Golf Australia

Golfers, for non-golfers, are the easiest people to buy Christmas presents for. Well, so it would seem. If your Christmas’ are anything like mine, you have probably received your fair share of golf balls, golf towels, tees and books over the years. T

I plead guilty. I am what I am. And at least when it comes to watching golf played by the elite, I’m definitely an old fuddy-duddy, an old fart of the first order. So, let’s get right to it. The professional game we all watch in this 21st century is

EDITOR Brendan James bjames@golfaustralia.com.au DEPUTY AND DIGITAL EDITOR Jimmy Emanuel ART DIRECTOR Oliver Barles ARCHITECTURE EDITOR Mike Clayton COLUMNIST-AT-LARGE John Huggan COLUMNIST Geoff Ogilvy CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Karen Harding, Mark Hayes,

During a fourball match, Annika Sorenstam chipped in for a birdie from greenside rough. The U.S. side complained the Swede had played out of turn and Sorenstam (pictured above) was forced to replay the shot and couldn’t replicate the chip-in. The Ame

First things first. When my fellow Golf Australia columnist, Mike Clayton, mentioned to me that we should try to set up what has since become the “Sandbelt Invitational,” we were both aware that this was not a new idea. Many times over the years peop

Former European Tour player, Sky TV commentator Nick Price’s from 60ft at 17 when he won the 1994 Open at Turnberry; Tiger’s putt at 17 at the 2001 Players Championship from the back fringe; Gary Player on the final green at the 1978 Masters. Former

Think back to the last putt you got really nervous on. If you pull the situation apart, you can begin to see how those nerves were based on a prediction of failure. Effectively, you were anticipating just how unpleasant or problematic a miss would be

Pace is so important in putting that it can even dictate the size of the hole. Much research has been done on how the hole’s effective size changes relative to the pace the ball is travelling. Former PGA Tour pro Darrell Kestner concluded: “The speed

Great putters never look frozen; nor do they look rushed. Instead, they have developed a pre-shot routine that allows them to flow into the stroke. Consistency of approach gives you a consistency of action, improving confidence through familiarity. I

In recent years, we’ve seen the likes of Sergio Garcia attempt to smooth out his strike by putting with his eyes closed. Others, like Jordan Spieth, have looked at the hole during the stroke. Behind both tactics is the simple idea that when you can’t

Get yourself a ball marker and draw a strong black line around the middle of the ball. Set the ball on the turf so the line is vertical. Now hit putts. The black line provides great feedback as to the quality of your contact. If the line stays straig

‘Rocking the shoulders’ has been a core part of putting ‘wisdom’ for many years. The advice is designed to take the fast-twitch muscles of the hands and wrists out of the stroke by powering it with those big, dependable shoulder muscles. On the way b

Your ability to hole breaking putts is at the mercy of your skill in controlling pace. This is because the pace at which you strike the putt determines its line – the slower you strike the ball, the more break you must allow. Here is a really simple

The putting stroke we make is ultimately based on the information sent by the eyes to the brain. We may think that information is inevitably accurate – after all, we can see the hole. But more often than we may think, our perception does not quite ma