News

Playing Away – Day Two

Published

19 years ago

Jul 30, 2007

The day dawned on 4 seedy looking individuals desperately practising on the putting green, trying to figure out how to hit a golf ball when there appears to be two of them and neither is keeping still.

Our planned quiet night had turned into a long night of eating too much, drinking too much and making fun of each others hair or lack thereof. Waking up bleary eyed we tramped down to the worlds most expensive breakfast (what is it with hotels? What they give you with cheap beer they more than take back with the ludicrously priced breakfasts that you then need to keep the beer down the morning after) before gathering our things and shuffling off to the practise green. With dew still on the ground and aching heads we were so wrapped up in practise that we forgot the time. Only when someone glanced at their watch did we realise that we were due on the tee did we grab our bags and hightail it.We reached the first tee with only a minute to spare, where we were greeted by the unimpressed starter and the 2 foursomes that would be following us. Now you’ll excuse me for saying that turning up late having run several hundreds yards with a full golf bag and feeling hung-over is not the best way to prepare for any first tee. Let alone the first tee of a top quality course in front of a knowing audience, all of whom are secretly hoping that you make a tit of yourself for their amusement.

I was just about to ask the others if it was a good idea for me to go first as I hadn’t bothered to do any stretching or even take any warm-up swings when I was shoved forward onto the tee by 4 pairs of hands (the starter must have seen this sort of thing before and decided to join in the fun) as the sacrificial lamb.

Going off first in the group on the first tee is never my favourite thing to do, especially in front of an audience, especially on a course I’ve never played before and especially when I have the starter waving his hands at me to hurry up and my friends waving their hands at me in a way that I would like to think was wishing me well but in all accuracy was wishing me to screw up as much as humanly possible.

The first hole at Penina is an absolute beauty. Four hundred and twenty seven yards of a dog-leg left, you tee off from a highly elevated tee right next to the hotel onto a tight fairway with OB on the left, thick trees down the right and a couple of bunkers in the landing zone to catch any drives that are almost, but not quite, good enough.

Curiously I could see none of this. All I could see was the apparently tiny head of my 3 wood, a white ball bearing on the tee and a gun barrel narrow fairway. In the tradition of hackers everywhere, I prayed to whatever golfing gods there are – ‘Please, please let me get it on the fairway’. I made a couple of shaky practise swings. I gripped my club, closed my eyes, remembered myself and opened them again and made my swing. By some fluke and some deft manipulation of my hands when I realised that I was more likely to hit the hotel rather than the fairway, I caught it flush and it flew sweetly down the middle. It was even good enough to rouse a smattering of applause and some appreciative nods from the waiting foursomes as it got a kick away from the bunkers and stopped in what I can modestly describe as position A.

Ha, this lamb had kicked back! My so called friends were now the hunted and not the hunters. The glee in their eyes at the prospect of me having to tee of first was gone. What they had forgotten was that while it’s tough being the first off, that it’s nothing compared to being the last off when everyone else has hit great shots. Now the question was – who would be the first to crack?

Alex strolled up, and befitting a man who lands tin cans full of hundreds of human beings every week, stroked a drive down the middle as it was nothing (although he later admitted that he had been, in his words ‘cacking’ his pants’). He doffed his imaginary pilots cap in the way I’m sure he does after every safe landing and sauntered back.

Homer strode onto the tee next. Annoyingly, he is one of those people who seems to be unaffected by imbibing excessive amount of beer/wine/spirits/all of the above. While everyone else is talking to God on the big white porcelain telephone, Homer is standing there bright eyed and bushy tailed (although when pushed he might admit to feeling a little tired) with a big grin on his face. So of all of us, Homer was the one in best shape, or more accurately in least bad shape. Having convinced himself that his massive hybrid shot of the day before was completely normal rather than the miracle that the rest of us knew it was, he thought that this was the time to repeat it. Showing that golf has a way with the golfer who is feeling cocky, he promptly shanked the ball 90 degrees from the intended direction.

It is interesting to know that when you are 6ft 5 and built like a brick outhouse, nobody makes fun of your bad shots. There was only a respectful silence from the gathered crowd as he re-tee’d, glared at the ball, watched it fall off the tee in terror, re-tee’d again and smashed it down the middle. The only people to make a noise was us, quietly sniggering. Myself and Alex because it could have so easy been us and Billy because it wasn’t him. Billy, free from the pressure to hit a good shot following Homer’s effort, hit a gentle fade into the edge of the short stuff and we were off.

Once we were away from the pressure cooker of the first tee, we could finally relax and enjoy ourselves. Playing on a stunning course in great condition in good weather is a fantastic experience, even more so when you are playing with your best friends. The laugher started as soon as we were out of earshot and continued all day.

There are something like 400,000 trees on the Penina courses and we spent more time wandering in them that we did on the immaculate fairways. On such an impressive course, you get much more of an idea of the demands made on professionals: the tight landing areas, the glass slick greens, the risk/reward options on reachable par 4’s and shorter par 5’s. It would have been difficult to pick any one hole as the best but special mention must be made of the par 3 13^th. At 204 yards from the back there is water all the way down the right hand side. Starting from the right of the tee box the water encroaches more the further you go towards the hole, curving right out into the middle of what would be the fairway before straightening to meet the centre front of the green. That day the flag was reasonable accessible, being on the left side of the green but I only can imagine how difficult a pin tucked away on the right side would be. Yours truly managed to thin a shot onto the left side of the green, Alex was just short, where he could easily chip up and make par, while Billy and Homer got wet. Billy’s shot was by far the best, skimming across the water like one of Barnes Wallis’ finest and almost making it to the far bank and the 14^th fairway before finally sinking.

A few more visits to other water hazards and many more visits to the trees later, we finally finished our round. Tired and happy (and especially happy that the walk from the 18^th green to the bar is all of 50 yards) where we could talk about our best shots, the putts that lipped out and how we nearly pulled of that miracle escape and more importantly, how we were going to play the course tomorrow, our final day at Penina.

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Club Junkie WITB, week 18: Driver still needs a grip!

Published

2 hours ago

May 27, 2026

Brian Knudson

Back again for week 18 with another new bag for this week’s league night! Last week I played well but lost so hoping to get back on the winning side of things. I am pretty excited to get this driver out on the course as I think it is a legit sleeper in the category. It is also time to break out some newly built irons from JP Golf that look awesome and hopefully play just as good! Here is what is in the bag this week.

Driver: PXG Lighting Tour-Mid (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6s

4-wood: Wilson Dynapwr Carbon (16.5 degrees @ 16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Hybrid: Callaway Apex Ti Super Hybrid (21 degrees @ 20)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Red 9x

Utility: Mizuno JPX One (22 degrees @ 23)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85s

Irons: JP Prime (5-PW)
Shafts: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F5

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (56-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-8 ADAPT)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Putter: Mizuno M.Craft City Osaka
Shaft: TPT Pulse 50

Ball: PXG Xtreme Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag

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Photos from the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge

Published

2 days ago

May 25, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The famed Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, is the scene this week for the Charles Schwab Challenge, where Ludvig Aberg enters the week as the tournament favorite.

Tour Photographer Greg Moore and our traveling equipment insider, Alistair Cameron, are both on site this week in the Lone Star State. Thus far, we’ve been treated to an in-hand look at TaylorMade’s new ZT Max putter, as well as a bounty of WITBs.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

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Tour Tech Rundown: A fair Wyndham blows

Published

3 days ago

May 25, 2026

Ronald Montesano

On this Memorial Day, and on days of commemoration all year long, all around the planet, we remember and thank those that made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and liberty. The tours are in a few weeks of non-major mode as May seeps into June. The LPGA is up next with its Women’s Open in early June, followed by the Men’s Open on Father’s Day. The Tour Champions runs three majors together in July, and before you know it, summer is on the wane and the majors are behind us.

We celebrate all professional outcomes on Tour Tech Rundown, and we appreciate each event for its intrinsic worth and value. A TPC Craig Ranch doesn’t have to be Aronimink, and let’s face it, after last week’s grueling PGA Championship set-up, it shouldn’t be. Imagine for a moment your most exhausting, energy-sapping day in the office or wherever. Should every week, every day, be identical? Of course not.

In a week when the ruling golf associations announced the two-fold implementation of rolled-back golf balls, focus is on the little white (in most cases) orb that we whack across the Elysian Fields. All current balls are legal for amateurs until 2030, and the pros will receive new spheres in January of 2028. For me, it means that our team shagbag will probably be OK to use until we lose all the balls, down the road. For the pros, given their levels of fitness and the science behind every aspect of golf technology, I expect their distances to change not one bit. Sorry, not sorry. That’s evolution.

On that note, enough with the Op-Ed section and on to the facts. Five winners on five tours gives us plenty of Tour and plenty of Tech to run down. Let’s take a crack at understanding what made the winning engines purr and roar this week. Thanks to GolfWRX, Inside Tour Golf, and Today’s Golfer for initial research efforts.

PGA Tour @ CJ Cup Byron Nelson: A fair Wyndham blows through Texas

Unlike the Charles Schwab Challenge, which has a forever home at Hogan’s Alley (Colonial Country Club) the Nelson has moved around the Dallas-Fort Worth area with regularity. TPC Craig Ranch was toughened up by Lanny Wadkins and company, in anticipation of this year’s tournament. Two things need to be stated: Tour Pros don’t like tough golf courses every week, and they expect a chance to show off their skills (aka birdie fests) with some regularity. No one likes missed shots, missed field goals, missed catches, except for the defensive specialists, and the average sports viewer is not a defensive specialist. We come to July 4th in anticipation of bigger, louder, brighter, better, and we like birdies and eagles from time to time.

This week in Dallasland, we had plenty of fireworks. We had 60s and 61s, and we had a 30-under par tally from our winner. Wyndham Clark blaxed through the inward nine at TPCCR in 28 strokes. He made up five shots on the day, on Si Woo Kim and company. Clark’s five birdies and one eagle over the closing half brought the week’s second 60 (Kim had the first) and a three-shot margin of victory.

Si Woo Kim appeared destined to claim the win, but a bogey at the eighth slowed his role. He came home in minus-three, a decent showing on most days. On Sunday, it meant that he gave four shots back over the final stretch, and that is never good. Kim placed second at 27-under par, while Scottie Scheffler came third at 25-deep. The tour moves down the interstate a bit, to Colonial this week.

Clark’s Collection

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D at 9 degrees with Project X Titan Black 70 TX Shaft
Metal: Ping G440 Max at 21 degreews with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 80 TX shaft
Irons: Titleist T200 4-5 with True Temper Dynamic Golf X-Seven shaft
Irons: Titleist T100 6-9 with True Temper Dynamic Golf X-Seven shaft
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 @ 46, 53, 56, 60 degrees with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shaft
Putter: Ping Scottsdale Tec Ally Blue Onset
Ball: Titleist ProV1x

DP World Tour @ Soudal Open: Sterne finish leads to triumph

In 2013, over a dozen years back, Richard Sterne won his sixth DP World Tour title. Thanks to a stellar week in Belgium, Sterne now has his seventh tour title, after a bit of a wait. The South African veteran golfer held off a half-dozen of the circuit’s finest and hungriest, to reach 18-under par and win at Rinkven International.

A United Nations sub-committee pursued Sterne to the final green. England, Spain, Sweden, France, Japan, and Denmark all sent representatives to the stretch run, but none could track down the 44-year old from Pretoria. Sterne started well (three birdies in five holes) and finished well (birdie-eagle near the end) on Sunday, and held the pack at distance. In truth, the two that gave the most away were countryment Zander Lombard (74) and MJ Daffue (71) who both closed with less than their best, finishing three shots back at minus-15. On to Austria and the Alpine Open in Kitzbuhel.

Sterne’s Collection

Driver: Ping G440 LST at 10 degrees with Titan Project X shaft
Metal: Ping G440 Max at 15 degrees with Titan Project X shaft
Metal: Ping G440 Max at 19 degrees with Titan Project X shaft
Metal: Ping G440 Max at 21 degrees with Titan Project X shaft
Irons: Srixon ZXiU 2-4 irons
Irons: TaylorMade P7MC 5-9 irons
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11Ball 46, 50, 54, 60 degrees
Putter: L.A.B. DF3i
Ball: Titleist ProV1x

Korn Ferry Tour @ Visit Knoxville Open: What a minute, Doc!

Doc Redman joined Ian Holt as double dippers in 2026, with a playoff win in Tennessee. Redman won in Chile during the tour’s tour of the Americas this winter, then repeated his fortune in Knoxville. Redman and Hunter Eichorn finished on 25-under par, two shots clear of third place. The pair played but one hole in overtime. Redman buried a monster putt for eagle at the par-five finisher, and Eichorn was unable to match.

Cooper Dossey held the 54-hole lead, but an outward, plus-one 37 opened the barn door to all the predators. Dossey dropped into a tie for third position with John Marshall Butler and Bryce Lewis. Eichorn was flawless on Sunday, posting ten birdies on his way to 61, Redman stumbled for bogey at the penultimate hole, before rebounding with birdie at the last, to enter the playoff. The tour shifts to Raleigh Country Club this week for the UNC Health Championship.

Redman’s Collection

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke at 8.5 degrees with Fujikura Ventus TR 6-X shaft
Metal: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond at 15 degrees w/ Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Metal: Ping G430 at 21 degrees with Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX shaft
Irons: Ping Blueprint S 4 and 5 with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft
Irons:Ping Blueprint T 6 – 9 with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 at 46, 50, 54 degrees w/ True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedge: Titleist Wedgeworks Proto at 58 degrees w/ True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron T 5.5
Ball: Titleist ProV1x

SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT ?

Doc Redman won the Visit Knoxville Open with a cliffhanger eagle on the first playoff hole! pic.twitter.com/6uAcP2hwMk

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 24, 2026

PGA Tour Americas @ Open de Ecuador: Earth’s waistline is good to Joey

Canada’s Joey Savoie thought that he only had to consider the USA’s Thomas Ponder, until Jack Lundin made a stretch run at the overnight leader. Savoie posted 69 on Sunday, featuring a clumsy birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie finish. Meanwhile, Lundin applied the icing to a delicious 64 cake, featuring a 32 on the closing nine. His only mistake was bogey at the tenth, but he made up for it with three birdies and an eagle over the final eight holes.

Savoie and Lundin finished one shot clear of Ponder, who followd a 71st-hole eagle with a 72nd-hole bogey, to miss the playoff by one. The top pair returned to the 18th hole twice with pars, before moving to the 10th hole, where Savoie had posted 3, and Lundin 5, in regulation. There, Savoie repeated his birdie with another tre, while Lundin was unable to match. The PGAT moves to Mexico in June, after a weeklong break.

Savoie’s Collection

Driver: TaylorMade Qi35 LS at 9 degrees
Metal: TaylorMade Qi35 Tour at 15 degrees
Hybrid: TaylorMade Qi35 Rescue
Irons: TaylorMade 7CB
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 4
Putter: TaylorMade Spider GTX Black
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x

PGA Tour Champions @ Trophy Hassan II: Give him a Hend, ladies and gentlemen

Many senior golfers travel to America to fulfill their post-PGA Tour dreams. Scott Hend journeyed to … Morocco? A bit disingenuous, I’ll admit. The PGA Tour Champions made a stop in Morocco, at the Royal Dar Es Salaam golf club. Long before the Indianaplis Motor Speedway conceived of the idea of having a golf course within the race course. RDES was built inside the Rabat royal palace. Nifty if you can afford it, I suppose!

Hend opened with 66, for a one-shot margin over Tommy Gainey, the second-most famous wearer of two gloves, after Aaron Rai’s PGA Championship win. Gainey followed with a second 67, to assume the lead by one over Hend. On Day three, Two-Gloves Gainey stumbled to a 75 and tie for second spot with Steven Alker. Hend was unflappable under pressure, posting 69 for the second-consecutive day, to earn an inaugural Champions Tour title.

Hend’s Collection

It’s safe to say that a 2020 WITB is not current, so we won’t list that Scott Hend equipment set for you. Rest assured that we will update this column if new information comes to our attention.

2 up with 3 to play ?

Scott Hend is looking to win for the first time on the PGA TOUR Champions at Trophy Hassan II.

? Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/avWjgpFXig

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 23, 2026