Adam Scott On Golfers Forced Out Of Their Comfort Zones

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On the eve of the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson Classic, Adam Scott was asked about the PGA Tour locker room talk surrounding Trinity Forest and the uncomfortable demands the course will make.

Look, just most majorities just don't like different, do they? This is just different than what we normally roll out and play.

You know, people are going to get put out of their comfort zones and not many people like that, you know.

The greatest players have all managed to succeed out of their comfort zones and learn to love links or learn to love a parkland golf to succeed, and I think the greatest champions over time have all done that and whoever is going to be here this week will be someone who really embraces the different challenges of this golf.

You're not going to be able to fight it out there this week. You're going to have to go with it and hit a nice shot from 200 out one time and catch the wrong side of the hill and you'll have some putt that you would never feel like you deserve but that's a different style of golf than target golf that we're used to playing.

You're just going to have to do your best to two-putt it or however many putts you need to make to get down and move on and get the right rub of the green on the next one. That's probably the links side of golf. There's a bit more rub of the green, a little less predictability.

I think if I think about Tiger who has grown up playing golf in America but just had this instant desire to love links golf and win the Opens and he showed so much creativity in his game that was apparently just suited to win on the U.S. Tour, he embraced the challenges of all parts of the game and he did it all.

So, it's kind of how I see it. The guy that does that this week will do well.

Doug Ford Remembered

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Golf's oldest living major champion, Doug Ford, passed away Wednesday.

Jim McCabe filed this excellent tribute and remembrance of a golf life well-lived.

For proof, consider that Ford – who considered a professional baseball career before choosing golf – was like a lot of young men of the World War II era and put military service first. After a stint with the Coast Guard Air Division, Ford returned to playing competitive golf, but didn’t decide to turn pro until 1949, when he was 26.

Why the delay? Ford said it was because he made a better living by playing money games. “In fact, he told me that (former USGA Executive Director) Joe Dey walked up to him at a tournament and said, ‘We know you play for money, so you can’t enter as an amateur,’ ” said grandson Scott Ford, a teaching professional on Long Island. “My grandfather told me that’s pretty much the day he decided he was a professional golfer.”

Here is Ford recalling the shot that won The Masters.

Will Sports Gambling Bring Fan Interference?

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Here at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic, players are slowly beginning to realize the economic benefits of sports gambling may come with a downside.

While they aren't ranting like Randall Mell did in his piece for GolfChannel.com, they are sharing the same concern.

With legalized gambling, there promises to be a billion new reasons for fans to root against a player, just as there will be a billion new reasons to root for a player.

Thomas had a right to be annoyed at the Honda Classic. Golf isn’t like the NBA. A fan screaming in a player’s backswing is different than a fan screaming at a player on the free throw line. A golf fan can control the outcome of an event a lot easier than an NBA fan can.

Nobody’s paying to see Joe Blowhard dictate who wins. But that’s the thing about legalized gambling. It’s a pretty good bet we’ll see more Joe Blowhards coming into the sport. And I’ll wager one of them costs a PGA Tour player a chance to win.

Will Gray talked to some veteran players who see potential issues. Ernie Els sees pushback when a player lets a fan down, while Jimmy Walker pointed to the intimacy and quiet of golf.

“Golf is so much more intimate, player to fan base, than any other sport. Tennis may be the only other one where it’s so quiet and the fans can get so close,” Walker said. “I think that’s the big deal, and that’s what people have to realize when they come out here, is that you can stand 5 feet from the best players in the world. You can’t do that at a football game. It’s hard to do that at a basketball game because it’s so loud, nobody can hear all that. So I just think we need to police it a little better.”

Bill Coore Explains Trinity Forest's Short Par-4 5th Hole

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Great stuff here from Andy Johnson combining Bill Coore's explanation with a flyover of Trinity Forest's 5th hole.

I just love how he describes the issue at hand for players in just barely driving over the fairway bunker to get to the green. That kind of attention to detail--and the time put into getting that element just right--is why Coore, Crenshaw and The Boys are the best.

I Guess We Have To: Governing Bodies Launch "Multi-Pronged" Distance Insights Project

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Here goes another year in the distance discussion, all because the two PGA's have decided they want to be in the rules business. I'm pretty sure we know what the input will look like ("Don't blame the ball! "-Wally, Fairhaven, MA). 

Anyway, if they must, but Senator you can have my answer now: do something.

The USGA and The R&A Launch Golf's Global Distance Insights Project

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. USA AND ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (May 15, 2018) - The United States Golf Association (USGA) and The R&A have launched a comprehensive project to analyze distance in golf and gather perspectives from the worldwide golf community.  

The Distance Insights project will examine distance through a multi-pronged approach that includes global stakeholder engagement, third-party data review and primary research. Focus groups and discussion forums will play an important role in the project, to secure a broad range of perspectives throughout golf.

Beginning today, anyone interested in the topic can provide feedback by visiting usga.org/distanceinsights or randa.org/distanceinsights or by emailing either association directly.

“The topic of increased distance and its effects on the game have been discussed for well over a century. We believe that now is the time to examine this topic through a very wide and long lens, knowing it is critical to the future of the game,” said Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA. “We look forward to delving deeply into this topic and learning more, led by doing right by golf, first and foremost.”

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “Distance in golf is a complex issue which is widely debated at all levels of the sport. It is important that we collate all of the relevant data and hear the many different perspectives on this issue that exist in the international golf community. We intend to conduct this process openly, comprehensively and promptly and will work with all of the key stakeholders to ensure we have a fully rounded view of distance and its implications.”   

Stakeholder groups invited to participate in the project include amateur and professional golfers, worldwide professional golf tours, golf course owners and operators, golf equipment manufacturers, golf course architects, golf course superintendents and others. 

Among the many topics to be explored, the organizations will seek distance-related data on pace of play, golf course construction and maintenance practices, the evolution of equipment, golf course design and player enjoyment and participation.

The USGA and The R&A will engage various golf industry stakeholders through 2018, with plans to deliver a report in 2019.

ShackHouse 64: Players Wrap, Legalized Wagering Coming To Golf And Trinity Forest Preview

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Busy week in the ShackHouse: we wrap up Webb Simpson's impressive Players Championship win, Tiger's week at TPC Sawgrass, the Supreme Court's decision to let states regulate legal sports gambling and my first impressions of Trinity Forest, host to this week's AT&T Byron Nelson Classic.

As always the show is brought to you by Callaway and The Ringer. You can listen via the embed below, wherever podcasts are streamed and of course, iTunes. 

Video: Ogilvy Taking Us Through The Best Of Trinity Forest

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Great set of content videos here from the folks at Trinity Forest, host to this week's AT&T Byron Nelson Classic. 

Ogilvy on the double green at the third and eleventh holes. 

Uploaded by Communication Links on 2018-02-05.

Ogilvy on the short par-4 5th:

Uploaded by Communication Links on 2018-02-05.

On the short par-3 8th and it's green complex:

This video is about Trinity Forest #8

On the well-placed bunker at the 14th:

Uploaded by Communication Links on 2018-02-05.

And finally the zany 17th green:

Uploaded by Communication Links on 2018-02-05.

First Preview: PGA Tour Heads To Coore And Crenshaw's Trinity Forest

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Big week for minimalism!

The AT&T Byron Nelson Classic moves from the many-times remodeled TPC Las Colinas Four Seasons to the year-old Trinity Forest Not A Four Seasons Golf Club. 

The recently opened Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw course is built on a landfill next to the Trinity Forest and is decidedly linksy in appearance.  I'm getting a firsthand look and will be filing a review for Golfweek and Morning Drive coverage for Golf Channel, but in the meantime here is some preview coverage to whet your appetite...

Graylyn Loomis filed this preview for Links and featured this quote from Bill Coore on the design philosophy:

“We couldn’t make the course look like a prototypical Dallas layout with streams, trees, and lakes,” says Coore. “You can’t plant a tree because the roots break the cap. We knew early on there couldn’t be a stream or water, either. The focus had to be the rumpled ground created as the landfill settled over the decades and we tried to highlight those features.”

The intrigue will be in watching player comments to see how the design style is embrace given the lack of major visual eye candy and the general propensity of today's pros to find the ground game offensive. 

Jordan Spieth, who makes Trinity Forest his primary practice facilities, was asked about the course at The Players:

Q. You got your home game next week; what's the scouting report on Trinity?
JORDAN SPIETH: It looks as good as I've seen it since -- and I've been going out there since before the greens were even sprigged. It looks really good. It's grown on me a lot over the past six months, and in the springtime, I think it's at its best. It's in his best condition that it can be now or the next month or two. I think the weather looks like it's going to really cooperate to give it a good first showing.

A lot of big grandstands. It's like an American links. You've kind of got to play it from the air, not really a bounce the ball up kind of links, but it is still a links-looking golf course. So it's weird, it's unique. It's actually -- Birkdale was kind of the closest comparison I've found to a links course that you kind of have to attack from the air. You get maybe four or five, six holes where you can bounce the ball up, but the way to get balls close is to come in with a higher shot. That's not necessarily true links. I don't want to say that about Birkdale because of the history and everything, but it's just the way I've found to play it well is that route.

Here is a sampler from the AT&T Byron Nelson:

Andy Johnson broke down the 6th hole in this flyover. Check out that green!

The turf looks ready!

Rick Reilly's Back On The Golf Beat

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He's never short on energy, one-liners or a passion for telling the stories of players, so it'll be fun to watch how longtime writer Rick Reilly adjusts to the modern PGA Tour player assuming the Deep Golf State is out to expose their battle with athlete's foot.

The Forecaddie talked to Reilly about what's changed since he was last on the beat and why on earth he'd leave Tuscany.

It's NCAA Men's Regional Week: Golfweek And Golfstat Are Your Friends

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With the men's NCAA Division I regionals getting underway, there is, of course, only one place to go and that's the hub of all things college golf: Golfweek. The firm of Romine, Casey and Ringler will have the lowdown. 

Lance Ringler noted this in his handy primer on the various regions and players to keep an eye on, especially for conspiracy theorists who grumble about teams hosting a regional (count me in!):

Teams that have hosted a regional are 28 of 38 (73.6 percent) in advancing to the NCAA finals.

  • Teams that are hosting a regional and seeded within the top 5 are 23 of 26 (88.5 percent) in advancing to the NCAA finals.

  • Teams that are hosting a regional and seeded outside the top 5 are 5 of 11 (45.4 percent) in advancing to the NCAA finals.

For scores, you MUST download the updated and modernized Golfstat app, available for both iPhone and Android. The desktop options are great too.

May We See You In March: Webb Simpson Wins The Players

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The final Players in May went out in a blaze of red number glory, with winner Webb Simpson's -18 under total in no way undermined by the 71.275 scoring average, a whopping two strokes lower than 2017’s 73.291.

Immaculate conditioning, humidity keeping the turf moist enough and a course that Tiger Woods noted for playing incredibly short all week, did well to stand up to today's finest. Though noteworthy is May's 63 trend with Webb Simpson and Brooks Koepka posting course-record tying 63’s in 2018, meaning six of the eight 63s were posted in May. 

Webb Simpson will defend next March when the course is overseeded with rye grass, the wind is blowing more and in less predictable directions and likely plays faster. While this won't address the incredible vulnerability of the par-5's, the course may play effectively narrower when the Bermuda grasses role is muted.

Steve DiMeglio's USA Today game story notes that Simpson wasn't at his finest Sunday but the best and most impressive work was behind him.

Mike McAllister on how the long Sunday wait, the pressure, TPC Sawgrass, the early charges all made a seven stroke leader much harder to hold on to than Simpson imagined.

Brentley Romine at Golfweek with notes, quotes and shots of the final round.

Simpson's mixed bag of sticks courtesy of David Dusek. 

Ben Everill went deep on Simpson's remarkable putting week and how it's now a strength of his game. 

Simpson spoke frankly all week about issues he faced in changing his putting style as a result of the anchor ban, admitting after the win how, in a roundabout way, he's grateful now for the anchoring ban as I write for Golfweek.

Tiger Woods finished at 11 under and was in a tie for 11th, but gave the crowd a thrill and continued to assert that he's well ahead of schedule. DiMeglio's Woods roundup is here. 

Dan Kilbridge with a Golfweek wrap on Tiger's week that started out ok and almost evolved into something epic. 

He sure moved the ratings needle.

Video: Brooks Koepka's 16th Hole Albatross, 2018 Player Championship

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6-iron, 208 yards out and a final round 63. What a way to wrap up a week that started with a freak injury.

Monahan On The Players: "This product works in May, this product works in March."

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He hasn't rolled out a Finchem-esque coterminous or compaction reference, but Jay Monahan has definitely picked up a case of B-speak during a week of Players Championship meetings.

From a chat with GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard, updating us on the schedule, the Tiger-Phil pairing and the state of the Players. 

“To bring the best field in golf here, early in the season and to be able to use this platform and have tent-pole events, big events, every month March through July and get the playoffs to a position where we’re really excited about where we’re going, that’s good for the overall schedule.

“When you look at how we make this product [The Players] better, this product works in May, this product works in March. You need to pick the areas where you need to improve.”