What a glorious autumn this little part of our world is enjoying in terms of female players from these shores triumphing on the LPGA tour.  Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh (top) is the latest to become an LPGA champion (and the first Scot since Catriona Matthew in 2011) winning  the TOTO Japan Classic last weekend.  She joins Englishwomen Charley Hull and Jodi Ewart Shadoff in giving us three winners on that tour in the space of the last four weeks.  That’s a first, so let’s enjoy it and celebrate these players, not forgetting Ireland’s Leona Maguire and her win earlier in the season.

Gemma is in her fifth season on the LPGA and prior to this tournament her best finish had been a fifth place.  She smiled her way round the golf course, seemingly impervious to the relentless pressure exerted by numerous, logo-bedecked Japanese players who kept hitting hybrids in from around 200 yards and holing the putts.  Gemma just smiled and followed suit and even the thundering sight of a rampant Linn Grant in her rear view mirror, a winner six times in the last fourteen months, didn’t shake her.

Prior to this tournament the Scot’s aim was to make the season-ending CME Championship which takes place next week and for which the top 60 players on the LPGA tour qualify.  That’s nicely checked off the list now and there are a few other experiences from the week in Japan that will stand Gemma in good stead.  Playing professionally in that country for the first time, she found herself leading an LPGA event for the first time in her career.  That was late in the third round during which, by the way, she was playing with Atthaya Thitikul, the 19-year old sensation from Thailand who is the current world No 1.  Unfazed, Gemma shot 65.

The Japanese fans just adore their golf and despite understandably pulling for the home players the respect afforded to all the competitors was something the players all mentioned in their post-round interviews.  Whatever the reason, it was apparent that the Scotswoman was very comfortable out there in the heat of battle and when the pressure was at its greatest she covered the closing eight holes in five under to put the finishing touches to a superb second 65.

I asked Lawrence Farmer, Gemma’s long-time coach, if this win was out of the blue and he told me that she’d been playing very well since the end of July, had been a very solid player for quite a while, so, no, not really.  Having coached major champions, Lawrence is someone whose opinion I value and he agreed with me when I said Gemma reminded me of Cristie Kerr, the nine-time American Solheim Cup player, who was the bane of many a European Solheim Cup team.

When the celebrations die down, the Solheim Cup will now undoubtedly be on Gemma’s radar and I’m quite sure that Europe’s Solheim Cup captain Suzanne Pettersen will have been paying very close attention, particularly to the Scot’s calmness under pressure.

We’re honing in at a rate of knots on January 2023…………which means a revision of the Rules of Golf.  For years and years nothing seemed to change but in the last decade and a half or so since I did the R&A rules exam quite a lot has changed.  And when you’ve had a year like me without dusting off the clubs at all, the new rules can quite easily pass you by.

I took note therefore when the sister forwarded me an article highlighting a couple of changes and clarifications coming into play in January.  Firstly, Rule 10.2b(4).  This states that a caddie must not “deliberately stand in a location on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the ball for any reason”.  There was always the implication that a player’s partner shouldn’t crowd the line of a player either in order to see what way his own putt might break if on a similar line.  This has now been made much more explicit and is worth remembering if you play a lot of foursomes or fourballs at your club.  It’s simply not allowed and the penalty in stroke play is two shots (Rule 22.6) and in match play loss of hole (Rule 22.8).  Do read the rule for a fuller explanation.

Now, perhaps some of you recognise the putter in the picture above?  The implement, I mean, not the person.  Maybe you even have one in the bag, or perhaps in the garage?  Yes, it’s the self-standing putter – that club which enables a player to set the blade down, walk behind the putter to check the aim and then return to take his stance happy in his alignment.  From January you may no longer use the putter to aid your alignment. This is completely consistent with the rule banning caddies from lining up players.  Quite rightly too.  Aiming is a massive part of the game and psychologically removing that doubt is an enormous help to the player, taking away a large part of the skill of the game.  NB however, the actual putter is not banned, only its use as an aid to lining up.  This is similar to the broom handle putter not being banned, rather there are restrictions on how it can be used.

Finally, before I fall into the trap of moaning about the rules and how they still seem as complicated as ever, the following, doing the rounds of Whittington Heath members, served as a great reminder to me of how golf really does teach you to take the good breaks with the bad and just get on with things, no matter how difficult.

Now, any complaints about your current circumstances?….

It’s that time of year, isn’t it, when you start readying yourself for winter by checking off all the maintenance jobs.  The chimney sweep’s already been and done his thing and this week the man came to service the boiler, rather confusingly bedecked in shirt sleeves and a woolly hat.  They do say, however, that we are about to leave this unseasonably mild weather behind us and experience a drop in temperature as we move further into November.  Oh dear.

Across the other side of the world, however, temperatures were very pleasant for the players at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship but they had to contend with swirling, gusting winds that played havoc with golf swings and putting strokes and, of course, hearts and minds.

The man who outlasted them all was Ireland’s Seamus Power (top pic) who knows a thing or two about playing in breezy conditions.  He needed all his experience and knowledge of the course to best Ben Griffin, a North Carolinian in his rookie year on the PGA Tour, who held a two-shot lead with seven to play.  The man from West Waterford was equal to the task, however, and squeaked home by a shot, recording 28 birdies (a new tournament record) for the four rounds.  This, his second PGA Tour win, shoots him up the world rankings to 32nd, pretty much assuring him of a spot in the first three majors next year and he also gains an exemption for the tour through to the end of 2025.

The icing on the cake, though, is a fast start in his quest for a place on Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team next autumn in Rome.  I’m excitedly contemplating the idea there might be three Irishmen on the team (that’s including Rory and Shane-O), something that hasn’t happened since 2006 and the heyday of Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.

That was arguably the most emotional match I’ve ever been at, taking place as it did at the K Club in Ireland, a mere six weeks after Clarke’s wife Heather had died from breast cancer.  Talk about thousands of spectators combining to carry Darren in his grief through a difficult week – it was quite something to be part of and truly unforgettable.  Darren defeated the current American captain Zach Johnson in the singles on the 16th green, at which point the grandstands rose as one to serenade the Ulsterman with “The Fields of Athenry”.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house and I remember thinking at the time how classy the US rookie Johnson was. The last 16 years have only reinforced that opinion.

Lowering my sights ever so slightly from the prospect of Ryder Cup golf, I can report that I have now officially set foot on a golf course – for the first time in a year.  No, not playing yet but walking round seven holes and spectating at Whittington Heath’s Friday Frolics.  The sister was drawn with Jayne Fletcher and June Organer and so I was afforded my first look at the new holes at this Staffordshire gem.

The first things to strike me were the panoramic views, the feeling of space and how quickly the course and the greens in particular were bedding in.  The surfaces were true, and fast, and looked a treat to putt on.  The bunkers were beautifully built and difficult to escape from – in fact, I think I’d take a couple of them out altogether.  I was always a fan of giving a player options but having a route allowing you to run (or scuttle) the ball onto the green doesn’t seem too popular these days.  I think sometimes designers forget their duty is to create a course that challenges and is fair to the entire membership – not just the best players.

The new clubhouse is impressive, to say the least and has a commanding view of the aforementioned new holes.  It is the polar opposite to the old, quirky, slightly ramshackle (and reputedly haunted) building used by the club for more than a century [not sure it was that long – ed] but there is one thing that hasn’t changed one iota – and that is the warmth of the welcome and obvious enthusiasm for the game.  That is always the essence and heart of a club and so much more important than fancy buildings, newly-designed holes and copious planting.

My day was made complete by bumping into Andrew Clark, one of the members, who used to work as a tournament director on the women’s tour in the 1990s.  We hadn’t seen each other for around thirty years but the time just melted away and we had a great catch-up.  That’s golf for you, though.

Finally, well done to our Women’s PGA Cup team for finishing third out in New Mexico last week.  Apparently the teams battled some very low temperatures, so it seems the girls were getting an early taste of what’s in store here for us.

Better go and root out the hand warmers.

It was a happy day last Sunday for this blogger when Rory McIlroy put the finishing touches to his fourth victory in the last twelve months and regained the No 1 world ranking from Scottie Scheffler, who had held top spot since the Masters or thereabouts.

Rory was the defending champion at The CJ Cup in South Carolina and a blistering four-birdie blitz in the final nine holes afforded him the luxury of finishing with a couple of bogeys and still lifting top prize.  All was well in my world until the American broadcasters put up the graphic below which resulted in a very nice drop of Rioja going down the wrong way and in the ruination of my favourite white tee shirt.

USA?  USA?  Is there something Rory hasn’t told us in this oh-so-strange year in the golfing world?  Yes, I know he lives in America and yes, he has married an American and I suppose his daughter would be able to select just whom she might represent in the Solheim Cup twenty years hence, but – Rory McIlroy, USA???  This was even more disturbing than the news that Boris was cutting short his beach holiday and I was in a fever of anxiety until the final leaderboard was shown with the correct nationality and I was reassured that Rory would, indeed, be representing this side of the pond again come Rome and next September’s Ryder Cup.

You can understand why we won’t give Rory up too easily.  He is the only golfer from the Emerald Isle, male or female, to reach No 1 in the world and he has done it now for the ninth time in his career.  That was his 23rd win on the PGA Tour, the toughest tour in the world, and his sixth straight season with at least one win stateside.

This time last year he was down in 14th/15th place in the rankings and a bit of a lost soul with his game.  Granted it has been another major-less year, which hurts, but it has also been one of staggering consistency, all the while shouldering the responsibility of being the voice of the PGA Tour players in the whole LIV Golf scenario.

Rory’s ability to compartmentalise and “play with joy” again has been amazing and his transparency and willingness to let us share his ups and downs, and thinking, make him one of the best interviews in sport.  Too many players bat the questions back with dull, unimaginative answers which makes for turgid viewing.  I accept that many post-round interviews are very same-y and the questions uninspiring, but it’s part of a player’s job to engage and provide insight and entertainment.  Laura Davies was particularly good at this but, to this day, too many trot out the same ole answers time and again.  Take a leaf out of the books of Davies and McIlroy, please.

While Rory relaxes this week, his goal having been achieved, there are six women from these shores in New Mexico chasing their own dreams.  This is the second iteration of the Women’s PGA Cup, which was played for the first time in 2019.  Mirroring  the men’s competition, this is for PGA members who are not exclusively members of a tour.  They may well have been full-time players at one point, like Alison Nicholas, this year’s captain’s pick but most are principally involved in coaching, retailing or another branch of the industry, working their playing schedule in around their other responsibilities.

The GB&I team is led this year by PGA Captain Sarah Bennett and comprises five players, three of whom played last time – namely, Suzanne Dickens, Alison Gray and Heather MacRae.  They are joined by Jessica Smart and captain Sarah’s pick, the redoubtable Ali Nicholas.

The team had a 22-hour journey to New Mexico but by all reports were enchanted by Twin Warriors Golf Club and course when they got there.  There are six teams of five players playing a round a day for three days.  Each day the best three scores count and the winners are the ones with the lowest cumulative score.  Six professional golfers’ associations are represented – GB&I, USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Sweden so there will undoubtedly be some stellar play, new friendships made and several renewed.  Despite the keen rivalry women’s golf will surely be the winner in this particular scenario.

Thanks to Sarah for her facebook posts and the pictures shown here – (that’s Twin Warriors golf course at the top, looking spectacular), although if I were her I’d be careful in that hot air balloon.  It always seems to be the case that the passengers are required to ditch one of their number and as she’s non-playing captain…………..!

Good luck guys – we’re rooting for you.

“Two, four, six, eight.  Who do we appreciate?”  Remember that school children’s rhyme from all those years ago, normally chanted on the side of a hockey or rugby pitch?  You would then belt out the name of your school as an answer.  Well, today I’m happy to shout out “Jodi Ewart Shadoff” lustily in response.

Ewart Shadoff (top), a 34-year old Englishwoman, who has plied her trade on the LPGA (Ladies’ Professional Golf Association) tour since 2011, recorded her first victory on said tour, the most demanding of all the women’s tours, last Sunday when she won the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in California.  It was her 246th tournament on the American circuit, so hats off to her for persistence and twelve years of high-level professional play.

Jodi has had a sneakily impressive career starting with two English amateur titles in her late teens and numerous representative honours for her country.  She went to college in New Mexico and never really returned to live in her homeland after that.  She settled in the States and married her husband Adam Shadoff, a well-known sportscaster, in 2013.  She has three Solheim Cup teams and one Olympics on her resume but there was always that one glaring omission on her list of achievements:  she didn’t have an LPGA title to her name.

That has now been well and truly rectified and I hope the celebrations are still going on.   What is the point of all that sustained effort required to scale your personal Everest if you don’t pause to admire and glory in the view for at least a little while?

I first came across Jodi as a youngster when she was just beginning to make her first England teams and I was coaching Wales.  You never really know who will “make it”, whatever that is.  The swing was sound, the physical skills were certainly there but, as I never tire of saying, it’s the stuff you can’t video that determines how successful or otherwise a player will be.  Her route to lifting that trophy last Sunday may have taken longer than she would have liked but she’s done it.  And I, for one, couldn’t be happier for her and her family.  Hopefully, the floodgates will now open.

Turning our eyes to this side of the Atlantic, the early days of this month saw the 36th playing of The Grand Match, a contest dreamed up by Peter Alliss and Bruce Critchley.  It comprises two teams of ten players – ten former Ryder Cup players versus ten former Walker Cup players and it has been played mostly (perhaps wholly) at wonderful Royal Cinque Ports golf club.

With Peter’s death at the end of 2021 it was felt that perhaps this might be the final match and Jackie, Peter’s widow, and the sponsors, Deloitte, wanted to do something special.  With that in mind they invited four women – two fomer Solheim Cup players and two Curtis Cup players – to take part in the pre-match proceedings.

Trish Johnson, an eight-time Solheim Cup player with 28 worldwide victories and Alison Nicholas, a six-time Solheim Cupper and two-time captain as well as two-time major champion (‘m counting her British title as a major, retrospectively, following the example of the men), made up half the complement of women.  The other half comprised Elaine Ratcliffe, a former English champion with two Curtis Cup appearances and two captaincies and Gillian Stewart, three-time Scottish champion, two-time Curtis Cup player and four-time winner on the Ladies European Tour.  Don’t take this the wrong way – but it was a real heavyweight selection!

Proceeds from the day went to purchasing a wheelchair for a disabled child, a cause very dear to Peter’s heart and such was the success of the involvement of the women there is hope that Deloitte will continue their sponsorship, perhaps modifying The Grand Match to include former Solheim and Curtis Cuppers.

Now, that would be a tremendous legacy, so fingers crossed.  By the way, the Walker Cuppers defeated the Ryder Cuppers in a keenly contested match.

For those of you who are Alliss fans, please put the 3rd November in your diaries as that is the date that Peter’s latest book will be published.  He was working on it when he died.  It’s entitled  “Peter Alliss:  Reflections on a Life Well Lived” and is published by Lennard Publishing.  Perhaps a good idea for Christmas presents?

And finally, (as they used to say on news bulletins when they were finishing some weighty reporting with a little more lighthearted topic), for the first time in decades I’ve been on holiday with dogs.  Two of them, in fact – Findlay and Lyra.  Beautiful Cornwall has been enhanced by their presence and below is a picture of them both.  After all, it’s high time the sainted Alice, who features so often in Patricia’s blogs, had a little competition, so Patricia, you give me one working lab, I raise you two Gordon setters.