High-intensity training can unlock potent speed in your golf swing – and the desert dunes of Big Red make the perfect playground

By Claudine Foong-Riggs
Speed is the essential raw material required in any powerful golf swing. When you can control it through balance, stability and good mechanics, that’s when you unlock explosive power. But without speed, a golfer will always have limitations. So how do we increase our dynamic power? We do it through high-intensity training, and a trip to the desert dunes on the Dubai-Hatta road provides the perfect environment in which to train. The soft sand and dramatic contours of the dunes make the following exercises especially challenging, but your focus should be on quality, not quantity. High-Intensity Interval Training and dynamic control for a golfer is beneficial for improving conditioning, strength, power and anabolic response to build muscle and reduce fat.  Each of the following exercises should be performed for no more than 20-30 seconds with a rest period of 30-60 seconds. Remember to always do a full warm-up before getting started.

Spiderman Crawl (main image)
This is a great exercise to do in the desert. Begin in a strong push-up position and bring your right knee to right elbow, left hand out in front and keep your body low to the ground. Alternate your hands and legs to continue to crawl forwards.
3 sets of 8

Speed Parachute Training
Once you have mastered the sprint technique, the parachute can be an excellent tool, which provides resistance in the drive phase of sprinting. You can do this exercise without a parachute.
Perform 3-5 sets of 30m sprints

Hill Sprints
Hill Sprints require an athlete to use a lot more leg power to drive hard into the ground. Sprint UP the hill and run back down, focusing on looking forward. Experiment with different hill lengths – short, medium and long.
Perform 3-5 sets

Bound with Med-Ball Pass 
Stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart. Hold a light medicine ball (or basketball) at your chest. Hip hinge and push off the ground as hard as you can, jumping forwards. Push away with your arms and release the ball. Land softly and sprint to the ball and repeat.
3 sets of 5

‘180’ Jumps 
Your lower body is the driving force for this movement. The sequence is: lower body, core, then arms. Load and drive off the ground to rotate and face the opposite direction. Land softly, stabilising your body and immediately load and jump back in the other direction.
3 sets of 10

Claudine Foong is the Brand Ambassador of PXG Middle East. Instagram: @claudinefoong

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
A Beginner’s Golf Guide: What every new golfer should know when picking up the game
Move better to chip better: The body-swing connection you need to knock it close
Still Trying to Hit Down? Learn how great players compress the ball while pulling up!
The mystery of the mud ball

The post Golf Fitness Special: Speed drills in the desert appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

We will draw two winners at random, one for entry into the November 10 qualifying round at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club (1pm shotgun start) and the other for the final qualifier at The Els Club Dubai on December 8 (1pm shotgun).

To enter, just answer the question below and fill in the required details. All correct answers will be entered into the prize draw, held on October 30. Good luck!

[gravityform id=”15″ title=”false” description=”false”]

[divider] [/divider]

To register to play in this year’s Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge, go to www.xeroxcgc.com

The post Competition: WIN Twoball entry for two Xerox Challenge qualifiers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The post Video: Dunhill champ Hatton’s chipping challenge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

[divider] [/divider]

 ome of the world’s best women professional golfers will come to Abu Dhabi in November 2016 to compete in the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open. The event will be hosted at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club from Wednesday 2 to Saturday November 5 and has been organised by the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

The tournament, with a prize fund of $550,000, will take up a key position in the LET schedule as one of its season-ending events. Dr. Mai Al Jaber, Board Member, FBMA said: “Hosting this new golf event is part of our commitment to encourage Emirati women to participate in all aspects of sports through sport education, training and competition. Alongside the world’s leading professionals playing a tournament, a full schedule of community engagement activities will make this one of the most unique golf events on the UAE calendar.”

The new event is being held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak – President of the General Women’s Union, Chief Executive Officer of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Higher Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

His Excellency Aref Al Awani, General Secretary, ADSC said: “I’d like to thank Her Highness, FBMA and the LET for their commitment to bring top-flight ladies professional golf to Abu Dhabi. The UAE leads the way in the advancement of the crucial role that women play in our society and this event will be a celebration of that. We support their collaborative vision of promoting the women’s game and developing future generations of UAE sporting superstars. We can’t wait to bring another world-class event to Abu Dhabi.”

The spectacular Gary Player-designed Saadiyat Beach Golf Club will play host to its first Ladies European Tour event

LET events are marketed as ‘more than just golf’ and the stars of the tour work closely with amateurs, media, spectators and local communities to ensure that the event has a long-lasting impact. Ivan Khodabakhsh, CEO, LET, commented: “We’re thrilled to be coming to Abu Dhabi in November. Abu Dhabi’s world-class portfolio of sporting events made it an obvious destination to bring something a little different, in the shape of our Ladies European Tour. We can assure our stakeholders that the tournament will showcase the venue and destination to a worldwide audience, and we’re equally excited by all the important social and cause-related activities we can support in partnership with FBMA.”

On behalf of the players, rising LET star, Caroline Martens, commented: “We’ve been wanting to play a tournament in Abu Dhabi for some time. The golf course will be one of the best we play all season and I know my fellow professionals will love the experience offered to all visitors. We already take advantage of visiting Abu Dhabi whenever we can for the perfect climate and training facilities, now to have a tournament title to play for is so exciting and I can’t wait for November.”

[divider] [/divider]

Volunteers invited to make history at Abu Dhabi’s first Ladies European Tour golf tournament

The Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open (FBMLO) is giving local fans the chance to become part of history by registering as a volunteer. The Ladies European Tour (LET) event will see some of the world’s best female golfers compete for a slice of the $550,000 prize purse, and organisers are calling upon the local community to get involved.

Everyone from experienced golf fans to those simply looking for a unique and fun-filled experience, are encouraged to register for the four-day event. Volunteers will be able to participate in a number of ways, including as walking scorers, operating the leaderboards and measuring the length of players’ tee shots.

Volunteer registration is open now and anyone planning to be a part of this special event is invited to sign up online today via the FBMLO’s official website:
fbmladiesopen.com/en/volunteer/register-your-interest

The post Ladies European Tour set for Abu Dhabi debut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rayhan Thomas is not just the first amateur golfer to win a MENA Tour event. He’s also a poster boy for the future of golf in both India and the Middle East. In this exclusive interview with one of the most likeable and focused teenagers you could ever meet, Thomas talks pressure playoffs, his love of yoga and the sacrifices required to become one of the best 16-year-old golfers on the planet

Story by Robbie Greenfield

[divider] [/divider]

 elf-confidence is the lifeblood of every top athlete, but it comes in two very different guises. With some, it manifests itself in cockiness and even arrogance. Then there’s the other form of confidence – equally strong but quiet, like a powerful current. This is the type possessed by Rayhan Thomas. When you meet Rayhan, you quickly get a feeling that this kid is going places. And at 16, his precocity goes beyond his exploits on the golf course. “What is more important: talent or hard work?” I ask him during our interview. “Hmm,” he thinks for a second. “When talent works hard, that’s a pretty good combo.”

Around two years ago, Thomas made the decision at just 14 years of age to make the most out of the considerable talent he’s been blessed with. You can’t lead a normal teenage life and work towards becoming a professional athlete at the same time. For those who try to do both, inevitably it’s the dream that dies. And so Rayhan accepted that in order to achieve his goal of becoming a top golfer, his life would have to be very different to those of his friends.

Last year, Rayhan, together with his parents John and Neena, and coach Justin Parsons, took the difficult decision to leave school and continue his studies at home through an online course that gave him the freedom to focus on golf and play tournaments without skipping classes.

The academic adjustment has been a relatively straightforward one for this bright young man, but leaving his friends behind was a wrench. “That was the biggest sacrifice I made, giving up a big part of my social life. I miss my friends a lot,” he told us during last month’s shoot. “But then when a win comes along and you get to experience that feeling, it’s worth it.”

And what a win it was. Last month at his home course, Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, Rayhan made history when he became the first amateur golfer to win a MENA Tour event, on the occasion of the tour’s 50th tournament. It has long ceased being a surprise to see Thomas’ name near the top of a MENA Tour leaderboard, but winning at 16 was a remarkable achievement.

Rayhan Thomas poses with the trophy at Dubai Creek, alongside Adel Zarouni, vice chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation. Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Golf Tour, Chris May, CEO of Dubai Golf, and club captain Patrick Morrow

golf in DUBAi’s David Spencer called it the ‘most significant thing to happen to golf in the Middle East since Tiger Woods hit balls off the Burj Al Arab in 2004’, and if that sounds like hyperbole, I can add that in 12 years of covering golf in the region, I’ve never seen anything to match it on a local level. Dubai has always had a flair for staging the biggest events, but watching a young Indian lad come through a junior program at the Creek, and then continue to progress to a point where at 16 he has become one of the best players on the MENA Tour, puts this region on the map not simply as one of the European Tour’s favourite stop-offs, but as a legitimate producer of exciting golfing talent.

Furthermore, this was no one-off victory on his home track. In the last five MENA Tour events, Thomas’ worst finish is a tie for eighth. Top players are able to score well on every type of golf course, and Rayhan’s runner-up and third place finishes in Thailand, together with his even more impressive win at the Scottish Boys tournament last summer, have shown that even at his young age, he has a versatile game.

The most exciting aspect though, is the scope he has for far greater improvement. Thomas will get bigger and stronger, and more technically skilled. “He’s just so good at playing the game,” says Stephen Hubner, director of golf operations at Dubai Creek. “It sounds like a simple thing to do, but we all know it’s not. Rayhan has that ability to navigate his way around a course in the fewest possible shots, and all the ball-striking prowess in the world can’t buy you that.”

In the last five MENA Tour events, Thomas’ worst finish is a tie for eighth.

[divider] [/divider]

Rayhan Thomas: The Interview

Now that you’ve had time to let the achievement sink in, how do you put into words what winning on the MENA Tour means for your career?
It’s mainly about confidence. It has set a platform for the rest of the season, and going ahead it gives me plenty of confidence for the rest of the MENA Tour and the other amateur events that I’m going to play this year.

Have you been surprised by your success on the MENA Tour?
Last year did surprise me, yes. Getting into the playoff that I lost at Dubai Creek [to Jake Shepherd] and finishing in the top 15 in a few other events, it came as a bit of a shock. But this year with all the practice I had put in and the good results I had in Thailand, I expected to be able to content this time around.

Was there a particular moment during the victory that stands out?
The last full shot I hit in regulation was from the waste bunker on the right of the 18th fairway. The pin was tucked right and I knew I needed to make a birdie to win. I was going for it, I didn’t want to get into another playoff, but I pushed the shot ever so slightly and the wind took it right of the green. It pitched on the bank, hit a rock by the water hazard and bounced back onto the grass! My heart was in my mouth but in the end, a good result.

Your win created quite a stir, both on the MENA Tour and in the wider world of golf.
The reaction has been amazing from the guys on the MENA Tour who I look up to. Getting recognition from guys like Zane Scotland, Luke Joy and Jake Shepherd has meant a lot. And to have professionals like Thomas Bjorn, Chubby Chandler, Darren Clarke and other Indian golfers like Anirban Lahiri and Jeev Milkha Singh take notice on Twitter, it has been very exciting for me.

Getting recognition from guys like Zane Scotland, Luke Joy and Jake Shepherd has meant a lot.

What has been more important in your evolution as a player: learning how to hit the shots or learning how to cope with the pressure?
My Dad always said I have the shots, and I have a good imagination when it comes to playing, but I never really developed the mental stability. I guess at 15 you don’t really have that. So this year I started doing some yoga and focusing on techniques to keep calm and visualise things better. I think that has been a key to the success I’ve had this year. When I hit a bad shot, I try to accept it and move on. I can’t change what’s just happened, so there’s no point smashing my club or tossing my ball in the water. I stay calm and go ahead and play the next shot. When I’m faced with a tough shot or a pressure moment, I’ve worked hard on my inner dialogue, reminding myself that I’ve hit the shot tons of times before, that I’ve done the work and practiced enough to expect to hit a good shot. As a golfer you have to be present. I’ve worked on closing my eyes, focusing on my breathing and paying a lot of attention to the different sounds around me, to be in tune with the environment. Once I open my eyes, everything is blocked out and it’s all about the next shot.

How do you strike the balance between your studies and your golf career?
I’ve started studying from home, which is all online, so I get to travel and study at the same time. But it’s all about having a routine in place where I know what I’m doing and what I have to focus on. Whether that be practicing in the morning and studying in the afternoon, or the other way around. And of course having a Mom that’s always behind me and making sure I’m on top of things has been very important!

How big a role have your parents played in allowing you to pursue this dream?
They’ve put in a lot of time, money and effort in order to give me this opportunity. Everything from taking me to events, to the coaching that’s required and the time to practice and play. But more than that they’ve given me the values and the morals, together with the confidence that I can do something with my life and be a success if I work hard enough. There’s no one in this world that I trust more than my parents and any successes I have in golf, I owe to them.

[divider] [/divider]

The expert take on Rayhan

Justin Parsons
Director of Instruction at the Butch Harmon School of Golf and Rayhan’s coach

“Rayhan has essentially been living like a professional athlete for the last 18 to 24 months. Over that time, he has become increasingly exposed to the kinds of things that professional tour players have to deal with on a daily basis, and as a result, he has made a lot of progress.

One of the big challenges we had with Rayhan was to ensure that he stayed very motivated and very realistic, based on the level of competition that was available to him. I think in the past, nobody has helped local golfers here to understand that being the best amateur in the UAE doesn’t come with any guarantees. You’re a big fish in a small pond – a top junior amateur here might not even be in the top 30 or 40 for their age group in the UK, for example. For all the facilities that we have here – and believe me they are among the best on the planet – the challenge we have is that this is a very small pool of elite talent. And as we all know, it’s competition that breeds success.

We have to help promising golfers come up through the ranks without getting caught up in the hype that builds up around them. In my own role as Ray’s coach, I have to constantly remind myself not to get carried away with what he’s achieving. We need to stay focused on his progression and his improvement. Rather than bask in his successes, we try to use them as a platform to keep moving forward, and Rayhan completely gets that. One of the first things he said to me after winning the MENA Tour event at Dubai Creek was, “so what do I need to do better?” He had just won a professional event at 16 and he was asking me how he could improve!

Rayhan won the prestigious Scottish Boys title in July

At 16, Rayhan is a brilliant golfer. But relative to what he’s going to have to be like at 19 or 20, when hopefully he’ll be preparing for that transition into the professional ranks, we still have some way to go. He’s much more consistent technically than he was a year ago, but the biggest shift in Ray has been in his attitude to every facet of his game.

I can see a scenario where he’ll get an awful lot better in the next few years. He’s still developing physically. He’s got three or four years of improving things like his body awareness, his balance and coordination. A lot of young players hit a ceiling, but more often than not that comes down to attitude. They aren’t prepared to work hard enough. That is not the case with Ray. He loves goal-setting and he loves achieving those goals.

I think Ray made a decision that he was going to be the best version of himself that he can be. He realised that would entail a different lifestyle. You need to look deeply within yourself if you want to make a career out of golf. If you choose that path of real dedication, the sacrifices you need to make in order to achieve something require missing out on the things that your friends take for granted. Rayhan has accepted that. And without that acknowledgement and drive, you really don’t have a shot at success at the highest level.

Ray loves accepting challenges, and he does his best to knock them down. One of those was to contend in three or four MENA Tour events, which he did, and he won one. That was a bonus, and a feather in his cap to go alongside his terrific win in the Scottish Boys tournament over the summer.

Rayhan will always belong to Dubai. The MENA Tour gave him a platform to develop his game, which we’ve never had before. Previously once juniors started to win Amateur Men’s Opens here, there was nowhere for them to go. Now we’ve got this amazing platform where they can take the next step on the MENA Tour. It has given elite junior golfers something to aim for and aspire to, and we can’t underestimate the job golf in DUBAi have done in building a tour with nearly 20 events and world ranking points available to its players, not to mention the chance to gain entry into some huge tournaments.

So where does Rayhan go next? Ultimately, he would love to have a successful college career in the U.S., and then earn a place on one of the main tours. There are no guarantees in golf, but the way he is going, I have every faith in him.”

Luke Joy
Professional Golfer and MENA Tour winner

“People often talk about the fine margins in golf, and it’s true. When I played the Omega Dubai Desert Classic a few years back, I realised that I wasn’t all that far off. The thing is, there are a lot of very good golfers out there who can hit ‘wow’ shots and impress people with their ball-striking. But only a small minority of those have the mindset required to compete successfully at the highest level. To see that in Rayhan at such a young age, that’s the most impressive thing about him for me.

My advice to Rayhan? Stay in control of your world.

Rayhan is naturally talented, but he’s also applying himself accordingly. And it’s really, really hard to do that at 16. It takes so much discipline. There’s a misconception that golf is a soft, cozy profession. It’s tough and it’s very lonely. It’s really important to build that little team around you. You see that at every tournament. Each player has a team of four or five people around them, and Rayhan is already building that. Having supportive parents who aren’t too pushy is massive, and Ray has that too.

My advice for Rayhan? To keep doing his own thing. He’s going to get pulled all over the place. He’s going to have a lot of people advising him, and pushing him to do stuff. But he has to stay in control of his world. He’s an awesome chap, and he holds himself fantastically well. I think he has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Mohamed Juma Buamaim
Vice-chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi

“I first got to hear about Rayhan through his achievements in the Dubai Golf Trophy and there’s no doubt that he’s very talented. He’s a special case, not only because of that talent but because he has a very good family who take care of him. They don’t push, but they support him, emotionally and financially. They are going about it the right way.

When Rayhan played earlier this year in Thailand, he travelled without his parents and the [golf in DUBAi] team looked after him. But if you walked into the spike bar after a round, you always saw Rayhan at the top of the table, holding court! He’s with guys like Zane Scotland and Lee Corfield – seasoned pros – and he’s talking to them with confidence. He can handle it all, and yet still he’s not rushing anything.

The whole approach he has is very impressive, and that comes down to the way you conduct yourself as well. The other players on the tour sit and listen to Rayhan because they view him as an equal. And I hope that one day, we have an Arab boy who comes through and emulates what he has done.

Do I think this will happen? I hope so, but truly, until things change I don’t believe it can. The way things are; it’s tough to see a kid from the Arab world emerge like Rayhan has done in the next five years. Perhaps in Morocco it’s possible, but they have their own difficulties. The easy opportunities afforded to the Arab players are a frustration for me. They should have to earn their stripes, like Rayhan is doing.

If we look at the Moroccans for instance, some of them have tremendous talent. But their failure is that they haven’t integrated enough. They have played against each other, but not enough against international opposition. To succeed at the top level, you have to test yourself in every conceivable situation and against every level of opponent. And Arab golfers haven’t done that. The Arab golf federations have to ask themselves: what is it they really want to achieve? By spending all this money, is it just to have a national team? Should the national team remain amateurs? Everything is geared towards the national team, like other Olympic sports, but golf is different. It’s very difficult to have four good professional golfers from any given Arab country in the next 10 years. So you have to support the individuals. This fixation with team competition is the wrong way to go about developing elite talent.

Arab golfers will not succeed without being put head-to-head with players of all nationalities. It’s the only way they will get the discipline required to achieve something. This business of handing out things for free isn’t going to get us anywhere. You can have all the best facilities and the best coaches, but without discipline it means nothing.

No matter who you are, as an up-and-coming golfer you have to win big at each level before progressing. You will not be ready to turn pro unless you’ve won at every level as an amateur. And the professional world of golf will simply overwhelm those who aren’t prepared for it.

In my opinion, the golf federations need a rethink. They need to go away from this idea that it’s an amateur body. There’s no shortage of money here. If we were a poor country, then of course you could understand it. But we’re not; we have the funds and we have the facilities, and now the MENA Tour provides the platform. So there’s really no excuse not to bring kids through.

As for Rayhan, I admire the fact he’s focused equally on his golf and his studies. He’s building a great foundation. What we need is a college here in the UAE where kids can study and play golf at the same time. The MENA Golf Tour has provided the competitive platform, but there’s still a lot to be done to ensure that we continue to develop players like Rayhan in the future.”

The post Rayhan Thomas: The Making of a MENA Tour Star appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The passing of golf’s original icon has sparked an unprecedented outpouring of emotional tributes from the golfing community and beyond. Arnold Palmer died last night aged 87 after suffering heart complications. The American legend, who was known simply as ‘The King’, transcended his sport and played a central role in the global popularization of golf in the 1960s.

A winner of seven majors, the force of Palmer’s charisma and his competitive spirit captured the imagination of the wider public, and his old rival Jack Nicklaus was among the first to pay tribute.

Tiger Woods took to social media soon after the news broke to express his own sadness at the loss of a friend and mentor.

From top golfers to the President of the United States, the heartfelt tributes have been pouring in.

The President of the United States (and his possible successor) have also taken to Twitter to mourn the loss of the beloved star.

The post Tributes pour in for The King appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The European Tour has stolen a march on the PGA Tour with an exciting new tournament format that organisers hope will give golf its own version of cricket’s Twenty20. The sport’s powerbrokers have long been debating new ways to broaden golf’s appeal and introduce faster, more exciting formats, and in February 2017, the result of this exhaustive brainstorming will be the new World Super 6 Perth – a 54-hole stroke play tournament culminating in a dramatic six-hole match play shootout between the top 24 players.

Co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour, the event will be held at Lake Karrinyup Country Club from 16-19 February, 2017, and will constitute a world-first in professional golf. The opening two rounds will play out as normal with a 36-hole cut, before things get interesting.

The World Super 6 Perth will be staged at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Western Australia

After 54 holes, the field will be further cut to 24, with any ties for 24th place being decided by a playoff. From there, players will contest a six-hole match play shootout, with a special nearest-the-pin extra hole used to decide matches that remain all square after six. The format is designed to produce a flurry of quickfire action, aggressive golf and plenty of drama as the field is quickly whittled down to the final match and a champion is determined.

“This is an exciting day for international golf as we launch the World Super 6 Perth; a golf tournament which is set to change the way people view golf,” said Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia and PGA Tour of Australasia.

“Cricket has Twenty20, Netball has Fast5, Rugby Union has Rugby7’s and now golf has the World Super 6 Perth.”

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley, a man who has long championed new and innovative formats for the sport, added: “This initiative was something that we spoke about at great length to our Tournament Committee, led by Chairman Thomas Bjørn. We are thrilled to participate in this because, at the European Tour, we believe that golf needs to look at new and innovative formats.”

You can read more about the World Super 6 Perth on europeantour.com

The post Golf gets its own Twenty20 in European Tour format shake-up appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Talented Indian amateur Rayhan Thomas shot a sparkling six-under 65 to better his own amateur course record as he sits one shot behind early pace-setter Jake Shepherd of England after today’s round one of the MENA Golf Tour’s Dubai Creek Open.

In a rich vein of form following his recent victory at the Scottish Boys’ Open Stroke Play, Thomas reeled off seven birdies against a lone bogey to beat his previous best of 66 that he shot in this very event last year – when he finished runner-up to Shepherd

Shepherd countered an early bogey on the third with six birdies and an eagle as he launched a strong defense of his title with a blazing seven-under 64, one shy of the course record for professionals jointly held by Lee Westwood and MENA Golf Tour patron Darren Clarke.

The English duo of Zane Scotland and Luke Joy, both former winners of the Dubai Creek Open, signed for matching 66s to share third, one ahead of a three-man group which included Scotland’s Daniel Kay.

The MENA Golf Tour is celebrating its 50th tour event this week at Dubai Creek. Yesterday Emirati professional Ahmed Al Musharrekh (left) joined Adel Zarouni, Mohamed Juma Buamaim, Mustapha Al Hashimi and the tour’s most prolific winner, Zane Scotland, at a press conference

Thomas, a two-time runner-up on the MENA Golf Tour, said he played solid golf. “I struck the ball pretty well and holed some great putts. Overall, it felt very good out there,” added the 16-year-old Dubai-based prodigy, who is supported by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation.

“If I can keep the momentum going, I think I stand a good chance of posting a strong finish,” he added.

Shepherd was equally pleased with his day’s work. “It was a bit crazy out there. I had no expectations coming into this tournament as I hardly played any golf in the last three months, but things fell into place, especially my long game, which was in great shape,” he said.

“I was fighting big time with my short game, but today I holed some nice putts. Very, very pleased with the start,” said Shepherd who eagled the par-5, 10th, hitting his four iron from 226 yards to within eight feet.

Scotland, who won the inaugural Dubai Creek Open in 2012, rode on a great start to keep himself in contention for the title.

“I was four-under after eight holes and that kind of set the tone for the day. Winds picked on the back nine, but I managed to keep the bogeys away from my card, which was quite pleasing,” said the record 11-time winner on the MENA Golf Tour.

The post Shepherd and Thomas shine at Dubai Creek appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Two big mistakes I see with driver set-up and how to fix them

“A lot of amateur golfers get too much weight on their left side when setting up with the driver, while others tend to fall back in an effort to stack weight behind the ball. Here’s a simple drill that will help you get into a powerful driver set-up every time. The key is to ensure your weight is evenly distributed across both feet. Watch the clip below and give it a try next time you’re practicing your driving.”

The post Driver set-up Do’s and Don’ts appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Robbie Greenfield

[divider] [/divider]

he great Bobby Jones was right. When you spend a day at Sunningdale Golf Club, it’s extremely difficult to leave the place. “I liked [the Old course] so much I wished I could carry it around with me. It suited my game so delightfully,” Jones recalled after carding historic rounds of 66 and 68 in the 1926 Open Championship qualifying  that are generally considered to be among the finest ever played.

If golf is in your blood, you don’t need to be possessed with Jones’ unique genius for playing it to feel the same kind of affection. Today, Sunningdale – host of the 2015 Senior Open Championship and no less than four Women’s British Opens – remains one of golf’s greatest delights.

The mere name itself conjures images of rolling fairways meandering between swathes of heather, clumps of gorse and sandy scrub. Aesthetically, Willie Park Junior’s creation (later updated by the club’s secretary – and arguably the greatest of all the course architects – Harry Colt) has few rivals. Each hole seems to deliver a unique and equally perfect configuration of vivid green turf, wispy golden fescue punctuated by bursts of flowering purple heather, against a backdrop of pine, oak and silver birch.

As with all the truly classic courses, the bunkering flows with the terrain; a concealed scoop in the ground here, a cavernous trap at the base of a natural depression there. Each bunker is immaculately presented and positioned just so.

A panoramic view of the par 4 17th hole (left) and the opening par 5 hole (right) on Sunningdale’s Old course

Sunningdale Old’s brilliant par 4 fifth hole features the first ever manmade water hazard to appear on a golf course

Deep into a round at Sunningdale, you reach a state of such tranquility that only the rarest golfing gems can boast, lost in your own private battle with the course and cut off from the rest of the world by the silent wall of trees on either side. And this magic does not only apply to the celebrated Old course. Colt’s New course is perhaps not quite so charming, but it brings a different set of strategic challenges to a more traditional open heathland setting, making the playing of both courses on the same day an unbeatable combination.

Together, the Old and New courses at Sunningdale comprise the best 36-hole golfing experience in the UK

So good, in fact, that 36 holes don’t seem like enough. As we sat on the clubhouse terrace having played the Old and then the New on a warm, sunny day in mid-July, even the club’s famous afternoon tea couldn’t entirely persuade us that the day’s golfing action was over.

“Do you think they would mind if we snuck out for another nine?” asked my rambunctious American playing partner, Mike, ruminating on a mouthful of scones and jam, before adding: “I’m a heathland guy now. Don’t ever take me to one of your so-called ‘championship’ links courses again.”

Harry Colt’s New course at Sunningdale is more open and traditionally heathland in style than it’s sister course the Old. This is a view from the fairway of the long par 4 12th hole

THE FINEST FORM OF GOLF

Sunningdale was the headliner on our trip to play the five clubs the recently established Golf Tourism England refers to as the heathland classics, but the truly staggering thing about this collection is their depth in quality. In a combined 108 holes at Sunningdale, The Berkshire Golf Club and Walton Heath, a further 27 at St. George’s Hill and 18 at Swinley Forest Golf Club, you would be hard pressed to pick out a single forgettable shot. We also played Worplesdon Golf Club near Guildford, which provided yet more evidence of the extraordinary volume of great heathland golf in the Surrey-Berkshire area. It was one of those trips where my favourite hole, and even my favourite course, changed on an hourly basis. By the time we reached the magical Swinley Forest (more on that particular gem later) I was ready to join Mike and swear a solemn allegiance only to the courses that possessed this magical combination of springy turf, heather and pine.

The six clubs we visited are all located on the famous Surrey-Berkshire sandbelt to the southwest of London and are within a 25 minute drive of one another

You might wonder why Sunningdale’s famous neighbour Wentworth is not included in the cluster. Well, the West course originally designed by Colt but subsequently transformed by Ernie Els and his design team to cater to the requirements of hosting the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, no longer exhibits the hallmarks of a quintessential heathland track.

Contrastingly, the courses we played have remained largely unchanged since they were first laid out by the legendary triumvirate of classic course architects between 1901 and 1928: Park Jr, Colt and Herbert Fowler. Indeed, the proliferation of pine trees at several of these clubs has prompted strategic thinning designed to restore some of the open, rolling vistas on the original layouts.

When you visit any of these five clubs you feel like you are stepping back in time, and I mean that in a good way. The very best parts of the game have been carefully preserved together with a serene ambience, but what was notable on our trip was the total absence of pretentiousness.

The Old course at Walton Heath is the closest thing you will find to an inland links. This is a view of the par 4 fourth

Positioning the heathland classics as a halfway house between parkland and links golf is probably as good a starting point as any, and the experience that most closely resembles the latter is to be found at Walton Heath Golf Club. Founded just two years after Sunningdale in 1903 and featuring two courses designed by Herbert Fowler, famed golf writer Bernard Darwin once said: “If there is something golfers want and do not get at Walton Heath, I do not know what it can be.” Sir Nick Faldo has called this the ‘finest, and most authentic’ of all the heathland courses, and it’s got a history to match.

The courses we played have remained largely unchanged since they were first laid out between 1901 and 1928

Walton Heath hosted the 1981 Ryder Cup (a contest that an American team featuring no less than 11 major champions won by a landslide), and the Senior Open Championship in 2011. Furthermore, it has been the USGA’s choice of international U.S. Open qualifying venue for the past 11 years. Comprising the Old and New courses (New being a relative term – it opened in 1907), 35 of the holes are located on a vast expanse of open land across the road from the clubhouse, practice area, and the first hole of the Old, which happens to be a rather intimidating 235-yard par 3.

The New course at Walton Heath occupies the same expanse of open land as the Old and is a firm, fast course with plenty of heather

It goes without saying that Walton Heath has bundles of charm, prompting Mike to comment on arrival (this time between mouthfuls of bacon roll) that the view across the putting green from the clubhouse patio was ‘impossibly quaint’. Allowing for the fact that being American, Mike tends to describe anything built before 1983 as quaint, he had an inarguable point. Like many old links courses, Walton Heath feels like it has been there forever. The greens flow seamlessly to the next tees just like an old links, and there is an abundance of short par 4s, a type of hole that has been criminally phased out by the modern obsession with 7,000-plus yard courses.

At 286 yards, the first on the New is one such example, and when Mike’s 3-wood scampered onto the green and came to rest 15 feet from the pin, he turned to me with one of those unbearably smug grins that suggested the next few hours in his company would be challenging. He may have also said: “Yeah, baby.”

I needn’t have worried. Walton Heath hosts U.S. Open qualifying for a reason – it is tricky. Two holes later, we were given a sharp reality check when a pair of drives we had been quite happy with were eventually discovered in ankle-deep heather. By the turn, Mike’s smug grin had turned into a perplexed grimace. “I don’t feel like I’m playing badly at all,” he muttered, while tapping in for another double-bogey on the long par 4 12th.

A suggestion for the gents when you play at Walton Heath: don’t do what we did and blindly cling to your ego from one of the longer sets of tees. This exposed, breezy heath can beat you up if you’re just a little wayward off the tee, and this form of the game is too much fun to be played from the heather (which as pretty as it is, is no fun whatsoever).    

The brilliant Berkshire Red course features six par 3s, six par 4s and six par 5s in its par 72 layout. This image shows the par 3 fifth green (left) and the dogleg par 4 sixth fairway (right)

While members at The Berkshire and even Sunningdale are often torn between which of their courses is the better, at Walton Heath there is no doubt that the Old is the superior layout. It occupies the more interesting terrain and has a greater variety of holes, together with more unusual quirks.

From one Herbert Fowler classic to another, our next stop was the majestic Berkshire Golf Club near Ascot. Maybe it was the stag emblem on the front gate, or the sight of a member walking up the first accompanied by his dog, but either way we knew instantly that we had arrived at a special, unique club.

Playing the Red and Blue courses at The Berkshire either side of its famous carvery lunch amounts to one of the most enjoyable days of golf you can have in the UK – or anywhere for that matter. Like Sunningdale, the courses compliment one another. Both wander off deep into the heart of a dense pine forest lined with bracken and rhododendron bushes, but the Red course takes you across higher, more undulating ground. Its unusual configuration of six par 3s, six par 4s and six par 5s is a delightful riposte to the standard par 72 layout, and we were soon wondering why more courses hadn’t copied the formula. “Six outside birdie chances in one round?!” exclaimed Mike rapturously. “That’s more than I have in a year.”

The second hole at The Berkshire’s Red course is a short, uphill par 3. Away to the right the par 5 third hole’s fairway plunges downhill

By the exquisite par 3 fifth hole, we were in mutual agreement that the Red course had blown us away. Sliding doglegs, uphill approach shots, fairways that plunged between avenues of pine trees and exhilirating par 3s playing across valleys of heather – this course is an assault on the senses and every hole seemingly announces itself as a candidate for the best one you’ve played yet.

A day playing both courses at The Berkshire convinced us that we had stumbled upon some profound golfing secret

“The Blue cannot live up to that. No way,” asserted Mike at lunch, dividing his attention between this premature course review and a slice of medium-rare roast beef. Well, it did. Ok, I think we’d both pick the Red as a marginal favourite, but it’s mighty close. The Blue opens up with another par 3 and the first few holes are slightly more parkland in style, but we were soon gazing in admiration from every new tee box as the familiar blend of fescue and heather gave way to pulpit greens popping up like islands surrounded by artisitically contoured bunkers.

The par 3 13th – one of my favourite holes on either course – was a great example of this style, with the raised green extending on a platform above a large bunker sporting a full beard of purple heather, and giving way to a steep drop-off to the left. On the rare occasion that we did hit an accurate iron shot, we watched with immense satisfaction as the ball flew above these sensationally picturesque short holes.

The par 3 13th hole on The Berkshire’s Blue course was one of our favourite short holes on the entire trip

It was during our day at The Berkshire when we realised that a trip to play the heathland classics could hold its own against any other golfing itinerary on the planet. We knew Sunningdale was going to be sensational, and Walton Heath’s reputation precedes it. But to visit a club where the golf is this good, and where no one there takes themselves remotely seriously, convinced us that we had stumbled upon some profound secret barely 15 miles from one of the world’s busiest airports.

THE GREATNESS OF HARRY COLT

After playing 72 holes of Fowler’s finest work, it was time to return to our old friend Harry Colt, first to St. George’s Hill and then finally to Swinley Forest. I’ll say this, the man was a genius. It is amazing to think that he designed these courses over a century ago and they are still just as strategic, just as clever and just as downright enjoyable today. From hickory clubs to the very latest titanium composites, manufacturers have poured every last drop of technological know-how into modern club design, and a Harry Colt par 3 still has the ability to make you go weak at the knees.

You could find plenty of avid golfers in Surrey who would argue that St George’s Hill occupies the finest site Colt was given to work his magic on. As the name suggests, the topography here on this opulent estate on the outskirts of Weybridge, is varied and sweeping. Featuring three nines of Red, Blue (which together make the championship 18-hole course) and Green, the first and 10th holes tumble away in opposite directions from the clubhouse, perched imperiously on the top of the hill.

The view from the clubhouse looking up the par 4 first hole at St. George’s Hill Golf Club

St. George’s Hill has the most impressive clubhouse I’ve seen in the UK and I invite anyone to suggest an alternative. It’s a magnificent red-brick building with a terrace that offers panoramic views across the property. As you come up the ninth and 18th holes, the clubhouse, with its giant red and white flag fluttering above, dominates the backdrop.

While I realise this feature is in danger of sounding like a broken record, the golf here is as fun as the holes are pretty. Colt’s legendary eye for a par 3 was as sharp as ever when he went to work here in 1911, because the third, eighth, 11th and 14th holes are all superb. There isn’t a single flat hole on the course, but the only semi-blind tee shots you face all day are at the 10th and 12th par 4s.

Every so often during the round, a giant mansion will loom up from behind the pine trees like some towering Himalayan peak, and these range from the more attractive old English red-brick style houses to hulking continental structures where presumably the oligarchs go to unwind.

Harry Colt is renowned for his par 3s, and the four at St. George’s Hill are all excellent – perhaps topped by the eighth

Having played there several times now I have become a huge fan of St. George’s Hill, from its brilliant layout to its friendly and welcoming members. But on a personal note, my favourite of all has to be our final port of call, Swinley Forest. This beautifully eccentric club right next to The Berkshire was Colt’s own favourite too, a design he modestly referred to as ‘my least-bad course’, which is another way of saying it’s one of the best examples of golf course design on the planet.

Back in the early 20th century, the 17th Earl of Derby commissioned Colt to build the course at Swinley under the strict proviso that lady members would be admitted from the start – the first of so many refreshingly unusual statistics that illuminate the history of the club. The links-like burn that snakes its way across the first and 18th holes had to be moved from its original spot when it was revealed that Lady Derby had trouble carrying it on her opening drive, and so began the culture of a course, and a club, that has dedicated itself to the simple pleasures of the game, with none of the accompanying stuffiness.

Swinley Forest is a stunningly beautiful course which makes use of the tremendous natural green sites – here showing the short par 4 11th hole (foreground) and the par 4 14th holes

For many decades, Swinley Forest existed in its own bubble, detached from the rest of the world. It has always been a highly private club, but until quite recently, the place was shrouded in mystery. Few knew much about it, and even fewer got to play it. But thanks to the progressive attitudes of current secretary George Ritchie, Swinley has opened its doors – albeit to the discerning golfer who wants to pay homage to Colt’s greatest masterpiece.

Ritchie has also worked tirelessly to improve the condition of the course. “It deserves to be recognised as one of the best courses in the world, and with that, it deserves to be in the best possible condition,” he told us during our visit.

A truly outstanding collection of par 3s at Swinley Forest are completed with the 17th hole and its pulpit green

Ritchie knows Swinley will never have the star power of Sunningdale or Walton Heath, but he and everyone at the club are happy in the knowledge that what they have is something unique. “We don’t take many new members because those that join stay here for life,” he told us. “Once you become a member here, it’s very difficult to go somewhere else and experience something better.” It was said so matter-of-factly, but he’s right. The members at Swinley don’t carry handicaps and they don’t hold competitions. Ever. Such administrative affairs merely interrupt the joy of just playing.

And what a joy this course is. If Colt is known for his par 3s (among many other things), it’s here that he discovered the greatest collection – and such is their quality that he identified the sites for the five short holes first, before building the rest of the layout around them. I haven’t been lucky enough to play New Jersey’s Pine Valley (another course in which Colt had a considerable hand) but if it really does have a better bunch of short holes than Swinley, I truly hope I one day get to see them.

A view looking back down the par 3 fourth hole at Swinley Forest, with the par 5 fifth fairway in the background

When you stand on the tee of the fourth, you will ask yourself if you’ve ever played a better looking par 3. You’ll be posing the same question on the 10th. The 17th caps an outrageous collection of one-shotters with a hole that must surely have inspired A.W. Tillinghast’s effort on the 10th at Winged Foot West. A pulpit green dares you to hit an accurate shot in the full knowledge that left or right is likely to result in bogey being a good score.

Elsewhere, the layout’s endless sequence of majestic pars 4s and its two par 5s frequently cause you to lose focus and just stand there, gazing awestruck at nothing in particular. I did that on the fifth, seventh and ninth tee boxes alone, to say nothing of the occasional fleeting glimpse of other holes you’ve yet to reach, stretching out beyond a row of pines towards yet another perfectly formed crowned green.

In his playing days, Harry Colt used to talk about ‘a craving for my usual game around the Swinley Forest course’. Craving. It’s an apt word for Swinley, and it’s an apt word for the heathland classics in general. Colt’s affection for his favourite course was no different from Bobby Jones’ wish to carry Sunningdale back home with him. These two great courses, together with the others on this trip, are about more than just a rewarding golfing experience. As Mike will happily testify, once you’re bitten by the heathland bug, one visit is nowhere near enough. We’ve already started scouring dates for 2017.

[divider] [/divider]

 Special thanks to Golf Tourism England and the featured golf clubs
Golf Tourism England has set out to put England’s incredible golfing offering on the map for visiting golfers from around the world, grouping clusters of great courses together. For more information on golf in Surrey and Berkshire, email: info@golftourismengland.com
or visit golftourismengland.com

The post Travel: Add England’s heathland classics to your bucket list appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.