thelastword Home Sengs MULLIGAN Golf’s Man in the Rough


Happy New Year to one and all! And the countdown to the 2014


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Ryder Cup at Gleneagles has well and truly begun. As things stand at the moment, 12 of


the top 22 golfers come from the USA, and only 7 from Europe with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson the highest ranked European at World number three. The bookies currently have Europe as narrow favourites, but a lot can happen between now and Friday morning on 26 September when the first foursome make their way to the first tee. European captain Paul McGinley will be the first Irishman to captain the Ryder Cup side, and an encouraging stat is that McGinley has never lost in the Ryder Cup, either as a player or as an assistant. It’s good to see that Rory McIIroy has begun the New Year in a bullish mood. Hard on the heels of news of his engagement to Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, comes his pronouncement that he aims to make up for a disappointing 2013 by winning two majors this year. “I feel that my game is really coming back. I didn't have the greatest of seasons in 2013 but I feel like I'll definitely make up for that in 2014,” said the popular Irishman. A recent survey undertaken by Sky Sports News has highlighted that declining memberships and slow play are the major concerns for golf clubs up and down the country. A staggering 94% of the 254 clubs surveyed expressed the view that it is taking far too long for their members to complete 18 holes, with 91% of respondents laying the blame on the


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professional golfer as five hour rounds are becoming quite commonplace on the European and PGA Tours. With regard to declining memberships, 70% of those surveyed reported a fall in membership income over the past 5 years with 81% revealing that their predominant membership demographic is the over 50’s. However, with the over 50’s likely to


have more disposable income available to them than the younger age groups, it would have been interesting had the survey provided feedback on club shop revenues over the same period. This is the time of year when


New Year resolutions are duly made and then promptly broken a few days later. One resolution which many golf


fans will hope remains unbroken is that made by American Brandt Snedeker whose has resolved ‘to remain injury free’. In his seven years on tour, the


unlucky Snedeker has had surgery on both hips to correct a degenerative problem, missed the 2012 US Open with a rib injury and two months ago took a tumble whilst on a Segway scooter and sustained a knee injury. “I was going down the last hole, seeing how fast I could get the Segway to go. I hit a sprinkler head, lost control a little bit and jumped off. I landed on my knee and my knee popped,” said Snedeker, America’s answer to Frank Spencer!


Happy Hacking!


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