Not surprisingly, the LPGA has announced that the Blue Bay golf event, due to take place in China on 5 March, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. Organisers of the event, due to be staged on Hainan Island, said the health and safety of players, fans and staff was their "highest priority".
I didn’t think I would hear myself say this, but I feel sorry for Patrick Reed. Don’t get me wrong the guy has handled the whole affair badly and he clearly was borderline cheating at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas last December. However, due to the Tour’s insistence that the matter has been dealt with it has basically thrown the American to the lions, who in this case are the media and the golfing public.
Get ready folks there is a new handicapping system on its way. For those across the pond things will not be much different but for golfers in the UK, and to a slightly lesser extent Europe, there is a fair bit changing. The new World Handicap System will be introduced in the USA and dozens of other countries in January 2020 with the changes coming to the UK, Sweden, Portugal and Italy in November.
A golfer has been awarded $3.6 million dollars after he was struck by a golf cart driven by another player. Mario Zaburski claimed he was standing on the par-3 9th hole at Alpine Country Club in Demarest, New Jersey during a business outing in July 2015 when he was struck by a golf cart driven by Jerome Klein.
It’s etiquette right? You hit the ball in the direction of another person on a golf course, you shout ‘fore’. It instilled in you from almost your first shot on a golf course, be you ten year’s old or eighty. However, it seems for some professionals that once they have reached the lofty heights of the tour this unwritten rule no longer applies to them.
As we sit and watch the various trials and tribulations of the players at the 148th Open, something pops up and immediately the whole team at GolfPunk are in total agreement, an event which I can assure you is as rare as rocking horse poop. The chance to own a luxury residence at the Hamilton Grand one of the most iconic buildings located virtually on top of the 18th hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews and in time for the 150th Open in 2021. The very definition of lovely stuff!
GolfPunk legend John Daly has had his request to use a buggy at this year’s Open declined by the R&A Championship committee. The big man suffers with degenerative arthritis in his right knee and was recently allowed a buggy at the US PGA Championship.
We had everything on Friday at The Masters: A stellar leaderboard; birdies galore; storm threats; unbelievable recovery shots; a marshall slide-tackling Tiger Woods on the 14th hole (he still made birdie) and some truly comical moments starring Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
It's Masters Monday and to celebrate here we bring you the Top 20 Masters Dramas Ever...
It takes a lot for Tiger Woods to turn down a massive appearance fee (reportedly north of $6m) and a free yacht, but that's what happened recently when the European Tour came knocking with an invite to the Saudi International, the country's first professional significant golf tournament.
Eddie Pepperell is up a tree. GolfPunk put him there. Well, we asked if he’d do it and he happily obliged. He's using his range finder to see into the future. He must be liking what he’s seeing. Six days later he would be British Masters champion...
A Vietnam veteran who was playing on a course in Indianapolis last weekend had a surprise in store when he came to the eighth green. He found a swastika carved into the green, along with a racial slur.
