Designed by Greg Norman, the Earth course plays host to the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, the season-ending event of the DP World Tour. Page 50
6 Golf’s Grand Finish Professional golf shifts firmly to the UAE.
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
the starter
8 Desert Challenge In Dhahran Golf in Saudi Arabia began here in 1949.
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
voices
10 Journeys
Danny Walker WITH KEELY LEVINS
12 The Numbers Game
The skills you need to win the DP World Tour Championship BY EDOARDO MOLINARI
features
42 Lily Returns Home The Chinese star ends the PIF Global Series surrounded by
hometown support. BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
44 20 Years in Abu Dhabi
The top 70 available players on the Race to Dubai eye up Yas Links. BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
46 Marco’s Moment The Englishman arrives in the UAE with a transformed career. BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
50 Rory’s Earth Course
Rory McIlroy has topped the seasonlong Race to Dubai Rankings six times prior here.
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
52 Adam Bresnu Breaking Barriers
This Moroccan amateur has become a new face for Arab golf.
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
54 Fifa’s major ticket
The Thai amateur has booked his spot at The Masters and The Open.
56 Be a Better Ball Striker
These drills will teach you how to compress the ball. BY RYAN HAGER
how to play
16 Rules Review
Why you can’t get relief when your ball finds divot damage BY RON KASPRISKE
18 Swing Analysis Nico Echavarria
BY DAVE ALLEN
20 Lob Wedges Are Great (If You Know How to Use Them)
BY BUTCH HARMON
21 Foolproof Chipping BY KEELY LEVINS
22 Your Secret Formula to Hit More Greens BY DAN CARRAHER WITH DAVE ALLEN
23 Hit Your Bunker Shots Pin High BY DAVID LEADBETTER
what to play
24 Split Personality Way back when, every club in the bag had a specific job. BY PETER MORRICE
26 Your Club for Those ‘Stretch’ Distances BY MIKE STACHURA
28 Why the Long Putter Never Disappeared BY MIKE STACHURA, E. MICHAEL JOHNSON AND JONATHAN WALL
30 What’s In My Bag Ben Griffin
where to play
32 Trump International Golf Links New Course
It will not be overshadowed by the Old course. BY STUART MCLEAN
34 Old Or New, It’s A Trump Spectacle Aberdeen is where Trump has 36 holes of thrilling links golf. BY STUART MCLEAN
AGF news
64 Club News
Top stories from the Arab Golf Federation.
the gulf club
66 Club News
A handful of the local tournament winners in the amateur circuit within the Middle East region.
Golf’s Grand Finish
From Marco Penge’s rise to Rory McIlroy’s title defence, November belongs to the Middle East.
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
THE SEASON IS FULLY IN motion, the big names are back, and the spotlight is shifting firmly to the UAE for a stretch of world-class golf.
Our cover this month belongs to Marco Penge — and what a story it is. A year ago, he was fighting to keep his DP World Tour card. Now, with three wins this season, a PGA Tour card secured, and a Race to Dubai battle against Rory McIlroy, Penge’s transformation has been remarkable. It’s proof of how quickly things can change in this game when talent meets perseverance.
Speaking of the Race to Dubai, all eyes turn to the UAE this month as the DP World Tour Play-Offs get underway. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship returns for its 20th edition at Yas Links, before the season finale DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and Robert MacIntyre will all be in action, ensuring another electric finish to the season on the Earth course.
We also look back at an unforgettable week at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Emirates Golf Club. Thailand’s Fifa Laopakdee took the title, while Ahmad Skaik led the way for the UAE with a recordbreaking performance — a milestone moment for regional golf.
Elsewhere, the PIF Saudi International is set to welcome a new face of Arab golf in Adam Bresnu. The 2025 Jack Nicklaus Award winner continues to break barriers as he gears up for another big week again on the Asian Tour, mixing it with the games big stars.
And for those of you planning your next golf escape, our “Where to Play” feature heads to Scotland to Trump International Golf Links — a course that combines classic links charm with modern bite.
As always, we’ve packed the issue with instruction, gear, and insight. Nico Echavarria shares how to fine-tune your swing, David Leadbetter offers bunker tips to help you get up and down more often, and we take a look inside Ben Griffin’s bag. Enjoy the season ahead — it’s the best time of year to be a golfer in this part of the world!
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the starter
Desert challenge in Dhahran
From historic grave markers to high-stakes tournaments, this 18-hole course tests skill in Saudi Arabia
Golf in Saudi Arabia began here in 1949 with a simple sand course called Rolling Hills Country Club. Today, Rolling Hills Golf Club in Dhahran is a private 18-hole, par-72 layout within the Saudi Aramco residential camp, opened in 2005.
Its smooth greens, strategic bunkers, and wide fairways sit against a striking desert backdrop, while the 9th and 18th holes mark historic grave posts from the land’s past.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Aramco Invitational on the Asian Development Tour will bring rising talent and a $250,000 purse to this unique desert course.
PGA TOUR
AGE: 30
LIVES: JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
DANNY WALKER
Danny Walker:
‘It’s OK to
do something just because you love
WITH KEELY LEVINS
NE ITHER MY DAD NOR GRANDDAD was a serious golfer, but they gave me a club to mess around with in the yard when I was 4. It quickly became my favourite thing. I loved baseball and the team aspect, but it was a lot of waiting. In golf, the ball is always yours.
Tiger was my hero. I read that Tiger stopped playing other sports when he was 12, so I stopped playing other sports and committed to golf when I was 12. I wasn’t very competitive with the top guys, but it didn’t bother me. Those kids were practicing year-round with coaches hovering over them. I figured I’d get better the more I played. I started working with Ian Segneri and competing in AJGA invitationals.
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My parents supported my dream of becoming a pro golfer but wanted me to have a backup plan. I’d always been interested in the enormity and mystery of space. Maybe I’d become a physics major and work for NASA? But when I got to the University of Virginia, I realised taking physics on the road would be too much. I earned my degree in economics.
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My game would be good one week, but the next I’d be struggling to break 80. I started working with Brian Mogg. He taught me how the setup truly functions. Whenever my swing fell off track, I’d go back to the fundamentals of address. My senior year, I had my best collegiate finish—second place—with a 64 in the final round. That March, I played PGA Tour Americas Q school and earned some starts in Canada for the upcoming season.
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I didn’t have any sponsors. As a graduation gift, my parents gave me $10,000. I didn’t feel financial pressure because it was so exciting to be out
there. Looking back, I know how tight it really was. By Korn Ferry Q school finals in the fall, I’d already earned starts for the following season and told myself, This is a freebie. Just go out and freewheel it. I won and got full Korn Ferry Tour status for 2019.
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The depth on Korn Ferry is like taking the top twenty-five playing PGA Tour Americas, and now there are 150 of those guys. I had flashes of good play but struggled with my driver. I lost my card and only had five starts over the next two years. That left me a lot of time to reflect on what I was doing as my bank account evaporated. Why was I putting so much time into a game that I wasn’t getting a lot out of? It’s not like being a pro golfer was helping anyone or making the world a better place.
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In 2021 I missed second stage at Korn Ferry Q school by a couple of shots. I didn’t touch a club for months. Working as a waiter, I took prerquisites for astrophysics classes at the University of North Florida. Maybe I could be on the frontier of human understanding and help find answers to some of our deepest questions about who we are and where we come from and help folks understand how special what we have here is.
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It didn’t last. My existence felt inauthentic. Only being a golfer made me feel like myself. I realised I didn’t need to know what the next five or ten years were going to look like. Paths could open
it’
that I didn’t see. It’s OK to do something just because you love it. I didn’t need to further justify why I play golf.
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When I started hitting balls again, my swing felt surprisingly good. At the start of 2022, I didn’t have status anywhere. I won the second minitour event I played. I went to PGA Tour Americas Q school and got in. Then I won in Canada. I kept moving up and was on Korn Ferry full-time in 2024. I had a good second half of the season and snuck into the top 30 to earn my PGA Tour card for 2025. I felt relief and a lot of excitement and emotion. My parents were there with me. It was one of the most gratifying days of my life.
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All of us in Jacksonville have the Players circled on our calendars. When I finished 13th in Mexico, I knew I had a shot. I was the first alternate. I was on-site and in the locker room when I got the call: Jason Day had dropped out, and I was in. I’d be playing with Jordan Spieth and Wyndham Clark in 90 minutes. I almost didn’t believe it. I went to my car and meditated. I might’ve cried.
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I made the cut—barely. Then Saturday and Sunday were the best I’ve ever hit a golf ball. I played so freely because it was a bonus just to be there. I rode that feeling and finished T-6 to win $843,750. Eighteen months earlier, I’d been virtually broke.
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I know I’m in an awesome part of my life. I’m going to work hard and appreciate it as much as I can while not letting the results sway me too much. I will enjoy this before it’s gone.
The Three Skills You Need To Win the DP World Tour Championship
The stats explain the formula to win the circuit’s season-ending event
BY EDOARDO MOLINARI
The DP WorlD Tour ChamPionshiP is the culmination of the circuit’s 42-tournament season played across 26 countries. After the event, the season-long points winner takes the Race to Dubai title. In recent years, the final standings have become even more consequential, with the top-10 finishers who don’t already have a PGA Tour card earning membership on the American tour. The DP World Tour Championship is played each year at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, a course that the stats show rewards three important skills.
Distance off the tee: Length is a must to win at Jumeirah for a few reasons. First, all of the par 5s are reachable for the longer hitters, so they can capitalise on these opportunities better than shorter players who can’t reach the green in two. Second, there are many deep bunkers that line the fairways, many of which have high lips that can be extremely penal. Players with plenty of length don’t have to worry about these bunkers, though, since they can carry many of them. That is one of the reasons why Rory McIlroy (above) often plays so well around this course. Finally, most of the fairways are very generous, and the stats show that there isn’t much of a penalty for missing them. Bomb away.
Approaches outside 225 yards: At Jumeirah, long approaches are where players can really separate themselves. The fourth hole is a long par 3 that usually plays as the most difficult hole on the course. Great long-iron players, like Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood (above), are rewarded here. While the par 5s are all reachable, two of them have water in play on the second shot, so it’s vital that players are precise with these long approaches. The stats show a significant disparity in scoring between players who take advantage of these shots and holes. Players who rank near the top of the field in approaches outside 225 yards rarely finish outside the top five at the end of the week here.
Putting from seven to 13 feet: Short putting is one of the best predictors of good play at Jumeirah, as there is a high correlation between strong performances in this area and the final position on the board. Scoring is usually quite low, and players will have a lot of makeable birdie putts. Converting these putts is the differentiator between those who simply have a good week and those who contend to win. Look for excellent putters, like Tyrrell Hatton (above) and Matt Fitzpatrick, to play well.
EDOARDO MOLINARI, a former U.S. Amateur champion, Ryder Cupper and three-time winner on the DP World Tour, is Arccos Golf’s Chief Data Strategist.
THE HOLE TO WATCH: NO. 18
The final hole at Jumeirah is a reachable par 5 but is full of danger with a creek winding in the landing zone and around the green. There is a split fairway, and with favourable conditions, the longer players could try to go to the right to make the second shot much easier. It is a dangerous 300-yard carry with trees to the right and water to the left. Historically, players make birdie or better on this hole 31 percent of the time, but 19 percent of the time they make bogey or worse. The latter is an extremely high number for a par 5, which shows how much of a risk-reward opportunity the closing hole is.
1975 Open Championship.
’The golf swing has only one purpose —to deliver the head of the club to the ball correctly and to achieve such impact repeatedly. Many unorthodox players achieve correct impact. As long as it’s repeatable, it’s OK. If golf were about getting into correct positions throughout the swing, then the greatest players in the world have had it wrong. The only position that matters is the club’s at impact.’
–THE LATE JOHN JACOBS, INSTRUCTOR, WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME
John Jacobs watching Jack Newton warm up at the
BY RON KASPRISKE
EDITED
The Hole Truth
Why you can’t get relief when your ball fi nds divot damage
BY RON KASPRISKE
WHETHER YOU’RE NEW to the game or have been playing it for years, you’ve probably experienced the deflating feeling of hitting a great drive that splits the fairway, only to find your ball sitting in a hole created by someone else’s shot. Although a divot hole is not impossible to play out of, it’s still a frustrating situation. You did everything right, yet it feels like you’re being unjustly penalised.
It’s at these moments when you might wonder why the Rules of Golf doesn’t allow you to take free relief. After all, Rule 16.3 says you can remove an embedded ball anywhere in the general area of the course without penalty. Is this all that different?
Let’s have Craig Winter, senior director of rules of golf and amateur status for the USGA, sum it up:
“It’s fundamental to golf to play the ball as it lies,” he says, “and you don’t always get a good lie.”
Although the USGA and R&A,
CRATERING
Roll your eyes, then accept your divot-hole fate.
golf’s rules makers, have considered on various occasions handling divot holes in another manner, there is no “practical solution” other than to just leave it as part of the game, Winter says. If you think about it beyond the moment you’re in one, how often does it happen to you in any golf season? Probably not a lot. Furthermore, if the rule book treated divot holes as, say, ground under repair, think of how many spots on the fairway would then fall into that category. They’re all over the place, they take a
long time to heal, and they typically are not a focus of normal golf-course maintenance.
For these reasons, don’t expect the “play it as it lies” fundamental to change anytime soon—if ever. Winter says new members of the rules committee want to discuss it from time to time, but it doesn’t go beyond that.
“Philosophically, it’s hard to think of a different way we’d want to go,” he says.
Also, remember that the next time you’re in one, things could be worse. Just ask Jordan Spieth about his Sunday round at The Sentry tournament in 2024. He found his ball in a divot crater on three consecutive holes down the stretch!
If divot holes were treated as ground under repair, think of how many spots on the course would have to be marked as such.
“The [divots] were certainly tough breaks because they were balls that hit in the fairway and funneled into them,” Spieth said. “Out here, balls funnel into the same spots a lot. It’s not uncommon to be in divots. It kind of stunk that it was three holes in a row, but I still played [them] just fine.”
Dialing It In
When Nico Echavarria misses fairways, he doesn’t miss by much
BY DAVE ALLEN
BY PRO STANDARDS, Nico Echavarria is not a bomber of the ball—but he doesn’t need to be, says his coach Hernán Rey. It’s his ability to consistently deliver the clubface square that sets him up for success. Through August on the PGA Tour, the 31-year-old Colombian ranked 137th in driving distance (296.9 yards) but was top 50 in accuracy (62.6 percent of fairways hit).
“He is exceptionally precise—one of the most efficient players I’ve ever measured,” says Rey, who also coaches 2025 NCAA women’s individual champion
Maria José Marin (Arkansas). “Every good player can repeat the path, but their face dispersion is much wider. Nico can hit 30 balls in a row with the face angle between 0 and 0.1 degrees left. He’s like a machine.”
At one point during the 2024 season, he hit 38 consecutive fairways. Rey credits that type of precision to Echavarria’s “well-trained hands,” and said his exceptional timing and face control are a necessity to compete with longer hitters. As Echavarria continues to improve his fundamentals—or what Rey refers to as the “macro moves” of
the swing—his ability to control the path and face (the “micro moves”) will get even better. That should lead to more consistent play, Rey says. In three seasons on the PGA Tour, Echavarria has two wins and two runner-up finishes but also has missed 42 cuts.
One move they’ve trained extensively is the takeaway. Echavarria’s tendency is to swing the clubhead too far inside the target line. As a result, his arms and hands get too high and the club points well left of his target at the top of the backswing. That causes him to put too much left-to-right spin on
SQUARED UP Echavarria’s clubface control is machine-like, his coach says.
his longer clubs. To remedy this, Rey has Echavarria making swings where he feels like his left arm stays close to his chest on the take-
away and the clubhead is in line with his hands when the shaft is parallel to the ground (above, second image).
“The feel is, hands in, clubhead out,” Rey says. “He doesn’t even feel like his right hand is involved. As a result of a better takeaway, he can make a much deeper turn with extra width, creating
the potential for more swing speed.”
Among the other fundamentals they’re working on is Echavarria being more patient, making sure he completes the backswing turn before the club changes direction. He also wants to keep the arms extended longer through impact (above, seventh image), so he can shallow the club’s path and hit draws when necessary.
“Having good macro moves is going to guarantee a certain amount of consistency,” Rey says. “He’s moving in the right direction, getting more used to competing against the very best.”
Lob Wedges Are Great
(If You Know How to Use Them)
Don’t treat them like full-swing clubs BY BUTCH HARMON
THE 60-DEGREE WEDGE
is perfect for greenside shots where you need to carry a bunker or stop the ball really fast, but I see a lot of golfers making full swings with these clubs from 70 or 80 yards out in the fairway. I’m not a fan of that, and the results usually aren’t very good.
For one, the bigger the swing, the lower your chances of hitting the ball solid. There’s a reason you see good players making a lot of less-than-full swings on shots into greens. With a more controlled motion, high-quality contact is almost a given.
Also, when you try to smash a lob wedge, you really only hit the ball higher, not further—and higher brings more variables into play and means you have to fly the ball right to your target. Trying to carry a lob wedge all the way to a back pin makes zero sense.
A better plan is to take your gap or pitching wedge and make a threequarter swing. The lower flight is more reliable, and you’ll find it easier to control the distance. You just need to practice those shots so you get to know your yardages. Ultimately, you want at
least a couple of swing lengths to use with each wedge in your golf bag.
HOLD UP
This is about as far back (above) as you need to swing.
I went through this process with Dustin Johnson several years ago. He’s so long off the tee that he often has a wedge into greens, but his wedge game was onedimensional—he had go-to yardages but struggled with the in-between shots. We added more partial swings to his game, and now he’s one of the most versatile wedge players in the world.
Start to develop a three-quarter wedge swing. Keep your lead arm nice and wide as you swing back (above), and then turn your body through to face the target. You don’t need a big, flowing follow-through with your arms. Try to make it a mirror image of your backswing.
With some controlled wedge swings in your toolbox, you’ll have better success hitting the ball flush and give yourself more margin for error than trying to drop a lob wedge on the pin.
—WITH PETER MORRICE
BUTCH HARMON heads Golf Digest’s list of the Legends of Golf Instruction.
Foolproof Chipping
An
LPGA major winner says this method makes getting up and down easy
BY KEELY LEVINS
AROUND THE GREENS
most short-game coaches say it’s best for amateur golfers to keep things simple. The fancy shots look great, but they can get you into real trouble if you’re not precise. (We’re looking at you, the flop-shot obsessed.)
Australian Grace Kim, 24, who won the Amundi Evian Championship in July for her first major, agrees with those coaches. She is ranked in the top 20 in strokes gained/around the greens on the LPGA Tour this season and says there is one chip shot every amateur should know how to hit. It helps land the ball softly with not much roll.
To use it, stand a little closer to the ball than you normally would for a chip so that your wedge’s shaft is more upright and the heel of the club is slightly off the ground. From this setup, use a “putting-stroke feel”
STOPPING POWER
Chipping near the toe of the club deadens the ball and can help with accuracy, Kim says.
to swing the club back and through, she says.
“Contact should be just off the toe of the club a little bit. The ball comes out a touch softer and you can control it better. The ball won’t run away from you too quickly.”
One of the best things about this shot, Kim says, is it’s versatility. Even though it’s similar to the standard bump-and-run, which also is hit like a putt, you can hit these chips high or low depending on your club selection —even using a high-lofted wedge when you’re short-sided.
“It might feel a bit funny at first,” she says, “but it’s definitely more of a softer shot for when you’re close to the pin and [need to stop the ball quickly].”
FROM 125 YARD S , a 15-handicapper hits the green less than half of the time—in fact, 39.5 percent from 125 to 150 yards, according to game-tracking system Arccos Golf. Most of those misses are short, because golfers tend to overestimate how far they hit the ball. Even a decent shot is not just short of the hole, it’s short of the green! Here’s a formula that will help you hit more greens with your irons.
Before selecting a club, determine the distance to the centre of the green, then add eight yards. Why eight yards? Because 32 yards is a good estimate of average green depth, and we want to get you aiming for the
Your Secret Formula to Hit More Greens
How to club up to get better birdie looks BY DAN CARRAHER
The very back edge is 140 yards, so if I hit it just past my 133 number, I’d still have some green to play with. If I really goose one, I’m just off the back, which is usually much better than short. The distance to the front here is about 110 yards, so for me to dump it in the bunker or the water, I’d have to hit it 25 yards short of my number. That’s unlikely. Try my advice next time you play. I bet you’ll hit the green on shorter approaches more often.
—WITH DAVE ALLEN
EIGHT IS GREAT Get your yardage and then add eight to hit more greens.
back-third of the green to allow for a mis-hit. If you’re playing a course with particularly small or large greens, adjust accordingly, but eight yards is a good rule. On this shot (above), I’ve established that it’s 125 yards to the centre, so eight more makes it 133 yards. For many amateurs, that means clubbing up one from a short iron. This strategy gives you a much bigger margin of error—and a significantly better chance for a birdie putt. Let me further explain: If I were to play this shot at 133 yards and slightly mis-hit it, I’d be in the middle of the putting surface.
DAN CARRAHER, one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America, is at the Golf Club at South Hampton in St. Augustine, Florida.
Hit Your Bunker Shots
Pin High
Getting out is paramount, but regulating distance is pretty important, too
BY DAVID LEADBETTER
THERE’S A LOT OF TRUST involved in golf. Instincts often make you think you have to do the opposite of what you’re supposed to do. For example, slicers often swing more away from the direction of the slice to try to reduce the curve. Actually, they should swing more toward the slice to eliminate that banana ball. You get the idea.
In bunkers, the notion that you have to make a big swing for such a short shot can seem weird. But if you don’t commit to following through, the result is typically a shot that doesn’t leave the bunker. Regulating distance from greenside sand is primarily about the throughswing. You have to trust that if you make a healthy pass at the ball, it’s not going to fly 100 yards over the green. Remember that by entering the sand behind the ball, all that energy you created quickly dissipates. If you don’t keep swinging, you won’t have enough gas to get the ball on the green.
Generally speaking, you don’t need
LONG OR SHORT
Adjust your followthrough to get the ball close.
to change the length of your backswing, which allows you to focus on the follow-through. The further you are from the hole, the longer your follow-through should be. When you swing down, rotate your upper body to control the momentum, land the clubhead an inch or two behind the ball and keep turning. If you focus on where you want the swing to end, you’ll naturally accelerate through the sand (large photo, above).
Experiment with various throughswing lengths to see how far the ball goes and start to develop a system you can easily employ for different yardages. However, you should at least let the shaft reach parallel with the ground in the follow-through (small photo, above) to ensure you have enough power to get the ball out. That’s always goal No. 1.
—WITH RON KASPRISKE
DAVID LEADBETTER is one of Golf Digest’s Legends of Golf Instruction.
Split Personality
Back in the day, golfers carried a mixed bag of niblicks and mashies, each tasked to propel shots a certain way. Iron sets later became uniform, but now we’re seeing a trend where more than 70 percent of PGA Tour players use a “split set” of irons with multiple head designs. Even many average-golfer sets—without the tour-level tweaking—feature different heads to optimise launch and spin. Moral: They had it right way back when. Every club in your bag has a specific job. Worry less about how it looks and more about what it does.
EDITED BY PETER MORRICE
Your Club for Those ‘Stretch’ Distances
Is it a hybrid or a fairway wood? The answer depends on your swing
BY MIKE STACHURA
We all experience that uneasy feeling of standing in the fairway, seeing that little flag in the distance and not knowing if we can get there. What makes it worse is, we might not even know whether we should be hitting a hybrid or a fairway wood. Of course, the right answer depends more on the player than it does on the club.
For instance, hybrid use on the PGA Tour is down about 80 percent from its heyday in 2010, when a typical event might have seen 140 hybrids in play.
But what happens on tour shouldn’t dictate what happens in your bag. With an increasing array of hybrid options, along with the influx of high-lofted fairway woods, average golfers have more choices with their longer clubs than ever before. It actually might be causing as much confusion as relief. Indeed, when a fairway wood and a hybrid have basically the same loft, which one is the better option?
The first thing to consider is that just because two clubs have the same loft, it doesn’t mean they’ll go the same distance. If one has less loft, it doesn’t
DECISION TIME
Picking a club for long shots is about how far you can hit it—and how well, too.
necessarily mean that club will go further, particularly when you’re talking about shots that are going to be hit off the ground. What’s the reason for the uncertainty? The differences in performance aren’t only about the clubs themselves. They also are tied to how you swing each kind of club and how consistently you hit the centre of the clubface, to say nothing of the differences in internal weighting (centre of gravity) and forgiveness (moment of inertia).
For some perspective, let’s take a look at the typical specs for a 5-wood and a 3-hybrid. A 5-wood has 18 or 19 degrees of loft and a 42.5-inch shaft, and a 3-hybrid has 19 or 20 degrees of loft and a shaft that’s more like the length of an iron (about two inches shorter than a 5-wood). Compared to a hybrid, a fairway wood has a larger clubface area to provide a bit more
forgiveness on mis-hits, but its longer shaft makes it harder to hit for most average golfers. Conversely, the hybrid’s shorter shaft should be easier to control and result in more solid strikes, and its added loft can help moderate-speed players create a better launch and more playable ball flight. However, that’s not what always happens when we put these clubs in players’ hands or test our theory using a swing robot. Golf Digest’s testing partner, Golf Laboratories, the leading outfit in the industry for robot testing, found that the fairway wood’s advantages weren’t always clear. In one testing session using both average and above-average swing speeds, the 3-hybrid carried further than the 5-wood and had a steeper landing angle, meaning it would be more likely to hold a green.
Still, it’s complicated. Specifically, we conducted robot testing at average swing speeds of 90 and 80 miles per hour (the equivalent of mid-90s and mid-80s for a driver). At the lower speed, when we hit shots with a level or more sweeping swing, the carry distances for both the 3-hybrid and 5-wood were essentially equal. When the swing was more downward into impact, the 5-wood’s lower loft produced six more yards of carry. At the higher swing speed, the hybrid’s lower spin gave it as much as a six-yard distance advantage. In every case, however, the 5-wood yielded better forgiveness: Mis-hits lost less distance.
Results from our Hot List player testing were also mixed. For players who were carrying the 3-hybrid more than 200 yards, the distance difference between the hybrid and the 5-wood was marginal. Conversely, when we looked at average-to-moderate-speed players, the 5-wood showed a distance advantage averaging more than 10 yards. With the slowest swingers, it was sometimes as much as 25 yards longer than the 3-hybrid.
Why the differences? For the fastest swingers, high-lofted fairway woods can launch the ball too high and with too much spin compared to hybrids, thus cutting into distance. With a hybrid, the centre of gravity (CG) is
closer to the face, which helps reduce the spin associated with a faster swing. (In robot testing, we saw about 20 percent less spin with the 3-hybrid versus the 5-wood.) For players with moderate speed, the higher launch and spin of a high-lofted fairway wood with its deeper CG helps shots stay in the air. Of course, fairway-wood designs that target faster swingers can help cut down the spin. That’s why a fitting is critical.
What’s the upshot here? We think that players with above-average swing speeds should go with hybrids (and
even utility irons) over higher-lofted fairway woods to replace their long irons. But for the majority of average golfers, a high-lofted fairway wood provides a distinct advantage over a hybrid, especially when it comes to forgiveness on not-so-perfect hits.
In short, the right club for those reach-back-and-rip-it shots shouldn’t only be about the loft stamped on the clubhead. It’s how that club works with your swing to optimise distance. Remember, you have options with these long clubs. Think before you hit.
HOT LIST TESTING
PETER LEE, 56 7-Handicap
Callaway Elyte Ti
The best fairway woods and hybrids make long-distance approach shots less intimidating. Here are a few of our Hot List testers’ faves.
ALEJANDRA BEDOYA, 26 5-Handicap
Srixon ZXi
“The ball flight, the consistency of the shots, was above average. It was very easy to hit a repetitive shot. A very subtle sound to it, like a silent assassin.”
THOMAS ALLEN, 60 7-Handicap
Ping G440
RICKY BROWN, 46 +3-Handicap
TaylorMade Qi35
“Understated. No distractions, but still elegant. Sounds powerful but feels smooth. Easy to get up in the air. Rewarding in distance, and little baby draws made it a pleasure to test.”
“My initial impression was confirmed: It’s an absolute launcher. Super easy to hit with a large sweet spot. Had a great ringing sound to go along with it.”
“Consistency, consistency, consistency. I was able to hit a bunch of di erent shots. Chased one down the fairway, then hit one higher and higher again. Love the grey finish.”
Fairway Woods Hybrids
Why the Long Putter Never Disappeared
Q:I THOUGHT ANCHORING WAS BANNED, BUT I SEE LONG PUTTERS ON TOUR. SHOULD I TRY ONE?
As of 2016, anchoring a putter against any part of your body is illegal, but long putters are still OK. Mike Davis, the USGA executive director at the time of the ruling, explained the difference.
“We’re not going to take away your long putter,” Davis said. “All you need to do is this [hold the club away from your body], where you control the whole club with your hands. So long and belly putters are still legal, as long as you don’t anchor them.”
That ruling let tour pros such as Adam Scott, Lucas Glover, Akshay Bhatia, Will Zalatoris and Bernhard Langer to keep—or start—using these clubs by holding them away from the body.
As for whether you should try one, that’s a question of commitment. Long putters are very upright, allowing the putter to move less on an arc and more
straight back and straight through.
Q: I BUY MY GOLF SHOES AT A SPORTING GOODS STORE, BUT I’M RETHINKING THAT. ANY ADVICE?
Consider this: G olfers who walk take about 11,000 steps over 18 holes. There’s no doubt that a properly fit pair of shoes will help you feel and perform better.
GOING LONG
Akshay Bhatia uses a long putter without anchoring.
That’s a comforting feel, especially on short putts, but it takes some getting used to. Also, the split grip they require and the sheer weight of the putter take your wrists out of the stroke, leaving the shoulders to control it. Again, that can be a big benefit, but it does take some practice.
If you have the patience, Sonny Burgo, a master fitter at Pete’s Golf, a Golf Digest 100 Best Clubfitter, has some advice. “It offers a fresh start,” Burgo says. “It also involves, in a way, a learning period, so there’s no pressure and offers hope to golfers in the struggle.”
Burgo also notes the learning curve can be tough. Long putts can be hard to gauge and finding a putter demands a fitting. In addition, some players think people will be constantly watching them to make sure they aren’t anchoring.
Pro tip: Wear a tighter shirt so those watchdogs will clearly see the space between your chest and putter.
A look at your old shoes can provide clues to what you need. The inside of a worn shoe might indicate pressure points where the shoe is not fitting right. If your insoles have deep impressions, consider an extra cushiony design.
On the outside, severe wear along the inner part of the heel suggests you should be wearing shoes with more arch support. Conversely, excessive wear on the outside of the heel indicates that a more flexible shoe would make sense.
Don’t forget about weight. If 18 holes is 11,000 steps and you reduce the weight of a shoe by a single ounce, that’s a savings of 11,000 ounces—or 687.5 pounds—of leg fatigue during a round.
Start with the fit. Using a Brannock device (found wherever shoes are sold), measure your feet while standing and wearing your golf socks. Measure for length and for width at the ball of your foot. Always measure at the end of the day, when your feet are likely swollen.
Once you find your fit and a style you like, consider buying a couple of pairs and rotating them. That’ll help your feet and maybe even your scores.
Answers by Golf Digest equipment editors Mike Stachura, E. Michael Johnson and Jonathan Wall
J.D. CUBAN
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What’s in My Bag Ben Griffin
WHAT IS THIS MYSTERY IRON?
At first glance, there’s nothing strange about Griffin carrying a Mizuno JPX923 3-iron. However, look closer at the sole, and you’ll see there’s no number. Why? Mizuno didn’t make a 3-iron in this model, so it’s a 4-iron bent to 3-iron loft. Mystery solved.
WEARING WELL
Griffin’s Scotty Cameron Concept 2 Tour prototype putter has a German stainless steel insert. The black finish shows some real battle scars.
PEST CONTROL
These allnatural bug wipes help keep mosquitoes and other nuisances at bay during early mornings on the course.
ONE OF ONE Griffin plays the Maxfli Tour X ball. His two wins on the PGA Tour in 2025 were the first with a Maxfli golf ball in two decades.
HE’S GOT THE LOOK Vision issues led Griffin to sunglasses. He first got a pair of Uswing Mojings from fellow pro C.T. Pan. Now it’s his style.
where to play
EDITED BY STUART MCLEAN
An intimidating uphill par 3 with the green set high in the dunes and guarded by a hillside of bunkers.
TRUMP INTERNATIONAL GOLF LINKS NEW COURSE
SEVENTH HOLE
Old or New, it’s a Trump
NEW COURSE NINTH HOLE
There’s not a single greenside bunker on this downhill par 4 which heads towards the North Sea. The surrounds are filled with mounds and slopes.
spectacle
Aberdeen is where Donald Trump has developed 36 holes of thrilling links golf.
BY STUART MCLEAN
OIL AND GAS FROM THE North Sea fields once used to pump the Aberdeen economy. Now, thanks to Donald Trump, the Granite City has become one of the premier links destinations in Scotland with the completion of a 36-hole complex at Trump International Golf Links.
Trump was recently in Scotland to preside at the opening of his latest golfing offspring. The New Course co-habits the same magnificent linksland as his Old Course on the rugged coastline north of Aberdeen. Typical of Trump, it is being promoted as “The Greatest 36 Holes in Golf.”
The terms Old and New in relation to golf are commonly associated with St Andrews. The Old Course there originated in the 18th century, while the New Course, designed by Old Tom Morris, opened in 1895. Trump’s team assigned these simple titles to his two courses on the Menie Estate at Balmedie to forge a visible identity that golfers will easily remember. Old in this case is 2012, and New is 2025.
In August, the grandeur of the Trump International property was revealed to a global audience with television coverage of the Old’s first hosting of a DP World Tour event, the Nexo Championship. The links proved a formidable test for the tour pros, with just nine players finishing under par for the week. The clearcut winner was a Scot, Grant Forrest, whose knowledge of local conditions proved invaluable.
A visit there myself a few weeks later confirmed that the Older Trump is one of the most demanding courses I have played anywhere in the world. It was a humbling round of sheer survival, and yet I would happily go back there tomorrow because it is a spellbinding experience.
Interestingly, locals hesitate when asked to describe the playing conditions at Trump International. Other older courses in Aberdeen are referred to as “traditional links,” while the Old and New are considered fabricated. However, these are two genuine links. They just play differently because they are new and still settling in. Fifty years from now they might be called “traditional.”
WHERE TO PLAY
Perfect fit for an Open
The Old Course would be a perfect fit for the Open Championship, a test for the best, yet sadly it is unlikely to be afforded the opportunity to join the Open rota. The access for large crowds would be a colossal problem in those heaving seaside dunes. Spectators would have to walk on the sides of the fairways, as the rough is thick with wiry grass, knotty tufts, broom, and heather, that not only restricts movement, but also encases golf balls in their midst.
The New Course at Trump International will not, though, be overshadowed by the Old, which has been the case at St Andrews. This is a triumphant design which is significantly different to the Old, even though it too ventures into the wilderness of dunes which is such a dramatic feature of the property. The Old was designed as a pure championship layout by Martin Hawtree; the New has its own equally pleasing identity. It sensibly had a different design team, which is the trend today at many multi-course facilities. Each must be played if you’re visiting Balmedie because they complement each other so perfectly. Play one, and not the other, and you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Doubling up does make it an expensive outing though. The green fee for each course varies between £396 (offpeak) and £495 (there is dynamic pricing in summer). Green fees at high-end links in Scotland have become prohibitively expensive thanks to increased demand from the American market to play bucket list destinations. Kingsbarns near St Andrews is £450.
At those fees it’s no wonder that losing a few golf balls around these courses would seem inconsequential. I said farewell to 12 balls during my two rounds, due to the simple fact that I am incapable of hitting every fairway off the tee. Some of the fairways are generously wide, but others less so, notably the opening holes on each course. Everyone starts at No 1, even though the Old Course returns to the clubhouse after nine holes. The New Course is an out-and-back design, having its own halfway house, situated between the seventh and 15th tees.
NEW COURSE TENTH HOLE
This is a short par 4 of less than 250 metres where the green is perched high on a ridge. Finding the sinuous fairway off the tee is paramount.
Intimidating opening holes
Both courses begin with strong par 5s from elevated tees which I found intimidating as opening holes on a fresh Scottish day. However, they are not indicative of what is to come. The fairways generally open up more as you get into the courses, boosting your confidence, particularly on the closing holes of the New Course, where they are generously wide. I would have preferred that kind
of welcome on the first tee when I was loosening up.
The two courses are similar in length, especially playing from the three forward men’s tees – there are six teeing options altogether, including red specifically for women. The black tees are terrifying – yet very much worth looking at to cast your eye over the challenge ahead – and even the gold tees at around 6 500 metres are daunting for a scratch
golfer. The Old has a Course Rating of 76.3 with a Slope of 149, while the New is 74.9 and 143. That’s the gold tees. These are high figures for Slope, indicating the difficulty factor. The Slope from the most forward tee on the Old is still 130. I played Old and New on separate days – don’t try and attempt them both in one day unless you have a masochistic bent – and equally loved their various challenges. Martin Hawtree did not design
the New Course, merely consulting on the project which was a dual design effort by Swedish architect Christian Lundin (who works with Henrik Stenson) and Canadian Christine Fraser. It was driven by Eric Trump, Donald’s second son from his first marriage.
Some of the differences on the New Course: large wetland areas over the opening six holes; fewer bunkers; and exceptionally spacious greens com -
LINKS GOLF IN ABERDEEN
Royal Aberdeen, the sixth oldest golf club in the world (1780) and Murcar Links (1909) are two traditional seaside links located north of the Granite City, 15 kilometres south of Trump International. The two clubs share a boundary fence, and there is an annual cross-country match between them which begins at the Royal Aberdeen clubhouse. Members play the front nine of Royal Aberdeen and then step over a fence on to either the second or fourth tee at Murcar Links and continue for another nine holes. The match finishes at the Murcar clubhouse. Royal Aberdeen is where Jovan Rebula, nephew of Ernie Els, won the 2018 British Amateur championship.
In the city centre are two 18hole municipal links, Kings Links and Balnagask, with fast-running fairways, which can be played for a green fee of £33 and are popular with locals. Golf is often a family outing. I noticed two golfers walking with their clubs, and alongside them a young woman pushing a pram with her bairn. While the Kings Links is flat (opposite the Pittodrie football stadium), Balnagask looks vastly more interesting on a hilly promontory overlooking the entrance to Aberdeen harbour on the River Dee.
plexes which are closer in height to the fairways than many of the raised surfaces on the Old Course.
Through the first six holes this links occupies flatter land inland from the front nine of the Old Course, which hugs the coastline, before it metamorphosises into the most amazing dune landscape south of the other links. The stretch of holes from 7 to 14 are the jewel in the crown of this layout.
WHERE TO PLAY
The Jewel in the Crown
The par-3 seventh arrives unexpectedly after what has come before. The green sits high above the tee boxes on the slope of a dune, and bunkers litter the hillside leading up to the green. It’s an exciting tee shot which raises the adrenalin levels, and they will stay that way for a while. One of the magical features of both the Trump courses are the paths you walk through the dunes from green to tee. They’re not short walks, unless you’re going off black, but neither are they tiresome ones. Playing each hole you have no view of subsequent holes, so it is all very anticipatory. There are wooden signposts indicating the whereabouts of each of the six tees. An arrow usually points one way towards the black and gold tees, and another arrow to the blue, white, green and red.
Only as you step on to the tee does each hole fully present itself.
Cresting the dune from seventh green to eighth tee was the highlight of my visit. I stepped into the most beautiful natural dunescape, a panoramic links vista laid out before me. Here and there I glimpsed emerald fairways and greens tumbling through a valley of dunes and vast sandy waste areas. It was a sensory moment where I couldn’t take my eyes off this visual feast. Then I had to face a daunting tee shot.
Within these seven holes were six par 4s and a lone par 3 (No 12) which was hidden away on top of a dune overlooking the beach. These holes alone make the New Course a must-play in my book. They are each terrific and eminently playable. No 10 is the only short 4 on the New, and it was just 235 metres
LUXURY LODGE EXPERIENCE
Trump International is not a resort course, so there is no large hotel on the property, as there is at Trump Turnberry on the west coast of Scotland. However, there is the 5-star MacLeod Lodge (named after Donald’s mother Mary MacLeod) a short drive from the clubhouse. Two nights bed & breakfast, plus a round on each course, is offered for AED 12,000 a person, or AED 20,000 for two sharing.
There is likely to be a cheaper accommodation offering in 2026, as an old double-storey farmhouse building on top of a hillside near the clubhouse is being converted into en-suite dormy-type rooms. It will offer amazing views.
The clubhouse is a surprisingly small one considering there are two courses. All it contains is a pro shop, locker rooms and the Dunes brasserie – a Trump burger is on the menu – with an outside deck. The range, though, is gigantic.
from the middle blue tees, playing from a high tee overlooking the ocean. The green was perched on top of a ridge, and the fairway snaked its way down the left side of the hole. Going directly for the green meant having to traverse wispy rough and sandy outcrops. No bunkers. Risk-reward at its rawest.
The halfway house is so perfectly situated that you can stop for a refreshment after six holes, then replenish yourself eight holes later before tackling 15-18. They are big finishing holes in terms of metres, 550, 225, 425 and 500. The par-5 18th climbs a hill to an enormous infinity green where you look down on the impressive range facilities and the clubhouse. You conclude with a long downhill walk to the car park. A buggy service meeting golfers behind the 18th green would have been welcome.
The Clubhouse
MacLeon Lodge
OLD COURSE 14TH HOLE
Possibly the most thrilling tee shot to be played at Trump International comes on this par 4 played from a high tee into a narrow valley enclosed by dunes.
NEW COURSE 11TH HOLE
An uphill par 4 takes golfers to this beautifully shaped green on the edge of a long and deserted beach.
LILY RETURNS HOME
As the PIF Global Series heads to Mission Hills for its season finale, Lily Muni He is eager to finish the year where her golf journey began. The Golf Saudi ambassador talks to Golf Digest Middle East about the growth of women’s golf in China, the electric energy of a home crowd, and how she and her partner, Formula 1 driver Alex Albon, push each other to stay sharp both mentally and competitively.
Lily, it must be exciting to finish the PIF Global Series at home in China. What do you think it will be like playing in front of a home crowd at Mission Hills? It is really exciting for me to be able to finish the PIF Global Series at home in China. Last year was an incredible first year in Shenzhen — the fans were amazing, electric, and I really felt the love. So I’m really excited to be able to play there again this year and hopefully enjoy that same atmosphere, playing in front of a home crowd. It’s amazing to see the Series grow and keep stepping up in terms of prize money for us in women’s golf. I think it sets a really great example for everyone — not just in women’s golf, but women’s sports in general.
The PIF Global Series has really stepped up prize money and event setups for women’s golf. How does that feel out on the course?
The Series has been such a great example for everyone in women’s golf by really stepping up in terms of prize
THE CHINESE STAR ENDS THE PIF GLOBAL SERIES SURROUNDED BY HOME SUPPORT
money and levelling up every year to help grow the women’s game. I think it sets an incredible example for all the other events out there. It feels great for us players because now, not only do we get to play with our hearts out and display our abilities and talents on a worldwide platform, but knowing that we’re playing for a significant amount of money is always a great feeling.
As a Golf Saudi ambassador, how do you see your role in shaping the future of women’s golf around the world?
As a Golf Saudi ambassador, I hope to see my role as someone who can help inspire the next generation of women golfers in countries like China and Saudi, where the game is really growing. It’s essential for there to be representation and great role models for young girls to look up to. I know that’s how I got involved with golf and how I eventually became a professional golfer — because I was inspired. So I really hope we can be examples for the next generation.
Does playing at home give you an extra buzz, or do you feel a bit more pressure?
Playing at home definitely gives me extra energy. I think there’s always pressure, especially when you have a lot of supporters and people out there watching you play — you want to perform well. But at the same time, I approach all my tournaments the same way. Knowing that we’re going to have a lot of support from the home crowd makes me feel really excited and makes me look forward to competing at home.
You have over a million fans following your journey on social media. Does their support make a difference when you’re competing?
Knowing that I have a platform with over a million fans on social media makes me feel very loved. I feel really grateful to be able to connect with so many people all
IT’S A REALLY EXCITING TIME TO SEE WHERE WOMEN’S GOLF IN CHINA WILL GO IN THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS.
over the world — whether it’s in China, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, or America. Having people’s words of encouragement and support really gives me extra grit and energy to push through when times get tough. But it’s also about being able to share my journey with everyone online, whether they’re avid golfers or just getting into the sport. I think it’s a very cool position to be in.
With your partner Alex (Albon) competing in Formula 1, do you two ever swap tips or motivation from your different sports?
Alex and I definitely exchange a lot of tips, especially when it comes to the mental side of our sports. As different as they are, the foundation of the human skills required is very similar. We actually now share the same sports psychologist, which has been great for both of us. We can be a sounding board for each other and reflect off one another. When one of us is down, the other is always there to support them. I feel really blessed to have a partner who I can share these experiences with on a deeper level.
What do you hope young women in China and across the globe will see in this series that might inspire them to chase a golf career?
When I was very young, there really weren’t too many female Chinese golfers on the world stage. Now, seeing that there are so many of us playing at the highest level of women’s golf makes me very happy. When I come back to China and see how amazing, talented, and hard-working the juniors are, it makes me feel very hopeful for the growth of golf here. It’s so important to have representation within the sport at a high level, and I think we’ve done an amazing job of that. It’s a really exciting time to see where women’s golf in China will go in the next five to ten years.
20 Years
THE TOP 70 AVAILABLE PLAYERS on the Race to Dubai will battle it out at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which returns for its 20th edition with Yas Links set to once again host the first event of the DP World Tour Play-Offs from November 6-9. Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy is aiming to move a step closer to Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight season-long titles by winning in Abu Dhabi. The Career Grand Slam winner is going to be joined by European Ryder Cup stars Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Åberg, Rasmus Højgaard, Vice Captain Alex Noren, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, and Robert MacIntyre this month.
PREVIOUS WINNERS:
2024 Paul Waring
2023 Victor Perez
2022 Thomas Pieters
2021 Tyrrell Hatton
2020 Lee Westwood
2019 Shane Lowry
2018 Tommy Fleetwood (2)
2017 Tommy Fleetwood
2016 Rickie Fowler
2015 Gary Stal
2014 Pablo Larrazabal
2013 Jamie Donaldson
2012 Robert Rock
2011 Martin Kaymer (3)
2010 Martin Kaymer
2009 Paul Casey (2)
2008 Martin Kaymer
2007 Paul Casey
2006 Chris DiMarco
FACTS:
• Rolex Series event since 2019
• First 16 editions held at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort
• Yas Links, Abu Dhabi has been tournament host since 2022
• DP World Tour Play-Off event 1 of 2
• $9 million prize purse
• Top 70 available players on the 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings
MARCO’S MOMENT
THREE DP WORLD TOUR WINS, A SURGE UP THE RACE TO DUBAI, AND A SHOWDOWN WITH RORY MCILROY — MARCO PENGE’S BREAKTHROUGH YEAR COULDN’T BE WRITTEN
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
ew stories have captured attention like Marco Penge’s. From the edge of losing his DP World Tour card 12 months ago, the 27-year-old Englishman has turned setbacks into three DP World Tour titles this season and is in a close chase of Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, while also notching a PGA Tour card for next season. Penge has arrived in the United Arab Emirates, for the DP World Tour Play-Offs, with a rapidly transformed career as he looks to pip World Number Two Rory McIlroy, to the Harry Vardon Trophy.
“He’s obviously a bit of a role model and inspires me a lot,” Penge says on McIlroy. “It’s nice to be going head-to-head with him. We’ll see what happens.”
It’s been a remarkable rise for a player who was fighting to keep his DP World Tour card just one year ago in Korea. Penge needed a birdie on the last hole at the 2024 Genesis Championship to make the cut and secure his playing rights. “That day was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been,” he recalls. “But when that putt dropped, I knew I belonged out here.”
Even off the course a knee operation, a suspension, and career-threatening setbacks might have ended other players’ dreams. Penge, however, has used those challenges as fuel. “I think my best attribute is probably my mentality,” he says.
“The attitude to bounce back and accept failure.
“Winning’s great, but it still comes with mental tiredness. I love a challenge. I love proving people wrong. That’s the whole reason why I play the game.”
After a healthy amateur career, Penge turned professional in 2017, and first made a dent in headlines in 2023, when he won the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos before claiming the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca just six weeks later. The victories secured him the number one spot on the HotelPlanner Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings and promotion to the DP World Tour. “To be standing there saying I’d won twice and finished No.1 was hard to imagine,” he says. “It hadn’t quite sunk in, but I was over the moon.”
His DP World Tour rookie season, that began under pressure, ended with a glimpse of his ability to perform having
“When that putt dropped, I knew I belonged out here.”
2025 Hainan Classic
“I love a challenge. I love proving people wrong. That’s the whole reason why I play the game.”
made just 10 cuts in the whole season but eventually was enough to keep his card in Korea, giving him a free run again in 2025.
If that wasn’t stressful enough, a breach of DP World Tour regulations led to a suspension for Penge over the winter period 12 months ago.
“When I found out I would not be able to play for a couple of months, I sat down with my team and said, ‘This has happened now. How can we make sure we come back as strong as we can?’” The plan, he explains, involved improving every department of his game while building the confidence that would carry him through the season.
Penge then returned to the DP World Tour in February of this year with three consecutive top-20 finishes before his breakthrough win at the Hainan Classic in April, three shots ahead of his rivals.
“After my time off, it was the thing I wanted to prove to myself and to everyone, to show what a player I am,” he said. He followed that up with another win at the Danish Golf Championship, where a dramatic birdie-birdie finish saw him edge out home-favourite Rasmus Højgaard. “I’ve been playing so well this year,” Penge says. “Coming back from my time off, to have won so soon and to achieve what I’ve achieved since I won, it’s amazing.”
Then just a matter of weeks ago, Penge claimed his third DP World Tour victory of the season by beating countryman Dan Brown in a play-off at the Open de España presented by
Madrid and earned a place in both The 154th Open and the Masters Tournament next season.
“To play the rest of the season knowing I’m in the Masters, having won the Spanish Open, three wins this year, and play-
2024 Genesis Championship
2025 Danish Golf Championship
ing The Open Championship, I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and for making the most of them.
“I never would’ve thought that six or seven months ago. But I’ve done it, and now I need to enjoy the celebrations without taking my foot off the pedal. I want to keep going for more. That’s just the person I am, I love playing golf, I love competing, and I love challenging myself.”
These three titles have given Penge the opportunity to compete side-by-side more often with the games best players. “I try to watch how top players handle themselves,” he says. “Some are very meticulous, some are very chilled. You pick up little things here and there. You take the good stuff and apply it to your own game. That’s what helps you grow.”
“Everyone’s slightly different,” he says. “Matt Fitzpatrick is very detailed with his preparation. Then someone like Dustin Johnson, who I played with recently at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, is a bit different.
“Some are just very chilled, some are very intense. I feel like I have a bit of both in certain moments.” Those observations, combined with Marco’s own temperament, have helped him steer those high-pressure situations throughout the year.
Family has been a grounding force for Penge. His wife Sophie, a professional herself, and their 18-month-old son Enzo, offers him both perspective and motivation when travelling the globe. “Trying to be the best golfer I can be while being the best husband and father is pretty hard,” he admits.
“I’ve learned to manage it in a better way. When I am at tournament weeks with my son, I prioritise time with him in the evening and switch off from golf in those moments.” Watching videos of Enzo laughing before a round, he says, gives him “inner strength.”
Now, with the Race to Dubai entering its final stretch, Penge is focused on the Middle East. Abu Dhabi and Dubai will host the Play-Offs, and he is eager to take advantage of every opportunity to move up the Rankings. “I’m just focusing on myself, trying to keep my year as good as I can,” he says. “I want more wins. I want more top-five finishes. Going up against Rory, I couldn’t ask for more than that. I really want to play with him in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.”
The Middle East has become an important stage for Penge’s ambitions. Playing in the upcoming Rolex Series events at Yas Links and Jumeirah Golf Estates offers him once again another chance to test himself against the world’s best while showcasing his form to a region that has become synonymous with world-class golf. “Playing here is always special,” he says. “The courses, the fans, the atmosphere — it’s differ-
“Trying to be the best golfer I can be while being the best husband and father is pretty hard.”
ent. It’s one of those places where you feel the energy and you want to perform.”
His rise over the past two season has been equal in growing as a player and person as much off the golf course as on it. “I’ve had to go through a lot growing up — moving away from home young, getting married, becoming a dad, having knee surgery, going through Covid,” he reflects.
“It’s all played a part. The things I’ve been through, they’ve made me grow up. I’m an adult now. I need to be professional in every area.”
“I’m still not one to get overawed by the fame,” he says. “I just see myself as a guy who loves his family, friends, and appreciates the opportunities I’ve been given in my life. That’s the most important thing — remaining grounded and humble.”
“I feel the way I’m playing now and the player I perceive myself to be now, I would say I’m ready to try and win more on the DP World Tour, compete in more Majors, but I’ve still got a lot to learn at the same time,” he reflects.
As the DP World Tour heads to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he has the chance to cement his place not just as a winner, but as a contender for one of the game’s biggest season-long prizes and become just the 8th Englishman to win Race to Dubai Rankings.
“I’ve always believed in myself,” he says. “The last couple of years have been a roller coaster, but I’ve proven to myself that I can handle pressure, grow from mistakes, and still come out stronger. Now it’s about finishing the year the right way, staying focused, and enjoying every moment. Playing against Rory, in front of these crowds, in the Middle East, is exactly where I want to be.”
2025 Open de Espana
COURSE
he Northern Irishman claimed his third DP World Tour Championship victory in 2024, securing a recordequalling sixth Race to Dubai crown alongside Seve Ballesteros. At 36, McIlroy sits joint second for most Race to Dubai wins, two behind Colin Montgomerie, as he aims to add another European Number One title.
The Earth Course has been a successful venue for McIlroy, who previously won the DP World Tour Championship in 2012, 2015, and 2024, and topped the season-long standings six times. Including four other Dubai victories, he currently leads the Race to Dubai Rankings.
“Dubai has always been a special place for me,” said McIlroy. “Winning both the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai last year was an incredible way to finish the season. To equal
Seve’s record made it even more special. I’ve played some great golf this year and I’m looking forward to finishing strong again in front of the fans at Jumeirah Golf Estates.”
Fresh off a history-making season, the 2025 Jack Nicklaus Award winner is embracing his role as a new face for golf in the Arab world.
by Harry Grimshaw
Bresnu Breaking Barriers
THERE ARE FEW AMATEURS HAVE MADE AN IMPRESSION QUITE LIKE MOROCCO’S ADAM BRESNU.
His record-setting run at the 2024 PIF Saudi International turned heads across the golf world and gave a new face to Arab golf’s growing presence. Speaking to Golf Digest Middle East, Bresnu opens up about the week that changed his career, the support behind his journey, and why this is just the beginning.
You made history at the 2024 PIF Saudi International with that incredible 17-under-par finish. How much do you still look back on that experience?
My experience at the 2024 PIF Saudi International was amazing. It was a special week for me, not just because of the result, but because of how far I felt my game had come. To perform on that stage, in front of such a strong field, was a real breakthrough moment and gave me a lot of confidence.
Being the first Arab-born golfer to make the cut at a Rolex Series event is huge. How does it feel representing Morocco and Arab golf on such a big stage?
Representing my country is an amazing feeling. Golf isn’t as big in Morocco as it is in other countries, so it’s really cool to be able to bring awareness to my sport and I’m proud to show that Arab golfers can compete at the highest level.
You’ve already practiced with Jon Rahm and played alongside Adam Scott — how was that, and is there anyone you’re hoping to line up with at Riyadh Golf Club this November?
Yeah, I grew up watching these guys, so getting the chance to play alongside them feels surreal. It’s incredible to be part of a field with so many big names. This year, I would love to get a round in with someone like Tyrrell Hatton or Cam Smith, especially with Cam being an Open Champion, that would be a great experience.
Coming from Rabat and now competing internationally, how supportive have the Arab Golf Federation been, and what improvements are you seeing in golf across the region?
The Arab Golf Federation has been really supportive of my journey. I think they understand the potential golf has in this region. We are seeing more young players, better training facilities, and more investment in tournaments. It’s all headed in the right direction, and I’m proud to be part of that growth.
A big highlight this year was winning the 2025 Jack Nicklaus Award — a major honour. How did it feel to
be recognized at that level, and what does it mean for your career?
Winning the Jack Nicklaus Award was a huge moment for me. Just having my name mentioned alongside that kind of legacy is amazing. It’s a validation of all the work I’ve put in, and it gives me extra motivation to keep pushing for more.
The PIF Saudi International has become a landmark event. What excites you most about returning to Riyadh Golf Club this year?
It’s the level of competition and the atmosphere. There’s a real buzz around the event now as they are incorporating more entertainment into the event, and the course at Riyadh Golf Club is in great shape and it really suits my game. I’m coming in with more confidence this time, and I’m looking forward to being back and hopefully being in contention on the Sunday.
For young golfers in Morocco and across the Arab world, what’s the biggest piece of advice you’d give them about looking to pursue a career in golf?
I would say to believe in yourself and stay patient. Golf takes time, and there will always be ups and downs. But I think if you stay committed, keep learning, and surround yourself with a good support system, the results will come.
FIFA NETS TICKET TO MAJORS
LAOPAKDEE WINS THE ASIA-PACIFIC AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP AT EMIRATES GOLF CLUB, AS THE UAE’S AHMAD SKAIK TOPS RECORDBREAKING ARAB PERFORMANCES
Fifa Laopakdee,
a 20-year-old from Thailand, came back from a six-stroke deficit to start the final round to win the 16th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course on Sunday. With the win, Laopakdee becomes the first Thai winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur and will receive an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament and an exemption to The 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale.
Laopakdee, a junior at Arizona State University, started the day with a deficit to 16-year-old Taisei Nagasaki of Japan, who set a new 54-hole scoring record of 17 under par. After a slow start, Laopakdee notched five backnine birdies – including Nos. 17 and 18 – to reach a playoff. He went on to birdie three consecutive playoff holes (18-17-18) to outlast Nagasaki. In total, he birdied his final five holes to win the Championship.
“I still stick to the mindset that I created at the start of the week,” said Laopakdee. “Stay present, process only, have fun out there. Have fun with my caddie and just enjoy golf, shot by shot, hole by hole. I’m just proud that I did all that on the back nine, especially. After I finished 18, I didn’t know I shot 5 under par on the back nine. I laughed with my caddie, I shot 5 under par on the back nine. Amazing golf. Shout out to Taisei as well. He made my life so hard.
But it was a pretty amazing battle, with Rintaro as well.”
Laopakdee will now become the first Thai player to compete in the Masters as an amateur. He said he had told Arizona State coach Matt Thurmond he would accomplish the feat, and during his on-camera interview after the Championship, he looked into the camera and said, “Coach, I did it!”
The four-time Asia-Pacific Amateur participant closed with a four under 68 to chase down Nagasaki at 15 under par for the Championship. The pair finished two strokes clear of Japan’s Rintaro Nakano, who finished third for the second consecutive year in what is likely his last event as an amateur.
Nagasaki had a chance to win in regulation but missed a five-footer for birdie at the par-5 18th to settle for the playoff.
The UAE’s Ahmad Skaik carded his third under-par round of the week with a closing one-under-par 71 to finish the tournament in 13th place – the best result in the Championship’s history for a UAE national. While there was reason to celebrate the historic achievement, the 28-year-old was left thinking what might have been after a double bogey on the 18th hole denied him a top-ten finish.
“Today was pretty steady,” said Skaik. “I had so many good shots and made some good up-and-downs as well. I was three-under going into the last and thought I hit a good tee shot, but it ended up in the rough again, blocked out by the trees. I hit a low cut and ended up between the second cut and the rough. I
got a flyer into that bunker – rock hard. Had to play sideways. Thought I hit a good first putt, but the second putt didn’t go in.”
He later added: “If you told me six months ago that I would finish 13th, I would have said you’re out of your mind. But it shows how hard work and self-belief make a difference.”
With Skaik looking to turn professional in the coming months, the result gave him confirmation that he can compete with the very best. The careerbest finish came in his final amateur appearance in the competition.
“You can see the quality of the field and how much this event means to everyone,” said Skaik. “You saw the support I had this week. The winner goes to the Masters – that says it all. They treat you like a star here. I’ve always loved coming here, so it’s bittersweet that this is my last one. Obviously not happy about the double, but happy with how I played overall.”
Elsewhere among the Arab players, Rayan Ahmed continued the UAE’s strong showing with a tied-24th finish, while Lebanon’s Geoffrey Laklak placed tied-27th after becoming the first ever Lebanese player to make the cut in the tournament. Fellow UAE player Sam Mullane ended the week tied for 31st, with Qatar’s Saleh Alkaabi and Ali Al Shahrani finishing 41st and tied-48th respectively. 13-year-old Jordanian Salem Alabdallat rounded out the regional contingent in tied-53rd.
It capped off a record-breaking week for Arab golf, highlighted by Skaik’s stellar performance and growing signs of depth and progress across the region.
Ahmad Skaik
Geoffrey Laklak
Saleh Alkaabi
Salem Alabdallat
BE A BETTER
BY RYAN HAGER PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMES FARRELL
Swing smarter, not harder
BALL STRIKER
HERE’S AN OLD-SCHOOL TEST
Put some impact tape or foot powder on the face of whatever club you like and start hitting full-swing shots. Just a hunch, but if you struggle to break 90, I’m guessing the majority of your strikes aren’t in the middle of the clubface. Even golfers who routinely shoot in the 80s struggle to get pure, centerface contact time after time.
If it’s a challenge for you to hit the ball solidly, I’ve got some drills and tips to improve your quality of contact from your driver down to your wedges. With each type of club, the task to strike the ball in the middle of the face changes, so be sure to follow along with my advice to make the necessary adjustments. The good news is that you don’t have to swing harder to get better; you just have to swing smarter. Let’s go to work.
—WITH RON KASPRISKE
Adjust your swing arc
Poor contact with a driver is typically caused by a downswing that is too steep into the ball. Obviously, you need to swing your driver downward to hit the shot, but the clubhead actually should be on its way up as it reaches the tee. If you hit a lot of drop-kicks, pop-ups or even take a divot with your driver every now and then, you need to adjust your setup and the height of your swing arc. First, let’s make some changes at address. The mistake is to shove your hands forward (top photo, above), which
primes you for that steep downswing and poor contact.
Instead, try hovering the driver at address and stand a little taller. Your hands should be a little behind the ball position, too, which brings me to one of my favourite drills for better contact: Lay an alignment stick on the ground on your target line under a teed-up ball (above). When you swing, the goal is to hit the ball without touching the alignment stick (left). Doing this gets your swing arc off the ground, allowing you to make really solid contact.
Driver compression
Keep your lead foot steady
When you need a reliable club for a tee shot or to send one down the fairway on a par 5, fairway woods are your friends. The mistake with these clubs, however, is to try to help them do their job. I see a lot of amateurs spin out with their lead foot and try to lift the ball off the turf with some body English. The lead foot’s toes turn toward the target before the club reaches the ball, shifting weight to the back foot and causing poor contact. A great drill to prevent the spinout is for you to grab a
fairway wood and address a ball with another ball resting next to your lead foot’s heel (top photo, above). If you spin out, you will bump that ball (above). The goal is to hit the shot as solidly as possible without moving it (right). In fact, you get an A+ if your heel moves a little further away from the ball in the downswing than where it was at address. What’s happening is that your weight is moving in the right direction, toward the target, and that puts you in position to compress the ball off a short tee or tight fairway.
Fairway-wood compression
Amateurs hit the ball all over the face with their irons because they disconnect the movements of their arms and body during the swing, which causes the club to bottom out before the ball or reach it on a steep, glancing path—or both (below, left). The goal is to get the body and arms working together and for the low point in the swing to come after you strike the ball. I’ve got two drills that can help.
The first is to wrap a towel behind your back and under your arms (above) and hit three-quarter iron shots. The towel prompts you to keep the connection between your arms and body as you swing back and down. It should feel like there
is so much tension between your body and the towel, you might rip the fabric as you swing.
The second drill helps teach you to not just throw your hands and arms at the ball from the top of the swing, a common mistake. Grab a filled water bottle and mimic a downswing starting from the top. The goal is to get the water to spill out as late as possible, with some of it even dumping out in front of where your ball would have been (below, right). To release the water (“energy”) later in the downswing, your body and arms have to rotate together through impact. Then the energy can be released to deliver a powerful strike.
Iron compression Maintain the connection
Lead
the hands
Many amateurs struggle to control distance on longer wedge shots because they hit them way too high. The mistake is making a wristy strike that adds even more loft to a club that already has plenty. Here I’m simulating the look of a bad wedge swing at impact (top photo, left). Note how the clubhead has reached the alignment rod I stuck in the ground (which represents ball position) before my hands get there. I put a pointer on the clubface to show just how high the ball would launch if I flicked at it this way. That’s a shot that will balloon and never make it to the green.
If you watch tour pros when they get inside of, say, 100 yards, their first option is almost always to drive a wedge shot into a green with spin that stops it pin-high. My finish-line drill is a great way for you to learn how to do the same:
Put a rod in line with a ball at address (top photo, right) and start hitting shots. Your goal is to rotate your body toward the target so your hands reach the stick (the finish line) before the clubhead strikes the ball (above). When the hands win the race, you’ll immediately feel better contact and see the ball bore lower through the air. That’s ball-striking 101.
Wedge compression
with
Ryan Hager , one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America, is director of instruction at Plainfield Country Club in Edison.
AGF news
Saudi Golf Federation unveils new brand identity as a milestone for the sport’s growth
The Saudi Golf Federation (SGF) has officially launched its new brand identity, marking a significant milestone in its journey to develop golf in the Kingdom and enhance its presence on the local and international stage. The new identity represents a unifying step forward for golf in Saudi Arabia, reflecting the Federation’s ambition to unite and elevate the sport under a cohesive, modern brand that will resonate with players, fans, and partners.
Arab Golf Federation announces selected players for the Elite Sports Scholarship Program
The Arab Golf Federation has announced the selection of six promising young players to join the Elite Sports Scholarship Program, following the conclusion of the “Elite Camp” held over four days at Riyadh Golf Club.
Qatar’s Sokolov wins 34th Jordan Amateur Open at Ayla Golf Club
Qatar’s Daniil Sokolov delivered another memorable performance to secure the Men’s Division of the 34th Jordan Amateur Open at Ayla Golf Club. The Doha Golf Club Member secured the title at one-under par as he made history by becoming the first player to win titles in back-to-back editions, adding the men’s crown to the junior title he earned last year. The UAE’s Sam Mullane finished runner-up at three-over par, with compatriot Ahmad Skaik taking third one shot back.
Saudi Arabia’s stunning Shura Links open for play
Shura Links, the first island golf course in Saudi Arabia, located on Shura Island in the Red Sea, has officially opened for play. Designed by acclaimed architect Brian Curley and managed by Golf Saudi, the pioneering project reflects the Kingdom’s robust investment in golf and its growing reputation as a global destination for the game.
Palestine golf mourns the loss of Tarek Husseini, President of the Palestinian Golf Federation
The Arab golf family has lost one of its most distinguished leaders with the passing of Mr Tarek Husseini, President of the Palestinian Golf Federation, who leaves behind a rich legacy of dedication and determination in serving the sport despite all challenges.
Arab golf strengthened as Al Hashmi named APGC Vice President
Emirates Golf Federation President and Arab Golf Federation Asia Pacific Representative, Major General Abdullah Al Hashmi, has been elected Vice President of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC).
50 year celebration of Arab Golf Federation to be held at Riyadh Golf Club
50 years on from its inception, the Arab Golf Federation is celebrating this milestone in the 44th edition of the Arab Golf Federation Cup, which is set to take place at Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia, November 10-15, 2025.
Sasi Nathan
OMA Emirates Monthly Medalford Emirates Golf Club, UAE
Abhishek Kalla
Europcar September Individual Stableford
Al Mouj Golf, Oman
Jayshree Gupta
Ladies Weekend Stableford Emirates Golf Club, UAE
Staff v Members
Trump International Dubai, UAE
Captains Unity Trophy Emirates Golf Club, UAE
Dehan Ungerer
Captain’s Season Opener Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club, UAE
