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.
Ed Sherman shares the nitty gritty on Tiger's test drive around Medinah. His caddie:
"He said about six or seven times, `I wish we played courses like this all the time,'" Conklin said.
How far into his PGA press conference before we get the dreaded "it's all right in front of you" line?
From the folks at TNT:
In a first for a U.S. golf event, Turner Network Television (TNT) and PGA.com, one of golf’s leading interactive Web sites, will partner to bring golf fans inside the ropes with 11 hours of live coverage featuring TNT and CBS’ on-air announcers, camera coverage and editorial content as they call the 2006 PGA Championship from Medinah (Ill) Country Club. The coverage tees off on Thursday and Friday, August 17 - 18, with PGA.com simulcasting six hours of TNT’s on-air content with coverage from 2 – 5 p.m. ET for both the first and second rounds. Also, PGA.com will webcast five additional hours of bonus coverage from the first two rounds of the championship. The exclusive bonus coverage will stream on Thursday and Friday from 12:30 – 2 p.m. ET, and then again on Saturday and Sunday from 10 – 11 a.m. TNT broadcast partner CBS will follow late-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday to the championship’s conclusion.Oh yeah, I'm up at 7 a.m. on PGA Sunday to watch that!
Here's the money quote:
“One of the benefits of providing six hours of simulcast coverage on Thursday and Friday is to build interest and viewership of the PGA Championship on TNT,” said David Levy, president, Turner Sports. “This landmark multi-platform experience is the perfect example of how, with the help and tremendous access provided by our friends at The PGA of America, we can leverage our expertise and technology to enhance our network coverage giving the fan the most complete two-screen experience. We wanted to debut this big idea at a big event, and what could be better than to do so at a major championship."And I knew sticking with AOL would finally pay off:
In addition to the live coverage on TNT and PGA.com, AOL.com users will have exclusive access to live video coverage of select par-3 holes. This coverage will be available free and open on the Web on Thursday and Friday at http://sports.aol.com. Announcers Grant Boone, Beau Estes and Christine Pullara will provide users with an in-depth look and analysis of the world’s greatest golfers as they make their way through the challenging par-3 holes at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club. Also offered is a unique interactive open forum where golf fans can email, log on to chat or send AOL Instant Messages to our anchors and expert analysts.Does this mean we can IM Bobby Clampett?
Not the FedEx Cup silly, the Cup that matters...
The Houston Chronicle's Steve Campbell writes:
The Ryder Cup standings are as crude as they are contrived, with players scoring only if they finish in the top 10. In the Ryder Cup race, the guy who finishes 11th gets treated the same as the guy who misses the cut.
And makes this point:
The world rankings, imperfect as they may be, are a much better gauge of a player's overall performance. By that measure, the first six players on the team would be the same. Lehman would have Love, Kenny Perry (No. 32), Verplank and Couples in the 7-10 slots.
Check out the photos, courtesy of reader Scott. (And note that Zinger wears his Nike visor...what a team player!)
Many of the younger players on the regular tour today are just plain shy. They started at an earlier age than I did and from day one really had the game hammered into them. They grew up more insulated from the outside world. So they're a little less comfortable around people. It shows in their interviews, their interaction with the fans and even with each other. They just aren't people-oriented; caddies and teachers tend to get fired more often because of personality conflicts. I don't think they have as much fun as we did back in the 1970s and '80s. I have to say, I enjoyed the best years of the PGA Tour.
Alan Shipnuck and Barker Davis delivered memorable rants (here and here) on their Hoylake hotels, but if I were judging the (no chance in hell) Golf Writers Association of America's writing contest award for best British Accommodations story, Bob Verdi's July 28 Golf World rant (not posted) would take the Weekly division prize.
If they can build a Rolls-Royce, why can't they build a shower that works? I stepped into the shower stall the other day, and that's exactly what happened. A shower stall. Instead of a simple knob or handle, there's a control panel that looks like it belongs in an airplane cockpit. Flashing lights, arrows, diagrams, cables, dials. Everything but water. When I attempted to activate the contraption, the spigot just sort of hissed, as if to mock my pathetic body.
I yelled for help, and was informed that, in order to secure hot water, I first must flip a switch. It's 100 degrees and I've got to flip a switch to get warm? And where's the switch? It's in the adjoining room, the one with a toilet. Once water arrives, it does so reluctantly and in wild spurts, occasionally so scalding that you hang from the glass partition, hugging it for safety, as if posing for a chest X-ray.
Mike Aitken tries to kindly point out that Tom Lehman's assistant's might actually make for attractive Captain's picks.WHEN Tom Lehman, the US Ryder Cup captain, urged his men to win more tournaments in the run-up to the match against Europe at the K Club next month, it's safe to assume he didn't have either Loren Roberts or Corey Pavin in mind. On Sunday, however, it was Lehman's backroom assistants who showed the others the way with victories at Turnberry and Milwaukee.
While pleased for his friends, Lehman, privately, must be questioning the lack of experience in a side which is shaping up as stellar at the top of the order - the expected partnerships of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco will be crucial to US hopes of success - but something of an unproven quantity further down.
As things stand, the last four places on the US side will be filled by JJ Henry, Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich and John Rollins, rookies who would add an element of the unknown to the American team for the first time in years. With an injury doubt over the involvement of David Toms and fitness and form question marks also lingering against possible wild card selections such as Davis Love III and Fred Couples, even the Yanks (whose qualifying race ends after the US PGA at Medinah on 20 August) accept Europe go into the 36th match as favourites.
From a story on Deutsche Bank extending it's deal with the Tour:
"The FedExCup and new playoff system on the PGA TOUR truly usher in an exciting new era in golf, and establish a new measurement of success on the PGA TOUR," TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said. "Moreover, the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup will bring the same pressure and compelling drama to the PGA TOUR that other sports have had for many years."
The PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. Just leveraging the equity of the brands. I'm sure they'll use version on SportsCenter.
The PGA Tour driving distance average jumped to 289.1 yards following the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, up from 288.7 yards after the British and B.C. Opens.
There are currently 16 players averaging over 300 yards for the season. A feat managed by 26 players in 2005.
MacDuff wanted it noted that even though Tiger is 26th in his version (vs. No. 1 on the PGA Tour points list), that Tiger leads in weekly points average. The Top 30 using MacDuff's points system:
T.Woods 1885.54
Furyk 1544.16
Gf. Ogilvy 1523.07
Mickelson 1483.37
Toms 1472.44
A.Scott 1443.75
Donald 1431.4
Immelman 1426.04
Singh 1366.21
Glover 1326.28
Goosen 1304.54
Pernice 1293.75
Olazabal 1289.77
Ames 1268.75
Appleby 1264.42
B. Quigley 1256.25
Harrington 1245
Cink 1224.73
Garcia 1209.72
Stricker 1200
Pettersson 1175.49
JJ Henry 1166.25
Z.Johnson 1160.71
Wetterich 1158.33
Verplank 1157.69
Allenby 1143.18
Sabbatini 1140.7
Jerry Kelly 1139.58
Senden 1135.71
Weir 1132.29
If the FedEx Cup points race ended today--and I can't emphasize if enough--Wes Short Jr. would not make it in using either MacDuff's system or the PGA Tour's. But Kris Cox is in either way, so there is hope.
1 Mickelson 23734 16
2 Furyk 23162.5 15
3 Singh 21859.37 16
4 Pettersson 19983.33 17
5 Gf. Ogilvy 19800 13
6 Cink 18246.33 15
7 Bohn 17938.33 17
8 A.Scott 17325 12
9 Glover 17241.66 13
10 Donald 17176.87 12
11 Immelman 17112.5 12
12 Weir 16984.37 15
13 Pernice 16450 13
14 Appleby 16437.5 13
15 Pampling 16372.5 15
16 Z.Johnson 16250 14
17 Toms 16196.87 11
18 B. Quigley 16000 13
19 Van Pelt 15940 17
20 Senden 15900 14
21 C.Campbell 15737.5 14
22 Jerry Kelly 15625 13
23 Verplank 15625 14
24 Funk 15512.5 17
25 Mayfair 15329.16 16
26 T.Woods 15084.37 8
27 Sabbatini 14829.16 13
28 Choi 14656.25 14
29 Oberholser 14637.5 13
30 Goosen 14350 11
31 T.Clark 14335 14
32 Gay 14325 15
33 D.Wilson 14231.25 15
34 Olazabal 14187.5 11
35 Sluman 13775 17
36 Chopra 13633.07 15
37 J.Ogilvie 13396.78 14
38 Vn Taylor 13275 13
39 N.Green 13271.25 15
40 Imada 13117.5 14
41 Crane 13060 13
42 Els 13040 12
43 Ames 12687.5 10
44 Allenby 12575 11
45 Hoffman 12575 14
46 Austin 12562.5 16
47 Harrington 12450 10
48 S. Maruyama 12450 12
49 Purdy 12375 12
50 Slocum 12062.5 13
51 Love III 12050 12
52 Villegas 12037.5 13
53 Flesch 12030.71 17
54 Branshaw 11933.33 13
55 Palmer 11741.66 13
56 JJ Henry 11662.5 10
57 Watney 11535.71 13
58 Wetterich 11525 10
59 Warren 11416.66 14
60 Stricker 11375 10
61 Herron 11247.5 12
62 RS Johnson 11230 11
63 Rollins 11225 11
64 Lehman 11075 11
65 Sean O'Hair 10949.5 13
66 Rose 10891.66 13
67 Garcia 10887.5 9
68 Bertsch 10856.25 15
69 Hart 10830 12
70 Leonard 10820.83 12
71 Parnevik 10767.5 12
72 Kenny Perry 10750 12
73 Pavin 10700 9
74 Lonard 10610.71 13
75 Micheel 10512.5 11
76 Bryant 10282 11
77 Andrade 10182.5 10
78 Jobe 10067.5 12
79 Poulter 10062.5 10
80 Dickerson 9966.07 13
81 DiMarco 9909.37 10
82 G. Owen 9850 10
83 Waldorf 9837.5 12
84 Mahan 9837.5 14
85 Curtis 9762.5 12
86 Lickliter II 9750 11
87 Maggert 9700 10
88 F.Jacobson 9675 10
89 JB Holmes 9658.33 10
90 Leaney 9637.5 10
91 D. Howell 9587.5 8
92 Sindelar 9487.5 13
93 Azinger 9450 12
94 Gove 9437.5 9
95 Br.Davis 9342.5 11
96 Estes 9337.5 11
97 Beem 9318.75 11
98 Barlow 9325 12
99 Baird 9305 10
100 Gronberg 9200 11
101 Howell III 9187.5 14
102 Sutherland 9137.5 13
103 Lowery 9062.5 11
104 D. Maruyama 8766.07 11
105 Bub Watson 8700 9
106 Goggin 8600.25 7
107 Gore 8503.57 8
108 Cook 8450 9
109 Couples 8437.5 10
110 J.Smith 8425 12
111 Calcavecchia 8321.66 16
112 B. Haas 8237.5 10
113 O'Hern 8200 6
114 Franco 8112.5 9
115 Kaye 7900 11
116 Cabrera 7862.5 7
117 Olin Browne 7812.5 13
118 Bjornstad 7742.5 11
119 Fischer 7737.5 11
120 Armour III 7687.5 9
121 Atwal 7575 9
122 Kent Jones 7575 10
123 Geiberger 7481.25 11
124 Trahan 7400 8
125 Overton 7341.07 12
126 Triplett 7208.33 9
127 M.Wilson 7190 9
128 Faxon 7125 10
129 Langer 7079.16 9
130 Baddeley 6962.5 8
131 JL Lewis 6937.5 11
132 J.Byrd 6862.5 5
133 Barron 6606.25 9
134 Gamez 6537.5 11
135 Kendall 6523.21 9
136 Durant 6468.75 14
137 Frazar 6462.5 9
138 Pat Perez 6350 8
139 Stankowski 6315.5 11
140 Ridings 6312.5 11
141 S.Jones 6280 11
142 Westwood 6150 6
143 Allen 6075 10
144 K. Cox 6066.66 7
A watch for us, agony for Tom Lehman? Hey, at least he doesn't have to worry about Chris Riley making it this time.
After Milwaukee, Jerry Kelly jumps to 12th place in the U.S. standings.
1. WOODS, Tiger* 3,775.000 3,775.000 (1) --
2. MICKELSON, Phil* 2,474.375 2,474.375 (2) --
3. FURYK, Jim* 1,896.000 1,896.000 (3) --
4. CAMPBELL, Chad 1,129.602 1,129.602 (4) --
5. TOMS, David 1,072.250 1,072.250 (5) --
6. DiMARCO, Chris 830.000 830.000 (6) --
7. HENRY, J.J. 778.750 778.750 (7) --
8. JOHNSON, Zach 756.477 756.477 (8) --
9. WETTERICH, Brett 746.000 746.000 (9) --
10. ROLLINS, John 685.000 685.000 (10) --
11. TAYLOR, Vaughn 660.833 660.833 (11) --
12. KELLY, Jerry 653.750 473.750 (22) 180.000
13. GLOVER, Lucas 641.376 641.376 (12) --
14. LOVE III, Davis 631.875 631.875 (13) --
15. COUPLES, Fred 627.727 627.727 (14) --
16. HERRON, Tim 621.667 621.667 (15) --
17. PERNICE, Tom 565.000 565.000 (16) --
18. OBERHOLSER, Arron 557.500 557.500 (17) --
19. CINK, Stewart 556.874 556.874 (18) --
20. MAYFAIR, Billy 489.166 489.166 (19) --
21. QUIGLEY, Brett 478.333 478.333 (20) --
22. VERPLANK, Scott 475.667 475.667 (21) --
23. SLUMAN, Jeff 471.250 311.250 (39) 160.000
T24. CURTIS, Ben 445.000 445.000 (T23) --
T24. STRICKER, Steve 445.000 445.000 (T23) --
The European team is shaping up, with the top 5 from each of these lists making the team. The guys with the dashes next to their numbers would be in if it were decided today.
-1 David HOWELL 207.27
-2 Colin MONTGOMERIE 205.90
-3 José Maria OLAZÁBAL 202.09
-4 Henrik STENSON 201.76
-5 Luke DONALD 192.25
6 Sergio GARCIA 187.96
7 Paul CASEY 165.33
8 Padraig HARRINGTON 154.46
9 Carl PETTERSSON 154.12
10 Robert KARLSSON 137.06
The Ryder Cup European Points List
Updated: 30 Jul 2006
After the The Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe
Position Player Name Points
1 Colin MONTGOMERIE 2413016.11
2 David HOWELL 2274635.98
3 Henrik STENSON 1782888.71
-4 Paul CASEY 1721833.85
-5 Robert KARLSSON 1692811.77
-6 Sergio GARCIA 1634091.27
-7 Padraig HARRINGTON 1514027.44
-8 Paul MCGINLEY 1455992.24
9 José Maria OLAZÁBAL 1381698.05
10 Paul BROADHURST 1336905.57
Not sure what to make of this exchange today between Feherty and McCord during the final round at Milwaukee as Corey Pavin prepared to approach the 4th hole:
FEHERTY: You know it's really kind of interesting to watch this because he's playing the game the way it used to be played, but with modern equipment. He's exactly where Hogan would have been, but he's hitting a metal wood from here. He's got 212 yards. And this is a hard green to hit. These are little push-up greens, they slope off at the sides. It's a task for the amateur player to hit these greens with a wedge.
McCORD: I used to play a lot with him early when he was playing balata golf balls, he used to curve the ball so much it was unbelievable. He'd hit 40 yard hooks and slices out there.
FEHERTY: And that's why he plays so well on these courses. At Colonial, at Hilton Head, you know because you can move the old ball. You can't...this ball just wants to go straight. That's why players like Corey Pavin can still play. And it's great to see them.
The Golf Channel's tough questioning of Carolyn Bivens did not quite live up to say, the Ely-Fay debate on the ERC driver (back in the last century when David Fay was concerned about the distance issue!), but did yield this curious question and answer from the LPGA Tour Commissioner:
BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: Your brief tenure has been plagued by some resignations and at least one dispatch of Barb Trammell. I'm just wondering if you can elaborate a bit about what happened in some of those cases.
CAROLYN BIVENS: Well, first of all, as we all know who work in business, you can't talk about private personnel and human relations issues. So, not going to get into any individual situations. But I will say that any time an administration changes, any time there is change from the top, there will be some who will leave for a variety of reasons. And in some cases it may not be that they have something against the person who is coming in. It may simply be that they've been through a number of changes as different commissioners have come to the organization and they don't want to go through it again. In some cases it may be a disagreement with the direction its headed, and in some cases it's better opportunities. Some of the--I would consider unfair criticism--several of those people left before I even had a chance to make any impact or actually took over the organization.
Uh huh.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
