R&A Turning Fairway Into OB Zone Highlights Distance Issues

Here's the notice to competitors:

I opine for Golfweek.com on the many issues surrounding the bizarre idea of turning the 10th hole fairway grass into out-of-bounds. Yes the safety issue was legitimate. But the concept that anyone would think of playing down another fairway to avoid their own speaks to how narrow the course is.

This also summarizes a number of other issues including the overall lack of appetite to hit driver this week, as best summarized by Phil Mickelson's plans.

Bloomberg: ClubCorp Sale A Positive Sign For Golf Industry

Bloomberg's Taylor Cromwell considers the ClubCorp sale for $1.1. billion and says it's a positive statement about the core golfer market stabilizing.

He writes:

More broadly, golf has seen a resurgence in so-called avid players, those who play at least 25 rounds on a regulation course per year. The number rose to 8.8 million last year, up 400,000 from 2015, according to the National Golf Foundation. Avid players are critical to the health of the sport because they account for 80 percent of industry spending.

The challenge now is rebuilding with more realistic aspirations.

Several analysts are quoted saying the market correction days have peaked. Thoughts?

"U.S. Open [Tennis]: Why not all tennis balls are alike"

Thanks to reader PABoy for this fascinating look at small differences in the men’s and women’s tennis balls used at the U.S. Open. Longtime readers know I've felt golf could learn from tennis having different ball specs at Grand Slam stops designed to keep the different playing surfaces relevant.

Joseph Hall and Wendy Gillis explain, however, that experts within the tennis world see major differences in ball felt

Eugene Lapierre, director of the Rogers Cup tournament in Montreal, says it’s standard practice to use more felt when the men are in town and less with the women, who alternate between his city and Toronto each year.

Lapierre says men at Rogers use a ball manufactured by Penn when they’re in Montreal and Toronto because it’s part of an endorsement deal on their circuit. Women use a Wilson ball, he says, to get them ready for the U.S. Open, which typically follows hard on the heels of the Rogers event.

While Lapierre says his tournament simply employs the balls they’re told to use, it’s his understanding that the women’s version is made for clay courts to help speed up the game on that slower surface.

The full story is worth a read because on top of the insights gleaned for a tennis fan, the imagination can easily see how this concept support the idea of a variable distance ball for competition or the sexes.

Malcolm Gladwell Takes On Golf In A Peculiar Way

Longtime writer and now podcaster Malcolm Gladwell doesn't like golf very much. He chooses a peculiar path to attack the sport in the kickoff to season two of his popular podcast series.

Here is the pod description:

In the middle of Los Angeles — a city with some of the most expensive real estate in the world — there are a half a dozen exclusive golf courses, massive expanses dedicated to the pleasure of a privileged few. How do private country clubs afford the property tax on 300 acres of prime Beverly Hills real estate? RH brings in tax assessors, economists, and philosophers to probe the question of the weird obsession among the wealthy with the game of golf.

Since he picks on my home city and blames the clubs there for tax breaks and what was actually a lack of foresight by city planners to build more parks, I'll let Joel Beall of GolfDigest.com offer the first and most level-headed counterpoint.

Gladwell takes umbrage with California exemptions that allows golf courses to pay a small percentage rather than a variable tax like other properties. To Gladwell, golf courses are getting a free pass from paying their social dues, bemoaning the money that state and city governments are missing out.

Similar to his objection on golf-infatuated CEOs, Gladwell's outrage is fixated on the wrong entity. For the game is far from alone in receiving peculiar government regulations. Baseball's antitrust exemption is one of the most criticized doctrines in our nation's legal structure, and the stadium deals brokered between professional sports teams and their local governments continue to be a taxpayer burden. This is not to defend these policies, but let's just say golf has plenty of company when it comes to flaws with the tax code.

As always with Gladwell's work, I found his presentation and points thought-provoking. His podcast presentation style is fresh, and his roundabout methodology to backing a point is consistent with his popular books. But I struggle with his zeroing in on long-established private clubs as stealing from the public something their visionary founders created and fostered.

To suggest the public is subsidizing such facilities, while bemoaning their chain-linked fences and refusal to let the public stroll the grounds St Andrews style, ignores the history of Los Angeles, where leaders whiffed on multiple opportunities to create a better park system. (Here is the Olmsted Brothers 1930 assessment of Los Angeles that was ultimately ignored and would have created the kinds of places for non-golfers to recreate.)

The pod also suggests an underlying frustration with golf played by CEO's and President Trump ("crack cocaine for white guys"). While promoting the pod on the CBS Morning Show, Gladwell received one particularly fun bit of pushback from Charlie Rose, a golfer. The interview is worth watching.

WaPo Headline: “Business sags at Trump’s New York golf course as players stay away”

Thanks to all who sent this story and apologies in advance for questioning what I think is a poor bit of headline writing.

Our late, great friend Frank Hannigan always pointed out to me that the New York Times seemed spectacular until they covered a topic near and dear to your heart by exposing their weaknesses or all-out knowledge blind spots.

So while I’d respect the Times and Washington Post’s efforts to scrutinize the goings-on in Washington, the WaPo’s story on sagging business at Trump Ferry Point seemed like a headline reach (“Business sags at Trump’s New York golf course as players stay away"), which didn’t reflect a mostly-balanced piece of reporting from a small sample-size.

After checking with a few folks, it seems the headline overreached in the effort to see if President Donald Trump’s style, stances and overall forceful nature would impact his businesses.

This is certainly something to watch with his overseas properties and more importantly, with corporate sales at tournaments hosted by his courses. And while the story by Drew Harwell and David Fahrenthold presents signs of reduced play, the copy never matches the headline suggesting golfers are withdrawing in mass numbers from Trump Ferry Point rounds.

In reporting a 12% decrease in revenue over the last year, they write:

These records provide an unusual glimpse inside a business unit of the Trump Organization, during the period when Trump was seeking, then winning and then assuming the presidency. Nearly all of Trump’s other business interests are privately held and offer little transparency regarding their revenue and profits.

The reports show that, in the period between April 2016 and March 2017, golfers played 26,127 rounds at the Bronx course. That was a decline of 2,164 rounds — or about 7 percent — from the previous 12-month period.

As the writers concede, “From the records alone, it is impossible to tell whether politics played a role in the business decline at the Trump course.” And credit to them for citing Tom Stine’s assertion that a one-year 12% drop isn’t alarming enough in such a fickle weather market.

The rough summer of 2016 saw a 15% uptick in inclement weather days for Ferry Point according to The Trump Organization when contacted by this website. Also, private outings were limited to free up the tee sheet for residents, also cutting into rounds recorded.

Most interesting, the story does not cite whether play was up, down or flat at other New York City courses where similar weather or other trends could have impacted rounds played.

Nicklaus Blames WD's On Entourages, Money

AP's Doug Ferguson reports on Jack Nicklaus's pre-Memorial remarks on player withdrawals due to injuries.

Asked about Rory McIlroy's entry into the 2017 Memorial only to WD to rest an injured rib, Nicklaus said...

“You think I had any injuries when I played? Do you think Arnold had any injuries when he played? Do you think Gary had any injuries when he played? How many tournaments do you think that we entered that we withdrew from during the course of our career?” Nicklaus said.

He put his forefinger to his thumb to signal zero.

“Never entered if I wasn’t going to play,” Nicklaus said.

After mentioning the money in the game, there was this gem about entourages.

“Would they withdraw back 30 years ago? Probably not, because that wasn’t the norm,” Nicklaus said. “We played through it. We had a ton of injuries and I played through it. But that’s sort of the norm today. And the guys … I made my own decisions. I didn’t have an entourage. I didn’t have a fitness trainer. I didn’t have a nutritionist, whatever you all have, somebody to cut my toenails in the morning.

Zing!

"I didn’t have any of that. I did that myself.

“I think that entourage helps make that decision for the player, telling them, ‘We think physically this is probably not right for you to play.’ And that’s what their job is,” Nicklaus said.

Video: The Turf Chopper (New Age Golf Cart)

I'm normally not one to advocate anything but walking, however the Turf Chopper looks pretty fun (and stable?).  While I get the surf/skater appeal of golf boards, this looks like much less work and even exudes a cool, futuristic vibe.

To be determined? Their impact on turfgrass. But they have to be better than a much heavier golf cart.

H/T Golfballed...

Bring back the 4 hour round with the Turf Chopper RW or Big Boy editions. This RW allows you to walk or ride at your leisure and choice. The transition is easy, the ride is smooth, the round is fast. #feelbetterplaybetterscorebetter #turfchopper #quickrounds #smoothride #golfcourse #golfscore #bettergolf #golfaid #powercart #individualridergolfcart #golfisfun #golfislife #golfbc #golf⛳️ #golf #golfer #golfgear #golfcanada #golfpalmsprings #westcoastgolf #golfgolfgolf #vancouvergolf #golfnews #newgolf #golfisawesome

A post shared by Turf Chopper Golf Cart (@turf_chopper) on May 19, 2017 at 7:06am PDT

I need one now. Please. Thank you. 🏍⛳️😝👍 via: @jbeeeeeeeeee @turf_chopper

A post shared by GolfBalled.com (@golfballed) on May 20, 2017 at 5:40pm PDT

Distance Constrictions And Compelling Tournament Golf

Because Brandel Chamblee can be a divisive figure, discussion based off of his post-2017 Players commentary seems like a kneejerk reaction to the person making the remarks instead of the substance of his point.

There is also the precariousness of making your case off the back of someone like Si Woo Kim who won the tournament fair and square, with clutch scrambling and little choking. But Brandel's "distance constrictions" commentary should not be thrown out simply because you don't care for Brandel's style or views on other topics.

I happen to agree with him that the TPC Sawgrass still needs to encourage the use of the big stick more to be a more complete modern test. A great deal of money and effort has been put into improving the course as the ultimate tournament venue. That effort this year was mostly a huge success, but it was disappointing that in moving the course forward, a decision was made to not go back with new tees at holes like 1, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 14. (The 7th and 15th had new tees this year.)

Golf can point to a long list of famous tournaments where driver and aggressive play at select times gets taken out of player hands. More often than not, those events have produced awkward finishes with the best scrambler winning. While scrambling is an art that has been mastered by some of the greats, the best courses and setups do the least amount of discriminating against playing styles.

Throughout much of the game's tournament history, the ability to use driver to great effect has differentiated the elite players (stars) from the merely great. Tournaments where players can attack at key moments deliver a different energy. But when there is the sense that constrictions are in place--either accidentally or intentionally--the audience and the actors sense something is amiss.

Before the 2017 Players, I wrote about the sense that less severe rough, more short grass around the greens and the inclusion of a new drivable 12th would reduce some of the course's tendency to constrict and stifle talent. But the brutal, varied winds conspired with the firm, fast and immaculate conditions to present the fastest TPC Sawgrass imaginable. With that speed, the corridors played narrower and the distance advantage was lost. Without the option to extend some holes, the constrictions played more of a role than is ideal.

Again, this does not take away from Si Woo Kim's win. He posted the lowest score and perhaps played TPC Sawgrass more fearlessly because he wasn't saddled by baggage that those with longer histories there cope with. But given that this is one of golf's most significant championships with significant investments made in making it the best venue possible, a little lengthening would go a long way towards ensuring that The Players is constriction-free.

NY Times: "Chicago’s South Side Golf Courses in Line for a Tiger Woods Upgrade"

Julie Bosman of the New York Times went to Chicago to check out the proposed public-private partnership with the Chicago Park District that would see Jackson Park Golf Course and South Shore merged into a Tiger Woods redesign capable of hosting the BMW Championship. The alliance headed by Mark Rolfing needs to raise around $30 million to fund the Woods redo and operation once completed.

As usual and as should be expected (and understandable), the debaters seem pro-redevelopment, but not at the cost to affordability for those currently enjoying the facilities now.

On a recent morning at the 18-hole Jackson Park Golf Course, two employees lingered in the building near the first tee, where golfers could buy a $1 cup of coffee and a $6 Polish sausage at the snack bar.

Keith McGrue, 60, a South Side resident, said he had heard chatter from regulars who wonder what a Tiger Woods-designed course could bring.

“A lot of people have been playing here for 25, 30 years,” Mr. McGrue said. “The question becomes, Who benefits from the change? Who loses out and who wins? Most people that play here, especially the black folks, live in the neighborhood. This is our golf course.”

Alan Brothers, 71, who was playing at the South Shore course, said that he was hoping for the sort of growth that a new facility could bring to the South Side.

“This neighborhood has been in need of economic development for a very long time,” he said, pointing to the south, where several blocks away, four people were shot dead in a restaurant in March in an apparent act of gang retribution.

"Caddies aren't just for private clubs anymore."

Jason Scott Deegan at GolfAdvisor.com posts a pair of stories on signs of caddie programs popping up at more than just country clubs. While it's too early to say there is a renaissance taking place, the likely inclusion of caddies at Bandon Dunes as well as new caddie businesses like CaddieMaster, Looper and Premier Caddie, may keep the "upswing" going.

A couple of Deegan's numbers stood out:

•    Nearly 100 public/resort facilities and/or private clubs with some public access offer caddies in America. Since many of the 97 facilities I found feature multiple courses, that adds up to slightly more than 150 courses around the country where public golfers can hire caddies.
   
    •    21 states don't offer caddies at any public-accessible facility: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia.
  
    •    17 states offer caddies at more than one public-accessible facility: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin       

He also files a companion piece on the ten best destinations for caddies worth checking out.

Not Many Stepping Forward To Support Green Reading Books

The rules community may have the backing of top players should they target the new green-reading books.

Rex Hoggard reports from the Wells Fargo Championship on comments from Adam Scott and Lucas Glover.

“I think probably we should ban the book,” Adam Scott said. “If they feel that reading the green needs to be more of an art and it's an advantage to a player who's a creative, great green reader, then I wouldn't have a problem with that.”

Glover also took the position that putting artistry is being undermined.

“It’s more the powers that be see it as a possibility of losing the art of the game. It’s just like judging the wind or reading a lie, there’s got to be art to it. Science has already taken over enough.”

I'm still not understanding the passion for protecting artistry as the proposed new rules usher in rangefinders suggest the rules community is targeting these books selectively.

As I wrote for Golfweek, this screams of a pace issue more than a skill issue.

If you haven't seen the materials in question, Tripp Isenhour did a nice job showing what they look like and the benefits some players seen in them. Note the portion where he explains the specialized data that incorporates that days' hole location.

In advance of the Players, Justin Leonard shared this story on the Golf Channel conference call in support of banning the books.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I played last week at the Texas Open, and Steve Hulka was caddying for me, and he had one of those books with, you know, the arrows and everything. I looked at it twice and I couldn't -- it was too much information for me.

I think the reason they are looking at it -- and I'll tell you that I had a putt on Friday on No. 9 to make the cut, about a 25-footer. And Steve told me what the book said, and it did exactly what it said.

Q. Did you make it?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I made the putt. Absolutely I made it. Of course I did. I made the cut and played on the weekend.

But that being said, I think to me, it's a slow-play issue. It takes too much time. It takes the feel away from the game. I know we're in a time where technology plays such a role in all sports, and it's certainly playing a role in golf with TrackMan and everything.

But I think that there's also a – there needs to be a feel and guys using instincts and using past experience, charting putts and things like that from years past. Practice rounds are important.

I'm not a fan of these greens books. I think they slow down play and they take away a player's natural ability and need to feel and see what's going on on the golf course.

"Could Legalized Gambling Save Us From the Insufferability of Fantasy Sports?"

Jay Caspian King in the New York Times magazine explained where we stand on sports betting in the United States--legalized and non-legal--and suggests we are moving closer to legalization.

While the main point of his piece was to suggest the overall effect of legalization may cut down on some of the silly stat and fantasy obsessing by fans in favor of merely rooting for a team win, some of the noteworthy insights into where things are headed may be worth your reading time.

Especially given the PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan hasn't been as close-minded on the topic as his predecessor.

Plus, given the interest FanDuel and DraftKings have been seeing, golf will need to be ready for the inevitable.

State Of The Game 72: Mathew Goggin

His woods were just decapitated by United Airlines, he just missed out as first alternate at the Web.com Tour event in Mexico, but because he's a gentleman, Mat Goggin was our State of The Game guest to talk the Lexi situation, the player's perspective on rules issues and the state of his beloved four-wood.

Permalink here.

MP3 download here.

And of course iTunes has it too or you can listen here;

Friedman: "So a Hindu, a Muslim and a Jew are playing golf together in Dubai"

Thomas Friedman is in Dubai and files a New York Times dispatch on his round of golf with "Indian mystic, poet and yogi Jaggi Vasudev, who goes by his reverential name, Sadhguru." (Thanks Ellen and TZ for sending in.)

While Friedman pledges he's not writing a Trump column on this day, and did mention he had to give more strokes to the mystic mid-round, it does end with a less than subtle message for our golf-loving president.

There was this from Sadhguru on golf...

Sadhguru got addicted to golf while visiting followers in America. With about a 15 handicap now, he can hit a drive 220 yards.

As a yogi, it was not surprising that he had probed the deeper meaning of the game: “The simplicity of it makes everyone attempt it, but the subtlety of it makes almost everybody get frustrated with it,” he once observed in an interview with Isha’s magazine. Golf was also just like life (and yoga), he added: People mess up at both when their “interior is not settled.”

Post Katrina: NOLA's City Park Reopens As Bayou Oaks

Erik Matuszewski of Forbes fills us in on the long anticipated return of City Park, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina twelve years ago and reopened after a $24 million renovation.

He writes:

The championship-caliber course about 10 minutes from downtown is the centerpiece of a $24 million project in New Orleans City Park, with aspirations it will be on par with prominent public venues such as Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in New York or Torrey Pines outside San Diego. They picked the right man for the job, as Bayou Oaks architect Rees Jones also overhauled both of those U.S. Open sites.

“Torrey Pines plays 65,000 rounds on the South Course a year. With Bethpage Black, you basically have to wait in line to get on it,” says Jones. “I think that’s going to be the same situation here at City Park because it’s going to be the premier golf course in the region.”

Don Ames's story includes a mention of the championship course as a possible Zurich Classic host some day and this on the fees:

"If you're a Louisiana resident, the fees are between $59 and $99, depending on the day, time of year, twilight...all that good stuff," Hopper says. "And, it includes the cart and a bucket of balls. You can still play the park's north course for about 25 dollars."

He says out-of-state golfers will pay as much as $179 to play the new course.

There is also this drone flyover: