Golf seems to be a young man’s game these days, says renowned coach Peter Cowen

I am very proud of the performances of both Victor Perez and Matt Fitzpatrick my only two clients playing last week in the season ending $10.5 million DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates on the DP World Tour.

Victor did well and came eighth and got his PGA Tour status for 2024, card number three.

Matt started slowly, but finished with three decent rounds. He will leave reasonably happy,but will probably not play any more tournaments again this year.

I am here at Emirates Golf Club to conduct a Range Workshop for the 14 or so of my pros who could make it from my Peter Cowen Academies at both Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. It is a learning process for them all – including me.

How are they going to improve as golf coaches?

The coaching game is now very fluid and is changing with technology at all levels. My role is just passing on my experiences from around the world from my players, other players and coaches on my travels.

I introduced Stephen Deane to Viktor Hovland’s coach last week – Joe Mayo. Viktor started working with Joe at the start of this 2023 season.

Stephen is now connected with Joe and they can discuss their thoughts on the swing and so much more, without me being in the loop.

That is how we all learn and improve. We network with like-minded industry experts.

Both of my PC Academies are thriving, especially with junior participation, as we have over 300 youngsters on our Junior Development Programmes at the two Dubai Golf Clubs.

So, well done to my teams. Keep up the good work.

In my opinion the world of golf has some challenges that should be addressed.

Firstly, I am not understanding the Official World Golf Ranking – in my opinion it needs to be realigned sooner rather than later.

How come last week’s DP World Tour Championship winner received 27.72 OWGR points and the parallel event on the PGA Tour, the RSM Classic received 37.32 points for their champion, Ludvig Aberg. Dubai had the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, both Viktor and Victor, Matt, Tyrrell Hatton and Dubai resident Tommy Fleetwood in the field and so many more excellent

players. That is without even looking at the LIV Golf Tour players and their OWGR status.

One outstanding example is Dubai based Adrian Meronk. The Pole was at a career high number 48 in the OWGR at the start of the year. He has been the outstanding DP World Tour loyal player this year with so many wins and fine performances.

As of today, he lies in the same position – number 48. Is that a fair reflection of his position in world golf? I am not sure.

The OWGR have traditionally been so important for players to get into Majors etc.

It will also be interesting to see how these 10 PGA Tour – DP World Tour dual cardholders play next season, where and how well. Let’s see how it all rolls out and let’s hope we see a new generation of young players with personalities climbing the pyramid of golf ladder - especially on the DP World Tour.

It was reassuring to see that PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan was in town as well as the R&A’s Martin Slumbers and, of course, CEO of the DP World Tour, Keith Pelley, the host of them all – let’s hope they can get all the parties round a table talking, to resolve the current apparent split in the game.

I am not for or against any disruptors in any sport – there just has to be a can-do attitude by all parties. It can surely happen as long as everyone goes in with an open mind. I am sure there is a solution with so much at stake and so much money being discussed.

I have been a professional over 55 years and it seems to be a young man’s game these days – all the people of my generation have seemingly retired or given up or are dead.

Now that is surely the ‘thought for the day.’

Was the Earth course set up too easy last week mindful of all the low scores?

The answer is a definite NO.

Congratulations to all the winners – especially Nicolai Hojgaard and Rory as well as Matt Wallace for the ‘round of his generation.’

The rain will have made the fairways softer and wider.

Length is not a challenge for the top pros these days – unlike the amateurs. The Tours always want to have firm greens with modern science, including SubAir system greens surely there must be ways to have firm greens.

But let me stay positive because it has been a great week and there were some real highlights to enjoy. Why not a player shoots sub-60. As long as the best players finish at the top of the leaderboard you cannot argue against that last week.

I am back in Dubai at the start of 2024 for the HERO Dubai Desert Classic and may even come early for a few days holiday with the wife.

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But for now its back to Rotherham tomorrow morning. I love Rotherham, it is my genuine home with my range, but it is not Dubai. I will miss Dubai’s weather over the next few weeks and so much more.

A Happy New Year to All!

Peter Cowen is arguably the World’s Number One golf coach. The 72 year-old has two of his Peter Cowen Academies at Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club with his global Headquarters in Rotherham, England.

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