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.
...is all that's required to fill out this PGATour.com survey (if the link doesn't work, go to their home page and look in the upper right). This survey will help the Tour and their new content providers to provide you with a better site. I'd love to see the results for some of those questions. Oh well...the perks of being one of the PGA Tour's many Vice Presidents.
The PGA Tour driving distance average rose from 289.5 yards to 289.7 after the Disney event. I would comment on whether the conditions were fast or soggy, but that requires watching it.
Thanks to readers John and Jeff for the link to this John Paul Newport WSJ column on Jim Finegan.
John Gunther details the "team-driven" design process planned for the fourth course at Bandon.
The course, to be named Old MacDonald, will be the result of a bold and unique concept - a team-driven design process led by Pacific Dunes architect Tom Doak and his design partner Jim Urbina.And...
“I think I'm not employing Doak and Urbina as architects,” Keiser said. “I'm employing them to design as C.B. MacDonald and Seth Raynor, his apprentice and successor, would build it if they were alive today.”
A panel of other noted architects, including George Bahto, an expert on MacDonald, will work with Doak and Urbina on the project. Bahto is the author of “The Evangelist of Golf,” a book about MacDonald's life.
Old MacDonald will be located to the north and east of Pacific Dunes, which has received the highest ratings to date among the resort's three links-style layouts.
“The concept to the average golfer is I believe the team will pull off something that is fun,” Keiser said.
When Keiser decided on his concept for the new course, Doak was a natural choice as lead architect. He is regarded as one of the top students of architecture in the United States and already was familiar with Bandon Dunes from when he and Urbina designed Pacific Dunes.
“I feel as if I'm hiring C.B. MacDonald myself,” Keiser said. “I trust (Tom) and Jim is fantastic.”
The design board could have as many as 12 members, all of whom will have input.
“This is interpretive,” Keiser said. “It isn't just, ‘Tom do it.' It's, ‘You and Jim, along with George, being C.B. MacDonald.'”
Keiser, Lesnik, Doak and Bahto are scheduled to meet on Halloween at the National Golf Links to begin discussing the makeup of the group.
Because of the nature of the project and because of a new role Keiser has taken, there is no hurry for construction of Old MacDonald.
Old MacDonald will be located to the north and east of Pacific Dunes, which has received the highest ratings to date among the resort's three links-style layouts.
And...
The general timeline for Old MacDonald is for design work to be done through 2007, with construction in 2008 and 2009 and the opening in 2010.
As the season winds down and the hot-button tech issues figure to heat up, news of Callaway's lousy earnings prompted JPB to make this astute point about the demise of the Top Flite "brand": Actually if top-flite has a problem, it may be a symptom of the things we talk about here. Fewer players playing fewer rounds at more expensive courses. If a lot of top-flites sell it might mean a lot of average or bad players are playing, maybe at cheaper courses. Not my brand, but there are worse products than top-flites. For what they are, they work better than they need to.
Reader Bill S suggested the driver head size be regulated as a way to deal with distance and your comments were interesting, with nearly all of the 20 weighing in agreeing that it has played a major role in the distance explosion of the last few years.
Hawkeye: The launching characteristics would be altered since the weight distribution in the clubeheads would have to be somewhat different, and subsequently it would't be as easy to launch the high, floating drives that are the norm today. Now, if we could just introduce a limit to tee-peg height as well...
Scott S: Many, many things have happened over the years with equipment that it is difficult to pinpoint the culprits, but driver head size is big in the spotlight. We like to think of the tour guys hitting everything dead-center all the time, but this isn't reality. With smaller clubheads on a tense tournament day, people would be skying and topping them all over the place.
DAW: I own a persimmon-head driver that I use from time to time. I don't think I can hit it as far as my normal driver, but in the summer it's quite close. I hit it much, much lower, however. On courses with forced carries, this is a big disadvantage. Not just because of fairway bunkers, but consider a hole where the fairway runs a bit uphill and then flattens out at 230 yards. If I catch the wooden driver a bit thin, it doesn't land on the plateau and goes nowhere. I also think that I lose a larger percentage of the height on imperfect strikes with the wooden driver compared to the big metal one...If limiting the head size would significantly lower the trajectory for drivers then it might be a worthwhile idea.
Bill S: If you read the history books, way back in the days of hickory sticks and before Titleists people hit 300 yard drives now and again. If you let your swing speed get faster, you will hit the ball farther. BUT - with small Persimmon (and even early steel) heads, there was a cost/benefit analysis to be made. If people let their swings out and missed (even a little bit) they wouldn't miss the fairway, they would miss the state. As a result, players like Jack rarely aired it out. Furthermore, mediocre players almost NEVER aired it out b/c they could not control the direction of their shots. In 2006, everyone knows the sweet spot is huge and everyone knows the clubs have incredible MOI's to keep the ball in play. Even hackers like me can play "feerless golf" with a 460cc driver.
Smitty: All you have to do is remember Jay Haas popping up his drive at the Ryder Cup to realize what a difference head size makes--especially under pressure...The problem still overwhelmingly is THE BALL!
And while we can joke about his various farewells, Arnold Palmer really did say goodbye to competitive golf this week and things just won't ever be the same. But if we could just get them to Augusta Thursday morning...
Hawkeye: For some reason, the first golfing stars of the TV age (Palmer, Nicklaus, Player) have all seemed to believe that they would be, truly, forever young. Sadly, that's not the case, and it took Palmer thirty years to realize that. Let's hope Nicklaus and Player also change their minds on being "cermonial players" and reconvene on the first tee at Augusta next April!
ken-one-putt: If we can get the Big Three on the first tee for Thursday at Augusta next year it would truly be a wonderful thing for golf.
And echoing his comments, Smolmania: Mr. Palmer's best days were long since done by the time I came along, but no one since has had the personal magnetism, the ability to make everyone in his presence feel that he was friends with the King. Palmer, Nicklaus, Player. Big Three golf lives. 1st group out on Wednesday afternoon in the Par-3 Tournament, and 1st tee shots on Thursday morning. All would be right in the world for those 18 hours.
Exhibit #1291 of the PGA Tour's unfortunate disregard for the tricky business of golf course development was noted in Doug Ferguson's AP notes column:
Not quite two months after the PGA Tour announced its fall schedule, it has hit a speed bump with one of them.
Because of construction delays and financial issues surrounding the Running Horse Golf and Country Club, Tour officials will be going to Fresno, Calif., this week to meet with the developers.
The Running Horse Golf Championship is to be played Oct. 25-28 next year, the second-to-last event on the 2007 schedule. Along with falling behind on the course, KFSN-TV in Fresno has reported that the managing partners are trying to sell it.
"Things at the golf course are going slower than we thought they were,'' PGA Tour spokesman Bob Combs said. "I understand there are one or maybe more groups looking at investing in it. But from our perspective, we're playing in Fresno.''
One option for the Tour if Running Horse is not ready would be to move it to another golf course in the area, such as Fort Washington.
"We believe Running Horse is going to be the site,'' Combs said. "If it turns out to be another one, we'll cross that bridge. The key thing is we'll be there.''
You may be there, but so far, there is no there there.
Thanks to reader Brian for this David Helwig story on the latest and greatest invention to make the blind shot a little less painful...for those who might get hit. Somehow, I don't see one of these popping up on the 4th at Fisher's Island anytime soon.
CaddyCam, the first-ever wireless solar powered monitoring system that allows golfers to view a remote blind spot from the tee, removes the threat of striking other golfers who may be playing ahead on the same hole.
The CaddyCam monitoring system can also be used to see a detailed view of the pin placement on an elevated green.
The CaddyCam monitoring system is comprised of two units.
The camera unit is an aesthetically pleasing ten foot pole structure on which the camera and transmitter are mounted as well as the solar panel.
The location of the camera unit is typically to the side of the fairway in a location that does not interfere with play.
The monitor unit is also a ten-foot pole structure that supports a mounted receiver, solar panel, and an enclosed color LCD monitor for viewing.
The monitoring unit is conveniently positioned by the tee box or cart path.
What, it's not wireless transmitted to the cart GPS screen? Disappointed!
Now, wait. Maybe this is the key to making blind shots acceptable again? Granted, some of the mystery isn't there, but imagine a group being able to report to their playing partner where his shot came down? ;)
With two full field events to go (for some reason I kept forgetting there's the Parallel Fairway Classic Innisbrook event next week...can't imagine why!), Golf World's John Antonini also looks at the bubble boys and the rather meaningless stakes for some players.
He also points this interesting stat out:
Here are some final numbers to throw at you from last year's money list: The players who finished between 116 and 125 in 2005 averaged 25.1 events this season. The players who finished between 126 and 150 in 2005 averaged 21.72 events. The 10 players who didn't improve their status somehow and had to play from that category averaged 19.2 events, and that figure includes two players who were injured for most of this year. However, those outside the top 150 with no other status, have a slim chance of playing on tour. Among players ranked 151-170 last year, 13 had status of some kind in 2006 (past champion, career earnings, Q school, medical); the seven who didn't combined to play just 15 events on tour.
I was perusing ebay and searching for items related to architect George Thomas when I stumbled upon a baseball signed by Hall of Famer "George Thomas Seaver," aka Tom Seaver, who was signing his legal name.
The late, Charlie Seaver, Tom's father, played a lot of golf during his teenage years with George Thomas at Los Angeles Country Club and also played a round with MacKenzie at Cypress Point. (When I interviewed him for The Captain, he told me had film of the MacKenzie round, though he did not want to have it transferred to tape at the time).
And for trivia buffs, Seaver was one win away from facing Bobby Jones in the final of the 1930 U.S. Amateur.
Anyhow, I'm presuming that Seaver named his son after Captain Thomas. And I know this makes your day!
Does anyone have any idea what Tom Seaver is these days?
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
