Special For GeoffShackelford.com Readers: Discount On New Athletes Collective 1/4 Zips

ShackHouse listeners and readers of the site know I'm high on Athlete's Collective's no-logo, ideal-fitting, and absurdly well-priced athletic gear. And because so many of you took up the offer from last Christmas on long sleeves perfect for winter golf or workouts, they're offering a special on their new 1/4 zip front pullovers.

I've been practically living in my grey Conway 1/4 zip when working out in this long, cruel Santa Monica winter that we managed (again) to survive.

Okay, so our worst winters are like most springs. That is precisely why I can attest to how ideal the Conway is for spring!

The AC 1/4 zips are fitted enough that you feel like a modern athlete who can swing a golf club but not so tight that people will think you're paying homage to a certain golfers' circulation-straining pullovers.

AC's spring golf-friendly 1/4 zips are super lightweight, breathable and tough, featuring just enough design touches to look distinctive. Roll it up in your golf or gym bag and it'll look just fine whenever you need to put it on.

Personally--TMI warning here--I'm not a fan of most long sleeve sweaters and pullovers for golf since I like to swing a club with the sleeve pulled up just a little bit. So I love how you can manipulate the sleeves and not do any damage to your clothes.

The Conways come in heather grey and a very Masters-friendly heather green. At $34 a piece they're a bargain, but for $60 in the 2-pack bundle, a true steal. 

With the 10% discount, that's $54 (US) dollars for the pair.

Even if you used the first time buyer code HOUSE with prior promotions on shorts and long sleeves, you can still get the 10% first-time buyer discount with the new SHACK promo code. That gets you 10% off your order along with AC's great customer service that many of you wrote to me to note even when you had sizing questions.

Thanks again to Athlete's Collective for the discounts and more importantly, cost-effective and efficient athletic gear!

"How to land the toughest tee times in public golf"

Even in the age of Google, I've recently gotten this question about a few courses--usually Torrey, Pebble and the Old Course--so it's nice to see Jason Scott Deegan put together a list of the tough tee time gets, and how to get them.

Bookmark this for yourself or your friends who ask!

He writes about all of the above mentioned and others.

The only thing I'd add is this story on East Lothian golf for Golf Digest that includes some links to the courses in that region, including Muirfield.

Jay Monahan's Golf Digest My Shot On Playoffs, The Value Of League-Owned Networks, Slow Play

New PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan spoke to Guy Yocom for another excellent Golf Digest My Shot and while I always urge you to read the full interview, a couple of comments stood out.

Much to chew on in this first one:

WHAT DO I ADMIRE MOST ABOUT OTHER MAJOR-LEAGUE SPORTS? Two things. One, the way the NFL, MLB, the NBA and the NHL conclude their seasons. I love where we are with the FedEx Cup, but keep in mind it's only 10 years along, is still evolving, and we're always on the lookout for ways to sharpen our postseason-playoff structure.

Oh yes, the playoffs are definitely ending before Labor Day. But those sports also conclude their seasons with much more compelling playoff formats, so let's hope this is more than just a calendar adjustment.

Two, I admire the way they build and market their brands through their own networks. Having a 24/7 presence has served those sports very, very well.

Someone wants his own network!

While those networks were all essentially offspring to the Golf Channel and have been successful to some degree, has the 24/7 presence of the MLB Network really sold that many more seats or created new fans? And is that a risk worth taking, or just a negotiating ploy for 2021 when the current Golf Channel deal ends?

As for slow play, like his predecessor, he's punting for now:

WHICH TAKES US TO THE SUBJECT OF SLOW PLAY. I don't see a problem with rounds on our tour taking four hours, 45 minutes, because it's been consistent around that number for a long time. What drives the small amount of criticism is the impulse in the modern world to do everything faster than we did it last year. So am I going to push for faster rounds? As it stands, no.

Trumped! R&A Welcomes Muirfield Back Years Before The Club Admits A Woman Member

Let's savor the comedic component of Muirfield joining the new century. After all, they re-voted to finally change their membership policies, reports Martin Dempster.

That the R&A's Martin Slumbers welcomed their rivals back into The Open rota the moment a policy was changed and well before candidates from the other gender were even considered for membership, speaks to one thing and one thing only: the R&A is happily postponing a return to Trump Turnberry.

Remember, Turnberry last hosted The Open in 2009 and has since undergone a fantastic renovation incorporating former Chief Inspector Architect Peter Dawson's design suggestions. In theory, the spectacular resort should be in line for the next likely open date in 2022.

Muirfield last hosted in 2013 and while a wonderful place for The Open, a 2022 return would be a bit faster than normal for the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Especially in light of their resistance to progress and their long standing rivalry with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. To see these two clubs in such a loving embrace, well, it moves me on this Tuesday morning.

Of course, the real comedy comes from knowing it'll be years before we know if Muirfield even admitted a woman. From Alistair Tait's Golfweek.com story:

There is no timetable for women to join the club. In an official statement the club said: “The current waiting list for membership at Muirfield suggests that new candidates for membership, women and men, can expect to wait two to three years, or longer, to become a member of the club.”

The immediacy of the R&A's embrace of their old rivals can very easily be interpreted as an opportunity to postpone a return to Turnberry for another year.

Politics makes strange bedfellows indeed.

Global Golf Post Picks Up SF City Championship Fees (Again)

Last year Randy Haag pointed out that male and female semi-finalists in the historic San Francisco City were paying high fees at the expensive post-renovation (TPC) Harding Park. So Global Golf Post picked up the costs in a kind gesture for one of the nation's oldest city championships.

Once again all 22 finalists competing at Harding in various male and female city championship flights won't have to pay green fees.

Nice going GGP!

Video: Mickelson To Feherty On Augusta's Lefthander Bias

Of course Phil Mickelson is naturally right-handed, but as he explains to Feherty in part two of their fireside chat airing at 9 pm ET Monday, there is only one hole Mickelson sees as anti-lefthander.

Masters Ends Par-3 Contest Rounds For Past Major Winners

There are two ways to interpret Doug Ferguson's AP story on the Masters no longer including former major winners--aka "honorary invitees"--to the Par-3 Contest proceedings:

A) The club thought having the extra participants was deterring current Masters invitees from playing the Par 3.

B) They just didn't like the look of the occasional "who is that" taking part in the Par 3 or, more likely, playing a practice round on the big course.

I'm guessing the answer is A, but I have to wonder if today's players skip the Par 3 in part because the family fun day vibe it's taken on. Yes, yes, it's a wonderful family event, etc... But the Par 3 is not nearly as fun as what it had become through the years: a lively, quick competition involving most of the tournament participants that just happened to include some former major winners.

Because for every Mitch Voges there was a Jack Fleck who added to the fun and aura of the proceedings. Anyway, the Masters folks have their reasons no doubt and maybe it'll be better. And the former Masters champions are still there, which, to most fans, is most important.

From Ferguson's story:

Now, however, the club is asking that they no longer play practice rounds or use the practice facility.

Augusta National said in an email that honorary invitees still have special access to the Masters, but that the Par 3 Contest will be limited because of increased participation and interest. ESPN has televised the Par 3 Contest since 2008.

"As a person and an honorary invitee, I'm disappointed because it was my favorite day of the year," former British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch said Tuesday. "I loved it. I'll still be there, though, and I'll watch like everyone else."

Lorne: "I was provided the opportunity to dig deep into the mind of a golfer who had accomplished amazing things in the game."

Lorne Rubenstein's much-anticipated collaboration with Tiger Woods on the 1997 Masters book was hopefully going to mean many interviews for Lorne to discuss the story and his co-author.

Unfortunately as Rick Young notes at ScoreGolf.com, Rubenstein has made clear this is Tiger's book.

Lorne did, however, write this enjoyable piece for Medium on working with Tiger on the book and it definitely gets you more excited about what is in the pages beyond what we saw in the early Golfweek excerpts.

In the early stages of our discussions we watched video of that Masters. One vivid memory led to another, one story to another. I attended that 1997 Masters and followed Tiger as he shot 40 on the front nine. I watched as he walked from the ninth green to the tenth tee, deep in thought. What had gone wrong? How could he turn things around? Was he worried?

I was interested and even surprised when he said he had put the front nine out of his mind by the time he reached the tenth tee, and that he had already focused his attention on what he needed to do. It wasn’t so much that he needed to correct what had gone wrong. He resolved to find the feeling that had allowed him to shoot 59 the week before at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club when he had played with his friend Mark O’Meara.

This was the sort of insight that helped me appreciate Tiger’s golfing mind. I kept this story in mind as we continued to chat during our talks in a conference room in his office in Jupiter, Florida, and many follow-up conversations over the phone.

Precious Millennials Files: SXSW's Golf Panel Edition

The cool kids are gathering in Austin this week prior to next week's WGC Dell Match Play and in a tradition unlike any other, a golf panel was assembled Sunday because, well, someone probably paid for it.

Apparently South By Southwest turned to an automated copy writer or someone from Bruce Lee's artisanal, small-batch, craft scriptwriting team to describe this "Intermediate" gathering.

Remember, I just copy and paste...

Brands must evolve and sports brands are no exception. But sports traditions are sometimes the most sacred of customs and golf may be the most brutal of masters.

It's debatable whether that was an attempted play on words, but the judges'll give it to them. Go on...

Golf is attempting thrive in an era that is changing so rapidly that the way a sport is consumed might be radically different in just one season.

Hmmm...profound, though not entirely accurate until I get a PGA Tour Live press release touting some numbers. Any numbers.

But hey, it's a golf panel at the cool kids conference, so I get the hard sell mode. I'll stop interrupting...

Does a round count at a Topgolf range and is a fan of an irreverent smartphone video worth the same attention as an argyle-wearing TV-watcher?

Ok, I know I said I was done interrupting but seriously? An argyle association?

How can golf keep the attention of potential fans? This panel will explore these challenges, examining what a game that can be burdened with its tradition and but lives by its history needs to do to survive the attention span of a 20-year-old.

Eh-em, golf's history dates back at least 400 years so I'm guessing it'll survive the attention span of today's 20-year-old.

But hey you guys explore, we can't wait to study the transcript for deep, deep thoughts on how to survive the 20-year-old's attention span!