By Kent Gray
What does a golfer desire for his 14th birthday? For Josh Hill, it’s clearly a fast start to the defence of his Faldo Series Middle East Championship title.

The Dubai-based Englishman gifted himself exactly that with a one-under 69 as the 22nd season of Sir Nick Faldo’s global junior series opened at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club on Tuesday. Hill shares the overall lead with Mikkel Mathieson (Denmark) and is a shot ahead of Dubai-based Indian Arjun Gupta and Toby Bishop (Wales) in the U-16 division heading into the second round of the 54-hole event on Wednesday.

Mathieson enjoys a five stroke advantage over England’s Jay Mullane and Kenyan Bradley Mogire in the U-18s category while Emirati Abdullah Al Qubaisi shares the lead in the U-21s race with India’s Arkesh Bhatia after a four-over 74. Gupta and Bishop were the only other players in the 54-strong field to equal or better AEGSC’s par of 70 on a tough day for scoring.

Hill entered the week in impressive form. The +3 handicapper fired an historic 65 at Trump International Golf Club Dubai en-route to a third straight Emirates Golf Federation open men’s title in late Feb. and then finished runner-up in the U-16 division at the 12th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam earlier this month.

Related: Josh Hill, just 13, fires Trump course record en-route to third successive EGF title

He qualified for the Asian finale at the Faldo-designed Laguna Lang Co. courtesy of winning the U-16 Middle East and then European Grand Final Faldo titles, both also at AESGC, last year.

Kellie Gachaga (Kenya) and England’s Billie-Jo Smith, meanwhile, lead the U-21 girls event at Al Ain after 74s while Sukura Kawakami’s 72 gives the Japanese player a one shot advantage over South Korean Hyeonji Kang heading into the second round of the U-16 girls division.

Faldo created the series (open to players aged 12 to 21) in 1996 to pay back to a sport that has given him so much by nurturing the next generation of champions. It has grown to 40 tournaments in 30-plus countries. Past winners include Major champions Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng, plus tour winners Nick Dougherty, Oliver Fisher, Marc Warren, John Parry, Rashid Khan, Melissa Reid, Florentyna Parker and Carly Booth.

Faldo recently confirmed the series’ European Grand Final will be hosted by AESGC until 2021.

The Middle East is the epicenter of the @EuropeanTour and now junior golf with @NickFaldo006 confirming @aesgc as the host venue of the @FaldoSeries European Grand Final till 2021. Congrats to @GChappellPGA @tompro66 and all the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club team. ? https://t.co/72eDrulQLO

— Golf Digest ME (@GolfDigestME) March 20, 2018

Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club (AESGC) @aesgc will host the Faldo Series Europe Grand Final for the next four years, Sir Nick Faldo has announced. https://t.co/vXKHrOU1Q8 @NickFaldo006

— Faldo Series (@FaldoSeries) March 20, 2018

The post Hill celebrates 14th birthday in style at Faldo Series opener in Al Ain appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Stockton and Ron Kaspriske  
Do me a favour and sign your name on a piece of paper. See how quick and easy that was? Now try to slowly duplicate that signature. Not so easy. The reason is, you’re thinking about it and not tapping into your subconscious, the way you did when you signed the first time. Putting is no different. The best putters see their target line and then roll the ball on that line, just like you saw the paper and then signed it. The lesson is, keep it natural, and don’t let yourself get bogged down by anything.

With the help of my sons, Ron and Dave Jr., I’ve developed a philosophy that focuses on this notion but also incorporates basic tips for improving your setup and stroke–the same tips I’ve given major champions like Phil Mickelson and Yani Tseng. Our method might really differ from what you do now, but it’s the most effective way to roll the ball into the hole.

1. Lead with the left

If you shot a basketball free throw with your right hand only, you’d realise you need your left hand as a guide. The same is true on the greens: The left hand is the direction hand, and it’s just as important as the right. Practice putting left-hand-only (immediately above), or have someone hold a club in front of your hands on the target line. Bump the grip with the back of your hand, not your fingers, like Dave Jr. is doing.

2. Think roll, not hit 

The key to distance control is to roll the ball, not hit it. To do this, take an open stance, your weight slightly favoring your left side and your putter shaft leaning toward the target. The open stance makes it easier to feel the left hand going out and down the target line. The forward lean offsets the 4 degrees of loft I recommend for a putter and helps the ball roll smoothly.  When you make the stroke, keep the putterhead low to the ground past impact, like Ron is demonstrating (inset). The putter will ascend slightly, but don’t try to hit up on the ball — whoever told you to do that was wrong, because it makes the ball hop.

3. Use your fingers

Grip the putter any way you like, as long as it doesn’t hinder your left hand’s role in the stroke. But make sure to grip the club in your fingers. The shaft should run up the lifeline of your left hand for clubface control, but your fingers must contact the grip. You can drop the right forefinger down the shaft, but don’t steer with it. Forget about what your palms are doing. Fingers equal feel.

4. Spot the ball

If you stare at the ball too long at address, it’s easy to get brain-locked and hit a bad putt. To avoid this, I don’t even look at the ball. Try looking at a spot just in front of the ball on your target line and rolling the ball over that spot. Put a tee in the ground in front of the ball when you practice (above). This gets you thinking about the target line instead of the stroke–the opposite of what most golfers do.

Another trick to free your mind is to picture the ball going in on the high side of the hole on a breaking putt. Most golfers miss low. For this left-to-right putt (below), I want the ball to enter the cup well left of center.

The post Dave Stockton’s four tips to hole it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Sir Nick Faldo pauses momentarily as he reflects on the 21st anniversary of his globe-trotting junior development series.

“It’s been quite a good journey, yeah,” the 60-year-old golfing knight turned commentary box royal says with a hearty dollop of English understatement.

The Faldo Junior Series has indeed come a long way – 40 events in 30 countries annually to be exact – since the six-time major champion created the non-profit organisation in 1996 to give back to a sport that has given him so much. Among the talented youngsters identified and nurtured along the way have been major champions Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng, plus tour winners Nick Dougherty, Oliver Fisher, Marc Warren, John Parry, Rashid Khan, Melissa Reid, Florentyna Parker and Carly Booth.

You can bet a handful of the 57 names on this week’s 21st Faldo Series European Grand Final leaderboard will emerge from Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club as future stars too after benefitting from the unique combination of tough tournament examinations and lashings of expert advice.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy poses with Nick Faldo after winning the U-17 division of the 2006 Faldo Junior Series at The Celtic Manor Resort on October 6, 2006.

From his home in Orlando, Faldo himself has come along way this week to host in Abu Dhabi. He’s brought sports psychologist Kjell Enhager with him, a man Faldo admits he could have done with during his playing days when he feared his mental fortitude might be exposed if he didn’t hide behind that famously aloof “blinkers on from the first tee to the 18th green” exterior.

“Kjell did a great presentation talking about the mind, how to visualise, how to make decisions, how to practice better, how to get yourself in the right mental state,” said Faldo. “It was a real good eye opener for them, they’re getting some good stuff from us.”

The learning, it seems, is a two-way thing.

“When we started [in 1996] you didn’t really appreciate all the differences but when you take European kids to say Asia and they get thrown in the deep end and suddenly they have to learn to play golf with an eight hour time change, different grass and you’re going to get sunburnt even when the sun doesn’t even come out, it’s a great learning experience.”

Faldo has been imparting his wisdom too, playing nine practice holes Sunday with some of the starry-eyed youngsters before holding a clinic for AESGC members on Monday morning as the talented teens from Europe, Asia and the UAE [Reema Al Heloo and Rashed Al Emadi] set off on their 54-hole odyssey.

A separate clinic for the players was planned for Monday afternoon and typical of his playing days, Faldo has come prepared, as much as his busy television commitments allow anyway.

“I always come in with some kind of theme to try and give the kids a bit of insight into what and how top sportsmen think, act and react, and how they can test themselves,” Faldo said

Asked for this weeks theme, the serial swing tinkerer of old emerges and makes for a fascinating listen.

“It’s funny I’ve been practicing and I always talk about my ‘four swing”, I mean I had one backswing and four different follow throughs to hit different shots,” says Faldo, clearly just warming up.

“When you play less you go right to what has to happen, the absolute musts, so if you’re trying to hit the ball high, what do you have to do to make it happen, how do you release the club? If you want to hit it low, if you want to hit a fade, hit a draw…and I’ve been doing that myself from the same stance basically, and then you learn to make minute differences and how to feel the differences and then what happens when you make the differences.

“You know, if you make some kind of difference in your swing, where does the golf ball go and if it goes consistently in a certain direction, can you use that as a positive, in a way to use it on the golf course?”

Just as he’s making a huge difference to the careers of all those involved at Al Ain this week, so too is Faldo playing the mutual appreciation game.

“It’s great, a great spot,” the CBS analyst says of AESGC . “Obviously this time of year its perfect. To try and go as late as possible in the season as we do, I mean you struggle in central Europe, it’s too cold. We’ve been to Loch Lomond where it’s blowing 40 miles an hour and it’s 40°f  (5°c), it snowed in the Greenbrier and well, they’ve got a treat here. They’re in nice breezy conditions in the low 80s (27°c), it’s going to be a good test for them.”

Faldo holds court at Monday’s AESGC members’ clinic.

The first day scoring showed many are up to the test with England’s Charlie Salter and Australian Daniel Gale leading the way with four under 66s. In all, 11 players bettered par.

With the backing of the R&A, World Amateur Golf Ranking points and trips to next year’s Asia Grand Final – Faldo will invite three boys and two girls to the event at his Faldo Design course in Vietnam, Laguna Lang Co, in March – on the line, there is still much to play for.

Regardless of the scoring this week, the chance to glean tips of the trade from Europe’s most majored golfer is a priceless opportunity. The journey – for both Faldo and his juniors – continues.

The post Faldo in Al Ain, and his element, nurturing the next generation appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.