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.
Mike Vitti at PGATour.com delivers the back nine of the Tour's toughest 18. Not exactly a course you'd want to play. And not because it's so hard. The holes played so tough because other than No. 18 at TPC Sawgrass, it's a rather boring group.
From Doug Ferguson's notes column:
STAT OF THE WEEK: Tiger Woods would have finished at No. 8 on the PGA Tour money list based on his earnings from the four major championships.
And at this pace, next year the majors will be the only...ah you know where I'm going with that.
Hey, but a power game with stars only playing select events worked so well for tennis.
Golfonline has posted the winner of its armchair architect contest. The winner gets to consult on a Doak design.
Yes it's a slow week. Here's part 1, the back nine is posted tomorrow.
I'm sure George Thomas would be thrilled that his "restored" 8th at Riviera made the list. Imagine how tough No. 8 would be if it presented actual options that caused the players to think!
Thanks to reader Kevin for the heads up on this WSJ story (subscription req.) about Golf Magazine's attempts to diversify.
Basically, they've generated $163.9 million in ad revenue for the first 11 months of the year according to Publishers Information Bureau, but ad pages are off 11.7% while the rest of the industry is down 0.4%. So they are coming up with a $250,000 contest culminating in in two one-hour shows where advertisers will get to push their stuff on TV too. You know, a reverse cross-pollination of synchronized multi-pushbacked brand repurposing initiative.
But here's the interesting part, courtesy of TNS Media Intelligence:
Golf Magazine's top five advertisers of 2005, in millions
Callaway Golf: $8.62
Fortune Brands: $6.11
Honda Motor: $4.0
Nissan Motor: $3.93
Adidas-Salomen: $3.85
Doug Ferguson writes:
Tiger Woods is so serious about wanting a shorter season on the PGA Tour that he is skipping the season-opening Mercedes Championships at Kapalua next month.
Uh...eh, but if he wanted a shorter season wouldn't he skip playing in...oh forget it.
Ferguson goes on break down the likely Mercedes Championship field. It's not pretty.
Not a big shocker, Tiger is passing on the Mercedes. Phil might be next. Good timing for the television negotiations.
Colin Phillips, the Tom Meeks of the southern hemisphere, was hired by the R&A to be their new head of something having to do with Australia and Asian golf. Phillips recently retired from the Australian Golf Union after masterminding yet another Australian Open setup boondoggle. You may recall that Phillips and good buddy Wayne Grady recently exchanged loving words, as Mike Clayton wrote in this Golfobserver column.
Southern Hills makes up for accepting the 2007 PGA by taking the 2010 U.S. Amateur, laying the groundwork for a post-2013 U.S. Open. August in Tulsa. Ugh.
John Huggan lets Darren Clarke do the talking.
Mike Clayton reports on Robert Allenby's impressive sweep of the three biggest Australian golf titles.
Mike Clayton, writing for The Age (thanks to reader Graeme):
In Australia, we have nearly always played our best events on our best courses, but in America and Europe, commercial considerations usually win out over the quality of the golf course.
How dare he! Of course, it's true. And my favorite line:
Rough is a curse that clever design should be able to do without and we should take no notice of what we see from America on our televisions. It is moronic and one-dimensional to think the game is better when it is played from long green grass.
As a former USGA member, not only do I receive golf-themed address labels at least three times a year, now I get the USGA Annual!
At this pace of non-membership, next I'll get the sharehol..err...the newsletter and, what else? Oh yes, first opportunity to volunteer.
SI's Chris Lewis does an excellent job analyzing the PGA Tour's television ratings to help us understand why the "FedEx Cup" has been born.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
