Golfing News & Blog Articles

A week after a second place finish in the Irish Open, Aaron Rai took his first Rolex Series event and third European Tour victory at the historic Scottish Open. The 25-year-old Englishman made a handy up-and-down on the first playoff hole to edge Tommy Fleetwood, who missed a few key short putts, including on the Renaissance Club’s 18th green.

Martin Dempster with the full story for The Scotsman.

Here is the ending courtesy of the European Tour as autumnal light emerged and made for a rewarding finish:

How the play-off drama unfolded 🎥 #ASISO #RolexSeries

One other fun note: both Rai and Fleetwood have participated in Gullane’s Wee Wonders program, started by their longtime pro Alasdair Good. Rai finished in the top ten of the 2018 Scottish just down the street at Gullane:

Throwback to 2018 celebrating Aaron’s great top 10 finish in the @ScottishOpen at @GullaneGolfClub 👏🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

As a former wee wonder, Alasdair has known Aaron for many many years and it’s been incredible to follow his journey ⛳️

We are chuffed to bits for you Aaron! 🏆👏🏻1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/VkyEcGWX4t

Two weeks after losing a 2-shot lead, Mel Reid finished strong Sunday to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic for her first LPGA Tour title.

Englishman Aaron Rai needed only one playoff hole to beat compatriot Tommy Fleetwood and win the Scottish Open for his second European Tour title on Sunday.

Mental skills for golf can be worked on with every round you play.

20 years ago, it was generally considered that the mental game of golf was something that you were born with, or not. But thanks to scientific research and growth of the field of sport psychology, we know that it’s something that can be trained and learned to improve a player’s performance.

One of the reasons that mental skills for golf are often overlooked is because they are invisible. A swing or equipment change can have visible effects immediately. Although mental skills for golf are less measurable and more intangible, they are essential if you are to access your best skills during your rounds and tournaments.

In this week’s lesson, I’d like to 1) identify the mental skills for golf necessary to play your best, 2) show you how to assess and measure your skill level and 3) how to improve your mental skills so you improve your scores and performance. Just like you do the technical reps each week to work on your swing, you’ll need to do mental reps to work on your mind.

7 Essential Mental Skills For Golf

When I start working with a new student, as part of their mental game assessment, I have them score themselves (out of 10) for the following mental skills for golf. I will also have their coaches do it (for the student) and compare the results. By doing this exercise yourself, it will help you get a better understanding of your mental game strengths and weaknesses.

Looking for his first win of the season, Sergio Garcia shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to earn a share of the Sanderson Farms Championship lead with Cameron Davis and J.T. Poston.

A six-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, Mel Reid will try to earn her first LPGA Tour win Sunday at the Shoprite LPGA Classic. Reid holds a 2-stroke lead over Jennifer Kupcho and Jennifer Song.

Normally the fall overseed is not national news, but with hurricane remnants hitting the course and a November Masters looming, the club reported no damage and an on-time conversion to green grass.

The latest photo posted by Eureka Earth shows green grass and bunker sand revealed. Though from this view, the 17th fairway (right center) continues to narrow with tree growth in excess fashion. Even single row irrigation might be overkill at some point soon.

The course is scheduled to reopen to members on October 12th.

40 days until The Masters 2020, and what a difference 10 days make!!! Massive shout out to all the ground crew magicians, and most likely some of those gnomes, who have magically transformed Augusta National back into a golf wonderland. 💚⛳️💚 ©01OCT2020 David Dobbins/Eureka Earth * #EurekaEarth #NotDrone #DiscoverThePresent * #themasters #aerialphoto #aerialphotography #augustaga #augustanational #golfstagram #instagolf #golf #golfer #loveaugusta #masters #masters2020 #mastersgolf #morningdrive #tigerwoods #pgatour #golfaugusta #whyilovethisgame #augustanational #angc #pga365 #golfporn #augustanational #topgolf #fallMasters #topgolfaugusta #beautifulgolfcourses

Since last week’s post here, Eureka posted another September 24th photo showing the 12th green and 13th tee indicating some damage to the banks, presumably from Rae’s Creek running well above normal levels at some point.

Thanks to the reader who sent this gem in to the news desk. A stunning gemsbok from South Africa making a strong case for several modifications to the rules of golf, from dangerous animals, to repairing your line to leaving the flagstick in.

No where on any planet that plays golf will you see this. Can SA Inc pls capitalise on what we can offer world golf @EuropeanTour @Sunshine_Tour pic.twitter.com/5filbdPJl1

— zukokubukeli (@zukokubukeli) October 2, 2020

Keegan Bradley was dialed in with his putter on Friday, shooting a 7-under 65 to take a two-shot lead over J.T. Poston and Charley Hoffman after the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Nasa Hataoka shot a 4-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Mi Hyang Lee and Mel Reid on Friday in the Shoprite LPGA Classic.

Australian golfer Lucas Herbert shot a 6-under 65 to lead the Scottish Open by 1 stroke going into the weekend.

Thanks to reader John for Ben Cohen and Joshua Robinson’s look at the long distance movement in several sports under the headline, “Athletes Are Conquering Distance. Sports Will Never Be the Same.”

The story looks at the efforts of marathoner Eliud Kipchoge to use technology to refine technique and tactics, the increase in basketball’s three-point shots, baseball fastballs and golf. Not surprisingly, the focus is on Bryson DeChambeau’s physical overhaul and the tools he has used to get longer.

It’s not just DeChambeau. The average carry distance for drives on the PGA Tour a decade ago was 268 yards. This year it was 280 yards. DeChambeau’s was 314 yards.

Darned agronomy!

Dustin Johnson’s comments on optimization were used in the context of the piece and as the primary reason golfers have outsmarted the rules.

Golf course development doesn’t get much better than when previously used industrial land gets a second life as a lush, recreational oasis the public can enjoy. Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Lakewood, New Jersey is just that kind of transformative experience. This 27-hole property was once a sand and gravel quarry that provided material for […]

The post Spotlight: Eagle Ridge Golf Club A Favorite Among New Jersey Golfers appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

Raw wedges elicit a mixed bag of reactions from golfers. Some swear they give them more spin but that’s a topic for another day. Some prefer the look of shiny chrome, tour satin or jet-black finish. Remember the days when we only had one choice?

The last few years have seen manufacturers offer a slew of raw options in their wedge lineups. With Cleveland Golf having successfully launched the new RTX Zip Core wedges in the summer, it has joined the Raw game, offering what it calls Tour Rack finish.

We’re going to leave it to you to tell us if raw is better.

Testers Wanted

We are looking for FIVE dedicated golfers who will provide an in-depth  four- to six-week commitment to testing the Tour Rack Zip Core wedges. Testing is open to right-handed golfers who reside in the U.S.

Fujikura Ventus HB Takeaways

Fujikura has added hybrid shafts to its successful Ventus line.The Ventus HB Blue is low to mid launch with low spin.The Ventus HB Black is low launch and low spin with a penetrating trajectory.Retail price is $200.

It’s probably understating things a bit to say that Ventus has been one of the most successful products in the history of Fujikura. Given that momentum, it makes sense the company would add the Ventus HB hybrid shaft to the lineup.

A little background

There’s an odd dichotomy in the shaft world. Like golf clubs, retail sales of shafts are usually highest in the first year after release. PGA TOUR players, however, are notoriously reticent to swap gear, so Tour use doesn’t typically accelerate until Year Two.

Well into its second year on the market, Fujikura’s Ventus is bucking trends. Not only does Tour use continue to grow but on the retail side, it’s an absolute juggernaut.

In the first six months of 2020, Fujikura sold more Ventus shafts than in all of 2019. Ventus has already sold 25 percent more in its first 18 months than ATMOS TS did in its first three years on the market – and it’s not like ATMOS was a dog.

The National Golf Foundation reached to executives and a strong variety of leading figures in golf, with hopes of hearing how they view golf’s “opportunity” created by the pandemic.

While it’s mostly a lot of vapid corporatespeak (engage!) and light on specific ideas, I did enjoy this from Kemper Golf’s Steve Skinner.

These scream like the operational priorities to me, too:

-We must welcome juniors, families and new golfers with open arms. This includes creative ideas like free, 15-minute introductory lessons, junior rates and family tee times. We should also continue to create and renovate alternative courses (short course, par-3s and putting courses) and consider alternative types of formats (scrambles and team play, such as PGA Jr. League).

-We must consider seniors, who still represent the game’s most loyal players but fall into a higher risk category. Be sensitive to their needs and consider their behavior in operational protocols.

-Create an efficient food and beverage system for delivery and grab & go options. Expand to-go selections and consider app-based delivery services to guests on the course. Creating more outdoor dining spaces is also key to supporting a limited F&B system during this time.

The Guardian’s Ewan Murray reports that Amnesty International is wondering about the oddity of the women’s golf coming to Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week the Ladies European Tour announced two November events in Saudi Arabia with $1.5m in prize money and called it a “landmark moment”.

From Murray’s story:

“With leading Saudi women’s rights activists currently languishing behind bars, there’s an unmistakable irony to the spectacle of Saudi Arabia throwing open its heavily-watered greens to the world’s leading women golfers like this,” Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, told the Guardian.

“Under the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a major sportswashing drive – attempting to use the glamour and prestige of big-money sporting events as a PR tool to distract from its abysmal human rights record.”

From Golf Channel PR

Yes, it’s a pandemic where the U.S. Open moved to September and, out of no where, NBC/Golf Channel reclaimed the rights earlier this year.

Still, it’s quite bizarre to read about the channel enjoying its best September and strong showing among sports channels as Comcast/NBCUniversal eliminates most Golf Channel jobs and moves a very limited operation to Connecticut.

From NBC Sports PR:

GOLF Channel’s Total Day viewership in the quarter (118,000) ranked #1 among all single-sport networks, posting a 33% increase from the same time period in 2019.

This AP story looks at the huge change in NASCAR’s 2021 move away from a schedule dominated by “cookie-cutter oval tracks” to a mixture. This includes six road course races and one dirt track race.

While professional golf sees a pretty solid variety of courses, a case could be made that the schedule’s almost complete reliance on 72 holes of stroke play is the NASCAR equivalent of cookie-cutter ovals.

From the story:

It is a true shakeup after a lack of imagination created the most predictable schedule in sports, one that favored new speedways — 1.5-mile ovals that not only all looked the same, but raced the same, too. Not since Indianapolis Motor Speedway was added in 1994 had a Cup race been awarded to a track that was not part of an ownership group for an active speedway.

NASCAR set aside all the old ways of doing business.

“We said back in 2019 ... 2021, you were going to see some really bold changes from NASCAR,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s executive vice president. “We believe we’ve delivered on that. We are excited for our fans, it’s an historic schedule, the most changes since 1969.”

With obvious support of its TV partners at FOX and NBC, conservative NASCAR is shaking things up despite having stabilized ratings. It may simply be a result of upstart interests hoping to start new circuits emphasizing driving skill over technology. But even the most unimaginative executive on the planet has to know a weekly sameness does not make for great TV.

Sebastian Munoz's quest to defend his 2019 victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship got off to a good start Thursday as his 8-under 64 leaves him tied for the lead with Jimmy Walker, Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman.