Bad lies


After Rory McIlroy’s win in the Players Championship it’s all setting up for a very exciting Masters.

It’s hard to believe it’s less than three weeks away.

Rory is in fine form, as is Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas. Tiger Woods cannot be written off and I wonder if Jordan Spieth, who loves Augusta, can get his putting back on track.

After Louis Oosthuizen’s near win in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, then his win in the SA Open, and his near-win this week too, he’s back playing his best. You’ve also got to take into account Francesco Molinari, Paul Casey, Bubba Watson, John Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Zander Schauffele. Here’s a good outside bet – Matt Wallace. He’s got the game and he is not scared of anything.


WGC – Dell Technologies Matchplay…


This week’s Dell Technologies Matchplay will once again be played at the Austin Country Club in Texas.

Sixty-four of the top players in the World will tee it up including Tiger Woods, who will play for the first time since 2013. Others include Dustin Johnson; Jordan Spieth; Justin Thomas; Rory McIlroy; Justin Rose; Bryson De Chambeau and defending champion Bubba Watson.

Seventeen countries will be represented and you can expect to see South Africans Branden Grace; Louis Oosthuizen and Justin Harding (in his WGC debut). This is a great opportunity for Justin to continue his upward climb in the World Rankings.

Strangely, two players who have not entered are Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott.

Catch it live on Supersport:
Wed, 27th – 20h00 – 02h00 (SS1) & 22h00 – 02h00 (CSN)
Thurs, 28th – 20h00 – 02h00 (SS1) & 22h00 – 02h00 (CSN)
Fri , 29th – 20h00 – 02h00 (SS1 & CSN)
Sat – 30th – 16h00 – 00h00 (SS5 & CSN)
Sun, 31st – 16h00 – 00h00 (SS5) & 18h30-00h00 (CSN)

2019 PGA Merchandise Show…

Don’t forget to catch the second programme on the 2019 PGA Merchandise Show which will air this week. The programme is also available on Catch-Up.



The Round Golf Podcast…

This week on The Round Golf Podcast with Richard Kaufman he interviews Karrie Webb.

Karrie is perhaps the greatest Australian golfer of all time. A 7 time major champion with over 50 pro titles. But during that distinguished career, she didn't often let the media and the public in.

This podcast tells her story. Meeting her idol Greg Norman as a teenager, how that fuelled her distrust of the press but also led her down the path of helping future stars. Her relationship with Annika Sorenstam and why she didn't want to fuel a rivalry. She describes the pain of missing out at the Rio Olympics, why she didn't always enjoy her victories. And the image she would want us to remember her career by, that took place in The Round...
 
Make sure you click on this link TOMORROW, to access the podcast or you can subscribe to the podcast on itunes.

 

 

When the Ball Hits Back…


Sad news reached us last week in that Adrian Frederick passed away. Adrian was the golf writer for the Rand Daily Mail. He was involved in a terrible accident and had been unable to work for many years. In the grand old days, Adrian was always in pursuit of a good story and he wrote many of them. He promoted golf when the newspapers still knew that golf was a sport which brings South Africa more exposure than any other sport on the world stage.

Before you start jumping up and down about rugby and cricket, just consider that these sports are played in only a few countries whilst the world (pretty much) watches golf week in and week out, and more often than not there’s a South African player featuring. But back to Adrian. He loved everything about golf and it was so sad that he had so few good years to enjoy the game. RIP.

Butch Harmon, one of the great golf teachers, has decided to put away his travel bags. Although he will still coach Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland, he will no longer be traveling on Tour and he is also considering giving up the TV work that he does for Sky Sports.

Mikko Illonen has also decided to retire at the age of 39. Two of his five wins on the European Tour came in 2014 when he won the Irish Open and the Volvo World Matchplay, where he beat Henrik Stenson in the final. He is without doubt Finland’s finest golfer but he has decided to spend more time with his wife and children and pursue other ventures.

 

Sun, Sea & Golf in Mauritius…


Join Peter Matkovich & I on a trip to Mauritius from 3rd to 10th June…Four fabulous Peter Matkovich designed golf courses but enough time off to guarantee you have a great island holiday too!

Contact Tharika Ramdhanee at Matkovich Golf for details -
tharika@matko.co.za / (032) 946-0200.
 
 

Around the world


Paul Casey successfully defended his title in the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort. In a tough final round on the Copperhead course he shot a 1-over 72 to win by one at 8-under 276. In fact, no player shot better than 68 in the final round. Jason Kokrak shot 71 and Louis Oosthuizen shot 69 to tie for second. Bubba Watson and Sungjae Im tied for 4th at 6-under while Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Ryan Armour tied for 6th at 5-under.

Scott Hend won his third European Tour title in a play-off with Nacho Elvira at the Maybank Championship. Hend had a one-shot lead over Elvira when play was suspended while they were playing the 18th. He came back out and made par, while Elviro made a sensational birdie to tie at 15-under 273 and force a play-off. Hend then won with a birdie on the first play-off hole. Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond finished third at 13-under and American Johannes Veerman was fourth at 12-under. Darren Fichardt and Ernie Els were in a group tied for 7th at 10-under; Erik van Rooyen and Dean Burmester tied for 15th at 8-under; Louis de Jager tied for 20th at 7-under and Shaun Norris tied for 30th at 5-under. Congrats to Ernie who became the first player (since the World Rankings were introduced) to record 300 career top 10 finishes.

Jin Young Ko won her first LPGA title on US soil at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert. She started the weekend five off the lead and shot a 64 on Saturday followed by a 65 on Sunday to win by one at 22-under 266. Third-round leader Yu Liu missed a 15-foot par putt on the 18th to tie for second alongside Carlota Ciganda, Jessica and Nelly Korda.

Jean-Paul Strydom won his maiden Sunshine Tour title at The Tour Championship at Serengeti Estates. He shot a 6-under 67 on Sunday to get to 14-under and won by one over Jean Hugo, Jake Roos, Ockie Strydom and Thriston Lawrence.

Anne-Lise Caudal won the inaugural Jabra Ladies Open at Glendower GC by two shots over Nobuhle Dlamini. She and Dlamini were tied at 5-under entering the final round but Caudal finished at 4-under 212 after a 73 and picked up her first win in seven years. Fourteen year old amateur, Kiera Floyd finished third at level par.

Vince Covello won his first Web.Com title at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, in a play-off with Justin Lower. He birdied the last at Le Triomphe Golf & Country Club to tie with Lower at 19-under 265. Both players made pars on the first two play-off holes but Covello made birdie on the third play-off hole to take the title. Fabián Gómez, Steve Marino and Xinjun Zhang tied for third at 18-under.
 
Ruan de Smidt regained his Tour Card by winning the Final Stage of Sunshine Tour Qualifying School at Houghton. He opened with a 71 & 69 and finished back-to-back 67’s to finish on top of the leaderboard at 14-under 274. He won by one over Aubrey Beckley while Tristen Strydom finished third at 11-under. Thirty-four players earned their cards.

• Langebaan Golf Club’s Andre van Dyk won the Winelands Senior Amateur at De Zalze. He won by one over Francois Le Roux and Garth McGimpsey on 1-under 143. Craig Kamps was fourth at 1-over.

Luca Filippi won the Northern Cape Open at Kimberley GC. He finished at 12-under 276 after rounds of 64-74-70-68, winning by six shots over Eugene du Plessis. Christiaan Burke was third at 3-under and Geoffrey van der Merwe fourth at 1-under.

• GolfRSA announced their 2019/20 National Squad last week - Jovan Rebula; Luca Filippi; Matt Saulez; Christo Lamprecht; Cole Stevens; Martin Vorster; Kieron van Wyk; Yurav Premlall; Carl Mwale; Casey Jarvis; Jayden Schaper; Wilco Nienaber; Therion Nel; Amilkar Bhana*; Nash de Klerk; Kian Rose*; Jordan Duminy; Samuel Simpson*; Christiaan Burke* (*new caps). The GolfRSA Elite Squad 2019 (women) is made up of Caitlyn Macnab; Jordan Rothman; Kaiyuree Moodley; Kaylah Williams; Kiera Floyd; Zethu Myeki; Kajal Mistry & Symone Henriques

• The UK’s Mike Browne, will be back to defend his title at the Canon South Africa Disabled Golf Open at Magalies Park Golf Club from 13 to 16 May 2019. The army veteran and scratch golfer competed for the first time last year and won by 12-shots.

Ernie Els has tasked Mike Weir; Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and K.J Choi to serve as assistant captains at the Presidents Cup in Melbourne. "Choosing my assistant captains, I gave it quite a bit of thought. I’ve seen what other captains have done in the past. In this instance, I really wanted to try and start a new thinking process around the pairing system. I’m using a lot of data, a lot of science into what we’re going to be doing in December in Australia, and I wanted to get guys who have played a lot of Presidents Cups like myself.”

Ex-President George W. Bush made the first hole-in-one of his life at Trinity Forest Golf Club last week. He’s 72 years of age now, plays off a 10-handicap and made the hole-in-one at the 164-yard par-3 12th hole.

• The PGA Tour has handed down a 3-month suspension to Robert Garrigus after he failed a drug test, testing positive for marijuana. “The PGA Tour announced today that Robert Garrigus has violated the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Program by testing positive for a substance identified as a drug of abuse. In accordance with the PGA Tour Conduct Policy that applies to violations involving drugs of abuse, he has been suspended for a period of three months.”

Who’s up this week?
(Please note that this is the entry list as at Monday & is subject to change)
PGA TOUR - Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship - Brendon de Jonge; Dylan Frittelli; Trevor Immelman; Rory Sabbatini; Charl Schwartzel; Tyrone van Aswegen
• PGA TOUR / EURO TOUR - WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play – Branden Grace; Justin Harding; Louis Oosthuizen
• EUROPEAN TOUR – Hero Indian Open – Dean Burmester; Haydn Porteous; Brandon Stone; George Coetzee; Shaun Norris; Erik van Rooyen; Christiaan Bezuidenhout; Justin Walters; Zander Lombard; Keith Horne; Jbe Kruger
• LPGA - Kia Classic – Ashleigh Buhai; Lee-Anne Pace
SUNSHINE TOUR – Mopani Redpath Zambia Open – JC Ritchie; Jaco Ahlers; Trevor Fisher Jnr to name a few…
• SUNSHINE LADIES TOUR - Joburg Ladies Open –Kim Williams; Bonita Bredenhann, Monique Smit to name a few.

By the rules


The New Rules Simplified…

1. Instead of the old 5-minute rule, you now only have 3-minutes to look for your ball.

2. If you are skilled enough to hit the ball twice during your follow through, you will be thrilled to hear that now it only counts as one shot.

3. While you used to have to drop the ball from shoulder height, the new rule is to drop from knee height – a time saver and hopefully the chance of a better lie!

4. Unless it is certain that you caused the ball to move, there now no penalty for the ball moving on the green.

5. Another time saver - you can now choose to putt with the flagstick in or out when you are on the green.

6. You are allowed to repair spike marks or other damage on the green in the line of your putt.

 

On tour with Dale

 
 
Dale Hayes Golf appreciates the ongoing support of City Lodge & SkyNet.
 

The driving range


This month Elsabe Hefer looks at where the weight should start and how it should shift during the swing, or in the case of shorter shots, how it should not shift in the swing.

This week she looks at your balance while you putt.


Elsabe Hefer is a Fellow Member of the PGA; a former Gauteng North PGA Teacher of the Year and PGA Top 20 Teacher. She is the Head Teaching Professional at Zwartkop Country Club.

 

Tour News


European Tour, Sunshine Tour, PGA and LPGA Tour schedules. Take a look at all the events plus the international golfing events coming up soon.
 

And, to finish off..


The rare hole-in-one, the perfect fluke ever, it’s the best feeling in golf. Celebrate – get the certificate and have bragging rights forever! For further information and to join, contact Margaret on (012) 654-1144 or click here to send an email.
 

Tips from the great Harvey Penick

“There is an important wedge shot to learn for close lies and winter fairways when the grass is dormant. Play the ball off the right foot. Close the blade until it is square to the line and the bounce of the blade does not touch the ground. Adjust your stance forward to compensate for direction. Put slightly more weight on the left foot. Strike the ball and the ground as the same time on the downswing.” 
 




 

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