Editor’s Letter

Editor’s Letter “I’m loving the chance to write absolutely nothing in the stableford column…” BREAKING 70

KENT GRAY kent.gray@motivate.ae • Twitter: @KentGrayGolf / @GolfDigestME

nyone else inadvertently board golf’s bogey train the moment lockdown restrictions were loosened?

Even if you didn’t, most regular golfers are familiar with the scene as you become trapped inside your own round (or rounds), a passenger seemingly powerless to re-route a day quickly speeding out of control.

If you’re not fl ailing about in the trees off the tee, you’re in great shape greenside only to fl uff the fi rst part of a simple up and down. Even worse is when you waste a blessed green in reg with three poor impersonations of a putting stroke. That’s how one of our pals got his nickname, Jabba-the-Putt. That, and his uncanny resemblance to the slug-like Star Wars gangster. But I digress. That was in a time and galaxy (particularly in our current circumstances) sadly now far, far away.

Four rounds after punching my ticket to ride on the very fi rst hole back, it seems there’s no disembarking my particular runaway express.

There have been pars, even rare runs of them – two in a row constitutes an offi cial streak in our regular fourball. They give hope that you’ve fi nally rediscovered your PC (pre-COVID) swing. Sadly, it’s not long before there is a sudden signal change courtesy of all those rusty twitch fi bres and you’re hurtling back toward blob town.

It would normally be chug-a-chug-a boohoo but I’m seriously loving it, giddy at the mere chance to write nothing in the stableford column and move on with a fresh reminder of how maddeningly brilliant our game is. A

A lot of friends around the globe, like Jabba who has been holed up in Edinburgh, have had to wait much longer for the pleasure.

So, the header? What’s this ‘Breaking 70’? As you’ll have deducted, it has nothing to do with my game. The impressive number is rather a nod to the diamond anniver sary of our mother publication in the United States. Golf Digest has enlightened and entertained countless millions of golfers since Bill Davis published the fi rst issue out of his Chicago one-bedroom apartment in 1950. Golf Digest Middle East has contributed to a now truly global narrative since November 2008, nearly three decades after my personal journey with the title began in the mid 80s when I was wowed by all the amazing course pictures and tips from my heroes. That well-thumbed copy, hidden beneath a stack of women’s mags at a rented beach house, ignited a dream that today aff ords this serial three-putter the great honour of waffl ing on about bogus trains for a living.

Thankfully the team in the U.S. have produced a bumper issue to celebrate their big birthday. We’ve reproduced a fair chunk of it within this issue, along with plenty of regional eye candy in our ‘Wee Wonders’ feature, a ranking of the Middle East’s best par 3s. It’s not your usual Golf Digest Middle East but then these are not normal times. And the tips from the greats were too precious not to reprint, a timeless treasure trove to help you get ever closer to breaking 70. Or 80. Or 100. Or perhaps just a run of bogeys. Enjoy.

editor-in-chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer managing partner & group editor Ian Fairservice

editor Kent Gray art director Clarkwin Cruz editorial assistant Londresa Flores photographer Mustufa Abidi instruction editors Mike Kinloch, Euan Bowden, Tom Ogilvie, Alex Riggs chief commercial officer Anthony Milne publisher David Burke general manager - production S. Sunil Kumar assistant production manager Binu Purandaran

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