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EDITORIAL
Editor Bryce Ritchie @Bryce_N4
Assistant Editor Michael McEwan @MMcEwanBunkered
Staff Writer David Cunninghame @D_Cunninghame
ears ago I was at a dinner in the

Y
Staff Writer (online) Martin Inglis @MartinInglis_
company of Martin Kaymer. The Editorial Intern Chris Doyle
German, at that time, was the world
CONTRIBUTORS
No.1 and was doing his bit to promote Dougie Donnelly, Kevin Craggs, Scott Clark, Andrew
the BMW PGA for the European Tour. Jowett, David Patrick, Murray Urquhart, Steve
Whilst sitting enjoying a bite to eat with some Johnston, Andy Carlton, David Orr, David J. Whyte
English journalists, some of them mainly football ADVERTISING
writers, the conversation turned to Kaymer and his Sales Manager Ann Liddle
demeanour in the room. They were surprised to find Sales Will McGrath & Andy Robertson
a sportsman of his stature so down to earth and,
ART & PRODUCTION
more importantly for them, so accessible. Aside from Head of Art & Production Cheryl Gilbert
that, I’ve never forgotten what one of them said to Art & Design Alison Stark, Steve Curran & Anne Collatin
me, almost within earshot of Kaymer. Art & Design Interns Paige Graham & Mia Phillips
Production Department Louise Harkins
“It’s interesting, isn’t it?” he said. “If you took all the Editorial Secretaries Tracey Campbell, Louise Hope,
people who play golf in the world, he’s the best right Leanne Thorpe & Amy Garwell
now. Nobody in the world is better at the sport than
COVER IMAGE
him. When you think about it, that’s pretty cool.” Getty Images
I remember agreeing with him. But the more you
speak to people who reach the so-called pinnacle of PHOTOGRAPHY
their sport, there’s often a sense of the achievement Kenny Smith, Eve Conroy and David J. Whyte
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cover story with the German starts on page 40.
PUBLISHER
Also in this issue is an exclusive piece, on page Paul Grant
74, by Ryder Cup assistant captain Robert Karlsson,
whose job it is to bring the Ryder Cup back to COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
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world’s most talked-about golf course designers,

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4 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 contentsissue160

FEATURES
40 MEET 58 MARTIN EBERT 74 ROBERT KARLSSON
MARTIN KAYMER The leading golf course EXCLUSIVE Thomas Bjorn’s
COVER STORY Michael designer has made a name for right-hand man for the Ryder
McEwan sits down with the himself in recent years - and Cup match in Paris tells us about
classy German to talk about he tells us he’s not about to his plans for the match, including
the former world No.1’s slow down anytime soon an interesting approach to
approach to the game picking players for the side

6 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 cont’d
contentsissue160
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covering the European Tour 92 Travel News
34 How to Power Up 86 Mizuno ST180 Range
94 Hangout: Hawaii
A look at how Rory McIlroy 88 New Srixon AD333
38 Michael McEwan 96 Hangout: Tenerife
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90 TaylorMade What our man would 102 Newmachar
52 My Slice Cure TP Red Putter Range like more of in 2018... 104 Cyprus
Murray Urquhart on the 91 Shop Window and a little bit less of 107 Where to Play: GB&I
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In association with
DEAR
‘Sky is all hype, gimmicks and stats - I think it’s about time I cancelled my subscription’
5 Having read and digested your
Star (tremendous?) Letter from
Issue 158, I believed it important
enough to respond with a fairer
assessment of the BBC/Sky Sports
coverage debate.
Reader David Donaldson paints
a completely one-sided picture,
endorsed by you, as he appears
to believe that all things Sky are
wonderful, whereas all things BBC
obviously aren’t.
Let’s make a few comparisons.
The BBC is not, never has been,
and never will be, a dedicated
sports broadcaster, as their remit
is to attempt to entertain the broad
spectrum of society for reasonable
costs. I will admit that they don’t
always get it right, but I believe they
do so more often than not.
Regarding costs, the licence fee
for the BBC works out at £12.25 per
month, but my basic Sky package,
with nine sports channels costs me
£59.50 per month. Can you really
tell me that Sky is nearly five times
better value than the BBC? I think
not. Despite receiving all Sky Sports
channels, if they show a boxing
match all subscribers have to pay
extra.
Where does our money go? That’ll
be to pay for the Premier League
football so that we can watch
matches such as Leicester City play
West Brom on a Monday evening
or West Ham play Brighton on the
following Friday. With all due respect
to the fans of the teams concerned,
is this really what we want to have
our money spent on? They would
be far better spending some money
sponsoring a Ladies European Tour
event, seeing as there was so few of
them in the earlier part of this season.
And now Sky have reinvented
themselves, I can watch golf or
football coverage on three channels
at the same time. Even the other
morning, I could watch Sorenstam Vs
Webb from 2001 (for the umpteenth
time) and today it was Nicklaus Vs
Palmer from 1994. The amount of
12 BUNKERED.CO.UK
WIN
A long-sleeved
Email letters@bunkered.co.uk
repeats they show is appalling.
Maybe the BBC should resurrect
Around with Alliss or the pro-
celebrity shows from Gleneagles and
Turnberry, perhaps before your time.
The only programmes that Sky
broadcast which are worth watching
are half hour magazine programmes
such as Golfing World, Inside the PGA
Tour, Views of Golf etc, because golf
coverage is no longer entertainment
– it’s a chore because it’s so slow.
They used to broadcast a programme
called LGU Monthly about ladies’
amateur golf, which was very
informative. What happened to it, as
I haven’t seen any editions this year?
Sky doing all they can to help grow
the game again (not!).
Have you also noticed that on
a Monday after a tournament has
finished, they regularly don’t show
highlights but instead show the
original five or six hour broadcast
(warts and all) – laziness or what?
I will agree that Peter is past his
best, but still has the ability to make
me smile, even if it is perhaps all for
the wrong reasons.
Mr Donaldson also criticises Ken
Brown, presumably for rolling balls
about greens at his age to show
how fast and slopey they are – didn’t
Wayne Riley do exactly the same
on Sky, but no complaints about
him? After all, he “has established
himself as one of the best on-course
‘Largo’ top
commentators in the world of golf”, a
quote from the in-house Sky website
dated as recently as September 12,
2017. Really?
This is a guy who keeps telling
us that pro golfers are about to hit
impossible shots and will do well to
get the ball within 25-30ft of the hole.
The shot gets played and generally
ends up two-three feet from the hole.
A bit ironic that he was also hit on the
ankle by a wayward drive from Paul
Casey recently at East Lake because
he wasn’t watching what was going
on? In fact, he was looking in the
opposite direction.
And then we’ve got John E
Morgan, David Livingstone and
Mickey Walker – is this the best that
Sky can come up with?
During the recent Solheim Cup on
Sky, the commentators were saying
how different the outcome would
have been if Suzann Petterson had
been fit, without acknowledging the
fact that her replacement, Catriona
Matthew, won three points out of
four, so the result couldn’t have been
much different. At least we didn’t
have to cheat this time to end up as
the losing team.
And then we have the ‘Hero
Challenges’, which I thought were an
embarrassment to the game of golf.
Sky is all hype, gimmicks and stats, so
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
 ÎON TOUR
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of bunkered in the snap? If so, send us your pic and
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letters@bunkered.co.uk

‘Many magazines pay lip service to ladies golf’

5 Through time,
little attention
has been paid to
2
ladies’ golf. Yes, there
were ladies’ clubs,
but if we go back fifty
years, there were very
few competitions for
female professionals,
and relatively few
mixed clubs. One club
even had a notice: ‘Ladies and trolleys this way’. It is said
that there was one club that substituted ‘Dogs’ for ‘Trolleys’, 3
though perhaps that is apocryphal! Since the R&A admitted
ladies (though very few to date), and Muirfield eventually at
the second vote followed suit, it is inevitable that most men
only clubs will follow suit.
Yet many golf magazines pay even less than lip service
to ladies’ golf, either in content, or even in advertising,
despite the fact that there are now far more ladies playing
golf, and television is now covering ladies’ competitions,
just as it is covering ladies’ cricket and football. 4
The average male golfer, in fact, would learn far more
from going to watch a ladies’ professional competition
than they would a men’s one. Because they cannot hit the
ball quite as far as their male counterparts, though many
come pretty close to doing so, they concentrate much
more on timing (they tend to swing slower) and putting.
There is currently quite a controversy about whether
ladies should be permitted, if they so wish, to take part in
men’s competitions and there was a recent case of a girl,
who was taking part in a local mixed team competition,
who scored the lowest round, and although her score
was allowed to contribute to the team result, she was not
permitted to win the individual trophy.
So where does the future lie? First of all, men must
accept that the vast majority of women can golf just as well
as men (my wife would agree with this!). Men’s clubs should
move rapidly towards admitting women (and the few ladies
only clubs should likewise admit men), and golf magazines
should cater far more for lady golfers. Television should
continue to increase its cover of female professional
competitions, and the press in general should do likewise.
Compare, for example the press coverage of the Solheim
Cup to that of the Ryder Cup. Yes, it is covered, but by not 1 Derek Grindlay of Hayston Golf Club on holiday in Mexico
nearly so many column inches. 2 George, Ronnie, Dougie, Steve, Brian and Davie pictured
So perhaps my own men only club will indeed admit outside the R&A clubhouse at St Andrews after the 25th
ladies – but will I live to see it? I hope so, but I’m not annual staging of the Dring Cup. 3 Reader Greg Burnett
confident that it will be in my lifetime! at the Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown. 4 The Kelburne
Frank Gerstenberg, Gullane Golf Society (Paisley) on tour at Roda Golf Club, Murcia.
EDITOR’S REPLY
You had me right until you mentioned that you were connect with us
a member of a male only club, thus contributing to
the problem you outlined very succinctly.

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 13
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
I think it’s about time I cancelled my
subscription.
I also notice Mr Donaldson
complains about having to watch
BBC golf coverage on the red button.
Bearing in mind that Sky regularly
show (ladies) golf on the red button
as well, what point is he and you
trying to make, when you consider
you reckoned his letter to be
“tremendous”.
He also states that he would rather
watch adverts, such as those for PPI,
Confused.com, Go Compare and all
the betting websites that watch golf
on the BBC. Really?
He finishes by stating that the BBC
should concentrate on programmes
about “dancing and baking scones”,
which are watched and enjoyed
by millions and generate huge
income when they are sold on to
other countries. I wonder how many
millions watch golf on Sky? I bet
viewing figures don’t compare. Don’t
forget that Sky is helping to grow
the game of golf – just ask Martin
Slumbers, who has been known to
criticise the BBC golf coverage – he
would have to, of course, because
the R&A under his tutelage has sold
out to Sky?
One final thought. The TV Licence
holders pay £147 to fund the BBC
Television and Radio, which means
we receive ITV and Channels 4 and
5 free because adverts pay for their
programmes – when you consider
how many adverts appear across the
Sky channels (every 12 minutes or
so with a few exceptions) why do we
have to subscribe to Sky?
I don’t expect to get the Star Letter
or even see you print this in your
magazine, but a reply would be
appreciated.
Stewart Clark
EDITOR’S REPLY
Well Stewart, seeing as you used a
typewriter for this letter, which meant I had
to type it up so we could actually print it, I
will give you the honour of a reply. Allow
me to disagree with you on (various) points.
>>On the BBC ‘not being a
dedicated sports broadcaster’…
That’s why the R&A were completely
vindicated in moving their showpiece event
to a broadcaster which IS dedicated to
sport. Sky simply give the championship
the respect and the position it deserves.
>>On Sky being ‘five times better
value than the BBC?’…
If you want to watch live golf and football,
then yes it absolutely offers better
value as the BBC don’t cover golf.
>>On Sky showing ‘unedited
repeats on a Monday’…
Surely that’s a good thing if
you missed the action?
>>On Wayne Riley being ‘one of
the best on-course commenters
in the world…really?’…
I certainly think he is. I personally
dislike the BBC’s jokey approach to
golf coverage. And don’t even get
me started on John Inverdale.
>>On the Sky commentating team’s
Petterson/Solheim comment…
Agree. This was a mistake and
they were 100% in the wrong.
>>On the Hero Challenge… This
is a European Tour concept,
not Sky’s. They just film it.
>>On my hypocrisy to criticise
red button coverage…
My point here is that putting the Open
on the BBC’s red button is absurd as it
shows how seriously they take it. When
Sky offer red button coverage it’s because
they’re already showing live golf.
>>On Mr Donaldson ‘preferring to
watch adverts than the BBC’...
He was being sarcastic.
>>On the BBC’s Bake Off and Strictly
programmes being successful…
Don’t let ‘success’ spoil your argument.
Justin Bieber has sold 100million records
but it doesn’t mean he’s worth listening to.
>>On Martin Slumbers ‘selling out to Sky’…
He had to. The quality of the BBC’s
golf coverage wasn’t good enough
and harmed the Open ‘brand’.
Slumbers did the right thing.
PS. Genuinely, thanks for writing in. I
appreciate your passion for the debate.
Though next time send an email…

STAR LETTER Let’s leave things as they are...

‘I love watching my ten-year-old son hole a putt!’ 5 While there may or may not be an argument
for the Players Championship to be promoted
to major status, I could scarcely believe my eyes

5 I write this after

attending the
junior presentation at
Broomieknowe Golf Club
where my son picked up a
prize and it got me thinking.
With the general
consensus that golfers being
members of a club is on the
decline, I thought I’d highlight
the great work being done
at Broomieknowe by Yvonne
Dickson (junior convenor)
and her team of helpers. The
juniors are our club’s future
and it’s great to see the high
numbers we’re attracting.
This year had seen 18
hole medals, nine-hole
medals, six-hole scrambles,
catering for all ages of
kids keen to swing a club,
supplemented with weekly
coaching, and monthly adult
and child competitions.
My son, 10, and his friends
have really benefited from
the enthusiasm shown by
everyone involved, and I
must admit being able to
play a nine-hole foursome
or scramble with my son has
been a revelation and great
to see the joy on his face
when he holes a putt.
Keep up the great work
Yvonne and team.
Bob Scott
EDITOR’S REPLY
People like Yvonne hold more
influence in how we shape the
game in this country that you’d
think. Let me know if you want
your Ping top in your son’s size...
at the comment in last month’s article which stated
that the US Open and Masters had identities linked
to geography, but The Open (and PGA) did not. No
doubt the American PGA would have something to
say about that, and so too would the R&A.
Does Michael McEwan believe that the Open
Championship does not have a geographical
identity as it does not use the word British in its
title? The fact that it hasn’t is perhaps down to a
somewhat eccentric, mostly English, trait of omitting
the country’s name from many tournaments and
organisations - the FA, the RFU, the Premier League
- on the basis that it is not needed because it’s the
oldest or most important - in their own eyes at least.
But the omission of the word British from our Open
cannot possibly mean there is no geographical
identity, and the idea of this most hallowed of
tournaments being played anywhere other than a
British links course is frankly ludicrous.
In any event, why would we need a fifth major? So
that a few more golfers can call themselves major
winners and coin in even more cash? Why stop at
the Players? I’m sure many tournaments around the
world could make a case for promoting themselves
as majors.
Let’s just leave things as they are.
Jim Wright

14 BUNKERED.CO.UK
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Insight, news, views & gossip from around the game

z CNC MILLED
CNC milling has enabled
the engineers at Cobra
Golf to achieve precise
face thickness and
z SWEETSPOT
tighter tolerances to
help improve your game The new F8 drivers’
off the tee. sweetspots are probably
the visibly biggest we’ve
ever seen. It’s a massive
confidence booster when
standing over the ball.

z ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT
The lightweight 8-1-1-
Titanium body and forged
face, coupled with the
Carbon Fibre crown, gives
the F8 an incredibly low
and deep CG.

NEW
TECH
EXPLAINED
 EXCLUSIVE SAVING IN HIS OWN WORDS YOUR NEXT DREAM
A LEGEND JON RAHM GOLF BREAK?
PAGE 22 PAGE 26 PAGE 28

TALKING POINT

IS THIS THE NEW

FACE OF GOLF?
Everything you need to know about Cobra’s revolutionary CNC milled driver face

WORDS David Cunninghame @D_Cunninghame PHOTOS PSP Media Group Ltd, Getty Images

L
ET’S FACE IT, you’ve
never seen a driver
face quite like this one
before. There are several
keystone moments in golf
equipment history that
golfers can look back on
and say, ‘that changed the
way we play golf.’ Some
examples include, the first
steel shafted clubs, the
first titanium driver and
the release of the Pro V1
to name but a few. The
question is, will Cobra’s
CNC driver milled face
become one of these
moments? Well Cobra
certainly think so and it
is technology
that has us
fascinated.
WHAT IS CNC
MILLING?
CNC
(Computer
Numerical
Control)
milling is
a process of
automating
machine
tools where
computers execute
pre-programmed
sequences of machine
control commands. The
purpose of which is to
match the original CAD
(computer-aided design)
as closely as possible and
more accurately than more
manual manufacturing
processes. In layman’s
terms, CNC milling allows
the engineers at Cobra
to mass-produce a driver
face that is as close
to the original design
specifications as possible.
In the past this is
technology we’ve most
commonly seen on the
face of putters and more
recently in wedge design.
Conventional driver
faces are
hand polished
by trained
professionals
in accordance
with the
design
specifications.
Now, of
course, all
drivers go
through
constant
checks to
ensure
precision
and quality,
z CARBON FIBRE
An ultralight, 5-ply
Carbon Fibre crown
saves discretionary
weight to move the CG
lower and deeper for
higher trajectories and
increased forgiveness.
z AERODYNAMICS
Cobra’s 360˚ Aero
Technology incorporates
a system of strategically
positioned trips around the
perimeter of the face to
improve drag reduction for
increased clubhead speed.
but with CNC milling you
can almost guarantee laser
like accuracy.
THE TECH
Cobra says that its first
fully machined driver face
utilises a unique multi-
directional CNC milling
pattern that delivers the
highest level of precision
for superior performance.
Compared to traditional
hand polished drivers,
CNC precision milling
allowed the engineers at
Cobra to achieve precise
face thickness and tighter
tolerances resulting in
improved bulge-and-roll
curvatures with a face
that is 3% thinner and 10%
lighter for maximum ball
speed across the face. In
short, you are going to get
more ball speed across
more of the face.
This added speed
and forgiveness is also
boosted thanks to the
brands’ patented E9
Technology. The variable
thickness lightweight 8-1-
1- Titanium forged face
has been designed with
an elliptical pattern Sweet
Zone that creates more T

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 19
 WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

F8 F8+
THE F8 IS THE F8+ IS
FOR YOU IF... FOR YOU IF...
...you want a larger address ...you want a more traditional
onal
profile, more forgiveness, clubhead shape, lower loft
high launch and the option range and a lower, penetrating
ng
of a draw bias trajectory. ball flight.

T hot spots further away
from the centre of the face
for more distance on heel
and toe shots.
The incredible
performance benefits
that the new face offers
are also coupled with
several other new and
advanced technologies,
including Cobra Connect,
making the F8 and F8+
two of the best drivers I’ve
ever seen.
IS IT A ONE OFF?
In an industry where so
many ideas are eventually
taken on by other
manufacturers, I wouldn’t
be surprised to see this
become the norm in a few
year’s time. I’m not saying
that next year every driver
released will feature a
CNC milled face, but give
it six or seven years and
I’m pretty sure it won’t be
uncommon to see them
down at your local pro
shop. Brands always want
to capitalise on what works
and what people like.
MY THOUGHTS
The fact that Cobra are
making such a big deal
of the CNC milled face
comes as no surprise to
me, especially after testing
it. The CNC milled face
certainly takes a little time
to get used to looking
down at, but it is a great
visual aid and makes the
sweetspot of the driver
seem massive.
Cobra drivers I’ve hit
in the past have always
been really forgiving, but
at times this forgiveness
has meant high spin rates
and, in turn, less distance.
With the F8 they’ve struck
the balance just right.
My spin rates were right
where I wanted them, but
on off centre hits I was still
seeing the ball fly a good
distance. „
RICKIE
FOWLER
In The Bag
z DRIVER
KING F8+ Nardo | 8˚ | Aldila
NV 2K Blue 70x | 43.5in
z 3 WOOD
KING F8+ 3W | 13˚ | Aldila
Synergy 70X | 42in
z 5 WOOD
KING F8+ Baffler 5W | 17.5˚ |
Aldila Synergy 70X | 40.5in
z IRONS
KING Forged MB Irons (4-P)
| KBS Tour C-Taper S+ 125
z WEDGES
KING V-Grind | 52°, 56°,
60° | True Temper Dynamic
Gold Tour Issue S400
z PUTTER
Scotty Cameron
Newport 2 GSS
Although the F8’s
looks weren’t quite to my
traditional tastes, as soon
as you put it behind the
ball you know it’s a club
packed with tech. The
carbon fibre crown and
Nardo Grey finish help
give it an ultra-modern
appearance.
Usually it isn’t hard for
me to pick between two
driver models. Is it the low
spinning, smaller headed
option? Yes. Well hand
it over. With the F8 the
story was a little different.
I preferred the look of the
slightly smaller F8+ but it
was really hard to pick a
winner between the two in
terms of performance. The
F8 launched high and far,
while the + model gave me
a more penetrating flight
that performed just as
well in terms of distance.
Eventually I opted for the
+, but both left a fantastic
lasting impression on me.

20 BUNKERED.CO.UK
GOLF’S YELLOW
SAVING A LEGEND The inside story on how a humble pocket guide became a true ‘must have’ for

22 BUNKERED.CO.UK

PAGES...
mad-keen club golfers - and how it was saved
WORDS Chris Doyle
@CDOYLE15
PHOTOS PSP Media Group
I
N 2018, THE WEE YELLOW BOOK will
celebrate 30 years in print. One of the most
distinctive names for amateur golfers and golf
clubs all over Scotland, the so-called ‘amateur
golfer’s bible’ was introduced in 1988 with one
goal: to get more people out on the golf course.
The book, released annually, is a ‘one-
stop shop’ and comprehensive diary of open
competitions from over 250 golf clubs in
Scotland. You’ll find the dates, competition type
and cost all in the one place, so you can easily
fill up your golf calendar even before the season
gets underway.
What makes the Wee Yellow Book’s enduring
popularity all the more impressive is the fact that
it continues to go from strength to strength in its
original print form in what are increasingly digital
times. Golfers, it seems, just can’t get enough of
their trusty Wee Yellow Book.
It all began in 1988 when Glasgow man Les
Starkings wrote to hundreds of club secretaries
for details of their open competitions. From the
replies he received, he produced a pocket-sized
book with details of more than 300 events.
He continued to do this pretty much single-
handedly for almost 20 years until 2005, when
he took ill. At that point, father-and-son duo
Bruce and David Marshall got involved and, in
2009, they took full control of the book.
According to David, Starkings initially
developed it ‘out of frustration’. “He was retired
and wanted to play golf and other courses and
opens, but there was no mechanism to find
anything out,” he tells bunkered. “He decided
he couldn’t be the only one so that’s how it all
started.”
David took a more prominent role in running
the book a few years ago when Bruce took ill. “I
thought, right what can I do to keep this going?’”
he adds. “If I hadn’t, it would have disappeared.”
In 2012, he partnered up with his friend Paul
Richards, who brought the online element to
the table, which Marshall says will be crucial for
the book’s longevity. He says: “The book would
have struggled. Paul’s the brains behind the
online booking system, we have what nobody
else can really do. His involvement ensured its
survival and if that grows that will be the future
of the book.”
However, the online responsibilities meant it
was challenging for Marshall to juggle producing
the book along with his full time job. Marshall
said he would usually have to take time off his
work before Christmas to get the book ready for
the start of the year: “It’s not just one phone call,
its three or four or five calls to get it organised.
I used to have to take a fortnight off my work to
phone people just to get through to everyone.” T
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 23
T Starting next year, the
Wee Yellow Book will
change hands once again.
Cammie Stewart, 70, Eddie
Dalgleish, 65, and Tom
MacCallum, 74, will take
over from Marshall with
the hope that more man-
power means the book will
thrive in the coming years.
They all met at
Dalmahoy Country Club
as members and have
already started preparing
for the Wee Yellow Book’s
2018 edition that will mark
the special milestone. The
book will be delivered to
clubs all over Scotland
and you can pick one
up from your club’s pro
shop for £5. Each book
will have a unique access
code for the website so
you can then book any
open available to play
for the whole year. Pay
the open’s entry fee and
the Wee Yellow Book will
then contact the selected
clubs on your behalf and
forward the entry forms
From left-to-right Cammie Stewart, Eddie
to them. It saves you the Dalgleish and Tom McCallum are responsible
hassle of contacting each for keeping the underground legend of the Wee
club if you are a golfer Yellow Book alive and well in the digital age.
who plays multiple opens
each year. They’ll do all
the leg work for you. In
2017, there were around
500 online subscribers,
but the traditional method WEE YELLOW TIMELINE
is still heavily relied on
by their readers. “It’s 1988
like a little diary almost,” Les Starkings publishes first
says Dalgleish. “It’s still edition of the Wee Yellow Book
going to be popular and 1999
I don’t think I’ll ever see Tenth edition of book comes
it being overtaken by the out good system, we just need advertising to a minimum
people online. People like 2005 to get it out there so that so the reader is looking
something hard that they Starkings passes away and people can understand at what they want, the
can open the page and Bruce Marshall and his son, how it works and that’s our competitions. We’re all
refer to.” Despite the hard David, take charge of the book responsibility.” golfers, we enjoy it. We
copy’s success, the team The refreshing thing just want to give that
2009
realise that if the Wee about Wee Yellow Book opportunity to other
David Marshall takes over and
Yellow Book is to survive, produces the 21st book with
is that the team behind golfers.”
the online service is the 1,800 competitions inside the scenes are not in it Those other competitors
way forward. for the money and what have seen the success
“The online booking 2012 they make only covers the of the Wee Yellow Book’s
is the unique thing, the Marshall partners up with running costs. Amateur format and tried their
amount of time it saves Paul Richards to set up online golfers remain their best to replicate it. They
people,” adds Marshall. booking system alongside book number one priority. have even had a few
“It’s a one-stop shop. 2017 “It’s not a money run-ins with businesses
It works as an online Cammie Stewart, Eddie venture,” says Stewart. who have used a similar
calendar after you have Dalgleish and Tom McCallum Other companies are name to them and have
booked all your opens so take over from Marshall involved in other areas, attempted to charge
you can see all the dates 2018 whereas we are solely clubs for a similar service.
and times you are playing.” The 30th edition of the Wee trying to provide a specific “One company charges
Dalgleish adds: “It’s a Yellow Book will be published service. We try to keep £50 and, because of the

24 BUNKERED.CO.UK

confusion with us and
them, we will phone them
up and say how many
books do you want and
they will say they have
already paid another
company, but it’s not
us,” explains Dalgleish.
“Other companies are
now making profit almost
masquerading as us when
we don’t charge a penny
to clubs. By the time the
club realises their mistake,
their money is gone.”
Stewart says it’s a simple
case of copying what they
do because it’s a great
idea. “We need to inform
clubs as early as possible
to show our disquiet about
other companies,”
mpanies,” he
says. “If they
ey want to use
another company then
that’s fair enough, but we
don’t want them to mistake
somebody else for us. We
need to emphasise that
they won’t be charged
anything.”
The Wee Yellow Book
has come a long way since
its inception 30 years
ago. It’s uplifting to see
that golfers still value the
hard copy after that length
of time. And with the
development of the online
booking system, it’ll now
have you covered from
every angle for playing
open golf in Scotland. „
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE
THE
INSIDE
TRACK
If you’re bored of traditional methods
of journalism – lets face it, nearly
everyone is - then cut out the middle
man and read Eddie Pepperell’s
blog. It’s gold. Here he is talking
about his love affair with his 3-wood.
“I’m not saying I’m the English
version of Henrik Stenson, but I feel
like Henrik Stenson out there at
times, just with a prettier face…” And
here he is on the fight to keep your
card at end-of-season events. “It’s
a disgusting, yet wonderful period
of time in golf. Because we go from
being used to going week-to-week,
to only seeing a cliff edge.” Brilliant.
Lately we’ve been killing ourselves
laughing at the ‘informed’ geniuses
on WikiHow giving us all the
lowdown on How to Build a Golf
Course in Your Backyard. According
to them, it can be done in seven
steps, the second one being that
you need ‘multiple balls’ because
you ‘may lose some’. Apparently you
should include some bunkers, as
they’re good for the ‘reputation’ of
the course. Essential advice. All of it.
Golf influencer and Instagram star
Paige Spiranac – after signing a
deal with the PXG brand – is busy
tackling sexual harassment online.
The American, who regularly posts
pictures for her 1.2m followers,
isn’t happy with how she’s treated.
“Sexual harassment or assault
is never okay. No matter how I
dress,” she tweeted. Spiranac is
an ambassador for cyber bullying
movement Cybersmile Foundation.
25
 PLAYERS'
EARNINGS
PER SHOT
The world’s top
10 male golfers
have earned an
average of $781
for every shot in
their professional
careers, a
new study has found.
Sports and fitness site Noob
Norm analysed 20 years
of tour data to arrive at the
figure, which includes all shots
played in PGA Tour events.
World No.2 Jordan Spieth topped
the rich list, banking a cool $1,104
for every shot he has played
since turning pro in 2012, while
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy
also broke the $1K barrier, earning IN THE WORDS OF

JON
an average of $1,073 per shot.
Noob Norm co-founder David
McSweeney explains how
Never in a million years I would

they calculated each player’s
average earnings per shot.
“The PGA Tour website lists all of
a player’s scores over the course
of their professional career,
alongside their earnings. By
collecting all the score data into
a spreadsheet, we were able to
calculate the average earnings per
shot for each player in the top 10.”
Current world No.1, Dustin
Johnson, has a career average
of $859 per shot. However,
in 2017, he banked $1,696 for
every swing of the club.
While the current top-ten’s
earnings per shot are impressive,
there is one golfer, currently
without an official world
ranking, who has earned
more than any of them.
“It’s probably no surprise that the
golfer with the highest average
earnings per shot over the course
of his career is Tiger Woods,” says
McSweeney. “Tiger’s average
earnings per shot of $1,282 puts
him way ahead of the current top
10. His best year was 2008, when
he earned a crazy $4,191 per shot.”
The full study, along with detailed
stats for each player, can be
found at https://noobnorm.com
RAHM
have expected what I’ve done this
year, and to accomplish what I’ve
accomplished and to be at the
position I’m sitting at in every aspect.
I’m really, really proud of what’s
happened. AGE 23
NATIONALITY SPANISH
Being named European Tour ‘Rookie
of the Year’ is a very, very satisfying
feeling. I’m really happy and I’m really blessed.
I know it’s going to be hard to top my first year because it’s a really, really good
first year. In fact, it’s a really good year in general, period.
I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve done ‘til now. After my third year in
college - the year I went to No.1 in the world, won four times and won the Ben
Hogan Award - I got asked a couple times: ‘What’s next?’ I reassessed my goals
and I had an even better final year.
I’ve been having a hard time with being able to set a schedule. I need to get
enough of a break to be able to rest and play my best golf, especially towards the
majors which is where you want to peak.
I haven’t played my best golf in the majors. Hopefully, what I’m doing next year,
which is resting the week before in most of them, helps that. Finding that formula
is the No.1 thing I take from this year and I’ve learned.
The major I want to win the most would be the Open Championship. The last
time I got to a links course and I said I never played my best golf, I ended up
winning by six strokes.
I like pressure. I like feeling the weight on my shoulders. I like feeling that
special emotion when everything just matters so much. I like that. That’s what you
practise for.

26 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 BUCKET LIST

ST FRANCIS LINKS,
SOUTH AFRICA
L
OCATED NEAR Port
Elizabeth in South
Africa’s Eastern Cape,
St Francis is a relatively
recent addition to the
‘Rainbow Nation’s’ golf
portfolio, having only
opened for play in 2006.
However, it has already
established itself amongst
the likes of Fancourt,
Leopard Creek and the
formidable layout at Gary
Player Country Club as
one of the top courses in
the country. Designed by
the great Jack Nicklaus, it
bears many of the classic
hallmarks of a traditional
links course but with one
noticeable difference - it’s
nowhere near the coast.
Instead, it has various
man-made water hazards,
trees and ‘clumps’ of
bushes to negotiate. Even
so, it is one of the most
links-like courses you
will find not just in South
Africa but on the African
continent. The par-3s are
especially strong - the
14th in particular - but,
for many, the best point
on the course is the
elevated tee on the fifth.
The panoramic view is
absolutely stunning. The
fact that it’s a driveable
par-4 and a great
opportunity to really let rip
with the driver is just an
added bonus. Expect to
hear a lot more about this
place in the years
to come.

stfrancislinks.com
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 29
 ò GET MORE bunkered.co.uk/tuition

SCOTT CLARK

You must have

consistency to
hole more putts
And to be consistent, you
need to be comfortable

There’s vast variety

PHOTO KENNY SMITH of putters, different
shapes and sizes,

W
HEN IT COMES to and you might find
putting, there are that you’re playing
technically correct the wrong putter
positions that will help you – in relation to your
but, through the years, various stroke. See your pro
top players have holed putts for advice on that.
whilst using very different set-
ups and moves. The key that
they have is consistency. And to
be consistent, you need to be
comfortable.
The majority of good putters
tend to be relatively still in the
legs, body and core and simply
work their arms during the
stroke. Things you need to get
right include your face being
square to target, your speed
needs being consistent, and a
consistent strike with the face
on the sweetspot.
You need to learn how
to fail on the putting green
and know why you miss. You
should be in a position where
you consistently reduce your
misses, putting through gates
etc. You learn how to fail by
putting to smaller targets so the
margin for error is greater on
the golf course.
Your tempo will have an effect
on the face of the club – and
the two should marry together.
But that comes from relentless
practice. Good roll comes from
accelerating through the putt
and connecting with the centre
of the putter face. It all comes I use this training aid
down to hard work. from a distance of
about three feet. It
will tell you, instantly,
whether you’re
striking the ball off the
centre of the clubface.
Tour players use it all
the time as it provides
SCOTT CLARK
Director of Golf, Prestonfield Golf Club.
instant feedback.
For lessons, call Scott on 0131 667 8597.
@ScottClarkPGA

SHOT ON LOCATION AT LAS COLINAS GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB / LASCOLINASGOLF.ES

32 BUNKERED.CO.UK

SCOTT CLARK
Power your swing from the ground up
The powerful and athletic players all do it - and you can, too
E
VERYONE WANTS
to add yards and hit
the ball further and
there’s one thing that
a lot of the top players
these days do really well
– and you can follow suit.
All professional
tour players will use
the ground to create
explosive power. If you
look at what Rory McIlroy
does in the gym, he does
squats, jumps, deadlifts
and lunges to develop
muscles in his legs
PHOTO GETTY IMAGES
because those muscles
help power the explosive
movements in his swing.
Now, you may not be
physically able to copy
his moves exactly - and
likely won’t be as athletic
34 BUNKERED.CO.UK
or as mobile as Rory –
but you can certainly try
to emulate the moves
of the ‘modern tour pro’.
Adopting this part of
their movement into your
game will reap rewards.
LOAD
When tour pros create
their set-up, they’ll take
the club back and load
their right side by pushing
down into the ground.
They create lots of
pressure and force with
that move. When Rory
comes down into the
ball from his downswing,
he actually squats into
the move, and as he
comes into impact he
creates a lot of lag with
ò GET MORE bunkered.co.uk/tuition
an explosive movement
out of the shot with lots of
speed.
As you take the club
back, you should feel as
though all the weight is
going into your right side.
If you’re serious about
this, get in the gym and WATCH OUR
work on using your GEAR REVIEWS
ground force to generate Get the verdict on the
speed because if you latest gear direct from
can do this move you will the bunkered team
definitely add yards. youtube.com/bunkered
Amateurs tend to lift up
and come out of posture,
losing power as they fall
into the ground rather
than push from it.
Try this move and see SCOTT CLARK
the change in dynamics Director of Golf, Prestonfield Golf Club.
in your swing. It’s one of For lessons, call Scott on 0131 667 8597.
the tricks to power. @ScottClarkPGA
 DOUGIE DONNELLY

54 flights to and from 16

countries... it’s been a busy year!
The memories from being on the road with the European Tour for 12 months are hard to forget

NABLE TO SLEEP ON THE FLIGHT HOME

U
from my final tournament of the year in Hong
Kong, I worked out that I had commentated
on 22 tournaments in 16 countries during
2017, catching a total of 54 separate flights.
Oh yes, I’m a real hit at parties!
The golf was memorable almost every week but,
looking back, it’s the laughs you get when a bunch of
pals are on the road together that stick in the memory.
The commentary box is always fertile ground, of course.
I’m sure it was in Abu Dhabi that a wayward drive hit a
spectator flush on the behind as he turned away to avoid
the ball. As we all tried not to laugh, Tony Johnstone said:
“Oops, almost a plugged lie there!” And I suspect Ken
Brown had been working on his ad-libs again when he
suggested at St Andrews that every time you go into the
Principal’s Nose, you end up with a bogey.
The first tournament was one of the most memorable,
when Rory McIlroy got a rock star’s reception at the South
African Open, eventually losing in a play-off to Graeme
Storm, who had only just been reinstated after appearing
to have lost his card a few weeks previously. Flying on
to the Middle East, Rory was in top form as we argued
about Ireland and Scotland’s chances in the forthcoming
Six Nations rugby. Unfortunately the ‘minor niggle’, as he
described it, turned out to be a major rib problem, and of
course Rory’s season was to be a huge disappointment.
There was no hint that week of what lay ahead for the
Irishman, or of the magical triumphs which were in store
for the Abu Dhabi winner Tommy Fleetwood. The likeable
Scouser was a popular winner of the Race to Dubai with
everyone on tour, even Justin Rose, who only lost out on
the final hole of the final tournament of the season.
There was sadness at the Tshwane Open in Pretoria
when the much-loved Simon Hobday passed away.
Everyone had a story or several about one of South
Africa’s greatest players, although my favourite will always
be of the night he stripped naked in a bar in Switzerland.
When the owner pleaded with Hobbers to at least put his
underpants on, he put them over his head like a scrum cap!
He truly was a one off.
Another of the early season highlights was Bernd
Wiesberger’s nine birdies in a row in Malaysia. I can still
hear the groans which greeted his missed putt for the
tenth. And the two tournaments in China in April were
memorable largely because I got to walk a stretch of the
Great Wall of China, even though I’d been ill all week with a
dodgy tummy and the uphill stretches nearly killed me.
Being able to describe history being made at The Open
with Brandon Grace’s 62 - the first ever in any major - was
another highlight (even though he didn’t realise it until
his caddie Zach told him on the 18th). I was also lucky
enough to be in the commentary box for Fleetwood’s 63 at
Carnoustie at the Dunhill, which was pretty special. And not
just because it broke my old pal Alan Tait’s heart, either!
Taity’s 64 had been the joint course record since the big
man saw off Old Tom Morris that famous afternoon…
But one of the best rounds of the season didn’t make
anything like the headlines Grace, Fisher or Fleetwood
earned. In round two of the Czech Masters in August,
Lee Slattery shot a barely believable 65 in howling winds
and lashing rain. In fact, play was suspended shortly after
the Englishman signed his card. He didn’t even win the
tournament, finishing second to Haydn Porteous.
The weather was just as bad at Royal Porthcawl on the
Friday of the Senior British Open, when the field average
was a seven-over 78. Not that it bothered Bernhard Langer,
who went on to lift the trophy again.
I didn’t get to acclaim a Scottish winner this year,
although I got plenty of stick from my commentary
colleagues for getting very excited about Marc Warren and
Scott Jamieson’s runner up finishes in the Portugal Masters
and Nedbank Challenge. Hopefully 2018 will finally deliver
another Scots victory on the European Tour, or maybe an
even better wind-up than the indestructible and totally
untearable toilet paper which we sneaked into Richard
Boxall’s room!

@DougieDonnelly

36 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 CRAIGIELAW
The Lodge at Craigielaw is a fantastic base to
enjoy the wonderful facilities at Craigielaw Golf
Club as well as exploring the golfing county of
East Lothian and all the attractions of Scotland’s
capital city Edinburgh.
Attached to the clubhouse, the lodge boasts 25
well-appointed rooms which can be set up on
a double or twin format. 13 rooms enjoy views
across the course to the River Forth, Gullane Golf
Courses and the Kingdom of Fife, whilst
12 rooms enjoy the quiet and secluded view across
a decorative courtyard.
With an 18 hole championship links course, fantastic
practice facilities, bar and restaurant with stunning
views of the course you may never need to venture
from Craigielaw, but if you do want to the Lodge is
within easy access to many great golf courses such
as Muirfield, Gullane and North Berwick.

T: 01875 870800
www.craigielawgolfclub.com
 MICHAEL McEWAN

More of this and

less of that, please
A unique look at the Year in Golf as the sport moves from one season to another

HIS TIME OF YEAR IS TYPICALLY

T
reserved for reflection and resolution.
With that in mind, I thought I would take a
different approach to this issue’s column and
outline what I would like to see more of and
less of in golf over the next 12 months or so...

More of Tiger Woods playing golf. Tiger hit just 505

competitive shots in 2017. Love or loathe him, golf still
needs him, wants him and is better off with him on the
course than the sidelines. Which brings me to…

Less in the way of injuries to the sport’s best players.

Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Martin Kaymer
and Henrik Stenson all missed chunks of 2017. The game is
at its best when the best are in the game.

More effective and accountable governance of the

grassroots game in Scotland. Scottish Golf bungled badly
by appointing Blane Dodds as its chief executive and is
suffering the consequences. It’s critical the Board chooses
the right man or woman to succeed him and learns that
good leadership has less to do with neat soundbites and
good intentions, and more to do with listening and taking
appropriate action.
Less of Grayson Murray tweeting. Good thing the American
is a talented golfer because he’s absolutely hopeless on
social media and is a complete liability to himself, as he
demonstrated numerous times this year. Let your clubs do
your talking, Grayson, lest you become this generation’s
Steve Elkington. And trust me – you don’t want that.
More transparency from those running the game. If tour
pros are being fined or suspended for, as Tiger would
say, ‘transgressions’, then people ought to be told. Fans
deserve to know exactly who it is they’re rooting for.
Less time wasted by young pros. Nobody cares how much
you can bench, what car you’re driving, how long you can
hold a handstand for, that you’re #alwayslearning, or that
you’ve got your own logo. These aren’t achievements. This
isn’t what success looks like. Impress us by playing like a
pro instead of acting like a pro.
More spectators at the Scottish Open. It’s a fantastic event:
well organised, with a great field and, in 2018, it is going
to a superb venue in Gullane. Quite frankly, it deserves far
better support than it has received in recent years.
Less in the way of nonsense shouting. There’s only one
place for mashed potato and that’s on a plate with some
sausages and gravy.
More action on slow play. Whilst I disagree with those who
insist that slow play is the main reason more people don’t
play golf (it’s not), it still needs to be addressed.
Less time devoted to rules controversies. If you want to
grow the game, stop giving people excuses to turn off to it.
More imaginative course set-ups. Padraig Harrington once
told me: “Length doesn’t scare us guys.” So why some of
those charged with staging big events insist on making
their courses as long as possible is beyond me. The 2017
US Open was one of the most thoroughly dull tournaments
I’ve had the misery to watch because the course was so
brutally long. These are the best of the best of the best. If
you’re testing their brawn rather than their brains, you’re
setting them the wrong exam paper.
Less BBC TV coverage of golf. It’s not that it’s bad. It’s that
it’s so bad it makes me want to run my bits through a golf
ball washer.
More sub-100 scores. But that might just be me.

@MMcEwanBunkered

38 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 COVER STORY

GOLF’S
SMARTEST
MAN?
Former world No.1 and two-time major
champion Martin Kaymer has got the
brains to match the game.
WORDS MICHAEL McEWAN @MMcEWANBUNKERED PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES

40 BUNKERED.CO.UK
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 41
S
COUR THE DRIVING RANGES OF ANY
major professional tour and you will struggle
to find a player as smart and as articulate as
Martin Kaymer. Any time spent in the company
of the 32-year-old German is time well spent.
In an era of professional athletes who have
had the ‘interesting’ squeezed out of them
by excessive media-training – “It is what it
is”, “I left a few shots out there”, etc – he is a
surprising breath of fresh air.
I say surprising because, on paper, you could make
a solid case for Kaymer having earned the right to offer
little and still be provided with plenty in the way of column
inches and lucrative endorsements. He’s won two majors,
The Players Championship, a WGC, as well as multiple
other titles on the PGA and European Tours. He has holed
the winning putt in the Ryder Cup and been world No.1.
He’s even carded a 59, for crying out loud.
If he wanted to, he could talk for 15 minutes without really
saying anything and still be lavishly rewarded with front
cover exposure and new logos to wear.
That, though, doesn’t appear to be his style. Whilst
some of his peers strut around the course like walking
advertising hoardings, Kaymer has a much more
streamlined look. He has only seven sponsors to speak of,
including Rolex, Hugo Boss and Etihad Airways. Discerning
brands, each and every one.
His day-to-day affairs are managed by his brother, Philip.
He keeps a close team around him, and dips in and out of
social media. By that, I mean you don’t find him on Twitter
asking people to ask him questions or sharing pictures of
his new headphones.
It is in conversation, though, that Kaymer really shines.
Ask him any question and you’ll get a smart, honest, well
thought-out answer. That’s something that, as a journalist,
you become conditioned to hope for rather than expect.
It’s even more impressive when you consider that English
isn’t Kaymer’s first language.
By his own admission, 2017 hasn’t been one of his better
years. “I haven’t given myself many chances to win,” he
says. “The consistency hasn’t really been there.” Nothing
Earth-moving in there, perhaps, but it’s when he explains
the reasons for a drop in form that saw him slip outside the
world’s top 50 that you appreciate his candour.
“I need to focus more on the practice,” he admits.
“Obviously, being in Europe as much as I have been, the
practice facilities weren’t as good as I hoped, so I need to
change that for the future, which I definitely will.”
Matters over the last 12 months haven’t been helped by
the fact he spent a chunk of the summer on the sidelines
as a result of a shoulder injury. One wonders how a pro
golfer passes the time during an injury-enforced absence.
“I never really get bored,” says Kaymer. “You just use the
time to think about the other things in life, not just golf. Golf
is an important thing but it’s not the most important thing.”
That might explain why he doesn’t buy into the hype
around next year’s Ryder Cup. The match-winner in the
thrilling Miracle At Medinah in 2012, he has played in
each of the last four editions of the contest. Some players
tell you that ‘after playing in one, you never want to miss
another’. Kaymer’s take is considerably less ‘tabloid’.
“It’s not that big a goal, to be honest,” he says in
response to a question about making next year’s team. “It’s
just a result of good play. If I play well, I’ll make the team. If I
don’t, I won’t. If somebody plays better golf than me, they’ll
deserve to get in there before me. Yes, it would be nice to
be there, especially with Thomas [Bjorn] as a captain. We’re
friends and we’ve played in the Ryder Cup together before
42 BUNKERED.CO.UK
[Saturday morning fourballs, 2014]. Plus, I know how nice
it is to play in a Ryder Cup, especially in Europe. It’s one
of the greatest experiences I’ve had in my career. So, yes,
of course I want to be there but I can’t afford to set it as a
goal and focus on it.”
He also sees through the click-bait and designed-for-
headlines comment pieces that have been getting written
of late with a view to the next few Ryder Cups and the
‘expected’ American dominance of them.
“I think that’s more of a media creation,” he says. “I don’t
like really like all of that talk. I’m not the kind of guy who’s
going to go on social media and say ‘That’s the best team
ever’ or ‘That’s the greatest ever comeback’. Just play, do
your best and see what happens. I certainly don’t think you
can say they’re going to dominate for the next ten years.
Yes, they have a very good team right now. Very young,
very brave players. But honestly, I think it’s bollocks to talk
so much about it. Let’s just play golf and see who’s better. I
just get tired of all of the talk about it.”
Amen to that…
ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011, Kaymer awoke as
the best golfer in the world. Only 13 different players had
sat atop of the Official World Golf Rankings before him.
His compatriot, Bernhard Langer, was the first of those, in
April 1986, and he stayed there for three weeks. Kaymer
managed eight before being replaced by the same man he
displaced, Lee Westwood.
Reaching the summit should have been one of the
highlights of the then 26-year-old’s career. At that precise
moment in time, he had a legitimate right to say that, of all
the people in the world who played golf, he was the best.
Kaymer, though, took a different view.
“Getting to No.1 is a bit of a psychological thing, isn’t it?”
he says. “It’s like, one day, you reach the end of the road
and you think there should be something waiting there
that’s going to give you the ultimate happiness, but there’s
not. There’s no-one knocking on your door waiting to
celebrate with you. It’s probably one of the loneliest places
that you can be in a sport. I don’t mean that in a negative
way. It’s just a very unique place that you can’t really
prepare yourself for.”
He goes on: “I don’t think you can be proud of being the
No.1 player in the world. At least, I wasn’t. It’s nothing. It’s
a result. It’s the end product of a lot of sacrifices, a lot of
work and a bit of pain over the preceding ten to 12 years.
But I mean that in a positive way. It’s a good kind of pain.
You’re not having to force yourself to make these sacrifices
because it’s your passion, so it’s easy to do in the moment.
It is only looking back that you realise how difficult it was.
You start to ask yourself, ‘How did I manage to be so calm
and have the will to continue?’ Being No.1 in the world? I
didn’t really care too much when I got there. If I never get
there again, I still won’t care.”
He adds that he doesn’t play golf for ‘the glamour’. “I’ve
never liked to be watched on every shot, every round,
every tournament. I don’t enjoy the spotlight and I don’t
enjoy people speculating about what I’m doing. The thing
is, when you’re No.1 in the world, you can’t escape it. When
I was younger, I really disliked being in the spotlight. Now,
I’m used to it but I still don’t like it that much.”
Even so, surely it’s tempting to succumb to the obvious
glitzy trappings of playing a lucrative sport professionally
and to as high a level as Kaymer has?
“I think that’s up to you,” he says. “It can be as glamorous
a lifestyle and an existence as you want it to be. If you want T
 MARTIN KAYMER

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 43
 “You need to be able
to learn from caddies
but not so much that
you rely on them.”
T to only see the positives and the nice
things in life, then you can do that. If
you see the negatives – you’re away
from home a lot, it’s difficult to have
a girlfriend or see your family and
friends – then it’s not so glamorous.”
SCOTTISH GOLF FANS COULD
BE EXCUSED FOR having a vested
interest in Martin Kaymer, given the
identity of the man on his bag. Craig
‘Wee Man’ Connelly is in his second
spell as the German’s caddie. First
time around, Kaymer won the US
PGA in 2010; second time around,
they won his second at the 2014 US
Open. To the casual onlooker, they
appear to have a particularly good
relationship – so what’s the secret?
“It’s important that you’re able to
communicate openly and honestly,”
says Kaymer. “You can’t afford to
worry about egos or hurting people’s
feelings by saying certain things.
“I know this sounds very selfish but
it’s got to be about me performing as
good as I can on the golf course. If I
have someone who doesn’t support
me, not only on the course but away
from it, then I don’t need that person
44 BUNKERED.CO.UK
in my life. That’s something that’s very
clear to me. Maybe it’s a German way
of thinking but I think it’s important
you have someone who understands
your mentality and can adjust to it.”
Connelly, a characteristically
straight-talking Glaswegian with a
‘West of Scotland sense of humour’,
agrees wholeheartedly.
“I think it’s changed from the first
time we worked together to this, the
second time,” he says. “This is our
sixth season working together and
I’d say that, in the past year to 18
months, it’s changed again. I think
around 99% of why he needs me
around is as a companion. To pick
him up when he’s down, to keep him
going, to try and say the right thing
at the right time because, when it
comes to the golf, he’s in control.
“His brother said something really
interesting to me earlier this year,
actually. He said that if I give Martin
the facts – in other words, the correct
yardage, tell him where the wind is
and so on – then I can’t go wrong. If
Martin asks me a question, I give him
the answer, and it’s always just the
facts. He can then take from that what
he wants or ask me for my opinion
but the decision always has to be
his. It took me a little while to figure
out that saying nothing is more and
to let Martin take the decision and
even make the mistake. It’s about
being there for him when he needs
me. There are other player-caddie
dynamics and that’s fine but, for us,
this approach is working just now.”
Kaymer adds: “I know from what
other players have told me that there
are a lot of caddies out there who
have a huge ego or who want so
much to be a part of their player’s
success and get so involved that the
player loses themselves. What you,
as the player, have to remember is
that there’s a reason why you got out
here and that’s because you were
good enough and you did everything
on your own as an amateur.
“So, when you come out here,
you need to stick to your own rules,
learn from caddies but not so much
that you rely on them. I think some
caddies embrace and like the fact
that their players rely on them. Those
caddies wouldn’t be good for me.”
AT THE TIME OF WRITING, MARTIN
KAYMER IS 32. He turns 33 on

Main Kaymer has struck up a formidable partnership with Scots
caddie Craig Connelly Below Winning the US Open at Pinehurst
in 2014. Bottom Representing Germany in the 2016 OIympics
December 28. In modern golfing
terms, he’s entering his peak years.
Having achieved so much so soon
in his career, though, it’s perfectly
reasonable to wonder what his
remaining ambitions are.
“If I can win two more majors and
complete the career grand slam, I
think I can finish my career,” he says
with a casual shrug. “What would
there be left for me to achieve?”
Granted, adding the Open and the
Masters to his US PGA and US Open
victories would be an exceptional
accomplishment. Only five players
have ever done that, lest we forget.
But retire? Really?
“Okay, maybe not retire,” he adds,
“but I think I would maybe do things
a bit differently. I’d have to ask
myself what my motivation would
be. Obviously, I still have a passion
and love for golf and I would always
my entire life play golf but to what
intensity I don’t know. Maybe my
ambitions would change. There are
obviously other things I’d love to
win. Wentworth would be nice and
the FedEx Cup obviously. If I was to
win the Masters and the Open, who
knows, maybe the FedEx Cup would
become my top priority.”
One thing that he’s not wasting
any time concerning himself with
is the possibility of The Players
Championship becoming a fifth major.
“It doesn’t matter to me because
I’ve won it,” he says. “It’s not like
a major because it doesn’t have
that title but it’s a freaking hard
tournament to win.” He pauses
MARTIN KAYMER
for a moment, before adding: “I’m
speculating now but if I was to win
all four majors and they make The
Players a major but they say that my
win didn’t count because it wasn’t
a major at the time, well, that’s just
bullshit. In my book, I’d have won all
five majors.”
He’s also an Olympian, having
represented Germany as golf made
its return to the Games in Rio in
2016. Much was promised about the
positive legacy implications of golf
being reinstated to the quadrennial
sporting showcase. The effects in the
UK could best be summed up with
one word: ‘nil’. According to Kaymer,
it has been largely the same story in
Germany.
“Whilst the Olympics were on, I
think there was a lot of coverage on
the public channels, which was very
good,” he says. “But in real terms,
since then, I think golf has been
noticed maybe 2-3% more, so there’s
not been a huge amount of change.
I think people are more looking
forward to Japan [in 2020] when
there’ll be a different kind of culture
in terms of golf. It’s much different
in Japan to how it is in Brazil but,
no, in Germany, the Olympics hasn’t
changed that much.”
Speaking of Germany, Kaymer
is staunchly proud of his roots. “It’s
always going to be home,” he adds.
“I’m lucky that I’m in a position where
I’m able to spend as much time there
as I like. I’ve got that freedom, which
I guess is, in its own way, a luxury.
If I want to be in Germany, Brazil,
America, wherever, I’m fortunate
enough that I can afford it, I can make
the time to do it and I can largely
suit myself. Freedom is the ultimate
privilege a human being can have.”
Which leads us to the obvious final
question: how would Martin Kaymer
choose to be remembered?
“I don’t want to be remembered as
the guy who entertained the people
in a crazy way because that’s not
me,” he says. “I guess I would like
to be remembered for my success
and for the passion I’ve had for the
sport. The will to improve and not
being satisfied with what I have. Just
trying to reach your limits in many
ways and not worry too much about
what other people have to say about
me. They’re just opinions. They don’t
matter. It’s not that I don’t care for
other people’s opinions. It’s just that
if I can take good care of myself then
that’ll make me better able to take
good care of other people and make
a positive impact on them.”
Told you he was smart.
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 45
 Stroke Driving Driving Green in reg
70.61 average -
rank 24th
295.1 distance (yds)
- rank 68th
66.7% accuracy
- rank 12th
70.1% - rank 46th

M
ARTIN KAYMER IS mentally as a person.

FOCUS ON
big on the mental
side of things. He
talks about the process
and how he visualises
targets and narrows his
focus. He’s a big one for
And, from a purely
golf perspective, he’s a
great player to learn from
because he practises
the way he wants to play.
So many times, we don’t

YOUR FEEL
rhythm and letting the club
do the work, and I really
like that about him.
The way he practises is
very much about hitting a
few balls and shaping it to
do that as golfers. He
imagines the shots he’ll
play on the course during
his time on the range.
That’s how you should
prepare for a round.

LEARN HOW THE CLASSY improve feel and touch.

It’s evident he’s a tempo,
rhythm and feel guy.
Having watched him
MOVEMENTS
We tend to look at
positions in the swing

GERMAN STAYS LOOSE close up, he’s a balanced

individual. You don’t get to
world No.1 without being
BY KEVIN CRAGGS balanced and strong
too much and not the
movement. He might not
be completely aware of
his positions, but he will be

46 BUNKERED.CO.UK

fully aware of his tempo,
his feel and his timing
during the swing.
If you start off with
him at address, he’s
putting himself in a very
relaxed position with the
knees soft, shoulders
loose and arms hanging
down. There’s no tension
anywhere. Even from
these static pictures,
you can see there’s no
snatch away with the
club. Everything is away
together beautifully, and
he keeps that lovely
triangle with his forearms.
As he goes up through
his backswing, you start
to see the club and
47 BUNKERED.CO.UK
wrists being set. That’s
not a conscious move
by Kaymer, it happens
automatically. At the top,
he’s not perfectly parallel
as you can see he’s gone
just slightly beyond that,
but I like how his right arm
is soft. He’s loose. It’s not
staged or fixed.
STABLE
As he pulls down, you can
see the club isn’t blurry
even though he’s turning
the power on, and both of
his feet are grounded. He
can now deliver the club
from a very strong stable
base.
As he exits the ball, he
KEVIN CRAGGS
For lessons, call 07545 327 666. Follow him on Twitter
@kevincraggsgolf
drives his whole right side z IN THE BAG
through as his left side
opens up for him to get DRIVER
some power into the shot. TaylorMade M2 2017 (9,5º)
And notice how he’s not 3-WOOD
keeping his head down. TaylorMade M2 2016 (15º)
Too many of us think the IRONS (3-5)
head in the swing needs
TaylorMade P750 +
to stay down longer, but
TaylorMade P790 (18º)
when you do that, you
can’t get your body out IRONS (6-9)
of the way. He turns into TaylorMade P730
his left heel and is very WEDGES
balanced, which is a sign TaylorMade Tour Milled
of good tempo. There’s no Grind (47º, 54ºº, 58º)
sudden movements.
From still images, you PUTTER
still get the sense and TaylorMade Spider
feeling of tempo, rhythm, Tour Putter (Red)
feeling and, overall, a BALL
swing that is very natural. TaylorMade Tour Preferred X
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 47
In Association With
The One True Test
returns to Carnoustie
The Open Championship returns to Scotland this year – and you can be there to see it unfold
T
HE EYES of the
golfing world will fall
upon Angus next
summer as Carnoustie’s
iconic Championship
Course stages The 147th
Open.
It will be the eighth
time that the battle for
the Claret Jug will have
been staged over this
formidable links, a course
described by 18-time major
winner Jack Nicklaus as
‘the hardest of all the
championship venues’.
Located in the town
of the same name, just a
few miles east of Dundee,
30 minutes from St
Andrews and just an hour-
and-a-half’s drive from
Edinburgh, Carnoustie’s
reputation goes before it.
Widely regarded as one of
the hardest venues on The
Open rota, in 2018 it will
see the latest Champion
Golfer of the Year triumph
to lift the Claret Jug.
“One of the toughest and best links courses that we have
in the world.” Colin Montgomerie
The current holder of
that title is Jordan Spieth.
The American won his
fourth major championship
at Royal Birkdale last year
to put him three-quarters
of the way towards
becoming just the sixth
golfer to complete the
career grand slam.
He did so in dramatic
fashion, too. Who can
forget the sight of the then
23-year-old conjuring up
an improbable recovery
from the driving range
after an errant drive on
the 13th hole during
the final round, or the
spectacular ebb and flow
of the remaining five holes,
which ultimately resulted
in a three-shot win for
Spieth? It truly was an
unforgettable final round
and produced precisely
the kind of drama for
which The Open has
become famous.
A crowd of more than
235,000 turned out over
the course of the week,
creating a true carnival
atmosphere and setting a
new attendance record for
an Open Championship
staged outside of St
Andrews. Indeed, it
became the third best-
attended Open of all time.
The R&A will no doubt
be hopeful of attracting
another large crowd to
Carnoustie in 2018, where,
if history is anything to go
by, a dramatic finish is all
but guaranteed.
On each of the last
three occasions that the
Championship has been
staged there, a play-off
has been required to
determine the winner.
Tom Watson prevailed
in an 18-hole play-off
decider with Jack Newton
in 1975 to win the first of
his eight major titles and
the first of his five Open
Championships. In 1999,
Scotland’s Paul Lawrie
staged the largest-ever
final round comeback –
recovering from ten shots
off the pace – to get his
hands on the Claret Jug
after Jean Van de Velde
surrendered a winning
position on the 72nd hole.
Most recently, Padraig
Harrington profited from
Sergio Garcia missing a
putt to win on the final hole
in 2007, which opened
the door for Irishman
Harrington to win the first
of his three majors. For
sheer drama, arguably
nowhere does it as well as
Carnoustie.
Crucially, it also has
fantastic history. The
147th Open will mark
the 50th anniversary of
Gary Player’s victory at
Carnoustie, a win that
gave the South African the
second of his three Open
titles and the fifth of his
nine total majors.

HOW TO WATCH
THE 147TH OPEN
Adult Tickets
Valid for persons aged 25
or over on 14 July 2018
Practice Days: From £10
Championship
Days: From £55
Youth & Junior Tickets
Youth Daily Tickets
valid for persons aged
16-24 on 14 July 2018
Practice Days: From £5
Championship
Days: From £25
Juniors (aged under 16
on 14 July 2018) go free.
Weekend Bundle
Course access on
both Saturday and
Sunday. Free tickets for
Juniors (under 16s).
Youth Tickets include Free
Camping Accommodation.
Adults from: From £110
Youths from: From £55
Other packages are available.
Visit TheOpen.com for more.
NOTE: The deadline
for early bird pricing is
the end of January.
Ben Hogan, meanwhile,
won the Championship
there in 1953 on his one
and only appearance
in golf’s original major
championship. It was
the third major victory of
the year for Hogan, who
arrived in Scotland two
weeks early to get used
to the smaller British golf
ball at the nearby Panmure
Golf Club.
Consequently, the
stage is set for another
memorable Championship
– and you can be there to
witness it all first-hand.
Indeed, following
the record-breaking
attendance set in 2017,
The 147th Open sees the
extension of a range of
ticket offers.
The new ‘Weekend
Bundle’ and ‘Youth Weekly
Tickets’ will complement
the established and ever-
popular ticket packages,
providing the flexibility
and affordability for fans
to choose how best to
experience golf’s original
championship.
After the successful
introduction of three
pricing windows in 2017,
this will continue to give Dundee and Edinburgh
early purchasers the airports, and there’s no
chance to take advantage
of early bird prices -
reason why you shouldn’t
be there to enjoy one
available until the end of of the greatest live
January - and reward fans spectacles in sport.
who secure their place at This is the one. This is
Carnoustie ahead of time. The Open. „
Why attend? There are
many reasons, not least
the fact that The Open is a
wonderful opportunity for
the next generation of golf
“I didn’t
fans to be inspired by the
world’s greatest players.
realise what
Fans between the ages a wonderful
of 16 and 24 can buy Youth
tickets, which will continue golf course
to include complementary
accommodation at The it is. It’s
Open in the exclusive
Camping Village
terrific.”
(subject to availability). Phil Mickelson
Furthermore, children
under the age of 16 will
be granted free admission
as part of The Open’s
continuing Kids Go Free
policy, reaffirming The
Open’s reputation as a
great day out for all the
family.
Factor in the excellent
accessibility of Carnoustie,
with its superb road and
rail links, as well as the
close proximity of both the
MY SLICE
CURE
SIMPLE TIPS TO CURE ONE
OF THE BIGGEST FAULTS
BY MURRAY URQUHART
PHOTOS KENNY SMITH

S
LICES CAN COME FROM A BIG
variety of factors. But essentially, they
come from people coming out and
over the ball, from out-to-in swing path.
It’s the old saying of coming from over the
top, from an out-to-in swing path. When
you do that, you’re putting cut spin on the
ball. That’s essentially why you hit a slice.
But it can also be grip related, the wrong
sequence of your swing, or that you’re
using the upper body and not your legs.
Or, quite simply, your backswing could be
at fault. Let’s look at some simple fixes.

SLICE CURE
The first thing to
look at is your grip.
You want to see two
knuckles on your left
hand. That’s a good
ooo
neutral position and
YOUR GRIP you have good control
Start with the basics over the clubface. Your
hands are in control.

ooo
Don’t hold the club in the palm of the hand – hold it in your fingers.
With the club in your fingertips, you can use your right hand to control
it through impact. You can’t do that if it sits more towards the palm of
your hand. You’ll end up using your body to try and keep the club online.
Getting the correct grip allows you to move the club around your body
a lot more efficiently and puts more emphasis on your hands and arms
controlling the clubface, rather than your body controlling the clubface.
ooo
A lot of times when you’re sorting issues in a swing, when you fix one
aspect of the swing, you fix another at the same time. So rather than just
saying, ‘Yes, you’re coming over the top of the ball’. You might be coming
over the top for a reason, and that might be just the way you hold the
club. But, actually, if you changed your grip, you could then get a better
understanding of getting the club around your body more efficiently.
 SLICE CURE

ooo
SET YOUR SPINE
Set the ball up off the
left side of your chest

ooo
Give yourself the best
opportunity to swing the club
on an inside path. To help with
that, try and make sure that
your spine sits behind the ball
at address. By using the left
side of your chest as a constant
Use the left side to where the ball should be,
of your chest as a automatically your spine is now
constant focal point behind the ball. You can then
as to where the ball make your takeaway without
should be. This helps having to manipulate your body
you get your spine or your hands to try and get
behind the ball. the club on the correct path.
ooo
You can be a slicer by taking
the club too much on the inside
or too much on the outside
away from the ball. There is no
definitive rule. But the best way
to work on a slice is to work on
your takeaway. If you can get
parallel, and have the feeling of
getting the shaft parallel to the
target when your hands are at
hip height, that’s the position
to be in. A one-piece takeaway
is very simple but has massive
consequence to your swing.
One of the best ways
to fix a slice is to work
on your takeaway,
making sure you are
parallel when your
hands are hip height
in the backswing.

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 53
 SLICE CURE
ooo
A lot of the time, people who slice tend
to tilt their shoulders too much and they
don’t rotate their arms too much. A good
drill to try and get the feeling of your arms
ooo
rotating round you a little bit more is to start
TRY THIS DRILL with the club and your hands at hip height…
Swing around your body then just start with your arms around your
body. Imagine the ball is on a tee that’s the
height of your hips and that you’re trying
to knock the ball gently off that tee. What it
allows you to do is rotate your arms around
your body a lot easier, and gives you the
feeling of the club working from the inside
as opposed to chopping down and across.

Here’s an easy way

to stop you tilting
your shoulders, which
leads to a slice. Don’t
practice swinging
at the ball - lifting
your arms up and
swing around your
body so that you can
get the feeling of
rotating around you.

‘IMAGINE THE BALL IS TEED UP AT HIP HEIGHT - THIS HELPS

54 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 All you’re really doing
is imagining that
the ball is teed up at
hip height. As you
swing, this helps you
feel how to swing
from the inside.

TO GIVE YOU THE FEELING OF SWINGING FROM THE INSIDE’

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 55
 SLICE CURE

ooo

DRILL OPTION 1
Three balls = one solution

ooo
This drill stops you getting the
club coming from the outside,
which is where most slices come
from. Just place one ball four
inches short and to the right of
your main ball, and the other four
inches past and inside that ball.
You’re trying to hit the middle
ball, whilst moving the clubhead
through that little avenue.
ooo
You can use that on the range,
but be careful you don’t hit
anyone on the range because
this will show the path of your
swing very quickly and efficiently,
which is why so many pros use
this drill. It really works. If you’re
worried about that, throw down
a couple of headcovers instead.

This is a simple drill

that puts your focus on
your vision to try and
teach you the feeling
of getting the club on
the right path without
you physically trying to
do that. You’re using
your instinct a little
bit more with this.

SWING PATH

TARGET LINE
56 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 SLICE CURE
ooo
The second drill to fix a slice is more about impact. An out-to-in swing path will lead to a
finding the right feeling for your swing path. slice, so try and have the feeling that you are
ooo
One of the keys to sorting a slice is to get pushing your hands out to the right, or more

DRILL OPTION 2 the club coming from the inside as it powers

Get the feeling outside
your target line
through the ball. This is why players always
work with alignment sticks so they can
constantly work on feeling where the club
should be. Essentially, you should try and get
your hands working out to the right through
towards your target, which you can see in the
bottom right picture. The drill will help you get
this position through the ball and the feeling
you should have. On the range or during your
pre-shot routine, just work on getting your
clubhead out to the right of the target.

Knowing where
your target line is
and where your club
should be going post-
impact will help you
avoid hitting slices.
You simply can’t cure a
slice if you’re coming
from the outside.

TARGET LINE
SWING PATH

MURRAY URQUHART
Teaching professional, The Nairn Golf Club. For lessons, call
07704 620733 or email teachingpro@nairngolfclub.co.uk
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 57
58 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 EXCLUSIVE

MY LIFE IN GOLF

MARTIN
EBERT
The acclaimed golf course architect discusses his
career in the industry, including what it was like
to work with US president Donald Trump…

INTERVIEW MICHAEL McEWAN PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES / SUPPLIED

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 59
 On his early days…
I really got interested in golf when
I was about 11 or 12 and I can
remember, even then, sketching up
plans and colouring them up with
lakes and trees and different holes.
So, it always fascinated me but I
never thought that I would have
the opportunity to do it for a living. I
studied manufacturing engineering
at Cambridge University but it was
playing golf there that really made
me interested in working in the sport.
My time at uni coincided with the year
of the 100th varsity match between
Oxford and Cambridge, so we went
on a tour of the North East of America
and, you know, when you get to play
Pine Valley, Merion, Shinnecock Hills,
the National Golf Links of America,
Maidstone, Garden City – some of
the truly great American courses – it
really does fire your imagination.
On his first job…
I knew Andy Mackenzie, the brother
of my current business partner Tom
Mackenzie, at university. He played
on the golf team and, when he found
out that I wanted to work in golf after
graduating, he put us in touch. By
that point, Tom had been working
with Donald Steel for a year. It was in
those boom years of 1989 and 1990,
when you had courses popping up
all over the place. At that time, I knew
of Donald more as a journalist than
a golf course architect. So, when
I went for an interview with him, I
didn’t know if it was to help with
researching books or architecture.
By that stage, golf course architecture
had become a bigger part of his
life than writing, so it soon became
clear that the job was to get stuck
in and help him design courses. My
engineering background helped in
terms of drawing up plans and the
technical side of things, particularly
as, oddly enough, Donald didn’t
really draw. He would sketch layouts
in a very rudimentary way and then
it was a matter of working on the
ground with the movers and shapers.
But, as time moved on, and we had
so much going on, we really had to
define things by plan. When I first
started, I was amazed by Tom’s ability
to sketch a green. He was working
on a new course in Canada - a place
called Redtail - and would come back
with these fantastic sketches in his
notebook. I tried my best to emulate
him but I was really no artist so I had
to come at it from a different angle
60 BUNKERED.CO.UK
and drew contour plans instead.
That’s how we evolved and, in 2005,
we founded Mackenzie & Ebert.
We’re a small team - there’s just four
of us and, from time to time, we have
family members come in and help
out - but, to date, we’ve created 60
courses in 16 countries.
On the ‘boom years’…
In those early years, there was a lot
of new course development and
we were busy with that. Looking
back out on those times, getting to
design courses in places like the Blue
Ridge Mountains, they were just the
most amazing times. Likewise, one
close to my heart, a course called
Victoria near Kandy in Sri Lanka,
which was one of the most stunning
inland settings I’ve come across. To
put the jigsaw puzzle together and
figure out how the 18 holes should
be routed around was great. Another
one in Canada, Goodwood, north
of Toronto. Beautiful, glacial terrain
country. It’s very, very stimulating to
get involved with that sort of thing
but, yes, increasingly, existing course
work is what we have had to focus
on. Turnberry has given us a huge
sense of satisfaction, especially with
everybody seeming to have enjoyed
what we’ve done. But even the less
well known projects still give us a
great amount of pleasure. There’s a
little course we’re working on out in
Finland. There wasn’t a huge budget
to work with but just transforming a
very ordinary hole with three fairway
bunkers and rebuilding the green
was immensely satisfying. That’s
the nice thing about the discipline,
really. You’ve got a mixture of ‘start
from scratch’ new projects and other
ones where you’re respecting but
improving some of the great old
classics and bringing them up to
date.
On how the industry
has changed…
In the real boom days, we were
looking at doing four or five new
courses a year. Now, it might be one
or two every three or four years.
We’ve got a few new course projects
in the pipeline but actually getting
down on the ground and starting to
build them just seems so much more
difficult for developers to have the
confidence to do that these days.
There are so many different facets T
 MARTIN EBERT

On his current projects…

Right now, we’re working on various different things
but one of the most exciting is Prince’s in the south of
England. In all respects, it’s tremendous. A former Open
venue, a great piece of linksland. When you look at the
three courses down there – Prince’s, Royal St George’s
and Royal Cinque Ports – I think you’d be hard pushed to
find a better collection all told. The detail of the design,
the shapes of the greens and green surrounds – it’s
just tremendous. The brief has been ‘let’s make the
Himalayas nine as good as it can be’ and that’s certainly
going to be our goal.

Changes at a glance
• The current second and third holes will combine to
make a long par-5. The new second tee will be located
to the right of the existing first fairway and will play to a
maximum of 615 yards.
• A short par-3 fifth hole, right, will then be inserted,
playing towards the sea after the existing fifth (new
fourth) hole. These changes will increase the par of the
nine to 36. The new fifth hole will measure between 120
and 160 yards with a variety of tees to be designed.
• The current eighth will become a short, drivable
par-4 with permanent wetlands either side that will be
strategically and ecologically valuable.
• PLUS... extensive changes to the bunkering, water
hazards, green surrounds, out-of-play areas, tees and
clearance of trees.

According to Ebert, the

linksland at Prince’s in Kent,
which sits next to Royal St
George’s and Royal Cinque
Ports, is amongst the finest
land for golf he’s ever seen.

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 61
T to what we do, from the artistic, to
the scientific, to the accountancy, to
the legalistic, to having to present
proposals - there are so many
different aspects to it and I find that
hugely stimulating. Likewise, on the
design front, everything is done with
AutoCAD these days, so we can
calculate earth movement volumes
very easily and then, when it comes
to representing proposals, we have a
guy in the office who is qualified to fly
a drone, which is great at all stages
of development. Even things like
rangefinders have become incredibly
useful tools for us. Technology has
helped our industry an awful lot.
On how you start to
design a course…
With a new course, you’ve got to
understand all of the constraints that
might exist on the particular site in
question. That could be planning
constraints, water issues, certain
areas that you can’t go. As long as
you’ve understood that, that’s the
main thing. It also depends what
direction the developer has given
you. They might have a specific idea
of where they want the clubhouse
to go, for instance, which you just
have to work around. After that, it’s
really just a jigsaw puzzle, getting the
starting and finishing holes sorted,
getting the practice facilities located
conveniently and whatever else might
be necessary. You know, getting the
principles of your layout understood
and then gradually working on the
detail of where the holes go. If the
land has got some good features,
you want to make the most of that.
Occasionally, we get given huge
tracks of land. The course in the Blue
Ridge Mountains, for example, was
13,000 acres and after a day or so
travelling around the place in a 4x4,
we couldn’t find anywhere suitable
because it was so steep. Anyway,
there was a flat plateau at the top of
the mountains and they said, ‘Surely,
you don’t want to go up there?’ We
said, ‘Well, it looks like pretty much
the flattest part of land we’ve got’.
“There are times you’ll play somewhere and be
so impressed that you wonder if you could ever have
done as good a job.”
62 BUNKERED.CO.UK
There was between 250 and 300
acres, which was just enough to fit
a great course on and that’s what
we ultimately went with. So, if you’ve
got a great site, it’s about identifying
where the strongest features of the
land are. If there are fewer features,
it becomes a question of how you
create it and bring it to life. It’s quite
often an iterative process. You submit
plans, they get bashed around and
eventually you get there. The other
thing, particularly in the big boom
days, was fitting it in with a housing
development in places like Spain and
Portugal. In that case, we felt it was
so important that we were in at the
start with the masterplan for the land
because otherwise the golf course
considerations might get overlooked.
I can remember one occasion where
that happened, where everything
had been approved by the local
authorities and it was impossible to
change it. It’s so important for the
project teams and everybody who
has an interest in the development to
be involved from the very start.
On meeting demands…
In the boom days, yeah, for sure
you had some developers who
wanted the cachet of hosting a PGA
Tour event but, equally, there were
others who wanted to satisfy the
demands of their membership base
first and foremost. Working on a lot
of the Open venues, it teaches us
that they do have to play acceptably
well and reasonably for the average
golfer and I think it’s possible to
create something that tests the best
but is also good for the average
player. If somebody comes in with
a ‘championship course’ request,
I think you have to be prepared to
ask them, ‘Are you actually going
to have a championship and how
often will that be?’ If you want a
championship-standard course, you
have to understand the land-take
that it requires and, if you want to
host a big professional event, then
you have to take into consideration
all of the infrastructural implications
of that. That includes things like
extra irrigation, extra drainage, extra
materials and the requirement for a
bigger site overall as well as a bigger
budget to maintain all facets of it.
On being able to
‘just enjoy’ a golf course…
I think you’re always judging a course
and assessing how good it is. There
are times you’ll play somewhere and
be so impressed that you wonder if
you could have done as good a job,
and on other occasions something
might be a bit dull by comparison.
On his advice for
aspiring architects…
Go and study landscape architecture.
That’s the first port of call. After that,
just try your best to get stuck in. It’s
not an easy industry to find work in
and it’s not as though there are lots
of jobs out there but somebody’s
got to do it so, as long as you’re
committed enough and are prepared
to keep bashing away at the door,
you have to have faith it’ll eventually
open.
On ‘tour pro’ designers...
I think they generally always rely on
somebody who has the technical
ability to design something. It’s
pretty scary if they don’t. After that
it’s a question of how engaged they
become in the business. But to be
a top player, you have to be pretty
committed to playing golf. Given how
tough the game is these days, it’s
hard enough to focus on playing your
best, practising as much as you need
to and everything else you need to
do without getting involved in other
projects and interests. Generally,
I think it’s just their names being
associated with projects but perhaps
when they retire, some of them - such
as Ben Crenshaw - get a bit more
fired up and more involved than
others who see it as a pension.
 MARTIN EBERT

On his favourite project…

Askernish was really special to be involved in. It’s
such a different course and different experience.
When people ask me about my favourite project I’ve
been involved in, it is always the one I come back
to. It’s golf as it used to be played, which, when you
look at some of the modern stuff, you do sometimes
think it might be better to go back in time. We were
delighted to get the opportunity to restore such an
iconic Old Tom Morris course. We tried to do it very
much like Old Tom would have by saying things like,
‘Okay, this is where the tee will go, this is where
the dog-leg will turn’ and so on. Basically, we tried
to find his original design by designing in as much
the same way as he would have but with the added
benefit of things like GPS, AutoCAD plans, aerial
photography and such like.

Askernish Golf Course,

on the Isle of South Uist,
is a truly unique golf
course with an incredible
backstory, one which sits
close to Ebert’s heart as a
golf course designer.

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 63
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 MARTIN EBERT

T On redesigning Trump Turnberry’s Ailsa Course...

We knew that if we were
going to touch such an
iconic course and just
produce some basic
plans then we would
open ourselves - and Mr
Trump - up to criticism.
So, we said to him early
on, ‘We really do need to
represent these proposals
as accurately and as
engagingly as we can to
convince everybody that
what we’re doing is in
the best interests of the
Ailsa’. As a result, when we
presented the proposals
to the members and the
press, everybody seemed
to be in favour of what we
were doing rather than
take pot-shots. Mr Trump
had some great ideas
but, occasionally, you’d
have to say, ‘Well, actually,
I don’t really think that
would work. Instead, I think
this would be a better
solution.’ It was important
to make that position
clear in certain instances
to ensure the best result.
Initially, I was tentative
and I would respond
by saying, ‘Okay, let me
have a think about that’.
You can’t help but think
about The Apprentice
and hearing ‘You’re fired!’
and all that sort of stuff.
But as time went on, it
became a standing joke
for him to describe me as
the most stubborn man
he’d ever met and, as
a result, subsequently,
any time there was
something where I wasn’t
in agreement with him,
I’d be able to turn to him
and say, ‘Well, Mr Trump,
you know I’m the most
stubborn man you’ve ever
met’ and that seemed to
work well. But I have to
give him a lot of credit for
the changes. For example,
he was insistent that the
ninth had to become a
par-3 across the bay. It had
been talked about before
but I originally thought that
a short par-4 would be a
better way to go. Now, with
the benefit of hindsight
and looking at what
we’ve got, I take my hat
off to him and I’m happy
to admit that his idea for
that hole was better than
mine. So, yes, he played
a big part in the redesign
and, to be honest, a much
larger part than I ever
anticipated. When we
were first appointed for
the job, I didn’t expect to
be dealing so much with
him. I thought it would be
somebody else within the
Trump Organisation. But
no, any golfing issues
with the Ailsa, he was the
man who was sat on the
buggy driving around and
looking at various different
options. It was a very
interesting project. „

Left The new 11th hole of the Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry,
‘reborn’ by Mackenzie & Ebert Above With Donald Trump
Below Presenting his changes to the Kintyre Course to members

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 65
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SHOT ON LOCATION AT LAS COLINAS GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB / LASCOLINASGOLF.ES

ABSOLUTE BASICS
NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO BRUSH UP
ON YOUR GOLF SWING FUNDAMENTALS
BY SCOTT CLARK
PHOTOS KENNY SMITH

T
HERE ARE CERTAIN points
from a teaching professional’s
perspective that you really
want to get right. The better basics
that you have in your swing, the
less movement or changes you’ll
subsequently need to implement
as you progress. The more
compensatory movements you have
to put in, the more problems you
open yourself up to. That’s why the
basics should be attainable very
easily, regardless of your ability.
Getting your Absolute Basics right
will make you a better player.

PHOTO KENNY SMITH


Try to stay as central
as you can be over the
ball, with your head
relatively in the middle
of your feet and nicely
balanced. Everything
that happens after
this point is a direct
result of how you set-
up to the ball, so it’s
important to get this
fundamental down.
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE
ABSOLUTE BASICS
ooo
SET-UP
Get a good grip
and good balance
ooo
Everything starts with
set-up, and there are two
absolute must-haves I like to
see when it comes to your
set-up, the first of which
is your grip. You must feel
comfortable with your grip
and, without doubt, it’s got
to be in the right position.
That’s your primary point
of contact with the club.
A good starting point is to
have both palms facing
one another in a mirror
alignment with the clubface.
ooo
Always establish a good
athletic set-up. I like to see
symmetry, with the head
in the middle of the feet
and setting up to the ball
nicely balanced. I always
tell people that this is the
start of their story. All the
movement in the swing
happens after this point and
is a direct result of how you
set-up to the ball. So, an
Absolute Basic for your irons
shots is that you want your
head to be pretty much the
middle of your stance. Try
and stay relatively central.
69
 ABSOLUTE BASICS

ooo
POSTURE
Athletic and natural -
just let your arms drop

ooo
Posture down the line
should be athletic and feel
athletic. I like to see a neutral
spine angle, so don’t force
yourself into trying to be Rory
McIlroy. As long as you can
feel some slight pressure
at the base of your back,
so that you’re not hunched
over, you’re good. The ‘bend’
should come from the hips
via a simple lean forward.
This allows your hands to
simply hang naturally.
ooo
I use the shaft line as a
point to the shaft line Notice how my hands
(which should be roughly are under my chin
sixty degrees). You don’t line. This should
need to worry about
happen naturally if
you just let your arms
specifics, or numbers, all
fall down when you
you want is to naturally get address the ball.
to that position. Your hands
will always want to fall in
under your chin line – and
they shouldn’t go outwith
that imaginary line.

70 BUNKERED.CO.UK

A good shoulder
and body turn is a
great advantage as
it prevents the loose
and extremely mobile
hands and arms
trying to consistently
repeat a movement.
Smaller parts always
orbit better round a
bigger mass. Turning
the body guides
and supports the
orbit of the arms.
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE
ABSOLUTE BASICS
ooo
AT THE
TOP
Complete a positive
shoulder turn
ooo
A good shoulder turn can
be a significant asset in your
technique. It can help stop
one of the classic faults in a
golf swing – coming over the
top. If you don’t take time
to complete your backswing
and rotate your shoulders
correctly, your hands and
arms become too involved
in the downswing too early.
ooo
Remember there is no
rush in getting your hands
and arms outwards towards
the golf ball. It is true that
your hands and arms will
make their way forwards
towards the ball during the
downswing but should only
reach the position of hands
closest to the ball at impact,
getting close to their starting
position under the chin line.
71
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 ABSOLUTE BASICS
ooo ooo
Your swing should build up to its fastest The final Absolute Basic is to allow your
point at the moment of impact. At this point, hands to drop naturally and slowly at the
ooo
you want to have the clubhead travelling start of your downswing. It is important you
IMPACT positively into the golf ball. If you start
with wrong movements on the way down,
don’t start with a quick movement from
the top, which is a big mistake amateurs
Your swing should be you’ll find that you could decelerate into make. Keep it slow and steady, then
at its fastest at impact impact and lose speed. Decelerating is, increase hand speed down into the ball.
essentially, a sign of a lack of commitment Your hands and club should be travelling
to the shot and to your technique. at its fastest at the moment of impact.
S
LO
W

Not only does this

force you to commit
U
Q

to your shots, it’s

a good method of
understanding tempo IC
during your swing. K
It stops you from
snatching at the shot
from the top of your
FA S T
downswing and makes
your swing smoother
and more effective.

ooo
Never forget to complete
your swing fully, you
need to get your right
side coming through
and replacing your left
side, bit by bit. Your right
shoulder replaces your
left shoulder and your
right hip replaces your
SCOTT CLARK
Director of Golf, Prestonfield Golf Club.
left hip - and that means
For lessons, call Scott on 0131 667 8597. you’re moving forward
@ScottClarkPGA as you commit fully.
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 73
74 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 EXCLUSIVE

‘WE WANT
THE TROPHY
BACK’BY ROBERT KARLSSON
In his own words, Ryder Cup vice-captain outlines how
Europe’s plans for France are taking shape

AS TOLD TO MICHAEL McEWAN PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 75
“T
HE 2018
RYDER
CUP is less
than a year
away and I
am delighted to be playing
a part in the match in my
role as one of European
captain Thomas Bjorn’s
vice-captains.
At the moment, there
is a lot of preparation
which is mainly Thomas’
job. I do a little bit of that
and some media stuff
but he is carrying most
of that responsibility and
doing most of the official
engagements. As time
goes on, hopefully I can
help him out a little bit and
take some of the burden
he’s carrying.
You might have heard
previous captains say
that leading the team
stole two years of their
life. That’s the extent of
the commitment required
of a captain. It’s different
for a vice-captain. I was
asked in January, it was
announced in May and,
since then, there’s not
really been too much to
do. That’ll start to ramp up
in the coming weeks and
months but there’s only
so much we can do as,
obviously, we don’t have a
team yet.
Right at this moment, the
players are starting to put
themselves into position
to get into the team. We’ll
soon see it take shape
but until such times as we
know who’s in, there’s not
a great deal we can do in
terms of planning who’ll
play with who and so on.
What we can be sure of
is that Le Golf National will
be a great host venue. We
have, of course, played it
many, many times in the
French Open and I know
that Thomas’ plan is to
play it as close to that
set-up as possible. It’s a
place that the majority of
our team will already be
familiar with so we don’t
want to trick it up or make
it too different.
We’re going to try to
make it as firm as we
76 BUNKERED.CO.UK
possibly can but, at the
same time, we’re well
aware that, at the end of
September in Paris, you
can have a little bit of
everything. So, there are
no guarantees but they’ve
put in a new drainage
system and the course has
improved so much over
the last few years. Thomas
has an idea – and I’m
pretty sure it’ll happen – to
put another bunker or two
down the right on the 18th,
which will take that side
of the fairway out of play
for the really long hitters.
You’d be looking at having
to carry it something like
320 yards just to clear
those traps. Apart from
that, it’s going to be more
or less the same course.
An interesting thing
about it is that it is one
of the top five courses
where it’s most important
not to drop shots. That’s
according to info that
has been collected on all
courses that have hosted
European Tour events on
at least two occasions
over the last ten years.
The list of French Open
winners kind of bears that
out. Graeme McDowell,
Martin Kaymer, Francesco
Molinari – they’re solid,
steady players. So, that
makes you think about
things like, ‘Okay, we
don’t want to pair the
guys who make the most
double-bogeys’ because
then you’ve lost a couple
of players off the first tee
straight away. So, that’s
been quite interesting to
consider.
The Ryder Cup has
changed a lot, particularly
over the last decade or
so. When I played in 2006
and 2008, you had the
captain, a couple of vice-
captains, the team and
that was it. Now, there are
a lot more people around
the scenes and behind the
scenes. There are lots of
stats guys, for example,
who we’re in regular
contact with. We’re using
the same guys that Darren
Clarke used, a company T
 ROBERT KARLSSON

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 77
 Main Karlsson taking on Phil Mickelson in
the 2008 Ryder Cup, one of two Ryder Cup
teams he played on. Top right Paul Casey
rejoining the European Tour has made the
Englishman eligible for the 2018 match,
something Karlsson is pleased about.
Right Le Golf National, host venue for 2018.
T called 15th Club. They provide us with
a lot of data and, in 2016, they were
even providing live data. Every shot
was recorded and reported live.
Now, yes, there is definitely such
a thing as too much information but
that’s one of the things Thomas has
got me looking at just now. I’m kind
of the ‘middle man’ between the stats
guys and him. To be honest, most of
the top players are using these kinds
of stats anyway, so they already know
what they need to do to become
better players.
What’s really interesting is that,
last time, nine months out from the
2016 match, the stats guys looked
at all the European players’ statistics
and they picked out the nine guys
that they thought would make the
side automatically. They were correct
on all of them. They said to Darren,
‘Based on the information available to
us, these are the nine players that will
qualify for your team’. Sure enough,
they did. Obviously, it’s not an exact
science and it won’t work out that
way every time – but that time, it
did. According to the most recent
conversations we’ve had with them,
there are around six or seven guys
that are almost certain to qualify for
78 BUNKERED.CO.UK
our team. It will be nearly impossible
for them to miss out, unless they
get injured. But, like I say, that’s only
around half the team so we can’t
really do too much in the way of
in-depth planning right now.
When we do know what our team
will be, we’ll have to tackle the same
challenge that every Ryder Cup
captain and his assistants - whether
in Europe or in America - has to face.
You have 12 individual athletes and
you’re bringing them together and
saying, ‘For this week, you’re a team’.
Some captains have been better
at gelling their team together than
others. The thing you always have
to remember is that all of the players
are individuals. Some guys want
to go off and do their own thing.
That’s not because they don’t think
of themselves as being part of the
team. Instead, that’s how they make
the best contribution. You can’t and
shouldn’t force them to be involved
in absolutely everything if that’s not
in their personality. That’s not the way
to get the best out of them. You’ve
got to create the right environment,
whereby you build a team but cater
to the individual requirements of each
player. It’s a very fine balance.
The other thing about the Ryder
Cup is that, at any one time, with
the exception of the Sunday singles
session, a third of the team is sitting
it out. It’s different with the Presidents
Cup. All of the players are on the
course at the same time. The only
thing the captain has to do is work
out who to pair with whom. There are
no players left in the team room to
look after.
The Ryder Cup is obviously
different and that, again, is where
vice-captains come into their own. At
the moment, the plan is for there to
be five of us on the European team
but Thomas has deliberately not
named anybody else at this moment
because he wants to see who makes
the team and who doesn’t. He has a
good idea of who he’s going to name
as his remaining vice-captains but a
few of them could play their way into
the team, so we’ll have to just wait
and see.
For me, when it comes down to
the match, it’ll be about working with
the other vice-captains and Thomas
to give him the information he needs
to make the best decisions. The way
things are coming together right
now, I expect we’ll start to consider
CALLING ALL
SOCIETIES
Visit the FREE one-stop resource
for society planners
 GET MORE
bunkered.co.uk/gear

THE TECH-PACKED KING F8 RANGE

Cobra’s new product range features a truly astonishing array of technology

U
NDOUBTEDLY the
biggest talking point
with the F8 range is
Cobra’s first fully machined
CNC milled driver face,
and if you want to know
more about it then turn to
page 18 for an in depth run
down. It isn’t just the milled
face however that has
us excited. The entire F8 Tom Olsavsky, VP of
family of products features Research & Development THIS
THIS•ISSUE
ISSUE
new and innovative at Cobra Golf, said “At
technologies and materials Cobra Golf our engineers
to create the brand’s best continue to push the
clubs to date. Not only envelope when it comes to
that, every club in this innovation and delivering
new range now comes the best in game-changing Callaway irons
with Cobra Connect game golf equipment for golfers page 84
tracking tech built in. of all levels.”

TaylorMade TP Red Putters

• All prices provided are RRP. Contact your local golf stockist or PGA pro for more accurate prices & offers. page 90
 1 NEW RANGE
COBRA’S KING F8 PRODUCT RANGE
The ‘smartest’ golf clubs on the market today
W
E FIRST SAW
COBRA Connect
in the F7 drivers,
a system powered by
Arccos that allowed you
to automatically track your
shot data and compile
your stats to help you
better understand how
well you drove the ball.
Well this time round it
isn’t just the drivers that
feature Cobra Connect.
Every club in the F8 range
comes with the sensor
already embedded in the
grip.
“At COBRA Golf,
we believe that using
advanced analytics to
make smarter, data-
driven decisions on the
course can dramatically
improve the performance
of any player,” said Mike
Yagley, Senior Director of
Innovation/AI for Cobra
Golf. “By delivering the
first-ever fully connected
set, we’re helping more
players make better
informed decisions about
their practice time and
on-course club selections,
so they can stand over
each shot with more
confidence, play better
golf and shoot lower
scores.”
DRIVERS
Apart from the milled face,
both the F8 and F8+ are
packed with technology
to help you hit the ball
further and straighter,
82 BUNKERED.CO.UK
including Cobra’s new
360˚ Aero Technology.
The innovative system
of aerodynamic trips,
strategically positioned
around the perimeter of
the face, improve drag
reduction through the
downswing for increased
clubhead speed.
Also, an ultralight, 5-ply
Carbon Fibre crown
saves discretionary
weight, allowing the CG
to be positioned lower
and deeper for higher
trajectories and increased
forgiveness. Also, the new
lightweight 8-1-1- Titanium
Body and Forged Face
help to reduce weight.
MyFly8 with Smart
Pad technology affords
you the choice of eight
loft settings to fine tune
launch conditions and
maximise distance, while
Smart Pad ensures the
clubhead stays square at
address.
FAIRWAY WOODS
The F8 fairways
incorporate an improved
Baffler Dual Rail System
with tighter-spaced rails
and the CG centred
between the rails. The
concept of rails started in
1975 with the introduction
of the Cobra’s first big
hit, the baffler. This latest
incarnation reduces
twisting, resulting in
a higher amount of
clubhead speed retained
upon contact with the turf.
Like the F8 drivers,
the fairways incorporate
Cobra’s 360˚ Aero
Technology and an
ultralight 5-ply Carbon
Fibre crown, which saves
nearly 13 grams of weight
compared to the previous
steel version. It means the
CG is now even lower for
the ultimate in distance
and spin performance.
HYBRIDS
The KING F8 hybrids
utilise many of the
same technologies as
the Fairways, including
Cobra’s Baffler Dual
Rail System, to provide
more speed, forgiveness
and versatility than ever
before.
The taller and tighter-
spaced rails on the
hybrids provide more
leading edge bounce, to
help the club stay lower
to the ground for more
consistent launch from a
variety of lies.
Multi-directional Aero
trips on the crown,
made of lightweight
polymer, ensure
optimised aerodynamic
performance, while the
sleeker clubhead design
features a lowered skirt
and a shorter, skinnier
hosel for an extremely low
CG. The fixed weight is
positioned low and back
to give a high, towering
ball flight, ideal for when
approaching greens from
long range
IRONS
The KING F8 irons boast
an all-new forged E9
PWRSHELL Face that is
20% thinner and features
an E9 elliptical Sweet
Zone to promote faster
ball speeds across a
wider area on the face,
delivering unparallelled
distance and forgiveness.
Carbon Feel Technology
inserts are strategically
positioned to deliver
a soft yet solid feel
throughout the set.
Cobra’s patented
TECFLO Progressive
Set Construction
Technology delivers
tailored performance
through varying cavity
constructions to
optimise the trajectory
of each iron in the set,
while Progressive Spin
Technology improves
groove structures
through CNC milling to
deliver optimum spin and
trajectory performance
from the long irons to the
wedges.
ONE LENGTH
Cobra is committed to
the ONE Length concept.
Many were quick to
dismiss it as a marketing
gimmick that would die
out faster than tasselled
golf shoes or Tiger’s
mock necks from the
early 2000s, but no, it
seems ONE Length is
here to stay.
For those unaware of
the concept first made
popular by Cobra’s
Bryson DeChambeau,
every ONE Length club
is designed to achieve
optimum performance
at 7-iron length, lie and
swing weight.
The F8 ONE Length
irons feature the same
technology as the
standard irons and have
received an upgrade
to ensure consistent
gappings. Also, for the
first time ever, we now
have a One Length Hybrid
that features an upright lie
angle and a heavier head
weight to fit in perfectly
with your ONE Length set.
 SPECS

KING F8 driver
LOFT 10.5˚
(Adjustable 9-12˚)
SHAFTS MRC Tensei
CK Blue 50g, Aldila NV
2KXV Blue 60, Aldila
NV 2KXV Green 65
PRICE £329
KING F8+ driver
LOFT 9˚ (Adjustable
8-11˚)
SHAFTS Aldila NV 2KXV
Blue 60, Aldila NV 2KXV
Green 65, Project X
HZRDUS Yellow 75
PRICE £329
KING F8 fairway
LOFT 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 FWY
SHAFTS Aldila NV
2KXV Blue 70
PRICE £199
KING F8+ fairway
LOFT 3-4, 4-5 FWY
SHAFTS Aldila NV
2KXV Green 75
PRICE £199
KING F8 hybrid
LOFT 2H (17˚), 3H (19˚),
4H (22˚), 5H (25˚)
SHAFTS Aldila
Rogue Pro 75
PRICE £169
KING F8 ONE hybrid
LOFT 3H (19˚), 4H
(22˚), 5H (25˚)
SHAFTS Aldila Rogue The F8+ fairway
Pro 75, Aldila Rogue
provides all of the
Pro ONE Length
PRICE £169 same incredible
technologies as the
KING F8 irons F8 in a more compact
SHAFTS True Temper head size, with a front-
XP 90 steel, Aldila positioned CG for a more
Rogue Pro 65 Graphite
PRICE £649 (steel),
penetrating ball flight.
£749 (graphite)
KING F8 ONE irons
SHAFTS True Temper
ONE Flighted steel,
Aldila One Rogue @cobragolf
65 Graphite cobragolf.co.uk
PRICE £649 (steel),
£749 (graphite)

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 83
1 IRONS
CALLAWAY APEX MB & X FORGED IRONS
If you want stunning looks, soft feel and precise feedback, then these are the irons for you
S
OME OF THE
WORLD’S best
players provided
extensive feedback to
Callaway’s iron engineers
in order to create the Apex
MB, a true muscleback
iron, and the new X
Forged irons.
APEX MB
The classic shape and
style, with a traditional,
slightly thinner topline,
and a beautiful bright
chrome finish in Callaway’s
smallest blade head
shape, make this one for
the purists. The engineers
at Callaway paid particular
84 BUNKERED.CO.UK
attention to the CG
positioning in the Apex
MB to create a ball flight
preferred by tour players.
New high performance
20V grooves are built in
to promote the high level
of control and consistent
spin that muscleback
players expect out of any
playing conditions. The
20V grooves also stand
out for reducing fliers from
the rough to deliver even
more control.
Forged from 1025
carbon steel, this player’s
iron was engineered for a
remarkably soft feel that
tour players want, with the
exact craftsmanship and
precision they expect.
Callaway’s premium
forging process ensures
that each iron delivers this
precise, crisp feel.
The Apex MB also
feature classic lofts
throughout the set,
weak by modern game
improvement irons
standards, but designed
to suit the best ball strikers
and those who are dialled
with their yardages.
It should come as no
surprise that these irons
are already a popular
choice for Callaway’s tour
staffers, with the likes of
SPECS
PRICE £1,049
(7 irons)
AVAILABLE
January 26, 2018
Phil Mickelson and Nicolas
Colsaerts recently putting
them into play.
X FORGED
The X forged irons offer a
tremendous combination
of performance, turf
interaction and feel
in a triple net forging.
The single piece cavity
back features tour
configurations for the
soles, CG progression for
precision shot making and
accuracy, with just the right
amount of forgiveness in
a classically styled and
finished iron.
Like the new Apex MB

Both irons
feature precision
20V grooves to
promote a high
level of control
and optimum spin
out of any playing
conditions.
irons, the X Forged feature
precision 20V grooves
but the blade length is
slightly longer and there is
more forgiveness built in.
Despite this, however, it is
still without a doubt an iron
for the better player and
pure ball striker.
CALLAWAY SAY
Luke Williams, Senior
Director Global Strategy,
Irons and Woods, said
when discussing the Apex
MB: “Our tour players
have been at the heart of
this pure, forged muscle-
back iron. During the R&D
process we discussed
The styling of the
X forged is clean
and classic, with a
smooth, appealing
look at address,
inspired by some
of Callaway’s most
popular forged
irons.
@CallawayGolfEU
callawaygolf.com
every detail of what makes
a great iron for them, the
things they like now, and
even the things they liked
in the past.”
He then moved onto
describe the role played
by the new X Forged
irons. “X Forged is not
quite so intimidating to
play as Apex MB and is
for golfers that prefer the
feel offered by a single-
piece forging, with some
additional forgiveness.
We’ve already had strong
feedback from tour players
who have been particularly
positive about the feel,” he
explained.
REVIEWED
CALLAWAY
APEX MB & X FORGED IRONS
David Cunninghame
@D_Cunninghame
I’M SURE many of you will agree with me on this one, I’d love
to able to out a full set of the Apex MB into my bag, in large
part down to the stunning looks of these blades, but I know
deep down that I don’t quite have the game to do so.
They truly are something to behold down at address and in
the bag - but how do they perform? Well, if you are looking for
unrivalled feel then look no further. The incredible soft feel and
feedback provided by the Forged 1025 carbon steel head is
truly remarkable. If you don’t quite manage to catch them out
of the sweetspot however, then you’ll know all about it. These
irons are without a shadow of a doubt designed for the purest
of ball strikers.
I was also really impressed by the level of control they
provided. I love the fact they have traditional lofts and the
level of shot shaping control, combined with the penetrating
“If you are looking for unrivalled
feel then look no further.”
ball flight they offer, make them one of the best bladed irons
I’ve tested.
Now let’s move onto the X Forged. Although not quite as
visually stunning as the MBs, these are still seriously good
looking irons. The lofts are ever so slightly stronger, but
these traditional cavity back irons offer the level of precision
a better golfer is looking for, with the benefit of some added
forgiveness. Not only that, the feel and sound of the face is
just about as phenomenal as the muscleback.
Both irons are designed for tour players, with the help of
tour players and refined by their input. What we have as a
result is precision craftsmanship, sublime feel and sound from
two of the best looking irons I’ve ever laid eyes on.
RRP Apex MB £1,049 (7 irons)
X Forged £1,049 (7 irons)
callawaygolf.com
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 85
 HOT
LAUNCH
MIZ UN O ST 180
SER IES
 1 METALWOODS
MIZUNO ST180 SERIES
The new high-launching, low spinning, flat out further
metalwoods from the popular Japanese manufacturer
M
IZUNO are, of
course, recognised
the world over
as one of the premier
manufactures of forged
irons, but the brand’s
metalwoods have been
helping golfers find extra
yards from the tee for
many years, too.
The revolutionary ST180
drivers and fairway woods
have been engineered to
take your game off the tee
to a whole new level.
THE DRIVER
This is the first Mizuno
driver to feature Wave sole
technology, something
we first saw in the brand’s
JPX850 fairway woods.
The ST180’s Wave sole
commits every available
gram of weight low and
towards the face, dropping
spin rates for even the
fastest, downward ball-
strikers. The Amplified
Wave sole contracts and
expands to increase the
energy imparted to the ball
for elevated ball speeds,
while also pushing weight
forward to vastly reduce
spin rates.
A new Forged SP700
Ti multi-thickness face
promotes accelerated
ball speeds that take the
SPEC
DRIVER
Loft 9.5˚ & 12.5˚
Price £399
FAIRWAY WOOD
Loft 15˚ & 18˚
Price £279
AVAILABLE
February 2018
ST180’s performance
noticeably past its
predecessors, while
the striking blue head’s
Internal Waffle Crown is a
weight-saving design that
allows more grams to be
relocated low and forward
to promote efficient low-
spin performance.
“This was the biggest
shock we’ve had in
testing,” said Jeff Cook,
PGA Tour Manager. He
continued: “The spin rate
and ball speed of this
driver caught everybody
out. The ST180 comes off
so fast, with so little spin
– it’s going to make a lot
of good players question
what they really need in a
driver.”
FAIRWAY WOODS
The new ST180 fairway
woods share much of
the driver’s technology
including the hugely
amplified Wave sole
technology and Internal
Waffle Crown.
The Amplified Wave
Soleplate on the fairway
woods features a huge
first wave that contracts
and expands on impact for
incredible ball speed and
low spin.
Also, the ST180 fairways
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE
feature a thinner, more
responsive, high-energy
1770 Maraging Steel
Face to further increase
ball speeds and deliver
a flatter, more efficient,
controlled ball flight. The
head’s larger footprint
generates a bigger-
than-average profile that
both looks, and is, highly
forgiving.
“If you like a wider,
larger-looking profile, but
don’t necessarily want
a high-spinning flight,
the ST180 is a really
interesting option,” said
Cook.
“Over the years a lot
of our tour players have
bucked the trend for
smaller fairway woods and
this plays nicely into their
hands.”
Both the driver and
fairway woods feature
Mizuno’s Quick Switch
adjustable hosel that
enables 4 degrees of loft
adjustment and 3 degrees
of lie adjustment so the
clubs can be fine-tuned
to your unique launch
conditions and visual
preferences.
A new expanded line of
high-end shafts can also
be fitted at no additional
charge.
@MizunoGolf_News
golf.mizunoeurope.com
87
1 BALLS
THE NEW SRIXON AD333
Advanced tour technology is now in this incredibly popular 2-piece ball
T
HE GO TO BALL
for many amateur
golfers, Srixon’s
AD333 has been the
most popular 2-piece golf
ball in the UK for over a
decade now. This latest
generation incorporates
high-performance tour
technology to give golfers
exceptional distance, soft
feel and greenside control.
NO.1 TWO-PIECE
The AD333 has been so
popular amongst amateurs
in recent years owing to
its fantastic performance,
durability, and most
importantly for some, its
excellent price. You get a
lot of bang for your buck
with the AD333, and with
this latest version you are
SPEC
COLOURS PURE
WHITE & TOUR
YELLOW
PRICE £22 per
dozen
@SrixonEurope
srixon.co.uk
88 BUNKERED.CO.UK
getting even more.
This eighth generation
AD333 golf ball utilises
the same premium
technologies found in
Srixon’s higher performing
tour-level Z-STAR balls,
but offers them in a more
durable and affordable
2-piece construction.
THEY SAY
“The AD333’s built-in
tour technologies should
help golfers see great
performance in every
aspect of their golf game,”
said Michael Ross, Senior
Product Manager at Srixon.
He added: “This is the golf
ball for players who seek
maximum playability from
a more durable, 2-piece
design.”
 KEEP
AN EYE
TOUR TECHNOLGIES ON….
WHY ANDY WARD
FROM AMERICAN
GOLF EXPECTS
THESE PRODUCTS
1 DISTANCE TO FLY OFF THE
` The new AD333 SHELVES IN 2018
features a lower-
compression Energetic
Gradient Growth Core.
This core technology
uses variable stiffness
to deliver better feel
as well as improved COBRA F8
launch conditions and At American Golf we aim
exceptional distance to improve your game. The
on every shot. entire Cobra F8 family now
comes with Cobra Connect
embedded in every club.
This game tracking tech
is a fantastic way for
amateurs to learn more
about their game, where
their misses tend to end up
2 SPIN and how they can improve.
` To help deliver
maximum greenside
control and spin,
Srixon’s third
generation Spin Skin
coating has been
incorporated into the
AD333. This latest EVNROLL PUTTERS
iteration of Srixon’s Putting accounts for about
proven ball coating 40% of the shots you
is more elastic with hit during a round. It’s
less bonding points massively important. The
so it produces more advanced face technology,
consistent spin from coupled with the sleek
any lie, especially looks, made these putters
the rough. incredibly popular in 2017
and we expect them to be
even more popular in 2018.

3 AERODYNAMICS
` The Aerodynamic WILSON DX2 OPTIX
338 Speed Dimple The popularity of coloured
Pattern helps to give golf balls has soared this
you more control in year. The DX2 is one of our
the wind, and helps to best sellers thanks to it’s
reduce drag, in turn performance and appealing
maximising distance. price. The new coloured
Optix are sure to popular
with customers looking for
a more fun-filled option.
1 PUTTERS

TAYLORMADE TP RED PUTTER COLLECTION

First it was Jason Day, now it seems everyone wants a red putter

T
AYLORMADE has expanded its
TP Collection of putters with the
introduction of TP Red.
Comprised of six performance mallet
models, the new collection has Each putter in the
been designed for those who seek collection features
the performance of TaylorMade’s interchangeable sole
renowned Pure Roll technology in weights to enable
an aesthetically appealing Tour Red the adjustment of
colourway. mass for optimal
performance.
THE BACK STORY
TaylorMade first rolled out the
distinctive Tour Red colourway back
in 2016 when Jason Day decided to
give his Spider Tour putter a makeover.
Following his incredible success with
the red putter, along with others such
as Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, the
demand for putters in this colourway
has grown exponentially across global
tours, something that hasn’t gone
unoticed by amateurs looking to imitate
the pros.

THE PUTTERS
The TP Red Collection is comprised
of five new variations of the Ardmore
putter as well as the Chaska model.
Each of the six new models feature
milled 304 stainless steel heads with
Tour Red finish for a premium look and
feel with high-contrast colouring and a
variety of sightline options to promote
improved alignment.
Similar to the original TP Collection,
each new model utilizes a new milling
process along with TaylorMade’s
proprietary Pure Roll insert to deliver
optimal forward roll with a desired
firm feel. Currently, Jon Rahm, Jason
Day, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose all
play putters incorporating Pure Roll
technology.
The 6061 aluminum Pure Roll insert
combines 45° grooves with a softer
polymer between the grooves to
promote better forward roll and reduce SPECS
skidding across varying surfaces.
The composition and construction
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the insert perform at a very high level. taylormadegolf.com

90 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 01 02

1 VICE DURO GLOVE

Made from synthetic polyurethane to ensure optimum
traction, this all weather glove will help to give you excellent
grip in any conditions. The perforated stretch material on the
back of the hand allows for a comfortable and pleasant fit.
£10.49 vicegolf.com

2 PING SIGMA G TYNE H & CRAZ-E

PING has expanded its popular Sigma G putter range with
two new highly forgiving mallets, the Craz-E and Tyne H.
Both feature PING’s patented True Roll Face Technology
and a multi-piece face engineered with an innovative
material to deliver consistent performance and superb feel.
£175 ping.com

3 WILSON STAFF DX2 OPTIX

Wilson Golf’s first low-compression Matte finish ball. The 03 04
Optix has a scruff-resistant Matte outer layer and is available
in highly visible Yellow, Orange, Pink, Green and Red.
£19.99 per dozen wilson.com

4 MIZUNO JPX
This next-generation, micro-dimple JPX ball
features a larger soft-compression core, Mizuno’s
softest to date in a two-piece golf ball. The core’s
design means there’s no compromise between soft
greenside feel and explosive tee-shot distance.
£25 per dozen golf.mizunoeurope.com

5 BIOFLOW SPORT WRISTBAND

Currently worn by the likes of Lee Westwood and Marc
Warren, these waterproof silicone wristbands are
designed to complement an active lifestyle, featuring

05
a Central Reverse Polarity magnet technology.
£25 bioflow.co.uk

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 91

The best of golf around the globe
TENERIFE CYPRUS
Our correspondent Warm, friendly, great
spends a few days in food and drink...and
the sun with his clubs even better golf courses
PAGE 96 PAGE 104
PLAY THE W
ITH ONE OF THE
fastest growing
reputations in the
WORLD’S
golf world as a tropical
paradise, Bali attracts its
fair share of visitors.
BEST PAR-3
With a range of new
courses being built over
the past few years, anyone
COURSE!
seeking warm climates
and glorious sunshine
should be booking the
Indonesian island up for
Bukit Pandawa wins their next trip.
at World Golf Awards And for a real test of
your approach play, book
yourself a knock at the
Bukit Pandawa resort,
recently voted the Best
Par-3 Course in the World
at the World Golf Awards.
It is Bali’s newest venue
at just 13 months old, and
is the first 18-hole par-3
course in Indonesia.
The par-54 layout was
opened in October 2016
and it usually takes around
120 minutes to finish a full
round. Bob Moore, of JMP
Golf Design, who designed
ò GET MORE bunkered.co.uk/travel
NEWMACHAR
Play the Aberdeenshire
venue that’s seriously
investing in its future
PAGE 102
2017 WINNERS
the course, said: “We
are embracing courses
that have not historically WORLD’S BEST GOLF COURSE
been included in our St Andrews Links – Old Course
perception of great golf
experiences. WORLD’S BEST NEW
“The inclusion of such a
GOLF COURSE
category speaks volumes
West Cliffs Golf Links (Portugal)
about the future of golf.”
Bukit Pandawa is the first
winner of the best par-3 WORLD’S BEST GOLF
course in the 24-year DESTINATION
history of the World Golf Portugal
Awards.
Djie Tjian An, Bukit GOLF COURSE DESIGNER
Pandawa general OF THE YEAR
manager, said: “We Jack Nicklaus
couldn’t be more proud of
the job everyone who has SCOTLAND’S BEST GOLF HOTEL
ever been affiliated with Trump Turnberry
this project has done.
“It takes dedication, EUROPE’S BEST GOLF VENUE
passion and commitment La Manga Club (Spain)
from across the board to
even be in a position to EUROPE’S BEST GOLF HOTEL
receive an award. The Belfry
“It’s a tremendous
achievement for such a
WORLD’S BEST ECO
young course.”
FRIENDLY GOLF RESORT
To find out more, visit
bukitpandawagolf.com Ekerum Resort Oland (Sweden)
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 92
 z
PORTUGAL
The Algarve’s standing as the ideal
golf holiday destination has risen
to a new level with record visitor
numbers. Widely regarded as one
of Europe’s top golf destinations,
it hit an all-time high for golf visitor
numbers in 2016 with almost 1.3m
rounds throughout the year. That
trend continued in the first six
months of this year, with more
than 788,000 rounds played
between January and June - a
rise of almost 4% on 2016.

z
SPAIN
With more than 30 golf courses,
Marbella is one of the most
in-demand holiday destinations
for golf lovers – and you can
experience all that makes it great
this winter at less than full price.
A special 10% discount is being
offered this winter at Vacation
Marbella Luxury Accommodation.

‘Czech’ in for some festival fun

Log-on to vacationmarbella.
com for more information.

Kick-start your love affair with this in-demand golf destination z

CANADA

Y
Looking for somewhere new to
OU MAY be Easy access from Tour venue since
play in the North America? Look
surprised to learn the majority of the 2014), daily breakfast,
no further than Whistler Nicklaus
that there is a long UK airports (roughly welcome and prize
tradition of quality golf a two-hour flight from presentation dinner, North. Situated at the base of the
in the Czech Republic. Edinburgh or Glasgow) private sightseeing tour majestic Whistler and Blackcomb
The first courses to Prague makes your of Prague, all airport mountains and along the shores of
opened in the west trip very attractive, too. and golf transfers from glacial fed Green Lake, this Jack
of the country in spa All this, plus the £569 per person. Nickalus-designed course boasts
towns on Karlovy Vary beautiful countryside, If you can’t make that breathtaking scenery, exceptional
in 1904 and in 1905 in historical highlights, week, come any time guest service, unmatched course
Marianske Lazne. sightseeing, local from April to October conditioning and a tough but
Since then, the cuisine, special beer during golfing season fair test of golf. Go Google it.
country has hosted and wine experience, and experience the
many events including excellent nightlife and country then. Two
European Tour, Ladies great value for money nights and two rounds
European Tour or will add serious depth starts from £249,
Senior European Tour. to any golf break. with seven nights
With more than 100 The Czech Golf and five rounds from
courses to choose Festival could be your £699pp. Prices based
from, the Czech ticket to this wondrous on a minimum of four
Republic is a haven for experience (see sharing twin rooms,
golf tourists. czech-golf-festival. including breakfast, z
Beyond West com). Taking place all airport and golf SPAIN
Bohemia there is an from July 15, 2018, transfers, meet and
Spain’s five-star La Manga Club has
increasing selection of enjoy a new golfing greet on arrival as well
joined a select group of courses
great courses around and cultural experience as assistance by an
Prague. You can play English speaking rep. in Spain to have been granted
and get to play one of
more than ten different the newest courses in royal status by the Spanish royal
venues, most of them the country, the truly For more golf travel deals household. Having received the
within an hour’s drive incredible Panorama to Prague and around Spanish Royal Golf Federation’s
from the city centre. Golf Resort, above. the Czech Republic, visit coveted ‘Merit in Golf’ award last
There are also great Four nights and czech-republic-golf.com December, the resort’s golf club
options for golf in the three rounds in or book with either Golf has now been renamed ‘Real Golf
areas of South Moravia Prague, including Kings or Hashtag Golf La Manga Club’ in recognition
or North Moravia. Albatross (European Travel. of its royal connections.

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 93
 COOL HANGOUT

DISCOVER
HAWAII
More than a honeymoon haunt, this
is world-class golf at its very best
z WORDS CHRIS JOHNSTON
YOUR GUIDE
TO THE
BEST GOLF
DESTINATIONS

H
AWAII is one of
those bucket list
destinations that few
people manage to tick
off. Even less so as a golf
destination. But things
might be changing on
that front, as the volcanic
archipelago in the Central
Pacific is becoming rather
sought after as a very
attractive and accessible
golf holiday haunt.
One golf course
currently gaining plaudits
is Princeville Makai, which
re-opened in 2010 after an
extensive renovation. The
course has been ranked
by various US golf mags as
one of the top 100 public
courses in the USA. It is
a Robert Trent Jones Jr
design and incorporates
serene lakes and
incredible ocean coastline
- as you would expect on
one of Hawaii’s six islands
- plus there’s a ‘leisurely’
nine-holer, too.
Makai is on the island of
Kaua’i, which is nicknamed
the ‘Garden Isle’ due to
its lush tropical foliage,
Princeville Makai
Golf Course, Hawaii
waterfalls and Pacific Hokuala, the island’s only
Ocean vistas. The island Jack Nicklaus signature
is famed for its beaches, design. It features the
natural beauty and, as longest continuous stretch
expected, superb weather. of ocean holes in Hawaii,
Kaua’i has more than with over half a mile of
50 miles of sandy white oceanfront golf to enjoy.
beaches - more beach per Usually reserved for
mile than any of the other honeymooners and
Hawaii islands. couples, the opportunity to
Other courses on the sample Hawaii for the first
island worth checking time with your clubs in tow
out are Wailua, which is might just be one of the
regarded as one of the best decisions you ever
‘most beautiful municipal’ make. Check out the local
courses in the US, and golf scene at facebook.
the Ocean Course at com/gogolfkauai
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 95
 COOL HANGOUT

z
YOUR GUIDE
TO THE
BEST GOLF Buenavista Golf
DESTINATIONS

BY DAVID J WHYTE
@linkslands
PHOTOS Supplied
David is a specialist in golf travel
writing, photography and video
I
N TENERIFE, the sun is quite
boring! It comes up with little
fanfare, hangs about all day long
then drops back into the sea again
again.
There are rarely any clouds and the
Canary Island basks at a nice balmy
year-round temperature between 23
and 28 degrees centigrade.
People seem to like it! Germans in
particular! They’re down by the pool
at the crack of dawn with giant-sized
clothes pegs pinning their double-
thick beach towels to the loungers,
pretending to read their Kindles (it’s
still dark for goodness sake) and we
all know they’re flaunting the hotel’s
‘no reserving loungers’ rule. Maybe
they’ve been there all night? They’re
determined, that’s for sure! And who
can blame them. Tenerife’s getting
busier and competition for the best
poolside spots is at an all-time high.
There are a lot more people about.
And a lot more traffic! Friday used to
be busy as it was moving-day, the big
changeover with one batch of tourists
leaving the island and another
arriving. Now everyday is Friday!
There’s also a noticeable increase
in construction; stacks of studios
IN-DEPTH GUIDE
TO TENERIFE
What you can expect from a trip with your
golf clubs to this Canary Island gem
decorating
decoratin the hillsides like whipped-
cream roulades.
rou Above the golf
courses, tthere are elegant, white,
quadrilateral
quadrilate cubes, each with its own
infinity pool;
po very James Bondish,
style state
statements from the nouveau
riche claiming a slice of paradise.
CLUBBING
After dinner, we tried to mingle with
the masses (and be less snobbish)
but listening to Jim Reeves or
some old crone singing ‘Yellow
River’ amidst a sea of cigarette
lighter waving, half-sozzled
women was a bridge too far. At the
recommendation of some savvy
looking locals, we hopped in a taxi to
Avenue las Americas and the Magic
Lounge. ‘The Magic’ is part of the
Safari Centre where you find classy
shops, expensive jewellery and top-
brand apparel. Someone’s twigged
that Tenerife needed a class injection
and here it is! If you’re looking to do
some shopping; Bounty, GAS, The
Levi Store, Armani and Hugo Boss
are all here. There are lots of good
eating places also.
The water fountain opposite
the Hard Rock Café even jumps
to the beat. As does ‘The Magic’
with live DJ’s, sax players and sexy
dancers. (I’m not talking about
myself, of course)! And there’s no
cover charge. The drinks are slightly
pricey at €10 for a large G&T but hey,
you’re on holiday and compared
to the first places we visited, this is
heaven and worth every Euro. Also
recommended, although I didn’t get a
chance to go - but will most definitely
next time - is the Papagyo Club in
Costa Adeje along with the Buddha
Bar in Las Americas. Just as a side
note, at the end of my visit I met with
Eduardo, the manager at Amarilla
Golf Club and he tells me they also
host a monthly dance event on the
course’s 11th fairway. Well, that’s a
novel way of bringing in some extra
fees. Apparently, they turn the 11th
into a par-3 for the day, allowing room
for clubbers of both persuasions.
FOOD SCENE
You should notice straight away,
Tenerife fruit and veg is much tastier.
I’ve never had such sweet onions
and salty Canarian potatoes or papas T
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 97
T arugardas (as they’re
known) have long been
a favourite. It must be
the sunshine and fertile
volcanic soil. If I lived here
I’d be a regular at the
farmer’s markets.
Consequently restaurant
food is generally very
good and during our
week we enjoyed some
excellent meals. Seafood
is always a winner!
Las Rocas Restaurant
is attached to Jardin
Tropical Hotel and enjoys
an exceptional setting!
Perched by the side of
the Atlantic, you can
almost reach down and
touch the waves. Sunsets
must be terribly romantic
although we arrived in
the dark yet it was still a
‘charged’ atmosphere.
Chef Jorge Peñate and his
team conjured up quite
delectable plates, small
“Restaurant food is generally very good and during our
week we enjoyed some excellent meals. If I lived here I’d
be a regular at the farmers’ markets!”
samplings full of flavour
and in total very satisfying.
The best plan is to let the
staff dictate a gastronomic
journey for you, sea-
flavoured and creatively
presented.
Another good hotel-
based restaurant we
discovered was SeaSoul,
part of Hotel Anthelia, a
nice 5-star hotel in Adeje
which I’ve stayed in on
a previous visit. Facing
the sea and ideal for
people-watching on the
promenade, SeaSoul is
also seafood-oriented
but great for traditional
Canarian dishes. We
started with some local
cheeses then I plumped
for Turbot and rounded
the meal off with Liqueur
de Hierbas Ruavieja, the
Spanish equivalent to
Grappa - although a fair
bit sweeter with a distinct
herbal, minty flavour. It’s
also called Orujo and best
98 BUNKERED.CO.UK
served chilled in a small,
shot glass.
On the plane home,
Billie, a new pal of
mine and full-time
Tenerife resident, also
recommended a chicken
restaurant called Adeje
Chicken. “Great for food
and views! Chicken is all
they do…” I’ll try it also on
the next visit and let you
know. I’m sure there are
many great restaurants
known by the locals and
it seems prices in such
places are reasonable.
The cost of living in
Tenerife is cheap, Billie
told me.
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation on
Tenerife can be difficult
to gauge and sometimes
quite misleading. On web
pages or brochures, it’s
hard to tell if a 5-star is a
genuine, quality product
or a trumped up 4-star
follie. It often depends on
the number of amenities a
property offers to qualify it
as a 5-star in the eyes of
some tourism authority.
Similarly you can
find very good 4-star
properties such as Les
Jardin Tropical where
we stayed. Admittedly
they were undergoing
refurbishment when we
visited so it was hard to
tell how much they were
going to improve things
but the hotel’s got a
certain old-world charm
and ease about it, and if
the price is right, I’d go
back.
I also stayed in Sandos
San Blas. I think it gets
its name from the wind.
This coast is famous for
windsurfing. It’s officially a
5-star but for some reason
you don’t hear them
trumpeting about that. It’s
not 5-star in my eyes! The
food and restaurant setup
is actually quite lacking
compared to many all-
inclusive hotels I’ve stayed
in - certainly not a patch on
Turkey’s.
So the best gauge of
a property I would say is
its cost. If it costs more
it will be better. The
three that I’ve stayed in
on previously trips that
certain did impress were
No.1 - Gran Hotel Bahía
del Duque Resort, that
really was exceptional.
My mother kept the soap
boxes and shampoos that
I brought back for years,
so nice did they look. No.2
is undoubtedly Abama
Resort and we’ll give
No.3 to Meliá Hacienda
del Conde overlooking
Seve’s Buenavista course
in the north of the island.
On this next mythical
visit to Tenerife, I’d like to
discover some boutique
hotels and give them a
try. Most of the obvious
offerings are huge
complexes so I wonder
what the small property
can offer.
THE GOLF COURSES
So now, what is there left
to discuss? Oh yes, I’d
suppose I’d better mention
golf seeing as there are
nine courses on the island.
We started with Adeje
and it’s a fairly good track.
It offers a series of unique
holes, so much so you’d
think you were on several
different golf courses.
The par-3s are most
memorable as are the
terraces built for a banana
plantation back in the day.
There are, however, horror
stories of people driving
buggies over those little
terraced walls, quite easily
done I would say as you
can’t see them as you
career towards the green.
Signs of a buggy doing
just that are so small and
placed at the sides of the
fairways that they’re not
much help. A golf pro I
know from Scotland did it
- and Stephen wasn’t such
a bad driver as I recall.
Anyway, Adeje is a good
start if not a bit of a driving
adventure.
Next day we played
Tecina on the island
of La Gomera. This is
a day-trip and a highly
recommended one not
only for the journey. You
can get a day ticket on the
Fred Olsen Express Ferry
plus a return taxi including
your round of golf for €157
per person which is not
bad when you consider
the travelling involved. By
the way, you need to show
your passport at the ferry
port to get to La Gomera...
I don’t know why but they
do ask to see them. The
road to the other side
of the island climbs and
corners some serious
hairpins. “I hate driving on
mountain roads,” Dave,
our redoubtable driver
decided. “Don’t you
worry!” I told him. You just
keep your eye on the road
and we’ll do the views.”
And they are incredible.
You can see Mount Teide
back on the main island
from many of the turns.
Then it’s over the top with
signs for the village of
Hernia and I hoped Dave
wasn’t going to have one!
The village and golf
course of Tecina are
both utterly charming!
It’s completely different
over here, much quieter
and more natural than the
mainland strip. On the golf
course, you drive a buggy
up to the top and cascade T
Costa Adeje

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 99
T down more or less back
and forth to the bottom. It’s
a short course and ideal
for ladies but full of tight,
testing challenges - fun for
everyone. The fourth is a
spectacular par-3 playing
down towards languid
Atlantic bays. So is the 11th!
In fact, I’ve never known
a course that offers so
many stunning vistas. You
finally arrive back at the
clubhouse armed with
some great memories
and no doubt a batch of
superb pictures on your
phone.
I also know from
past trips that the Hotel
Jardín Tecina nearby is
equally charming. As I
recall, guests stay in little
villas. It’s a bit dated but
gorgeous. The ideal scene
would be to stay here for
at least one night, it’s so
quiet and peaceful. I’ve
never done it, only visited
- but yet again, I intend to
do so - one of these days
soon.
We also played Las
Americas and I played
Amarilla on my own at
the end of the visit. Las
Americas is okay. The
front nine is much more
elevated and interesting
but the back is a bit
pedestrian playing through
thin avenues of cypress
trees with the occasional
pond. These are holiday
tracks and the challenge
for half-decent golfers
might be trying to get
through the fourball ahead.
I’ve been visiting
Amarilla for over 20 years
and, disappointingly, there
has been little change to
it - a new tee box at the
memorable fourth and
the same at the 12th by
the marina, both laudable
recent additions.
Very nearby Golf del Sur
is much more interesting
as I recall with lots of
volcanic sand bunkers,
cacti and barankas. I didn’t
play it this visit due to a
fierce sore throat which
developed and I was told
came from the Calima
wind that occasionally
blows over from the
100 BUNKERED.CO.UK
Sahara making Tenerife a
few degrees hotter than
usual and lots of people
coming down with a cold
that never manifests - just
a throat that feels like
you’ve swallowed crushed
glass.
So let’s get to the
main golf dish of the day,
Abama. Wow! They set the
bar high when they built
this one - and to be honest
it puts all the other Tenerife Las Americas
courses well in the shade.
Buenavista, Seve’s seaside
track on the north of the
island, comes in a distant
second but Abama’s
presentation, challenge
and breathtaking views
of the sea along with the
Island of La Gomera tops
them all.
Is there a catch? It costs
€270 for a round including
a buggy so that might be
an issue for some - and
you most certainly need
to use a buggy on this
course. You can save
yourself a €100 on green
fees if you’re staying in the Los Palos
hotel. But whatever - save
up your pennies and take
on this high calibre course
and you’ll be emotionally three-putt time.” and again, from past
quids in. It’s simply At the stunning, downhill experience, I can tell you
outstanding! That’s also tenth hole he told us: this is an exquisite luxury
why I’m saying to leave “There are 22 lakes on hotel with exemplary
it till the end of your trip the golf course and we service, a luxurious spa
because once you play hired a company to go and exceptional fine
this, it’ll spoil you for the and fetch the balls out of dining. The building
rest of them. them. They brought up along is unusual, like a
Of course, there are more than 79,000.” That’s terracotta lego avalanche
many long holes and a lot of lake balls but then cascading down towards
demanding approach there are a lot of lakes. To the water. Inside it’s
shots to the greens so it’s be honest they don’t come very Moorish. The two
a track designed for better into play as much as you Michelin-star restaurants
golfers. But there’s enough think. On long holes like encompass both Basque
room out there on the the tenth, it’s easy enough and Japanese cuisine.
fairways that any player to plot your way along and One more time, it’s a while
can enjoy it. The two stay dry. There are three since I’ve stayed here and
outstanding features are lakes on the par-4, 11th I pine to go back.
the views - incredible, and and I’m sure they catch
the presentation of the golf more than their fair share CONCLUSION
course - first-class. of errant balls but it’s fair So that’s our recap of golf
We met with Brendan, punishment. on Tenerife. The overriding
the resident Irish pro Abama offers a strong message is you get what
during our round and he finish too, the last three you pay for. Judging by
was telling us a bit more holes a bit different from the bars and resorts, there
about the course. “It’s the the rest, long and brutal are a lot of people looking
greens that catch you,” but good if you’ve hit your for cheap holidays in the
he told us although it’s a stride, which to be honest sun and the same can be
challenge enough getting you should have done at said of the golf but if you
to them. “You need to get the first - otherwise it could spend that little bit extra,
on the ride side of the be a long round. The it’ll make your experience
flag otherwise it’s usually resort is run by Ritz-Carlton exponentially the better. „
 YOURGAME
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07773 427 233 0131 667 8597 01667 453 208 01355 500285
@shortgamedoctor @ScottClarkPGA murrayurquhartgolf.com @DavidOrrGolfer
Newmachar, which sits
just outside Aberdeen,
is investing significant
funds into its entire golf
operation as it looks to
building for the future

102 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 GOOD TIMES AHEAD
Mike Timson, the new man in charge at Newmachar Golf Club, on the
Aberdeenshire club’s plans as it looks to the future
WORDS EWAN PATON
Tell us about your new
position and your plans
for 2018 and beyond?
I’m the Operations Director
here at Newmachar Golf
Club, having joined in April
2017. Having worked in the
golf industry for 20 years,
the plan, and my personal
aim, is to increase
membership and boost
participation in golf so that
ultimately we will be the
leading academy in the
north east of Scotland.
What sort of
developments will take
place on the Hawkshill
and Swailend courses?
The goal is to get our
championship course,
Hawkshill, into the top 100
in Britain and then to get
it into the top 50 by 2022.
We are investing to make
the playing surface the
best it can be, so recently
we’ve bought new
machinery to help maintain
the course. Swailend is
now 21 years old and
it has matured with the
woodlands surrounding it,
so we’re looking to make
that a higher quality golf
course for all. Despite
its age, it’s very popular
amongst our members and
players of all standards
use it. We are trying to
use this course as a way
of promoting the game to
women who are looking
to take up golf. We’ve also
devised a plan to make
both courses eco friendly
for the environment.
Could you tell us a bit
about the new trackman
driving range?
The club has embarked on
a re-development of the
driving range that is due
@EWAN_PATON22 PHOTOS DAVID J. WHYTE
to start soon and will be
completed by May 2018.
We have planned a full
re-design of the range -
part of which is installment
of a TrackMan system
which anyone can use -
member or not.
Was there a demand for
more advanced facilities?
There is a demand for
an improvement of the
practice facilities because
the shorter format of the
“We’re excited. As a club,
we’ve turned a big corner.”
game is an area people
are always trying to
perfect. We’re also using
it to target the younger
generation playing the
sport. We’re following the
R&A’s new strategy about
the virtual reality side
of it, as well as getting
youngsters out on the
course. That’s part of the
reason the management
committee at the golf club
are trying to push this
driving range through to
make this the place to play
golf in the north east.
Greg McBain is
Newmachar’s PGA pro.
What are the plans for his
services going forward?
Greg was employed in
June 2017 and he has
completely transformed
the professional offering
at the club. He’s totally
changed the appeal
for PGA pro services
by starting up junior
academies and getting
more kids to try golf from
the local schools and
clubs. There’s been a
massive increase in junior
participation so the plan
for 2018 is to get one or
two more PGA pros and
develop the coaching
service we offer so we can
become a golf academy.
At our club the pro is the
most important person
to drive it forward. Even
though I’m pulling all the
strings with the publicity
side, in my experience as
a PGA pro in my time in
England, it’s always the
pro that makes the strides
forward to make the club a
better place.
What about green fees
and memberships?
We’re having a close look
to see how we can appeal
to everyone with regards
to our memberships.
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE
There are 36 holes, a
new driving range on the
way - the fees are still
relatively cheap compared
to everywhere else
nearby. It’s £785 for a full
membership, but we really
want to build our lady
and younger generation
membership base, so
we’re looking at new
membership offerings over
the next couple of years.
In terms of building
female participation,
what other initiatives are
the club following up on?
We know that 29% of
women in the local area
want to have a go, it’s
just about having the
right pathway so we’ll be
reviewing memberships
to try and get participation
rising. Right now Greg is in
in regular communication
with the women
representatives at our club
so hopefully that will give
us a better idea of the right
things to offer.
Finally, how excited are
you for the future of
Newmachar?
Very excited - we’re
turning a big corner. We’ve
already seen an increase
in memberships in the last
six months, green fees
are starting to increase as
well and the vibe about
the place is getting better
due to the youngsters
getting involved. We
participated in Scottish
Golf Tourism Week and
I think it’s imperative all
the clubs in the north east
pull together to boost
involvement.
For more info on Newmachar,
see newmachargolfclub.co.uk
103
Clockwise from main:
Aphrodite Hills - PGA
National Cyprus; Secret
Valley; Minthis Hills and
Eléa Estate Cyprus
CYPRUS - THE PERFECT ESCAPE
Experience warm weather, friendly people, great food and great courses
WORDS MARTIN INGLIS @MARTININGLIS_ IMAGES SUPPLIED

I
F YOU’RE SEARCHING for the ultimate
winter golf getaway without straying from
the confines of Europe, Cyprus is pretty
much the perfect destination.
In the months of December, January
and February, the Mediterranean island
boasts an average temperature of 17.5˚C –
hotter than Glasgow in July and August. It
has one of the mildest climates in Europe
and, with 180 hours of sunshine per month
in the winter in coastal locations, you’re
guaranteed some much-needed sun.
But while most tourists travel to Cyprus
to escape the brutal British weather,
more are starting to visit to experience its
burgeoning reputation as a golf paradise.
Four of the best facilities – Minthis Hills,
Eléa, Aphrodite Hills Golf - PGA National
Cyprus and Secret Valley – are all within a
20-minute drive of the popular resort city
of Paphos, making the game incredibly
accessible to avid golfers in search of
differing challenges.
The first course built in
Cyprus was Minthis Hills in Many tourists
1994. Set in a picturesque travel to Cyprus to experiences in Europe.
valley overlooking an unspoilt escape the brutal
panorama of rolling hills and British weather -
encircling a 12th century now more go just
monastery, the championship for the golf.
course lies 550 metres above
sea level and is a course for
all seasons, enjoying cool breezes and
mesmerising mountain views.
Now is an exciting time at Minthis with
the development of two new holes by
architects Mackenzie & Ebert, who were
behind the redesign of both courses at
Trump Turnberry. There will be a new
par-5 hole boasting dramatic views of the
Troodos Mountains, which is set to open in
2019, and a par-3 that requires great skill
with pines to the left and a deep bunker to
the right in 2018.
Eléa, meanwhile, is widely
acknowledged as Sir Nick Faldo’s
‘Mediterranean Masterpiece’. The six-time
major winner’s course forms part of the
prestigious Eléa Estate, which commands
a breathtaking location just 8km from
Paphos International Airport.
Since opening seven years ago, the
6,900-yard course has established itself as
one of the Med’s true gems, meandering
through groves of mature carob and
olive trees, while dramatic outcrops of
weathered limestone contrast with the
dark green fairways.
Another one of the delights in the
Paphos area is Aphrodite Hills Golf – PGA
National Cyprus, which spreads out over
6,877 meters. The course, which opened
in 2002, was designed by architect Cabell
Robinson, whose vision was for it to be the
perfect mix of challenging pot bunkers,
manicured fairways of lush Bermuda grass
and generous tiered greens.
Visually spectacular, the course is built
on two plateaux, separated by a dramatic
ravine with outstanding views over the
Mediterranean. The staggering 130-metre
gorge dividing tees at the seventh hole is
an enticing challenge for all players.
Like Minthis Hills, Aphrodite Hills Golf -
PGA National Cyprus is also in the midst
of some renovation work in order to
enhance its golf offering to visitors, with a
€2.5m investment involving the complete
reconstruction greens and bunkers.
The full unveiling is scheduled for
February 2018 with the upgrades
promising to maintain the
resort’s position among the
top, if not one of the very best
Last, but by no means least,
is Secret Valley. The golf course
celebrated its 20th anniversary
last year and is nestled in a
scenic valley with brightly-
coloured rock formations where
legend says Aphrodite, the goddess of
love, was born.
Designed by architects from Golf and
Land Design with input from two-time
major winner Tony Jacklin, the 5,307-yard
layout utilises the steep hillside terrain for
spectacular tee locations and long views
towards valley and ocean.
And, to add even more golfing
excitement, a floodlit three-hole loop
for evening play has been conveniently
located at the lowest end of the golf
course where the beach development
links with the golf course.
With its diverse golf offering, great
gastronomy, culture - Paphos being the
European Capital of Culture 2017 - quality
hotels and hospitality, it isn’t too difficult
to see why Cyprus’ popularity as a golf
destination is sky-rocketing – and all
this only 20 years after the country’s first
course was built.
The Mediterranean isle is lying in wait
and it couldn’t be easier to get there, with
flights direct from Glasgow to Paphos
through various airlines including easyJet,
Jet2 and Thomson.

TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 105
 Tulliallan Golf Club
Flexible
membership
for only
£250
FOR YOUR 2018 GOLF OUTING
Our superb parkland course is only a 30 minute
Planning to visit Aberdeen... commute from Glasgow and Edinburgh

WEEKDAY GOLF PARTY Any parties of 12 or more will ALL VISITORS QUALIFY FOR
PACKAGES INCLUDE receive a 10% discount on their A RETURN ROUND AT HALF
Winter at Newmachar Golf Club 2 ROUNDS OF GOLF, COFFEE golf booking. In addition you will PRICE DURING THE SAME
1st November - 30th February & FILLED ROLL ON ARRIVAL, qualify for another game in the SEASON.
SOUP & FILLED ROLL & HIGH same season at half price. *DOES Join now for under £10 a week
Package A - 18 Holes, Coffee & Bacon Roll TEA ALL FOR ONLY £59.95* NOT INCLUDE £59.95 PACKAGE* (based on 5 day membership).
£30.00pp
Package B - 18 Holes Golf Only PRICES: WEEKDAY ROUND £27 WEEKEND ROUND £30
£27.50
Contact: professional@tulliallangolf.co.uk | Tel: 01259 730798
For Bookings Telephone - 01651863002
www.newmachargolfclub.co.uk www.tulliallangolf.co.uk

WILLIAMWOOD “The best kept secret on

GOLF CLUB the Southside of Glasgow”

BIRDIE PACKAGE
Hot filled rolls and coffee/tea on
arrival with welcome One round
SPECIAL RATES of golf 2 course high tea. Cost per
head £35
FOR GROUPS OF 8 FROM £17PP INCLUDES:
EAGLE PACKAGE
ROLL, COFFEE AND 18 HOLES Same as above plus, soup and
CALL - 01236 860720 sandwiches for lunch and a second VISITING
PARTIES BOOK
round of golf. Cost per head £50
BEFORE 31ST
Please Contact us on MARCH
secretary@williamwoodgc.co.uk
1 St Andrews Drive, Nr Glasgow, G68 0EW or our professional Matthew Burt
Tel: 01236 860 720 matt_burtpga@hotmail.com
www.qhotels.co.uk www.williamwoodgc.co.uk

PACKAGE 1 The Esk

1 night’s bed and breakfast plus 1 round on
The Medal and 1 round on The Broomfield.
£116 per person
The Scores Hotel PACKAGE 2 The Prosen
St Andrews 2 nights’ bed and breakfast plus 1 round on
The Medal and 1 round on The Broomfield.
dŚĞĐůŽƐĞƐƚŚŽƚĞůƚŽƚŚĞĮƌƐƚƚĞĞŽĨ £156 per person
ƚŚĞKůĚŽƵƌƐĞĂŶĚƚŚĞZŽLJĂůĂŶĚ
ŶĐŝĞŶƚůƵƵƐĞ͘^ƚƵŶŶŝŶŐǀŝĞǁƐ PACKAGE 3 The Clova
ŽǀĞƌtĞƐƚ^ĂŶĚƐĞĂĐŚ͘ 2 nights’ bed and breakfast plus 2 rounds on
ĂůůƵƐƚŽƐĞĞŝĨǁĞŚĂǀĞƚŚĞƉĞƌĨĞĐƚ The Medal and 1 round on The Broomfield.
ƉĂĐŬĂŐĞĨŽƌLJŽƵ͘ £212 per person

76 The Scores,
St Andrews, Fife KY16 9BB For bookings, The Park Hotel, 61 John Street, Montrose DD10 8RJ
͗ƌĞƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶƐΛƐĐŽƌĞƐŚŽƚĞů͘ĐŽ͘ƵŬ reservations &
T: 01674 663400 | E: reservations@parkmontrose.com
T: 01334 472451 more information
www.bw-scoreshotel.co.uk please contact www.parkmontrose.com

39A Westgate,
North Berwick,
Torwoodlee Golf Club
Situated just outside Galashiels in the beautiful Scottish Borders
East Lothian, countryside, with over 100 years of history, Torwoodlee is a
EH39 4AG picturesque 18-hole 6,021 yrd, par 69 golf course. Flanked by the River
Gala and set amongst a mix of mature woodland and rolling parkland,
it is one of the most challenging golf courses in the Scottish Borders.

Recently refurbished to a high standard this 5-bedroom self- 4 ball special for £120 including buggies
catering property sleeping 8-10 is situated in the centre of New Buggies With iPad Fly Over 01896 752260
North Berwick close to the railway station, shops, beach and (OPTION 3)

restaurants and other local amenities. Just a few steps from www.torwoodleegolfclub.co.uk
torwoodleegolfclub@torwoodleegolfclub.com
the famous West Links golf course and a few minutes by car
from Muirfield, it is an ideal base for golfers wishing to visit
some of East Lothian’s 22 courses.
Call - 05601 524502
WWW.CRAIGVIEWHOUSEAPARTMENTS.COM @Ewan Davidson Photography

106 BUNKERED.CO.UK
GB&I WHERE
TO PLAY
ò GET MORE bunkered.co.uk/wheretoplay
FROM
£25
PER ROUND
MERCHANTS OF
EDINBURGH
Î Edinburgh
Î Par 65 Yards 4,837
Î merchantsgolf.com
` Situated in the Morningside
area of Edinburgh, this is
a friendly course that was
originally designed by Ben
Sayers, then later remodeled
in 1936 by James Braid.
It’s not exceptionally long but
it’s still a good test of your
abilities and is noted for its
greens. The original course
required rather ingenious use
of 68 acres to accommodate
18 holes but that all changed
in 1934 when the new design -
and new ground - gave a new
lease of life to the course.
The clubhouse boasts a unique
point on the site, with views
towards the Pentland Hills.
FROM
£15
PER ROUND
MOFFAT
GOLF CLUB
Î Moffat, Dumfriesshire
Î Par 69 Yards 5,276
Î moffatgolfclub.co.uk
` Described as the ‘jewel
in the south’ that will give
you the full ‘Scottish golf
experience’, this Dumfriesshire
beauty is well worth a visit.
The Moffat Golf Club is one
of the oldest in its area and
was established in 1884. The
present course, designed
by the great Ben Sayers,
was opened in 1905.
With spectacular views over
the town and surrounding
hills, the course presents
an interesting and varied
challenge to members and
visitors alike with its natural
undulations and many hidden
greens with subtle borrows.
FROM
£40
PER ROUND
WILLIAMWOOD
GOLF CLUB
Î Clarkston, Glasgow
Î Par 68 Yards 5,790
Î williamwoodgc.co.uk
` Just 15 minutes from Glasgow
city centre, this is a welcoming
club that’s undergone major
changes on and off the
course in recent years.
First established in 1906 by
James Braid, the course was
extended by nearly 200 yards
in 2010 with a second par-5
built to raise its par to 69. There
have also been improvements
made to the water and wildlife
features, with a small island
area created to help make it a
truly pleasant place to play
The front nine boasts three
wonderful par-3s, but the
challenge stiffens superbly
on the homeward stretch.
TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE
FROM
£32
PER ROUND
TORWOODLEE
GOLF CLUB
Î Galashiels, Scottish Borders
Î Par 69 Yards 6,021
Î torwoodleegolfclub.co.uk
` Played by bunkered and loved
by bunkered. Torwoodlee offers
a stunning, picturesque, rolling
parkland paradise just outside
Galashiels in the beautiful
Scottish Borders countryside.
Only one hour away from the
capital, Edinburgh, this course
is very accessible. Players will
be rewarded during their round
with majestic scenery and
surrounded by amazing wildlife.
Named the most ‘visitor friendly’
club in the Borders Freedom
of the Fairway scheme many
times over the last two decades,
Torwoodlee offers a wonderful
golfing experience for those of
all handicaps.
107
CLASSIFIEDS

Aberdour Hotel Station Hotel Portsoy

FIFE’s Hidden Gem Rates start
from £35pp 3 NIGHTS’
Nestled 7 miles from the Forth Road Bridge and B&B*
30 minutes by rail from Edinburgh. Surrounded DBB AND
by Golf courses, “The Aberdour Hotel“ has 3 ROUNDS
received excellent reviews for its Food, Service & FROM £279
Accommodation.
Why not come and try one of our many local Golf
courses. We offer B&B, DB&B. 20% Off Burntisland &
Aberdour Green Fees To find out more
T: 01383 860325 call quoting
E: reception@aberdourhotel.co.uk “Bunkered 1”
www.aberdourhotel.co.uk
* subject to availability, based on 2 people sharing - winter rates

• We specialise in providing top class golf breaks at affordable

prices
• 15 modern, comfortable en-suite rooms
• Many top class courses and ‘hidden gems’ to choose from
including some of the best old traditional links courses in
Scotland
• Great food, friendly locals’ bar and large games room with all
Sky Sports and BT Sports shown
• 2018 already filling up fast but we will do our best to
accommodate you!

Station Hotel Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, AB45 2QT

Tel: 01261 842327 E: enquiries@stationhotelportsoy.co.uk
www.stationhotelportsoy.co.uk

YOU DESERVE
THE BEST GOLF
MEMBERSHIP
IN THE
SCOTTISH
BORDERS!
The Woll golf course, one of the most popular
members clubs in the Scottish Borders and no
wonder, with continued development of the
course, a first class clubhouse with award winning
restaurant and many benefits to membership.

JOIN NOW
with Winter Membership
for JUST £99 until March 2018
If you re-join as a full member (£370)
in 2018 we will take the £99 off!

Call us now 01750 32711 or visit our website for an application form. www.wollgolf.co.uk

108 BUNKERED.CO.UK
 HEARTLANDS / NORTH EAST / SOUTH EAST / MAIL ORDER / MISCELLANEOUS

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A SOCIAL GAME A SOCIAL MAG

221 West George St, Glasgow, G2 2ND

Tel 0141 248 1611
info@thegolflounge.co.uk
www.thegolflounge.co.uk

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TWITTER.COM/BUNKEREDONLINE 109
¼ DOONTHESTRETCH

X Cristie
Cri
rist
istiie
ie Kerr
Ker
Kerrr
All-American
Alll-A
Al Ameriican gal Kerr runs a rather highly regarded
l-Amer
XSteve Elkington
gton winery called Kerr Cellars, with respected wine
The man who likes to pretty website WineSpectator.com saying the former
much upset everyone on US Women’s Open champ’s winery is “one to
Twitter is a massive cartoon watch”. She describes the Napa Valley area as
fan. And he’s pretty good at it, “magical” for his business. Kerr has given millions
too. Elk combines with fellow to breast cancer awareness charities, including
cartoonist Calder Chism for a profits generated from sales in her wine business.
website and regularly posts pics
of his work. He also uploads
his work to his Twitter via a

PLAYERS
regular ‘Cartoon Corner” post.

WITH COOL
HOBBIES
Who said golfers these days
were dull?

X Rafa
R Cabrera Bello
X So
So Yeon
Yeonn Ryu
Ryu The
Th Spanish
S i h star t – who h really
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The former US Women’s
Women’’s OOpen
pen made a name for himself at the
champion plays the piano Ryder Cup in 2016 - owns a house
and violin and, annoyingly, in Bali, where he gets to put his
excels at both instruments. A hobby of surfing to full use. He
video upload to her instagram has surfed all over the world and
showed her pounding the says it’s a thrill that he craves,
ivory with some serious especially when he’s at his Bali
class, despite her saying holiday gaff. “It’s impossible to
she was “rusty”. Show off... be in Bali and not surf!” he says.
T

X Tyrrell Hatton
The Englishman isn’t daft.
When he pockets a sizeable
check from his playing
exploits, he spends it wisely
on his hobbies: gadgets X Michelle
Mi
Mic
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helle
hell
lle Wie
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and expensive toys. Aside The American star, who remai
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pool table, which includes obsessed with food. So much so,
his brand logo, Hatton in fact, she’s launched a special
also drives a Lamborghini instagram account dedicated to
Huracán, which he calls his showing off what she eats on her
bat mobile. He bought it travels (and it’s cleverly called
from Yianni Charalambous, @whatdowieeat). Word of warning,
who customises supercars she’s fond of eating live squid. But
for celebrities. maybe you’re into that, so crack on.
 An artist’s
impression of
the properties

LUXURY PROPERTY SET FOR ELGIN GOLF COURSE

The rare chance to live the dream now available in Moray

O
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Springfield’s Golf View is a prime
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18. Name given to Arnold Palmer’s on-course fans (4)
19. Jordan Spieth’s regular partner in team
competitions (4)
20. Ken, the veteran golf commentator (5)

Down
1. Starting in 2011, he spent 40 weeks as golf’s World
Number One (4,6)
2. One type of shaft flex (5)
3. Number of Rory McIlroy’s ‘Major’ wins (4)
5. There are 112 on the Old Course (7)
6. What spectators do at golf tournaments (5)
7. Golfer who hosted the 2017 British Masters (3,8)
9. Golf presenter on Sky television (6,3)
11. Williamwood Golf Course is in this city (7)
13. Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko or Charley Hull (6)
15. Hansen, a very proficient amateur golfer (4)
16. Month of the US PGA Championship from 2019
onward (3)

Answer .............................................................................................................................................................................................

Your Name .....................................................................................................................................................................................

Address ...........................................................................................................................................................................................

Issue 159 answer Pitlochry .............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Winner Mike Packer, Aberdeen
Email ...............................................................................................................................................................................................
ISSUE 159 ANSWERS Across 5.Golf 8. Jose Maria 9. Els 10. Dave Thomas
11. Edoardo 12. Mower 16. Chants 18. Molinari 20. Hanson 21. Robert
22. Greens 23. Yellow Down 1. Donald 2. Peter Alliss 3. Zach 4. Jimmy Send your entry to ‘Prize Crossword’, bunkered, 50 High Craighall Rd, Glasgow, G4 9UD.
6. One 7. Fisher 13. Olazabal 14. McIlroy 15. Barnes 17. Thurso 19.O’Hair Crossword kindly produced by Jim McLaren / jim.mclaren5@gmail.com

Poulter’s most recent PGA Louis Oosthuizen and which golfer was inducted into
QUIZ TIME Tour wins came in what year? other player in a play-off the World Golf Hall of
4 Who recently joined to win the 2015 Open? Fame earlier this year?
Catriona Matthew as the only 7 Which South African 9 The Open returns to
1 Where is the Memorial Scots with LPGA Tour cards? has the most European Royal Portrush in 2019.
Tournament hosted every June?
5 Who has more major Tour wins: Branden When was it last there?
2 In which country is Ba runner-up finishes: Westwood, Grace, Louis Oosthuizen 10 What do you get when you
Na Hills golf course? Sergio or Monty? or Charl Schwartzel? multiply Arnold Palmer’s majors
3 Luke Donald and Ian 6 Zach Johnson beat 8 Which female Mexican with Tiger Woods’ WGC titles?
(5) 6. Marc Leishman 7. Charl Schwartzel (11) 8. Lorena Ochoa 9. 1951 10. 126

112 BUNKERED.CO.UK
ANSWERS 1. Jack Nicklaus 2. Vietnam 3. 2012 4. Gemma Dryburgh 5. Colin Montgomerie
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11 3
 Moments
LANDMARK VICTORIES | INSPIRATIONAL PLAYERS

1962
US OPEN
‘THE FIRST OF
JACK’S EIGHTEEN’

WHILST A FORMALITY for most top

players, turning professional was not
that straightforward for Jack Nicklaus.
It’s not that he wasn’t good enough.
He was, and then some. Instead, he
knew that turning pro would deny
him the opportunity to fully emulate
his hero, the career amateur Bobby
Jones. Little did he know that he
would ultimately replace Jones as the
benchmark against which all future
golfers would be measured courtesy
of his record-breaking haul of 18 major
victories. The first of those, the 1962
US Open, also so happened to be his
first pro win. The then 22-year-old took
on a world-class field at Oakmont that
year that featured no fewer than six
former champions, amongst them the
hugely popular Arnold Palmer, who
had won two of the three prior majors.
After four rounds, Nicklaus and Palmer
were deadlocked at the top of the
leaderboard on one-under-par, two
shots clear of Bobby Nichols and Phil
Rodgers. That set up the tantalising
prospect of an 18-hole Sunday
showdown (the tournament finished
on a Saturday in those days) between
golf’s most popular player and the
sport’s most exciting young talent. A
crowd of 10,000 turned up for the play-
off, the majority cheering on Palmer
– and some taunting Nicklaus. Still,
Jack was not to be denied. He carded
a level-par 71 to Palmer’s three-over
74 to become the youngest winner of
the US Open since, lo and behold, his
hero Jones in 1923. He also became
the first player since Jones to hold
both the US Open and US Amateur
titles simultaneously, following
his win in the latter the previous
year. Magnanimous as ever, Palmer
declared afterwards: “Now that the
big guy is out of the cage, everybody
better run for cover.” How prophetic
those words would prove to be.

114 BUNKERED.CO.UK