Video: Old Course Eleventh And Twelfth Hole Flyovers

One of the most emulated par-3s in the way of greenside bunkering schemes has otherwise not been very well replicated by architect who have been inspired by the Eden. (Unlike the Redan, which has been improved on and which this golfer posted a nice five on today.)

The 11th features a softened green to make a portion over the sand more pinnable during The Open. Next week we'll find out if the effort succeeded.

The flyover:

Outside of the finishing holes, this stretch

The short 12th is one of the lesser known influences on the modern driveable par-4 movement and probably continues to live in a form of architectural anonymity due to its location in the round and the lack of spectating options during The Open. Nonetheless, it's a fascinating hole and one when, played with a helping wind, may be best approach from over the green.

The flyover:

USGA On Trump: "We're Evaluating"

I'm just getting around to today's Trump reading and all signs point to the golf v. Donald matter not really subsiding.

Randall Mell on the USGA Thursday press conference at Lancaster CC during the U.S. Women's Open where Executive Director Mike Davis was asked about the controversial host of the 2017 U.S. Women's Open.

“I can’t speak for the other golf organizations, but I can for the USGA say that we have not wanted to get involved in politics, presidential politics, but at the same time we are about diversity, about inclusion, about growing the game,” USGA executive director Mike Davis said Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open. “We are evaluating things, and at this point that’s all we can say.”

With Trump Bedminster just down the street from Golf House, there's no telling how much needs to be sorted out here. Oh, the joys of neighborship!

Bradley Klein considers the Trump golf brand and how the unraveling of golf v. Trump impacts the cache built up of late.

That brand is now two-fold: in the form of marketing and of a recognizable aesthetic. By putting his name on each of his 17 properties, he has unavoidably, and in fact quite systematically, created a unique mode of consumer identification with his product. No one else has done that in golf course development. Not in such personal terms.

And James Corrigan of The Telegraph warns that golf might want to be careful in cutting ties to Trump and opening up other worm cans.

But what should the R&A do about keeping Trump Turnberry on the Open roster?

My advice would be nothing. After all, Royal Troon may be having a review into their membership policy but next year’s Open venue still does not allow women to be members. Neither does Muirfield.

Meanwhile, many of the sponsors which keep the sport awash in greenbacks could hardly be said to be squeaky clean. Golf should stay away from the high ground for a while yet. Otherwise that tremendously infectious disease called hypocrisy could pour across its borders.

Green Speeds And Pace Of Play, Gullane Edition

Out watching Scottish Open opening day play, an odd thing happened: players routinely putted out 3-4 footers. The overall pace seemed brisk, but relaxed.

Case in point: the group of Fowler, Donaldson and Poulter were at the 17th green. Both Donaldson and Fowler hit mediocre first putts, leaving 3-4 footers for par. Both briefly marked their ball, repositioned for alignment, then putted out.

This is hardly unique in the annals of golf, particularly on links. Except that such putting-out rarely happens any more due to professional event green speeds consistently in the Stimpmeter 12-foot range.

The green speeds at Gullane for round one? According to the European Tour course setup "table": 10 feet, 3 inches.

The "time par" for day one threesomes at Gullane was 4:20. That's about what it took the faster twosomes to get around Chambers Bay this year.

According to the European Tour's charts of player pace for round one, groups played in the 4:28 to 4:48 pace, with the final two threesomes of the day taking a very respectable 4:48. And that's with a few long walks between greens and tees, along with enough breeze to make things interesting (and some rough too).

The moral of the story? Green speeds impact pace of play, not to mention what they do for maintenance cost and architectural integrity.

Video: Taking Your Golf Pilgrimage To East Lothian

Two years ago I filed this piece for Golf Digest about the importance of making East Lothian ("Scotland's Golf Coast") the sight of your golf pilgrimage. Not only does the area afford several of the most important places that shaped the game's history, but the opportunity to set up shop in one general area to enjoy a more centrally located golf vacation beckons.

After playing Glen Golf Club this evening (aka North Berwick East Links), I'm more convinced than ever that this is the planet's most idyllic place to experience the links game at its purest and most diversified. What a perfect, breathtaking and endearingly bizarre set of holes. (More on Glen tomorrow).

In the meantime, here's an UnShackled video to encapsulate my feelings for this special place. Check it out...

Photos: Day One Scottish Open At Gullane

With little breeze, excellent turf and crisp (light sweater) weather at Gullane, opening day scoring in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open was excellent.

Thorbjorn Olesen opened with a 7-under-par 63 and leads a lost of players including a trio of Americans--Jimmy Walker (65), Rickie Fowler (66), Matt Kuchar (66)--along with a resurgent Graeme McDowell. I watched Fowler for a few holes and he looked particularly relaxed, as if the U.S. Open never happened (a short write up here at The Loop). Ewan Murray's Guardian game story also focused on the fine scoring by the Americans along with Olesen's hopes to qualify for The Open.

As hoped, the tournament setup at Gullane captured the essence of this special course and town. It never hurts to have an Archie Baird sighting either! He held court at his museum just off the pro shop, receiving a visit from European Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady while giving a few tours to impressionable lads who got their first lesson in golf and clubmaking history before heading out to find, who else, Rickie.

That, plus Nike's special Scottish/Open Championship logo and some scenes from a well-attended Thursday at Gullane:

Trump! What Will The Golf Bodies Do Next?

Brendan Prunty's New York Times story quotes The Donald, who is not backing down in the face of losing the Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National. 

From Tuesday's story:

 “I’ve been very loyal to golf,” Trump said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “I own 17 clubs. They all do great. We will see whether or not golf is loyal to me.”

Former PGA President Ted Bishop noted his lack of surprise that the PGA stopped at the Grand Slam.

“I think a lot of people are surprised that it wasn’t all or nothing,” said the former P.G.A. of America president Ted Bishop. “I don’t know what kind of statement the P.G.A. of America makes by saying, ‘We’re not going to do this for one year, but we’re going to go back for all these others.’ ”

Which leaves us with the future and also questions now about why golf got so heavily invested in Trump properties knowing the man's proclivity to generate controversy.

Alex Miceli reveals in Golfweek that the previous PGA of America regime was not interested in working with Trump, but that changed with the Bevacqua and Bishop.

“When Pete came to me about Trump, I was 100 percent in favor of working with him,” said Bishop, recalling the beginnings of the relationship. “Under former CEO Joe Steranka, the PGA was not interested in working with Trump. It was just a non-starter with Joe.”

For his part, Steranka, who retired in 2012 and now leads the charitable arm of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic, was unwilling to discuss his dealings with Trump.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” Steranka said from his office in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "The PGA is sorting through this, and looking back about what was going on when I was there doesn’t address today’s things they have to focus on.”

Up next and much grander on the big ticket item list: what happens to the 2017 U.S. Women's Open at Trump Bedminster, the 2022 PGA at the same venue, and of course, rumored Scottish Open's at Trump International or Open Championship at Turnberry.

Gullane Must: Archie Baird's Heritage Of Golf Museum

Any golfers who have been to Scottish Open host Gullane only get the complete experience by visiting Archie Baird's Heritage of Golf museum.

While I'm not on the grounds yet at Gullane and am unsure what the museum's status is within the tournament setup, this Brandon Tucker story gives a nice synopsis of Archie's tribute to the game.

Baird especially enjoys talking about the golf ball, which went from an expensive, feather-core ball to a cheaper, more mass-produced ball made of a black, gum-like Gutta-Percha, just after 1850. This allowed the number of golf clubs in the world to go from just a handful to thousands by 1900.

The tour ends rather abruptly, as Baird notes:

"Then the modern, rubber-core ball came along in the 1920s, courses had to adapt to it, and I lost interest. Any questions?"

That's our man!

Here's a video taken by some American visitors...

Architecting A Plan For The Old Course In A Day And A Half

I wasn't surprised to read Jordan Spieth making an eloquent case for playing the John Deere Classic over getting to Scotland sooner to prepare for The Open. (Though a "good feels" reference was jarring to see in this Ryan Lavner piece. Then again, feels travel according to the feels maestro his ownself.)

More interesting was coach Cameron McCormick's assertion that a plan for attacking the most complicated course on the planet should be "architected" by Tuesday afternoon. Considering the number of players over time who have said they could never fully know grasp all there is to know about the Old Course and its changing winds, surprise bunkers and intricate contouring, dare I say this sounds a bit presumptuous?

From John Strege's report for The Loop:

“The other side of that is developing a game plan and acclimating to both time and weather conditions. Jordan’s always been a quick study — developing tactical intelligence, where the right places to be on the course — and with [caddie] Michael [Greller] amplifying that, I see no reason why he can’t have the right plan architected by Tuesday afternoon.”