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 Irish Independent's Niamh Horan "asks if the Nike Curse has struck again as the golf genius and his tennis ace lover appear to go into meltdown."
Here key evidence?
That lack of Twitter activity between the two in recent days...
The pair, who are usually very communicative with one another over Twitter, have not publicly conversed on the social networking site for several days.
With Stacy Lewis's win in Singapore, she's moving in on top ranked Yani Tseng, who lamented the "No. 1" pressure in an unbylined wire story.
"It's tough and it's very lonely," she said. "No one knows how do you feel. Everybody wants to be in your shoes, but no one knows how tough is that."
"The first year, when I was world No. 1, I feel good. But every month, everybody keeps building the expectations on me and that's lots of pressure."
And...
"World No. 1, I know it's good and people like it, but I want to care about myself more," she said. "If I lose (it), I'll get back one day, too."
Meanwhile Joe Posnanski writes about the "crippling" pressure created by a pesky algorithm putting a "1" next to your name.
These guys are pros, of course, and they train themselves to not think about any of this, to keep their thoughts positive and their visualizations clear … but it isn’t easy. And then, suddenly, a player is No. 1. And it all explodes. Every putt is world news. Reporters are everywhere. Everything you say is a headline, every opinion you offer (about golf or not) is analyzed and scrutinized. Expectations are insane – a bad round leads newscasts around the world. Whispers surround you. People invest hopes in you. It’s a lot to deal with. It’s hard to keep your bearings.
Call the Red Cross!
Anyway, this was fascinating...
Jack Nicklaus – who handled the No. 1 spot in the world better than anyone in golf history – said it best.
Today's trivia question readers, how many weeks did Jack Nicklaus spend in the World No. 1 spot?
Really, why do people take the golf rankings so seriously? I understand players wanting to get in the top 50 Club because of the perks that go along with it, but this is not tennis. Does the Official World Golf Ranking even come close to consistently telling us who is playing best in the world?
**Mercifully, Holly Sonders on Golf Channel Morning Drive brought some sanity to this discussion during the, uh, "Wolf" segment (don't ask):
"I've never heard of Roger Federer complaining or lamenting about being world No. 1. In golf I think we need to take a page from other sports' books, so to speak, and get that competitive fire back. What are we doing?"
The latest State of the Game is now posted for your listening pleasure. Rod Morri hosts the usual suspects Clayton and Huggan appearing along with yours truly talking about the anchoring ban, Tim Finchem and the position of the governing bodies.
Also covered is Rory McIlroy's issues and finished off with some talk of the Australian PGA's new venue.
As always, you can find it on itunes where you can subscribe, or listen via the embedded player below.
Steve Hummer reports on the lawsuit filed in a Texas district court to stop the sale and how the club has already successfully gotten the auction postponed.
According to court documents filed by Augusta National Inc. (ANI) in its suit to halt the sale of Wall’s Masters jacket at auction, the tournament winner is allowed to take his jacket off the grounds for a period of one year after his victory.
“Thereafter, it must be stored on ANI premises for use only on the grounds and during the annual tournament,” it claimed in the documents. “Thus, a champion’s Green Jacket is owned by ANI, with a champion having possessory rights when on the premises of ANI.”Responded Florida anesthesiologist and serious golf collector Stephen Pyles, “I have owned six, maybe seven, green jackets. I can go on the Internet right now and buy you a member’s green jacket.”
Hummer also gets into the whole market for members and former champion jackets.
Ryan Lavner, on Jack Nicklaus' comments from today's Honda Classic telecast appearance.
Not music to Tim Finchem's ears:
“It may be to some of the fellas’ detriment, one way or the other, but what I think the ultimate decision should be is the ruling bodies of golf and not the Tour.”
He also spoke at length about Rory McIlroy, as quoted in this unbylined story at ESPN.com.
So glad we're in Florida to watch people walking around all bundled up, but at least the Honda Classic at Bear Trap National has served up a delicious final round setup: two vets in Ogilvy and Westwood both in major need of a PGA Tour win, pursuing two of the sweeter swinging young guns you'll ever see in Guthrie and Thompson.
Throw in the tough conditions, a few players capable of getting in the clubhouse early and it should be a dandy. NBC airs at 3 ET, with Golf Channel supporting prior and with Bear Trap coverage to compliment the network telecast.
There was no helicopter television coverage this time, but Dave Shedloski reports from Bear Trap National on Rory McIlroy's bizarre walk-off WD. It came at the Honda Classic after taking 41 shots on his first nine holes, but before he'd putted out on the ninth.
The scene was reminiscent of last year's WGC-Cadillac Championship when Tiger Woods withdrew on the 12th hole of the final round and promptly exited Doral Resort. Woods cited an Achilles injury that afternoon. Ken Kennerly, the tournament's executive director, said he was still awaiting word on the reason for McIlroy's withdrawal. According to the Associated Press, McIlroy said he was "not in a good place mentally."
Golf Channel's Bailey Mosier posted this ominous Tweet:
Rorys agent: "He's not hurt. He's not sick. And he won't answer his phone. I don't know."
The official PGA Tour account says McIlroy withdraw from severe wisdom tooth pain.
**McIlroy's official statement put out by the tour:
"I sincerely apologize to The Honda Classic and PGA Tour for my sudden withdrawal. I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future. It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners. I came here with every intention of defending my Honda Classic title. Even though my results haven't revealed it, I really felt like I was rounding a corner. This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year and I regret having to make the decision to withdraw, but it was one I had to make."
**Jeff Babineau was there and says McIlroy was near tears.
The defending champion at the Honda, who has captured two major championships by age 23, was near tears as his caddie placed his clubs into the trunk of his blue BMW sports car and he headed out of the lot at PGA National shortly before 10 a.m.
He was 7 over for his round (and the tournament) heading down the 18th fairway, and chose not to drop a ball and hit his fourth shot.
“There’s not really say much I can say, guys,” he said to three reporters in the parking lot. “I’m not in a good place mentally, you know?”
**Bob Harig notes that "The tournament withdrawal rules McIlroy ineligible to win the PGA Tour's scoring title" that McIlroy won in 2012.
Jason Sobel is pretty blunt: "This is beyond poor form. This is quitting. This is John Daly territory. This is the absolute opposite of what we expect and demand from our superstars."
**Will Gray has this and other quotes from playing partner Ernie Els:
"I'm a great fan of Rory's, but I don't think that was the right thing to do," Els explained after firing an even-par 70, leaving him at 1 under for the tournament.
**Brandel Chamblee on Golf Channel:
“Todd Lewis (Golf Channel reporter) hit the nail on the head when he said this is going to add to the questions that already existed due to the equipment change and the poor play, and not busting 75 in the two rounds he played over in the Middle East. The contrast of the stories, the one saying he is in good form, another saying he did not know what was wrong and then later saying it was due to a wisdom tooth issue, will raise further criticism…Clearly this is not an equipment issue. This is a golf swing issue, and in this particular instance, and anybody who has dealt with wisdom pain can tell you, it is almost impossible to do anything other than deal with the issue of the pain.”
Though the bar has been set pretty low, a shocking number of quality entries appear to have been honored in the 2012 GWAA Writing Contest where the judges largely shunned maudlin misery for actual writing about the sport its ownself!
If time allows I'll try to link the winners:
2013 GWAA WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
The following is a full list of the winners, including honorable mentions. There were a record 546 entries in the contest.
DAILY COLUMNS – 1, Dave Seanor, Yahoo! Sports, The false promise of Tiger Woods; 2, Jeff Rude, Golfweek.com, Vivid memories of Hogan and Nelson; 3, John Hopkins, GlobalGolfPost.com, In praise of the Amateur
Honorable mention: Ron Borges, Boston Herald, PoulterHeist; Steve Eubanks, GlobalGolfPost.com, A Selah for Furman; Jim McCabe, Golfweek.com, Remembering Furman Bisher; Josh Sens, Golf.com, Invited to The Country Club, finally.
DAILY NEWS – 1, Ron Green, Jr., Charlotte Observer, McIlroy slays field in PGA Championship; 2, Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.com, Bubba is part artist, part magician; 3, Ian O’Connor, ESPN.com, Olympic’s 16th Hole doomed Furyk.
Honorable mention: Tony Dear, Cybergolf.com, Win by Els is bittersweet; Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, A new name in Masters lore; Jay Flemma, Cybergolf.com, Triple Double at Winged Foot.
DAILY FEATURES – 1, Jason Sobel, GolfChannel.com, More to The Jungle Bird; 2, Lisa Mickey, New York Times, A path to opportunity; 3, Jeff Babineau, Golfweek.com, Good attitude a must at Open.
Honorable mention: Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; Chuasiriporn left game behind; Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, Rory’s future is limited only by his drive; Jim McCabe, Golfweek.com, Euro teammates trust Poulter; Alan Tays, GolfChannel.com, Back on course after accident.
NON-DAILY COLUMNS – 1, Beth Ann Baldry, Golfweek, Creamer’s tearful farewell to Pops; 2, Jim McCabe, Golfweek, Jack: Heart of a champion spans generations; 3, Ron Sirak, Golf World, Pepper’s pardon.
Honorable mention – Jeff Babineau, Golfweek, A band of believers; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Dufner is golf’s coolest man; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Rory is not Tiger.
NON-DAILY NEWS – 1, Tim Rosaforte, Golf World, No rest for Rory; 2, Damon Hack, Sports Illustrated, Red Storm Rising; 3, Michael Bamberger, Sports Illustrated, Phil wins, Tiger loses at Pebble.
Honorable mention – Jim Moriarty, Golf World, Beach Party, Rory wins PGA; Jeff Rude, Golfweek, Duval returns to Lytham; Curt Sampson, Golf World, Collectibles, bidding for history; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Rory, globe-trotting star.
NON-DAILY FEATURES – 1, Jaime Diaz, Golf Digest, Billy Casper, Out of the darkness; 2, Gary VanSickle, Sports Illustrated, Education of Tom Watson; 3 (tie) Steve Rushin, Golf Digest, Bad to the Bone and Jeff Silverman, Golf World, Book worms.
Honorable mention – Jim Moriarty, Golf World, Upside-down world of Randy Simmons; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, How Jhonny V made good; Stina Sternberg, Golf Digest, Christina Kim: Tears of a clown.
SPECIAL PROJECTS – 1, Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Best Sunday ever; 2, Guy Yocom and John Huggan, Golf Digest, Rowdy Ryder Cup at Kiawah; 3, Gregg Dewalt, Times Daily, Revisiting Robert Trent Jones Trail.
Honorable mention: Mercer Baggs, Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell and Jason Sobel, GolfChannel.com, The year 1912 and how it changed the game; Peter Finch and Stina Sternberg, Golf Digest, How golf really treats women; Scott Michaux, Augusta Chronicle, Charl Schwartzel, rise of a natural.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
