The world's biggest junior golf clinic took place at the Alice Springs Golf Club. Kids from around Central Australia hit the greens and got some hot tips from some of the country's finest coaches.Chief executive officer of Performance Golf, Darren Delacey says the gear for the clinic was donated from across Australia."We've raised over 1,000 sets of clubs, 20,000 golf balls. Everything was in bundles of 500."Our guys will be taking the kids through a program of basic fundamentals. "It's about the experience and making sure they really get some fun out of it."And if that wasn't exciting enough, former footy player and star from 'The Footy Show', Peter Sterling was there to motivate the kids."I didn't start playing until I was in my thirties."I also think If I'd started earlier I'd be a better player.""But the way I swung yesterday, maybe I that was never going to be the case anyway."For you guys out here, if I could give you a tip. "If you find something that your interested in, whether it's golf or whatever really chase it, really follow your heart."13 year-old Centralian Middle School student Brodie Lovegrove was really getting into the swing of things."Smashing the other team as usual... 'Tiger Woods' style."
Monday, November 7, 2011
Scott unfazed by caddie's Tiger jibes
Updated August 10, 2011 09:05:49
Australian Adam Scott says his caddie's jibes at Tiger Woods had been blown out of proportion, and hopes his clubs will do the talking this week at the PGA Championship.
Scott won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday with Woods' former caddie, Steve Williams, recently fired by the former number one, enjoying vocal support from the crowd.
After the tournament, Williams was controversially interviewed by television before holding an impromptu news conference in which he rated his win with Scott higher than any of his victories, including 13 majors, with Woods.
"I kind of think it's been blown out of proportion, unsurprisingly but I guess its newsworthy stuff," Scott told reporters.
"Steve was obviously delighted to win, as was I. He was speaking with a bit of emotion probably."
Some critics of Williams suggested he had stolen Scott's moment of glory at Firestone Country Club but the Australian appeared far from irked by that idea.
"I certainly don't think that was his intention to steal my moment at all," Scott said after playing nine holes in practice at Atlanta Athletic Club on Tuesday.
"He was asked these questions and he gave his honest answer I assume. And with a lot of things to do with anything related to Tiger Woods, it's all scrutinised and blown out of proportion a lot of the time.
"So this is no different. He was asked a question, and he gave an honest answer. So, I said, 'That's fair enough'. Hopefully we'll just go and let our clubs do the talking for the rest of the week now.
"Obviously he (Williams) had not won for a little while and he's really passionate about it, and that's what I see. When you're passionate and in that situation ... I think it all got a little out of hand."
Asked whether he had a quiet chat with the experienced caddie from New Zealand, Scott quipped: "Having a quiet word with Steve is not very easy. He's a big guy, you know."
While Scott probably did not welcome the attention on his caddie's post-round interview, he certainly appreciates the experience and advice he gets from his bagman.
"He's one of the best caddies out there, there's no doubt about it," said the Australian world number nine.
"He brings all of that experience from 30 years of caddying, and more recently, all of the experience of being in contention so much at big tournaments.
"He's had quite an insight into my game right from the get-go of what he's seen and what he believes I need to do to be a bit better and win majors and contend in majors on a regular basis, because I told him that's what I want to do.
"He's a very motivated guy. He's out here to win. He loves winning. And you know, I think that's good for me to keep my motivation going; he can certainly push me."
Scott, a winner of 19 titles worldwide, recorded his best finish in a major with a tie for second at the Masters in April.
"So far, he's just brought a lot of confidence toward me in the way - everything he says, and the way he acts," the 31-year-old Australian said.
"Filling me with confidence is a good thing. That's a good thing for a caddie to do to a player. So far, it's been fantastic."
Reuters
Tags: golf, sport, united-states, australia First posted August 10, 2011 09:05:49Woods' ranking slump gathers pace
Updated July 26, 2011 11:22:02
Tiger Woods has fallen out of the world top 20 for the first time since January 1997.
The former world number one has not played since May 12 because of knee and Achilles tendon injuries although he is expected to announce later this week that he will return to action at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday week.
That would test his fitness ahead of the year's final major, the USPGA Championship in Atlanta, which starts on August 11.
Woods has dropped from eighth to 21st in the rankings in that time and last Wednesday announced on his website that he had fired his longtime caddie, New Zealander Steve Williams.
Jason Day is the top-ranked Australian at number eight, while Adam Scott is listed at 17.
Top 20:
1. Luke Donald (ENG)9.72pts
2. Lee Westwood (ENG)8.33
3. Martin Kaymer (GER) 7.26
4. Rory McIlroy (NIR)7.06
5. Steve Stricker (USA) 6.94
6. Phil Mickelson (USA) 6.27
7. Dustin Johnson (USA) 5.75
8. Jason Day (AUS) 5.44
9. Matt Kuchar (USA)5.38
10. Nick Watney (USA)5.24
11. Charl Schwartzel (RSA)5.21
12. Graeme McDowell (NIR)5.20
13. Bubba Watson (USA)4.77
14. KJ Choi (KOR)4.71
15. Paul Casey (ENG) 4.62
16. Ian Poulter (ENG)4.45
17. Adam Scott (AUS) 4.05
18. Hunter Mahan (USA)3.78
19. Robert Karlsson (SWE)3.75
20. Retief Goosen (RSA) 3.67
Tags: golf, sport, united-states First posted July 26, 2011 11:04:55Golf: Emma gets her swing on
Teeing off, the rough, the fairway, fore, they're all words we've heard before. The celebrity of many of today's golfers has helped bring the terms into the more common vernacular. But just because you can talk the talk, does it mean you can walk the walk?
Our reporter Emma Pedler put on her warmest clothes and headed out for a swing at the Tumby Bay Golf Club.A golfer she is not, but always keen to learn, Emma started out easy, tagging along with friends during an 18 hole foursomes competition.
The Tumby Bay Golf Club is celebrating 100 years this season, and to celebrate they've held a week-long celebration, including the foursomes, other golfing competitions and a celebration dinner that included local 100 year old golfer Ron Dorwood, who will cut the club's birthday cake and play a 9 hole round with his granddaughter.
Tumby Bay golfers, mother and daughter duo Carlyn Partington and Linda Trenberth like to have a bit of fun when they play, which is why Emma joined them in the C Grade competition.
After around eight kilometres of walking while learning more of the vernacular (including some very funny terminology that Emma reckons Carlyn may have made up herself), they found themselves back at the clubhouse.
With the competition wrapping up and golfers leaving the fairways, Emma felt like it was safe to get out and try her swing.
She hijacked her friend, golf club member Andrew 'Stan' Stanley and convinced him to pass on his golfing knowledge.
Listen to the audio to hear how she went.
Open champ Clarke joins Coolum field
Updated July 28, 2011 08:51:16
Newly-crowned British Open champion Darren Clarke has joined the star-studded field teeing off at this year's Australian PGA Championship at Coolum.
Clarke, who stamped himself as one of the world's best links players with his two-shot victory at Sandwich two weeks ago, will now look to bring his form down under from November 24-27.
The Northern Irishman joins drawcards like of Greg Norman, Jason Day and American Bubba Watson in the PGA field.
"I have heard great things about Queensland and the course at Coolum so I am looking forward to playing golf in more warm conditions than I am used to and also testing my game on a different style course to that of a links," Clarke said.
"My family also can't wait to get to the Sunshine Coast."
The Irish are dominating world golf with Clarke winning The Open and his younger compatriot Rory McIlroy winning last month's US Open.
But no Irishman has ever won the Australian PGA Championship.
"Knowing that I could be the first Irishman to win the Australian PGA will be in the back of my mind when I come to play and I hope that I have plenty of fellow Irishman there to cheer me on," Clarke added.
The PGA Championship will again be co-sanctioned by OneAsia, with the tournament to be the second-last event in the race to 2011 Order of Merit honours.
AAP
Tags: golf, sport, coolum-beach-4573, qld, australia First posted July 28, 2011 08:51:16Close but no cigar for Baddeley
Updated September 26, 2011 10:00:52
Australian Aaron Baddeley has fallen one shot short of a play-off at the US PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta, won by American Bill Haas over countryman Hunter Mahan.
Haas captured $US11.44 million ($A11.75 million) as winner of the tournament at East Lake Golf Club and also the season-long FedEx Cup on the third sudden-death play-off hole with a clutch par.
Both men finished regulation at 8-under-par.
The pair parred the difficult par-three 18th hole and the par-four 17th, before returning to the 18th in the play-off.
Haas was able to two-putt while Mahan failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker.
The shot of the tournament came on the second play-off hole when Haas managed to play a shot from in the water hazard on the left of the green to just a few feet to stay alive.
Baddeley was left to rue two short missed putts on the back nine, each just over a metre.
It left the 30-year-old with a 2-over 72 final round and an 7-under total, tied third with Englishman Luke Donald and South Korean KJ Choi.
Fellow Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott finished in a tie for sixth at 6-under-par.
"Two short misses on the back nine cost me," Baddeley said.
"That was the golf tournament. Make those two short ones, I win."
The Victorian still had a chance on the last hole but his putt from just outside 10 metres agonisingly burned the edge of the hole.
"I felt like I played good enough to win," he said.
"I hit it pretty good all day except for a couple of loose tee shots."
Baddeley, who started tied for the lead, began nervously when his opening drive went well left of the fairway and into tree trouble but he scrambled well for par and then added four more despite a few loose shots.
But his luck ran out on the par-three sixth when missing the green meant hitting the lake.
Thankfully, he limited the damage to a bogey and remained in a tie for the lead as Mahan also dropped a shot. Fast-forward two holes and Baddeley took charge, grabbing birdie from two metres to take the outright lead.
But it was short-lived when he nuked his second shot on the par-five ninth past the green and failed to reach the putting surface with a flop shot third.
He eventually took bogey when a four-metre putt would not drop and settled back into a battle with Mahan and Haas.
More trouble befell Baddeley two holes later when he turned a five-metre birdie chance into a three-putt bogey, dropping him out of the lead for the first time.
Another close miss on the 16th hole proved crucial and the bogey seemingly ended his run, although a great birdie on the second last hole gave him one last chance.
But it was not to be.
When Haas bogeyed the final hole in regulation, Day was actually in the $10 million hot seat but his three-wood betrayed him on the 17th tee and sailed right into the rough.
He carried the ball up to the greenside bunker but failed to get up and down and the bogey dropped him one back.
The Queenslander gave himself an eight-metre look at birdie and a play-off spot on the last and gave the putt a good run only to see it run by the edge and just over a metre long.
Emotionally exhausted, he missed the short putt to drop to sixth.
Geoff Ogilvy (tied 11th) and John Senden (25th) rounded out the Australian charge.
AAP
Tags: golf, sport, united-states First posted September 26, 2011 09:54:12Matteson, McNeill lead storm-swept Viking
Updated July 16, 2011 12:57:13
Troy Matteson finished a storm-swept day at the Viking Classic home and dry with the clubhouse lead, neck and neck with George McNeill.
Matteson birdied his final three holes of the day after a delay of nearly four hours, capitalising on the rain-softened fairways and greens in Madison, Mississippi to post his second straight 66 for a 12-under total of 132 after 36 holes.
McNeill was also 12-under when play was finally suspended for the day - but was still on 18 when play was halted.
He was 7-under for the day through 17 holes and was to resume play in the 18th fairway.
The day's delays added up to nearly six hours as the thunderstorms came through.
"It's kind of weird - I usually don't play that well coming off a rain delay like that," Matteson said.
"Somehow the greens are standing up to the rain. They're soft but they're very smooth.
"These are some of the best Bermuda greens we play all season and they've stayed very consistent with their speed."
The start was delayed two hours after storms overnight.
More storms halted play in the afternoon for almost four hours.
Players had been sent out to resume their rounds when more electrical storms brought them in for the day.
Australia's Peter Lonard, Tim Petrovic, Bobby Gates, Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, South Korean Kang Sunghoon and John Mallinger had shared the overnight lead on 65.
Of the six, only Gates completed his round, carding a 3-under to drop two shots back.
Despite the backlog, tournament officials said they hoped to finish the event on Sunday (local time).
AFP
Tags: golf, sport, united-states First posted July 16, 2011 12:57:13
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