We all know golf balls are expensive, and there's nothing better than treating yourself to a sleeve of pristine TaylorMade TP5s. Only trouble is, three holes and £12 later you're scrambling around in that dark gravelly patch at the bottom of your golf bag looking for salvation in the form of a smiley Top Flite.
What's the worst thing you could do to put a man off his putting stroke? Bite one of his fingers off. Which just happened during a fight at a Massachusetts golf course.
You give golf a bad name... Several passersby were injured after a reckless driver in Stockholm threw golf balls at them from a moving vehicle.
Is that a kilo in your seven iron or are you just pleased to see me?... It's official, there are drugs in golf.
You give golf a bad name... Pensylvania golf club apologises after calling police on black female members...
It’s that time of year where some of our favourite kit suppliers go into overdrive launching some of the stuff we have seen the professionals use over the past couple of months or launch new gear ready for the last major of the year. GolfPunk has a look and there are few bits we wouldn’t mind getting our sticky mitts on!
Each year the winner of The Open receives the famous claret jug which he must return before the following year’s event. But what is the history behind this iconic trophy?
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
We get a loads of stuff sent to us at GP Towers and a much of it doesn’t really get us going. One area sure to unite the team are any efforts to bring in young’uns into our beloved sport and on Sunday 14th (this weekend) Crown Golf have a beauty as over 100 juniors can walk away with a year’s free membership!
The Open is looming up on the horizon so come and test your knowledge of all things Openey with the GolfPunk Open Golf Quiz 2019. It's got something for everyone who err like quizes.
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 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.
You know something is iconic when its value on the second hand market can be more than when it was new. It happens to some old cars, it happens to certain fine wines and expensive spirits and occasionally it happens to golf clubs that are owned by famous dudes but it doesn’t happen often to regular golf kit.
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.
Despite no mortal being able to move it on their own the answer is the boulder. As Tiger Woods found out to his benefit at the 1999 Phoenix Open when a friendly rules official suggested it was a loose impediment.
I have played in a couple of competitions over the last few weeks and twice on the first tee my playing partner has announced they are playing a Titleist Pro VI number 1, no markings, no logos, nothing, just a fresh new pill straight out of the box.
We have highlighted competitions for all sorts, from clubs to holidays, but American Golf have come up with the mother of all competitions. Win the MVP – Golf’s Most Valuable Prize – at American Golf and get oodles of golf goodies.
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!
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the PGA Champions Tour, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
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!
Summer is finally upon us the fairways are firming up, the shorts are out so all you need is a nice pair of comfy shoes. PUMA is releasing their latest iterations of their iconic PUMA Suede shoe and we must say they do look rather lush!
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.
Now we at GolfPunk are not averse to admiring the fairer sex both on and off the golf course but even our eyebrows were raised when we were given the heads up about an event called ‘The Sink the Pink – Big Boy And Bigger Golf Day!
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 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!
Congratulations to Gary Woodland who stood firm under the pressure of a charging Brooks Koepka, the world number one and winner of four of the last eight majors he had played in. Others launched a challenge, most notably England’s Justin Rose, but all faded away as Woodland stuck to his task.
GolfPunk isn’t really that into the mushy stuff which makes us generally quite uncomfortable and exposes our lack of emotional intelligence and stunted personal development. It used to be that it was only the BBC’s series DIY SOS The Big Build that could get to us, but not anymore, now the obvious friendship between US Open champion Gary Woodland and Amy Bockerstette, is quite simply something else.
Justin Rose shot a third round 68 to close the gap on leader Gary Woodland to just one shot, with the field a further three shots back. Looming ominously in the pair’s rear-view mirror is one Brooks Koepka who shot a bogey free round of 68 to continue his slow, but continuous, move up the leaderboard.
I just placed a bet on the US Open. I got odds of just shy of 6/1 on one Mr Brooks Koepka. My heart is with Justin Rose and, if his amazing short game continues, he may well win but my head says that Koepka will come through to make history.
Once upon a time what golfers wore on the course was not something that was talked about much. This might have something to do with the fact that they wore a standardised uniform of shirt, jumper of varying style and slacks. Oh, and of course the obligatory golf shoe which usually looked like something your grandad thought was cutting edge.
America’s Gary Woodland shot a 65 to take the lead in the US Open and join Justin Rose and Tiger Woods in the record books with the joint lowest score in a US Open at Pebble Beach. He leads England’s Justin Rose, who added a round of 70 to his own 65, by two shots as they go into the weekend.
Jordan Spieth is very much making the headlines at Pebble Beach. An eventful second round sees him 1 under par overall after making seven birdies and five bogeys and apparently learning a lesson from Thursday by acknowledging that he is the one making the shots!
England’s Justin Rose birdied the final three holes of his round to post a six under par 65 and lead the U.S. Open by one shot. One of GolfPunk’s tips, Ricky Fowler, sits in second place alongside his fellow countrymen, Xander Schauffele and Aaron Wise, and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen. Rose’s round is the joint lowest ever shot at Pebble Beach in an U.S. Open.
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.
Jordan Spieth was having a decent round yesterday. Level par for the first seven holes and all was well with the world, until the par four 8th. On a hole that requires precision and tidy positioning off the tee, Speith’s tee shot hit the fairway but then rolled too far, ran out of runway and dropped over the cliff edge.
Tiger Woods didn’t just win the 100th US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000 he totally obliterated the field. Tiger was so far out in front that If it had been a Formula One race Tiger he would have lapped the whole field several times.
Tom Watson, a five time major winner, had often struggled at the US Open and coming in to the 1982 event he was not in great form. The US Open was the one he really wanted and to get it he was going to have to beat arguably the best ever golfer, Jack Nicklaus. He did it and will forever be remembered for ‘the shot’ on the par three 17th of the final day.
When Graeme McDowell teed up at Pebble Beach in 2010 for the US Open golf championship, he had not previously won on the USPGA. However, he was a golfer in form having won the week before at the Celtic Manor Wales Open. 72 holes later and he stood on the final green sinking a short putt for the US Open title.
'Yo the man!', 'In the hole!' and other suitable golf course cries! It's US Open time. Pebble Beach is looking as scary as ever. Who can hold those tiny greens? Who knows. Certainly not us - well maybe we do - see our new algorithm. What do we know, the best of us got 14/18 in the GolfPunk US Open quiz Part 2. Which is not great considering we set the questions... Let's see how you can do!
The 72nd US Open was the first one to played at Pebble Beach in 1972. Jack Nicklaus would prevail even after shooting a two over par 74 in the final round to finish two over par for the championship. Nicklaus finished three shots clear of Bruce Crampton with Arnold Palmer a further shot back in third.
It was a great day for Northern Ireland at the final day of Canadian Open from Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Rory McIlroy shot an incredible nine under 61 to take the title by 7 shots and Graeme McDowell finished in the top ten and qualified for The Open.
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...
Welcome to GP’s round up of all golfing related activity from the weekend. It’s everything you need to know in a bite sized format, so strap yourself in and here we go!
GolfPunk will be donning their tartan trews on the opening day of the Solheim Cup at Gleneagle for #TartanFriday. Catriona Matthew has been working with Abacus Sportswear of Sweden to produce the official Solheim Cup tartan for Team Europe and the results are as they say north of the border ‘pure tidy’.
Rory McIlroy shot a six under 64 in the third round of the Canadian Open to move into a share of the lead with the US’s Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson. McIlroy’s countryman Graeme McDowell slipped back slightly but sits in joint ninth on eight under – Come on Gmac!
Fantastic news that British Open champion Georgia Hall has been awarded an MBE at the age of 23 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. “I couldn’t believe it when I got the letter and it’s such an amazing honour and very cool to have that after my name,” the Bournemouth golfer said.
Keegan Bradley leads, some other folk are in second, third etc., including Shane Lowry of Ireland, but all we care about is how Graeme McDowell is doing. Gmac must be at The Open in July and we are cheering him all the way.
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.
The fourteen qualifiers from yesterday’s European U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying consisted of no fewer than ten different nationalities. South African Dean Burmester led the list of qualifiers with a total of 128, sixteen under par and four shots clear.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend. Patrick Cantlay taking the memorial and more...
To hit a drive that bounces on the fairway and runs in to a divot is bad enough but if it runs in to an old pitch mark that really tries one’s patience. You curse your luck and play the ball as best you can – right? Not the Kooch who decided to try and invent a whole new sub rule!
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.
Everybody’s chewing or so it seems these days and it’s no longer just plain old Wrigley’s, now it’s all about CBD, the new craze sweeping the sporting world and even two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has endorsed it (who’d have thought it?).
“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.
Matt Wallace is riding high, particularly after his strong performance at the USPGA at Bethpage Black. However, his pal and GolfPunk favourite, Eddie Pepperell, decided to bring him down to ground in this hilarious European Tour video.
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.
GolfPunk have long been supporters of the Longest Day Challenge. This year, once again, we are looking forward to putting together our own motley band of reprobates to test our ageing bodies to the maximum in support of Macmillan Cancer Support (more on our caper to follow!).
How do you come back from blowing a seven shot lead in a major? Well, fortunately for Brooks Koepka it is a question that he will not have to answer. Staring down the barrel of the gun and the biggest collapse in golf major history, Koepka dug deep, held his nerve and took the title.
Not since the heyday of Tiger Woods have we seen anything like this. Brooks Koepka is tearing apart one of the toughest courses on the major circuit and breaking records as he does so. The rest of the field are looking on in bewilderment and accepting that they are now playing for second.
The crowds were out on mass to watch Tiger slay the beast, that is Bethpage Black, but it was his playing partner and holder Brooks Koepka who showed how it was done. Koepka’s course record, bogey free, seven under 63 was as unexpected as it was impressive. This is Bethpage Black after all where par is considered a good score.
Tiger Woods, in his first outing since his Masters victory will be teeing it up with Francesco Molinari and title holder, Brooks Koepka, for the opening two rounds of this week’s US PGA Championship.
After the debacle of last year when no broadcaster wanted the 4th major of the 2018 season and you had to find some obscure Facebook page set up by Eleven Sport to watch it, Sky will be showing this year’s event from Bethpage Black.
As Matt Wallace thumped the green with his putter as another birdie putt slipped by the hole at the 18th he knew he had blown a chance to lift the British Masters crown. Step forward Marcus Kinhult, the world’s number 210th ranked player, to coolly hole his ten-foot birdie putt and complete Wallace’s nightmare.
With the famous sign for the Bethpage Black course in mind Puma has produced a Limited Edition Warning Pack that Rickie Fowler will wear during the first two rounds of the 101st PGA Championship.
Leading luxury golf lifestyle brand and outfitters to the 2018 European Ryder Cup Team, Peter Millar, will dress nine players at this week's 2019 PGA Championship.
Matt Wallace of England retained his lead of the British Masters at a windy Hillside. However, he was looking over his shoulder as the tournament host, Tommy Fleetwood, closed to within three shots. Fleetwood, who at one point trailed Wallace by nine shots, played the last eight holes in five under to close the gap to just three.
Matt Wallace, saw a return to form to take a one shot lead into the weekend at the British Masters at Hillside. Wallace’s new approach to the game, including the hiring of fitness expert Dr Steve McGregor, appears to be paying dividends as he added a 67 to his opening 65.
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.
GolfPunk's resident tipster, Nick Fleming, picked 2nd place Joel Dahmen as an each way bet at Wells Fargo Championship at the weekend and sadly missed out on Jorge Campillo, who down as a winner, faded to finish third as Mikko Korhonen came through to see off France’s Benjamin Hebert at the first play-off hole.
GolfPunk loves the different side of golf. The side that has developed in what is almost certainly the oldest sport in the world and which in its professional ranks contains some of the biggest characters sport has ever seen and amongst its amateur fanatics certainly contains the biggest. After all, loving the game of golf (or loving to hate it and hating to love it) does not rely on your professional status.
Twenty Chinese golfers made the cut for the weekend of the Volvo China Open but it was an inhabitant of the 116th biggest country in the world, by population, who lifted the spoils at the Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen. FInland’s Mikko Korhonen clinched his second European Tour title seeing off France’s Benjamin Hebert at the first play-off hole.
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!).
In his first outing since The Masters, Rory McIlroy carded an opening five under par 66 to share the lead of the Wells Fargo International from Quail Hollow. The Northern Irishman shares the lead with America’s Joel Dahmen, one of GolfPunk’s each-way tips for the event.
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.
Wu Ashun delighted the Chinese crowd, adding an excellent 65 to his opening 66 and a two shot lead at the Volvo China Open at the Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen. But it was Wu’s young countryman Yang Kuang who grabbed all the headline as the youngest player to make a cut on the European Tour at the tender age of 14 years, six months and 12 days.
Last week’s winner and GolfPunk’s tip for the China Open, Jorge Campillo, leads the way once again after an opening round of 65. Joining the Spaniard on the same mark are Tapio Pulkkanen of Finland and David Lipsky of America.
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.
The unlikely pairing of John Rahm of Spain and America’s Ryan Palmer saw off the challenge of Rahm’s countryman Segio Garcia and Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood to lift the Zurich Classic trophy. The pairing that came together after Palmer’s original partner Jordan Speith pulled out and Rahm’s would be partner, Wesley Bryan, was out with a shoulder injury.
It is now some two weeks since Tiger’s historical victory in The Masters and the frenzy that went with it. CT Pan’s win at the Heritage was impressive but taking nothing away from CT, the event did suffer somewhat from a Masters’ hangover. So, what is there to wet us golf lovers’ appetite this week? That will be the Zurich Classic Team event
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.
It was an early alarm for the final day of the Stena Line Media Masters 2019. As we stumbled down to another fine breakfast at the Druids Glen Hotel thoughts turned to the eight singles matches which were to take place at Powerscourt Golf Club. I had heard great reports of the courses at Powerscourt and so was looking forward to another great test of golf. I was not to be disappointed.
CT Pan became only the second players from Chinese Taipei, or Taiwan as it is better known, to win on the PGA Tour and the first since 1987 when TC Chen won the Genesis Open. The diminutive Pan held his nerve over the final few holes to take the crown and earn himself a $1.2 million pay day.
Following on from our recent rant concerning etiquette the writer took to the course this morning. It was a stableford competition (points system) a normally quicker format as a lost ball is not the end of the world and if you can’t score on a hole you pick up. It is those lovely medal events that often bring the course to a grinding halt with all competitors having to finish out every hole.
Having found a new and relaxing way to reach the Emerald Isle, by ferry across the Irish Sea, Team GB headed out of Dublin on their way to their base for the Stena Line Media Masters. The 5 star Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort is set in 360 acres of countryside between the Wicklow Mountains and the Irish Sea and is only some thirty minutes from Dublin.
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.
Following the storm delays of Friday, Shane Lowry completed his second round on Saturday morning, retaining his one shot lead over the field. His impressive run of bogey free golf continued with only one in his first 48 holes but he then dropped a shot at his next two holes. He did well at the 14th to only drop the one shot as his approach found the water and it required a fine long putt to rescue the situation.
We are not sure whether all of these are real and its clear some are not legal but they brought a smile to our faces
PUMA Golf, the leaders in innovation and style for apparel, accessories and footwear have signed a multi year deal with Ernie Els. As part of the deal Els will wear PUMA’s footwear at all professional events.
The call came through: “Can you play in the Masters?” Thoughts like ‘is the Pope Catholic?’ came to mind as they followed up with the “Media Masters – Stella is inviting you.” Panic sets in as I wonder if I know a Stella and what the wife might say. “No, the Stena Line Media Masters” and so began the adventure.
Seeing TaylorMade’ announcement (our coverage here) of its new mini driver got me thinking. What the hell is a mini driver? Surely, I need a Mahoosive big headed driver with a sweet spot the size of a tea plate which will launch the ball in to the stratosphere (Kaboom!). Did I not have a mini driver back in the 70s, it was made out of wood (persimmon if you were posh) and it had the propensity to fly all over the place.
You have to go back a long time to remember a Masters when so many players, at some point, were arguably in contention to grab that fabled Green Jacket. We know who ultimately prevailed but what happened to other runners who came up short when the chips were down? Here is GP's rundown of the how the main contenders finished.
Tiger Woods. The incredible story so far...
As Tiger Woods holed the winning putt some time around 7.35pm on Sunday I was asked an awkward question: "Are you crying??", "Seriously, mate, are you crying?" "I've just something... sniff... in my eye, that's ... sniff... all..."
Tiger Woods signed a multi-year deal with TaylorMade back at the begining of 2017, with Woods set to play their driver, fairway woods, irons and wedges. And now it is pay back time for TaylorMade....
Lilac was the colour of the day at The Masters as the leaders appeared to have coordinated their wardrobes to don shirts of the same hue. The three players that lead in to the final round chose the colour for their shirt with Tiger again modelling a very snazzy mock turtle neck number. Ian Poulter, always one to be different, went instead for a lilac pair of strides.
