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
Great news for the lucky souls in St. Andrews who have an open mind and an appreciation for golf history, as the Old Course will be set up in the reverse fashion once the original routing and later employed by Old Tom Morris to spread wear-and-tear. Annually, the routing is played in April.
Here is Jeremy Glenn’s deep dive on the setup and reverse routing.
From Graylyn Loomis on Twitter:
For the first time in years the St Andrews Links is allowing golfers to play the Old Course in reverse for two days late this month. Who has always wanted to play the Old backwards? pic.twitter.com/r3oDAHDNAC
— Graylyn Loomis (@grayloomis) November 6, 2019
Longtime readers will know that Golf World took a sizeable leap during the Terry Galvin years from 1989-2000, so it is with sadness that Bill Fields reports on and remembers the life of the longtime journalist.
He was Golf World’s editor from 1989 until 2000, coming to the sport’s trusted, longtime bible after nearly three decades running sports departments at newspapers around the United States. Galvin left a position as sports editor at the Milwaukee Journal to edit Golf World. Earlier stops had been in San Jose, Akron, Miami and, long ago in his hometown, Oshkosh, Wis., where he attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Galvin’s experience, along with a lifelong passion for golf, made him an ideal fit for Golf World, which had been purchased in 1988 by The New York Times Company, then the owner of Golf Digest.
“When Golf Digest bought Golf World, our editorial team was filled with monthly magazine types,” said Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest editor-in-chief. “We needed a fast dose of news editors—writers and a desk staff who could turn around stories overnight. Terry Galvin was the ultimate news editor and sportswriter. He knew golf, knew everybody and hired good people. We’re still benefiting from the talent he attracted.”
The race to make Ernie Els’ International squad didn’t exactly yield any thrilling breakout performances this fall, making Captain Els’ job of filling out the team a tough task. But thanks to some fall play from Joaquin Niemann and Adam Hadwin, the 2019 Presidents Cup team was filled out with two formful types who should fit Royal Melbourne well.
This is not to diminish Jason Day’s win in the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins.
Not surprisingly, Day and Sungjae Im got the other two nods on earlier play and career credibility, as Adam Schupak reports for Golfweek.
Hadwin was the longest shot picked but a great one given his game, style and the venue.
Canadian Adam Hadwin, 32, competed on the 2017 International Team at Liberty National (0-2-1). He ranked 18th in the standings, but made a late charge racking up top-5 finishes at the Safeway Open (2nd) and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T-4) in September.
“I’m happy that it was a good phone call for me,” he said. “Having been on the team once before and experienced it and gone through what we went through in New York and Ernie being there as well, I’m that much more familiar with everything going on and that much more prepared.”
Hard to tell what’s better, seeing an important muni revitalized in a major American city, or seeing the great Jackie Burke, former Masters champion, opening the course.
The Houston Business Journal’s Olivia Pusinelli with the full story of the $18.5 million renovation.
Thanks to the renovations, the Houston Open will move to the Memorial Park Golf Course in October 2020. Previously, it had been held at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble since 2003. Additionally, starting with the 2019 event, the Houston Open has moved to the fall after being held in the spring, shortly before the Masters Tournament, for years.
Thanks to reader Tom for these two videos put out by the Astros Golf Foundation to commemorate the reopening. Note one of co-architect Brooks Koepka’s primary request: reasonable length par-3s based on fatigue of playing too many long ones week-toweek in professional golf.
I’ve been uncomfortable with the belittling of Sam Snead’s 82 wins, because while the record books do credit him with some odd wins, he’s also had many chipped away from his career mark since tied by Tiger Woods.
The bashing also ignores that the war years stripped Snead of opportunities to win at the peak of his powers.
But, that said, MorningRead.com’s Gary Van Sickle penned an interesting look at the various issues Snead had with his record, the changes in his victory total over the years and other PGA Tour marks that are worth examining. Or maybe re-examining. This one was interesting:
The main one worth mentioning is Byron Nelson’s streak of finishing in the money in 113 consecutive tournaments. It was broken by Tiger Woods, who extended his streak to 142 tournaments. Except, Johnson noted, from the 1939 PGA Championship through the 1950 Los Angeles Open, Ben Hogan was in the money 177 events in a row.
Did Hogan maybe miss a cut during that time and therefore not appear in the final tournament results, which happened occasionally? Did he have a missed cut that is unfindable because it didn’t appear in a newspaper box score? Possibly. The same can be said of Nelson’s record, which the Tour accepted on the basis of an Oklahoma golf statistician’s say-so. Neither proposed record is bulletproof.
I’m so glad we did this exclusive extra recording after the show to discuss this complicated, but not complicated story of massive egos. That’s Damon Hack, Anna Whitely, Robert Damron and myself:
Dylan Dethier reports on Rory McIlroy’s SiriusXM radio appearance discussion, among other topics, the surprise factor in Tiger Woods winning the ZOZO Championship after slapping the ball around in Monday’s warm-up Skins Game.
Note the final remark in conversation with show host Brad Faxon:
“Obviously whatever he did, he got it together for a few days and that was some performance, to play that good on that golf course,” McIlroy said. “That was a pretty tough golf course, so to have that control of his ball like that, to shoot 19 under and win pretty easy in the end was awfully impressive.”
McIlroy cited the 2018 Tour Championship, Woods’ first victory in more than five years, as another occasion where Woods had blown him away with a combination of course management and game control.
“When he gets into contention, that’s what he does. He makes other guys try to do too much and they make mistakes and more often than not he’s the guy holding the trophy at the end of the day.”
Thanks to exclusive recycle-bin scavengers in the greater Jupiter area, I’ve been able to piece together the post-Masters congratulatory note delivered to Tiger Woods by Greg Norman.
Norman admitted in Men’s Health that even after delivering to Woods’ security guard and identifying himself, Tiger has not thanked Norman for the thank you correspondence.
Forensic evidence suggests one of Woods’ staffers used the note to pick up defecation by the family pet, therefore handwriting experts are still working to confirm if the note was penned by Norman. However, several clinical psychiatrists can verify that it suggests the trademark signs of a note penned by a right-handed older male who wears copious amounts of sunscreen, may have once suffered a severe hand-injury trimming shrubs, and exhibits narcissistic tendencies.
Working through some of the pet stains, here is the best possible interpretation of the note:
Mate!
What a performance at the Masters! Congratulations from a fellow gym rat, living brand and member of the Major Club.
Look, I know we’ve had our moments and I’m ready to let bygones by bygones. Like, when I declared you’d never win another major, or when I said that I’d hate to see golf get lost again in that Tiger talk, or how ratings are up because you brought in new fans who really took to all of the young guys, or when you were looking intimidated by Rory, or that I defended Stevie Williams, or that I criticized The Match. All of that was fake news (well, except The Match part. That thing stunk!).
What isn’t fake is that my 285-foot yacht measuring 130 feet longer than yours with a fantastic wine cellar. Kirsten and I would love to have you and the lady friend over some time, maybe share some war stories about finishing off a win or where you see the equities market over the next five years. Guy-to-guy, man-to-man talk about how to be better than the guy you were yesterday.
Reach out any time. I know you have my mobile, or just DM me on Instagram, that’s where I spend most of my time these days,
Shark
PS: I’ve also got a golf cart that’s going to change the game and would love to take you on a spin around my property, which Zillow says it just a bit bigger than yours and way more valuable. Just saying, you have to see for yourself!
By now you’ve likely seen the story from LPGA Q-Series: Christina Kim witnessed playing partner Kendall Dye asking for the caddie of Dewi Weber what club was used on the par-3 17th, their 8th hole in the round. Kim first broached the subject with an official not long after, then the issue was fleshed out after the round, resulting in two-stroke penalties for Dye and Weber (because her caddie gave information, a violation of Rule 10-2).
Beth Ann Nichols with the full report here for Golfweek.
And here is my column for Golfweek on this being yet another strange story that you could chalk up to stunning ignorance of the rules, or the bizarre cultural elements that entitle players to believe they are should get the information, lie or good fortune they want.
The column was penned in part based on Kendall Dye’s assertion that this was a private matter but also part of life on the LPGA Tour (which means there are daily rules violations if so).
Kim retained her card, while Dye and Weber did not. She spent her day fending off charges of sensationalizing the situation by taking to Twitter, and from the oddball mob and LPGA sycophants who surface whenever a player suffers shame for bending or breaking the rules. Especially if they are American.
From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com report:
“I was very surprised [they didn’t know the rule]. I don’t want to say I am disappointed in them as individuals, but I am disappointed in the fact that [the violation] was even a possibility, that people claim to have seen it thousands of times. What shocked me was their lack of knowledge of the rules. Does that suck? Royally. Is it excusable? Absolutely not.
On Morning Drive, the assertion by Dye that this behavior is a regular occurrence on the golf course seems utterly ridiculous, or utterly problematic for the LPGA if so. Adam Woodward with a round-up of that peculiar off-shoot debate in this saga.
SiriusXM’s Michael Breed had some interesting remarks on the trolls going after Christina Kim for doing her job as a playing partner. That she waited until after the round seems like a superfluous way of ignoring that a player believed she was entitled to ask others what club they hit to give aid in her decision-making.
.@TheChristinaKim called a rules violation on two of her playing partners at @LPGA Tour Q-School and has been getting attacked on social media.@MichaelBreed weighed in on the controversy. pic.twitter.com/GKKC4fjlWQ
— SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (@SiriusXMPGATOUR) November 4, 2019
As Phil Mickelson’s 26-year(!) streak inside the world top 50 came to an end last week, he reflected on his struggles of late and offered this candid assessment. From Will Gray at GolfChannel.com:
"I just haven't played well. Just had a lot of stuff going on, and I just haven't been really focused and into the mental side," Mickelson said. "I haven't seen good, clear pictures. I haven't been as committed and as connected to the target. I just haven't been mentally as sharp the last six, eight months."
For someone so eternally confident in his ability to concentrate, it’s a stark sign of how difficult the game is even for an all time great, but also a reminder just how long Mickelson has maintained the drive and focus necessary to compete.
The image of Greg Norman driving up to Tiger Woods’ home and delivering a congratulatory note following the 2019 Masters win is, in itself, kind of funny. The likelihood that Woods’ guard might not have known who it was, is just that much juicier.
Either way, the Shirtless Shark complained to Men’s Health about Tiger not acknowledging his note, even though Norman has not said the nicest things about Woods in recent years.
So much to unpack in this answer to a question about the lack of “bond” between the two:
Yeah, look, I’m happy to clear that up for you. Like, when you ask me a question, I’m going to give you an honest answer. I’m not going to bullshit to you. I’m also going to draw on my experience of the past in terms of what Jack Nicklaus did for me, what Arnold Palmer did for me . . . where there was that respect handed off from the generation before you. It’s a code of conduct in a lot of ways.
Oh boy…
Very few people know this: when Tiger won the Masters this year, I wrote him a handwritten note and drove down my road, maybe a quarter of a mile, and hand-delivered it to his guard at his gate. I said, “Hey, this is Greg Norman here. I’ve got a note for Tiger – can you please hand-deliver it to him?” Well, I never heard a word back from the guy. When I won my first major championship, Jack Nicklaus was the first person to walk down out of the TV tower and congratulate me. I don’t know – maybe Tiger just dislikes me.
I think you’re getting warmer!
I have no idea. I’ve never had a conversation with him about it. I’ve always been respectful about what his father did for him.
Oh?
I played nine holes with him at his father’s and IMG’s request when Tiger was 14 or 15 and I was the No. 1 player in the world, to give an assessment of this kid. So, I have always been willing.
Willing to…capitalize?
Maybe it’s the sight of a worse-than-most field in Bermuda, or no rounds this fall registering a respectable audience until the ZOZO’s Monday finish in U.S. prime time, but the question of PGA Tour product oversaturation seems reasonable to ask.
TRUE OR FALSE: THE TOUR WOULD BE MORE INTERESTING IF THERE WERE FEWER EVENTS.
True: 50%
False: 50%
Hot takes:
“More millionaires, but more guys getting hurt. If you increase quantity in any industry, quality goes down.”
“Would not be good for the new guys.”
“A four-month break would make fans psyched that golf is back.”
While we know four months is not palatable, golf sure could use a dead period. We thought September would be that month in the U.S., but next year will now only see one week off.
Michael Bamberger’s Golf.com story on Davis Love joining CBS features this paragraph highlighting the state of the PGA Tour’s closely-watched television contract negotiations, if we will even call it television by the end of the next deal.
Love has a two-year contract with CBS, for 2020 and 2021. It couldn’t go beyond that because the CBS-PGA Tour contract expires at the end of ’21. The NBC-PGA Tour contract does, too. Golf Channel is under the NBC Sports umbrella. Contract negotiations are ongoing. Traditional TV-watching, as Davis grew up doing it, has been turned on its head in the age of ever-connected phones and laptops and iPads. It’s not at all clear what golf-on-TV will look like in the years to come, as attention spans continue to shorten and as live gambling becomes a bigger part of fan engagement. Love’s deep relationships in the game, at the PGA Tour headquarters, among corporate executives, on Capitol Hill, can only help CBS.
While Love no longer holds a seat on the PGA Tour Policy Board like AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, he does have an intimate knowledge of the Tour’s plans, dreams and desires. Will that bolster CBS’s bid? More revealing though may be the idea that longtime PGA Tour partner CBS needs to pull out such stops to retain rights. Stay tuned…
Even in it’s mangled state, Riviera remains a player favorite according to players sampled for Golf.com’s annual Anonymous Player poll.
What is surprising: how few gave votes to Pebble Beach or Augusta National.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TOUR COURSE?
Riviera: 20%
Muirfield Village: 16%
Harbour Town: 8%
TPC Sawgrass: 8%
Pebble Beach: 6%
Quail Hollow: 6%
Whoa…go on…
Augusta National: 4%
Bay Hill: 4%
Torrey Pines South: 4%
TPC San Antonio: 4%
Old White Greenbrier: 4%
And the resounding winner in least favorite also appeared on the favorite list with as many votes as Augusta National. Go figure:
WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE TOUR COURSE?
TPC San Antonio: 16%
None: 12%
Trinity Forest: 8%
TPC Louisiana: 6%
Bethpage Black: 4%
CC of Jackson: 4%
Coco Beach G&CC (Puerto Rico): 4%
GC of Houston: 4%
Quail Hollow: 4%
Silverado: 4%
TPC Southwind: 4%
Not too many surprises on that list, other than the unfortunate disdain for Trinity Forest, which may be as much about location, environment and eccentricity of features than anything else.
The Charles Schwab Challenge’s (aka Colonial) first year raised a staggering some for a one-week event, reports the Star-Telegram’s Drew Davison.
He explains that most was on the back of players making birdies:
Much of the $14 million was generated through the tournament’s “Birdies For Charity” campaign. Charitable organizations solicit pledges from individuals and corporations for every birdie made during the tournament.
Pros made 1,111 birdies during tournament rounds, generating more than $13 million.
For some perspective, the NFL gives about $10 million in grants annually. Nothing to sneeze at, but also amazing given that a left-for-dead historic PGA Tour stop with a date following the PGA can generate more. In one week.
The First Tee of Fort Worth is the tournament’s primary beneficiary.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
