Golf Digest Middle East - August 2023

4 Editor’s Letter

Are we witnessing a major chage with Clark and Harman’s recent successes?

by

matt smith

The Starter

6 Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

All roads lead to Rome for a historic Ryder Cup showdown between Europe and the US.

by matt smith

Mind / Body

8 Chiara Checks In Dubai teenager continues to make waves on tour with her LPGA bow.

by matt smith

10 Gear Change Khalifa Al Masaood reflects on balancing business with his passion for golf.

by matt smith

60 TaylorMade TP Reserve putters

Going to the milled line is both simpler and more complex.

by mike stachura

62 Discovering Bunkers

How to handle your recovery shots when you hit the sand.

by scott edwards

64 Plan Ahead

Forward thinking will help your sand play.

by david armitage

66 Underground Success

How an automated teeing system elevated the range game.

by matthew rudy

Features

12 Dedication Game

Anirban Lahiri overcomes adversity and tragedy.

by matt smith

AUGUST 2023

16 Hit The target

How Saudi Arabia continues to bring the game of golf to the public.

22 Let’s Roll

Comfort is key when getting around the golf course with Ventana.

by matt smith

COVER STORY

24 Genius Golf

Seven smart ways to play better tomorrow.

by collin morikawa

34 Cliffhanger

With nine holes along the ocean, will Cabot Saint Lucia live up to the hype?

by derek duncan

46 Rescue Shots

Artist CR Obetz salvages the iconic drawings of illustrator Anthony Ravielli with 21st-century methods. by

emma francois

52 Fix It Fast, Fix It Forever

Cure six common faults.

by butch harmon

PARADISE FOUND

The hidden 17th tee at Cabot Saint Lucia’s Point Hardy Golf Club, scheduled to open in December.

cover photograph by matt hawthorne

Who are the major players?

Are we spreading the joy as ‘unknowns’ Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman steal the headlines of late?

By Matt Smith

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER , Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm...

Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman...

The top three players in the world rankings have been getting a bit upstaged of late by — no offence guys — a couple of lesser lights as Clark claimed the US Open in June before Harman ran away with the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in a manner akin to Tiger Woods in 2000 and Louis Oosthuizen in 2010.

Even Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship triumph came as a bit of a shock given his injury troubles and departure to LIV Golf.

So that leaves Rahm’s Masters triumph as the only success in the 2023 majors for the ‘Big Three’, and it must be hurting McIlroy more than anyone as his hunt for a fifth major approaches a decade-long drought.

This was Rory’s 10th top-10 finish in a major championship since he last won one of golf’s four most important events, the 2014 PGA at Valhalla. That is an impressive number, of course, but you could see the frustration after his 72nd hole at Royal Liverpool as he headed straight to the practice area to try to work out his 10-year itch.

As the wait goes on, it is becoming clear that the number of commentators who are beginning to wonder if he will ever join Koepka and that elite group on five majors will ever happen is growing.

Given the stresses he has put on himself off the course over the past 12 months, he seems to be getting back to focusing on his game rather than politics, and we shall see if that eventually pays dividends.

Scheffler’s issues are more straightforward as it is clear his putting is letting him down. If he had his 2022 form on the greens it is pretty certain that he would have more than one major to his name — the 2022 Masters.

Rahm will be more than content with his green jacket, but, again, are we seeing a changing of the guard as new names such as Clark

and Harman grab the headlines, rather than the household stars such as Scottie and Rory?

The biggest names will now turn their attention to the FedEx Cup playoffs and the LIV Golf showdowns in the US, Jeddah and the Miami finale, so we must wait until April 2024 and a return to Augusta to see who will be next to emerge as a major star.

Then again, we have the small matter of a looming Ryder Cup showdown at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club next month, with so many questions still remaining about who will make up the 24 players from Europe and the US in Rome.

While it is clear that LIV Golfers will not be representing Luke Donald’s side, Zach Johnson is keeping mum on the likes of Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau making his team as tensions ease between the PGA Tour and the new series.

On the ladies’ front, there are still a few big prizes to be claimed before the stars align for September’s Solheim Cup, with the Evian Championship and Women’s Open to be decided ahead of the showdown at Finca Cortesin from September 22-24.

Dubai’s Chiara Noja has taken her LPGA bow, and will now be targeting major glory as she establishes her place among the golfing elite and maybe, just maybe, a spot in Suzann Pettersen’s line-up.

So there are still plenty of major stories to be told in the coming weeks.

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10-year itch Rory McIlroy was forced to watch as Brian Harman ran away with the Open title

All roads lead to Rome once more

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club gets a revamp to host 44th edition of the Ryder Cup next month

The eyes of the golfing world will be trained on Italy next month as the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup comes to Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. It is the first time the biggest event in golf will be staged in the country and the Roman amphitheatre has had a serious revamp ahead of the September 29-October 1 showdown between the US and Europe’s finest players.

Opened in 1991, Marco Simone has been transformed ahead of the Ryder Cup in collaboration with European Golf Design and Tom Fazio II (son of architect Jim Fazio who designed the original course).

A new playing route has been created to host the big event. Located on the outskirts of Rome, Marco Simone was rerouted to provide numerous risk and reward opportunities and to maximise viewing vantage points for the thousands of fans — who will have the bonus of views across the Eternal City, and the Vatican’s St Peter’s Basilica.

The redesign began in August 2018, with the back nine completed in October 2020 followed by the full 18 holes at the start of March 2021, setting the stage for the arrival of the golfing gladiators.

—matt smith

Italy

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

photograph by stuart franklin/getty images

Chiara checks in

Dubai-based teenager Noja gives an update on a whirlwind eight months following her dramatic victory in Saudi Arabia

By Matt Smith

Eig ht months ago, a young schoolgirl from Dubai achieved a remarkable feat by claiming a Ladies European Tour crown at the age of 16. Some eight months later, Chiara Noja finds herself as one of the hottest prospects in golf as one of the most consistent and longest drivers on tour.

She is showing no signs of slowing down with her following results after defeating Charley Hull in a dramatic playoff in the Aramco Team Series — Jeddah Individual Tournament at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club reading: T11, T12, 3, T11, T38, T2.

CHIARA NOJA LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR AGE 17

The now-17 German’s whirlwind rise to the top reached new heights last month as she made her LPGA debut at the ShopRite Classic on a sponsor’s invite — and finished in no less than 12th spot in a field that featured the cream of the game including Anna Nordqvist, Brooke Henderson, Georgia Hall, Aditi Ashok, Paula Creamer, Stacy Lewis, Ayaka Furue, Atthaya Thitikul and eventual winner Ashleigh Buhai.

No mean feat!

Noja climbed into the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings Top 100 (No. 91) as a result of her performances and was sitting

fifth in the Ladies European Tour seasonlong Race to Costa del Sol standings. Following another solid showing at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in New Jersey on her LPGA bow, Noja took time out of her hectic schedule (while on a six-hour layover in Portugal) to speak to Golf Digest Middle East about her journey since that memorable day at King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.

● ● ●

It has been quite a trip since your victory in Jeddah, can you take us through the experience to date?

It’s been both an incredibly hectic few months as well as especially rewarding. I’ve travelled a lot, and managed to play some great golf in the midst of everything which is always nice.

I have had lots of firsts, with my 62 in South Africa [Investec SA Women’s

Open, where she finished third at Steenberg Golf Club in Cape Town] and now my first start on the LPGA, which have all been amazing experiences coming off the back of the win in Jeddah.

● ● ●

You have maintained your strong end to 2022 into the LET 2023 season, how has it been for you?

I’ve been playing well and working hard so it’s nice to see some of that work deep through into results.

● ● ●

And you are looking good on the Costa Del Sol standings. What are your goals for the Race?

I think I’m still approaching every event individually but it’s great seeing that my performances are mirrored on the rankings and I’m excited to see how things develop by the end of the season.

● ● ●

You have been juggling your GCSEs along with your career, how were the exams and when are the results in?

I have been given amazing support by my school that has allowed me to sit my exams in October and November and then January next year. Thankfully I have not had to sit my exams yet!

● ● ●

And, of course, you just made your LPGA debut at the Shoprite, how did it compare to your previous experiences in the States?

Obviously, it is a little different than playing on the Ladies European Tour. I’m super grateful to have been given the opportunity and I’m glad I could capitalise on it.

I had amazing support in the crowds throughout the week and it was a super heart-warming and special week for me.

● ● ●

You certainly have been getting the air miles in. How are you coping with all the travel?

I think travel comes in a package deal with your life and I’m super grateful to be able to do what I do and travelling is another bonus to an amazing schedule of countries.

● ● ●

Finally, what’s up next in your hectic schedule?

I will be getting home to Dubai for a week, and will then take a rest, re-evaluate and plan the rest of my season.

LIVES DUBAI, UAE

I had amazing support, it was a super heart-warming and special week

Gear change

Khalifa Al Masaood is thrilled to see golf developing in the UAE ahead of the World Amateur Team Championship

By Matt Smith

Khalifa Abdulla Al Masaood has had something of a rare challenge as he juggles his time between his role as a director at one of the largest companies in the UAE and his other passion — playing golf.

The 39-year-old is a product of the dedication put in by the likes of the Emirates Golf Federation to support and develop golfing talent of all nationalities across the country and Al

Masaood recently had the honour of representing the UAE in the 2023 GCC Golf Championship in Bahrain. While he is part of the growing number of Emiratis who have embraced golf, it all started with a trip with his grandfather as a kid.

“I got into golf through my granddad at the age of six,” Al Masaood told Golf Digest Middle East. “He originally came from New Zealand and he was in the Royal Air Force. When he was out

here, from time to time we would play on the Al Ghazal course in Abu Dhabi — the sand course — the first experience I had with golf was with that little plastic green mat.

“That was really my first experience on a golf course. He would always have the golf on in the house and we would always watch together — all sports, but really the golf.

“One day I said I would love to try it and that’s where we begun and I got into it.”

As with many budding young athletes, As Masaood got into different sports as he grew, but the golf bug remained.

“In my teenage years I really got into tennis and focused on that,” he said. “But got has a funny old way of coming back to you and that is what happened as I fell back in love with the game.

“I began to really improve and played some junior events in the US, including the Junior Worlds in 2001, which was an amazing experience.

“During my twenties, I got into the family business and that took up a lot of my time but, as I said, golf is one of those games that after a while you realise how much you miss it and get back into it. But then you remember how difficult it can be, too. Now I have been playing consistently and sometimes with the National Team, including at the GCC Golf Championship.

“That was something I will never forget. I felt privileged to be invited and I know I will not get another opportunity like that to play against some of the best amateurs in the world. It was something incredible — it is tough as the level is so high, it can be quite daunting, but it is a once in a lifetime thing you would never want to miss.

Now, as he nears 40, Al Masaood has witnessed first-hand the next generation of golfers like the UAE No. 1 amateur Ahmad Skaik, coming through and he has noticed a big difference from his days as a youngster.

“I have known Ahmad since he was a teenager, and not only is he a great golfer he is a very respectful and likeable guy. It is incredible how far he has come, and he is a good role model for some of the other juniors, and even they have really come on.

“The popularity of the sport in the region has increased massively and we have so many amazing courses. Every

course is different. In any other sport, you are playing on the same shape of field, but golf is unique in that it can change massively from course to course.”

The growth of the game is not only limited to the Emirati players as a number of expat youngsters located in the UAE have broken through, including Josh Hill, Toby Bishop, Chiara Noja and Maya Palanza Gaudin.

“It’s incredible the talent across the board,” Al Masaood said. “The nice thing is there is now a group of them and they all push each other to get better and they realise that once someone is winning like Chiara, they can do it too. It’s a bit of a snowball effect when they see their friend can do it.

“Also the practice facilities, the courses and the coaching is world class. There is an immense involvement in the game and a great opportunity for a lot of people to try the game.”

The World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) is taking place at the

Abu Dhabi Golf Club in October and Al Masaood cannot wait for the event to showcase what the UAE has to offer the golfing world — even if he is not playing himself.

“I won’t be able to play [due to other commitments in October],” he explained. “It is an incredible thing to have here as it solidifies the UAE as a golfing capital the world. It’s good to see we are not just having the professional events but the amateurs are coming too. It shows the best players come from and how they have developed and grown and to host it is an honour.”

The popularity of golf in the region has increased massively. We have many amazing courses

Khalifa Abdulla Al Masaood is a board member and shareholder of Al Masaood LLC and AMS with responsibilities covering a wide array of trading activities and industrial sectors. Khalifa also heads the Marketing Committee at Al Masaood and looks after the content and communication aspects of the group’s brands.

INSPIRING ANIRBAN LAHIRI OVERCOMES ADVERSITY AND TRAGEDY TO KEEP HIS GAME — AND LIFE — ON COURSE

BY MATT SMITH

for those out there who feel like giving up after that eagle chance lipped out or it took seven swipes to get out of a greenside bunker, look no further than Anirban Lahiri to inspire you to dust yourself down and give it another go.

The 36-year-old Indian, a seven-time champion on the Asian Tour, has had an impressive season so far in the face of adversity, helping his Crushers team take the top spot in the LIV Golf League 2023 opener at Mayakoba, before bouncing back from a disappointing showing at Tuscon with a runners-up spot at the International Series Vietnam behind Kieran Vincent and then matched that result at LIV Golf Adelaide in April, after starting the final round 11 shots behind eventual champion Talor Gooch.

“There have been some amazing strides on the Asian Tour,” Lahiri told Gold Digest Middle East. “I just missed

out in Vietnam on the International Series and it is great getting to travel to all these places on the Asian Tour and also on LIV, with the likes of Singapore and Australia on the schedule.

Lahiri has had little time to relax as he is now gearing up for the International Series ‘UK Swing’, as well as having squeezed in LIV Golf events at Valderrama and a return to Centurion Club near London.

“We are going back to England on both the Asian Tour and LIV Golf League, and then we have the wonderful bonus of heading to Scotland and St Andrews to play the Fairmont on the International Series, too, before we finish up back in Jeddah for the LIV Golf finale, where this journey all began really with the elevated PIF Saudi International joining the Asian Tour and really reinvigorating the tour.

“You couldn’t ask for more. We were in a rut with Covid, but thanks to LIV Golf Investments, the Asian Tour could not be in a stronger position, and then there is the added incentive of playing your way on to the LIV Golf League for 2024, with the Asian Order of Merit winner booking an automatic spot, while the next 30 or so go into a playoff for the remaining spots.”

Lahiri is also loving the team bonding on the LIV tour, as he plays alongside Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey and Charles Howell III for the Crushers, who are fifth in the season-long team standings at the halfway stage, with the highlights being a win, a third and two fourth-place finishes.

“LIV Golf is amazing, there is a real unity in the team with Casey and Bryson each bringing their own ideas and experience to the table, while Charles has been playing phenomenal golf with that win in Mayakoba to open the season and get us the double,” Lahiri said.

That team unity was something Lahiri leaned on — along with family support and his own resilience — as tragedy struck during that period in Adelaide.

Lahiri shot 66 and 65 over the weekend at The Grange, matching his 13-under par show (67-64) over the final two rounds at the International Series Vietnam the week before. At KN Links as well, he came close, falling one short of winner Vincent.

The two performances came after a couple of tumultuous weeks for the family, which saw him reach Vietnam without playing golf for a fortnight.

Lahiri was preparing for the LIV Golf event in Orlando when he got a call from India that his mother-in-law, battling cancer, had to be rushed to hospital after she took a turn for the worse. He immediately flew back to Pune to be by her side with his family before heading to Vietnam for the International Series event two weeks later.

THE ASIAN TOUR COULD NOT BE IN A STRONGER POSITION, AND THERE IS THE ADDED INCENTIVE OF PLAYING YOUR WAY ON TO THE LIV GOLF LEAGUE

While there he heard the news she had been moved to palliative care.

In Adelaide on Sunday, moments after finished his round of 65, Lahiri discovered his mother-in-law passed away during the round.

“The last few weeks have been tough for the family. Mom was in a lot of pain the last few days. So, we’re just relieved that she is probably at peace and she’s in a better place now,” Lahiri said at the time.

“It’s hard to wrap your head around a lot of this. So just trying to process it right now. It breaks my heart not to be there with my wife Ipsa and my children. I’m here in Adelaide, but mentally and in spirit, with them. I guess these are some of the professional hazards that we have to deal with, and I am so very proud of my wife.”

Unable to return for the funeral, Lahiri instead poured his emotions into his golf and remained on tour for the LIV event in Singapore. Remarkably, he finished inside the top 20.

Lahiri said his run of form was due to gaining a new perspective in life, and taking that to the course.

“I did not have any expectations when I reached Vietnam. The family was going through a very challenging phase. We were just taking it one day at a time,” he told the LIV Golf website.

“I was forced to hit the refresh button. You have to still look at the positives and try to receive the messages that the universe is sending. What happened the last few weeks made me kind of reset and re-establish my goals, my perspectives in life.

“I think mentally I’ve managed to just get clearer, more focused, and get more involved in my processes. Honestly, I am just counting my blessings and enjoying a new perspective. Probably, I am just playing with a lot less fear and probably not trying so hard and just letting go a little bit more.

“I’ve always found that a very hard thing to do. I think all golfers find that hard. But you know, the last couple of weeks, it’s come a little easier.”

The Asian Tour Order of Merit champion in 2015 is proud to be the only Indian on the LIV Golf roster, and is delighted to see the next generation of golfers coming through. Now at the age of 35, Lahiri is happy to help pass the torch to the likes of Shubshankar Sharma and Aditi Ashok.

“Jeev [Milkha Singh] held my hand through the Asian Tour and on DP World Tour as I was learning the ropes, and now it is my turn to help the younger players,” Lahiri said.

“Sharma has done some great things in the past decade with eight wins and is up around 60th in the world. He also had a great showing in Abu Dhabi [at the HSBC Championship] with a seventh-place finish and is showing the way for the future.

“Aditi is doing great things for the women’s game and has had some stunning results this year, with her win in Kenya followed by a third in Morocco and then a runnersup in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International behind world No. 1 Lydia Ko.

“The team events like the Aramco Team Series and LIV are really helping enhance the game on both men’s and women’s tours and it is an exciting time.”

HIT THE TARGET

GOLF SAUDI’S QUEST FOR ‘MASS PARTICIPATION’ AND GOLFING EXCELLENCE

in a quest to make Saudi Arabia a leading nation in the sport, Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation (SGF) are embarking on an innovative journey. This key move in the nation’s golfing landscape is spearheading multiple initiatives under its Mass Participation Mission, introducing, educating and entertaining both the young and old through an array of programmes. These encompass not only charity and corporate events but also extend to educational collaborations with schools and universities as well as partnerships

with Saudi Pro League football clubs, the Ministry of Defence and other governmental entities as well as overseas activations at Golf Saudi-partnered tournaments such as the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series.

An integral part of this vision is the groundbreaking school programme. Golf Saudi and the SGF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Saudi Sport Federation, have developed a unique ‘Train the Trainer’ model, with participation from 208 schools across all 13 regions of Saudi Arabia. This programme aims to equip physical education teachers with the necessary skills to teach and train students in golf, leading to a verified physical and digital certification.

The ‘Train the Trainer’ programme goes beyond just teaching the game. It is structured to enable

GOLF SAUDI HAS DEVELOPED A UNIQUE ‘TRAIN THE TRAINER’ MODEL WITH PARTICIPATION OF SCHOOLS FROM ALL 13 REGIONS

educators to effectively impart the art, etiquette and skills of golf to their students. This initiative has already been successful in regions such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Eastern Province, Hail, Al Qassim, Aljawuf, and Neom. Notable participating schools include Tadrees, MISK Schools, Dar Al Barah, Al Olaya, Al Rowad, Tarbiyah Namouthajiyah and Waad Academy.

To ensure safety and enjoyment, the Mass Participation department has provided unique SNAG (Starting New At Golf) equipment to each school involved. This child-friendly kit sparks interest by making the game fun and accessible for beginners.

Complementing in-school programmes, they host children from various local and international schools at partner professional tournaments.

first time.

TO ENSURE SAFETY AND ENJOYMENT, THE MASS PARTICIPATION DEPARTMENT HAS PROVIDED UNIQUE SNAG EQUIPMENT TO EACH SCHOOL

These events — the PIF Saudi International, Aramco Saudi Ladies International, Saudi Open and LIV Golf’s Jeddah competition — offer a unique opportunity for children to play golf in fan villages, leading to more than 15,000 children experiencing golf for the

Looking ahead, Golf Saudi plans to roll out the ‘Class to Grass’ initiative. This move promotes a transition from using SNAG equipment to real golf equipment, backed by inter-school competitions that foster healthy competition and camaraderie. The Ministry of Education collaborates in providing invaluable support for after-school programmes, further enhancing engagement and facilitating educational development for children.

The Mass Participation department’s efforts are more than just teaching golf. They aim to instil an appreciation for the sport and the values it represents — discipline, focus, patience and respect. This approach invests in Saudi Arabia’s future, nurturing a generation of not just golf enthusiasts but potential champions.

As the momentum grows, the achievements of Golf Saudi and the SGF in 2022/23 have laid a solid foundation for future development. Their roadmap aligns with Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s ambitious national strategy for sustainable growth. As they develop an innovative culture concerned with environmental protection, economic development and social activation aim to increase sports participation and enhance golf’s global presence.

The Mass Participation Department plays a fundamental role within Golf Saudi, coordinating the operations of most of its departments. This department is often the first point of contact for clients and corporates. Depending on the client’s needs, the Mass Participation Department connects them with the relevant department. This systematic and structured approach optimises the client experience and ensures efficient operations within Golf Saudi.

LOOKING AHEAD, GOLF SAUDI PLANS TO ROLL OUT THE ‘CLASS TO GRASS’ INITIATIVE — A TRANSITION TO USING REAL GOLF EQUIPMENT

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LET’S ROLL

Ventana — the leading lithium golf cart distributor in the Middle East — keeps you moving

in the heat

If there is one thing that can help your game in the Middle East heat more than anything else, it must be comfort.

While all the clubs, gloves and shoes in the world may tweak your form, staying cool and comfortable is key above all else.

This is where Ventana comes in.

The Dubai-based trading company is a key golf cart and turf machinery distributor in the region — a subsidiary of Tanseeq Investment Group, the region’s leading golf and landscapebased group. Proscape, the first company under the group, was established in the year 2000. Under the leadership

of Ahmed AR Anoohi (Chairman) and Naser M Ahmed (Group CEO), the group has now grown to 22 companies within the last 23 years. It has established itself as the leading name in the landscape and golf industry in the Middle East with operational presence in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The group is now strategically positioned to achieve a group revenue target of AED 1 billion in the near future.

Ventana has been instrumental in promoting green energy in the region by introducing lithium-based golf carts and utility vehicles. In 2021, Ventana won the deal to supply 435 lithiumbased golf carts (E-Z- GO Elite) to Dubai

Golf. This was one of the biggest lithium golf fleet deals in the Middle East and it was followed up by another landmark deal, supplying 80 carts to Trump International in Dubai.

As of 2023, Ventana has supplied more than 520 carts in the region, cementing its position as the No.1 lithium golf cart distributor in the Middle East.

But it is more than just carts and comfort with Ventana. It has seven main business verticals — Golf and electric vehicles, turf machinery, batteries, irrigation, chemicals, lighting and landscape products. It has a dedicated turf and golf cart machinery workshop with qualified and experienced techni-

cians, which enables it to provide allround customer service for its clients. Ventana is the official distributor for leading manufacturers like E-Z-GO, Cushman, Jacobsen, Ransomes, Rain Bird, Husqvarna, Enersys, Solis, MultiOne, Grillo, Active, Shibaura among other manufacturers.

Launching in 2015, Ventana set out on its mission to offer products and services to the golf, landscape and leisure industry in the region. To further develop the business and accelerate the growth of the company, Riyad Mustafa (pictured right) was brought in as General Manager to head the company in 2018. With 15 years of business experience in the golf and landscape industry in the GCC region, he started out with a three-member team, with the key focus on developing the existing business and increasing the brand and product range.

After five years, Mustafa and his team had made massive inroads, including an impressive revenue growth rate of

54.56 per cent, client growth rate of 86.98 per cent and the staff strength increasing from three to 35 members. During this period brands representation went up 24 per cent and now Ventana has more than 50 brands in its portfolio, serving numerous clients

across various industries. With this privilege comes the responsibility of managing a large workload while ensuring quality customer service and maintaining fruitful partnerships. Ventana adopted effective strategies to streamline its operations and optimise client relationships.

After initial success, not resting on its laurels, there was more to come in 2021. Tanseeq Investment group opened Ventana’s sister company — Al Aweer Trading in Riyadh to distribute golf carts and electric vehicles, golf irrigation, batteries, turf machinery and landscape products in Saudi Arabia. In a short span of time, Al Aweer secured important deals iacross the Kingdom and, in early 2023, was successful in securing the tender to supply Rain Brid golf irrigation products for a new golf project. Al had entered its second year of operation with company achieving 91 per cent revenue growth.

Ventana has achieved success in a relatively short time by identifying and capitalizing on emerging opportunities in the golf & landscape market, introducing innovative products, adopting continuous improvement, broadening our customer base, and diversifying our revenue streams. As the golf and landscape market continues to evolve, with adaptation a key to success Ventana keeps client preferences, technology and industry trends at the top of the agenda, embracing flexibility and introducing innovative golf products in the region. With a dynamic team, supportive management, effective leadership and a clear vision to be the leading golf and landscape trading company in the region, Ventana looks ready to keep on rolling in the years to come.

After initial success, there was more to come in 2021 with expansion into Saudi Arabia

BY COLLIN MORIKAWA

7

SMART WAYS TO PLAY BETTER TOMORROW

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATT HAWTHORNE

For many competitive golfers, school is a means to an end—a bridge from junior golf to competitive college and amateur events.

That wasn’t the case for Collin Morikawa.

His parents insisted school and golf progress together — and that transformed him into the multi-dimensional athlete he is today, one who earned a business degree from one of the top schools in the country, CalBerkeley. With two majors and three other PGA Tour wins already to his name, Morikawa, 26, doesn’t freewheel around courses with brute strength. He problem-solves his way through them.

“I remember that from the first time I met him,” says the PGA Tour’s Max Homa. “He was 19, but he had a better head on his shoulders than most pros.”

To use a business metaphor, Morikawa has become the CEO of his game. His mission statement: Think smarter and play better. Navigate a round in the most perceptive way possible.

“We’re all searching for something to play better,” Morikawa says. “There are technical things to consider, but everyone can play better by doing things that are simpler and smarter.”

Here, Morikawa shares seven clever ways to improve your game without countless hours of practice. You can put them in action tomorrow.

—LUKE KERR-DINEEN

IMAGINE A WINDOW, AND THEN BREAK IT

MORIKAWA: Most golfers aim based on where they want their ball to land — they lock on to that spot. But all golfers have shot shapes they need to account for, and when I focus too much on where I want the ball to finish, my natural left-to-right shape gets too severe on its way to getting there. That causes me instinctively to start aiming more and more left without realising it, and the result is a big, wipey fade that’s hard to control.

To fix that problem, I learned to aim where I want the ball to start, not finish. I think of the fairway as a hallway, and my start line is a window at the beginning of that hallway that I want to fire my ball through. I like this aiming technique better because it forces me to commit to my start line and shot shape. If you use it, you will rein in those really curvy drives that are tough to keep in the fairway — even when they land there.

KEEP ON-COURSE THOUGHTS EXTERNAL

A big difference between pros and amateurs is the emphasis of their focus— external (pros) versus internal (amateurs). When we’re taking the club back, we’re focused on the target. We’re reacting to something outside of ourselves. Everyone

else is thinking about themselves—how to take the club back or how to shift weight, etc. Don’t get me wrong; pros have swing thoughts, but when we’re on the course, all that matters is creating the feels needed for the shot we’re trying to produce.

FIND YOUR DISPERSION PATTERN 2

Every golfer has a pattern — a certain direction they like to see their shots move, and a common miss to go with it. My pattern is left to right. I hit fades about 80 per cent of the time, and my misses are shots that start a little left of my target and fly straight instead of curving back. I know I’m better off missing it slightly off the toe of the clubface because a toe fade will travel straighter than a heel fade. The lesson: Having a pattern

isn’t a bad thing; it’s not knowing your pattern and adjusting for it that can cause big problems.

I’ll often pop quiz myself to double check my accuracy. On the range, I’ll hit 20 balls with the same club to the same target and see how the balls travel and how far apart they land. For me, I’m trying to land my midirons within 10 yards of my target. I’ll give myself one point for every ball that stays in that area.

Your dispersion with the same club might be 20 yards, but that’s OK. Try my point system to help build accuracy while learning how far apart your shots do land. If you get fewer than 12 points, increase your target zone. What you’re doing is becoming more familiar with where your ball could end up in relation to your target, and hopefully you’ll account for that when making club selections and choosing where to aim.

X-OUT THOSE NASTY SPOTS ON THE COURSE 3

It might sound like a bad idea to think about the places you don’t want to go before hitting a shot, but that’s exactly what I and a lot of other pros do. We’re not thinking about it while we’re over the ball, but a lot of prep work goes into a shot before we step in, including where not to miss.

Before tournament rounds, I’ll draw big Xs in my yardage book and

then play away from those areas. Finding the Xs is something you should do if you want to avoid big numbers on your scorecard. Penalty areas, deep bunkers and out-ofbounds markers are some obvious ones, but here’s another you might not have thought about: According to analytics, missing on the short side of the green — the side nearest the hole

FIND THE COVER NUMBER

A lot of TV announcers think we’re firing at pins more than we actually are. We’re rarely taking dead aim, and when we do, it’s very situational. Most times we’re playing to a specific part of the green. One thing players always do is get their “cover number” —

— reduces your chance of getting up and down by 40 per cent when compared to the opposite side. What that should tell you is that before you hit your approach shot, identify the short side, put a big X on it in your mind, and do what you can to play away from it. That’s why knowing your dispersion pattern with each club (tip No. 2) is so helpful!

that’s the number it takes to carry some form of trouble, like a false front on the green or a bunker. Remember, that number is the absolute minimum to carry your shot to a decent spot, so be generous in your club selection to make sure it does.

PRACTISE ONE BALL, ONE SHOT 4

You might love to beat balls on the range, but I hate it. I didn’t grow up on a range hitting ball after ball to the same target without giving the results much thought. I grew up practising on the course, and I got a lot more out of that.

When I was a junior golfer, my coach, Rick Sessinghaus, would have me hit a shot, and after I did, he would toss another ball down and ask me to hit it to the same spot — but in a different way. That

type of practice taught me how to be creative and adapt much easier to whatever scenarios I encounter during a round.

I didn’t realise it at the time, but the way I was working on my game was a form of random practice. There’s a lot of good research showing it’s the best way to practise and improve your skills. I still practise that way, and it’s something you should do, too — even if you don’t have access

to a course like I did. After you’ve worked on your dispersion pattern (tip No. 2), spend the rest of your time trying to hit a lot of different shots on the range. It might be a 70-yard slice that you need once a year to get around a tree, or a low-trajectory shot with a lob wedge. Constantly switch clubs and give yourself new problems to solve. When you teach yourself how to work something out, you’ll remember it forever.

5

PUNCH YOUR WAY BACK TO BETTER BALL-STRIKING

I’m known for my fade, but I grew up hitting a draw. It wasn’t until the summer before I went to Cal that I changed my preferred ball flight. I probably hit a thousand punch shots that summer to groove my fade. To this day, whenever my contact isn’t as good as I’d like it to be, the first thing I do is go back to hitting punch shots. I don’t always like doing it, but I know a punch iron shot solves a lot of my bad habits by forcing me to be more efficient with my body’s movements.

If you’re struggling to make crisp contact with your irons, try punching it to get things back in order. Make a full backswing, but hit down and through the ball, finishing with the shaft pointing back at your belt. Sometimes momentum will carry the shaft farther into the follow-through, and that’s OK. The key here is to stay compact with your movements.

Hitting punch shots helps prevent you from swaying going back and stopping your body rotation as you swing through — two big ball-striking mistakes. The best part is that it teaches you to bring the low point of your swing forward, which means you’re compressing the ball with a descending blow before taking a divot. Remember that feel when you go back to full-swing iron shots.

I’ve been asked a lot why my lead wrist is bowed at impact. The truth is, I have no idea. It probably happened as a result of all the punch shots I hit. I do know that it leads to more clubface control — at least for me. When that wrist is flexed as it approaches

6

ADJUST YOUR FEET FOR CONSISTENT SAND PLAY

Standard advice for greenside bunker shots is to open the clubface wide, then open your stance and swing hard, cutting across the ball on an out-to-in path along your stance line. It’s the technique I learnt growing up, but I find it’s too extreme for such a simple shot. I’ve abandoned it for an easier way to get it close from a bunker. I’ll share that technique in a second.

First, understand that all you need to focus on in a bunker is the low point of your swing. It needs to be in the sand under your ball, which means your club should enter the sand in the same spot every time. That’s it — pretty simple.

I’ve adopted a newschool method to get the same low point every time. Instead of setting up with my left foot open, I drop my right foot back, which aims my feet out to the right of my target. Doing so puts more weight forward, forces me to turn around my lead leg, and steepens my swing just enough to put the low point in the perfect spot without having to do anything else. I don’t have to think: I just pull my right foot back and swing — and it works!

the ball, as opposed to extended, it helps square the clubface. You don’t have to bow that wrist like I do, but a swing thought is to have the back of your lead hand pointing at the target at impact. If it is, there’s a good chance your clubface will be, too.

MATCH YOUR LEAD HAND TO YOUR CLUBFACE

ACCOUNT FOR YOUR PUTTING TENDENCIES

For a long time, the biggest problem with my putting was that I had no idea what I was doing. I’d putt well and have no idea why, and I’d putt poorly and have no idea why. I brought on putting coach Stephen Sweeney to change that, and he’s been great.

He helped me realise that my fullswing tendencies were showing up in my putting stroke. Most golfers have no idea that your driver swing can affect your putting stroke, but it can.

Because I mostly hit fades with the driver, I’d set up and swing my putter similarly. My shoulders would be open, and I would swipe across the ball. It became a big issue, especially on long and mid-range putts in which the ball would start more left than I expected. (Unlike a fade off the tee, the ball doesn’t curve back on target when it’s rolling on a green.)

It’s important to understand your tendencies and make adjustments to

counteract them. I use a claw grip to do that, as it helps prevent my right hand from taking over and starting my putts too far left.

The other big change I’ve made is that before taking my grip, I place my hands on either side of the shaft so the palms are facing. This helps square my shoulders and stroke. I wish I had done it sooner, but, hey, it’s never too late to learn something that moves you closer to genius golf!

ON THE ROCKS

Point Hardy’s 16th and 17th seem destined to become two of golf’s most recognizable par 3s.

WITH NINE (!) HOLES PLAYING ALONG

CRAGGY OCEAN BLUFFS, WILL CABOT

SAINT LUCIA LIVE UP TO THE HYPE?

BY DEREK DUNCAN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN OAR

Cliffhan er g

The eyes of golf will burst when they see the 17th hole at Cabot Saint Lucia.

I was struck as I stared at the Gibraltar-like escarpment of striated rock and trees rising high over a bay of aqua-clear ocean pummeling the stones below. Even in raw form, the would-be par 3 inspired the kind of tantalising fear golfers feel when standing on elevated edges of land to strike shots over water, in this case 185 yards upward to an unseen green that would somehow be levelled into the opposite cliffside seven or eight stories above the sea. Pictures of this hole could be splashed on magazine covers, calendars, mousepads and dental-office posters embossed with scripted pearls of New Age affirmation.

It was March 2020. I had joined architects Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw and their longtime associate Dave Axland to walk the routing of the nascent Point Hardy Golf Club, as the course would come to be called. Construction had begun only weeks earlier, and most of the land we traversed was virgin grassland or thickets of low bush through which trails and dirt roads had been cut. Just seven of the 18 holes were cleared, but it didn’t take an architectural savant to recognise that a golf course on this site near the northernmost point of Saint Lucia would have virtually no terrestrial peers in terms of relentless ocean engagement and raw visual power. Each nine climbs first into scenic uplands and then out to the coast for a series of heart-stopping set-pieces that teeter on the rocky brink of land and sea. Five of the nine coastal holes require shots to be launched across sections of the Atlantic, including the 17th, the

most emphatic of the quintet. For reference, Pebble Beach and Cypress Point each have three such holes. Words like spectacular and breathtaking are loaded and overused when describing golf courses, but at Cabot Saint Lucia they seem toothless.

Crenshaw was seeing the land for the first time, and he had much to digest. Here and there he drifted off to get a vantage on a certain green site or feature, as if he were already playing the course and breaking it down tactically.

bean sun for minutes, peering meta-

Crenshaw was quiet and would often stand squinting in the charged Caribbean sun for minutes, peering metaphysically into the hole’s being. On his return he might say something like:

“I think you should be able to enter this eryone would nod, suddenly able to ac-

“I think you should be able to enter this green from the high left side,” and everyone would nod, suddenly able to access the vision. Coore ribbed whoever was around him — associates, workers, sales representatives, writers — jabbing with wry verbal feints that landed keenly, keeping everyone loose. To be targeted in this parry-and-riposte was to be included, seen. Jeff Bradley, who has worked virtually every major proj-

Fourteen holes like the par-4 second dropping Atlantic

Five of the nine coastal holes require

breathtaking are loaded and overused

possess jawviews.

ect for Coore and Crenshaw since the early 1990s and is considered a visionary in terms of building bunkers, was clearing brush near the second tee. He hopped off the excavator when Bill and Ben arrived to look over the expanse of the broad par 4 that drifted naturally across a high plain, million-dollar horizons in multiple directions.

“This is looking rather good, Mr. Bradley,” Coore said. “I have to say, it’s not looking bad at all. What’s the saying about a blind pig?”

Bradley, after a beat, said, “Every once in a while.”

“That’s it.”

A GOLF COURSE ON THIS SITE WOULD HAVE NO PEERS IN TERMS OF RAW VISUAL POWER.

Bradley smirked. “‘Every once in a while’ has kept me around for a

long time.”

Unlike most architects since the Second World War, Coore and Crenshaw don’t draw grading plans, elevations or technical blueprints. They work loosely, refining their holes with each pass, relying heavily on their shapers and associates to interpret their concepts and find

the details in the field, and to add their ideas when inspired. Nothing is rushed or even conceived until its time is right.

We were at the bottom of the first hole, an immense par 5 that charges directly up an imposing foothill. Coore was musing on drainage and the difficulty of getting the hole to work when Rory Hutchison, who worked with Oncore, the independent construction compa-

ny helping build the course, asked him where the tees were going to be. Coore feigned incredulity.

“Now, why’d you have to bring up the tees? I was just starting to feel good about this hole,” he said. “There’s always one person who knows how to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.” Two holes later Coore was still razzing him. Crenshaw had gone off in another direction, but when he returned, Coore pointed to Hutchison and said: “Do you know what this guy just said to me down on one?”

who had and

Hutchison, who is from South Africa, took it with humour. He later told me that though he had been on Saint Lucia only a short time, working with Coore

and Crenshaw was revealing. Hutchison has helped build courses for the most prolific names in the business, but the Coore-Crenshaw method of constructing them was different. “At every other job I’ve been on, the directive is move-move-move is telling us to slow down and look at it more closely. I love it.”

identified 11 of the same approximate

. Here, Bill

I asked Axland, who has been with Coore and Crenshaw since the late 1980s and has run projects for them from Friar’s Head on Long Island to Lost Farm in Tasmania, what he thought of the site. He stomped his foot on the ground and said in his deep voice: “It’s a volcanic island. We’re trying to build a golf course here on solid rock.”

to go faster, Friar’s Head on Long Island to Lost Farm what This wasn’t the first attempt to build

This wasn’t the first attempt to build a course here. In the 2000s, a resort operation called Raffl es acquired more

than 350 acres for golf and housing, and Nicklaus Design began construction before the project collapsed during the 2008 recession. Coore’s routing identified 11 of the same approximate green locations. Many of them, like the par-3 seventh, set on a narrow isthmus above the crags, were too good to not use. As Crenshaw said at the ninth, another par 3 playing off a hill to a meadow set level against ocean bluffs: “If you can’t identify these green sites, you should consider another line of work.”

other par 3 playing off a hill to a meadow set level against ocean bluffs: “If you sites, should consider another line of work.”

Coore knew building a course on Saint Lucia was going to be challenging. Constructing international courses in the best circumstances presents hurdles, including unique permitting and environmental regulations, navigating local political dynamics and supply-chain delays. Working in the tropics, with special

ISLAND HOPPING

The 16th (foreground) and 15th are two of five holes that play across ocean coves.

climate, turf, foresting and topographical (or lack thereof) considerations, intensifies the effort and explains why there are so few excellent courses in the Caribbean. The Saint Lucia property also possessed severe transitions between the lowland holes and higher inland sections. Bridging these would require a degree of grading and site manipulation beyond the comfort zone of Coore and Crenshaw, who typically work on milder gradients, usually in more malleable sand. At one point, Coore even encouraged Cabot co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar to settle for a par-3 course, with all the holes by the water.

Coore enlisted Oncore, run by Jim Barger, to handle the major earthworks and says they would not have accepted the job had Barger not signed on. Barger had worked in other Caribbean environ-

would be extreme, he believed the site had doubts about the potential play-

ments, and though Cabot Saint Lucia would be extreme, he believed the site could be tamed. Coore, however, still had doubts about the potential playability given the forbidding elevation changes. “The very things that make the golf course so visually spectacular are also what make it extremely difficult when working on playability,” he said.

He was particularly concerned with the aggressively uphill first hole and the par-4 fifth that ski jumps off the same ridge in the opposite direction: It was nothing but a jungle that plunged down a ravine (the fifth and sixth holes fall more than 200 feet from high point to the shoreline). “Everybody’s out here looking at the ocean, and we’re looking at what’s right in front of us,” Coore said. “Those valleys aren’t there for no reason. When it rains, it’s going to be a raging river.”

looking at the ocean, and we’re looking buried somewhere beyond it in forest. hole is one of the most sensational re-

veals imaginable. Drives at the short Coore said, matter of factly.

The par-5 14th is another adventure that plays blindly over a basin toward an earthen embankment requiring industrial-level cuts, the rest of the hole buried somewhere beyond it in forest. Around the corner, the sight of the 15th hole is one of the most sensational reveals imaginable. Drives at the short par 4 are hit over a bay of thundering surf toward a diagonal wall of rock and a hidden fairway that would have to be pounded into the mountainside: The more aggressive the line, the longer the carry. The hole is a unicorn, an angry one that bucks, and I could think of no analogue in terms of strategy or visceral awe, nor any obvious way it could be constructed. “That’s a Jim Barger hole,” Coore said, matter of factly.

We came to the 17th like rainforest archeologists stumbling upon a monolithic ruin. Crenshaw scrutinised the fortress-like facade. “I definitely want a straight-faced club for this shot,” he said finally. He whistled and made a ballooning gesture with his hand, the imaginary golf ball slicing in parabolic free-fall toward the Atlantic. Cowan-Dewar had been there waiting with another Cabot official. “Isn’t this spectacular?”

official. “Isn’t this spectacular?”

“It is a truly spectacular piece of land,” Coore said, parsing in his tone.

“Come look at this tee up here,” Cowan-Dewar said. I followed him up a rise of maybe 20 feet through thorny bushes to a small promontory. From here the view of the prospective green was clearer, as was the panorama of the sea. To the right the land fell perhaps 80 feet straight down to the rocks.

“Can you imagine hitting this shot?”

“Ben, I don’t think we can build a tee up there,” Coore said from below. “We can’t be sure that’s stable.”

“Bill, it would be one of the greatest

“Come look at this tee up here,” Cowto a small promontory. From here the he said. up there,” Coore said from below. “We tees in golf.”

“I know, but I’m not sending any of my guys up on that,” Coore said. “I’m not going to call the families of my guys to tell them they’re dead because that whole thing fell into the ocean. I’m not going to a funeral.” This drew a chuckle, even from Cowan-Dewar, despite the adamancy behind Coore’s words.

It’s no surprise a golf visionary like an already jaw-dropping hole even more extraordinary. Cowan-Dewar, who is 43, proached Mike Keiser, the developer of Bandon Dunes, about creating a Canaend of Cape Breton Island. That partnerthe No. 1 course in Canada by Golf Dinerstone of a growing Cabot enterprise

tial developments under construction in British Columbia, Scotland and Florida. real estate component of 300 custom-

It’s no surprise a golf visionary like Cowan-Dewar could find a way to make an already jaw-dropping hole even more extraordinary. Cowan-Dewar, who is 43, was just 25 in the mid-2000s when he approached Mike Keiser, the developer of Bandon Dunes, about creating a Canadian equivalent on the remote northern end of Cape Breton Island. That partnership led to the opening in 2011 of Cabot Links (designed by Rod Whitman, with a strong assist from Dave Axland) and then, four years later, Coore and Crenshaw’s Cabot Cliffs, currently ranked the No. 1 course in Canada by Golf Digest. Cabot Cape Breton became the cornerstone of a growing Cabot enterprise (Keiser is also a partner in Cabot Saint Lucia) that has new courses and residential developments under construction in British Columbia, Scotland and Florida. The Saint Lucia project also includes a real estate component of 300 custombuilt homes and villas surrounding the course. Eventually resident-member play will fill the course, but early on Point Hardy will be open to island visitors staying at nearby resorts.

The discussion of Cowan-Dewar’s auxiliary tee was put on hold, and we moved down the 18th, a short par 5

moved down the 18th, a short par 5

‘IT’S A VOLCANIC ISLAND. WE’RE TRYING TO BUILD A GOLF COURSE HERE ON SOLID ROCK.’

HEAVEN AND EARTH

The fifth, sixth and seventh plunge from the highlands to the shoreline.

where the second or third shot is hit over Donkey Beach to another bluff-side green. On the left the foothills stood unbothered as they had for millennia, and on the right sunlight glimmered off the rippling ocean, the mutating blues mirroring a sky that held more warmth and clarity than can be described. All the colours of light and earth seemed to be refracting though some invisible prism. It felt so calm and optimal and full of promise. No one could predict how it was about to change.

THE DOGS OF SAINT LUCIA HAVE evolved a special trait that allows them to scramble away from the wheels of moving vehicles at just the last moment. Either that or the mortality rate is off the charts. I learned this on the drive to Cabot Saint Lucia when I returned to see the course in November 2021. Most people who go there — including future Point Hardy players — fly into Hewanorra International Airport near Vieux Fort Quarter in the extreme south, then take a car or shuttle toward the Cap Estate section in the north. Saint Lucia is only 27.5 miles from tip to tail, but the twisting ride though the forests, banana plantations and mountain passes in the heart of the island, past village after small village of homes, bodegas and prancing canines tucked alongside the two-lane road takes about two hours. The rest take a helicopter from Hewanorra to a landing station in Castries. That takes 10 minutes.

moving vehicles at just the last mo-

is only 27.5 miles from tip to tail, but the twisting ride though the forests, baranks Saint Lucia 189 out of 214 coun-

Many things had happened in the intervening 19 months, not the least of which was a global pandemic that threw the construction schedule into chaos. Any time major development is proposed in a paradisal but economically modest location (the World Bank ranks Saint Lucia 189 out of 214 countries in GDP), tensions arise between the forces of capitalism and those of conservation and cultural preservation. Saint Lucia is no exception. Resistance in certain quarters arose early when word leaked that the country’s pension fund had loaned Cabot more than $10 million of the reported $13.8 million

needed to buy the 375-acre property out of receivership, a price many believe was well below market value (Cabot has since repaid the loan, with interest). Disputes also arose over the potential disruption of ancient Amerindian burial sites, the protection of a grove of organ pipe cactus near the ninth and 18th greens where wild horses grazed, the dislocation of a famous local eatery on Cabot land and public access to the beaches below the golf holes.

needed to buy the 375-acre property out has since repaid the loan, with interbeaches below the golf holes.

When it came to building the course, portant, impediments. The bigger chalter I had departed in 2020, and Dave Axincluding pulling soil into the basin of the fifth. Remarkably, they began to

When it came to building the course, these were minor, though not unimportant, impediments. The bigger challenges were logistical. Businesses and then borders began closing just days after I had departed in 2020, and Dave Axland and Jeff Bradley left Saint Lucia on some of the last flights out. Concerned about re-entry if he went home, Keith Rhebb, a Coore-Crenshaw associate since 2007, elected to stay behind to ensure the design team had someone onsite while the world shut down. Rhebb continued to work the land through the worst of the pandemic with a small crew grooming the most obstinate regions, including pulling soil into the basin of the fifth. Remarkably, they began to look like golf holes.

Canadian designer Trevor Dormer joined Rhebb in spring 2021. He was immediately taken by the setting. “This is going to be a very emotional golf course,” he told me. By November they had made significant progress, and several holes were sand-capped, the necessary process of covering them in four inches of local pumice sand before the grass seed could go down. Another critical issue, however, had come up: water. The original plan to tap into the local supply for irrigation fell apart, and now they were waiting for a reverse osmosis plant that would desalinate pumped-in ocean water. It, too, was delayed. Without water there could be no grass.

Canadian designer Trevor Dormer eral holes were sand-capped, the necesinches of local pumice sand before the grass seed could go down. Another criti-

The original plan to tap into the local supply for irrigation fell apart, and now plant that would desalinate pumped-in case scenario. Coore took a sanguine

lieve that the golf course at Cabot Saint

Optimistic projections initially had the course opening in 2021, but now it looked like late 2022 would be the bestcase scenario. Coore took a sanguine view of setbacks. “I happen to really believe that the golf course at Cabot Saint

Lucia has benefited from the fact — as whole process slowed down and aldoxical benefit: increased interest in golf and investment properties. “Probably at Caribbean real estate skyrocket as much as it did than through the pandemic — this project,” Cowan-Dewar said, not-

Lucia has benefited from the fact — as horrible as that sounds because of the often-tragic circumstances—that the whole process slowed down and allowed the guys to work on the playability aspects of some of those more extreme holes that we worried about.”

The pandemic provided another paradoxical benefit: increased interest in golf and investment properties. “Probably at no time in history did the demand for Caribbean real estate skyrocket as much as it did than through the pandemic — it was just the right moment in time for this project,” Cowan-Dewar said, noting that the closing rate for prospective buyers who visited was “almost 100 percent.” Phase I sales generated more than $120 million, and Phase II lots are currently priced between $1.6 million and $9.75 million. A third phase will follow.

$120 million, and Phase II lots are cur$9.75 million. A third phase will follow.

Once Coore determines a course’s routing, he and Crenshaw design by

routing, he and Crenshaw design by

FIVE DISTINCT PAR 3S ARE ARGUABLY THE MOST EXHILARATING COLLECTION ON THE PLANET.

walking. Trim and tireless at age 77, Coore has likely walked more miles through golf terrain than any designer in history. He will frequently spend days or even a week exploring a site for a job he and Crenshaw will ultimately decline to build. As they surveyed the Cabot holes, no detail was too small for dissection, and their directives to Rhebb and Dormer were invariably explained in the language of subtraction. “Let’s soften this,” Coore might say, or, motioning to a line of trees, “Let’s break that up a little.”

At the fourth hole, a Redan-inspired par 3, Crenshaw saw slopes and grades invisible to my eye. “Take this hump down a little,” he said to Rhebb with a smoothing hand motion. “Not much.”

The 14th hole had been cleared and somehow transformed into a freeway par 5 that thunders downhill, then up to a green set atop a palisade. Crenshaw scrutinized an imperceptible mound at

the green entrance and said to Dormer,

the green entrance and said to Dormer, “Just calm this area down. A player down there won’t be able to see the shoulder of these bunkers.”

Coore concurred. “Let’s just take the

air out a bit.”

The architects treat their properties 13th green; large, mysterious mounds

The architects treat their properties as curators, designing off the land and salvaging anything that can be incorporated into a hole, however modest: an existing drainage trench inspired a wraparound bunker in front of the 13th green; large, mysterious mounds of debris on the right side of the third fairway became an anomalous shaggy grass berm; a rock quarry at the second now encloses half the green. Rhebb and Dormer joked that they are careful not to leave any unintentional shapes in the ground because Bill and Ben might use them.

When alterations are made, they look natural. The peninsula 16th green

— the first of and think, there

TRANQUIL WATERS

Compared to the clashing drama surrounding it, the par-3 ninth appears deceptively sedate.

Keith Rhebb worked tremendously hard might very well look at it and say that in

— the first of the consecutive cross-cove par 3s that on any other property, in any other universe, would be considered the most transcendent on the course—appears to have been waiting eons for golf to arrive. “Most people look at number 16 Oh, there’s a hole just sitting ,” Coore said. “Well, there wasn’t. Keith Rhebb worked tremendously hard to get that severe slope just right, so you might very well look at it and say that in fact it was just sitting there.”

“This is where I was most nervous to make a big move,” Rhebb said, gesturing to the pitched green. “It was the biggest opportunity to mess up. Me and Trevor are aware we might never get another chance to build a hole like this.”

That is, unless you count the 17th, one

that remains outrageous in presentation and the degree of transformation. I went up to the promontory with Rhebb and Dormer but found there was still no tee box. “This is truly a fantasy-golf hole,” Coore announced, peering across the chasm as the wind quartered. “This is a hole Ben Cowan-Dewar wanted built. It’s fantasy golf,” he repeated.

“Bill wants that in print,” Rhebb quipped.

At the green, Crenshaw praised Rhebb and Dormer for the enormous technical accomplishment of getting the putting surface and surrounds playable and receptive to long shots, then gave them notes on how to modify it. More notes came for alterations of the 18th green complex, which Dormer later said has gone through three or four iterations. I commented that most architects would have worked out the contours and grades well ahead of time and translated them from software programs into executable blueprints.

“Do you hear that? Computers are replacing you, Trevor,” Coore said. “The 18th at Saint Lucia may be your last green.”

“Just a minute ago you were praising him.”

“I don’t respond well to compliments,” Dormer said.

“That’s good to know,” Coore said. “Now I know I can be honest.”

Late in the day I stood along with Coore beneath the 10th hole that ascends a slope, similar to the first. Terraces and landing pads had been platformed into the fairway to hold up balls, and in dirt form it looked like a Q*bert pyramid. Cactus patches dotted the hillside, and mottled-green scrub vegetation blanketed the background elevations. Other than more topsoil exposed and the distant rumbling of a truck or excavator, Cabot Saint Lucia didn’t feel different than the first time I’d seen the course. Even the horses were still around.

centuries of settlement and occupation

excited as anyone for the otherworldly potential of the golf and would happily but looking at this scenery it was impos-

Then again, without ocean-view homes

of Caribbean island that had managed to escape man-made artifice through centuries of settlement and occupation but patios and glinting glass. I was as excited as anyone for the otherworldly potential of the golf and would happily line up to play it, as will so many others, but looking at this scenery it was impossible to not also understand that something significant was being sacrificed. Then again, without ocean-view homes to finance the project, there would be no golf, and no pulse-pounding coastline holes that faraway people will dream of playing. Was that preferable?

In so many inarticulate words I shared this thought with Coore, but it wasn’t a question either one of us could answer.

LACK OF WATER HAD PREVENTED

and now water was what prevented the tional by spring 2022, and the first parts of the course had taken seed. Dormer, mer, returned in September to see the

Cabot Saint Lucia from growing grass, and now water was what prevented the grass from growing. The reverse-osmosis plant—which looks like a shipping container attached to three squat circulation cylinders—arrived and was operational by spring 2022, and the first parts of the course had taken seed. Dormer, after going back to Canada for the summer, returned in September to see the course to completion as delays pushed grassing of the remainder of the course into the fall. Then came the rain.

Hurricane season on a tropical island is volatile, and storms deluged the course with three to four inches of hard tropical rain at a time. The paspalum

TRANSPORTED

The portal to the “secret” promontory tee overlooking the par-3 17th hole.

It wasn’t going to stay that way. The tractors would be up in those foothills soon, clearing roads and building homes and carports and plunge pools. Though the houses were to be tastefully, even beautifully designed using indigenous stone, wood and brass, golfers were going to look around them and see not the natural visages of a section

grass washed out along with some of the ground features, especially on the steeper inclines. Crews would repair the damage, and more seed would go down only to be erased by another storm. The cycle continued into January, and Dormer began to feel the task was Sisyphean. “We’ve literally built this course three times,” he said. “If we see clouds out there, everybody just gets nervous.”

Dormer devised a stop-gap measure of covering the fairways with netting and building V-shape fords out of plywood that funneled sheeting water into diversion pipes. This invention saved the project from more washouts, and by the time I visited again this February, the grass on the troubled holes was beginning to take root. Jim Barger, however, who was back on site, cautioned another rainy season was coming in May.

Nevertheless, optimism was running high again with hopes of a December 2023 opening. On another walk-through I ran into Rory Hutchison, who had been on the project continually since incep-

decisions remained only on 11, 12 and fivesome of Michelin-starred seaside

tion. “In a way the site’s been very good to us,” he said. “It rains, and we think we’re not going to be able to work, but it dries out quickly because of the ocean breeze.” Final construction and design decisions remained only on 11, 12 and 13 that come as aperitifs before the final fivesome of Michelin-starred seaside holes. Crenshaw and Dormer discussed a feature that looked like a scaled-down pitcher’s mound in the dirt of the 12th green. “This is really good,” Crenshaw said. “Don’t let anybody touch that.” After looking at the 11th green for some time, he said, “I see a bowl here in the front left.” The two analysed its merits, then flagged out the dimensions.

This surface crafting and consideration of how balls move over the ground runs silently in the background of every Coore-Crenshaw course. Equally thoughtful, and more obvious, is their treatment of the course’s five distinct par 3s, arguably the most exhilarating collection on the planet, playing to different lengths, orientations and operatic exposures. There are no weaknesses. Seeing them grassed made their detailing come alive, and when I went again to the 17th hole, none of the bewilderment

ation of how balls move over the ground runs silently in the background of ev-

a small passage in the bush and emergwith a bird’s-eye view of the cliffside green and just enough room to swing a it, but one way or another Ben Cowan-

had subsided. I hiked up a dirt trail leading to the promontory, bending through a small passage in the bush and emerging on a tiny bright spit of level grass with a bird’s-eye view of the cliffside green and just enough room to swing a club. Coore insists none of his men built it, but one way or another Ben CowanDewar got his tee.

The full story has yet to play out, but it seems inevitable that the game will soon be fixated on Cabot Saint Lucia. Point Hardy will not be one of Coore and Crenshaw’s most architecturally profound designs because no architecture can compete with the pyrotechnics exploding along the shoreline. The most rewarding and complex holes may be those farthest from the water, like two, 11, 12 or 13. Coore, predictably, remained tempered. “Anybody can build one of the most visually dramatic courses in the world on this site, but is anyone going to want to play it? Or is it going to be a course where people go and play it one time, and that’s it? That was our biggest concern from the beginning.” Tending to the script, he added, “But you know, I’m slowly beginning to think this could have a chance to work.”

exploding along the shoreline. The most those farthest from the water, like two, 11, 12 or 13. Coore, predictably, remained the most visually dramatic courses in

DRAMATIC SHORT Bill Coore describes the par-3 17th playing over rocks and surf as “fantasy golf.”

SHOTS

ARTIST CR OBETZ SALVAGES THE ICONIC DRAWINGS OF ILLUSTRATOR ANTHONY RAVIELLI WITH 21ST-CENTURY METHODS

BY EMMA FRANCOIS

Where route 41 skirts through Fort Myers, Florida, there’s an abandoned SunTrust bank with thick walls that mostly kept out the recent and devastating floodwaters of Hurricane Ian. This was good fortune for multimedia artist Christopher (CR) Obetz, though also the world, because the building became the studio where Obetz breathes new life into the drawings of the late Anthony Ravielli — famous for illustrating Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons, Bobby Jones’ The Basic Golf Swing and many books and magazine covers — giving them a way to live on in the digital era.

It was by pure chance that Obetz came to possess the archives of Ravielli, or “Mister Ravielli” as Obetz refers to him. In 2004, seven years after Ravielli died, Obetz was living in New York City and walking his golden retriever in Central Park. The pair turned on to 75th Street and happened upon a gallery he had never visited. As an artist, Obetz’s general instinct is to search for the lost and forgotten, so he ignored the paintings on the main walls and ventured into the back room where he found boxes containing thousands of sketches, notes and scratchboards littering a billiards table. Among them, he recognised the sharp black pen of Anthony Ravielli and knew he had to rescue them.

There was one problem. The portfolio had just been sold. Determined, Obetz pleaded his case to the gallerist, explaining his close connection to golf. His great uncle, Neil Postlewaite, was among the original group who travelled to Europe to help bring the Ryder Cup to the United States. Obetz’s dad, Robin, grew up playing golf with Jack Nicklaus and, when Nicklaus married, stood by his side as best man. (When Robin married, Nicklaus was an usher.) As a boy, Obetz took a few lessons from Jack Grout. Before that, Obetz, now 55, learned how to swing by reading Five Lessons, which he carried in his childhood golf bag, right where his

grandfather told him to keep it. Hogan’s words and Ravielli’s careful penmanship taught Obetz as much about how to live as they did how to swing a club. The smitten gallerist called his client, and the trio promptly brokered a new deal. Obetz paid about the price of a very nice new car for the trove.

Since then, Obetz has been documenting and preserving Ravielli’s work, as well as curating and crafting his own inspired series. During the 2022 Masters, his work was exhibited at the Augusta Museum of History. Never-before-seen Ravielli sketches accompanied Obetz’s

glittering, sweeping physical and digital iterations of those same sketches.

Nancy Glaser, executive director of the museum, called it an immersive experience. “I was fascinated with how Obetz was able to take these illustrations and transform them into biggerthan-life paintings and digital art. He’s bringing Ravielli’s legacy to a 21st-century audience.”

Among some impromptu patrons that week were Bobby Jones’ grandson, Dr

BOBBY JONES

“Follow Through” from the Word Series, mixed media on canvas, 48 by 64 inches.

Bob Jones IV, and his wife, Mimi. They had plans to play golf one day, but the air turned “beastly cold”, so they decided to pop into the museum instead. The Jones family had been brainstorming ways to celebrate the centennial of their grandfather’s major-championship wins. The couple hit it off with Obetz at the museum, and Obetz is now an official artist for the family.

“If the temperature had been five degrees warmer, it might not have ever happened,” Jones says. He thinks Obetz’s work will keep Ravielli’s art “alive” and is an “irreplaceable” service to the history of the sport.

“CR has a very unique gift to take something that is still and give the sense of motion,” Jones says. “For the most part, things that have been done of my grandfather have been in black and white or sepia, but what is so neat about CR’s work is it brings my grandfather to life in vibrant colour.”

To create pieces, Obetz draws from his digital archive of Ravielli’s work, enlarging the original details and stretching them on to canvas. Then, he overlays veneers, wood finishes, acrylic paints, coloured resins, diamond dust, lacquers and sometimes even bunker sand. Whereas Ravielli worked with a surgeon’s precision, leaning his nose into his work and etching microscopic details (drawings that, when published, were often at scales only slightly larger than a finger), Obetz works dynamically, stepping in and out and on to works, fluidly pouring paint and rotating large canvases. “My whole paintbrush is a contradiction to how Ravielli worked,”

he says. To allow one sweeping comparison, Obetz is a Jackson Pollock to Ravielli’s Albrecht Dürer. But Obetz shares Ravielli’s reverence for the careful, expert athleticism of elite golfers.

In fact, Ravielli contributed work to Golf Digest for more than 30 years, regularly attending staff meetings to discuss his methods and theories. He worked by spending hours carefully observing his subjects, watching each intricacy of their swings and translating this knowledge into sparse yet remarkably detailed lines. Not only did Ravielli capture the precise stance and silhouettes of his golfer-subjects, but also their sense of movement.

In “Anchored”, Obetz refreshes a drawing of 15-time major champ Patty Berg with a zesty wash of mint paint. Staccato lines, with gently imprecise angles and edges, allude to the power and measured confidence of Berg’s body as she prepares to strike. To emphasise her powerful calm, Ravielli drew an anchor over her body, alluding to not only the practised sturdiness grounding her swing or the tethered energy of her eyes but the geometric relationship of her body to the Earth, swing and golf ball. This ability to create the perfect visual metaphor is enduring to Ravielli, like, for example, his iconic “pane of glass” rendering of Ben Hogan.

As Obetz says: “My role is to reinforce Ravielli and Patty’s vision, to emphasise these tried and true jewels of knowledge from the past.” Obetz often pays particular attention to the frame and for “Anchored” retro-fitted two of Berg’s Wilson Staff putters and wood pilings from the bridge she walked across every day connecting her home to the Cypress Lake Golf Club. “My artwork is honest and truthful,” he says. “I always honor those who came before me and their collaborations. At the same time, I make it my own.” He dedicated “Anchored” to his parents and donated the work to Cypress Lake, which is also their home course.

Obetz goes by “CR,” but his full name is Christopher Robin

BY

CHANCE THAT OBETZ CAME TO POSSESS THE ARCHIVES OF RAVIELLI.

— yes, like that Christopher Robin, the beloved children’s fictional character and friend of Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore. Sometimes, when he’s manning his refurbished tugboat, Little Toot (named for another iconic Disney character), he responds to captain Christopher Robin. “It’s really just the three of us,” he says, speaking of him, Little Toot, and his other rescued sidekick, Chair, his motley gang on a mission to spread his guiding troika of “hope, faith, and possibility”.

Through his platform, he hopes to reach more people in need of reminders to “keep on tooting” and discover the “forgotten beauty found” that makes a life worth living. It’s an optimistic, resilient mind-set forged in part by his experience as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse while attending boarding school. Now he’s channelling all he has learned overcoming adversities to cultivate a fulfilling and generous artistic life. “I go out openly into the world and see what comes to me,” he says. “I just want people to know that who you are today isn’t who you are tomorrow.”

Obetz works closely with his local Naples/Collier chapter of The First Tee, the nonprofit dedicated to teaching children life skills through golf. He often invites students dockside to his boat for a reading from Five Lessons before sending them off to play golf. In another class Obetz teaches, he nurtures students’ creativity through a pop-art painting session, priming them for a playfully expressive putting lesson.

“I always tell them, you have to make an impact,” Obetz says. “But you also have to follow through.”

IT WAS

PURE

PATTY BERG

“Anchored” from the Legends and Legacies series, mixed media assemblage on canvas, 36 by 42 inches.

To raise money for The First Tee’s new learning center, Obetz will be auctioning — as one item — his “Follow Through” painting of Bobby Jones, NFT digital companion and the original Ravielli graphite sketch. With some controlled swings of charcoal, Obetz collaged a reproduction of the sketch with a transfer of Jones’ handwritten and typed notes to Ravielli for what Jones hoped the image would convey.

We all hope that the posture at the finish will be an expression of ease, grace and balance. It can only be so if we have followed a proper order of movement throughout the entire swing.

For an artist whose relationship to his work is so physical — gritty textures, at times walking on his paintings — Obetz’s journey into the world of digital art and NFTs might seem unlikely. But

BOTH SHARE REVERENCE FOR THE CAREFUL, EXPERT ATHLETICISM OF GOLFERS.

but, remarkably, only one piece was damaged. It’s a small work repurposing an image of Jones at impact, though Obetz recolored and pixelated the face so that it reads almost as impressionistic. The oldfashioned speckled brown wood frame, a nod to the Augusta National pines, juxtaposes the techy rendering of Jones. The most striking details are the fractured umber ripples crossing the canvas, tracing Jones’ figure.

“The hurricane left this incredibly painterly stroke across my painting, literally to the same motion of the swing,” Obetz says. It’s as if the water, too, follows the Five Lessons.

for Obetz, NFTs are the natural progression in his mission to introduce Ravielli’s work to a larger audience. What he can do in his pop-art sequences is magnified and animated, literally, by digital replication.

Obetz plans to create a new series of works based on Bobby Jones. Buyers will receive bundled together the original piece, the swirling digital counterpart, plus a story, penned by Obetz, about the making of the work, its larger meaning and Ravielli’s history.

“I hope that Mr. Ravielli, Mr. Hogan and Mr Jones all are looking down and smiling knowing that their lives and legacies had meaning and purpose, and that they are in good hands,” Obetz says. “I never knew any of them, but I’ve made it my passion to get to know them as deeply as possible before I make the first brushstroke.”

After Hurricane Ian, Obetz helped his community heal and repair and didn’t paint for two months. His studio flooded,

Obetz immediately thought: Oh, my God, I’m saving that. More resin. That’s a piece of Bobby Jones art history.

BEN HOGAN “Impact” from the Fluid Blue Swing Sequence of Life series, mixed media on canvas, 52 by 72 inches.

BOBBY JONES

“Impact, with Flood Waters” from the Op Art Pop Art Pixel series, 20 by 24 inches.

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FIX IT

BY BUTCH HARMON

GOLF DIGEST TEACHING PROFESSIONAL WITH PETER MORRICE

PHOTOGRAPHS BY J.D. CUBAN

FIX IT

HOW TO SURVIVE 6 COMMON FAULTS ON THE COURSE AND ELIMINATE THEM FOR GOOD WHEN YOU PRACTISE

FAST FIX

■ Golfers who fight a slice try to pull the ball in the opposite direction to give it more room to curve and stay in play. As a result, they play the ball too far forward and twist their shoulders open at address, with the trail arm straight and rigid. These moves don’t work because they make you cut across the ball, and the more you do that, the more open the clubface is to the path — and the bigger the slice.

If you’re a slicer, do the opposite on the course. Move the ball back in your stance so it’s a few inches inside your front heel, and set your shoulders square or even a touch closed. Your spine should be tilted slightly away from the target, and your trail arm nice and soft ( below). When you swing, stay behind the ball and let your arms swing past you through impact. That’s how you prevent a slice from dominating your day.

FOREVER FIX

■ When you have time to practise, here are a couple of slice-busting drills. First, the split-hands drill: Separate your hands on the grip, like a hockey player, and make halfswings back and through. Notice how your lead arm folds as you go through and your trail arm rolls over (above). Another great exercise is simply making swings like you’re holding a baseball bat. Slicers have a tendency to drag the grip through the shot, and waist-high baseball swings train the arms to rotate as the club passes through the hitting area. Always alternate drills with hitting balls normally, trying to transfer the feel from the drill into your regular swing.

Remember to be vigilant about your setup with the driver — ball back a little, head back, trail arm soft — because if you get the release right but don’t fix the setup, you’re only doing half the work.

FAST FIX

■ Like slicers, players who want more distance do something to correct the issue that ends up backfiring. They grip the club all the way at the end, even with the cap of the handle slightly in the palm of the top hand. That might feel powerful, but the handle will tend to shift in the hand at the end of the backswing. (If you have a wear mark in the heel of your glove, you’re guilty!) When the grip shifts, you have to regrip it as you start down, which casts the club away from you, straightening your arms and wrists too early, throwing away your power.

The simple on-course fix is to grip with your top hand so about an inch of the club is showing (right). Then, put most of your grip pressure in the last three fingers of that top hand, and keep it constant throughout the swing. That’ll help you maintain some club lag on the downswing and produce more acceleration through the ball.

FOREVER FIX

■ Back on the range, work on getting comfortable hitting balls with your new choked-up grip. Obviously, it makes the club slightly shorter and lighter, so pay attention to your set-up positions and swing tempo. Start with slower swings, but build up to full speed, making sure you’re catching the ball in the middle of the face — the No. 1 key to getting the most out of whatever speed you can generate.

Next, use the pump drill, one of my alltime favourites. Without a ball at first, practice swinging to the top and pumping the club halfway down to feel the wrists staying fully hinged. That’s the lag (left). Pump the club down and back to the top two or three times before swinging through normally. You can hit some balls this way, too, and then intersperse regular swings with the training to start ingraining the feel of more lag and more speed at the bottom of the swing.

FAST FIX

■ Modern fairway woods and hybrids, with their head shape and low centre of gravity, do a great job of helping the ball launch high and carry far. But a lot of golfers still have the instinct to try to help the ball into the air with these lower-lofted clubs. On the downswing, they hang back on the trail foot and flip the club at the ball. The clubhead bottoms out too far back and bounces off the ground and into the middle of the ball. Hence the term “drop-kick”. No fun, as we all know.

The best way to fix this fault is to focus on moving your chest forward as you start down (above). I like players to make slow-motion practice swings to really feel whatever they’re trying to do. If you can’t do it slow, you can’t do it fast. So use time between shots, when you’re waiting to hit or walking down the fairway, to simulate that forward shift on the downswing.

FOREVER FIX

■ The hang-back can be a nasty habit, so it’ll take some reps on the practice tee to retrain your body to go forward. One great way to force the issue is the stepthrough drill: Take your normal set-up, swing to the top, and as you swing down step toward the target with your trail foot. This exaggerates the forward shift through the ball. Gary Player famously used to swing like this in competitive rounds, getting his whole body through the ball to maximise his power.

One more technique to check that you’re moving forward is to key on the lower body. Set up with a volleyball or football against the instep of your trail foot, and make swings applying pressure to that ball on the downswing (below). Feel that your chest is “covering” the golf ball at impact, and to do that, you have to get your lower body driving forward and clearing the way.

FAST FIX

■ Many golfers have a misconception about how to hit a solid, high-flying iron shot. They think the club and body should return to their address positions at impact. That’s a recipe for skulling. Your body should be shifting and turning forward when you hit the ball, with 70 to 80 per cent of your weight on your front foot. Also, the club should be leaning toward the target much more than it was in the set-up. Those are the keys to making crisp contact.

When you play, take every opportunity to mimic the feel of proper impact. As you’re setting up with an iron, shift your weight and the club forward, pressuring the back of the shaft with your trail side. Then go back to your normal set-up, and swing.

It’s also a good idea to cheat your ball position back, in line with your shirt buttons (left). Remember, the club should touch down after striking the ball. Instead of trying to clip the ball off the grass, think of trapping the ball against the ground.

FOREVER FIX

■ Hitting the ground after the ball is a feeling that a lot of players have to get used to, but it’s what all great ballstrikers do. One drill I use with players almost every day is setting up with a middle iron, then lifting the clubhead so the leading edge is level with the top of the ball (right). To catch the ball solid from that starting position, you have to hit down and through, or else you’ll thin it or even whiff it. This is strong medicine for skullers.

One question I get a lot is, how can you make the ball go higher by hitting down more? The answer is, hitting down creates solid contact. Every iron in your bag has enough loft to send the ball way up in the air. If you hit it pure, with the shaft and your weight forward, your iron shots will soar.

FAST FIX

■ When most golfers have a pitch shot of, say, 20 to 40 yards, they struggle with distance control — dumping it short or launching it over the green. There’s usually one major fault here: a long backswing that forces you to slow down through the strike to try to manufacture the right distance. With that kind of guesswork, you’re looking at unpredictable contact, and if you do catch it flush, unpredictable speed.

When you play, focus on making a shorter backswing with minimal wrist hinge ( below), then turning your body to the finish. Don’t rely on your hands and arms to create the shot at impact; set the backswing length with your arm motion, and then rotate your chest to face the target. You also can think about pushing through with your trail side, whichever clicks for you. Just think, Arms back, body through for better distance control.

FOREVER FIX

■ When you practise, spend time drilling that body rotation through the ball. Most golfers are so accustomed to a handsy swing on pitch shots that it takes some retooling to get the body moving in sync with the club (above). Hand action tends to produce a steeper impact; body turn shallows the path into the ball — so practise brushing the grass with the club, not digging and taking divots. You’ll have to rotate your body to do that.

As your contact improves, distance control becomes a matter of trajectory. Experiment with different ball positions to learn shots for various hole locations. Play the ball back in your stance and lean the shaft forward to produce a lower shot that runs. Move the ball forward and set the shaft more vertical at address for a higher shot that lands softly. Develop those two pitching techniques, and you’ll be able to get to any pin out there.

FAST FIX

■ Chipping looks so easy when you see the pros do it on TV. That’s because they do two important things really well that most golfers don’t. First, they aim the clubface, just like on a putt. Second, they make a slightly downward strike for consistent impact and spin. Amateurs tend to play the ball too far forward, and I rarely see them aiming the face. Even if they do get it solid, the ball doesn’t go where they want.

These are easy adjustments you can make on the course. It’s all about being organised in your set-up. Start by standing with your trail foot so the instep is in line with the ball (below). Next, aim the clubface where you want the ball to start, considering any slope on the green. Then, push your weight and your hands a bit toward the target. Now you’re ready to pinch the ball crisply off the grass and get it rolling on line.

FOREVER FIX

■ Setting up correctly should be fairly easy, but there is something I see in poor chippers that takes a little work to overcome. If you stub a lot of chips, catching the ground before the ball, you’re probably freezing your body and flipping your trail hand at impact. Instead, let your body respond naturally to the swinging motion. That will keep the swing’s low point forward for ball-then-turf contact. A good feel is the trail knee kicking in softly on the downswing to start the forward motion.

Here's my go-to drill for chipping: Take a normal set up — ball back, clubface at your target — then pull back your trail foot and set it up on its toes (above). Feel how this pushes weight to your front foot and sets your whole body ahead of the ball. Hit some chips from this stance. It’ll keep your body center in the ideal impact position, so you can focus on just making a little turn through the ball.

TAYLORMADE TP RESERVE PUTTERS

Going to the milled line is both simpler and more complex

By Mike Stachura

3 COOL THINGS

T AYLOR M ADE WANTS TO make a statement with its new TP Reserve line -up of milled putters, and while the brand’s flatsticks typically have pushed technological boundaries with its game-enhancing line -up of aim and alignment mallets tricked out with roll-enhancing face inserts, the mission with going to the completely milled TP Reserve line is both simpler and more complex. “I think to some players, a blade looks like

a blade looks like a blade, but to the great eyes that are out there today, especially the tour players, it’s about precision,” said Bill Price, TaylorMade’s senior director of putters and wedges. “We wanted to look at every aspect of these putters differently, with a real intention and commitment. So being able to capture the radii the correct way, capture the lines, the sharpness of the lines, we had to do that, but that meant performance to those players.”

1

Milling is technology. Rightly or wrongly, milled putters traditionally come o as more pieces of jewelry or art, not the product of rigorous science and engineering that’s often touted with modern day face-insert mallets and blades. The more modern approach to putters talks about the science of center of gravity locations or high stability on o -centre hits through perimeter weighting (otherwise known as moment of inertia). The face inserts use grooves or other features designed to enhance roll. Milled putters seem a refined throwback. But while TaylorMade has introduced plen-

ty of high-tech putters over the years, and many that have been overwhelmingly successful like the Spider line, its interest in milled putters has been mild and rarely of note since the Kia Ma line of Rossa putters debuted about 15 years ago. This new TP Reserve collection, however, is a bold statement, and there’s a sincere e ort to push the boundaries of art through science. A precise milled putter is a technology, said Brian Bazzel, vice president of global product for TaylorMade.

“It’s such a nuanced category of products that, you know, until you really want to commit yourselves to do-

ing it, you shouldn’t do it because the level of detail and just the time and patience that you have to have to kind of get it right, we finally committed ourselves to,” he said in a video accompanying the TP Reserve release. “I would say it is an art in so many ways, not only in the product itself, but the, you know, when you’re reading a putt, the line, the speed, the imperfections sometimes that you see in greens or, or the eight different lines you can take to make a putt, the same thing applies for a putter like this.”

That attention to detail on a milled putter came through precise com-

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puter-assisted design modelling that Price said led to debates over tenths of a millimetre. More importantly, in a milled process (compared to how cast putters are made) every specific angle is produced by a milling machine not approximated in a general way like many castings. That specificity is designed to resonate with the most discerning players, particularly TaylorMade’s group of sta players.

“We’ve got a lot more blade players now,” Price said, ticking o Scottie Sche er, Collin Morikawa and Tiger Woods among other TaylorMade endorsees who play blade putters, sometimes from other manufacturers. “It’s not reinventing designs sometimes as much as it is the perfection of the product. It is all about performance always is, but performance is di erent here. This has got lines that are very distinctive and for these players,

it’s got to be classic shapes, it means something di erent to this player.”

2 Shape is technology. The TP Reserve line-up features three blade shapes and three traditional mallet shapes, but many feature different hosel/shaft bends to provide di erent swing feels for di erent strokes. For example, the B11 and B13 o er the same classic Anser/Newport heel-toe weighted blade look but the B11 does it with a classic L- (or plumbers) neck, while the B13 uses a short slant neck, which yields the most toe hang of any TaylorMade putter making it better for strokes that have more natural face rotation. The distinctive parallelwinged mallet is the base shape for both the M21 and M27, but the former sports an L-neck and the latter uses a single-bend shaft for a facebalanced design. Said Price: “I think

some of this performance that we’re talking about is really in the machining and how we’re able use five-axis machines that make all these putters so tight to the tolerances.”The B29 blade uses a flow neck hosel, while the B31 is a wider-soled blade with an L-neck. The more circular mallet head includes small slant (M33) and single-bend (M37) orientations, while the M47 completes the line with an half-mallet style head.

3Sound is technology. Each of the putters in the TP Reserve collection features grooves on the face. Not a new idea for TaylorMade, whose grooved-face inserts have been part of its putter line for two decades, but in the TP Reserve putters, the grooves serve a di erent purpose. Rather than improved roll, the 14 grooves in the center of the face are about a consistency in sound, Price said. “By having the groove across the face, we can we have a consistent sound so that so now we have a consistent surface area across and up and down the hitting area. With a traditional fly cut you get a heavier pattern right in the middle. We wanted to make it more of a sound groove. We wanted it to have a TaylorMade crisp, soft sound.”

DISCOVERING BUNKERS

The difference of playing from the sand, and how to make a successful landing on the green

By Scott Edwards

T O UNDERSTAND a bunker shot we first need to know what a bunker is. In the Rules of Golf, a bunker is defined as ‘a specially prepared area of sand, which is often a hollow from which turf or soil was removed’. In other words, a bunker is typically a hole in the ground, filled with sand. These areas are designed to test a player’s ability to play a ball from the sand, which we refer to as a bunker shot. There are two common types of bunker shot: when we are far from the green — a fairway bunker shot — and when we are very close to the green, what this article will focus on — a green-side bunker shot.

Sand isn’t grass

Although it might seem obvious, when a club hits sand it behaves very di erently compared to hitting from grass. For this reason, the way we play the bunker shot must be di erent and the clubs we use have some special characteristics to make this shot easier.

We have previously looked at how the Bounce Angle is key to limiting the club digging into the ground or, in the case of the bunker shot, the sand. The club designed for this shot is aptly named the sand wedge (pictured right), it typically has 56 degrees of loft and anywhere from 8-14 degrees of bounce angle. The higher the loft the easier to get over the sometimestowering edges, also known as ‘lips’, of the bunker and the greater the bounce angle the less likely the club is to dig into the sand.

Setting up for success

Playing this shot successfully starts with the set-up, helping us to impact the sand in the right place and utilise the bounce and loft of the wedge. For clarity, all the below is aimed at the right-handed golfer:

• Place the left hand towards the top of the grip and the right hand below. Experiment with the hand location, placing the hands at the top of the grip can help to maximise our speed (pictured left). Placing the hands lower on the grip can give us more control, stopping the club from going too deep into the sand.

• Stand with feet together, ball in the centre. Take a small step with the left foot and a larger step with the right (pictured above). Experiment a little with the size of the steps, but as a general rule the ball should be in line with the left chest.

• ‘Shu e’ the feet into the sand, this allows us to feel if the sand is soft or firm (more on this later) and helps to lower our centre of gravity.

• Shift our pressure 60-80 per cent on the left leg, and keep the pressure on the left leg as much as possible throughout the swing.

WATCH THE VIDEO Tap/click here to watch Scott bring this lesson to life.

Don’t hit the ball

As strange as it might sound, the bunker shot is unique in golf because in most cases we do not actually make contact with the ball. Instead, the club enters the sand behind the ball and is pushed out on a cushion of sand. Because of this, the shot requires a much bigger swing relative to the distance that we are trying to hit the ball than almost any other type of shot.

• To get a feel for the movement, swing the club back so the hands are at least chest high and the shaft of the club is pointing towards the sky.

• Same as in pitching, you will notice the wrists being used to create this movement.

• As we bring the club down, the intent of the swing is to hit the sand roughly one-two golf ball widths behind the ball.

• Finish with all of your weight on the left leg, hips and chest facing the target.

Adapting to the conditions

As much as we would like them to be, bunkers are not consistent. Some will have very high edges, and some low, some will have deep, soft sand while others may be very wet, firm or dense. When we come across these different conditions there are some adaptations we can implement to help us deal with them.

High edges and/or soft sand

• Before placing the hands on the club, ‘twist’ the face open (to the right for the right-handed golfer), this not only increases the loft of the club but also the bounce angle. Adding loft can allow us to hit the ball higher, while increasing the bounce angle reduces the digging effect into the soft sand. Experiment with how much we twist the club and see how it affects the club through the sand, as well as the height and potentially direction. If we notice the ball going more to the side, we can adjust our alignment or experiment bringing the hands lower to the ground at address.

Firm/wet sand

• Instead of having the ball in line with the left chest, experiment putting the ball more towards the middle of the stance. The intent of the swing is still to hit the sand before the ball, keep the face pointing straight and experiment brining the handle of the club more towards the left thigh. This slightly delofts the club and removes some of the bounce angle, allowing the club to dig deeper into firm sand.

Practice Drills

These drills focus on the most important aspect of the bunker shot, where the club is striking the sand.

Line in the sand

• Draw 2 lines in the sand roughly two feet long and two-three golf ball widths apart.

• The line on the left represents the ball, and the line on the right where we want the club to hit the sand.

• Start on the near side, set up the club behind the left line and swing trying to hit the right line.

• Finish the drill by placing a golf ball at the end of the left line, and try to hit in line with the right.

Banknotes

• Draw a box in the sand roughly the size of a banknote, one club head wide and two club heads long.

• Make a small indent in the middle to represent the ball, try to swing the club through the centre of the box, entering on the far right side and exiting the sand on the far left.

• Try the drill again, but instead of an indent place a ball in the box. Observe where the club has hit the box, if we are hitting out of the middle, toe or heel and if we are taking too much or too little sand.

scott edwards is a member of the PGA Professionals team at Golf Saudimanaged Riyadh Golf Club

PLAN AHEAD

Forward-thinking will help your greenside sand play

By David Armitage

when discussing technique to get a ball out of a greenside bunker, instruction almost always focuses on where the club enters the sand behind the ball. If you’re fixated on the point of contact and not much else, there’s a good chance you won’t generate enough of a swing to move the ball the necessary distance.

If you’d like to get your ball on the green and give yourself a chance to hole the ensuing putt, it would probably serve you better to think more about what happens after impact. Leaving a bunker shot pin-high (or any shot for that matter) should always be one of your main goals, and that depends on how the club gets through the sand. Let me help improve your technique and perhaps alter your thinking about how to approach these shots. —with ron kaspriske

DAVID ARMITAGE, a Golf Digest Best Teacher in Florida, is director of instruction at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, Florida

START BY CONSIDERING YOUR MIND-SET

Focus on three things in a bunker — speed, loft and sand. Speed refers to how much of a swing you need to get the ball on the green. A good rule: Swing with three times the normal amount of energy — ie: a 30-yard swing for a 10-yard bunker shot.

Loft matters, too. When you set the club open and take your grip, the more the wedge’s face is skyward, the more you expose the back side of the club — the bounce — making it easier to skim through the sand and hit a shot higher and shorter.

Finally, and this is the one I want you to really think about: How much sand do you want to splash on the green to get the ball to its destination? Remember, the club never actually makes contact with the ball. It moves it out on a pillow of sand. It’s smart to get in a practice bunker and hit shots where you take a little sand, then a lot, and see how the ball reacts to each.

NOW WORK ON TECHNIQUE

I know I just said to focus on splashing the sand after impact—that’s the mental part. You also need to do a few physical things every time you set up and swing in a bunker. First, don’t play the ball too far forward or back in your stance. Both make it difficult to enter the sand in the ideal spot—about an inch and a half behind the ball. I like to play the ball a touch forward of center. Also, make sure you load onto your front leg and keep your sternum over the ball (below, top photo). These adjustments help the club enter the sand in the desired spot.

Make a healthy backswing. If it’s too short and/ or jerky, you’ll struggle to create enough energy to get the ball out. Maintain most of your weight on your front leg. This will create an earlier and more pronounced wrist set (bottom photo), which helps create the correct angle of attack and strike. You’ll slide the club under the ball and hoist it out on a clump of sand. Don’t be shy, go ahead and deposit a good amount on the green!

Underground Success

How an automated teeing system elevated the range game

By Matthew Rudy

Ne ver underestimate the power of potential embarrassment. English engineer Martin Wyeth was on a project with some golfer colleagues who promised him a round at the prestigious Wentworth Club outside London at the end of the assignment. Wyeth was psyched to play, but there was a problem: He had never played golf before. He went to bang some balls at the range. Basketfuls of slices and tops later, he hit the one majestic shot that gets a beginner hooked. “It looked like it had wings and kept going up,” Wyeth says. “The engineer in me couldn’t figure out what the difference was between that one and the terrible one before. In engineering terms, you change one variable at a time and see if things get better or worse.”

Unlike most new golfers, Wyeth had the skills to build a prototype that would help him in that study. The contraption he devised to do it was the Power Tee — a sturdy, elevated metal and synthetic-turf platform that overlays a standard driving range stall and automatically presents a ball teed at the perfect height for the shot you want to hit. A hidden hopper below the platform holds 100 balls, and a small control stalk shows players how many balls they have left to hit and lets them adjust the tee to 40 different heights. It was a smash.

Wyeth marketed his invention across the United Kingdom and saw substantial success. Ranges at St Andrews, the Belfry

and Wentworth — where Wyeth took so many shots he lost count a few years earlier — added the system. “In the beginning, we put it in three facilities for free to see how they would do, and the ranges reported that customers were coming from a 50-mile radius to use it,” Wyeth says. “From an engineering standpoint, lifting a ball in the air isn’t rocket science, but golfers loved it. They just loved seeing the ball magically come out of the ground and hitting ball after ball.”

Power Tee’s success prompted Wyeth to try to jump into the American range market. “We had had a record year, and we had just been to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen as one of the fastest growing companies in the country,” Wyeth says. “We just thought if we don’t try America, we’ll regret it the rest of our lives.”

It didn’t take nearly that long. Power Tee arrived just as the financial collapse of 2009 was unfolding — as the banking and golf industries were rolling up the sidewalks and locking the doors. The original plan was to secure leases with big resort properties that installed dozens of units and use a finance company to borrow off that lease revenue to expand. “We placed 250 machines at some great facilities and signed them up to leases,” Wyeth says. “We generated $2.5 million in lease paper, and not a single contract got funded. Our first step in America was a $2 million hit to cash flow.”

Wyeth figured independent ranges might flourish as cheaper alternatives during a down period, but thousands of them ended up going out of business. They couldn’t compete in the race golf course operators were in to lower their prices. “What we didn’t see coming was this insane, cutthroat competition between courses to give away a round of golf and a drink for $20,” says Wyeth. “That just killed stand-alone ranges. It was a devastating period of seven or eight years.”

Positive word-of-mouth from top instructors like Rick Smith kept Power Tee percolating with new range and teaching academy accounts year after year until marketing help came from an unlikely source. Topgolf is a direct competitor to many of the ranges and facilities that are candidates to use Power Tee, but the exploding popularity of the entertainment-range category in the past three years has spurred many high-end ranges and courses to add amenities and technology to avoid losing market share to the flashy bar-slash-ranges. “Topgolf is unequivocally showing the entire golf industry what you can do if you market a product that appeals to non-golfers as well as golfers,” Wyeth says. “It makes the whole business of learning a lot more fun, a lot less embarrassing and a lot less frustrating.”

For range operators, a lot more lucrative, too. The typical Power Tee customer has 20 or 30 bays, nighttime lighting and family-friendly policies that make the range experience almost like a live video game. One recent client nearly doubled monthly revenue from $50,000 to $90,000 for a less than $3,000 outlay. “We don’t charge anything up front, and the rental fee includes all maintenance and replacement,” Wyeth says. “If a client has room to keep a spare, we give them one, so they’re never out of operation.”

Now, more than 400 facilities have the platforms worldwide, and players use them to hit more than six million balls per day. Although that much practice doesn’t make perfect, Wyeth makes a good case for his own product. He now plays to a 10.6 Handicap Index.

Matthew Rudy is curious how many cash-only range-ball dispensers are left in the wild.

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