More Love For The USGA's Lack Of Distance Oversight
/The USGA made the top of Alan Shipnuck's no-so-hot list with this week's trip to lengthy Erin Hills.
Read MoreIn 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.
"I don’t think until they get to 8,000 or 8,100 yards or something that there’s going to be a long course.”
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Sean Martin talked to players after day one at the gigantic Erin Hills and the scale failed to intimidate. At least, not 68-shooter Justin Thomas.AAC Flashback: Remember When 500-Yard Par-4s Were Embarrassing
/Reading Brad Klein's raters notebook review of Atlanta Athletic Club's oft-renovated Highland Course, I was reminded of this from the last time the PGA was played there:
Read More7,400 Yard Firestone: Nine Drive And Pitch Holes!
/Nick Faldo Tweeted about his letter to the IGF Saturday but I found this much more revealing about what he's seeing this week at Firestone. Love the hashtag:
Acushnet Sale Officially Complete
/I know this will help everyone rest easier this weekend...but on a serious note, I'm not sure what this means for the golf industry or future discussions about equipment regulation.
Read MoreDo The Kids Have A Point?
/Harris English and John Peterson suggested that the leading college golfers can compete with the top professionals on any given week because, as English said...
Read More"The whole situation has gotten out of hand."
/I remember the good ole days when I'd suggest distance gains were not good for the game and I'd get funny looks, nasty looks, and in general, suggestions I was a communist-sympathizer.
Even better were the times I'd suggest course setups were rigged to offset/emasculate/cover-up regulatory incompetance and I'd get the look folks used to give to those who suggested the moon landing was actually shot on a San Fernando Valley soundstage.
Bubba! "I think the golf industry is going the wrong way....No one else is changing their game so much with technology."
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I always enjoy Farrell Evans' Q&A's at golf.com but when I get to add a modern day player to The List, why it's a special day. And when it's the most American of American's expressing such un-American, anti-something views, it's just a grand day!Feherty Advocates Making The Ball Bigger
/Bob Carney says that during the Golf Channel's 19th Hole show last week, new Golf Channel everywhere man and internationally renowned cyclist David Feherty advocated an increase in the size of the ball to make the game more attractive to amateurs and more challenging for pros. Peter Kostis has another delusional subversive to tame!
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Aronimink Eyes Another 500 Yards To Land A Major
/Joe Juliano talks to Aronimink club president Joe Brooks about courting both the USGA and PGA of America for a future major even as both have their venues selected through 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Read MoreChampions Geezers: If We Lose Distance No One Will Watch!
/E. Michael Johnson posed a ball/equipment rollback question to some Champions Tour geezers this week who apparently are laboring under the delusion that a mass audience still (A) cares about their tour and (B) watches them plays because they hit it a long way.
Read MoreWannamoisett Must Go!
/Who cares if charming old Wannamoisett has hosted the Northeast Amateur for almost fifty years and has produced a wide array of champions while defending itself just fine. Looking at the scores and Ryan Herrington's Golf World Monday write about about the record low scoring by Peter Uihlein and the field, it's clearly time for the 50th anniversary next year to usher in a longer slog of a course that can cope with all the gym time these young lads devoting themselves too!
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"The entire sport of golf likely will be faced with a fork-in-the-road decision in charting its future."
/Jim Achenbach assesses the U.S. Open at Congressional and concludes that the "gulf" between regular golfers and the professionals has "grown dramatically" in recent years with the need for a resolution appearing more evident than ever.
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