Introducing The National Links Trust: "To promote and protect Affordability, Accessibility and engaging golf course Architecture at municipal golf courses"

Good on Outpost Club co-founder Will Smith and Michael McCartin for building on the many great efforts nationally to restore run-down munis by starting the National Links Trust. Give them a follow on social and check out their excellent website along with the embedded podcast discussion with Andy Johnson.

For the legions who have long wondered how to get a movement going to rejuvenate the muni’s with great bones but little else, they’re looking to build on the Winter Park’s and Save Muni efforts of our golf world. They’re starting with a focus on D.C. area gems but hope to spread the gospel of restoration and architecture “growing the game".

Our first project will focus on the incredible opportunity to improve the facilities of our nation’s capital’s three municipal golf courses, East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek. Each one of these sites has a rich and storied history, but none of them are currently living up to their potential. The National Park Service will soon be issuing a Request For Proposal (RFP) on a long term lease to operate these facilities. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and the NLT’s goal is to ensure that the proper course of action is taken to improve and ultimately protect these national treasures. 

Here’s the iTunes link or find the Fried Egg podcast wherever fine pods are streamed.

Latest podcast features Michael McCartin and Will Smith founders of The National Links Trust (@links_national) an organization with the ambitious goal of aiding municipal golf. Listen on:
iTunes: https://t.co/fifcRYZvt9
Spotify: https://t.co/B0wnHeLIzW pic.twitter.com/DTpZoyV76c

— the fried egg (@the_fried_egg) April 23, 2019

Wilshire Is Back! A Quick Roundup Reminder Of This Week's LPGA Tour Venue

The Hugel is back!

Actually it’s the Hugel Air Premia LA Open, or, as we will call it going forward, the LA Open.

The LPGA Tour’s breakout venue of 2018 is back and celebrating its centennial and hosting many of the world’s best women in the heart of Los Angeles.

As I noted last year for Golfweek and here on the blog, Norman Macbeth’s design reminded how much a fresh, interesting and well-presented piece of architecture can add to our viewing pleasure. Sitting in the heart of a big city and the energy that pulled in certainly did not hurt.

Some of Andy Johnson’s drone footage will whet your appetite, as well his analysis of Macbeth’s varied group of holes.

View this post on Instagram

This week’s @lpga_tour host Wilshire CC, our full profile is live on YouTube (link in bio) take a narrated tour of the Norman MacBeth design in the heart of LA

A post shared by the fried egg (@fried_egg_golf) on Apr 23, 2019 at 7:40pm PDT

Scoring and tee times here, and ticket info can be found here.

Here are the coverage times and notes:

LPGA TOUR

Hugel-Air Premia LA Open

Dates: April 25-28

Venue: Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, Calif. 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday                     6:30-9 p.m. (Live)

Friday                          6:30-9 p.m. (Live)

Saturday                      6-9 p.m. (Live)

Sunday                        6-9 p.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:

Annie Park to Join Broadcast Booth on Friday: LPGA Tour winner and USC alum Annie Park will join GOLF Channel’s broadcast booth as a guest analyst following her second round of coverage on Friday.

PGA Rolls Out Plans, Timeline For It's Grow The Game Move To Frisco, Texas, Home To Future PGA's And Ryder Cups

We’re making the world a better place! I mean, Grow the game!

It’s a tired mantra wheeled out to sell just about anything in golf, including, repeatedly by new PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh in lieu of just saying, “we got a great deal to develop a project in Texas that’s aligns perfectly with our organization’s history of partnering on projects and eventually walking away from them.”

I guess that doesn’t quite sing like grow the game and Silicon Valley, assuming he’s referring to the region and not the television show.

Anyway, the new development will have a monster Omni Hotel, offices to process those pricey PGA member dues and will serve as the 2027 PGA Championship host site. Also, a possible 2040 Ryder Cup is headed there, with the task force inevitably penciling in Captain Jordan Spieth in Frisco to play the 7,603 yard Gil Hanse course as the primary venue. The project breaks ground this winter and debuts three years later with the 2023 PGA Senior Championship.

Beau Welling will be doing the second course. (Awkwardly, Hanse recently renovated one of Welling’s biggest projects from the Fazio years, Pinehurst No. 4.)

Art Stricklin for Golf.com, explaining the inspiration for the Hanse design:

The East Course, measuring 7,603 yards from the back tees with a par of 72, has already been tapped to host two PGA Championships, the first in 2027 and another in ’34, along with a tentative Ryder Cup in 2040.

Hanse, who designed the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has recently redone Pinehurst No. 4 and is currently working on a complete renovation at Oakland Hills GC, outside Detroit. But it was his recent redo of the Maxwell classic at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, Okla., that motivated him for the PGA Frisco project.

“I think you saw a true restoration of the (original) Maxwell course at Southern Hills and you’ll see a lot of stylistic imports from Maxwell at the PGA course here,” Hanse said Monday a press event for the new PGA of America HQ. “I haven’t been to all the Maxwell courses, but you will see the deep bunkers around the greens and the smaller greens. That’s part of what I hope to see [here].”

This Tweet lists the championships committed to Frisco:

A Tweeted map of the Hanse design:

There will be 2 world class golf courses at #PGAFrisco and we have 2 world class golf course architects designing them – Gil Hanse and Beau Welling. pic.twitter.com/LztJ833fQT

— PGA of America (@PGA) April 22, 2019

They had a diverse group for the big rollout…some men in ties, some not in ties.

It was great to be with many new friends in the @CityOfFriscoTx today!#PGAFrisco pic.twitter.com/TN59nBPsTz

— PGA of America (@PGA) April 23, 2019

Good Jeopardy Golf Question: Who Was The Last Player To Win A Major Using A Persimmon Driver

I think most of us believe it was Davis Love at Winged Foot but he had already made the switch to metal. I’m sure James Holhauzer would have gotten it right.

The last major, as this unbylined PGA.com story explains, was actually four years prior to when you might think. And you could put one in his hands today and the player in question would probably still shoot 69 and hit 12 of 14 fairways. After a good warm-up session of course.

How Nantz And Tirico Called The Final Masters Putt

The contrast and moment is similar to trying to compare Vin Scully and Jack Buck’s calls of Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run since one legend was working television and the other legend on radio.

Jim Nantz was in Butler Cabin at that point for CBS while in the 18th hole booth Mike Tirico was working for Westwood One.

We were a little busy in the press building so I didn’t realize how long the CBS team went without saying anything: just over 2 minutes and 30 seconds. That is beyond an eternity in television history, but especially in modern TV.

For perspective, Scully went a minute after “She is gone!” before resurfacing with the brilliant “in a year that has been so improbable the impossible has happened.” Then another thirty seconds. Both eternities but Nantz and Faldo stayed quiet even longer as Tiger greeted his family and friends.

John Ourand interviewed both Nantz and Tirico about their calls and the moment was a blur for both.

“I have a hard time going through it with great detail because nothing was scripted out, and I’m not exactly sure of what I said in that entire scene at the 18th,” Nantz said.

Tirico had almost the same reaction. When I talked to him on Monday following the tournament, he had heard his final call several times from audio clips online. But immediately after the tournament, when he was asked on Golf Channel to describe his call, he couldn’t remember. “I just did it from the top of my head,” he said.

And that’s why we have embeds these days and kudos to the Masters social feed for including the full clip.

Roaring back.#themasters pic.twitter.com/nlTwxWJW8X

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 14, 2019

Tirico, on the other hand, could not leave Westwood One listeners listening to crowd noise, so he offered this exuberant call:

Old Course: The Revamped Shell Bunker Looks Like A Swimming Pool

With a sand bottom…

I don’t meant to be cruel, but the fascination in Scotland these days with constant rebuilding of Old Course bunkers with an eye toward mechanical precision is increasingly tough to watch, particularly when we know a sense of naturalness is essential to reminding the golfer that most of these pits were accidental in origin. The more man-made they look, the more the golfer is likely to reject them.

Anyway, here are the photos of a recent reconstruction followed by a historic photo from a postcard I purchased a few years ago. Look at that face and lack of sand manicuring!

Trying To Gauge The Financial Impact Of Tiger's 2019 Masters Win

ESPN.com’s Tom VanHaaren goes pretty deep in trying to interpret numbers from Tiger Woods’s 2019 Masters win, including ratings, sales, views, impressions, etc…

Big numbers are bandied about and might prompt a pause, but these numbers do not lie:

According to CBS, the final-round coverage and encore presentation was seen by 37.2 million viewers, a 41 percent increase from 2018's live-only coverage.

The Masters tweets out video of the final putt from the champion each year. Reed's winning putt from 2018 has been viewed 393,000 times.

The same video of Woods this year, as of Monday morning, has been viewed 7.85 million times.

2019 Masters: How One Photographer Got Tiger's Iconic Reaction

So many of the best in what’s left of the photography business undoubtedly have stories galore about trying to be in the right spot for Tiger’s winning reaction. Thankfully, as with past Woods 18th green reactions, there were great images to be had from both behind the green and on the sides.

Kohilo Kinno grabbed a full frame view of Woods that became one of the magazine’s few text-free covers, though there is no story about Kinno’s image and his name is only viewable in a size 3 font. Charming.

Thankfully, Golfweek’s Dan Kilbridge talked to Rob Schumacher about everything that went into getting his iconic shot that became the USA Today masthead, including luck.

Woods’ reaction was so subdued at first that Schumacher thought he might not show any emotion at all in the moments following his 15th career major victory.

“His back is to me and I’m thinking he’s not going to move and he’ll be facing the golfer’s right box,” Schumacher said. “So he made his putt. Slowly walked forward. Picked his ball up then faces toward the center of the green and I thought well, he’s not going to react. Then he slowly rotates counter clockwise and steps towards me in my box.”

There Is Life After 30 In Golf: Even With C.T. Pan's Win, 2019 PGA Tour Winner Average Age Holds Steady At 33

C.T. Pan’s win at the RBC Heritage yesterday capped off a slow-developing career considering he came from the vaunted Class of 2011, won eight times at Washington and has been lumped with a group of golfers who have performed incredibly well at a young age.

But 2019 continues to serve as a reminder that this class might be an anomaly. Pan actually developed into a winner at a more traditional age—27.

Nonetheless, we see college golfers increasingly encouraged to leave school early because they have multiple entities looking to cash in on some fleeting signing bonuses. Many talented but not fully developed players are convinced they are good enough to earn money in seven starts, gain a PGA Tour card and be on their merry way.

Other forces convince younger players they are better prepared to win and cope with the difficult career of playing golf than any generation before them. You know the narratives, they’ve never been smarter, more athletic or surrounded by more knowledgable people. That may be the case. But often that messaging is rooted in a desire by executives to cut into the older viewership averages or is fueled by golf’s overall sense of desperation that without people under 35, the whole thing may crater at any minute.

Careers are derailed or extreme pressures are inflicted simply to push players who might attract a more favorable advertising demographic. Yet the names are piling up of talented players given bad advice, while the average age for PGA Tour winners this year reminds us that golf—at least the winning variety for males—is often best produced in your thirties, not your twenties.

Following Pan’s win, the 2018-19 PGA Tour average age of winners is 33.08.

If you take the schedule since Kapalua, when the field quality and course difficulty ratcheted up several notches, the average age of winners is 34.1.

State Of The Game 91: Post Masters Wrap

Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and I gathered to chat about the Masters and other golf stuff, but ended up just still talking mostly about the Masters, Tiger’s win, the course and for those drinking at home, distance matters. “

Here’s the show’s iTunes page for Apple fans, though the show is available on all pod platforms.

Here is an embed option as well:

2019 Masters "Quad" Supercut And Final Talley Of Shots Shown

Two of my favorite Masters traditions arrived and one took longer than normal, but boy was it worth it: Michael David Murphy has not put together his usual Tiger Woods “supercut” of the final 18 holes, but all 72 holes of the 2019 Masters. That makes it a Quad Supercut!

You can see it all in about 14 minutes and it’s pretty mesmerizing to watch. (Embed below.)

Jeff Haggar at Classic TV Sports filed his annual tally of shots shown last Sunday and I apologize for not recognizing this always-fine piece of work. But as many have wondered, runner-up Dustin Johnson was in fact forgotten about by CBS, albeit on a Sunday when so many players put themselves into contention. Still, 10 shots for a runner-up is not many given that the telecast was Chirkinian-esque in how many shots CBS did show.

The Tiger haters will be sad to hear CBS actually showed more shots of Francesco Molinari.

CBS covered 69 of the 70 strokes from winner Tiger Woods (skipping only a tap-in putt on hole #1). Francesco Molinari actually received coverage for 70 shots. His final score of 74 included two penalty strokes, so CBS only bypassed two of his shots (a layup on 15 and his tee shot on 17). Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau were spotlighted for 59 shots each. Those four players accounted for 57% of the televised shots.

Haggar also broke the numbers down by holes shown most and one number will surprise you.

"When Open returns to Royal Portrush, tales of redemption will sweep aside reality"

After a journalist was murdered last week and “the Troubles” seem to be at it again, Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch reminds us that The Open’s triumphant return to Royal Portrush will not be far from recent troubles or a tonic for the decades of conflict.

The Open Championship is a spoil, of sorts. Just as the Claret Jug will be held aloft by the champion golfer of the year, the Open itself will be brandished as a symbol of normalcy and progress by the very politicians whose stone-age squabbles have left Northern Ireland without a functioning government for years, whose intransigence and bigotry sent generations of Lyra McKees fleeing for airports and ferry terminals.

Self-congratulatory back-slapping by elected blowhards is so familiar a part of professional golf that it won’t really register with those who travel to Portrush. But it will be a galling spectacle for the people who must continue to live with increasing tribal tensions, sporadic violence and diminishing opportunities long after the Open caravan leaves town.

A Refresher On Ben Hogan's Comeback And Where Tiger's Ranks

The dust is settling on Tiger’s 2019 Masters win but the proclamations of greatest comeback in sports history are still rolling in. It’s tempting to want to put a stop to some of it but then that would be dulling the necessary excitement and respect for what Tiger has accomplished.

ESPN.com’s Rachel Marcus listed the best individual comebacks in sports, omitting Ben Hogan and overall helping to make the case for both Hogan and Woods since their efforts stand out. This guy nailed it last year speaking about Hogan:

“I think that one of the greatest comebacks in all of sport is the gentleman who won here, Mr Ben Hogan. I mean, he got hit by a bus and came back and won major championships,” he said.

“The pain he had to endure, the things he had to do just to play and just how hard it was for him to walk, and he ended up walking 36 holes (in one day) and winning a US Open.”

That was Tiger Woods speaking at the 2018 Masters.

There are few similarities between the two comebacks and yet they are equally impressive given that Hogan was near death and Tiger had appeared to lose all confidence in his game for longer period than any all-time great. Only maybe Seabiscuit appeared to lose it all before regaining elite form.

Still, Hogan has to get the nod for having played no role in his need to stage a comeback in the first place. Tiger, by his own admission, inflicted some of his pain.

Golf Monthly’s Nick Bonfield filed this excellent look back at Hogan’s plight and what he overcame to win six majors after he was hit by a bus and forever hobbled by the accident.

Again, it does not diminish Tiger’s feat but it’s worth reading up on if you are not familiar with Hogan’s comeback.

Tiger Effect: And Now The Inevitable Golf-Can't-Attract-Millennials-Stories Begin To Roll In

We didn’t even get a week of enjoyment out of Tiger Woods’ uplifting Masters win before writers and analysts had to remind us how the the only people who matter prefer E Sports and soccer. Newsflash!

Conclusion: golf is doomed and might as well just fold up the tent.

It feels like we’ve done these stories for over a decade now. Sadly, the golf world listens and we’ve had to watch various businesses flush years of credibility, service and solid profits in a quest to reach this precious audience while neglecting others in the name of pursuing the previous M’s. Certainly there are issues for the sport, but you’d hope by now that the focus would shift from all that the sport is not able to achieve for the M’s and accept that golf is not the cause of issues preventing millennials from having the time or income to spend on a leisure activity. Or even pay their taxes.

So on the cusp of somewhat positive industry news released this week and signs that Topgolf has at least made the sport an aspiration for the M’s, we have the dreaded analysts telling us otherwise.

Lauren Silva Laughlin in the Wall Street Journal notes the lack of “contact and action that lures viewers” and the average age of golf’s television demo (65). She notes the usual stuff about course closures and M’s not taking up the sport. And even says Tiger just doesn’t have what it takes.

Sports’ star power is changing, too. The latest sports hero is a 27-year-old, blue-haired electronic gamer named Ninja, a player of the popular videogame “Fortnite.” He recently received his own figurine line and was named in Time’s 2019 list of 100 most influential people.

Even compared with athletes that move their heart rate beyond a resting state, golfers are old, relatively. The average player of baseball, another sport known as a less spry bunch, is 14 years Mr. Woods’s junior.

Looked at another way, the last millennial was born a year before Mr. Woods won his first Masters tournament in 1997, if Pew Research’s age benchmarks are used. When his extramarital scandal hit tabloids, they were rounding out junior high. Mr. Woods could be golf’s savior. More likely, though, in the eyes of a millennial, he’s just another aging putter.

Sheena Butler-Young was on top of the M’s narrative on Monday after the Masters and talks to various analysts who see no hope for the sport that dates to Mary Queen of Scots.

“There’s nobody in golf that’s totally capturing everybody’s imagination right now,” Poser said, adding that Puma athlete and PGA golfer Rickie Fowler has perhaps the biggest potential to draw in younger players. “The majority of the [sports’] fans aren’t the young fans. If you think about it, a lot of millennials don’t have the time and money to do it.”

Yes, we’ve known that a while but it doesn’t stop grown adults from making terrible decisions based on what their kids tell them at the dinner table.

Similarly, Powell counted a laundry list of reasons why millennials and Gen Z won’t take the baton from their parents and grandparents and carry golf into the future.

“The values of the game of golf just aren’t [akin] to the way millennials do sport: The rules are complicated. It takes a long time to play. It’s not inclusive. It’s not diverse. Representation of minorities is low. Golf courses smell like a chemical factory to keep them green. I could go [on],” he said, noting millennials and Gen Z aren’t likely to ditch their core values as they age and adopt the sport later.

Of course he’s not totally wrong on the values front, but we do know the industry has made huge changes in recent years on multiple fronts. Not to time it takes and probably not diversity, but golf courses are definitely not smelling like a “chemical factory” either.

The bigger question, how many more years do we have to endure these articles before we just focus on how Generation Z won’t take up or play golf? I don’t know about you, but I’m ready!

GOLFTV Signs "Charismatic" Francesco Molinari To Exclusive Content Deal

He’s a wonderful Champion Golfer of the Year, nice fellow and a fantastic story, but uh…charismatic? Maybe they were thinking of his charismatic brother Eduardo?

For Immediate Release…

Francesco Molinari signs exclusive global content deal with GOLFTV 

·        Reigning Open Champion and European Ryder Cup hero joins GOLFTV

·       Molinari to feature in exclusive GOLFTV content, including instruction series, behind-the-scenes access and post-round commentary 

·       Molinari: “GOLFTV’s passion is clear, and I’m proud to play a part in their mission to become the digital home of golf.”

NEW YORK, LONDON, April 17, 2019 – GOLFTV today announced a deal with reigning Open champion Francesco Molinari to produce a range of exclusive content for the live and on-demand video streaming service.

GOLFTV subscribers will be able to follow the charismatic Italian closer than ever before with unique behind-the-scenes access at PGA TOUR events. Italy’s first-ever major champion will give GOLFTV an unprecedented view into his tournament preparations and provide exclusive post-round reactions at select PGA TOUR events. 

GOLFTV will also produce exclusive video instruction series with Molinari, in which the World No. 7 will share insights into the techniques and practice routines that have helped him win 10 worldwide titles (including a major championship) and become the first European player to win five out of five matches in a single Ryder Cup. As part of the arrangement, Molinari, who continued his excellent recent form with a tied-fifth finish at The Masters on Sunday, will sport the GOLFTV logo on his staff bag at all tournaments.

Commenting on the partnership, Francesco Molinari said: “I love what Discovery and GOLFTV are aiming to achieve and I’m thrilled to be joining the team on its journey. It’s an exciting time for golf and for me personally, so I’m proud to play a part in their mission to become the digital home of golf around the world. I can’t wait to share my insights, reactions and opinions on GOLFTV. It’s going to be great for the fans to see what I do, and give an insight on my team behind-the-scenes and all the stuff that we do to show up on Thursday morning ready to go and try and win a golf tournament.

“I’ve been watching a lot of GOLFTV content and of course saw the reaction of their Italian commentators to my win at Bay Hill, which was truly amazing. Their passion for golf is clear and I’m hoping that by sharing my own practice tips it will inspire more people to pick up their clubs and play, and of course watch all the biggest tournaments on GOLFTV throughout the year,” Molinari added.    

Alex Kaplan, President and General Manager, Discovery Golf, said: “As a leading player on both the European Tour and PGA TOUR, Francesco is one of world’s most recognizable and popular golfers. We are delighted that he’s joining the GOLFTV team and excited to hear from him on a regular basis as we go behind the scenes and learn how he’s elevated his game to become Italy’s first major champion and a European Ryder Cup legend.

“Our partnership with Francesco further supports our broader ambition to grow GOLFTV into a true ecosystem for all things golf, powering people’s passions for watching, learning and playing,” Kaplan added.

The news that Molinari will link up with GOLFTV follows November’s announcement that 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, who captured his fifth Masters title last week, had joined in an exclusive content partnership agreement. In February, GOLFTV revealed it had further strengthened its line-up of experts with former Ladies European Tour professional Henni Zuel joining the streaming service as Lead Tour Correspondent. 

GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR, launched in January 2019 by Discovery and the TOUR, is available to fans around the world.* It presents more than 2,000 hours of live action each year** - including THE PLAYERS Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs and the Presidents Cup - as well as a wide range of premium content on-demand, featuring the sport’s most exciting moments, superstar players and tournaments on every screen and device. 

GOLFTV users in all international countries* can enjoy live coverage of the PGA TOUR’s Featured Holes and Featured Groups live streams, which feature many of the best players on the TOUR and appears before the traditional television broadcast window.  Full live rights are available on GOLFTV in a range of markets and growing year-on-year**.