Oh No! The Whiteboard Is Out And It's Only Friday!
/I have to say, the new Steve Sands-helmed white board and graphics center might make a bad situation even worse. And it's only Friday of the Tour Championship. Click to enlarge at your peril:
The only course that will remain difficult under all conditions will be one that is designed and kept for golf of a stereotyped, monotonous character, and this makes a most uninteresting proposition. BOBBY JONES
Available via Amazon (US): Golf Architecture For Normal People
Barnes And Noble (online and in stores)
Bookshop.org option to support local independent bookstores.
Reviews:
"Golf Architecture for Normal People . . . should be required reading for those who are not ashamed to admit they know little about the subject, and for those who think they do . . . . Golf course architecture geeks have trouble slimming their thoughts down to bite-sized chunks, but Shackelford has achieved a remarkable success here." —Independent (Ireland)
"From the relative newcomer who’s slowly getting hooked to those that have played the game for most of their lives and think they know a thing or two, Golf Architecture for Normal People provides a solid and sober perspective that will help everyone recognize why some golf courses are worth playing more than once while a single trip around others is all you’re ever likely to want or need." —Links Magazine.
“It’s a wonderful book. An easy read that arrives just in time for your summer reading list. If you’ve never thought about how an appreciation for course design could heighten your enjoyment of the game, you must check this out.”—The Peterborough Examiner
"As in his prior publications, in his newest book Shackelford shows a deep appreciation for what can be done to create a golf course that appeals to the broadest possible golfing audience…Shackelford’s prose is succinct, often witty, and accessible."—Cape Gazette
"Author, blogger and golf architecture expert Geoff Shackelford, who helped Gil Hanse design Rustic Canyon and restore 2023 U.S. Open host Los Angeles Country Club, taps into his passion by creating a guide that helps every golfer understand the nuances of course design. Published by Tatra Press, the 164-page hardcover book is a must-read for every golfer to better understand the game they love." —Golf Pass
"Shackelford provides an informative picture [and]...sprinkles in history lessons about those who planted the game's architectural roots, defines common terms and helps you hone your eyes when it comes to identifying some of the tricks of the trade."—FORE Magazine
"This new book does a great job demystifying golf course design ideas for average players, but can also be a beneficial read fro PGA Professionals and other golf course employees to get a better understanding of their home courses." —PGA Magazine
Would You Be More Interested In Round Two Of The Tour Championship...
/...if the field of 30 was getting cut to, say, the top 20 in FedExCup points after completion of second round play? Perhaps a playoff for those tied to get to Saturday would liven things up too?
I say this because I tried to watch much of The Tour Championship today and it's just not even the least bit compelling event for a concluding tournament to the "playoffs." The golf course doesn't exactly thrill with heroic shotmaking required, yet I can't help but think that the format is still the real killer.
Would some modified version of the LPGA's ADT Championship, which included a Friday and Saturday cut, add greater interest to the first two rounds at East Lake?
Throw in another cut Saturday to the final ten, and does this "playoff" and accompanying tournament become more interesting?
FedEx: “We expect sluggish economic growth will continue.”
/Thanks to Mike Buteau for Tweeting his Bloomberg colleague Natalie Doss's story on FedExCup sponsor FedEx's reduction of its full year earnings forecast.
Read MoreFedExCup Manages To Be Upstaged By...The Presidents Cup!
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As rivetting as it was to learn from Jimmy Roberts that Camilo Villegas banged his fist on a table upon learning his rejection by the ShotLink algorithms at Sunday's BMW Championship, it turns out that the Presidents Cup points battles on both sides made for far more compelling reading.Oh No, Not Another Wacky FedExCup Scenario!
/
Larry Dorman features some interesting comments from players about the current system and the word playoff, and tantalizes us with the (somewhat slim) possibility that Matt Kuchar would win the whole thing without winning a tournament (playoff or otherwise):Playoff System Designed To Ensure Tiger Woods Makes It To The Final Weekend Begins Without Tiger Woods
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Just remember over the next four weeks: every time we get a rundown of the points permutations, FedExCup standings, points resets, whiteboard scenarios and other geeky nonsense, this was a points system built around making sure one person would be playing right up to the final weekend at East Lake.Two-And-A-Half Minutes Of Your Life You Won't Get Back: Dustin Johnson Dresses Up In A FedEx Uniform
/This is painfully awkward on so many levels.
Warning, this is only for terminally ill readers seeking ways to prolong their lives.
Update on 2011-08-24 21:53 by Geoff
**Apparently a copyright claim was issued by FedEx and the video will be back tomorrow for those of you devasted not to have been able to watch it.
Stallings Wins And Immediately Blogs About It
/
Now, this is a cause for concern, but there is an explanation:
When I played Transitions this year, I wrote about how my third place finish changed everything. But this is totally different. Winning Greenbrier means I also won 500 FedEx Cup points, boosting my ranking from 88th to 26th. I’m more excited about that than the money. (But obviously the money is a huge bonus — I earned $1.08 million for finishing first.)
Besides the obvious hit on greater Ponte Vedra area drug store sales of ED refills in an already beleaguered economy, there is an explanation for this blatant FedEx Cup pandering.
Stallings, who started the final round one stroke off the lead, jumped 62 spots to 26th in the season-long race for the $10 million bonus. That increased security is particularly important to the native New Englander who dearly wanted to make field for the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, which is played in Foxborough, Mass.
"One of the biggest goals we had was to get to Boston," Stallings said. "I was born just outside of the city (in Worcester), and I'm huge, huge, diehard Red Sox fan. To have them have the pairings party at Fenway (Park) ... I told them just to have an opportunity to go in the gates at Fenway any time I can, I would be signed up for as many as I could."
Here is Stallings' winning putt:
And his post round press conference...
"We wanted to get back to Liberty. I think it's one of the most stunning settings for professional golf there is on the planet."
/The Commish visited the media center at Aronimink and the conversation quickly turned to the television contract negotiations which he says have not begun, contrary to some reports.
Read More"So it's all nonsense as far as I'm concerned, and I don't want to talk about it anymore."
/Brian Wacker sums up and shares some highlights from the Commish's impromptu meet and snipe session this morning outside the media center while Tim Finchem nursed a cup of green tea.
TIM FINCHEM: I'd be happy to try to answer anything you want to talk about.
Shortest introductory comments ever!
Q. You were on CNBC on Thursday talking about the incident with Tiger and being forced to play here.
TIM FINCHEM: I'm answering questions.
Q. I'll ask you a question.
Off to a roaring start!
It seems like irrespective of Tiger, it's not unusual for the commissioner to contact players to see if they're going to play in an event or try to tell them how important it is to play in an event, is it?
TIM FINCHEM: Well, I think the question that was put to me, and I'll answer the question that was put to me, it's been rumored that I pressured Tiger Woods to play in the tournament, and my response was no, I did not do that.
Q. Can you answer my question, then?
TIM FINCHEM: We communicate with players all the time with weak fields, weak field events, and we encourage players to move their schedule around and try to include a weak field. We never go to a player and say, would you please, please, please play this event, this event or any other event, ever, and I don't recall ever talking to any player in my tenure about whether or not they were going to play THE PLAYERS Championship unless they came to me and said, I want you to know I'm not playing THE PLAYERS Championship or I want you to know how delighted I am that I am going to play THE PLAYERS Championship. I hope that sets the record straight.
Not really.
Q. You seem to have been put off by the situation that you would twist Tiger's arm to play when he might be hurt.
TIM FINCHEM: Well, it's not about him, it's any player. It's any player. I don't twist players' arms, and as far as Tiger being hurt, guys, that's a decision he has to make, and I had no information that he wasn't ready to play golf. I don't think anybody did. I don't think he did. I was on the range with him for a half an hour on Tuesday. He was hitting it really well. He went and played nine holes, and he didn't have a problem. He played the next day, he didn't have a problem. He stayed on the range that day, he didn't have a problem. So it's all nonsense as far as I'm concerned, and I don't want to talk about it anymore.
See, he's not put off by the question!
Q. Have you been in touch with Mark Steinberg about Tiger since he left here or do you expect to be?
TIM FINCHEM: No, I sent a note to Tiger saying sorry you couldn't finish the tournament, good luck on your rehab and hopefully we'll see you soon, as you would expect. I do that with pretty much any player that has a problem.
He's been sending a lot of notes to Tiger lately. I wonder if Doug Barron ever got such a note?
Q. After five years are you happy with the date in May?
TIM FINCHEM: We like the flow of May, we like the weather. We had the storm yesterday, but it's the first rain delay we've had in the five years. You go back and look at the previous 24 years it's been irregular. We've gotten to the point, we're still working on getting this golf course ready, and this year we were helped by the weather, but we did a lot of things during the course of the year that should help us should we get another date.
Get another date? Don't you set the date? Or is that Dick Ebersol's decision?
So we like it, players like it, fans like it, and we're very pleased with it thus far.
Unless you get another date!
As for the fans, they haven't been coming out as much according to those who attended in March. Or are they coming dressed as stadium mounds and I just don't see as many? Anyway, my contribution to the proceedings:
Q. Deane Beman on has a new book out about his career. I don't know if you've read it, but in it he says that had he known that the governing bodies would have handled the equipment issues the way they did, he wouldn't have left when he did. Do you have any comment on that?
TIM FINCHEM: Well, no. We handled them the way we did. We think we've handled them quite well, but I'm not going to publicly get into a debate with Deane. Maybe over dinner one night.
I guess if it's a public debate that would ensue, it's safe to say he does not agree with Beman's take.
We did learn about the likely timing of the next television negotiations.
Q. Can you talk about the scheduling and television negotiations?
TIM FINCHEM: It isn't set. It isn't set. It's a combination of schedule, it's a combination of us finishing up some pieces of business that we would get done before we sit down with television. It's largely about schedules and time frames. Different networks have different things going on. Also NBC just came through this merger. But my guess is sometime this summer we'll get to it.
Bad news, the FedExCup format isnt changing, at least not until they get new dates.
Q. Do you envision the FedExCup Playoffs being virtually in the format we're in now, and do you expect FedEx to stay on through 2013 and beyond?
TIM FINCHEM: Yes and yes at this point. We like the flow of the schedule. I suppose that -- I suppose there are things out there that could impact that from a scheduling standpoint. There's an awful lot of speculation about where the NFL is going to land on their schedule, but that probably affects the first quarter more than our playoff schedule, although you just don't know.
I would say generally yes, but I wouldn't say -- don't hold me to that.
Oh we will!
"I can easily picture a teenager in 2050 measuring greatness both in terms of majors won and FedExCup titles."
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Whoa Nellie, the FedEx negotiations must have hit a snag!
According to Yahoo's Jay Busbee, PGA Tour VP Ty Votaw felt compelled to rebut a Michael Arkush column blasting the ridiculous early season FedExCup shilling. And Arkush didn't even mention the offensive electronic scoreboard posting of standings that makes catching a leaderboard about as common as a rare white elk sighting!
Ty writes:
Let me say this loud and clear: I LOVE THE FEDEXCUP.
Caps, but no copyright symbol?
There, I've said it. And the PGA TOUR's "partners" (the television networks) updating us more on the standings this early in the season is no different than NFL announcers talking about whether the Pittsburgh Steelers can still make the playoffs after starting 2-4. Doesn't that provide relevance to the Steelers' season and what they have to do to get to the playoffs? Same goes for the FedExCup.
There is a difference. People actually care about the NFL playoffs. Millions of people, actually.
At this time last year, I don't know if many people were predicting that Jim Furyk would win the FedExCup.
He's right few were predicting it because no one cares enough to get into the FedExCup predicting business.
But two wins in the spring (Transitions and Heritage) positioned him quite nicely when The TOUR Championship came around.
Was that after the first or second point re-shuffle?
I have no problem with the TOUR trying to promote the FedExCup.
You're paid several hundred thousand dollars to think that, it should be noted.
I know how overwhelming it is to have great fields play four weeks in a row. Five years into this experiment, the FedExCup means more to me now than it did when it first started.
See last snarky cut-in.
Seriously. There is no doubt that greatness in golf, and this is part of the sport's beauty, is measured by how players perform in the major championships. That's why great players and FedExCup winners like Tiger Woods (14 majors, 2 FedExCups), Vijay Singh (3 majors, 1 FedExCup) and Jim Furyk (1 major, 1 FedExCup) have made the season-long competition so compelling. Time will tell, but I can easily picture a teenager in 2050 measuring greatness both in terms of majors won and FedExCup titles.
Your imagination is richer than I thought!
My dream is for Michael Arkush to see that the FedExCup was never intended to be more important than the major championships, but rather be an additional achievement in measuring greatness. Maybe after he reads this column, my dream can come true.
Keep dreaming the dream, Ty!
PGA Tour House Organ Fights Back At Fleeing Euros!
/You can just imagine how this one went down: PGA TOUR EVP of Spin Control sees a flurry of reports that Euros are passing up tour cards because of the FedExCup and calls over to the PGATour.com offices and demands a story putting some form of spin on the news. As if this will fool unsuspecting television network execs:
Read MoreHow Does The FedExCup Return In 2013?
/The PGA Tour's next television contract negotiation will occur in 2011 and with the recent defections of Europeans Westwood and McIlroy citing the FedExCup as the final straw in opting to remain loyal to the European Tour it would seem that the FedExCup foundations are crumbling.
Since many writers have touted the Cup as a success because it brings top players together at a time they wouldn't otherwise play, this latest episode of non-commitment to the tour from Euros would seem to deflate that argument. Throw in the absurd points system, the branding as a playoff with almost no authentic playoff characteristics, and general apathy from fans, and the tour would seem to have no choice but to be radically rethink the cup in every respect.
Thoughts?
