amateurs visited Trevose in 2008 for the English Strokeplay championship, the course proved it was back to its very best. It is considered, alongside nearby St Enodoc and Saunton, among the premier courses in the South West. With various accommodation options on-site, there are few courses better suited to cater for travelling golfers.

Course Trevose was designed by Harry Colt in 1925 and is owned by the Gammon family. From the strongest of opening holes – where a dune eats into the right half of the fairway – the links layout provides a wonderful test. Although it has a selection of par 5s that offer eagle opportunities for the expert, it boasts several par 4s that are scarcely shorter.

Top Hole The 4th is regarded as the outstanding hole at Trevose. A reachable par 5, the second shot is blind and downhill to a green that sits on the edge of the beach. Card Wrecker The par-4 5th is the first of the monumental par 4s on the course, often requiring two woods to threaten the green.

Reading FC set to purchase Bearwood

Trethorne receives award Trethorne Hotel and Golf Club have been awarded a Certificate of Excellence award by travel review site TripAdvisor.com. The award recognises hotels which constantly gain high reviews on the site, and marks Trethorne’s position in the top 10 per cent of hotels around the world. Trethorne incorporates a wellmaintained course alongside a fine hotel, clubhouse, sports bar and restaurant.

Bradford-on-Avon in housing battle Opponents of a plan to build homes on Bradfordon-Avon’s nine holer have collected 1,200 signatures on a third petition against the proposals. A previous application was turned down in 2008, and in 2009 a similar application proposing the building of 195 new houses on the land was rejected.

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Local residents started the ‘Keep the Golf Course Green’ campaign back in March to campaign against Barrett Homes’ proposal. Commenting on the proposals, campaign leader Marion Collett said: “We are horrified at another attempt to build on the golf course.”

Basset Down win Wiltshire GolfMark Basset Down triumphed in the Wiltshire GolfMark Championship at Kingsdown. The quartet of Sam Lloyd, Steve Gridley, Mark Timpson and Jacqui Hogg now progress to the South West finals, where they will represent Wiltshire against five other counties.

Reading Football Club have agreed a deal to buy Bearwood GC and will seek planning approval to convert the course into a new training facility. A deal has been agreed in principle between the two parties, with the football club looking to expand its current training facilities to include 17 pitches. Reading FC’s chief executive Nigel Howe said: “We are striving to improve all aspects of the club and have agreed in principle a contract to purchase land and build a new training ground, subject to planning permission.”

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CLUB GOLF News & Reviews

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NORTH EAST Cleveland | Durham | North’land | Tyne & Wear | Yorkshire

Hermeston in Arizona

M Generous golfers from north and east Yorkshire came together to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Fifty-six players competed at the annual charity golf day at Pocklington’s KP Club.

Classic links Seaton welcomes amateurs Hartlepool club Seaton Carew will host a top amateur event this year. The club will stage round 10 of the English Tour, a new development tour for professionals and amateurs supported by Robert Rock.

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Yorkshire fundraiser

CONTACT

t: 0113 66 1 154 w: magc.co .uk p: LS17 9N H

Leeds captaincy double Leeds Golf Centre member Andy Herridge has been named Yorkshire's PGA captain for 2014. Herridge follows clubmate James Drinkall, who is the current PGA captain.

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A Northumberland youngster played at a prestigious junior event in Arizona. Jack Hermeston, talented 17-year-old, finished tied 45th at the Thunderbird International at Scottsdale.

County Champion: Moor Allerton, Leeds About Moor Allerton is regarded as one of the finest golf clubs in the north of England. With 27 top-class holes, superb practice and custom-fitting facilities, and an enthusiastic team of proactive professionals, it is set to host a EuroPro Tour event in September. The Course This was the first course in the UK

to be designed by Robert Trent Jones senior. It features perfectly mown fairways, quick, large greens, and plenty of length. Off the back tees, each nine is a real test, but they are much more manageable from the yellows. The middle nine is widely regarded as the best. Top Hole The one that stands out to most is the par-5 14th, which has two water

hazards. Our favourite, though, is the 12th – a 402-yard par-4 that features an approach that is framed by trees, gorse and a gaping bunker. Card Wrecker The 568-yard 27th is fairly manageable when played as a proper par 5. However, with a downhill tee shot, some players will get just within striking distance and give in to temptation.

Porteous’ win boosts his Walker Cup hopes

Rockliffe Hall is poised to stage scratch championship Impressive Durham venue Rockliffe Hall will host England's best amateur golfers later this summer. The club is set to stage the Northern Masters, a scratch tournament which is open to category one amateurs. Entry into the event, which will now run annually, costs £30pp. Visit rockliffehall.com for further details.

Brancepeth speculate to accumulate

Brown back with a bang

A Durham club has invested in new state-ofthe-art machinery to maintain – and hopefully improve – its course. Brancepeth Castle have spent £168,000 on a range of John Deere mowers and tractors. “Even through the financial climate has not been ideal, the machinery

England captain Emma Brown made a successful return to top-level golf by winning the Yorkshire ladies' championship for the third time. Brown had not competed for six months due to the birth of her son Jack. “I didn't expect anything after the lay-off,” said Brown.

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fleet had to be upgraded if we wanted to deliver the best course we can for the members,” said management committee chairman Jim Murray. “The finance package is much better for the business than having to find £15,000 to £20,000 each time we need a new machine.”

A Northumberland golfer tasted victory at the Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Bamburgh Castle member Garrick Porteous carded a final round of 68 to win the event by four strokes and boost his chances of selection for this year’s Walker Cup. The 23-year-old was also runner-up at last month's Welsh Stroke Play Championship. “I've had a lot of topfive finishes, but this is my first win so it is special,” said Porteous. “I was solid inside six feet, with some great up-and-downs.”

NCG pp191 Club Golf NE Ads 21/06/2013 10:36 Page 191

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Goswick Golf Club

Play great links golf at the only Open Championship Qualifying Course in the North East of England The course measures a mean 6,803 yards from the medal tees, is rarely affected by the weather, and is playable all year round from dedicated tees to full greens. All this set in the most stunning Northumbrian coastal scenery, an area of outstanding natural beauty.

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Second place for Kimsey

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CONTACT

M Brown is NGU champion Brampton Heath teenager Jack Brown is the new Northamptonshire county champion after winning the mens’ strokeplay title at Northamptonshire County.

Fancy Christmas at Wensum Valley? Wensum Valley have released a range of deals for the 2013 festive period. The deals are targeted at both individual groups and larger parties, and booking is essential. Call 01603 261012 for further details.

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Stowmarket’s Patrick Spraggs won the Suffolk Amateur Championship singles title for the second time at Haverhill. The team title was won by home side Haverhill.

Victory for Spraggs

t: 01485 5 36030 heacham-m anor.co.uk p: PE31 7JX

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Nathan Kimsey failed in his bid to win the St Andrews Links Trophy after finishing second behind compatriot Neil Raymond. The Woodhall Spa player was two shots behind the winning score.

County Champion: Heacham Manor, Norfolk About With a championship-length course and a charming 16th-century hotel, Heacham Manor provides excellent accommodation and top-class golf. Seamlessly incorporated into the natural environment, the course is home to many natural hazards, including two rivers and four lakes. The Course Opened in May 2009, this well-

respected 18-hole course is a 6,622yard challenge off the whites, but over 7,000 off the blue tips. It has some of the best greens in the area - saying something when Hunstanton is next door! The course begins in parkland through established and younger trees. This landscape soon changes to a more open style with greater mounding, more shrub planting and raised, undulating greens.

Top Hole The third and largest lake provides the setting for the signature 7th. This par 3 asks you to carry the 100 yards of water fronting the green. Card wrecker The par-4 6th is rated as the hardest hole – and measuring 506 yards from the championship tees it is easy to see why. Two good woods are needed to make par here.

Irish win for MacLaren

Leics & Rutland win annual match Leicestershire and Rutland Golf Union made it a hat-trick of wins in their annual match against Norfolk and Bedfordshire . The team, represented by Jack Merry (c), Jevann Parmar, Jake Dandy, Huw Phillips, Coby Cartwright, Jake Cartwright, Matt Jones, Ollie Dennies, Harry Duvall and Will Chamberlain, triumphed after the singles and foursomes at Hunstanton. The previous wins were at Glen Gorse and John O’Gaunt.

GolfMark award for Lincs club Toft A Lincolnshire club has celebrated its 25th anniversary by receiving the Golf Mark award, the national award which recognises efforts to improve facilities for juniors and beginners. Toft is trying to open up the sport to beginners of all ages and take golf into the local community.

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GolfMark is part of a scheme incorporating ClubMark and recognising golf facilities which are focused on coaching and playing, club environment and child protection. New head pro Mark Underwood will use GolfMark as a platform to develop a wider range of initiatives.

New coach in at St Ives St Ives GC have welcomed the arrival of Paul Ashwell as their new director of coaching. The appointment sees Ashwell move from Wyboston, where he spent 28 years at head professional. Ashwell is rated amongst the top 25 coaches in the UK.

Northamptonshire’s Meghan MacLaren won the Irish women’s open amateur strokeplay championship by a single stroke following a stunning finish at Castle Golf Club, Dublin. The youngster produced two birdies then a par to hold off a sustained challenge from Ireland’s Paula Grant. The win constitutes further success for MacLaren this year, who has won three times on the US women’s college circuit and was awarded the prestigious ‘Freshman of the Year’ award after her first full year studying at Florida International University on a golf scholarship.

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NCG pp194 Columnist MT 21/06/2013 15:59 Page 194

MARK TOWNSEND Delusions of grandeur and a very early bath WENTY two years ago I peaked. In 1991, with MC Hammer in his pomp and Pepsi & Shirlie set to go their separate ways, I could play golf. Drivers and fairway woods were persimmon and tiny in comparison with today’s offerings, there was no talk of MOI, COG, Milled putters or tip-stiff shafts yet still 3 irons and their sweet spots generally danced merrily down the fairways. During this brief period of awakening I generally returned scores of around 70 (I’d love to say my home course had a par of 72 with a SS of 75 but it was a 66) and occasionally lower. Putts sometimes dropped and chips and pitches focused on a four-foot radius around the hole. At which point the Spring Meeting came along and the top 16 scores over 36 holes, myself included, advanced into the Scratch Knockout. The big boys’ league, just for the real players; I was terrified. The draw for round one was kind as it pitted me against the club champion, just two years apart in age but a world of difference away in skill and demeanour. He bounced about the place, he laughed and joked at the right moments and then turned it on over the ball. Everybody liked him, most wanted to be him. Against him was an over-anxious, awkward 20-year-old who could turn it on when paired with his dad or two friends and was largely, and rightly, viewed with much suspicion. The front nine remains a small triumph in my pathetic little world; I matched his pars and birdies and reached the turn all square. The secretary walked past on the 9th tee and, after being relayed of the news that one of the great upsets in the club’s history was on the cards, promptly winked at me with his good eye. Surely word would soon spread and an army of members, all championing this little-known underdog, would come to lend support. If I could get things done early they might even hoist me on their shoulders and chair me down the 18th. I then lost the next five holes. Standing on the 14th we shook hands, one of us still smiling, the other stunned and reeling. I never did make it into the Sweet 16 as the rest of my twenties disappeared in a fog of cooking lager and apathy and left the club

Top dog – I want to be like you

194 AUGUST 2013 | www.nationalclubgolfer.com

‘The front nine remains a triumph in my pathetic world’ when an even slower pace of life was sought. Now, though, I am back as a club member and back in the Scratch Knockout, something achieved by simply signing up to it. And, thanks to an opponent’s holiday commitments, the first round was dispatched courtesy of a bye. Once again, just like ‘91, I was full of it, buoyed by a win at the 18th in the singles the week previous. (Not playing anywhere near my handicap was an irrelevance.) Not one to get ahead of myself, I had already decided this was the weaker half of the draw. Which was quite odd as I didn’t know anyone else in the competition. My opponent was off one better than me and had scored one better than me in the previous Medal – having closed things out with a treble bogey I took this

as a positive. He could also putt as, having casually studied every single practice stroke, 20 footers either dropped or nestled by the hole. And he could also drive, which meant I was even more spooked at having to follow his approach into the throat of the opening par 5. My topped hybrid didn’t threaten very much, a thinned bunker shot at the next scared some distant walkers more than the green and, within four holes, I had lost nine consecutive scratch holes over more than two decades. It was soon clear his handicap was going one way while mine will soon go the other due to further paralysis over anything requiring less than a half swing. Weight on the left side; check. Keep the club moving; check. Hands ahead of the ball; check. Then take the club back, become overly tense and feel a jolting shot of electricity run through both your knees and hands; check. We shook hands at the 13th.

• Mark Townsend is NCG’s deputy editor. He plays off 7 and has a quite appalling short game

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