Luke Donald update

Luke Donald has just finished his second round and his Carnoustie experience has already been filled with highs and lows. This golf course is an unrelenting test Looking as if he was about to mount a serious challenge, he came unstuck at the 6th ? Hogan?s Alley. With out of bounds running tight on the left hand side, it?s a tough challenge that eventually cost Luke an eight.

I caught up with England?s highest ranked player as he battled through the last few holes desperately trying to cling onto his four over par score and make the cut. This is one of the toughest scenarios a golfer can face so I thought it would be interesting to see how Luke coped in the flesh. With his wife hiding in the crowd, he stood on the final tee suspecting that anything worse than a par would spell disaster. The 18th is not the hole to have to make par on. The burn runs in and around the fairway while out of bounds lurks dangerously to the left of the green. At 499 yards it?s as much a test of mental strength as physical power. Gladly, Luke held his nerve firing a drive down the middle before finding the greens with a perfect 3-wood.

In July 2023, Neil became just the 9th editor in Golf Monthly's 112-year history. Originally working with the best coaches in the UK to produce instruction content, he went on to become a feature writer interviewing many of the biggest names in the game including Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Rory McIlroy and Arnold Palmer.

A 5-handicap golfer, Neil is a club member who takes a keen interest in the health of the game at grassroots level. You’ll often now find him writing about club-related issues such as WHS, membership retention and how best to bridge the gap between the range and the course.