It was great to see Graeme McDowell win again on the European Tour but had the tour applied the slow play rules more strictly come Sunday afternoon might it have been a different story? The Northern Irishman was carrying a ‘bad time’ after a transgression during his second round and playing in the final pairing come Sunday he and partner Victor Dubuisson became detached at the back of the field.
Prince’s Golf Club in Sandwich Bay, Kent has celebrated the completion of a major renovation project at the 27-hole property with the opening of Smugglers’ Landing, a completely new par-3. The three-year project undertaken by internationally acclaimed golf course architects, Mackenzie and Ebert, began with the now lauded ‘reimagination’ of the Himalayas nine, completed in Spring 2018.
Following close behind the launch of its new TAG Heuer Connected range back in March the luxury Swiss brand is building on its success with a special edition for golfers. The new watch uniquely combines sporty elegance and the unparalleled functionality of the TAG Heuer Golf app within a custom-designed digital experience suited for any lifestyle.
Tune into www.womensgolfday.com on 2nd June for a day packed with exclusive entertainment and inspirational messages from across the world of golf. WGD raises much needed funds for Médecins sans Frontiers / Doctors without Borders (MSF) and their battle with COVID-19.
The Skechers GO GOLF footwear collection for 2020 combines award-winning Skechers Performance technologies and exciting new designs to help golfers play and look their best whenever they step onto the golf course.
Here’s a chance for golfers to take part in a world record attempt – without having to leave home! At 2 pm BST on 5th May 2020, PGA golf professionals around the world will take to Instagram Live in an attempt to give the world’s biggest golf lesson. GolfPunk is going to jump on board as out pre-COVID-19 putting was truly shocking.
American Golf has teamed up with Golf Alchemy and Cleveland Golf to give away an exclusive set of three NHS branded wedges to one lucky donator. The prize is truly unique, as the team at Golf Alchemy has branded each club with the NHS logo, and carefully added a message of thanks to all NHS workers from 3-year-old Henry Brown, whose mother Emma Marshall is a healthcare provider for the NHS in Watford.
As we feared the 'Covidiots' have spoiled it for the responsible vast majority in the UK and we are not only in lockdown but golf is also out of bounds! England Golf, Scotland Golf, Wales Golf and the Golfing Union of Ireland all confirmed that courses must now shut until further notice.
The Players' Championship in Florida is cancelled and no further tournaments will be played up until the Valero Texas Open. The announcement came from Tour saying it was " the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause."
We love Paige Spiranac, she is not only a good golfer but she also speaks her mind. Her Podcast ‘Playing a Round’ is well worth a listen and in her most recent one she takes a shot at golf and the hypocrisy within the game.
Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player will receive the highest honour a civilian can receive from President Trump at a ceremony on 23rd March. Sorenstam learned of the honour last year after a game of golf where she and Senator Lindsey Graham took on Gary Player and President Trump.
The Golf Channel has decided to up sticks and move its base from Orlando, Florida to Stamford, Connecticut, home of its parent company Comcast. The irony will not be missed by many that the news started to leak out during the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Palmer was one of the founders of the Golf Channel some 25 years ago.
As previously reported, the Golf Hall of Fame recently amended the qualification criteria moving the minimum age for both male and females to 45 from 50. So, it was hardly a ‘dropped my bacon sandwich’ moment when we learned that Tiger was on the list of finalists.
Martin Slumbers, the R&A chief executive, recently stated that “Golf has to change” when referring to the restrictive dress regulations at golf clubs as one of the reasons why prospective players are put off, with membership levels down across the UK. Fashion brands Lyle & Scott are in total agreement as borne out by their recent collaboration.
For those of a certain age and most likely from this side of the pond will see parallels between the move by the proposed Premier Golf League and the World Series Cricket (WSC) competition of the late 1970s. Both ventures share two fundamental drivers, the chance for players to earn more money and access to broadcast rights for the organisers.
Our Bryson may not quite be ripping it up on the golf course but word has got to us that he made the Sports Illustrated Top 50 Most Fit Athletes. Quite excited to learn who had made this Top 50 ( 25 men and 25 women) we were somewhat disappointed to find the definition of ‘fit’ not quite matching GolfPunk’s.
Call us old cynics but are the latest set of changes at the Golf Hall of Fame just a dressed way to get Tiger Woods inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame a few years earlier and boost the quality of the list of possible inductees for the 2021 draft? The rules were only changed some four years ago to move the minimum age from 40 to 50 and now it is being edged back to 45.
Encouraging signs from the first event with the European Tour’s new regime on slow play. The toughened up four-point plan did not result in any penalties but the general consensus was that the pace of play was better. Even Bryson DeChambeau seemed to have responded positively – might the penny be finally dropping?
A lot of us have old clubs languishing in the garage or in the attic gathering dust. Those of a certain age may also have a modern-day antique - a wood actually made out of wood! But there is a man who has not one but over one thousand woods tucked away in storage and all of them made from what was the holy grail of golf manufacturing materials – persimmon!
Back last August the European Tour announced a four-point plan for dealing with slow play on the tour. They have now revisited the plan and beefed up the regulations and penalties. The new tougher regulations come into effect at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
With all due respect to Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods et al we think the Golf Writers Association of America (“GWAA”) were spot on in voting for Brooks Koepka as Player of the Year for 2019. Koepka’s performance at the four majors was undeniable impressive – to win one, finish second in two and tie fourth in the other is quite some feat.
World number one, Jin Young Ko was the runaway winner of the Golf Writers Association of America (“GWAA”) Female Player of the Year. The South Korean star was the overwhelming choice with Nelly Korda way back in second place.
2019 is behind of us but it was not a great display by some who let down our great game and so have been inducted into the GolfPunk Hall of Shame. So which five golfers find themselves with the unwanted invite?
We must say we like the look of the new Stewart Golf HottMitt. Who wouldn’t want toasty warm hands on the golf course? The mobile phone or device holder and charger does look like a bit of techfoolery (Is that a new word? - Ed) but each to their own. But might there be other uses?
This weekend the biggest winner’s cheque on Tour were nabbed by Jon Rahm on the European Tour and Kim Sei-young on the LPGA Tour. Check out how both closed out their respective events and raked in a rather obscene amount of cash.
Sergio García will play in next year’s Saudi International despite trying to trash a number of their greens when playing the event in February of this year. The Spaniard was disqualified after his extraordinary behaviour but it seems that there was a further sanction from tour who have insisted he plays at the event in 2020 without an appearance fee. call that a sanction? We are not impressed.
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...
GolfNow the biggest online tee time agency in the golf industry has grabbed an even bigger share of the market following the acquisition of EZLinks Golf by GolfNow owner, NBC Sports Group. Part of the EZLinks Golf portfolio is the online tee time booking platform TeeOff. So, what does this consolidation signal to the golf industry?
A golf club is counting the cost of a horrific attack on their greens by mindless vandals. Seven of the greens at Oldham Golf Club were hacked at with what appears to have been a golf club or clubs. The distressing pictures were posted by the club on their social media feeds.
Honma, that premium brand from Japan has just launched its first shop in Paris. However, it is no American Golf, or standard pro shop, and it would not look out of place on London’s Bond Street. In fact, we would not be surprised if we saw George Clooney walking out of it with a Nespresso in one hand and a Honma wedge in the other.
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...
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.
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.
Businessman Jeremy Ord from South Africa's had an outrageous slice of luck when playing the short 13th hole at Kingsbarns Golf Links. Ord was playing alongside professional Branden Grace in the team event in Scotland when he came close to a hole-in-one following a number of lucky breaks.
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.
The players in the afternoon fourballs are on the back nine. The target time for the matches is four and half hours and they are on five hours and forty-five-minute pace. It seems that the men’s game is not the only one plagued by slow play problems.
Gleneagles 13th hole The Queen's Course. A par 3, 140 yard piece of GolfPorn!
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.
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.
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.
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.
In 2018, Prince’s unveiled the newly-redeveloped Himalayas nine having undertaken a significant redesign by renowned international golf course architects Mackenzie & Ebert. A year on, the results are looking pretty impressive.
Ok we are not going to let this one drop. Slow play is killing our game and the lead must come from the professional ranks. In the second round of the Northern Trust, Bryson DeChambeau took it to another level.
How fast do you think you could play a par five hole? Well the world record stood at one minute and thirty three seconds when the European Tour decided to see if any of their boys could beat it. American Sean Crocker, Belgian Thomas Detry, Ireland’s Paul Dunne and Italian Guido Migliozzi to take on the record for the ‘Fastest hole of hole of golf by an individual’.
One of golf´s great masterpieces, severe, fascinating, beautiful and without weakness...... Continuing the theme of everything Ireland, GolfPunk looks back to one of its favourite courses south of the border, Waterville Golf Club - You Little Beauty!
Old Head of Kinsale Golf Links, Co. Cork, Ireland 12th hole (Courcean Stage) Par 5 564 yards
There is no other way to say this but last week was a killer. The workouts alongside a heavy workload and a couple of work functions were tough (its important at this point in case our other halves are reading to emphasis these soirees were work related and we really didn’t enjoy them!). However, we made it through to the other side and are looking forward to next week!
Brooks Koepka had just teed off in the final round of the Open. We then heard ‘on the tee, JB Holmes from the USA’, the camera zoomed in on the man sitting in third place at Royal Portrush, then nothing. The guy looked confused as he suddenly wasn’t sure about something. Was it the wind had shifted? Had he changed his mind at to which club to take? Or perhaps he’d left the cooker on back at the house? Whatever it was he’d been standing on that tee for a good few minutes waiting for his tee time and he clearly was not ready.
The GolfPunk team love the game of golf and are big supporters of the idea of improving the etiquette on the course and in general. However, this week the big news running around social media was about the US amateur golfer that carded an impressively poor 194 for 18 holes and things got worse when the Florida State Golf Association confirmed it was actually a 131 over par 202!
For the first time it feels like we are getting really serious about this whole programme as we start to see real gains physically and we appear to be getting fitter, faster at the exercises and stronger overall. Plus, this week’s WOD was both a killer and also immensely satisfying to boot, which are words we never thought we would say!
The Open is less than a week away and so what better than a fine bit of Golf Porn from the fantastic links at Royal Portrush. 15th Hole, Par 4, 426 yards
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...
Let’s start with an admission. We know that our Fitness Friday article is going out on a Monday and we kind of dropped the (medecine) ball but we have a good excuse honest. So, we’re a smidge late but following the maxim, better late than never, here you go!
Normally a round of mini golf is a rather relaxing and sedentary activity. You saunter around putting that ball through a few windmills or similar unusual obstacles often with a beer in your hand and not a care in the world as you watch family members miss that putt for the umpteenth time. In fact its supposed to be so safe that it’s become a drinking based activity with places like Junk Yard Golf or Swingers popping up everwhere!
So Muirfield or to give its proper title, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, has formally invited women to join the club as members for the first time since voting to change the club’s rules in 2017.
Derek The Donkey, GolfPunk's grumpy horse-envier delivers his 'Joke of the Week'. He likes nothing better than a proper good laugh as long as it's at someone else's expense...
The weather has been rubbish so far this year (on both sides of the pond it seems) and it’s got the team dreaming of sunnier climbs. The Maldives is always a luxurious option (especially if you're feeling flush), but there was never a need to take the wrenches….UNTIL NOW!
It’s often said that for brilliant break through musical artists that the second album is the difficult one. So too has been the second week of our six-week GOLF.WOD designed plan fitness plan as the initial giddy optimism of the first week gives way to the brutal reality living a more virtuous existence and the need for hard work and sacrifice.
Derek The Donkey, GolfPunk's grumpy horse-envier delivers his 'Joke of the Week'. He likes nothing better than a proper good laugh as long as it's at someone else's expense...
The maxim that you can’t teach old dogs’ new tricks has firmly been dispatched this week as the “Lab Rats” as we have affectionately been called have truly turned over a new leaf, at least for the next 6/7 weeks are concerned.
I think it safe to say that the GolfPunk team are not exactly regulars at their local gym. When it comes to preparing for a round of golf its usually a bacon sarnie, washed down with a few cups of coffee, a couple of swishes with an 8 iron behind the first tee and away we go.
It’s an early rise for us on day two and a slightly thick head, that Schnapps for the road wasn't a great idea after all! After an excellent breakfast at the hotel we are off to experience two more courses. It will be an entirely different experience from the first day as the courses are located in undulating valley landscapes.
“Fancy playing in Bavaria?” came the call. Visions of steins of beers and shouts of prost from froth moustachioed faces sprung to the mind as I nodded furiously. Ok grab your clubs you’re off to The Quellness Resort.
GolfPunk’s strap line and overall mission is that it is the “The golf site for the rest of us...” and as you know we have long been advocates to increase participation in our beautiful game, lest it becomes stuffy, stale and the preserve of the privileged few.
Welcome back to part two of our Friday Fitness feature as the GolfPunk team get back to working on improving their waistline and their game! This time we are going for the current GP Team's favourite exercise and one that has ramped up the competitive tension at GolfPunk Towers.
Last night at our team get together we were discussing all things golf and one of the team asked what our Top 5 golf related movies were sparking heated debate until the boss put his foot down and decided what they were and also the order (which was perhaps even more hotly contested as you will see!).
Its only two weeks until The British Golf Show which is the only free event for golfers this summer. Taking place at Wycombe Air Park, High Wycombe over the 17th and 18th of May, the event boasts over 150 exhibitors and plenty of fun both inddors and outdoors.
Welcome to GolfPunk’s latest regular feature - Fitness Friday - where we detail the exercises the team are doing in an effort to get both golf fit and ready for the looming summer golf tour where, god forbid, shorts maybe the order of the day!
The resident GolfPunk Tipster, Nick Fleming, picked 2nd place Julian Suri at last week’s event in Morocco. We are hoping he will go one better this week with his selections for the Wells Fargo Championship from Quail Hollow, Charlotte, North Carolina and the China Open. Both events will be on Sky and look to provide some good entertainment.
So, the Pro pairings at the Zurich Classic have had to select walk up music for their entrance on the first tee should they make the cut for the final two rounds. GolfPunk has not been that enamoured with the choices and so have come up with their own Top 5.
Etiquette - “The customary code of polite behaviour in society or among members of a particular profession or group.” There were certain sporting maxims when we grew up. Football is a gentleman's game played by thugs, and rugby is a thug’s game played by gentlemen. Cricket and golf were games for protaganists who played with a significant side order of honour.
I’m probably going to get shot down in flames for this one, but I am going to put it out there, Mr Woods is a lucky golfer. It may be golfing blasphemy akin to suggesting the Beatles, excluding their early stuff, were not that good or suggesting that David Beckham was actually not all that brilliant.
Harpenden’s Joss Gosling implemented a smart irons-only game plan in winning last weekend’s 60th Berkhamsted Trophy in association with Bushnell Golf, at Berkhamsted Golf Club.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has announced it will be offering free golf bag luggage on its flights to Abu Dhabi with immediate effect.
Seven lucky golfers are heading to this week’s Masters to battle it out for a million dollars – all hoping they can land another ace to change their life.
Over to GP's ace golf betting tipster, The Golf Spiv, (AKA Nick Fleming):
The guys at 1PUTT have come up with a new formula aimed at attracting a broader audience for golf. With DJs, 19th hole refreshment stops and a bigger hole to putt at, the thinking is, if we make the first introduction to the game more fun, a bit easier and a hell of a lot less daunting, they will come... and stick around...
It's all about the shoulders apparently. How to play those tricky downhill long bunker shots with our very own Maria...
Olympic record-holder (shooting an incredible 61 in Brazil 2016) Maria Verchenova brings us the latest in her award-winning series of fitness videos for GolfPunk. It's time to stop being a plank and get your core, arms and everything maximised to the extreme!
Great to deliver a winner again for GolfPunk readers; nervy stuff but Paul Casey held on to win at 26/1 at last week’s Valspar Championship!!
Rising Chinese Taipei teenage star Chang Hsin-chiao defied jangling nerves and an accomplished male opponent on a nail-biting final day at the 13th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.
Guests can combine world-class golf with an array of luxury lifestyle facilities when booking a golfing break at Portugal’s Quinta do Lago resort this spring – with three-night, two-round hotel packages available from €338 per person including buggies.
GOLFBUDDY is introducing the latest generation of golf GPS devices this spring, as it launches the aim W10 GPS watch and the Voice 2 GPS.
The first four Professional Golfers’ Association, We Love Golf events for 2019, have been hailed as a huge success after 135 women and girls braved the wind and rain to take part in four golf taster events held across the Great Britain & Ireland.
We've all had a bad haircut or three over the years, but the pictorial evidence is probably buried deep down in some box of memories only to be opened when suitably drunk. The PGA Tour pros don't have it so lucky...
Great to see Rory McIlroy winning the Players Championship last week. Our selection Tommy Fleetwood led well into the final round but faded to finish 5th. Two televised events this week but the EuropeanTour event low key so we concentrate on the Valspar Championship on PGA tour.
The luxurious and picturesque Argentario Golf Resort & Spa (www.argentarioresort.com) has joined The PGA’s growing list of exceptional branded resorts as the ‘PGA National Italy’.
If you want t really REALLY good laugh, take a look at this brilliant compilaiton of golf fails from the 'cart jumping maniac' to the lake dancing bafoon!
It's the biggest purse in world golf and after watching the players go through the grinder all weekend you can't help but think they earned every cent.
Titleist is continuing its support of dedicated golfers across the UK & Ireland by rolling-out its Loyalty Rewarded promotion once again in 2019.
Whether you are cashing in $2 skins for Nassau team junk, two down presses or any other expensive or complicated golf game, playing golf is always a bit more interesting when there’s cash involved.
The next time your opponent does something to wind you up on the golf course, remember how crazy these guys – the supposed professionals – looked when they lost the plot. Good fun though, I bet.... Here they are, the Top 10 worst ever golf spats...
Tommy Fleetwood and Keegand Bradley lead the way going into day two on -7. Rory is two back while Matt Wallace and Ian Poulter sit at -3. Day one highlights and Fridat tee times here...
Let this be a warning to you – never tamper with your golf equipment during a competitive round. Harold Varner III did exactly that and unwittingly got a two-shot penalty during the opening round of The Players after making an equipment change that was influenced in part by the actions of a walking official.
It's the Players Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass - check out these Top 10 Putts on the infamous 17th hole with shots from Tiger, Bubba and more.
GolfPunk goes on a pilgrimage to Sawgrass and encounters marines, Hooters, Vanilla Ice and the 17th....
Introducing Belinda Whent, PGA professional and England amateur international. Belinda joins our GolfJunk Editor Daniel Owen in the golf-geekery department and will be bringing us her take on the latest equipment every issue.
It's back. They say that golf's '5th major' is the hardest tournament to win. It has the best field of the entire year and it all kicks off today at Sawgrass. Here we have all the best tips to turn your pennies into pounds...
