Tabla de contenidos para Mar 2026 - Issue 442 en Golf Australia

I am no LIV flag-waver, but for a league so often written off as golf’s Dad’s Army, the Saudi-backed league certainly does have an uncanny knack for ruining a tidy narrative. Just when the obituaries were being drafted, again, along came the signing of Elvis Smylie. Young, ambitious, and widely regarded as Australia’s brightest long-term prospect for sustained success on the global stage, Smylie is not the sort of acquisition made by a tour quietly packing up its locker. His recruitment is a statement. A bet on the future. The LIV press photo told its own story. Smylie stood proudly alongside his new Ripper GC teammates, a generational contrast impossible to ignore. At 23, he’s half the age of Marc Leishman, younger than Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert, and the…

You must be really excited to return home and play in the two showpiece events, in front of home crowds … I’m super-excited. I was just saying to a couple of friends, I think the Aussie crowds are the best to play in front of, especially being Australian. I went down to the men’s Aussie Open and the crowds there were insane. And I think we’ll get a good crowd at the Women’s Aussie Open and the Women’s PGA. Tell us about the bond between yourself, Minjee, Hannah and Grace. Obviously, we saw it in South Korea [at the International Crown event] at the end of last year. But just how close and how special is it to have peers like that as friends? It’s great. I mean, we’ve got…

In almost every high-performance arena – be it elite sport, business, leadership, the arts, the law – the same principle quietly separates the best from the rest: those who excel, those who become professional, spend far more time preparing than they do performing. Golf is no exception. Elite golfers may only compete 20 to 25 times a year, yet they invest hundreds of hours in preparation – refining fundamentals, conditioning their bodies, sharpening routines and cultivating the mindset required to perform under pressure. Amateurs, by contrast, often invert this ratio. They play far more than they prepare, compete more than they practise, and then wonder why improvement feels elusive. What is often overlooked is that when we play a round of golf, we are spending our two most precious resources:…

GOING LOWER LESS WRISTS To keep the ball down, keep wrist action to a minimum – near 1 on the gear system. This creates an action that’s far more about swinging the handle than the clubhead, and that helps keep loft off the face through the strike. Your priority is target-side of the ball; you can use wrists swinging back to create speed, but avoid any sensation of release coming through. Aim to feel the handle travel further and wider to the finish, your hands remaining passive. GOING HIGHER MORE WRISTS If you want to flight the shot higher, move towards the 5th-gear, full wrist-set end of the scale. This motion sends all the energy to the clubhead, the hands and handle moving a much shorter distance. A full wrist…

Callaway has unveiled its new 2026 Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X and Chrome Soft golf balls, a premium lineup designed to deliver faster ball speeds, greater consistency and true Tour-level performance across the entire game. At the core of the new Chrome family is a material breakthrough: the Tour Fast Mantle. Used for the first time in a golf ball, this advanced mantle sits within an optimised core and layer system to maximise energy transfer at impact. The result is a faster ball that delivers meaningful distance gains without sacrificing control or feel. By acting more efficiently at impact, the Tour Fast Mantle helps increase launch speed while preserving the characteristics elite players demand, with early testing already showing notable speed improvements across the lineup. Callaway’s Advanced Seamless Tour Aero…

Wilson Golf has unveiled the new DYNAPWR Forged iron, designed using the latest cutting-edge AI Technology for golfers seeking the ultimate players distance iron with a softer, more responsive feel, combined with a premium look at address. Building on the success of its predecessor and the critically acclaimed return of the DYNAPWR® franchise, the new DYNAPWR Forged iron is crafted from Forged 8620 Carbon Steel and features a PKR-CUP face design combined with the brand’s AI-generated Variable Face Technology for greater distance and consistent launch windows to elevate playability. Every model in the DYNAPWR irons family incorporates the unique AI-driven PKR-CUP face design, engineered to maximise ball speed and consistency across the entire hitting surface. By wrapping the face onto the sole, PKR-CUP creates a thinner, more responsive hinge region…

MJ Viljoen’s SDC Open winner’s photo had a very African extra. Trophy in hand and daughter Kylie-Grace tucked in close at Zebula Golf Estate, the South African smiled as an elephant ambled through the background, clearly unimpressed by the silverware. It was a laid-back Bela Bela moment: family, golf and the bush all in one frame. Viljoen soaked it in, Kylie-Grace stole the spotlight, and the elephant reminded everyone who really runs the place.…

The February issue of Golf Australia magazine had been well and truly “put to bed”, as we say in the trade, when the man from The Times, Tom Kershaw, scooped everyone and dropped a bomb: Elvis had left the building. Along with Belgian Thomas Detry, Kershaw reported that Australian golf’s “Next Big Thing”, Elvis Smylie, had signed with LIV Golf, presumably, though it had yet to be confirmed, joining Cam Smith’s all-Aussie Ripper GC to replace Matt Jones. Weeks later when that, too, was announced, the press release from LIV Golf, in the way of the startup’s messaging, was global in scale and borderline breathless. “Ripper GC of the LIV Golf League, the global golf league blending world-class competition with entertainment and culture to grow the game worldwide, today announced…

On the first Tuesday in November of 2024, Robbie Dolan was streaming towards the finish line in the Melbourne Cup aboard Knight’s Choice, a five-year-old bay gelding which had found previously unimagined speed and bolted through a claque of fellow desperate animals “at any old price,” according to race caller Matt Hill. In the pregnant seconds after Dolan crossed the line, it was left to judges to confirm what keen eyeballs had assumed in that flash of colour and muscle and thundering hooves - that Knight’s Choice had won the Cup at odds of 90-1. And the 27-year-old Irishman’s life changed in that instant. Win the race that stops the nation and you can go from obscure figure in a niche sport to front page national news. In the months…

Four years have passed since Phil Mickelson, sitting comfortably in the far-off land of Saudi Arabia, opened up on his feelings about the PGA Tour. “Obnoxious greed” was the most telling/startling charge; the five-time major champion revving up a fair head of steam in his condemnation of the circuit on which he had, at that time, picked up prize money in excess of $90m. Still, let’s not be too harsh on dear, old Phil. There was and is much truth in what he had to say. In many ways, the PGA Tour is obnoxious. And, in almost every way, it is greedy. Indeed, in a golf world over-flowing with political self-interest, the men and women who run the show at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida have no equals. When it…

‘Toolbox” may not be the first word that comes to mind when we think of tackling our short game, but when we consider the sheer variety of lies, stances, shot lengths and carry/run ratios that we are faced with in every round we play, a range of accessories and options is exactly what we need. The Short Game Toolbox will give you those options. Essentially, it is a system, designed to help you play any shot in that awkward region between the greenside chip and the fuller-swing pitch – what I call the “Scrambling Zone”. This is a part of the course where confusion reigns among club golfers … and where uncertainty resides, lack of commitment and poor performance inevitably follow. The Short Game Toolbox will replace that confusion with…

GOING LOWER NO: LEAN THE HANDLE FORWARD The quickest way to reduce clubface loft is to lean the handle forward. But we cannot just take our normal stance and ball position and push the hands forward (above). It changes the fundamental relationship between our arms and body, and creates all sorts of problems with attack angle, low point control and strike consistency. YES: BUTT UNDER BUTTONS Instead, we must find a way of leaning the handle forward without changing the arms-body relationship, so the butt of the club must stay central, under the shirt buttons. Start by taking your normal stance; ball, hands and shirt buttons central and lined up. DO THE SHAFT-LEAN SHUFFLE From here, shuffle forward towards the target. Just keep the butt of the club under your…

Odyssey has unveiled its new Ai-DUAL putter family, featuring the brand’s most advanced insert technology to date. Designed using Artificial Intelligence, the Ai-DUAL insert delivers exceptional speed consistency across the face, enhanced forward roll up and down the face, and the soft yet responsive feel Odyssey putters are known for. The Ai-DUAL range spans traditional models, the new Ai-DUAL Square 2 Square (S2S) zero-torque designs, and innovative Ai-DUAL ½ Ball alignment models, offering golfers a wide selection of shapes, balances, and alignment solutions. At the heart of every model is the Ai-DUAL Insert, a dual-layer urethane construction engineered using AI. A soft outer layer pairs with a firmer inner core to promote consistent ball speed on centre and off-centre strikes, while also enhancing forward roll and delivering improved sound and…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Stepping into the Quantum Textiles felt instantly familiar. There was zero break-in period; it felt as if these fresh-out-the-box shoes had moulded to my feet over multiple rounds. The SofFOAM midsole and OrthoLite FitBed lining cradled my foot from the get-go. After a proper golf-specific fitting, rather than guessing a regular street shoe size, the shoes literally shaped around my feet, and I was shocked that I was a full size smaller than my runners. The result was a sock-like fit with no pinching or rubbing. It felt like walking on a springy surface; firm enough for stability, yet plush and comfortable, just as FootJoy promised with its out-of-this-world comfort design. The Quantum Textile has a modern, understated look. The athletic silhouette is clean and well-proportioned, with the textile…

Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, known as Sheikh Nasser, spent his final pro-am hole at Royal Golf Club in the best company: a group of young Bahraini golfers. The third in line to the throne made the fairway a friendly playground for the country’s next generation of talent. Surrounded by enthusiastic juniors ahead of the 2026 Bahrain Championship, the prince showed that even royals can enjoy a round of golf with a lively, youthful twist.…

The upgraded venue will feature a technology-enabled driving range powered by TrackMan, Australia’s second URBN SHANX mini-golf course, and the introduction of padel — one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. Designed as a year-round, multi-sport hub, the facility aims to support player development for committed golfers while offering low-barrier, fun experiences for first-timers, families and social players. “Off-course facilities are playing a significant role in growing the game,” said Damien de Bohun (General Manager-- Clubs, Facilities and Places to Play), highlighting their role in welcoming new audiences and strengthening golf’s long-term connection with the community. Led by Greenspace Management, the project reflects the rapid growth of off-course golf across Australia, creating facilities that appeal not only to golfers, but also to non-golfers and the wider community. The vision is to move…

Anine-month gap between the Open Championship and the following year’s Masters means we all have a long time to wait between majors. Once Christmas and the New Year celebrations are out of the way, however, it doesn’t take long for the anticipation to begin. I am no different from anyone else in that respect. They aren’t everything in golf, but a player’s record in the majors does go a long way to telling us just how good or great they are. Of course, it can be argued that no four tournaments should ever completely define a golfer. However, I like that they are special. Four is a good number. Less is more. And, as I can testify, winning at least one of the four – rightly or wrongly – does…

This is a simple drill, but a very good one for feeling weight transfer and flow during the golf swing. You can do it with any club, but let’s use driver in this instance. With the club in your normal grip in two hands, place your feet together, with the ball slightly ahead of you on your lead side. Position the club head so that it hovers over the ball out there in front of your lead foot. Then, in one motion, begin your backswing while moving your back foot to roughly shoulder width apart. This will transfer your weight to your trail leg as the club heads towards its furthest point in your backswing. When it is at that furthest point backwards – some people like to feel their…

YOUR THREE FUNDAMENTAL SHOT OPTIONS Break down any short game shot and you have a basic choice: ◼ You can play it with a neutral mid-flight – as I’m doing here.◼ You can hit the shot lower.◼ You can flight the shot higher. Your choice will be made by a host of factors including lie, wind, ground firmness and green to work with, and we’ll take a closer look at picking the flight towards the end of this article. But first, we’ll get to grips with the basic pitching method and the three tools you can use to start gaining control of the height of the shot. CLUB OPTIONS When it comes to taking control of flight, your first option is of course your club. While I’m a huge believer…

For those half-wondering if it might be best to give the clubs a rest in a few months’ time, we humbly suggest you reconsider. With a few smart technical tweaks in place, there’s no reason why a softer winter golf course cannot remain a place of shotmaking, achievement and fun. And as you will discover, now is also the perfect time to put some sound foundations in place for the new year. Base your off-season golf around these nine rules, courtesy of this team of elite coaches, and you can keep golf’s magic triangle – performance, enjoyment and learning – firmly in balance, and reach the spring in fine fettle. We start with a simple way to thwart that pesky two-club wind … RULE 1: KEEP HEIGHT OUT OF YOUR…

Mizuno has unveiled the M. CRAFT City Series, a precision-milled putter lineup inspired by Japan’s most iconic cities and forged in Japan. Known for its mastery of forging and feel, Mizuno combines heritage craftsmanship with modern innovation to deliver soft feel and precise performance. Each putter is forged from Pure Select 1025E Mild Carbon Steel for maximum responsiveness, with a copper underlay refining vibration and deep face milling promoting true roll and consistent speed control. Alignment and customisation are key: a thin topline alignment line aids aim, while dual weight ports let golfers fine-tune head weight, swing weight, and centre of gravity. The range is finished in premium Gray Ion or Nickel, chosen to complement each head shape. The KYOTO model reflects timeless craftsmanship in a classic blade with plumber’s…

How often have we faced a hole that seems beyond reach, yet thought to ourselves, “On a good day, I might just find the green?” It is one of golf’s most sanguine moments – that gentle blend of self-belief and delusion which every player clings to. It recognises that golf isn’t just the physics of a club striking a ball with power and purpose. For all the discipline, practice and data-driven swing analysis, it’s often those unseen forces which decide whether you’re playing like Rory … or someone just taking the golf clubs for a walk. Golfers are, in many ways, the modern-day Janus – the Roman god who looks backward and forward. One face stares behind at that haunted last shot or bad round, the other gazes ahead with…