The Duffmeister...

Hello Golfers, Congratulations to Jason Dufner on winning the 2013 USPGA Championship at the Oak Hill Country Club, his maiden major victory. He had to fight off one the most fierce competitors in the game, his fellow countryman Jim Furyk. Masters champion Adam Scott finished as the highest Australian, five shots behind Dufner in a tie for fifth after he shot a 70 containing five birdies and five bogeys. It has been a great year for Adam and we get to see him play in Australia later this year. Back in Vietnam The Asian Tour recently announced that Vietnam would again host a tournament in September this year with a $500,000 prize fund. The event and the country's top golfer expect it to boost Southeast Asia's hopes of competing when golf makes its *Olympic return in 2016.* Announcing details of the September 19-22 event, Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han hoped the Vietnam Masters would inspire many more golfers to follow in the footsteps of Michael Tran, the only Vietnamese player on the Tour. "The Asian Tour is celebrating our 10th season in 2013 and in our vision for the next 10 years, we hope to be well represented by players and host nations from all the major markets from across Asia, including Vietnam," Han said in a statement. The event will be played at the Sky Lake Resort and Golf Club, around 40 kilometres from Hanoi. With golf set for its Olympic return in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Tran felt the timing was perfect. Imagine a whole new generation of Vietnamese golfers out there on tour competing against the world's best. They need tournaments like this one to inspire new blood to take up the game. "The Vietnam Masters will provide the impetus for Asian and Vietnamese golfers to raise the level of their games and improve their positions on the Official World Golf Rankings, which will be used to determine the field for the Olympics," said the golfer still looking for his first win on the tour. Last week, the Asian Tour confirmed the $1.3 million Hong Kong Open, co-sanctioned by European Tour, would take place from Dec 5 at 8 at the Hong Kong Golf Club. Golf Traders 800+ Items on eBay Just a quick message to announce that the staff at Golf Traders HQ have been very busy behind the scenes lately, listing more quality new and used equipment onto our eBay store. We now have over 800 items listed on our eBay store. What's in the bag Name: Ken Duke Age: 44 Professional Wins: 5 Clubs: Taylor Made Driver: RBZ Stage 2 Fairway Wood: RBZ Stage 2 Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2 On June 23, 2013, in his 187th start and after three runner-up finishes in his career, Duke broke through to win his maiden event on the PGA Tour at the Travelers Championship. He beat Chris Stroud with a birdie on the second extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. When Duke was younger he was diagnosed with scoliosis and wore a back brace 23 hours a day. He had surgery two years later and had a 16-inch metal rod attached to his spine that still remains! Photo: Luke Birch. Hooked on golf Story by John Anderson: If any golfer knows her way around a golf course, it is Mildura’s Mabel Crouch. In her 39 years of playing the game, she has travelled to more than 170 different golf courses around Australia. Mabel started playing golf when she was 30 and was instantly challenged by the game she has come to love. “If you have a good round of golf, you think the course is beautiful; if you have a bad round, you think it’s lousy,” the 69-year-old quipped. “It’s hard to say really, you could go back the next day and have a good round." “I was working full-time and still couldn’t afford to buy golf clubs, join up and play – everything was so expensive back in the days when I started playing.­" “I nursed for 37 years and when I semi-retired, I had the time and resources to learn to play golf.” Mabel’s fascinating golf journey started in her home city of Adelaide in 1974 when she was invited to play a social round at Westward Ho Golf Club at Glenelg with four of her friends. “After six months of casual weekend golf, we all joined the club and played in the C-grade championship,” “I was happy with my game and decided to keep doing what I was doing without bothering about taking lessons.“We started travelling around South Australia for the next 10 years playing competition golf on over 40 different golf courses. “I returned to a lot of them over that period and to this day I travel back to South Australia as one of my many Australian destinations.” “I’ve been lucky enough to score a hole-in-one on three occasions, on three different golf courses,” she said. “I like seeing the country, so distance is no problem and I enjoy driving and meeting other people on and off the golf courses.” Good on ya Mabel. Old clubs? We'll buy them from you... Golf Traders offer our customers a fantastic service whereby we can purchase, part exchange or swap your equipment. With the golf season in full swing, we all have clubs lying around that are basically redundant. Instead of letting them collect dust in the garage, turn them into cash... or at least let them go some way to buying the new clubs you so desperately want. View all of our stock here or come in store and have a hit in our brand new practice net and try before you buy! Golf Traders 02 9517 3471 33 Nelson Street Annandale, NSW 2038 Australia Golf Traders PRO TIP: Get a Grip A customer of mine came in the other week and complained that his game was not quite right, more than anything he was not happy with his clubs. I picked one up and almost dropped it cold, the grips were as hard as nails and you could see your own reflection on them, as they were so shiny. Long story short, we changed his grips (Avon Pro D2 - almost identical to Golf pride's multi-compound and almost half the price at $10 fitted per club). He came back the following week and said that he felt as though he had new clubs again and for a relatively small fee he was back enjoying the his golf. (Don't leave it too long to change your grips). Happy golfing David Fearns (PGA) Golf Traders