Tabla de contenidos para September 2025 en Golf Digest

WE PHOTOGRAPHED KEEGANBradley for this issue’s cover at The Golf Club of New England in Stratham, New Hampshire, two weeks after his PGA Tour win in Hartford. The brawny 7,600-yard track is Bradley’s opposite homebase from Grove XXIII in Jupiter, Florida, and it felt like it. His mom, Kaye, brought his hat he’d forgotten, and his wife, Jillian, brought their son Cooper, age 5, to crash the set at the perfect moment. Bradley was thoughtful and engaging in his interview with Golf Digest senior writer Joel Beall, though he didn’t exactly love our idea to drape an American flag about his shoulders and billow it with an electric fan. To be fair, it was a corny idea and maybe “a bit much” for the U.S. captain ahead of this most anticipated…

A SUMMER AGO, MANY YEARS in the making, I finally stood on the sacred sod of St. Andrews’ opening teeing ground for the first time. As usual, there were a few scattered onlookers on hand to watch the jittery tee shot I had long dreamed of performing. Tourists and townspeople around the Auld Grey Toon seemed grateful for the rare and balmy 70-degree day. Even Sheena Willoughby, the gracious “hostess to the world” from the nearby Dunvegan Hotel, who knew a few of us in our group, made the short walk from her pub to take a photo. Like multitudes before me, St. Andrews had always been a bucketlist aspiration. It’s known as the Home of Golf, but I view it more as golf’s final resting place—a true heaven on…

IN HIS FIRST FULL SEASON on the PGA Tour, Michael Thorbjornsen (“Thor,” for short) is really bringing the hammer. Through late July, the 23-year-old former Stanford All-American ranked fifth on tour in driving distance (318.6 yards) and third in total driving. Much of Thorbjornsen’s power and consistency comes from a big, wide backswing turn and solid clubface control, which he achieves by having very “fast hands” on the downswing, says his father and swing coach, Ted Thorbjornsen. Michael’s hands separate quickly from his right shoulder as he transitions forward (above, fifth image), a trait he shares with his idol, Tiger Woods. Having fast hands also provides “insurance against him flipping the hands and clubhead through impact and hitting a hook,” says Ted, noting Michael’s lifetime use of a 10-finger or…

PLAYERS WHO STRUGGLE in greenside bunkers typically make one of two mistakes: 1) They chop down too steeply into the sand, and the digging action can’t generate enough power to get the ball out; 2) they either miss it entirely or barely skim the sand, and the ball gets bladed way long or into the lip. The key is to find the sweet spot between a swing that’s too steep or too shallow. If you need help in greenside sand, one of the all-time best bunker players, Luke Donald, has a key feel for you. Donald, who led the PGA Tour in sand saves in three separate seasons, says you should practice hitting bunker shots by focusing on what your wrists are doing. “Your wrists should feel like you’re moving…

Bunker Busters From greenside sand, most golfers have thoughts of urgency, even desperation: How do I get out of here? Yes, getting up and down is the goal, but up and out is a win for many of us. Enter “emergency wedges.” These one-trick ponies, such as Ping’s BunkR or Cleveland’s Smart Sole, are designed for that singular task, achieved through ample bounce and a clubface that tends to stay square. Consider this: There are PGA Tour players who save par out of the sand only a third of the time, and folks, you’re not on the PGA Tour. Give these a try.…

Q: I’VE ALWAYS HAD A SLICE, SO I WANT TO TRY A SLICE-FIGHTING DRIVER. ANY ADVICE? First off, getting help from your equipment is never a “last resort” solution. Two years ago, Nelly Korda (above, from 2023) was using TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 HD model. The HD stands for “high draw,” meaning it’s draw-biased. There are several ways to go about combating a slice, so let’s take it from the top. The most obvious option is a closed face angle, which can straighten ball flight and add some distance, too. “Where the face is pointed at impact relative to the swing path has a huge effect on the initial direction and spin axis tilt of the ball,” says Mike Yagley, former vice president of innovation and technology for Cobra Golf. “Helping the…

MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS held at public courses like Bethpage State Park’s Black Course (host of this month’s Ryder Cup), Torrey Pines’ South Course near San Diego and Harding Park in San Francisco provide an apples-to-apples connection with golfers not possible at traditional blueblood private clubs. Our affinity grows when we know that we can walk the same fairways as the pros, hit many of the same shots and see how the world’s greatest handle courses where we struggle to break 90 or 100. The good feelings these municipal Opens, PGAs and Ryder Cups provide are possible because large capital investments by local governments and golf’s governing bodies have transformed their slightly ragged, foot-worn designs into elite venues. It made us wonder what other “people’s” courses might be worthy of similar upgrades…

Cattle outnubmer people 11-to-1 in Sioux County, Iowa, but that’s not a knock on the golf culture. Sioux Center—a town of 8,500 humans near the border of South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota—has one of the largest junior golf programs in the country. There is an immaculate championship course that you can play for less than $50, a new nine-hole short course with template holes and a massive putting green like the Himalayas at St. Andrews. Several men’s and women’s leagues provide over 400 folks with a social and competitive outlet. Local high school teams regularly feed players to Dordt University, an NAIA Division II program, so they can compete right at home. Twenty years ago, the golf scene was more like what you’d expect given the population and remote location…

1 AIM SAFE, CURVE IT IN PREVIOUS SPREAD TOUR PROS seem to always miss in the right spots, but how? Most of the time they aim away from trouble and curve their shots toward the risky spots, being careful not to over-curve them. If the pin is tucked on the left side (previous spread), pros know they don’t want to miss left, on the short side, so they aim at the middle of the green and work the ball toward the hole. Amateurs often go directly at the pin, leading to short-sided misses. Make your target bigger by aiming at the safe side of the green. If you curve your shot toward the hole—great shot! If not, you’re still on the green. 2 BAD GREENSIDE LIE? LEAN TOWARD THE TARGET THE…

Golfers Gather ’Round Attendees at an exclusive Golf Digest Schools experience heard Dr. Bob Rotella’s insights into Rory McIlroy’s Masters triumph WHETHER YOU ARE THE golfer enthralled in your own improvement, an architecture aficionado set on playing great courses or the tour follower most interested in what the pros are doing, there was something for everyone on a crisp day at Hudson National Golf Club just north of New York City, where Golf Digest partnered with J.P. Morgan Wealth Management to host a full-day Golf Digest Schools experience for select advisors and clients. After breakfast, players received personalized instruction from Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher Terry Rowles and Hudson National director of golf Del Ponchock. Perched atop the banks of the Hudson River, the practice facility that we have ranked among the…

JUSTIN THOMAS GOT A LOT of undeserved criticism for the optics of cozying up to 2023 Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson in a year when Thomas didn’t have his best stuff. Everyone on tour knows what JT can do in team match play. There are players who need to kiss ass, but Thomas isn’t one of them. However, politicking for team events is a thing. When I say that, your mind might jump to Webb Simpson’s 4 a.m. text to Tom Watson that persuaded Watson to pick him just hours before the deadline. The truth is, the practice is more nuanced—and even dirtier. I can only speak for the American side, which I’ve been fortunate to play for. If a captain hosts a clinic or charity event, a player whose calendar…

NAMED FOR A 17-CENTURY English clergyman poet, but perhaps better remembered as the founder of the Walker Cup, George Herbert Walker led a colorful life. He bucked familial expectations at nearly every turn and found success by doggedly pursuing his own passions, many of which centered around sports. From boxing, football, auto racing, horse racing, polo and golf, G.H., known as “Bert,” was tough, a risk-taker with an unrelenting desire to succeed. Walker’s father, David Davis “D.D.” Walker, had been born into poverty, one of seven children in a farming family. Forced to seek a better life, the Walkers moved from Maryland to central Illinois to live with D.D.’s aunt and her husband, Judge David Davis, for whom young D.D. was named. Davis was a judge on the Eighth Circuit…

ON SATURDAY NIGHT at the Ryder Cup, the captains will have to make the most important decision of the week—who to play at the bottom of the singles draw. If the matches come down to the end, you do not necessarily want your best players in the final spots; you want clutch players for when the heavens shatter and the earth gives way beneath their feet. Tour pros might say otherwise, but in their hearts, they fear the bottom like the Normandy beaches on D-Day. Silence breaks like thunder in the team room when everybody’s head is bowed. Some might talk boldly, but “Oh, captain, my captain, take anyone, not me,” is what they’re thinking. At the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill, with the Europeans trailing 9 to 7,…

WHETHER YOU’RE NEW to the game or have been playing it for years, you’ve probably experienced the deflating feeling of hitting a great drive that splits the fairway, only to find your ball sitting in a hole created by someone else’s shot. Although a divot hole is not impossible to play out of, it’s still a frustrating situation. You did everything right, yet it feels like you’re being unjustly penalized. It’s at these moments when you might wonder why the Rules of Golf doesn’t allow you to take free relief. After all, Rule 16.3 says you can remove an embedded ball anywhere in the general area of the course without penalty. Is this all that different? Let’s have Craig Winter, senior director of rules of golf and amateur status for…

YOU MIGHT HAVE PURCHASED a hybrid to replace a longer iron on full-swing shots, but did you know it can be nearly as useful as a wedge around the greens? The mass of the clubhead makes it an effective tool for chipping in a number of common scenarios, provided you know how to use it. Here are the simple steps you need to get up and down with your hybrid. STEP ONE: GRIP DOWN, WAY DOWN • Hold the club with your dominant hand first • Position that hand all the way down to the shaft • Add your gloved hand, fitting the hands together • Use your putting grip if you like STEP TWO: COZY UP TO IT • Address the ball as you normally would for a chip • Now…

YOU MIGHT FIND THE LOOK of super-game-improvement (SGI) irons to be a bit clunky, even downright gargantuan, but their allure is as clear as the mythical fountain of youth. They can restore lost yards that time or eroding skills have taken away or provide a tangible boost for developing players. However, data from our Hot List testing shows that the players who likely need SGI irons the most might not get more distance from them. What they get is more important than that. During equipment-testing sessions, we use Rapsodo’s MLM2 Pro launch monitor to track every shot from our group of 32 player-testers. The testers are divided by skill level into three handicap groups, and only the higher handicappers hit SGI irons. To gauge how much of an advantage these…

The Black Course at Bethpage State Park in New York is known for long, unrelenting holes, but the par-5 fourth is pure strategy. Snaking uphill through the woods, it’s one of the more attractive and thought-provoking designs conceived by parks superintendent Joseph Burbeck, who lived on property and oversaw the Black’s construction when it opened in 1936, with the more famous architect A.W. Tillinghast lending consultation. The large, fingered bunkers bracketing the first and second landing areas and in front of the tabletop green force players to shape shots and make tactical attack decisions. Some of the most compelling early shots during this year’s Ryder Cup will be right here. For more, watch architecture editor Derek Duncan break down the fourth’s challenges, mysteries and history in our “The Hole at…” video…

An unmistakable frequency hums in Aiken, S.C., audible only to those smart enough to listen. You hear it in post-round dissections at a restaurant called the Feed Sack, where golfers resurrect impossible shots and mourn three-putts. It’s in the debates over course architecture that echo across Old Barnwell’s expansive fairways, and the stories that ricochet off ancient pines at the Tree Farm. At Aiken G.C., you’ll see players using calculators to tabulate the financial carnage they suffered or inflicted. This town’s vernacular is spoken fluently by anyone who understands that intelligence isn’t measured by school degrees or test scores but in devotion to the game. “You don’t get many sightseers down here,” says Jim McNair, the proprietor of Aiken G.C. “People are trying to have fun, relax, but they are…

THE PGA OF AMERICA IS hoping to break all sorts of attendance and viewership records with the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, but one shattered early was the ticket price. At $750 for a one-day pass, the tickets are the most expensive in Ryder Cup history. Initial reaction to the price—up 400 percent from the last time the event was played on U.S. soil—was harsh. Food and non-alcoholic drinks are included, but $750 to watch limited groups is steep. Still, all the tickets sold within 48 hours. How the PGA of America priced its tickets has precedent in financial markets. It did exactly what investment banks are paid handsomely to do for every initial public offering of stock or public issuance of bonds. They canvassed the market, and their research…

“If one player has a 20-foot putt for birdie and his partner has a six-footer for par, who putts first? If the 20-footer is downhill and fast, or otherwise difficult to lay stone dead to the hole, that’s the putt I want to see first. If the player runs the putt for birdie three feet past the hole, the team at least has two cracks at par. On the other hand, if the 20-footer is uphill with not much break, he might want his partner to get the six-footer in the hole so he can go for the birdie more aggressively. If the 20-footer is not especially fast nor difficult—go with your intuition. If the 20-footer were mine, I prefer to putt first—but that’s just me.” —JACK NICKLAUS ON MATCH-PLAY…

ONE MOVE A LOT OF golfers make to create power is using the upper body to start the downswing. The problem is, it causes the trail shoulder to shift outward, and the club goes with it, setting up an out-to-in path. The result often is a slice, but sometimes the player squares the face to that path and hits a pull. The pull feels very powerful because the upper body is going hard and the clubface is often delofted, which gives that great sensation of compressing the ball against the turf. When you look up, you’re surprised to see the ball tracking to the pull side. The best way to get rid of the pull—or a pull-slice if the face is a touch open relative to that pull path—is to…

FROM 125 YARDS, a 15-handicapper hits the green less than half of the time—in fact, 39.5 percent from 125 to 150 yards, according to game-tracking system Arccos Golf. Most of those misses are short, because golfers tend to overestimate how far they hit the ball. Even a decent shot is not just short of the hole, it’s short of the green! Here’s a formula that will help you hit more greens with your irons. Before selecting a club, determine the distance to the center of the green, then add eight yards. Why eight yards? Because 32 yards is a good estimate of average green depth, and we want to get you aiming for the back-third of the green to allow for a mis-hit. If you’re playing a course with particularly small…

IT’S EASY TO MAKE GOLF courses play hard. Almost any course—even your own—can present a tournament-worthy test for great players if you stretch the tee markers as far back as they can go, grow the rough deep, tuck the pins and dry out the greens. Of course, a setup like that is directed at defending par, effective for strokeplay championships where the winner is determined by the lowest total score. Match-play events—where holes are won and lost and the overall score of a player isn’t relevant—beckon a more nuanced kind of design. Match play is most compelling not when players are grinding out pars but when they’re pushed to their mental and emotional limits by unique hole setups and the strains of the match. Even shorter courses can provide exciting…

A quarter century ago, DuPont, Washington, was a place of little distinction beyond its ties to a nearby military base and history as a company town whose primary product was dynamite. It had fewer than 1,000 residents, and other than a small village area, there was little to see or do in DuPont. Longtime locals in the region zipped past its exit on Interstate 5 toward Tacoma/Seattle without a second thought. There was nothing exceptional about golf in DuPont either. The Army built its own course in the 1920s and the Air Force followed with another in the 1960s. The Joint Base Lewis-McChord is now one of the larger military installations in America. Not much figured to change, but in 2007, the Pacific Northwest Golf Association and Washington Golf saw…

Many of golf’s worldwide organizations have established working groups, think tanks and advisory councils charged with “growing the game,” but there’s no need for them in Cortland, N.Y., where the game is an essential thread in the fabric of the people and their town. While other places wrestle to make golf more accessible, more inclusive, take less time, not be so difficult and not cost so much, Cortland collectively (and literally) says, “Hold my beer,” and then waves you through to the first tee. Just another American town presumably laid waste by decades of lost manufacturing, you’d likely drive by Cortland. In doing so, you’d miss the rows of 19thcentury homes standing bravely along wide, leafy avenues and the freshly rebuilt downtown. Both reflect a kind of resilience that’s also…