Video Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Watch: Golfer hits bunker shot over kangaroo, nearly holes out

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 16:19:09 +0000

Kangaroo shot. Mitchell Beer

There’s one place on God’s biologically diverse Earth that you may have to get up and down from the sand by flying it over a kangaroo. That place is Australia, the world’s exclusive streaming partner of the Marsupial Tour. But don’t take our word for it, just watch Animal Planet or, better yet, this video of a guy recording a remarkable sand save after hitting his bunker shot over a nearby ’roo. Don’t thin it!

Golf in Australia has its fair share of hazards. ??‍ pic.twitter.com/e223cklkLB

— mitchellbeer (@beermitchell) June 21, 2023

As if golf wasn’t hard enough already, Australia is now throwing living, breathing hopping hazards into the mix. No wonder the likes of Adam Scott, Jason Day and Cameron Smith all plop down on American soil ready to win majors. They’ve been flopping it over exotic wildlife since they were in grade school. Nothing hones the short game like the threat of concussing an endangered species.

As for the kangaroo, this one didn’t seem too pleased with getting a sand bath while simply trying to eat breakfast.

If that look doesn’t say “hit into my group again and see what happens,” we don’t know what does.

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WATCH: LIV Golf highlights from The International near Boston as Dustin Johnson gets back in winner’s circle at last

Matt Smith — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 05:33:15 +0000

By Matt Smith
Dustin Johnson finally got back into winner’s circle after 19 months of missing out.

The victory came in a thrilling three-man playoff at LIV Golf’s fourth event at The International outside Boston on Sunday, as the 4 Aces captain prevailed over LIV Golf newcomers Anirban Lahiri and Joaquin Niemann.

Watch all the highlights below

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WATCH: Highlights from Day 2 of LIV Golf Invitational Series — Boston as Gooch gets ahead

Matt Smith — Sun, 04 Sep 2022 10:08:01 +0000

By Matt Smith
Talor Gooch rose to the top for 4 Aces on Day 2 of the latest LIV Golf event outside Boston.

The American is one stroke ahead of new LIV recruit Joaquin Niemann, with 18 holes to go.

Watch all the action here:

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WATCH: Highlights from Day 1 at LIV Golf Invitational Series — Boston as Cam Smith shines

Matt Smith — Sat, 03 Sep 2022 08:25:08 +0000

By Matt Smith
Cameron Smith shone on his debut in the LIV Golf Series just outside Boston.

Take a look at the highlights below as the Australian world No. 2 trails Talor Gooch and Matthew Wolff by one at the International.

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The post WATCH: Highlights from Day 1 at LIV Golf Invitational Series — Boston as Cam Smith shines appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WATCH: Korn Ferry twins pull off switcheroo on their playing partners during pro-am

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 09:53:13 +0000

By Alex Myers
Pre-tournament pro-ams might be a professional golfer’s least-favourite part of the gig. You usually spend five-plus hours giving golf tips to strangers, feigning compliments to weekend hackers, and repeatedly answering if you’ve ever met Tiger Woods. But a pair of twin brothers found a way to make this week’s experience more entertaining for themselves — by pulling off the old switcheroo.

That’s right, Jeremy Paul and Yannik Paul traded places in the middle of their round with a group of unsuspecting golfers. And no one seemed to catch on. Check out the funny video released by the Korn Ferry Tour:

.@jeremypaul53 and @yannikpaul prank pro-am group and it’s incredible. ? pic.twitter.com/Ll6kOdiPTU

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) September 1, 2022

Of course, a lot went into successfully pulling off this prank. For one, they dressed identically. (Although different-coloured socks could have given them away). Second, they’re both great golfers. (Although, Yannik kinda hacked it up while using his brothers’ clubs.) And third, Jeremy provided info on the group, specifically that “Randy” had made a couple clutch six-footers in a row for the group. (You go, Randy!)

Oh yeah, and, again, they’re identical twins. It would be tough to get away with this trick if not for that.

Anyway, nicely done by the Paul brothers, who hail from Germany and are both teeing it up at this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship. But if only one of them makes it to the weekend, rules officials might want to make sure it’s the right one actually playing each hole.

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WATCH: Highlights of the LPGA CP Women’s Open

Matt Smith — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 06:05:59 +0000

By Matt Smith
South African Paula Reto had a day to remember as she set a number of records during the the first round of the CP Women’s Open. The 32-year-old shot a bogey-free 9-under 62 at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club to lead South Korea’s Narin An by two strokes.

Her course-record bested the 63 by Brooke Henderson in 2017. The 62, the low round of her LPGA Tour career by two strokes, ties the low round overall of the 2022 LPGA Tour season and ties the lowest round in CP Women’s Open history.

Watch the highlights here:

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“Usually when I make two, three birdies I feel like it’s going to be a good day whether I make a few more or not. Usually under par is always good. But to go low is always fun. And to have no bogeys,” said Reto, who has represented South Africa at the Olympics. “I saved two really good par saves, which was nice. So that kind of kept the momentum going for a low round.”

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Gary Player is doing flips into swimming pools at age 84, proving he’s still an absolute specimen

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 20:55:57 +0000

By Stephen Hennessey
Gary Player might be the eighth wonder of this world. The octogenerian continues to be just about the most fit golfer we know, and the guy will turn 85 before this year’s Masters.

The nine-time major champion proved he’s not close to slowing down just yet, posting a video of him doing a flip off a diving board. That’s something this writer, who considers himself somewhat athletic and is in his 30s, wouldn’t dream of doing. Yet again, Player is motivating golfers worldwide by his feats of strength. You need to see this video for yourself.

With the Olympics postponed, think I can sneak a late entry into the Men's Springboard? #lockdowngoals pic.twitter.com/wlyqFWkr7X

— GARY PLAYER (@garyplayer) August 5, 2020

Our favourite part might be the kids, who could be his grandchildren, going crazy after Player pulls off the dive. We would, too, if our grandpa was diving into swimming pools into his 80s. My Pop-Pop used to go in the ocean once a year on family vacation and it was an absolute rush as a teen. I can’t imagine if he were going full Greg Louganis in his mid-80s.

Mr. Player, you continue to amaze, and motivate us all.

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HOW TO: Improve your ball-striking and limit injuries with these posture tweaks

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 23:10:56 +0000

(Photo by Mustufa Abidi)

By Ben Cannon
Delivering 40 lessons a week at a facility as busy as The Track, Meydan Golf, you see people from all walks of life. With our location being so close to the heart of Dubai’s Downtown district, it’s not uncommon for clients to arrive straight from a busy day chained to their office desks. Few amateur golfers realise the extent of the damage our normal day to day lives can have on our posture. It’s vital we have both a sound understanding and physical ability to create the ideal golf posture to first prevent injury and ultimately encourage accurate and solid ball striking.

The golf swing is essentially a rotational motion around a central column – that central column being your spine. The better the position and the angle of your spine at address, the better it will be throughout the swing, especially at impact as the torsional forces being applied to your body throughout the swing can put pressure on the back if an unsuitable posture is used.

Statically the two most common injuries picked up by golfers are in the lower back and wrist. Here, I want to talk specifically about how your pelvis plays a vital role in producing an athletic posture and preventing lower back issues.

Typically, club golfers present with one of two posture types. These are:

C-Posture
C-Posture occurs when a lack of pelvic tilt causes the upper body to bend to address the ball. Your shoulders are slumped forward at address and you have a definitive roundedness to your thoracic spine (mid-back). This results in a loss of posture and a flat shoulder plane which makes it difficult to rotate fully in the backswing and often leads to an early extension.

S-Posture
S-Posture is caused by creating too much arch in the lower back/pelvis at setup. This puts abnormally high stress on the muscles in the lower back and leads to a loss of posture and reverse spine angle. This, in turn, puts the lower body out of position on the downswing and will affect the sequence of motion in the swing.

So, what can you do if you struggle with the either the C or S postures? To find a neutral posture give this a go:

Pelvic Tilts In Golf Stance – Find Neutral
1. Get into 5 iron Posture
2. Cross your arms
3. Arch your back (S-Posture)
4. Flatten you back (C-Posture)
5. Arch your back again
6. And then find neutral

Hip Bar Hinges
This is a great drill to help improve your pelvic position and feel the proper set-up posture, with a good hinge from your hips and not from your spine or knees.
• Position a club across your hips with your thumbs on your hip joints.
• Get into a neutral posture and bend forward from the hips, not the lower or upper back.
• You will feel as if you are pushing the golf club back and tilting from your hips.

W-Turns
This drill is perfect for golfers that have a C-Posture and tend to lose their posture during their backswing.
• From starting posture, place a club behind your back so that your arms form the letter W. Make some smooth slow swings focusing on keeping your shoulders back as you rotate. This is a great drill for those golfers in C-posture and gives them the correct sensation for a good setup position and keeping a good spine angle as they rotate.

Posture is very important in our day to day lives. In golf, a few tweaks to your posture could go a long way to not only improving your game but also reducing the risk of injury. – With Kent Gray.

Ben Cannon is PGA Golf Professional at the Meydan Academy By Troon.

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VIDEO: Backswing Takeaways

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 00:28:51 +0000

Start your swing on the right line

By Mike Kinloch
If you have been watching coverage of tour events recently, you may have seen a number of professionals practising with a similar set-up to the one pictured. One of the most notable European Tour star’s to use this exercise is Tommy Fleetwood who recently won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.

A very common fault that occurs early in the backswing is excessive forearm and wrist roll in the takeaway. This causes the arms and club to get way offline and out of position and often sets off a chain of events in the downswing that makes hitting on line shots difficult. This drill is designed to help you align to the target at address and then make a neutral, online start to the backswing. You need two aiming sticks, one on the ground parallel to the target line, positioned just inside the ball. The other stick is stuck in the ground 4ft back from the ball and at an angle parallel to the shaft line at address.

Starting with a waist-high swing, move the club gently away from the ball and see if the club touches the angled stick. If it does, there is a good chance you are rolling the arms and club to far inside on the takeaway. Practice taking the club away with passive arms and hands until you can avoid the stick. You can hit shots with this set-up but start with small, waist height swings with a ball on a tee. As you become better at taking the club away on line, slowly increase the length of these swings to 3/4 length backswings. As you lengthen the backswing and get the hands to chest height, the shaft should be inclined at a similar angle to the shaft at address. This is a good indication that you are moving the club back on line and maintaining good arm and shoulder structure.

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Michael Kinloch is Head Professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai. For more information, visit dubaigolf.com

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VIDEO: Fret not the flop shot

Kent Gray — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:17:22 +0000

(Photo by Masam Ali)

Dubai Creek professional Tom Ogilvie shares a round saving shot

By Tom Ogilvie
The flop is a delicate, potentially high-risk shot but needn’t be feared. We all come across scenarios on the course where we need quick elevation and a shot that lands softly on the green.

Depending on the loft applied to the ball at impact and the speed of the swing, it’s a shot that will travel 10-25 yards and impress your pals when successfully pulled off.

Follow my tips and you’ll be able to do just that. Executed correctly, the flop is a shot that can shave plenty of shots off your scorecard. –with Kent Gray

Weapon of Choice
The club required for this type of shot is one which has enough loft to get the ball up quickly so reach for sand or lob wedge.

Open the Clubface
When addressing the ball it is vital to open the clubface at address to add loft. To compensate for the open clubface, it is important to adjust your body alignment slightly to the left. Keep the clubface open after impact to maintain the loft, as illustrated in the picture above where you can clearly see the clubface pointing to the sky.

Posture and Stance
To help encourage a shallow angle of attack, widen the stance and add more flex to your knees, feeling slightly closer to the ground.

Ball Position
This is critical to success. Position the ball in the middle of your stance or slightly forward to help the club slide under the ball. If you position the ball too far back in the stance, it will encourage a steep angle of attack resulting in a lower trajectory.

The Swing
Fully commit to the flop shot. As a result of an open clubface, any decrease in swing speed will result in the ball landing short of the hole.

Common Mistakes
Often amateurs will lean back onto their trail foot in an effort to lift the ball up. Maintain equal balance in the feet throughout the swing.

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Tom Ogilvie is a PGA teaching professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai. For more information, visit dubaigolf.com

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