Latest Great Golf Articles

It’s Carnoustie’s turn to host the oldest Major of them all. Armed with a pioneering spirit and a sense of adventure, Mark Alexander looks at this year’s Open venue and what lies beyond... The advantage of taking turns is that everyone gets a chance to shine; everyone gets their moment in the sun. There’s a fairness to that idea which provides opportunity and parity. It is a model of inclusion that all too rarely is deployed in our busy world. In golfing terms, The Open rota provides an orderly schedule that shifts the circus of the world’s oldest Major - and the attention of the world’s media - around a series of coastal locations that might otherwise remain detached. Carnoustie is one such venue that periodically appears on our radars seeping into collective consciousness with a seductive mix of nostalgia and pure sporting joy. And with good reason. For many, Carnoustie is the ultimate links experience and the sternest test on The Open rota. Given its clever layout, inviting...

With over 25 years on the European Tour and a life-long love for the game, Robert Karlsson knows his golf. David Singh catches up with the man at the 2018 BMW Championship… Robert Karlsson hails from Sweden, where his father was a greenskeeper at the local golf club, thus exposing Karlsson junior to golf from an early age. Turning professional in 1989, Karlsson qualified for membership of the European Tour in 1990. One of the highlights of his career so far came in 2008 when he won the European Order of Merit, he has also finished in the top 20 seven times throughout his career. In addition, Karlsson has won another 11 events on tour. We meet up with the Swedish legend.   So Robert, you travel the world, stuck on a plane for hours on end, what do you do to relax and keep yourself sane? “I listen to books – any that I think that I can learn from. I like books that are going to help me evolve as a person and also as a player.” When you arrive at a place, are you a stay-in-...

This country offers much more than delicious food and incredible landscapes. Vietnam is an Exciting golf destination, promising a first-rate experience as it evolves from its war-stricken past. Mike Bridge is excited to get a new stamp in his passport… I have been very fortunate over the years to travel to most major countries, so it was exciting to be travelling to Vietnam, a new destination for me and to grab another stamp in my passport. Flying into Ho Chi Min City (HCMC), formerly known as Saigon, and you soon begin to realise how the pace of travel here has moved on, and now domestic flights are the way to get around the country. For a country of only 125,622 square miles, it is amazing to think Vietnam has 46 airports! The country mainly relies on its agriculture including rice, coffee, rubber, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas; poultry; fish, seafood for its main exports. However, the government here unlike their Chinese neighbours, have r...

Perhaps not on the top of your list of golfing countries, the Philippines is still for many an exciting destination. So my friends and I decided to escape the craziness of Thailand’s Songran Festival for a new adventure... This was my first trip to the Philippines, which meant a new stamp in the passport (yay!). We flew to Manila to check out the city plus the golf in the capital, before heading up to Clark and Angeles City, around two hour’s drive north of the capital.      From December to May, the climate is generally dry, but it can get dense and humid during the summer months from March to May, when average temperatures reach as high as 35°c. Avoid the months of July to November as they can be drenching wet due to the serial typhoons. We went after Easter in mid April and the weather was fine. IN GREAT SHAPE.  Golf in this region is in pretty good shape, with many of the top names including the likes of Palmer, Faldo, Langer, Dye, Nicklaus and Robert T...

Think Colorado, think great skiing and stunning views. Great golf doesn’t always come to mind in mountainous terrain and yet Judd Spicer finds there is much to love about golfing in the Rockies… OUR GOLF CLUBS CLINKING in the deep recesses of the Mercedes Sprinter Van, the vessel climbs westward from the Mile High city of Denver, Colorado.     Gently weaving away from the airport, along the I-70, passing the towns of Golden, Idaho Springs and Gypsum, the shuttle ascends another 2,500-feet over the course of two hours until the bounty of Vail debuts beyond the windshield like something from an IMAX vista.     Traditionally known as one of the world’s premier ski destinations, and rightly so, my gal and I would soon learn that Vail’s unique marriage of opulence and activity never ceases.     Come the late spring/early summer melt of powder and moguls, the destination’s five-month golf scene befits a canvass painted as an outdoor haven.   ...