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.
TV Viewing Alert: Daily Show and Deepdale
/Reader Noonan says the Daily Show's Nate Corddry looked at the Deepdale Golf Club on The Daily Show last night (May 4), which means it replays today (May 5) at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Comedy Central.
USA Today On Distance Myths, Readers React...Sort Of
/Jerry Potter and Tom Spousta of the USA Today do their best Judith Miller imitation by wheeling out the USGA's Distance Myth press release...as if they came up with this propaganda on their own! That's right, instead of noting that the "myths" came to them as a release, they report having "consulted" with the USGA's Dick Rugge.
The USA Today: all the prepackaged news that's fit to regurgitate.
Anyhow, they follow up their myth "research" with more hard hitting reporting, this time calling on Rugge and Wally Uihlein to fill up most of a story about what was supposed to be reader feedback on distance regulation, titled "Readers Decide It Must Be The Ball." In the story, we hear from a whopping three readers, with two saying the ball needs to be rolled back.
But first some really, like, you know, like really heavy discussion of the meaning of myth.
The power of myth has long been a steadying influence for people, allowing them to believe what they want to believe often when it flies in the face of scientific evidence.Ah yes, the poor, picked on golf ball! We're all delusional! It's the agronomy, it's the ster...sorry, continue.
"In most cases when there is a myth," says Wally Uihlein, chairman and CEO of Acushnet Company, which makes Titleist golf balls, "there is a symbol of something that can't speak for itself. It's assigned supernatural power."
Like a golf ball.
To the question posed last week about lengthening courses or reining in technology to combat the game's long bombers, many readers zoned in on the ball.Well, enough of those pesky readers!
"I am completely in favor of reining in the distance a golf ball travels by adopting standards for the ball and the club," responded Timothy W. Broos of Dixon, Ill. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 275-yard drive being impressive and a 440-yard par-4 being long."
Fred Daum, the retired golf coach at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., wrote in an e-mail that "it's a no-brainer" to rein in equipment because it's destroying the traditional venues for the game, and its past heroes. He laid the blame on the U.S. Golf Association for not controlling technology.
Dick Rugge, the USGA's senior technical director, gets similar e-mail at his headquarters in Far Hills, N.J., but he says, "We don't believe the ball needs to be changed at this time."
Yes, we kind of got that from the distance myths memo.
Uihlein says there always have been periods when technological advancements stirred concern and brought predictions of ruin. That included changes in the construction of the golf ball and golf clubs, made possible by new materials and production processes.
"There was a similar noise level when Sam Snead and Ben Hogan became prominent (in the late 1930s)," Uihlein says, "and were hitting the ball long distances. That was a time when we went from hickory shafts to steel shafts."
You know, I've looked through a lot of old golf magazines in the late 1930s, and it's kind of hard to even find Ben Hogan's name mentioned, much less stories about technology impacting the game. And actually, all of the late 20s and early 30s talk centered around the ball, not the clubs. Ah how times haven't changed.
"If we only made rules only for the Tour," Rugge says, "our job would be easy. We make the rules for the 28 million people who don't play professional golf."
Most are amateurs with double-digit handicaps, and they don't drive the ball 300 yards.
"People say, 'Roll back the ball 10%,' " Rugge says. "If you do that, then a guy hitting the ball 300 yards off the tee will be hitting it 270. But someone hitting it 200 will be at 180."
Rugge added that a blanket reduction wouldn't even be good for all Tour players.
Oh right, because long hitters don't get a disproportionate boost from today's equipment. I forgot.
Uihlein says distance is a factor of more things that just the ball. It's the club; it's the course conditions; it's club fitting; it's the athleticism of the players.
"You don't control the athleticism of the players," he says.
Well, a little steroid testing wouldn't hurt.
"Technology," Uihlein says, "has had a democratizing effect on golf. Without it we'd have far fewer people playing golf. One thing we know: As long as people believe they can play better, they continue to play. When they don't think that, they quit."
Ah...now, I wonder if there are "facts" to support the claim that people would play less if they had less frequent shopping opportunities? Or is corporate pro-technology bias?
And remember, as long as the illusion of getting better through purchasing power exists, they'll keep playing. Now that is touching.
Hey, but at least one reader chimed in on the good side:
Joshua Reynolds of Lee's Summit, Mo., agrees: "For those of us who can't cream the ball 330 yards, we need the extra distance. ... 'Dear USGA & PGA. Please let the average Joe enjoy his round of golf with whatever ball he wants to play."
Send that man a dozen Srixon's!
Daly Declines Counseling, Brand Coaches Worldwide Breathe Sigh of Relief
/Mark Soltau reports on John Daly's Tuesday talk with reporters.
"My life is unbecoming of a professional, basically," Daly told a handful of reporters Tuesday.Actually, Finchem offered to put Daly in touch with a branding coach recommended by Carolyn Bivens.
Daly met with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem for 15 minutes on Monday at Quail Hollow. "He said he thinks I should have counseling," said Daly. "He said, 'I won't make you.'"
Asked if he would consider it, Daly replied, "I'm not really into that."
"Harper Collins wanted to change it," said Daly. "They changed it about eight times. Too many cuss words. The whole book is not just about gambling, it's just life. A lot of good things, and a lot of bad things. It was kind of therapeutic talking about it. I'm 40, and it was cool to get one out now. And, hopefully, there'll be a sequel or a movie, maybe."
Arron on Spin
/Arron Oberholser talked about Winged Foot and technology prior to the Wachovia Championship:
Q. I talked to you a little bit at Sawgrass about it, but what are your memories about that one round at Winged Foot? What did you come away with?And, a few minutes later, this follow up was asked:
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I'll tell you what, I've heard that they've added about 200 yards to the golf course since when I played it. It's like 7,300 yards now. It used to play like 7,100, just over 7,000. I was playing a wound ball back then with a steel headed driver, and I think the golf course is going to play a lot different now.
I remember having to work your golf ball off the tees out there and being able to do that with the old equipment. With the newer equipment it's kind of stand up and aim and bomb it.
I remember the greens being I remember it being a good test of golf, short par 4s, long par 4s, flat lies, uneven lies, short par 3s. 10 is that really good par 3. You don't get to start on a par 3 a lot, and it's kind of cool actually, I think.
Q. You seemed to suggest that maybe new technology can be a detriment because you can't shape the ball around some of those fairways.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I think on certain holes in certain situations I think new technology can be a detriment. You're always guessing, well, if I make the swing that I want to make, is the ball going to hook enough, is the ball going to fade enough, or is the ball just going to kind of fly straight. So it's not a question of getting the ball to do what you want, it's getting the ball to do what you want enough because the balls all kind of you don't produce as much spin as you used to. Obviously anybody who understands the golf swing in physics, you've got to produce spin to make the ball curve. If you don't produce, you're not going to make it curve.
If You Can Make It In Macon...
/The number of important speeches the USGA President gives around the country was just one of the excuses cited for the need to shuttle him around in a Citation Jet.
Which is why Walter Driver delivered one of those vital speeches Monday to...the Macon Rotary Club. Let's hope he drove to that gathering of American wealth and influence.
Take That R&A!
/Michelle Wie passes on a chance to qualify for the British Open, but she's going to take a crack at the men's U.S. Open.
Roman Ruins Golf by Seve
/
(click to enlarge)The same reader from Spain who sent in the image of the religiously-correct bunker has emailed another photo, this time of Alicante Golf Club in Alicante Spain.
Apparently that mess of stuff to be crossed for the third shot to a par-5 green is supposed to resemble a faux Roman ruin, only with the columns shortened for playability reasons.
The reader insists that the faux ruins are played as Ground Under Repair, not a hazard! He also reports that this hole is from that design genius extraordinaire Seve Ballesteros, who supposedly builds at least one bunker per course in the form of an "s", but at Alicante he constructed a lake in the shape an "s".
Excuse me, "S." As in Seve. Get it. I probably didn't need to explain that last part.
The Conversation Kind of Wanes...
/John Dell files the now-traditional Wachovia perks story, but includes this gem from Billy Andrade:
Another benefit is three-man pro-ams - one pro and two amateurs. Most of the other pro-ams on the PGA Tour are foursomes or fivesomes.
But Andrade said it's sometimes awkward playing with only two amateurs.
"You pretty much know everything about the two guys you are playing with by about the sixth or seventh hole," Andrade said, "so then the conversation kind of wanes after that."
Finchem Hosts Wachovia Gambler's Anonymous Meeting
/
John Daly's forthcoming book reveals that he has lost between $50 million and $60 million during 12 years of heavy gambling, AP's Doug Ferguson reports.
He told one story of earning $750,000 when he lost in a playoff to Tiger Woods last fall in San Francisco at a World Golf Championship. Instead of going home, he drove to Las Vegas and says he lost $1.65 million in five hours playing mostly $5,000 slot machines.And it looks like someone in Ponte Vedra has been reading Daly's book.
"If I don't get control of my gambling, it's going to flat-out ruin me," he says in the book, co-written with Glen Waggoner and published by HarperCollins.
The book got the attention of PGA Tour headquarters, and commissioner Tim Finchem met with Daly on Monday at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C.Of more pressing concern to Finchem was a recent focus group that downgraded Daly's likability rating due to his propensity to not wear shoes during Monday outting play (as recently demonstrated on The Daly Planet).
Finchem said the book does not violate PGA Tour regulations, although "it is clear that he continues to be concerned about and grapple with significant personal challenges."
"I have expressed to John the tour's concern for his well-being, as well as his ongoing need to uphold the image and standards of the PGA Tour," Finchem said. "While we will continue to enforce the regulations and policies of the PGA Tour, I have advised John of the tour's willingness to support him in his efforts to deal with his personal issues."
The Commissioner and Daly reportedly discussed the potential brand impact of such negative focus group scores, the first port o'call should Daly decide to go shopping, and better ways to interface his feet with footwear.
MacDuff's Post-New Orleans FedEx Cup Points List
/1 Mickelson 16634.37 10
2 Glover 14029.16 10
3 Singh 14021.87 10
4 C.Campbell 12837.5 11
5 Furyk 12712.5 9
6 Toms 12409.37 8
7 Gf. Ogilvy 12237.5 8
8 Appleby 12225 9
9 Sabbatini 11741.66 8
10 Verplank 11612.5 9
11 Weir 11459.37 8
12 Pettersson 11333.33 11
13 Olazabal 10875 7
14 T.Woods 10659.37 6
15 Pernice 10625 8
16 Mayfair 10479.16 9
17 Donald 10289.37 7
18 Goosen 10250 7
19 Oberholser 9550 8
20 T.Clark 9547.5 9
21 Parnevik 9417.5 11
22 Van Pelt 9302.5 11
23 Funk 9262.5 9
24 D.Wilson 8712.5 9
25 Cink 8633.83 8
26 Gay 8500 9
27 Z.Johnson 8475 8
28 Lehman 8350 7
29 Warren 8237.5 8
30 Villegas 8225 8
31 Chopra 8212 9
32 Franco 8087.5 8
33 Choi 8050 7
34 Ames 7975 6
35 G. Owen 7975 8
36 Harrington 7962.5 7
37 Els 7925 7
38 Pampling 7867.5 7
39 Bohn 7770.83 8
40 Love III 7762.5 8
41 Rollins 7675 7
42 Jerry Kelly 7662.5 6
43 Watney 7475 8
44 JB Holmes 7420.83 7
45 Purdy 7325 7
46 Palmer 7291.66 7
47 Vn Taylor 7237.5 6
48 J.Smith 7200 7
49 Garcia 7175 6
50 Hoffman 7145 7
51 Senden 7037.5 6
52 Jobe 6892.5 7
53 Baddeley 6850 7
54 Couples 6825 7
55 Howell III 6787.5 10
56 Beem 6768.75 8
57 Imada 6717.5 8
58 Barlow 6657.5 7
59 Bertsch 6575 8
60 RS Johnson 6525 5
61 Baird 6517.5 7
62 Fischer 6425 9
63 M.Wilson 6390 6
64 Langer 6354.16 7
65 Calc 6287.5 9
66 D. Howell 6262.5 5
67 Pat Perez 6262.5 7
68 Branshaw 6250 7
69 Leonard 6220.83 7
70 Bjornstad 6217.5 7
71 Allenby 6187.5 6
72 Poulter 6175 7
73 Herron 6132.5 6
74 Rose 6104.16 7
75 F.Jacobson 6075 6
76 Bryant 6050 6
77 Bub Watson 5962.5 6
78 JL Lewis 5962.5 8
79 JJ Henry 5875 5
80 Olin Browne 5875 9
81 A.Scott 5850 5
82 J.Ogilvie 5845 6
83 Waldorf 5787.5 7
84 Estes 5775 5
85 Crane 5770 5
86 Gove 5737.5 6
87 Slocum 5687.5 8
88 N.Green 5662.5 7
89 B. Quigley 5650 5
90 Atwal 5625 5
91 J.Byrd 5500 4
92 Flesch 5492.5 8
93 DiMarco 5384.37 5
94 Curtis 5375 7
95 Wetterich 5350 5
96 Gronberg 5312.5 5
97 Leaney 5225 5
98 Stricker 5212.5 4
99 Westwood 5187.5 5
100 Sluman 5175 9
101 Hart 5137.5 6
T102 Cabrera 5100 5
T102 Immelman 5100 5
104 Maggert 4937.5 7
105 D.Clarke 4900 4
106 Triplett 4800 5
107 Azinger 4762.5 7
108 Durant 4675 8
109 Matteson 4600 6
110 Barron 4581.25 5
111 Lowery 4500 7
112 Mahan 4462.5 7
113 Gore 4450 5
114 Br.Davis 4437.5 7
115 Micheel 4425 6
116 Lickliter II 4250 5
117 B. Haas 4200 6
118 Frazar 4187.5 6
119 Geiberger 4100 6
120 Veazey 4025 5
121 Armour III 4012.5 4
122 Cook 4000 4
123 Dickerson 3975 7
124 Kenny Perry 3962.5 4
125 Lonard 3937.5 6
126 S.Jones 3912.5 5
127 Faxon 3812.5 6
128 Austin 3812.5 8
129 Pavin 3787.5 4
130 Sutherland 3750 6
131 Goggin 3737.75 4
132 Ridings 3700 5
133 Kent Jones 3612.5 5
134 Kaye 3575 5
135 Andrade 3545 5
136 Petrovic 3512.5 5
137 Sindelar 3512.5 6
138 Brehaut 3400 7
139 Jimenez 3387.5 3
140 Ws Short Jr 3387.5 7
Holy Toledo!
/ 
(click on image to enlarge)A reader in Toledo, Spain saw this bunker and photographed it for our amusement. He writes:
A city where the Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures lived in harmony for centuries, the arquitect decided to put the symbols of all three cultures in his signature hole.
It's good to know that America hasn't completely cornered the market on horrific design elements!
The Familiarization Trip
/Received this today. Make sure you catch the last sentence. It's a keeper!
Good morning:
We are hosting media May 30-June 3 at Circling Raven Golf Club/Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel and Coeur d’Alene Resort for a familiarization trip.
www.circlingraven.com
www.cdaresort.com
www.cdacasino.comThe goal of the trip is introduce media to these two properties, both members of the Idaho Golf Trail’s Northern Loop and less than 30 minutes apart. They are rapidly becoming rated among the best one-two public access courses near to one another nationwide, comparing favorably to the Bandons and Pebbles of the golfing resort world.
We would like you to come on the trip and see what the buzz is all about. We think you’ll find the golf and resorts of such caliber and value that you’ll want to review or rate them and let your readers to know about them since they are so close by and so excellent.
Please let us know at your earliest convenience either way.
While this is an expenses-paid trip – all you have to do is show up and play golf – if you’re more comfortable paying a deeply discounted media rate that can be arranged as well.
PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch, Week 17
/
The PGA Tour Driving Distance average rose to 288.0 yards, up from 287.7 after Houston. Now, I didn't watch much of the New Orleans event (though I have it Tivo'd in case I want to peel off the layers masking English Turn's architectural genius), but considering the course was wet, that's an impressive distance jump.
There were 11 350-or-longer drives, with the season total now at 862. A nd Carlos Franco demonstrated the benefits of diet and exercise with 402-yarder on the 7th hole during Saturday's 3rd round. That brings the season total to 17 drives of 400-yards or longer, 2 shy of 2005's total of 19.
It was in the April 29, 2005 issue that Golf World's E. Michael Johnson embarked on a Colbertian rant about what else, the ranting of "distance killjoys." One year ago the PGA Tour driving distance was 280 yards, down 7 yards from the previous year's total. It was reported here that perhaps this drop was caused by the record rainfall that followed the Tour in early '05, but Johnson instead chose the moment to demonstrate truthiness at its finest (yes, pre-Colbert). Courtesy of Titleist.com (the article isn't available on GolfDigest.com):
The problem, however, is that this emerging conventional wisdom is rarely challenged. Too infrequently does anyone provide the research to either support or refute these statements.When it comes to the length the golf ball is traveling, there is no shortage of talking points for distance killjoys ranting about how the high-tech ball is ruining the game at the elite level.
Distance is out of control. Scores are too low. Courses are obsolete. The game has become one of driver-wedge.
Sound familiar?
So let's try.
Is distance out of control? Only if a seven-yard drop in driving distance since last year counts. Scores too low? Last year's scoring average was a whopping .02 lower than that of 1994.
Maybe there will be a story this week looking at the 8-yard increase in driving distance compared to this time last year?
