Funniest sporting moments of 2010

If you don't have Foxtel and miss out on seeing The Back Page each week, they podcast the audio. It is one of the best Australian sports review shows going around and dare I say it, Billy Birmingham is still as funny as ever.

This compilation of their funniest sporting moments of the year contains just enough golf references for me to show here. Billy's reaction to Jim Nantz's commentary after Justin Rose's victory is exactly what we all felt at the time.

Courtesy of FoxSports and The Back Page

Australian Open, not Masters, to precede Presidents Cup

The PGA of Australia have announced the Australian Open in Sydney will take place on the weekend before the Presidents Cup in Australia  next year. It is a hugely controversial decision with most experts predicting the Australian Masters would be given the prized weekend.

A second blow was dealt to the Australian Masters when it was also announced the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum will take place the weekend after the Presidents Cup. The Australian Masters has been assigned the first weekend of December.

Video: Brett Ogle's Top 5 shots of 2010

Brett Ogle recently named his Top 5 golf shots of the year. I personally would have put Phil Mickelson's shot in the number one position but a little Australian bias is never a bad thing.

Video courtesy of FoxSports Golf

Photos of Lost Farm

More photos of Lost Farm Golf Course

Here is a special Christmas treat; more photos of the amazing Lost Farm golf course which has just opened in Tasmania this month.

The course is getting rave reviews from amateurs and professionals and will no doubt be in Australia's Top 5 golf courses for a very long time. Sitting alongside Barnbougle Dunes, Bridport is becoming a golfing Mecca for Australians and international travellers. Take a peak below and see what you're missing.

Merry Christmas all!

100 holes of golf, with Adam Scott

The Adam Scott Foundation is raising money by holding a Marathon golf event which involves playing 100 holes of golf in a day. If you can raise $3,000 or your company can raise $10,000 you can participate in this event at the Avondale Golf Club on February 9, 2011.

The funds raised from the event go to the Adam Scott Foundation to fund projects including the ASF Autism Grants Program and the ASF Youth Centre, as well as supporting other disadvantaged youth.

For more information and registration details check out the Marathon Golf with Adam Scott flyer or head to the Adam Scott webpage.

More on Adam Scott
Adam Scott wins $1million in Singapore
Adam Scott's eagle took 42 seconds
Ernie Els douses Adam Scott with beer

ECCO golf street shoes back in stores

Just in time for Christmas the ECCO Golf Street Shoes are back in stores in Australia. They sold out around the country but now a larger range are available.

Video: Clay Pigeon Golf Shot

Remember the video of players from the European Tour skimming golf balls across a lake? Well here is the second in their Every Shot Imaginable series of video. This time Thongchai Jaidee, David Horsey, Johan Edfors and Simon Kahn have a go at trying to smash clay pigeons out of the Dubai sky.

More golf videos

200yd gong shot across a lake

Golf (basketball) trick shot

Jiminez bounces a golf ball off a wall onto green

Last minute Christmas golf gifts

At less than a week before Christmas, many of us only now begin to buy Christmas presents. If you're looking for Christmas gifts for that golf nutter in the family or just looking for a link to pass on as a hint to a friend, here are a few ideas.

GPS and distance finders

GPS devices are everywhere these days and while they will probably be at the upper end of everyone's Christmas guft budget, it can't hurt to forward these links on as a hint.

On-Pin Golf have dropped the price of their GPS device recently, SureshotGPS is always a popular options and I also stumbled upon this deal for rangefinders at Rangefinder Golf.

Lost Farm golf course now open!

The most anticipated new golf course has just opened in Tasmania, Australia

Lost Farm, the most anticipated golf course in to ever be built in Australia was officially opened last week. It is a 20-hole links golf course on Tasmania's north-east coast and from early reports, this may well be Australia's best ever.

More photos of Lost Farm

The best players may not play in the Olympics

The latest online edition of Golf Industry Central magazine has hit the cyber shelves. This is a great, free Australia golf publication and always worth a read.

A highlight this month is a look at the politics of Olympic Golf from David Newbury. The International Golf Federation have recommended to the Olympics Movement that only the world's best players should play at the Olympics. He argues a huge opportunity to grow the game will be lost if individual countries miss out on sending two representatives.

There is also a report on the opening of two fantastic new Australian golf courses, Lost Farm Golf Course and Kalgoorlie Boulder Golf Course. 

Jandles, judder bars and Jack’s Point

Golf course review of Jack's Point Golf Course, Queenstown, New Zealand (Map)

I made two big mistakes before teeing off at Jack’s Point golf course in New Zealand. And I blame the scenery. This golf course is dwarfed by stunning snow capped peaks and bordered by Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown. Concentrating on simple tasks, let alone play golf is not simple here.

Click images for large versions

The scene as you approach the 5th green at Jack's Point.

I had heard whispers about this golf course. It was only very new but Jack's Point had recently been ranked number six in the top golf courses of New Zealand. It seemed like locals want to keep it a secret with only a few knowing much about it.

Putting with your eyes closed

Peter O'Malley

Here is a putting tip for the desperate, try putting with your eyes closed. I've heard of doing this as a training drill and maybe even the odd social golfer here and there trying it out but last week a professional golfer admitted he has been doing it and it has helped his putting, out of sight.

Peter O'Malley could be considered one of Australia's most-liked professional golfers but he could also be considered our worst putter. He has missed so many short putts in big tournaments it doesn't hurt any more but now he has resorted to putting with his eyes closed for all putts under six feet.

"I've got a new theory going - and I've practised this over a long period of time - I'm putting with my eyes closed," O'Malley said. "Everyone laughs when I say it, but it's true. It takes away the visual anxiety.

"When you get over those short putts and you can't see what the putt's doing, it takes away the anxiety. I'd say most guys out here have practised doing it at some stage. (As to) how many guys have actually done it in tournament play? It probably wouldn't be that many."

"With the eyes shut, I hit it more firmly than I probably would with my eyes open."

Who is going to try it this weekend?

Senior wins PGA Championship, as a senior

Peter Senior has beaten Geoff Ogilvy on the second hole of sudden-death playoff to win his third Australian PGA Championship, and mark the first time a golfer has won the event after getting a senior's discount on green fees.

Yes, it has been a strange tournament and a real "blast form the past" with a few old names circling the top of the leaderboard, but don't forget how well Peter Senior has been playing this year. He qualified to join the 2010 US Champions Tour and played 25 tournaments earning over US$800,000 with 18 top-25's including a second and a third. (See Peter Senior's Champions Tour stats) Yes, it is just the Champions Tour but his scoring average was 70.52.

He looked to have the tournament locked up overnight but when Geoff Ogilvy hit the lead, most assumed Senior's hopes were over. Ogilvy came from nowhere, he putted superbly on the fifth day of the tournament and posted a final round 66. Senior birdied 18 to force the playoff and grabbed the winners cheque.

The 51-year old Senior was reportedly last seen heading north, in a brand new caravan.

Rain forces Monday finish for Australian PGA

Australian PGA Championship Live Scores

Hot on the heels of Aussie Golfer reporting on Australian golf courses turning into giant water hazards comes the disruption of the Australian PGA Championship due to heavy rain.

It has been a strange tournament with Adam Scott, John Daly and Michael Sim all missing the cut, and grey-nomads in Peter Senior and Peter Fowler turning back the clock to have a chance of winning the tournament. You could be forgiven for thinking you were back in the early 90s.

Richard Green and Geoff Ogilvy are lurking though and with the tournament extending to a fifth day, the old blokes may not last the distance.

The highlight of the tournament so far was the action on the par-3 14th on Friday. A Volkswagon is on offer for a hole-in-one and was nicely perched on the water next to the green. Thai golfer Yeh Weitze hooked his tee shot straight through the back window of the car. Reportedly, everyone but Weitze was laughing.

Australian golf courses become water hazards

The drought has definitely broken. There is barely a dry square metre in the country and there are a few golf courses around the country that resemble giant water hazards. Here are a few photos sent to Aussie Golfer from different golf courses around Australia.

In Ur Ear at the golf

More so than any other sport, people who attend golf tournaments can be completely in the dark as to who is winning. What was the huge cheer on the other side of the course for? Last weekend at the Australian Open, Aussie Golfer along with many others knew exactly what was happening thanks to this cool device which I just have to plug.

InUrEar is a small devices that fits around your ear and broadcasts the audio from the TV broadcast. In the case of the Australian Open and this weeks Australia PGA Championship the audio feed comes from Channel Ten. Anyone who had bought an InUrEar knew exactly what was going on at different points on the course, who was winning as well as watching the golf right in front of them.

InUrEar will be up in Coolum at the Australian PGA Championsip this week. I'd strongly urge you to grab one as you stroll around to be the person who seems to know everything.

Top 100 Golf Courses of the World

Kingston Heath, #16

A new list of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World has just been released by the "only independent website dedicated to the golf courses of the World". 

Many publications and organisations produce their own Top 100 golf courses list but this website collates them all and applies a few algorithms, along with input from their own contributors to establish their own list.

Everyone loves a great golf courses list and Australian golf courses feature eight times; 

Royal Melbourne West (12), Kingston Heath (16), New South Wales (28), Barnbougle Dunes (45), Royal Adelaide (55), Royal Melbourne East (67), The National (Moonah) (87) and The Metropolitan (91).

Here is their Top 20 but head to Top 100 Golf Courses of the World for the full list and details on each course.

1. Pine Valley
2. Cypress Point
3. Augusta National
4. Royal County Down
5. Turnberry
6. Shinnecock Hills
7. Royal Birkdale
8. Oakmont
9. Muirfield
10. St.Andrews
11. Pebble Beach
12. Royal Melbourne (West)
13. Merion (East)
14. Royal Portrush
15. Sand Hills
16. Kingston Heath
17. Bandon Dunes (Pacific Dunes)
18. National Golf Links of America
19. Kingsbarns
20. Winged Foot (West)

Australian PGA Championship on TV

Some of us can't make it to the lush, relaxing surrounds of Hyatt Regency Coolum this week and will have to settle for the couch and the box to watch the Australian PGA Championship. Put on some shorts, grab some Bundy Rum and check out these TV Times for the Australian PGA Championship to pretend like you're there.

LIVE on Channel Ten and ONE HD all weekend

Thursday 9 December: 12.00pm - 5.00pm

Friday 10 December:12.00pm - 5.00pm

Saturday 11 December: 12.00pm - 5.00pm

Sunday 12 December: 12.00pm - 5.00pm

Saturday 11 December: 12.00pm - 5.00pm

Sunday 12 December: 12.00pm - 5.00pm

Tiger is back, but it's a different world

Tiger Woods lost a golf tournament overnight after going into the final round with a four shot lead. Graeme McDowell won after he drained big putts on the final and playoff hole to claim the Chevron World Challenge. It was something Tiger would do. Or used to do.

See video highlights below

Most of us have assumed that Tiger Woods would get his golf game back at some point. A man with that much golfing ability and concentration must regain form at some point, no matter what the circumstances. His swing change looks to be in its final stages with three rounds in the 60's - something he hadn't done for over a year. After seeing that Tiger was ahead by four shots and catching glimpses of the Tiger of old, I expected to wake this morning to find he had won the tournament easily. But the golfing world has changed.

The fear has gone

There has been talk golfers no longer fearing Woods but until Tiger was in contention with his form back, we would never know. We saw evidence of it today. Tiger played a magnificent final approach after a stuttering final round but McDowell drained a big putt to force the playoff and then did the same thing 10minutes later.

On Saturday night before the round, McDowell asked tournament organisers if he could at least try and win the tournament, knowing what attention a Tiger Woods victory would bring to the event. After winning on Sunday he apologised for ruining the party. Somehow I think there will be a few more people ruining Tiger's party's in future.

Ogilvy claims Australian Open: Press conference audio

Click to see Geoff Ogilvy appearing in the Australian Open TV commercial

Geoff Ogilvy hit the ball as badly as he had all week and yet managed to shoot a 3-under 69 and cruise to a three shot victory at The Australian Open at The Lakes. Listen to his full post-round press conference below (8:45).

Geoff Ogilvy talks with the press after his Australian Open victory

Alistair Presnell and Matt Jones tied for second spot and only briefly was Ogilvy looking like he might falter. Tighter pins and a north-easterly breeze set the course up much harder than the previous days but Matt Jones tried valiantly to make birdies. It all came apart on the very difficult par-3 15th. 

Matt Jones played to 20 feet, and was thinking of a two shot swing when Ogilvy's ball hit a down slope on the right hand side of the green and shot across left. A chip and snaky putt for par meant Ogilvy got out of trouble and when Jones three putted, it was all but over.

The Lakes Golf Course was the best for gallery viewing at an Australian Open for many years and the consensus was the re-design by Mike Clayton was a good one. A worthy winner and a worthy course. Both looking to regain their status and one of the best in the world.

Hart beats again in Australia

Dudley Hart

Local players always dominate the field for the Australian Open. Adam Scott came in raging favourite with plenty of enthusiasm for Stuart Appleby and Geoff Ogilvy too. 

The latter two have managed to fire a solid opening round but an American golfer, largely unknown in Australia who was ranked inside the World's Top-50 in 2008 is trying resurrect his golf career for the fourth time - and is in a tie for fourth place.

Dudley Hart has only won twice on the US PGA Tour (1996 Canadian Open, 2000 Honda Classic) but few golfers have experienced the roller-coaster like Hart. The 42-year old Hart has been a part of the US Tour since 1990 and earned over US$12million but a back injury forced him off the tour in 2003.

A medical exemption and back playing golf, Hart's form was returning in 2007, but again he was forced to withdraw - this time to look after his wife and 6-year old triplets when his wife was diagnosed with a tumour on the lungs. Unrelated to smoking it still needed two-thirds of her lungs removed. 

Hart returned to golf in 2008 playing the best golf of his career earning over $2million and making 15 of 22 cuts and 9 Top-25 finishes. He was named "US PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year" but trouble was once again around the corner. His back required surgery and he hasn't played tournament golf since 2009.

So here he is in Australia. After asking for and receiving a sponsors invitation to the Australian Open he has played a great opening round and sits in fourth position. He plays the Australian PGA Championship next week too and he, along with many of us, are hoping he can regain the form of 2008. He deserves a break.

Related Stories
Who will win the Australian Open?
What you need to know about the Australian Open

The Lakes Golf Course: before and after

Geoff Shackleford has posted a couple of photos that give a great comparison of the changes made to The Lakes Golf Course in Mike Clayton's redesign.

The old look of the 8th hole at the Lakes

The new wild look to the 8th hole. Trees gone but bunkers abound.

Related posts
Australian Open: What you need to know
Geoff Ogilvy in TV commercial for Australian Open
Who will win?

Australian Open Live Scoring

Looking for Live Scores from the Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Course? Look no further. Here's the juicy link you need.

Much more "live" scoring link from the OneAsia website
Not so live Australian Open Live Scoring

Also keep an eye on Aussie Golfer for live blogging and Aussie Golfer Twitter for live updates over the course of the tournament!

The round one tee times have been released and marquee groupings announced with the 12:10pm tee time being the pick of these groups.

Marquee groups:

Morning:

7.15am, 10^th Tee, John Daly, Marc Leishman, Aaron Baddeley

7.25am, 10^th Tee, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Stuart Appleby

7.35am, 10^th Tee, Nathan Green, Rod Pampling, Takuya Taniguchi

Afternoon:

12.00pm, 1^st Tee, John Senden, Craig Parry, Peter Senior

12.10pm, 1^st Tee, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Liang Wenchong

12.20pm, 1^st Tee, Nick O’Hern, Peter O’Malley, Kim Do-Hoon

The tournament will be showcased on OneAsia's television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 260 million homes in more than 40 countries.

Full coverage of both events will be available domestically on Network Ten, as well as internationally on ESPN Star Sports, Jupiter Golf Network, SBS Golf Channel, Fox International, Sky Sports NZ, ESPN3, America One in the USA, ViaSat, Bloomberg Television among others in Europe.

Stuart Appleby vs Lamborghini

Stuart Appleby loves fast cars and Callaway Golf Australia decided they would launch their new Diablo Octane driver by seeing if he could out-hit a speeding Lamborghini. Makes sense right? 

Watch the video below to see the results. It was very close to a golf ball size dent in the roof of the car.

Australian Open: What you need to know

Adam Scott returns to Sydney this week to defend his Australian Open title. If you're watching on TV or thinking of getting along to The Lakes Golf Club this week, here is what you need to know.

Official Australian Open Website

TV Schedule
Network Ten and One HD have live coverage all week. Click for Australian Open broadcast times in detail.

The Field
The field includes Adam Scott, Stuart Appleby, John Daly, Dudley Hart, Greg Norman, John Senden, Fred Couples and Geoff Ogilvy but click here for the full Australian Open list.

History
The first Australian Open was held in 1904 with the winner being Michael Scott as an amateur. Subsequent winners to hold Australia's oldest golf trophy aloft include Gary Player (7 times), Jack Nicklaus (6), Greg Norman (5). Last year's winner Adam Scott won the event for the first time and returns this week to defend his title.
While the days of being considered the world's fifth major are long gone, as a 'national open' tournament it has special status when it comes to golf's world rankings. A certain level of points are guaranteed for the winner regardless of the strength of the field.

Par-3, 18th at The Lakes Golf Club. Image source

The Course
The Lakes Golf Club has hosted three previous Australian Open championships (1964 Jack Nicklaus, 1980 Greg Norman, 1992 Steve Elkington) as well as a host of other world events including the Australian PGA and the Greg Norman International event.
The course is now drastically different to the way it was back then. Over the past few years Mike Clayton has kept the existing layout but drastically redesigned the course taking it back to the very early links appearance it once was. Many trees have been removed, elephants buried under larger greens and bunkers given that wild, windswept look.
Click here for a hole-by-hole course tour of the Lakes Golf Course.

Who will win?
Adam Scott must be outright favourite but there's a few guys who are looking to get some form up before the world tours start again. Andrew Dodt, Scott Strange and John Senden could be chances this week but click here for my full prognosis.

Coming to the course?

Here is the link to buy tickets to the Australian Open as well as spectator map and transport information.