We've been looking back at the best read articles of 2017, and it came us no surprise to us to find that there are a lot of Paige Spiranac fans out there. Here's GP's take on 'A Day In The Life Of Paige Spiranac, The Overlord Of Instagram....'
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
Derek The Donkey, GolfPunk's grumpy horse-envier once again delivers his 'Joke of the Week'. As you know he likes nothing better than a proper good laugh as long as it's at someone else's expense...
There has been much talk about Eddie Pepperell’s Tin Cup moment at the Turkish Open at the weekend. For those of you who have not ready about it, European Tour joker Eddie had a minor meltdown at the par five 4th hole(his 12th). hitting four or five balls into the water. Pepperell ran out of balls, walked off the course and was disqualified.
We love a golf challenge at GolfPunk. That’s not to say we are any good at them but the general consensus after watching Niall Horan have a bash at the Pressure Putt Challenge from our friends at American Golf, is that we could have taken him.
Take one tour pro, 500 golf balls and a 165-yard par three hole. The challenge, to make a hole-in-one. The odds of an average golfer making an ace are roughly one in 100,000, while stats suggest a European Tour pro's chances are closer to one in 2,500. Step up Thomas Pieters.
Stop Press: Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam is set to become the first female professional to compete in the PNC Father Son Challenge. We’ve just picked the Brigadier up off the floor spluttering something about it never happening at West Hill or something. Yes, it is called a father son event but this is 2019 and actually the fairer sex has competed before.
So it's Halloween and we scratched our heads to come up with an appropriate article to put out there before all those candy fuelled little darlings start pounding on your door. So we went searching back for some of our favourite 'trick' shots and then found the best shots of the year as your 'treat' for tuning in. Contrived we hear you say - it's a fair cop!
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
Eddie Pepperell must have mixed memories of Portugal Masters after missing the cut and losing his card in 2016. However, this year he appears to have found an innovative way to motivate himself, wagering Martin Kaymer about appearing on the Television Show First Dates.
Bio Kim has had a busy few weeks. Starting the month by giving the finger to a member of the crowd at the Daegu–Gyeongbuk Open, he won the event before being given a £6,500 fine and an unbelievably harsh three-year suspension. Luckily, the Korean Professional Golfers' Association have seen sense and reduced that ban to one year following a meeting between the Tour's board of directors.
Englishman Josh Hill entered the record books becoming the youngest player ever to win an Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) event with his two-stroke triumph in the Al Ain Open on the Mena Tour. But sadly, as an amateur he couldn’t take home his £10,000 prize money.
Jason Day gets in private jet, hot foots it from CJ Cup in China where he was 31st and then beats Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and home favourite Hideki Matsuyama to the spoils taking home $210,000 of the $350,000 pot. Happy Days then (do you see what we did there?)! Well perhaps for Jason but not really for golf as the inaugural 'The Challenge: Japan Skins' lived up to our pretty low expectations.
It's GolfPorn time! This time we're at the famous floating green at the 14th hole of the Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort, Idaho.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the main results and stories from the weekend!
Former LPGA player Ann Walker was not exactly burning it up at the recent Senior LPGA Championship but then her score got a lot worse in fact 58 shots worse! Unfortunately, our Ann did not pay attention when the new rules were announced at the beginning of the year. The result, 42 penalty shots imposed for her opening round and a further 16 for her first five holes on day two.
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama will go head to head in a globally televised skins game, the first in a series of annual competitions staged by GOLFTV. "The Challenge: Japan Skins" will take place on the 21st October ahead of the PGA Tour's Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Chiba, Japan, and we will not be watching.
Take one bike, one set of clubs, 14 different Open venues and one complete nutter and you have the ‘The Great British Open Challenge’. London-based PGA professional, Luke Willett, he with a famous golfing namesake, is to pedal his way between all the Open venues playing 18 holes at each and cycling with his clubs on his back!
Cobra Golf today unveiled T-RAIL (Transitional Rail) its first, all-hollow iron-hybrid set, taking super game improvement clubs to the next level. T-RAIL, so they say, combines the forgiveness of a Cobra Baffler hybrid with the precision of an iron in a one-of-a-kind set of clubs that are designed for anyone looking for a better game.
We love Carnoustie. It’s probably one of the bestest courses in the UK, forget that the World! So, what better venue for a ‘Round of a Lifetime’ for one Edward Johnson from Massachusetts, U S of A.
There has been much debate about parity for women golfers and there have been attempts to move in the right direction, for example the Jordan Mixed Open and the ISPS Handa World Invitational promoted by Niall Horran’s Modest media. With all respect to these other events, finally, there is a big one with some serious money attached.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the main results and stories from the weekend!
We love a bit of luxury at GolfPunk, particularly if someone else is paying, but the idea that you could actually use clubs that cost the price of an average family car is not something which we could ever comprehend.
Cobra Golf today introduced its next generation of KING Forged TEC Irons, featuring a traditional muscle-back shape with a hollow design for softer feel and improved power preferred available in a variable or ONE Length set make-up.
A year after finishing tied for second in the Hero Women’s Indian Open, Christine Wolf enjoyed a much happier experience at DLF Golf and Country Club as she claimed her first Ladies European Tour title. The 30-year-old Austrian, who had led by three going into the 18th hole 12 months ago before a nightmare double-bogey wrecked her chances, was able to take care of unfinished business.
Jon Rahm successfully defended a title for the first time in his career as he stormed to a five-stroke victory at the Mutuactivos Open de España. The 24-year-old secured his fifth European Tour title in just his 39th start, becoming the fastest Spaniard to reach five victories surpassing the late, great Seve Ballesteros who reached that milestone on his 49th appearance.
We love a good 14 club challenge at GolfPunk. We’re not very good at them but watching the pro’s go at it is always a scream, especially when they manage to hit the green with a putter or equally unsuitable club!
The 2022 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, in Italy, will take place from 30th September to the 2nd October 2022. It will be the first time The Ryder Cup has been played in Italy, with the country following England, Scotland, Spain, Ireland, Wales and France as European nations to host the biennial contest between Europe and the United States.
Australia’s Whitney Hillier carded a one-under round of 71 to claim a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Hero Women’s Indian Open. She leads by a single shot from Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord with Linda Wessberg of Sweden and Meg MacLaren of England a further shot back.
The large crowds at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid were delighted as Spanish players took command of the Open de Espana. Adria Arnaus and Rafael Cabrera Bello hold the halfway lead on eleven under par with Samuel Del Val one shot back and world number five and defending champion, Jon Rahm, sitting menacingly two back on nine under.
Christine Wolf shot an excellent five-under-par 67 in the third round of the Hero Women’s Indian Open to take a one stroke lead into the final round at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram. The 30-year-old Austrian will be determined to make amends for last year when she dumped her third shot into the water at the 18th to take a double bogey and lose the event by two shots.
10th hole West Cliffs Golf Links, 372 yards, Par 4.
Poor old Bio Kim. The Korean who is leading the money list on the Korean tour, has been handed a three-year suspension for raising his middle finger at members of the crowd at the weekend. This seems a rather harsh punishment and will cost the young man a lot of dosh.
As we head into October there is a definite chill in the air and those hopes of an Indian Summer might be waning. With this in mind the stylish, but practical, folk at adidas have introduced their Frostguard Collection. A new layering collection for both men and women that was designed to help golfers extend their golf seasons during the colder months of the year.
The 6:57 to East Grinstead trundles out of Clapham Junction. I’m on board with my Café Nero’s black americano in hand (other coffee brands were available) and a copy of City AM on the table in front of me. Today’s mission, to seek out a gem of a course that I have known about for years but never played. The course in question is Tandridge Golf Club and I have heard good reports about the course and, in particular, the famous lunch – more of that later!
Not happy with having the most popular golf ball those clever chaps at Titleist continue to push the boundaries of ball technology. The Titleist Golf Ball Research & Development team were thrown into a room and told they could not come out until they came up with a new golf ball. The result, the Experimental EXP•01 Golf Ball.
Only a fortnight after playing her part in Europe’s Solheim Cup victory at Gleneagles, Carlota Ciganda claimed the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open at Terramar Golf Club in Sitges, Spain to add another unforgettable moment to her remarkable career.
Victor Perez became the first French winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship after one of the most exciting finishes in the history of the event, winning by one shot from England’s Matthew Southgate at St Andrews. Whilst, at the same time, Rory McIlroy, finishing tied for 26th place complains to the BBC that the European Tour is too easy.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend!
England’s Matthew Southgate and Victor Perez of France take a two shot lead into the final round at the Old Course, St Andrews in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Perez shot his second 64 of the week at Kingsbarns Golf Links to move to twenty under and was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Southgate who birdied his final hole at St Andrews to card a 65.
Laura Fuenfstueck of Germany shot a four under 67 to keep the lead but is being hunted down by home favourite Carlota Ciganda who is just two shots back going into the final round of the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open at Golf Club Terramar, near Barcelona.
Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck produced back to back rounds of 68 to lead by three shots at the halfway stage of the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open in Sitges, near Barcelona. The 24-year-old from Langen was out of the traps quickly, racking up four birdies in her first 12 holes and made just the one bogey, on the par-4 14th, at Terramar Golf Club.
It’s probably fair to say that amongst top golfers, elite or amateur, that the Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x ball is the market leader. Titleist also offer a range of more budget friendly options for the lesser mortal and are now replacing the DT TruSoft, their budget distance ball, with the TruFeel which, they claim, is engineered to deliver longer distance and excellent control.
We were all on the edge of our seats when Suzann Pettersen holed that six foot putt to win the Solheim Cup. Now Gleneagles are bringing back their offer to allow us ordinary folk to play that course, or one of the other two, for the princely sum of £201.90. Better hurry as we assume it may go up to £202.00 come January!
Danny Willett made a welcome return to form winning the BMW PGA Championship with a comfortable three shot victory after posting a five-under-par 67 on Sunday at Wentworth. Overnight joint leader, John Rahm of Spain struggled to card a 70 whilst South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout's charge slightly petered out leaving him third.
Nelly Korda shot a four-under 67 to win the Lacoste Ladies Open to take her first European Title. Blustery conditions made it challenging at Golf du Medoc and despite being in a final round containing two local favourites, Korda managed to hold off Joanna Klattern and Céline Boutier for her maiden win on this side of the pond.
Cleveland’s brand-new Launcher UHX Irons claim to be the most progressive combo set of hollow and cavity back irons on the market. As the company boldly states, they provide a completely new way to approach one complete set of irons.
The Sanderson Farms Championship from the Country Club of Jackson delivered another first-time winner when Sebastian Munoz saw off 2019 Rookie of the Year, Sungjae Im, on the first hole of a playoff. It was the Columbian’s first tour victory and follows the win by Joaquin Niemann of Chile at last week’s win at the A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier.
Those clever people at Honma have come up with their latest new range of clubs in its renowned T//WORLD Series aimed at the game improvement sector of the market. The beautifully crafted high-performance clubs include complementary drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons for both men and women.
It was as you were at Wentworth as both overnight leaders shot four-under-par rounds of 68 to extend their lead to three shot over the field. Chasing them are Englishman Justin Rose, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who both carded 69, and India’s Shubhankar Sharma who had one of the round of the day, a six-under 66.
Cleveland are now bringing us the Halo, a versatile scoring club designed for any situation. Featuring new Gliderail Technology, the Launcher Halo is optimised for better turf interaction from the toughest of lies. And given some of the golf we have been playing lately this club could be getting a lot of use
France’s Joanna Klatten made a strong push at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France with third round six-under-par 65 at Golf du Medoc Resort bringing her within one of World Number one Nelly Korda, setting up for an exciting final round.
A rejuvenated Danny Willett heads the leaderboard alongside Jon Rahm of Spain on eleven-under-par after day two of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Two shots back sit Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, world number four Justin Rose and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa.
World number ten Nelly Korda lived up to her favourite billing shooting a second round seven-under-par 64 to take a six-stroke lead into the weekend on 10-under-par at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France at Golf du Medoc, near Bordeaux.
Matt Wallace is a man in form. Following a third place in the KLM Open in Holland last week he shot a flawless seven under par 65 to take a one stroke lead at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth yesterday. Londoner, Wallace leads Spain’s Joh Rahm and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson by one shot. With Justin Rose a further short back after a five under 67.
Following the debuting of the Titleist 2020 branding at the FedEx Cup playoffs the rather sleek looking bags are being launched on the European Tour at this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. We still want one!
European Captain Padraig Harrington has named Robert Karlsson as his first vice captain for The 2020 Ryder Cup against the United States at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin next September. Karlsson twice played in the Ryder Cup, in the victorious 2006 team that crushed the USA at the K Club and on the losing side two years later at Valhalla.
They may have been looking to run up high scores in the Ashes over the summer but yesterday three of England’s heroes were looking to go low at the ProAm event at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club.
At the Wednesday press conference with Rory McIlroy at the BMW PGA Championship the subject inevitably turned to slow play. It transpires that the world number two had been watching the Solheim Cup, or as GolfPunk had renamed it the Slowheim Cup.
Following close on behind the launch of their Go Faster Turbo Woods Cleveland have unveiled the Launcher HB Turbo Irons. Built for more speed and more precision and targeted specifically at improvement players the irons deliver maximum forgiveness and an easy-to-hit to profile.
The teams were introduced, the crowds were bedecked in the colours of the teams and Sharleen Spiteri and Texas hit the stage to liven up proceedings. First points in the fashion stakes probably went to Europe with their mid length coats and Solheim Cup tartan scarves winning it out over the the not quite so flattering short jackets of Team USA. A real spectacle indeed and here are some of the best images.
Rory McIlroy has won the PGA Tour Player of the year award for the third time, beating world number one Brooks Koepka into second place, and he got the Nicklaus award from the Golden Bear himself whilst having lunch.
The golfing world has lost one of it’s greatest ever characters. Brian Barnes sadly passed away at the age of 74 on Monday after a brief fight with cancer. A larger than life character Barnes will always be remembered as the man who beat Jack Nicklaus twice in one day at Laurel Canyon in 1975 Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup featured two singles sessions in those days.
Cleveland have been on a bit of a role when it comes to launching wrenches recently. Their CBX 2 wedges kicked it off, followed by their amazing Frontline Putters and the Huntington Beach range. Now, two years on from their return to the woods and irons market they are releasing the Launcher HB Turbo woods which they say are “sleeker, faster, and more forgiving” which is exactly what you want!
Sometimes we look at a player and wonder what is going through their head. In what can only be considered a nightmare year for Matt Kuchar the American really doesn’t seem to know when to stop digging, quite literally in this case!
In near perfect conditions at Royal Liverpool, team USA showed their class in turning an overnight deficit of two points into a resounding victory by a score of 15½ to 10½. Having clinched the morning foursomes by 2½ to 1½, the American crushed the home side in the singles 8-2.
Paul Casey has moves up to 14th in the world following his victory at the European Open in Hamburg. The Englishman shot a bogey free 66 that took him to 14 under and squeezed out Scotland’s Robert Macintyre, Austria’s Matthias Schwab and home hope Bernd Ritthammer by one-stroke.
We very much like the prize being offered to the winning professional at this year’s Highland Golf Links Pro Am. As well as a cheque for a few bob the winner will receive a bottle of Tomatin 50-year-old single malt, which has been bottled exclusively for the tournament and is valued at more than £10,000!
Matt Fitzpatrick’s little brother, Alex, led the way for team Great Britain and Ireland at Royal Liverpool yesterday. Following a foursomes win in the morning, with partner Conor Purcell, Fitzpatrick took out world number one amateur Cole Hammer (great name!) in the top afternoon singles game to help The GB&I team to a 7-5 lead after day one.
Something for the weekend? Ooh suit you!
Gleneagles 13th hole The Queen's Course. A par 3, 140 yard piece of GolfPorn!
Two Foxhills members both hit a hole-in-one on the same hole with consecutive shots. Apparently, the odds of this happening are millions to one although we must confess, we haven’t a clue how that is calculated.
Is it just us or can you not get excited about the Walker Cup? The amateur version of the Ryder Cup takes place this weekend over the famous Royal Liverpool Golf Club links at Hoylake. The two teams of 10 players will compete over the two days of foursomes and singles matches first to 13½ points winning.
With stunning views of the China Sea along with the city skyline Sentosa Golf Club is home of the Singapore Open and more recently has been the venue for the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Cleveland wedges are definitely always in the mix when you think about premium tour products and we loved their recent CBX 2 launch aimed at the slightly more regular golfers amongst us. What they aren’t as well known for are their top of the line putters and perhaps, with the new Frontline range, that is about to change?
The techies at Cleveland believe that the keys to success are control and feel which gives confidence in putting and their new Huntington Beach SOFT range does just that, so that we make more putts, "plain and simple!"
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
Something for the weekend? Ooh, suit you!
What happens when you pair one of the world’s biggest pop stars with the world’s number two golfer at a Pro-Am event? Well it’s no joke but what you actually get is a lesson in bunker play in the middle of the round, oh and a very near miss!
The Solheim Cup is just three weeks away and Team USA captain, Juli Inkster, used her picks to add some experience to her rookie Solheim Cup line up last night. This will be Stacy Lewis’ fifth Solheim Cup and Morgan Pressel’s sixth.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
World number one, Jin Young Ko, walked arm in arm up to the 18th green at the CP Women’s Open yesterday with defending champion and local girl Brooke Henderson, as she cruised to a five shot lead over her nearest rival, Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen, to confirm that she is in her class of her own on the LPGA Tour this year.
Something for the weekend? Ooh suit you!
There was lots of concern that the new format of the Tour Championship was going to result in the FedEx Cup leader running away with things and there being a lack of drama at East Lake Golf Club over the last big weekend for the PGA Tour. Well things didn’t really work out like that as Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka all start day two tied on 10 under with Rory just one behind.
Hot on the heels of the success of the ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women event in Northern Ireland presented by his Modest! Golf Management outfit Niall Horan has announced he will be teeing it up in the BMW PGA Pro-Am on 18th September at Wentworth. Horan who is a member of the Wentworth Club in Surrey will take to the fairways of his famous home club alongside some of world golf’s biggest names.
This Sunday evening the winner of the FedEx Cup Tour Championship will pick up a cheque for a cool $15 million dollars. The same evening at the CP Women's Open Aurora, Ontario, Canada the winner will take home a cheque for a paltry $337,500. However, earlier in the day in far flung Czechoslovakia those competing in the final round of the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open will take home the combined sum of roughly $135,000!
The finale of the PGA Tour season is upon us and already we have a leaderboard in the race for that crazy payout of $15 million to the winner. Thirty men, honourable and true, will tee it up at the East Lake Golf Club just outside Atlanta with dollar signs in their eyes. Justin Thomas already leads by two, crazy we know but then again, the whole thing is.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
Motocaddy, is upgrading its popular free-to-use GPS app to incorporate potential lifesaving features that indicate the location of on-course defibrillators and provide golfers with CPR instructions to administer to anyone suffering a cardiac arrest when playing golf.
We often read about how a club has been designed for the tour players and is now being released to us mere mortals and, to be honest, it sells a great idea that by adding said stick to our bag will result in us playing like Brooks, Tiger or Rory. Sadly, in real life this is rarely the case so the idea that Cleveland have launched their CBX2 wedges with the majority of golfers in mind is a refreshing change of pace.
The The European Tour has announced a concrete four-point plan aimed at tackling the issue of slow play in professional golf. The plan will be implemented at the start of the 2020 season and focuses on four key areas: regulation, education, innovation and field sizes.
Local favourite Stephanie Meadow will take a four shot lead into the final round of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational. The 27-year-old from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland shot a six under par 67 to sit on ten under for the event, four clear of England’s Eleanor Givens. In the men’s event, Damien Perrier of France and Todd Clement of England lead the field by a single shot following another long day with rain delays at Galgorm Castle.
Reports indicate our erstwhile Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Boris Johnson MP, has been learning to develop his golf game as part of a strategy to help him secure a trade deal with the US and presumably other nations headed by golf addicted leaders.
Scotland’s Craig Ross and England’s Eleanor Givens are the first round leaders lead in the The ISPS HANDA World Invitational, both carding an impressive 6 under par. Ross shot an impressive birdie free round of 64 Massereene Golf Club while Givens had seven birdies and one solitary bogey in carding a 67 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club.
It has rather flown under the radar but yesterday the ISPS HANDA World Invitational event for both men and women teed of at Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Massereene Golf Club. A first for golf in Europe as women will play alongside (sort of) the men and will play for the same money.
Well they say the best form of defence is attack. It seems that one Bryson DeChambeau has adopted this tactic in his campaign to prove that he is not a slow player. The latest instalment has 'Speedy' Dechambeau posting a video from the fairway of the Pro-am at the BMW Championship with a few choice words for his 'haters' as he calls them.
It’s a hot topic and one that is not going to go away. Slow play is killing our game and GolfPunk for one will not stand idly by and accept that nothing can be done. We believe our manifesto can speed up play will go a long way to get the guys round quicker!
After exhaustive reseach, including feedback from tour players, their caddies and PGA professionals, Titleist have produced their latest tour bag collection. This is a glimpse of what is to come from Titleist in 2020 and clearly the theme is a sleak jet black look.
Not one to avoid courting controversy the big man JD met up with the president of the US of A for a round of golf at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Decked out in a natty pair of American flag shorts and a blue golf shirt Daly took to the links with Donald Trump and tweeted about the experience after the game.
