In the Rough

Many football clubs throughout the season have golf days for team bonding and golf charity events to raise funds for much needed causes with Sir Alex Ferguson just one of the many names who have an organised chairty golf day.

but are any of the well known footballers any good when they get on the course, well the simple answer is yes.

Fulham’s Jimmy Bullard was once described by Denis Pugh ( Colin Montgomerie’s coach) as a player who could of made it in the pro game. Bullard is currently a 1 handicapper and is regarded as the best footballer on the golf course. Jimmy’s incredible handicap has come from his love of the game and also the fact he had two long injury layoffs which enabled him to find the course.

England striker Michael Owen is also a keen golfer and is currently playing of a handicap of just 8. Michael himself often takes part in Pro-am tournaments when his football commitments allow for it.

Jamie Redknapp had to retire at the age of just 31 but that hasnt stopped him enjoying his sports and Jamie can now be found on a golf course playing of a handicap of 10.

Another former liverpool legend Alan Hansen has hit the golf since his retirement and has shot down to a 3 handicapper since then. Alan though has had past experience of golf and has even won a tournament all be it an under 14 county championship in 1970.

Making up the top 5 footballing golfers is BBC football’s very own Gary Linekar. Linekar another sportsmen who holds charity events is currently playing of 4 and is boast of win over golf legend Ernie Els. Ernie gave Gary a 6 shot lead in a matchplay event and Gary played one of the rounds of his life for a 71 and a 2&1 win more importantly.

American Juli Inkster has rolled back the years to produce a brilliant 65 at the first round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Sunningdale.

The 48 Year old American produced an eagle on the par 4 ninth hole which helped towards the first round 65 total.

Annika Sorenstam who is playing in her final major before retiring is struggling to finish on a high note after her first round. Britains main hope Laura Davies is sitting well on 2 under on day one only a couple behind reigning champion and world number one Llorena Ochoa

American golfer Hunter Mahan has caused controversy after speaking out regarding the way the US ryder cup are treated when on duty.

26 Year Old Mahan was speaking in the to golf magazine in the US over the last couple days when this comment propelled him into the spotlight “From what I’ve heard the Ryder Cup isn’t fun. The fun is sucked right out of it. That’s the word I hear a lot from past players, At some point the players might say, ‘You know what - we’re not doing this anymore, because this is ridiculous”.

As you can see there may of been a hint in the comment from Hunter Mahan that a high profile player will be dropping out of the US team, which will leave a big hole as world number one Tiger Woods will already be missing from Valhalla after his injury.

For any golf fan who watches the major tournaments you will notice “the big hitters” are always near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon usually with a couple of consistent drivers in the mix as well.

The first shot of any round can play a major part on how the other 17 holes go, now that might sound like a bold statement but should you take the driver out on the first and it end up in the rough your head does go down and it can be a long five minutes looking for your ball so the first shot and more importantly the first decision is potentially the biggest, do you go with the driver on the first tee?

With the game as it is today and the driver becoming one of the most important clubs the big manufacturers Nike, Taylor Made, Callaway and Titleist are looking for the new ideas.

Nike brought out the Square driver which was hailed as a solution to all problems whether it be trouble with distance, consistency or accuracy. Other smaller manufacturers then followed in their footsteps where as Callaway and Taylor Made continued with their Big Bertha or Burner Driver Series set as it was a tried and tested method.

One thing is for sure though whether you have a square or standard driver, a £100 or £300 driver, a graphite or steel shaft they all have one thing in common and thats is they have all been been made with the same laser cutting technique and this will continue. The Laser Cutting machines used have been tested with extra forged marks or deeper cuts but this has never made much difference so the laser cutters will continue with the tried and tested method.

American Bruce Vaughan has won the Senior Open at Royal Troon after a play-off with fellow American John Cook. Vaughan took the Open Title after the first play-off hole where he calmly slotted in a 20 foot putt for the senior championship.

50-year old John Cook looked to have the Senior Open in his hands as after 10 holes on the final day he had a 3 shot lead. Cook’s round started to go badly wrong with a double bogey on the 11th and a nightmare bogey on the 18th hole where a par would of been enough for victory. Personally Cook’s choice of golf equipment was to blame on the final day he decided to take a putter out when he was 10 foot short of the green and subsequently bogeyed the hole and slipped back to six under along side Bruce Vaughan.

After four rounds in the championship Bruce Vaughan and John Cook finished on six under. A shot back on five under was Argentine Eduardo Romero with former ryder cup captain Bernhard Langer a further shot back on four under. Greg Norman who came so close in The Open at royal birkdale finished well to be on 2 under for the senior open along side American legend Tom Watson.

Every golfer has been left with that dilemma of whether to change there current golf clubs or not at some stage, but is there ever a right decision to be made?

The thought of new golf clubs can be a tempting position to be in especially with new technology out there like the new Callaway Big Bertha 2008 Irons which incorporate the latest “i-brids” technology.

Callaway have integrated the technology to aid with the long running problem of how to hit the low irons of 3 and 4 successfully. The I-brids have been designed with a low centre of gravity to enable golfers to get the ball into the air quicker and easier than ever before with low irons.

There is a hint of hybrid clubs within the i-brids not only just the name, as they can be very forgiving to all golfers and can give you the extra yards that you are looking for. Sounds simple but will it work? well I am sure it has tempted many of you into purchasing them already.

As well as the new golf clubs from Callaway, Taylor Made have developed the TP MB Smoke Irons these are a new twist on the old fashioned muscle back golf clubs and again are been placed on the market as forgiving gold clubs.

So now the new technology is tempting more and more golfers to change their golf clubs is it becoming the number one reason? or are people changing golf clubs because they have a new swing which doesnt match their current golf clubs, changing their golf clubs as they have had the old ones since they started or for a long period time? There is plenty of reasons why to change your golf clubs but with the technology developing as fast as it is in todays industry surely the number one reason for changing your golf clubs is because there is better golf clubs out there which could knock shots off your handicap.

After Norman rolled back the years to compete in the British Open he was invited into the USPGA event the next major of 2008.

Greg Norman has said himself that he was surprised how much he competed at the British Open and is no tempted into the USPGA. The USPGA could be a very different event and it is unlikely that an over-par total will be competing come Sunday afternoon.

Greg Norman has said he will be making the decision as to whether he will be at the USPGA in the next 24 hours.

After Padraig Harrington retained his British Open trophy at Royal Birkdale on Sunday Evening the question is being asked “is Padraig one of the greatest links golfers?”.

His performance over the four days at Royal Birkdale was simply brilliant especially the back 9 on Sunday. Going into the tournament Harrington hadn’t played the back 9 all week together due to his wrist injury yet still produced a fantastic display putting the cherry on the cake with an eagle 3 at the Par 5 17th.

Harrington has also had a few wins at other links courses over his career and surely now must be considered a quality links golfer.

In October of this year 2008 China will hold its first LPGA event. This follows in the footsteps of the mens tour as China has already held 6 mens golf events there.

The new event will take place in late October 24th October - 26th October at the Hainan West Coast Golf Club in Haikou.

The Grand China Air event will have a 63 strong field including Swede Annika Sorenstam. All with a $1.8 Million prize fund.

The wrist injury which Englands Luke Donald picked up at the US Open has failed to heel and he has pulled out of this weekends Scottish Open to rest his wrist further more and it is probably in preparation for The Open 2008 at Royal Birkdale.