World's longest golf course set to open

The world’s longest golf course is set to open in Australia in October. Aussie Golfer reported on Nullarbor Links last year and outlined it was to become 18 holes laid out across the Nullarbor Plain. A vast, flat area of the Australian outback stretching across the states of Western Australia and South Australia.

You couldn’t get a more boring drive. I wonder if there are any more boring drives in the world than across the Nullarbor Plain. It’s long, flat and incredibly monotonous. This is where the golf course comes in.

Each hole is placed at a town on the road across the Nullarbor starting at and ending at Kalgoorlie or Ceduna and extends along a 1635 km stretch of the Eyre Highway. Nullarbor Links is set to open on October 22 with a 4-day tournament planned. About the time it takes to play one round.

Playing through the group in front may mean overtaking at very high speeds and with a 19th hole after every hole, this will make for some interesting rounds of golf to say the least.

Brumby's Run - The par-3 9th hole at Madura.

Getting your handicap down

Today's post comes to us from Cliff Nunn over at Golf Clubs Down Under. The site has a huge range of golf equipment available, including custom fitted golf clubs. He's recently begun a golf blog, "Rub of the Green" which has great golf news updates and plenty of excellent golf tips.


by Cliff Nunn
Reaching the green in regulation (GIR) is the key to reducing your handicap. It is what separates good golfers from bad, as well as players with low golf handicaps from those with high ones.

But let’s stop there. Low handicappers and high handicappers in fact play to a different ‘Regulation’. The reason you have a handicap is to compensate for expertise/experience and to create a level playing field.

Think this way: Next time you play a par 4 on which you get 2 strokes, Regulation for you is four strokes where as the low handicappers have to get on for two. If you’re on in less than four you’re playing well. Sink the putt in two and you’re playing below your handicap. Do that for 18 holes and your handicap will really tumble.

GIR is an unnecessary pressure that high handicap players place upon themselves. The result, instead of playing within your ability you try too hard, you hit too hard and spray shots in every direction. You don’t have to out drive the low handicapper to win the hole.

The secret is to substitute ‘Course Strategy’ for GIR. Plan your game for each hole. If your handicap gives you two strokes on a par 4, plan the shots you need to reach the green in three, which leaves you one shot in reserve. Do this on every hole and play shots that are within your level of expertise and you will not only reduce your handicap, you’ll also win the competition.

Green wins Canadian Open

Greg Norman couldn't close out the Senior Open Championship on the weekend despite holding the third round lead. Marcus Fraser held the third round lead at the SAS Masters tournament in Sweden but couldn't do enough to win the tournament. It was up to Nathan Green on the other side of the planet to come from a few shots back after three rounds to clinch the Canadian Open in a playoff against Retief Goosen.

It was Green's first PGA Tour victory and as IBF put it: "It means that you belong now, it means that you're a part of the PGA Tour". There were some rough moments for Green who hit a cart path on the first playoff hole but managed to save par form a precarious position. Admittedly, Retief missed a few putts and looked shaky throughout the playoff but Nathan held on. All you have to do in a playoff is beat your opponent.

One out of three Aussies winning on the weekend ain't bad. The Australian golfing tide is turning.

Twitter and golf

It's not everyone's cup of tea but Twitter seems to be the Rubik's Cube of the moment. Whether or not it becomes just a passing fad, no one yet knows. What I do know is that there's been some interesting revelations because of the phenomenon and some professional golfers have taken to Twittering - on and off the course.

I just thought I'd share with you a few recent tweets from some of the professional golfers out there. Starting with one from the Open champ, Stewart Cink.

Having trouble deciding which cup to pour my OJ in this morning. - Stewart Cink

John Daly showed us how he was preparing for his first round at Turnberry.

studying the pins & greens -- day 1 - John Daly

I've always wondered how Ian Poulter got his slacks looking so sharp. This shows how good he is with an iron in his hand.

Me ironing my tartans for the morning.... Why do dry cleaners always leave tram lines. Aahhhh.... - Ian Poulter

Christina Kim is one of the most effervescent golfers to ever grace a professional tour. She hangs out a lot with Michelle Wie.

Wheeeee!!!!! - Christina Kim

Amazing hole-in-one

Check out this amazing hole-in-one from American Leif Olson at the weekend's rain soaked Canadian Open.

More golf videos
Amazing Golf Swing
John Senden scores an albatross
Amazing Hole-In-One
Y.E. Yang beats Tiger Woods
Million Dollar Hole-In-One

EZLinks discount for Aussie Golfer readers

EZLinks contacted Aussie Golfer recently to offer readers a special deal on tee times purchased through their website. A range of great Australian golf courses are on offer including Pacific Dunes, Kooindah Waters, Settlers Run and Pacific Harbour and by entering the coupon code "AUSSIEGOLF" you will recieve 50% off the already heavily discounted prices! These are great deals with cart hire included.

Head to EZLinks Australia Tee Time Specials, choose a date you want to play, your course and the number of golfers. Log in or register and then enter the coupon code AUSSIEGOLF to get the great discounted offer (50% off already discounted tee times) only until August 31, 2009. Website prices are in USD.

[Editor's Note: If you're having trouble entering your contact information in order to register for the site - just improvise. The website will shortly adjust it's form to make it easier for Australian users but I managed to register fine by just entering some improvised details.]

Video: Golf on the moon

Ok, enough Open talk. I've got Golf Digest to thank for this one. They came across the video of Alan Shepherd hitting a few golf balls on the moon. In this week of 40th anniversary celebrations since man first walked on the moon, this video is poignant. The transcript comes from the Golf Digest site too.

135:08:17 Alan Shepard: (Facing the TV) Houston, while you're looking that up, you might recognize what I have in my hand as the handle for the contingency sample return; it just so happens to have a genuine six iron on the bottom of it. In my left hand, I have a little white pellet that's familiar to millions of Americans. I'll drop it down. Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can't do this with two hands, but I'm going to try a little sand-trap shot here. (Pause)

135:08:53 Edgar Mitchell: You got more dirt than ball that time.

135:08:58 Shepard: Got more dirt than ball. Here we go again.

135:09:01 Fred Haise: That looked like a slice to me, Al.

135:09:03 Shepard: Here we go. Straight as a die; one more. (Long Pause)

135:09:20 Shepard: Miles and miles and miles.

135:09:26 Haise: Very good, Al.

The Open - last thoughts

There's a few more thoughts on last weeks Open Championship that just have to discussed. Most of them come from the readers of Aussie Golfer:

• Did Tom Watson lag his putt to ensure a playoff?! - Chris Mercer
  I've seen good friends lag birdie putts to ensure a par for $5. Surely this would be the professional golfers equivalent.
  
  
• 2008 - Greg Norman, 2009 - Tom Watson, 2010 - Gary Player?! - Greg Geering
  
  
• Is Chris Wood a professional Open Championship golfer only?

And the quote of the week from Mark Calcavecchia:

"I think experience is way overrated,....All that means is I've hit more bad shots than all the guys that are 20 years old, and they're lingering in my brain."

Golf TV coverage - more talk

There was also a lot of talk during the course of the Open about The Open Championship TV coverage. Many of you expressed your delight at the decisions by Channel Nine to not broadcast the golf despite owning the rights to the event. Thanks for all the comments.

As I was watching the drama of the final round unfold I was clicking around to check cricket and cycling updates. Inadvertently clicking across to Channel Nine I found the golf on! Live! Somehow the powers at Nine decided at the last minute to show the golf after all. Although they'd better not use the rating data to justify golf broadcasting in future as most golf fans were watching on Foxtel or gone to bed.

There was a great article written by Benjamin Conkey over at The Roar on the sins of Channel Nine over the past few months including the sneaky tactics used during coverage of Wimbledon:

Also the Wimbledon coverage, where Nine pretended to show a Stosur match live, while crossing to Lleyton Hewitt’s match. The phony coverage was expertly uncovered by Media Watch.

He also speculates a deal may have been done between Foxtel and Channel Nine:

The cynic in me says a sneaky cash payment could have been made by Foxtel to Nine to prevent them from showing the event live.

The cynic in me says the same thing.

Cink wins The Open

Tom Watson's putt on the 18th hole showed you just can't beat nerves. Experience and age are no match for this flaw in the human psyche. In fact, if anything it appears the opposite is true. Inexperience and youth are probably the best attributes to combat nerves or have the name Tiger Woods.

Stewart Cink then became the first twittering golfer to win a major golf championship by beating a tiring Watson in a four hole playoff. Despite looking a little like a caddie at the US Masters, Cink was solid and claimed the Open Championship. Apart from his green shirt, the one thing that distinguished him from the rest of the contenders was a good back nine. Bogeys abounded and ruined the chances of Westwood, Goggin and Goosen.

Goggin's birdie putt to go one shot in front on 13 may have changed things. He pushed it just wide and although getting up and down for par on the 14th the nerves were beginning to show. His short iron play couldn't set himself up for any more birdies. He hung in there and despite it being a cliche, will be better for the experience.

(AP photo/Peter Morrison)

Goggin and Watson

Mathew Goggin tees off in the final paring with Tom Watson at The Open in a few hours. All eyes are on Watson and it will be very interesting to see how Goggin copes with the pressure.

There's also a whole bunch of great golfers in with a big chance of winning the claret jug so find someone with Foxtel and let's cheer the Tasmanian home. He's only got one "t" in his first name you know.

Here's a link to The Open Championship live leaderboard, and a link to an audio interview with Mathew Goggin courtesy of ABC News where you'll hear a lot on not only his golf but life growing up in Tasmania.



Here's what's in his bag:

DRIVER: TaylorMade R9 460 TP (9.5°)
FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade V Steel (16.5°)
IRONS: TaylorMade r7 TP (2), RAC MB (3-PW)
WEDGES: TaylorMade Z TP (50°, 56°)
PUTTER: TaylorMade Rossa Monza Itsy Bitsy Spider
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

Video: Tiger loses his ball

In case you missed it, here's a snippet of the Open coverage where Tiger Woods loses his golf ball. Woods looks very anxious and the gallery appear to be reasonably respectful. No ball was found and Tiger went on to miss the cut.

Secondly, the shot of the Open so far - Retief Goosen's first round sand save.

Big tip of the hat to Jay Busbee at Devil Ball Golf for bringing these videos to my attention.

Open thoughts

It's not hard to find news on the Open Championship taking place at Turnberry at the moment. I attempt to steer clear of what would normally be considered "golf news" here at Aussie Golfer but you don't have to be Richard Feynman to know there's been some crazy things happening in Scotland.

• Poor Open for Aussies: Aussie Golfer highlighted 14 Australian golfers teeing off at The Open this week. Of those 14 only four have made the cut; Mathew Goggin (-2), Stuart Appleby (+3), Robert Allenby (+4) and Daniel Gaunt.
  
  
• Is Tom Watson the greatest links golfer ever? No, seriously. Is he? My mate Merce thinks so.
  
  
• Tiger misses the cut: Tickets for the Friday at the Australian Masters in November are sold out. In light of Tiger missing the cut at The Open Championship, did the Australian public know something we didn't or are 20,000 Aussies just looking for a Friday off of work?
  
  
• Goggin the Aussie hope: Matthew Goggin appears Australia's best chance. After a promising start to the year he's struggled on the PGA Tour lately. Let's hope the Tasmanian can grind it out 'til Sunday.
  
  
• High five for Michael Campbell: The 2005 US Open champ withdrew from his fifth tournament this year. It's a sorry sight.
  
  
• Notable golfers who made the cut: John Daly (E), Tom Watson (-5), Darren Clarke (+2), Kenny Perry (+3). Kenny Perry not only made the cut but made the event this year.
  
  
• Notable golfers who missed the cut: Geoff Ogilvy (+13), Greg Norman (+12), Tiger Woods (+5), Adam Scott (+5), Tim Clark (+6).
  

Adam's Temptation

Adam Scott has dropped to number 43 in the world golf rankings this year. We’ve seen way more of him on the beach with the likes of Ana Ivanovic and Kate Hudson than we have on any given Sunday.

He’s had some injuries, but put yourself in his Adam’s shoes for a minute. At 29 years old he’s already earned $19 million on the US PGA Tour and with looks that appear to have the ladies in a state of constant flutter, maybe he’s just become a little distracted.

Who can blame him? He tee’s it up in a few tournaments, work hard towards the majors as usual but make sure to keep PGA Tour status while having a little fun. We all know golfers tend to peak in their early 30’s and with the talent Adam Scott has, he’s sure to be around for at least another 10 years.

Professional golf can easily suck away your youth and with Ana Ivanovic watching your golf from behind the ropes, perhaps it’s not a youth to be missed.

British Open TV coverage

The British Open Championship is on Fox Sports this week with over 60 hours of tournament coverage including Open previews, specials and famous replays.

The Fox Sports TV guide indicates that from 5.30pm Wednesday to 6pm Thursday there will be Open previews and replays.

Thursday and Friday: Live on Fox Sports 2 from 6pm - 4.30am.
Saturday: Live on Fox Sports 2 from 9.30pm - 4.30am.
Sunday: Live on Fox Sports 1 from 7.30pm - 4.30 am.

Interesting that despite Nine having the rights to the tournament the only free-to-air coverage is a few tournament highlights next week. Happy Gilmore is on Channel Ten on Sunday evening though.

British Open start for 14 Australians

Australia and New Zealand have a total of 18 golfers in the British Open field this week but only a few of them will be any sort of chance to win the Claret Jug.

Greg Norman of course will be keenly watched but I'm have some reservations. He's had the same build up as he did last year but perhaps the expectations have gone up and I'm not so sure he can deliver again.

I'm really not sure Robert Allenby or Stuart Appleby can grab their first major. Their form has been ordinary this year. There have been some good signs from when Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy but it's just hard to predict where these guys are at.

If I was going to have a bet, Richard Green and Rod Pampling will be good value. They've been excellent on the European and US PGA Tour's respectively and could be in the hunt on the weekend.

And for the Kiwi readers out there:
What odds should Michael Campbell be at this weekend? Is 501-1 fair?

Australians in the British Open field
John Senden, Mat Goggin, Rod Pampling, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Daniel Gaunt, Richard Green, Greg Norman, Geoff Ogilvy, Terry Pilkadaris, Adam Scott, Tim Stewart, Michael Wright and Tim Wood.

Kiwi's at the British Open
Mark Brown, Michael Campbell, Josh Geary, David Smail

Golf: Australia's most popular sport

An annual report just released by the Australian Sports Commission has shown golf was Australia's top ranked club-sport in 2008.

Golf topped the list in 2008, overtaking tennis with a 29% increase in participation!

This adds further weight to the argument that golf in Australia is more accessible than anywhere else in the world. With Tiger on his way and Australian Golf lobbying the federal government I can only see participation increasing over the next few years. With 1520 courses and only 21 million people, we've got plenty more room on the golf course for more converts.

Lind Golf - The verdict

A few weeks ago I reviewed the new website launched by Australian company, Lind Golf which lets users personalise their new golf clubs.

It’s a great idea and very easy to navigate around but it still leaves two important questions:

Can I try before I buy? AND What are they like to hit?

Brad Lindenberg and the others from Lind Golf were kind enough to ask me along to their product launch day held at Moore Park recently and I set out to answer these questions.

Firstly, there are many demonstration days planned across the country to try out the full range of Lind Golf products ranging from their drivers to the mill faced putters. Keep an eye on the website for the dates. Lind Golf have a 14 day money back guarantee as well.

Secondly, I tried out premium and standard model irons first and I was very impressed, particularly with the premium irons. They came off the club very sweetly indeed and I hit them as well as any other brand I’ve ever used (Taylormade and Mizuno’s included).

My driving wasn’t up to scratch on the day (hard to believe I know) but found everything going surprisingly straight for the MiOne and Blackhawk models. Both had a low ball flight and like any driver I’d always recommend getting a loft greater than 10deg. Even Tiger’s using a 10.5deg driver now! I was also very impressed with the mill faced putter which looked similar to the classic Scotty Cameron design.

I had a fun afternoon. A few drinks on offer and a Friday afternoon hitting golf balls at the range is close to a perfect end to the week and it may be hard to take my word for it but I’m impressed with the clubs. Great prices with your own personal look – try them out if you’re in the market for a new set of sticks.

Australian golfers will come good

I feel like I’ve spent more time scanning down the leaderboards on the major world golf tours in than I have on the course this year. Finding the leading Australian has taken a bit of work. Like many of you I’ve been wondering just what is going on?

I don’t think anyone knows or can answer the question properly but I’m here to tell you that I think it’s all going to work out fine.

Most Australian golfers have a fairly solid pre-season at the major golf tournaments back home. Don’t underestimate just how difficult the golf is on some very tough golf courses. Its great preparation for the long season ahead but it’s different to what many other professionals are doing at this time who take time off to recharge.

With this in mind it’s no surprise many of Australian golfers had great starts to the year and then it should also be no surprise that about now there comes with it a fade out occurs from just too much golf.

The British Open may be a little too soon to expect any improvements but I’m predicting a good second half of the year for our Aussie battlers.

Stop worrying. She’ll be ‘right.

One week 'til British Open

One week 'til the British Open tees off at Turnberry. Greg Norman won here. Is it too much to ask for it to happen again?

Here's the link to the official British Open website containing a whole load of stuff including the live leaderboard once proceedings begin.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Aussie Golfer featured at Rankmark

The Aussie Golfer website is being featured over at Rankmark in their weekly look at golf blogs from around the world. I'm a little chuffed to say the least as it has a nice summary of a whole load of golf blogs and worth a snoop around.

Golf Tip: Aim at something

Occasionally Aussie Golfer comes across a swing tip that applies to all golfers. It was passed on to me during a lesson and is incredibly obvious but is something very few golfers apply to their game on a regular basis.

Before every golf shot, aim at something.

Don’t aim at a particular area but a particular spot. Not just any old spot either, make sure it’s a tree in the distance, a stick behind the green or a spot in front of the hole.

We see the professionals doing it every week but most golfers tee off aiming for a general fairway area or aim at a large chunk of the green. Get more specific. Pick out something in particular (which may be off in the distance) as your line, take one last peek at it before you hit the ball and go for it.

Do it on drives, approach shots, chips and putts. Every golf shot. It will help weed out any alignment issues and golfers with good hand eye coordination will recall the target image during the swing and find the club face will align much straighter.

About Aussie Golfer

My name is Michael Green and I started Aussie Golfer in 2007. It has progressed into a place where golf fan are updated with the latest golf news and also be pointed in the right direction for independent product reviews, swing tips, rule reminders and cool places to play golf across Australia.

A brief bio

It began with an obsession with golf in Adelaide where my Dad and Grandad got me into the game. Like many who were fortunate enough to be introduced to the game early, I spent many summer holidays on the golf course or by the clubhouse pool table. It taught me patience, the rules of competition golf and the quickest way to pick up your own practice balls on the range (try and get someone else to do it).

University, travel and long nights out got in the way of consistent golf in the late 90's but a round here and there reminded me that golf would always squeeze back into my life at some stage. Emerging with a taste for beer, the travel bug and a PhD in physics, I was fortunate enough to live in a small town in Massachusetts, USA which was home to Taconic Golf Club, a beautiful New England golf course. The thirst for golf began to take hold once again.

Upon returning to Australia I moved to Sydney where I promptly joined a golf course and immersed myself in the game wanting to discuss its nuances, new and issues whenever I could.

Aussie Golfer was born out of a want to discuss the everyday concerns of the regular "have a drink after a round" golfer. In addition, Aussie Golfer aims to keep updated with tour news, opinions, information on the latest handicapping changes and a word or two on where to plan your next golf weekend away.

Golf's traditions and honesty makes the game so special but I don't consider the game sacred. It needs a bit of a poke and a bit of fun thrown in now and then. I hope you enjoy the site and feel free to email me any time with ideas, feedback, scoops or just to say hi.

The unfriendly greenskeeper

Paul Arnfield has been a long time supporter of Aussie Golfer from day one and he's decided it's time to submit his own contribution to the site. He's reached into his bag and pulled out a swipe at the unfriendly greenskeeper.




by Paul Arnfield
Something has always puzzled me about greenskeepers. Are they allowed to talk to golfers or have they been told not to communicate with anyone on the course?

This was brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago when I was playing a round and saw something I was not happy with. While I was waiting on a tee, I looked around and watched another group playing on an adjacent hole. They were a group of elderly gentlemen enjoying a round in their twilight years (as I picture myself doing in a number of years).

A greenskeeper was raking the greenside bunker and noticed the men about to play their approach shots. The gentlemen played their shots and one golfer overshot his approach and it came to rest under a large shrub. The greenskeeper watched and then went about his business. After a number of minutes searching for the ball the elderly gentleman decided to take a penalty and rehit. He (and his partners) were looking underneath the wrong shrub.

Why didn’t the greenskeeper say something? He knew which shrub the ball was under but remained silent.

Is this the right thing to do? Is it up to the player to find his/her own ball? Have greenskeepers been told to avoid all communication with golfers? What’s wrong with a word of encouragement if your approach comes within a couple of feet from the hole or a simple “G'day, how you hitting ’em?” as you pass by. Or perhaps a little banter: "Sorry the green's a bit soggy, I left the sprinkler running all night".

They must enjoy the game and appreciate a good shot from time to time. I would like to be told I have played a good shot if indeed I have. Come on greenskeepers, take out your ipods and say g’day.

Tiger or Shark?

At a recent golf event a fellow competitor made what at first sounded like a a ridiculous thing to say, but on hindsight deserves some merit.

He pulled out quotes by Steve Williams last year where he said that Greg Norman was as good a golfer as Tiger Woods and went on to add he'd much rather watch Greg Norman play.

After this week's announcement that Greg Norman and Tiger Woods will be playing on Australian shores this year, I'm interested to know the answer to this question:

If you had the choice, would you go see The Shark circling at the Australian Open at the stunning New South Wales Golf Club or Tiger on the prowl at the Australian Masters at the superb Kingston Heath?

Norman commits for 3 years

The year 2009 may turn out to be a watershed one for Australian Golf. Along with Tiger Woods appearing at the 2009 Australian Masters in November, politicians meeting with Golf Australia representatives last week and the formation of the OneAsia Tour, Greg Norman yesterday announced he will play in the Australian Open in Sydney for the next three years.

The Australian Open is now a part of the OneAsia Tour and the tournament was once considered very prestigious on the world stage. Norman is committed to ensuring it returns to it's rightful world ranking. Despite being a banana-bender, he has also accepted a role as an ambassador for Events NSW to promote not only golf in New South Wales but all events staged on behalf of the state.

"I look forward to returning to Sydney to play the Australian Open this December. I'm particularly pleased that Golf Australia have selected the NSW Golf Club as the venue. Not only is the venue a favourite amongst the players it will provide an excellent backdrop for showcasing Sydney and NSW as an extraordinary golf destination." Norman said

Norman has won the Stonehaven Cup five times and after his showing at the British Open last year, he could threaten to win it a sixth time. but it's almost an after thought. This announcement has much bigger significance.

Greg Norman was denounced (particularly by the powers that ran the US PGA Tour) many years ago after proposing a World Golf Tour. It was a revolutionary and controversial idea but was something I believe could have changed golf forever, Tiger or no Tiger. With The Shark back involved in the development of Australian Golf on and off the course, we're in good shape.

Australian Golf has been in the doldrums for too long. Sailing around in circles looking for some wind to push it in the right direction. How ironic it may be that a shark may create the swell that gets the ship moving again.

*Image courtesy of Golf Australia