“Augusta can always be defended. St Andrews is in trouble.”

/

A wise friend says the distance discussion should only be predicated on one barometer: the Old Course. If it is obsolete for the elite player, distance limits or something should be done to keep it relevant. 

So it was enlightening to see Paul Azinger suggest the Old Course at St. Andrews is in trouble within this Steve DiMeglio piece about Augusta National and distance. 

There is of course the usual shallow stuff from golf pros looking to protect their corporate interests over how the game is played, with Billy Horschel reinforcing his steadfast ignorance and Brandt Snedeker suggesting Augusta just plant a tree, ramp up the Sub-Air and call it a day.  

But Azinger's comments stood out since the R&A might actually feel the same way.

“The Old Course at St Andrews, the home of golf, is different, because the course isn’t as long and the greens are pretty easy to putt and don’t have nearly as much slope,” Azinger said. “Augusta’s greens are frightfully fast, and they can stick the pins two paces from the edge.
“Augusta can always be defended. St Andrews is in trouble.”

Instagram Wrap: Seve Being Seve At The Masters, An Augusta Persimmon Plate And Bridgestone Makes A Tiger Ball

/

New Look Tour Schedule Coming Into Focus And The Small Markets Are Trouncing America's Big Cities

/
PGATourlogo.png

If you told me a few years ago that the FedExCup and wraparound schedule designed to save fall events in smaller markets would lead to minimizing the PGA Tour's presence in Chicago, New York, Boston and Houston, I'd have told you no chance. 

As Doug Ferguson of the AP reports, the 2018-19 revamp of the PGA Tour schedule is shaping up in curious ways.  (As noted by The Forecaddie last week, Florida will have its swing back and that's a very good thing.)

After explaining how May will feature the Byron Nelson and Colonial stops surrounding the PGA Championship--cue the claims of Trinity Forest not being a good preparation for PGA venues--Ferguson says there is a possibility of Houston landing before the U.S. Open when Memphis shifts to the beautiful month of August for its expected WGC upgrade in place of Firestone (hit the link if you don't believe me). 

But the real puzzler is what the playoff shortening means for two huge markets.

There’s one other potential wrinkle to the end. The FedEx Cup playoffs will be three tournaments instead of four, and while this is the final year of the playoff event at the TPC Boston (previously Deutsche Bank, currently Dell Technologies Championship), it might not be the end of Boston.

One possibility the tour is exploring is for The Northern Trust to alternate between the New York area (such as Liberty National) and Boston.

So if this goes forward, remember that the introduction of the playoffs changed Chicago's former Western Open in July to a rotating BMW in multiple cities later in the summer. 

The incredibly successful Boston stop, a relatively modern creation, may go away and the old annual New York stop at Westchester has been converted to a rotation that could spread north.

To recap: Houston, Boston, New York* and Chicago all have seen or are about to watch their regular tour events compromised in the name of making Sea Island, Las Vegas, Napa, Jackson, Kuala Lumpur, Jeju Island and Playa Del Carmen stops part of the FedExCup, while possibly adding Minneapolis and Detroit stops. 

Fascinating big market strategy!

*New York is, admittedly about to be overrun with annual major golf events starting with last year's Presidents Cup and running to at least 2024's Ryder Cup. But other than the Presidents Cup, the rest are run by other organizations.

The Evolution Of This Year's Masters "Favorite" Status

/

Doug Ferguson does a nice job tracing the many stages of betting favorites for this year's Masters and reminds us it wasn't long ago that different names were atop the list. 

• Westgate had Woods at 50-1 for the Masters right before he returned to competition the first week of December in the Bahamas.

• Johnson wins Kapalua by eight shots for his eighth victory in his last 34 events, all against some of the strong fields.

• Rahm ended 2017 by winning the European finale in Dubai, was runner-up at Kapalua and won the CareerBuilder Challenge. With a chance to go to No. 1 in the world at Torrey Pines, he went from a one-shot deficit after 36 holes to a 75-77 weekend. Woods made the cut at Torrey Pines with a two-putt birdie from 70 feet on his last hole. He tied for 23rd, exceeding expectations. Masters odds go to 20-1. Day won Torrey Pines in a playoff for his first victory in 20 months.

• Johnson finished second at Pebble Beach to Ted Potter Jr., who has missed every cut since then. Imagine if Johnson had won Pebble. He would have two wins this year, nine in his previous 36 starts. He would still be the clear favorite at Augusta.

As we discussed on Golf Central Alternate Shot today, the favorite game is too complicated so just focus on the best, most unusual story this year! And yes, yes, I know, I said Amateur champion the first time, not Mid-Amateur. But I got it the second time...this is live TV for you...

Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Green Jacket

/
Screen Shot 2018-03-27 at 9.23.25 PM.png

As the Green Jacket has become cool again--thanks in part to winners parading the Pantone 342 blazer to some pretty swell places--Golf Threads has 13 things you probabaly didn't know. I certainly learned a few things about golf's most coveted article of clothing, including where it's made, where the fabric comes from, how long it's been since they've need to order new fabric and how inexpensive they are to make. 

Lexi Reveals Just How Much Grief Last Year's ANA Penalty Caused

/
Screen Shot 2018-03-27 at 10.14.07 PM.png

Powerful stuff from Lexi Thompson at her ANA Inspiration press conference a year removed from the four-stroke penalty that cost her a major. 

Penalties, which, by the way, could not happen again thanks to changes in the rules, as Larry Bohannan explains in the Desert Sun.

From Beth Ann Nichols' Golfweek story:

“That night was extremely rough,” said Thompson of the hours that followed the toughest loss of her career. “I was screaming, crying. You know, I’ve re-lived it for a while. I had nightmares about it. You know, I still occasionally do.”
Thompson, 23, cried on every tee shot that followed her encounter with rules officials after the 12th hole. She said it was the fans who allowed her to finish the way she did.
“I heard them chanting my name on every shot, every tee,” she said. “I heard them on the green chanting my name, and I was like, I have to finish strong for them.” 

Good Grief: Tom Morris Name Covered Over, Replaced By "The Open" Gift Shop

/

Vandalism in golf takes many shapes and sizes, and while I know the purveyors of The Open will argue that Tom Morris was one of the proud creators and winners of The Open, there is no way to sugarcoat this as anything other than a dreadful, vandalous act as verified by the Twitter replies:

Every golf professional and golf shop owes something to this location's historical importance. Furthermore, the change is made all the more appalling by recent Links Trust efforts to restore the shop and highlight it's importance. The name Tom Morris has been an integral part of Links Road for well over a century and golfers from across the globe have come to pay their respects.

Historian Dale Concannon:

This from local writer Kieran Clark...

"Terry Gannon's TV Versatility Rooted In Hoops Past"

/
Screen Shot 2018-03-27 at 9.38.40 PM.png

He'll be helming the ANA Inspiration's Golf Channel coverage this week with Judy Rankin and also undoubtedly will be thinking about the 35th (!) anniversary of NC State's improbably NCAA basketball championship.

But fresh off his prominent Olympics role, Terry Gannon continues to be the least-recognized top voice in golf. 

Steve Eubanks of Global Golf Post considers what makes Gannon such a solid announcer, including his talent for asking the right questions of his analysts.

Instagram Roundup: An Early Masters Image, More Champions Dinner Never-Before-Seens, The ANA's Saki Drum Barrel Cracking, PXG Goes The Awkward Route

/

It's not the first Masters because we know the 9th green was a lot more interesting in Dr. MacKenzie and Bobby Jones' version, but still a fun aerial from the good ole days:

Click here on the link if the embed is resisting, as it's more rarely seen Champions Dinner moments via the Masters Instagram account...

6 days until #themasters and an extraordinary gathering. #cominginapril

A post shared by The Masters (@themasters) on

The saki barrel has been broken, so the ANA Inspiration can begin. The honorary starters ceremony, this is not.

The #anainspiration has officially begun with the breaking of the saki barrel!

A post shared by LPGA Tour (@lpga_tour) on

Quite possibly the most awkward thing I've watched in years...if not ever.

Augusta National Cracking Down On Third Party Market, Invalidating Some Credentials

/
Screen Shot 2018-03-27 at 8.56.19 PM.png

Adam Schupak with a Golf.com exclusive on Augusta National's effort to crack down on ticket holders who have sold to third parties. They are being notified by letter that their $150 is to be credited and they can expect to no longer be attending the Masters.

As Schupak notes, this scenario means there may be unsuspecting buyers who show up at the Masters after having paid top dollar, only to find their tickets invalidated.

How are they spotting the offenders?

The tournament has long prohibited the reselling of its coveted single-day tickets and multi-day badges, but last year it added a new defense to catch offenders: color-coded strips on the bottom of the tickets that the tournament's ticket police can use as secret decoder rings of sorts to determine the original purchasers. Each of the colors in the six-color design represents a letter and five numbers that match the corresponding ticket number.

"Hooks and ladders: A Massachusetts firefighter will tee it up at the Masters"

/
Parziale.png

While we've been salivating at the potential for this year's Masters to give us a match up for the ages, of all ages, there is another fantastic story out there: U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Matt Parziale.

Alan Shipnuck gives the Brockton, Mass. firefighter's story the deep dive treatment for Golf.com and it's a 

A half-dozen guys started talking at the same time, all in accents thicker than chowdah. They asked after Parziale's old man, Vic, who served 33 years in the same precinct before retiring last autumn as a captain. Inevitably, talk turned to Parziale's upcoming tournament schedule.
"I'm gonna try to get down there to watch," one guy said, "but I'm looking for a green blazer to wear so I can fit in." The room exploded in laughter.
Somewhere Bobby Jones must be smiling about the culture clash of a horde of Beantown back-drafters tromping along his gilded fairways. But it was Jones's abiding love for amateur golf that created a spot in the Masters for a guy like Parziale and his cinematic journey to Augusta.

Great Reads: Bob Goalby's My Shot, 1968 Masters Rebroadcast Analysis

/

As the 50th anniversary of his Masters win arrives, Bob Goalby will be the understandable focus of some preview coverage. Sean Zak at Golf.com pulled up the recently uploaded YouTube posting of the 1968 broadcast and posted this item along with a podcast.

Also of note is a sensational Golf Digest My Shot with Guy Yocom, who somehow got a Goalby My Shot pitch by the millennial filtering (must have Bob's Amana flatbrim that fooled 'em).

I was heartened to read this from Goalby:

WE'RE AT THE 50-YEAR mark of that Masters, and history is being kinder to me. Young people especially don't know about the controversy because it was so long ago. To them, I'm just a Masters champion. They'll say, "That's so cool. What year did you win? Can you tell me about it?" And I tell them about how I shot 66 on Sunday, the overflowing parking lot and the letter Bobby Jones wrote me about my shot to the 15th. Time is allowing me to be at peace and to feel even more proud and satisfied.

Augusta As Seen By The Son Of Its First Superintendent

/
Screen Shot 2018-03-26 at 9.37.54 PM.png

Golf's Michael Bamberger interviewed Shurley Hammack, son of Augusta National's first superintendent, who was raised on the property until his father's death and a abrupt eviction by that always gentle Clifford Roberts.

Still, “Daddy had no love for Clifford Roberts,” Shurley said over the course of a three-hour inter-view in which he displayed a keen memory and exemplary Southern-tradition storytelling skills. “For the longest time I thought his name was Sumbitch Roberts, ’cause Mr. Roberts would come down from New York and Daddy would say, ‘Sumbitch Roberts coming to the club today.’ ”
Simpson was the superintendent (the club’s term) for the first nine Masters. The course closed for the war, and the tournament wasn’t played in 1943, ’44 or ’45. During that time Augusta National was used for cattle grazing, but just briefly. The herd ate not only the grass but also the azaleas, and the experiment was quickly shut down. 

Another revelation: Hammack's dad, Simpson, left holes in the greens when the club was closed for the summer, allowing Shurley and friends to still play the course. That will have the ghost of Mr. Roberts stirring...