By Kent Gray
Josh Hill might be the youngest of the four debutants in an England line-up chasing a Boys Home Internationals three-peat in Scotland this week but he’s certainly not talking like an wide-eyed rookie.

The 14-year-old Dubai-born +5-handicapper clearly not only feels at home in the company of the United Kingdom’s best U-18 players, he expects to excel at Royal Dornoch over the next three days.

Hill will partner Hertfordshire 15-year-old Max Hopkins as England open their defence in Sutherland against Scotland on Tuesday. They’ll face the host’s duo of Jack Broun and Andrew Thornton in the morning foursomes before Hill is rested for the afternoon singles.

RELATED: Josh Hill leads off our new ‘Sand Trap’ feature

The Jumeirah Golf Estates product expects to play a full complement of matches on  Wednesday and Thursday against Wales and Ireland after sealing his international debut with eye catching 10th and 11th placings in the England U-16 (McGregor Trophy) and U-18 (Carrus Trophy) Championships.

“I feel like I can compete against all these guys which again gives me confidence,” Hill told GolfDigestME.com

“I’m playing five out of the six games so I expect, first time, I’ll be a bit nervous, so maybe three or four points hopefully…probably four…maybe even five but, yeah…

“I am a bit nervous heading into the week obviously but I’m excited as it’s the first time. I’ve got to know all the guys in the squad, really nice, really funny. Playing foursomes tomorrow and we’ve decided, between me and my partner [Hopkins], that I’m not hitting first tee shot so I won’t probably be as nervous as if I was hitting the first tee shot. I’m very excited.”

Related: Meet Josh Hill, Dubai golf’s new whiz kid

Hill enjoyed his practice rounds on Dornoch which came after a dream loop of the Old Course at St Andrews, a wondrous distraction after missing the cut at the English Amateur Championship at Formby G.C. by a shot.

That setback is all part of a well-charted but very steep learning curve.

“I went onto English Am where I made a triple and double in the first day and finished four over [76], so apart from them two, I was one under. Shot one under [70] the next day and missed the cut by one so it was quite hard to take. They were really bad triples and doubles, but it’s a learning experience. I know I could have easily made the cut, just two bad holes and I’ve missed the cut by one.”

Aside from a second round 65 in the Carrus Trophy which propelled Hill into a share of the 36-hole lead, the home-schooled English teen hasn’t yet hit his straps during this U.K. sojourn. It makes his call up to the U-18 national squad all the more remarkable.

“It means a lot to be selected for the England team. It shows me that they think I’m a good player and obviously one of the best in England which gives me a lot of confidence for my game going forward.”

The post Dubai’s Hill in high spirits ahead of Boys Home Internationals debut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

A year ago the former U.S. Amateur champion rolled into Dubai to entrust his game to The Els Club, Dubai-based Northern Irishman Justin Parsons on the recommendation of Claude Harmon III.

The rest, thanks to a not insignificant swing change, is now glorious history after Uihlein fired a closing 65 to capture the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship by a shot from local favourite Ryan Armour at Ohio State University Golf Club.

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Justin Parsons works with Peter Uihlein.

The win earns Uihlein exempt status on the PGA Tour for the 2017-18 season and is an understandably proud moment for Parsons, the Director of Instruction at the Butch Harmon School of Golf at The Els.

“It’s almost exactly a year since Peter made his first trip across to Dubai after we got started and it’s been an amazing ride to see him not only improve as a player and improve a lot of the areas of his game, but also take ownership of his dream to become a PGA Tour player,” said Parsons.

RELATED CONTENT: Peter Uihlein’s victory in Web.com Tour Finals opener gives him PGA Tour exemption … and options

Justin Parsons with Peter Uihlein at the 2017 U.S. PGA Championship

“So we’re absolutely thrilled for him this morning. I had a bit of a late night watching it and I’m over the moon for him and all the things it’s going to mean for him coming into the 2018 season.”

The feeling is obviously mutual as this tweet from Uihlein shows:

Thanks to my coach @JParsonsGolf caddy Ben and @team_FIP @liammcdougall84 @H_Bomb009 @BradFaxon for all their hard work and belief in me ??

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) September 3, 2017

Uihlein, who turned 28 last Tuesday, has played in Europe since he turned professional in 2012 and looks likely to juggle his schedule between the European and PGA Tours next year even after his big Ohio win.

Thanks for all the messages! Thrilled to have gotten it done ?? looking forward to being a member of the PGA and European tour next year!!

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) September 3, 2017

He got into the Web.com Tour Finals as a non-member courtesy of earning enough FedEx Cup points to qualify with three top-25 finishes in seven PGA Tour starts this season. His $180,000 winners’ cheque means he’s now a lock for one of the Web.com Tour’s 25 PGA Tour cards for next season.

More success in the Web.com Tour’s remaining finals events would improve his status although his end-of-season schedule remains uncertain beyond the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews and the Italian Open and the co-sanctioned WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China later in October.

Most importantly thanks to my family and my girl @ChelseaGatestv for the support and belief. Couldn't have done it without them pic.twitter.com/BcY5ahxnT0

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) September 3, 2017

Parsons deserves a great deal of credit for what shapes as a career defining win in Ohio for the son of Wally Uihlein, longtime CEO of Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist.

After recovering from surgery for a ruptured ligament in his left wrist in May 2016, Parsons went to work on creating a power fade swing to replace the draw Uihlein had gone to most of his career.

RELATED CONTENT: My week working with Peter Uihlein at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth

Uihlein described his Ohio triumph as a “nice validation” of Parsons work.

“This year in particular, with the way I’ve tried to change my game, I’ve become a lot more consistent,” Uihlein said. “It’s a good feeling to know that I can play golf just hitting it in one direction and eliminate one side of the golf course, which is something I’ve been just absolutely hammering. I really like where my game is headed.”

So pleased for @peteruihlein on securing his @pgatour card with a victory @webdotcomtour in Ohio. 65 final round- baller!! @benhayes78 @chelseagatestv @team_fip #teamtitleist #titleist

A post shared by Justin Parsons (@jparsonsgolf) on Sep 3, 2017 at 2:03pm PDT

The post Uihlein credits Dubai coach for career-changing Web.com Tour victory appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This is the first U.S. Open I’ve attended and after we practiced for the first time on Monday afternoon, I’ve got to say Erin Hills really wasn’t what I expected to find.

Certainly off the tee, the golf course is big and it’s pretty wide to be honest. It’s right out in front of you so I spent Monday looking for different strategies off the tees to ensure we avoid the really penal areas.

I think some of the players have made more of this whole fescue thing than they’ve probably needed to. I think Rory’s comments are probably correct in that you really shouldn’t be missing a fairway that’s 60 yards wide. That said, if you do find the rough, you are going to get punished.

The one thing I would say is the fescue is very, very heavy right off the fairway whereas if you do actually end up missing by 15 or 20 yards, you will invariably get a better lie which does seem a little unfair.

They’ve taken the rough in by three to five feet on most holes so it presents pretty well off the tee although there are two or three blind tee shots to be negotiated.

I think the golf course from a second shot point of view, that’s really where we going to see the men separated from the boys. Look for some good iron players to do well, providing they can drive it far enough because I don’t think its going to favour a shot hitter.

Crazy golf it’s not
The pin locations I’ve seen for this morning are pretty well tucked in the green complexes. It’s a new courses and the designers have done well not to make it too crazy, but the green completes are challenging with a lot of little shoulders and shelfs and places where they can hide the flags.

The first round pin positions

Certainly on reviewing the pin placements for Thursday, there’s a lot of flags that are tight to the front edges and tight to the edges of greens.

We’ve been looking at ways, certainly on the half dozen holes you can get in with a mid to short iron, particularly the three or four short iron holes, of making sure we understand the angles that we are going in at. We’ve also paid close attention to some of the pin locations that will be both helped and hindered by some little shelfs and little shoulders that you can get access to.

The greens are quick, The surfaces don’t look that good but that’s just the fescue. They seem to be running very well. Some are very, very fast and there are a lot of run offs on either side so again look for good chippers to do well this week.

@ch3golf @djohnsonpga prepping @usopengolf #erinhills #golf #golfing #golfswing

A post shared by Justin Parsons (@jparsonsgolf) on Jun 14, 2017 at 10:34am PDT

If you think of the 9th at The Els Club in Dubai, maybe not quite as severe as that, but the ball running down to a little gathering area. So don’t be surprised if somebody with a good chipping game, whose able to negotiate that fairly well, challenges. In true US Open style, the winner will obviously need to putt well too.

We had a weather warning last night [Wednesday], kind of like a tornado warning at one stage, but the weather seems settled this morning, light winds, maybe 20 degrees already at 7am and I know they’re away already in the first round.

So you looking for players that are solid off the tee, hit it far enough, guys in what I call the mid to upper echelon, you know, the likes of Westwood, Stenson, Rose, all the way up to DJ and Bubba Watson. You definitely need to hit it far enough to contend.
I think we’ll also be talking about a good iron player come Sunday, somebody who can really control the trajectory and the shape of the ball coming into the green. So again, guys like Molinari, guys like Rose are possibly going to do well.

I watched DJ practice yesterday and he looked a little bit rusty. But Claude [Harmon] and he did some good work and by the end of the session he looked in pretty good spirits.

@peteruihlein 2nd at 3 #erinhills 171 9 iron @usopengolf #golfswing #golfing #golf #teamtitleist

A post shared by Justin Parsons (@jparsonsgolf) on Jun 14, 2017 at 1:07pm PDT

And my guy? Well I’m pleased to say Peter warmed up and practiced really well so he looks good this week. He’s feeling great and he’s nice and relaxed ready for his professional U.S. Open. It’s certainly going to be a fascinating battle. Enjoy! — With Kent Gray.

Justin Parsons is the Director of Instruction at The Butch Harmon School of Golf at The Els Club, Dubai. Among his pupils is celebrated Dubai-based Indian amateur No.1 Rayhan Thomas.

The post Range Rover: Justin Parsons LIVE from the 117th U.S. Open at Erin Hills appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Sadly it was well below par – or over par depending on which way you look at it. The greens were very poor, bunkers too deep and unrecognisable from previous years. The new shapes of the greens only served to emphasize that all the changes made seemed to have tricked up the layout just a little too much.

After a return visit last month I am delighted to share that many of those disappointments have been rectified and the golf course is once again worthy of such a great championship.

I have been fortunate to work with former U.S. Amateur champion and European Tour winner Peter Uihlein since August 2016 and as his game has started to come around, I thought I would detail some of the areas which we go into at tournaments like this. I got into London on the Sunday before and planned to stay through the first round on the Thursday; this is quite normal for coaches whose main area is preparation and checking.

Justin Parsons has worked with Peter Uihlein for nearly a year. Getty Images

We have made some fairly major changes to Peter’s prelude to hit and his takeaway, softening out the move back into his heels and ensuring that he has a little more loft (more open) with the club as it moves away. The week gave me the chance to observe how well these changes had maintained since his last Dubai visit before the tournaments in China and I thought he was doing a good job.

His driving, which had deserted him a little for some time, is becoming a strength with the only hardship being a move towards a left to right fade shot which doesn’t really suit Wentworth. I made one or two suggestions based on points already covered but I think it is always best to keep the technical detail low during tournament weeks.

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We played a seven hole loop on Monday and a full 18-hole practice round Tuesday. Strategies from the tee were discussed as well as how to access some more difficult flags. The sub-air system on the new greens had worked well and they were fast and true – some extra time getting used to the improved surfaces was also evident.

Peter’s caddy Ben Hayes has done a great job since he took the bag. Ben and I discuss what we would like to see as well and hopefully we are forming a strong team together.

All of the equipment manufacturers were at Wentworth in force and the one adjustment that Peter and Liam from Titleist were working on was a two iron that Peter could hit a little further than his current model.

Peter Uihlein congratulates eventual champion Alex Noren on his brilliant 10-under 62 in the final round. Getty Images

The current club goes around 240-245 yards in the air and we were looking for an extra 10 yards. Peter is not carrying a three wood at present given that there is generally trouble at around 280-300 on tour courses. Peter felt the two iron was leaving him a little far back and although it would be preferable to have the three wood back in the bag, a player’s confidence and decisions are very important. A black graphite (extremely stiff) shaft made it to the range and although it covered the distance, it had a tendency to leak to the right so we made a couple of lie angle changes before deciding to stick to the original weapon.

On the Wednesday, a very busy day with a big pro-am, we spent some time on the range. I gave Peter some short iron and wedge challenges – controlling starting direction and trajectory but again avoiding too much technique talk. We also did a little session on the putting green where I was able to liaise with Paul Vizanko from Scotty Cameron’s Tour Department. Paul has known Peter for 15 years and helped me understand many of his underlying tendencies. This is another great part of getting to these events, learning from the true experts in our industry.

Peter eventually finished in a tie for 30th but had the fortune to play with Alex Noren as he blitzed his way through the field with a final round of 10-under 62. He took a lot from Alex’s determined and warrior-like attitude and I hope that as Peter continues to improve and gain confidence, he can put in similar performances.

Justin Parsons is the Director of Instruction at The Butch Harmon School of Golf at The Els Club, Dubai. Among his pupils is celebrated Dubai-based Indian amateur No.1 Rayhan Thomas.

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The Butch Harmon School of Golf at The Els Club, Dubai, and GEMS Sports Academy Dubai, have linked to provide the dual golf-academia pathway for talented 10-16 year olds.

A first of its kind in the region, the partnership links education provider GEMS with the Butch Harmon School which has seen students attain scholarships at the University of Southern California and the University of Tulsa in recent years.

Rayhan Thomas, the Dubai-adopted Indian amateur who sensationally made the cut at last week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, is a product of the school and continues to be coached by Director of Instruction, Justin Parsons. The 17-year-old eventually finished the European Tour event T60 following rounds of 68-75-74-74, the last of which he played in the company of reigning U.S. Masters champion Danny Willett.

“Since opening in 2009, we have been passionate about delivering developmental golf programs for young players,” said Parsons.

“With the link to GEMS Sports Academy, we can now work with some of the most talented players in the region and help them to attain scholarships to the U.S.”

Dubai Sports City President Khalid Al Zarooni added: “By combining the world-class facilities both at The Els Club and the Butch Harmon School of Golf with the GEMS Sports Academy, this will allow children to develop their talent whilst continuing their education.

“It’s truly unique and I look forward welcoming our new students.”

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