Worldwide Golf The Middle East’s No.1 Golf Magazine
GARY PLAYER
KEEP GOLF A GLOBAL GAME DAVID HOWELL
JUNE 2016, ISSUE 182
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Worldwide Golf Columist
LET’S KEEP GOLF A GLOBAL GAME By Gary Player, Worldwide Golf Executive Editor since 1999
I
T IS one of golf’s enduring unwritten rules: When you win a tournament you have an obligation to defend your title the following year. It’s unfortunate that Rickie Fowler is not playing next month’s Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, having won the tournament at Gullane Golf Club last year by a shot from fellow American Matt Kuchar and France’s Raphael Jacquelin. Fowler made a lot of friends on Scotland’s Golf Coast last year and followed the footsteps of fellow countryman Phil Mickelson in playing the Scottish Open and The Open in successive weeks. Mickelson won the event in 2013 and went on to win The Open the following week by three shots from Henrik Stenson at Muirfield, where I proudly won the first of my three Open Championships. The Scottish Open is renowned for its international field. Over the last 20 years a different nationality has produced 16 winners of the Championship - and that’s good for our game. Each year, golf reaches out to new countries that don’t have a long tradition of playing golf. Just look at South Korea. The women’s game has been dominated in recent years by the ladies of Korea and now the men are beginning to make their mark. Korea’s leading golfers, Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi, led the way, with Yang winning the 2009 US PGA Championship at Hazeltine and Choi following Korea’s only Major winner by taking the 2011 Players Championship, among his eight victories on the US PGA Tour. There are currently three South Koreans in the top 16 on the Race to Dubai. Jeunghun Wang last month won back-to-back tournaments on the European Tour, at the Trophée Hassan II event in Morocco, and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. Soomin Lee won the Shenzen International in China in April. Twelve months ago Byeong Hun An won the
flagship event of the European Tour, the 2015 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth by an emphatic six shots, in his rookie season, having graduated from the European Challenge Tour. He finished the season seventh on the Race to Dubai and currently stands in 16th place. The Koreans are a hard-working nation and their golfers have an exemplary work ethic. South Korea is a small nation and it’s great to see them get their due rewards. They have earned their success and I take my hat off to them. Their efforts are indicative of how golf is growing and thriving among nations like South Korea, China and Asia in general. Their golfers are an ideal example of how dedication to your game can bring results. I HAVE long made the case that the infatuation with big hitters is a misplaced belief. You don’t have to send the ball miles off the tee to guarantee success. But a good short game is essential if you’re going to win trophies. I congratulate Jason Day on his victory at The Players Championship yet emphasise the point that although he’s one of the game’s big hitters, it was his short game that earned him his victory at TPC Sawgrass. He’s got an incredible golf swing and a wonderful short game and it was his wedge and his putter that earned him his victory. It was an interesting comparison to see Jordan Spieth struggle with his swing but if he can sort it out and match his driving with his putting prowess he’ll become a consistent winner – so watch out! n
South Korea’s Jeunghun Wang celebrates with his caddie after winning the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, one week after winning the Trophée Hassan II to make it two European Tour titles in a row for the rookie.
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June 2016
CONTENTS 34
14 21 24 28
Cover feature: Pete Cowen
Worldwide Golf goes behind the scenes with Master PGA Professional Pete Cowen at his driving range in Rotherham on the outskirts of Sheffield. The unassuming coach gives us a no-holds-barred interview about his career in the game.
The Starter
This month’s focus is on US Open course Oakmont and we look back at Tiger Woods’ sensational victory in the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach.
Columnists
David Howell and Greg Norman discuss the latest goings on in the game.
Tour News
The UAE National Team receive support from DP World and the Jumeirah Golf Estates European Tour Performance Institute ahead of this year’s Eisenhower Trophy.
European Tour Destination
Following WWG’s series on European Tour Properties and Destinations this month’s focus is on the stunning Black Mountain Golf Club & Resort in Hua Hin, Thailand.
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Š2016 PING P.O. BOX 82000 PHOENIX, AZ 85071
June 2016
CONTENTS
59 75 43
Arabian Golf
All the latest news from the leading golf clubs in the Middle East.
STYLE
INSTRUCTION
51
Cricketing lefty legend Brian Lara talks about his love of golf (which he plays right handed!) PLUS: The Lamborghini LP750 SuperVeloce comes under the spotlight and Felipe Aguilar reveals his Favourite Five golf courses from around the world.
HAMMER TIME
Improve your ball striking with a simple hammer drill by Jumeirah Golf Estates’ ETPI Teaching Professional, Gavin Sutherland.
HOGAN KNOWS BEST!
Stephen Deane, Emirates Golf Club, teaches you the elements behind Ben Hogan’s iconic swing.
HIT KILLER PUNCH SHOTS
GEAR
Shoot lower scores with an effective punch shot, taught by Craeg Deery from The Track, Meydan Golf.
Jason Ashley, Golf House’s Custom-fit Specialist, assesses which Callaway driver you should invest in to suit your game.
DON’T FEAR THE 60-YARD BUNKER SHOT
CALLAWAY – ‘TALKING TECH’
Martin Steel, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, shows you how to execute one of the most demanding recovery shots in the game.
PING G IRON – BRING YOUR IRONS UP TO SPEED
What makes the new PING G iron the perfect fit for you.
THE PRO V1 STORY – ‘THE GAME CHANGER’ The story behind how the Titleist Pro-V1 became the most popular ball in golf.
Brian Lara Worldwide GOLF 10
The time is now...
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Editor’s Letter
By Alex Gallemore
The European Tour is best placed to go Global THE old topic of forging a ‘Global Golf Tour’ appears to have reared its ugly head again following US PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem’s recent comments aired on the subject of the forthcoming Olympics in Brazil. His opinions are based around the fact that most global sports have one main governing body. “There aren’t that many sports that are as active on virtually every continent as golf. That’s the reason why the International Olympic Committee wanted us as part of the Olympics, so we should be taking advantage of that,” said Finchem He went on to add: “Now, there are all kind of structural issues and turf issues and attitude issues, and change is sometimes difficult. But sooner or later, I think everybody is going to get on that road and when they do, I think it’s going to be a very positive thing for golf.” A valid argument maybe, but a little unrealistic all the same. Especially when golf, like all professional sports, is based around money. The big name golfers play where the biggest purses and the highest ranking points are located. Due to the tax structure in the United States companies are able to support the big money US PGA Tour events and offset their sponsorship spend against tax. That makes the US PGA Tour events very appealing to international stars which gives the Tour the upper hand if negotiations were to ever take place. However, The PGA Tour sponsors are based in the States and mainly focus on the US market – so international audiences are not their main concern. So where would the money come from to fund the tournaments outside the USA and what guarantees would the international tournaments receive in attracting the big name
players? Surely the governing body of the game is also the R&A and the USGA. Which effectively means that you would have bring everything under one umbrella. You would need to amalgamate all the International Federations, the R&A, USGA and the USPGA. The more you think about it the more complicated the task of ever uniting the game becomes. Greg Norman once tried to bring about a global tour and way back then it was far less complicated with TV and broadcasting rights to rationalise but the idea never got off the ground. In many ways the European Tour are better situated to oversee the handling of a global tour considering they’ve been staging events internationally since 1982 when it held the Tunisian Open. This year they’ve added Fiji to the schedule which already includes: South Africa; Australia; Qatar; Bahrain; Oman; United Arab Emirates; Thailand; Malaysia; India; China; Morocco; Sweden; Germany; Spain; France; Portugal and Italy. To help raise the profile both locally and internationally the European Tour has come up with a winning formula by inviting a leading player from many of the established countries to host their national open event. Garcia did a great job in Spain; McIlroy in Ireland; Stenson in Sweden and later this season Luke Donald will host the British Masters at the Grove. There will always be people wanting to unify the game under one umbrella but I believe it’s working well as things stand and you can’t beat a bit of healthy rivalry between Europe and the US. Isn’t that what the Ryder Cup is all about! It will be interesting to see how the game in Asia grows and whether China take to the sport in big numbers. We’re already witnessing the increase of Asian winners on the Tour and we could soon see a huge shift in power and dominance in the men’s game as the Korean ladies have already demonstrated.
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ISSUE No.182 JUNE, 2016. Published by: Worldwide Sporting Publications Ltd. Published in Dubai by: Prografix, PO Box 24677, Dubai, UAE. (Tel) +9714 340 3785. Editor-in-Chief: Mike Gallemore. Executive Editor: Gary Player. Editor: Alex Gallemore. alex@wspglobal.com. Publisher: Mike Gallemore. mike@wspglobal.com General Manager Dubai: Richard Bevan: rick@wspglobal.com Editors: Todd Staszko, Scott Grayston. Production/Design Editor: Thameem Rayyan. Editorial Panel: Gary Player, Mike Gallemore, Alex Gallemore, Richard Bevan, Todd Staszko Photography: Getty Images, Joanna Eardley.
June 2009 SSN 1- 46805671 Approval UAE National Media Council: Ref.816 30/5/2007 Trade Licence No. 1/104375/15280
Printed by: Raidy, Dubai Worldwide Golf specifies that post-press changes may occur to any information given in this publication and takes no responsibility for goods or services advertised.
The Course
Oakmont Country Club Host of the 2016 US Open
N
ESTLED on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Oakmont Country Club features an 18 hole course that has stood the test of time. The club was founded in 1903 by Henry Clay Fownes and the layout he created and tweaked through the years with his son, William, has set the standard for championship competition ever since. The first golf course in the United States to be recognised as a National Historic Landmark, Oakmont has hosted 15 USGA Championships, including eight US Opens (1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994 and 2007). This year, it hosts the US Open for a record ninth time. The greens are notoriously fast, and it was after attending the 1935 US Open at Oakmont that Edward Stimpson, a keen golfer from Massachusetts, was inspired to invent a device to measure the speed of putting surfaces – and so, shortly after, the Stimpmeter was born. Back in 2007, Mike Davis, the then senior director of rules and competitions for the USGA joked: “It’s true the greenkeepers have to slow the greens down for when we host the US Open at Oakmont. We like really fast greens, and players see fast greens on a regular basis. But they don’t see greens like this. Here, the greens are scary fast – ‘Oakmont fast’.” Davis, who is now USGA Executive Director/CEO, also highlights Oakmont’s status as one of the best courses in the world: “There’s a reason the US Open keeps coming back to Oakmont. This really is the gold standard for championship golf. It doesn’t get any better than this.” Last year, Jordan Spieth (age 21) became the youngest US Open Champion since Bobby Jones in 1923 with a dramatic one-stroke win over Dustin Johnson at Chambers Bay when Johnson threeputted from 12 feet on the 72nd hole. With the win, Spieth also became the youngest player to win two Major championships since Gene Sarazen in 1922. n
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STARTER POWER-HITTER SADLOWSKI ON COURSE FOR OAKMONT Two-time Re/Max Long Drive Championship winner Jamie Sadlowski took a giant leap towards qualifying for the US Open by winning a local qualifier in Arizona with famed commentator Gary McCord on his bag. The Canadian shot a 65 to move onto 36-hole sectional qualifying where he could play his way into the field for the season’s second Major. “People figure you hit it a long way you ought to be able to shoot low, but you still have to get it in the hole, and I did that pretty well," said the 27-year-old. “Having Gary on the bag was huge. We had a great time belting it around, but the big thing was his help with reading the greens.”
MUIRFIELD LOSES THE OPEN AFTER FEMALE VOTE The iconic links of Muirfield on Scotland's Golf Coast has lost its place on The R&A’s Open Championship rota after the membership voted to continue its stance as an all-male club. The club failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed via postal balloting to allow female membership, and in response the R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers declared that Muirfield would not be considered to host The Open, under its current policy. The course last hosted The Open in 2013 when Phil Mickelson clinched the Claret Jug the week after winning the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
JASON GORE HAS A WILD WEEKEND AT QUAIL HOLLOW
LATE COLLAPSE COSTS DALY ON SENIOR DEBUT A triple-bogey on the 71st hole saw John Daly miss out on a top-ten finish as he made his US PGA Tour Champions debut at the Insperity Invitational, which was won by Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik. Daly moved into contention with three early birdies and was tied for tenth on the 17th tee, however he found water with his approach and later three-putted to fall back to 17th place.
BRADLEY SPLITS WITH LONG-TIME CADDIE
LANGER ADMITS TO HAVING THE ‘YIPS’ SINCE HIS EARLY DAYS
Former US PGA Champion Keegan Bradley has split with his long-time caddie Steve Hale after a sharp dip in form. The two-time Ryder Cup player has won three titles on the US PGA Tour but after starting 2016 ranked 70th in the world he has fallen to 114th, with seven missed cuts in 11 starts.
Shortly before clinching his sixth Major on the US PGA Tour Champions with a runaway six-stroke win at the Regions Tradition, Bernhard Langer admitted he has suffered with putting ‘yips’ for all of his career. “I grew up on pretty slow greens in Germany and developed the yips right there and then during the first two or three weeks on the European Tour,” he said. “You wonder, will this ever go away and when and how?” Langer still plays with a broom-handle putter, but has been forced to adjust to a non-anchored stroke since the rule change in January. “I don't agree with the ban, because it makes no sense. We have bigger issues in the game of golf than that.”
Q U O T E S “I’m glad I don't have to play the course again.” – Jason Day after grinding out victory at The Players Championship over the muchmaligned Pete Dye-designed TPC Sawgrass Stadium course.
Jason Gore had a memorable 36-hole stretch at the Wells Fargo Championship. The veteran 42-year-old shot 83-65 en route to a 41st-place finish. Gore’s 83 was the worst score of the third round, while his 65 was the best score of the final round. He made just one birdie, 10 bogeys and a double-bogey in the third round but got out of bed on Sunday and posted a flawless7under-par round. It's a funny old game!
O F
T H E
“I’ve seen so many Tour players make holes-inone and they barely celebrate, as if it’s nothing. Me? I get pumped up. I came in 15th in New Orleans and I acted like I'd just won the Masters, and even if I finish 38th here, then I’m going to party on Sunday night.” – Will Wilcox after making an ace on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass and celebrating wildly.
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M O N T H “I have had so many doping tests already. But if that’s what it takes to play in the Olympic Games then I don’t mind because for me it’s a massive thing.” – Martin Kaymer says he will do whatever it takes to tee it up at the Olympics in Brazil this summer.
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WOODS MARCHES TO HISTORIC US OPEN VICTORY
Spin Back
June 2000
WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TIGER:
P
NICK PRICE:
ERHAPS the most dominant performance in golf history (let alone Major championship history), Tiger Woods cruised to victory in the US Open at Pebble Beach 16 years ago this month by a remarkable 15 strokes. He didn’t three-putt all week and could even afford to make a triple-bogey on the third hole during the third round. It didn’t matter much. He simply steamrollered the course – and the field – to win on 12 under par. He was the only player to finish on par or better and became the first player in the history of the US Open to finish in double figures under par. His 15-stroke winning margin remains the largest in a Major championship. Woods opened up 65-69 to go six clear at halfway, cruising home 71-67, with Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jiménez in a share for second at 3-over. “Finishing second is good,” said Els with a smirk, “but it’s kind of embarrassing being 15 shots back. If I could play like that, like he just did the last four days in a Major championship that would be my ultimate golfing week. He just played a perfect US Open week. He did nothing wrong.” The win launched Woods into the ‘Tiger Slam’ as he later won The Open at St Andrews by eight shots, the US PGA Championship at Valhalla and then The Masters in 2001.
"We always felt someone would come along who could drive the ball 300 yards and putt like Ben Crenshaw. This guy drives the ball farther than anybody I've ever seen and putts better than Crenshaw."
MARK O'MEARA:
"It's hard to believe that there's ever been a player who could drive it, cut it, draw it, hit it high, low, has the short game, putting, the mental toughness. If you were building the complete golfer, you'd build Tiger Woods."
ANDY NORTH:
"He’s the best driver of the ball; he’s the best iron player; he’s got a great short game; he’s the best athlete on Tour; he works the hardest; he has the best mind. Other than that, he’s average.”
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Worldwide Golf Columist
AUSSIES ON A HIGH & CHINA ON HOLD By Greg Noman
W
HEN you are playing the game, you don’t think about the path that you are paving for someone else. You are just out there doing your thing. So to see it come full circle and to hear how I have inspired Jason Day and Adam Scott, there are no words to describe the feeling. There are kids out there right now looking up to Jason and Adam who will, one day, be in the position that they are in. It is one of the most rewarding aspects of the game. Last year was a tough year for Adam, but he clearly identified what he needed to work on and came out swinging in 2016. The long putter was obviously a transition for him, but all great athletes have the flexibility and adaptability to embrace change and Adam is no different. He started working on the transition early on and has practiced thousands upon thousands of putts, to the point where now he is comfortable under pressure. He was very astute in choosing the right putter for his stroke. It’s the perfect technology for a free-flowing pendulum swing and he has been extremely successful with it, racking up two wins, two second place finishes and four top-tens, and is now ranked No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings. I knew very early on that Adam was special. I gave him a lift once on my plane back to Australia when he was 15, and I was so impressed by how inquisitive he was. He knew where he wanted to go even at such a young age. He was mapping out his future and talking about where he would be when he was 40 years old, which is extremely insightful for anyone, but a teenager particularly. I remember thinking to myself, ‘he’s got it.’ Jason Day’s recent win at The Players Championship has made him the undisputed No.1 player in the world. He has really compartmentalised his life and manages it really well. What stands out the most with his performances over the last year is his validation on the course, following the verbal commitment he made publicly on wanting to become No.1. He has more mojo than anyone else right now and has proven to himself that he can succeed under pressure. You can’t put a price on that type of confidence. Jason’s putting is unbelievable at the moment. He is a brilliant green reader and you can tell that he is really feeling the putts, not just reading them. You will notice that his putts don’t lip in – they are dead centre virtually every time. I am excited to watch the clinic Jason will put on, playing the greens at Oakmont. The best part about watching my fellow countrymen right now is seeing how they pull and feed off of each other. It was the same for me – when someone did well, I wanted to catch them. It happened with Seve Ballesteros. Nick Price and Nick Faldo. Adam and Jason are thriving on each other’s momentum, so I look forward to seeing them both on the back nine on the Sunday at Oakmont, and at Royal Troon and Baltisrol.
China National Olympic Golf Team With Rio less than 100 days away, I have been fielding a lot of questions about my involvement with the China National Olympic Golf Team. To be honest, I haven’t had any direct contact with the China Golf Association for the last year or so, which I can only assume is due to the current sentiment for golf within the country. Ironically, one of the primary goals of my efforts with the CGA since 2013 has been to improve the profile of our sport in China by creating the blueprint for a sustainable and successful grassroots golf movement. I’m hopeful that the work we’ve put in over the last three years will ultimately have a positive effect not only on the Olympic team, but also on the growth of the game in China. Obviously, the higher-level programmes and scheduling strategies we’ve developed for the China National Olympic Team have been primarily focused on the players with the best chance of accumulating enough points to qualify for Rio. However, our long term focus was to create more opportunities for the kids beneath that level to develop by exposing them to the advanced training facilities and infrastructure that is already in place within the country. This type of healthy, sustainable growth was put in place many years ago in Sweden and we’ve seen some of the best players in the world emerge from it despite their small population base. When you look at a country the size of China, you can just imagine the talent pool that they could ultimately tap into. I’m still a big believer that China can be one of the most significant contributors to growing the game of golf and I’m extremely hopeful that I will be able to resume my efforts with the CGA in the near future.
Jordan Speith’s Masters Moment After Jordan Spieth’s collapse at The Masters this year, I was inundated with phone calls, texts and emails asking to offer him advice. This was Jordan’s moment, though, and he is the consummate professional. He doesn’t need any advice from me. What I learned from my moments at The Masters was to embrace it. It’s sport. There’s not a sport in the world – individual or team – where meltdowns have not happened. We have seen great failures at the World Cup, the Super Bowl and obviously in golf. The challenge today concerns social media and the unfettered access of the general public to the athletes. The best way to handle it is to stand up to it, admit you screwed up, learn your lesson and move on. Don’t ever run away from disaster. Sometimes it’s much easier to embrace your failure and plough forward. n
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Worldwide Golf Columist
THE FLOODGATES ARE OPENING By David Howell, European Tour Professional
F
IRST it was the South Korean women, and now it’s the country’s men who are making waves. Jeunghun Wang has won back to back titles in Morocco and Mauritius, clinching both victories in fine style. In fact, if you’ve not seen Wang’s final three putts to stay in, and then close out the tournament in Morocco, I suggest you take a peak. The boy has clearly got what it takes when the crunch comes. Soomin Lee won in Shenzen and, of course, Ben An demolished the field in last year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. So what is going on over there, is there something in the Korean water? It’s more likely that we have been holding back the tide for quite some time and the 2020s are going to be the years when golfers from the Far East really make their mark on the world stage. Golf is a game of numbers, if you get enough players playing, putting in enough effort, any nation could produce quality players. Korea has finally broken through, and China is making steady progress with Li Hao Tong winning his national title at the Volvo China Open last month, and looking set for a big future. After years of finding their golfing feet the nations from the Far East are now producing quality players in increasing numbers.
European Tour in China and Korea Getting good at golf takes about ten years, I reckon. The golf books seem to suggest 10,000 hours, which amounts to 20 hours a week for ten years. How long has the European Tour been going to China now? I’d guess around 12 or 13 years ago. It was in 2006 that I won the WGCHSBC Champions in Shenzen, Shanghai; 2002 was when José Maria Olazàbal won the Hong Kong Open; and in 2005 Stephen Dodd won the inaugural Volvo China Open. That’s about enough time to have inspired a generation of kids. Not just any kids, mind you, kids who have watched Tiger in his pomp on television do amazing things, kids who come from parents who only know one way to go about their life, working hard in a disciplined way. Their kids have seen the world suddenly become their oyster – a new world where opportunities arise, which were not there when their parents were kids. Parental support goes a long way on the road to success and they can cherish the opportunities now opening up for their kids. For these reasons alone, I expect to see many more Chinese and Korean winners over the next decade or so. The floodgates have opened and, understandably, the European Tour has plans to create even closer ties with Asia in general and China and Korea in particular. The timing of their negotiations really couldn’t be better. Although our European players don’t hanker to spend
months on end in Asia, we do respect the fact that the developing nations, in a golfing sense, provide a huge opportunity for growth on all levels. If we don’t have an event in Korea in 2017 I would be very surprised indeed. It would be an ideal opportunity to showcase their new golfing stars. I’m sure this is something the Korean golf community would get behind. ON a more traditional front, the R&A took the only sensible option of removing Muirfield from the Open Championship Rota on the back of the members refusing to admit women as members of the club. It seems Muirfield is to be the last bastion of a bloody-minded mentality on this issue, but at a huge cost. There is nothing so sure that as the years roll on and the opportunity of hosting the world’s greatest Championship starts to slip further into the future the members will reconvene and vote in favour of admitting the fairer sex into the club. Only 34 per cent of the members, to be exact, voted to keep things as they have always been - men only - but Muirfield has always been an Open Championship venue. Losing that kudos will have a bigger effect on the club than they think. Men’s lunches might not feel quite the same without the Open Championship to reminisce about. More importantly, they have nothing to look forward to, with the world sneering through the window, and I feel sure that this great club’s stand against political correctness will end sooner than we expect. GREAT news for European golf, once again this week, with two winners in Rory McIlroy both hosting and winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at the K Club in Dublin, a victory sealed with some tremendous hitting to the two par fives at the death, and Sergio Garcia ending a four-year winless streak on the US PGA Tour at the Byron Nelson Classic. Having watched every shot of that victory from the SKY Sports studio in doing the commentary, I was reminded of what a uniquely gifted player Sergio is. He and Rory have so much in common golf-wise. They were both child prodigies who have gone on to achieve great things. The fact that Sergio hasn’t gone on to Major glory still baffles me. A few more victories like this, however, could prove the catalyst for his Major breakthrough. n
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UAE NATIONAL TEAM EMBARK ON ELITE TRAINING SCHEDULE DP WORLD SUPPORTS EMIRATES GOLF FEDERATION’S TRAINING AT THE JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES EUROPEAN TOUR PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE
I
n the second year of an initiative supported by DP World, the UAE National Golf Team are to receive the very best training available at the Jumeirah Golf Estates European Tour Performance Institute (JGE ETPI). This will be incredibly beneficial for the side’s Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur Team Championship) preparation, which takes place in Mexico in September. The Eisenhower Trophy is the most prestigious amateur golf competition in the world which invites 125 global governing bodies of golf to send their national teams to the biennial event. This year celebrates their 30th anniversary. Former participants include current DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy and previous Race to Dubai winners Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald. Over the next four months, the UAE’s ‘Eisenhower Senior Team Squad’ will benefit from a bespoke training programme, utilising the unrivalled teaching and practice facilities at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ purpose-built stateof-the-art ETPI facility, which will include: Elite Performance Player Assessments, Biomechanics Training, Full Body Screenings, Balance Lab Tests, Physiotherapy Screenings and 3D Swing Data Analysis. Jumeirah Golf Estates, as the Home of the UAE National Golf Team, allows the players to hone every part of their game at the ETPI, regarded as one of the finest golf instructional facilities in the world, containing innovative teaching and practice equipment, as well as sports medicine, proving a holistic approach to training and development. H.E. Shaikh Fahim Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation, understands the importance of the UAE squad being ready for an action-packed winter and acknowledges the excellent work going on at the ETPI. He said: “This is the beginning of our team’s preparations for the Eisenhower Trophy – and we want get as much out of the squad of players as possible prior to the event so it’s great that we’re able to take advantage of the amazing facilities they’ve got here at the ETPI. “The backing we’ve had from DP World is fantastic and it’s a great opportunity for the team to get a good push forward in their development ahead of the tournament.” Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World, is proud of how much the UAE squad is developing as part of the initiative. “We're absolutely delighted to be able to support this fantastic initiative for the second year because it gives us the chance to play a part in the development of our UAE National Golf Teams,” said Bin Sulayem. “The growth of
“We're absolutely delighted to be able to support this fantastic initiative for the second year because it gives us the chance to play a part in the development of our UAE National Golf Teams” Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, dp world the sport in the region is incredibly important to us and giving our local golfers access to a facility as admired as the European Tour Performance Institute offers them the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.” Mark Gregson-Walters, Director of Instruction at European Tour Performance Institute at Jumeirah Golf Estates said: “We’re excited to be a part of the Emirates Golf Federation initiative and to work alongside Greg Holmes (UAE National First Team Coach) and David Condon (UAE National Team Performance Coach) giving them access to one of the best training facilities in the region here at ETPI. “It’s brilliant that Jumeirah Golf Estates has become the home of the UAE National Golf Team. Our team is looking forward to sharing our expertise throughout the training programme, ahead of the Eisenhower Trophy in September. We will work with the Emirates Golf Federation in preparing a pathway to develop the team, with constant monitoring to ensure constant progress in the lead up to the event.” Rashid Hamood recently became the first member from the UAE team to undergo the testing at the ETPI. He experienced a full
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‘bio-mechanical’ swing analysis and physical ‘screening’ to assess where his game is at and how he can improve. The twenty seven year old realises how fortunate the team are to receive this training and advice courtesy of the initiative with DP World. “It’s brilliant that DP World is supporting us in our training,” said the UAE National. “I feel very lucky to be part of the team and to be able to use a fantastic facility like this because it is incredibly beneficial. “It’s a massive advantage for the UAE National Golf Team having the ETPI on our doorstep and we need to make sure we make the most of it before heading off in September for the Eisenhower Trophy.” The initiative is part of a wider desire to grow the game of golf locally at grass roots on the part of the title sponsors of The European Tour’s season-ending, DP World Tour Championship, which takes place on the Earth course at Jumeriah Golf Estates from November 17-20. General admission to the DP World Tour Championship is free of charge. For more information please visit www. DPWorldTourChampionship.com.
TOUR NEWS DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP HOSPITALITY NOW AVAILABLE WITH EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
R
ELAX and enjoy luxurious surroundings while watching the top 60 golfers on the European Tour in the final tournament of the 2016 Race to Dubai with discounted early-bird hospitality packages now available. Overlooking the 18th green of the magnificent Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, the exclusive Hospitality Pavilion offers an unrivalled setting to watch the action unfold. Guests enjoy first-class catering in a relaxed environment in the comfort of the Pavilion or outside on the shaded viewing terrace. Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon Tea and a Full Bar is available as well as a ‘Grab & Go’ option to take refreshments onto the course. Book now to receive 10% off the regular price.
DAILY PACKAGES Thursday 17 November: Friday 18 November: Saturday 19 November: Sunday 20 November:
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The Championship Chalet is located in the Hospitality Pavilion and offers a free seating policy, without table reservations. Prices are per person per day. Space in the Championship Chalet is limited so reserve your place now to avoid disappointment.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP CHALET Package includes: • • • • • • • • • •
Access to the Championship Chalet and course Premium food and beverage service throughout the day including breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea Contemporary climate-controlled chalet Spacious terrace overlooking the course Grab & Go option to take refreshments onto the course Live coverage from around the course on high definition TV Official Tournament Programme and Daily Drawsheet Internet access and Newspapers Dedicated hostesses and guest management team VIP car parking
The Championship Chalet is open from 09:00 to 18:00 Bar is open from 12:15 to 18:00 (Standard house beverages)
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CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS More than 300 volunteers will take on marshalling, on-course scoring and TV duties during the DP World Tour Championship and Chief Marshal Jenni Hoskins is happy to hear from anyone who is interested in joining the team for the four-day tournament. To learn more about becoming a volunteer please e-mail Jenni: jengolfdxb@hotmail.com
ROOKIES MAKING WAVES ON THE RACE TO DUBAI RANKINGS PRESENTED BY ROLEX
W
HILE Danny Willett continues to lead the way on this year’s European Tour Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex following his victory at The Masters in April his lead has been cut thanks to Rory McIlroy's first win of the season at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. Behind the leaders there has been plenty of movement as players vie to finish in the top 60 on the ranking and qualify for the season ending DP World Tour Championship. Two players who have made impressive moves recently are Korean rookies Soomin Lee and Jeunghun Wang. Lee made an excellent start to this season with a share of second place at the Maybank Malayasian Open in February
and it wasn’t long before he was stepping into the winner’s circle for the first time. Lee clinched the Shenzhen International in late April to collect 412,353 Race to Dubai points, and with 661,297 points in the bag so far he is well on course to qualify for his DP World Tour Championship debut in November. Wang burst into the limelight last month with back-to-back victories at the Trophee Hassan II and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. Wang had previously had a runnerup finish at the Hero Indian Open and with 568,826 points from just eight starts he is currently well placed in the top 15 on the Race to Dubai.
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Soomin Lee.
Jeunghun Wang.
Road to Oman Movers and Shakers Matthieu Pavon sets the pace on the Road to Oman
Matthieu Pavon Country: France Date of Birth: 02/11/1992 Consistency has been the key for Frenchman Matthieu Pavon as he leads the way on the Road to Oman thanks to three successive top-five finishes in a red-hot run of form. The Challenge Tour rookie began his blistering spell with a share of fourth place at the Challenge de Madrid and an outright runner-up finish at the Turkish Airlines Challenge. He then continued his momentum into the Montecchia Open by Lyoness with a share of second place, one stroke behind winner, Gary King. Pavon carded a stunning final round 63 in Italy to vault 16 places up the leaderboard and into second place. Sebastian Soderberg Country: Sweden DoB: 19/09/1990
Gary King Country: England DoB: 17/06/1990
Sebastian Soderberg was knocked off the top spot on the Road to Oman by Pavon but is only 2,524 points behind the Frenchman in second place thanks to a share of third place in Turkey. Soderberg, who won The Barclays Kenya Open in March, finished 31st on last year’s Road to Oman and is well placed as he goes in search of a place on the 2017 European Tour schedule.
England’s Gary King has only started three times on this year’s Road to Oman but with victory at the Montecchia Open by Lyoness he earned himself 40,000 Road to Oman points to move into third place on the rankings, leapfrogging almost 50 players in the process. “The aim is to finish in the top 15 and, with this being the biggest prizefund we’ve had so far, it’s a big step in the right direction in the rankings and now I’ve just got to push on and keep getting better,” smiled King.
Garrick Porteous
Clément Sordet
UPCOMING EVENTS
France’s Clément Sordet clinched his first win of the year at the Turkish Airlines Challenge and with it he collected 28,000 Road to Oman points. After finishing 37th on last year’s Road to Oman the 23-year-old is keen to kick on and not dwell on his position on the rankings. “I’m not going to focus on the rankings right now, it’s still early in the season,” said Sordet. “Last year I think I was too focused on the ranking and it was a mistake. I’m just going to play my game – shot by shot, event by event and see what happens at the end of the year.”
June 02 - 05 n Swiss Challenge
Venue: Golf Sempachersee, Lucerne, Switzerland Purse: €170,000
Duncan Stewart Scotland’s Duncan Stewart won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the Challenge de Madrid after battling through blustery conditions at Real Club de Golf La Herrería. A final round 66 saw him finish one clear of England’s Ben Stow and earn 27,200 precious Road to Oman points, placing him inside the top ten in the rankings.
June 09 - 12 n KPMG Trophy
Venue: Cleydael G&CC, Aartselaar, Belgium Purse: €170,000
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June 16 – 19 n Najeti Open
Former Amateur Champion Garrick Porteous made a fine start to his campaign with a share of second place at the Red Sea Egyptian Challenge Presented by Hassan Allam Properties in April but dropped out of the top 15 in the rankings after missing the cut in Italy. However, it’s a long season ahead and the talented Walker Cup player has plenty of opportunities to get back towards the top of the Road to Oman and earn one of the 15 European Tour cards available at the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at Almouj Golf Muscat, Oman.
Venue: Aa Saint-Omer GC, Lumbres, France Purse: €200,000
June 23 – 26 n SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge
Venue: Macdonald Spey Valley GC, Aviemore, Scotland Purse: €250,000
www.europeantourproperties.com
Black Mountain Golf Club & Resort
2015
was the year the True Thailand Classic debuted on the European Tour at Black Mountain Golf & Resort with Australia's Andrew Dodt taking the title with a onestroke win over home favourite Thongchai Jaidee, and Scott Hend.
B
LACK Mountain Golf Club & Resort, located just 15 minutes from the beach resort of Hua Hin in Thailand, was founded in 2005 and is part of the exclusive European Tour Properties network of world class golf venues. The Club’s founder, Stig Notlöv, a Swedish entrepreneur, came across what he considered to be the ideal location for a golf course in rough terrain amid the verdant hills and valleys of the Malay Peninsula. Following only 14 months of construction, Black Mountain Golf Club & Resort opened in April, 2007 and has been gaining widespread acclaim ever since, playing a key role in bringing the European Tour back to Thailand, by hosting the inaugural Thailand Classic in February 2015. The centerpiece of the resort is the 18-hole, par 72 (7,550 yards) championship course, which is widely recognised as one of the most challenging and memorable layouts in Asia, featuring interconnected waterways and undulating fairways and greens in a breathtaking natural landscape. Alongside is a nine-hole course currently under construction, which is due to be completed by the end of the year. Complementing the golf courses is a range of world-class facilities, including a modern clubhouse with a superb restaurant, a five-star spa and excellent practice areas. Private pool villas are available for guests to book and the venue's luxury real estate offering ranges from stylish apartments, large courseside villas and townhouses. The state-of-the-art facilities, coupled with the year-round climate, mean that a number of European Tour players, including Thailand’s most successful player, Thongchai Jaidee, his compatriot Prom Meesawat and Swedish stars Johan Edfors, Rikard Karlberg and Pelle Edberg, have made Black Mountain their winter home for off-season training. The resort took home three of the prestigious prizes at last year's Asia Pacific Golf Summit in Singapore, including the award of "Best Course in Thailand' for the fifth year running. The resort also won “Best Championship Course in Asia Pacific” for the third time and "Best Course in Asia Pacific" for the second year running. n
Thailand's top golfer and seven-time Euroepan Tour winner Thongchai Jaidee makes Black Mountain his winter home for off-season training.
European Tour Properties is a network of world class venues that all boast the hallmark of tournament quality courses and offer extensive off-course facilities guaranteed to provide a memorable golfing experience for members and visitors alike. Many of them are close to famous cities and all offer a wealth of golf, leisure and accommodation choices. For those seeking the ultimate golfing lifestyle, elegant and secluded real-estate opportunities are also available. Spanning three major geographical regions, our member venues benefit from year-long support in brand, sales, marketing and operational areas, all targeted at enabling them to sell more green fees, memberships, real estate and hotel rooms.
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Destinations
Courses
LE GOLF NATIONAL FRANCE
LONDON GOLF CLUB UNITED KINGDOM
LINNA GOLF FINLAND
MAXX ROYAL BELEK GOLF RESORT TURKEY
TERRE BLANCHE HOTEL SPA GOLF RESORT ***** FRANCE
QUINTA DO LAGO PORTUGAL
DIAMOND COUNTRY CLUB AUSTRIA
GOLF CLUB ST. LEON-ROT GERMANY
ESTONIAN GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB ESTONIA
PGA CATALUNYA RESORT SPAIN
THE DUTCH THE NETHERLANDS
KUNGSÄNGEN GOLF CLUB SWEDEN
JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
BLACK MOUNTAIN GOLF CLUB & RESORT THAILAND
LIGHTHOUSE GOLF & SPA RESORT BULGARIA SAUJANA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB MALAYSIA
MOUNT JULIET ESTATE IRELAND ALBATROSS GOLF RESORT CZECH REPUBLIC
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Destination Under Development ROSSINGTON HALL UNITED KINGDOM
Tour News Date: April 21 – 24 Event: Valero Texas Open Venue: TPC San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas Winner’s Cheque: $1,116,000
Date: April 21 – 24 Event: Shenzhen International Venue: Genzon Golf Club, Shenzhen, China Winner’s Cheque: €412,353
SOOMIN LEE CLINCHES MAIDEN WIN SOOMIN Lee collected his first European Tour title in just his sixth start on Tour with a two-stroke win at the Shenzhen International. The 22-year-old went wire-to-wire as he held off the likes of Joost Luiten, Alexander Levy and Brandon Stone to take the title with a final round 71.
"I'm really happy and really excited. To be a first-time European Tour winner in just six events is really incredible.” Pos. Name 1 Soomin Lee T2 Joost Luiten T2 Brandon Stone
Country KOR NED RSA
-16 -14 -14
Pos. Name
66 65 70 71 68 66 72 68 67 70 69 68
272 274 274
1 2 3
-22 -19 -18
USA USA USA
-12 -11 -10
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
66 71 70 69 65 73 70 69 73 69 67 69
276 277 278
STUARD WINS IN WET LOUISIANA
“This win means so much to me. I made my professional debut in the Volvo China Open in 2011 so to win here means a lot.” CHN CHL ENG
Charley Hoffman Patrick Reed Chad Collins
Country
Date: April 28 – May 1 Event: Zurich Classic of New Orleans Venue: TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana Winner’s Cheque: $1,260,000
LI Haotong played flawlessly as a final round bogey-free 64 saw him become the second consecutive Chinese winner of the Volvo China Open, following Wu Ashun’s victory last year. Haotong’s 8-under-par final round took him to 22-under-par, three clear of Felipe Aguilar with a host of players a stroke further back.
1 Haotong Li 2 Felipe Aguilar T3 Richard Bland
“This was my hardest win. Grabbing the lead and holding on to it is a tough task. It’s not easy to keep the pedal down and give yourself birdie opportunities.”
Total
HOME WIN FOR HAOTONG LI
Country
CHARLEY Hoffman made a tough 9-foot birdie putt to deny Texan Patrick Reed and seal a one-stroke victory at the Valero Texas Open. Hoffman closed with a 3-under-par 69 to win his fourth US PGA Tour title – his first since last year’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba.
R1 R2 R3 R4
Date: April 28 – May 1 Event: Volvo China Open Venue: Topwin Golf & Country Club, Beijing, China Winner’s Cheque: €450,176
Pos. Name
HOFFMAN DENIES LONE STAR REED
BRIAN Stuard defeated Jamie Lovemark and Byeong-Hun An in a play-off to win the rain-shortened Zurich Classic of New Orleans. More than 4 inches of rain fell during the tournament, forcing officials to cut the event to 54 holes and a Monday finish. Stuard eventually prevailed on the second extra hole to win his first US PGA Tour title.
"I kind of hung in there all week. I just didn't get too ahead of myself and stayed real patient, and it paid off."
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
Pos. Name
69 67 66 64 68 65 67 69 69 67 68 66
266 269 270
1 Brian Stuard T2 Jamie Lovemark T2 Byeong-Hun An
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Country USA USA KOR
-15 -15 -15
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
64 68 69 67 66 68 68 68 65
201 201 201
WORLD ROUNDUPS Date: May 5 – 8 Event: Wells Fargo Championship Venue: Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina Winner’s Cheque: $1,314,000
Date: May 5 - 8 Event: Trophée Hassan II Venue: Royal Golf Dar El Salam, Rabat, Morocco Winner’s Cheque: €250,000
WANG WINS IN STYLE JEUNGHUN Wang clinched his breakthrough win on the European Tour in impressive fashion with a play-off win over Nacho Elvira at the Trophée Hassan II. Wang holed an 18-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to force a play-off with Elvira and defeated the Spaniard on the second extra hole with a birdie after the first sudden-death hole was halved in birdies.
HAHN ENDS RUN OF CUTS WITH WIN JAMES Hahn ended a run of eight successive missed cuts on the US PGA Tour with a play-off victory over Roberto Castro at the Wells Fargo Championship. Castro found water off the tee on the first extra hole and Hahn made a regulation par to take the title.
“I don’t remember how I managed to make those three putts. I’m so excited. I don’t think I’ll get any sleep tonight.”
“I told my wife, I've never missed more than four cuts in a row, but when you start going five, six and seven, you start thinking about doing other things. It's tough."
Pos. Name 1 2 3
Jeunghun Wang Nacho Elvira Robert Rock
Country KOR SPA ENG
-5 -5 -4
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
Pos. Name
71 68 74 70 71 71 72 69 74 70 70 70
283 283 284
1 2 3
James Hahn Roberto Castro Justin Rose
Country USA USA ENG
-9 -9 -8
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
70 71 68 70 71 66 71 71 70 70 69 71
279 279 280
Date: May 12 – 15 Event: The Players Championship Venue: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Winner’s Cheque: $1,676,944
Date: May 12 – 15 Event: AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Venue: Four Seasons GC at Anahita, Beau Champs, Mauritius Winner’s Cheque: €166,660
DOMINANT DAY WINS THE PLAYERS
WANG GOES BACK-TO-BACK SOUTH Korea’s Jeunghun Wang claimed his second European Tour title in as many weeks, overhauling overnight leader Siddikur Rahman to win the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open by one shot. The 20-year-old followed his win at the Trophée Hassan II with an even-par final round 72 at the Four Seasons Golf Club Mauritius at Anahita, with a birdie at the 18th hole.
WORLD No.1 Jason Day carded a closing 71 to clinch a four-stroke win over Kevin Chappell at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. The 28-year-old began the final round with a four-shot lead, but struggled to reproduce the form which saw him equal the course record and set a tournament-record 36 hole total of 129. His lead was halved when he fluffed three consecutive chips on the par-5 ninth, but he still played the closing stretch in 3-under to seal a hard-fought win.
“I can’t believe I’ve won two weeks in a row. I’m so excited right now and I'm eally happy.”
“It’s such a big accomplishment for me in my career to be able to finally win as number one in the world, and to go wire to wire is very special.”
Pos. Name 1 Jeunghun Wang 2 Siddikur Rahman T3 Estanislao Goya
Country KOR BAN ARG
-6 -5 -0
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
Pos. Name
69 70 71 72 68 72 69 74 69 79 69 71
282 283 288
1 Jason Day 2 Kevin Chappell T3 Justin Thomas
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Country AUS USA USA
-15 -11 -10
R1 R2 R3 R4
Total
63 66 73 71 71 67 70 69 70 68 75 65
273 277 278
and customer training on 4th and 5th April 2016 at the Montgomerie, Dubai
HYDROTURF and CLUB CAR European personnel managed the event.
Club Car ......... the World’s largest golf and utility vehicle manufacturer
Over 40 customers technicians attended the training
Tour News
WORLD ROUNDUPS Date: May 19 – 22 Event: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by The Rory Foundation Venue: The K Club, Straffan, Co. Kildare, Ireland Winner’s Cheque: €666,660
Four on four McIlroy birdied the par-5 fourth hole on all four tournament days.
McILROY PRODUCES THE PERFECT FINISH RORY McIlroy produced a birdie-par-eagle finish to clinch a three-shot win at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation for his first title since the DP World Tour Championship last November. The icing on the cake of a fabulous week came when the 27 year old donated his winner's cheque of €666,660 to his Foundation, and the Northern Irishman was delighted with the tournament’s success. "We've already raised over half a million euros going into today for the three chosen charities (Barrestown, Jack & Jill Foundation and Laura Lynn Ireland's Children's Hospice), and all the winnings go towards that as well, so we've broken the million euro mark this week, which is absolutely incredible," said McIlroy. “I don't usually get emotional about golf or about winning tournaments, but this one means just a little bit more, because it's not just for myself. It's for a lot of other people. It's a day I'll not forget for a while." McIlroy was level-par through 15 holes after two birdies and two bogeys in between multiple rain delays at The K Club on the
outskirts of Dublin. This allowed Scot Rusell Knox to take charge after some superb putting. But McIlroy reclaimed the lead with a two-shot swing on the par-5 16th, having reached the green in two. McIlroy's birdie putt lipped out on the 17th but he more than made amends on the 18th with a stunning 5-wood from the fairway to within three feet for a simple eagle putt in front of the delighted galleries. Dubai Duty Free began their association with the Irish Open last season and are committed to the tournament until 2018, with Executive Vice Chairman Colm McLoughlin certain the event will get even bigger and better. "This has been a remarkable week, capped by an incredible performance by our tournament host, Rory McIlroy," he said. “We are thrilled to be part of this spectacular tournament, and look forward to continuing to work with our partners at the Rory Foundation, Rory McIlroy and the European Tour. "We aim to make the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open one of the world's most exciting golf tournaments. This week will go a long way towards helping us achieve this ambition.”
SERGIO ENDS FOUR YEAR ITCH
"We are thrilled to be part of this spectacular tournament. Our aim is to make the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open one of the most exciting golf tournaments in the world, and this week will go a long way towards helping us achieve this ambition." – Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free, pictured with McIlroy, below.
Sergio Garcia ended a four-year winless run on the US PGA Tour with a play-off victory over American Brooks Koepka at the AT&T Byron Nelson. It turned out to be a great weekend for European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke as both Garcia and McIlroy delivered victories to enhance their places in the upper reaches of the qualifying points list.
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FEATURE
PE TE CO WEN
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HOME ON THE RANGE WORLD WIDE GOLF EDITOR ALEX GALLEMORE TRAVELS TO PE TE CO WEN’S ACADEMY IN THE UK TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE LEGENDARY COACH AND WHERE IT ALL STAR TED
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ANY golfers will have heard of Butch Harmon and David Leadbetter who have coached some of golf’s biggest names. Both live lavish lifestyles and both are experts in self-promotion. Harmon is based in Las Vegas and Leadbetter in Florida. This was my perceived image of the world’s best coaches, until I was introduced to Pete Cowen in 2001. We were born and live in the same part of the North of England so I understood his dry, though some would say deadpan, sense of humour. He’d already established himself as a leading coach with the likes of Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke to name but a few. Clarke had defeated Tiger in the WGC-Accenture Match Play in 2000 at La Costa, California, and Westwood had become the main threat to ColinMontgomerie’s dominance of the European Tour’s Order of Merit. With Pete's success came the rewards. While many of his players splashed out on supercars, exotic houses and even private jets, you could understand if Pete were tempted to follow suit. Nope. Instead he bought a rundown driving range on the edge of Rotherham, part of Britain’s long forgotten Industrial North. With high crime rates and unemployment this deprived area would be the last place on earth you’d expect one of the world’s best coaches to make his base. A far cry from Florida or Las Vegas but unless you knew Pete and his work ethic you would never understand why. He drives a diesel BMW and recently refused to watch his beloved Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship play-off final at Wembley because they were asking too high a price for home tickets. Some may believe he’s got deep pockets and short arms but he’s spent £1.7 million on his driving range in the past 12 years, and it’s brought him plenty of grief but no profit. Why throw so much money away? Pete asks himself the same question but he’s passionate about the game and where he’s from. In this interview Pete explains how he got into coaching, his life on Tour and why many of the game's greats have travelled to ‘run-down’ Rotherham to work with Pete and become a better player. 4 Worldwide GOLF 35
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If I’m not on Tour I’m at the range. I spend around 30 weeks a year abroad. I try and get home at weekends, as I like to be back at the Academy with my family and pull a few pints for the lads. It also helps me to stay grounded. Most of the year I’m dealing with miserable multimillionaires so it’s good to be among real people again.
FEATURE
PE TE CO WEN
I
FIRST got into golf when I was 16. I’d never had a handicap in my life. I was aiming to be a professional footballer and play for Sheffield Wednesday but I had a bad injury when I was 15 and couldn’t play football anymore. I wanted to continue playing sport. We lived next to a golf course so I guess it was natural that I turned to golf. It seemed like the best option. I left school at 16 and I’d seen Tony Jacklin playing in a Pro-Am at nearby Dore and Totley Golf Club. I thought, well this is a good way of making a living. I knew the Pro at Hallamshire golf club and one day I spotted him in our local fish and chip shop so I went in and asked him if he would give me a job. He asked me if I had a handicap and I said, ‘No, but I’m willing to learn and I work hard.’ He said, ‘OK – I’ll give you a six-month trial as an assistant’. About six weeks after I’d started in the job he said, ‘I’m going to enter you for the Yorkshire Assistants Championship’ which was at Hallamshire. I’d never even played a medal before. When I stood on the first tee I knocked three balls out of bounds on the right and holed a 40-foot putt for a 10 on my first hole as a professional. I shot 109-100 and duly put my cards in. Six months later, after some serious hard work, in my second tournament I shot 73-76 and the Pro said, ‘OK – I’ll keep you on.’ And that’s how I started.
Selling Gary Player my driver for $100 From the age of 16 I’d been working hard at as assistant and practising every night on the driving range. Three years later I went to play in the Brazilian Open and was paired with Gary Player who actually went on to win the tournament. I’ve always been friends with Gary and funnily enough I hit the ball 40 yards passed him so he wanted to
buy my driver off me. I thought if Gary Player wants my driver he can have it for free. However, he insisted on giving me $100 for it but it wasn’t the driver that hit it 40 yards further - it was me. So I progressed pretty quickly to be able to play on the European Tour. I soon realised as a player why I wasn’t making a decent living - or even any sort of living! My last year as a playing professional I finished 54th on the European Tour Order of Merit and came 33rd in The Open at Royal Lytham which Seve Ballesteros won. I played pretty well in a few tournaments that season. Currently, that position on the Race to Dubai would earn you the other side of €640,000 but back then in 1979 I lost money on the year and with a solid Open result I also lost money on the week. So I decided I needed to get a club job.
Time to get a job that made money I came to the realisation that my temperament was the reason I failed on Tour. I could shoot low for one round, and at one point in my career I held 25 course records. But out of four rounds I’d throw a bad one in there. Plus, I also had poor technique through repetitive strain due to slipping a disc when I was 21 which put me out of the game for two years. I took a club job at Dore and Totley GC, next to where I lived, and got into teaching a couple of years after taking up the position. I would teach the general public but I also set up a development programme with youngsters who came through. One of them became the youngest English Amateur Champion at 17, Ian 4
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS TIMELINE
Some of the players who have worked with Pete in their careers:
2000
:Lee Westwood wins the European Tour Order of Merit for the first time.
2007
:Henrik Stenson wins the WGC Match Play, one year after Ryder Cup debut.
2009
: Stenson wins The Players in Florida, Lee Westwood wins the inaugural Race to Dubai and becomes World No.1 the following year.
2010
:Graeme McDowell wins the US Open at Pebble Beach – Louis Oosthuizen wins The Open Championship at St Andrews.
2013
:Stenson wins the Race to Dubai and the US PGA Tour’s FedExCup.
2015
:Matt Fitzpatrick breaks through to win the British Masters in his rookie year.
2016
: Danny Willett clinches The Masters in impressive fashion.
FEATURE
PE TE CO WEN
Garbutt, and Ian Pyman went on to win the British Amateur. I also taught a young lady who went on to win the English Ladies twice. That’s really how things started to progress from just regular teaching. By that stage I’d spent 10 years at Dore and Totley GC from 1979 to 1989 and I went from there to Lindrick GC near Worksop, which had great facilities. That’s when things really started to get going on the coaching front. With Garbutt, Pyman and Stuart Cage doing so well, the professional Tour players started to approach me. Lee Westwood came to me in 1995 when his manager, Chubby Chandler, sent him along because he was struggling. Lee had played 11 tournaments on the European Tour and won only £7,000 and being a third of the way into the season he was probably going to lose his card. We worked hard on Lee’s game and managed to turn things around, and he went on to pick up something like £650,000 from the remaining events in the calendar. The progression for me to work more on Tour came pretty quickly after that.
Understanding the swing People used to talk too much about technique instead of talking about the aspect that created the technique - which is muscle structure. Unless you get the correct muscle structure in your body, moving the golf club independently, as we were all taught, is just a waste of time. It’s good mechanics and not manipulation that matter. You need to get a muscle structure you can rely on under extreme pressure. Looking at the way Danny Willett performed at The Masters just goes to show that doing the muscle structure exercises works, and you can rely on it under all sorts of pressure. Muscle structure is vital and applies to players of all different sizes and ages, no matter who the
Above: In true Cowen style Pete stands alongside Danny Willett’s own private parking spot at the Rotherham Academy. Pete’s daughter printed the sign out on the office computer just shortly before Danny came to the range to work with Pete after winning The Masters. That’s about as close to rolling out the red carpet you will see from Pete! Yorkshire, that’s for sure. But I’m a Sheffield lad and it was just one of those things. I took over the driving range from my brother-inlaw to save it from going bust. It turned out to be a very poor decision. It was one of those situations where I was so far in I just couldn’t get out. Rotherham Council failed to support the facility and yet the local community have been brilliant. I opened the driving range in 2004 and since then I’ve spent £1.7 million on one of the few outdoor recreational facilities for all ages in the
So what’s Pete like?
NICK HUBY, PGA PROFESSIONAL AND SHAREHOLDER AT THE ACADEMY, HAS WORKED WITH PETE FOR THE PAST 12 YEARS SO WHO BETTER TO ASK ABOUT WHAT PETE’S REALLY LIKE.
“Pete comes across as being very serious and somber but he’s extremely down to earth, says things as it is and is a very genuine man. He’s evolved over the years as a coach who constantly strives for a more efficient way of doing things. He’s always looking to learn, always looking to improve and find a more simple, more effective way of teaching the Tour players. That helps us pass that knowledge back on to the amateurs at the Academy. People often ask me if Pete ever comes down to the range, as they have an image of him on a yacht in the South of France, but when I tell them that he’s outside brushing the paths and picking up rubbish in the car park they can’t believe it. He’s even here sometimes picking up balls with a screwdriver when the range is wet. He’s never changed over the years and the Tour pros really respect him for that.” – Nick Huby
player is. There might be principles to resolve with players who play with a slightly open or closed clubface so you have to teach the man and not the method, yet the basic principles are the same. Many people ask me why, with so many players based in the States, Dubai and other exotic locations, our headquarters are in Rotherham in the heartland of England’s industrial North. It’s a good question. I wish I hadn’t made my base in
region. My wife calls it her big house, as it’s never made a profit in the last 12 years. It became a facility to teach the better players who come here to practice and work with me – from established stars like Colin Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam in the earlier days to rising stars like Danny Willett and Matt Fitzpatrick today. The range is beset with problems. It’s been broken into 21 times and we now have to have 24
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hour security that costs more than £1,000 a month, which we can ill-afford. Sadly, Rotherham is a very depressed area. Golf certainly isn’t a priority for people in the immediate vicinity. A couple of local golf clubs are going bust and we’ve never received support from any of the local councils or even the R&A and yet we have one of the finest golf coaching facilities in the country.
Willett’s Master triumph It’s helped with Danny winning The Masters and with the success of Matt Fitzpatrick and other youngsters who are becoming household names, but the only reason the Tour players come to the range is to be coached by me. I could have set up the Academy anywhere in the world, but I’m a Sheffield lad and home is where the heart is. I have to spend most of my time on Tour around the world with the players I coach. If I’m not on Tour I’m at the range. I spend around 30 weeks a year abroad but I try and get home at weekends, as I like to be back at the Academy with my family and pull a few pints for the lads. It also helps me to stay grounded. Most of the year I’m dealing with miserable multi-millionaires so it’s good to be among real people again. I was tempted to base myself in Dubai or Florida where many of the players I coach are located but my wife doesn’t like the States. She loves Dubai and we spend quite a few holidays there. I’d quite like to spend a bit more time in the UAE and it would be ideal if we could work on establishing a full academy structure at both the Emirates Golf Club and the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club similar to the set up here in the UK.
Next wave of talent I don’t teach the general public any more at the range – our four teaching pros do an excellent job of that. I only teach the Tour players, although I’ll invite our members to a short game clinic just after The Open. It’s gratifying to see so many local youngsters coming to the Academy. On Saturdays our four pros will teach 60 to 80 players on the
Above: The Academy in Rotherham today is unrecognisable from the days when Pete first took it on in 2004. Back then the car park was full of broken glass, the perimeter fencing was falling down, topped with razor wire and the range building was covered in graffiti and looked more like a scene from Boyz n the Hood. £1.7 million and 12 years later the 17 acre site is fit for any Tour professional. Below left: You only need to look in the cabinets and on the walls in the Academy to know the memorabilia isn’t just authentic but more a token of appreciation.
Above: Pete in the putting lab next to the Ben Hogan poster that reads: “There isn’t enough daylight in any one day to practice all the shots you need to practice. Every day you miss practising, it will take you one day longer to be good.” range. We’ve got some good young talent coming through the Academy. Jonathan ‘Jigger’ Thomson, has got a lot of ability. He plays for England now. He’s a big item. At 6’9” you can’t miss him. We’ve also got Matt Fitzpatrick’s brother, Alex, who is likely to go to college in the States this year. There’s another young kid who’s been coming here since he was three years old who’s also playing for England. The way to get the kids interested in golf is to make it a fun day. They’ll come here and play football, foot golf, table tennis and basketball. Once they’ve done all that, we entice the kids to come to the range. Then they’ll have a go at golf. They like a bit of competition and they’ll have a go at it and they’ll hit balls on the range.
Threatening to retire? I’ve been threatening to retire for quite some time. I would like to give it up but I still enjoy
teaching good players how to get better. I could do without travelling 250,000 miles a year around the world and yet I’ll travel almost anywhere to work with good players who want to be outstanding players. I flew down to Australia recently just for three days but that’s what you have to do – it’s all part of the job. A lot of players are not able to do what I want. They don’t have the dedication, determination or desire to work on their game to be that good. What other sport than golf allows you to earn half a million dollars a year and stay anonymous? There are multi-million dollar players on the Tour who have never won a tournament. You want to work with a kid who’s got a bit of street fighter in him. That’s what you need. Matt Fitzpatrick is the ideal example. He’s got that look in his eye. He’s a born competitor. He doesn’t know stage fright. He can play under immense pressure without feeling a thing. You can’t teach
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that. It has to be in them and you’ve got to find it and bring it out. You want players who want to become not just good players but great players. As a 19 year old amateur Matt played the US Open with Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson and made the cut. It looked like he was just having fun with his mates in the monthly medal at Hallamshire. You’re looking for someone who’s got the talent and the desire. You can’t teach that. n
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Golf World Superstore opening June 2016 SHK ZAYED ROAD Dubai
INSTRUCTION PE TE CO WEN
WorldwideGolf
SWING LIKE A
‘DANCE ROUTINE’ by PETE COWEN
“WE CALL THE GOLF SWING THE PYRAMID OF LEARNING – SO YOU LEARN FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP, AND THE BOTTOM IS ALL ABOUT GOOD POSTURE, GOOD ARM POSITION AND GOOD GRIP.”
FIVE STEPS TO THE RIGHT POSTURE: 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To start with, your feet should be shoulder-width apart. This is actually the stance you should have most of the time. Maybe a little bit narrower for short shots and a little bit wider for the longer shots, but not much. Try to stand up perfectly tall and balanced so you have got a straight body. Touch your hip bones with your thumbs and from there, bend from the hip bone forward. You should be able to feel your hamstrings pulling up to your glutes. Allow your arms to relax and lower yourself into your knees and ankles. Don’t sit down, just lower yourself into the ground so you feel like you’re in control of the ground. The more you have control of the ground, the more control you’ll have of what is above ground – and that’s the most important thing. Get your posture right, let your arms relax and then put your club in position. From there, you are all ready to go.
MOVEMENT MATTERS: Now let’s focus on the right movement that you should make. It’s really more like a dance routine. It’s all about getting your body to work properly, not just ‘a turn’ and then ‘a turn back’. You should load the power as you are turning. This is what we call the spiral movement. The quickest way to get from the ground floor to the first floor is straight up, the second quickest is the spiral staircase, going around. We want the weight to come up from the left foot and spiral all the way up to the right shoulder. Imagine a rope tied to my left foot, twisting as it gets pulled up to the right shoulder. The muscles turn as the swing gets to the top and as that rope gets tighter at the top it wants to get pulled back down. And that’s why we call it the spiral. The spiral movement becomes left foot to right ankle, left ankle to right shin, left shin to right knee, left knee to right thigh, left thigh to right hip, left abs to right chest, left chest to right shoulder as the backswing developes. It is a little bit like taking a cork out of a bottle, we push it in and then we twist it up and out. Hold a club across and behind your shoulders
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and windup to feel your whole body twisting. The right hip has to go up and back on itself, not just turn – we lose the power if we just ‘turn’. Because you have ‘uploaded’ this way, what happens on the downswing is the spiral, which is spring-loaded. It unloads down, around and through. So it’s a spiral, around and up, and a spiral down and around and through. It is not just a turn back and forth. The reason it’s not just a turn is because if I turn I’m using ‘feel’ to get the club in position, whereas, if in a spiral, the club moves through these positions very easily and in sync.
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FORGIVENESS MADE FASTER ...AND LONGER INTRODUCING THE NEW XR OS IRONS + HYBRIDS
UNCOCKING
LONG WITH OUR INDUSTRY-LEADING FACE CUP 35 177 7
TA NGENTIAL FORCE (N ) 239
©2016 Callaway Golf Company. Callaway, the Chevron Device, XR and R•MOTO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Callaway Golf Company. Kevin Kisner plays a Great Big Bertha Driver in competition. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. 150425
RADIA L FORCE (N )
414
INTEGRATED HYBRIDS THAT ARE DESIGNED FOR GREATER DISTANCE AND FORGIVENESS
GEAR CALLAWAY
‘TALKING TECH’ Callaway Great Big Bertha | Callaway XR 16 Driver WHICH DRIVER WILL SUIT YOUR GAME?
There are so many options out there to choose from when it comes to drivers and the range of options can sometimes be mind boggling. Callaway’s two newest and most innovative products have different characteristics and technical specifications that are suitable for different types of player. Here Golf House Custom-Fit Specialist, Jason Ashley, explains how to find out which club would be the best fit to enhance your game. ➤
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GEAR
XR 16
I’m really excited about this new golf club and some of the changes they have made to it from its predecessors. First of all, there has been a change with the club’s aerodynamics. Boeing’s input has really helped create a golf club that’s super forgiving, as well as a driver that moves through the air at sublime rates. The benefits of this golf club are faster club head speeds with forgiveness for the player. In order to create a club that moves a bit faster, generally it has to be made with less forgiveness because of the shape of the backend. However, the XR16 has a stable back-end which makes it forgiving and quick. The driver is also adjustable with the OptiFit hosel.
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GREAT BIG BERTHA
One of the best things about this driver is how adjustable it is. In addition, it is nice and forgiving and gets great results when tested. The club has a perimeter weight that is going to help you open and close the face through impact. One of the things I see with golfers is their ability or inability to control the club face. They either leave the face too open to the path and therefore hit their shots the right, or they close the face too quickly down and hit the shot to the left. The Big Bertha has an adjustable hosel so you can change the loft as well as the lie angle. This will ultimately influence the flight and shape of the shots. There is also the R•MOTO face technology, which basically reinforces the face giving the player more consistency with ball speeds on off-centered hits.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO FROM A FITTING PERSPECTIVE If you are hitting down and cutting across the ball you are going to be creating side-tilt on the golf ball which is like side spin (tilted backspin). This will give you a lot of left-to-right (or slice) if you were a right-handed golfer and the opposite if you are left-handed. I find that the Great Big Bertha is very good for a player that is hitting a lot of fades (or slices!). This club reduces the amount of right shots from the tee so is perfect for a player that wants to stop hitting a fade. I have seen some amazing results. The XR 16 is best suited for a player that is struggling with their consistency of strike. The high moment of inertia and the stable back-end makes the club extremely forgiving. Somebody that’s not swinging the club that fast will improve their ball speeds with this driver and hit better shots when striking it off-centred.
NOT JUST FOR HIGH HANDICAPPERS We’re seeing an abundance of Callaway players on Tour using the Big Bertha so it’s not just for your standard golfers or specifically for players that want to stop hitting a fade. It can suit anybody with its adjustability, look and forgiveness. The XR 16 is really forgiving and is made for players that want to generate more speed with their drives. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be a high-handicapper for this club to suit you. The 2016 Masters champion, Danny Willett, uses the XR 16 as well as Henrik Stenson (pictured left). Why? Because every player needs a bit more forgiveness and we all like a little bit more speed and distance.
WATCH JASON ASHLEY GUIDING POTENTIAL CALLAWAY CONSUMERS
Both the drivers are available at Golf House outlets in Dubai. If you want some custom-fitting, you can visit our fitting centres at the Address Montgomerie, Al Badia or Arabian Ranches Golf Club, so you can get the best out of your game.
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GEAR
NEW
PING G IRON BRING YOUR IRONS UP TO SPEED By Brendan O’Leary , Custom-fitting Specialist - ProSports International
T
he new Ping G Iron incorporates all the new technologies you would expect to see in new Ping products as a result of the research and development done by the engineering team at Ping. The result is a club that meets the golfer’s need for longer distance, more speed and forgiveness and additional feel from precise engineered perimeter weighting. High performance from the COR-Eye technology (as used in Gmax irons), CG positioning and high speed face all come together to bring the golfer consistent distance across the face. The G really does set a new standard in iron design. By delivering that elusive combination of distance, accuracy and control, it helps you hit more greens and hold them, too. With increased ball speed across the entire face, shots launch higher, fly farther and softer. A concealed custom tuning port connects to the sole, positioning the CG low/back to increase the Moment Of Inertia for unmatched forgiveness in the mid-sized head. HIGH-SPEED FACE Specialised heat-treating improves the material strength by 40%, allowing for a thinner, more flexible face that creates faster ball speeds and higher-launching results. Custom fitting remains a central focus for Ping Products. Engineering, manufacturing and assembly processes are developed to ensure innovative, high-quality making sure golfers receive the best custom fit clubs they can. All PING clubs are precisely calibrated to ensure performance. Through the years, the PING custom fitting process has evolved, but the benefits remain the same – to lower scores and help golfers play their best. Awareness of the benefits of custom fitting continues to grow. Industry research reveals more and more golfers are being fit or plan on being fit. PING’s reputation as the expert and leader is growing as well, positioning PING and our custom-fitting specialists to develop loyal, satisfied customers.
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STATIC FITTING MEASUREMENTS
An initial recommendation for iron color code and length can be established through the player’s height and wrist-to-floor measurements, and use of the PING Color Code Chart. Yellow dot has now become the most fitted for colour code in the Ping chart. Hence why standard stock sets in the local shops has now changed to Yellow(1.5 degrees upright from standard black lie) dot previously after being Black dot and Blue dot. Colour Code Chart. To book a Ping Fitting please contact brendan@prosports.ae
Did you know?
PING RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT 70% OF THE TIME A PLAYER WILL FIT TO WITHIN ONE COLOUR (LIE ANGLE) FROM THE STATIC RECOMMENDATION THAT COMES FROM MEASURING PLAYER’S HEIGHT AND WRIST TO FLOOR.
WHAT GOES WRONG IF LIE ANGLE IS INCORRECT?
As you can see the incorrect lie angle can cause the ball flight to be drastically altered highlighting the importance to be fit correctly.
JACK BAILEY
RETAIL MANAGER EMIRATES GOLF CLUB “The Ping G iron is incredibly forgiving and goes a long way. It’s a fantastic price in the shop for the quality of the product, which is why it’s doing so well at Emirates Golf Club. I would definitively recommend it to any customers.”
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GEAR
THE PRO V1 STORY
“THE GAME CHANGER” D
uring the mid-1990s, conversations were taking place within the Titleist Research and Development facility about the possibility of producing a new urethane covered ball. It was during these discussions that the term ‘veneer’ was coined, referring to the thin casing layer around the core of the golf ball. As different incarnations were tested it soon became clear the solid core, multi-layered version was better than the wound alternative and that from a performance perspective this was set to be a giant leap forward. As early as 1996, Bill Morgan, the company’s Research and Development chief, took his new prototype to the Tour for testing, four years before it came to market. The problem they faced was with the manufacturing process. To bring a new model to market with a different design would require no shortage of engineering skill – a specific problem was how to get the ‘veneer’ to adhere properly to the ball. By the turn of the century, Titleist overcame these
difficulties and the decision was made to push the button. The Pro V1, as we know it, was born. But by the time the deadline arrived to submit the new ball to the USGA for its own testing, it was yet to be named. In a last-minute rush, Bill Morgan quickly noted down Pro (for Professional as this had a urethane cover like the previous Professional ball), V for ‘veneer’ and 1. He fully expected that name to change. But when the Pro V1 was shown to the Tour at the Invensys Classic in 2000 they embraced not only its performance, but its name too and incredibly, 47 players made the switch immediately. Those in charge of predicting the uptake of the new ball on Tour had expected half of the brand’s playing staff to switch, but very soon it was up to 90%. In fact, so keen were the public to get their hands on this new product that Acushnet was forced to open a third ball plant at the cost of $100 million. With the success of the Pro V1, the face of the company had changed forever and by 2003, the original Acushnet ball plant responsible for its wound products had closed.
THE DIFFERENCE IS EXCEPTIONAL DISTANCE Long Game: Pro V1 and Pro V1x are long for golfers of all skill levels; long with driver, long with irons, long on all shots. How can long and straight not benefit you? Pro V1 and Pro V1x provide exceptional distance on all shots for Tour players, golfers of all skill levels and for you. THE DIFFERENCE IS INNOVATION The Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls feature a new, patented thermoset urethane elastomer cover that delivers more short game spin and control, and softer feel. The softer, reformulated cover system improves feel, sound and short game scoring control, providing golfers the confidence and performance to hit it closer to the hole.
CHOOSING BETWEEN PRO V1 AND PRO V1X
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Pro v1
Prov1 x
Short Game Control
Best
Best
Distance
Long
Longer
Feel
Softer
Soft
Driver Spin
Low
Lower
Flight
Mid
High
2016 WORLDWIDE BALL COUNT TITLEIST:
8,996
NEAREST COMPETITOR:
1,439
I N N O V A T I O N T H A T M A T T E R S. LARGER CENTER CENTRE LARGER DUAL DUAL CORE CORE TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY
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N X T TO U R
LONGER LONGER DISTANCE DISTANCE NXT TOUR S
SOFTER SOFTERFEEL FEEL SHOTS ON ON ALLALLSHOTS
NEW
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Experience technology that can help you shoot lower scores. NXT Tour has a new, larger centre dual core designed to produce low spin and fast ball speed for even longer driver and iron distance. This new core technology combines with a soft Fusablend cover for excellent shot stopping control and soft feel. NXT Tour S has a new softer core and cover formulation producing its softest feel yet. Along with remarkably softer feel, NXT Tour S delivers outstanding distance in the long game and commanding scoring performance for precision in the short game. Your game matters and this is performance innovation that matters.
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INSTRUCTION
GAVIN SUTHERLAND
Senior Teaching Professional
European Tour Performance Institute
HAMMER
TIME A WEAK IMPACT POSITION WITH TOO MUCH LOFT ON THE CLUB FACE
I
t’s a common misconception for many amateurs that when using their irons they need to assist the ball in the air in order to achieve that desired high ball flight. As a result they add loft to the clubface at the point of impact. The addition of loft from address to impact can often lead to a poorer dispersion of shots and can result in a weaker ball flight, heavy shots where the club strikes the ground too early, or thin shots with the leading edge of the club contacting the middle of the ball.
To help improve the consistency of your ball striking we need to ensure that the club head is descending towards the ball with the handle of the club leaning slightly forward at the point of impact. Striking the ball with a descending blow will improve your ability to contact the centre of the clubface and improve your shot control. Using a simple visual of hammering the nail into the timber will assist you in achieving a stronger impact position with the handle of the club leaning slightly further forward. You can see in the two images the difference between a weaker impact on the left and a stronger impact on the right. Using the visual of you hammering the nail into the timber block will promote the handle of the club leaning more forward at the moment of impact and allow the center of the face to strike the ball more consistently.
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A CORRECT IMPACT POSITION WITH LESS LOFT TO HAMMER IN THE NAIL
INSTRUCTION
HOGAN KNOWS BEST! by STEPHEN DEANE
Head Professional, Emirates Golf Club
W
e can learn so much, not only from the modern younger players of today, but from legends of the game from a different era, such as Ben Hogan. In this article we will talk about how the right wrist sets, the right elbow folds and the right shoulder loads during a solid backswing. The key is to then maintain these three points – the setting, folding and loading – as we strike the ball.
KEY TO A SOLID BACKSWING
SETTING THE WRIST
FOLDING THE ELBOW
LOADING THE SHOULDER
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This is what Hogan did so well during his career and why he was renowned for his ball striking and consistency. From the three pictures above, you can see how he maintains the set in the back of his right wrist, the fold in his right elbow and the loaded shoulder working down as he strikes the ball. If you can create these three elements during the backswing and then let them move DOWN as one solid unit into the ball, you will certainly improve. You’ll start to feel you can put pressure on the ball and have total control over the club-face. The fact that you are maintaining the angle in the right wrist and a folding in the right elbow means it’s easy to stop any unwanted manipulation of the club-face or loss of posture through the ball. The loaded right shoulder working down also gives you the power and distance you need. Try this the next time you’re on the course or range and you’ll soon notice improvements in your game.
For more information on how to improve, please visit The Dubai Golf Academy at Emirates Golf Club, call +971 4 417 9845 or email emiratesacademy@dubaigolf.com. www.dubaigolf.com
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• Enhance your game with a range of summer lesson packages • Prices start from AED 250 • Available between 29th May and 17th September 2016 Please call +971 4 417 9845, email emiratesacademy@dubaigolf.com or visit www.dubaigolf.com
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4/28/16 9:30 AM
INSTRUCTION
ACADEMY BY
CONTROL YOUR BALL FLIGHT WITH A
KILLER
PUNCH SHOT By CRAEG DEERY, Head PGA Golf Professional - The Track Meydan Golf
W
orking on your ball flight control and having the ability to play lower golf shots is a fantastic way to improve your game and lower your scores. Typically we see the lower flighted or ‘punched’ golf shot played often around Links type golf courses and on windy days. However, it can be a great skill to be able to call upon at anytime in the round. In the UAE, the wind does tend to blow most afternoons, particularly at The Track Meydan, so follow this instruction piece to learn how to hit the punch and also to improve your ball striking.
CLUB SELECTION AND SET-UP Club selection is very important for a punch shot. Due to the slower swing speed you will need to club up by at least one, if not two clubs, allowing a similar overall distance to be achieved. The set up is key. Firstly, narrow your stance slightly and place additional weight on the front foot. Look for around 60% of your weight favouring the front foot and importantly keep it there throughout the swing. The punch shot is played more so with the arms and chest so don’t feel you have to make a huge rotation, in fact keeping the rhythm a little slower will also help reduce the spin rate. Move the ball position slightly further back in the stance than the regular ball position for that club and push your hand position forward, creating a little more shaft lean than normal. Once these set-up changes are made, you are ready to start swinging.
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TECHNIQUE The length of swing should not really exceed shoulder height and curtailing the follow through is key. Ensure you maintain connection between the chest and arms as you follow through, keeping the finish as short as possible.
PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT
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Practicing the punch shot will also help improve your ball striking because shorter more compact swings hold up under pressure. We saw no better example of this than when the master of Links golf, Darren Clarke, won The Open Championship in 2011 at Royal St. George’s. The European Ryder Cup captain maintained his patience and demonstrated impeccable control of the ball flight in tough conditions to come through and surprise the world by becoming one of the most popular Major winners of all time. There is no doubt his ability to control the ball flight came from growing up on some of the toughest Links courses in Northern Ireland.
INSTRUCTION
HOW TO EXECUTE THE DREADED
60-YARD BUNKER SHOT
MARTIN STEEL
Senior PGA Teaching Professional The Golf Institute by Troon Golf at Abu Dhabi Golf Club
O
ne of the most difficult shots in golf is the 60-yard bunker shot. The main reasons for the high degree of difficulty are: • It’s an awkward distance where we have to use a shorter swing. • Controlling your swing speed. • We have to hit the ball perfectly clean if we use a sand wedge. ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO PLAY THE IDEAL BUNKER SHOT: OPTION 1: Hit the sand wedge clean out of the sand. This is extremely difficult and must be played very precisely to achieve the desired result. OPTION 2: Hit a 9 iron using a standard bunker technique. The idea is to use the 9 iron’s loft to push the ball further using the same amount of effort executed in a standard bunker shot. Hitting the sand instead of hitting the ball clean gives us more room for error so our mishits will still give us a great result.
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HOW TO PLAY THE 9 IRON BUNKER SHOT: •
• •
Ball should be positioned forward inside the left heel to promote a wide and shallow entry into the sand. Hit down into the sand one inch behind the ball. Keep the club accelerating through the sand into your finish position.
COMMON ERRORS TO AVOID: • Avoid falling back on the ball trying to scoop it in the air, this will cause you to hit the ball clean. • Avoid decelerating into the ball, this will cause you to leave the ball in the sand. In conclusion, the 9 iron bunker shot can be a very handy addition to your repertoire. The chances of success are much higher than using a sand wedge so next time you are on the course facing a 60 yard bunker shot, try the 9 iron.
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ARABIAN GOLF News from the leading clubs in the region
THE ELS CLUB, DUBAI
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ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS E M I RATES GOLF FED ERATION
EGF LAUNCH NJDP FOUNDATION SQUAD POWERED BY GOLF DXB O
VER the course of the 2015 – 2016 season the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and Golf DXB created a partnership with the goal of introducing the game of golf to United Arab Emirates Nationals. The incentive has been an enormous success, with approximately 3,000 UAE National children introduced to the game through in-school taster sessions. Those sessions created a huge surge of interest which led to the establishment of five classes per week at The Track, Meydan Golf. These classes are exclusively for UAE Nationals and focus on fundamental athletic movements and skill-based activities that develop speed, balance, flexibility, stability and awareness. The lessons are focused more on golf instruction with long game, putting and specific aspects of short game drills. Based on the accomplishments of the introductory classes, the EGF and Golf DXB have announced that they will expand on this season’s success with the introduction of the EGF National Junior Development Programme (NJDP) Foundation Squad. The children in the Foundation Squad have shown tremendous enthusiasm,
commitment and focus for the game and have made great strides in the last eight months. The group of 15 children will receive technical and golf-specific fitness instruction as well as on-course playing lessons on a weekly basis. Golf DXB PGA Golf Professional, Aaron Williams, is leading this group and he is working closely with the UAE National Team coaches, David Condon and Greg Holmes to monitor the progress of these talented youngsters as they progress through the EGF National Team and Development programmes. “It has been very rewarding to see a group of beginners develop so quickly and really get hooked on the game,” said Williams. “From here we will introduce the players to the full golf course, getting competent at par-3 length and then progress to modified tees. “Tuition-wise, we will be keeping a close eye on set-up fundamentals whilst gradually introducing work on swing mechanics and golf specific fitness that are suited to the individuals within the group.” Greg Holmes, UAE National Team Head Coach said: “The introduction of the Foundation Squad is another positive step taken by the EGF. “With the help of Golf DXB we are reaching
The golf lessons run every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 5:30pm to 6:30pm with the Foundation Squad playing on the course from 6:30 to 7:30pm on Saturdays. To find more information on the EGF or Golf DXB or to sign up for these golf lessons email Coach Marcus on: marcus@golfdxb.com
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goals and seeing the interest of golf growing amongst UAE Nationals. This Foundation Squad is a great way to reward the children who are dedicated and this will add to the process of developing a strong National Team.” Looking forward, the EGF and Golf DXB will continue to introduce the game at a grass roots level through schools which help spark interest for children to get involved in the introductory classes.
Follow the EGF and Golf DXB on social media to see frequent updates on the programmes.
Emirates Golf Federation emiratesgolffederation EGFuaegolf Emirates Golf Federation www.egfgolf.com Golf DXB golf_dxb GolfDXB Golf DXB www.golfdxb.com
ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS ▶
E M I RATES GOLF CL UB VIV CALEY AND JOSIE TRACEY FIND THEIR FORM
JACKSON WINS BLACK TEE CHALLENGE JAMES Jackson followed an opening round of 75 over the Faldo course with a 77 on the Majlis to win the 2016 Black Tee Challenge with a 152 total. Over 80 players took part in the two-day event which saw players play over 14,000 yards from the back tees of both courses. Finishing three strokes back in second place was Pavic Barry with rounds of 80-75, defeating EGC Scratch Team Captain Rohit Gupta on a countback after Gupta shot rounds of 75-80. Chris Cornwall finished fourth after two rounds of 78 while the overall net champion was Christian Klynge with a 3-under total of 141, one clear of Alan McNamara with Robert Darrah third on 145.
VIV Caley took the glory in Division ‘A’ (hcp 0-14) of the Ladies Sofitel Medal recently with a superb score of 4-under 68 over the Majlis course, and the same score also saw Josie Tracey clinch the honours in Division ‘B’ (hcp 15-23). The lowest gross on the day came from Maria Victoria Arias, while in the Bronze Division (hcp 24-42) Lady Captain Helen Srivastava topped the pile with a level par net 72.
MAYA CLINCHES THE MEDAL
NAEMA Maya secured the honours in Division ‘A’ of last month’s Sofitel, Dubai Jumeirah Beach Medal with a fine score of net 69, three clear of Mitsuko Emmerson. The low gross score on the day came from Jayshree Gupta with an 80 while coming out on top in Division ‘B’ with a net 68 was Lady Vice Captain Maura Duggan. The Bronze Division saw Kiyono Taniuchi take the spoils with a 68 and all three Divisional winners received an invite to play at Al Hamra GC in September, with a chance to win a place in the RAK 2016 Golf Challenge Pro-Am, a Challenge Tour Event being played at Al Hamra from 26th - 29th October.
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E M I RATES GOLF F EDER ATIO N
EGF HOSTS EMIRATI GOLF DAY AT AL ZORAH GOLF CLUB
Dubai Duty Free’s Senior Vice President-IT & Logistics, Ramesh Cidambi, along with Darwish Al Qubaisi, Board Member of the Emirates Golf Federation; and Khalid Mubarak Al Shamsi, Secretary General of the Emirates Golf Federation, presents the trophy to Saeed Al Balooshi, overall winner of the 22nd Dubai Duty Free UAE Nationals Cup.
AL BALOOSHI CLINCHES THE DUBAI DUTY FREE NATIONALS CUP
JEBEL A LI G O LF R E S O R T CABRERA-BELLO SIGNS WITH JEBEL ALI RESORTS & HOTELS
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SAEED Al Balooshi emerged victorious at the 22nd staging of the Dubai Duty Free UAE Nationals Cup with a countback win over two players at Emirates Golf Club. Al Balooshi finished with 38 points over the Faldo course alongside Rashid Al Emadi and Faisal Al Sayegh. After the three scorecards were compared it was Al Balooshi who was crownd the winner with Al Emadi second and Al Sayegh third. The best gross prize on the day went to Khalid Yousuf as he shot a 4-over 76 while a haul of 31 Stableford points saw Hamda Al Suwaidi win the ladies prize. The junior victor was Obaid Al Heloo for he earning 38 points. Commenting on the UAE Nationals Cup, Ramesh Cidambi, Senior Vice President, IT & Logistics of Dubai Duty Free said: “This year marks the 22nd running of the Dubai Duty Free UAE Nationals Cup and the tournament has grown more and more popular among UAE Nationals since 1995, also with junior Emirati golfers. Our thanks to all our participants and to the Marketing team at Dubai Duty Free and the Emirates Golf Club for their efforts in ensuring a great day was had by all.”
THE Emirates Golf Federation (EGF), in association with the Ajman Tourism Department, hosted an Emirati Golf Day at Al Zorah Golf Club in an effort to raise awareness and promote golf in Ajman and the Northern Emirates. Emiratis participated in a fun, interactive afternoon whichincluded a 6-hole mini putting course and one-to-one training lessons with both EGF and Al Zorah Professionals. Rashid Al Jarwan, EGF Board Member, who was in attendance, said: “This was a terrific afternoon. For us to bring together so many UAE National kids and families at the golf course is a great accomplishment by Al Zorah and the EGF. With the assistance of the Ajman Tourism Department we are eager to see the development of golf in Ajman. The Federation is focused on the continued growth of golf in the Emirati community and this is a true demonstration of that commitment.” The EGF had earlier launched the National Junior Development Programme (NJDP) at Al Zorah Golf Club and due to the hard work of the club’s professionals and administration team, the club has produced five weeks of successful lessons seeing over 50 children, with 20 of them registering for ongoing weekly lessons. Martin Dewhurst, PGA Professional, who is leading the charge for the NJDP at Al Zorah, said: “Our goal is to try and attract as many Emiratis from Ajman, Sharjah and Um Al Quwain as possible to experience golf at the beautiful Al Zorah Golf Club.”
JA Resorts & Hotels COO – David Thomson shakes hands with Rafael Cabrera-Bello at the signing ceremony.
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JEBEL Ali Resorts & Hotels has announced a sponsorship deal with Spanish European Tour star Rafael CabreraBello. The 31-year-old recently finished in a share of third place at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship and is currently in third place on the Race to Dubai. “The biggest win of my career was at the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic and I was runner-up at the event this year,” said Cabrera-Bello upon signing the agreement. “I have an extremely fond attachment to both the city and JA Resorts & Hotels as the tournament’s official co-sponsor. I’m honoured to be part of the JA family and excited at building my collaboration with the brand.” David Thomson, JA Resorts & Hotels COO, sees the group’s golf partnerships as natural synergy: “We are extremely pleased to begin our collaboration with Rafa. His dedication and enthusiasm for the sport match our own excitement. We aim to foster new brand relationships and associations with communities across the globe through our sponsorship of Rafa and we look forward to a prosperous association ahead.”
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D U B AI CREEK GOL F C LUB
LOW SCORES IN ANNUAL CAPTAIN’S TROPHY THE second annual Captain’s Trophy was held to celebrate the reign of current Captains Patrick Morrow, Vanessa North and Dhruv Nair, while members played in a friendly four-man team competition. Coming out on top in the 2-from-4 Stableford scores with an impressive haul of 89 points was the team of Joseph Ghossoub, Adonis Nasr, John Fellingham and Yves Aboukhaled. Their outstanding score was highlighted by a very rare eagle on the par4 18th by Scratch Team captain John Fellingham. Narrowly missing out on a countback was the team of Joseph Andrade, Kurup Devanand, Farad Lakdawala and Shezad Lakdawala, while third place went to Sammy Eldin, James McSweeney, Yasser Refai and Bilal Belaid on 87 points.
VICE CAPTAIN’S TEAM NARROWLY CLINCHES THE CREEK CUP TO DENY THE CAPTAINS YET AGAIN THE Vice Captain’s team once again reigned supreme in the ninth staging of the Creek Cup, leaving the Captain’s still waiting for their first triumph.The Creek Cup was first established in 2007 by Colm McLoughlin, Dubai Creek’s first appointed Captain, and was originally played as an East vs. West event but has since been adapted into a fiercely competitive Captain vs. Vice Captain team match. The club Captains have the opportunity to pick their teams from the member pairs who chose to enter the four-Ball Betterball Match Play tournament. In the history of the event the Captain’s team are yet to taste victory, which was something that Captains Patrick Morrow and Vanessa North were looking to fix against their Vice Captain rivals Mansour Khodjasteh and Kristi Sealey. The first point of the day went to the Captain’s team - a solid 4&3 victory for Adam and Paula Savage over Shiba Wahid Khan and club professional, Jack Woods – and this was quickly followed by victory for Morrow and North ahead of Khodjasteh and Sealey. However, after some courageous battling from the Vice Captain’s team the tide began to turn as six of the remaining nine matches went their way to clinch a narrow 6-5 victory.
RISING STAR BAKAL WINS AGAIN RECENT Ladies Amateur Open winner Anastacia Bakal added another trophy to her growing cabinet with victory in the 2016 Junior Open, sponsored by Titleist. Bakal shot a 1-under-par round of 70 to win by one from Jai Bhalla, who, in turn, was crowned the Boys winner. The Girls winner, with a score of 76, was Jully Kang, while the Boys and Girls net winners were Ali Habib (62) and Jamie Roslyn Camero (69) respectively.
SHREYAS BAWKAR CLINCHES DDF JUNIOR MEDAL SHREYAS Bawkar fired a superb score of net 31.5 to be crowned the recent winner of the Dubai Duty Free Junior Medal, while the Boys winner on the day was Alex Abouchacra as he scored 35.5 to win, ahead of Aarnav Nath by 0.5. A 1-under score of 34 saw Samuel De Souza clinch the gross prize while Hannah Alan, overall winner of the previous DDF Junior Medal, was the Girls winner with a fine score of 35.5. In the Non-Member division, made up of UAE National’s and juniors in the Junior Development Programme at Dubai Creek, Tara Al Marzooqi topped the pile with a score of 41.
DUBAI CREEK CORPORATE INVITATIONAL THE fifth edition of the prestigious Dubai Creek Corporate Invitational by BMW took place last month, providing a chance for networking between nine different corporations. The invitation list this year consisted of BMW, DUBAI DUTY FREE, G&Co, TAS, 7DAYS, OMA EMIRATES, NEOCASA, CREDENCE and DULSCO, and, as always, each company was invited to enter a team of eight players to compete in the Pairs Betterball Stableford format with the top three pairs scores making up the overall team score. The G&CO team stormed to a convincing nine shot victory with a superb combined team score of 131 points, while the BMW team finished second with a very credible team score of 122 points.
SAVAGE ON TOP
SALEM SEALS THE MAY MEDAL
PAULA Savage got back to winning ways in last month’s Sofitel Monthly Medal with a fantastic round of 66 and a oneshot victory over Glory Xavier. Paula was 4-under net for her last five holes which propelled her to the title. Xavier’s 67 saw her take the spoils in Division ‘A’ while Bindiya Chopra finished top of the pile in Division ‘B’.
SALEM Bin Dasmal shot an excellent 68 to win last month’s OMA Emirates Medal by two strokes, with the gross prize going to current Club Champion Bayhaan Lakdawala with a 72. James Kachel fired a round of 70 to take the spoils in Division ‘A’ by one stroke from Dhruv Chopra, while in Division ‘B’ Mohammed Al Musharrekh beat Arshad Waheed on a countback after both players had signed for a 71. In the Senior Division Barry Henderson claimed the main prize for the third successive month while in the Ladies Division Glory Xavier finished top with a 75.
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ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS ▶
A B U DHABI GOLF CL UB
GANE BRINGS HIS A-GAME TO ONCOURSE GOLF ABU DHABI PRO-AM PGA Professional Chris Gane showed his mettle in the final round of the 2016 OnCourse Golf Abu Dhabi ProAm, carding a 73 for a six-under par (210) winning total. “It’s always great to win, and it’s nice to win over three days,” said the Great Britain & Ireland Professional. “The team struggled a little bit today and we were all pretty exhausted but we’ve had a great week and it’s been a great Pro-Am. I’m looking forward to coming back next year.” Gane began the day with a comfortable lead on the individual leaderboard, but with hot conditions with temperatures reaching 39 degrees, it was always going to be a battle of attrition. A birdie at the first hole was a dream start to move to 8-under par but with two bogeys and a further birdie, he finished at level par for the front nine. A single bogey on hole 13 caused Gane his only over-par round of the tournament – but his final round 73 added to his second round 66 at Yas Links and opening round 71 at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, was still more than enough to secure victory. A PGAs of Europe-Sanctioned Event win will also see Gane receive an invite to the 2016 UniCredit PGA Professional Championship of Europe later this year: “I qualified for that tournament two years ago and it’s a great event,” Gane added. “A chance to go and play the PGAs of Europe Club Pros, well, I can’t wait. It’s nice to win here and that’s a real added bonus.” In second place was another PGA of GB&I Professional, Simon Lily, while third place went to the PGA of Spain’s Adam Sagar after his even-par 72 the low round of the day. The Team Pro-Am honours went to wire-to-wire leaders Team Makszin – PGA of Hungary Professional Áron
2016 OnCourse Golf Abu Dhabi Pro-Am Winner, Chris Gane (PGA of Great Britain & Ireland), outside the iconic Falcon Clubhouse at Abu Dhabi Golf Club
Makszin and his amateurs Csaba Nagy, Zsolt Bohacs and Adam Osztovits, ended the tournament with 85 points (-13) taking their overall total to an outstanding 269 points (-53). PGA of UAE Professional, Ross Bain, and his amateurs, Stephen Rutter, Scott Horne, David Minchin, took second place with a 252 point (-36) total, whilst individual winner, Gane, and his amateurs Neil Foulkes, Andrew Doswell and Stuart Munro took third place with 243 points (-27).
The winning ‘Team Makszin’ of PGA of Hungary Professional Áron Makszin and his teammates Csaba Nagy, Zsolt Bohacs and Adam Osztovits are pictured after play.
SIEGEL AND LOBO CROWNED CLUB CHAMPIONS ON a surprisingly wet and windy weekend Emily Siegel and Tiago Lobo emerged victorious in the 2016 Club Championship. Siegel followed an 83 as the rain lashed down on day one with an 84 in blustery conditions on day two to win by six shots from Karen Black. The Ladies net champion was Mi Ran Lee with a 1-over 145 total, one stroke clear of Cathy Siegel. Lobo led the way with a 72 on day one and closed out a three-shot win on day two with a 7-over 151 total to finish ahead of Sung Jin Hwang. In the Men’s 15+ Handicap division Kamal Belaid shot a 145 to win, while Riad Majali shot an impressive 1-under 143 total to clinch the honours in the 0-14 Handicap division.
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SCHWINGHAMMER AND SIEGEL DELIGHT ANDREAS Schwinghammer clinched a countback win over Kamal Belaid to win the 15+ Handicap Division of last month’s Medal. With both players shooting a net 68 the title went to Schwinghammer by virtue of his better back nine. Dominic Irwin clinched the men’s 0-14 Handicap Division with a 68, four strokes clear of Tod Stephens while Cathy Siegel (above right) clinched the Ladies Division with a 71 and a two-stroke win over Mi Ran Lee. The overall lowest gross score on the day came from Sung Jin Hwang with a 76.
COURSE UPGRADES UNDERWAY IT’S that time of year when the Greenkeepers come out of hiding and tear up the greens and tees which have been for so long in perfect condition. We seem to be able to time this occasion with perfection to cause as little disruption as possible to the beautiful game. But why do we do it? Hallow coring greens, tees and fairways are a fundamental part of turf grass maintenance because it helps both long and short term with the preservation and control of the grasses and soils. The removal of a core does not only takes out some of the grass but it also dispenses with the thatch and some of the old sand/soil. This is all beneficial to improving the greens as it’s a case of ‘out with the old and in with the new.’ The tine size we have used during this occasion is a 12mm side eject, set to remove a core up to 4.5
inches deep. The spacings and speed is set on the machine which on this time were 13.71 holes per square foot or a core every 3.5inches. This process would remove a total of 6.23% of the surface area of a green. Researchers suggest that during a typical year 20% or more of the surface area should be removed to help keep perfect conditions. At Abu Dhabi Golf Club we carry out 2 main renovations each year as well as regular scarifying and verti-cutting. Overall, we estimate that we remove 25% of the surface area and thatch build-up. The removal of the core does not only take out thatch and soil. It also has many other benefits such as: l Relieves compaction. l Aids water infiltration. l Allows gaseous exchange.
l Increases root development and depth. l Allows organic fertilizers to be introduced to the root zone. l Allows new sand to be applied into the profile. Once we have removed the cores and cleaned them off the surface, we then apply soil amendments, which mainly consist of organic materials to aid microbacterial activity. Silica sand is then applied to fill up the holes, making sure each and every hole is filled carefully. A watering programme will then be setup to aid recovery and prevent the surface drying out. It takes approximately one to two weeks for the greens to fully recover after these processes. ANDREW WHITTAKER Director of Agronomy, Abu Dhabi Golf Club
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YA S LINKS
OVER 90,000 AED RAISED AT CAPTAIN’S DAY
AL MARZOOQI CLINCHES FINAL ETIHAD OPEN STABLEFORD ABDULLA Al Marzooqi topped the pile in Division ‘A’ of May’s Etihad Open Stableford with a superb haul of 39 points while Aart Lehmkuhl was crowned the Order of Merit champion. Lehmkuhl topped the pile in Division ‘A’ by finishing the season with an impressive 24 points in the ‘best five scores from eight’ format. The Order of Merit title for Division ‘B’ was presented to both CharlesKatsuyoshi and Ying Hoong Fun who both tied with 31. The champion in Division ‘B’ on the day was Hoong Fun with a superb score of 41 points and her strong back nine performance saw her win on a countback from Ali Wright, with Young wook Lee in third place.
YAS Links’ Club Captains Thomas Kunt and Andrea Hartley hosted the annual Captains Day Yellow Ball Team Tournament recently in a day for members and partners to come together and raise money for this year’s Captains’ chosen charities, The Make a Wish Foundation and Cancer Research UK. A total of over AED90,000 was raised thanks to the generous donations from Yas Links Members and from highly generous Corporate and Merchandise partners. Both captains came together to say: “We want to say a really big thank you to everyone who contributed to the day, which far exceeded our expectations. It was a fun day and a great success for the charities. We’re proud to be Captains this year and we feel quite humble at the generosity and support that the members and sponsors have given to this event.”
VANCE AGAIN OPEN CHAMPION CRAIG Vance clinched the Men’s Open for the second time in three years with a superb twoday score of 150, three clear of Chris Johnson with Tiago Lobo third. Vance, who won the event in 2014, came from behind to overtake the overnight leader Johnson and claim the title. The net winner was Ian Houghton with a fantastic two-day net score of 139, a full ten shots ahead of the field. John Burki took second place outright after a countback win over Mark Majer after the pair had both scored 149.
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ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS ▶
JU MEIRAH GOLF ES TATES
KUMAR CLINCHES FIRST JUNIOR OPEN ARYAAN Kumar won the inaugural JGE Junior Open recently after a play-off win over Zubair Firdaus on the Earth course. Kumar thought he had blown his chance in the play-off after driving into the creek on the treacherous 18th hole but a superb approach shot set him up for a par putt which he duly holed to take the overall gross title. The net champion was Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club’s Jamie Roslyn Camero, who shot an excellent 4-under-par 68 on her first time playing the Earth course. The rest of the prizes were split into the boys and the girls category, and although Zubair missed out on the main prize he did win the Boys Best Gross as a consolation. The Boys net winner was Ahmed Ashfaq with a 69, two clear of Josh Hill, while the Girls net winner was Sahana Paravantavida with
ALDERMAN MASTERS THE MEDAL
JGE Junior Open winner Aryaan Kumar with JGE General Manager Neal Graham.
a 74 and a three-stroke win over Deborah Chang. The Girls gross winner was Anastasia Bakal with a steady 75.
CHRIS Alderman shot an impressive 69 over the Earth course to win the gross prize in the recent Monthly Medal. Alderman began on the back nine and posted a 37 but hit his stride on the front nine with birdies on holes 1, 2, 3, 6 and 8 for a 4-under 32 to cruise into the winner’s circle. Terry Waite took the spoils in Division ‘A’ with a net 69, three shots clear of Ai Salem while in Division ‘B’ Ahmed Naim stole the show with a 66, one clear of Karl Davies. Lynne Wylie carded a net 73 to win the Ladies Division by one stroke from Gabriela Greipel.
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T H E ADDRESS MONTGOMERIE
FUN FOR ALL AT CAPTAIN’S TROPHY THERE were some excellent displays from many players who took part in this year’s Captain’s Trophy, which was organised as a way to thank ex-Captains Carol Burns and Akram Skaik and welcome Elizabeth Samuel and Cedric Fevre into their roles as current Club Captains. Coming out on top in the team event was the foursome of Josh North, Farhan Yaqub, Trixie O’Kane and Handan Klue as they compiled a score of net 128.7 to win from the team of Quentin Morel, Vera Bondarenko, Retief Tolken and Joe O’Kane. Taking third place with a score of 132.1 were Paul Pitman, Richard Donaldson, Tetsuro Kubota and John Norton.
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SIMPSON DEFENDS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
AL AIN EQUESTRIAN SHOOTING & GOLF CLUB
CHARLIE Simpson successfully defended his title as the Men’s Club Champion after a superb second round 70 propelled him to a 2-overpar 146 total. Taking the Ladies Club Championship honours was Young Cho as she ran away with the title by a staggering 14 strokes on 161. The Men’s Division ‘A’ winner was Joon Eun with a 141 total while in Division ‘B’ Brendan O’Grady took the spoils with a 146 tally. A Stableford haul of 64 points over two days saw Christian Carton emerge victorious in Division ‘C’ while the Ladies winners were Handan Klue and Alfira Shavaleeva in Divisions ‘A’ and ‘B’ respectively.
THERE’S NO STOPPING PITMAN PAUL Pitman scored 39 points to win Division ‘A’ in May’s Audi Individual Stableford competition by one from Cedric Fevre with Charlie Simpson third on 37. Division ‘B’ went to Ryan Klue with a 34-point haul, one shot clear of Valeriy Zabrodin with Simon Ford having to settle for third after losing on a countback to Zabrodin. Elizabeth Samuel sealed her win in the Ladies Division on a countback over Young Cho after both players scored 33 points, with third place going to Joumana Petridis on 31 points.
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BARRETT AND KELLY KINGS OF NIGHT GOLF RONAN Barett and Richie Kelly clinched May’s Monthly Night Golf competition after combining their talents to shoot a net 30 for a one-stroke victory. A three-way countback was needed to settle the next three places and coming out on top to finish runner-up were David Miles and Dan Hockings. The duo of Nick Poisay and Justin Jones finished third with fourth place going to Ian Horbury and Anton Van Schalkwyk.
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D O HA GOLF CLUB
YACOOB CLINCHES SENIOR OPEN SUCCESS BAHRAIN’S Nasser Yacoob emerged the winner of Qatar’s first ever Senior Open Championship after a tense play-off with Abdulaziz Al Boianen. The pair found themselves tied on eight over 152 after two rounds but a solid par on the first play-off hole proved enough for Yacoob to claim the trophy. In third place, with a total of 153, narrowly missing out on a play-off spot, was Doha Golf Club member Fazal Kazi.
YOUTH SHINES THROUGH AT CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
T O WE R LI N K S G O LF C LU B
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THE 2016 DGC Club Championship was played as a 36-hole tournament over two days and 15-year-old Mikkel Mathiesen emerged victorious as the Men’s Club Champion, while 17-yearold Laila Hrindova took the ladies prize. Mathiesen shot a 2-under gross tally of 142 on the 7,300 yard championship layout to win by six strokes from Saleh Ali Al Kaabi, while Hrindova posted a 1-over gross 145 to take the spoils ahead of Uzma Mir.
GILLY RECORDS EMPHATIC CLUB SHIELD VICTORY
PATRICK Gilly played his way to Club Shield honours with a superb net 66. The 21-handicapper carded a gross back nine of 3-over 39 to propel him to the title while Division ‘A’ was won by Mihail Iordache with a net 68. Division ‘B’ was claimed by Martin Mackie Campbell with a net 71.
T HE ELS CLUB JIHAD AND MIZU CONQUER THE FIELD JIHAD Azzam and Mizu Abdel Fattah combined to perfection to conquer the recent Cumulative Stableford Midweek competition in shooting 37 points. The dynamic duo were a clear two points ahead of their nearest competitors, with Pat Mottershead and Craig Mainey claiming second place outright on a countback over Miller Green and George Llewellyn.
ABREU AND DOLAN CROWNED MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONS CHRIS Abreu and Brendan Dolan combined to win the 2016 Match Play Championship after overcoming Liam Thornton and Alan Perkins in the final. Third place went to Jeff Ogden and Scott Turner.
FARRINGTON ON TOP IN RACE TO RAK XAVIER Farrington came out on top in the second qualifying event of the Race to Ras Al Khaimah thanks to a gross round of 77 at the Els Club. The top three players in the net category will join Farrington in the Regional Final in September at Al Hamra Golf Club with the winner of that event earning a spot in the Pro-
SHUKLA AND MADDOX TEAM UP TO WIN
Am for the Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge, the penultimate event of the 2016 European Challenge Tour season.
The net champion with 37 Stableford points was Robin Kadyan, closely followed by Angela Kadyan and Liam Thornton.
ASHUTOSH Shukla and Greg Maddox defied the odds to close out the recent Weekly Social with a score of 22 Stableford points in the betterball format. The pair won on a countback after Jihad Azzam and Yuki Pellerine also combined to post 22 points, while third place went to Ajay and Anupma Kotwal on a countback of their own over Alistair Barker and Oliver Spencer on 20 points.
MANAGEMENT TEAM EASE TO VICTORY THE annual match between the Scratch League Team and the Management at the Els Club took place last month with the Management Team emerging victorious for the second year in a row. The Management Team sealed three wins in the four fixtures to win 3-1.
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ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS ▶
S H A RJ AH GOLF AND SHO O TING C LUB
AJMAN ACADEMY SIGN UP TO SUPPORT SGSC JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME AJMAN Academy has signed up to support the Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club’s Junior Golf Development Programme for the 2016/17 season. Ajman Academy Director Anthony Cashin and Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club Director of Golf Martin Duff met to formalise arrangements for their support of the programme, which has now run for nine years and boasts almost 80 children aged from 4 to 17 years of age. Cashin commented: “We really are delighted to support the club’s programme which we know already attracts juniors from Ajman, Sharjah, Northern Dubai and beyond. “The activities and creative methods used by the club to aid general athletic ability, as well as golf-specific skills, are similar in principal to our holistic
methods of teaching. We really think it’s a great partnership for us, the club, the PGA Professional coaches and, most importantly of course, the students.” Duff added: “We are equally delighted. The Ajman Academy is a breathtaking new facility that caters for year 7 upwards and is just a six minute drive from our club. Their investment and support will enable us to continue subsidising fees and purchase both new and additional equipment, which will even further enhance every child’s enjoyment as well as their learning. All the people involved really are extremely excited.”
Martin Duff (left) and Anthony Cashin (right).
MULVANEY AND KEYTER DRIVE TO GLORY KONRAD Keyter and Ben Mulvaney combined to shoot a net 63.9 in the recent BMW Members and Guests Social and take the spoils ahead of Vinod Arya and Sinar Suraj.
BHYAT COMPLETES NARROW WIN FAIZEEN Bhyat claimed the recent Coral Beach Midweek Stableford with a near flawless round for a one-point victory. In Division ‘1’ Ravi AE returned to form to win with 16 points while in Division ‘2’ David Murphy collected the prize with a steady round of 18 points to finish top of the pile.
BANG ON TARGET TONY Bang landed the recent Centro Sharjah by Rotana Midweek Medal supported by Mekar after a superb eagle on the last hole clinched a countback win over two players. Roger Wilkinson and M.Y. Choi both matched the winning score of net 32 but it was Bang’s superior finish that earned him the title. Taking the spoils in Division ‘1’ was Mark Dupree, following a net 34 with SGSC Director of Golf Martin Duff second, one stroke further back.
YEOU TAKES FINAL WINTER TITLE IN ORIENT TRAVEL MEDAL THE final round of the Orient Travel – Malaysia Truly Asia Monthly Medal saw No Ma Yeou produce his best round of the year to win by one stroke from Chandan Vaidya with a net 68. Third place went to George Liu with a 74 while the gross prize on the day was won by Sinar Suraj with a 78. With the series of Medals complete, the top three players from the net OOM and leading player on the gross OOM have all won a trip to the World Amateur Inter Team Golf Championship in Kuala Lumpur, held from August 1st – 4th. In the net Division Shaheen
KIM CLAIMS AGAIN
Butt took the top spot and claimed the Champions Trophy as he bypassed Y.D. Kim on the Final day with a grand total of 92.55 points from the eight events. Runner-up Kim, who qualified last year, was one round away from writing his name in history but he can still take great pride in his position on the Order of Merit, only six points off the top spot. Third place went to one of Sharjah’s talented Junior Golfers, Kamyar Tajfar on 65.5, while the Gross OOM winner was Suraj after his superbly consistent season.
Yangho Kim continues his impressive form and landed the Centro Sharjah by Rotana Midweek Medal supported by Mekar on Wednesday, April 27th finishing four under par. The superb nine holes included two birdies and two eagles. Nearest challengers were No Ma Yeou and Anmar Khalid who picked up divisional prizes for their great score of one under par, 35 net.
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KHALID KING OF CORAL BEACH
ANMAR Khalid colleected his first trophy for some time after carding a superb 3-up score in the recent Coral Beach Resort Midweek Bogey. The night started well for Anmar as he went two up through the first two holes and a further three wins and two losses saw him take the title by one from Tony Bang on 2-up. Faizeen Bhyat completed the winners with an all square score in Division 2.
INDIAN EXPATS REIGN SUPREME THE Indian Expats came out on top against the Dubai ExPutts to be crowned this year’s Conares Golf Society League champions. The two societies lined up with their best squad of players to compete in the double match play betterball format. Match one saw James Sanderson and John Sharpe from the Dubai ExPutts take on Mukti Rai and Shaheen Butt of the Indian Expats in the opening match. The Indian duo had the upper hand for most of the match but a late comeback with wins on holes 16, 17 and 18 saw the match tied. However, in the other match it was a battle of the Captains and coming out on top was Vivian Verma and his colleague Sanjoy Das to clinch the title for the Indian Expats. The match was close all the way around with the teams separated by just one hole for most of the round, but towards the business end of the match the Indian duo pulled ahead and sealed the win 2&1. The third place play-off match was between the South African Golf Society and Sport2Business and coming out on top was the experienced team of Sport2Business. The Captain’s and Sponsor’s day ran alongside the final and emerging victorious was Sandeep Singh with a haul of 41 Stableford points with Saifulnizam Bin Saion second on 38 points and Andrew Thom third, one point further back.:
HOW DO I ENTER A TEAM IN THE GOLF SOCIETY LEAGUE? The Conares Golf Society League runs from October to April each year with teams required to honour one match per month (matches are always on a Saturday afternoon and four players are required per fixture). To participate in the 2016/17 edition of the Best Amateur Golf Tournament in the Middle East you simply need a squad of 8 – 10 players (or more) and enter your team with
SGSC by the end of September this year. The required details are: a team name and logo along with the Captain’s and Vice Captain’s contact details. All details and enquiries can be forwarded to golfsales@golfandshootingshj.com or call 06 5487777 and speak to Samjhana Lama
WHO ARE CONARES?
Since its inception in 1988, Conares initially focused on steel trading. Having built extensive partnerships with renowned steel plants across the world, it brought the world’s-best competencies to the region, by setting up its own state of the art manufacturing facility in the UAE. As the Middle East focuses on infrastructure development, Conares serves as the perfect partner to meet the growing industry requirements for steel rebars and pipes. A diversified and fully-fledged manufacturing facility based in the UAE, the strategic hub between the East and the West, Conares today is the premier producer of quality steel products for wideranging needs; having a total manufacturing capacity of more than 1,000,000MT annually.
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ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS ▶
JUL MEIRAH A MOUJ GOLF, GOLFMUSCAT ES TATES O MAN
LYNNE LEADS THE WAY THE penultimate Chedi Medal of the season was played in 76% humidity as players battled both conditions and the course in their quest for glory. Top scoring on the day with a superb gross 1-under 71 was Lynne Casey while the ladies net prize went to Sheena Holtkamp with a 78. Coming out on top in the Men’s Net Division was Club Captain Greg Andreasen with a handicap-
slashing score of 65, three clear of Glenn Canterford. The lack of wind made scoring slightly easier than usual and that was reflected in the fact that there was seven 2s on the day from Nasaruddin Mohamed, Berty Archer, Allan Middleton, John Prescott, Phil Parker, David Watson and Vijai Mitji.
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A R ABIAN RANCH ES
SEAN COOPER WINS THE JUNIOR SERIES SEAN Cooper (pictured in green shirt) topped the 2016 Junior Series Order of Merit after a runner-up finish in the final event of the season. Cooper lost out on a countback to Toby Bishop after both players tied with scores of 34 and Bishop’s victory saw him climb up the Order of Merit into second place behind Cooper. Daniel Whittaker finished third in the event and that was also good enough for him to finish the campaign in third place on the Order of Merit. On the Par-3 course the overall title went to Alayna Rafique after a strong end to the season while the net prize went to Aisha Lyengar.
NOT SO UNLUCKY FRIDAY 13TH AT INDIVIDUAL STABLEFORD
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WHILE last month’s Individual Stableford event might have been held on Friday 13th, many members received good luck as they took to the course. Topping the pile with a superb haul of 40 points in the Men’s Division was John Hainey as he sealed a one-stroke victory. Finishing second was John Parsons after he defeated Gary Swan on a countback thanks to his stronger finish. In the Ladies Division a stunning score of 43 points gave Ailsa Campbell the title, two clear of Emma Rooms who also put in an excellent performance.
HOT SCORING IN RIVOLI MEDAL LAST month’s Rivoli Medal hosted a strong 66-player field on one of the hottest days of the year so far and both Steve Bennett and Adele McKelvey posted fine gross scores of 75 to win their respective Men’s and Ladies Divisions. Bennett clinched a one-stroke win over Ron Murphy with Vic Albertyn third on 78 and Markus Hacker fouth with an 80. McKelvey was the runaway Ladies gross winner, fully ten clear shots ahead of Emma Rooms while the Ladies Net winner was Ailsa Campbell with a 69, one clear of Nicola Breeze. The Men’s Net prizes went to Aaron Birch in Division ‘A’ and Nigel Fenwick in Division ‘B’
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A B U DHABI CITY G O LF CL UB
FUTURE STARS CROWNED AT OOM GRAND FINAL
TIGHT FINISH TO MONDAY SERIES
AFTER seven Fast Rent a Car Order of Merit Event events and over 500 budding participants, the final event of the season saw the top 30 players shoot out for glory in the three categories. The Grand Final saw the qualifiers play in a straight shoot out, with double points on offer. When the dust had finally settled Sean Bunn was the 3-hole winner; Gabriel Mcgurk the 8-hole winner and David Rezko the 18-hole winner.
CHESTER Makishchuk shot a superb 21 points to win the final round of the recent Grand Millennium Mondays event but it wasn’t quite enough to seal the month-long competition. Instead it was Omar Thabet, the runner-up behind Makishchuk on the day, who came out on top after adding 19 points to his earlier haul of 22.
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A L HAMRA GOLF C LUB
GLASGOW AND MUIRHEAD CLINCH UAE WORLD CORPORATE CHALLENGE JEFF Glasgow and Jim Muirhead turned on the style as they combined to score 62 Stableford points to win the UAE World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC), the biggest corporate golf tournament ever held in the UAE. With the win, Glasgow and Muirhead earned their spot in the World Final in Cascais, Portugal, next month to play against other tournament winners from 50 countries worldwide. Two teams finished one point behind and needed a countback to separate them. Taking second place outright thanks to their stronger finish was the duo of Russell Yeomans and Simon Earl, with third place going to Ajay and Anupma Kotwal. Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority
sponsored the event and even put forward its own team to compete against the other 25 teams involved. Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority said: “Ras Al Khaimah is cementing its position as a major player in golf tourism. Our world-class facilities at the likes of Al Hamra Golf Club, attract visitors from across the globe, who come to enjoy the sport on both a leisure and professional level. “The UAE World Corporate Golf Challenge has seen high levels of golf expertise and we look forward to hosting future events such as the Challenge Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah, 2016 Golf Challenge, one of the biggest sporting events in the UAE calendar, taking place later this year.”
T HE ROYAL GOLF C LUB
HILL AND ROBERT QUALIFY FOR AUDI WORLD FINAL
▶ Photo (left to right): Geetan Jessen (Audi Dealer Principal), Arnaud Robert (Winner), Enrico Atanasio (Director of Audi Middle East), Steven Hill (Winner).
THE ninth and final round of the Audi Quattro Cup qualifying series saw Fahad Al Hakam take the title win with an excellent Stableford score of 39 points. However, with the overall order of merit standings confirmed, the two players going forward to the World Final in Spain later this year are Steven Hill and Arnaud Robert. Both Hill and Robert had been pacesetters in the early rounds and their consistent play and positive attitude has been rewarded with their spot in the final on October 6th. With more than 100,000 players competing in more than 800 tournaments in 54 countries annually, the Audi Quattro Cup has developed into the biggest amateur golf tournament series worldwide.
OVER US$10,000 RAISED FOR THE PALM AT LADIES CAPTAIN CHARITY GOLF DAY THE second staging of the Ladies Captain Annual Charity Golf Tournament raised over US$10,000 for The Palm Association, a Bahrain charity run by women and providing assistance such as food parcels, educational sponsorship and home improvements for Bahraini women and children. Around 120 golfers competed in the fun Texas Scramble format competition which was won by the team of Karen and Grahame Mackenzie, Paul Noir and Dimi Zletevski, who achieved a winning net score of 52.7. The team of Andy and Jenny McDonald, Sam Kobeissi and Ben Stimson took second place with a 59.7 net while Leanne and Kevin Dismore, Mark Hay and Karan Trehan came third on 60.7 net.
(left to right) Winners: Grahame Mackenzie, Karen Mackenzie, Dimi Zletevski and Paul Noir with Ladies Captain Karin Lutz.
DEAR AND THOMAS CROWNED MIXED OPEN CHAMPIONS LADY Vice Captain Stacey Thomas and playing partner Colin Dear sealed the 2016 Mixed Open after combining for a fantastic nett score of 65 and a 4.6 shot win over the husband and wife team of David and Dena Wales.
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ELSWORTH BECOMES MASTERS CHAMPION
TWO events were held to mark the occasion of the annual Masters Tournament and coming out on top in the main event to be crowned Royal Golf Club Masters Champion was Ben Elsworth. The first competition was an evening nine-hole event won by Mohamed Al Sayed with a net 27 and a countback win over Abdulla Al Hakam. The second competition was played over 18 holes and competitors drew out the name of one of the professionals who made the cut in the Masters tournament prior to teeing off, then their Stableford score was added to the professional’s converted Stableford score from their last two rounds at Augusta to give an aggregate score overall. A great final round by Danny Willett meant that Ben Elsworth ultimately became the Royal Golf Club’s “Masters Champion”
AL HAKAM CROWNED SCRATCH CHAMPION
SULTAN Al Hakam clinched the 2016 Scratch Championship with a two-day gross total of 142 and a two-stroke win over defending champion Hamad Mubarak. Mohamed Al Noaimi had led proceedings after day one with a 69 but shot a second round 75 to fall back into third place, missing out on second place to Mubarak by virtue of a countback.
ARABIAN GOLF LOCAL NEWS X E R O X CORPORATE GOL F C HAL LENGE
TENZIN TSARONG AND FAIZ RIAZ TAKE THE OMAN XEROX QUALIFIER AT ALMOUJ THE dynamic duo of Tenzin Tsarong and Faiz Riaz clinched their spot in the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge Grand Final, thanks to an impressive victory in the qualifying event held at Almouj Golf, Muscat, Oman, recently. Tsarong and Riaz formed a formidable partnership to score 41 Stableford points to win by three points from Team Toon Army, William Welsh and Danny Renihan, with Team Birdie, Barath Gopal and Srinivas Hebbar, finishing third. The on-course competitions on the day included deVere Acuma’s Nearest the Pin on Hole 2, which was won by Muthu Samy; Select Property’s Hole 4 Nearest the Pin by Tenzin Tsarong; and Chrysler’s Hole 14 Nearest the Pin, won by Andrew Long. The hole-in-one prize offered by Ajman Tourism remained unclaimed. In addition, Xerox introduced a new on-course competition called ‘King of Pars’, which recognises and further rewards teams that perform best on par 3s, best on the par 4s and best on the par 5s. The teams that score the best on the various hole distances win a prize, as well as enter the ‘Golden Ticket’ draw, which will see the lucky entrant win a place in the 2016 Grand Final. The winners were: King of the Par 3s: Bret Archer and Tony LeithHedlay; King of the Par 4s: Sanjay Gupta and Paresh Sahai; King of the Par 5s: Barath Gopal and Srinivas Hebbar
THE HABSHAN HACKERS – ROBERT MAPETLA AND MICK FUESTE – CLINCH THE FOURTH XEROX QUALIFIER BY A POINT MORE than 70 players teed it up in the fourth qualifying round of the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club last month and coming out on top with a superb score of 43 Stableford points were Robert Mapetla and Mick Fueste, affectionately known as the Habshan Hackers. Finishing one point behind in second place was the Team RGS of John Moore and Patrick Morrow while a countback was needed to settle third place. After three scorecards were compared, third place eventually went to Edoardo Galeppini and Michael Nielsen from Team Cigispeed Rickmers, with fourth place awarded to Paul Abouchakra and Hisham Shammas from Team Under Par. Fifth place went to Alan Salem and Soumaya Salem from Team Al Jeyad. The Chrysler Nearest the Pin on Hole 5 was won by Dave Storey; Select
Property Group’s Hole 8 Nearest the Pin by Jehangir Makhdum; deVere Acuma’s Nearest the Pin on Hole 16 by Aniket Chitnis. Philip Lynagh and Martin
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Lambert were Kings of the Par-3s. George Akhras and Adonis Nasr and Anish Bhatia and Swati Singh were Kings of the Par-4s and Par-5s respectively.
STYLE&TRAVEL
LEGENDARY LARA
STAR SPOTTING –BRIAN LARA 76 DRIVING RANGE– LAMBORGHINI LP740 SV 78 ‘FAVOURITE FIVE’: FELIPE AGUILAR 80
TALKS GOLF When West Indies cricket legend, Brian Lara, wasn’t smashing sixes and fours from the crease, you could invariably find him on the golf course. Worldwide Golf found out about the low-handicapper’s love for the sport and what decision he made with his swing so it wouldn’t affect his iconic cricket legacy.
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S TA R S POT T I N G
BRIAN LARA
Left-handed batsman, right-handed golfer
A
RGUABLY one of the greatest batsmen of all time, former West Indies captain Brian Lara specialised in piling up huge run totals. However, he is also skilled at getting low scores in a different ballstriking sport. The retired Windies legend was so professional and disciplined with his sporting prowess that he switched hands at golf so it wouldn’t affect his batting style. Lara plays off a low handicap but has a few weaknesses that he aims to brush up on… Worldwide Golf: How and when did your interest in golf begin? Brian Lara: I was playing a four-day cricket match at Montserrat against the Leeward Islands and we ended up having four days to spare. The opportunity arose to play golf and I took it. I started as a left-handed player and got into the game quite quickly. But I soon switched to playing right-handed so it wouldn’t affect my left-hand batting style. I used to bowl right hand leg brakes as well. I’ve been playing golf for 22 years now – but I’m still playing badly! WWG: What is your current handicap Brian? BL: My handicap at the moment is 5. WWG: What are your favourite courses to play in the Middle East? BL: I love playing in the Middle East but one that sticks out the mostt is Yas Links. The course is beautiful. It has a great layout and is extremely enjoyable to play. However, if the wind is strong, it can be tricky. My favourite hole on Yas has to be number three.
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WWG: Which current golf Tour player do you most admire and why? BL: I would definitely have to say Rory McIlroy because his power is unbelievable. I love the top guys but I really admire the younger guys who are challenging their way to the top like Matt Fitzpatrick. Golf is a fabulous sport because mental strength is the difference between the great and the greatest. WWG: What would you say is the strongest part of your golf game? BL: My putting – by vfar. If I wasn’t skilled in this part of the game, most of my holes would be double-figure scores! WWG: Which part of your game would you most like to improve? BL: The rest of my game apart from putting. I would like to become a better driver and also more accurate with my chipping and short game. If I could improve in all aspects of the game, I think I would enjoy it a little bit more.
KING OF THE CREASE • • • •
BRIAN LARA SET A RECORD FOR THE HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORE (501) IN FIRST CLASS CRICKET. ACCORDING TO SRI LANKA’S LEGENDARY OFFSPINNER MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN, LARA IS THE HARDEST PLAYER HE EVER BOWLED TO. LARA IS THE SIXTH HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL TEST RUN SCORER IN HISTORY WITH 11,953 RUNS. LARA HOLDS THE WORLD RECORD OF SCORING THE MOST NUMBER OF RUNS IN A SINGLE OVER IN TEST CRICKET – 28 RUNS AGAINST LEFT-ARM SPINNER R.J. PETERSON OF SOUTH AFRICA .
LP750 Superveloce Lamborghini unveiled the new Aventador SV at the 2015 Geneva auto show. The SuperVeloce, meaning ‘super fast’ in Italian, has been part of Lamborghini’s pedigree dating back to the Miura. So to make the current Aventador into the SV they put it on a diet and ramped up the muscle in the engine bay, then styled it to look outlandishly fast, even when it’s parked. With a limited production run and a price tag of more than $500,000 it might look like a bargain, particularly if you were considering buying a used Bugatti Veyron.
Superveloce
So, how different is the SuperVeloce compared to the regular Aventador supercar? Externally, there are wild style differences, including new doors, rocker panels, and fenders, as well as modified scoops and a massive, manually adjustable rear wing mounted on two giant struts. Most of these were made from carbon fibre, helping reduce the overall weight by 110 pounds. Not a huge saving when it tips the scales at just over 4,000lbs. The effectiveness of the styling isn’t the weight-saving but the vastly improved aerodynamics in which Lamborghini claim downforce is up by 170 per cent, and aero dynamic efficiency has been increased by 150 percent.
Added muscle
The 6.5-litre V-12’s power increase has been upped nearly 50bhp to a staggering 750 horsepower at 8400 rpm and 509 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm. That all comes from a naturally aspirated engine with no turbos, just raw muscle. Lamborghini expects the SV to rocket from zero to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds, to 124 mph in 8.6, and to 186 mph in 24 flat and keeps on going all the way to around to 220 mph. The SuperVeloce also incorporates magnetohydrodynamical shocks, variable-ratio steering, carbon-ceramic brake rotors, forged matte-black wheels, measuring 20 inches up-front and 21 inches in back, and Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber. Lamborghini describes the Aventador SuperVeloce as “the most sports-oriented, fastest, and most emotional series-production Lamborghini ever.” Lamborghini developed a special “Rosso Bia” red as the SuperVeloce’s launch colour, with five additional colours offered off the rack. Of course, for a price, the Sant’Agata automaker will paint the Aventador with anything owners desire under its personalisation programme. Bruce Wayne could just order carbon black and save time building the next batmobile.
ENGINE
6.5 Litre V12
0-62 MPH
2.8
POWER
approx. secs.
750bhp Worldwide GOLF 78
D R I V I N G RA N G E
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TO P 5 CO U R S E S
‘FAVOURITE FIVE’ with Felipe Aguilar Emirates Golf Club (UAE)
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Le Golf National (France)
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1
TPC Sawgrass
5
You have to be able to play left and right off the tee so it’s a great challenge. The course is always in fantastic shape.
It’s a great golf course. I think it has improved throughout the years. It used to be wide open with no trees but is harder now. It has a nice set-up ready for the Ryder Cup.
The Stadium course at Ponte Vedra, HQ of the US PGA Tour, is one of my favourite layouts. When I was in college that was where we used to practice as a team – so it holds great memories for me.
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AGE: 41 FROM: VALDIVIA, CHILE TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1999 PROFESSIONAL TOUR WINS: 7
Wentworth Club (England)
It’s a beautiful course and I think the changes they have done have made it even more attractive, especially on the 18th.
Crans-Montana (Switzerland)
When I’m in Europe I love to play this course, which is in a beautiful part of Switzerland. It is a very nice course.