In golf construction art and utility meet; both are absolutely vital; one is utterly ruined without the other. GEORGE THOMAS
It’s back!
Twenty years later Tatra Press has kindly allowed me to bring back Grounds For Golf now that golf architecture is of more interest to the masses. A new Introduction looks at what’s driven the interest growth and two new chapters I had a blast adding (plus a few edits to keep things up-to-date).
The Amazon purchase page for the book arriving June 15, 2026.
"Quiet please, Monty"
/Captain Monty...make that, Field Marshal Monty's relentless Ryder Cup hyping is even wearing down the British press, which normally soaks up Ryder Cup talk. Seizing on a Daily Telegraph quote, here's Lawrence Donegan writing for The Guardian:
Read MoreTiger's Been Spotted Clippings, Vol. 3
/Get past Matthew Futterman and Douglas Blackmon's slightly misleading lede, because it's a fascinating WSJ look back at Tiger and the PGA Tour's relationship. There were several "oh-wow-I-forgot-about-that" anecdotes. My only beef is with the opening assertion that this week at Torrey Pines is a glimpse into the post-Tiger-accident PGA Tour (weren't things a mess there before the accident?):
Read More"Four of the golf courses bidding to win the 2018 Ryder Cup aren’t built yet."
/I apologize if you've already showered today, but Alistair Tait's look at the potential 2018 Ryder Cup venue--you know, the one that will benefit the children--could be about as tacky and sleazy as it gets.
European Golf Design, a joint venture between the European Tour and IMG, are involved in three of the four courses yet to be completed/constructed. European Tour chief executive George O’Grady has previously said privately he would prefer the match to go to a European Golf Design course. So the three EGD candidates would seem to be in pole position.
"We called it Operation Level Playing Field"
/Kevin Fylan tells us about the countries lining up to purchase win rights to host the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Read MoreEuro Captain's Pick Hopefuls Laud Monty's Ability To Escape Royal Trophy Without Embarrassing Incident
/Iain Carter at the BBC blog notes Monty's captaincy "passed the test with flying colours" but he's not eligible to be selected with one of the three Euro captain's picks. Henrik Stenson on the other hand...
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Pavin Consulting Azinger?
/A reader says he thought (but wasn't totally sure) that he heard Paul Azinger say during Thursday's Presidents Cup broadcast that U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin has not talked to him about the Ryder Cup. Did anyone else hear this?
Read MoreMcIlroy Demonstrates Team-Player Cred By Showing Up To 7:30 A.M Meetings...Early!
/Seems young Rory has shed the label as an anti-Ryder Cup villain and is now aligned to not only star at Celtic Manor next year, but just moved ahead of Monty in the 2036 Ryder Cup captaincy race. Iain Carter blogs:
Read MoreMcGinley "Shoo-in" For 2014 Ryder Cup Captaincy Until Monty Gets Word
/The scribes covering the Event Formerly Known As The Seve Trophy were so pleased with Paul McGinley's "man management"
Read MoreMonty: Poulter Is Dead To Me!
/Okay maybe that's a bit harsh, but you do have to wonder if we have a budding love triangle featuring Faldo-Poulter-Monty after the next Ryder Cup Captain let it be known that he was not pleased Ian Poulter passed on the Seve Trophy. And that was without reading Poulter's Tweets today, which started off recounting his hangover and then appeared to be hijacked by his agent to extol the virtues of family time and gym time. It's all quite touching I tell you.
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