The only course that will remain difficult under all conditions will be one that is designed and kept for golf of a stereotyped, monotonous character, and this makes a most uninteresting proposition. BOBBY JONES
Available via Amazon (US): Golf Architecture For Normal People
Barnes And Noble (online and in stores)
Bookshop.org option to support local independent bookstores.
Reviews:
"Golf Architecture for Normal People . . . should be required reading for those who are not ashamed to admit they know little about the subject, and for those who think they do . . . . Golf course architecture geeks have trouble slimming their thoughts down to bite-sized chunks, but Shackelford has achieved a remarkable success here." —Independent (Ireland)
"From the relative newcomer who’s slowly getting hooked to those that have played the game for most of their lives and think they know a thing or two, Golf Architecture for Normal People provides a solid and sober perspective that will help everyone recognize why some golf courses are worth playing more than once while a single trip around others is all you’re ever likely to want or need." —Links Magazine.
“It’s a wonderful book. An easy read that arrives just in time for your summer reading list. If you’ve never thought about how an appreciation for course design could heighten your enjoyment of the game, you must check this out.”—The Peterborough Examiner
"As in his prior publications, in his newest book Shackelford shows a deep appreciation for what can be done to create a golf course that appeals to the broadest possible golfing audience…Shackelford’s prose is succinct, often witty, and accessible."—Cape Gazette
"Author, blogger and golf architecture expert Geoff Shackelford, who helped Gil Hanse design Rustic Canyon and restore 2023 U.S. Open host Los Angeles Country Club, taps into his passion by creating a guide that helps every golfer understand the nuances of course design. Published by Tatra Press, the 164-page hardcover book is a must-read for every golfer to better understand the game they love." —Golf Pass
"Shackelford provides an informative picture [and]...sprinkles in history lessons about those who planted the game's architectural roots, defines common terms and helps you hone your eyes when it comes to identifying some of the tricks of the trade."—FORE Magazine
"This new book does a great job demystifying golf course design ideas for average players, but can also be a beneficial read fro PGA Professionals and other golf course employees to get a better understanding of their home courses." —PGA Magazine
Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and I kick around the Lucy Li amateur status situation, the dangers for the governing bodies, the PGA Tour’s athleticism push and the early returns on golf’s new rules.
As always, the show is available at the usual podcast locations like iTunes or below…
Nice to see Eduardo Molinari and friends doing a little study on the benefits or lack thereof for putts with the flagstick in.
You need to swipe through the slides to see the results, but some good food for thought if you believe the COR of the flagstick will absorb any speed putt. It will no.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Edoardo Molinari Golf Academy (@emgolfacademy) on
As the USGA sorts our Lucy Li’s starring role in an Apple Watch ad, Steve Eubanks of Global Golf Post recaps the story and notes the no-win position faced by the governing bodies.
There aren’t many rocks and hard places much bigger than the ones they’re between.
While he suggests that’s based on past reputation, I’d counter that their biggest hurdle is a society seeing no issues with amateurs taking freebies or payment for endorsements. The lines have certainly been blurred by the Olympics and even things as seemingly innocuous as allowing amateur golfers to wear scripted corporate logo gear.
Still, no matter how you feel Eubanks makes a key point that mustn’t be forgotten in the debate.
But before you jump to conclusions, think about this: Li is listed in the field for the AJGA Buick Shanshan Feng Girls Invitational on Feb. 15-18. She will be playing against girls who know the rules; girls with parents who have shelled out small fortunes to keep their daughters competitive in the junior game.
How will those girls and their parents look at Li? Will anyone call her a cheater to her face?
Others played by the rules and while they may not have been offered endorsement opportunities, many or most of those players likely would have followed the rules. Li’s parents did not and while it’s a shame, clearly all involved were not concerned with her amateur status. For that alone, it’s time to let her pursue a professional career.
With Augusta National Women’s Amateur invitations going out this week, it will be interesting to see if the good folks in Augusta are holding on to Li’s automatic invite (based on world ranking) until a decision is handed down?
We discussed on this week’s Alternate Shot:
Anyone who has looked at the new PGA Tour schedule sees weak spots on the list where top players will be tempted to stay home. Mexico City sits awkwardly before a busy run of Florida events, the Match Play still very close to the Masters and the WGC moving to Memphis after the major season and before the playoffs.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the WGC’s, field killers to so many longtime PGA Tour stops, were to start taking hits because of the schedule?
Adam Scott admitted in his Sony Open press conference that he’s focused on majors and WGC’s will be a casualty. From Dave Shedloski’s GolfDigest.com report:
As for the WGCs, Scott, ranked 41st in the world, might change his mind as the season progresses, but for now he seems set on there being no deviations from the plan.
"I feel like there are good tournaments right around them that are a preferred option," he said. "It is tricky. I thought that was interesting for my schedule change. I wouldn't have thought that was the case, but that is the case at the moment."
Like many, Jordan Spieth can’t comprehend the notion of being penalized from dropping at shoulder height, as the rules revamp currently calls for.
From Joel Beall’s item at GolfDigest.com:
“What if they just take a drop from the cart path. I don’t think they probably care. They will still drop it from the shoulder. Technically, you take a drop from your shoulder and play out, you could be penalized for that. Doesn’t make much sense.
“It’s a disadvantage to drop it that high, so that one I didn’t really understand fully. It was cool that you’re able to get lower to drop it. I thought you would be able to do it at any height.”
In an item unusually light on details by Keith Kelly standards and feeling more like a reminder to interested suitors that Golf Digest is still for sale, the New York Post media writer says new PGA Tour International TV distributor Discovery is interested.
The billionaire Newhouse family has a minority stake in publicly traded Discovery, but the family connection is not necessarily giving the programmer any advantage. It will come down to price and Discovery’s long-term strategy on golf.
Discovery actually has some live-streaming golf in Europe connected to the PGA tour but does not have any golfing channels in the US and currently has no print within its empire.
Someone get Kelley the memo that Discovery’s GOLFTV is the Netflix of golf!
Conde Nast had set a year-end 2018 deadline to sell Golf Digest and two other publications.
Reading Ron Kroichick’s SF Chronicle account of Steph Curry’s proposed PGA Tour event falling through, it’s hard to understand what exactly went wrong other than the looming deadlines involved with a September event.
But negotiations with potential title sponsor Workday, the finance and human resources software company in Pleasanton, unexpectedly broke off. Tour officials didn’t have time to find another title sponsor, especially given the course changes Lake Merced would need to make in eight months.
“We are still committed to bringing an event to San Francisco,” Curry told The Chronicle. “It just won’t be this year.”
The question then may be, why didn’t the PGA Tour just sponsor this in year one to ensure they’re in the Steph Curry business.
The NDA’s are flying so we won’t know how many more forced social media posts we’ll have to endure as the irrelevant Vijay Singh takes up spots in PGA Tour fields, but he at least indicated to GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard what we all know. He settled more than amicably with the tour in his lawsuit over a deer antler spray suspension.
Although a confidentiality agreement prevented Singh from disclosing any terms of the settlement, he did seem pleased to move beyond the distraction of the lawsuit.
“I can get on and do my own stuff and not worry about anything anymore,” he said. “I think both sides are happy, although I might be just a little bit happier.”
Ahhhh…maybe one of the guys can ask him this week on the range how much Vijay’s win took out of the retirement accounts! That’ll liven up the range chatter.
As previously noted, Vijay has only made 11 cuts in his last 28 PGA Tour starts and hasn’t snipped a top 10 finish in that time.
Good stuff here from Geoff Ogilvy on a recent fun trip to the linksland.
He thankfully praises the New Course at St. Andrews, Elie and lived to not hate the game after having to play the Castle Course.
There was also this on the supposed redundancy of links golf.
That actually got me thinking. When people talk about “links golf” they tend to suggest that every seaside course can be thrown into the same basket. Not so. We played six courses on this trip and they were all very different. Links golf is actually more varied than parkland golf. Because there are no rules. You can have 600-yard par-5s and 230-yard par-4s. You can have stone walls crossing holes. And you can have any number of blind shots. Almost anything is possible. And that is the fun of it.
The voting suggest the new drop rule is not going over well so far.
After we discussed today on Morning Drive today I heard from several asking the genesis of a lower drop height, answered here in the Golf.com roundtable:
Michael Bamberger, senior writer: The knee-drop looks ridiculous. It exists for a very limited purpose, to stop multiple drops on slopes. I think the professor has it right: a better rule would be to drop anywhere from knee to shoulder height.
The USGA’s Thomas Pagel also explained to Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com that the new drop location, changed from a 1-inch above ground height in the first proposal to knee height, was part of a “package deal.”
“It’s not just a drop from knee-height, but now it’s a focus on the relief area. People say that dropping from shoulder-height is simple, and it is, but under the old rules, there were nine different times you had to re-drop. We wanted to eliminate all those complications,” Pagel said.
“In order to focus on that new relief area, we said, 'Let’s get the player closer to the ground, and if you drop it from knee-height, that ball is going to bounce a little less.'”
Ultimately, however, the act looks awkward. Any player wanting to drop from higher up whether for personal, political or pure inflexibility reasons should be allowed to without the potential for penalty (which is incurred after playing a shot if the drop was not from knee height).
As with his course setup approach, Mike Davis’s departure from U.S. Open course setup duties has elicited many opinions.
Eamon Lynch of Golfweek makes a convincing case that mistakes were exacerbated by other USGA matters or perceptions.
Much of the ire directed at Davis had little to do with course setup, but had its roots in everything from rules controversies to equipment regulation (or the lack thereof). The USGA has an image – wholly dated, but still vital – of being ivory-tower killjoys, alert to the dangers of golfers having too much fun. As the organization’s public face, Davis abides the mockery with affable humor.
In the Golf.com roundtable, Michael Bamberger wants more Nick Price’s involved in decisions while Alan Shipnuck says the change was born only out of course setup mistakes.
Bamberger: The USGA is operated by committee. The decision to go to Erin Hills and Chambers Bay came when David Fay was its executive director, but ultimately the decision fell to the president and board. Mike did more to popularize the drivable par-4 than anybody not named Big Bertha. Some of the poor hole positions at U.S. Opens were avoidable. If you had ONE person like Nick Price out there when the holes were actually being cut you’d almost never have a problem. The lifers are absolute savants, and one yard can make a world of difference. The U.S. Open and the USGA tries too hard. That’s in our DNA — I don’t know how you can change that. It needs to take a deep breath and relax.
Dethier: I still think Chambers Bay was awesome and got a bad rap, and even this year’s conditions didn’t offend me like they did Zach Johnson et al. The USGA’s main shortcoming is that it remains the players’ favorite punching bag. It’s rare to see Tour players go after the Tour, but they salivate at the opportunity to take on the USGA. Sounds like that’s a focus going forward; we’ll see how they do.
Shipnuck: Davis is a good guy who truly loves the game and has poured his heart and soul into the USGA. But there were simply too many screwups on his watch. I’ll never forget in 2016, while Dustin was playing the final holes and confusion reigned, I found Davis upstairs in the Oakmont clubhouse, having just taken a shower so he could be fresher for the awards ceremony. It was tragicomic. The tournament was in flames but he didn’t seem to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.
I’m not going to dwell on the PGA Tour’s bizarro digital streaming vision but let’s say Jordan Spieth has an early tee time and you want to see him play from beginning to end, Ponte Vedra has you doing this:
—Watching Twitter stream for warmup and maybe the first hole
—Logging in to your PGA Tour Live subscription via either NBC Sports Gold or Amazon Prime to see him play five or six holes, assuming you pay for it
—Watch the remainder of the round when Golf Channel coverage kicks in.
It’s a lot of work to watch a particularly player and the PGA Tour is certainly making the best of a contract structured pre-streaming era. But it all still feels like more of a leverage-building play than one considering the landscape and making viewing PGA Tour golf a manageable exercise. (At least for full-time streamers, the NBC Sports Gold offers less interrupted viewing on NBC weeks.)
But as a blogger who so misses the B-speak jargon of the previous decade, the renewal for early-Twitter streaming did provide an all-time keeper in the announcement.
Kay Madati, VP and global head of content partnerships at Twitter, added: “We’re thrilled to grow our lighthouse collaboration with the PGA Tour, bringing even more content to passionate golf fans around the globe. We saw tremendous excitement and growth in 2018 around golf conversation and sponsor enthusiasm for PGA Tour content on Twitter. This year, we will reach and continue to serve highly engaged golf fans every day throughout the PGA Tour season by pairing those conversations with live programming and real-time highlights, all in one place on our platform.”
A lighthouse collaboration. Nautical, inspirational, confident and I have no idea what that means.
Press conferences will be most insightful and never dull the next two years!
The fun begins with an 8 am ET rollout from European Tour headquarters. Golf Channel will have live coverage.
Over/under on the number of times during his Captaincy that Padraig is asked if 2020 Ryder Cup venue Whistling Straits reminds him of Irish links?
450…ish?
On Monday’s Morning Drive we’ll be talking the new Rule of Golf drop procedure that has golfers letting go of the ball from knee height (8:30 am ET). I think the governing bodies need to revisit this one soon, spoken as someone who has no desire to stretch his hamstrings just to make a drop.
That’s because Bryson DeChambeau, a fit and flexible young lad, looked about as awkward as one can look in the first high-profile drop under the new rules. He called the procedure absurd after his round and most social media watchers agreed. Those with even less-limber hamstrings had to turn away.
Yet in assessing what he heard from players at the Sentry TOC, the USGA’s Thomas Pagel predicted to Golf World’s Dave Shedloski that concern over the awkward look and absurdity of a penalty for dropping at shoulder height (and subsequently playing a shot) will be forgotten in six weeks.
I think you know where I stand, but I’d love to hear what you think…the poll.
It is a clear-cut violation of amateur status rules, assuming such things matter any more. Maybe they should not in a world that increasingly wants to market to and cash in on the kids. I digress.
To review: Lucy Li, 16, broke onto the national stage at age 10 by qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, qualified for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst at age 12, played on the 2018 Curtis Cup team and is the ninth-ranked female amateur golfer in the world.
Li, still an amateur golfer, is the centerpiece of this AppleWatch ad posted on Twitter January 2nd:
Sit less. Move more. Get some exercise. Apple Watch owners like Lucy make it their goal to do all three every day. Learn more.
— Apple (@Apple) January 2, 2019
There is no grey here. This was a heavily produced piece in which she is wearing scripted Nike outfits, is filmed in a faux social setting, and is shown in golf action wearing her watch while appearing in an ad to promote a product. She is blatantly allowing a third party to use her likeness.
Nothing in the language on amateur status comes remotely close to spinning Li’s behavior as anything other than an obvious violation.
Contacted by Ryan Herrington of GolfDigest.com, Li cited an NDA for not commenting while Amy Li, her mother, is claiming there was no payment for Lucy’s time or image.
Contacted by Golf Digest, Li said she had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Apple that prohibited her from discussing the video. Li’s mother, Amy, said via text message that Lucy and the family did not receive any compensation for being in the video.
We’re looking at either a blatant amateur status violation or a case of poor parenting by letting a child star in an ad without compensation.
The USGA is “investigating” and “thankful for the dialogue.”
But in a sport increasingly desperate for the attention of anyone under 30 with most organizations making decisions with an eye on how younger generations will view decisions, there is little chance the USGA will revoke her amateur status. Besides consistently abdicating responsibility on multiple fronts, they’ve refused to undermined their rules on amateurism by allowing teenagers to receive free clubs and scripted attire. The R&A sadly concurs.
Children are now billboards in golf on a first name basis with company representatives and agents. If the governing bodies of golf are not bothered and society is increasingly fine with pushing people to peak in life by 20, then why do we bother with amateur status.
Look at the follow-up answers to Global Golf Post’s tweet on this news. Starting with GGP’s own follow up post.
"We are at the beginning of the fact-finding stage… premature to discuss more. Lucy’s family has been fully cooperative.” @LPGA unaware, not contacted. 1stgolfer used an @apple campaign. Company market cap exceeds $700B. (2/2)
— Global Golf Post (@GlobalGolfPost) January 5, 2019
I understand amatuer status, but on the flip side, the USGA should be thrilled that golf was just used in a major marketing campaign outside the golf industry. Golf needs more of that.
— Joshua Jacobs (@JoshuaJTGA) January 5, 2019
The implication of both Tweets seems to be that a company that large and that successful excuses Li’s violation because it could benefit the sport having such wealth and influence like golf?
As an Apple fanboy it’s wonderful to see them taking notice, but to suggest ignoring the rules in place for corporate and youth-obsessed marketing agendas means it may just be time to throw out all of the rules.
The image and reputation of the amateur game was already in decline. Looking the other way on Li, as the governing bodies will surely do after checking with their image consultants, won’t stem the bleeding nor will it change behavior of “amateurs”. Players with exemptions to major championships regularly pass them up and turn pro instead of taking once-in-a-lifetime playing opportunities. The mid-amateur world is played in almost complete anonymity while the best amateur tournaments in the United States barely register a blip.
At the U.S. Amateur, a vast majority of spectators are either family, friends, agents or representatives of manufacturers who swarm players and even cheer on those who use their equipment.
The lure of professional golf is the only thing keeping amateur golf relevant. It’s a feeder world for men and women and Li will not be punished for acting like a pro when she’s likely turning pro soon, anyway. The modern USGA will not take on a player in such high profile fashion, particularly a young woman who has been a big part of their events. As Frank Hannigan always lamented, the organization’s decision-making is driven by a desire to be loved and a fear of being seen as having interfered with someone’s ability to make a living. The rules of amateur status are nothing more now than a linked page on a website.
So if we’ve reached this point, why not just accept that by allowing players to be paid for their time promoting products? Let them pay a few bills and live the American dream? The ones who want to be pro golfers look like they are already operating that way because they don’t care what the governing bodies think. A society where every opportunity to profit must be protected will probably side with Li and other players who are just playing golf ultimately just to make a buck.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
