"Golf Channel, union still at odds as strike continues"

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We'll find out during CareerBuilder Challenge and Mitsubishi Electric (PGA Tour Champions) coverage just how impacted coverage is, but I suspect we won't see anything like Sunday's Sony Open telecast.

Martin Kaufmann writing for Golfweek.com with this update on the strike against Golf Channel by the union representing the production crews.

“Our contingency plans are fully operational …,” Golf Channel spokesman David Schaefer said. “We will continue to deliver coverage with this week’s full slate of tournaments, as well as support the union members who have chosen to come back to work.”

The dispute between Golf Channel and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents about 350 technicians, has been simmering for several years.

Randy Koury, a Golf Channel cameraman and union steward, said that the technicians already were unhappy with two changes Golf Channel made to pay and benefits four years ago, after it was folded into the NBC Sports Group: cutting the work day from 10 hours to 8 hours – effectively a 20 percent pay cut – and eliminating catering of two meals without increasing the per diem.

Koury said those changes “were the tipping point” that led the technicians to unionize.

Lawrenson's Rebuts Golf's "Most Boring" Status

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1616 members of the British public were asked to vote on the most exciting and boring sports to watch and even though it's a country that can be enthralled by a three-day cricket match, golf and American football got the most votes.

A few days later, the Daily Mail's veteran golf scribe Derek Lawrenson penned this measured and proper rebuttal. A highlight:

The truth of the matter, though, is that golf will never score highly in such polls. It really isn't for everyone. It's like reading a book. It's time-consuming and requires serious levels of concentration but, oh, what a world awaits if you knuckle down.

That's why people who do love golf or reading books or watching cricket tend to be such devotees.

If you think golf's boring, I wouldn't seek to convince you otherwise. I get it.

However, just as hardback book sales refuse to dip, there will remain enough of us with an appetite for sports that fall back on the old adage: 'The more you put into it, the more you get out of it.'

Chairman Of The (PAC) Board? Spieth v. Hurley!

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The PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council and Policy Board are about as first world as it gets in terms of debate serious life questions, but as Will Gray notes at GolfChannel.com, Jordan Spieth has been selected by current PAC members to face Billy Hurley for a chance to sit on the PGA Tour Policy Board.

In the best interests of the game, players please vote for Mr. Hurley. Golf needs its superstars eating, sleeping, practicing and doing everything but sitting in meetings voting on executive compensation. Besides, if Jordan needs anything from Policy Board member Randall Stephenson, he knows where to find the AT&T CEO.

From Gray's report, the voters:

In addition to Spieth and Hurley, other PAC members for 2018 include Daniel Berger, Paul Casey, Stewart Cink, Chesson Hadley, James Hahn, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Anirban Lahiri, Geoff Ogilvy, Sam Saunders, Chris Stroud, Justin Thomas, Kyle Thompson and Cameron Tringale.

Speaking of Spieth, we discussed biggest needle movers in golf under 40 on Golf Central. I took Spieth, Matt Adams picked, well, several.

Instagram Golf From 1-16-18: HSBC Antics Are Back (Sort Of)

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Coul Links Fight: "The billionaire vs. the fly"

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Thanks to reader Steven for Chris Baraniuk's pretty one-sided take on Coul Links and the efforts to block this proposed Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design near Dornoch.

It was hard to forge through the piece after seeing the architects identified as "developers." And I am curious about branding Mike Keiser a billionaire, but mostly I was struck that the fight now seems to be over preserving the site due to a fly.

Now, I love all critters and never want to see golf invading a rare habitat but...

The specimen is a few millimeters in length, but it’s easy to make out the chunkiness of its thorax and the proud shape of its wings.

This is Botanophila fonsecai, Fonseca’s seed fly. It was caught in 1996 on a beach beside Dornoch in northeast Scotland, and it’s part of a collection being cataloged by Stephen Moran, an entomologist who lives nearby.

Presented in a box full of remarkably similar species, the fly does not look particularly special — and yet it is.

As far as we know, Botanophila fonsecai exists in only one place in the world: a roughly six-mile strip of coastline, adjacent to Dornoch and the nearby village of Embo. Its entire world is estimated to be less than a single square mile; its population size is unknown.

If this fine project dies because of a fly, then we know co-developer Todd Warnock was right, this was about the current American president and his course near Aberdeen.

 

Rosaforte: Tiger Plays With Obama, Gets Rave Review From (Claude) Harmon

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Nice to see Barack Obama getting some lessons from a Harmon, in this case Claude.

Nice to hear everyone, from the Harmons on down to the former President, apparently seeing a different Tiger than a few years ago.

And nice to see The Floridian enjoying such a resurgence under owner Jim Crane.

Golf Channel insider Tim Rosaforte reported on Morning Drive today about Tiger Woods’ recent round there alongside President Obama, who played another day there with Michael Jordan.

“We play four or five each year that are very solid. Most of the others are pretty weak, honestly.”

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Golfweek's Eamon Lynch talks to some interesting male golfers who are tuned into golf architecture and who generally have to tune out most courses week-to-week.

Besides great insights from Geoff Ogilvy and Zac Blair, I enjoyed this from Frank Nobilo on elite players, which is even more reason to step up the design nuance and risk-reward setup!

“He finds the weakness and exploits it. You take the liberties that your own game allows,” Nobilo said.

Nobilo notes that Johnson hit driver on eight of the last nine holes at the Plantation Course.

”At no stage is he considering what the designer had in mind, or for that matter who they are,” Nobilo said. “He only thinks what advantage he can gain.”

A man doesn’t need to waste time mulling risk when he can fly it all and reap the reward.

And this from Ogilvy on non-major tour courses he's play if architecture and brain engagement were the only pre-requisites for schedule-making.

I asked Ogilvy how many non-major events he’d compete in if he only played courses that engaged his brain. Kapalua. Riviera. Pebble Beach … Long pause.

“I’m starting to run out of courses,” he said. “Which is a shame. It’s a business and we have to go where the money goes. But strategically interesting architecture generally produces better tournaments and winners. Augusta National is so good at finding the guy who has got every part of his game – including his head – going that week. That principle remains everywhere. The more interesting questions a course asks, the more the cream rises to the top.”

 

Monday In MLK Day Instagram Posts, 1-15-18

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Mercifully, the golf world minimized any painful and desperate efforts to somehow drag non-golfer Dr. Martin Luther King into our sport (okay, I saw a couple but will protect the well-intentioned).

The best of what I saw scrolling Instagram...

Jaeger Kovich has conclusive evidence that The Ladies Putting Course at St. Andrews is still beautiful and getting through the winter just fine.

Pinehurst is getting a refreshed “Maniac Hill” driving range.

The reaction to this trick shot gone wrong by Carly Booth and Hannah Davies is a keeper. You can feel the genuine shock and awe.

Sabastian fro Zurich loves his Mavic drone and captured this incredible but decidedly non-golf image:

Monty's Lamenting Injuries, Lack Of Playing-Style Variety In Modern Power Game

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Colin Montgomerie has been fairly subdued on the topic of distance and its impact on courses--who knew he had it in him--but he comes out firing with Lewine Mair of Global Golf Post in lamenting what he sees.

You can read the full piece here, but I was pleased to see him highlight the lengths Augusta National goes to (successfully, to an extent) in combating roll. 

He cites Augusta National as another famous venue which is struggling to keep the powerhouses in check. “They’re already cutting the fairways from the greens back to the tees so that you’re not hitting down-grain. That helps, only the gains are wiped out by higher agronomy standards which make for firmer, more consistent surfaces and better bounces.

“The authorities are talking about how to bring things back a bit and I think you’d find that a lot of spectators would like to see the same. Yes, people enjoy watching tee shots of 350 yards, but I’m sure they got just as much of a kick out of following the top players in the days when they came in all shapes and sizes and knew how to work their way round a course.”

UK Golf Guy On Golf Digest's Latest World Ranking: "The methodology for selecting the list is fairly awful."

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UK Golf Guy maintains a compilation hybrid list of the world's best courses based on various lists, but he's decided to no longer include Golf Digest's stab at an international list due to a long list of issues.

He details them in this post and while his concerns are not shocking given the awfulness of their last attempt in January 2016, the latest effort seems even more unseemly.

He writes:

Well, the 2018 edition is out and despite the title 'World's 100 Greatest Golf Courses' they have stopped bothering to rank golf courses from all over the world. Instead they have made this a list of their top 100 golf courses outside of the USA. And thoroughly disingenuously, they have shown the previous positions of the golf courses in the rankings - despite the comparator including courses from the USA.

This allows many courses to claim they have moved up places in the world rankings. The tweet below from Bluffs Ho Tram in Vietnam is a prime example.

The methodology for selecting the list is fairly awful. The Golf Digest team ask 'international panelists organized by our affiliate magazines around the world'. Oh dear, that would be the affiliate magazines who rely on the course's advertising to pay their bills, the associate magazines whose staff get wined and dined by the latest new courses wanting to make a splash.

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The Weekend Of (Golf) Instagram, 1-14-18 & 1-15-18

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Thomas Lombardi, err Bjorn is pretty pumped about that EurAsia Cup win over Team Asia. Guess he's warming up the voice for this fall in France...

A lost Coore and Crenshaw seen long after its closing…

Lit cups on Rolling Hills Country Club’s new Himalayas-style putting green, courtesy of Seamus Golf.

Who says the kids today don’t work the ball?

NLU's Sony Open Briefing: Sponsor Invite Questions

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No Laying Up's Tron Carter frequently struggles to keep food down at the site of certain sponsor exemptions.

In his Sony Open briefing that includes a fun note on frequent foil Patrick Reed, the host sponsor of this week's event is taken to task for some curious choices.

I tend to side with sponsor's given their financial outlay, but this point about Web.com Tour grads could be viewed as noteworthy except that this is not the first event of the year, but instead the eighth week of 2017-18 PGA Tour golf thanks to the joys and wonderment of the wraparound tour schedule.

11) I’m not done ranting about the Sony field. Once again, the event only cleared about 40 of the 50 guys from the 2017 Web Tour graduate list. Ridiculous. If you have your card, you should have your card, period. I get the priority list, but this is the first event of the year and everybody should be ready to roll. Cut the 125 list on tour to 100, have less guys graduate from the web tour, whatever, but if you have your card you should be able to play a majority of the events in the fall and in January/February before the first reshuffle.

The Gifts You Wish You Got: Old Tom Marker From Seamus

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It's that time of year again! You've been asked what you want and you just know it's not happening. Gift cards, cologne and the dreaded golf book you didn't want could be headed your way.

However, I bring good news. Some of our favorite golf retailers are done with pre-Christmas Day shipping and offering some nice discounts. Which is where this website's annual Christmas gift guide comes in.

I continue to love everything Seamus Golf is doing, including their foray into shoes this year. But great accessories remain the strength of their Oregon-based, all-made-in-the-USA operation. So if you're looking for something fun to round out your bag and up your golf karma tenfold, Seamus Golf's Old Tom Morris Hand-Forged Steel Ball Mark is the best $29 you'll spend.

Granted, these markers wouldn't be of use to PGA Tour players who no longer see fit to mark their balls when it could help a buddy, but for those who play within the spirit of the rules, no one makes a classier, cooler and well-designed ball marker than Seamus Golf.

Actually, with the 20% off delivery code SHIPINJANUARY it'll be less. Seamus Golf is also offering us free custom stamping on the back side. Your initials or Old Tom's favorite saying, "Far & Sure", fits within the 8 character max.

And don't hesitate to check out everything offered at the website where the code will apply.

PS - Seamus Golf now will make their ball marks with your logo if you're willing to do a minimum order of 100. Contact info@seamusgolf.com for more info.

Is The Tour Obligated To Work Harder To Save Historic Events?

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In reading Joel Beall's Golf World look at a potential version of the PGA Tour's forthcoming 2019 schedule revamp, it's hard to look past the huge name, foundational events in danger. The likes of Colonial, Bay Hill and Houston, each important and steady presences on the PGA Tour schedule, all face uncertainty going forward.

Beall writes:

Meanwhile, some industry insiders wonder about the status of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. With its namesake gone, the tournament struggled somewhat to draw big names in 2017, and Bay Hill's layout is one that some tour pros aren’t fond of. The tour isn’t expected to pull the plug on the API, but the tournament needs to show signs of life this year to ensure its future.

Also in the spring fog: the Houston Open. Shell dropped out as sponsor, and the event, which has settled into a spot the week prior to the Masters, does not have a title holder for 2018. Redstone G.C., which sustained damage during Hurricane Harvey last summer but should be OK come spring, is a course that some players like because it is set-up to resemble the conditions they'll see at Augusta National. That said, if it returns in 2019, it looks likely to lose its pre-Augusta setting, with the Valero Texas Open moving to the first week in April.

Market forces certainly dictate the status of some of these events, but knowing that World Golf Championship events have taken sponsor possibilities away and weakened fields for non-WGC events, it's hard to pin any blame on these longtime PGA Tour stalwarts for struggling.

I have no doubt the PGA Tour brass is working to save all events. However, the potential demise of events that build the Tour could undermine any sense of connection to the distance or even recent past. You just can't put a dollar figure on those connections, but the legacy of the Finchem era is that no one's place in line matters. Whether that's the legacy of the Monahan era remains to be seen.