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.
The scores are here but as far as stories go, Billy Mayfair may have been medalist but Joseph Bramlett was the favorite of on-site scribblers.
Mick Elliott (here), Steve Elling (here) and Adam Schupak (here) each had a distinctive take on Bramlett, the first man of African American descent to earn a card through Q-school in 25 yards. From Schupak's story, referencing the last black man to make it to the tour via the school, Adrian Stills:
Geoff Ogilvy has already won the Australian Open but we can't see it here in the states because of a full line-up that includes a meaningful finale at the Chevron World Challenge for Tiger, the Nedbank in South Africa, the LPGA Tour Championship and the second-to-last round of PGA Tour Q-school. Let me know what you see.
Bob Harig on Tiger's upcoming move from Orlando to Jupiter and ramifications for his current club, and interestingly, his game.
Going forward, Woods will have some decisions to make about where to play and practice on Jupiter Island.
"The problem is, I don't have a place to play yet," he said. "I have to figure that out. I've got a nice practice facility in the backyard [at his new home]. As far as playing holes ... I don't have any holes to play. That's kind of an up-in-the-air deal. I'm trying to figure that out now. There are so many good places down there."
Woods does have several options, including The Medalist Club (designed by Greg Norman), The Bear's Club (a facility built by Jack Nicklaus) and the McArthur Golf Club in nearby Hobe Sound (where Nick Price has an interest).
Thanks to The Constructivist over at Mostly Harmless for catching these comments from Laura Davies on Grand Cypress, home to this week's LPGA Tour Championship. I would have caught these were it not the fourth most interesting event this week!
Q. Tell us about the course. It's pretty challenging. What do you think of it?
LAURA DAVIES: This one? It's my favorite course in Florida. We played here years ago in the late 90s and 2000. It's always been my favorite course in Florida. I like the grass here. It's better. It's not so--the weird grass that Florida has. I don't know the difference between them but it's much spongier and I like it. The layout is fantastic, but the grass is good, too. I don't know what they did with the greens. Someone went mental on the greens. I don't know what happened there. Someone said Jack Nicklaus did it, but I don't believe that. Someone said Jack changed it; well, he must have been having a very bad day. (Laughter).
Q. Someone said that he had to oversee it for it to remain a Nicklaus design.
LAURA DAVIES: Well, he might have been in a helicopter above (laughter) or flown over and said "that will do" or something. There's no way Jack Nicklaus designed these greens. They are mental.
Clearly Laura needs to get out to Sherwood to see some of Jack's finest greens. She'd retract those comments in a heartbeat!
I'll just put them in order and let you decide the victor!
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
