Update On Efforts To Help Brora Links

The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster files an update on Brora’s efforts in protecting the fabled links as the club faces all lost outside revenue.

People around the globe have either been taking out memberships, making advance bookings or ordering club merchandise through PGA pro Malcolm Murray’s shop.

“I went into the pro shop on Tuesday and literally couldn’t see the floor for parcels,” said Stewart. “It has just been incredible. We created an international life membership and we have also created a platinum membership, which is our highest category allowing access to additional benefits. I think we’ve got four of those now, which is also phenomenal.

“While I am nervous about numbers, it would be reasonable to say that we have managed to raise around £70,000, which is phenomenal.”

Here is the “how to apply” page for a membership. And for those on a smaller budget, No Laying Up’s special Brora fundraiser tower.

PGA Championship Pencils In Early August Date Just As California Governor Suggests September Sports Unlikely

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Ron Kroichick and Scott Ostler report that the PGA of America has settled on the first week of August for its postponed PGA Championship. For now.

This early August date may conflict with President Donald Trump’s projection of “August or September” for a return to fans watching live sports in person nationwide. His comment was made on a conference call of sports executives joined by the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan and the LPGA Tour’s Mike Whan. (Their tours are currently scheduled to return in May or mid-June and June, respectively.)

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s responded to the president’s timeline by saying it was an optimistic goal for gatherings of large sports. From Helene Elliott’s LA Times column on when sports might return:

“I’m not anticipating that happening in this state,” he said, pointing to the return of COVID-19 in Asia after it was believed the worst was over. “We have to be careful not to overpromise. I’m not here to second-guess anybody, but I am here to say this: Our decision on that basis, at least here in the state of California, will be determined by the facts, will be determined by the health experts, will be determined by the capacity to meet this moment, bend the curve and have the appropriate community surveillance and testing to confidently determine whether or not that’s appropriate. ... That’s not something I anticipate happening in the next few months.”

The NFL’s chief medical officer also said over the weekend that widespread testing is essential to sports returning.

The Senior PGA Championship, set for May 21-24 in Michigan, was cancelled this week by the PGA of America.

And all of the schedule talk remains insignificant as the United States faces the fourth day in a row of over 1000 deaths caused by COVID-19, with an unprecedented week ahead. This from Elliott’s column seems an appropriate response to any scheduling concerns:

Dr. Alan Drummond of the Canadian Association of Emergency Room Physicians was blunt when asked by TSN.ca about the resumption of play in the NHL and other leagues. “Nobody gives [an expletive] right now. Better to turn hockey rinks into makeshift hospitals or morgues,” he said. “I love sports as much as anyone but this is really not the time.”

COVID-19: Pro Golfers And Caddies Stepping Up In A Variety Of Ways

Because we know pro golfers are generally the athletes most associated with charity, it’s nice to see the efforts they and some of their caddies are making to help on the COVID-19 front. This is by no means a definitive list, just some of the recent efforts I’ve spotted or that have been shared. (Ryan Ballengee at GolfNewsNet.com is keeping this running page.)

Brooks Koepka donated $100,000 to his foundation that will go to the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin County’s COVID-19 Response Fund.

This unbylined AFP story explains the efforts for Italy, Germany and Spain respectively by Edoardo Molinari, Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia. Molinari’s GoFundMe page, though it’s in Italian.

His EuropeanTour.com blog entry, however is in English.

Ewan Murray at The Guardian reports on the efforts of two of the top bagmen from European, Ian Finnis (Tommy Fleetwood) and Billy Foster (Matt Fitzpatrick).

Finnis distributed 1,000 raffle tickets, at a cost of £10 each, to people who donated. Prizes include signed flags by the European Ryder Cup team and Rory McIlroy, a hat autographed by Fleetwood, tournament caddie bibs and an online golf psychology session. The move was an instant hit with the golf fraternity; £10,000 was collected in just seven hours on Tuesday from around 460 donors. One anonymously contributed £500. “Unreal from the golf world,” tweeted Finnis.

Here is Foster’s Instagram page detailing the items he’s been auctioning to raise money for the NHS. And here was Sergio Garcia:

View this post on Instagram

I’ve been taking this time to workout, cook for my family and spend time with them as we wait for our baby boy to arrive any day. Show us how you’re staying safe at home with #hometeam. Thanks to my @adidasgolf family for pulling this together!

A post shared by Sergio Garcia (@thesergiogarcia) on Apr 1, 2020 at 12:08pm PDT

Add Straight Down To Golf's COVID-19 Effort

KEYT’s Dave Alley profiles th effort by San Luis Obispo’s Straight Down to switch its business into mask and gown-making for frontline workers in central California.

The effort is the brainchild of Straight Down’s longtime owner, Mike Rowley.

"I called Alan [Alan Iftiniuk, French Hospital Medical Center President and CEO], he's been a great partner and friend, and I asked, do you need any masks?" said Rowley. "He said we can take all the masks you can get."

Soon afterwards, Rowley checked to see if his manufacturer in China could help out.

"We made a call to them to see if they can make us masks, and they were able to," said Rowley. "So we're able to get to the county hopefully 72,000 masks here in the next week, and 30,000 gowns."

The link above includes the story version that aired on KEYT with more from Rowley. Definitely worth checking out and noting yet another of golf’s great small companies chipping in.

"Venue entry changed dramatically after 9/11; a similar shift may be coming"

The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan explores the future of sporting events when fans can return and considers what hurdles there may be to attendance.

For anyone putting on an event, some of the notions are surely daunting and while professional golf may not face some of the seating issues other leagues will be forced to consider. But admittance will likely lead to a new kind of security featuring thermal cameras, digital certification and other measures that will likely require significant investment.

From Kaplan’s item (not behind The Athletic’s normal paywall):

“Whether it’s a digital certificate or a wristband, that typically sounds really bad, but this has actually been done before,” said Mark Miller, CEO of TicketSocket, an event management and ticketing platform that works with sporting events, food and beer festivals, races and obstacle runs. “Certain kinds of events you have had to have had a health check … to provide certain records because otherwise, you were a liability.”

Miller is referring not to fans, but participants in endurance contests, whether for Spartan races or marathons. But the concept of liability is similar. A marathon organizer does not want to let physically unfit competitors into the race. Now, does a team or event want a sick fan who could infect others?

There are of course complicated logistical and privacy issues. How and when do fans buying tickets send over their medical proof? And what if they don’t want to? Surely there are medical and personal privacy laws that come into play, though in a post-pandemic world such laws might come under scrutiny.

Royal Dornoch After A Light Dusting Of Snow And A Glimpse Of The Remodeled 7th Hole

There wasn’t any golf at Royal Dornoch a couple of days ago for another reason beyond COVID-19. But it’s still somehow soothing to see one of golf’s best views from the 7th hole looking down on the links as the birds chirp and the gorse blooms. The clip by noted golf photographer Matthew Harris, was posted by Royal Dornoch.

And for architecture buffs, the very last portion gives a glimpse of the remodeled 7th hole, positioned closer to the ridgeline.

Winter still lingers this morning as the camera pans from the 5th green,11th green,12th tee,the beach,11th fairway,the North Sea & finally a view down the new 7th on our Championship Course. 📹 Clip by: golflife_matt . . . #winter #scotland #snow #video #flowers #landscape #ocean #beach #weather

281 Likes, 23 Comments - Royal Dornoch (@royal.dornoch) on Instagram: "Winter still lingers this morning as the camera pans from the 5th green,11th green,12th tee,the..."

A Timely Replay Of The Augusta National Women's Amateur Will Remind Golf What Matters

As NBC prepares to re-air the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur (1 pm ET Saturday), I’m anxious to see how it all plays out on television after witnessing the Jennifer Kupcho-Maria Fassi duel in person.

Numerous moments from the day stand out a year later, from the epic shots played on the back nine par-5s to the crowd size building as the duel played out and word filtered through the property. Remember, this was a first time event, many were there just to get on the grounds and pick up some merchandise, so interest in two relatively unknown golfers was not exactly fever-pitch.

However, by the final holes fans were walking briskly (ok, I saw running, apologies Mr. Roberts) hoping to position themselves to witness these two exceptional golfers battle. In person, it remains one of those exceptional moments where the combination of shotmaking and sportsmanship rose to a level only seen surpassed by a handful of moments in modern golf history. It was an “instant classic,” as Beth Ann Nichols wrote at the time.

There are also the smaller lessons from the day to be learned about what values really matter in a golf course, tournament golf and how the sport is played. I wrote about the retro vibe to the day down to the restoration of momentous decisions that we so rarely see any more. In lieu of happier times without so much human suffering and a second edition of the “ANWA”, it should be enlightening to witness this duel all over again.

And in the coming days, months and years, let the lessons of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur influence how the sport searches for what really matters.

Women's Clothier Katherine Way Making Masks, Gowns For Jacksonville Hospitals

Another day, and another one of golf’s small, All-American made companies doing its part to help those on the front lines.

This time it’s Katherine Way, the maker of women’s wear you’ve seen emerge to great acclaim in recent years and a staple at major championship shops, is doing her part for the greater Jacksonville area.

News4Jax’s Lauren Verno explains how Way’s team is using fabrics and a mask kit that allows volunteers to produce masks and soon, isolation gowns for local hospitals.

"We have about 30 women that are making masks for us right now," explained Way.

The people who put together the masks together are not employees. They are volunteers who also want to give back to their community.

Starting this week, Way and her volunteers will start making isolation gowns for Baptist Health hospitals.

For more information on the effort or how to obtain one of Way’s kits from the Jacksonville headquarters, this page explains and updates what is happening.

The company is also accepting donations to purchase more material.

U.S. Women's Open Moves To December And Will Use Both Champions Courses

One bit of good luck in all of this postponement news: Champions Golf Club has two courses and now both will be employed to (hopefully) be able to contest the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open in December.

For Immediate Release:

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (April 3, 2020) – The USGA today announced that due to the evolving dynamics of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 75th U.S. Women’s Open, originally scheduled for June 4-7 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, has been postponed to Dec. 10-13. 
 
“The USGA remains committed to hosting the U.S. Women’s Open in 2020,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis. “We are grateful to the LPGA and our broadcast partner FOX for their terrific collaboration in finding a new date for the championship. Our priority remains ensuring the safety of all involved with the U.S. Women’s Open, while still providing the world’s best players the opportunity to compete this year.” 

To account for reduced daylight given the move to December, the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club will be used in conjunction with the Cypress Creek Course, which was originally slated to host all four rounds of championship play. The Jackrabbit will co-host Rounds 1 and 2. 
 
U.S. Women’s Open qualifying, which is run in conjunction with Allied Golf Associations and international federations, is expected to be held on rescheduled dates and potentially some new locations. The USGA is also reviewing how the postponement will affect exemption categories, and definitive changes will be communicated when they are finalized. 

“We are incredibly thankful to Champions Golf Club for its flexibility and support during this uncertain time,” said Davis. “The club, led by Jack and Robin Burke, has been such a great friend of the USGA for some time, stepping up in 2017 to host the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur on short notice after it was displaced by a hurricane, and now accommodating a significant schedule change for our premier women’s championship, not to mention allowing us to use both golf courses. We’re confident the combined efforts will lead to an incredibly special 75th U.S. Women’s Open.” 
 
Champions Golf Club was founded in 1957 by World Golf Hall of Fame members Jimmy Demaret and Jack Burke Jr., who currently serves as president. The Cypress Creek Course, designed by Ralph Plummer and opened in 1959, has hosted four previous USGA championships: the 1969 U.S. Open, 1993 U.S. Amateur, 1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and 2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. The Jackrabbit Course was designed by George Fazio and opened in 1964. 
 
Additional information about the postponement can be found at uswomensopen.com. The USGA will continue to rely on CDC and WHO recommendations in determining schedule considerations for the remaining 2020 championships. Decisions regarding the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Senior Women’s Open as well as the eight remaining amateur championships will be made in the near future. 

Murray: What Are The Governing Bodies Waiting For To Cancel The Opens?

While we all enjoy the break of imagining fall majors or any kind of tournaments to anticipate, it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine scenarios where any significant professional tournaments are played.

We’re a long way from large crowds gathering. And when they do, at the minimum there will there be spacing, temperature checks, masks and even travel restrictions that still might alter fields even after the return. But, we’ll let the five families keep jockeying over fall dates as the rest of the sports world appears frozen by COVID-19’s spread.

With yesterday’s news of The Open likely headed for cancellation and rather forcefully refuted by Chief Executive Martin Slumbers in a statement, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray is trying to understand what the R&A is waiting on as the pandemic worsens. Is it money? Or their love of matching up certain years with anniversaries?

If the R&A doesn’t know precisely what to do about this year’s Open, something is seriously amiss. Sport has been paralysed by coronavirus, with events and seasons dropping from billboards one by one. It is fanciful to suggest the Kent coast can – or should, in respect of public services – host 200,000 visitors and global competitors in a golf event in little over three months’ time. The R&A, for its many faults, cannot be ignorant over a pandemic.

At the very least, if not providing a full explanation of contingency, the R&A should have put a public line through Sandwich in its standard slot long before now; spectators alone deserve that much. Augusta National is still to issue detail of a 2020 Masters alternative but it was swift in postponing when coronavirus took hold. That the United States Golf Association hasn’t ditched plans for the US Open in New York in June catapults golf into territory beyond Clubhouse Cuckoo Land. They and the R&A set the rules for this game, you know.

Today In Virus Diversionary Content: A Modern (Or Sad?) Take On The Masters Theme

I’m reluctant to ever question the world’s preeminent historian and expert on golf television music, however…

Alex Myers of GolfDigest.com has spotted this “dark twist” on the Masters theme, aka the instrumental version of Dave Loggins’ “Augusta”.

I would agree with Myers that a certain sadness prevails hearing the opening chords while knowing Masters week will be without…The Masters. That said, freelance music producer John Houston channels his inner-Hans Zimmer top serve up a sleak modernization without forgetting the syrup we all adore.

PS - What a world where someone can create that kind of reimagination and share it on The YouTube. This is also my nice way of saying, please Lords, don’t take Houston’s video down.

A One To One Contribution: Seamus Golf Now Offering Masks

The good folks at Seamus Golf briefly shut down their store to move full time into mask making, and they’ve since reopened their online store for orders. And now, you can buy much needed (Made in the USA) masks that will also help fund the company efforts to get more reusable masks to those on the front lines.

While I know Seamus would much rather be making cool golf gear, their timing is excellent for all of us. With some form of facial coverage now suggested by doctors, the task force and local governments, it does not take a great leap of vision to see masks as an essential way of life for some time, perhaps even to gain admittance to a concert or sporting event when a form of normalcy returns.

But in the short term, they are offering two options: $100 for five masks with five going to front line workers, $200 for the same package and a Yes Sir! putting cup.

Protect yourself, protect others and help first responders protect themselves.

Roundup: 2020 Masters Week Schedules

With no Masters to be played, the broadcast partners of Augusta National Golf Club will still supply us with several past events to view.

From CBS:

Saturday, April 11 

• THE MASTERS: 1975 (1:30-2:30 PM, ET) - The 1975 Masters Tournament unfolded with the greatest players of their generation – Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf – at the peak of their games and battling over four glorious days, creating drama and excitement that would help define this memorable tournament.

• FINAL ROUND – 2004 MASTERS TOURNAMENT (2:30-6:00 PM, ET) - “Is it his time? Yes! At long last!” proclaimed Jim Nantz as Mickelson earned his long-awaited Masters victory, and his first major, with an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole. The 18-footer broke a deadlock with Ernie Els to give Mickelson the one-stroke victory.  

Sunday, April 12

• FINAL ROUND – 2019 MASTERS TOURNAMENT (12:30-6:00 PM, ET) - “The Return to Glory!” In one of the most memorable Masters ever, Woods capped off his incredible comeback with his fifth Masters victory – his first in 14 years – over a crowded leaderboard featuring many of the game’s top players. Trailing by two strokes on Sunday heading to the famous 12th hole, Woods safely hit his tee shot on to the green while the players ahead of him faltered and put their shots into Rae’s Creek. Woods took the lead down the stretch and never looked back on his way to his 15th career major championship.

 From ESPN where the 1986 final round airs Wednesday:

ESPN will salute the Masters Tournament with encore presentations of the final rounds of two of Tiger Woods’ five wins, Jack Nicklaus’ stunning victory in 1986 and other classic editions of the iconic event at Augusta National Golf Club over three days beginning Wednesday, April 8.

Viewers will be able to watch Woods’ wins in the 1997 and 2005 Masters, with the final round of the 1997 event, his first Masters win, airing in prime time at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 9. The final round of his win in the 2005 Masters will air at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 10. In that event, Woods improbably chipped into the hole on the 16th at Augusta National, perhaps the most memorable shot of his storied career.

In 1986, Nicklaus shocked the golf world with his come-from-behind win, scoring his record-setting sixth Masters title as well as his 18th and final major championship. The final round airs Wednesday, April 8, at 3 p.m. On that same day, ESPN will open the salute at 1 p.m. with highlights from the 2018 Masters Par 3 Contest, an event highlighted by Nicklaus’ grandson (and caddie) G.T. Nicklaus scoring a hole-in-one as his proud grandfather watched. The Par 3 Contest re-airs at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Also featured will be the final round from 2012, when Bubba Watson won the first of his two Masters green jackets, airing on Thursday at 2 p.m. Watson beat Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff with an incredible shot off the pine straw on the 10th to set up his winning putt.

The final round of the 2013 Masters, won by Adam Scott over Angel Cabrera in a playoff, airs Friday at 12:15 p.m. It remains the popular Australian’s only Masters win.

The airdates for the Masters salute coincide with the dates ESPN would have been televising the Masters Par 3 Contest and the first two rounds of this year’s event before it was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Also, beginning next week ESPN+, the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service, will present an on-demand collection of official Masters Films, including highlights of nearly every Masters event since 1960.

From Golf Channel/NBC:

2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur (NBC)

Airing Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC will be the encore broadcast of last year’s inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. A monumental day in golf and the overall sports landscape, Jennifer Kupcho captured the first edition of the event while battling Maria Fassi in the final pairing at the famed Augusta National Golf Club on the Saturday prior to the 2019 Masters. NBC’s telecast also will live stream viaGOLF Channel Digital. GOLF Channel also will air the final day Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.

Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals (2018, 2019)

GOLF Channel will televise both the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals from Augusta National Golf Club. The 2018 competition will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 4, while the 2019 National Finals will air Sunday at 8 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET.

During the 8 a.m. ET re-air of the 2019 National Finals, GOLF Channel will celebrate the 2020 national finalists with several dedicated features that will post on the network’s social media handles (@GolfChannel on Twitter and Facebook). The 2020 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals is rescheduled for Sunday, April 4, 2021. All national finals participants scheduled to compete in the 2020 event will compete in 2021.

And of course the Masters YouTube channel has all of the final round broadcasts.

Golf's First World Distance Debate Seems Silly In A Very Different Way

I opened up Mike Stachura’s Golf Digest story titled, “The distance resistance”, and couldn’t help but notice the editor’s note: “This article appeared in our latest issue, which went to print in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.”

In light of thousands of tragic deaths in just weeks, the specter of a massive economic downturn, and uncertainty about what tomorrow will bring, worrying about driving distance seems so…silly.

But more than the absurdity, reading some pre-March 2020 concerns you feel teh undercurrent of distrust of authorities (even if the R&A and USGA are seen as thinking of golf’s long-term viability). The story also hints at the marketplace’s determination to protect the right to spend $600 to pick up 6-yards, no matter the damage done.

That’s why it was a shrewd editor’s note.

Whenever a form of normalcy returns, the excessive weight given to views on distance will all seem so insignificant. Just as there will be a heightened expectation for authorities and companies to be better prepared in the future, it’s not unreasonable to think a similar sentiment will persist in sports.

While there will always be golfers eager to spend $600 on a driver merely to keep up with someone else, even more will find all of that to be of such secondary importance.

Stachura writes:

That future will be about this push and pull between maintaining a connection to golf’s past and embracing the realities of its future participants. The questions we need to ask now are: Would 400-yard drives at a tour event be a tragedy? Would this signal that golf’s connection with its historic championship venues had been severed? Will the cartoonish swing speeds of today’s long-drive competitors become the standard for tomorrow’s PGA Tour players? Would the bond between golf’s elite players and its paying customers be broken or heightened by extraordinary driving distances?

The days of worrying about the answers already seems long gone.

Shrewd editor’s note.

The “authorities” in all sectors will be expected to do what’s best for the long term good. Including in sports and in golf.

Just a few weeks time, certain values held up as vital to golf’s future now seem trivial, particularly the idea that people play golf to see how far they can hit the ball or watch golf for the distance chases.

Given that every golfer current deprived of golf just wants to be out playing again, how far their drives fly seems like an excess of negligible importance. The short and long term viability of courses was, is and will be all that matters.

Report: R&A To Cancel The 2020 Open Championship

Until now, golf’s leading organizations have been in postponement mode, but with Wimbledon’s cancellation we appear to have the R&A’s decision on The Open: cancellation.

Joel Beall and Brian Wacker with the first report for GolfDigest.com. This will be the first year without an Open since 1945 and also the first major championship cancelled since then.

This was noteworthy as well:

Similar to Wimbledon, the R&A has a policy that shields against a global pandemic, and a source indicated the Open would have to cancel by a certain date in order to collect on its insurance premium.

“The R&A is the most [insured] of all the tournaments,” a source said. “They have complete cancellation insurance. I just don’t see any golf [being played] before August.”

An early fall Open would have required reducing the field plenty of other scheduling headaches. Still, this would be a massive blow to fans, players and organizers knowing what this championship means to all involved.

**The R&A’s statement:

STATEMENT FROM THE R&A ON THE 149TH OPEN AT ROYAL ST GEORGE’S

2 April 2020, St Andrews, Scotland: In light of recent media speculation, we would like to clarify the position regarding The 149th Open.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are continuing to work through our options for The Open this year, including postponement. Due to a range of external factors, that process is taking some time to resolve. We are well aware of the importance of being able to give clear guidance to fans, players and everyone involved and are working to resolve this as soon as we can. We will give a further update as soon as we are in a position to do so and thank everyone for their support and understanding in this challenging situation.”

As Alistair Tait notes, the inevitable shake-up to the Open schedule will have consequences for both Kent and St. Andrews, the next two host towns.