Question:
Anyone know what development programs South Africa has? They seem to produce more than their fair share of excellent golfers. Some of the current group like Goosen and Sabbatini are apparently self taught. Perhaps it takes a natural golfer who is largely self-taught or at least has their "own" style to be really good – like Palmer, Trevino et al? Many of the new flock of Harmon/Leadbetter/?? students play very well, but I suspect that some of them may not have the individuality to break out from the pack. GM
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And just what did YOU do today that was so spectacular GM? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Hey, it’s Sunday. Isnt this the day you brush your teeth?
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I thought that Ernie was playing poorly, but Tiger was just terrible today and has not looked good for some time …. And then there is Phil.
Missing the cut isn’t good – but Phil does have a quality win out of his 3? starts. Ernie also won. And Tiger will win.
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It isn’t race by any means. It’s good instruction. Someone in AUS must have put together a national program or something, like Sweeden has. Brad – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Robert Allenby is a fine player. Gow is a bit of a streatch, Colin. One thing about Aussie players though–the swing technique is fantastic. I don’t know where it comes from, maybe you can share, but the fundamentals of Aussie players is a joy to watch. Allenby, Appelby, Scott, Bads, Norman, Webb, etc.. are sound! Brad Must be in the genes, Brad. I’ve noticed that too: GREAT technique coming from all parts of the world, not only from AUS but from countries you wouldn’t expect it – Indonesia, etc… But political correctness will not permit us to ascribe it to race. What race are the Aussies? I heard they were dumped there by the British when the gaols got full. George
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Robert Allenby is a fine player. Gow is a bit of a streatch, Colin. One thing about Aussie players though–the swing technique is fantastic. I don’t know where it comes from, maybe you can share, but the fundamentals of Aussie players is a joy to watch. Allenby, Appelby, Scott, Bads, Norman, Webb, etc.. are sound! Brad
Must be in the genes, Brad. I’ve noticed that too: GREAT technique coming from all parts of the world, not only from AUS but from countries you wouldn’t expect it – Indonesia, etc… But political correctness will not permit us to ascribe it to race. What race are the Aussies? I heard they were dumped there by the British when the gaols got full. George
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True that Ernie won the Heineken, but so he should against the weak field – Previous week he was no match for Retief and in SA before that he did nothing in tournaments won by non superstars Tim Clark and Justine Rose – Before the Heineken win, he had not won anything for more than a year although showed well in $2Mil vs Sergio. Tiger will likely win again soon, but at the moment shows no sign of this!
Ya know what? I think the field is catching up with Tiger, in terms of training and what not. I think his dominance in this sport is over.
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Robert Allenby is a fine player. Gow is a bit of a streatch, Colin. One thing about Aussie players though–the swing technique is fantastic. I don’t know where it comes from, maybe you can share, but the fundamentals of Aussie players is a joy to watch. Allenby, Appelby, Scott, Bads, Norman, Webb, etc.. are sound! Brad – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – True that Ernie won the Heineken, but so he should against the weak field Weak field bull. Send the whole USPGA Tour over here and no-one would’ve scored what Ernie did. The greens wouldn’t be soft enough for a start. I suppose the "strength" of the USPGA tour is why non-descript players like John Senden, who has never won an Australasian Tour event, and whose only pro win is the 1993 Indonesian Open, manage to get a top-5 at USPGA Tour School and contend well in the events he’s played so far. I suppose also that the USPGA Tour players in the Heineken field, like 4-time USPGA Tour winner Robert Allenby (shot an 80 on the last day), and Paul Gow (third last, missed cut) amply demonstrate that the field was "weak". Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Colin wrote a piece on the Australian national golf programs last year, IIRC. If he reads this he might wish to repost his article. A nutshell summary: We don’t have a comprehensive college/university scholarship program like the United States. Instead Australia has a national golf coaching program run by the Australian Institute of Sport, in conjunction with the Australian Golf Union, Womens Golf Australia and the Australian PGA. Golf is one of 35 sports supported by the AIS. The golf program has been running for 10 years, is full-time and residential, and offers places annually to 20 amateurs and two PGA trainees. Until late 2000, the golf program was run at Albert Park in Melbourne by Ross Herbert, Steve Bann and Dale Lynch. Sadly Ross Herbert died around Christmas 2000. Lynch and Bann have moved to their own teaching facility at the Melbourne Golf Academy in Cheltenham, where they still coach players like Allenby, Appleby, Ogilvy, Allan and until recently Baddeley. The AIS program is currently operated out of the Sandringham Driving Range in Melbourne, under the direction of Mark Holland and head coach Gareth Jones. The program utilises the famed sand-belt courses nearby. Sometime in the next few years the AIS golf program will move to Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula, at the courses and teaching facility purposely built by the AGU. Cheers Colin Wilson
Thanks for the summary, Colin. I knew that the Australian program was quite involved, but had forgotten that it had a residential component. The RCGA started a youth program here in Canada some years ago. It reaches out to junior golfers of all levels, but does have certain programs aimed at the top junior golfers. http://www.rcga.org/futurelinks/ David RSG Roll Call http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=sneddond email: dsneddon AT attcanada DOT ca Signatory & Supporter of the UIP http://home.globalfrontiers.com/rorider/
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It isn’t race by any means. It’s good instruction. Someone in AUS must have put together a national program or something, like Sweeden has. Brad
Colin wrote a piece on the Australian national golf programs last year, IIRC. If he reads this he might wish to repost his article. — David RSG Roll Call http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=sneddond email: dsneddon AT attcanada DOT ca Signatory & Supporter of the UIP http://home.globalfrontiers.com/rorider/
Response:
Colin wrote a piece on the Australian national golf programs last year, IIRC. If he reads this he might wish to repost his article.
A nutshell summary: We don’t have a comprehensive college/university scholarship program like the United States. Instead Australia has a national golf coaching program run by the Australian Institute of Sport, in conjunction with the Australian Golf Union, Womens Golf Australia and the Australian PGA. Golf is one of 35 sports supported by the AIS. The golf program has been running for 10 years, is full-time and residential, and offers places annually to 20 amateurs and two PGA trainees. Until late 2000, the golf program was run at Albert Park in Melbourne by Ross Herbert, Steve Bann and Dale Lynch. Sadly Ross Herbert died around Christmas 2000. Lynch and Bann have moved to their own teaching facility at the Melbourne Golf Academy in Cheltenham, where they still coach players like Allenby, Appleby, Ogilvy, Allan and until recently Baddeley. The AIS program is currently operated out of the Sandringham Driving Range in Melbourne, under the direction of Mark Holland and head coach Gareth Jones. The program utilises the famed sand-belt courses nearby. Sometime in the next few years the AIS golf program will move to Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula, at the courses and teaching facility purposely built by the AGU. Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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Gow is a bit of a stretch, Colin.
I don’t know. He did enough last year to win US$600,000 and come 83rd on the USPGA Money List. That’s not exactly scraping in. He has come near last in three events here so far this season. This "weak field" argument gets trotted out regularly (to the point of boredom), and implies that any one of the world’s top 20 or so players should be able to come out here and find the fields a pushover. It is as specious as it is historically innacurate. The main reason is that courses here are different in style to the USA, and Australians are generally good in their own backyard. So visitors don’t have it all easy. The other reason is that while few US players come here these days, those that do don’t generally do very well anymore (unlike Nicklaus decades ago). For instance, Bob Estes came here last season for a few events and struggled to make cuts. He promptly went back to the US and finished 9th on the 2001 Money List. Charles Howell III was a similar story before Christmas. Tiger is 0-5 in Australia. The US Presidents Cup team, cream of the crop, got absolutely trounced in 1998. So to just say that the field is "weak" ignores local reality, and is just an easy out in terms of explanation. There were also a number of players in the World Top 50, many more in the world Top 100. So wins by Goosen and Els are quite meritorious … neither doddles or flukes. Remember they *were* in European Tour events, and the Europeans seem to play much better here than all those top Americans. There are also 21 ANZ players playing on the USPGA Tour, some of whom are not exactly "top echelon" here, like Allan, Pampling and Senden. That at least says that the USPGA Tour is not radically better in terms of quality. It might be in strength against world rankings, intensity of competition and prizemoney. The obverse is that you can play consistently average golf, like Craig Parry, and make an excellent living without winning at all. One thing about Aussie players though–the swing technique is fantastic. I don’t know where it comes from, maybe you can share, but the fundamentals of Aussie players is a joy to watch. Allenby, Appelby, Scott, Bads, Norman, Webb, etc.. are sound!
Yeah, then some of them drop the coaches that gave them those swings and go to Leadbetter and Harmon. Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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I thought that Ernie was playing poorly, but Tiger was just terrible today and has not looked good for some time …. And then there is Phil. Unless these guys do something soon, who should we looked to for a amazing things in 2002? GM
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I thought that Ernie was playing poorly
Huh? Ernie won the European Tour Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne last weekend by 5 shots. Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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True that Ernie won the Heineken, but so he should against the weak field – Previous week he was no match for Retief and in SA before that he did nothing in tournaments won by non superstars Tim Clark and Justine Rose – Before the Heineken win, he had not won anything for more than a year although showed well in $2Mil vs Sergio. Tiger will likely win again soon, but at the moment shows no sign of this! Graham – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I thought that Ernie was playing poorly Huh? Ernie won the European Tour Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne last weekend by 5 shots. Cheers Colin Wilson
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True that Ernie won the Heineken, but so he should against the weak field
Weak field bull. Send the whole USPGA Tour over here and no-one would’ve scored what Ernie did. The greens wouldn’t be soft enough for a start. I suppose the "strength" of the USPGA tour is why non-descript players like John Senden, who has never won an Australasian Tour event, and whose only pro win is the 1993 Indonesian Open, manage to get a top-5 at USPGA Tour School and contend well in the events he’s played so far. I suppose also that the USPGA Tour players in the Heineken field, like 4-time USPGA Tour winner Robert Allenby (shot an 80 on the last day), and Paul Gow (third last, missed cut) amply demonstrate that the field was "weak". Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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Colin, I don’t want to argue the point about the strength of the Heineken field, and considering you are in Aus, must give you credit for supporting Ernie, even after having South Africans come over and win two of your main events (and another threatening to do the same this week). And then there was 1-day VB cricket ….. Great sportsmanship on your part 
, unless you are an ex-pat. By the way, your course looks great compared with our snow covered tracks Graham (An avid Ernie/Retief/Rory/etc fan!) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – True that Ernie won the Heineken, but so he should against the weak field Weak field bull. Send the whole USPGA Tour over here and no-one would’ve scored what Ernie did. The greens wouldn’t be soft enough for a start.