Pebble Beach's 14th Well Received, But Is This Progress?

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After reading Alex Miceli's Morning Read take on the early reviews of Pebble Beach's revamped 14th green, I'm glad to hear that the hole is no longer controversial.

However, Miceli's image and description of a restoration focused on Douglas Grant and Jack Neville's 1919 green instead of the once-brilliant Chandler Egan green created 9 years later and lasting until recently, suggests a serious setback for efforts to preserve Egan's brilliant pre-1929 U.S. Amateur renovation.

Yes, the Egan green had become too severe for today's speeds, but the front hole location has been usable in my lifetime and it was fun when Stimp speeds were in the 8's and 9's. The remarkably cool Egan tier should also have been preserved in some way for historical accuracy and better variety of hole location looks. 

The renovation, which began after last year’s Tour event, used early 20th-century photographs of the Jack Neville-Douglas Grant design to help capture the historic contour of the greens. Architects took advantage of modern technology to improve playability of the hole. Among the changes: the green meets USGA specifications, a SubAir moisture-management system was installed and bunkers were renovated.

“It's a sensible green change,” Padraig Harrington said. “Be interesting to see how it would play in U.S. Open conditions when it's Stimping at 12 or more. I had a putt on the right side of 5 feet above the hole, and I wasn't trying to diddle it. I was trying to hit it. The greens are slow enough today, so it was very playable today. I was surprised how flat that area of the green is. I thought yesterday there was a bit more break in it, but today I was looking at it and it probably would be able to hold a pin at a U.S. Open.”

Miceli notes that the early scoring average was well below par and the 14th was playing as the second easiest.

Bernd! Wiesberger Makes Nine Straight Birdies!

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Bernd Wiesberger became the first player in European Tour history to make nine straight birdies in a round, though his record won't be official because the Maybank Championship was playing preferred lies.

He leads by one through 36 holes. From the European Tour's Instagram account, scorecard and highlights.


Nine. Straight. Birdies!⠀ #MaybankChampionship

A video posted by European Tour (@europeantour) on

Ryder Cup Points: Fall Tour Events Still Don't Count

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I have to be fully caffeinated to read about Ryder Cup points distribution in a non-Ryder Cup year, but it seems the task force Task Force "Task Force" committee is still making very clear that they do not think a darned thing about the PGA Tour's wraparound schedule.

For the 2018 Ryder Cup, the committee still will not award points to at least five events (schedule permitting) on the 2017-18 PGA Tour schedule. The omitted events share one thing in common: they are all played in the fall of 2017.

The new points breakdown shaped by Furyk and friends:

2017 Major Championships
o   1 Point per $1,000 earned
§  The Masters; U.S. Open; Open Championship; PGA Championship
 
Ø  2017 WGC Events and The Players Championship
o   1 Point per $2,000 earned
§  WGC-Mexico Championship; WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship; The Players Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Invitational; WGC-HSBC Champions
 
Ø  2018 Regular PGA Tour events
o   1 point per $1,000 earned
§  Beginning January 1, 2018, through the PGA Championship, August 12, 2018; includes the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event and WGC events

§  2018 Opposite Field PGA TOUR events will NOT receive points

Given that the PGA Tour and PGA of America have a partnership, the fall's inability to be treated with respect remains a blow to the wraparound concept.

As for the elimination of a post-Tour Championship Captain's pick, Furyk made perfect sense, reports Ryan Lavner.

“It’s obvious that we can’t wait until after the Tour Championship to make a pick,” Furyk said. “We have passports, travel to Europe, and I feel like the timing, we probably want to get it done a little earlier and not put those guys through that at the Tour Championship again.

“I think it’s wise, as well, for the captains to be discussing pairings the night before we leave, rather than who our next captain’s pick is going to be.”

Rio Olympic Golf Course Off Of Life Support For Now

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Given the shocking state of venues where just months ago the Olympics took place, it was great to read from Peter Dawson (via Rex Hoggard's GolfChannel.com story) that the Rio Olympic golf course has some new funding. Employees are getting paid again and maintenance is ongoing.

“Things are looking a little better, there’s a group of people who have come together that have a relationship with the land owner there, and they’ve re-engaged enough of the greens staff to keep the maintenance going,” said Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A and current

Hopefully this gets the course back into consideration for international amateur or professional events. Things look less promising for the swimming venue:

 

"Meet the environmentally conscious teens cleaning up the Pebble coastline"

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It was one of my favorite stories in some time and now budding marine biologists Alex Weber and Jack Johnston get the full SI-style profile treatment from Alan Shipnuck, complete with Robert Beck photos and a nine-minute film.

Shipnuck addresses many questions about the kids cleaning up the cove off Pebble Beach Golf Links, including the toughness required to dive and dig up the golf balls.

When Alex first came upon the balls during a recreational dive with her father in September 2015, she had no idea these man-made pearls would consume her life. "There wasn't this big master plan," she says. "I just knew they didn't belong in the ocean, and I wanted to get them out." In the ensuing dives her father was a constant—Mike owns a chicken ranch that produces 150 million cage-free, organic and kosher eggs a year—but while various friends of Alex's tagged along once or twice, only Jack kept coming back. It is grueling work that begins with hauling the kayaks down the steep sand hill at Carmel Beach, followed by the long paddle across the bay through strong winds and tides, and then hours of diving in frigid water that always leaves their lips blue, despite thick wet suits, hoods, gloves and booties. After all that, they have to schlep hundreds of balls and their gear back up the hill to their cars. The balls are stored in the Webers' garage, and some stink—a sulfuric, chemical smell that is a hint of the toxins they may be releasing into the sea. As the collection became more numerous (and malodorous), Alex and Jack were galvanized to take the fight public. "It became pretty obvious this issue was bigger than us, and we had to go to people who could help us change things," Jack says.

I gladly made a donation to their GoFund me page and notice it still could use some help to their $10,000 goal as they get ready to further their education!

The film (golf.com embed code only allows this size):

Clock Ticking On Rome's 2022 Ryder Cup Status

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When Rome pulled out of the 2024 Olympics running, the winning 2022 Ryder Cup bid also became a potential target for Italian government officials opposed to funding major sporting events.

The first leg of this potential issue for the 2022 Ryder Cup venue, the not-esteemed Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, came last month when the Italian Open was moved from Rome to Turin. The Italian Open is part of the European Tour's new Rolex Series.

Now the president of the Italian Senate has stripped off a funding amendment that was to guarantee $103 million for the 2022 Ryder Cup (and presumably the Italian Open). Whether it's a technical or significant issue will become more clear in the coming weeks.

Quotes from an unbylined AP story suggest it could go either way:

"The Ryder Cup is and remains a great opportunity for the country," said Andrea Marcucci, the president of the Senate's culture and sport committee. "Grasso's decision is technical; it's not about the content of the amendment.

"I hope the government quickly finds a solution which responds to the prerequisites asked for by the organizers. I want to remind everyone that the tournament has a considerable economic spin-off and television rights. The amendment in question didn't call for further public spending."

Is it too early to start nominating an actual golf course that would be suitable for the Ryder Cup? Is it to early to beg to see a Ryder Cup on a links just once in our lifetimes?