‘TIGER LOOKS LIKE HE HAS TERMINAL PILES’ PET ER A L L IS S SH A R E S 80 Y E A RS OF OPI N ION
JUNE 2011 ISSUE 6, VOL 52
A FEARLESS GENERATION
RICKIE FOWLER RORY McILROY
‘RIVALRIES ARE GOOD’
MANASSERO
AT HOME WITH A PRODIGY
RYO ISHIKAWA www.golf-world.co.uk
FIND THE BEST
BALL FOR YOU 27 TESTED & RATED
PUTTING SECRETS BY BRAD FAXON
RULES IN QUESTION
TIME FOR CHANGE?
TOM
WATSON
£4.20
CONSISTENCY TIPS
JUNE 2011
BUBBA WATSON n PETER ALLISS n RICKIE FOWLER n RORY McILROY n MATTEO MANASSERO n BALLS TEST
MY THREE DRIVING KEYS
‘I WILL WIN FOR JAPAN’
T I P S & TAC T IC S
HAVE NO
FEAR!
BY B U B BA WAT SO N > FREE UP YOUR SWING FOR POWER > SHOT-SHAPING THE BUBBA WAY PLUS
> HOW TO ATTACK PAR 5s > DON’T BE AFRAID OF SAND > NERVE-FREE CHIPPING
WIN
BM W ST E PRO -A M WA R SP O TT ABU T DHA ROLLE Y BI B REA K
B R E A K 1 00/90/8 0 A M E R I C A’ S TO P 1 01 CO U R S E S
CONTE NTS w w w. g o l f-w o r l d . c o .u k
94
DRIVE WITH FORCE AND FINESSE American star Rickie Fowler joins Matteo Manassero, Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa in our “young guns” special.
IBE R C S OZ E N SUB
ET A D AR A N DIGXO N Z-SATG 52 SR : SEE P E BALL S
INSTRUCTION 43 QUICK TIPS
Advice from the world’s best coaches.
66 COVER BOMBER COMMAND
Bubba Watson reveals the secrets of his game.
81 COVER TOM WATSON
Consistency tips from one of the game’s giants.
94 COVER RICKIE FOWLER ON DRIVING The up-and-coming American offers his advice.
108 COVER RIP YOUR FAIRWAY WOODS Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson shows you how.
158 COVER BREAK 100/90/80
Chipping techniques to improve your scores.
66
BUBBA WATSON JOINS A HOST OF TOP PLAYERS OFFERING ADVICE
100
RORY M c ILROY HEADLINES THIS MONTH’S ‘YOUNG GUNS’ SPECIAL
112
AS PETER ALLISS TURNS 80, HE SHARES A LIFETIME OF WISDOM
122
WHICH BALL BEST SUITS YOUR GAME? OUR TEST REVEALS ALL
FEATURES 14 THE STARTER
Golf fines, North Korea and Dustin Johnson’s tip.
18 BARE MY SOUL: BILLY FOSTER
Lee Westwood’s bag man shares his stories.
55 COVER THE BIG INTERVIEW
Brad Faxon on putting, technology and links golf.
62 STRETCH FOR SUCCESS
Ross Fisher shares his pre-round warm-up routine.
74 COVER THESE UNRULY TIMES
High-profile cases put the rules under the spotlight.
88 COVER MATTEO MANASSERO
The young Italian is already looking beyond Europe.
100 COVER RORY M cILROY
The Irishman admits it feels like he’s won the Lottery.
104 COVER RYO ISHIKAWA
The star’s astonishing gesture to his stricken nation.
112 COVER PETER ALLISS AT 80
A forthright chat with the new octogenarian.
EQUIPMENT 118 THE BIG LAUNCH
Yonex unveils its new EZONE drivers.
120 NEWS & TOUR ANALYSIS
PowaKaddy’s new trolley; long putters on tour.
122 COVER THE BALLS TEST
All the big brands put through their paces.
129 THE FITTING ROOM
Three Golf World readers are fitted for PING irons.
TR AVEL ON THE COVER
132 THE NEW-LOOK PINEHURST
How Crenshaw and Coore have transformed it.
Bubba Watson, photographed exclusively for Golf World in Tuscon, Arizona, March 2011. The big-hitting American talks about his all-feel approach to the game on page 66.
134 ROYAL LYTHAM’S OPEN SURGERY
COVER IMAGE BY HOWARD BOYLAN
144 COVER AMERICA’S BEST COURSES
The Lancashire links has been toughened up.
137 TOP 100 WEEKENDER: BIRMINGHAM From The Belfry to Little Aston, it’s a great golf area. The 2011 ranking of the USA’s top 101 tracks.
www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011
QUICK TIPS
A GRAND ENTRANCE
JHONATTAN VEGAS IS LIVING THE DREAM. Televison doesn’t do Jhonattan Vegas justice, because when you see him in person, you realise he’s big – really big. And he knows exactly how to use his 6ft 2in frame. “Freakish athletic stuff,” says his swing coach, Kevin Kirk. Several years ago, Kirk installed a launch monitor at his former teaching facility. Several young players were taking turns cranking up their driver swings to get the highest possible readout. The fastest one was 119mph – until Vegas stepped in. “He hadn’t been in the United States for very long and was playing golf at the University of Texas. He starts hitting drives, and he’s getting up to 125mph. Everyone was in awe. Then the other kids start asking him to step it up. All of a sudden, he’s swinging 136, 137 – monstrous.” Even more amazing, Kirk says, is that Vegas was still hitting it pure and staying in balance. “I think it comes naturally to me,” says Vegas, who went from swinging broomsticks at rocks as a kid in Maturin, Venezuela, to winning the Bob Hope Classic in January in only the second start of his rookie season on the PGA Tour. “Guess I was born with it. If I’m hitting my driver well, I’m going to play well.” Practice sessions with Kirk mostly focus on fundamentals: grip, posture, alignment and so on. But one thing they keep an eye on is the connection between Vegas’ arms and body. Sometimes he extends his arms out too much at address, as if reaching for the ball. When his arms get too far away from his body, Kirk says, his swing becomes narrow and steep. That produces a ball flight that’s too high and has too much backspin. “He’s so big and strong and athletic, he can get away with some poor mechanics,” says Kirk, who analyses his swing here. “But when his swing is really on, it’s a sight to see. He hits it as straight as anyone, and when you combine that with his length, he’s got a huge advantage.”
SWING SEQUENCE
A taller posture with his hands closer to his body helps him stay connected.
I like how his lower body remains quiet, and we’re working to maintain width.
He’s very comfortable with this square-toe position. Great flexibility allows him to stand this way.
He’s super strong: The shaft in his club is ultra-stiff, and he can still get it to flex.
J H O N AT TA N V E G A S BIO 26, 6FT 2IN, HOMETOWN MATURIN, VENEZUELA DRIVER NIKE VR PRO STR8-FIT BALL
JUNE 2011 // www.golf-world.co.uk
This is what I call brilliant geometry: a really solid, athletic position at the top. He does a great job turning his back to the target. Amateurs should copy this move.
It’s amazing he can swing as hard as he does and finish like this.
© GOLF DIGEST
Great hand-eye co-ordination allows him to smash the ball, even when his swing is slightly mis-timed.
NIKE ONE TOUR D DRIVING DISTANCE (RANK) 296.9 YARDS (20TH) BIRDIE AVERAGE (RANK) 4.9 PER ROUND (THIRD)
www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011
BOMBER
COMMAND B Y B U B B A WA T S O N WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM THE BIG HITTER WHO SHAPES SHOTS AT WILL. WORDS BY PETER MASTERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOWARD BOYLAN
B
ubba Watson isn’t an ordinary golfer; he’s a showman. There can’t be too many players in the history of golf who’ve had quite such a left-field approach to the game. He doesn’t practise, he’s never had a lesson and if it’s a straight drive with a hint of draw you’re after, then forget it – snap slice is the name of the game here. “See that house over there,” says Bubba, pointing 150 yards to the right of the fairway moments after stepping on the tee for his first Golf World photo shoot. He can’t wait to show us what he can do. “I’ll hit it over the house and bring it back onto the fairway. Do you want to see me do that? I can, you know. Let me show you.” The setting up of lights stops as Bubba tees it up and takes aim. His feet are lined up not at the house, but right of it, and as he swings the club, the movement is fluid, at first slow and then very, very fast – like a fisherman casting a fly. The ball starts at the house and is launched high, extremely high. It doesn’t curl immediately, but once the banking starts, it swerves to the left like a Frisbee in a high wind. The hang time must be seven seconds at least before it alights on the fairway some 320 yards in the distance. Bubba looks pleased. “I love my slice,” he says. “I cut everything and it’s never done me any harm. I can’t understand why so many people spend so much time trying to get rid of it. Look at most of the greats in the game – Tiger, Nicklaus – they all played with a cut.”
JUNE 2011 // www.golf-world.co.uk
TE DDY SCOTT
W DIE’S VIE THE CAteDd working with Bubba, I hall d
ba star “When I first where he was hitting the the h ng uc ei m se ty e bl et pr ou tr ways looks al ew up tkn I se s re hi eeks befo because t it quite a few w ar st ok ’d to It he e. es m sa ean, sometim m I . on ok ar lo pe to where dn’t reap at the ball di so far right th urse until it was the co !” about to land
FOCUS ON THE AIM... With the driver, I’m just trying to get the ball in play. Anywhere on the short grass is fine. I just happen to hit the ball a long way, but that isn’t my main intention. Getting the ball off the tee and in play on the hole is the absolute priority. If more amateurs had that agenda, then they wouldn’t get themselves into half the trouble that they do.
OFF SET
FAT GRIPS
I built my driver not to go right. I don’t want to hook it or draw it, the club has been created to hit a cut. You can see here how my clubhead naturally sits a little open. My grip has 12 wraps of tape under it and I’ve had it placed on the club so that the head lies two degrees open.
I use fat grips because they feel better to me. I’ve just got so used to them that a pencil grip now feels terrible and really uncomfortable. People say that the thicker grip tends to quieten the hands down, but I wouldn’t know about that.
THREE ADDRESS POSITIONS L OW D R I L L
NORMAL
THE HIGH BOMB
I always tee the ball up high. From a high tee position you can play every shot you need; high bomb or low drill. When I want to hit the ball low I get my hands a little bit more over the ball at address, so that the clubhead looks slightly closed.
I’m a long hitter, but it doesn’t look like I’m really ripping at it. That’s because I’m not. I have more in the tank but my swing looks smooth and rhythmic. That’s a key secret to distance. In good weather, I know I can carry any bunkers that are 320 yards away; in bad weather that might be 285 yards.
If you want distance then hitting it harder isn’t the only thing on your mind. You do need to launch the ball higher so this is where the set-up changes. Being a left hander, I’ll address the ball with a little more weight on my left side and my right shoulder higher at address. I’m also thinking about a quicker tempo.
www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011
MATTEO THE PRODIGY
AT 17 GOING ON 30, HE HAS AMBITIONS BEYOND THE BORDERS OF ITALY WORDS BY JAIME DIAZ PHOTOGRAPH BY NOAH SHELDON
F
irst impressions matter, and I’m keeping Matteo Manassero waiting. Sure, Manassero was charming and humble as Tom Watson’s sidekick for the first two rounds of the 2009 Open. But at the moment, being hopelessly lost in the Venetian foothills and already late for our first interview, I’m thinking the Italian prodigy will have all kinds of reasons to cop an attitude. To start with, at 16 he was the youngest ever to win the British Amateur or make the cut in the Masters; at 17 he was the youngest to win on the European Tour, and its youngest Rookie of the Year. He has six major endorsement contracts that have elevated him from his country’s middle class, and he didn’t turn 18 until April 19. At the WGC Matchplay event earlier this year outside Tucson, where Manassero used precocious ball control to beat Steve Stricker and Charl Schwartzel, fans and especially coeds chanted “Matt-ay-o! Matt-ay-o!” Last, consider that he’s an only child who still lives with his mother in Verona, an opera capital that has produced its share of prima donnas. I’m supposed to be meeting Manassero at GardaGolf, a private club his parents joined when he was four, and which remains his home course. Despite leaving an hour before
for a 20-mile ride from the centre of the medieval city, his manager, Gorka Guillen, and I have somehow got ourselves on the wrong side of the largest lake in Italy, in a rented Fiat without GPS, lurching about in driving rain. When Guillen gets Manassero on his mobile phone, the kid is practising under a covered hitting bay. When we finally get to the clubhouse, an elegant villa, and enter the broad-beamed grillroom, we find Manassero with his parents, Roberto and Francesca – who are separated but remain friends and partners in their son’s career – engaged in a midday meal with fellow members. Matteo gets up with a smile, and in fluent Spanish kids Guillen about his sense of direction and his football team’s loss the night before. Then he greets me politely in slightly accented but well-spoken English. It’s a language he has taken in school for the past eight years and will continue to study until he graduates next year, after spending the past 12 months doing course work with a tutor. He says he enjoys English literature more than grammar, and he likes Shakespeare – whose take on the Capulets and Montagues remains big in Verona – more than Beowulf. “Very tough,” he says of the Old English epic poem. “I was happy when he finally killed the dragon, because it meant we were ➨
➨
THE POSTER BOY
POWER WITH
CONTROL
MY KEYS T O G R E AT
2
P OWER When I’m looking to really bomb driver, like on a par 5 or reachable par 4, I tee the ball high and move it up in my stance, just off my left toe (1). A forward ball position naturally makes my body fall into a power set-up. That means my head is well behind the ball (2) with the shaft leaning back and my right shoulder low. Keeping equal weight on both feet, I want to be wide in my stance (3). My torso feels loose, relaxed and prepared to hit the ball with an upward strike.
DRIVING
BY RICK IE FOW LER
I
PHOTOGRAPH BY DOM FURORE
guess I’m proof that you don’t need to be big to hit the ball far. I’m only 5ft 9in, 150 pounds, but last year on tour I averaged more than 290 yards off the tee. Distance happens as long as you set up properly and let your body just go, no matter your frame. It’s not like I play recklessly. I hit 64 per cent of my fairways, which helped me rank top 25 in a stat called Total Driving. The secret is to have two swings: one for power, one for control. The control swing comes in handy when a hole is tight or your timing happens to be a hair off. Owning two driver swings doesn’t mean remembering a lot of technical stuff; I’ll show you the minor adjustments that make it easy to alternate between the two. Practise them, then trust your gut to know which swing to bring.
3
1 JUNE 2011 // www.golf-world.co.uk
RICKIE FOWLE R
CTo hitOa moreNconservative T R OteeLball, I always choke
down on the grip a full two inches (1) and narrow my stance so my feet are only slightly wider than my shoulders (2). I tee the ball lower and further back, maybe three inches inside my left instep. This levels my shoulders more and helps me feel centred over the ball (3), like on an iron shot. One last thing I might check is that the shaft is basically straight up and down.
P OWER I like to draw the club back slowly, but not so slow that
there’s any tension in my forearms. At the top, I want most of my weight shifted to my right side, maybe 70 or 80 per cent (1). With the big shoulder turn I’ve made, my head has moved significantly behind the ball (2). From here, I feel I can just step on the gas. It’s go time! How far back I move my head is a matter of timing that varies day to day. If I’m feeling super on, I shift back real far.
2
3
1
1
2
www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011
RORY McILROY
IT DOES
FEEL LIKE I H AV E
WON
THE LOTTERY
THE STRAIGHT-TALKING IRISHMAN ON TIGER, HIS CRITICS, BELFAST, COURSES AND HIS ASPIRATIONS. WORDS BY PAUL MAHONEY PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT BECK, GETTY IMAGES
T
en years ago Tiger Woods was fearsome and unplayable. Most of his rivals said so, too. And that was fine. But now it’s different. Woods is vulnerable and his aura has vaporised. But it seems his peers (he has peers now) are frightened to tell it like it is. But not Rory McIlroy. He has been criticised by some that still worship at the altar of Woods for having the confidence and honesty of youth to suggest that Woods isn’t quite the power he was once. Heck even Woods knows THAT. Would people rather have players with no opinions or those that lack the courage to air them? There are plenty of those already. And they get slammed, too – for being dull. Thankfully McIlroy has a brain and is happy to exercise it. He has been the unofficial spokesman for the Tiger Generation, that group of 20-year-olds that was inspired by Woods, watching on television as he destroyed his rivals for more than a decade. McIlroy and his
gang are now jostling for the game’s top honours and none of them bears the mental scars of a career blighted by a constant mauling at the hands of the former World No.1. McIlroy felt obliged to send a message to his critics via twitter. “Hate that the media thinks I’m taking jabs at Tiger all the time. Best that’s ever lived. Ever. Just not playing his best at the minute. If he plays his best we’re all screwed. Hard to dodge the Tiger questions when you get 10 every interview you do.” McIlroy is learning fast what Woods has known all his adult life: the more successful and famous you become, the more people want to ask your opinion on everything from what you like for breakfast to tragedies such as the tsunami in Japan. Be thankful that he is embracing all enquiries with intelligence, charm, patience, and wit. It was reported in two Irish newspapers recently that McIlroy had bought a Bugatti Veyron for £1.3 million. Again he took to twitter. “Total bollocks.” McIlroy’s detractors should lend an ear to Horace Mann, the pioneering 19th Century American education reformer. “Do not think ➨ www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011
PET ER A L L IS S
‘TIG E R LOOK S LI KE H E HA S TE RM I NAL PI LE S . H E LOOK S LI KE H E HATE S E VE RY M I N UTE OF IT’ PETER ALLISS HAS SOME OF THE MOST ENLIGHTENING OPINIONS IN THE GAME. HE’S JUST TURNED 80, YET SHOWS NO SIGNS OF DRYING UP.
P
WORDS BY JOHN HUGGAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW HARRIS, TOM HOWARD AND GETTY IMAGES
eter Alliss is still the Godfather of British golf broadcasting. He still has an uncanny ability to perfectly sum up situations in his wonderfully urbane, eloquent and humorous manner. In a politically correct world, Alliss delights in swimming against the tide; and he even enjoys being a little bit mischievous. He has never been frightened to speak his mind; and what he has to say is never dull. During the winter he completed an extraordinary tour of the country, taking in 35 venues in about five weeks. He filled theatres from Aberdeen to Eastbourne; telling stories and answering questions. It was so successful, he intends to do a similar tour this winter. Alliss has just celebrated his 80th birthday, and to mark that occasion, we paid him a visit and shared in his wisdom... I never really saw my father play. But he was a
lovely golfer, the Luke Donald of his day, or a Gene Littler. He had an elegant, perfectly balanced swing and was a superb driver of the ball. His putting was a bit shaky, but if you look at the greens back then they were worse than my lawn. I got a hand-written letter from Henry Cotton when I won the Assistants Championship in 1951 or ’52. “Dear Peter, many congratulations on your first victory. Your father was the sweetest swinger I’ve ever seen. What a beautiful player. Sincerely, Henry Cotton.” I looked at an old Golfers Handbook the other day.
It sounds ridiculous, but, apart from maybe 15 of them, I have met, played with, or known every Open champion since 1900. I met the likes of James Braid, JH Taylor, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen through my father, Percy. I came home one day from school to find a few of my father’s friends sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of ➨
THE
EQUIPMENT BA LLS TEST
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR T OUR 2011 TEST MAKES THE CASE FOR THE EXPENSIVE BALL. WORDS BY MIKE STACHURA PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM HERITY
he truth about golf balls cannot be more clearly stated than this: Money changes everything. For the 2011 balls test, we’ve broken down the golf ball universe into two distinct categories: £30 and under and £40 and over. Though less-expensive balls perform well on some full shots (primarily with the driver), their performance tends to decline the closer you get to the hole. The reason is how they’re made: Inexpensive balls with ionomer covers spin less and offer less consistency and control when approaching the green than pricier multilayer balls with softer urethane covers. Of course, we realise that in these times of high unemployment and surging petrol prices, suggesting you pay more for golf balls might seem callous, even clueless. But stick with us. It’s not a mandate; it’s just something for you to consider. Unlike the ‘tour’ drivers and blade irons used by professional golfers, the moreexpensive balls aren’t designed exclusively for elite players with super-fast swing speeds. “The range of force applied to a ball by a better player includes the level of force applied by less-skilled players. Therefore, a golf ball must be designed for all swing speeds or it won’t work for any golfer,” says Bill Morgan, senior vice president of research and development for golf balls at Titleist. “If we design a ball
JUNE 2011 // www.golf-world.co.uk
that will help a tour player, it will do the same things that help you and me play better, too.” Dean Snell, senior director of golf ball research for TaylorMade, says the soft balata balls played by tour players 15 years ago did nothing to help average players off the tee. But that’s no longer the case with today’s sophisticated multilayer balls. “The days of distance differences are pretty much over now,” Snell says. Your ball selection, however, comes with a catch: The choice matters only if you can tell the difference. If you’re not interested in spending £40 for a dozen because you lose a lot of balls or don’t have the ability to play the short-game shots required to get the ball close, then balls with less spin that cost less than £20 a dozen might give you everything you need. “Longer clubs with more loft, such as fairway woods and hybrids, can generate significant spin, so low-spin balls will help those players hit longer and straighter shots,” says Steve Ogg, vice president of golf ball research and development for Callaway. But, he says, there’s an important exception: “Should an 18-handicapper who’s trying to improve trade the benefit of a urethane ball for that? Probably not.” ➨
NEWS THE TEST 40°
26
25 21 23
15
27 24
THE AWARDS
17 20
22
1618 16
3 14
➞
SILVER
LAUNCH A NGL E ➞
19
GOLD
WEDGE LAUNCH AND SPIN This chart plots the robot-testing data for launch angle and backspin on half-wedge shots for the 27 balls on our list. Urethane-covered models (entire lower right) launch lower with more spin. Balls with ionomer covers launch higher, spin less and roll out more. Your ball of choice likely doesn’t matter if you have 20 yards of flat green in front of you. Anything else, and spin will likely play a role.
1
GOLD products earned a score of 93 to 100 on our weighted scale. SILVER products earned a score of 88 to 92.99.
8
l CATEGORY LEADER A product with the highest score in a particular criterion.
10
7
6 11 2 4 5 12 9 13
25°
THE RATINGS
Star ratings represent a scoring range within each price category. A ½-star is equal to the upper end of a particular range. 97-100 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 88-96. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ★ ★ ★ ★ 70-87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ★ ★ ★ 51-69.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ★ ★ <50.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ★
3,000 RPM
➞
SPI N RAT E
➞
CHEAP v EXPENSIVE
JUST HOW MUCH ARE YOU GIVING UP?
Less-expensive balls tend to go further. But not by much. And they don’t spin nearly as much. In our robot test at 95mph, the £30-and-under models were three yards longer than the £40-and-over models. But on half-wedge shots, the £40-and-over balls spun 65 per cent more than £30-and-under balls. So which means more, two per cent further off the tee, or 50 per cent more spin? Only an on-course test can answer that for you.
THE PROCESS
We started with 55 models and reviewed robotand player-testing data, technical information from golf ball manufacturers and opinions from our technical panel. A swing robot at Golf Laboratories Inc, an independent testing facility in San Diego, hit every ball with a driver at a swing speed of 95 miles per hour and a partial wedge shot of about 50 yards. A group of 25 single-digit handicappers evaluated each ball during four days of testing at Wyndham’s Reunion Resort near Orlando. Players were asked to rate balls on a 1-to-5 scale in several areas, including Control, Spin and Feel.
£30 AND UNDER
£40 AND OVER
PERFORMANCE (45%)
Based on player interviews and independent testing, the score reflects our interpretation of how the ball reacts when struck.
INNOVATION (30%)
In consultation with our technical panel, the score reflects our view of how well the ball’s technology advances the category.
FEEL (20%)
Using input from panellists, the score reflects how ideal impact felt.
DEMAND (5%)
An assessment of the reputation, interest and excitement about a ball, considering market presence, tour use, relative value and consumer satisfaction through various sources.
DRIVING DISTANCE
DRIVER V WEDGE SPIN
7,000 RP M
LEGEND FOR GRAPH £40 AND OVER 1 BRIDGESTONE B330 2 BRIDGESTONE B330-S 3 BRIDGESTONE B330-RX 4 BRIDGESTONE B330-RXS 5 CALLAWAY TOUR i(S) 6 CALLAWAY TOUR i(Z) 7 NIKE 20XI-S 8 NIKE 20XI-X 9 SRIXON Z-STAR 10 SRIXON Z-STAR XV 11 TAYLORMADE PENTA TP 12 TITLEIST PRO V1 13 TITLEIST PRO V1x £30 AND UNDER 14 BRIDGESTONE E5 15 BRIDGESTONE E6 16 CALLAWAY HX DIABLO TOUR 17 NIKE ONE VAPOR SPEED 18 TAYLORMADE BURNER TOUR 19 TITLEIST NXT TOUR 20 BRIDGESTONE xFIXx 21 CALLAWAY HX DIABLO 22 NOODLE+ EASY DISTANCE 23 PINNACLE DIMENSION 24 SRIXON AD333 25 SRIXON SOFT FEEL 26 TAYLORMADE BURNER 27 TOP-FLITE GAMER V2
THE TERMS CORE The rubber compound at the centre of a ball. Its resiliency provides the ball’s energy. MANTLE A layer of polymer between the core and cover used to control spin and feel. IONOMER A durable cover or mantle
material made of a blend of plastic resins (Surlyn). There are many varieties of Surlyn produced by DuPont and other companies. URETHANE A softer, more elastic cover material than ionomer and more expensive to manufacture.
TWO-PIECE A cover and core, found in the least-expensive balls. THREE-PIECE A cover and core inside a core; or a core surrounded by a mantle. FOUR-PIECE A cover, dual cores and a mantle; or a cover, single core and dual mantles.
www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011
I N CO R P O R AT I N G
THE
TOP 100
COU R SE S
INSIDE THIS S E C T I ON
N E W S / R E V I E W S / D E S T I N AT I O N S
MONTHLY
THE ALL-NEW PINEHURST No.2
CRENSHAW & COORE HAVE TAKEN IT BACK TO THE 1930s.
134 LYTHAM’S REDESIGN
IN: 137 WEEKEND BIRMINGHAM
100 USA 144 TOP COURSES
RICO’S 149 PUERTO CLIFFTOP GOLF
Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have been understandably anxious about drastically revamping the Pinehurst No.2 design they so revere. Coore played there extensively during his college years and considers it his most important philosophical influence, while Crenshaw’s affinity for Donald Ross and his experiences in tournament golf at No.2 fuelled a determination to return character that had slowly disappeared over the last 50 years. “I hope we didn’t go overboard,” says Crenshaw. “It’s such a big change, but in our
minds it’s illuminated the design.” Indeed the restoration that reopened for play in March has illuminated holes previously bathed in rough by eliminating 35 acres of maintained turf. In the place of turf requiring water, fertiliser and constant mowing is a mix of native, sandy hardpan interspersed with wire-grasses, pine needles, footprints and the occasional perfect lie. Irrigation was also removed from the rough, returning a single row up the centreline. That shift helps eliminate a linear, artificial look that had overtaken an American masterpiece.
THE NEW COURSE
1936
2009
2011
THE 9th HOLE CHANGES THAT TYPIFY THE WORK TO RESTORE PINEHURST. n Historic images from the Tufts Archives in
7th HOLE FROM ABOVE
Pinehurst (1936) revealed the original greenside bunker as one with an unusual flair-up toward the back left. Donald Ross was not known for such audacious brushstrokes, but this injected character to an already splendid one-shotter.
NEW DESIGN HARKS BACK TO ROSSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ORIGINAL.
n Before the restoration (2009), the hole was
essentially two colours, two-dimensional and lacking individuality. n The No.2 course occupies 196 acres, with 61 acres of
turf, down from 87. Areas like this in front of the 190-yard 9th tee are not vital to playability (2011), yet wasted resources and stripped the course of its singularity. Before golfers could be playing just about anywhere; now they can only be playing at Pinehurst No.2.
2005
2011
Š GOLF DIGEST
n All 111 bunkers at Pinehurst were rebuilt and the
eroded-edge look replaces the more maintained style. They will only get better with time as weather, age and the occasional collapse adds more natural flavour, colour and the 3D character one would expect from a historic course. www.golf-world.co.uk // JUNE 2011