Table of contents for August 2019 in Golf Monthly

NICK TREBY Age 45 Home club N/A Handicap 24 Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Mark Thistleton FAULT  Nick would tend to stand up during his backswing. He would lose his angles and he’d get a flat shoulder plane at the top. This change in height meant he often hit the ground before the ball. DRILL Place a club across your shoulders and make a backswing, feeling that the grip end of the club reaches about belt high when it gets over the ball. This helps you turn while maintaining your spine angle. FIX Nick’s shoulders are now on a steeper plane at the top and he is staying in his posture much better. He started with soft shots getting used to the movement, but he…

EAMONN CANNON Age 66 Home club South Herts Handicap 14 Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Sam Day FAULT  Eamonn’s shoulders were open at set-up, so pointing left. When he took the club back, it was a lot to do with the arms and his hips and torso did not turn a lot. In the downswing, the club was coming down steeply over the top of the plane. It was allowing him to play a nice fade, but was robbing him of distance. DRILL Pulling the right foot back, closing the hips and shoulders and aiming everything to the right creates room for rotation, and also encourages a more in-to-out swing path and upward attack angle. FIX You can see how much more rotation Eamonn can…

SHANE REID Age 33 Home club Whittlebury Park Handicap 20 Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Mark Thistleton FAULT  Shane has what I’d call a ‘long drive technique’ where he gets well behind the ball, with the ball forward and teed up high and his spine angle tilted. These are good qualities but he overdoes them, meaning there was a tendency to ground the driver before the ball or hook the ball to the left. DRILL It helped to bring the ball back a touch and focus on just a slight tilt in the spine away from the target, feeling like his head was more on top of the ball at address. FIX This helped prevent Shane hitting the ground too early and stopped his clubface…

How have the M5 and M6 been received on tour? We haven’t struggled to get anyone into this year’s product – obviously we always have some players who are harder than others to get into new product, but our job as tour reps is to show them the benefits and get them improvements. These guys are playing for their careers and they are obviously not going to play a product if it isn’t superior to what they have got at the moment. What are the main reasons for the easier switch? I think it’s because last year was the first year Twist Face came about and some people were a little bit more resistant to it than others. But now everyone has seen the gains that it has brought and…

1 Viktor first started playing golf when his father brought a set of golf clubs back to Norway from the USA. Born in Oslo in 1997, the 21-year-old turned down offers from prestigious universities like Tennessee and Texas Tech to attend Oklahoma State, where he became a huge star. Hovland and Matthew Wolff created an intimidating team that at one stage was the best in the country. 2 Hovland created history in 2019 thanks to his exploits at The Masters and US Open. He became the first man since Matt Kuchar in 1998 to win the low amateur at both tournaments in the same season. This rounded off an immensely successful amateur career for Hovland, in which he got to No.1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and won the…

1 Many people expect to make birdie at a reachable par 5, but remember par is still a very good score – work towards that and see anything else as a bonus. If you don’t get a good drive away, get it back in play and aim to find the green with your third shot. 2 You have to see a golf course as a changing entity. If the wind is into and the fairways are soft, the bunkers may be in play. If it’s downwind and the fairways are firm, you might be playing your second from way past them. Don’t get hung up on what you’ve done in the past and adapt when conditions require it. 3 If you’re a short hitter, there’s no shame in laying up…

Why does Adidas Golf feel so strongly about supporting Parley for the Oceans? One of our core beliefs is that through sport we have the power to change lives. Once we found out what Parley was doing, it was a win-win for both of us. We understand the importance of sustainability and we want our products to incorporate recycled material. Does use of recycled plastic affect the shoe’s performance in any way? Absolutely not. We made sure the raw recycled material performed very well and use it in ways that only enhance it. What we are excited about is continuing to innovate and provide even more performance and technology in products that have recycled material. Do you hope other brands follow suit and start to use more recycled materials? Absolutely!…

In recent years, the USGA has faced considerable criticism of US Open courses. Chambers Bay in 2015 was “like putting on broccoli,” Erin Hills in 2017 was “wide open” and boring and Shinnecock Hills was over-baked and near unplayable. The USGA was under considerable pressure in the build-up to the 119th US Open at Pebble Beach, particularly with the event returning to an iconic venue that had itself come under scrutiny for being tricked up last time in 2010. After Gary Woodland produced a great display of ball-striking, course management and mental strength to prevail this June, over an impressive top ten including defending champion and world’s best Brooks Koepka as runner-up, the USGA could breathe a sigh of relief. Or could they? There will always be some seeking to…

Photography: Kevin Murray 1 Shaft plane This simple drill using an alignment stick will instantly highlight if your shaft is on plane halfway back. Set the stick in the ground just behind you, as I have done here, mirroring the angle of the shaft at address. Now take the club back until your arms are parallel to the ground and check that the angle of the shaft is the same as the alignment stick, rather than being too steep or shallow. If the angle is the same, then you know that you are in a good position. If it’s too steep, you’ll end up getting too tucked up and you’re likely to end up taking a bit of a gouge at the ball at impact. Too shallow and the likelihood…

1 One of the biggest mistakes amateurs make on the greens is missing sloping putts on the low side. If you fall into that camp, this drill will help. Find a breaking putt on the practice green and place six balls along the line of how you expect it to break. Starting with the straight putt that’s nearest to the hole, work your way back. Each putt you hit will break slightly more than the one before. When you reach the final ball, you’ll have a much better feel for the extent of the break facing you. This is a great way of training yourself to picture the line of sloping putts. 2 Another great drill to help you commit to hitting the apex of the curve is to practise…

Reader: Duncan Mackie (left) Handicap: 14 Home club: Hever Castle GC Coach: Clive Tucker (right) Clive’s assessment Duncan’s swing had developed a Zorro-like move at the top – a wobble and a re-route of the club. This was a reaction to his takeaway being too much on the inside, so the shaft was almost involuntarily lifting up. His stance was also a little too wide, which was restricting his ability to turn properly. Clive’s remedy To encourage a less inside takeaway, I held a stick in position to help Duncan get the shaft more parallel to the target line halfway back, something he could replicate by putting an alignment stick in the ground. Missing the stick gave Duncan the right takeaway feel. From here, he could work the club back…

Ping G410 hybrid OLLIE YATES London Handicap: 11 Why did you decide to buy the product? Although I have been fitted for a Ping G 3-wood, I lack confidence with it on the course. With a Ping G30 4-hybrid already in the bag and it being a go-to club for me, I decided to try out the latest Ping G410 2-hybrid in a lower fairway wood loft. How has it been performing? I have been hitting the same carry distance as my 3-wood with a tighter dispersion, so keeping it in the bag was a no brainer. I actually think the turbulators frame the ball nicely and I use this in situations I wouldn’t use my 3-wood, like the first cut of rough. I’m glad I’ve got my confidence back.…

Ping has signed former World No.1 amateur Viktor Hovland. He’ll use the G410 LST driver and a mixed iron set of iBlade and i210. TaylorMade has signed Matthew Wolff on a 14-club deal that also includes the TP5x ball, staff bag and hat. Titleist was the top choice of ball and all major equipment categories at the recent Amateur Championship, won by James Sugrue. Chez Reavie won the Travelers Championship with a 2017 TaylorMade M2 driver, M5 fairway woods and P750 irons. Andrea Pavan won the BMW International Open with a full Callaway bag, including the Epic Flash Sub Zero driver.…

How can golfers best help with keeping their courses in tip-top condition? One word: etiquette! I know we course managers sound like a broken record, but repairing pitch marks, replacing divots, removing broken tees and not taking trolleys too close to greens all help. How does your work change from season to season? As a guide, the spring and summer is cutting and presentation, while the autumn is overseeding of greens and every greenkeeper’s favourite, leaf clearance! In the winter, it is development work, such as bunkering and tee improvements. What are the greatest challenges in managing a golf course? A golf course is a living thing; it throws different things at you every day. One day the greens are great and the next day they look weaker, and please…

● Stay Crowne Plaza Belfast Located between Malone and Belvoir Park, the large Crowne Plaza is comfortable and spacious and ideally located for the area’s golf courses. There are three restaurants, along with a fully equipped gym and a 20-metre pool. ● Eat/drink The Mourne Seafood Bar, Belfast If fish is your thing then look no further than this restaurant in the centre of Belfast. From sublime fish and chips to dishes of much more complexity, you have an ocean of choice. ● Also play There are rich pickings around Belfast in every direction. A string of courses lie to the east along the shores of Belfast Lough, including McIlroy’s home course of Holywood, as well as Knock and Carnalea. Lisburn is a beauty to the west, while Dunmurry is…

Do you CT test different points on the face or just the centre? Not every club goes through the multi-point test on the face, it’s only about one in 20 heads where we CT test different parts of the face. Most heads just get CT tested on one part of the face. With different amounts of resin going into each head, will the draw/ fade bias be different in each? No, the draw/fade bias won’t be affected by the speed-tuning process, and while there will be different amounts of resin in each head, it won’t be enough to affect the swing weight. We have other processes, like hot melting, to make sure we get all the head weights the same. What happens if your golf ball strikes the face near…

CRAIG FULLER Age 38 Handicap 8 Home club South Kyme Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Sam Day FAULT  Craig has limited mobility in his left hip, so he lacked rotation in the downswing. He had to be active with his hands to square the club, so if his timing was off he could miss left or right. More often it was to the left so he would aim further right, compounding the problem. DRILL Take an open stance and flare the left foot out. This produces a feeling of playing punch fades with the driver and also encourages more hip rotation earlier in the downswing. FIX This feeling slowed Craig’s hands down in relation to his body. Once he had the feeling of having a…

TREVOR KIRBY Age 57 Home club Springwater GC Handicap 13 Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Mark Thistleton FAULT  Trevor had a strong grip. At the top of the backswing, the clubface was closed. He had good power, but he was having to work hard with his body and hands to square the face. With a ball position too far back, the face would return to the ball open, creating a slice. DRILL Instead, we focused more on the fitting. Piers wanted him to be able to play a fade, so the objective for the fitter was to shift the weights so he was hitting more up on the ball. Foot spray on the face helped us monitor the strike. FIX We moved the ball more…

Photography: Kevin Murray & Howard Boylan, shot on location at Woburn GC Tips from: Piers Ward, AndyProudman and Ewen Ferguson Photography: Kevin Murray andHoward Boylan Design: Kevin Eason andJamie Latchford There isn’t a golfer in existence who doesn’t want to hit longer and straighter drives. Not only is it an incredible feeling to leather a drive 20 yards past your playing partners, but it has been proven that added distance off the tee contributes to lower scores. This is why we’ve teamed up with TaylorMade and its roster of tour stars and high-profile coaches to help you achieve just that. We’ve got expert tips and drills from YouTube sensations Piers Ward and Andy Proudman from Me And My Golf, offering some great advice about how to apply pressure to the…

Photography: Getty Images 1 Finish well My finish and my balance were drilled into me by my dad at an early age. “Hold your finish, hold your finish,” he’d say. If you have a good finish position, it means everything that’s come before it has been in sync, in balance and it has worked well. 2 Consistent foundations You need constants in your golf swing. For me, they are set-up, grip and posture – the fundamentals. If you can keep those things the same, it makes everything else a little easier. 3 How to practise There have to be technical parts to your practice, but then you have to get away from that and put yourself under pressure. The more you can simulate what it’s going to be like on…

Photography: Getty Images On a recent golf tour to Ireland, I was involved in an especially heated discussion at the 19th hole. Granted, the combination of playing 36 holes on a sunny day and several cold post-round beverages was always likely to illicit some emotive exchanges, but I was a little surprised at how passionate the back and forth became. The topic? For once not the predictably incendiary conversations about pace of play, flag in or flag out or links vs. inland, but rather what is the most satisfying shot in golf? The big hitters forcefully put the case for the booming drive – with the fashionable five yards of fade favoured by the likes of DJ and Koepka – that left you in range of a par 5 or…

Links courses dominate our Top 100 Courses rankings, even though links golf actually makes up a small percentage of what’s on offer in the UK. But why? If you’re not a fan of your game being exposed to strong breezes, fast-running turf and a very different set of challenges, that’s fine. Loving links golf is not obligatory. Buy the links are where the game originated, with many of our greatest courses laid out by the sea in golf’s earliest days, and again in the course-building boom of the late 19th century. The Open has never been played anywhere else, for The R&A is not only seeking out the best player, but also the most resilient. But most of us don’t play by the seaside, rather at one of the many…

No Says Fergus Bisset The upper echelons of the modern professional game are largely populated by players who hit the golf ball prodigious distances. The likes of Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson are capable of drives that carry over 300 yards and towering iron shots that land softly on distant greens. Consider Francesco Molinari. He was one of the most accurate players in world golf for a number of years, but it wasn’t until he found extra distance that he became a real contender. And the importance of distance runs right through the game. If any player can generate good distance, then their timing and the basic mechanics of their swing must be efficient – they have the potential to improve. A player who hits the ball 250…

With a tagline of ‘modern tradition’, Ping’s new Glide 3.0 wedge attempts to bring together classic looks and up-to-date performance. Visually, it does this through a clean, rounded head profile with a tapered hosel and a little more offset. The leading edge has also been softened and there’s the addition of the Eye2 sole, a throwback to the popular Eye2 wedge from the 1980s. Lighter feel Competitive performance comes from the five per cent increase in MOI over the Glide 2.0 model. These new wedges will feel lighter too, thanks to a 5g lighter head, 4g lighter shaft and 6g lighter Dyla-wedge grip. Golfers can expect Glide 3.0 to launch lower and spin more than its predecessor. This is down to the extra friction from the face thanks to the…

Greg Norman is remembered for his defeats as much as his heroic victories. The Australian icon still receives as much coverage for his 1996 Masters collapse as he does his two victories at The Open Championship 1986 and 1993. The Great White Shark won a lot, and he lost a lot. But he never apologised. And he never gave up. From the outside, it is apparent that his collapses at the Majors have driven his motivation to build an enormously successful business empire. It is difficult to know whether the Florida-based Norman would have been as prolific in the business world had he won, say, the 1986 Masters. You remember that Masters. Norman had birdied 17 on Sunday to tie the lead. He needed another on 18 to win –…

1 A lot of amateurs lose power due to a loss of turn, both in the backswing and follow-through. Note the distance between the sternum and the handle of the club at the top of the backswing (below), which helps create a bigger arc and more natural speed. I’ve loaded about 80 per cent of my pressure onto my right side. This stored energy helps produce a powerful swing. 2 This simple drill – in which you place a club behind your back and hold it in place with the arms – helps encourage the feeling of mid-spine rotation in the backswing and rotation through the ball. It’s important to turn through your rib cage so you have the maximum range of movement to create the most speed and power…

1 Richard has good angles in his mid-section at set-up with no hint of slumping over the ball, one of the big things I see when teaching. His back is nice and straight. His left foot is opened up a little, ready to assist the hip turn on the through-swing. 2 A strong turning motion with a very stable lower half – the hips have only moved a little bit and I like the way the arms and body keep pace. You often find the arms zip away and the body doesn’t quite link up in the turn. His sequencing is excellent. 3 The club stops short of parallel, but there’s a big textbook shoulder turn with his left arm in line with his shoulder – always a good position…

Driver Titleist 917D2, 9.5°, Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S-Series 73X shaft. Irons Titleist 718 AP2, 4-PW, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts. Putter Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless GSS. Ball Titleist Pro V1x. Fairway wood Titleist 915F, 15°, Mitsubishi Rayon S+ 70TX shaft. Hybrid Titleist 816H2, 21°, Fujikura Speeder Evolution HB 95X shaft. Wedges Titleist Vokey SM5, 54°, Titleist Vokey SM6, 56°, Titleist Vokey SM7, 61°, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts. Photography: Getty Images…

The impact of shaft flex on performance The shaft is often described as the engine of the golf club. But in reality, how important is it – specifically the flex – and what effect do different flexes have on performance? This is something I wanted to find out – I have always been a believer that the clubhead set-up plays more of a part as it is making contact with the ball, although I admit the shaft has a role in determining how it gets there. In a recent experiment, we tested the TaylorMade M6 driver with 9° of loft in three different stock options – the Mitsubishi Tensei Orange in regular, the Fujikura Atmos in stiff and the Project X Hzrdus Smoke in x-stiff. Interestingly, with our swing speed…

In our Open issue, Rob Smith spoke about his dislike of uphill par 3s and I wrote about Canterbury Golf Club following a return visit after 20+ years. What I’d remembered most was the number of elevated tees from which I’d relished launching the ball away, a design feature that has probably brought me more pleasure than any other over the years. I think of places like Trump International in Scotland or the back nine at Hillside, where several tees take full advantage of the dunes. Closer to home, some of my favourite holes at the London Golf Club are the par-3 12th on the International course and the short 3rd on the Heritage where you play down to greens protected by water. If space allowed, I would be able…

M5 £499 The M5 driver differs by offering more efficient adjustability via the Inverted T-Track, on which two 10g weights can be moved independently to optimise spin and flight. Weight can be positioned further back along the perimeter, lowering the CG and increasing forgiveness. It provides 600rpm of spin change and 25 yards of dispersion change in the extremes. It also comes in a 435cc Tour version. Choose it if: You like to tinker with your driver settings or need lower spin. M6 £449 The M6 doesn’t feature sole-weight adjustability, although it does have the adjustable FCT loft sleeve. It focuses on off-the-rack forgiveness thanks to the weight-saving carbon fibre sole, which also makes it more aerodynamic. The inertia generator, comprising 46g of weight positioned low and back, makes the…

1 I get a lot of my power from my base with a wide set-up. My trail foot goes out a little more and I adopt a squat position with my knees braced, like a goalkeeper ready to save a penalty. 2 An important swing feeling for me to start the swing is to take the club away low to the ground and then pause at the top – I feel like I can unleash from there. In reality I don’t pause, but it’s just a feeling that allows the lower body to lead the downswing, which helps maximise my speed. 3 A fault I often see amateurs make is rushing their backswing, picking the club up steeply and quickly. This leads to a jerky motion where they end up…

KARL COLE Age 31 Home club Bolton GC Handicap 9 Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Sam Day FAULT  Karl has really good speed, but he wasn’t maximising distance. He was averaging 204 yards of carry and TrackMan showed us that his angle of attack was about two degrees down. To maximise distance, we needed to reverse this and get it to more like two degrees up. DRILL To hit more up on the ball with driver, place a golf ball box a grip length ahead of the ball. The objective is to miss it as you strike the ball. This naturally encourages you to strike the ball on the upswing. FIX This visual aid worked immediately. With the intention of missing the box, the first…

JASON YANTIN Age 42 Home club Gog Magog Handicap 2 Lesson by Piers Ward, Me And My Golf Fitted by Sam Day FAULT  Jason’s a good player, but his clubface does tend to open excessively halfway back and towards the top of the backswing it was a little bit more open. This means he can struggle to square the face up at impact, leading to blocked drives. DRILL A good checkpoint for Jason was to make sure the toe was slightly in front of the heel as he looked at it halfway back; when the shaft was level with the ground. This more neutral clubface should help him square it up at impact. This is a great drill because he can use it out on the course in his pre-shot…

Star quality I’m now in my late 70s, but in the 1970s and ‘80s I was fortunate to be invited by various airlines to play with celebrities and pro golfers and had games with Greg Norman, Mark James and others. On one occasion I was playing with Nick Faldo at Moor Park and on the 17th he drove his ball into the rough, while mine was in the middle of the fairway. I hit my next shot on to the green and we found Nick’s ball under a bush. “Wow,” I thought. “I’m going to win this hole.” He took his club out of the bag and proceeded to smash his ball out of the bush and over the trees. It landed two inches from the hole. I said to…

JP Fitzgerald Rory McIlroy’s former caddie has found work on the bag of young American sensation Matthew Wolff. They made their professional debut together at the Travelers Championship. Jazz Janewattananond The Thai youngster secured his fourth Asian Tour win and second of 2019 at the Kolon Korea Open. He won by one stroke from Hwang Inn-choon. Paul Lawrie and Carl Mason Playing in the Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship, the two seniors were disqualified after hitting the wrong balls. Michelle Wie Wie shot 84, 82 at the Women’s PGA Championship and acknowledged she doesn’t know how much more golf she has left in her career.…

Photography: Kevin Murray Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to execute the high chip when the low runner is off the table SAME BOTH SIDES What you do one side of the ball, you must mirror on the other in terms of swing length and wrist action. People get into trouble when they cock the wrists going back but then swing through with less active hands as for a lower chip, or vice versa. It’s difficult to strike chips well when you mix and match. ACTIVE WRISTS The lower chip with little wrist break is probably a safer shot, but you can’t play it when you have obstacles to go over. Here, you will have to play a higher-flighted shot with more active wrists. Those wrists will also give…

Photography: Getty Images 15 Ping Glide 3.0 wedges launched Ping launched its third iteration of the Glide wedge with four grind options, including a modernised version of the iconic Eye2. 21 1979: Seve wins first Major Championship The legendary Spaniard won the first of his five Majors at The Open 40 years ago. Held at Royal Lytham & St Annes, he won by three strokes from Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus. 2006: Tiger wins 50th PGA Tour title At 30, Woods became the youngest player to compile 50 PGA Tour wins with a three-stroke victory at the Buick Open. 30 Many happy returns, Justin! The Englishman turns 39 on July 30. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa before moving to England at the age of five with his parents…

Illustration: Peter Strain “My pre-tournament practice is definitely relevant to the test I’m about to face” The life of a professional golfer is unique in the sense you get to pick your own schedule and have to motivate yourself to put in the appropriate practice to ensure you’re best placed to be competitive. Then there are travel and rest periods to factor in, as well as seasonal variation. People often ask how my practice varies between tournament weeks and weeks when I’m at home, so I thought I’d talk about that in this column. When you’re home, you’re restricted by the pace of the greens and the facilities you have to work with. In England, a lot of the golf courses were designed a long time ago so the practice…

1 Slavishly following the honour – Ready golf is undoubtedly the way forward and the first person to the tee should play away when they are ready. Keep it moving. 2 Old-school dress codes – Although golfers should always dress respectfully, prescriptive codes on what to wear should be a thing of the past. 3 Spikeless shoes in the clubhouse – Many clubs still say no golf shoes in the clubhouse, but spikeless shoes do no more damage than the average street shoe. 4 Drinks all round for a hole-in-one – Surely this should change? You should be rewarded rather than punished for one of golf’s greatest achievements. 5 Standing on the line of a putt – In the days of tungsten-tipped spikes, this was important, but on firm greens…

JOHN PIGOTT I see Mashie Golf as complementing my club membership. I’m fortunate in the role I have as a self-employed financial advisor, as my diary is my own. I play regular golf at my home club and use Mashie as a mechanism to invite clients as a thank you. But today I’ve brought three personal friends, so I mix and match. For me, it’s the perfect complement to golf at my home club. KEVIN BUCK What I enjoy about it is the modern way they do things. They’re thinking about us, so we play good courses, it’s set up well for us and there aren’t loads of people. I’ve been a member of a club, but with children I just can’t justify the expense. It’s playing the same course…

1 Chipping Try to take your hands out of play. When I chip, I focus on locking my arms in place and letting the body turn to control the distance. To adjust the flight of the ball high or low, either open the face or square the face. 2 Reading greens I try to find a point a foot or so in front of the hole where I know if the ball crosses that point, it will go in. I then work my way back from the hole through that point. 3 Better ball-striking Your swing can’t change too much from week to week, so the biggest thing with ball-striking is set-up and posture. The more you can lock these down, the more it will pave the way to consistent…

Ping G410 LST Driver £450 GM Verdict The delayed arrival of this model compared with the G410 Plus and G410 SFT drivers has been well documented, but with good reason – Ping didn’t want to launch the new LST until it was measurably better than the outgoing G400 version. This comes mainly from a three-percent increase in forgiveness. In like-for-like testing with the G410 Plus, club speed with the LST version was 1.5mph faster, perhaps because of the smaller size. Ball speed only increased by 0.5mph, though, suggesting the transfer of energy wasn’t as efficient on slight mishits. Both drivers launched the ball at just over 13°, but the LST flighted the ball two yards lower through the air. The average carry was basically the same with both drivers, a…

Wilson wins again Gary Woodland won the US Open using a set of Wilson Staff blades, precision-milled from soft 8620 carbon steel to provide great feel and feedback. Wilson has now had a Major win in every decade since the 1920s. Treats from Titleist At the Travelers Championship, Titleist started seeding new irons to its staff players, including a T200 model that could well replace the 718 AP2 or AP3. One for your bag? Also spotted out on tour was a new Evnroll ER10 Outback mallet putter, which looks to feature the brand’s patented face milling.…

What are the advantages and disadvantages of one-length irons as used by Bryson DeChambeau? @AsDankasEver, Twitter One-length irons allow you to stand to the ball in the same way regardless of the iron you’re using, in theory helping with consistency of strike and club speed. Negatives come when chipping and pitching around the green with a lob wedge in a 7-iron length – it feels strange to say the least! I would say the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and it is certainly worth trying, but it requires patience and perseverance. How do you gap hybrids correctly? Lee Wise, Twitter Good question, as I wouldn’t recommend going for the same number hybrid as a long-iron, even if the lofts are the same. My testing has shown a hybrid can go anything…

“A hybrid needs to hit a specific distance and work in different situations around the course, so finding one you like is crucial”Joel Tadman, GM technical editor We talk a lot about the importance of the short game, and while this versatile club can be a good option around the greens, hybrids have the greater potential to transform your performance from long range. From the outset, hybrids have been game changers, helping golfers achieve more consistently high ball speeds with a higher flight. For many amateurs, it’s meant farewell to the long-irons – even mid-irons. However, this hasn’t been the only change. The number of options available has increased, with manufacturers keen to help every level of golfer and in a variety of ways. Whether it’s the better player looking…

Have you ever played an ‘unplayable course’ or one set up beyond your skill level? NearHull, GM website forum Two that spring to mind are Ile aux Cerfs (formerly Le Touessrok) in Mauritius and Ballybunion’s Cashen course – both visually stunning but with fairways and greens that can be exceptionally hard to find. Ballybunion’s website even admits, “In a strong wind, ‘Miss Cashen’ verges on being impossible.” Which Open rota course would you recommend playing first, and why? ArnoldArmChewer, GM website forum My first was Royal St George’s closest to home, but if I were to pick one it would be Prestwick. It hosted 24 Opens from 1860 to 1925, including the first 12, and its unique terrain gives you a better idea than anywhere of the challenges faced by…

Photography: Kevin Murray, Andy Hiseman, Getty Images Situated in the heart of the New Forest, the two 18-hole layouts at Bramshaw could hardly be more different from one another. The Forest course is a delightful and natural heathland design which rolls over gently-undulating ground. Accuracy is far more important than length and its main defence is the very pretty streams that come into play throughout the round. The Manor course is a fine parkland alternative which runs through majestic woodland. Right next door, the 18th-century Bell Inn has 28 comfortable rooms and a lovely bar area serving local ales and offering excellent dining in a smart but informal setting. There are stay-and-play packages available throughout the year which offer excellent value for money.…