NEWSLETTER 13.02.2015

NEWSLETTER 13.02.2015

THIS WEEK
Chris Jones
Editor, Today’s Golfer
FROM THE EDITOR
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THE OPEN moves to SKY
2015 Travel Awards
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ONE HOUR Practice Plan
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The R&A’s decision to switch coverage of The Open
from the BBC to Sky was met with dismay last week,
with pundits, pros and ordinary golfers lamenting the
loss of golf’s oldest event from terrestrial TV. One
of the biggest criticisms was that at a time when
golf participation is going down, losing such a visible
platform for the game to a Sky will only make it
harder for people to see golf, and possibly take it up.
To answer some of those criticisms, R&A Chief Executive
has written an open letter, in which is sets out
how the organisation will use some of the reported
£10 million a year from Sky to grow the grassroots
game.
We are excited to have announced today a new
broadcast model and a significant change in the way
The Open will be covered from 2017. We believe this
new arrangement, which will see The Open broadcast
live on Sky with prime-time highlights on the BBC,
will allow golf’s oldest championship to maintain
its position as one of the world’s premier sporting
events.
I want to express my gratitude to the BBC, our trusted
broadcast partn er for 60 years. Our relationship
developed through The Open’s renaissance in the
early 1960s, golf’s boom years in the 1970s and 80s
and more recently the height of its global appeal
during the 90s and 2000s. We are delighted that
the BBC remains a broadcast partner of The Open
Championship for 2017 and beyond and, we hope,
for a great many years to come.
I recognise that this new broadcast model represents
a significant change and I understand that change,
particularly where it involves the BBC, is controversial.
We have observed, over several years, that the
way the majority of people are choosing to consume
sport is changing. Time pressures, multi-channel
viewing providing sport and entertainment from all
over the world, the second screen phenomenon, social
media and digital consumption are all important
factors in considering how we reach fans of all ages
but particularly the younger generation. We have to
cater for that changing environment and deliver the
best viewing experience possible to golf fans...

TRAVEL
AWARDS
2015
We launched the Today’s Golfer Travel Awards in 2011 and they
have got bigger and better with every year. Once again this year
golfers voted in their thousands for their 17 favourite courses and
venues across the UK and Continental Europe.
They’re the awards everybody in the golf travel industry wants to
win – and over the next few pages we reveal who came out on top,
why they’re so special and the qualities they’ve displayed over the
past year in order to emerge as category winners.
The Algarve has hit back in style.
After missing out last time round,
Portugal’s long- established golfing
paradise is well and truly back on
top of the pile. Wherever you are in
the Algarve, you are never very far
away from an incredible golfing
experience.
Continental Europe’s Best Value Destination
THE ALGARVE
The best is getting better and better.
Widely regarded as one of
Continental Europe’s leading
layouts, Sotogrande superstar
Valderrama still reigns in Spain –
but there is no way the club is
resting on its laurels, and it’s always
in immaculate condition year round.
spain’s best course
VALDERRAMA
england’s best course (south)
wentworth (west)
Arguably the best known inland
course in the UK, Wentworth is
steeped in history and pedigree,
annually hosting the prestigious
BMW PGA Championship. The
world-famous West course has
undergone major changes in recent
years while the club itself was last
year purchased for £135m by
Beijing-based company.

THE NEW ART OF GREEN READING
A couple of things we already know. Putts
break towards water or the sea or into a valley.
They break more at the end than they do at
the beginning and no matter how experienced
you might be, there is always an element
of guesswork when it comes to reading a
green. Surely, there can’t be too many people
who would disagree with that synopsis.
putting
special
Adam Scott doesn’t agree. Hunter Mahan
doesn’t agree. Stacey Lewis doesn’t agree and
200 qualified instructors in AimPoint don’t
agree either. On top of that, there’s a club pro
called Jamie Donaldson (not to be mistaken for
a certain Ryder Cup hero) who doesn’t agree
either. What’s it got to do with him Quite a lot
actually. Donaldson used to teach the full swing at
a driving range near Cambridge, but now, thanks
to AimPoint, he’s become a specialist putting
coach sought out by some of golf’s biggest names.
And what does he have that they don’t have
The ability to read greens with astonishing
accuracy. Donaldson remembers a moment
with former US Open champion Michael
Campbell discussing the break on a putt and
predicting its behaviour. “Cambo popped a
tee in the ground where he felt he should aim
and looked at me to make my call,” he recalls.
The former driving range pro then set about a
unique routine that he himself developed with
AimPoint’s founder Mark Sweeney. He stood close
to the line to gauge break before walking back
behind the ball, holding up his hand and squinting
as if someone was dazzling him with a torch.
“No, it’s here,” said Donaldson, doubling
the break on the putt. Campbell laughed at
him, shook his head, and then set the ball
off on Donaldson’s predicted route. It arced
and arced and arced and dropped into the
hole at the first attempt. “We need to have a
chat,” said the former US Open champion,
although at that point he wasn’t laughing.
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