The strong six man Australian team chosen to compete in the 2008 Asia-Pacific Senior Golf Championship in Malaysia in November is hoping to go one better after previous national teams finished second in the last two championships.

The Australian team includes Rick Oliver (NSW), Denis Dale (NSW), Ross Percy (VIC), Brian Sams (NSW), Nigel Goodall (WA) and Stefan Albinski (NSW).

Oliver and Dale are current winner and runner-up respectively of the recently completed Australian Senior Order of Merit and the rest of the team have been in winning form at various events throughout the year.

In his first year of eligibility for AUSOOM events (Aged 55+), Sydney’s Stefan Albinski has had a major impact and is the current Australian Senior Amateur Golf Championship winner.

Albinski also won the 2008 Queensland Senior Amateur Championship and the North Sydney Seniors Championship in June and recently tested his skills in trying conditions at the 2008 British Senior Open Amateur Championship.

The Asia Pacific Senior Golf Championship will be played over 54 holes at the Karambunai Golf Resort, Sabah, Malaysia from November 11-13, 2008.

Men’s Senior Match Play returns to Barwon Heads Golf Club

The Australian Men’s Senior Amateur Match Play Championship will return to the challenging Barwon Heads Golf Club for the 64 player match play event to be held from the 5 - 10 October 2008.

The top 64 ranked players on the Men’s Senior Order of Merit (who enter) will be drawn to play for the title of Australian Men’s Senior Amateur Match Play Champion.

Golf Australia says with the guarantee of six rounds (defeated players continue playing all week) of golf at the picturesque Barwon Heads layout and the relaxed feel of the seaside location, the Championship will be a highlight of the Australian Seniors golfing calendar.

Entries for this event close on Monday September 8. For details see the AUSOOM website or for a list of current entries and entry form see the Golf Australia listing here.

State Senior Golf Championships

Also coming up soon on the senior amateur golfing calendar is the 2008 South Australian Seniors Championship to be played at Murray Bridge Golf Club from October 22-24 and the 2008 Victorian Seniors Championship at Rosebud Golf Club from October 27-30.

(Australian Senior Golfer site Navigation Tip: To see all AUSOOM related stories click on the Events\AUSOOM category at the top of the page, or you can click on the AUSOOM “tag” below the headline in related stories. You can also use the Google Custom Search function in the sidebar to search this site.)

Billy McWilliam was one of Australia’s most famous golf coaches and when he passed away this week he left a legacy that had touched golfing careers going back to the likes of a young Greg Norman and stretched to more recently guiding Sarah Kemp on the path to LPGA success.

McWilliam was aged 87 when he lost his battle with cancer on Sunday. He will be long remembered for his efforts in encouraging young people to play golf.

McWilliam was the PGA club professional at Sydney’s Beverley Park Golf Club for 33 years and is credited with helping to launch the pro careers of not only Norman, but also David Graham, Bruce Devlin and Bruce Crampton.

McWilliam also coached well-known professionals Len Woodward, Len Thomas, Dennise Hutton and Australian Amateur Champion Kevin Donohoe.

“I’m always thinking like a winner which is what Mr Mac tells me to do all the time”

McWilliam was 86 last year when new protégé Sarah Kemp won her US LPGA card and she credited him for much of her success.

In early 2006 a newly turned professional Kemp said of her then 84 year old coach: “I didn’t know turning pro and winning tournaments could be so much fun. I am very positive, I’m always thinking like a winner which is what Mr Mac [McWilliam] tells me to do all the time.”

McWilliam was famous for encouraging children to play golf and was the first person to stage state and Australian school championships.

Although his playing career was brief, McWilliam was the winner of the 1940 NSW PGA Championship and he also set a world record in the 1947 Australian Open.

He shot a then world record nine under the card 65 in the first round of the Open at Royal Queensland Golf Club, which had a standard scratch par of 74.

In 1974, Greg Norman was thrilled when McWilliam agreed to employ him as a PGA Assistant at Beverley Park and wrote in his biography of his “unbounded delight” at being apprenticed under “one of Australia’s most famous golf instructors”.

“My day to day routine as an apprentice under Billy McWilliam was gruelling,” Norman wrote, saying his day started at 4am and ended after midnight.

“I was delighted that my first steps in professional golf were to be guided by such a man as Billy McWilliam,” Norman wrote in his biography. Their relationship was unfortunately cut short after a few months when Norman returned to Queensland because of dispute with state authorities over his eligibility to play in tournaments.

In June 2004, McWilliam was awarded a Medal (AOM) in the General Division of the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his services to golf. He was also a PGA of Australia Life Member.

The funeral service for McWilliam will be held at 11am on Friday August 29 in the South Chapel at Woronora Crematorium at Sutherland.

Many people have long suspected Tiger Woods could walk on water and now there is a video to “prove” it. The first look at a long-rumoured “Jesus Shot” has been posted on YouTube, showing Woods hitting a wedge from the middle of a water hazard. Problem is, he does break Rule 13-4 in the process.

The video is expected to be part of a new promotion for the EA Sports’ Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 Video game and comes about because of a glitch in previous editions allowing Woods, or at least his digital persona, to hit shots while walking on water.

In the new video, filmed at Woods’ Orlando, Florida compound, when his ball lands on a lily pad in a water hazard, Woods nonchalantly takes off his shoes and socks, grabs a wedge and walks across the surface of the water and hits the ball in the hole.

Keen eyed observers have already pointed out that when Woods dips his club into the water prior to his shot he clearly violates Rule 13-5.

According to the rule a player must not “touch the ground in the hazard or water in the water hazard with his hand or a club.”

Though he can violate the laws of physics by walking barefoot across the surface of a lake, breaking the laws of golf is a much more serious matter.

For violating Rule 13-5 he would incur a penalty of two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.

If Woods really can work miracles, he should do something about his knee.

Tony and Joe are playing a course that is wet and muddy.  Both have played their second shots to just short of the green.  Joe is away by a few centimetres.  Tony, thinking his ball will interfere with Joe’s play, marks, lifts and puts it in his pocket so he can hold an umbrella and his clubs.  After Joe plays, Tony goes to replace his ball and finds that Joe has left a divot where his ball marker had been.  Tony then drops his ball as close as possible to its original position, not nearer the hole, chips onto the putting green and two putts.  `What is Tony’s score for the hole?

a) 7

b) 8

c) 9

d) 10

Answer:

a).   Tony is not permitted to lift his ball because he thinks it might interfere with Joe’s play (Rule 22) so he incurs a penalty stroke for lifting his ball when it was not permitted (Rule 18-2a) but there is no additional penalty under Rule 22 so he incurs no penalty for putting the ball in his pocket.  But when he failed to replace the ball according to Rule 20-3b (after Joe altered Tony’s lie) he incurred the general penalty under Rule 18.  Therefore 5 strokes played plus 2 penalty strokes equals a score of  7.

NB If Joe had requested Tony to lift his ball because of interference (Rule 22-2) that would have been OK but Tony would then have been penalised for cleaning the ball when he put it in his pocket. (In that situation you lift and hold the ball between fore-finger and thumb until it is replaced).

This golf rules quiz item supplied by Cliff Nunn, a VGA state acredited rules official and proprietor of Golf Clubs Down Under.

By Ramsay McMaster Golf Physiotherapist

Sequencing Your Golf Warm Up to build up the correct `feel’ in your golf swing

1. The golf exercise drills will gradually build up the correct “feel” for golf performed in the correct sequence.

2. Maintain good breathing and tempo control throughout each golf exercise drill.

3. Maintain good upright posture throughout each exercise drill.

4. Use pistol grip on both hands with each exercise drill.

5. Repeat each exercise for between15-30 seconds 2-3 times depending on time and ability to maintain form.

• Stop if you experience sharp pain, dizziness or have an acute condition.

1.BUILDING UP YOUR `GOLF FEEL’ 

Using the Flexibility & Mobility Warm-up Drill

Combined Hip Trunk & Shoulder Stretch 

Get into the lunge position, feel stretch at right hip. Maintain an upright posture and tuck in your lower abdomen. Hold golf club above head with pistol grip. Bend trunk to left side, keeping head aligned on shoulders 

2. BUILDING UP YOUR `GOLF FEEL’

Using the Balance & Static Posture Warm-up drill

Standing upright in the `angel wings position’ against the wall, place a golf ball between the balls of your feet. Keep your nose and belly button in line with the ball. Tuck in your chin and look at the bottom of your lower eyelids. Keeping your arms by your side and forming a pistol grip in both hands, slowly lift the ball

up with your feet. Feel yourself getting taller as you pump up.

3. BUILDING UP YOUR `GOLF FEEL’

Using the Core Stability Golf Drill

Push

Slowly extend your arms and thrust the body in a slow pushing movement against an imaginary truck. Feel your shoulders, neck, abdominals, gluteals and legs all work together as if you are simulating an hydraulic pump.

4. BUILDING UP YOUR `GOLF FEEL’

Using Core Stability & Rotation

X-Factor Check

Keep yourself in an upright and stable posture. Place your elbows in by the side of our ribcage. Slowly rotate your trunk to the right maintaining your hips in a stable position to the front. Keep your elbows into your ribcage, feel the tension between your inside thigh and lower abdominals.

5. BUILDING UP YOUR `GOLF FEEL’

Using Core Stability, Rotation & Dynamic Posture

The Cross Over Golf Exercise Drill

Stand in an upright position and maintaining good spinal posture at all times, cross your right elbow to the top of your left knee. Then cross your left elbow on to your right knee. The movements should be smooth and the speed of the exercise gradually increased.

Ramsay McMaster is an industry leading golf specific physiotherapist who has worked with thousands of average golfers, with leading tour pros and coaches, with major golf organisations in Australia and around the world and is the founder of the Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic.

For further information, individual assessment or advice on programs email Ramsay at golfphysio@golfmed.net or visit golfmed.net

Ramsay McMaster and the Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic: Related Articles

Ramsay McMaster Golf Fitness

Australian Senior Golfer is teaming with Ramsay McMaster, one of the world’s leading authorities on golf and the body to publish a series of articles on golf fitness, particularly relating to older golfers.

Ramsay is a groundbreaking golf specific physiotherapist and has worked with thousands of average golfers, with leading tour pros and coaches, with major golf organisations in Australia and elsewhere and is the founder of the Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic.

Ramsay’s vast experience working not just with professional players on all world tours but with more than 5000 average weekend players of all ages makes his insights on the game and on golf and the body invaluable.

Ramsay has some simple advice and exercises that can not only help prevent injury and prolong golfing longevity but can also improve overall mobility, stability and posture and give you a better basis for a consistent golf swing and of continued game improvement.

Just by effectively warming up, staying ‘warm’ throughout your round and warming down correctly afterwards you stand a good chance of preventing injury and playing better, more consistent golf. 

For those who do have injuries or chronic conditions affecting their golf, there are also pointers to effective treatments, programs and individual assessments.

Just by effectively warming up, staying ‘warm’ throughout your round and warming down correctly afterwards you stand a good chance of preventing injury and playing better, more consistent golf

Ramsay, an A Grade golfer himself, was the first therapist to realise the need to develop a practice specifically to service and treat golfers.

He established the Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic in 1992 and has continued to build a talented multi-disciplinary team dedicated to the treatment and wellbeing of golfers of all ages and abilities.

The clinic provides a range of services including physiotherapists specifically trained to work with golfers, golf specific myotherapists, remedial massage therapists, orthotists “working with golf orthotics”, 3D swing analysis, golf specific exercise programs, Fitball classes for golfers, “Get fit for golf” lectures for golf teams and clubs, and a number of others.

There are also new and unique programs including the “Train like a Tour Player” program and “GUR: Golfers Under Repair”.

For individual advice and assessment visit http://www.golfmed.net/ or email Ramsey at golfphysio@golfmed.net

Ramsay consults to a number of organisations including The Australian Institute of Sport Golf Unit,  the PGA of Australia and the PGA ‘s of Britain, US, Ireland and New Zealand amongst others. 

Golf Fitness Articles: Ramsay McMaster and the Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic.

Your 5 Minute Golf Warm-Up 

More to come.

Irish golfer Padraig Harrington has come from nowhere to win the US PGA Championship and end Europe’s 78 year drought in the event.

Harrington rallied from three shots behind Sunday to close with a 4-under 66 at Oakland Hills to win his second major on the trot.

Harrington is only the fourth player to win the British Open and the PGA in the same year and he has won three of the last six majors.

The Irishman won the event by two shots from Spain’s Sergio Garcia and American Ben Curtis with Colombian Camilo Villegas and Swede Henrick Stenson finishing in a tie for fourth.

Aaron Baddeley was the best placed Australian, closing with a final round three over par to finish on six over for the tournament in 13th place, nine shots behind Harrington.

Baddeley played solidly in extremely tough conditions that saw just three players finish under par and he secured his best ever finish at the PGA Championships.

“I was close to being right there this week, just not quite, said Baddeley. “I just didn’t get off to the start I wanted for the final round which was disappointing.”

A dropped shot on the final hole saw him lose his grip on his first top ten finish in the event.

“I bogeyed the last hole to miss the top ten so I am disappointed with that.  I was thinking if I could at least sneak in to the top 10 it would be some sort of consolation prize,” he said.

Stuart Appleby finished one shot behind Baddeley in 15th place with a final round 72. He described the conditions as ‘brutal’ and despite a strong putting performance, last week’s Bridgestone Invitational runner up just couldn’t quite land the shots.

FINAL AUSTRALASIAN SCORES:

WINNER: PADRIAG HARRINGTON (Ireland) - 3, 277

 T13, Aaron Baddeley , +6, 71, 71, 71, 73, 286

T15, Stuart Appleby , +7, 76, 70, 69, 72, 287

T24, Mark Brown , +9, 77, 69, 74, 69, 289

T31, Robert Allenby , +11, 76, 72, 72, 71, 291

T31, Geoff Ogilvy , +11, 73, 74, 74, 70, 291

T39, Steve Elkington , +12, 71, 73, 73, 75, 292

T42, Michael Campbell , +13, 73, 71, 75, 74, 293

T42, John Senden , +13, 76, 72, 72, 73, 293

T68, Peter Lonard , +20, 74, 74, 74, 78, 300

71, Richard Green , +23, 71, 77, 79, 76, 303

 Missed Cut:

Brendan Jones , +9, 71, 78

Adam Scott , +10, 77, 73

Nick O’Hern , +10, 74, 76

Scott Strange , +11, 73, 78

Rod Pampling , +11, 70, 81

Mathew Goggin , +16, 81, 75

When you walk onto a golf course you are only allowed to have 14 clubs, but you can carry around as many demons as you want.

Top golf psychologist Dr Bob Rotella has worked with the likes of recent major winners Padraig Harrington and Trevor Immelman and says it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the mind in golf.

Rotella believes golf is as much about self confidence and trust as it is about physical competence.

Rotella believes golf is as much about self confidence and trust as it is about physical competence

Rotella has written a number of best selling golf books and has distilled much of his teaching into a new book, The Golfer’s Mind, which is intended as an easy reference guide golfers can return to again and again when they need to refresh themselves with advice on the mental game.

ASG will be publishing a series of articles based on The Golfer’s Mind: Play to Play Great.

Firstly, here is a list of ten principles, or what Rotella calls “process goals” to take with you on your next round of golf.

As Rotella says: “If you follow them, you’ll give yourself the best chance to find out how well you can play in that particular round.

The Golfer’s Mind 10 Mental Game Goals

1. I will trust myself and my swing on every shot. I don’t have absolute control of where the ball goes. I do have absolute control of whether I trust myself.
2. I will execute my pre-shot routine on every shot.
3. I will stay in the present moment. I won’t speculate in the middle of the round about what my score will be, or where I’ll stand in the tournament. I’ll stop worrying about not breaking 90, or 70. I will refrain from critiquing or analysing the shots I’ve taken. I will focus on each shot as it comes, and that will be the only shot I care about. When it’s over, I’ll see how I did.
4. I will refuse to allow anything that happens on the golf course today to bother me or upset me. I will accept bad breaks and mistakes, and be tough in adversity. I am going to be in a good mood and a great state of mind for the entire round today. I’ll enjoy playing.
5. I will trust my instincts and be decisive and committed.
6. I will get looser and freer and more confident as the round progresses, resisting the urge to get tighter, more careful, and doubtful.
7. I will love my wedge and my putter today.
8. I will let the ball go to my target on every shot. (And in other words firstly have a specific target to aim at)
9. I will maintain a constant ideal level of intensity on every shot.
10. I will play to play great, not play not to play poorly.

The Golfer’s Mind, Play to Play Great, by Dr Rob Rotella with Bob Cullen, is available in the Australian Senior Golfer Bookshop. Also check out Rotella’s other books including Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect, Putting Out of Your Mind and Your 15th Club: The Inner Secret to Great Golf.

See The Golfer’s Mind here for US $16.29 (Hardcover) plus postage or less for used.

Stuart Appleby was back in form at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at the weekend and is one of 16 Australasians lining up for the final major of the year, the US PGA Championship.

Appleby was just centimetres short of forcing a play off with eventual winner Vijay Singh but had to settle for a tie for second place with England’s Lee Westwood.

 The Australian’s birdie attempt at the 18th stopped achingly short but his strong finish on the last three holes has backed up his recent comments that he felt a form reversal was near.

“It’s the best tournament I’ve had this year,” Appleby said. “I think if I can keep playing like this, that’s sort of what I’ll keep doing. It’s just a matter of maintaining my swing and maintaining my thoughts mentally. I’m very sure good things will come from it.”

Vijay Singh holds the record for post 40 year old PGA Tour wins ahead of Sam Snead

For 45 year old Vijay Singh the win was his 20th since turning 40. Singh holds the record for post 40 PGA Tour wins with Sam Snead in second place with 17.

Speaking of age, Peter Lonard claimed he was feeling his after turning 41 on July 17.

Earlier in the tournament, Lonard was asked if he was feeling fit now.

“Yeah, I feel good, apart from being old. I’m ready to go,” he told the media.

Lonard managed to stall the march of time long enough to shoot a final round four under 66 that included four birdies and no bogeys.  The laconic Australian pocketed about $200,000 for his sixth placing and he will also line up for the PGA Championship.

US PGA Championship

THERE are 16 Australasian PGA Tour players teeing off in the US PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club starting Thursday. The line-up is: (AM tee times round one) Robert Allenby, Peter Lonard, Richard Green, Rod Pampling, Mark Brown, Aaron Baddeley, Geoff Ogilvy, Nick O’Hern (PM tee times round one) Mathew Goggin, Adam Scott, Brendan Jones, Michael Campbell, Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington, John Senden and Scott Strange.

The Foxtel pay TV network will cover the championship. Each round will be shown live for about six hours from 3am on Friday and Saturday with replays each afternoon and for eight hours on Sunday and Monday from 1am.

Greg Norman fourth in US Senior Open

Greg Norman has finished fourth at the 29th US Senior Open, his third consecutive top five finish since his inspiring British Open performance.

Norman carded an even par-70 in the final round at Colorado Springs.

Eduardo Romero won the tournament with a final round three-over 73 to become the second Argentine golfer to win the trophy. . He beat American Fred Funk (75) by four strokes and Norman by six. 

Funk, who began the day two strokes back, saw his bid to become the fifth straight come-from-behind winner disappear with a triple-bogey on the 13th hole.

The likelihood of Norman returning to confront Augusta National for the US Masters next year has confirmed even further with new bride Chris Evert expressing her interest.

“I’ve never been to the Masters before, but it would be great,” Evert said. “I’ve watched it every year on TV and it’s great. I’ve watched a lot of golf on TV lately, but never gotten to go to the Masters tournament.”

I have just sourced some new software through the Australian Senior Golfer Bookshop and was more than pleasantly surprised at the big savings involved.

I bought some well known Windows software that, including shipping, cost me just over half of the price available locally.

And as well as saving me almost $50, the software was delivered to my door from the US in just six days.

I knew the same big savings were available on the huge range of golf books available through the ASG Bookshop and the purchase spurred me to make some actual price comparisons. What I found confirmed the great prices available.

But first, the Australian Senior Golfer Bookshop is an offshoot of Amazon.com and all sales and delivery are handled through their system based in the US.

People scanning through the titles and the prices quoted often can’t believe they are factual, which is understandable when you see books that you would be paying over $40 dollars for in an Australian bookshop advertised for around $10. But it’s true.

Add to that the fact that there are usually second hand books in good as new condition available in most titles, sometimes for just a few dollars. From my experience these second hand books are in top condition and if there are any imperfections or wear and tear this is clearly stated.

There are two things to bear in mind when browsing the cheap golf books in the ASG shop. The initial price you will see is usually in US dollars, (at time of writing add about AUD 55 cents per US $10) and you also pay for postage and handling.

The usual shipping cost for books from the US to Australia is around $11.

…you could pay around $22 for a new golf book delivered to your door that would cost you around $45 in an Australian bookshop

So in this example you could pay around $21 for a new book delivered to your door as opposed to $45 in an Australian bookshop, or add around $4 to $8 extra for delivery from a local online store.

Cheap Software

In my own software example, I was after the well known antivirus software Windows OneCare. The price for a direct download from Microsoft is $99.95 and that’s about the best price you will see in Australian stores. (I did see OneCare advertised during a major retailer’s sale for around $90 a few months back).

Through the ASG Bookshop it was on sale for $19.99. Shipping and handling was $35.98 (much higher than for book postage for some reason) but still a total of just $55.97, and it was delivered to my door before 9am six days later. No contest as far as I’m concerned.

Book Price Comparison

The first two popular golf book titles I tried to compare I had to abandon because they just weren’t readily available on the Australian online stores.

I settled on Tiger Woods How I Play Golf.

From the ASG Bookshop, in Hardcover, this title is listed as AUD $14.98 plus $11 shipping and handling. Total = $25.98

Angus & Robertson

Same title in Hardcover was $62.99 plus $3.50 delivery (site says it “Usually ships in 10 days”.) Total = $66.49

Collins

Same title, in Paperback, $45 plus $6.95, ships in 10 to 15 days. Total = $51.95

Dymocks

Same title, again in paperback, $45, postage to Sydney Metro area $6.50, $7.95 elsewhere in Australia.

Total = $51.50

Booktopia

Paperback edition $40.50 plus $6.50 postage. (Title “needs to be ordered from overseas supplier and can take up to 10 days”).

Total = $47

In my local shopping centre Angus & Robertson the Tiger Woods How I Play Golf in paperback was $45.

So the same hardback edition best price found available locally was a whopping $40.51 extra. Even most paperback editions found were still around twice the price.

That’s why it is well worth checking out the Australian Senior Golfer Bookshop and seeing for yourself.

There is the added benefit over a physical bookshop that you not only get a full product description, but there are also often editorial book reviews as well as customer reviews.