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MASTER YOUR SHORT GAME<br />
SHANE LOWRY SHOWS YOU HOW TO CHIP IT CLOSE EVERY TIME<br />
OCTOBER 2015, ISSUE 11 VOL 56 | JORDAN SPIETH SPECIAL – HIS MIND, THE TEAM, THE BRAND | SHANE LOWRY'S SHORT GAME | GEORGE COETZEE INTERVIEW | BETTER-PLAYER IRONS TEST | GOLF IN FRANCE<br />
NO MORE<br />
SHANKS!<br />
<strong>Golf</strong>’s 5 most<br />
destructive<br />
faults fixed<br />
PAGE 73<br />
JORDAN<br />
SPIETH<br />
> The 7 moments that led him to greatness<br />
> Why he’s the hero golf needs right now<br />
> Exclusive insight from his coaches<br />
NEW IRONS<br />
TESTED<br />
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Ping i-Series<br />
Cobra Fly-Z+<br />
GEORGE<br />
COETZEE<br />
“I’m not<br />
that good at<br />
golf, but I’m<br />
a fantastic<br />
putter!”<br />
FEDEX<br />
FLOP<br />
Why the<br />
big money<br />
event needs<br />
an overhaul<br />
> ZACH JOHNSON’S KEY SWING MOVES > GREAT GOLF IN FRANCE ><br />
WIN A £6,000 DUBAI BREAK > WHY FAST GREENS ARE RUINING GOLF<br />
OCTOBER 2015 £4.50
GOLFING MESSIAH OR<br />
SOULLESS ROBOT:<br />
WHO IS THE REAL<br />
JORDAN SPIETH?<br />
Shane Ryan explores the polarised opinions of golf’s newest superstar<br />
and discovers the real champion who lies somewhere in between.<br />
38 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>October</strong> 2015
GOLF WORLD<br />
SPECIAL<br />
<strong>October</strong> 2015 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> 39
INTERVIEW<br />
‘I DON’T THINK I’M<br />
THAT GOOD<br />
AT GOLF, BUT I’M A<br />
FANTASTIC<br />
PUTTER!’<br />
George Coetzee has won twice on the European Tour this season, yet<br />
he’s far from happy with the shape of his game. Here, in a magnificently<br />
candid interview, he talks to Pete Masters about putting prowess,<br />
psycho analysis and his plans for a new life on the PGA Tour.
September 2014 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> 61
XXXXXXXXXXXX<br />
US PGA REVIEW<br />
JUDGEMENT<br />
DAY<br />
Jason Day produced the lowest score in major history to see off a world class pack. John<br />
Huggan witnessed the Aussie win a long overdue first major at Whistling Straits.
5 DRILLS FOR BETTER<br />
PUTTING<br />
Ken Brown, one of the greatest putters in European Tour history, shares his<br />
favourite practice drills to improve your technique and feel for holing out.<br />
Drills extracted from<br />
‘One Putt - The<br />
Ultimate Guide to<br />
Perfect Putting’ by Ken<br />
Brown, published by<br />
Hamlyn, £18.99,<br />
www.octopusbooks.<br />
co.uk<br />
78 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> September 2014
INSTRUCTION<br />
1. Two-putt drill I’ve used this all-round practice routine since I was a lad.<br />
You need three balls of the same type, preferably new ones.<br />
Set up eight starting points, evenly spaced around the<br />
perimeter of the green, and mark each with a tee. Hit three<br />
balls from each spot, trying to complete the eight ‘hole’<br />
course in as few putts as possible. Allowing two putts per<br />
ball gives an overall par of 48. Breaking this par is not easy,<br />
even on a small green. With just a small improvement in<br />
your lag putting you will start to eliminate three-putts.<br />
The pin position and<br />
shape of the green<br />
means you are practising<br />
touch and feel from<br />
various lines and lengths.<br />
Remember to keep your<br />
head steady and you will<br />
then find the sweetspot on<br />
the putter face more often.<br />
Keeping a score adds an<br />
element of competition that<br />
builds pressure and allows you<br />
to track your improvement.<br />
By using three balls<br />
from each tee you<br />
can modify line or<br />
pace if you make a<br />
misjudgement,<br />
building your feel.<br />
2. Try bowling<br />
This drill highlights the importance of striking<br />
the ball consistently from the sweetspot.<br />
At the Dunlop Masters in the late 1970s I watched Peter<br />
Butler, four-time Ryder Cup player, rolling putts across<br />
the practice green. He didn’t seem to be holing many but<br />
as I looked closer I realised he wasn’t even aiming at a<br />
cup. He would just send one ball across the green and<br />
then two more alongside it. What was he up to?<br />
Rather than aim at something specific, he was rolling<br />
the first ball 25–30 feet then trying to keep his next two<br />
as close as possible to it, like a game of bowls. Anything<br />
stroked in the same way but slightly mis-hit will come up<br />
short. It takes a good touch to get one that ‘touches’. As<br />
a variation, hit the first ball then attempt to hit the next<br />
ball a little further and the third one a little further again,<br />
with all three balls ending within a putter’s length.<br />
<strong>October</strong> 2015 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> 79
INSIDER<br />
THE INSIDE TRACK ON THE BIGGEST STORIES AND NEWEST TRENDS<br />
The new<br />
configuration of<br />
324 dimples are<br />
more equally sized<br />
than in previous<br />
AD333 models.<br />
NEW BALL<br />
Two-piece perfection<br />
Srixon’s AD333 upgrade promises to perform even better, especially in the wind.<br />
The SpinSkin<br />
coating combined<br />
with a new<br />
urethane cover<br />
improves friction<br />
between ball and<br />
club by 20%.<br />
The good news for club golfers is that<br />
Srixon’s hugely popular AD333 ball has just<br />
been relaunched to go further and stop<br />
quicker. It’s the best selling two-piece ball in<br />
the UK market and thanks to three specific<br />
technologies, the new AD333 promises to<br />
perform even better than before.<br />
Scientists studied the effect of the wind<br />
with an aim to ‘give back what it takes<br />
away’. The result is a new configuration of<br />
324 dimples that improve the aerodynamic<br />
stats for greater distance and less drag. Plus<br />
it has a new cover and improved core.<br />
European Senior Tour star Andrew<br />
Murray is a Srixon staff player and believes<br />
most club players would benefit by<br />
switching to this new model. “I’m convinced<br />
it’s the best ball out there for the majority of<br />
club golfers,” he says. “Amateurs will get<br />
much more from the AD333 than they<br />
would trying to use a ball that the pros<br />
play.”<br />
The ball will be available from mid-<br />
September and is aimed at players with<br />
a swing speed of 80mph or more.<br />
Price: £30 per dozen<br />
Web: www.srixon.co.uk<br />
104 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>October</strong> 2015
EQUIPMENT<br />
FASHION<br />
A golfer’s timepiece<br />
THE AD333<br />
IMPACT<br />
Ben Davis, Srixon’s<br />
UK and Europe<br />
Marketing Manager,<br />
on the 10-year rise<br />
of the AD333.<br />
Has Srixon’s market share changed<br />
very much since the AD333 was first<br />
launched?<br />
It certainly has. The ball was first<br />
introduced in 2005 when the market<br />
share in the UK was just one per cent.<br />
This is the seventh generation and we<br />
now have just over 25% of share. It’s<br />
been an incredible climb and we’re now<br />
the number two ball brand in the UK.<br />
So the AD333 has put Srixon very much<br />
on the map.<br />
I think nine consecutive years as the<br />
best selling two-piece ball is going to<br />
do that.<br />
Etiqus launch a range of watches specifically for golfers.<br />
Finely crafted timepieces<br />
and golfers are a natural<br />
fit. While we don’t get paid<br />
for the pleasure of wearing<br />
ours like Rory McIlroy and<br />
many other top players, we<br />
can now benefit from a<br />
range of watches that have<br />
been designed specifically<br />
with golfers in mind.<br />
Etiqus is a British<br />
company that was founded<br />
by Gary Butler after people<br />
mistakenly identified him<br />
as a diver because of the<br />
watch he wore. He thought<br />
it would be great if there<br />
All four models<br />
feature a<br />
Swiss-made<br />
movement.<br />
was a timepiece that<br />
prompted the same<br />
recognition for golfers –<br />
and boasted some golfspecific<br />
functions too – so<br />
Etiqus was created.<br />
The range also includes<br />
four models: The Sport Pro<br />
Iconic (£329), the Sport<br />
Pro (from £269), Sport<br />
Lady (from £229) and<br />
Classic Tour (from £179).<br />
The first three boast the<br />
unique ‘Butler Bezel’,<br />
which runs around outside<br />
of the face and allows you<br />
to regulate your pace of<br />
play on the course to a<br />
guideline of three hours<br />
and 50 minutes for 18<br />
holes. The Classic Tour is a<br />
more understated option.<br />
A glass face crafted<br />
from Sapphire Crystal is<br />
virtually scratchproof and<br />
they are water resistant up<br />
to 100 metres.<br />
The subtle dimple<br />
pattern on the face gives<br />
the 3D effect of a golf ball<br />
and the second hand in the<br />
shape of a flag.<br />
Price: £179-£329<br />
Web: www.etiqus.co.uk<br />
A range of<br />
colours and<br />
strap materials<br />
are available.<br />
How does the new model compare<br />
with the old in terms of feel off the<br />
clubface?<br />
It’s very similar. There is some confusion<br />
I think over cover hardness. The AD333<br />
is a ‘soft’ feeling ball and if you compare<br />
cover hardness with that and a Callaway<br />
Supersoft, then the Srixon is softer. You<br />
shouldn’t be put off because it doesn’t<br />
say ‘soft’ on the ball.<br />
So what are the key changes that have<br />
been made?<br />
The new core has improved ball speed,<br />
but it’s the dimple pattern and the new<br />
cover that has made the difference. The<br />
‘SpinSkin’ technology was first launched<br />
in our premium Z-Star ball at the start of<br />
the year. Reducing the urethane bond in<br />
the cover means the ball spins more,<br />
especially in the shorter irons. We<br />
expect golfers to notice a difference in<br />
the control they get from 80 yards and<br />
in because this ball stays on the club for<br />
longer. Twenty per cent more friction<br />
leads to the ball stopping more quickly.<br />
RESEARCH<br />
Go smaller!<br />
Proof that Mini Drivers help mid to<br />
high-handicappers perform better.<br />
A survey by Sports Psychology Ltd has discovered<br />
that the TaylorMade Aeroburner Mini Driver inspired<br />
17.5 per cent more confidence in mid to highhandicappers<br />
and produced better results when<br />
compared to their current traditional driver.<br />
The Mini Driver was as long or longer for nearly<br />
all the 37 players in the study and produced a far<br />
higher number of fairways hit during on-course<br />
testing. The golfers, with handicaps from 14 to<br />
28, benefited from both a significant reduction in<br />
penalty shots from the tee and hit more greens in<br />
regulation and closer to the hole because more of<br />
their approach shots were from the fairway.<br />
Mini Drivers have a<br />
smaller head, more loft<br />
and a shorter shaft.<br />
<strong>October</strong> 2015 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> 105
COURSES<br />
BRINGING YOU THE BEST PLACES TO PLAY EACH MONTH<br />
110 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> The Open <strong>Issue</strong> 2015
COURSES<br />
TOP 100<br />
RANK 98<br />
CONTINENTAL<br />
EUROPE<br />
TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT<br />
Hardelot (Les Pins)<br />
Chris Bertram reports on the significant renovation of<br />
this long-time favourite of travelling British golfers.<br />
British influence in the town of<br />
Hardelot on the north-east coast<br />
of France is easy to detect as you<br />
arrive in this pretty seaside outpost. Even<br />
if the Union flag adorning the town’s coat<br />
of arms escapes your gaze, as you cruise<br />
along idyllic avenues lined by sweetscented<br />
trees and elegant villas, you are<br />
reminded of well-heeled English villages.<br />
It is not unlike a more concise replica of<br />
Wentworth estate.<br />
Neufchâtel-Hardelot, to give this<br />
resort in the Pas de Calais region its full<br />
name, is an immaculately-presented and<br />
prosperous testament to the ‘Entente<br />
Cordiale’. The British mien results from<br />
Hardelot being established in 1905 by<br />
Yorkshireman Sir John Whitley, who<br />
owned the local chateau. An advocate of<br />
outdoor pursuits, he included tennis<br />
courts, an equestrian centre, watersports<br />
and a golf course in his plans for this new<br />
town on the dunes of the Opal Coast.<br />
Word soon spread of these attractions<br />
and it enjoyed prominence in Edwardian<br />
times, with King George V among those<br />
LEFT AND BELOW: The removal of 3,000 trees has<br />
breathed life back into Les Pins. A less is more approach<br />
has helped redefine Tom Simpson’s original vision.<br />
who visited. Whitley had already created<br />
another Anglophilic town a few miles<br />
down the coastal, Le Touquet. It too had<br />
a golf course and both were ultimately<br />
shaped by architects from his homeland.<br />
While Le Touquet got Harry Colt, at<br />
Hardelot it was Tom Simpson. This<br />
noted creator of heathland masterpieces<br />
arrived in 1931 and ever since visitors<br />
have poured over the channel to enjoy his<br />
work at Les Pins – and indeed everything<br />
about Hardelot. Even when golf holidays<br />
to Iberia became readily available, British<br />
golfers stayed loyal to Hardelot and Le<br />
Touquet in large numbers.<br />
Yet in recent times it was as much habit<br />
based on sentimentality and convenience<br />
– Hardelot is 40 minutes from the<br />
Channel Tunnel – than excitement.<br />
Both courses had begun to lose their aura.<br />
Les Pins – whose sister course Les<br />
Dunes sits on dramatically undulating<br />
land a 15-minute walk away, along with<br />
its own clubhouse – is set among a pine<br />
forest, but being within a mile of the sea,<br />
the topography is essentially sandy<br />
linksland. It had suffered significantly<br />
from the linked issues of undesirable tree<br />
growth and subsequently maintenance.<br />
A forest generates as much as three per<br />
<strong>October</strong> 2015 <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>World</strong> 111