Golf Australia Magazine - February 2015

TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS:

TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS:

OATES VICTORIA OPEN: Cool Kids

Victorian teenage amateurs Su-Hyun Oh and Lucas Herbert will be looking to upstage their professional rivals in the concurrently run women’s and men’s championship.

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RACV LADIES MASTERS: Rachel Returns

Four years after she retired from tournament golf, Rachel Hetherington is making a comeback and she has set her sights on a big performance at Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast. Steve Keipert reports.

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ISPS HAND WOMEN'S AUSTRALIAN OPEN: WINNING NEVER GETS OLD

Karrie Webb enters her 21st year as a touring pro looking for a record sixth title in her national Open. She will, however, have to overcome the strongest field of any tournament seen in Australia this summer, writes Brendan James.

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THE NEARLY MEN: THE BEST PLAYERS NEVER TO HAVE WON A MAJOR

It is golf’s ultimate backhanded compliment and the title no player wants. We rank the 10 best players never to win a major as well as the eight best Australian players who have not celebrated major success.

CHARITABLE GAINS

A strong desire to raise money for under-funded charities led to the formation of a like-minded network of corporates who give back through golf, writes Steve Keipert.

OLD SCHOOL GOLF

PLUS FOURS & BIG SCORES

Our correspondent Rob McGarr takes a journey back in time to compete in the World Hickory Open Championship in Scotland.

HOLDEN SCRAMBLE REVIEW

LIGHTNING FINISH

Mother Nature played a major role in the outcome of the Holden Scramble championship final, but in the women’s final it was a team with little experience on grass greens that grabbed the title.

INCREDIBLE COMEBACK

LYLE’S QUEST

Brendan James reports that Jarrod Lyle’s PGA Tour comeback is gaining momentum. The sums are simple – 18 events, win more than $230,000 and you’ve got a job for next year.

TRAVEL REVIEWS:

COURSE REVIEW: SHELLY BEACH GOLF CLUB

One of the New South Wales Central Coast’s most popular courses is a subtly challenging layout with million-dollar ocean views that complete the picture, writes Steve Keipert.

72 HOURS IN … THE SANDBELT

Within a handful of square kilometres in Melbourne’s south-east is a congregation of exceptional golf courses known around the world. As Steve Keipert found out, not only can you play there, you can stay on-course too.

EXOTIC DESTINATIONS: NORWEGIAN WOODS

Scandinavia’s oldest capital, Oslo, combines great sights, cosmopolitan ambience and great courses you’ve never heard, writes Andrew Marshall.

NEW COURSE: NORMAN’S LATEST CONQUEST

Greg Norman’s design fingerprint spreads far and wide and his latest creation, on the Vietnamese coastline, is already being widely acclaimed.

CLUB OF THE MONTH: CLUB MANDALAY

Brendan James takes a look at the latest Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett-designed layout, which lies at the heart of a new real estate development north of Melbourne.

GOLFING GETAWAYS

This month: Ernie Els’ Malaysian paradise, golf tours to Tassie, golf accommodation options on the Sunshine Coast and we shine the Top-100 spotlight on Settlers Run G&CC.

EQUIPMENT:

CLUB TEST # 1

TAYLORMADE RSi 1& RSi 2 IRONS

We put one of our testers on overtime duties this month and gave him the task of testing two sets of irons from the same range to tell us the difference.

LATEST GOLF GEAR

PRO SHOP

There is plenty of new gear on the market for the start of 2015, including new clubs from Srixon, Callaway, TaylorMade and Titliest.

TECH TEST

TOMTOM GOLFER

GPS WATCH

We enlist two average golfers to wear this watch for a round and see if it helps them.

INSTRUCTION:

TOUR TIP#1: RORY MCILROY

FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE

Take the lead of the World No.1 one in how to distribute your weight at address.

SHORT GAME GURU