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.
There's not a whole lot to say about Jim Hyler's nomination to be the next USGA President, and that's about the highest compliment you can pay the USGA these days!In an especially lively Up and Down column, Steve Elling shares this anecdote from last week's telecast which I did not see. Several have mentioned it though:
Every week, the CEO of whatever company sponsors that week's tour event gets a few moments of blather time during the broadcast to toot their corporate horn and spout clichés about what a great week it was. In Atlanta, the top dog at Coca-Cola used his TV opportunity to hoist a bottle of Coke during his live interview with NBC's Dan Hicks. Then the guy showed up for the awards ceremony with Mickelson and Woods on the 18th green drinking from yet another bottle of the company's product. Times may be tough, but this is way beyond gauche and bordering on crass. It's a golf tournament, not a swap meet.
I do wonder if this rather desperate move speaks to Coca-Cola feeling like it's been lost in the shuffle at East Lake? Most of the event is focused on the FedEx Cup and if it weren't for the Coke bottle sets as tee markers, I would not have any sense of Coca-Cola's presence as Tour Championship sponsor.
Thanks to reader thusgone for catching this Onion story on the FedEx Cup. Just the kind of brand recognition the golf playoffs were looking for.
What's on Phil's mind? What's the Commissioner saying to Tiger? From Rob Matre's final round photo gallery:
...after being subjected to my relentless ranting, you know where I stand.
So what did you all think of Sunday's points permutation madness, the state of Tiger's game, Phil's resurgent putting, NBC's coverage, etc...?
I couldn't help but notice the reflection of Dan and Johnny's notes in today's FedEx Cup trophy. Our La Habra-based art director Tom Naccarato was able to pick up one of Johnny's note pads, but we couldn't make out his fifth mantra. (See third image.) If anyone can translate what they see in the trophy reflection, please post below.
...here would be the 2009 Tour Championship's Saturday 16 using the 2006 version where the field of 32 was cut to 16 on Saturday and 54-hole scores decided the final 8 for Sunday's $1 million shootout (no playoff would have been necessary):
Tiger Woods
Padraig Harrington
Sean O'Hair
Ernie Els
Kenny Perry
Jerry Kelly
Angel Cabrera
Jason Dufner
Nick Watney
Lucas Glover
Stewart Cink
David Toms
Phil Mickelson
Jim Furyk
John Senden
Steve Marino
And the non-qualifiers:
Heath Slocum
Scott Verplank
Luke Donald
Retief Goosen
Steve Stricker
Zach Johnson
Kevin Na
Dustin Johnson
Brian Gay
Mike Weir
Hunter Mahan
Marc Leishman
Y.E. Yang
Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
