The best (and the rest) at Aussie Golfer in 2013
It’s been an eventful, memorable year in golf – especially for Australian golf fans. Here is some of the best (and the rest) golf news that grabbed our attention in 2013.
Adam Scott
It will be no surprise to hear our favourite moment of 2013 was Adam Scott’s historic Masters victory. A dream come true for him and for Australian sport fans. His victory made headlines across all Australian media outlets and saw a rise in golf participation across the country.
The win meant we had lots of Adam Scott stories and videos to keep up with; Scotty told us to go play golf and that he wears the green jacket almost every day, but we particularly loved Marc Leishman‘s fist pump on the 18th hole in the final round.
Adam Scott arrived back in Australia and attended function after function, signed autograph after autograph and posed with as many people as he could in the green jacket. He manged to squeeze in four golf tournaments in that time and walked away with trophies at the Australian PGA Championship, Australian Masters and World Cup of Golf. Phenomenal.
The funny and the quirky
As usual, the year was filled with odd and quirky moments. Nicolas Colsaerts‘ toilet ruling began the year, we the saw this drunk golfer in pink fail miserably, Graeme Swann lost his head on the golf course and Bubba Watson showed off his new hovercraft golf buggy.
A bizarre backspin contest on Japanese TV, Gary Player appeared nude in ESPN magazine, Sarah Kemp lost a bet at St.Andrews, this bloke hit an incredible golf shot off a fence and Bubba Watson shot 81 using just one golf club.
Of course it wouldn’t be a proper year without a crazy John Daly video too.
Aussie winners
Scotty dominated headlines but there were a few other memorable Australian victories.
Brett Rumford got on a roll on the European Tour and won back-to-back events in May. Karrie Webb won her 54th professional victory to remind everyone she is Australia’s best ever golfer and most recently, Jason Day notched up a win at the World Cup of Golf only a week after some of his family had been killed in a Philippines cyclone.
Golf rules, club golf and handicapping
The biggest announcement about the rules of golf came was the news that the anchoring technique would be banned from January 1, 2016.
But it was closely followed by Tiger Woods’ encounter with rules officials at The Masters that later led to this controversial article from Brandel Chamblee.
Baby cane toads swamped a Rockhampton golf course, An 83-year-old shot his age at Beverly Park, Port Pirie went to a synthetic green, Barnbougle rose up the world golf course rankings and arguments began in clubhouses across the country when Golf Australia Magazine launched their latest Australian course rankings.
Golf Australia announced a few more additions to the new golf handicapping system including a 5-stroke anchor, the slope system and the future introduction of a daily course rating.
Personally…
The success of the Aussie Golfer has led to some exciting opportunities. In 2013, I’ve continued the monthly column for Inside Golf magazine, begun writing for GolfLink, featured a piece at Golf Industry Central and was once again fortunate enough to be a part of the media at the Australian Open and The World Cup of Golf.
I played some amazing golf courses and events in 2013 including the Brett Ogle Invitational at Bonnie Doon, Royal Melbourne and was lucky enough to play 36 holes at Ellerston as part of the Golf Australia magazine course rankings panel.
A big thanks to everyone for reading, sharing, contributing and criticising Aussie Golfer. The site has come a long way in six years and I’ve had a ball doing it. Catch you next year…
Happy New Year!