When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
I'm not sure what year this is from but the piece was just posted on the Masters YouTube channel. I know I've seen snippets of this footage before, but it's still fun to see how much goes on before the Masters gates open at 8 am.
Ólafía Kristinsdóttir's opening around ANA Inspiration ace earned her two first class tickets anywhere in the world on the airline:
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Amateur Harry Ellis is preparing for his first Masters. His infographics are certainly strong!
Many memories for life these past 9/10 months 👌🏻 excited for this upcoming week 😃
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Some rare footage of the Honorary Starters at The Masters in the latest appetite whetting teason:
4 days until #themasters and celebrating greatness with the official start. #cominginapril
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A wintertime aerial view of Aiken Golf Club, a gem in the vicinity of Augusta National...
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For those who have grown up when the professional golf shop was a vital gathering place, the resurrection of Old Tom Morris’s hub at 15 Links was yet another reminder that virtually all important golf development started in St. Andrews. Bear with me here, but seeing the Tom Morris name plastered over with the sterile "The Open" branding warrants a deeper dive into this retail space's past.
When the Links Trust restored this sacred spot in 2011, it was seen by the golf world as a nice tribute to the “Grand Old Man of Golf.” But the shop’s lineage, when imagined through the writings of early golf pioneers, becomes more clear. Or even profound.
Layers of carpet and dry wall covered the bones of Old Tom’s longtime hub of storytelling, golf ball sales and clubmaking. When the layers were peeled back to reveal the origins of the shop, the significance of this location became more clear to anyone with a little imagination.
There are the deep etchings in the floor from the days when a team of artisans were crafting clubs. Also revealed was that one-of-a-kind grey stonework that supported Old Tom’s footsteps, the fireplace where gutta was shaped, and most breathtaking of all, the wood counter where he or his team of craftsman could work while looking out at the Home green shaped by Morris.
Any golfer who has spent time in a pro shop with fellow aficionados can easily imagine the conversations, brainstorming, joke-telling, commiserating and idea-sharing that took place in this 870 square feet of prime golf real estate. And we know from select writings that many of golf’s most important early figures were influenced by their time spent at the Old Tom Morris shop.
Remnants from the old clubmaking days revealed under layers of carpet.
When a young Charles Blair Macdonald--widely considered the father of American golf after importing the best of Scottish golf principles to the States-- arrived in St Andrews, he was too young to be allowed in the Royal and Ancient clubhouse.
“The day after I arrived in St. Andrews my grandfather took me to genial and much beloved old Tom Morris and bought me three or four clubs,” he wrote in Scotland’s Gift—Golf. “He also secured a locker in Tom’s shop, for juniors were not permitted in the Royal and Ancient Club, to which both my grandfather and my uncle, Colonel William Macdonald, belonged.”
The man responsible for bringing the most important golfing principles to an America, at a time when the early game was a warped version of the sport thriving in Scotland, began his education in Old Tom’s shop.
“Old Tom was the Grand Old Man of golf,” Macdonald wrote, “The philosopher and friend of all youthful, aspiring golfers.”
We’ll never know what lessons were imparted to Macdonald by Old Tom during many visits there, but it is easy to imagine him learning about golf architecture, course maintenance, clubmaking or the impact an influential elder can have on an impressionable lad.
Morris great-granddaughter Sheila Walker looking out the window, 2015 Open Championship.
“He was always equable in temper, always courteous, much beloved by everyone.”
Two other vital American golf pioneers, Donald Ross and A.W. Tillinghast, were known to have spent much time around the shop, ruminating on the game with the Morrises and the team of artisans crafting clubs from around 1866 to Old Tom’s passing in 1908. Ross is best known for being America’s most prolific master designer, but the son of Dornoch was also a clubmaker, promoter and instructor whose inspiration was Old Tom Morris.
Tillinghast was also a vital early promoter of amateur golf, history, design and maintenance before establishing himself as a course-creating genius. He wrote lovingly of his time at St Andrews and in particular, with Old Tom.
“I met him in 1896 and although I never saw him again after 1901, he did write me several brief notes,” Tillinghast wrote in a magazine essay about the image he captured of Morris. “At the time when the photograph was taken we had been chatting in his shop and I happened to have with me my “Lantern” as Andra Kirkaldy used to call my camera. Old Tom was not at all inclined to pose for photographs but I cajoled him to the open shop door. This fortunate likeness was the result, for he declared it the best ever made of him. Aside from any merit as a photograph, I do know that it was very like him, for his true, kindly nature shows straight from his eyes. The picture shows him looking out over the Home Green, which he told me had been built over the bones of dead men, and where he still held the flag for the finish of all important matches. He used to potter around this green, often with a handful of sand to fill into holes, and it is more than likely that his oft-repeated advice to me, to use plenty of sharp sand on the putting greens, has exerted a lasting influence during many years of course construction.”
To an American impacted by Tillinghast, realizing that so much of his inspiration, wisdom and passion started in that shop, makes 15 The Links as sacred a space as the Old Course turf. Another American golf pioneer, Bobby Jones, did not have the opportunity to visit Old Tom in the shop, but he did take refuge here after he was mobbed on the 18th green upon winning the 1927 Open Championship, adding to the lore of the shop.
Like that historic day, we can only imagine what was said in this historic space and realize its role in shaping the sport outside of St Andrews. To generations of golfers over the century who have taken up the game since Old Tom’s passing, golf shops around the globe continued the tradition he started of providing questioning and impressionable golfers a refuge to simply linger and talk about this strange pastime with other like-minded souls. Certainly few golf shop mentors in golf ever carried the gravitas of Old Tom. But when you’re new to golf and some won’t take the time to welcome you to the sport, the role of golf shops as informal educational spaces has long been misunderstood in helping establish youngsters as long time participants, or keeping older, doubting types connected with others who love the sport.
In the last decade, at least in America, golf shops have lost the type of influence they once had with club sales moving to superstores or online. Which is why the Links Trust’s 2010 purchase of the space is so important to telling the story of golf. (There is also the preservation of the upstairs living space by Old Tom’s great granddaughter Sheila Walker—who still can be seen hanging out the top floor window taking in the best view in golf the way Old Tom once did—that adds to the lore of 15 Links.)
The £100,000 spent to preserve and modernize the shop allowed the space to function as a business, but to historians and romantics, was spiritually recouped when elements of the shop were uncovered. Looking at the façade as it has looked for over a century--including the stylish lettering on the signage that legions of golfers photograph daily—the golfer infatuated by St Andrews can savor this space. You can imagine the ghosts of visionaries like Macdonald or Ross or Tillinghast gathering around their hero.
Taking away the historic facade away to sell some Open Championship merchandise is as repulsive to those who admire Old Tom Morris as the words "British Open" are to the branding geniuses who thought it would be a good idea to cover over the Tom Morris name.
We talked about the shop and its importance a few years ago on Morning Drive, and took a tour inside after its restoration:
With the new Simon & Schuster published Tiger biography now widely available, the Woods camp has pushed back, calling the Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian tome a re-hash from older books and articles.
I'm surprised that Agent Mark Steinberg decided to acknowledge the book at all, but given the visibility of the authors and some of the more salacious tidbits overshadowing the attention given by the authors to the price of celebrity, perhaps pushback was wise.
Rex Hoggard, writing for GolfChannel.com sets up the story and offers this from Steinberg:
“This book is just a re-hash from older books and articles and it’s hard to tell if there’s anything original at all,” Woods’ manager Mark Steinberg said. “The authors claim ‘we seldom quoted anonymous sources’ yet they relied on them at least 65 times.”
Steiny with a little self-reference in the third person action here...
“They insist that they ‘provide a wealth of new insight,’ but without any input from Tiger, [Woods’ mother] Tida Woods, Mark Steinberg or those closest to him, that’s obviously impossible,” Steinberg said. “It’s clear the sources they actually rely on are people that haven’t spoken or interacted with Tiger for many years, most with ulterior motives.”
Former Clinton Administration counselor to the President, Doug Band, wrote to Golf Digest, taking issue with an account in the book of the Learning Center's opening. Band says "there is hardly an accurate or true word in the excerpt."
According to Awful Announcing's Andrew Bucholtz, who also rounds up some of the issues at hand in debating the book, he quotes one of the authors pushing back on Band's account.
Keteyian then fires back at Band, saying “I called him to fact-check the information that’s in that section,” and reveals that Band is the source for the quote of “I’m Tiger Woods, king of the world, go eff yourself,” plus says he had another source in that fivesome who described that round. Benedict then talks about how there is new and fresh material in this book, like stories of Woods being comfortable with kids who didn’t know he was famous and one of his neighbors talking about him asking who he can trust, and Keteyian talks about the book illustrating “the cost and the price of fame.”
Authors Benedict and Keteyian on Outside The Lines (embed not working but link should).
Renowned documentarian Alex Gibney will be developing a “documentary series” based on the new biography, Reuters reported Tuesday. No outlet has been named but the combination of Tiger intrigue, Gibney's reputation and the host of streaming options makes it likely the series will find a home.
Thanks to reader John for Brian Costa's overview of China and golf as Shanshan Feng is the top-ranked female player and Haotong Li continues to progress, entering The Masters as the highest-ever ranked Chinese golfer (No. 41).
However their success seems unlikely to sustain the Chinese game as long as courses are considered illegal, a minor glitch in golf's grand plan to profit on the creation of overpriced, overbuilt courses.
But the obstacles are greater in China, where more than 200 courses have been closed as part of President Xi Jinping’s war on government corruption and gaudy symbols of wealth. Fewer than 500 courses remain in the country.
Gareth Winslow, a New Zealand-born golf coach who works in Shanghai, lost two jobs in recent years when a course and a driving range where he worked were abruptly shut down. “The bulldozers come in and just knock everything down, so there aren’t a lot of options after that,” he said.
And it still starts with driving ranges, par-3 courses and affordable places to start...
If Chinese professionals continue to make headlines overseas, it may draw more wealthy Chinese to the game, Winslow said, “but if China wants to become a global power in golf, there needs to be more accessibility.”
You can now download The Masters app from various stores (iTunes here).
If you're an AppleTV user and have auto-update enabled, the 2018 version should be ready to go.
If you're a cord cutter--enjoy that buffering!--this guide will help you find ways to watch the Masters via HuLu, YouTubeTV, Playstation and DirecTVNow.
The big upgrade to the mobile and tablet app's this year comes via IBM's Watson--no relation to Tom or Bubba. Here's the fancy way of saying what you will find across all platforms if you log in and denote favorite players:
This year, IBM Watson is moving us from scores and statistics to faces and fist pumps. For the first time ever, the Masters is using enterprise-grade artificial intelligence to capture the essence of the competition; the sights and sounds that make this a tournament unlike any other.
Take that craft, artisanal, fair trade and organic grades of Artificial Intelligence!
Watson watches hundreds of hours of video from all of the Masters live streams. It identifies the player in each clip, and scores the highlight worthiness of that clip by listening for crowd noise and commentator excitement, and watching for player gestures. The highlights are scored and indexed, making the video production process easier for the Masters digital team. And they are packaged up into personalized highlight reels for users of the My Moments feature in the Masters app.
And this is clever:
My Moments allows fans to customize their Masters app by saving their profile across all digital platforms. End users select their favorite players and highlight packages are tailored to their preferences. The app also features a spoiler-free mode, which determines the last time you checked in on the tournament action, and chronologically walks you through everything you missed, without revealing the real-time score until you’re caught up.
To put this more succinctly: it's a lot like Instagram or Snapchat Stories. Only better!
The centerpiece of the app remains the ability to watch Live Coverage and get quick access to a Leaderboard.
The offerings on the AppleTV also allow you to watch channels like Amen Corner Live, Featured Groups and other video, including surprise nuggets like last year's broadcast and the Green Jacket ceremony at the putting green.
A few screen grabs here:
Global Golf Post's Steve Eubanks considers the possible ramifications of the Georgia's and Alabama's of the world and many other college golf programs locked in an arms race that now includes showing recruits private jet options. More amazingly, donors happy to pony up for things like Georgia's new $4.5 million practice center.
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.”
You Go Seve...
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Now that is a plate...
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Tiger and Bridgestone team up for a ball with this Tiger stamp. It's for the children...
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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.
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...
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.
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.”
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:
The Open’s flagship store opens today situated adjacent to the 18th green of the Old Course #StAndrews #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/VhSDUkDcvj
— The Open (@TheOpen) March 26, 2018
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:
Literally scrubbing away the history that made St Andrews such a great place to visit #shame #shame #shame pic.twitter.com/qABuUuPnfj
— DaleConcannon (@DaleConcannon) March 26, 2018
This from local writer Kieran Clark...
This is a slap in the face of history. Old Tom Morris - a major figure in both the heritage of St. Andrews Links and The Open Championship - deserves better. Shocking. https://t.co/F5u3K7swa3
— Kieran Clark (@KieranClarkGolf) March 26, 2018
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.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
