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Who would have believed that Rory McIlroy's record-breaking victory in the US Open at Congressional would be followed by one of the most popular wins in the Open championship as Darren Clarke produced the performance of a lifetime at Royal St George's?TRANSCRIPT
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A very warm welcome to what must surely rank as the most auspicious issue of
this magazine to have been published in its 14-year history as we celebrate not one
but two home-grown major champions in as many months. Outstanding achieve-
ments both – and all the more remarkable for the wider context and manner in
which they were individually won.
I first encountered Rory McIlroy when, at 14, he won his way onto a coaching week
in Orlando as one of the elite stars of the Faldo Junior Series. Small for his age, and
yet already marked for great things, he kept himself amused challenging anyone car-
rying loose change to chipping and putting contests – fleecing even Sir Nick himself
on more than one occasion. Barely two years later McIlroy was the silver medallist in
the 2007 Open at Carnoustie (what was all that nonsense at Sandwich about not hav-
ing the nouse to play links golf?) and his rise to the top of the professional game has
been effortless. Anyone who witnessed that closing round of 62 to secure a maiden
PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow last year caught a glimpse of the future as the boy
from Holywood showed just what he was capable of. Twelve months down the road
and the 22 year-old humbled the mighty US Open layout at Congressional with what
amounted to an exhibition, laying waste to all who dared to challenge him before
cruising – yes, cruising – to an eight-shot victory.
It was a sublime four days' golf that laid bare just what a player of McIlroy's calibre
can do with a golf ball when his mind is parked quietly in neutral – and all the more
remarkable for that in light of what had appeared to be a crushing meltdown suf-
fered only a handful of weeks previously at Augusta.
By a similar token, Darren Clarke's awakening at Royal St George’s was so profound
that the world at large could appreciate, at last, the skills of a true master of the links
genre plying his trade without hint or fear of self distraction. This was Clarke’s 20th
appearance in golf’s greatest championship – and quite possibly the first in which he
was on his own side throughout as he strode to the challenge over four quite punish-
ing days on the Kent coast. “I’ve seen Tiger at his best and I’ve seen Darren at his,”
says long-time friend and mentor Ewen Murray, interviewed for the 19th Hole Q&A
inside this issue. “And I can honestly say there’s nothing much to choose between
them. As his best Darren is a genius – and what we saw at Sandwich was that genius
enjoying the freedom of expression.”
I’ll drink to that - enjoy the issue.
editor: richard simmons [email protected]
editor in chief: robert Green [email protected]
equipment editor: dominic Pedler [email protected]
design: Tony seagrave [email protected]
Professional Teaching Panel: robert Baker, Tim Barter, Pete cowen, Jim christine,dan frost, Andrew Hall, simon Holmes, Paul Hurrion,stuart Morgan, denis Pugh, stuart smith, davidWhelan & Jonathan Yarwood
regular contributors: clive Agran, Peter Alliss, colin callander, Jeremy chapman, Tom cox, richard Gillis,Anthony ffrench-constant, Michael flannery, John Hopkins, Tony Johnstone, kevin McGimpsey,david Purdie, ronan rafferty, sarah stirk, Jaynestorey, Paul Trow & Jake ulrich
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ESSENTIAL READING FROM THE BEST IN THE GAME
ISSUE 104 • AUG/SEPT 2011
FIRST UP
RICHARDSIMMONS
Pure genius from Ireland’s finest
6 fIrsT uPcelebrating not one but two new home-grown major champions in as many months, editorRichard Simmons tees up the latest issue...
40 And AnoTHer THInG...rory’s performance at congressional raised toohigh the expectations of him at sandwich, butthe manner of his victory in the us open wasexceptional, writes Robert Green
42 on THe AIrThis year celebrating 50 years service behindthe microphone, Peter Alliss reflects on aterrific week at royal st George’s
44 19TH HoLeWhy, ponders Clive Agran, does the r&A insiston the open championship always beingstaged on a windswept links
46 oPen BeTTInGYet again royal st George’s turned out to be asprofitable for the bookies as it did for the long-shot winner. Jeremy Chapman reports
168 ToM coXThere was much to celebrate at sandwich – notleast Peter Alliss’ 50th anniversary behind themicrophone. Tom Cox lapped it up
178 THe LAsT sHoTGolf is not short on glorious spectacle but forJohn Hopkins the Walker cup us the best ofthe very best events in the sport
Essential readingfrom the best in the game
12 LeTTersdo you have an opinion you’d like to share? Whynot email us? You could win the latest footJoyshoes and wind-shirts
17 PLAneT GoLf19th Hole Q&A with ewen Murray...The finestThings in Golf - dan davies’ Top 10...latestequipment news with Gi’s dominic Pedler... chi-Power Golf...more advice from dr felix shank...dave stockton’s top putting tips...The Major!...The rules office – how’s your generalknowledge?...divots...!
84 THe AMATeur sceneAn example for the way all golf clubs should belooking to introduce and nurture youngsters hasbeen set down at royal north devon, as DanDavies reports. Plus we bring you a round-up ofthe very latest amateur tournament news, whileColin Callander reflects on Tom Lewis’performance at sandwich
170 WorLd TournAMenT neWsAndy Farrell has all the latest news from theworld of professional tournament golf, includingrory McIlroy’s epic us open triumph and Lukedonald’s scottish open masterclass at castlestuart. Plus our regular round-up of results, statsand money-lists
Regulars Columns54 cAreer VIcTorY
for one of the great exponents of links golf, darren clarke, this year’s open championship was when it all came together. Andy Farrell watched him all the way
64 cALM In THe eYe of A sTorMIn at times tempestuous conditions at royal stGeorge’s, darren clarke came through to turnhis fine career into an excellent one reportsRobert Green
68 eLeMenTArY, deAr WATsonTom Watson had yet another open to remember – and not only for the hole-in-one he made on Thursday. John Hopkins salutes a genuine legend of the game
117 THe IJP InVITATIonALGolf International is proud to be a media partnerto one of the greatest days of the year in thejunior calendar – Ian Poulter’s uniquetournament at Woburn
126 dIsTAnce MeAsurInG deVIcesToday’s golfing dMds embrace a wealth oftechnology from laser-based rangefinders toGPs devices sporting a variety of graphics,interactive features and game analysis gizmos.We invited roehampton assistant professional,Richard Weeks, to take some of the latestmodels for a test drive while equipment editorDominic Pedler guides you through a glossaryof the essential technical terms
144 PoeTrY In MoTIonfollowing its success on tour, the TaylorMadePerformance Lab is now available as arguablythe ultimate custom-fitting experience for golfersof all standards. Dominic Pedler visited thebrand new facility at one of his all-time favouritevenues – Turnberry
FeaturesISSUE #104 // AUGUST 2011
THIS IS A SAMPLE OF OUR LATEST ISSUE
AUGUST 2011 / #104FEATURING:THE OPEN, POWER INSTRUCTION, US OPEN, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SWING SPEED, PRACTISE DRILLS, NEW ZEALAND,LA MANGA AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 103
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54 kIWI fruITfor sports fans the world over the forthcoming rugby World cup promises a mouth-watering spectacle; for golfers especially, the prospect of a trip to new Zealand is laced with opportunity, as Martin Davidson reports
64 eVerYTHInG under THe sunLooking for 5-star luxury and service with greatgolf on the doorstep? Look no further than thequintessential resort of La Manga says radio2’s Tim Smith
126 Your GoLf TrAVeLIn association with our travel partners at YourGolf Travel our showcase destinations thisissue include the Mazagan Beach resort,Morrocco, Valderamma & sotogrande and GaryPlayer’s new Thracian cliffs design in Bulgaria
Travel
103 BIrdIe-fesT AT VILAMourAMark Oakley is never shortof a high birdie count in around of golf – andspectacularly so across theverdant wetlands ofVilamoura in the Algarve
108 MeMorABILIAWhat’s on the wish-list? Gi’sKevin McGimpsey revealsthe top items of golfingephemera he’d love to own
114 ProPerTYA Thai Pad in Phuket: Peter Swain looks at thegolf and the propert dealstempting many to Thailand
120 MoTorInGAnthony ffrench-Constantgives his verdict on thePeugeot 508
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PHoToGrAPHY BY GETTYIMAGES.COM
Rory, the timing couldn’thave been any betterWe have celebrated the life of Seve
Ballesteros with all our hearts – quite
devastating that he was taken away
from us. In a career littered with
incredible feats of shot-making bril-
liance, he amazed us with his daring,
his vision and invention. He was sim-
ply a delight to watch and the most
charismatic golfer of his generation.
And now – as if decreed from
above – along comes another young,
gifted European, Rory McIlroy. We all
watched in anguish as he let slip a
handsome lead at Augusta, but the
young Irishman took a lot of positives
from that experience – and how he
used them at Congressional in what
was one of the greatest maiden major
victories in history. Watching him hit
that incredible tee-shot to the par-
three 10th hole on Sunday – how did
it not go in? – it was if he was saying
to the golfing world: ‘Look, I’m back,
and this time I’m in total control.’
If Seve could of wished the
Europeans the next chapter in golf
surely this would of been it? As one
master leaves the stage another has
arrived. I am sure I am not alone in
being fascinated to see how our new
superstar squares up to Tiger in the
months and years ahead.
Ian Carroll, via email
Srixon Z-Star isthe ace in the hole!After almost 20 years of playing golf,
on Saturday 11th June I achieved my
first ever hole in one! I was playing in
a club match for Peterborough Milton
against Ramsey, Cambs. The hole in
one came at the 13th, 170 yards from
the back tees. A gently fading 7-iron
landed on the front edge of the green,
releasing perfectly and rolling dead-
weight into the hole. The ball? A
Srixon Z-Star provided by your good-
selves when I subscribed to your mag-
azine earlier this year.
So thank you to Golf International!
Thanks also for such a well construct-
ed and thought out magazine. Some
of your competitors are all pictures
and puff, but your magazine has alto-
gether more depth. Interesting articles
from different perspectives, sharing
the game we all love.
I especially enjoyed your recent
Top-10 features and would love that
to become a regular feature with inter-
esting guests sharing their special
memories.
Adrian James Mackenzie,
Cambridgeshire
Wasted ace!Picture the scene: a Saturday morning
competition and our three-ball is play-
ing the 16th, a short hole of just over
180 yards into a stiff breeze to a green
guarded by half a dozen bunkers. Two
of us played and wound up short in
the slightly less thick stuff. Number
three in our group hit a high balloon-
ing fade that might as well have
waved goodbye as it disappeared
towards the heather and scrub.
Having reloaded, and with a change
of club, the provisional ball was
despatched – a shot of pefection; a
gentle draw that bounced twice on the
green before caressing the pin and
disappearing from view. An ace! Or,
more accurately, a pretty good three!
As we strolled towards the green
the obvious temptation was to forget
about the first ball – however this was
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 20116
Write to The Editor, Golf International Magazine, 10 Buckingham Place, London, SW1E 6HX. Alternatively, you can email us at: [email protected] or visit our website – www.golfinternationalmag.com – and click on LETTERS to submit your letter online
Star Letter*Having just watched the Open I
had to write in and congratulate
Darren Clarke on his win, it is tes-
tament to the man and his family
after all they have been through.
The way he won also reminded
me of probably the best piece of
advice I ever received, golf is not
about your best shot but worst
shot. Dustin Johnson was perhaps
the closest anyone came to Darren
in that final round but his shot on
14 ended his challenge, it
appeared to me that Darren played
within himself and always seemed
he had another gear in reserve if
he needed it – in the final round in
particular his course management
was excellent, he played the per-
centage golf.
We are all capable of pulling off
those miracle shots from time to
time, only Seve seemed able to pull
them off at will, however for the
majority of professional golfers it
is the quality of their worst shots
that sets them apart from the aver-
age club golfer. I urge all club
golfers the next round they play to
consider their options for each
shot and select the shot that they
know they could successfully play
8 times out of 10, not as most do
select the one that might come off
1 out of 20 times.
This advice was one of the fac-
tors that enabled me to get to sin-
gle figures and when I walk off the
course my thoughts are not about
the one or two exceptional shots
I’ve played they are more about
how steady I’ve played. Good
course management can knock
more shots off your handicap than
all the latest equipment and tech-
nology put together, and more
importantly it’s free.
Paul Butler, Chester-le-Street
A lesson for all – percentage golf is the art of course management
WRITE TO US ON: facebook.com/GolfInternationalMagazine twitter.com/#!/GiMagOnline
tempered not only by our integrity but
also by No.3’s disappointment at
potentially losing a relatively new ball.
So we decided to have a look for
it...and yes, well within the five min-
utes, we found it.
Three swipes and two putts later a
six was pencilled in on the card – and
the hole-in-one that never was became
a talking point throughout lunch and
probably will for a few more to come.
Ian Wishart
Open to but a few...With golf membership and participa-
tion in decline we need the clubs in
the spotlight to be providing the kind
of example that might reverse this
trend. They have to be convincing peo-
ple that golf is a game that can be
enjoyed by all.
The Open was the biggest golfing
event of this year, and with more TV
coverage and newspaper column inch-
es than any other it had the ability to
reach those not ordinarily enticed by
golf. So where was The Open being
held? At a course that doesn’t allow
female members! There’s 50% of the
population immediately alienated.
My mother, sister, wife and daughter
are four of the finest people I have ever
met. Any club that wouldn’t allow them
as a member has no interest for me.
On the BBC Peter Dawson, the chief
exec of the R&A, attempted to make a
defence for individual clubs being
allowed their own choices. But sorry
Peter, you merely came across as
some kind of sleazy politician side-
stepping an issue you don’t have the
guts or power to address. And to say
these words in response to Hazel
Irvine’s question with Suzanne
Peterson sitting beside you in her new
role to encourage inclusion within the
game was doubly disingenuous!
So what about other high profile
clubs? Well, Walton Heath held
the Senior Open and Carnoustie
the Women’s. Both having sum-
mer green fees well in excess of
£100. In a time of recession,
continuing redundancies and
cuts to health, education and
the welfare state, is paying
out that sort of sum for 18
holes justifiable? It certainly
won’t tempt any youngster
who is struggling to make
ends meet into thinking
they might one day expe-
rience walking in the foot-
steps of the pros.
To summarise, in the face of dwin-
dling interest from the public, golf’s
profile remains sexist and elitist.
Would I want my young daughter to
follow me into golf? Knowing the
camaraderie, the etiquette and the fun
in playing, yes. Knowing golf is stuck
(at best) in the 1980s, emphatically no.
N Horwood, via email
The benefits of ‘slo-mo’It was very interesting to me to read
the essay by Dr Karl Morris (writing in
Issue 102) on the benefits of the Tai
Chi swing, where the student makes
ultra slow motion swings in order to
feel the perfect positions in the swing
and to co-ordinate it more effectively. I
also noticed that in issue 103 Jayne
Storey advocates the benefits of the
Tai Chi swing.
I can attest to the fact that this
methodology really does work – it is
something that I have been doing for
over 15 years and it helps immensely
with the feel of swing path and the
general flow of the swing.
I first read about this drill when
given Harvey Penick’s utterly brilliant
Little Red Book by a Texan friend of
mine in 1993. The chapter entitled
“The Slow-motion Drill” describes tak-
ing ultra slow motion swings, the only
difference being that it builds in a
focus on the all important transition
by repeating the movement from the
top to one third of the way down four-
times before completing the slow-
motion swing.
Mr Penick refers to lady golf Mickey
Wright as someone who used this drill
all the time, she was at the top of her
game wining everything in the late
1950's & early 60’s. This drill clearly
stands the test of time.
Thank you to all at Gi, it really is a
classy magazine.
Charlie Heyman, via email
JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 131
INSTRUCTION
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THE MIND FACTOR ESSAY
DR KARL MORRIS
W
By Dr Karl MorrisEUROPEAN TOUR MIND COACH • WWW.GOLF-BRAIN.COM
It isn’t what to change but how to change your
swing that determines your development as a
player. Might this be the next frontier in golf
instruction? On the basis of some remarkable
new research into the way the brain processes
and distributes information, leading European
Tour mind coach Dr Karl Morris is convinced
that methods of learning, rather than teaching,
hold the key to experiencing accelerated improvement in performance
European TourMind Coach KarlMorris has just re-leased his latestproduct The Cham-pion Code, an 8-CD programmedetailing his workwith major winners.To find out more goto www.golf-brain.com
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Learnıng
A Lessonın
PHOTO
GRAP
HY BY GET
TYIMAG
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INTRODUCING THE NEW ALLSRIXON Z-STAR GOLF BALL
RORY’S GLORIOUS
REDEMPTION
GOLF
After all that happened over that closing round at Augusta just a
matter of weeks previously, any doubt that rory McIlroy would
suffer any lasting damage to his competitive psyche was elimi-
nated in the most dramatic fashion imaginable as the 21-year-old
blew away the field at congressional to claim his first major title
in the shape of the us open. It was a performance that under-
lined the precocious talent many have predicted will take the
young Irishman to the top of the world game (although that fever
was dampened somewhat after a lacklustre performance at
sandwich). speaking of which...just when we thought it couldn’t
get any better darren clarke strings together four of the great
rounds in open history, in conditions he surely relished, to vindi-
cate a fine career with the most fitting and popular of victories.
At 42, and after all he has been through, this was surely a perfor-
mance decreed from the higher spirits above.
EWEN MURRAY // LATEST GEAR // RULES OFFICE // DR FELIX SHANK // DAVE STOCKTON // THE MAJOR...
Gi: Revealing your Top 10 of the
Finest Things in Golf in issue 102,
you said that in another life you and
Darren Clarke would have been
brothers. How did that relationship
come about?
EM: I first met Darren not long after
he turned pro. Bruce [Critchley] and I
were sitting in the clubhouse at
Hanbury Manor one evening during
the English Open. Darren sent over a
bottle of wine – a pretty decent one.
He came and sat with us and as
golfers do we got chatting. It would
have been around 1992 and after that
we began to meet up during tourna-
ments, particularly over in America, at
a time when there really were not a
lot of Europeans playing the US Tour.
As the friendship grew over the years
I became a sounding board, a confi-
dant, happy to listen and give my
opinion as and when he needed it.
Gi: Have you ever known a better or
more natural striker of the ball than
Darren?
EM: Short answer, no. I’ve played a lot
of golf with Darren over the years and
of course I've watched him closely on
tour. At his best, he has the ability to
find the perfect position just here
[stands to emulate the ‘slot’ at the
start of the downswing]. He is a phe-
nomenal striker of the ball, compress-
ing it on the clubface exactly as it
should be, the textbook ball-turf
strike, a joy to watch.
The thing with Darren is he can
play this game standing on his head
but his basics he tends to forget and
occasionally he gets into trouble –
well, that and the fact he is plus-4 at
beating himself up out on the course.
We saw that earlier this year with his
81-75 fiasco in Morocco. The week
after that we spent about seven hours
out at Queenwood, both on the
course and talking in the clubhouse. I
even got the video out (which I never
normally use) because he just needed
to see how bad it all was. We worked
on a few things. Darren is at his best
when his swing is more around him
on both sides, rather than steep up
and down. Sure enough he starts hit-
ting the ball a lot better. A few days
later and he’s off to Abaco in the
Bahamas – he has a house out there
with Lee Westwood. And no sooner
has he arrived than the pictures start
coming through with little messages
on them: ‘Flushed 4-iron’, ‘pure 9-iron’,
‘nailed driver’ – he was enjoying him-
self and clearly getting better and bet-
ter. The last time I remember him hit-
ting the ball like that was at Hoylake
in 2006 when he opened up with a 69.
The next day the doctors called him
to say his wife, Heather, was in the
final stages of his illness and he need-
ed to get home.
Gi: How tough was it to be one of
Darren’s closest friends through that
time and the years following?
EM: All those who follow the game will
be well aware of the dark times Darren
has been through. I think for me the
toughest time was after Woosie gave
him a wildcard to the Ryder Cup in
’06. He rang me up and asked: ‘Do you
think you can get me to play?’ We had
five weeks to go. I told him that get-
ting him ready wasn’t the issue; the
question was could he cope with all of
the functions on his own when every-
Tour player, coach and broadcaster Ewen Murray took timeout during the British Seniors Open at Walton Heath to talkto editor Richard Simmons about his good friend DarrenClarke’s heart-warming victory at Sandwich
planet golf 19th hOLE Q&A WIth EWEN MURRAYplanet golf
19TH HOLE Q&A
EWEN MURRAY
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201110
one else in the team would have their
partner or their wife alongside them.
It was his manager, Chubby, who
asked me if I’d spend a couple of
weeks with Darren. And those were
the hardest two weeks I think I’ll ever
have. Because his emotions had gone
haywire. He would practice for eight
hours a day and then return to what
felt like an empty house. And that’s
when we really became very close. I
still have no idea how he managed to
maintain composure when he was
announced on the 1st tee at the K
Club. Then he rips a driver 305,
wedges it close and holes it for a
three. What a week, three wins out of
three. He should have stopped playing
after that and taken the rest of the
year off to come to terms with his
loss. I think Darren thought he would
be alright in a few months.
Realistically, I think it’s taken him 5
years.
Gi: How close did he come to quit-
ting the game altogether?
EM: Darren has had times when he
has been that down not only with golf
but with life. But he knows his
responsibility is to the kids and that
kept him going through the darkness.
We all need someone to talk to when
we face up to the challenges life puts
before us and that’s why I referred to
being like a brother to him. I am not
his teacher or his coach, that’s Pete
Cowen’s department (and they don’t
come much better). But when Darren
came back from Morocco earlier this
year I think he was two weeks away
from packing it all in.
Gi: Was there a moment this year
when you felt his game had clicked,
that he was ready for the Open?
EM: Funnily enough, even after he
started hitting it well again on his hol-
iday to Abaco he was never very far
away from a head off. The win in
Mallorca was a terrific boost for his
confidence but you know Darren’s
hardest opponent is himself. I’ve
never known anyone beat themselves
up the way he does. We had an
episode at the French Open. He rings
me up from the range and says ‘I’ve
had enough.’ So I walk down there to
see him. He’s not happy with the way
he’s hitting it. Bare in mind this is a
guy who can hit thirty 7-irons to with-
in a few feet of a flag, then hit one
wayward ball and say: ‘Where did that
come from?’. Anyway, there’s this
shot he likes to hit – Tiger calls it a
‘stinger’. Darren can hit this in his
sleep, so I suggested he should go out
and play like that for the next couple
of weeks – the Scottish Open and St
George’s. It’s a punchy type of shot
with a three-quarter swing and a
sawn-off finish. Anyway he laughed.
And so did Stuart Cage, one of the
managers from Chubby’s crew at ISM.
OK, I said watch this. I gave Darren 20
balls, we picked out a different target
for each club and didn’t miss a single
shot. Out comes the driver and he’s
firing them quail-high down the
range. The beauty of it was, at
Sandwich it was blowing 30mph +
every day. He had no choice but to
play to like that.
Gi: Were you nervous watching the
final round?
EM: Yes, right up to
the second shot he
hit to the 2nd hole.
As soon as he hit that
approach shot, hold-
ing it up with a gentle
cut, I knew he had it
all under control. He
would never have
attempted that shot
to a back right pin if
he didn’t feel
absolutely in charge
of his swing. After that it was one of
the most serene final rounds I think
I’ve ever seen in the Open – there
were no crisis points.
Gi: For a moment there it looked like
Phil Mickelson was going to spoil the
celebrations
EM: When Mickelson’s in the mix you
always know that something is liable
to happen. His front nine was majes-
tic, 30 in that wind. Then he misses a
little putt – and you know what I like
most about Mickelson? He doesn’t
blame it on anything or anyone but
himself. Taps his head – ‘It was a
dumb putt'. I always feel there are
four turning points in a championship
and we certainly had them here: the
12-footer Darren holed to save par at
the 1st, his second shot to the second,
the eagle at the 7th, just as Mickelson
is going out in 30, and skipping the
bunker at 9. Which, incidentally, was a
suicidal second shot. Because if that
goes into the riveted face of the
bunker you’re looking at a six at best.
And if Mickelson doesn’t miss that lit-
tle putt on 11...things are very differ-
ent. At six minutes past four he
hopped the bunker, seven minutes
past and Mickelson misses.
Championship points.
Gi: Presumably the champagne was
on ice?
EM: Yes, as it happened. I’d saved a
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 11
THIS IS A SAMPLE OF OUR LATEST ISSUE
AUGUST 2011 / #104FEATURING:THE OPEN, POWER INSTRUCTION, US OPEN, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SWING SPEED, PRACTISE DRILLS, NEW ZEALAND,LA MANGA AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
planet golf LAtESt GEAR & tEChNOLOGY
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201112
planet golf
Strike it like a tour player
One swing feature that separates the pros fromthe average amateur is the downward angle ofattack with iron shots that helps to transfer energyefficiently, compressing the ball and making it flyfurther and straighter.The Tour Striker training club encourages this
with an unusual clubface design with minimal areabelow the “sweet spot” that forces you to rethinkthe face angle impact position in the golf swing. This ingraining of the correct ‘attitude’ will help
reduce the tendency to try to get under the ball aswell as the ‘casting’ or ‘over the top’ actions ofinferior downswings.There are three variations offering different lev-
els of challenge,along with different shaft
flexes and graphite and steel options.The Original Tour Striker is available as a 56
degree wedge and an 8-iron targeted to mid-to-high handicap golfers with driver swing speeds ofunder 90mph. The Tour Striker Pro comes as botha 7- and 5-iron for higher swing speeds and hand-icaps of 10 or less. The Tour Striker Pro X has aneven more challenging sweet area for the highlyskilled player.There are also Ladies and junior options with a
shorter graphite shaft, also available in right or lefthand. Guide: £79.99 (steel)/£99.99 (graphite).
www.golfandsportssupplies.com
planet golfplanet golf
A wood that’s made of wood? Strange. Dominic Pedler admires the craftwork of the latest drivers from Persimmon Golf among a mix of exciting new products for golfers young & old
A mixed bag of new gear & gadgets...
Persimmon’s reminder of true wood style
Despite the quantum shift to metals and composites inmodern drivers, traditional persimmon still commands acult following from those who appreciate the traditionalcraftsmanship of true wooden ‘woods’.Specialists Persimmon Golf have launched a new
Model 26 driver and matching fairway woods designedto replicate the timeless wooden clubs favoured by leg-ends such as Hogan, Snead, Palmer and Nicklaus. The Model 26 will appeal to players looking for the
unique feel of a traditional clubhead yet with the tech-nological advantages of the modern shaft. The solidpersimmon head features a sealed mahogany brownfinish along with a red/white cycolac insert set into thenatural persimmon face, and rounded off with a ‘hand-whipped’ hosel and hand-made leather headcover.Prices start at £195 per club with steel shafts (£535
for a set of three comprising 11-degree driver, 16-degree 3 wood and 21-degree 5-wood. The corre-sponding prices for graphite shafts are£219/£595.
New kids on the PGA’s block
The new PGA Kids range of juniorequipment developed by Sigma Golffor the PGA Collection has been offi-cially adopted by the Golf Foundationas part of its Golf Roots programmewhich reports rising demand amongjunior golfers.“We found that many junior clubs
were just basically senior clubs cutdown to length with very little thoughtgiven to grip thickness or the flex of theindividual shaft,” says Richard Jewell,managing director of Sigma Golf and anAdvanced Fellow of the PGA. “The PGAKids Range includes three lengthoptions all featuring varying head weightas well as shaft flex and grip sizedepending on the length. We are confi-dent that these clubs will help younggolfers develop their full potential.”All models come with lightweight
graphite shafts and the option to buyclubs individually so sets can be builtup as their game develops.
Drivers, fairway woods and hybrids
retail at £17.95 each, irons and put-
ters at £13.95, with a bag for £29.95.
www.pgacollection.co.uk
PLANEt GOLF
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 13
PLANEt GOLF
Get Smart with Big Max
For all the inroads made by powered trolleys in recent years, highquality push trolleys continue to emerge in stylish and compactdesigns.After the success of their IQ last year, Big
Max launch their next generation three-wheeled push model called the SmartCart. As with its predecessor, the SmartCart clicks into place in seconds withBig Max’s ‘one shake’ opening mecha-nism and folds away similarly neatly forstorage.As with the IQ, the new model
comes complete with adjustable bagbrackets, a handbrake for stopping onuneven ground and a deluxe organiserpanel that includes a scorecard port, a bottleholder, tee and pencil holder (as well as a sharpener).The trolley boasts a sturdy construction and runs with a smooth
sliding action that benefits from the stability of its three wheels. Big Max prides itself on its rigorous laboratory and on course
testing and is confident enough to offer the trolley with a 5-yearwarranty. Available in white, black, red or silver at £199.99.
www.bigmaxgolf.co.uk
App-lied putting know-how from Ping
Ping obviously have a head start in all things putting-
related but, even so, there is an undeniable touch of
genius in the groundbreaking iPing ‘app’, an inspired
practice putting concept that measures the key parame-
ters of your stroke via the new generation of iPhone (or
iPod Touch) which you attach to your putter shaft with a
lightweight clip-on cradle.
This great gadget has already captivated many tour
pros for both the technical feedback it provides on the
shape of your swing arc, the face angle of your putter at
impact and the efficiency of your tempo, and also for the
addictive challenge of the ‘putting handicap’ programme
that makes the concept highly accessible to all stan-
dards of golfers.
iPing is downloadable from iTunes for free, with
Apple themselves nominating it as not just the
best golf app currently available but
the best in the entire app market
(apart from, of course, those
developed by Apple’s own in-
house development team!).
We’ll bring you our own
hands-on verdict next time.
www.pingeurope.com
Once fitted to the
shaft of the putter,
your iPhone dials
up all the num-
bers you need
to hone a tour-
standard
stroke
Forgan forges online deals
Forgan of St Andrews has launched its most forgiv-ing and high-quality irons sets in the form of theF150 and IWD2 models – both of which are offeredat substantial discounts through the company’sonline retailing venture.Both designs are made from military grade 431
stainless steel and feature wide soles, impres-sive cavity backs, and a high MOI con-struction geared to golfers seeking max-imum forgiveness.The IWD2s come in a modern, anti-
glare dark grey finish with in-filledwhite lettering on the sole and geo-metric graphics; while the F150s area more understated, classic-lookingstainless design. Both are available with a wide range
of custom-fit options, includingForgan’s SL Superlight 58ggraphite and Dynamic Gold steelshafts, along with 10 differentlength settings, five lie anglechoices and three grip options.Just follow the simple steps
on the website to create yourown perfect custom-fit profile.
While both models retail at
£299.99 a set, the special
online prices start at just
£129.99 (with standard Apollo
steel shafts) representing excep-
tional value. www.forgan.co.uk.
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201114
planet golf 2-MINUtE LESSONplanet golf
In his prime in the early
1970s, Dave Stockton
once went some 950 holes
without a three-putt. Still
blessed with his revered
putting game that brought
him 25 titles – including five
majors – Stockton is now a
consultant for TaylorMade
as well as a putting coach
to tour stars who have col-
lectively notched 30 wins
over the last year, including
Rory McIlroy’s victory at the
US Open. On his recent
visit to the UK, he shared
his top tips with Gi’s
Dominic Pedler
CONSIDER GROOvE TECHNOlOGY
Putting is an art but there is some equip-
ment out there that will help everybody. In
particular, I have seen at first hand how
much the grooves on the face insert of the
TaylorMade/rossa putters can improve
golfers of all levels. The impact and roll
characteristics are very different to other
putters, as can be measured in the lab. The
benefits are astounding in terms of reducing
the skidding and jumping of the golf ball and
inducing pure roll as early as possible after
impact which helps the ball to keep its line.
DEvElOP A FORWARD PRESS
I’m a firm believer that, unlike most golf
shots, the grip of the putter should remain
perpendicular as long as possible through
impact for both putts and short chip shots.
This keeps the putter-head low to the
ground which allows the golf ball to hug the
surface of the green and develop true roll
more quickly. The forward press encour-
ages that movement – with Phil Mickelson
being one of the finest exponents. of
course, this naturally de-lofts the clubface so
you must check that you’re starting with
enough static loft on your putter at address.
for most players I suggest 4 degrees.
THE lEFT HAND/RIGHT HAND ROlES.
for a right-handed golfer, the right hand pro-
vides the power and the feel in the putting
stroke, the left hand merely ‘goes along for
the ride’. But the left hand must do that in
order to keep the putter-head low through
impact and not pull ‘up and out’ of the shot.
MY ALL-TIME TOP 10 PUTTING TIPS
Roll it home
1
2
3
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 15
PLANEt GOLF
Like with a basketball shot, the right hand
does most of the work and left would seem
to do nothing – but there too it ‘goes along
for the ride’. This is another key secret to
getting the true roll you need.
READING THE PUTT.
I like to split the putt into three equal parts
but give much more emphasis to the final
third when the ball will be travelling much
slower and be most prone to movement
from even the smallest of slope. Look for
any break near the hole in order to favour
one side of the cup, which will improve your
margin of error over a seemingly straight
putt.
THE ‘ONE-INCH’ MARKER.
Like Jack nicklaus did with his tee shots, I
like to a pick a spot on my putting target line
very close to my ball at address. Though in
my case it’s only about one or two inches
inch away from the ball. That target is then
in my field of view at address – whereas a
target at the other end of the putt is not!
Then all I do is to feel my left hand going
directly over that spot as I swing through
impact, which also crucially helps me keep
my head still.
bEWARE OF PRACTICE SWINGS.
for many players I advocate not taking any
practice swings as this causes you to think
too much. But if you do, at least do it directly
behind the golf ball on the target line –
rather than parallel to that line, as most play-
ers do. That way you are viewing the path
your ball will actually take, just as you would
with a practice shot with a pool cue. keep
looking at the hole, getting the feel of the
path of the putt rather than looking down at
the imaginary ball position or the movement
of the putter head on the ground.
IGNORE THE lINE ON THE GOlF bAll.
Many balls have alignment marks on them but
if someone lines it up like that when I’m teach-
ing them I’ll roll the ball over so they can’t see it!
It’s just an extra thought to have in your head
and it often looks wrong when you actually
stand over the ball at address. In any case, my
focus isn’t on the ball itself – I’m thinking about
that spot an inch or two out on the ground.
NURTURE A NATURAl MOvEMENT.
People often putt worse as adults as they do
as kids by getting too wrapped up in tech-
nique. I don’t think putting is nearly as difficult
an endeavor as people make it out to be. I
don’t like words like ‘try’ and ‘hit’. You need to
stroke the putt with ‘feel and roll’ rather ‘trying
to hit it’. There’s a big difference. Get a
rhythm to your routine. I keep my putter
head moving even before starting my back-
swing by placing it ahead of the ball before
returning it to the address position. It is my
way of keeping a sense of flow which I have
internalized subconsciously so that I have no
formal swing thoughts to distract me.
FORGET PERFECTION.
There’s so much emphasis on knowledge,
perfection and optimization in every area of
golf these days. But when it comes to
putting, trying to get everything perfect will
invariably make your tension levels rise. Be
relaxed in your approach and throughout
your routine. step up there and feel that
you’re rolling it and letting it go.
bE CONFIDENT.Visualise the putt on its path to the
hole and dropping into the cup. develop a
ruthless putting aura where you are genuinely
surprised if the ball doesn’t drop. When I’m
putting well I have a level of confidence where
I’m actually shocked if I don’t hole it!
TAYlORMADE’S SPIDER MAKES A GHOSTlY RETURNThree of TaylorMade’s most striking putterconcepts in recent years: the Pure rollinsert, the mega mallet shape and the dis-tinctive all-white finish have been combinedinto one radical new design – the Ghostspider.
The head reprises the ultra-high MoI designof the original Monza spider from 2008 withthose controversial rear wings that concen-trate weight at the very edges of the steelwire-frame construction. There’s also anew take on the Movable WeightTechnology of the originalwhich allows the user tocustomise feel by chang-ing the various screws.
More than a fashionstatement, the ghostlyfinish is scientificallyclaimed to improvealignment due to theexceptional contrastwith the grass whichhelps to highlight the put-ter head shape andface angle relativeto the intendedline. Puttinglegend davestockton -the drivingforcebehind thisand therossa-brandedpredeces-sors - claimsan average20% alignmentimprovementamong golfers testedin the TaylorMade studio.
Meanwhile, the patent-ed Pure roll insert is asoft surlyn construc-tion whose subtlegrooves promote for-wardspin to helpreduce skidding andencourage a smooth,accurate roll with moreprecise speed control.
“fans of the Monza spiderwill be blown away by the Ghostspider,” says stockton. “We’ve nevermade a putter that combines this kind of for-giveness and ease of use. Putting is allabout confidence, and the Ghost spiderpromotes confidence, big time.”
The putter has already been a hit on tour -most notably in the hands of Jason daywho played it when finishing runner-up atboth the Masters and the us open.
Available in 33”, 34” and 35” shaft lengths ata guide price of £149.www.taylormadegolf.eu
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AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 17
On fire...and readyto rumble: England’sMelissa Reid will beone of the stars ofthe European teamin the Solheim Cup
PHOTOGRAPHY: TRISTAN JONES / LETWITH THANKS TO COACH DAVID RIDLEY
GIRLPower
England’s Melissa Reid is one of the most exciting lady golfersto have emerged through theamateur golf scene in the lastdecade, so it’s no surprise thatshe is now forging a successfulcareer on the Ladies EuropeanTour. Carly Cummins caught up with the 23-year-old at theISPS Handa Portugal LadiesOpen to find out what makesher powerful swing tick
INSTRUCTION MELISSA REID
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201118
MY CHECKPOINTS AT ADDRESS
My main focus at the set-up is to make sure
that I am aiming correctly with my body parallel
to the target line. Like so many golfers, I have a
tendency to want to set-up to the ball a little
closed to the target line, so I really concentrate
on picking a spot on the ground ahead of my
target line to aim the club and then a second
spot on the ground parallel to the target line as
a point of reference for my feet to aim at. The
other thing I work on is balance, focusing on
feeling the weight balanced between the centre
and the balls of my feet. My last checkpoint is
good posture. When I’m getting tired I tend to
lose my posture, which shows as my shoulders
get very rounded, so I concentrate on making
sure my lower back is not arched.
TAKEAWAY:
This first move is one I’ve been working on
intensively. I’m trying to rotate my right arm,
keeping my elbow tucked in so that my forearm
and the shaft are on plane at the halfway-back
position. To exaggerate this sensation I practice
wearing a strap that keeps the arms compact to
my body. Then, when I remove the strap, I have
a much stronger feel for the move. My check-
point is that at the halfway-back position the
shaft should point to the centre of my chest.
When I make a poor swing it tends to be
because I get a bit too flat in the takeaway, the
arms then lift up and I use my wrists and ‘flip it’.
TOP OF BACKSWING:
From the perfect halfway-back position I know
that all I need to do is hinge my wrists and turn
my torso (my abs) to get the club on plane at
the top of the backswing. This prevents me lift-
ing my arms, which is an old fault I’m occasion-
ally prone to. At the top of the swing I’m also
focusing on keeping my right knee flexed so
that I maintain the same good posture athletic
angles that I established at address.
WHAT I FEEL I AM DOING - full swing slow-motion rehearsal drill
MY SWING IN REAL TIME
Solid set-up,legs strong, nice angleacross theshoulders
I feel that I rotatemy right foreramto initiate themove awayfrom the ball
Powerful rotationof the upperbody – the leftshoulder underthe chin
Athletic leg actioninitiates the down-swing, shiftingmomentum to thetarget and creatingthis ‘lag’ as upperbody unwinds
DRIVING AMBITION
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 19
DOWNSWING:
I have a tendency to get a little ahead of myself
in the downswing and occasionally come over
the top with the shoulders and arms getting
ahead of the body. So my focus is on trying to
initiate the downswing with my leg action. To
do so, I rotate both my knees back to centre,
allowing the arms to drop nicely down on
plane. I do a lot of my practice rehearsing this
move in front of a mirror so that I can really see
the correct sequence of movement – the legs
working and the arms following.
INTO IMPACT:
This is where the power in my swing is generat-
ed. From hip height I fire the right side through
the ball and free-flow to the finish. As long as
my legs are firing correctly my arms will lag
behind so that as I start to turn my torso
through the hands go with me. This fantastic
lag, or delayed hit, is what all the powerful hit-
ters in the world demonstrate in their swing and
I achieve it by using my body speed and hand
speed together to ensure maximum clubhead
speed is delivered to the ball. When I make a
bad swing my hands tend to get too far ahead
and I hit a pull, so my check point is that the
hands are over the ball as I strike the shot.
FINISH:
After impact my swing very much free-wheels
through to the finish. Right now I’m concentrat-
ing on getting a straight back as I have a ten-
dency to hang back a little and this is shown by
my back curving. The other key thought I have
is to feel very balanced, no matter what club is
in my hands, whether I’ve hit a full-throttle dri-
ver, or an easy wedge I try to hold my finishing
pose until the ball lands.
I like to feel that myhands are directlyabove the ball atimpact
Through the ball Igo after the feelingof free-wheelingthe clubhead
THIS IS A SAMPLE OF OUR LATEST ISSUE
AUGUST 2011 / #104FEATURING:THE OPEN, POWER INSTRUCTION, US OPEN, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SWING SPEED, PRACTISE DRILLS, NEW ZEALAND,LA MANGA AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
Vıctory
OPEN STORY CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201120
DARREN CLARKE’S VICTORY IN THE 140TH OPEN
Championship was both popular and emotional. It fitting-
ly came at Royal St George’s. J. H. Taylor won the first
Open played outside Scotland here and Harry Vardon two
of his record six titles on the Sandwich links. But in those
days Britain had the best golfers in the world.
When Henry Cotton won in 1934, with a record 65 in
the second round but a nervy finish, there had not been a
home winner for a decade and finally Britain had found a
new golfing hero. When Sandy Lyle won in 1985, after
that wobble in Duncan’s Hollow, there had not been a
home winner for 16 years since Tony Jacklin.
Once more, according to the world rankings, Britain
has some of the finest golfers on the planet and the hope
for a new home champion, for the first time since Paul
Lawrie 12 years ago, was palpable before the off. Yet
England’s No 1 and No 2, Luke Donald and Lee
Westwood, missed the cut and Rory McIlroy, the new dar-
ling of the golfing universe after his brilliant and historic
US Open victory, was brought down to earth by the golf-
ing gods.
But Clarke showed them all how to do it. Perseverance
At Sandwich, DarrenClarke savoured thesweetest taste known to agolfer – victory in a majorchampionship
PHoToGrAPHY BYGETTYIMAGES.COM
For one of the great exponents of links golf, Darren Clarke, this
year’s Open Championship was when it all came together. Andy Far r el l reports
Career
Vıctorywas rewarded. This was his 20th Open appearance and no
one had waited longer to win the claret jug – Nick Price
won on his 16th appearance. There is hope there for
Westwood and Donald and the rest but there was an even
more fundamental reason for Clarke’s victory. Always a
fine exponent of the art of links golf, this was one of the
finest demonstrations there has ever been. It needed to be
given he was tackling a capricious links in often foul weath-
er.
They say St George’s takes some knowing. Like all
links, it is at the mercy of the elements but all those
humps and hollows seem to exaggerate the variations in
the challenge. Only the Old Course itself might be so
extreme in its changes of character. In the one week they
visit every eight to ten years, even the world’s best players
appear bewildered at times. Yet Clarke sniffed the air like
an old sailor and instinctively utilised the links skills
learnt as a young man and honed over the winter after
his return to Portrush.
His ball-striking was exceptional, especially on the
Saturday afternoon when, albeit the weather was calming
down after the earlier torrents of rain, Clarke produced a
master class. Had the putts gone in that day he would
have been far ahead of the field. As it was, his refusal to
allow those disappointments to cloud his thinking was a
triumph in itself and he was rewarded the following day
when all the putts that mattered – a 15-footer for par at
the first, his birdie try at the 2nd, the eagle from 15 feet
at the 7th, the par-save at the 11th after visiting a bunker
to mention but a few – all dropped happily.
That’s what not one but two sports psychologists can
do for you. Mike Finnegan was someone Clarke had con-
sulted earlier in his career. He came back into the fold in
May after Clarke returned from a three-week holiday in the
Bahamas. Clarke’s manager, Chubby Chandler suggested
Clarke had wanted to quit golf after a disastrous weekend
at the Trophée Hassan II and packed him off on holiday.
Clarke did not sell the story as strongly but admitted he
needed a break. He came back and won the Iberdrola
Open in Mallorca. After a terrible final round at the
Scottish Open, Finnegan was in demand again at Sandwich
but Clarke also bumped into Dr Bob Rotella, an old men-
tor and the two ended up having daily consultations.
Clarke told Rotella he did not feel he could hole a putt
over a foot. Rotella told Clarke not to think about the
mechanics of his putting, to “go unconscious”, to treat it
as an automatic habit that we do without thinking. All
week Clarke was as calm as he has ever been on a golf
course. “I’m older and allegedly a bit wiser,” Clarke, at 42
the oldest Open champion since Roberto de Vicenzo, said.
“I’m not sure what was different this week but I felt com-
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 21
OPEN STORY DARREN CLARKE
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201122
In at times tempestuous conditions at Royal St George’s,
Darren Clarke came through to turn his fine career into an
excellent one. Robert Green reports
with his extraordinary start to the final round.
Throughout the week, Clarke’s ball-striking had
been magnificent. He hit 51 greens in regulation,
second only to Davis Love. The 2012 American
Ryder Cup captain – and Clarke is surely the hot
favourite to be the European skipper in 2014
unless he wants to try to make the team as a play-
er! – hit 54 greens but his putter was plainly terri-
fied of anything within four feet of the cup.
That number, 54, also represents the number of
majors it took for Clarke, aged 42, to win his first.
Last spring, that scenario did not seem to be on
the cards. At the start of April, he was contemplat-
ing retirement, a bleak view engendered by the 81-
StormCalmin the eye
of the
Darren Clarke with his first major trophyand what was not his last pint of Guinness
HEN WE CHECKED INTO THE HOUSEwe’d rented for the Open, we found a note
the owner had kindly left, explaining how
everything worked and also providing a
brief guide to the delights of the village of
Sandwich. Towards the end, he’d written:
“Darren Clarke said the course was tough
enough without the rough…”
The previous day, The Guardian had carried a
story about phone-hacking…er, sorry, an inter-
view with Clarke’s manager, Andrew ‘Chubby’
Chandler. The journalist, Lawrence Donegan, men-
tioned a few of Chandler’s clients who might be in
the mix in the coming week – Messrs McIlroy,
Westwood, Clarke, Els, Schwartzel, Oosthuizen,
Dyson – and asked him who he’d like to see win. “I
have to stay neutral,” said Chandler, before adding:
“OK. Why don’t we say this – wouldn’t it be a great
story if Darren Clarke finally won an Open
Championship?”
Needless to say, replete with omens, I didn’t
dash down to the bookies. Within a week, however,
the Irishman was reaping the rewards of the deal
Chandler had struck with Sports Direct in 2005 for
Clarke (and Lee Westwood and David Howell) to
wear Dunlop clothing but with no money involved
unless they won a major, in which case they col-
lected £2 million. In the circumstances, perhaps
the company’s owner, Mike Ashley, could be
excused if he won’t be rooting quite so fervently
for Westwood to win the USPGA Championship
and make this the season of the Chubby Grand
Slam.
Clarke admitted: “I still can't decide what to buy
with the money. To be honest, up until Sunday I've
lived like a major champion without actually win-
ning a major.”
On the Sunday especially, he played like a major
champion, making a series of clutch putts –
notably from 15 feet to save par at the first – and
rallying to repel the flamboyant charge of Phil
Mickelson, with Clarke making an eagle at the 7th
to restore the lead that the American had eroded
W
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 23
Storm
THIS IS A SAMPLE OF OUR LATEST ISSUE
AUGUST 2011 / #104FEATURING:THE OPEN, POWER INSTRUCTION, US OPEN, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SWING SPEED, PRACTISE DRILLS, NEW ZEALAND,LA MANGA AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
OPEN STORY ELEMENTARY
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201124
Taking a bow! Tom Watson had yet another Open Championship to remember,
not only for the hole-in-one he made here but in maintaining the role he appears
to have been assigned of mentoring the brightest young amateur stars in golf
TOM WATSON MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN IT
WOULD come to this. The popular American may not
have realised that at the same time as he was prepar-
ing for his annual love-in with golf courses and the
public in Britain, an occasion also known as his trip
to Britain for the Open, so the R&A were preparing
for his appearance in their championship. The R&A
clearly think that Watson, after winning the Open
five times and considering his remarkable standing
in the game, has become such a good role model,
such a wonderful ambassador for golf that they
wanted to give him an appropriate young man with
whom to play in the Open.
It was not an entirely selfless thought by the R&A.
They realised it would be a bonus for whichever com-
petitor was chosen in that he would be mentored by
Watson for two rounds and be able to study one of
the greatest golfers of all time at close quarters. And
it would possibly, perhaps probably, guarantee press
attention and TV coverage if either Watson himself or
the prodigy did something special.
At Turnberry in 2009 it was Matteo Manassero, at
16 almost one quarter Watson's age and the youngest
competitor in the field, who had the pleasure of com-
peting alongside the American, the oldest. At
Sandwich this year it was Tom Lewis, at 20 one third
as old as Watson, who played with the five-times
champion. Though Watson outscored both Manassero
and Lewis, finishing second in 2009 and 22nd in
2011, he spurred his young companions on to good
play, too. Manassero won the silver medal for coming
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 25
ElementaryDear Watson
INSTRUCTION
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201126
Rory McIlroy gloriously wins the US
Open at Congressional with a sublime
display of shot-making that breaks all
kinds of US Open scoring records and,
at just 22, becomes the youngest win-
ner for 88 years. Barely a month later,
Darren Clarke, at 42 a veteran of no
fewer than twenty Open Championships, puts together four
stunning rounds of golf at a windswept Royal St Georges to
capture his first major title. Leaving aside the fact that these
two great players come from Northern Ireland, the two victo-
ries could scarcely be farther apart in nature and yet, if we
dig a little deeper, I think you’ll agree there’s a common psy-
chological key – and one that, channelled correctly, could
have a big impact on your own game.
To do that we need to go back to the first major of the
year – the season-opener at Augusta. For three rounds McIlroy
played quite astonishing golf. So good was he that he took a
four-shot lead into the final round. But the nerves were visible
as early as the 1st green, and, as the lead gradually evaporat-
ed, we were left to witness a young man collapse horribly. The
snap-hook off the tee at 10, a four-putt on 12, and McIlroy’s
dreams of wearing the green jacket were gone. Naturally the
post-mortem elicited a media frenzy – what long-term damage
had been done? All of the so-called ‘experts’ questioned
whether he actually had the game and the mental strength to
recover and compete at the very highest level.
In the days following, the only person who seemed unfazed
by it all was Rory. His manager Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler
travelled to Rory’s home in Holywood to ask his player, ‘Are
you OK?’. Rory’s reply sowed the seeds for his epic US Open
triumph: ‘I’m fine. I can’t really see what all the fuss is about. I
DR KARL MORRIS
lost a golf tournament. Nobody died. There are disasters in the
world but this wasn’t one of them.’
In that moment Rory sent such a powerful message to his
young golfing brain. The power of PERSPECTIVE.
While so many others around him were talking about a cat-
astrophe and a disaster the player himself chose to frame it
differently. He chose to put the events in a place in his mind
that were labelled with huge disappointment but NOT as a cat-
astrophe.
The point to be aware of here is that, unfortunately, our
brain – and specifically our unconscious implicit mind – tends
to take things literally. So if we label something with words
such as ‘disaster’ and ‘catastrophe’ then that part of our brain
goes to work without logic and it seeks to protect us from
those situations in the future. One of the ways it can do that is
to make sure that we don’t put ourselves in a similar situation
again. Much in the same way that we may have been unfortu-
nate as a child to say something in front of a class that every-
body laughed at, causing such acute embarrassment that the
brain goes to work by telling us: ‘don’t speak in public again’.
Then, 20 years on we have an adult with a severe public
speaking phobia that doesn’t seem to make any sense at all to
our logical mind.
In exactly the same way we have to be very careful in the
way we label our experiences on a golf course. When some-
thing is billed as being ‘life or death’ then is it any wonder that
some careers never recover?
Rory McIlroy has proved himself to be made of entirely dif-
ferent stuff – with that sense of perspective he was able to
move on and his brain is not wired to dread or fear playing in
majors and, more importantly, getting in to contention. At
Congressional he simply got back to doing what he loves to do
PerspectıveThe Power of
In the shape of Northern Ireland’s two most recentmajor champions, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke,the golfing world has marvelled at the way in whichtwo different and intriguing characters have dealt withadversity along the road to achieving their greatestsuccess. As ever, the application of perspective hasbeen key to unlocking the ultimate performance
By Dr Karl MorrisEUROPEAN TOUR MIND COACH • WWW.GOLF-BRAIN.COM
W
Having experienced theheat of major contention atAugusta in April, RoryMcIlroy was altogether bet-ter equipped to finish thejob at Congressional; arelaxed Darren Clarkeenjoys the attention atSandwich, where hisdemeanor was the 15thclub in his bag
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 27
above anything else – i.e. playing golf. To Rory McIlroy the
game is a game. He has not fallen into the trap of ‘believing’
what the media try to get us to buy into.
To Royal St George’s and a quite fantastic Open
Championship – and one of the game’s most popular of win-
ners. I have been fortunate enough to have known and worked
with Darren on and off for around 10 years. In that time I have
watched the best players in the world and I would say, without
hesitation, that Darren is the most talented and impressive
ball striker I have ever seen. The sound of the ball off the club-
face, the pureness of the strike, the flight and the control he
has is something to behold. He often used to joke that I
should pay to watch him practice – and he had a point!
One of the games we used to play was called the ‘9 shot
drill’, the challenge being to hit a comprehensive selection of
shots with one club – i.e. Draw, Fade, Straight, High, Medium
and Low – 9 shots in all to demonstrate spin control. To watch
Darren do this with a 4- or 5-iron is like watching Picasso
paint, the subtle but pure changes in ball flight demonstrating
a masterful display of his skill.
On the flip side of the coin, this great natural talent could
sometimes be the biggest obstacle to him going out and hit-
ting those shots on the course. Darren will himself admit to
being such a perfectionist on the range that if the ball didn’t
behave in exactly the way he wanted it to on the golf course he
was rarely one bad shot away from explosion and then implo-
sion. In fact, I don’t think that I have ever known any other
player get so frustrated and so down on himself as Darren did
because he KNEW what he was capable of.
One of the hardest lessons in golf is that the game does not
lend itself to perfectionism. Some things do – like accountancy
and building suspension bridges – but golf does not. It is an
imperfect science. As Dr Bob Rotella, the mind coach who has
worked extensively with Darren over the years – and who was
with him at St George’s – said in the title of one of his books
Golf is NOT a Game of Perfect.
What happens away from the golf course is bound to affect
our performance on it and Darren Clarke knows more about
this than most. Since the loss of his wife Heather to cancer in
2006, Darren has had to rebuild his life, foremost as a father to
his two boys, Conor and Tyrone, and latterly as a golfer. How
could that not have taken its toll on his mentality?
The years since have been far from straightforward but
there is no doubt
they have shaped
the Darren Clarke
we saw smiling his
way around St
George’s, enjoying
the challenge of the
game, pitting his
skill against an
absolute brute of an
opponent that felled
most of the rest of
the field. What we
saw was a Darren
Clarke with a sense
of perspective. This
was a GAME to be
played. An impor-
tant game yes, but
in the end a game
nonetheless.
Whatever the course
could throw at him
it couldn’t be worse
than what life had
thrown at him. Maybe it shouldn’t take these life events to give
us this sense of perspective but often for us all it does. We
attach too much importance to a lot of little things and not
enough importance to others – the things in life that really do
matter.
THE MIND FACTOR ESSAY
Perspectıve
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GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201128
Start out in yourregular stance – hereI’m using a 6-iron andthe ball is teed-uphalf-an-inch or so
Then pull the right foot back untilthe toe of the shoe is a couple ofinches behind the left heel. Thisstance will help you to keep yourupper body ‘centred’ over the shot;your weight will naturally tend to fallonto the forward foot at the set up,which is fine – through the courseof the swing you will shift againstthe flex in the right knee and thigh
better golfBy Stuart MorganWWW.STUARTMORGAN.COMPHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK NEWCOMBE
How to work on replacingsome of golf’s common swing faults with easy-to-followdrills that will deliver immediate results
STUART MORGANINSTRUCTION
Pro moves for
The fault you see here is afairly common one and theeffects are damaging on thequality and the consistency ofyour ball striking. The problemis that when you allow yourhips to tilt like this you fail torotate your body and shiftyour weight correctly into abraced right side. The ‘fix’ can be quick and
simple if you spend sometime rehearsing the right-footback drill. Pulling the right footback effectively pre-sets goodhip rotation – all you have todo is continue and completethat hip turn as you wind tothe top and then feel the qual-ity of your swing improve asyou unwind from the groundup and ‘collect’ the ball
FAULT: Incorrect weight shift/hip sway
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 29
ON THE LESSON TEE // FULL SWING
With a turn away fromthe target pre-set at theset-up, you simply contin-ue that rotation as youswing the club to the top,enabling you to turn and‘load’ the upper body
Having rotated in thebackswing the hips willnaturally want to unwindand lead you to a goodimpact position – free-wheel the right side and‘collect’ the ball as youswing through to a finish
better golf
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AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 31
The following exercises are designed tohelp you trim the fat off your iron shots –to crisp things up and leave you with abetter sensation of striking down andthrough the ball. To do that, the focusthroughout is on synchronising your armswing with your body turn and generallymaking things more efficient using width,leverage and torque to create an efficient,modern movement.Starting with this training ball, I want to
get you thinking about the way in which theforearms in a good golf swing rotate andstay pretty much ‘pinched’ together. In con-trast, a lot of beginners and higher handi-cappers tend to spread their arms and liftthem to the tiop of their swing (opposite)which breaks the linkage between thearms and torso. If you can keep thearms rotating and pinched togeth-er whilst progressively settingthe wrists against that, you willenjoy better width, build upgreater torque and – ultimate-ly – clubhead speed.One thing I will stress
throughout this feature isthat you don’t need along swing that runsbeyond the parallel; infact, a more compactswing is more desirable.Biomechanically it is
proven that the key is toimprove the kinetic linkbetween your arms andtorso – and I’m all for theappliance of science.
By Jonathan YarwoodWWW.GOLFJY.COM • PHOTOGRAPHY: KEVIN MURRAYSHOT ON LOCATION AT THE CONCESSION
Why a more compact swing will make you a better iron player
JONATHAN YARWOOD
POWER LEAK!For those of you whofocus on the left arm inthe backswing, this is thebig danger: in a poorswing the arms can oftenbe seen to splay apart,leading to this inevitable‘lift’ which causes the‘over the top’ move onthe way back down tothe ball – a huge powerleak. So turn the page tofind out how you caneliminate this and start toenjoy a more compactand more energy effi-cient action
effıcıentEnergy
Overleaf, let’s go onto look at how usingthis type of trainingball can quickly andeasily reward youwith a more com-pact backswing
INSTRUCTION SAM TORRANCE
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201132
SWISH DRILL: Synchronise your hinge, turn and release for greater swoosh speed A good golf swing is a combination of sequence andtorque to create speed in the clubhead. That’s thebottom line: as a result of the centrifugal forces yougenerate with the rotation of your body, and the asso-ciated free-wheeling of the arms and hands, you pro-duce real speed in the clubhead through impact.And the drill you see me demonstrating here is one
that can help you do that – and it’s especially benefi-cial for juniors and lady golfers, because when youturn the club around and grip it just below the hosel itfeels so incredibly light in your hands.
As per the sequence above, your starting point –once you have set yourself up with a good posture –is to move the grip-end through to 4 o’clock on animaginary clockface (inset above left). Doing this sim-ply gives you a little early momentum as you then letyour arms (and clubshaft) fall back and continue oninto the backswing movement. And the key to doingthis is that you really ‘snap’ the wrists to hinge and‘load’ in the process of coiling your backswing. Look how solid the body looks in frame 2 above –
the upper body has been pulled around by the
swoosh of the club. There’s not too much turn, just theright amount at the completion of what is a very effi-cient three-quarter motion – and one loaded with ener-gy. I am a big fan of drills in motion, and working onthis exercise really does gel together so many of thekey ingredients you are looking for in a good golfswing. As you unwind, focus on re-hinging the wriststo make the distinct L-shape you see here in thethrough-swing (right). To further accentuate the role ofthe hands and arms, try it with your feet together andlet the clubshaft create the maximum swoosh.
Three-quarter back-swing with 100%efficiency: note thatwhile the shouldersare turned through90 degrees the hipsare barely at 30, theright leg serving asa ‘post’, braced toprovide resistance
As you swing backand gather momen-tum, make yourselfreally ‘snap’ thewrists to add lever-age as you turn andcoil to the top
Start here,4 o’clock
JONATHAN YARWOOD
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 33
And then re-hinge
Adopt a good pos-ture, your right armin position, and thenhinge and re-hingethe right wrist totoss the ball
Grip the clublightly and letthe right wristhinge to createa flowing backswing
Use this exercise as awarm-up before hittingballs or playing. Thelouder the swoosh themore speed you aregenerating through theimpact area
Make an L-shape on theway back (opposite) andagain on the way through.Re-hinge with velocity onthe way to a good finish.This is something FreddieCouples does so beauti-fully – one of the reasonswhy he hits it so far
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ON THE DAY IN AUGUST 2008 WHEN MID-
handicapper Bruce Harris was due to transfer
£100,000 into Thai Baht to buy his dream condo
on the island of Phuket, mobs took to Bangkok’s
streets and the local currency plummeted. He was
faced with a dilemma – push on or pull out.
Thailand has been attracting golfers for years.
Last year, 818,000 Brits visited the country, with a
fair number playing a round or three. Bangkok,
Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Pattaya all have good
clubs, but if there’s a single holiday destination
with an enjoyable variety of great courses, it has
to be Phuket.
As a British Airways purser, Bruce travels the
globe – the world is his fairway. He and his wife
Michele settled on the 30-mile long island of
Phuket for the weather, food, beaches, and, of
course, the golf.
They had decided to make a move on a condo
costing about £150,000 at Chom Tawam in
Laguna, a large gated estate with several luxury
hotels, good security and in Laguna Phuket Golf
Club at the Banyan Tree, a tranquil resort 18-holer.
“When we negotiated the price, the Baht
was at 60 to the pound,” remembers Bruce.
“The day the rioters hit the streets, it
dropped to 72, a depreciation of 20%.” As his
condo price was quoted in local currency, it
became 20% cheaper in pounds sterling
overnight. But was it worth the risk?
Bruce decided it was, so stepped up, bought the
apartment, and hasn’t regretted it once.
Unlike the BA man, I had never played in
Phuket, so when I travelled there a few months
ago I enlisted as guide the splendid Mark Siegel of
GolfAsian. Top of his list, and Bruce’s, was the Red
Mountain course, built in 2007. A deceased tin
mine doesn’t sound propitious, but the jungle has
reclaimed most of it and the resultant mix of
lakes, red rocky outcrops and forest is quite sim-
ply stunning (see the main image above).
English designer Jon Morrow has created 18
memorable holes with elevation changes, aggres-
sive bunkering, several risk-reward challenges
around water, and breathtaking vistas. The condi-
tion of the Paspalum fairways is immaculate,
greens fast and clubhouse friendly. Part of the
same club, Loch Palm is more forgiving but still a
good challenge.
The other ‘must-play’ course on Phuket is the
Canyon at Blue Canyon. Three times the venue of
the Johnnie Walker, won most memorably by
Tiger in 1998 after coming back from an eight-
shot deficit on the final day, it’s something of a
tropical West Course. Rather like Wentworth, sev-
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201134
PHUKET – RED MOUNTAIN, BLUE CANYON & MUCH MORE...
A Thai Pad in Phuket Just like golf, buying property in an emerging market is a risk-reward business, reports Peter Swain
eral long wooded doglegs have downhill drives
followed by uphill approaches to small, tricky
greens.
As Mark warned me, it’s also a walking-only
course, so even with the compulsory caddie, it’s a
long, demanding round in the customary heat and
humidity. In my judgment, any golfer with a two-
figure handicap should think twice before
attempting it. For good players, it’s a blast. Its sis-
ter Lakes Course is altogether kinder.
The Nicklaus-designed Mission Hills nestles
close to the cobalt waters of the Andaman Sea and
features island greens, vast bunkers and a club-
house spa to soothe aching joints and bruised
egos. Another resort set-up, Phuket Country Club
is the oldest course on the island, and features, in
the horseshoe-shaped 10th around a lake, an
unusual eagle chance for players who can accu-
rately drive 200-plus yards over water.
Bruce Harris’s local course at Laguna meanders
through coconut groves with water in play on 13
holes. The greens have recently been rebuilt, but
with generous fairways it’s essentially a gentle
warm-up round for headier local challenges.
The Harrises bought a well-equipped two-bed-
room condo in a block of four with fast internet
connection and a large pool in generously land-
scaped gardens, all just 200 yards from the beach.
“We spend about 15 weeks a year there and rent it
out in between – it’s worked out really well,” says
Bruce.
Chom Tawan now has 38 apartments and 12
spacious villas, selling mostly to ex-pats of whom
there are 30,000 in Phuket. Advertised prices are
between about £300,000 and £560,000, but in the
current market, a 15% discount is realistic.
Right next door, the Banyan Tree Hotel has
some incredibly ritzy L-shaped single-storey villas,
set in gorgeous gardens, built around their own
private pools (as pictured opposite). With the ser-
vices of a five-star hotel on tap, and outstanding
rental income potential – upwards of £300 a night
– the £1 million-plus price tag is reasonable by the
standards of the island.
At a more modest budget level, and right next
to the two Blue Canyon courses, the Wintana pro-
ject aims to convert an existing hotel structure
into a boutique resort, complete with jazz club.
£200,000 buys you 21 nights a year, plus about
an 8% annual return on capital. There’s also a frac-
tional offering starting at just £25,000. The 115
suites won’t be ready for two years, they’re still
negotiating fees with the golf club, and the mar-
keting drive hasn’t even started, but it’s one to
keep an eye on.
Title in Thailand can be an issue. Foreigners can
own outright 49% of a condo development, but
individual fairway-side villas are likely to have
your lawyer or accountant’s name on the deeds,
which doesn’t appeal to everyone.
As well as new property, there are plenty of
‘resales’ on Phuket offering good value. CBRE are
one of the local market leaders and always have a
fair selection on their website. At the time of writ-
ing, they have several two-bedroom condos with
access to pools and sea views in the region of
£200,000, and a one-bedroom 800sq ft unit in a
small development called Ocean Breeze for just
£82,000.
A golfing break organized through Golf Asian
is a good way of playing the courses and check-
ing out the property scene. TAT, the Thai
tourism people in London, are also very helpful.
There are potential pitfalls when buying in any
emerging market like Thailand. Bruce Harris took
the risk of buying in a politically volatile country,
and has gained the reward. “In the local curren-
cy, the price of our condo hasn’t changed much
in three years, but as the exchange rate is now
48 Thai Baht to the pound, it’s actually worth a
third more than we paid for it. And my game’s
improving!”
PROPERTY / PHUKET
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 35
A Thai Pad in Phuket
CONTACTS
GolfAsian / golfasian.com
tourismthailand.co.uk
red Mountain / redmountainphuket.com
Blue canyon / bluecanyonclub.com
chom Tawan / tawanproperties.com
Wintana / wintanahotelsandresorts.com
Banyan Tree / banyantreeresidences.com
cBre / cbre.co.th
blue Canyon boasts two ‘must-play’
layouts – the testing Canyon Course (above)
and the less manic lakes (above right).
Marketing of fractional ownership at the
Wintana project (right) is about to commence;
a typical low-rise apartment block at Chom
Tawan (below)
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AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 37
WOBURN GOLF CLUBJULY 18, 2011
Poults…on stretching and warming up
No matter how old you are, or how frequentlyyou play, you run the risk of pulling a muscle ifyou go out to play or practice without firstwarming-up for a few minutes. I use a variety ofexercises to warm up my arms and shouldersevery single day – I might even do this workoutwith elastic bands at home on days when I’mnot playing golf.Those of you who watched the Open at St
George’s may have seen Darren Clarke using aspecial stretching pole, with a spring at oneend, to help him with his exercises before hebegan hitting shots. I prefer to use these rubberbands (right) – relatively cheap to buy and easyto use providing a simple range of exercisesthat help you warm up your muscles andstrengthen the ‘core’ groups of muscles youneed to make a good golf swing.Some guys on tour out there go through a
full gym session, others will simply warm-up onthe range with the type of exercises you seeme rehearsing here. Whatever your preference,make sure you get in to the habit of regularexercise. Seek advice from your local PGA pro-fessional who can help you devise a series ofexercises that will quickly benefit your golf. Thefitter, stronger and more supple you are the bet-ter you will swing the golf club and the betteryou will hit the ball.
Poults on…taking care of the fundamentals
It has become quite trendy these days to carrya pair of alignment rods in the golf bag and Iwas impressed today to see so many juniorsusing these canes to check alignment and ballposition. If you don’t have a pair of alignmentrods, I urge you to invest in them. This is invalu-
FEATURE IJP INVITATIONAL
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201138Taking care of F
undamentals
Stretch it....
THE IJP GOLF CLINIC
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PRACTICE TIME
One of the highlights of the IJP Invitational is the hour-long clinic Ian conducts on the
range for all competitors (and parents!) at the end of the tournament day. This year
was no exception and the highlights of an informal and absorbing session provide
invaluable insights into the mind of a world-class professional
able. I recently bought this one (below), whichcan either be used as two separate rails orattached to create a T-square, which gives youa reference for alignment and another for ballposition. I use this T-square every single time Ipractice for no other reason than I want to be100% certain that my alignment and ball posi-tion is exactly as I want it on every shot I hit.Once I have my target fixed, and a visual imageof the shot in my mind, I think of nothing elseother than that image – I have zero technical
swing thoughts.If you don’t have alignment rods, just do it
the old fashioned way and place a couple ofclubs on the ground to give you alignment. Icannot emphasis this enough: it’s all about tak-ing care of the basics.
Poults on distance control – and the
importance of the ‘scoring shots’
My configuration of wedges, the scoring clubs,is 48-degree pitching wedge, 54-degree sandiron and 60-degree lob wedge. For me, that’san easy system to work with and six degreesbetween each of these clubs gives me a goodspan of distances. I love gadgets and in recentyears I’ve come to rely heavily on the Trackmansystem, which I’m sure many of you have seenat your club or on TV. It’s a radar-based launchmonitor that measures every conceivable pieceof data about the flight of the ball – includingball-speed off the clubface, backspin, sidespinand of course landing distance. And that’s thekey number for me – I work with Trackman tokeep accurate data on how far I fly the ball withall of my clubs. My lob-wedge flies 100 yards,sand-iron 115 yards and pitching- wedge goes135. So I know from that make up that if I have120 yards to go, a sand- iron is not going to getthere. It’s an easy wedge, perhaps grippingdown the shaft a little. Ultimately, it’s all aboutyour control over the flight of the golf ball. Andyou get that through making and repeating asound swing and changing clubs to suit dis-tance – not forcing a club to make a distance.
Q. Do you always aim at a target?
Absolutely…and so should you. If you
stand on the range hitting balls with-
out a distinct target in mind you are
practising without a purpose. Wasting
your time. It’s not good enough. You
have to have a target and you have to
go through the same procedure before
every shot to develop a pre-shot rou-
tine you can trust out on the course.
Remember, you are practising to play
– and when you play you will be hit-
ting towards a target on every single
shot.
Poults on visualisation – ‘seeing a shot’…
We never ever see a straight golf shot. Everyshot has some element of movement in it. Saythe wind is off the right, as it is here, I want tohit the shot with a little cut-spin to hold the ball
GOLF CLINIC
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 39
Stretch it....
Always Aim at a target
EQUIPMENT DISTANCE MEASURING
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201140
Today’s golfing DMDs embrace a wealth of technology from
laser-based rangefinders to GPS devices sporting a variety of
graphics, interactive features and game analysis gizmos to
play with both during and after your round. We invited
Roehampton assistant club pro, Richard Weeks, to take
some of the latest models for a test drive and offer up practi-
cal tips on how to make the most of both types of device.
Following that, equipment editor Dominic Pedler guides you
through a glossary of the essential technical terms
LATEST DEVICES
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 41
Thanks to a welcome loophole in
the rules of Golf, distance
Measuring devices (dMds)
have become the fastest grow-
ing category of golf equipment
in recent years.
Whether its laser-based rangefinders that
you ‘point and shoot’ or geo-positional
based units displaying instant yardages via
satellite technology, dMds have caught on
with all levels of club golfers. on tour,
they’re used by players and caddies (at
least in practice rounds) and by on-course
analysts and TV commentators.
Admittedly, rule 14-3(b) only allows their
competitive use by virtue of a special clause
giving jurisdiction to the golf club, or relevant
authority, to allow them under a local rule.
But its adoption is increasingly widespread
right up to eGu events and on the euroPro
Tour while, in the recent PowerPlay event at
celtic Manor, use of the official nikon laser
was actively encouraged throughout.
And while dMds are not allowed in top
tour events, pros and their caddies can
often be seen with their Bushnells and
nikons during practice rounds, while expert
course mapper dion stevens’ legendary
yardage books used in tournaments by
many tour stars are painstakingly prepared
with his nikon Laser 1000As.
In this way the great dMd debate has
moved on from whether they should be
allowed at all to what system is best and
what features are genuinely ‘game
improvement’ for golfers.
As the following glossary and instruction
guide from our guest pro show, there are
no easy answers. It ultimately comes down
to your individual priorities regarding the
type of data, features, convenience and
ease of use.
But understanding the technology
involved and practical ways to incorporate it
into your game is the first step to making the
choice between Laser and GPs (while, for
those that want the best of both worlds, the
new Bushnell Hybrid even combines the
two technologies in one unit).
HOW DISTANCE MEASURING DEvICES
CAN REAllY IMPROvE YOUR GAME
Roehampton assistant club pro, Richard
Weeks, brings you practical tips on how to
make the most of both GPS and laser-
based technologies.
1. How far do you really hit each club?
As a golf teacher I’m often amazed at how
most pupils have no real idea how far they
hit each of their clubs. This is such an impor-
tant part of your game – if you can’t match
up the distance you have remaining to the
green with the right club in your bag then
what hope do you have?! knowing your own
distances in practice really is a pre-requisite
for getting the most from your dMd, some of
which help directly with this task.
for example, for my driver through to my
ther with a laser or a GPs whose figures
are confined to ‘front, middle and back’.
This is where the IntelliGreen Pro func-
tion on the skycaddie sGX comes into
action. By tilting the device to the right it
brings up a close-up graphic of the green
showing slopes, contours and yardages to
different points, while depicting the slope in
a special shade that helps you see it in rela-
tion to the rest of the green. It also gives me
the option of moving the flag around on the
screen to match the top or bottom pin posi-
tion in operation that day, while automatical-
ly adjusting the yardages to any given point.
While much of the time this feature will
be a superfluous luxury, on this type of hole
where mis-clubbing is fatal, it is a highly
useful – yet only available on the
skycaddie who map courses on foot (as
such topography currently cannot be
mapped from aerial photography).
The only downside is the tilting action
required on the sGX as I found the screen
can quickly jump back to another function if
Callaway uProThis claims to be the only GPs
with actual aerial imagery on-
screen, and one of the very few
with a flyover sequence of each
hole complete with 200-, 150-
and 100-yard marker lines super-
imposed for good measure.
Although an interesting usP, the
flyover happens quite quickly so
you may need to re-watch it a
couple of times to get a real
sense of the hole. The unit has all
of the normal GPs features,
including excellent yardage feed-
back on each green with dis-
tances to the front and back of
any surrounding bunkers. I hear a
spectacular new version [the
uProMX – ed.] is in the pipeline
but I haven’t seen it yet.
Guide: £299
www.uprogps.com
www.callawaygolf.com
Golf Plus Caddie liteentry level unit that gives yardages to fair-
way bunkers and other hazards from the
tee and then distances to the green
from the fairway. It only holds up to 10
courses and without the mapping and
scoring features of more sophisticated
rivals. But it was very effective for
basic yardages and can also record
the distance achieved by any club
in your bag.
Guide: £79.99 (for the standard
model) and £99.99 for the deluxe
edition which includes map cred-
its for course downloads.
www.golf-plus.co.uk
Sonocaddie v500+The sonocaddie comes with
over 2,400 pre-
loaded uk
courses – how-
ever you do have to
connect the unit up with a computer
first before being able to use it. The
screen view is fantastic – probably
the best on test – with instant
yardages to numerous points on the
hole for the tee shot. Good touch
screen performance giving you an
instant yardage to any point and
also from that point to the green
centre. A top-end contender.
Guide: £325
www.sonocaddie.com
www.golfsmitheurope.co.uk
EQUIPMENT DISTANCE MEASURING
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201142
you don’t get it completely horizontal. But
I’m sure I’ll get the knack with practice!
PART 1: GPSGolf Course library and Downloads
While many models now come preloaded
with anything up to 40,000 courses world-
wide, it’s important to think of the nature of
the data and what you actually need. The
Golf Plus caddie Lite only takes 10 cours-
es at a time – but that might enough for
you, while sonocaddie’s 2,400 uk courses
will be plenty for most of us. of course,
most operators allow you to log into their
site to download additional courses and,
where applicable, updated versions of
existing courses that reflect any recent
changes.
In richard Weeks’ test he notes that
some, like the sonocaddie and skycaddie
sGX need to be connected to a computer
before you can use them to their full poten-
tial, while others like the GolfBuddy are
ready to go ‘straight out the box’. Look out,
too, for Auto course recognition (as, say,
on the Bushnell Hybrid) which displays your
exact location without having to click
through the library.
Meanwhile, how that data has been com-
piled, its accuracy and presentation are
important issues that we now look at under
various categories.
Course Mapping:
satellite or “ground verified”?
While most golf GPs operators map their
courses with reference to aerial imagery
(usually satellite photography or in some
cases helicopter flyovers), some – most
notably skycaddie and GolfBuddy – map
on foot with a team that walks each course,
pinpointing greens, tees, hazards and other
selected landmarks as they go.
These ‘ground verifiers’ argue that the
alternative mapping from the air relies on
images that may be several years out of
date, and whose data is delivered through a
complex jigsaw of individual digital pixels
that can lead to significant distance distor-
tions in terms of the final picture as a whole.
They also point out that any aerial pho-
tography is often compromised by tree-lined
fairways than can hide bordering hazards
and the vital extremities of greens.
Walking the course undoubtedly also
allows for higher standards of green map-
ping with, for example, skycaddie’s sGX’s
IntelliGreen Pro feature including figures to
false fronts, ridges and tiers within greens –
details that are unattainable from ‘above’.
Accuracy of Distance Data
some GPs companies claim that there can
be wide distance discrepancies between dif-
ferent brands, due not merely to the differ-
ent methods of mapping just mentioned, but
the actual satellite tracking technology
adopted and the sophistication of the hand-
held unit.
skycaddie, for example, publishes the
formal ‘error factor’ for its sGX that speci-
fies that 95% of the time the yardage dis-
played is correct to within 1-3 yards
thanks to a special omni-directional GPs
‘engine’ that locks quickly onto the appro-
priate satellite. [Incidentally, this accuracy
is far higher than satnav where locations
do not need to be pinpointed to the same
level of detail.]
However, while
there are reports
that different units
can display differ-
ences of up to 10-
15 yards for any
given shot to the
green, this was not
borne out by our
own impromptu
tests (see richard’s
spot checks).
Satellite Imagery and video Flyover
While most GPs units display graphical rep-
resentations for both their full-hole view and
green close-ups, some offer high-quality
aerial imagery that makes for a strikingly
realistic contrast. The callaway uPro is a
case in point while this system and the
sonocaddie (the latter as a subscription
add-on) also offer an aerial ‘flyover’ feature
using actual helicopter footage similar to
those used on TV during tournaments. This
is visually impressive stuff and can be espe-
bushnell Tour v2 A very simple and user-friendly
device which gives effective
yardages to within +/- 1 yard.
fitted with Pinseeker technol-
ogy designed to pick out the
flag rather than something just
behind the green which could easi-
ly give you a duff yardage. Available in
a cool range of colours, too. As a practical
unit at a reasonable cost, this would be my first choice
laser along with the nikon 350G.
Guide: £270; www.bushnellgolf.com
bushnell Tour v2 Slope EditionAll of the above features but with the added benefit of a
slope calculator which makes a prediction on the poten-
tial variation in yardage for the shot in hand. Very useful
if your home course is particularly hilly! see my instruc-
tion section on this useful but, it must be remembered –
non-conforming – feature.
LATEST DEVICES
THIS IS A SAMPLE OF OUR LATEST ISSUE
AUGUST 2011 / #104FEATURING:THE OPEN, POWER INSTRUCTION, US OPEN, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SWING SPEED, PRACTISE DRILLS, NEW ZEALAND,LA MANGA AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
INSTRUCTION DAN FROST
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201144
All aboutBy Dan FrostSHOT ON LOCATION AT STOKE PARK • WWW.FROSTGOLF.COMPHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN MURRAY
Speed is the magic ingredient to hitting longer drives – but knowing howto generate greater clubhead speedisn’t simply a case of conciously tryingto swing the club faster. That’s the mistake a lot of amateurs make make– many confusing muscle power withswing power. The secret to hitting theball further and straighter is all aboutgenerating speed through the correctsequence of movements in the golfswing. So allow me to introduce you toa series of exercises designed toimprove your arm/body coordination,the ‘sequencing’, flexibility and naturalathleticism in your swing. With someregular practice, these work-outs willhelp you to max-out your speed andhit the ball further than ever before.
IT’S ALL ABOUT SPEED
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 45
More on ‘lag’ in a moment –but look at the energy that isstored as I unwind from theground up and the hands andarms enter this natural hittingposition
Tension is one of the biggest power killers inthe golf swing. Anxiety and fear of waywardtee shots leads to us gripping the club that bittoo tight in an attempt to steer the ball straightdown the fairway. This tight, tense swing hasno relationship to the whipping action I’mgoing to teach you in this opening drill. Manygreat golfers down the years, including JackNicklaus and Greg Norman, have describedthe swing as a ‘whipping’ motion. Most of ushave the ability to generate ‘whip’ – we justlose it when we place a golf club in our hands.So here’s a drill to reawaken this lost sense.Step 1: Push a cane into the ground andplace your driver headcover on top. You wantit around waist height – try to get your bellybutton pointing at the headcover at address.Step 2: Take a second cane, grip it as youwould a golf club, and address the headcover.Focus on feeling balanced through your feetand a little more upright with your posture thanyou would normally be in your golf addressposition.Step 3: Swing the stick back around yourbody, loading through your torso as you do so.Step 4: Keep your eyes focused on the head-cover and allow your natural instinct to takeover. Notice how my lower half has initiatedthe forward movement and my wrists are stillstored with energy, with the right elbow closeto my rib cage.Step 5: Now whip the headcover with thestick. You should feel – and hear – immensespeed as the cane whistles into impact.Remember this feeling of freedom, speed andacceleration – all you have to do is transfer thisinto your golf swing, whipping the clubthrough impact.GI QUICK TIP: The only difference betweenthis drill and hitting a golf ball is the way inwhich you tilt forward towards the ground. So,when you switch to a golf club, focus on get-ting good posture with the correct spine tiltforward at address.
Cane it, lose your inhibitions
Feel the ‘whip’ as youunwind and add that finalburst of acceleration withthe hands – exactly thefeeling you want with a dri-ver in your hands
INSTRUCTION DAN FROST
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201146
With the majority of golfers being right-side dominant the left side of the bodyis often forgotten. In everyday life theright-hander will seldom sway towardshis weaker side in day-to-day activities.This lack of use makes the left armweak in strength and lacking in coordi-nation. A great test of your left arm strength
(or right arm if you’re a left-hander) is tothrow two balls, one with your righthand and one with your left. I bet yourright hand throw is synchronised, free,easy and effective – but what about theleft? Clumsy, awkward and weak nodoubt! No matter what standard of golfer
you are it is important to improve thefunction of the left side of the body,because it really does improve the bal-ance and width of the golf swing.Improved strength and coordination onyour weaker side will allow your swingradius to widen – and with this wider arcyou will create more clubhead speed. Step 1: Address the ball with your left
hand grip only. Place your right hand onthe front of your left arm toward theshoulder. This will help support the leftarm as you rotate the torso in the back-swing. Make sure you are balanced andtilt forward from the hips to create goodposture. Step 2: Start the swing by using your
big muscles in your torso to rotate theclub away from the ball. Your belly but-ton should lead the turn in the takeaway. Step 3: Time to ‘load’. Simply contin-
ue to rotate your body slowly, keepingyour head central, and feel that your leftarm maintains all the width it had in theaddress position at the top.Step 4: Focus on allowing your arm
and body to swing down and unwind‘together’ smoothly into and throughimpact. You will have a strange sensa-tion of the clubhead coming down last.This is the correct and desiredsequence to strike the ball efficiently.Step 5: Impact is simply the position
you pass through, but notice the rewardfor making a good transition...the leftarm and the shaft form a synchronisedline,with thehandjust ahead of the ball.Step 6: Finally make sure you free-
wheel into a full finish, facing the target.Notice how my right foot has reachedits full pivot and my right hand is stillholding my upper left arm.
Gi QUICK TIP: Rehearse this drillwithout the ball until you feel a sense ofreal control. When you are comfortable,introduce the ball making smooth, fullswings. In no time at all your left side willfeel stronger and when you reapply yourright hand to the club you will have agreat feeling of control and width.
Improve your leftarm/wrist function
Focus on allowingyour arm and bodyto swing down andunwind ‘together’
Keep the pres-sure on with theright hand all theway to the finish
Clasp the upperpart of your leftarm with the righthand and thenstart your swingwith the biggermuscles in thetorso
With your lower body sta-bilising the movement ofyour body core, and theball held between thepalms of your hands,start off with this basicrotation back andthrough to the target
I’m sure most of you have swung two clubstogether to warm up at some stage. This is agood exercise, but often feels awkward in thehands, as it is difficult to grip two clubs at once.A good alternative is to keep the headcover onyour driver. Adding weight to the head improvesawareness, control and sequence, leading to amore synchronised swing. Step 1: Fix a strong rubber band around thebase of your driver headcover to secure it in
place. Then go ahead and assume your normalset up, hovering the club just off the ground.Step 2: Sweep the club away and turn yourshoulders so that your back faces the target (oras near to as possible) at the top of the swing.Step 3: Keep your change of direction smooth;allow the arms to fall for a fraction of a secondand the left leg to brace.Step 4: If you have started the downswing correctlyyour hands will definitely lead the club into impact.
Step 5: Allow the momentum of the headcoverto release the club so that the right arm and theshaft form a straight line.Step 6: As with every good shot allow that all-important re-hinge in the throughswing. Noticehow my eyes are still fixed on the point ofimpact at this time.Gi QUICK TIP: This drill is not only great forimproving ‘sequence’ in the golf swing; it is alsoa brilliant way to warm up on the 1st tee.
Weighted wrist bands are widely usedin the gym (to over-train, if you like) butthey are rarely used in golf...until now!This is a really simple drill that will helpto improve your strength and overalllevels of coordination. Step 1: Wrap a weighted wrist
band around each wrist. Step 2: Take your normal
address position – remindyourself of good balanceand posture.Step 3: Make a
smooth, wide backswing,allowing your shouldersto turn and rotate to sup-port this added weight atthe top of the swing.Step 4: Next, try to allow the
momentum and weight of the wristband to swing the club down andthrough. Step 5: Don’t forget that all-impor-
tant balanced finish, facing the target.
Gi QUICK TIP: The wrist band will natu-rally improve your strength and conditionwithin your own dynamic movement.The great thing about this drill is thatwhen you take the band off you will feelincreased hand speed and improvedrhythm leading to effortless power.
Headcover training – the perfect warm-up standing on the 1st tee
Add weight to increase the ‘load’
IT’S ALL ABOUT SPEED
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 47
The wrist bands Iuse weigh ?? At theset up, focus on cre-ating good angles,poise and balance
Swing the clubeasily and freelythrough the ball –the real benefitwill then berealised when youremove the bands
This is the perfectwarm-up on the1st tee – justremember torehearse thissmoothly andalways swing to afull finish The all-important
crossover as the handsand forearms re-hinge inthe through swing – lookfor this in your ownaction
EQUIPMENT TURNBERRY
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201148
Poetry in motionFollowing its success on tour with many of the world’s top players, the
TaylorMade Performance Lab is now available as arguably the ultimate custom
fitting experience for golfers of all standards. Dominic Pedler visited the brand new
facility at Turnberry for an overdue insight into his swing as well as his equipment.
PERFORMANCE LAB
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 49
A slick culture shock greets clients mid-way through their two-hour session
at the new TaylorMade Performance Lab at the Turnberry resort on the
Ayrshire coast. After the absorbing swing analysis and number crunching
section in the indoor studio, comes your chance to turn theory into practice
by testing out the demo clubs that the TaylorMade technician has expertly
configured to your swing.
At the flick of a switch one entire wall of the studio rolls up and cutting
edge technology gives way to natural beauty as the venue turns into your
private driving range, with Turnberry’s rugged linksland as the backdrop
and the famous lighthouse as a perfectly positioned marker post.
Then again, the whole TMPL experience delivers an enlightening ‘wow
factor’ for anyone mildly interested in the mechanics of their golf swing and
the latest ways top companies are pushing the envelope to get you custom
fitted most efficiently to your true potential.
of course, there are many custom fitting operations around today, many
using sophisticated launch monitors that tell you the results of any shot in
terms of the ball speed, spin rate and launch angles that define distance
and dispersion. The TMPL involves this, too, with data from the excellent
foresight Gc2 unit allowing instant comparisons between your existing
clubs and the various permutations of that the technician will instantly
assemble during your session.
But launch monitors only track the ball itself – not the swing that deliv-
ered it. And TaylorMade’s unique selling point with TMPL is their MAT-T
Motion Analysis Technology: a biomechanical-based camera/software con-
cept that tracks all the key movements and positions of both body and golf
club at every stage of the journey from address to follow-through.
This extra perspective provides a truly fascinating insight into the nature
of your game for both the fitter and the player, while dramatically improving
the task of recommending the ideal equipment and specifications for your
game. Here is a snapshot of the process as I experienced it on my recent
visit to Turnberry.
1. The Set Up
The adventure started with Turnberry’s Head fitting Professional, Ian
fraser, asking me preliminary questions about my game, swing tendencies
and priorities before making some initial observations about my ball-flight
as I warmed up.
The biomechanical action began when he attached a series of small sen-
sors to key positions on my wrist, feet, knees, chest, spine, arms and head
using lightweight Velcro straps and a small vest to which you are soon oblivi-
ous. The special six-iron test club used for this part of the session is also fitted
with sensors that calibrate your swing to the system and allow the face angle
and shaft plane to be monitored throughout. You then simply wait for the ‘beep’
each time before hitting the specially adapted ball into the net. six high-speed
cameras track the movement of every moving part and relays this to the MAT-T
software that already knows the exact length, loft and lie of the club.
In this way every swing you make can be recorded and viewed on the
TV monitor with you, the golfer, depicted now as a very visual 3-d ‘avatar’
whose every movement can be replayed in slow motion, freeze framed and
viewed from any angle.
2. Data collectionThis 3d footage is complemented by some essential impact data quantify-
ing the movement of the golf club itself. As well as head speed, these
include the dynamic loft (compared to the 6-iron’s static loft of 31 degrees),
the lie angle of the shaft (that can often explain a push or pull), the face
angle at impact relative to the target line, the orientation of the swing path
and the angle of attack (whether you’re hitting up or down on the ball).
These stats are supplemented by the more familiar numbers for ball
speed, spin and launch angle from the launch monitor itself.
While all this digital data is impressive, what matters most is the expert
interpretation and recommendations. The system itself comes up automati-
cally with its own specific equipment suggestions based on the cold data,
but the technician crucially considers it all in the context of his assessment
of your swing and coaching plans and the very latest product lines and
TRAVEL
For sports fans the world over the forthcoming Rugby World Cup promises a mouth-watering spectacle; for golfers especially the prospect of a trip to New Zealand is onelaced with opportunity, as our man on the ground, Martin Davidson, reports
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201150
NEW ZEALAND
Kiwi fruit
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 51
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GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201152
TRAVEL
It’s really not difficult to understand the enduring attraction of La Manga Club – just two hours’ flying time from the UK, the pioneering resort is an oasis of sportingluxury with five-star service to match, as Tim Smith discovered
LA MANGA
Course marshal Antonio Sota(left) is rightly proud of the lettersand photographs he receivedfrom England’s Luke Donald, whoholidayed at La Manga as a boy
Eveything under the sun
Of the many people associated with
Luke Donald’s deserved ascendan-
cy this season to the top of the
world rankings, the name Antonio
Sota will not be a familiar one.
However, this long serving and
extremely genial La Manga Club employee, who’s
now a course marshal there, can rightfully lay
claim to having helped the then future world No.
1perfect his game during numerous family holi-
days to the legendary Spanish resort as a school-
boy. Indeed, you only have to mention the subject
to him to be greeted by a huge smile and the excit-
ed exclamation ‘Luuuke Dooonald’. And such is his
pride in the connection that he’ll happily show you
the framed letters and photographs he has from
this year’s BMW PGA champion that clearly demon-
strate Donald’s own gratitude for the help he
received as a youngster.
I mention this as it seems somehow appropriate
that the La Manga Club, for some 40 years now a
favourite with golfers from all over the world,
should have had a small but significant hand in
Luke Donald’s career. After all, it also did its bit in
establishing the young Seve Ballesteros back in the
early ’70s when for several years he represented La
Manga as its international touring pro and in doing
so helped put the resort firmly on the map.
Originally the idea of Gregory Peters, an
American entrepreneur who purchased 500 acres
of land in 1970, the resort has now grown to
almost epic proportions and, as it approaches its
fortieth birthday later this year, it now covers an
area that’s apparently three times the size of
Monaco! This sprawling six square kilometres is
home to around 2000 villas and apartments, a 5-
star hotel, some 40 bars and restaurants, 8 soccer
pitches, 28 tennis courts, a bowling green, a spa,
and oh yes, three golf courses. It’s also easily acces-
sible from Britain, just one reason for its continued
popularity with golfers from this country.
This convenience should not be overlooked. We
flew from Gatwick to Alicante in less than two
hours and following a 60-minute journey by road
(Murcia airport is even closer) we were checking
into the wonderfully plush surroundings of the
Hotel La Manga Club – the Principe Felipe – which
was refurbished a few year’s ago and now stands
as one of the best golf resort hotels I’ve stayed in.
There was something rather idyllic about being
able to eat breakfast while overlooking the 18th
green and being able to walk to the first tee from
your room in about three minutes flat!
As for the golf itself, the ‘daddy’ of European
golf resorts has been attracting players here from
all over the world for almost as long as it’s been
open. The South Course was originally designed by
Robert D Putman but received a re-modelling in
1992 by Arnold Palmer. Regarded as the
Championship course at La Manga it measures
around 7,150 yards off the back tees and with
numerous water hazards and large sand traps this
Par 73 provides a test of golf that will definitely
keep you on your toes. The par four 15th is a fabu-
lous hole that requires a very straight (and long)
tee shot followed by an accurate approach shot to
Pristine championship golf in adelightful setting explains why somany habitually return to La Manga
GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201154
WORLD NEWS
Playing to the galleryAt Congressional, Rory McIlory put on the show of a lifetime, breaking records for fun as he stormed to his first major title. Andy Farrell reports
McIlroy’s tee-shot at the par-three 10thon Sunday defined his performance – atowering iron to within inches of the cup
The European Tour– The Race to Dubai 2011
Nordea Masters
bro Hof Slott GC, Stockholm, Sweden. // 21-24 July
1 Alexander noren sWe -15 67 66 63 77 273 € 250,000
2 richard finch enG -8 69 72 70 69 280 € 166,660
3 niklas Lemke sWe -5 68 72 70 73 283 € 93,900
4 scott Hend Aus -4 69 70 71 74 284 € 69,300
4 Pablo Martin esP -4 69 72 69 74 284 € 69,300
6 dustin Johnson usA -3 73 71 67 74 285 € 42,150
6 seung-yul noh kor -3 73 68 69 75 285 € 42,150
6 Jeev Milkha singh Ind -3 70 71 69 75 285 € 42,150
6 Bubba Watson usA -3 71 67 69 78 285 € 42,150
10 Jamie donaldson WAL -2 73 70 67 76 286 € 27,800
The barclays Scottish Open
Castle Stuart Golf links, Inverness, Scotland // 07-10 July
1 Luke donald enG -19 67 67 63 197 € 550,250
2 Hed fredrik Andersson sWe -15 73 66 62 201 € 366,830
3 Angel cabrera ArG -14 71 64 67 202 € 126,117
3 George coetzee rsA -14 66 69 67 202 € 126,117
3 nicolas colsaerts BeL -14 69 66 67 202 € 126,117
3 Lorenzo Gagli ITA -14 68 68 66 202 € 126,117
3 scott Jamieson sco -14 67 66 69 202 € 126,117
3 Mark Tullo cHI -14 65 71 66 202 € 126,117
3 Martin Wiegele AuT -14 69 68 65 202 € 126,117
10 robert coles enG -13 70 69 64 203 € 59,179
Alstom Open de France
le Golf National, Paris, Francis // 30 June - 03 July
1 Thomas Levet frA -7 70 70 67 70 277 € 500,000
2 Mark foster enG -6 68 68 68 74 278 € 260,565
2 Thorbjørn olesen den -6 66 71 71 70 278 € 260,565
4 Martin kaymer Ger -4 71 69 67 73 280 € 150,000
5 simon khan enG -3 70 70 70 71 281 € 116,100
5 richie ramsay sco -3 69 68 68 76 281 € 116,100
7 James Morrison enG -2 66 66 72 78 282 € 77,400
7 Hennie otto rsA -2 69 71 71 71 282 € 77,400
7 Brendan steele usA -2 74 70 67 71 282 € 77,400
10 Anthony Wall enG -1 68 73 69 73 283 € 60,000
bMW International Open
Golfclub Munchen Eichenried, Munich, Germany // 23-26 June
1 Pablo Larrazábal esP -16 68 67 69 68 272 € 333,330
2 sergio Garcia esP -16 69 71 64 68 272 € 222,220
3 George coetzee rsA -14 67 67 70 70 274 € 88,000
3 Mark foster enG -14 68 68 66 72 274 € 88,000
3 retief Goosen rsA -14 68 69 67 70 274 € 88,000
3 scott Jamieson sco -14 69 69 72 64 274 € 88,000
3 Joost Luiten ned -14 70 69 68 67 274 € 88,000
8 robert coles enG -13 72 67 65 71 275 € 50,000
9 ross fisher enG -12 71 70 68 67 276 €40,533
9 Lee slattery enG -12 67 72 66 71 276 € 40,533
US OPEN Championship
Congressional CC, bethesda, Maryland, USA // 16-19 June
1 rory McIlroy nIr -16 65 66 68 69 268 € 1,003,414
2 Jason day Aus -8 71 72 65 68 276 € 602,745
3 kevin chappell usA -6 76 67 69 66 278 € 253,809
3 robert Garrigus usA -6 70 70 68 70 278 € 253,809
3 Lee Westwood enG -6 75 68 65 70 278 € 253,809
3 Y. e. Yang kor -6 68 69 70 71 278 € 253,809
7 sergio Garcia esP -5 69 71 69 70 279 € 159,164
7 Peter Hanson sWe -5 72 71 69 67 279 € 159,164
9 Louis oosthuizen rsA -4 69 73 71 67 280 € 134,459
9 charl schwartzel rsA -4 68 74 72 66 280 € 134,459
11 davis Love III usA -3 70 71 70 70 281 € 113,639
11 Heath slocum usA -3 71 70 70 70 281 € 113,639
11 Brandt snedeker usA -3 70 70 72 69 281 € 113,639
14 fredrik Jacobson sWe -2 74 69 66 73 282 € 90,250
14 Matt kuchar usA -2 72 68 69 73 282 € 90,250
14 Graeme Mcdowell nIr -2 70 74 69 69 282 € 90,250
14 Webb simpson usA -2 75 71 66 70 282 € 90,250
14 Bo Van Pelt usA -2 76 67 68 71 282 € 90,250
19 Johan edfors sWe -1 70 72 74 67 283 € 73,796
19 steve stricker usA -1 75 69 69 70 283 € 73,796
21 Patrick cantlay (AM) usA PAr75 67 70 72 284 €
21 ryan Palmer usA PAr69 72 73 70 284 € 67,760
23 retief Goosen rsA +1 73 73 71 68 285 € 53,275
23 Bill Haas usA +1 73 73 68 71 285 € 53,275
23 Brandt Jobe usA +1 71 70 70 74 285 € 53,275
23 dustin Johnson usA +1 75 71 69 70 285 € 53,275
23 robert rock enG +1 70 71 76 68 285 € 53,275
23 Henrik stenson sWe +1 70 72 69 74 285 € 53,275
23 Gary Woodland usA +1 73 71 73 68 285 € 53,275
30 Harrison frazar usA +2 72 73 68 73 286 € 35,145
30 Grégory Havret frA +2 77 69 71 69 286 € 35,145
30 ryo Ishikawa JPn +2 74 70 74 68 286 € 35,145
30 Zach Johnson usA +2 71 69 72 74 286 € 35,145
30 do-hoon kim kor +2 73 71 70 72 286 € 35,145
30 kyung-tae kim kor +2 69 72 69 76 286 € 35,145
30 seung-yul noh kor +2 72 70 73 71 286 € 35,145
30 rory sabbatini rsA +2 72 73 70 71 286 € 35,145
30 John senden Aus +2 70 72 72 72 286 € 35,145
bMW Italian Open
Royal Park I Roveri, Turin, Italy // 09-12 June
1 robert rock enG -21 64 68 68 67 267 € 250,000
2 Gary Boyd enG -20 69 65 68 66 268 € 130,280
2 Thorbjorn olesen den -20 65 71 70 62 268 € 130,280
4 Peter Whiteford sco -19 68 67 68 66 269 € 75,000
5 Joost Luiten ned -18 66 67 69 68 270 € 63,600
6 niclas fasth sWe -17 69 69 64 69 271 € 48,750
6 Michael Jonzon sWe -17 69 68 69 65 271 € 48,750
8 Jbe kruger rsA -16 69 66 67 70 272 € 33,700
8 Matteo Manassero ITA -16 66 68 70 68 272 € 33,700
8 francesco Molinari ITA -16 66 68 68 70 272 € 33,700
AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 55
EDITED BY ANDY FARRELL
Playing to the galleryAt Congressional, Rory McIlory put on the show of a lifetime, breaking records for fun as he stormed to his first major title. Andy Farrell reports