Golf Digest August 2020

THE #1 GOLF PUBLICATION

HAROLD VARNER III

LETS IT FLY “Don’t Be Afraid To Hit The Big Shot”

+ august • 2020 A MOTIVATE PUBLICATION AED20 KD1.7 OR2.1 SR20 BD2.1

Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority

Staying Calm and Carrying On • Josh Hill • Toby Bishop • Arjun Gupta

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Tee Sheet

â–ś just for fun Short courses, like the Mountain Top at Big Cedar Lodge, promote whimsy among architects and golfers alike. 30

08/20

how to play. what to play. where to play.

8 Editor’s Letter Golf today is more of a head-scratcher than ever.

BY KENT GRAY

28 What Might Have Been For a time I was beating Lee Westwood and every junior in England, but then I lost my way.

The Starter

BY MICHAEL WELCH WITH JOHN HUGGAN

10 Golf Valley München With breath-taking views, this course between Munich and Tegernsee promises an idyllic golf getaway.

30 Of Course Short courses delight captive audiences at resorts and private clubs, but we need more in real communities.

BY KENT GRAY

BY DEREK DUNCAN

Play

32 The Loop The nine types of golfers you see on Instagram.

12 Golfers We Like Basketball legend James Worthy will play with anyone, anywhere.

BY BEN LYONS

16 Drill Them In It’s time to get clutch with the flat stick.

BY COLEMAN BENTLEY

40 Jim Nantz When I knew Bryson DeChambeau would become a full-blown star.

INTERVIEW BY MARK WHITAKER

50 Go After It Let me show you how to step up and hit the big shot, time and again.

BY TOM OGILVIE

18 Butch Harmon The secrets of an effective pop-putting stroke.

BY HAROLD VARNER III

54 10 Minutes with...

Thomas Rourke We meet the new man with a familiar face behind the GM’s desk at The Els Club, Dubai.

19 David Leadbetter Find more yards with your feet.

20 Shot Shaping How to hit the high draw or the low bullet off the tee.

BY TIGER WOODS & MATTHEW FITZPATRICK

be at 1 24 Toughest Holes Tamed Don’t let a good round go to waste on ‘Sea View’ at SBGC.

mountain top: brian oar

BY KENT GRAY WITH JACO STANDER

Cover photograph by Dom Furore

cover story 56 Harold, Unvarnished In a turbulent 2020 season, the self-described “super-opinionated” Harold Varner III emerged as a leading voice on the PGA Tour.

WITH KENT GRAY

Features 34 The Three Amigos It’s no surprise that MENA Tour teens Josh Hill, Toby Bishop and Arjun Gupta haven’t plummeted into pandemic panic mode.

BY KENT GRAY

58 Scratch Golf Six shots that could make the difference between a good score and a great one.

BY JASON GUSS

66 Last Shot I believe Augusta National will do the right thing for Lee Elder.

BY JERRY TARDE

august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

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Editor’s Letter

Simply Don’t Get it KENT GRAY kent.gray@motivate.ae • Twitter: @KentGrayGolf / @GolfDigestME

S A CONSUMER OF GOLF literature, it goes without saying you’re addicted to this maddeningly brilliant game or well on your way to being so. There are aspects of said obsession that don’t make much sense and yet we keep coming back for more.

Round after round, hit after frustrating mishit.

Like how, when your tempestuous driver blessedly co-operates, you thwack it right back into the rough. Or your normally reliable putter decides it’s time for a little cryogenic treatment. Get the flat stick back up to room temperature and your iron game suddenly goes on the blink. The problem then? Well, you’ve never really had much of a short game, have you? Aghhh!

Why all facets of our game can’t get their act together, even for one measly round, is the infuriatingly compelling conundrum that keeps us seeking the next fix. Confusing too is how former world No.1 Jordan Spieth is struggling with a game he once made look so simple, how DJ can win one week then shoot a pair of 80s the next, and (not that but) how Jon Rahm has ascended to the summit of the world rankings. The latter doesn’t compute, especially as the Spaniard doesn’t yet have a major title on his résumé. Then again, the Official World Golf Ranking is a bit like quantum physics, the theory of which is also handy if you ever want to understand how absurdly far Tony Finau hits it with half a backswing. It’s all utterly confounding.

Talking of golfers capable of hitting it into tomorrow, I don’t get the hullabaloo surrounding Bryson DeChambeau. Once the poster child for slow play, the kooky Californian is now a villain for swinging it too fast. He seemingly can’t win even when he does and spectacularly so. Jeepers, the R&A even have bulky Bryson in their crosshairs and have vowed (finally) to do something more than commission studies into golf’s opinion-dividing distance debate. Just as soon as this pesky pandemic is under control, that is. You literally can’t rush these types of thing nowadays.

The 2019 OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic champion could indeed be the decisive facilitator of change, perhaps bringing about a game where the pros play a dialled back ball like Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player have been championing for aeons.

In any other sport, we’d be doffing our cap to someone who has found a legitimate way to advance his or her chosen athletic field. And yet DeChambeau, somehow, is the one who has finally

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taken it too far by gaining what is a relatively minuscule edge over his peers thanks to his suddenly eye-popping driving distance stats.

Maybe he really has discovered the secret to golf?

We seriously doubt that, as impressive as the rich vein of form the Ryder Cupper rode to a sixth PGA Tour title in Detroit early last month was. This is golf remember, that game where your driver, irons, putter, brain and all those twitch fibres in between are diametrically opposed most of the time.

DeChambeau isn’t going to win every week, so what’s the big deal with hitting it miles on the rare weeks he does? Are courses really becoming obsolete? We haven’t lengthened the 100m track as Olympic sprint times have dipped, rather marvelled at human evolution. And hey, Webb Simpson can still win with a game full of guile and a silky putting stroke so surely all is not lost?

In a sport built on ancient foundations and romanticised swings, maybe we simply don’t like a verbally unfiltered, scientifically-honed, robotic looking rocket-launcher? Someone radically different. Or maybe it’s DeChambeau’s occasional tantrums that irk so many?

It’s especially bemusing how we don’t want the game’s best players to be vanilla and yet, when they let off a little steam, commentators in farflung studios and armchair experts around the world suddenly become the patron saints of perfect behaviour.

We’re not condoning the meltdowns or some of the privileged drivel the stars utter in the media, like how DeChambeau’s ‘brand’ could be hurt by lingering TV cameras. For a guy making millions hitting a ball around a field with a stick, it was an ill-considered rant at a time when folks are losing their livelihoods and even their lives courtesy of the coronavirus. But are we forgetting the guy is in his 20s and still learning the way of this crazy world?

Did we never make mistakes when we were young?

Do we not still make occasional gaffs at our offices?

Glasshouses and all that.

Nope, I simply don’t get it sometimes. Like July without The Open, August with a spectator-less PGA Championship and how Rory doesn’t win more often with that swing of his. Or why oh why I keep leaving putts short. Hole after exasperating hole. You’d think I’d learn but I’m off for another hit anyway. Probably to my mental health. Good luck with that driver of yours by the way. Or was it your short game? Blessedly, there’s tips and inspiration within this and every issue to help you with your addiction. Enjoy.

“Maybe DeChambeau really has discovered the secret to golf?”

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 THE GOLF DIGEST PUBLICATIONS ChairMan & Editor-in-ChiEf Jerry Tarde intErnational liCEnsing dirECtor Edward Klaris intErnational Editor Ju Kuang Tan GOLF DIGEST USA ChairMan & Editor-in-ChiEf Jerry Tarde Editorial dirECtor Max Adler ExECutivE Editor Mike O’Malley, Peter Morrice gEnEral ManagEr Chris Reynolds Managing Editor Alan P. Pittman dEsign dirECtor Ken DeLago Playing Editors Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas

Head Office: Media One Tower, PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE Tel +971 4 427 3000; Fax +971 4 428 2270 Dubai Media City: Office 508, 5th Floor, Building 8, Dubai, UAE Tel +971 4 390 3550; Fax +971 4 390 4845 Abu Dhabi: PO Box 43072, UAE Tel +971 2 657 3490; Fax +971 2 657 3489 London: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, E-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae

GOLF DIGEST USA (ISSN 0017-176X) is published monthly by The Golf Digest Publications, a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. Editorial and executive offices at 20 Westport Road (PO Box 850), Wilton, CT 06897-0850. Telephone: 091-203-761-5100. Copyright 2001 by The Golf Digest Publications and Touchline Media (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

GOLF DIGEST and HOW TO PLAY, WHAT TO PLAY, WHERE TO PLAY are registered trademarks of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. Printed in USA. Contains material reprinted by permission from GOLF DIGEST® Copyright© 2001, The Golf Digest Publications ® is a registered trademark of The Golf Digest Companies.

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Golf Valley München With lake and Alp views, this club between Munich and Tegernsee promises an idyllic golf getaway

e all look forward to a time when we can travel freely once more and especially when future trips for business or pleasure allow us to indulge our passion for golf. When that time comes, Golf Valley in the heart of Germany’s Bavarian region shapes as an alluring escape. Offering 27 holes of golf from the drawing board of Canadian architect David Krause, Golf Valley presents a challenging experience close to Munich. Part of the IMG Prestige global network, the club includes a 9-hole academy course and a high tech golf development centre with flood-lit driving range and short game practice area. Just the place to rejuvenate mind, body and game before exploring the local delights. —kent gray

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Photograph courtesy by IMG Prestige

The Tall Stuff For Lakers legend James Worthy, golf is every bit as competitive as hoops

BY BEN LYONS

N MOST WEEKDAYS, by the time you drop the kids off at school or head into the office, basketball Hall of Famer (Big Game) James Worthy has played 18 holes and hit two buckets of long irons.

This even though he’s 59 and coming off knee-replacement surgery. What’s your excuse?

“One thing I’ve been able to bring to golf is the work ethic,” says Worthy, who won an NCAA championship at the University of North Carolina and three NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“There are some things you can feel. When I’m playing basketball, I can feel when I’m hot. I know I want the ball. I haven’t quite gotten

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“One thing I’ve been able to bring to golf is the work ethic.“

Play Golfers We Like ▶ small ball “Golf attracts people like a magnet,” says hoops star James Worthy.

there with golf yet, but I know when I’m striking it pretty well, and I know when I’m feeling good. I know when I’m following through, and I know when I’m keeping my head down.”

Worthy works hard at his game because, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t like to lose—even if he’s just playing for 50-cent skins. “Playing against guys at the club, that’s the most competitive thing that gets me closest to NBA competition,” he says. “When you have 20,000 fans pulling for you [at a basketball game], giving you the energy that you need, that’s a big incentive. Or what I really enjoyed was being on the road and having someone say, ‘You suck!’ But when you’re on the golf course, all you hear are chirping birds and the wind blowing, and you got three guys standing there watching you, man. You have to retrain your mind.”

Worthy’s home course is L.A.’s MountainGate Country Club, where he’s a 17-handicap, and his regular crew includes sportscaster John Ireland, “The Voice of the Lakers.”

Worthy’s passion for golf is such that he’ll play with anyone, anywhere, no matter the conditions.

Ireland recalls teeing it up with Worthy at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte a few years ago on a December road trip with the Lakers. “The day before we’re supposed to play, it’s 30 degrees and snowing, so I’m thinking we’re canceled,” Ireland says. “My phone rings at 10:30 p.m., and Worthy says, ‘I just talked to the pro. If there’s no snow on the greens, we’re playing.’ He calls me again the next morning, and it’s now 28 degrees and just frigid, but no snow. Worthy says, ‘Let’s go!’ ” Growing up in small-town North Carolina in the 1970s, golf wasn’t really on Worthy’s radar. “You couldn’t afford the clubs; you didn’t really have a course to go to,” Worthy says.

He caddied a bit, earning $5 a bag on Saturday mornings at Gaston Country Club. But playing the game didn’t feel like an option. “In 1976?

A poor black kid, golf?

My friends probably would have beaten my butt if I came home carrying a golf bag over my shoulder. It really wasn’t popular.”

When he got to college, he watched with interest as one of his teammates— a skinny standout from Wilmington named Michael

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Jordan—started to play and enjoy the game. Davis Love III, a classmate, had a role in getting Jordan into golf, Worthy says. Still, it had little appeal for him until the early 1990s, as he was nearing retirement from the NBA. Staying at the Arizona Biltmore in Scottsdale as the Lakers battled the Suns in the playoffs, he wandered out onto the course and hit some balls to try to clear his mind.

“I didn’t understand the science of the game yet, but I started to pick it up a little bit after I retired.”

Around the time he left the Lakers in 1994, Worthy began to take lessons at Malibu Country Club, a public course that has since closed but was known to be a popular hangout for Hollywood stars.

Besides shooting his low round (79) and making his first ace there, he remembers seeing Charles Bronson hanging out and having lunch, and watching Marcia Clark and Goldie Hawn finish a round together.

“One day I get up there early, so I can get out by myself, but these two guys were there, and I had no idea who they were,” he says.

“They said, ‘We’re writers.’

In my mind, I’m like, Awwww, here we go. Everybody’s a writer in L.A. But they said, ‘Well, if we get this thing going, we want you to come on this show. I play a sports writer.’ So it turns out, it’s Ray Romano and his friend Kevin James!

I did one of the very first episodes of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ because I met those guys on the golf course.”

His love for golf has grown deep, but golf has often been painful for Worthy. “I’m 59, but the problem is, I’ve got like an 89-year-old body,” he says.

“A lot of arthritic bones and stuff like that. As an athlete, you learn how to play through pain, and I was doing it, man, and then I realised I couldn’t even straighten my leg. I was swelling a lot, I was trying to play through that, and I just can’t play through that. So I got the knee replaced, and it’s doing great. I can straighten that leg and hit through the ball, so I’m looking forward to much improvement.”

Seeing how golf has become such an important part of Worthy’s life is a reminder of what it could be for others— people who never were exposed to the game or never got any support to pursue it. Somehow golf needs to provide more opportunities for that kid caddieing at the Gaston Country Club to pick up a club, and not just a bag.

Worthy believes more exposure to golf will translate into more participation, and he stresses the significance of grow-the-game efforts by players like Harold Varner III and organisations like The First Tee. “Golf attracts people like a magnet,” he says. “It’s very therapeutic. You’re outside.

You got four hours with your buddies. I love it so much.”

Anything at all he’d change? “The only thing maybe is to see the beverage cart come around a little more often,” he says with a laugh.

“But that’s about it!”

Photographs by J.D. Cuban at MountainGate Country Club.

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Play Putting with Tom Ogilvie

Drill them in

Become a clutch putter with this challenging practice green game O YOU FIND IT a cinch to sink putts on the practice green only for that silky stroke to suddenly abandon you out on the course?

Here’s a drill if you’ve ever had trouble finding the bottom of the cup when it really counts.

A missed three-footer on the last to win your club championship match or three putting when two would have secured your career best score is utterly deflating. This ‘pressure putting’ game is designed to re-create the stresses you feel in those situations when there is an important scorecard in your back pocket. It will jangle nerves and, without a doubt, create the frustrations you must learn to deal with during competition play.

Start by setting up six to nine holes on the practice green ranging from 6-30ft. Use a tee or two to make a tee box and make sure to vary slopes from left to right, right to left, uphill and downhill; no putt can be the same.

The goal is to hit the target score aligned to your handicap, indicated in the bands here: • 15 under par – scratch or better • 10 under par – handicap 1-10 • 8 under par – handicap 11-20 • 6 under par – handicap 20 and above

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You have unlimited holes to achieve your target score.

At first, that might sound like a simple exercise but there is a constraint which makes this game very challenging. Every hole is set up as a par 2; one putt for birdie, two putts for par.

However, if you three putt at any point during the game, you must return to the first hole and start over at even par. You might find yourself going really well at five under and have a three putt after 15 holes...unfortunately, you don’t simply go back to four-under par, thus amplifying the consequences you face in a real match. Those five hardfought birdies are wiped and you must start from scratch again.

If this game does not frustrate you, you are clearly a whiz with the flat stick. I have seen scratch golfers complete the game in 30-45 minutes. I have also seen them at it for hours without completion. It really does test your patience and will hopefully reward you with holed putts in moments you need it most.

— WITH KENT GRAY Tom Ogilvie is PGA teaching professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai. For more information, visit dubaigolf.com

“I have seen scratch golfers complete this in 30-45 minutes. I have also seen them at it for hours without completion.”

WATCH THE VIDEO â–¶ Tom brings this lesson to life at golfdigestme.com

Play Tee to Green by Butch Harmon

“My No. 1 rule on the greens: Hit with a square face.”

Pop Your Putts Why a shorter, firmer stroke works great

NE COMMON PIECE of putting advice I’ve never liked—and so many players use—is to picture the putting stroke as a pendulum. That image promotes a long, flowing stroke with no acceleration into the ball. It might look smooth, but the downside is inconsistent contact and unpredictable results.

Instead, think about giving the ball a pop at impact.

That’ll naturally make your stroke a little shorter and faster, which will help you hit the ball with a square putterface. In putting, where the face is pointing at impact almost entirely determines the direction of the putt. For righties, an open face starts the ball to the right and a closed face sends it left. It’s crucial to start your putts on the line you’ve picked. If you do that, assuming you’ve read the break correctly, you’ll

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give so many more putts a chance to drop into the cup.

Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson, two players I’ve worked with over the years, are great examples of golfers who use a pop stroke. They both have a little shorter, tighter motion and strike the ball with almost no follow-through. Their strokes end with the face looking straight down their intended lines. It’s easy to see why those guys make a ton of putts.

So let’s get rid of that long, lazy stroke, and just pop it. As a bonus, you’ll tend to speed up your whole routine, and less time usually means a stronger commitment and more makes. That’s how I’ve always putted, and I think it’ll help you, too. —WITH PETER MORRICE

▶ I played a lot with Hall of Famer Billy Casper, who was one of the most underrated players of all time. He was amazing on the greens, and he putted with a very compact stroke.

With his hands very close to his body, his left hand almost resting against his left thigh at address, he’d hood the putterface going back, and then pop the ball. My father used to joke that every ball coming off the assembly line wanted to be putted by Billy. Gary Player is another great putter with a pop stroke. Think of those old films of Gary from the 1960s.

He was rapping the ball with no followthrough. You can always spot great putters, because all of their putts have that “going in” look.

The pop stroke has helped some elite players get that kind of consistency.

harmon is based at Rio Secco Golf Club, Henderson, Nev.

Photograph by J.D. Cuban

casper: ed l acey/popperfoto/getty images

the pop stroke has history

BioGolf by David Leadbetter

Play

“Longer swings don’t necessarily generate more power.”

Coil, Don’t Turn It’s key to 20 more yards off the tee

Rose: sam GReenwood/Getty ImaGes

JUSTIN ROSE’S EFFECTIVE BODY WEIGHT APPLIED TO THE GROUND WHEN HE’S SWINGING A DRIVER

halfway back

top

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100% 85%

Photograph by Dom Furore

halfway down

impact

finish

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lot of attention is given to footwork and using the ground as leverage to generate more power in the downswing. But if you’re looking to pick up some extra yards, what you do with your feet in the backswing is just as important. For years I’ve been telling my students to coil, not turn, as they take the club back.

The length of the backswing isn’t nearly as important as feeling wound up at the top.

Obviously, a healthy shoulder turn is part of it. But so is good footwork. Good golfers use their foot closest to the target, as a resister (you can’t coil without it).

Biomechanist J.J. Rivet, who works with European Tour pros, used sensors on major champion Justin Rose (below) to see if the effective weight of his body changed as he swung back. It did. At the point when the shaft was close to parallel to the ground, his effective weight increased by 20 percent. He was pushing into the ground to provide more resistance to the coiling of his backswing. Also interesting is that a good bit of that push was coming from his front foot—surprising if you’ve been told to get all your weight on your trail side as you reach the top. That’s not happening in a good player’s swing.

Here I’m demonstrating a drill that teaches how to properly use the ground in the backswing (left). Take a resistance band with your lead hand (left, for right-handers) and anchor it by your lead knee. Now mimic a backswing with your trail hand while keeping your lead knee and hand stable. Feel how your left foot has to push into the ground to prevent the stretched band from pulling you out of your posture. That’s the feeling you want as you take the club back. Do that, and you’ll have created and stored power for 20 extra yards.

— with ron kaspriske

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leadbetter is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional

august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

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Play Shotshaping

Hit the High Draw . . .

When you need extra yards

BY TIGER WOODS

’VE ALWAYS felt more comfortable playing a cut off the tee, and I don’t swing out of my shoes nearly as often as I did in my 20s and 30s. Still, there are certain times when I need to hit a high, hard draw to maximise distance like you see me doing here. Maybe I have to fly it 290 to carry a bunker, or maybe I need to squeeze every yard out of my drive to get home in two on a par 5. ▶ When I decide I’m going to send one deep, the first thing I do is tee the ball a little higher. It’s an old-school trick and something I’ve used for pretty much my whole career.

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“I feel like I’m throwing an upper-cut punch.”

A higher tee height promotes hitting up on the ball, which keeps it in the air longer with less backspin. If it has too much spin, the shot will balloon and go nowhere.

The high tee also makes it easier to create an in-to-out swing path, which allows you to put draw spin on the ball.

That’s key.

I also make a second setup adjustment by dropping my right foot away from the ball and standing a little wider. It’s something I started doing after

my back injuries. The foot position does two things: (1) It gives me a wider base so I can shallow my downswing and catch the ball cleanly on the upswing. (2) It helps me make a deeper turn so I can generate more clubhead speed.

My main thought for this shot is to create as much width as possible. It starts with the backswing—you want to feel like you’re creating a massive semicircle on the way back.

I don’t move as much laterally away from the target in the

backswing as I used to, but I still want to feel like I’m loading more on the right side than I would for a straight shot or a cut. In fact, the shaft in the backswing might get a little past parallel to the ground.

I continue the width thoughts on the throughswing. With my fairwayfinding cut, I feel like I’m slapping the ball with my hands. For the high draw, I feel like I’m throwing an uppercut punch. I push down hard into the ground with my lower

body and let my hands go out and up, completing the big semicircle this shot requires.

As always, I tailor the height of my finish to the height of the shot. So for this high draw, I’ll finish way high above my left shoulder. Back in the day, this is the swing that would result in a recoil, with the shaft rebounding off my body and finishing in front of me. These days, I save those big swings for special occasions.

— WITH DANIEL RAPAPORT Photographs by J.D. Cuban

Play Shotshaping

. . . And the Low Bullet When you need more accuracy

BY MATTHEW FITZPATRICK

M NOT AS SHORT as I used to be off the tee, but I’m still not one of the longer hitters on tour. For me, hitting fairways is absolutely crucial because I don’t have the luxury of hitting a lot of short irons into greens. I’m able to compete because I find so many fairways. Despite ranking 151st in driving distance last season (288 yards), I ranked 35th in strokes gained/off the tee. I also led the tour in nearest average proximity to the centre of the fairway (20 feet, five inches) and was second in average proximity to the edge of the fairway when I missed it (18 feet, 10 inches).

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“I lower the flight more intuitively.”

I go about my driving differently than most guys on tour.

I’ve worked hard to develop four tee shots: my stock drive, a bomb when I can swing away, a “second serve” fairway finder—and my bullet, the drive I’m demonstrating here.

I learned the bullet—a low, piercing shot that runs when it lands—as a kid. My home course in England, Hallamshire Golf Club, gets quite windy, so I used it to maintain some control over my tee shots. Now I turn to it when-

ever my driving goes wayward.

Most players change ball position when they’re trying to hit it higher or lower. I lower the flight more intuitively.

Imagine there’s a wall just in front of you that’s 10 feet off the ground. If you had to hit the ball under it, how would you do it? I focus on feeling like all my weight is on my left side during the backswing.

I make a conscious effort to feel a ton of pressure between my left foot and the ground, like the stack-and-tilt swing

method. This helps lower the ball flight, because you’re set up to swing more down on the ball. You’re not trying to sweep it as much.

Then on the downswing, I feel like I’m pressing my hands toward the target through impact to deloft the club. It’s crucial to keep your arms out in front for this shot, or the ball will launch too high. This shot also requires a good amount of confidence, so definitely practice it on the range before you bring it to the

course. And don’t be discouraged if you hit some tops early on, because your path into the ball will probably be steeper than you’re used to.

When I’m hitting the bullet, my driver’s dynamic loft is only about 3 degrees, so it launches extremely low and carries far less than a normal drive. For me, the bullet flies about 240 yards. But it can run for days, especially if it’s firm.

And it’s super reliable to get the ball in play.

— WITH DANIEL RAPAPORT Photographs by Darren Carroll

Play Course Management

Don’t succumb to Stroke Index 1 Tackle the region’s toughest holes with more than blind hope by kent gray 24 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

mateurs everywhere will know where this nightmare scenario is headed.

You’ve got a good round going – you’re on track to take the postround drinks off your pals or perhaps even steal away with the monthly medal - only to run smack bang into a stroke index 1 monster bearing its teeth. Suddenly the air is sucked out of your sails and that once tidy scorecard, well that sucks now too.

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The scene of such scorecard horrors is a hole that’s invariably long. There’ll be some combo of water, sand and gnarly rough to contend with, a mound here and a perhaps a false front there. There’s nothing truer than the fact that headwind has just stiffened upon your arrival on the tee. Just hope the greenkeeper didn’t have a bad evening the night before or a nasty pin position will up the ante just a little more, not that the hole needed any help thank you very much.

So how do you not only survive but thrive on these potential card wreckers? Start by staying tuned to our new series where we’ve enlisted the help of the Middle East’s leading club professionals to help you negotiate your way through the region’s toughest holes.

First up, Jaco Stander shows you how to tame the beautiful beast that is the 16th hole at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Gary Player’s ever-challenging coastal gem in Abu Dhabi. ▶ Photograph by Saadiyat Beach G.C.

Play Course Management

“Find yourself in the fairway bunker short of the green and hope might be the only option.”

Tame 'Sea View' with Saadiyat Beach Pro

K

JACO STANDER

16th PAR 4

nown as 'Sea View', the 16th holds the title as the most difficult hole at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club for good reason. Big bunkers on both sides of the fairway, a green that demands precision with your approach and awkward run-off areas are just part of the challenge. Probably the biggest factor is the sea breeze which is always into you so practice those long irons, even if it’s just for this one very important approach shot.

I’ve had my share of drama here, everything from almost holing out for eagle to walking off the green with my tail between my legs after marking an eight on my scorecard. Here, I share lessons learned so that you don’t have to go through the same heartache. tee shot: Unless you can carry your driver 270 yards, forget trying to take on the right-hand bunker. For the longer hitters, aim instead between the two bunkers on the left of the fairway.

This area has a little speed pocket where, if your ball catches the slope, you'll add 20–30 yards to your drive and be left with a short iron in. Shorter hitters should aim towards the leftmost bunker to open the view to the green, essential given your approach will be a bit longer.

approach: Now lets navigate this tricky approach, first making 100 percent sure to stay out of the fairway bunker 30–40 yards short of the green. If you find yourself in there, hope might be the only option. Indeed, your approach needs to be precise to find the right landing area on the green - get it wrong and you'll be faced with a potentially long first putt or even tricker, a shot from one of the natural run-off areas. And probably a long first putt anyway.

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closing out: If your ball has been taken hostage by the 16th's nasty runoff areas, do whatever it takes to get it on the green ASAP because this is a place where you can easily leak shots with short game shots on repeat.

The green itself has many slopes which will challenge you on the best of days so concentrate on rolling it close and sneaking off without too much punishment from a hole that can definitely tarnish a good round. Good luck!

Black

488 yards

Gold

468 yards

Blue

420 yards

White

375 yards

Red

369 yards

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Play What Might Have Been

â–ś hot streak In 1990, at age 17, Michael Welch won 11 tournaments in eight weeks.

“My swing improved in a technical sense, but that wasn’t the way forward for me.”

Michael Welch Best player I ever saw you never did by lee westwood

Growing up in England, I was runner-up in a lot of junior events. Almost always to Michael Welch. I just wasn’t as good as him. Which was no disgrace. No one was.

My friend and regular foursomes partner was easily the best under-18 golfer in the country. In 1990, he won the Shropshire Boys, England Boys, British Boys, European Boys and World Boys titles. ▶ Looking back, Michael’s swing was all his own, but not one you thought unorthodox. He picked the club up quickly on the backswing, was a bit laid-off at the top, then dropped the club on the inside on the way down, so there was some wrist action involved. But he hit the ball solidly and a long way.

His game had no weaknesses. I’m still surprised he never made it on tour. by michael welch y golf career got off to the best possible start. As a young teenager, I was coached by Alec Lyle, the club professional at Hawkstone Park in the English Midlands.

So I had the opportunity to practice alongside Alec’s son.

At that time, Sandy was about the best ball-striker in the world. I’ve played with some genuinely great players—Ian Woosnam, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, Nick Faldo—but none of them was close to Sandy at his best.

Alec was perfect for me.

He was a great teacher, simple and focused on the basics.

It was never about “positions” in the swing. “Tempo, not temper,” “plenty of shoulders—no hands” were two of the things he used to tell me. He could see I didn’t need complicated swing thoughts.

Technically I’m not sure my swing was that great. I was never consistent. But when I was on, I was unbelievable.

My game had two strengths.

I hit the ball farther than just about every other junior in the

M

country, and I was “mustard” inside 100 yards. OK, I was a bit streaky on the greens, but when I was confident, I could do a lot of damage quickly.

That spell in 1990 when I won 11 tournaments in a row—including all those boys titles—was done over eight weeks. Not 52. I was portrayed as this unbelievable superstar, but it was really just eight weeks of unbelievable play.

How inconsistent I could be is illustrated by my performances in the Amateur Championship. In 1993, at Royal Portrush, I lost in the fourth round at the 20th hole after being 6 up with seven holes to play. One year earlier at Carnoustie, I led the 36hole stroke-play qualifying by four shots. If you look in the record book, you can see a few famous names behind me. Padraig Harrington was eight shots worse. Stephen Gallacher was nine back.

And a lad by the name of Lee Westwood was 13 adrift.

I had a fixed practice routine then. I’d hit a few balls on the range in the morning, always at a target. There was a huge tree, one with a 15-foot gap in the branches about three-quarters of the way up.

From various distances, I’d

use different clubs, each time trying to hit the ball through that gap. I knew if I could reproduce those ball flights on the course, my shots would be good. I could also hit fades and draws around the tree.

I’m certain my launch-angle and ball-speed numbers were really good back then. That tree was my TrackMan. This was in contrast to later when I became a bit of a robot. Hitting ball after ball, I got away from what made me good. Gradually, I lost the ball flight I had taken for granted.

My striking became more “fluffy.” I wasn’t compressing the ball as much. When I started seeing the ball doing things I wasn’t used to seeing, my game began to break down. Suddenly, I had doubts, though I was still doing what might be termed OK. I made the European Tour when I was 22. I played with Greg Norman in the third round of the 1996 Open at Royal Lytham. He beat me by two shots, 71-73. A day later I was drawn with Ben Crenshaw (I shot 68 to Ben’s 70) and finished T-18, a stroke ahead of the leading amateur, Tiger

Woods. But I was never hitting the sort of shots I did when I was younger. Eventually, I slipped off tour and ended up on the Challenge Tour and others around the world. I was going backward.

I did see a few coaches after Alec retired because of ill health. I worked with Keith Williams from 1992-’98. I had a couple years with Paul Westling. Then I was with Pete Cowen until I finished playing early in 2007. Ironically, my swing improved in a technical sense, but that wasn’t the way forward for me. What I needed was someone who would continue to keep things simple, as Alec had done.

The final factor was pain in my back. I was prone to spasms. What I should have done is take six months off to get my back right and found a trainer. Had I done that, I believe I’d still be on tour today.

When I stopped playing, I was 33. I had two choices: go into my dad’s architecture business or stay in golf. I chose the latter and—interestingly— spent four years as the lead coach for the Lee Westwood Golf School. Today, I’m at Hawkstone Park and coach a number of Challenge Tour players, as well as European Tour players Ashley Chesters and Kristoffer Broberg.

The word that comes to mind when I think of my pro career is “disappointing.” I never achieved anything like what I could have done. People used to ask me why I didn’t go back to what I was doing as a kid. But I couldn’t. I didn’t know what I was doing at that point in my life.

I still speak to Lee when I see him, and I get asked if I feel any jealousy toward him.

I can honestly say I don’t. He has done brilliantly. Yes, I was the better player when we were 16, but life goes on. I made decisions that took me down a different path, one that slowly eroded my game.

—with john huggan

august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

29

Play Of Course

Small Wonders Can short courses spark a movement? by derek duncan

30 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

t might be surprising to learn that the number of 18-hole courses in the United States didn’t surpass the number of nine-hole courses until 1974. Though sometimes viewed now as anachronisms, sub-18-hole courses played a critical role in the growth and development of the game throughout much of the 20th century. Something similar might be happening again. An unexpected recent architectural trend is the popularity of short courses: entertaining, quick-play accessory designs stuffed with ambitious architecture.

I

Short courses showcase golf as a brisk outdoor recreation that everyone can play quickly. thrill ride The 16th at the 17-hole Sandbox course at Sand Valley in Wisconsin.

Miniaturised versions of their full-size siblings, they follow no formalised number of holes—there are 13 at Bandon Preserve at Bandon Dunes, 17 at The Sandbox at Sand Valley, and 10 each at The Nest at Cabot Cape Breton and the short course at Forest Dunes in northern Michigan, both of which opened this summer.

Because short courses usually accompany one or more

regulation layouts, their architecture is free to offer more radical contour and psychedelic short-game situations.

Ideal for matches and lighthearted social play, golfers are encouraged to experiment, to carry just two or three clubs, to chase long bump-and-runs off slopes and backstops, and putt 90 yards tee to green.

The intrinsic nonconformity promotes an anything-

goes spirit. At The Cradle at Pinehurst you can play barefoot and order snacks at a food truck while music streams through speakers. Goats are used as caddies at the sevenhole McVeigh’s Gauntlet at Silvies Valley Ranch in eastern Oregon (wearing cooler packs, they’ll also carry your refreshments). And quirky, severe hazards prompted The Bad Little Nine at Scottsdale National to bill itself as the world’s toughest—or at least strangest—par-3 course.

So far, most short courses have been at private clubs or destination resorts, places that cater to captive audiences of golfers already primed for fun. Often played as a kind of nightcap near dusk, in large groups with a beer or cocktail in tow, they are a kind of golf amuse-bouche, delectable bites between and after fuller plates, occasionally flavorful enough to steal the meal. And they can work almost anywhere: along an Ozark bluff (the Mountain Top course at Big Cedar Lodge), a crescent of Caribbean beach (Tiger Woods’ The Playground at Jack’s Bay Club in the Bahamas) or a few acres of idyllic farmland (The Sink Hole, an addition to The Club at Olde Stone in Kentucky, designed

by Jerry Lemons).

More short courses are on the way: David McLay Kidd has built the frolicking new 14-hole Quicksands at Gamble Sands in central Washington.

Bill Coore and his shapers are adding a collection of 14 par 3s and 4s at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania. Woods is revamping the old nine-hole Peter Hay short course at Pebble Beach.

Unique settings and the natural bonhomie that short courses foster undoubtedly amplifies their appeal. But

enjoyment has largely been limited to club members and committed golf travelers.

A better purpose might be as city-based stand-alone designs that promote a faster, more playful game with architecturally ambitious greens and no lost balls.

Without rigid expectations of length or hole numbers, they can occupy small ecological footprints, even in urban settings.

We’re just beginning to see it. At Grand Oaks Reserve in Clevleand, Texas, Mike Nuzzo has built Three Grand, a 1,000-yard, ninehole accompaniment to the regulation Nine Grand course. In Verona, Wis., the architectural firm Lohmann Quitno is creating a 13-hole C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor template-themed course called Pioneer Pointe. Davis Love III and his brother, Mark, are directing an ambitious overhaul of the historic Belmont Golf Course five miles north of downtown Richmond, Va., involving the restoration of 12 original A.W. Tillinghast holes plus a new six-hole, beginner-friendly short course. Likewise, the city of Chaska, Minn., has hired Benjamin Warren/Artisan Golf Design to build a bunkerless, par-30 design based on classic British and American holes emphasising affordability and accessibility for newcomers, seniors and golfers with disabilities (adaptive golfers will serve as consultants).

Towns and municipalities once eagerly pursued golf as a wholesome, worthwhile amenity for citizens. If golf hopes to revive its reputation as an integrated community asset and showcase the game as a brisk outdoor recreation that everyone can play quickly and in their own way, short courses would seem to be the perfect vehicle. The model is out there. We just need to bring it closer to home.

Photograph by Brian Oar

Play The Loop

MATH WE DON’T HATE

what you can buy for the price of the most expensive golf club on earth

$181,000

Phil Mickelson

a visual history of golf’s greatest transformations

andrew dickson long-nose putter

Rory McIlroy

314

603

2,784

36,200

rounds at pebble beach

sets of wilson utility irons

years of “pga tour live”

coors lights at the turn Scott Stallings

WHAT YOUR SUMMER GOLF VACATION SAYS ABOUT YOU cape kidnappers You’re REALLY good at sleeping on airplanes. myrtle beach You have a lot of dollar bills you need to get rid of. sweetens cove You once broke up with a girl for not complimenting your Jones carry bag.

32 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

tpc sawgrass You’re a family man, and they wanted an “island” getaway. st. andrews You’d rather it just be winter. muirfield village You’re practical.

Why fly to Scotland when Ohio is around the corner?

putter: courtesy sotheby’s • pga: brands of the world • courtesy of wilson • tag: jayk7 • pebble: david cannon • coors: bloomberg • dechambeau: icon sportswire

Bryson DeChambeau

mickelson: sam greenwood • mcilroy: stuart franklin • stallings: icon sportswire, andrew redington • vacation: lambert • toptracer: getty sport • van: fluxfactory • ball washer: njnightsky

edited by coleman bentley

THE 5 MOST BEAUTIFUL TOPTRACER ARCS IN GOLF

TOUR PRO VS CLUB PRO

baby draw

Gets $350,000 per logo on the sleeve

Gets mustard stain on the sleeve

Hoping for late tee time so he can sleep in

Hoping for early tee time so he can be back for junior clinic

Just put a new driver in the bag

Just found his driver in the basement

Wonders if player dining has Impossible burgers for new diet

Wonders if he grilled enough actual burgers for membermember

Picked up in courtesy car at the airport

Picks you up in his minivan at the airport

high fade stinger flop shot ball rico chets off tree to three feet

the 9 types of golfers you see on instagram 1 The guy who finds a quiet beauty in the ball washer 2 Sunset Shot Guy (matched only by Sunrise Shot Guy) 3 The staged freakout guy 4 The actual freakout guy 5 The zen master on a “journey” to playing better 6 The “start ’em young” parents filming their toddler hitting cuts 7 The guy who’s not as good at trick shots as he thinks he is 8 The architecture geek who posts pics only of template holes 9 The guy who keeps a selfie stick with his wedges august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

33

File Photograph by Rodney Oliva

amateur ambition

THE MENA TOUR’S ‘THREE AMIGOS’ AREN’T ABOUT TO LET A PANDEMIC DERAIL THEIR CAREFULLY PLOTTED PATHS TO GOLF'S BIG TIME E’RE NOT SURE IF Josh Hill, Toby Bishop or Arjun Gupta have ever studied the deeds of Winston Churchill in history class but the Dubai schoolboys have, at least unwittingly, heeded one of the former British Prime Minister’s famed quotes. ▶ While topflight professional golf is back, sans spectators, the world’s elite amateur events are only slowly creaking back into life courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic. But channelling Churchill’s circa 1940 “Never let a good crisis go to waste” war cry, the MENA Tour teens are working harder than ever. Indeed, they haven’t really stopped, escaping into the desert for socially-distanced practice sessions even before lockdown when courses were deemed out of bounds to teens for health and safety reasons. ▶ There’s no need to suddenly try salvaging something from what is essentially a lost year when you don’t see it that way. Rather all three have kept on keeping on with carefully plotted progression plans. ▶ Hill is working with a new coach, Bishop is invigorated after committing to the University of Florida and Gupta has refreshed by hitting his school books – knowing the sooner he sorts his education the sooner he can get on with chasing his pro golf dream. ▶ If you’ve been following along, you’ll know the teen trio were dubbed the ‘Three Amigos’ by the MENA Tour in a nod to the 1986 American comedy-western starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short. You need to draw a long bow to connect Hill, Bishop and Gupta to the Hollywood stars in a golf context, perhaps other than giving this period a movie moniker, something like 2020 global-horror. ▶ But together the talented 16-year-olds have kept smiling and getting on with their young lives, looking forward to the mooted conclusion of the MENA Tour season in Jordan in mid-October to late-November. And brighter, ‘new normal’ times beyond that. — KENT GRAY august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

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HE WAY JOSH HILL’S unforgettable 2019 rolled into 2020, you’d have thought the English Boys’ representative would be cursing the big amateur golf shutdown caused by the coronavirus. Quite the opposite for the +6.5 handicapper (not a misprint!) as it turns out.

As a refresher few will require, Hill earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records when he won the MENA Tour’s Al Ain Open last October. The youngest winner – at 15 years, six months and 27 days – of an OWGR event went on to qualify for a European Tour debut in Abu Dhabi and played the following week in Dubai (courtesy of winning the MENA Tour’s amateur Order of Merit), keeping his name in lights. But his game was in a slightly darker place thanks to an uncooperative driver which saw him miss the cut at both Desert Swing events.

“Even though it was frustrating going into lockdown, I felt it came at a good time,” Hill reveals. “I was doing a lot of changes in my swing to help me control the ball better and this probably would have been harder to do whilst playing in tournaments.”

Those changes, instigated by new coach Rob Watts, took some inventiveness to bed in, first during lockdown in Dubai and later, when flights resumed, at the family home in England.

“Even though I was in a small apartment in Dubai, I tried to keep myself busy and keep improving. Before lockdown, when juniors weren’t allowed to practice at the clubs, we went into the desert to hit balls which was fun. Once we were in lockdown I would hit balls into a net in the communal area of the apartment and I ran in the underground car park and did the best gym session I could with the equipment I had.

“I still did a bit of swing work [in Dubai] but it has been nice to see the ball flight again to know that what I had been

36 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

working on was working. I played some really good golf before leaving for England and was shooting some good numbers around Trump. Hopefully, I can keep doing this up in the upcoming tournaments.”

Golf news, much less Middle East amateur golf news, has been scarce since the COVID-19 outbreak but if there was a headline popper, it was Hill’s decision to end his relationship with Joe Marshall at the Claude Harmon 3 Performance Golf Academy at The Els Club, Dubai.

“Joe and the CH3 team really helped me in the three years I was with them. They helped me progress and get some good results. I cannot thank them enough for what they did but sometimes change is good and challenges you,” the 16-year-old says.

“Rob Watts has a lot of good players and I feel since we met, he has a lot of confidence in me and we have a good relationship. When I was in Dubai, we would do Skype calls from the range which worked well and now that I’m back in the UK I see him every couple of weeks.”

The initial feedback from the new partnership has been encouraging after Hill made the cut at the prestigious Tillman Trophy and eventually settled for a share of 20th at leafy Foxhills Country Club in Surrey.

“I felt a bit rusty but it was good to get the season going and I cannot wait for the next few tournaments.”

Will that include the MENA Tour’s mooted five-event, six-week encampment at Ayla Golf Club, or part thereof? And later, maybe following pal Toby Bishop to college in the U.S.?

“I hope I will be able to play in the rest of the MENA tour season as it is such a great tour. But I also need to see what is happening with school and go from there.

“I feel for me college golf is definitely a possibility and I have spoken to some of the coaches and am working towards this but it depends where my game is when the time comes.”

I cannot thank them [Joe Marshall and the CH3 Dubai team] enough for what they did but sometimes change is good and challenges you.”

david cannon/getty images

THE RESET

TRENDING

joy chakravarty/mena tour

ITH JOSH HILL creating history and headlines around the world and Toby Bishop learning to become a serial winner too, it is easy to cast Arjun Gupta as the third Musketeer. Don’t be too quick with the supporting role tag though.

With a closing 66 to snare fourth place at the Ghala Open in mid-February, the Dubai-born Indian earned his best finish on the MENA Tour. It underlined the potential the +3 handicapper had shown by capturing the Faldo Series Middle East Championship at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club in April 2019.

Gupta played his final 36-holes in Oman in an impressive 11-under-par to seal his second amateur title on the regional development circuit after he shared that honour with Hill at last November’s MENA Tour Championship. He also came within a shot of earning his first-ever Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.

We suspect they will follow soon enough.

“I want to win the Amateur Journey to Jordan this year and this is a good step in that direction,” Gupta said at the time.

A year 12 student home-schooling through iCademy Middle East, Gupta spent the two months of lockdown in Dubai but unlike golf-focused Hill and Bishop.

“I went to the desert a few times to hit a few shots but, apart from that, just focused on my education. I was a bit frustrated that I couldn't play golf that much but I got the opportunity to focus on education and health.”

Gupta had planned to tee it up in events in the U.S. before the pandemic changed everything. Now he's focused on the MENA Tour's October- November plans at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba.

"They are the only events I hope to play in this year. I have learned a lot from the pros and gained real competitive experience through the MENA Tour.”

The U.S. still features in Gupta's plans but it's unlikely he'll follow in the soft-spiked footsteps of University of Florida-bound Bishop. Again, don’t be fooled. There is a firm plan, one where Gupta continues to let his golf do most of the talking.

“I’m happy to see Toby achieving his goals but I don't have college plans at the moment,” said the Jamie McConnell coached Gupta. The reason?

“Because I would like to turn pro and achieve my goals.”

Time will tell if Gupta's longterm vision comes to fruition. For now he retains bold amateur ambitions.

“I want to win a tournament on the MENA Tour and this [his Ghala performance] gives me confidence that I am close.”

I want to win a tournament on the MENA Tour and this gives me confidence that I am close.”

FOR THE GATOR GOOD EW AMATEURS HAVE greater cause to lament the months of top-flight competition lost to the pandemic than Toby Bishop.

The reigning Welsh U-18 Boys’ Strokeplay champion – who doesn’t celebrate his 17th birthday until Dec. - had been riding a giddy wave of form right up to golf’s shutdown, sparked by an unlucky playoff loss in the Trump Men’s Open.

He scorched to a cool nine stroke victory at another EGF-sanctioned event, navigating the Saadiyat Beach Men’s Open with a -14 (36-hole) total that included an amateur course record 62. Later he overcame a field that included the likes of European Tour player Gavin Moynihan to capture The Els Alliance and looked on course to make the honours board at Trump Dubai after carding a 68 for a three stroke lead following the opening round of the club championship.

Then, with U-18s banned from UAE courses overnight, the decision was taken to cancel the club champs. Lockdown followed shortly afterwards and surely too angst at a white hot spell extinguished by an invisible enemy?

“My coach Jamie McConnell and I didn’t look at this break as a negative or make excuses,” says Bishop who counts the U16 European Faldo Series title he won in late 2018 among his chief triumphs to date.

“Every other player was in the same situation as me, so it was down to me to work harder than them during lockdown to improve my game and allow me to return to competitions with the same great form.”

With a win and a second in a pair of Trump medals since the reopening, and rounds of 69-75 to edge Kate Bibby

38 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

by three strokes at the CH3 Collegiate Invitational at The Els Club, that was a mission largely accomplished as we went to print.

“It was definitely a weird feeling returning to competitions, mainly the tournament mentality and getting used to that again. But it’s what every player strives for. I love the pressure of the situation and enjoy every moment when I’m out there competing against my friends.”

Competition is coming in spades for Bishop who has committed to join the University of Florida in the recruiting class of 2022. World amateur No.2 Ricky Castillo is among Bishop’s imminent Gator team-mates.

“With both my parents being teachers, the collegiate pathway has always been the goal for me…and Florida has been my first choice college for a long time. It’s an environment I can’t wait to experience and look to grow as a golfer and a person during my time there. My goal is to be the best at what I do and I believe the University of Florida provides me with the best platform to achieve that.”

As he does on the range at The Els with coach McConnell, the Director of Instruction at the CH3 Performance Golf Academy, Bishop left no stone unturned before settling on the Gators’ golf programme.

“I ended up making contact with around 20 programs. On these calls I had to narrow down which programs met my criteria and I could not have found a better fit than University of Florida. The coaching staff there, in coach Deacon and coach Leon, have been so helpful throughout my calls and were a huge part

in my decision. I will be spending four years there and my family and I couldn’t think of anyone we would rather have to develop me as a golfer and a person off the course than Coach Deacon, he is such a great role model for all his players and fellow golfers.”

It’s been frustrating having to forego a trip to the U.S. to visit collegiate campuses and play AJGA events, not to mention the full summer schedule he had planned in the UK including the Carras Trophy, the (British) Boys' and Welsh Amateur Championships and the Boys’ Home Internationals.

Refocused, Bishop is now looking forward to entering Year 12 at Dubai English Speaking College this month and kicking off his A-Level studies.

There’ll also be enough golf to keep his competitive fires stoked.

“The rest of my year will be based in Dubai. I will play in as many Men’s opens and local tournaments as I can find and we have the Dubai Golf Trophy [the Ryder Cup- style match between the top performing EGF OOM amateurs and UAE Tour pros] scheduled for late October. In preparation for those events I will continue to follow my practice plan and work with Jamie to fine tune all areas of my game.

We’re currently focusing on speed as my main goal and trying to become as sharp as I can around the greens.”

School commitments might prevent Bishop playing all the remaining MENA Tour events, if they are played in Aqaba later this year as mooted. What isn’t under debate is Bishop’s praise for the pathway provided by the regional developmental circuit.

“To be able to compete against European and Challenge Tour players across many different countries on great courses, is such a valuable learning experience. Just having to be independent travelling, learning from the pros and also learning to own my game at the same time.

jon walley photography

My goal is to be the best at what I do and I believe the University of Florida provides me with the best platform to achieve that.”

“Early on during my first season, the MENA Tour highlighted areas of my game that needed improving. That enabled me to improve to a much higher level this season and structure my practice in a much more productive manner. I hope to use these experiences and the confidence gained to compete during the events later on this year.”

The way Bishop has carried on from where he left of pre-COVID, don’t be surprised if he keeps good on that goal as well.

Play The View from Pebble Beach

Jim Nantz How Bryson made me a believer N THE NEAR FUTURE, the broadcaster’s habit of oohing and aahing over every Bryson DeChambeau 350-yard driver blast will become passé. His turbocharged power has been a new toy for us to ogle lately, but it has become the new, stratospheric norm and isn’t going away anytime soon. Bryson is a full-blown star now, and all he needs to do next is perform better in the majors for his “brand” to head for the stratosphere, too Golf’s return this summer from the COVID-19 shutdown arrived with considerable risk. I admire PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and his team for navigating brilliantly through a fluid situation. With the return came the potential for a huge reward, in that the tour essentially would have the sporting stage to itself in the heart of summer. It was an opportunity to hook new fans.

What Jay probably didn’t expect was that Bryson would accomplish this almost singlehandedly. His performance in Detroit over the Fourth of July weekend was mesmerising. There was the obvious, visceral display of power, but more telling is that he became the first player in the 16-year history of ShotLink statistics to lead the field in both strokes gained/ driving and strokes gained/ putting. If you’re not much on analytics, let me just say, it’s an unbeatable combination.

In an April 2016 “My Shot” piece for Golf Digest, I wrote that Bryson “has the ability to utterly change the game.”

One basis for my view was an encounter with Bryson during the winter of 2016 when he

paid a visit to my house in Pebble Beach. He was still an amateur, the reigning U.S. Amateur and NCAA champion preparing to play in his first Masters. Then as now, Bryson was looking for anything that might give him a competitive edge. The history angle in particular intrigued him. He believed that if he could learn about the heroes of Augusta, the hole locations and the ebb and flow of tournament week, it might be worth a shot or two. I’d never seen a golfer think it through like that.

After two hours, he left with a collection of my favourite books about the Masters and a handful of old broadcast DVDs. I’d never met an athlete as determined to excel. Bryson tied for 21st and paid a visit to Butler Cabin as low amateur.

My thinking now is that there will be another trip to that sacred ceremonial spot in the future. Sooner than later, and maybe often.

Bryson these days is often compared to John Daly.

Another bomber who brings mostly power to the table. I don’t see it. Though they both dazzled us with distance like we had never seen, Bryson contends every week. John

40 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

never did that. Daly won five times in a quarter-century.

DeChambeau has six titles in a three-year window.

What John did do was win a couple of majors. Bryson has yet to finish in the top 10. But that was B.D. before B.S.—Before (Protein) Shakes.

During the past year he began dedicating almost every waking hour to transforming

his body from a punter to a linebacker. To dominate—and that is what he is out to do—he was going to have to go from an average-length hitter to the beast of all beasts. He’s added 40 pounds of muscle and unprecedented power, with no accuracy compromised.

What all this means for the 26-year-old is that life is never going to be the same. There

gregory shamus/getty images

I

Some insight from a meeting before the 2016 Masters.

was a moment in Detroit when Bryson got upset by one of our CBS camera operators aiming his lens toward him after a mediocre bunker shot. Bryson came over to plea for a little privacy. One thing Bryson will learn is that just because the camera is centred on a player doesn’t mean that said player is “on.” We had already cut to another player. Camera

operators are serious pros who are constantly “selling” a visual to the director. They are trained to aim their cameras at the player constantly. Another thing he will learn is the realities of Bryson’s Brave New World.

Everyone will be paying closer attention to his every move.

There is no escaping this fact— just ask Tiger Woods.

So what kind of guy is Bryson?

He’s young, but maturing. He has nothing in his life to take away from his commitment to build a lasting legacy. Inside is a considerate, truly nice person.

Three weeks after he left my house in 2016 with a giant box of books and DVDs, the box arrived on my doorstep with a long, handwritten thank-you letter.

Bryson had read every book and pointed out specifics about

▶ brains and power Bryson DeChambeau continues to push his game to new levels.

each one in the letter. He had watched every DVD. Bryson that year flew into Augusta with history on his wings. Four years later, he’s soaring, leaving oohs and aahs in his wake as he enters full flight.

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ONE OF GOLF’S NICE GUYS ON HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH TIGER & MJ, PLAYING TOURNAMENTS

HAROLD,

IN THE TIME OF COVID AND WHY THERE AREN’T MORE BLACK PLAYERS ON THE PGA TOUR

UNVARNIIISHED

Photographs by Dom Furore

editor’s note: Harold Varner III, who turns 30 on Aug. 15, was back in his beloved home state of North Carolina, driving from Greensboro, where he greeted juniors set to compete in a tournament sponsored by his foundation, to Charlotte, where he lives, when he connected with Golf Digest contributor Mark Whitaker for a wide-ranging interview about his recent good play—and golf in the age of COVID-19 and the worldwide protests over the death of George Floyd. They talked about everything from how Varner got hooked on golf as a Black kid playing a muny, to what he has learned from Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, to what he thinks the golf world (including Golf Digest readers) can do to make the game more inclusive. Despite his reputation for being one of the “nice guys” on tour, you’ll discover why Varner also describes himself as “super-opinionated.”

Tell me about your family. I grew up in Gastonia, N.C., but I was born in Akron, Ohio. We moved when I was 6. I was in the first grade. My dad [Harold Varner Sr.] is a salesman at McKenney Chevrolet.

He’s been selling cars for 40-something years now—a long time. My mom [Patricia Carter] works in the day-of-surgery branch of CaroMont Regional Medical Centre. I have a younger sister [Jatcie]. She’s a year and a half younger than me.

••• How did you start playing golf?

My dad got me into it. He was just playing golf, and he kind of dragged me out there.

I remember he got me those little FisherPrice clubs, and it was over from there.

I wouldn’t have been older than 2 or 3.

When I was 10, I got a set of clubs.

I started off with odds, and in the middle of the year, I got a full set.

••• When your dad took you to play, where did you go? We went to Gastonia Municipal. I played there until I was 15.

It was probably five minutes from where we lived. We used to call it The Muny.

It’s an awesome place. It’s called Catawba Creek now.

••• Were you welcomed there? Hell, yeah.

They had this membership thing. From June 1 until Sept. 1, you could play in the summer for a hundred bucks. You pay your membership, and you could play as much as you wanted, as long as you walked. So I’d play all the time, and then I’d play with my dad’s friends on the weekends.

To some people, $100 might not seem like a lot of money. But you’ve talked about how sometimes money was so tight in your family that you didn’t have $1.50 for school lunch money. Did your parents make sacrifices so you could play the muny? I was pretty young, so I don’t know exactly how it worked, but I know my parents got it done.

It wasn’t easy, I don’t think. I’m sure they could have found other places to use that $100.

••• At what point did you start to beat your father and his friends? I guess I would have been 12, 13. They had a few good players, so I had to play well.

But once it started happening, it started happening a lot.

••• Were you getting instruction, or did you just figure it out? No, I didn’t have instruction until I was 16. I just had access.

I could always go to the golf course.

I always could play. That’s exactly why.

If you can go out there every day, it’s like, OK, I’ll just figure it out. Be more of an athlete than think about the swing.

••• You went to Forestview High in Gastonia.

Did you play football or any other sports?

Hell, no, do you think my short ass played football? [Varner’s adult height is 5-feet-9.]

I played basketball in seventh and eighth grade and tried out in ninth grade, but I didn’t do so hot.

••• So golf was your only sport. Did you get grief for being a golfer? Yeah, this little Black kid playing golf, the other kids just thought it was funny. But they never made fun of me. And we had a really good golf team. My sophomore year, we finished

fourth in our league. My junior year, we lost in a playoff, and we finished second my senior year.

••• One of your first big wins outside of high school was when, at 16, you won the Bill Dickey Invitational, a 36-hole tournament named after a Black real-estate entrepreneur who founded a scholarship program to support promising young minority golfers. What do you remember about that? It was a tournament for 30 girls and 60 or 70 guys. It was a paid week in Orlando. You just applied for it.

The first year I didn’t get in, but the next year I did get in. I won it, and that got me into the PGA Junior, which was at Westfield in Ohio, and into the Walmart First Tee at Pebble Beach. It was sponsored by The First Tee program, although I wasn’t a First Tee kid.

••• And you won that event, too.

It was a pro-junior best ball for 54 holes.

My partner, Morris Hatalsky, shot 65 the first day, so I didn’t have to do much.

But on the last day, I played unbelievable.

It was on TV, and I birdied four out of my last six holes. We finished 23 under as a team. I found the scorecard the other day.

It was pretty cool. ▶

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BEING NICE NOWADAYS IS JUST HAVING RESPECT FOR PEOPLE. MY MOM AND DAD ALWAYS GROUNDED ME IN THAT. Was it the first time you had played Pebble Beach? Yeah, it was the first time.

I’m not sure if it was the first time I had been to California, but it had to be one of the first two.

••• Tell me about your decision to go to college at East Carolina. Were you recruited? Yeah, I played in the North Carolina Junior with a kid that was going to East Carolina that coming year.

I played a practice round with the guy, and that’s how it started. The next summer, I played in a lot of CGA [Carolinas Golf Association] events, and he watched me, and that was all she wrote.

The first football game of my senior year is when I committed. I called Press McPhaul [then the school’s golf coach] and said, “Man, I want to come to East Carolina.”

••• Did you check out any other schools, or did other schools check you out?

Yeah, I checked out Belmont Abbey College [also in North Carolina].

But I was a late bloomer, so a lot of scholarships were already taken.

I could have gone to [the University of North] Carolina if I had waited a year.

I would have had to go to a community college for a year, and then transfer, and I really didn’t want to do that.

••• You were happy with the decision? You believed you got the experience you needed to prepare you to go pro?

Yeah, I mean, look, I’m on the PGA Tour.

Press McPhaul was always pushing me to where I wanted to go, and I liked that a lot, honestly. He’s now the coach at N.C. State, so that’s a bummer. I talk to him regularly, though. He’s a great friend now. I bounce things off of him.

I actually talked to him today.

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You turned pro right out of college in 2012? I did, yes. We played the national [NCAA Division I] championship at Riviera. [Varner shot a team-leading evenpar 71 in the first round, but the Pirates didn’t make it to match play.] I played the U.S. Open sectional qualifier as an amateur, then I played the N.C. Am, and that was my last event as an am.

Then I just turned pro and started playing the mini-tours.

••• Did you graduate? Hell, yeah, I graduated—my mom would have killed me if I didn’t. I mean, she’s never been to college, but it was important to her. And I wasn’t that good. I mean, I knew I was good, but it wasn’t like I was a world-beater at golf.

••• What did you major in? I majored in marketing. I wanted to be an accountant, but that didn’t last very long.

••• How long did it take you to get your tour card? I turned pro in 2012, and I got my tour card in 2015. So, three years.

I played the mini-tours for a year and a half, then I played on the Web.com for two years, then I got my card.

••• Do you feel that life was any different for you in that mini-tour period than it would have been for a white player?

No, because the guys who helped me when it came to money were all white.

I didn’t have the money, and I didn’t care because I never had any money.

So it was, whatever. But a guy named Bill Williamson raised about $25,000 for me, and I just played off of that until I started making money with my golf.

During my first full year on the minis, I didn’t miss many cuts and made $54,000. I did an event for the company CDW when PGA Tour guys couldn’t do it that paid $5,000. And the Monday after the Masters, which was another $2,000.

So I just kept making it work.

Tell me more about Bill Williamson.

He’s a founding member of Quail Hollow who had played on the PGA Tour for one year. I met him through a friend of my dad’s. I would’ve been 15 or 16. When I got out of school, he said, “What are you going to do next?” I said, “Man, I want to find a way to get on the tour. I just need some funding.” He helped me raise money.

He gave his money. I’ll never forget. I met him at a Krispy Kreme on Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia, and he pledged $10,000. He’s just a wonderful person. I mean, I can’t really see him thinking, Oh, because he’s Black, I want to help out. I just don’t believe that. There were no strings attached, like I had to pay him back. I still probably talk to Bill Will about once a week. Eight years ago, I taught him how to text so I didn’t have to call him.

••• So he helped you with your golf career, and you helped him learn how to text?

Yeah. The other day, he texted me—he’s 89—and he says, “I’ve been working on my golf game!” He’s been a great mentor, especially when my fiancee [Amanda Singleton, a real-estate agent Varner met in an accounting class at East Carolina] lost her brother, because he lost his own family members. We’ll just go, and we’ll have lunch, or we’ll have breakfast.

He knows all the old-school spots in Charlotte. So he’ll take me somewhere, and then I’ll take Amanda there for dinner later in the week. It’s pretty funny.

••• You’re fortunate. Yeah, I’ve had some very important people, in the grand scheme of things, in my life. I’ve always had my dad, and then I had Bruce [Sudderth, his first instructor], and then I had Press, and when I got out of school, I had Bill Will. Important people who I talk to to this day who are always challenging me, always trying to help me, always being father figures.

••• You have a reputation as being one of the nice guys on tour. When you hear that, how do you respond? It sounds like one of the reasons these people have helped you is not just because of your background, but because of your personality. I would totally agree. I think being nice nowadays is just having respect for people. My mom and dad always grounded me in that.

It’s not a way you feel you have to act because you’re Black? It’s just who you are? At least try to be.

Obviously, things get way more complicated as an adult. But it always comes back to treating people right, understanding where they come from, asking, “What would you do in this situation?” Learning from the people who have already been there. In “The Last Dance” [the ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls], everyone’s like, “Man, I want to be like MJ,” and MJ, at his prime, is still seeking out older gentlemen to learn from. That was the biggest thing I took from that film.

••• That brings us to Tiger. Was he a hero to you growing up? I wouldn’t say a hero, but I darn sure looked up to him.

I mean, he’s the greatest player to ever play. Definitely, for my generation.

I mean, the things he was doing on the golf course as we were growing up.

It was like: “What was that?”

••• It’s often said that he was an inspiration to Black kids who wanted to play golf, but in fact he made golf cool for a whole generation of kids. Yeah, correct.

Without a doubt. You couldn’t have said it any better.

••• When did you first meet him? When I first got on tour, he was hurt. . . . Oh, yeah, it would have been at the event he sponsored in the D.C. area in 2017, which he did not play. He just showed up, because it was his tournament. I met him on the tee box when I was about to tee off.

He came over and scared the hell out of me. I was just trying to get my food in my bag, honestly. He said, “What up? Thanks for coming.” Just being a tournament host. We shot the crap for a second. Then he left, and I went and played. Then somehow, I got his number, and we ended up getting to know each other.

••• I doubt that Tiger gives out his number to everybody starting out on tour.

Did you have a feeling that was his way of saying, “I want to be here for you”?

I guess. But I’m really good at asking questions. I wanted to play with him; I wanted to learn how to get better.

It wasn’t like I had stage fright. The first time we really talked, we were in the locker room at Riviera [the Genesis Open in 2018], and he was talking smack.

I was like, “When are we going to play?”

A couple of weeks went by, and then the Wells Fargo came up, and I said: “Man, let’s play, dude. What the hell.”

So we played two practice rounds together at the TPC [Players Championship], and I’d just bounce things off of him.

••• What’s the best advice he gave you?

The best thing that Tiger has told me is, “Run your own race.” Your own journey.

Whatever that is, just run it. Don’t try to do what someone else is doing. And I thought that was so key, especially from someone who’s won 80-some times. It’s helped me out a lot.

••• You have a relationship with Michael Jordan, too. Right before I got into the brand, MJ texted me. [In 2018, Varner became the second tour player, after Keegan Bradley, to sign with Nike’s Jordan Brand and start wearing its golf shoes and outfits.] He said, “I’ve just been following your career.” I’m pretty close with his

really good friend, Fred Whitfield, the president of the Charlotte Hornets.

That’s how the whole thing started.

••• I’m sure there’s a lot of East Carolina/ UNC trash talk between you two.

The first time MJ and I played golf together, their football team had gotten in trouble for the shoes. [Thirteen UNC football players were suspended for selling their university-issued Air Jordans.] I was like, “Man, we’ll beat y’all.”

[East Carolina trounced UNC that year, 4119.] He said, “Man, that’s when they were suspended!” And I said, “It’s your fault!”

••• What’s the best advice you’ve gotten from Michael? The best thing that MJ has told me is about being poised, about being relaxed. Just being in control of the situation and not letting the situation be

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YOU DON’T NEED A COP TO KILL A BLACK PERSON TO BE LIKE, ‘HEY, TODAY I’M GOING TO HELP SOMEONE.’ in control of you. After the PGA, we talked for 20 minutes about just staying in the present. [In the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, Varner played in the final pairing with Brooks Koepka on Sunday but shot an 81.] I got a little ahead of myself and hit some bad shots. He told me: “No matter what situation you’re in, you can’t get ahead of yourself.”

••• When you look at your first three rounds at Bethpage and taking the lead of the Charles Schwab at Colonial into the weekend this year, do you think your game has gone to a different level, or that you’re just starting to put the pieces together? My game’s always been there; it just hasn’t always been very consistent. I hadn’t been in those positions a lot, so to get there was a big deal. It’s like: Oh, man, you’re there!

It’s not like I wasn’t trying. Sometimes you just don’t know what to do in those situations. Sometimes you get in a hurry, and you make poor decisions. You have to learn to relax, slow down, take your time.

Just execute the shot that you see. I have to keep getting better at that.

••• People have said about Tiger and Michael that to be the very best, you have to be selfish. How do you square that with being a good guy?

You just learn. It’s pretty easy. You make a mistake, you figure it out, and you go address it. It’s not rocket science. It’s not like you still don’t know right from wrong.

I’ve always known right from wrong.

That’s a big plus in this life.

••• Let’s talk about the tour and COVID. How do you think the tour has handled the situation? I think we’re doing the best that we can. That’s why I’m having a hard time with people saying we should stop playing. That kind of pisses me off, honestly. That really tickles my feather.

I find it so funny, with the media right now. “What’s a success? What’s not a success?” Success is just attempting. No

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one else is trying to play. Like, we did it.

We’re doing it. And we’re doing it at a low rate [of players testing positive]. I think we’re doing a great job compared to the America that’s living in fear of this virus.

If I was scared, I would go home. But I just try to keep my mouth shut, because I’m super-opinionated.

••• What’s it like playing without fans?

It’s different, but you still feel like there’s a tournament going on. You get nervous, just like a real tournament. It’s kind of cool, actually, that you can still get up for it.

••• Some pros say they play better without fans, and the scoring seems to support that. That’s obviously true.

I think I play better without fans because I can concentrate more.

••• After the death of George Floyd, you issued a statement describing it as a “senseless killing” and an act of “evil incarnate.” But you also argued that there are many more good cops than bad and that “burning businesses and police stations is wrong.” Why and how did you decide to take that public stance? I didn’t want to say anything, but the way that society is, if you're Black, you had to say something. Especially if you have any type of platform. Let’s not play dumb and pretend that police brutality has just started happening. We knew it was happening. Now it’s just being brought to light through cellphone video and social media. There has been evil since the beginning of time—I’m a Christian; I believe that. But I also think there is still more good than evil in the world. If you sit and watch a lot of TV right now, you’re not going to hear anything good.

You know, it’s why people are talking to

me. If it wasn’t about race, I don’t think people would be talking to me right now.

But I am accepting that role to be a leader in this situation, to make things better for the next generation.

••• So what do think the solution is?

At the end of the day, I think there needs to be way more accountability. There’s got to be some way to hold the bad people accountable. Just getting everyone on the same page about what’s appropriate and not appropriate.

••• Have you ever had any problems with police? Yeah, I’ve been pulled over a lot.

I mean, what teenage kid doesn’t speed?

••• Did your father ever give you “the talk” about how to deal with police if you’re Black, the way my father did with me?

He did not. But what my dad did do was put me in positions to learn how to carry myself. “Yes sir, no sir” manners, they go a long way. Like sending me to the

best school in Gaston County. I read an article somewhere about parents who put their kids in positions where they can be successful—to the best school, or wherever it might be. As a kid, you didn’t know what they were doing, but they did it. You want to hug your mom and dad if they did that for you.

••• There’s a lot of talk about what golf needs to do, in terms of diversity. How do you feel about that? Why is it that all these years after Tiger came on the scene, you, Cameron Champ and Joseph Bramlett are the only other Black players on the tour? I’ve said it since the beginning, every time: It’s access. If you have access, kids are going to play.

It’s way easier to go bounce a basketball than it is to go play golf somewhere. And until that changes, you’re going to get the people who have the access who play golf at a high level. My foundation [HV3 Foundation], that’s what we want to work on. We want to get underprivileged kids

the same opportunity, or at least close to the same, as a country club kid. Just enough to know if they like it, or they don’t like it. We’re brainstorming, getting ideas together. [PGA Tour commissioner] Jay Monahan’s been very good; I’ve talked to him. It’s going to happen. I just have to get it started in the right direction.

••• Are you friends with Bubba Wallace?

I am not, no.

••• What do think about President Trump tweeting that Wallace should apologise to the other NASCAR drivers over the noose controversy? It shows terrible leadership. I think NASCAR did the best they could. And I thought it was pretty cool that Bubba Wallace’s fellow drivers stood up for him. That’s how it needs to be right now. We need to stick together.

Do you have feelings about the upcoming elections? I have my opinion, but I just keep it to myself. I know that we need leadership right now. We need leaders that aren’t in politics. We need leaders that are in the communities doing the little things. Whoever the president is, what’s he going to do for Gastonia?

••• The readers of Golf Digest are predominantly white and male. Many are asking themselves: What can I do to help, to make things better? What would you say? Just keep asking. You’ll know. If you see a kid you think would be interested in golf, say: “Hey, how can I help you?” Stuff everyone should’ve been doing before this happened, to be honest. You don’t need a cop to kill a Black person to be like, “Hey, today I’m going to help someone.” mark whitaker, former editor of Newsweek magazine and managing editor for CNN, is author of Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance.

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GO AFTER I 50 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

gutter credit tk

f you want to know what I’m thinking about when I’m playing my best, the easiest way for me to answer is to tell you what I’m not thinking about—technique. ▶ When I’m going good, I’m back to playing like I did when I was a kid.

I decide where I want to hit the shot, get in my stance, and my last look is where I want the ball to start. Then I just do it—no swing thoughts. But to get to that place, my game has to be sharp.

You have to get the mechanics right to be able to forget about the mechanics. For example, I’ve always been really good at putting the club on the back of the ball and hitting solid shots. But recently, when I started hitting the occasional stray shot that would go way right, it was hurting my driving—which has always been one of my strengths. ▶ To fix it, I started working with coach (and former tour player) Bradley Hughes in February, and I’ve been able to clean up some of the things that had gotten me away from being able to set up and swing fast and free. Now, I’m a lot more stable during my backswing and from the top down to the ball, which means I can play to my strengths and freewheel it again.

I never doubt myself. I never get down. And I’m not afraid to step up and hit the big shot. The only way you can get better is to keep putting yourself in position to win, and that’s what I’m planning on doing. ▶ No matter what your swing looks like, you can get more distance off the tee with better balance and attention to how you turn back and through. I'll show you how on the following pages. Your goal: Pull the driver out of the bag, and go after it every time. —with matthew rudy

Photograph by First Lastname

IT! gutter credit tk

I'M NOT AFRAID TO STEP UP AND HIT THE BIG SHOT.

Photograph by First Lastname

issue x . 2020 | golf digest

00

IF YOU WATCH ME SWING, YOU WON'T SEE A LOT OF VIOLENT MOVEMENT, LIKE I'M TRYING TO

stabilise your body

get your shoulders moving

▶ You’ve heard lots of coaches in lots of sports talk about the “ready position,” where your weight is on the balls of your feet. It matters in golf, too. I tended to start out with too much weight under my toes, and my legs too straight. Then I’d bend both of my legs on the way back and straighten them again as I swung down. This leg action often forced me to compensate with my hands and arms just to get the club back to the ball. Now, I have more knee flex at address, and I feel the pressure under the laces of my shoes (above). With better balance and stability, you can swing a lot harder without losing control.

▶ Players sometimes focus on where the shaft is at the top of the swing as a measure of how much they’ve turned in the backswing. But if you don’t turn your shoulders much, and simply let your arms fold and take the club way behind you, you’re making it harder to route the clubhead on the fastest path back to the ball. It’s a fake turn. You can make a full, powerful swing without it necessarily being a long swing if you turn your shoulders as far as they go and just end your arm swing there (above). That’s what I do, and trust me, you can produce more speed that way, with the added benefit of more control over the clubface, leading to straighter drives.

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DO SOMETHING EXTREME TO PRODUCE SPEED. THE REAL KEY IS SWINGING THROUGH THE BALL.

unwind in the correct sequence

keep the club moving

▶ Just like you can fake the turn going back, you can fake the turn coming down. That’s what happens when you unwind in the wrong sequence and spin your chest out really fast from the top, which makes the club slow down and cut across the ball—a slice move. If you make that good backswing turn with your shoulders, you set things up so you can keep your upper body pretty much still until your hands drop near your waist. You’re holding off the rotation of your chest for a beat. Then it’s time to let your shoulders follow the unwinding of your hips. It should feel like you’re moving down toward the ball (above).

If you're off-balance or spin your chest too soon, it will feel like the opposite—that you’re moving away from the ball down near impact.

▶ Although I'm 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, my clubhead is moving 116 miles per hour through the impact zone, which is above average on the PGA Tour. If you watch me swing, you won't see a lot of violent movement, like I’m trying to do something extreme to produce that speed. Having a stable base helps. It gives me something to unwind on top of—and against—to make the clubhead move fast without me being one of the bigger guys on tour. But the real key is swinging through the ball—not at it. When I’m playing well, it feels like nothing is getting in the way on the downswing. My hips turn, making room for my chest to turn, which lets me swing the club through.

That’s how I get after it.

my foot drag ▶ People ask me why I drag my trail foot as I finish my swing. My answer?

It just happens.

You might have something unusual in your swing, but if it doesn’t hurt your shots, leave it alone.

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R TOM O U R K E

10 MINUTES WITH

GET TO KNOW THE NEW MAN BEHIND THE GENERAL MANAGER’S DESK AT THE ELS CLUB, DUBAI

BY KENT GRAY

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Photograph by Hammad Hafeez/The Els Club

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“I’m delighted to succeed Karl who has done a fantastic job at The Els Club,” said Rourke. “I am very excited to be taking this step to continue my career with Troon Golf and to join a very talented team and prestigious facility.

“The club is already in an incredibly strong position with its unique and first-class offerings. The opening of the new leisure club, on track for September, is the priority and we have plans to refresh and update other parts of the facility moving forward.”

After starting his career as an assistant pro at The Abbey Hotel and Belfry Resort, Rourke has made the Middle East his home. Before The Track, he served as Director of Golf at Yas Links Abu Dhabi between 20102012 and before that worked as Golf Operations Manager at both Saffa Golf Club in Saudi Arabia and the Nad Al Sheba Golf Club. We caught up with the avid Newcastle United fan in his first week in the new role at Ernie Els’ renowned Dubai creation.

no one in my family plays or has any interest in golf. My parents moved onto an estate which was on a

golf course and I decided to give it a try at the age of 13.

I became totally obsessed after having some junior lessons and my teenage years were spent playing golf from sunrise until sunset nearly every day. ●●●

i had a mixed set of clubs with every club a different brand bought from markets including a wood-

en-headed driver. I just fell in love with the sport. My first handicap was 14 at the age of 14. ●●●

i think as a junior golfer we all have an ambition to be on tv and to play in a major. I would always

enter The Open qualifying event each year but quickly

the els club, dubai: Kevin Murray

S

ucceeding karl whitehead at the helm of The Els Club, Dubai is equal parts exciting and daunting. Now in charge of a Faldodesigned 36-holer in Cambodia as part of Troon Golf’s global management merry-go-round, The Els has not only lost one of Middle East golf’s nice guys in Whitehead, it has also bade farewell to a highly capable leader. Indeed, Whitehead helped charter the club through some of UAE’s golf’s most challenging fiscal periods, all the while ensuring it retained a reputation as one of the best conditioned courses in the region. ▶ Big shoes to fill then. Step forward Thomas Rourke. After the best part of eight years at The Track, Meydan Golf, the 39-year-old Englishman has well and truly earned his spurs as a profitable businessman and leader of good golfing men and women. During his reign, The Track was voted the globe’s best 9-hole course for three successive years in the World Golf Awards and once scaled the heights as Dubai’s second highest ranked course on Tripadvisor. That led to Rourke being named the Middle East’s leading Director of Golf in 2017 and made his promotion to a facility the pedigree of The Els merely a matter of time. ▶▶

found out how incredibly high the standard was and that level par was nowhere near good enough. The standard is on another level and it really came down to the fact that the best always holed more putts. ●●●

the new leisure club will be a great addition to the already world-class offering at the els club. With Troon Golf heavily involved with all of the

planning and design under the “Troon Fit” brand the facility will be something very special. This is like no other leisure facility at any other golf course in this region with a real focus on classes, personal training and fitness with a state of the art facility and many unique offerings. ●●●

do the basics well. Turn up, be on time, be humble, be organised and be positive. That’s the best advice I’ve received in a professional capacity. I am incredibly fortunate to be working in the golf industry doing a job I love, working for the best golf management company in the world – Troon Golf - and in a part of the world where the sun is shining. ●●●

having come from a background of high-end membership based facilities, managing the track , meydan golf was a very different challenge and

one which I enjoyed every day. Wow, it taught me a lot. If we did not deliver the best course conditions and experience that we could then golfers had no loyalty or investment to return. This was set out as our foundation, to make daily fee golfers feel like a member for the day and value choosing to play the facility. My financial acumen improved dramatically knowing that the facility was there to make profit and be self-sufficient. The facility achieved this every year I was in charge and allowed us to further invest into the property to improve course conditions and the offering.

▶ above Rourke spent nearly eight years at The Track, Meydan Golf. ▶ left The Els Club consistently presents as one of the best conditioned courses in the Middle East.

from his first masters win i was obsessed with how far tiger could hit the ball and how he was

making golf into an athletic sport. I remember having a Tiger Woods swing sequence torn out of a Golf Digest magazine in my golf bag and trying to replicate the swing movements from the age of about 14-15.

having a pay-to-play facility like the track is exactly what dubai needs to introduce golfers to the

●●●

we all feel very privileged to be working in the golf industry during the covid era as business is

booming and we are seeing one of the busiest and most successful periods, something not seen in golf for a very long time. People are returning to the sport or are taking it up for the first time given its natural safety measures complying with social distancing. ●●●

the track meydan: courtesy of the club

membership of a golf club is still something very special. The relationships built on a golf course are

unique and something that other sports and memberships cannot offer. We offer a wide range of membership options to appeal to all and with the leisure club opening soon the facility will become even more accessible. ●●●

the highest standards, working around serious talent, career opportunities and progression.

That what makes working within the Troon network so rewarding. This really is as good as it gets, you always have someone within the Troon family that you can turn to who has already overcome the same challenge who can offer you a solution.

gest inspiration and got me into golf. Jones was an incredible talent and the greatest golfer to have ever lived.

Spencer was the club professional at my first full-time job in golf and my coach who was able to drastically improve my ability and handicap. Spencer himself was a great golfer who had played on the European Tour so as a thank you to him, we’d play with Tiger and Bobby Jones who we both admire greatly. ●●●

●●●

game and to have an offering for golfers who do not want to invest or commit into joining a golf club.

tiger woods, bobby jones and spencer edwards would make up my dream fourball. Tiger is my big-

●●●

i remember having a tiger woods swing sequence torn out of a golf digest magazine in my golf bag and trying to replicate the swing movements from the age of about 14-15.

the green jacket or claret jug? the green jacket for me. I have great memories of trying to stay awake to

watch the Masters as a kid, admiring the course condition, history and the drama. ●●●

loch lomond was probably the best course I’ve played but i played terrible that day and want to

forget that round. So I would say the Blue Monster Doral as it was an incredible experience. My bucket list courses are Augusta National and Pebble Beach. ●●●

i’m from birmingham but a newcastle united fan.

My father is from Newcastle and my biggest passion is Premier League football and watching Newcastle United. ●●●

time is the biggest challenge facing club golf today. Everyone seems to have so much going on and

so little time. Many of the things we are spending time on have no value and no actual direct social engagement with anyone of any importance to us. With golf taking four hours-ish for 18 holes and with the time it takes to learn how to play, it puts us at a disadvantage to many other sports which are far less time consuming and far easier to learn. The other point would be that there are just too many golf courses and operating costs are not reducing. august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

57

SCRATCH GOLF

THE SIX SHOTS YOU NEED TO GO (AND STAY) LOW

I

BY JA SO N G U SS

t’s an awesome feeling when you drive it great, stripe your irons, hole a bunch of putts and post a score in the low 70s.

But if you want to do that regularly, you’re going to have to rely on more than just solid ball-striking and a hot putter. All good players have a variety of specialty shots that they use around the course to turn bogeys into pars and pars into birdies. They might use them only once a round, but if executed properly, these shots often are what make the difference between a good score and a great one. Here are six that will get you down to scratch.

— WITH RON KASPRISKE

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THE BEST SHOT YOU HIT IN A GREAT ROUND IS OFTEN THE ONE THAT SAVED THE ROUND.

august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

59

the baby-draw drive

1

GOOD PLAYERS opt for a shorter-but-reliable fade when they need to find the fairway. But scratch golfers know how to find the fairway without sacrificing too much distance. If you want to score, you can’t afford to be 200plus yards away from the green. You need some roll. The baby draw is the shot for you. ▶ Tee the ball so only a tiny bit is above the clubface when you sole your driver. Grip down an inch and set up so the ball is an inch farther back in your stance than your stock drive. One more thing at address: Drop your trail foot away from the target line about six inches (right). Now you’re in position to swing down on an in-to-out path in relation to your target—key to drawing it— and hit the ball with a slightly descending blow, which will get it to fly lower.

Make an abbreviated swing, feeling like you go back to the 10-o’clock position with your arms (below) and through to 2 o’clock after impact.

YOU NEED AN ACCURATE TEE SHOT, BUT ONE THAT DOESN’T LEAVE YOU TOO FAR FROM THE GREEN TO SCORE.

Photographs by Dom Furore

A LOT OF PAR 5S DON’T ALLOW YOU TO CHASE IT ON IN TWO. YOU NEED TO FLY IT IN THERE WITH YOUR 3-WOOD.

the bomb-and-stick 3-wood

2

GOOD PLAYERS can hit a 3-wood a long way and reach most par 5s in two. But what they can’t do is hit it high enough to hold a green or access a tough pin location. Scratch golfers can launch a 3-wood way up and get virtually all of their yardage from the carry. ▶ To hit this moon shot, start by setting up with a slightly open stance and play the ball nearly as far forward as you would for a driver. Also, tilt your upper body away from the target at address (left). All of these adjustments help add loft to the shot. Two things need to happen when you swing. As the club starts down from the top, feel like you increase your upper-body tilt away from the target (above), and swing faster than normal through the impact zone. Your arms need to feel super relaxed while your legs feel braced—think, spaghetti arms and steel-rod legs.

Illustrations by John Cuneo

the gapped wedge

3

GOOD PLAYERS expect to hit the green when they have a wedge in their hands. Scratch golfers expect to hit it close. You might be pretty good from full-swing distances, but you also need the ability to take something off the shot when you’re between clubs. ▶ To do that, open the face of your wedge slightly and then grip down on it about an inch. Now here comes a big change.

However wide you typically stand for a wedge shot, cut it in half for this shot (right). These adjustments let you make your normal swing, but the ball won’t fly quite as far—and that’s key. The mistake is to swing slower, which makes it harder to get a consistent yardage. Stick with your tempo (below).

YOUR SAND WEDGE GOES 110, BUT CAN YOU HIT IT 103 WHEN YOU HAVE TO? A SCRATCH PLAYER CAN.

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SCRATCH PLAYERS FLY THEIR PITCHES IN LOW AND GET THEM TO STOP ON COMMAND.

the go-and-grab half wedge

4

GOOD PLAYERS can consistently land pitch shots close to their target, but scratch golfers can land it close and get it to stop quickly. A checking pitch that takes a few bounces and stops dead allows you to be super aggressive around the greens. ▶ The shot you want to learn is my low, hooking spinner. Set up with your weight favouring the foot closest to the target, but address the ball just forward of centre. This swing requires soft wrists.

You hinge them going back but release that hinge as the club moves through impact, so you’re actually shallowing the club’s path in the downswing (left).

The key is to swing down from the inside and make contact with the ball slightly lower on the face than the sweet spot. That produces the spin that makes the ball stop after a few bounces. To get that hooking action, make sure you keep rotating your body toward the target, and feel the clubhead pass the hands through impact (above). The mistake is holding off the release. august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

63

the clear-any-lip bunker shot

5

GOOD PLAYERS have a consistent technique in greenside bunkers, and it works well in most situations. But scratch golfers can change their swing to overcome difficult lies, especially when they need to get the ball up quickly. ▶ To get out of any bunker, open the face of the wedge super wide before you take your grip (right), then swing with as much speed as you can muster (below): full backswing; full follow-through. It helps to play the ball a little forward, but if you have the face open enough, you won’t have to be as precise with where the club enters the sand. The open face and fast/full swing will create the spin and higher trajectory needed to plop the ball near the cup.

IF YOU WANT TO SHOOT LOW SCORES, YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO TAKE TWO WHACKS FROM THE SAME BUNKER.

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CURVING A BALL AROUND TROUBLE IS COOL. GETTING IT TO THEN STOP ON THE GREEN IS A SCRATCHGOLF SHOT.

the crazy curveball

6

GOOD GOLFERS know how to hook or slice a ball around trouble, but often the shot doesn’t curve enough to get back on line, or it doesn’t give the obstacle a wide enough berth. Scratch players know how to make the curves big enough—like 50 yards of curve—to easily avoid trouble and get the ball to land by their target. ▶ To hit the big hook, first determine your target line as if you were playing a straight shot. Then close the face of your club significantly in relation to that line (the face pointing way left of the target line for a right-hander). Next, take your grip, but adjust your setup so your body and feet are aligned significantly away from the trouble you’re trying to avoid (for a big hook, righties would set up way right). Keeping adjusting until your closed clubface now matches the original target line (above). Then make a swing along your stance line and watch the ball hook like crazy. The opposite adjustments would be made for a slice. Open the clubface wide, take your grip, and stand on a path that would easily clear the obstacle, but make sure the clubface is pointing on the target line as if you were hitting a straight ball (left). Learn these shots and you can turn double bogeys into pars—and get your handicap down to scratch.

jason guss, one of Michigan’s top instructors, teaches at his academy in Bath Township.

august 2020 | golfdigestme.com

65

Last Shot

Why Lee Elder should be an honorary starter at the Masters.

The Last Accolade for a Good Man by jerry tarde / Editor-in-Chief

’ve always been inspired by the tradition of the honorary starters at the Masters—the two or three aging heroes who hit the opening shots of the tournament. When I was still in college in the fall of 1976, I borrowed my roommate’s Gremlin and drove to a nursing home in suburban Chicago to meet Jock Hutchison, 92, the 1921 British Open champion, who served with 1908 U.S. Open champion Fred McLeod as the original honorary starters.

“How’s Freddie?”

Jock asked.

“He died,” said his son Jock Jr., who had joined us.

(McLeod died the previous May at age 94.)

“What he die of?” Jock said.

“He just died, Dad,” said the son.

Inspiring is the word for honorary starters as Jock and Fred begat Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead, who begat Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.

(In 1983, Ken Venturi stood in for Lord Byron.)

Was there a more poignant image on the first tee than an empty lawn chair draped with Arnie’s green jacket at the 2017 Masters? “The almost unbearable sadness we all feel at the passing of Arnold Palmer,” said then-chairman Billy Payne, “is surpassed only by the love and affection we feel for him in our hearts.”

Wiping away the tears, Gary and Jack teed off, proving once and for all: Even gods cry.

I expect to be inspired again this year, when the Masters is played off-kilter in November.

I have no inside information, none at all, operating only in the belief that the Augusta National Golf Club does the right thing. In my imagination,

I

I’m rushing to the plantation clubhouse on a crisp autumnal morning to see Jack and Gary on the first tee with Lee Elder, 86, celebrating the 45th anniversary of breaking the color barrier at the 1975 Masters and doing it again as the first Black honorary starter.

He’s not a past champion, you say? Neither were Hutchison, McLeod or Venturi. But what’s Elder’s connection?

He won the Bob Jones Award for sportsmanship last year— reflecting the virtue of Augusta’s founder is enough for me.

“If Jackie Robinson is heralded for breaking the color barrier in baseball and being the first Black man to play in the World Series, then Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder should be jointly held in similar regard,” says Wendell Haskins, a leader in Black golf who championed this idea when he was director

66 golfdigestme.com | august 2020

of diversity for the PGA of America. Sifford, who died in 2015, won the 1967 Greater Hartford Open but didn’t get the customary invitation to the Masters. When Elder won the 1974 Monsanto Open, he finally got the call from then-chairman Cliff Roberts.

“I can’t say for sure right now,” said Elder, making Roberts cool his heels. But eventually Elder accepted and played with indomitable spirit and gracious élan, as he always did.

After the Shoal Creek controversy, Augusta National acted quickly to take in its first Black member in 1990 and has since added six more. Slower on gender, the club accepted its first female members in 2012. Now there’s worldwide protest against racism and social injustice—leave it to Augusta National to end this dismal year on an upbeat note.

“I had a close association with the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who introduced me to Dr. King in 1967,” Elder says.

“I met the Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Dr. Walter Fauntroy and John Lewis. I was inspired by their work and the fight they carried on. I wanted to be a part of it, which wasn’t easy for a golfer because we played on weekends.”

Now, he’s too old to walk in protests, yet still strong enough to walk to the first tee.

Would he accept if asked?

“In a heartbeat,” he says.

In my mind, I see Nicklaus and Player welcoming Elder, the way old friends and warriors do. Gary was Lee’s pick to present him with the Bob Jones Award last summer, and at the ceremony Gary recalled bringing Lee to South Africa to play a series of exhibitions.

“For the first time ever, there were young Black children coming to the golf course not to caddie, but to watch Lee, and you should’ve seen the looks on their faces,” Player said. We’ll see those looks again among people of all colors if Lee is an honorary starter this year.

Born one of 10 kids, he was 9 years old when his father died in Germany during World War II, and his mother died three months later. He took up golf as a caddie, embraced it in the Army, and his first big break came from playing a match with Joe Louis. Elder once won 18 of 22 tournaments on the United Golf Association Tour for Black golfers; he won four times on the PGA Tour and eight on the Champions Tour.

“As I look back over the accomplishments I’ve had in my life,” he told me in July, “the one thing that I’m proudest of is playing in the Ryder Cup [in 1979] and representing my country.”

He would never say it himself. He’s too indomitable and gracious, but we’ve taken too long to get to this moment.

Lee Elder is a good man who deserves one last accolade.

Photograph by Randall Slavin

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