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.
Amy Re-Appears
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Sam Weinman reports the good news and she looks incredible.
You Realize...
/...this may be the best indictment yet of the FedEx Cup, courtesy of Gary Van Sickle on Twitter:
Update on 2009-09-16 13:32 by Geoff
Not exactly an endorsement from Doug Ferguson either:
This one promises to be meaningful, but at what cost?
There is no guarantee the best player will win the FedEx Cup. Tour officials made sure of that by resetting the points after three playoff events so that all 30 players at East Lake have a mathematical chance. The top five need no help from anyone; they only have to win the Tour Championship to collect the prize.
Yet if the tour had left the system alone, there was a chance of the golf’s Super Bowl having as much interest as a preseason game.
“The whole idea of the playoffs was for us to get into the top five,” Woods said. “And now, it’s basically a sprint. It’s one tournament, a sprint, assuming one of the top five guys wins the tournament.”
The FedEx Cup pays out $10 million to the winner. The value of the trophy will depend on the name inscribed on it.
"The primary motivation behind developing the game of golf in China is property, not bashing a little white ball around a course."
/Clifford Coonan files a perspective on golf-in-China for The Independent. It's hard to read this and wonder how anyone could possibly think this is going to turn out well.
Read More"Is our world-class city so inept we can't figure out how to protect endangered species at a golf course without having to either give away the land or eliminate golf there?"
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Nancy Wuerfel, "a fiscal analyst by profession," is on San Francisco's Park, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Committee. And yes, its acronym is PROSAC. Anyway, nice to see another common sense op-ed piece on the Sharp Park situation as major decisions are about to be made.
This was the most refreshing point, something I touched in my Golf World story and something that the extremists have been fudging the truth about for some time:
Claims that city golf courses lose money are just not true. I analyzed the financial information for the first six years of the city's Golf Fund. The Recreation and Park Department's accounting practices have created the appearance that Sharp Park golf course is losing money when it is not. These findings were submitted to the Recreation and Park Commission and the Recreation and Park Department.
“The players were dictating how long it was going to take to play a round, and we felt that was unacceptable.”
/During last year’s British Girls’ Championship, Simpson and her team undertook a trial by implementing a new system that involved four checkpoints being set up around the course. Clocks were placed at these locations and players were made aware of what time their group was expected to reach those points by having it printed on pin sheets.
The system proved so successful that it has been in operation at all of the LGU’s events this year.
“The check points are normally at the fourth, ninth, 14th and 18th holes and the times we are looking for them to get round is usually about four hours and 20 minutes in stroke-play and three hours and 40 minutes for match-play, taking into account weather conditions and the course set-up,” added Simpson.
Read MoreThe system proved so successful that it has been in operation at all of the LGU’s events this year.
“The check points are normally at the fourth, ninth, 14th and 18th holes and the times we are looking for them to get round is usually about four hours and 20 minutes in stroke-play and three hours and 40 minutes for match-play, taking into account weather conditions and the course set-up,” added Simpson.
"In terms of where the competition fits into the modern sports firmament, many fans and observers–present company included–don’t exactly know what to make of it."
/I knew there was a purpose for the rain at Merion: it gave Rob Matre's b&w shots a little more ambiance.
Tom Dunne files a typically thoughtful look at the Walker Cup
Read MoreTom Dunne files a typically thoughtful look at the Walker Cup
"He's now sixth in total driving for the season."
/Hank Haney, making his case for Tiger's game in an interview with Alan Shipnuck:
Read MoreWhy PGA Tour Players Should Think Twice Before Tweeting, Volume 49
/John Daly, who owns a restaurant in Memphis where one of his employees was shot in the parking lot:
That's nice, and he is in our thoughts and prayers too. And...oh no, you left it at that John, didn't you? Oh no.
Tiger Takes Day Off; Falls In FedEx Cup Standings *
/Now, I know the team at PGATOUR.com is doing their job and doing it amazingly well to keep on top of FedEx Cup scenarios, but look at this disaster of points breakdowns, scenarios, permutations and other nonsense.
Look, I get it that you want to reward the season and playoff play. But the most recent points reset really undermines that argument. If you have to gerrymand the FedEx Cup finish, then it'll never be taken seriously. Never!
Why are all these tough-guy, free-wheeling, free-market loving gamblers associated with the PGA Tour so afraid of old-fashioned, head-to-head, no points stuff, true playoff play at East Lake? Would it be too stressful?
Update on 2009-09-15 15:56 by Geoff
* John Strege agrees that the above information reminds us that the only way to fix the FedEx Cup is to use the old ADT Championship format for the four days at East Lake. You all know I've been campaigning for that since the start.
"According to a tour executive, players were in unanimous agreement with the move."
/Ron Sirak reports on a couple of LPGA events lowering their purses. Great to see the players and executives not hung up on "value dynamics" or whatever they call it.
Weather the storm, keep your sponsors happy and hopefully the goodwill pays off down the road when times aren't so lean.
See why I'd never get my MBA.
"He expects savings of $1 million-plus."
/That's David Fay, talking to Golfweek's Adam Schupak about scaling back the grants program.
Never too early to start cutting to compensate for the massive revenue hit in 2013!
Everybody Get Ready To Hate Ray Romano...
/And not because he isn't funny or a great guy. No, it's merely the thought of 8 million airings of the same Golf Channel promo between now and the next Haney Project's airing...
Read More"Right there it wouldn't pass Architecture 101"
/Len Ziehm talks to a few players about Cog Hill and while the criticisms are noteworthy, I think it's more interesting to see these guys getting more nuanced in their analysis of what makes something poor.
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