By Michael Davis PARDON me if I am getting unnecessarily on my high horse here. But surely brilliant young American golfer Scottie Scheffler has not become the usher of the moral rod in world golf? And I sincerely hope Scheffler simply wasn’t concentrating and inadvertently walked across the putting line of Australian Cameron Smith during […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER…Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Davis LEGENDARY comic, Groucho Marx, nailed it when he said: “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” The cigar-chomping member of the Marx Brothers was the master of the one-liner and this one is a beautiful clip behind the ears to […]
IT seems world professional golf has been hit by an earthquake and it’s going to take an enormous recovery effort and mature heads to repair the damage. The reaction from the PGA Tour to the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Series headed up by Greg Norman has been swift. The PGA Tour has taken a hard-line […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER….Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Davis FOR the sake of this argument, I am putting aside the appalling human rights abuse issue here. So from the outset my argument is hopelessly flawed. But I want to focus on the US PGA Tour’s role in this whole debacle. Let’s face it. We’re talking […]
By Michael Davis WE have no desire to be overly combative here. But in our view the same cannot be said for those who want to shut down the Northcote public golf course and turn it into parkland. Clearly not happy with the compromise reached recently, with the course being reduced from 12 to nine […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER….Inside Golf writers have their say! By Peter Owen MY first inclination was to simply write ‘No’ and be responsible for perhaps the briefest column in the history of golf writing. I’m no fan of Donald Trump. I don’t like his politics or his ethics. I just don’t like him. And he probably wouldn’t like […]
By Michael Davis IT is not the role of Inside Golf to be a cheerleader for any of the game’s governing bodies. However, we are not backward in coming forward when genuine credit is deserved. And this is absolutely the case following the inspired move to combine the men’s and women’s Australian opens. Long before […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER….Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Court DON’T do it … please? Don’t deny us a chance to pay tribute to some of the greatest golfers of all time. Americans love their champions, especially the golfing ones. And we aren’t that different. I just spent an hour or so watching a “scramble” format […]
I APPRECIATE what they’re trying to do … seriously I do. A world handicapping system is a great idea, but I am really beginning to think it isn’t really working. When it was introduced a couple of years ago, authorities told us that handicapping in Australia using the WHS (World Handicap System) would involve less […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER… Inside Golf writers have their say! By Peter Owen FOR me, the three great legacies of Covid are discovering the benefits of working from home, the disappearance of cash from the marketplace, and being able to choose your own lie in a bunker. I know bunkers are hazards; I know they should be avoided; […]
IF ever golf course superintendents, greenkeepers and volunteers needed recognition for their service to the golf industry it is now – especially after witnessing the devastating floods in South East Queensland, northern NSW and Sydney. In years past, Australia has witnessed not only floods but fires and drought, and yet the stewards of our golf […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER… Inside Golf writers have their say. By Michael Court IS golf shooting itself in the sandal here? What have we done? Relaxing these dress rules on the course is becoming a joke. Does our revered game, with such a storied history of gentleman and lady champions, really have to lower itself to this level? […]
GEOFF Ogilvy is a professional golfer with a distinguished career on the world’s golfing stage. Among his long list of achievements is winning eight PGA Tour titles including the 2006 US Open, three World Golf Championships as well as the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship. Three times he represented the International Team at the […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER….Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Davis MOST of the things that annoy me during a round of golf relate to just one person – me! It starts when I am running late for my tee time, scrambling down the path to the first tee with golf shoes half on, managing to empty […]
By Michael Davis THE zero tolerance policy on racism recently formalised by the game’s governing bodies in Australia is both welcome and long overdue. It reminded me of a tale about the late Peter Thomson and inclusiveness which tells you more about the man than any of his five victories in The Open Championship. It […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER: Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Davis WHEN once asked what he loved about Greg Norman, the venerable Metropolitan teaching professional, Brian Twite, simply said: “Norman takes the gallery with him. From the first tee, he strides confidently ahead of the crowd and says, ‘come with me’, and they all follow.” I […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER… Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Court WE don’t want to frighten them off … and let’s face it, knowing half the things you need to know in a round of golf would put the wind up a lot of prospective golfers at any club. But people really do need to learn […]
GROWING up in Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe), my parents, my brother, sister and I would board a train for Cape Town, South Africa to holiday with my grandparents on my mother’s side during the December/January holiday period. Of German heritage, my grandfather had some strange habits including leaving the front and back doors of the house […]
IT is the duty of every golfer to have a good working knowledge of the Rules of Golf, but all too often club golfers test the boundaries and bend the rules in their favour. The game’s founding fathers put a lot of thought into the rules and some of the best legal eagles have refined […]
Bunker-to-bunker ….. Inside Golf writers have their say. By Larry Canning G’DAY Santa. How are you going? I know it’s a little weird I’m still writing to you each year but I do feel justified. I have suffered “chronic disappointment syndrome” since 1968 when,after eagerly unwrapping my first scooter, Ispotted it was second-bloody-hand. Mum and dad […]
I’M going in to bat for Italian Costantino Rocca to be the next Ryder Cup captain when the Americans head to the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome in 2023. Why? Because Rocca would know all the ingredients of an authentic Italian pizza. He could lace it with something like salami, or anchovies […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER…. Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Court SORRY to tell all you anti-vaxxers out there – but I really don’t want to see you at my golf club in the near future. If I was prepared to gamble and take any side effects from being double-vaccinated, then I’m certainly not prepared to gamble coming […]
BUNKER-TO-BUNKER…. Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Davies TO me, trotting out $US15 million to the winner of the FedEx Cup verges on the obscene. And I reckon if you asked the players off the record, they would agree. They seem to be just going through the motions at this event each year. […]
By Paul Vardy TWO clear themes came out across the nation from the GMA Covid Insights Survey in September. One, golf club and facility general managers around the country expect that the high demand for golf will continue over the next 12 months. In a rating of zero for negative and 10 for […]
By Karrie Webb WITH golf booming over the past 18 months during the Covid-19 pandemic, with participation and membership numbers up for the first time in years, now is not the time for status quo but for progress and change. Golf has always been slowly reactionary rather than being proactive in elevating and changing our […]
Bunker-to-bunker ….. Inside Golf writers have their say. By David Newbery FOR me, the current format doesn’t cut it so it’s a no. Besides, golf at the Olympics doesn’t mean much to the world’s best players. If the Olympic golf event was held in the same week as the Masters, Open Championship, US Open or […]
By Paul Vardy Many people in golf have wondered for years what would be the impact of a recession on golf participation. Would people have less money to play or would people with more time, play more golf? The COVID recession of 2020, with two quarters of negative growth, was so unusual and […]
Over the years, I’ve been campaigning for clubs to take a closer look at their indexing of golf holes. My recent article on this (“It’s time for data-driven decisions in golf”, see our website) generated a heap of positive responses by golfers, many of whom have said they are now approaching their committees to investigate hole-by-hole […]
Last month, golfers across the country witnessed an interesting online “battle” of sorts, as Maleny Golf Club announced they were adopting gender-neutral tee blocks to help promote gender equality (see Club News, page 8). Essentially, Maleny are eliminating the “Red, White and Blue” mentality, and instead opting for descriptive “names” for the various blocks. The […]
Does golf do enough to retain young, time-poor parents as club members? The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding “no!” This question was put forth in a great article by Martin Blake on the Golf Australia website: www.golf.org.au/new-parents;-does-golf-do-enough. The article explores how golf is letting itself down by not doing enough to retain (or attract) the […]
Advancements in technology have proven to be both a boon and burden in golf (and life). For every shiny, new gadget that aims to improve our lives, there is often a lurking obstacle or glitch hidden within. This has become no more apparent than via some recent news pieces (which you would have likely missed […]
Nearly ten years ago, a topic/discussion began popping up in my inbox: the practice of golf clubs either banning the use of personal golf cars/carts, or charging golfers to use their own carts on the course. You may recall these discussions in both this column and the Letters pages. You may also remember the irony […]
Over the last few issues, I’ve noted how Covid-19 has been an unexpected boon for golf. Not only has it boosted our playing numbers, but it also “forced the hand” of the R&A (and the wider golf industry) to adopt many game-improvement changes/adjustments. Among these are the removal of bunker rakes (leading to improved playability, […]
While COVID-19 has brought a lot of pain, suffering, chaos and confusion to the world, it has also (believe it or not) brought a potential shining light to the golf industry. There is a massive…and I mean MASSIVE…opportunity in golf at the moment. One of those “once in a hundred years” type of situations. Unfortunately, […]
SKY-High banana-slices out of bounds…fat/chunked chip shots…fried-egg bunker lies…tee shots landing in fairway divots…slow play…lip-outs…water balls…three-putts… …I enthusiastically cherished every single one of them last month. Following three months of government-imposed “prison time” here in Victoria, I was chomping at the bit to be able to (FINALLY) tee it up again on the golf course. […]
I’d like to wholeheartedly thank the multitude of readers who took the time to contact me last month, expressing support and concern about my emotional wellbeing, following my confession about mental health issues (“It’s ok to admit you’re not ok”). Rest assured that I’m fine, and I appreciate every email, letter and call I received. […]
This is extremely difficult to say. In fact, it’s all but overwhelming, and one of the hardest admissions I’ve ever made. But it needs to be said. Over the last few months, I’ve not been “OK”. Not at all. COVID-19 has taken its toll. From the daily ritual of nervously flicking on the TV to […]
They say hindsight is 20/20. Well, the year 2020 (thus far) is providing plenty of opportunity for hindsight, especially when we look at the golf industry. As I write this, Victoria has entered a second lockdown period, borders are shut and cases are rising. However, while it seems all doom and gloom, we can all […]
It’s safe to say that 2020 is proving to be one of the most difficult years in living memory. Covid-19 is running rampant across the planet, with people either locked-down, quarantined or brawling in the aisles for bathroom tissue. This all followed the rampant bushfires and floods that ravaged many communities across Australia earlier in […]
How are golf club members responding to membership renewals during this chaotic Covid-19 situation? How are you responding? Here’s a very insightful opinion piece from Ian Cottle, GM of Burleigh Golf Club on this very topic: The last six to eight weeks has seen incredible change both here in Australia, and around the globe, with […]
