TODAY’S GOLFER AUGUST 2014 (JULY 10 – AUGUST 6)
Golfer REVEALED! PING’S TURBO-CHARGED G30 Today’s
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WAY TO THE FAST
LOWREERS SCO
NO MORE 3-PUTTS
✓ Perfect stroke every time ✓ New way to read greens PLUS Giant putters test
AUGUST 2014 ISSUE 324 JULY 10-AUG 6 £4.40
PLAY BETTER THIS SUMMER How to win more matches Chip it closer from rough Sharpen your bunker skills Rory shows you how to bomb it
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PUTTERS RATED Find your perfect match
Drills to hit a draw ‘I turned betting on golf into my job’
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PLUS JACKLIN + SEVE’S MOVIE + KAYMER’S KEYS + DAN WALKER + LONG DRIVE STAR v NORMAL COURSE
First Tee News, views and reviews from all that’s golf
The power comes from the same kind of lithium battery used in the latest electric cars, can be fully charged in two hours and lasts for 36 holes. That handle/bag support is detachable.
The Bluetooth unit is controlled like a Scalextric – squeeze if you want to go faster! There’s even a reverse function, in case you find yourself heading straight for a pot bunker.
Edited by Rob McGarr
The tyres are 3.5in wide and 9in tall, creating less pressure on the turf than a buggy, but still offering reassuring levels of four-wheel drive grip, even in wet conditions.
THE NEW WAY TO BEAT SLOW PLAY
The GolfBoard has taken the States by storm – and now it’s in the UK Convinced there’s nothing more fun than buzzing around a golf course in a buggy on a sunny afternoon? Think again. The GolfBoard, unveiled at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show in the US where it bagged the award for “Best New Product”, is not only great fun, it’s also a potential cure for one of the game’s biggest blights – slow play. “It’s the quickest way to get round a golf course,” says one club manager in the
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USA who bought them. “After 2pm, our course is boards-only, as people in buggies and on foot were holding them up.” Several UK clubs, including The Grove, have just taken delivery of the £3,500 boards, which have a top speed of 11mph and get round quicker than buggies because each golfer can go straight to their ball. All you have to do is to step onto the board, grab the lightweight controller and
go. The wireless handheld remote allows you to accelerate and brake, while the rider’s body movement controls the steering. It takes a bit of getting used to, and we’d recommend using the detachable handle for stability and to hold your clubs for at least your first round, before going freehand if you’re feeling more adventurous and want the full snowboarding effect on the course. But we’ve never had as much fun in a buggy!
Fault Fixer With ROB WATTS A European and Regional England coach based at Castle Royal, Berks
Martin has strong fundamentals at address. He stands well to the ball with excellent tracking: feet, knees and shoulders all working together in line with the target.
He has a wide, flowing takeaway, which starts with the handle of the club moving away first. His hand path is in front of him.
His shaft angle works more vertically than other players, so his hands will swing over the right shoulder with a very neutral clubface.
1 His spine angle from his address position has been maintained at impact. The downswing sequence – torso first, then arms and wrists – is stunning, and a very repeatable, efficient action.
There’s full extension through to his target; the lower half has now completely released with no restriction.
Notice also how Martin’s head doesn’t stay down too long – instead, it rotates through with the shot.
KAYMER IS PROOF THAT IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T TRY TO FIX IT
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hen Martin Kaymer won the 2010 PGA Championship and rose to World No.1 his swing was built on a reliable fade. But he wanted to be able to shape the ball both ways, so he set about a rebuild that saw him struggle for three years. Now, he’s reverted back to what he knows best and victory at the Players Championship
followed by his destruction of Pinehurst to win the US Open prove it has paid dividends. So how did he achieve it? A simple tennis ball swing aid – which hangs from his neck on elastic, so he can hold it between his wrists while he makes practice swings! Visit www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/kaymer to see the video of the training aid.
Saving you shots every time you play He reaches a beautiful, balanced position at the top of his backswing. A full torso rotation means he is now in a great position to start the downswing.
The torso is now really unwinding as the club moves into a superb delivery position.
His lower half is keeping pressure on the floor to allow a powerful collision with the ball.
2 His finish is poised and an expression of balance and stunning downswing mechanics.
3 Three things you can learn from Martin Kaymer’s swing
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Play with what you know
“It’s the fade, it’s my shot. Just accept it,” says Kaymer. Most amateurs move the ball left to right as well. So use your natural shot shape and don’t try to fight it. At Sawgrass, he aimed over the water on the 18th and let it come back into the fairway.
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Stay relaxed at the top
Tension in your arms and hands can kill your swing and really limit the power you produce. Martin’s set-up looks so relaxed, void of tension. So loosen up, reduce your grip pressure, and allow the club to swing.
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Just keep it simple
“I used to try to hit draws on certain holes; low shots, high shots, try to place the ball always on the right side of the hole. It was just not me – it’s not the way I play,” Kaymer said. “I need to play my game and it does not matter what course I play.”
KAYMER’S 2014 STATS 294.8 yards Driving distance (47th on the PGA Tour) 66.20% Greens in regulation (60th on the PGA Tour) 64.68% Driving accuracy (37th on the PGA Tour) 52% GIR from over 200 yards (9th on the PGA Tour) 117.47mph Clubhead speed (34th on the PGA Tour)
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The big interview
‘IF IT WASN’T FOR ME, THE RYDER CUP WOULDN’T EXIST’
As Tony Jacklin turns 70, the British legend offers a candid insight into his Major wins, his role in the Ryder Cup – and the state of the game today
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f you were a British golf fan in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Tony Jacklin was your hero. When he won the 1969 Open at Royal Lytham, he won just £4,250, but with it, the hearts of a golfing nation. He went on to win the US Open the following year, becoming the first Brit and only the second non-American to do so since Tommy Armour in 1927. Jacklin was Britain’s answer to Jack Nicklaus. At the 1969 Ryder Cup, the pair were involved in one of the most memorable moments in the competition’s history, Nicklaus conceding a short putt on the 18th to halve the match and ensure that year’s Cup ended in a tie. The pair walked off with arms round each other’s shoulders, looking set to be rivals, friends and equals for years. Had Lee Trevino not holed a chip shot in the closing stages of the 1972 Open, leaving a shocked Jacklin to three-putt from 16 feet and surrender an Open that looked his for the taking, the Scunthorpe-born truck driver’s son may have gone on to dominate golf for decades. As it was, Trevino’s shot ended not only Jacklin’s chance of victory at that Open, but his ability to contend in any future Majors. “I was never the same again after that,” he says. “I didn’t ever get my head around it; it definitely knocked the stuffing out of me somehow.” Jacklin would never seriously contend in another Major, but his influence on the game was far from over. In 1985, he captained Europe to their first Ryder Cup victory for 28 years, and followed it with their first ever IS SUE 324 31 9 TODAYSGOLFER TODAYSGOLFER.CO.UK .CO.UK
WORDS ROB McGARR PICTURES GETTY
victory on American soil in 1987. Now, as he turns 70, Jacklin looks back on a career of extreme highs and lows, examines how the game has changed, and what the future of golf has in store... How has golf changed since you were playing?
It has changed dramatically. Look at the money. I made £600,000 in my career. Martin Kaymer got $1.8million for winning the Players Championship, which isn’t even a Major. It’s not annoying; it’s just the way things are. Nowadays, if you spend a couple of years on the Tour, you’re a multi-millionaire – you don’t even need to win anything.
The other thing is technology. I played the PGA Championship here [Thorndon Park Golf Club, Essex] in 1969. It’s a nice oldfashioned course and a great members’ club, but the pros would tear it apart nowadays, because it’s just too short. When I won The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the course was around 7,000 yards. I had a 1-iron in my bag, and I played every club that I had in my bag. I hit a lot of 1-irons off the tee, and even 1-irons and 2-irons for second shots on par 4s. The ball is going so far now, these guys don’t hit many long irons – they don’t even hit many 4 and 5-irons. They’re hitting the ball so far, they’re hitting more lofted clubs into the greens. The ball is going 40 to 50 yards further than it did. For the course to play the same way, with how far the ball oes now, it would have to be 8,000 yards. Golf is not about muscles; it’s about controlling the ball and putting it in play. What’s your big memory of your Open win?
Jacklin jokes with a policeman after winning at Royal Lytham in 1969.
Being nervous. Going down the stretch, I’d never been so nervous. I said to Jack Nicklaus at the presentation, ‘I didn’t think I could be that nervous and still play,’ and he said, ‘I know... isn’t it great?’ In front of a home crowd, there was a lot of responsibility. The galleries throughout the week were great. There was a lot of support, but at the same time, there’s a responsibility that goes with it. It was just the greatest achievement to that point in my life. ➔
Captain Jacklin hoists the trophy aloft after victory at The Belfry in 1985.
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DEAR BALL, YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET‌
SMASHED! We find out how a world long drive champ plays a normal course WORDS ROB McGARR PICTURES DANIEL PULLEN
CHRIS JONES 12 handicap Average drive: 250 yards
ROB McGARR 10 handicap Average drive: 270 yards
NEIL THOMAS 14 handicap Average drive: 250 yards
The power game
JOE MILLER Long drive champ Average drive: 380 yards
R E L L I M E JO
OYS OF BIG B T S E G IG orld THE B g Drive W n o L r e m rld record He’s a for sts the wo a o b , n io hits a Champ eed, and p s d a e h out for club carry with 450-yard eyelid. batting an
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here are things in sport that have to be seen to be believed. Usain Bolt motoring around a track at top speed. A jinking Lionel Messi making the world’s best defenders look like lead-footed drunks. Mike Tyson landing a bone-crunching knockout punch. Ronnie O’Sullivan making a 147 break in the time it takes to make a decent cuppa. Add Joe Miller crushing a drive to the list. He is the UK’s longest hitter, having recently won the Long Drivers European Tour UK Championship. He’s a former long drive world champ, came second in the world last year, and boasts the world record for ball speed. We are none of these things. Which is why we’re a touch nervous about taking on the big-hitting 29-year-old over nine holes at his home club, Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire. We know we are going to witness something unusual. We’ve watched the videos of him making light work of the two closing par 5s at Wentworth, hitting his drive 100 yards further than even the biggest hitters at the BMW PGA Championship and leaving himself no more than a gap wedge for his second shot. We’ve seen footage of him driving his ball straight through a watermelon and straight out the other side, where it still flew a further 250 yards. We’ve heard the facts: his longest drive is 560 yards... his ball flies at 225mph... he eats 8,000 calories a day... he weighs as much as a heavyweight boxer... breaks drivers as often as most ➔ TODAYSGOLFER .CO.UK IS SUE 324
Coach of the Year
I’LL MAKE YO How an award-winning British pro is building a reputation for turning WORDS ROB McGARR PICTURES HOWARD BOYL AN
Dan with a plan Junior golfers from far and wide are visiting Dan Rees after hearing about his success teaching young players.
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U A STAR! novice young golfers into world-beaters
“Dan has taught me everything about golf. He’s made it fun from day one and he helps me to keep getting better. I can’t wait to get to the club every day.” Conor Gough, age 11, 6 handicap
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ho’s the best golf coach in the world? Butch Harmon? Sean Foley? Pete Cowen? David Leadbetter? What about Dan Rees? He may not be a household name, and he may not have any Major champions on his roster, but the 36-year-old is quietly creating a oneman revolution in the humble setting of Wexham Park Golf Centre, Slough. In the 11 years since he turned pro, Dan has taken a series of juniors holding a club for the first time and turned them into an elite legion of scratch golfers still too young to drive to the tournaments they keep winning.
“Dan has taught me everything about the game of golf,” says 11-year-old Conor Gough, county and UK number one for his age. Coached by Dan from the age of four, Conor also won the 2013 US Kids Golf European Championship. “Dan’s made it fun from day one, and he helps me to keep getting better,” he adds. “I can’t wait to get to the club every day.” Visit Wexham Park outside school hours and you will see scores of youngsters of varying ages and sizes practising and playing. “The best thing we have going for us is that the kids are all in it together,” says Dan. “They’re learning together, practising with each
other, setting each other little challenges and bouncing off each other.” Among those kids are club champions, county champions, British champions, European champions and world champions, but no one is treated any differently. All of the kids are given their fair share of Dan’s time; no one escapes the chore of collecting the range balls. Conor Gough and his older brother John, himself a 15-year-old scratch golfer, have recently been lured from Wexham Park to the more glamorous Stoke Park, a mile away. With The Buckinghamshire also within easy reach, Dan’s most talented youngsters are ripe for poaching TODAYSGOLFER .CO.UK IS SUE 32 3
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New Gear N OW WATCH G30 P I N G V I D EO S T FIRST HI GOLER.CO.UK AYS WWW.TOD
A weight plug in the rear can be changed to accommodate different shafts. A second model with Straight Flight Technology sees this weight more towards the heel for a greater draw bias.
Those ridges on the crown are the ‘turbulators’. They are designed to reduce drag, add head speed and aid alignment.
The titanium face is thinner and stronger than ever. The result? Weight saved here has been moved elsewhere to increase forgiveness.
First look
PING G30
Turbo-charged driver has aerofoils to increase distance
Drawing on inspiration from plane wings and cycling helmets, Ping's latest G series driver features so-called ‘turbulators’ on top of the crown. They are designed to improve the club’s aerodynamics and cut drag, increasing clubhead speed for more distance. Ping says wind tunnel testing has shown a reduction in drag at a variety of swing speeds, with 1mph of clubhead speed equating to an extra 2-3 yards of carry for average golfers. Turbulators also aid
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alignment, by drawing your eyes into the back of the ball. Ping’s G series has been around for more than a decade now, and this new G30 family is the most advanced yet. The range has always been aimed at the club golfer seeking maximum distance and forgiveness in drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons. That’s still the case, but it's fair to say this new driver looks nothing like any of the G drivers that have come before. Elsewhere, stronger titanium in the
clubface allowed designers to make it thinner, and move the weight saved to raise head stability, while sole ‘louvers’ thin the walls to improve the sound, save weight and optimise the centre of gravity position. The 460cc driver comes in a standard model plus a Straight Flight Technology (SF-Tec) version, weighted in the heel to create more of a draw bias and in higher lofts of 10° and 12°. n Details: £299. Available August 1 in 9° and 10.5° and in RH and LH.
Ping G30: distance without sacrifice
Five technologies that should help you hit longer and straighter
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NEW CLUBFACE MATERIAL Ping has used a lighter, stronger kind of titanium in the clubface, which means it can be thinner. Four grams of weight saved here has been relocated elsewhere to better position the CG lower and further back than the G25 and increase inertia for more forgiveness.
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IT’S TURBO CHARGED! So-called ‘turbulators’ are said to improve aerodynamics by reducing drag, which helps increase clubhead speed for more distance. Ping says they’d have had to make the driver 360cc to achieve the same clubhead speed without them, but the MOI would come down.
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IT’S GOT A DIFFERENT CENTRE OF GRAVITY The G30 driver’s centre of gravity is the lowest and furthest back of any Ping driver, ever. Designer Marty Jertson told us: “A very low and deep (back in the head) CG position is undeniably the best place to position the CG for distance, forgiveness, and accuracy. When the CG is pulled away from the clubface, the MOI goes up significantly – which is the key property that reduces the gear effect on off-centre hits (the action of the clubhead that causes a shot to curve). With less gear effect, you transfer more energy to the ball, so you get more distance, and the clubface twists less at impact, so you hit more fairways. On top of that, you don’t have to play as much loft, so you get more ball speed because the impact loft angle and attack angle move more in line with each other, increasing smash factor and therefore distance.”
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IT’S MORE ADJUSTABLE The “SF-Tec” version (left) has a lighter swing weight and the Custom Tuning Port positioned more toward the heel to create more draw bias, encouraging the clubface to close faster in the downswing to help slicers square the face. It also has a face angle that is half a degree closed compared to the standard model but maintains the minimal offset of the standard version. Ping has also increased the amount of adjustability. You can now add or subtract 0.6° or 1° of loft from the two heads on offer to fine tune your ball flight. The CTP also has a greater range of weights to accommodate a wider range of aftermarket shafts to optimise the G30 driver’s swingweight.
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THERE’S A NEW STOCK SHAFT The TFC 419D shaft has ‘highbalance-point technology’. To you and me that means the shaft’s centre of gravity is closer to the grip, allowing for a heavier clubhead which increases ball speed and MOI and contributes to the extremely low CG location.
Courses The inside line on where to play, home and abroad
Edited by Kevin Brown
We’d rather be playing...
ROYAL NORTH DEVON
England’s oldest course celebrates its 150th anniversary this summer
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oyal North Devon, an extraordinary golfing venue steeped in history, celebrates its 150th anniversary this summer and plans to mark the occasion in style. Founded in 1864, England’s oldest course is hosting a unique gathering of dignitaries and members from fellow Royal clubs, from Mid-Surrey to Sydney. And in August, RND – or Westward Ho! as it is commonly known –
hosts the inaugural World Hickory Masters. Precious little has changed on this land in the past century or so. It’s pure links golf with a good dose of quirkiness thrown in. You will share the turf with free-roaming sheep and horses, and on the fourth tee you’re faced with Cape bunker, once the world’s biggest. Inside the clubhouse you’ll discover a treasure trove of golf memorabilia, including some of the clubs local hero JH Taylor used
to win his five Open titles. RND is one of the top courses in the 2-FORE!-1 scheme and provided you’ve got a voucher (see page 144) you can experience this wonderful links for £27.50 – and that has to be the bargain of the last 150 years. n Green fees: Sun-Fri £55; Sat £60. 2-FORE!-1 availability: Mon-Wed & Thurs & Sun after 2pm. Tel: 01237 477598 or visit www.royalnorthdevongolfclub.co.uk