There really is only one place to start on this week’s Blog and that’s with a look back to the Qatar Masters where Titleist Ambassador Robert Karlsson claimed a comeback victory. Since claiming the European Tour Order of Merit title in 2008 Robert has been unlucky with injury but, after battling a persistent eye problem for the majority of the 2009 season, he is now back to full fitness and back on form. This was evident last week in Qatar as the Swede birdied the 71st and 72nd hole for a bogey-free closing round of 65 (-7) to claim victory by a three-stroke margin. We would like to congratulate Robert on his tenth career European Tour victory; it’s great to see him back on top form after such a disrupted 2009 season and his return to the winner’s circle is a welcome site for all European golf fans as we head towards the Ryder Cup in September. As proved in 2008, a confident Karlsson is a hard man to beat and it would be no surprise to see him in contention this week at the Dubai Desert Classic. Grattis Robert!!!
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February 5th, 2010
Week two of the European Tour’s “desert swing” takes us Doha, the capital city of Qatar, for the 13th playing of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters. Those players that competed in last week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship will arrive this week to a very similar set of challenges with the Doha Golf Club offering the same style of desert golf. The course is certainly long at 7388 yards, par 72, but the length of the golf course should only trouble the players if the desert winds begin to blow. However, whether the conditions are benign or blustery the players will certainly need to guard against a watery grave with H2O coming into play on a third of the holes at Doha Golf Club.
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January 29th, 2010
The desert oasis that is the Abu Dhabi Golf Club welcomes the European Tour for the fifth playing of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. This event marks the start of the European Tour’s ‘Desert Swing’ a series of events which also sees the Tour visit Doha and Dubai over the coming weeks. This three-tournament swing has become more and more popular with the players over the years thanks to a combination of perfect weather, excellent golf courses and sizeable prize funds. For many, Abu Dhabi marks the start of the 2010 season and many of the world’s top players, including Pro V1 ball loyalists Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson and Titleist Ambassadors Rory McIlroy and Geoff Ogilvy are in the field. McIlroy is now undoubtedly one of golf’s hottest properties following a sensational 2009 season whilst Ogilvy, a new Titleist Ambassador for 2010, comes to Abu Dhabi having already claimed victory at the PGA Tour’s season opening SBS Championship.
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January 22nd, 2010
The final tournament of the European Tour’s South African swing brings us to Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club for the Joburg Open. The event is one of only three tournaments on the European Tour schedule which uses more than one course for the week’s play, with both the East and West course at Royal Joburg and Kensington being used for 36-holes a piece. Both courses offer up their fair share of challenges with a mixture of tree-lined and exposed holes. There is also plenty of H20 to be found thanks to a 2.5km stream that meanders through the complex and the eleven separate ponds that come into play across the two courses.
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January 15th, 2010
The European Tour visits many countries and many spectacular courses and this weeks venue just 50km northwest of Cape Town is up there with the best. Pearl Valley Golf Estates is set amongst some of SA finest vineyards and flanked by stunning mountain backdrops on every side. The course has a par of 72 and can be stretched to just short of 7500 yards.
Titleist Staffers in the field this week include Grégory Bourdy, Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, Soren Hansen, Martin Erlandsson, Mikko Ilonen and Paul Waring.
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December 18th, 2009
After barely a moment to catch our breath following a stunning climax to the 2009 season the Race is on again as the 2010 season kicks off in South Africa at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. And what a place for the 2010 Race to Dubai to begin!!!
Located on the edge of Kruger National Park, the magnificent par-72 layout at Leopard Creek Golf Club offers up one of the most spectacular settings on the European Tour schedule. The course is literally built on the banks of the park’s “Crocodile River” which, as the name suggests, is home to some of South Africa’s most infamous residents!! But the crocs are certainly not the most famous inhabitant of Leopard Creek Golf Club; that title would have to go to a certain hippopotamus that resides in a lake on the 16th hole and has become something of a celebrity. Our Tour team were suitably intrigued and took time out to see Harry the hippo during some down time this week. Check out the picture of Harry in this week’s slideshow.
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December 11th, 2009
Following last week’s European Tour season finale at the Dubai World Championship it’s time to look back at a season of achievement for Titleist on the European Tour. The iconic Titleist Pro V1 has once again proved itself as the ball of choice on the European Tour with 65% of players choosing a Titleist ball across the 2009 season. The Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x also entered the winners circle no fewer than 25 times throughout the course of the season, a figure which equates to 56% of all tournament victories on the European Tour.
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November 27th, 2009
The first port of call on the Blog this week is to take a quick look back to last week’s event in Hong Kong where Titleist Ambassador Gregory Bourdy edged out fellow Titleist player Rory McIlroy to take the UBS Hong Kong Open title. Gregory plays Titleist right through the bag and his victory comes shortly after a switch to the new Titleist MB irons. The win vaulted the likeable Frenchman into 47th on the Race to Dubai standings and into this week’s Dubai World Championship. Félicitations Gregory!!!
And it is the Dubai World Championship that is the focus of this week’s Blog. Quite simply; this is the big one!! Following a long season of intense European Tour competition the top 60 players have come together at Jumeirah Golf Estate in Dubai for their shot at a €7.5 million prize fund. For a select few, the event is also the final opportunity to take their shot at the Race to Dubai title and claim the Harry Vardon trophy award to Europe’s #1 golfer. Titleist is well represented among the four players still in contention with Ambassadors Rory McIlroy and Ross Fisher occupying 1st and 4th spots respectively going into the event. Englishman Lee Westwood is another player in contention who has Titleist on his side with the Pro V1 loyalist currently occupying 2nd place in the rankings.
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November 20th, 2009
In the build up to the season ending Dubai World Championship, the Titleist European Tour team had the privelege of spending some time at the Butch Harmon Golf Academy at Dubai Sport City. Butch Harmon, as most of you will know, is one of the top coaches in the game of golf and has a long-standing relationship with Titleist.
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The academy in Dubai is run by Claude Harmon III, son of Butch, who works with some of the leading players in world golf. The academy opened earlier this year and has already had plenty of vistors including the likes of Adam Scott, Lee Westwood and Chris Wood. The facility boasts magnificent short game areas, a pristine long game area, the latest in technological teaching aids and also a fitness and biomechanics studio. It really is a phenomenal set-up and it’s no surprise that some of the world’s best choose to practice at this facility. The academy is likely to become increasingly popular with players looking to work on their game during the off-season or during breaks from tournament play. On the day we visited the academy, Ladies European Tour player Marianne Skarpnord was taking advantage of the facilities and the glorious Dubai sunshine to work hard on her game.
The Titleist Team had the opportunity to take a tour of the facility and chat to Claude and his team about the work that they do. They have put together a world class facility where players of all abilities can come and work on their games. The set-up is state-of-the-art and, coupled with elite-level coaching, the Butch Harmon Golf Academy can rightly claim to be one of the very best facilities on the planet. For more information on the Butch Harmon Golf Academy please click here.
We would like to thank Claude and his team for making us so welcome and showing us around the academy.
November 17th, 2009
The European Tour enters its final event of the regular season before next week’s season ending Dubai World Championship as the Hong Kong Golf Club plays host to the UBS Hong Kong Open.12 months ago this same event saw Titleist Ambassador Rory McIlroy narrowly miss out on a maiden Tour victory in a dramatic playoff with Lin-Wen Tang. Few will forget Lin’s approach shot from the trees to the right of 18 that secured victory; it was arguably the shot of the year and definitely one of the best you’ll see in a pressure situation.
Rory is once again in the field this week and a year on from a narrow defeat will be looking to contend once again. Rory currently occupies second spot in the Race to Dubai and is in genuine contention the Harry Vardon Trophy awarded to the number one player. At just 20 years of age Rory would become the youngest player in the history of the European Tour to claim the Race to Dubai / Order of Merit title. For him to be in contention is a special feat but should he come through and take the inaugural Race to Dubai it would be a simply magnificent achievement. Whatever happens, there can be no doubt that Rory is a special talent who will contend for titles for many years to come.
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November 13th, 2009
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