Why Was Zika A Non-Starter For Some Golfers But Not COVID-19?

That’s the question Dave Seanor asks at MorningRead.com as players are going to be locking up their field spot officially for next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

You may recall that several top players passed on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, concerned they might bring back the virus to their loved ones. Players like Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth all expressed worries about health in passing up golf’s return to the Games.

All four are entered for the Colonial return. This, as testing increased in Texas by 31% while the number of confirmed infections rose by 51%.

Seanor makes several strong points about the “credulity” strain of arguments in 2016 versus now and says it is “mind-boggling that more Tour members haven’t questioned the wisdom of going back to work so soon.”

He writes:

What changed? Is the health of their families no longer a priority? Do they have that much trust that the Tour can protect them, and everyone affiliated with the tournament, from exposure to a virus that has infected more than 1.8 million Americans and has yet to plateau – indeed, has increased – in some parts of the country? Or was their expressed concern about Zika, as widely suspected, just a convenient smokescreen to hide their lack of enthusiasm for the Olympics?

We certainly know issues surrounding the Olympics and enthusiasm played a role, as did the travel distance. But given the threat posed by Zika (2400 U.S. cases, one death), the current situation does seem significantly more concerning.

Report: Golf Channel Puts World Long Drive Association On The Market

Golf.com’s Josh Sens with news of Golf Channel and parent company NBC putting the World Long Drive Association on the market.

A spokesperson for Golf Channel, which owns and operates the WLDA, told GOLF.com that the network is looking to unload the tour due to a range of pandemic-related factors, including dwindling sponsorship dollars, safety concerns and travel restrictions for what is “a truly global sport with hitters from around the world.”

“Given the current environment and challenges being presented by Covid-19,” the spokesperson said, Golf Channel is also “looking to focus on its core business of media.”

Golf Channel acquired the WLDA in 2016.

Collaboration In A Time Of Pandemic: European Tour Chief Is The Lone Dissenting Vote In Ranking Restart

On this week’s McKellar golf podcast, European Tour Chief Keith Pelley talked about the remarkable and unprecedented levels of collaboration between his circuit and others in these trying times.

Yet as John Huggan reports, Pelley issued a memo to players suggesting he voted against the proposed (and approved) structure of the Official World Golf Ranking’s restart next week at Colonial as his tour remains shut down by the global pandemic.

Pelley supported a start, but offered an unsuccessful counter-proposal to protect his Tour.

“We agreed with the proposal that the ranking should restart alongside the resumption of the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour next week on the understanding that dispensation was made for the European Tour and the Challenge Tour—and indeed many other tours around the world—whose players will be disadvantaged by not being able to play at this time,” Pelley wrote in the memo. “Our proposal to correct this imbalance was either freezing the current average points of all European Tour members unable to play tournament golf until we restart our season or increasing the overall OWGR points available at our tournaments when we do restart.

“Without either of those adjustments, the consequences are negative for the majority of our membership, who will lose points through no fault of their own, when they are unable to play.”

Both proposals, however, were rejected, according to Pelley. And, as a result, he voted against the ranking restart proposal. According to his memo, his was the only dissenting voice.

As a result of the OWGR’s vote, Pelley has frozen the Ryder Cup world points list for selecting the European team until play resumes in Europe.

Some players spoke out on social media about the OWGR’s action.

Shack Show Episode 14 With Guest Damon Hack

A former New York Times and Sports Illustrated reporter, Damon Hack has transformed himself into a television personality as co-host of Golf Channel’s Morning Drive.

In response to the death of George Floyd and protests around the United States, Hack penned this column for GolfChannel.com that went viral and has hopefully commenced more dialogue within the golf community.

I chatted with him for this week’s Shack Show about the piece, the reaction he’s received and his life in golf. Plus much more about the state of affairs in golf. You can listen here or past shows via Apple podcasts or in the iHeart app or wherever you get your shows.

Show Notes:

Hack’s GolfChannel.com column.

His story on Jay Monahan grappling with how the PGA Tour should respond.

Maurice Allen’s commentary on GolfDigest.com.

Scottish Golf Podcast: Jamie Kennedy On The Reverse Old Course

Desperately needing some escapist listening, I was thrilled to see Ru Macdonald’s latest Scottish Golf podcast with Jamie Kennedy, GolfTV digital and content manager, who was one of the lucky ones to play the Old Course in reverse. The playing held last November, the first in a decade, sets up the course as it was originally presented before Old Tom Morris worked his magic. (Tom Kidd won the first Open at St Andrews in the “reverse” configuration.)

As they note during the discussion, the day was a hit but does not come around often enough. Hopefully the Links Trust will take the success and international interest into consideration for more frequent future playings.

Here is the Apple podcasts link to the show. Or you can listen here:

Kennedy’s video documentation of the day and round on YouTube:

Maurice Allen On "Being Black In A White Sport"

Maurice Allen, the 2018 World Long Drive champion, shared his thoughts in a GolfDigest.com guest piece on “being black in a white sport.” The thoughts are jarring and upsetting but well worth your time to digest.

Allen also goes pretty deep into some of the bizarre psyche’s permeating parts of the game and which we all have possibly sensed, but maybe tried to not think about.

Of course there are things like this…

In my part of the game, the long-drive arena, we’re supposed to be flashy, to be entertainers. Except white long drivers are praised for being colorful and flamboyant, while I’m called a showboat.

But this is the paragraph that proved most unnerving and applicable to way too many elements of the sport.

That’s what breaks my heart about golf. It’s supposed to be a game of integrity. I’ve found it to be anything but. I’m not talking about it being elitist. I’m talking about its entitlement. To me, that word means something different. Because when you’re entitled, you have a responsibility to use that privilege in a meaningful way. Instead, golf acts as a club. It’s often hard to get in, or it makes excuses for the errors of those in the club. We have given so many excuses for foolishness that you delay change. You’re not dealing with the actual situation. If we have a problem, we have to address it.

Sanford Health Becomes "Official COVID-19 On-Site Testing Provider Of The PGA Tour"

Look, these are not normal times but as uncomforable as it is to read a company agreeing to be the Official COVID-19 On-site Testing Provider Of The PGA Tour, I’m not sure this got enough play: the PGA Tour’s events will have on-site testing and results determined on site. This, instead of adding to local lab burdens, not only provides infinitely more consistency in the Tour’s ambitious screening protocals, but also reduces the uncertainty of what will happen with golf played in so many different cities.

It’s just a shame the screening with Sanford Health testing does not extend to a good number of others on-site at the first four Tour starts beginning next week. But, one step at a time.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR collaborates with Sanford Health  to conduct COVID-19 testing at tournaments

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR announced today that it has engaged Sanford Health to conduct on-site COVID-19 testing of players, caddies and essential personnel at PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour tournaments in the continental United States for the remainder of the season. 

Starting with next week’s resumption of the PGA TOUR schedule at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, testing will be conducted by lab technicians who will be traveling to tournaments in one of three mobile testing units that Sanford Health is deploying across the country. Each unit, which will be manned by a driver and three technicians, will arrive the Saturday prior to the tournament to begin processing RT PCR tests. The mobile unit will remain on site through Thursday before traveling to the next closest tournament site, regardless of Tour. 

“With health and safety being our No. 1 priority upon our return to competition, we are extremely pleased to partner with Sanford Health and to utilize their expertise in testing our players, caddies and personnel going forward,” said Andy Levinson, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President Tournament Administration. “Not only will Sanford Health’s mobile laboratories enable us to deliver test results in a matter of hours so that our athletes can properly prepare for competition, but they will also allow us to implement our testing program without utilizing critical resources from the communities in which we play, which was of upmost importance to us.”  

Each swab collection takes less than five minutes to administer, and test results are returned typically between two and four hours, with approximately 400 individuals expected to be tested on-site each week.

“Sanford Health is honored to help ensure a safe return to play for professional golf events in the United States by offering this testing,” said Micah Aberson, Executive Vice President of Sanford Health. “We are incredibly proud of our lab technicians who will represent us at these events as well as all of our health care workers who have gone above and beyond to protect and care for our patients.”

Sanford Health also becomes a marketing partner with the designation Official COVID-19 On-site Testing Provider of the PGA TOUR. It already has an established relationship with the TOUR as title sponsor of the Sanford International, a PGA TOUR Champions event in Sioux Falls scheduled for Sept. 11-13.

Jim Justice Gives Us A Better Sense Why He Was No Longer Fit To Host A PGA Tour Event

A big personality, now the West Virginia governor and Greenbrier Resort owner, Jim Justice was believed to be low on the list of beloved PGA Tour tournament hosts.

Yet the “Military Salute at the Greenbrier” remained on schedules until the pandemic felled the fall event for good with little clue what the issue was, but plenty of red flags raised by the lukewarm severance quotes.

The resort’s hideous rebranding of the Old White TPC, appears to have been quietly dissolved as well.

While Justice has padded plenty of golf dignitary bank accounts (or not, possibly sometimes), I’m guessing comments like this will make it hard for him to keep doing business with any of them.

On his state as a possible Republican National Convention alternative should things change for 2020’s scheduled for Charlotte, North Carolina:

Gov. Justice (R-WV), while discussing the relocation of the RNC Convention, says the state would welcome “any president” except "maybe not Barack Obama." pic.twitter.com/JBM4JKh590

— The Recount (@therecount) June 3, 2020

"PGA stars receive backlash, hate after 'Blackout Tuesday' posts"

If you want a sense why pro golfers are reluctant to speak out — and how far the golf world has to go — look no further than the top comments on IG posts from @BKoepka @JustinThomas34 and @RickieFowler pic.twitter.com/f4Ewp8wLJX

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) June 2, 2020

Zac Wassink of Yardbarker rounds up some of the comments players received for Blackout Tuesday posts supporting protests against police brutality.

Needless to say, it’s disheartening to see what kind of pushback players get from golf fans for supporting their fellow man.

European Tour Chief Pelley On McKellar Podcast: Ryder Cup Decision By Month's End, Hoping For More Co-Sanctioned Events

European Tour Chief Keith Pelley was on the McKellar Golf podcast and discussed a range of issues, including the possibility of a stronger PGA Tour alliance, his few informal encounters with the Premier Golf League (which he continues to characterize as essentially a hostile competitive bid) and several questions about the Ryder Cup prospects.

About 21 minutes into he discusses the weekly calls with the other major organizations in golf, says there is “definitely a will to work together” with the PGA Tour, saying the “conversations have been stronger than they’ve ever been, where that will lead I’m not sure.”

He also made news in helping the golf world zero-in on when to expect a decision regarding the 2020 Ryder Cup, telling hosts Lawrence Donegan and John Huggan to expect a decision by the end of the month.

Steve Stricker appeared on Madison’s Golf Affect Radio Show and essentially confirmed that planning is still going forward but that a decision will come in the next two to three weeks. Tod Leonard at GolfDigest.com with the Stricker comments here.

And here is the McKellar podcast, or wherever you subscribe!

Troubled Times Prompt Golf Digest Pledge To Better Reflect The Game, Society

Golf Digest Executive Editor Jerry Tarde penned an intriguing piece outlining the magazine’s intent to “accelerate golf’s journey of understanding” on a number of issues at the forefront. After a nice setup detailing the sport’s history with race and inequality issues, Tarde outlines the pledges:

—We at Golf Digest will commit to making the images and subjects of our golf content as well as our staff better reflect the diversity of the world around us. Both the game’s population and our own record here have been inadequate.

—We will continue to advocate for more access and affordability.

Continue, start, either would be great!

—We will increase our coverage of municipal golf—the lifeblood for attracting minority participation.

—We will support the golf industry’s collective efforts through The First Tee, in which 48 percent of participants represent minorities.

—We will promote sustainability in all its forms, because we know the ravages of climate change hit the poor and minorities the hardest.

—And we golfers promise to use our voice and influence to make gentle the life of this world.

Obviously this is a wonderful goal and a welcome pivot. Unfortunately, it’s way too late.

For decades Golf Digest has supported ideals contrary to the values pledged above. In repeatedly rewarding difficult, expensive, ridiculously-conditioned and ultra-private golf via the influential Golf Digest rankings and awards for a solid forty years, untold damage has been done to the sustainability prospects of the game.

Decades of editorial apathy and even hostility to the notion of equipment regulation or those taking stance with sustainability in mind has been partly driven by protecting commercial interests. The resulting expansion of golf’s scale, cost and environmental footprint has not made the game healthier.

The bad news for Golf Digest? Advocacy efforts highlighting the need to move in a different direction have been taken up by a variety of independent outlets that recognized long ago who had the game’s best interests at heart.

Muirfield Village To Host Deere Classic Replacement In Addition To The Memorial

The Memorial Presented by Nationwide is curiously opting to water down one of the premier events in golf with a John Deere Classic-replacement tournament at Muirfield Village this July. But these are strange times and playing opportunities clearly take priority over optics, reason or the lack of entertainment value in watching the same course for two weeks (perhaps they will flip the nines to help differentiate the viewing experience?).

More vitally in a time of strife, suffering and pandemic, hopefully there will be a grand charitable component for local organizations that Nationwide already supports, particularly the Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

From Doug Ferguson’s AP exclusive:

In a memo sent Tuesday afternoon to players, the tour said the new event would be July 9-12 and held without spectators. The following week is the Memorial at Muirfield Village, with spectators still a possibility.

The name of the tournament was not mentioned, along with other details such as the size of the purse.

But it said the field for the first event would be 156 players, allowing the Memorial to return to its elite status as an invitational with a 120-man field.

The fill-in tournament sponsor will be Workday, which has had a topsy-turvy relationship in trying to start a Bay Area Tour stop and in serving as a temporary sponsor of the Desert Classic.

From The Forecaddie last year:

The Forecaddie hears the last-minute demise of the 2019 edition came after Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri piled on one too many last-minute requests and complained about how the event was rolled out. With the PGA Tour having another potential event and sponsor as an option and no time to find another sponsor for the Curry event, The Man Out Front hears host management company Octagon pulled the plug after not being able to meet Bhusri’s demands.

Agronomically, everything should be fine since Muirfield Village intends to rebuild their greens following the 2020 tournament(s).

Return To Golf: Tour Caddies Will Be Asked To Clean Bunker Rakes, Flagsticks After Replacing

While getting the all-clear on COVID-19 is not required of PGA Tour players before traveling to Colonial, when they present, the conditions will be plenty sanitary.

Or, maybe the whining about unraked bunkers and having to putt with a flagstick in actually paid off?

Either way, the policy above, spelled out in the guide sent to players a week out from the PGA Tour’s return in Fort Worth appears unsustainable. Furthermore, from what we’ve learned of COVID-19, outdoor surfaces are less likely to be a problem.

While there will be some entertainment in watching what caddies devise for stockpiling and accessing disinfectant wipes, it would just be so much better for golf if flagsticks were left in the cup and rakes were stored in maintenance yards.

PGA Tour's Return To Golf Does Not Require A Home COVID-19 Test

In reading how the USTA is going to great lengths to envision a way to play the 2020 U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, it was understandable to see that tennis’ best would be required to test negative for COVID-19 before getting on a plane.

So it was a bit surprising to see such a stipulation was not required in golf’s return given how players are coming from many regions and using different means of travel to Colonial June 8-14.

This is from Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story on the “Player Participant Guide” sent to players in advance of next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge:

Most notable among the guidelines is that while COVID-19 testing is a condition of competition, the at-home test players and caddies take before traveling is not required but rather “strongly encouraged.” Also, should a player or caddie test positive while at a tournament, they’ll receive a stipend from the Tour to cover associated costs, but only if they have taken the at-home test and tested negative. Players are, however, required to fill out daily self-screening questionnaires starting seven days prior to departing for a tournament.

“The at-home test is intended to help players avoid the unlikely situation of testing positive and be required to quarantine away from home,” said Joel Schuchmann, PGA Tour VP of communiations, when reached by Golf Digest.

So the PGA Tour’s view is that the pre-tournament test is one to prevent an inconvenient stranding, but if safety of players and those around them was the ultimate priority, I would think an all-clear test before traveling was one of the most important steps.

This hole in the “bubble” is one of several—media and spouses/partners/companions who choose to travel and stay with players are not mentioned in any of the documents as part of the testing bubble. This, combined with not requiring an all-clear test after three months away from the Tour, explains why the word “screening” has been used to date.

Seeing the description in the player resource guide only makes it that much more confounding to start the bubble arrival knowing all have already been cleared to travel to Colonial:

If only it were that convenient for the rest of the world to get a test. I digress.

The other noticeable loophole involves players being able to stay in a rental home, RV or at the “bubble” hotel with a companion not allowed at the course, but also free to roam the host city or anywhere but the golf course.

Golf Figures Adding To The National Dialogue: LPGA, Varner, Rodgers, Pieters, Woods And Hack

As athletes in other sports shared their support for anti-racism forces protesting within the United States, the golf world has been deliberate in chiming in. Something, Morning Read’s Alex Miceli points out, would be irresponsible at best.

That said, as many cities are under curfew orders and the sports grapples with how to respond, some in golf have chimed in. Notably, on the sports organization front, the LPGA was the first with this statement:

pic.twitter.com/bKL0GcOM9Z

— LPGA (@LPGA) June 1, 2020

Among pro golf set, Harold Varner posted this:

There is a lot of of beauty and love in this world. I pray for equality & social justice as we all so desperately deserve that in this day and age. I pray for humanity even more because regardless of color, WE need each other to make that change. Stay safe. Love you guys ✊🏿✊🏽✊🏻 pic.twitter.com/LrFEff94IF

— Harold Varner III (@HV3_Golf) June 1, 2020

Other pros to weigh in so far are Patrick Rodgers, Thomas Pieters and Tiger Woods:

View this post on Instagram

I have a voice, and this is a time and a matter to use it. #blacklivesmatter Ways to take action: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

A post shared by Patrick Rodgers (@prodgersgolf) on May 31, 2020 at 7:16pm PDT

Black lives matter. I would want my American friends I met at U of I and across America to not be treated any different because of the color of their skin. As a president please unite your people now and give them solutions.

— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) June 1, 2020

pic.twitter.com/Wn7EoTInzU

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) June 2, 2020

And Golf Channel Morning Drive host Damon Hack posted this column on GolfChannel.com as he struggles with the times and the deja-vu all-over-again state of affairs.

Not again. 

What can I do?

What can the golf industry do?

The sports world?

My country?

Can I share my pain with you or does my pain not count, since I’m on TV and all?

You’ve made it. What do you have to be mad about? You should be grateful.

Thing is, I am grateful. But I’m also sad and tired and incredulous that I’m having the exact same conversations with my sons that my father had with me.