Tucked away beyond the fringes of the Old Course, under a canvas cover that normally shelters a village cake-baking competition from the summer sun, the Golf Foundation created an unlikely hot oven of Tour-level competition.
Playing with the short, plastic Tri-Golf clubs with over-sized heads, and large sponge balls – entry-level kit designed for children from the age of five – the likes of Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen took turns to strike as many balls as they could at a seven-foot-wide Velcro dart board, over the course of 30 seconds, taking on local children while battling for their own place on the tent’s Tour leaderboard. The golf charity did well to keep the bookies at bay.
Poulter set the early mark with an excellent 92, which was too hot for Zach Johnson, Robert Karlsson and Oosthuizen, before Argentina’s Tano Goya became the first golfer to reach a century. But it was the final golfer of the challenge, American Bill Haas, who edged out Goya with a combination of accuracy and rapid re-loads, to claim top spot on 101.
“I can’t believe it!” said a jubilant Haas, 28, winner of the Bob Hope Classic earlier this year. “That was great fun, really enjoyed it.” Perhaps Haas peaked too soon though, like golfers who win the par-three competition before the Masters, as the American went on to shoot 73-77 in his Open debut to miss the cut.
“Tri-Golf is a great preparation for real golf,” says Mike Round, chief executive of the Golf Foundation, who also presented the Golf Foundation’s Spirit of Golf award to Ian Poulter at the Open. “This fun challenge helped to raise the profile of Golf Roots, our national programme which aims to reach one million children per year by 2013.”
“I certainly left some shots out there,” was the verdict of Oosthuizen after his score of 91 in the Swingzone, but he sang a different tune come Sunday.
Perfect prelude for Ping
Not only did Ping record a 1-2 finish at the Open with Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood both paying Ping clubs, but the South African winner was playing Ping’s brand new S56 irons and Tour-S Rustique wedges, ahead of their worldwide launch at the end of July. Oosthuizen had only switched to Ping’s new clubs at the US Open in June.
“Winning a major championship with new clubs is the ultimate in product validation,” says John Solheim, Ping chairman and CEO. “We’re very proud of Louis’ exceptional play at St Andrews. Not only did he dominate the scoreboard, but his statistics for the week were incomparable. From tee to green, his game was nearly flawless. To have him bring Ping its third major championship in just over three years is very exciting for our company.”
“I’m very thankful to be part of the Ping Tour staff,” says Oosthuizen, 27. “The new irons and wedges gave me the confidence to play some very difficult shots around St Andrews. I was also able to drive my ball long and straight. My entire game was under control this week and I attribute a lot of that to my Ping equipment.”
In the champion’s bag
Driver: Ping Rapture V2 (9°); True Temper Project X X6B7 shaft
Fairway woods: Nike SQ Sumo 3-wood (13°) & 5-wood (19°); True Temper Project X X6B7 shafts
Irons: Ping S56 (3-9); True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts
Wedges: Ping Tour S Rustique (47°, 54° & 60°); True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts
Putter: Ping Redwood Anser
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Shoes: FootJoy Icon
Glove: FootJoy SciFlex
