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
Here's a clever promotion involving Golf Digest's U.S. Open cover model, Dustin Johnson.
From the folks at TaylorMade who deserve some points for an imaginative stunt that isn't totally out of the realm given Johnson's recent form: DJ wins, you either get a refund on the driver you bought in the month leading up to the U.S. Open, or you get a free one for filling out the PGA Tour Superstore form.
All the details here.
Last time we saw it on the PGA Tour, poor Tip O'Neill was stuck in a bunker and Corey Pavin won there barely making it to some of the fairways. But since then players started doing yoga, ditched the persimmons and even played a bunch of Q-School rounds at PGA West's Stadium course.
The iconic Pete Dye design returns to the Bob Hope Classic CareerBuilder Challenge In Partnership With The Clinton Foundation.
Larry Bohannan reports the addition of PGA West Stadium and the Nicklaus Tournament Course to replace the Nicklaus and Palmer private courses. It was, gulp, 29 years ago that the Stadium got its one shot at hosting the Hope.
The Stadium Course is famous in the desert for hosting the Skins Game from 1986 through 1991, but also for the one year it was played in the PGA Tour event known as the Bob Hope Classic. Designed by Pete Dye, the Stadium Course was different than almost any golf course in the course in 1987, and the scores reflected the course difficulty. Corey Pavin won the event, then a 90-hole tournament, at 19-under 341, well above the typical low winning scores of the time.
With an island green on the par-3 17th, a 200-yard carry over water on the par-3 fifth and a 20-foot-deep bunker on the par-5 16th, the Stadium Course presented strong challenges to the tour players and 384 amateurs in the field in 1987. The pros grumbled, with Ken Green saying the course needed a few sticks of dynamite and other players saying the one-year-old course was just unfair. The pace of play was slow for amateurs and celebrities, including Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill who found himself flailing away at the bottom of the bunker on the 16th hole on national television.
I've noticed a greater tolerance of loud and rude types at PGA Tour events and the conspiracy theorist in me chalks it up to fear of upsetting the only people who matter (18-34 y.o.'s). Hopefully I'm wrong. And while it's part of the fun at Scottsdale and good times are not to be discouraged in the appropriate places, there is a concern with too many drunks getting too close to the action. Because as we saw at The Players, where the group behind the 17th tee desperately needed to be coralled, folks worldwide noticed.
The Guardian's Ewan Murray followed up with the PGA Tour and a statement was issued to clear the air, preventing an international incident. For now.
“If players were subjected to inappropriate comments and heckling during their rounds at The Players, that behaviour is completely contrary to our goal. Over the last several years, we doubled uniform police, significantly increased our private security presence and hired more senior officers to help with crowd control.
“We will continue to evaluate ways in which we can be more diligent in reducing any distraction to players and ensuring our no-tolerance policy is implemented. Fans who act inappropriately and affect the tournament experience with disrespectful behaviour will be ejected immediately.
“The Players 2015 was one for the record books and we are dedicated to ensuring a few poorly behaved fans do not impact the competition or the experience for our players and fans.”
Do I notice a little more green after the recent rains? Of course, when this feature 30 days out from local TV news cuts to the shot of Rory at Quail Hollow, Chambers Bay still looks wonderfully lean, barren, crunchy and other-worldly.
Chris Francis reports for KIRO TV on the various preparations, with updates from on-site man Danny Sink and footage of the repaving effort on that one road leading in that the golf world will get to know too well!
**Twitterers, nice follow here leading up to the U.S. Open. Photographer Mike Seidl (@mikeseidlphoto) Tweeting an image a day leading into Chambers Bay's big week.
Thanks to reader Jay for these photos of the revamped 17th at Pebble Beach under construction/grow in. The green has been sodded, in case you were wondering.
The reclaimed square footage and basic bunker shapes look excellent. The final details remain TBD.
Thanks Jay:
Plenty of drainage in the approach!
**I finally found the side view from the old days and compared to today's NCGA image, it would appear the green will be more hourlass than in the original Chandler Egan design, which I wrote about in Golf World.
Rory McIlroy posted a spectacular 61 at Quail Hollow to erase his previous course record. It's hard to take such a moment and highlight the absurdity of the ball going too far, but it has to be done! This is in no way a disparagement of McIlroy's accomplishment, merely a consideration of whether this is good for the professional game when 7,500 yard courses appear too short to defend themselves without resorting to absurd measures?
A deeper look at the numbers should be wake-up call No. 20,391 for the authorities that the "test" for elite players just isn't what it used to be and that nothing positive is gained from stretching the "championship" distance serves the long term interests of the sport.
Thanks to J Held for posting this chart of all the short irons McIlroy had into what was once thought of as a strong test. Maybe more shocking than hitting 9-iron or less into 15 of the 18 holes? Look at the long par-3 clubs.
Quail Hollow hosts the 2017 PGA Championship when the ball will (theoretically) fly longer and the course could have more roll.
The McIlroy highlights...
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
