golfweloveit

The BBC will be showing the Solheim Cup for the first time in September. A one-hour highlights programme will be broadcast from the tournament venue and shown on BBC Two or BBC Four at the end of each day’s play, and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

The Solheim Cup sees Europe take on the USA in a biennial team tournament and is the female equivalent of the men’s Ryder Cup.

The 2019 showpiece runs from 13-15 September at Gleneagles in Scotland.

Europe will be aiming to secure their first win since 2013 with the US team holding a 10-5 advantage since the event’s inception in 1990.

We are thrilled to add the Solheim Cup to an already stellar summer of women’s sport,” director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater, said. “We’ll be there to bring all of the key moments to the widest possible audience as the tournament unfolds.”

Chief executive of the Ladies European Tour, Mark Lichtenhein, added: “We’re delighted that the BBC will bring Europe’s team game to the whole of the UK for the first time.

“Team golf is always an exciting way to engage fans and this year’s Solheim Cup promises to be another fantastic showcase for our sport and players.

“We are confident that this highlights arrangement will introduce this excitement to a new audience which has yet to experience how unique the Solheim Cup is, not just in golf, but in women’s sport altogether.

I posted this to the golfweloveit Instagram account just now. Please read my plea about donating, not throwing away, taking to the tip, keeping in the garage or loft your old clubs when you upgrade or give up playing. I wish that club professionals would take up this within golf clubs and proactively encourage members to pay it forward to new golfers to give them the chance to play.

People often say “its too expensive” to play golf. We need to be putting our heads together to find solutions to this. The cost of equipment may put many people off from starting, but this is something that committed golfers could do – and do some good in the world. We need to save our sport by regenerating it and bringing many more new people in.

If you are a golfer someone at sometime helped you be the beneficiary of playing this wonderful game. Perhaps its time to repay that good firtune – even if you no longer love golf – and pay it forward to someone else.

Lets Pay it Forward for golf.

This week sees the first day to night tournament with the Moonlight Dubai Desert Classic.

This is Tara Iti Golf Club and it is a dream destination. New Zealand is poorly served by tournaments and golf broadcasters as a destination. I remember something at Gulf Harbour once and it looked spectacular, we need to give this lovely country more attention.

There have been a couple of embarassing wades into the water in professional golf before now. Jean Van De Velde crazy antics to lose the 1999 Open at Carnoustie and Henrik Stenson removing nearly all his clothes to wade in after a ball.

But this tops it all. Top Chinese golfer Li Haotong’s mother waded in after he broke his putter and threw it into a lake. To embarass and shame him!

Ive written on here about the surreal experience I once had with a golf pro who mucked around for the entire lesson. But I was also fortunate to be taught when I was young, long term, by a truly excellent teacher. He was a distinguished pro, a former Ryder Cup captain, and he kept things very simple.

One day we talked about Ben Hogan and he said if there’s only one instruction book that you ever read it should be Five Modern Fundamentals of Golf. He then showed me this famous picture by Anthony Ravielli, of the pane of glass.

This totally clicked with me, having this simple image and set up a swing plane for me which I found worked and repeated. The only thing I tend to do wrong in my back swing is to stick the elbow out. But Jack Nicklaus often had “flying elbow” which his coach Jack Grout had to watch and correct.

Having such a simple picture at each stage of the swing is effective because pictures can stop thoughts, and over thinking can be a curse of good golf.

Good work from top European Tour pro Andy Sullivan. Didn’t see his devoted ‘Sulli’s Army’ fans though where were they when shot 230 was played!

Frustrated after a third round 75 at the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II tournament in Morocco, Edoardo Molinari took to twitter to out the culprits as seen above. There are some surprises in this list – Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen’s fine for example, and others are no surprise, Bryson DeChambeau, a perenial culprit of slow play.

European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley pulled Molinari aside and Molinari has said he will not speak on the subject again until after it is discussed at the European Tour Tournament Committee meeting on May 7 at Hillside when the British Masters is played.

The Trophee Hassan II was won by in form Jorge Campillo, who has has 2 runner up finishes and a 3rd place this season. He putted very well for  2 stroke victory.