When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
I heard CBS was really laying it on thick Saturday, so much so that we may get a specially composed remix of "Taps" by Yanni for Sunday's final round telecast.
If they play it, let me know. Or just comment about anything else related to the final round here.
John Huggan looks at R&A Secretary Peter Dawson's various contradictory statements and actions on the distance issue in an excellent reminder of where the governing bodies say the game is and where we actually stand. The List also gets a mention!
"Driving distance is not increasing and we take that very much into account in course set-up and course alterations," said Dawson. "We do think we have this issue (distance) surrounded."
At first glance, Dawson is right. A quick look at driving distance statistics shows that, in 2005, the longest driver on America's PGA Tour was Australian Scott Hend with an average knock of 318.9 yards. Last year, Robert Garrigus of the US was longest, on 315.5 yards. Hang on though. A closer inspection of the numbers is less reassuring. If we go back to 2002 (when former Open champion John Daly was the biggest hitter on 306.8 yards) only one player, Daly, averaged over 300 yards from the tee and a mere 18 averaged over 290 yards. Three years later, 26 players were routinely over 300 yards and 86 averaged 290 yards or more. And last year, Garrigus was one of a dozen over 300 yards, with 73 averaging more than 290 (the slight drop can be attributed to course set-up "tricks" such as mowing the fairway grass towards the tee rather than the green).
More high profile coverage of Pinehurst #2's revival, this time from John Paul Newport Jeff Neuman in the WSJ. Funny, but with the Players Championship looming I wish we could plug the TPC Sawgrass into the parts discussing the removal of turf in favor of sand, wiregrass and pine needles.
"The reputation of Pinehurst was established in its natural state," said Coore. "Once you got off the fairways, it was wiregrass and hardpack sand. You might roll up against the wiregrass, or you might reach the pine needles, or you might have a clear, firm lie. We wanted to restore the uncertainty."
Coore and Crenshaw studied old photographs and aerials of the course taken in the 1940s. They removed untold acres of Bermuda sod and replaced it with…nothing.
"When you remove the grass, areas expose themselves as sandy wasteland, firmer, and evolution takes over," Crenshaw told me.
Some soft white sand and pine straw were scattered over the waste areas, awaiting the winds that will put them where they will. Eighty thousand wiregrass plants, whose wispy tufts are more an impediment than an obstruction, were planted by hand in a largely random pattern, though concentrated more heavily alongside the landing areas for the professionals' drives.
He's certainly not the first active athlete to tee it up in the American Century Championship but BYU's Jimmer Fredette has to be one of the youngest to play with the likes of Jordan, Barkley and Romo.
Martin Kaufman on the bold "Express Lane" concept instituted by OB Sports at Las Vegas' Angel Park. Players can sign a pledge agreeing to play in 3:45 or less to get select tee times
Steve Elling mines a topic that has been severely undertouched by the golf media: why are there so many more talented and mature young players than ever before? Lots of interesting food for thought, though the role of technology is not delved into. Still, I found this part with David Leadbetter reminding us of those who didn't make it just as interesting:Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
