“Before Pete came along, golf architecture was Robert Trent Jones and that philosophy."

The cruel disease that is Alzheimer's is claiming Pete Dye, even as the 92-year-old architect remains physically fit and able to play golf daily. 

Dave Shedloski of GolfDigest.com talks to Pete's wife and sidekick Alice, as well as his sons and other architects about Dye's legacy.

“It’s the end of an era,” added Bill Coore, who worked for Dye for three years and is now enjoying a sensational run partnering with former Masters winner Ben Crenshaw. “Before Pete came along, golf architecture was Robert Trent Jones and that philosophy. That was the standard. Pete took the game and design in a different direction.”

Justin Thomas Has Fan Ejected For Good Reason

It amazes me that more and more people attend a golf tournament to get in a few taunts, lame comments or mashed potato screams, but as we've seen the last few weeks the stupidity has taken on an edge that even tolerant players are sick of.

There is a key distinction here: the offending comment came on the way to the tee, not post tee shot as some outlets reported in suggesting Thomas was soft.

Ryan Lavner has Thomas's explanation for GolfChannel.com, and anyone who knows golf will appreciate why he was annoyed. It's a problem that if not stopped, will spiral out of control into golfers becoming subject to regular heckling.

While walking up to the 16th tee, tied for the lead, Thomas heard a fan yell in his direction: “I hope you hit it in the water!”

Thomas looked back at the spectator but didn’t say anything.

After Thomas ripped a long iron into the fairway, the same fan began shouting for the shot to get into the bunker.

“I was like, OK, I’ve had enough,” Thomas said afterward. “I just turned around and asked who it was, and he didn’t want to say anything, now that I had actually acknowledged him. So he got to leave a couple holes early.

The offending moment, but again, without the pre-tee shot comment:

A fan yelled “Get in the bunker!” after Justin Thomas’s shot so Thomas quickly had him kicked out and told him to “Enjoy your day buddy” 👀 pic.twitter.com/0NxACneAzT

— High & Outside Sports (@HighandOutside_) February 26, 2018

Thomas went on to win his 7th title in 31 starts, and as Brian Wacker writes for GolfDigest.com, concerns about a post-Player of the Year slump seem unnecessary.

Full round highlights from the 2018 Honda Classic where Thomas had to apologize after the round for an F-bomb.

Video: Tiger Hits A Birdie

We can enjoy this one because (A) for once the phrase "hit a birdie" is actually accurate, and (B) the goose is fine, with maybe just a brief ego bruise (but he or she doesn't know that she made all of the national highlight reels), (C) Tiger made birdie.

A Tiger Woods drive at the 2018 Honda Classic striking an Egyptian goose.

WATCH a Tiger Woods tee shot at Honda interfere with a goose: https://t.co/4ZAwwOTRh8 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/l12zoo4UiP

— Golfweek (@golfweek) February 25, 2018

Welcome: The New Look GeoffShackelford.com

Mobile responsive design has arrived! And hopefully a few other goodies that will make the site more interactive and fun for all.

So what's new besides a better read on your phone or tablet?

• Modern fonts (your initial feedback will be the gauge of that, so please let your eyes adjust)
• Registered commenting 
• The ability to "like" posts without signing in
• The ability to "flag" offensive posts
• Modern sharing with Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn Share, Reddit, Tumblr
• Newsletter option coming soon

2018 banner

I hope the new site makes it easy to find the content here however you like to read, whether your arrival is via social media, newsletter, desktop, laptop, or on a tablet or mobile device, the goal is to make it easy to come and go as you please without too much eye strain. My primary goal remains to comment on the best writing or share my own thoughts on the game we love. 

For some time I contemplated significant format changes and was very close to a starkly different release, but I still prefer the site's "blog" format of scrolling and reading what you please by moving up and down the site with the fewest clicks possible.

There is still a quote-of-the-day to set the tone for the day or to bring a little historical perspective. Selfishly, I enjoy digging into my books and files for the old stuff (and you can continue to see an archive of those quotes at this Twitter feed, also linked in the righthand column).

You will notice some new additions on the right sidebar. There are Eye On Design videos, with a continued goal to produce more of as the year goes, and fun content from my partners at Golfweek/USA Today Sports, Callaway and The Ringer.

Many of you who've been coming here since the site was an offshoot of The Future of Golf know GeoffShackelford.com was created in the early days of blogging, and some of you have been receiving a Feedblitz newsletter listing posts. I'm working on something a little better than that, and for those who like to receive email newsletters, please sign up here. The release of that daily newsletter will be promoted when it's ready. Thanks for your patience!

Also, there was one very unfortunate issue in the transition to a new Squarespace 7 site from a Squarespace 5: we were able to get most comments over, but the last few weeks unfortunately have not yet been transferred. You will see I've moved some over manually and will do more in the coming weeks. Still, over 20,000 comments were moved as were thousands of posts and that was a cumbersome task that created a few hiccups, but it was worth the effort and wait. Apologies all around for any lost comments!

Finally, the banner has evolved into a minimalist approach with nods to the past, still featuring the first at Rustic Canyon. It's also designed to be friendly to all devices. 

In the meantime, please sign in and sign up and let me know what you think. Thank you for your support and your patience during the inevitable bumps in the road to a modernized site!

Banner circa 2013

Banner circa 2017

Roundup: Honda Classic Set Up For A Stellar Finish

It's been a bit hard to watch for three days, between the post-West Coast Swing malaise, the sand splashing on the greens, too many crash possibilities and no player looking entirely comfortable at PGA National. But at least that sets us up for a compelling Sunday!

There's Justin Thomas looking for a "hometown" win after a brilliant Saturday 65 reports Golfweek's Dan Kilbridge. Luke List, 33 and looking for his first PGA Tour win, holds a one-stroke lead over Thomas.

Tommy Fleetwood has a shot at his first U.S. victory, sitting two back with Jamie Lovemark. GolfDigest.com's Brian Wacker on Fleetwood's view of American tests versus European Tour courses.

And we have Tiger, lurking seven back and playing his best golf of the young season. Both Tiger Tracker and Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com thought the round was on the cusp of something spectacular. Great minds think alike!

As Bob Harig notes in his ESPN.com story, Tiger concurred and said 69 was the highest score he could have posted.

Golfweek has your final round TV Times and pairings.

A nice shot of Tiger from Saturday, posted on the PGA Tour Instagram page.

Round 3 and Tiger highlights:

Na Pushes Back At Heckling Cricketer, Tells A Magnificent Lie To Bolster His Case

The embarrassingly slow Kevin Na, who should be put on the clock daily, given penalty shots regularly and run off of the PGA Tour until he makes an effort to speed up, scored a few points in countering cricketer Kevin Pietersen's heckling. Yes, the "tap-in" was three feet on a Sunday where big money was at stake.

But in this Instagram post, screen captured just in case he decides to edit out the hilarious lie, suggests that Na's group was "on pace all day" and "waited, if anything," and therefore his antics were unfairly criticized.

Naturally, as someone who was at the Genesis Open, I and approximately 30,000 witnesses can attest to the Na group falling a hole behind by the 7th tee only to briefly catch up thanks to a 10th tee back up. They again fell behind by the time I saw them again at the 14th tee, if not earlier. 

Patton Kizzire On First Tee Shot In Front Of Tiger: Didn't Feel I Was Holding The Club

You have to love the honesty and respect Patton Kizzire (74-78) has for his elders and in particular, Tiger Woods.

From Bob Harig's ESPN.com account at the Honda where Woods fired a second round 71.

Kizzire, 31, is the only player who has won twice this season, but of course nothing could quite prepare him for what he faced the past two days at PGA National.

For the first time in his career, he was grouped with Tiger Woods.

"Extremely nervous," Kizzire said of his opening tee shot Thursday morning at the Honda Classic. "I didn't feel like I was actually holding the club. It was a rough start. Any time I'm uncomfortable, I'm learning something. It was a great experience for me."

Two fun moments from the opening 36, where Woods demonstrated improvement, writes Dan Kilbridge for Golfweek: a fun PGA Tour Instagram caption for the geese watching Tiger and that beautiful iron shot on the brutal par-3 17th:

"Dude, just act normal." -🦆(probably)

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Feb 21, 2018 at 8:40am PST

The 17th is the most difficult hole of the day. Don't tell Tiger.

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Feb 23, 2018 at 2:27pm PST

Uihlein Tries To Challenge Nicklaus, Governing Bodies

I remember the days when now-retired Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein's arguments were a little stronger and resonated with more folks. Perhaps there are simply more people who've seen professional golf bog down, become less interesting and less relatable thanks to the modern ball.

Anyway, Rick Young caught up with Uihlein to get his take on Jack Nicklaus' recent remarks about Titleist and the "golf ball goes too far nonsense." And of course, it's all about the Vancouver Protocol.

“Mike Davis has not told us (Acushnet) that he is close (there is the Vancouver Protocol of 2011 that we had assumed was in force) and he has not asked us for help if and when he gets there,” said Uihlein.

*Note: The Vancouver Protocol was a document that came out of a closed-door USGA and R&A forum with equipment manufacturers in Vancouver back in November, 2011. It was meant to assist with transparency to any proposed equipment rules changes or testing procedures while allowing participation of the OEM’s to the process.

Slow down there Wally, we haven't even gotten the distance report yet! This is fun:

“It appears from the press conference that Mr. Nicklaus was blaming slow play on technology and the golf ball in particular,” he said. “I don’t think anyone in the world believes that the golf ball has contributed to the game’s pace of play issues.”

Actually, anyone who has watched great players stand around in a fairway on a par-5 or back up on a drivable par-4 tee that was once not drivable, they blame distance gains.

This really isn't a very sharp point, either.

“There are no golf courses being closed due to the advent of evolving technology,” Uihlein said. “There is no talk from the PGA Tour and its players about technology making their commercial product less attractive. Quite the opposite, the PGA Tour revenues are at record levels. The PGA of America is not asking for a roll back of technology. The game’s every day player is not advocating a roll back of technology.”

Record revenue! Maybe Titleist can sponsor one of the available tour events? There are three!

Also, Bubba Watson recently opened eyes as he is prone to do when showing people how much fun the game is when a great player manipulates the ball. In his case, a Titleist again! But he's now an anomaly. Wouldn't it be fun to see more like him?

Ultimately though, this is all the fault of you know how? Da medja!

“Perhaps the media,” he said, “should be asking, ‘If there is a problem, what is the problem?’”

I wonder why the media has spent so little time asking, discussing and analyzing the issue? It's a mystery!

Tiger's Iron Play Improves And Aren't We Glad ShotLink Proves It

In his return to PGA National, Tiger Woods opened with an even par 70 in breezy conditions with greens under criticism from players for a lack of grass (Randall Mell reports).

Bob Harig's story for ESPN.com covers what was again, mostly positive, with one rough hole mixed in along with a less-than-pretty day statistically.

In Tiger's previous two starts, he noted and observers like myself confirmed that his iron play was needing work. While the sample size is small, GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner noted this from the round one ShotLink data:

The more telling stat was this: His proximity to the hole (28 feet) was more than an 11-foot improvement over his first two starts this year. And also this: He was 11th among the early starters in strokes gained-tee to green, which measures a player’s all-around ball-striking. Last week, at Riviera, he ranked 121st

While a mysterious sport like golf can't always be summed up in stats, this kind of nugget is not only practical to Tiger, but to media and fans wanting to quantify progress. It's all a reminder that the PGA Tour's investment in ShotLink has often been underestimated in its magnitude, as is the tireless effort of the ShotLink crew and their volunteers each week.

Ogilvy: "The things taking the fun out of golf"

Geoff Ogilvy covers most of the things you'd expect someone of his character and wisdom to not care for in the modern game. Still, he offers his usual honesty and strong takes that makes this piece for Golf Australia worth your time.

On slow play, he describes something I once again saw multiple times at last week's Genesis Open, including from one player when his group was a par-5 behind the next group.

Penalty strokes would, of course, fix this...

If you do all the little things between shots quickly, you can almost take as long as you want over a shot and not fall behind.

On Tour, the most frustrating aspect of slow play is being ready to hit, then looking over to see the guy with the honour just about to start his pre-shot routine. In other words, he has been doing something else entirely at a time when he should have been working out his yardage and figuring what club he needs to use. It is just so thoughtless and selfish. And it drives me nuts.

I get that some players can have trouble taking the club away from the ball – Kevin Na, Sergio Garcia and Ben Crane spring to mind. And I have sympathy with such a problem. But still. It is relatively easy to get to that point quickly – even if you then struggle to start the backswing.

Will Jack's Concern About The Scale Of Golf Be Heard?

Lost in Jack Nicklaus highlighting the likelihood of pending USGA/R&A changes in their distance stance and his views on Titleist's chilling effect on discussion, were the Golden Bear's views on golf's scale.

We've heard many bring up sustainability, including Tiger Woods most recently. But based on the social media reaction I saw to Nicklaus' comments earlier this, week, it remains remarkable how many golfers do not believe that a 7,500 yard course takes longer to play than a 6,500 yard course. And there are golfers surprised to hear that the length of a round is a deterrent and that a reduced scale would be more attractive long term.

The transcript of his comments is worth reading if you're unclear on his stance, which is going beyond just where and how great players hit the ball. 

The game is a great game today the way it is. The game when I played was a great game. The game they played 20 years before me is a great game. However, as time changes, I think you need to change with the times. The times today, people don't have the time to spend playing five hours to play golf. They don't have -- a lot of people don't have the money to be able to do that, and they find the game very frustrating and very difficult.

So if the golf ball came back, it would solve I think a lot of those issues, and it would make -- it would -- I think we only have one golf course in this country, my opinion, that's not obsolete to the golf ball and that's Augusta National. They are the only people that have enough money that have been able to keep the golf course and do the things you had to. They are even buying up parts of country clubs and roads and everything else to get that done.

Not that other people couldn't do that, but it just unpractical. Why every time we have an event, do we have to keep buying more land and then making things longer? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

Tiger Wheels It Right Back At Honda, Meets Stoneman Douglas High Student Volunteer

Tiger's wheeling himself right back into the PGA National fray and as Dan Kilbridge reports for Golfweek, there wasn't much to this new normal to say in advance of a 7:45 am tee time with Patton Kizzire and Brandt Snedeker.

There was, however, what sounded to me like an admission that his fused back, while making him pain free, may be complicating his feel for certain shots.

“I can’t create the same angles I used to be able to create naturally,” Woods said. “Obviously I’m fused, so it’s a little bit different and I’m starting to learn what it feels like under the gun. Some of the shots I like to play, they’re not the same as they used to be and that part I’m going to have to learn. It’s not something that I’m used to because I’ve never felt like this, but this is the new norm.”

Tiger Tracker had some interesting observations on Tiger's Pro-Am round, which sounded similar to low-key approaches he took at Torrey Pines and Riviera, but with some stingers thrown in this time.

Kara Duffy of the local CBS affiliate detailed Tiger's impromptu meeting with Stoneman Douglas high student Kevin Shanahan, who is again volunteering at the tournament and who was introduced to Tiger by caddie Joe LaCava.

On Wednesday, the caddie for Tiger Woods got wind that Shanahan is a student there. Moments later, the golf great called him over during warm ups at the driving range, and what may have been a minor exchange in his mind, meant the world to Kevin.

“It was really a majority of me thanking him because I thought, ‘oh my God I’m getting this signed by Tiger Woods,’ but it really felt like he talked from the heart,” Shanahan said. “It didn’t feel scripted, it felt like it really came from him being sincere and saying, ‘I’m really sorry that you’re going through this,’ and it made me feel awesome!”

Last year’s Honda Classic winner Rickie Fowler also stopped for a photo with the teen.

Na, We Don't Have A Problem: Retired Cricketer Mocks PGA Tour Slow Play

H/T to Alex Myers for spotting the latest gem for the slow play files: a cricketer mocking last weekend's Genesis Open slow play and in particular, prime culprit Kevin Na. As we know, the PGA Tour embraces slow play and seems to think that as every other sport on the planet tries to speed up, apparently this kind of nonsense will fly.

Retired English cricketeer Kevin Pietersen is my kind of guy, he’s trying to save the rhinos and he’s openly mocking Kevin Na taking over a minute to hit a tap in putt last week at Riviera. Do I need to point out that it’s not a good look for golf when athletes in other sports are openly mocking golfers for taking too long? Or, in the case of the former cricketeer with 3.6 million followers, filming a follow up how-to video?

SERIOUSLY, Kevin Na?!?!

That Is A Tap In, MATE! pic.twitter.com/YMmNT6m5H7

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) February 18, 2018

And his follow-up how-to for Na:

Hey, Kevin Na - THIS IS HOW LONG A TAP IN SHOULD TAKE! 😂😂

Helluva setting here at @TrumpGolfDubai! pic.twitter.com/YvL2yqmxrp

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) February 21, 2018

Jack Nicklaus Singles Out Titleist In Distance Debate

I was flipping through some books last night reading quotes about the distance debate and one in particular actually made me laugh at its ridiculousness. (More on that below).

Not coincidentally, the quote came from the subject of Jack Nicklaus' frustration.

From Randall Mell at GolfChannel.com, offering even more from Nicklaus's distance comments and suggestion of pending USGA/R&A action.

“Titleist controls the game,” Nicklaus said. “And I don't understand why Titleist would be against it. I know they are, but I don't understand why you would be against it. They make probably the best product. If they make the best product, whether it's 20 percent shorter ... What difference would it make? Their market share isn't going to change a bit. They are still going to dominate the game."

Titleist representatives could not be immediately reached by Golf Channel.

Huh, they're hovering around media center all the time even though they're not media and in general, despise the media!

“It's not about [Titleist]. It's about the people watching the game and the people that are paying the tab. The people paying the tab are the people that are buying that television time and buying all the things that happen out there. Those are the people that you've got to start to look out for.

“And the growth of the game of golf, it's not going to grow with the young kids. Young kids don't have five hours to play golf. Young kids want instant gratification.”

Forget the kids, the rest of us don't want five hours either!

As for the laughs, here was the quote mentioned above, reprinted in The Future of Golf, from now-retired Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein in full conspiracy mode, way back in July 2003, Sports Illustrated:

"The print and electronic media have promoted a technophobic agenda since the start of the season, featuring such tabloid-ready headlines as 'The Weapons Race,' 'Ban this Ball or Els,' Going the Distance With Souped Up Golf Balls, and 'Cooling Hot Drivers.' The 24-hour Golf Channel contributes to the hysteria by allowing selected talent to spew one-sided antitechnology commentary and conduct 'leading the witness' interviews."

Here is the video from GolfChannel.com with Alex Miceli asking questions:

And Then Mike Davis Told Jack: "We're Going To Get There" On Ball Rollback

With the Honda Classic in town and a role in the tournament, Jack Nicklaus talked to media about a variety of topics, including distance.  Over dinner Sunday night, USGA CEO Mike Davis suggested a solution along the lines of what Nicklaus has long proposed is now on the table.

Golfweek's Dan Kilbridge reports:

“Mike said, ‘We’re getting there. We’re going to get there. I need your help when we get there.'” Nicklaus said. “I said, ‘That’s fine. I’m happy to help you. I’ve only been yelling at you for 40 years.’ 1977 is the first time I went to the USGA.”

Nicklaus said sarcastically he assumed that meant the USGA would be studying the issue for ‘another 10 years or so.’

“(Davis) says, ‘Oh, no, no, no. We’re not going to do that. I think we’re getting closer to agreements with the R&A and be able to do some things and be able to help.’ Because the R&A has been – sort of doesn’t want to do anything. I’m hoping that’s going to happen. I’ve talked to Mike a lot. Mike’s been very optimistic about wanting to get something done but hasn’t been able to get there yet.”

Sounds like this is going to get very interesting, very fast.