The article below was written by Jack Backhouse of National Club Golfer.
I met up with PGA Professional Jack Backhouse to take a look at three set-up keys to drive the ball better…
Tee the ball higher
Most amateur golfers tee the ball too low. I think the main reason for this is players are worried about skying their drivers, but this shouldn’t be a worry as the pros of a high tee far outweigh the cons.
Optimal tee height encourages the player to hit up on the ball, which creates perfect launch conditions for long drives. Hitting up on the golf ball allows the golfer to launch the ball higher with lower spin, which produces more distance.
A low tee forces the player to hit down on the ball and will often make striking the ball difficult and a swing path that’s out to in, resulting in weak fades or slices. Rory McIlroy is the best driver in the world and he tees the ball up incredibly high so that he can give himself the best possible chance of a good shot.
Tilt the spine angle away from the target
Pretty much all athletic sports movements are done with a spine tilted away from the target. Dropping the right shoulder below the left shoulder for a right-handed golfer sets the body in a position to launch the ball up into the air rather than hit down on it.
Hitting the driver up in the air is hard enough without trying to do it from a poor body position. Most slicers or shot hitters will often find an impact position where the spine angle is too straight or even tilted towards the target, which encourages a downward strike and sub-optimal launch conditions.
Tilting the spine away from the target gives you an angle to rotate your body around, which will produce a flatter golf swing and more swing speed, which is brilliant when using the longest club in the bag.
How can you set up to avoid a slice?
A big reason golfers slice the ball is how they setup, but more specifically than that, they often have terrible shoulder and forearm alignment.
Addressing the ball with a high right forearm and open shoulders is a disaster if you want to drive the golf ball straight, as it restricts the backswing turn and makes the golf club swing plane too steep, producing weak slices that won’t help you score well.
Something that can help golfers drive the ball straighter and longer is by addressing the ball with closed shoulders and a tucked right arm. This always helps the player make a bigger shoulder turn (the best drivers of the ball all have the biggest turns) and helps get the players club and hands more behind them in the backswing.
The benefit of this is that this will allow a golfer to have a faster club head speed and is more likely to help them create an in-to-out swing path that produces a draw. There are plenty of images of hall of fame drivers of the ball that show this.
The article below was written by Matt Chivers of National Club Golfer.
There was a small, select group of people involved in the merger we now see between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
One of them was Jimmy Dunne, a man who might not be an instantly recognisable face to golf fans despite his key role on the PGA Tour.
Dunne, the PGA Tour Policy Board’s vice-chairman, was the man to break the news to Rory McIlroy at 6.30am on the morning of June 6, describing the situation as going for the green from 280 yards over water.
Along with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley, PGA Tour Policy Board member Ed Herhily and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the fine details of the deal were thrashed out over seven weeks.
Dunne was a key cog behind the scenes of the machine that produced what could be professional golf’s most ground-breaking deal, but who is he?
Who is PGA Tour Board member Jimmy Dunne?
Dunne began his career in the hustle and bustle of Wall Street after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
He has gone on to become the vice chairman and senior managing principal of investment bank Piper Sandler, and he was one of the founders of Sandler O’Neill and Partners L.P.
Sandler O’Neill went on to become the largest independent full-service investment banking firm that had a focus on the financial services sector.
He is based in Palm Beach and plays an active role in Piper Sandler’s client relationships and advises on mergers and acquisitions.
Dunne has been a regular industry commentator on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, speaking on leadership and management issues.
In terms of sport, many fans and even players can only dream of the Jimmy Dunne golf membership list, which comprises Augusta National, Shinnecock Hills, and Pine Valley.
He is also the president of Seminole Golf Club – a club that hosts the Seminole Pro-Member that features the best players the sport has to offer.
The 65-year-old was asked to join the PGA Tour Policy Board in 2022 and one of his main jobs in the last 12 months was to convince players not to leave the circuit to join LIV Golf.
In an interview with Golf Central, Dunne addressed a number of key topics to do with the PGA Tour’s U-turn in collaborating with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
One of them was 9/11 and the links of Saudi Arabia’s association with the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001 – a day very close to Dunne’s heart.
At the time of the attacks, Dunne was trying to qualify for the US Mid Amateur when he lost 66 employees on the 104th floor in the south tower of the World Trade Centre.
“Every day the first thing I think about is that, several times during the day, I think about it and the last thing I think about at night is that,” Dunne said.
“That has not changed since that day and I’m not alone in that. I would guarantee you that every one of those family members has that same condition. It’s just a reality of how unbelievably sad and awful that day was.
“I am quite certain and have had conversations with a lot of knowledgeable people that the people that I’m dealing with (the PIF) had nothing to do with (the Sept 11 2001 attacks).
“And if someone can find someone that unequivocally was involved with it, I’ll kill him myself. We don’t have to wait around.”
Dunne believes it was important to work with the PIF and Al-Rumayyan to “unite the game” and overcome their differences in the discussions.
Despite Al-Rumayyan’s role as chairman of the new entity, Dunne asserted the PGA Tour hasn’t given up control of its own circuit and it will endeavour to look after the players who remained loyal in the last 12 months.
“By definition, as much as I liked the people I dealt with, the game of golf is too important, the legacy of the PGA Tour is too important,” he added.”
“The people that we have in place have too much experience that we have no desire, no need – there is no way on god’s green earth we’re going to give up control.
“We have to make sure that whatever it is that we finalise, they (the PGA Tour loyalists) feel good about their decisions.
“I think we can get there. I don’t think it’s going to be easy and I don’t think we’re all going to agree, but I think we can get there.”
The article below was written by Steve Carroll of National Club Golfer.
When you think about pace of play, I’ll bet one word looms large. Slow. A lost ball here, a forgotten provisional there, a three-ball that has sprayed it everywhere but the fairway – all get the clocks whirring and keep groups waiting.
But slow play, as you will imagine it, is just a small piece of the overall pace puzzle. Trying to solve it is an intriguing part of being on the officiating team at a major championship.
For all that we like to focus on rulings, dramas, and controversies; about wrong balls, and relief granted or denied, keeping pace of play going is probably a refereeing team’s most important task. It’s certainly the role that takes up most of their time.
At the English Senior Amateur Championship at Alwoodley this week, where I am one of six referees, there are 144 players to get round on each of the first two days. The tee times start at 7am and the last is at 3.30pm.
That’s a lot of opportunity to get unstuck if you haven’t got a clear handle on how long it’s taking for golfers to get round. For the players, it’s clear. Sent out in threes, they should be finished in four hours and 12 minutes.
Making that happen, as best as possible, is where we step in. All referees are given a timing sheet. On it is every group, their tee time, and a clock time from one to 18. That’s when the players need to have completed that hole. It’s judged from the moment the flag goes in.
Referees each monitor a series of holes – let’s call them patches – and as groups come through their quadrants they check their progress against their target time. The chief referee roams the course and can quickly get to any areas that might be causing a problem.
The team aren’t panicking if a particular group is the odd minute or two out. But when the figure starts to climb, the referees are talking.
They are in constant communication with each other on radios, updating the whole team out on the course about which groups might be falling behind, which need encouragement, those that might need a warning to get a move on and, if it comes to it, those where players may require being put on the clock and timed.
It’s not a trap. The intention is not to penalise. Sometimes players have bad days. Sometimes they have difficult shots. Sometimes they lose balls. Sometimes they score badly.
If a group has spent time searching for balls, or players have to go back to the tee to play another, it’s discussed, factored into timing calculations, and delivered to officials.
As groups move out of the patch of one referee, they can be picked up by another if they still require close monitoring.
It’s not about speeding round the course. It’s not about disrupting the individual rhythm of players – some of us naturally move faster than others. It’s keeping groups in position and keeping play moving that’s the key.
‘Pace of play is like a heartbeat’ is how it’s beautifully described to me by a member of the Alwoodley team. ‘You have to keep it pulsing and the beat needs to be regular’. Too slow or misfiring and you’re in trouble.
There are tricks of the trade that will provide respite if there is a danger of a traffic jam forming. A 50-minute starters’ gap at Alwoodley, applied when half the field have got on their way, essentially provides a re-set and means the afternoon starters won’t be walking into rush hour if things have gone a bit awry.
But on day one at the English Senior Men’s Amateur, they do not. Each little delay brings a new team missive, and buggies moving around the course keep any delays as much as possible to their minimum.
It is a policy that’s keenly enforced. I see the odd random timing carried out when a message does not appear to have hit home. I do one myself. And with two competition days still remaining, there will be no resting on laurels. A new day brings new challenges. These officials will be waiting.
Let’s be honest—we could probably
all do with learning how to clean our golf balls and other golf equipment better
to make them last longer.
If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place. Golf equipment can be expensive, so it pays to look after it (pardon the pun).
How to clean golf balls
While most of us leave our balls in the bottom pocket of our golf bags until we let one slip out of bounds, there’s a better way forward both for the longevity of the ball and its dazzling appearance.
1) The most tried-and-tested method is to get a bucket of warm water and mix some soap into it. A wipe with a damp cloth should remove any excess dirt, but if you want to try a bit harder, a toothbrush or soft-bristled brush should get the job done. One final rinse should have them looking close to new again.
2) If that hasn’t worked, soak your golf balls in a bucket of water and add some white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, bleach or OxiClean (a mix of hydrogen peroxide and washing soda). Soak the balls for up to half an hour but no longer to avoid them getting waterlogged. Again, a cloth or soft-bristled brush should remove any final remnants of dirt. This method is believed to be one step up from the more old-fashioned soap and water combo.
3) You don’t have to search very far before finding a photo of a load of golf balls in a dishwasher. But does it actually work? It’s been tested many times, and it appears that it doesn’t matter which part of your dishwasher the balls go in—the results are great. It should be noted that if you have a ‘Heated Dry’ cycle, it’s advisable to turn this off, as lengthy heat exposure and golf balls aren’t a good mix. This seems a particularly easy way to get old golf balls looking back to their best.
4) If you’re looking to remove your permanent marker lines, rubbing alcohol, acetone, or nail polish remover is your best bet. Rubbing alcohol is the gentlest of these solutions, while acetone is the harshest, so if applying the latter, use gloves and take care when applying it.
Cleaning golf balls: what not to do
When cleaning your golf balls, don’t…
Soak the balls for too long
Leave them in the sun for too long, as this could change the internal compression, which will impact how the ball reacts off the clubface
Use undiluted bleach, as this might have an unwanted effect on the ball’s outer layer
Use a sharp metal brush or too stiff a bristled brush, as you might scratch the surface of the ball or damage the outer layer, both of which will impact the performance of the ball
How to clean golf shoes
Proper golf shoes are a significant investment, and with some straightforward care, you can easily prolong their lifespan, feel and performance.
FootJoy is the No. 1 golf shoe brand and provides great tips and advice on looking after your golf shoes. Some of the following will be alarmingly familiar…
FootJoy suggest rotating your golf shoes, as two pairs of shoes will last more than twice the length of time one pair will
Use a shoe horn when putting on your shoes to protect the heel. Damage to the heel can cause a poor fit and often leads to blistering
FootJoy strongly recommend leaving a shoe tree in your shoes when you’re not playing
Don’t over-tighten your cleats, and check on them after each round
Don’t store your golf shoes in the boot of your car, as high temperatures will break down the materials over time
Golf shoes: after a round
Always remove any dirt from your
shoes straight after a round. Make the most of the air dryer if you can, and
get rid of any residue, which will make the post-round clean much easier. Wet
wipes are also a great way to give your golf shoes a good clean, and a soft
brush and warm water with soap/Fairy liquid will get into the tricky spots, too.
Tip: It’s best to remove the laces and inner soles when cleaning your shoes to give you the best chance of making them look and perform the best. When drying, place them in an airing cupboard or elsewhere indoors rather than in direct sunlight. Never use a hairdryer, as excessive heat can damage the uppers and outsoles.
Given we live in the UK, we play
some of our golf in the rain, so it’s essential that we look after our shoes.
After cleaning, place newspaper inside the shoes for around 8-10 hours to soak
up excess water, and then employ the shoe tree to encourage the shoe to return
to its normal shape.
FootJoy offers a Wax Shoe Polish perfect for looking after high-quality leather and giving your shoes a lasting shine. However, remember that this is a polish and not a cleaning product—so still ensure your shoes are as clean as possible before applying it.
How to clean golf gloves
Like with your shoes, it’s a good
idea to have a few pairs of golf gloves on rotation to extend the lifespan of
each of them.
If you’re just hitting balls on the range, there’s not necessarily any need to use one of your finest Cabretta leather offerings for this. Instead, it’s worth considering a synthetic glove for practice, as they’re more resistant to repeated use, and leather gloves certainly lose their effectiveness when sweating a lot.
Air your golf gloves out as often as
possible. Some golf bags even have a Velcro tab to let you attach your glove,
which certainly helps you get the most out of them.
While Tour pros may change gloves
every round or so, a decent glove should last you for 15-20 rounds at least.
You can achieve this by not stuffing it in the bottom of your bag with the rest
of your gear. There’s a chance that it might get punctured on the tees, and when
folded up, your gloves will lose their shape and become crusty.
Remember how it felt when you first put that leather glove on? Well, put it back in your bag the same way that it came out. Stretch it back to its original shape and place it flat away from your other bits or, ideally, in the packet it came in.
And when it gets wet, that doesn’t necessarily spell the end of its lifespan. However, do NOT use a hairdryer or put it on a radiator—instead, use your airing cupboard or just let it dry out naturally to help it back to its original shape.
Most leather gloves are not machine washable, either, so only gently hand wash your favourite leather gloves with a mild detergent, and always air dry afterwards.
The article below was written by Steve Carroll of National Club Golfer.
You all know you’ve got a World Handicap System index, but do you really know what that number represents?
We’ve had more than 30 months to get used to our decimal points and the figure we see when we open our digital apps but there is still some confusion, when you factor in course and playing handicaps, about what those digits actually stand for.
I’ve been asked in the past, for example, if I could really class myself as a single figure handicapper if my course handicap was in double digits.
And while most of us knew our CONGU handicap was a measure of our potential, of what we could do out on the golf course if we had a good day, is that the same for WHS? Or is it all change?
I asked James Luke, England Golf’s head of handicapping and course rating, to give us the lowdown on what our World Handicap System index means.
“Within the Rules of Handicapping, it’s about your demonstrated ability – simple as that,” he said. “The former CONGU system was about potential. We used to say, ‘if you play to your handicap three times a year then you’ve had a good season.
“With WHS, it’s about your demonstrated ability and the shots that you need to get around a golf course. If you fall short, then you haven’t played to your demonstrated ability for that round.
“And that’s really where the eight out of 20 scores comes in – because that’s what is producing your average score differential.
“While a lot of people like to say it’s like the American System, in truth there are elements from all the previous handicap systems around the world.
“It has been a big change for our clubs and golfers, as all scores have predominantly been competition focused and still now 90 per cent of our rounds are competition based, so it’s a big culture shift for us.”
Want more on the World Handicap System?
England Golf’s head of handicapping James Luke joined the From the Clubhouse podcast for an in-depth chat about all things WHS. You can listen to that here, or on your preferred podcast platform.
Wales isn’t the ‘Home of Golf’ like Scotland. It isn’t blessed with courses of mystical reputation such as Ballybunion and Royal County Down, as Ireland is. And it doesn’t have the Open venues or the exquisite heathlands of England.
But there is good reason to think Wales is the best-value
destination for a golf break in Britain and Ireland.
While its top course is hardly inexpensive, it’s positively cheap compared to others of its calibre. The handful of Welsh courses beneath it—which all get into the various Top 100 rankings of British and Irish courses—are exceptionally good value.
The second half of its top 10 is simply sensational in terms of quality-to-cost ratio. Wales completely dominates Golf World magazine’s ranking of the Top 100 Courses available for £60 and under. The whole country is home to around 150 courses; Wales amazingly had 17 of them in that Top 100.
Here is our verdict on the top 10 best golf courses in Wales—plus some bonus suggestions with ‘X-Factor’ qualities.
Located on the edge of Rest Bay in South Wales, this is the clear No.1 in the country. Featuring in any credible ranking of the finest courses in the world, Royal Porthcawl has hosted the Walker Cup, the Amateur Championship and the Senior Open Championship.
It was here, in 1995, that the feted amateur Tiger Woods—whose prodigious ability and monstrous driving were already legendary—was humbled by short-hitting career amateur Gary Wolstenholme, who still lived at home with his mum.
It’s one of the finest golf courses in Britain and Ireland; a magnificent links comprising a fabulous setting. There’s a view of the water from every one of its undulating fairways, making the capricious seaside winds an integral part of the challenge.
For Wales #2 and #3, we head up the west coast to two courses steeped in history. First, to ‘Harlech’, a golf course often rated as the ‘best par 69 in Britain’. Royal St David’s is a links of enduring class, incorporating some of the most exacting holes in Wales that wind through some terrific dunes.
Add in a superb setting with views over to Snowdonia and the overlooking Harlech Castle, and there’s a real charisma to this seaside experience.
This is the venue for your second round on your journey along
the Welsh west coast. The links here have stations right outside them, so when
you walk off the 18th at Harlech, head slightly inland and get on the rattler
for a short journey to Aberdovey.
The great writer Bernard Darwin rated it as the links with the most soul, and he wasn’t wrong. Part of the reason for this may have been because his Uncle played a part in laying it out—using flower pots as holes!
Aberdovey has come a long way since then, though, and is another GB&I Top 100 entrant with bags of character. It starts in explosive fashion and ends with a four-hole stretch that is absolutely out of this world.
On the outskirts of the town of Newport lies a Ryder Cup venue of iconic renown. The dream of owner Sir Terry Matthews became a reality in 2010 when Ross McMurray’s made-for-matchplay course hosted a Ryder Cup remembered for its rainy Friday start and explosive Monday conclusion.
A round here is to walk in the footsteps of Ryder Cup legends. This modern parkland is packed with risk-reward holes; a boring round on the Twenty Ten is simply not an option.
This is Wales’ most photographed golf course by virtue of its headland location. It’s utterly spellbinding, offering ‘screensaver’ views from so many holes on the peninsula. It won’t win any architectural awards because there are some compromises on a few holes, but this Insta-worthy clifftop course isn’t there to subtly please; it’s there to blow your mind.
This course has really gained favour in recent years.
The club describes its courses as ‘The Links in the Sky’, and that’s a very
good summary of what to expect!
Pennard plays over ‘linksy’ turf, but it is perched on ground higher than most of its type, and therefore deserves the often used but rarely accurate term ‘clifftop links’. Expect unforgettable holes, adventurous greens, sloping fairways, five-star views of the Gower peninsula, and lots of ‘I’m glad we came’ moments.
The players’ links. Conwy is an honest, unremittingly challenging course that constantly challenges by virtue of regular changes in direction. It plays over relatively open linksland for the most part and tightens for the last third, weaving between unforgiving gorse. This Curtis Cup host course has arguably never been in better condition.
Rarely is the phrase ‘a course of two halves’ more aptly
applied than to Bridgend’s ‘P&K’.
The front nine here is perfectly nice, featuring some
good short holes and well-placed pot bunkers, but then, you enter the back nine
among some epic dunes, quickly switching to World Top 100 calibre holes.
Think we’re exaggerating? There’s only one way to find out…
Not far from ‘P&K’ is this moorland of high class. The turf here is superb and a joy to hit from. Although, the gorse that lines some of it is less appealing—not least in the exacting final three. Southerndown might be most memorable, though, for a first hole that could never be described as a friendly handshake!
This classic out-and-back links in Burry Port starts and ends in a relatively modest fashion, but the holes that make up the majority in the middle are absolutely outstanding.
Best golf courses in Wales: five more to consider…
A west coast course with a parkland front nine and a wonderful links back nine. Porthmadog is also barely a mile from the famous Italianate village of Portmeirion, where the TV series ‘The Prisoner’ was filmed—well worth a visit.
As well as the Ryder Cup, Wales has also hosted the Solheim Cup. This Chepstow course was the venue—a parkland with good variety and an infamous par 3.
This one rivals Nefyn for views; it’s that spectacular. Set on the coast just west of Swansea, the par-3 16th and par-4 17th are out of this world. It’s no wonder the likes of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones enjoy them.
Home to a modern course winding between mature trees and plenty of water, the Vale Resort is often used by the Welsh national rugby team as a base when playing home games in Cardiff.
