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.
Someone is doing a bang up job documenting the renovation of TPC Sawgrass. You can view a slide show here.Donald Ross, A.W. Tillinghast, Robert Trent Jones and Arthur Hills all had some input at Wykagyl over the last century. The rolling layout has always placed a premium on accuracy and creativity.Okay, she gets points for that comment.
"It's funny," said Helen Alfredsson, who's making her 12th appearance here at Wykagyl. "I'm not conservative with many things, just golf courses. But with the way everybody plays much longer now, it's sad to have a course become obsolete, too. For us, I think this is one of the best golf courses. It's so fun to play."
"But that's what makes this course so special, the greens," Alfredsson said. "They made them small in the old days. I'm not a fan of big greens, but that's what the trend is and sometimes I guess you have to go with the trend."I think the real confusion on the green size issue is due to the scale of large modern green complexes, versus the scale of large classic complexes. The old guys managed to tie in a 6,000 square foot green much better than today's giants. The USGA green does make it more difficult to get the scale and feel right, but still...
Well, not really...
But I'm curious whether you prefer to have a linked story open up in a new browser window (as I do it now) or to remain in the same window you are viewing this site in?
Furman Bisher weighs in on Hootie Johnson's depature a tad late because he was "on a golfing mission to Ireland and only recently returned. I didn't want to miss out on my turn at bat."
And I know you were anxiously awaiting his verdict.
However, for someone who quoted Hootie as saying he would be stepping aside at this years Masters and chose not to write about it, he probably could have done better than drawing this conclusion:
Surely Johnson's reign should be marked by a good deal more this hassle over female membership.
What about the rise of Tiger Woods? What about the emotional exits of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer? What about the $25 million that Augusta National has funneled into charities? What about the extended presence the "handmade" pimiento cheese sandwiches --- and how do you make sandwiches if not by hand? And more pertinent to the game itself, was it not the hand of Hootie that brought the golf course into the 21st Century, critical as many of us were at times?
Wow, what didn't the man do? And here I thought Tiger Woods was responsible for his own rise!
Thanks to reader Noonan for the heads up on Ankush Khardori blogging at Huffington Post about CBS's apparent fascination with golf after airing 60 Minutes features this year on Tiger, Michelle Wie and John Daly. He wonders if Sean McManus's new job as head of CBS News had something to do with it.
CBS responds swiftly and honestly on their Public Eye blog.
Thanks to reader Jonathon for this story out of Hawaii where the state Supreme Court ruled that a golfer may not be held liable for mistakenly hitting another golfer with an errant golf ball.
Chief Justice Ronald Moon wrote Yoneda assumed the risk of the injury when he played golf.It is "common knowledge that not every shot played by a golfer goes exactly where he intends it to go," the ruling said, adding there wouldn't be much "sport" in the "sport of golf," if golf balls went exactly where the player wanted.
The April 28 ruling makes clear a golfer who intentionally hits a ball to inflict injury, or recklessly hits the ball knowing that injury is highly likely, would not be exempt from liability.
Gee, you think?
The court considered whether golfers should have to shout "fore" or other warnings to protect other players. The justices concluded, however, that doing so was golf etiquette, not a requirement recognized by law.Yoneda, 33, said many people would get hurt because the ruling didn't require golfers to yell a word of caution on the greens.
"With the ruling that warning is like an option, that's not too good," Yoneda said. "I know what it's like to be hit and I don't want anybody to go through what I went through."
In a sworn deposition in the case, Tom said he was about 175 yards from the green in the light rough when he hooked his 5-iron shot to the left.
The ball hit the fairway, bounced into the rough, then a dirt area, then on a cart path before it hit Yoneda who was riding on a golf cart to the sixth hole, the court said.
Tom, 33, said he didn't yell "fore" because he hadn't seen the cart.
And this was interesting...
Gary Wild, president of the Hawaii State Golf Association, said U.S. Golf Association etiquette rules require a player to shout a warning if the ball is in danger of hitting someone.
Starting two years ago, a player who repeatedly violates that rule can be disqualified, Wild added.
Doug Ferguson took a tour around the TPC Sawgrass and noticed a few of the changes being made to the course and clubhouse as it prepares for the 2007 Players Championship THE PLAYERS.
Also daunting is a new tee being built on the 219-yard eighth hole, making it play closer to 240 yards. David Pillsbury, chief operating officer of the tour's golf course properties and the man in charge of the TPC project, said the new tee on No. 8 is among five holes that will be lengthened by a combined 75 to 100 yards. But that's not to say the tees will be used.Now, does this mean that flexibility is the new, clever way of adding length without acknowledging changes in the game. Or do they think that flexibility is being able to move tees around to make the course play the same every day depending on the wind?
"The winds will be different in May," he said. "This gives us flexibility for setting up the course."
There were other subtle changes, beyond reconditioning the fairways and greens. More than two dozen oaks, pines and palm trees have been planted on the left side of the par-5 ninth fairway, making for a difficult escape. Pine trees have been added to the right of the sixth, seventh and 10th fairways.Oh wonderful. Hootie Pine Fungus has traveled to Ponte Vedra.
Now I know that credentialing bloggers to professional golf tournaments could result in a total nightmare for tournaments around the world, but this story about the denial of credentials for the Golf For Beginners bloggers over at travelgolf.com raises a few questions.
Here is a Tour whose press rooms serve as meditation chambers most days, turning away folks who, if you take the time to scroll their posts on the LPGA Tour, are friendly to the cause and doing it on a busy web site.
And they want to cover your tour...a tour that struggles to get any coverage...a tour that considers itself cutting edge with their personal branding coaches and marketing-wiz for a Commissioner.
Tod Leonard reports on the latest from Torrey Pines, where former city council member Michael Zucchet is leading an energized campaign against rate fees and a new clubhouse. Leonard also writes about the planned renovation of Carlton Oaks in Santee, where I will be consulting with architect Brian Curley on a project aimed at introducing fun, interesting affordable golf to an area in dire need of it!
According to Bob Pool in the L.A. Times, Donald Trump wants to rename Ocean Trails Drive leading to his Trump National Los Angeles clubhouse. The city of Palos Verdes wants The Donald to rename the course Trump National Rancho Palos Verdes, or Trump National Palos Verdes, or Trump National Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Got that?
Trump hasn't directly participated in the negotiations. He sent Vincent Stellio, a Trump company vice president, to last month's council meeting. Explaining the name change, Stellio said Trump merely wanted to capitalize on his golf course brand while distancing himself from the stigma of the Ocean Trails course's 1999 collapse and its bankruptcy.
Stellio added that Trump has started marketing the property as being on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. To prove it, he handed council members $30 golf hats with that name affixed to them.
"Originally, when we first came out, 'Los Angeles' seemed like the right thing to do because, basically, we're an East Coast company," Stellio said. "But with me spending some time out here, we realized that a better market standpoint is the peninsula. Pebble Beach is on a peninsula too."
Nothing gets by these guys!
Though The Donald has said that his course is the only California classics actually on the Pacific Ocean, and the only on a peninsula.
"Pebble Beach really isn't on the ocean. It's on Carmel Bay," Trump told Golf Digest in 2002.
How about Trump National on the Pacific Ocean of Palos Verdes Peninsula? Too many prepositional phrases? Wait...
Still, "if we market it externally outside, we'll probably refer to it as 'Palos Verdes Peninsula Los Angeles.' Internally, we'll be marketing it as you see on that hat."Trump National on the Pacific Ocean of Palos Verdes Peninsula Los Angeles. Now there's a name that works!
Stellio was on the line during Monday's interview with Trump, who seemed irritated by the street-name controversy.
"If they've pushed you around, Vinnie, I'm not interested in doing business with them," Trump said.
Meanwhile over in Scotland, The Donald has found a much more willing politician, and it may just jeopardize his project. From Scotland on Sunday:
Jack McConnell has been accused of breaking the ministerial code of conduct by backing a luxury golf resort planned for Scotland by billionaire Donald Trump.
Scotland on Sunday can reveal the First Minister's close association with Trump may have broken strict rules which require ministers to remain neutral about planning applications before they are decided.
And...
The tycoon wants to invest £300m in a links course, luxury hotel and housing on the estate. But opponents of the plan say it will ruin one of Scotland's most pristine stretches of coastline. Despite the mounting concern, McConnell has already met Trump twice in the US, and had numerous phone calls with him.
But on planning issues, the ministerial code of conduct clearly stipulates that ministers "must do nothing which might be seen as prejudicial to that process, particularly in advance of the decision being taken".
It adds: "Action that might be viewed as being prejudicial includes meeting the developer or objectors to discuss the proposal, but not meeting all parties with an interest in the decision."
"Phil got one up on us all by carrying two drivers in his bag as he ran away with the Bell South Classic and the Masters," observed the Scot yesterday. "Drivers can now be made with a swing bias in them, to fade and draw the ball. Phil's done very well and he won't be the only person doing it from now on. Me? I've been in touch with Yonex already with a view to doing something similar.
"There are certain courses, like St Andrews, where straight is good and you don't need two drivers there. But when there's a lot of doglegs, for instance at Wentworth, on the 17th I would have to hook the ball, and on the 18th I would have to hit a fade, so why not let the club do that for you and not have to put two particular different swings on it?"
"Michelle has demonstrated her outstanding golfing skills to a global audience as both an amateur and now as a professional, and we look forward to welcoming her," said George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European tour - a remarkable volte-face by a man who had previously been sceptical about offering women invitations to play in men's events.
Eight months ago O'Grady dismissed the practice as a "gimmick". But in golf nothing speaks as loudly as sponsorship money. The European Masters is sponsored by Omega and Wie this year signed a sponsorship deal with the watchmakers.
The date's hopeless, but both PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and the Royal Canadian Golf Association's executive director Stephen Ross still said they were "bullish" on the new date when it was announced on January 13th. Another word that begins with "bull" comes to mind.And...
The RCGA didn't have any say in the new dates from 2007 forward, and tried to spin its new summer date as wonderful and all that when it was announced.
But really, what sort of field will gather come 2007 when the tournament will be held the week after the British Open, the week before the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, and two weeks before the PGA Championship? The Canadian Open could be held in Newfoundland, in the far east of Canada, the RCGA could again charter flights from the British Open, and most top players still won't play the next week.
Let's see: Which of those four tournaments do you think Tiger Woods and his colleagues at the top of the tour will pass on? As for Weir and his fellow Canadian Stephen Ames, they'll have quite a month. The Canadian Open is the fifth major for both Weir and Ames. There's no way they wouldn't play in it.
"The Canadian Open is the perfect week to take off," Zokol said. "The PGA Tour gave the tournament the dates because it doesn't have a sponsor. It's the RCGA's fault for not keeping pace. The PGA Tour moved the tournament to the back of the bus."
The latest Golf World bunker complete with notes, quotes and jokes is now posted.
Golf World's John Hawkins says the Tour is going to present a model for the FedEx Cup, and I know you have all been waiting anxiously to see what they've come up with. He writes:
Although points will replace dollars as the official measure of a player’s position in the standings, the difference could prove to be quite minimal, as one might surmise by the basics of the proposal:On the point of money list and points synergy, MacDuff's season long take (the most recent results posted below) indicate that equal points throughout the schedule would actually create some interesting differences in the money/points lists, and reward those who play more often.
• All “regular” tour events will award a total of 25,000 points. The World Golf Championships will award 26,250, with the four majors and the Players Championship worth 27,500.
• The winner of each tournament will receive 18 percent of the total points—the same percentage as a standard purse breakdown—meaning Brett Wetterich’s triumph at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship would have earned him 4,500 points. All players who make the cut will receive points.
The current standings based on Money (M) and FedEx Cup Points (F) as compiled by reader MacDuff.
M F
1 1 Phil Mickelson
2 4 Jim Furyk
3 8 Stuart Appleby
4 6 Geoff Ogilvy
5 21 Tiger Woods
6 5 Chad Campbell
7 10 Rory Sabbatini
8 9 David Toms
9 14 Retief Goosen
10 35 Stephen Ames
11 3 Vijay Singh
12 12 Luke Donald
13 19 Jose Maria Olazabal
14 38 Trevor Immelman
15 17 Arron Oberholser
16 54 Brett Wetterich
17 30 Adam Scott
18 2 Lucas Glover
19 27 Rod Pampling
20 18 Tim Clark
21 15 Scott Verplank
22 46 Camilo Villegas
23 42 Zach Johnson
24 72 Aaron Baddeley
25 59 J.B. Holmes
Hawkins also writes about how the playoff series will work and ends with this:
• The size of the field for the season-ending Tour Championship has not been determined. There has been talk of reducing the playoff fields from 144 to 132, then to 120, then perhaps to 60 for the Tour Championship. The issue is likely to become a key topic of conversation at the PAC meeting.
Now that's funny! 144 to 132, then 120, then 60 for the Tour Championship. Oh what a thrilling playoff run it will be! Tune in tomorrow to find out if Hunter Mahan will hold off a charge from Frank Lickliter to see who gets into the Tournament Formerly Known As The Westchester Classic.
If the tour reduced the number of playoff qualifiers to 80, then eliminated 20 guys each week so that only 20 remained for the Tour Championship, we’d have the type of cut-throat, nerve-melting format that is needed. The proposed system is a giant compromise to the tour’s middle class, dangerously hyper and far too bloated to have the same stimulating effect as NASCAR’s year-end series, in which only 10 cars compete.
Great...oops, there's more.
Of course, no sports league rewards mediocrity better than the PGA Tour. It answers to a bulky constituency, diluting its product for the sake of short-sighted individual gain, failing to realize that the boat would move much faster with a lot fewer oars in the water.
Sigh.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
