The Crow's Nest: Will This Be The Year Amateurs Stay Around Or...?

One of the stranger recent Traditions Unlike Any Other: Masters amateurs doing an obligatory night in the Crow’s Nest around Monday’s Amateur Dinner, then moving to a rental house with their “team” (because you know, amateurs need to be with their agents).

With COVID-19 making the sharing of a living space possibly problematic—it’d still be nice to hear that one amateur stayed all week in what most normal human being-Americans would call one-off lodging opportunity-of-a-lifetime: the Crow’s Nest during Masters week.

Well, the rest of us can dream next week to the club providing a little bit of access to golf’s ultimate lodging spot:

2020 Masters Merch Goes On Sale To Patrons, Ebay Prices Suggest A Special Affinity For Gnomes

Golf.com’s Alan Bastable was able to access the first-ever Masters patron-only shop. He reviews some new and surprising items, and also explains the setup:

How long the inventory will last is anyone’s guess. God willing, we’re unlikely to see another November Masters anytime soon, which means this year’s gear will have a special one-off cachet for collectors. The tournament has leaned into the timing with fall-themed course prints and holiday decorations, including tree ornaments and a Santa garden gnome.

Buyers are limited to two check-outs, but given the ease of online shopping (and the fact that fans won’t have to lug their merchandise home with them from the course), it’s not hard to imagine Masters-happy customers’ buying more than they would have if they’d been shopping in the brick-and-mortar shop at the tournament.

Which, makes the future of this approach something plenty will watch.

But back to those surprising items. The most bizarre of all has to be the Masters food spread.

Alex Myers at GolfDigest.com writes:

Masters food: As in, you can actually buy Masters food. From the Masters. From Augusta National. They will ship it to you so you can host a legendary Masters party or you can just pig out by yourself while you enjoy this feast for 10-12 people that’s offered on the new online Masters Patron Shop:

I’d like a few more cookies and their chicken sandwiches instead of the pimento cheese, but man, that’s tempting.

Several items from the new shop have hit ebay and the prices suggest Gnomes are the new beer cup. For those in the mood to overpay:

$399 Fall Masters (dressed like Santa) gnome.

Gnome long sleeve for the low, low price of $199.99

$399 Masters watch to remember 2020 by.

Just $75 for a 2020 Masters pin flag.

The 2020 Golf Framed Pin set at just $399 is actually not ridiculous. Blame 2020.

Ratings Ouch: Champions Tour Outrates PGA Tour's Bermuda Championship

Even with a Masters invitation (somehow) on the line and of course, the all important FedExCup points, Brian Gay’s Bermuda Championship win still had fewer Golf Channel viewers than the Timbertech Championship.

That event featured Darren Clarke holding of Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer for his first PGA Tour Champions win.

Saturday’s third round of the Timbertech “won” the weekend and averaged 43,000 in the coveted none-Villages demo.

The Bermuda Championship’s Thursday and Friday telecasts draw enough of an audience to crack the top 150 cable shows.

ShowBuzzDaily with all the numbers.

"Rein in the ball or prepare for bludgeon"

One key to pro golf’s athleticism canard: this marketing narrative serves as a distraction from the real reasons the distance discussion never goes away. With more and more golfers hurt when their masculinity is damaged when it’s revealed their “athleticism” is only as good as the driver they are fitted with, the debate gets sidetracked. Then we easily forget that it’s the lost strategy of this great game fueling the the rollback question.

As Mike Clayton lays out for all schools of thought, strategy should still be the soul of the game and enough people miss it.

A key question for professional golf (a version of the game increasingly separated from the version played by the masses) is, “is brilliant, interesting design and the age-old concept of what constitutes strategy compatible with, and capable of, testing the best players in the game?”

“Increasingly not” is my not unreasonable conclusion.

I also enjoyed this as Clayton and friends do not downplay Bryson DeChambeau’s accomplishment at Winged Foot, but instead use it as fuel for the discussion.

Gil Hanse, Winged Foot’s consulting architect, charged with restoring AW Tillinghast’s famed and treacherous greens, might agree. Hanse watched DeChambeau’s opening 36 holes to witness whether he could pull off his unique strategy. It’s fair to say that he came away surprised, somewhat dismayed and impressed.

“It’s not a beautiful way to play golf. It’s not even shot making. It’s just kind of bludgeoning. I feel sad about the way golf is going. There are some arrows in the quiver if this style of golf renders architecture and strategy obsolete. But”, said Hanse, “it was impressive”.

Memorial Park Preview: A True Muni Hosts This Week's PGA Tour Event

With a 2020 title in the pocket and the injection of real muni golf onto the PGA Tour schedule, I will set aside my feelings about the cheating Astros*. And this week’s host, their cheating, thoroughly remorse-free owner, Jim Crane (along with various dishonest players).

While I’ll never quite fully grasp why this murky crew pushed one of America’s elite golf associations aside to take over a storied Tour event, we at least have Tour players prepping for the one-off Fall Masters on a low priced public course. This is a long overdue victory for the Houston Open and validation for the Bethpage effect we hoped had taken a stronger hold by now.

Josh Sens gives the revitalized Memorial Park a positive review and explains how the Tom Doak-Brooks Koepka effort does not try to protect par for this week’s Vivint Houston Open.

The work that made Memorial Park Tour-worthy once more — bringing the Houston Open back from the suburbs, where it was held for decades, to within the city limits — began in earnest in late 2018.

The first phase alone cost $18.5 million, but the money didn’t come out of taxpayers’ pockets. It was furnished by the Houston Astros Foundation (a non-profit founded by Jim Crane, the owner of the baseball team), which, in consultation with the city, tapped the noted architect Tom Doak to renovate the course.

Every renovation brings its own demands. Doak’s mandate was to dream up a Goldilocks design, a course that would ask compelling questions of the world’s best golfers while answering the needs of its muni clientele during jam-packed year-round play. As his consigliere, Doak leaned on Brooks Koepka, an official advisor on the project, a four-time major winner, who provided his two cents on design.

From the start, both men knew that defending par against the pros couldn’t be a top priority. That would only yield a one-dimensional layout. The emphasis, instead, should be on excitement — especially, Koepka urged, on the closing stretch. Electric late-day lead changes were what he hoped to see.

History and design buffs will enjoy Sean Martin’s “Five Things To Know” about Memorial Park as the Tour descends on Houston.

This isn’t the first time Memorial Park has been the venue for the Vivint Houston Open, however. It hosted the event 14 times between 1947 and 1963. Winners at Memorial Park included major winners Arnold Palmer, Bobby Locke, Jack Burke Jr., Bob Charles, Bobby Nichols and Jay Hebert.

Burke’s father, Jack Burke Sr., was a Houston golf pro who is credited with hitting the first tee shot when Memorial Park opened in 1936. Jack Burke Jr., who also won a Masters and PGA Championship, was on-hand for Memorial Park’s re-opening ceremony last year. Burke is 97 years old.

Charles’ win at Memorial Park in 1963 was the first on the PGA TOUR by a left-hander. He won the Open Championship later that year to become the first left-hander to win a major.

Memorial Park nearly was the site of Jack Nicklaus’ first PGA TOUR win, as well. Nicklaus lost a playoff to Nichols after suffering a strange penalty in the third round of the 1962 Houston Open. While tending the flag for his boss’ 35-foot birdie putt, Nicklaus’ caddie accidentally pulled the hole liner out of the ground. Nicklaus was assessed a two-stroke penalty after his ball struck the liner. 

Bryson Adds Draftkings To His Logo Collection

I’m not sure there is much news here beyond the obvious: top players endorsing sports better. Even then, not exactly groundbreaking at this point. More intriguing will be what happens if any of these players grows uncomfortable with bettors feasting on a negative portrayal of their game by an official, PGA Tour-sanctioned site.

For Immediate Release:

DraftKings to Make Debut at 2020 Masters with Bryson DeChambeau in Exclusive Multi-Year Deal

Collaboration with the World’s Sixth-Ranked Golfer Underscores Significance of Golf Within the Gaming Industry

BOSTON—November 2, 2020—Today, DraftKings announced an exclusive, multi-year relationship with Bryson DeChambeau, who will become the first active professional golfer to represent the digital sports entertainment and gaming company via an integrated brand, content, marketing, and VIP centric collaboration that will feature Bryson DeChambeau as the face of DraftKings golf.

Whew, that was a mouthful. Pausing here to regroup. Ok, continue.

Bryson is currently ranked No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking and is coming off his first major championship at the U.S. Open in September, 2020. Starting with the 2020 Masters, the DraftKings logo will be featured on DeChambeau’s signature golf cap.

“Professional golf has been a key growth sport in both daily fantasy and sports betting, and our collaboration with Bryson DeChambeau is a notable new layer of mainstream brand exposure and fan experience,” said Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO, DraftKings. “As one of golf’s most promising athletes and the current U.S. Open champion, DraftKings is strategically aligning with winning athletes like Bryson who embody and embolden the competitive fire of our customers.”

Competitive fire! Come on 22!

So he’s wearing a logo on the cap. Oh, wait, he may speak.

At DraftKings, golf remains the fourth-most-popular sport for daily fantasy while golf sportsbook handle has grown over ten times year over year. Excluding NFL games, the 2019 Masters ranked among the top five highest-bet sporting events on DraftKings while 2020 has featured many of the company’s most popularly bet golf tournaments of all time. Amidst this surge in golf betting, the athlete sponsorship also entails unique experiential elements to engage fans such as playing a round of golf with or receiving golf lessons from Mr. DeChambeau.

Yeah, bettors really love swing instruction over, say, what he thinks his chances are of a top-10 at +200.

“DraftKings has been at the forefront of innovation for how people experience golf, and the company continues to modernize the game through technology built by and for sports fans,” said Bryson DeChambeau.

Or, someone writing that for him.

“The gaming industry has already helped golf reach broader audiences, and I am proud to work with DraftKings on boosting fan excitement and engagement in the game.”

With the 2020 Masters taking place in November for the first time in history and overlapping with the NFL during the final round on Sunday, DraftKings is offering a $100,000 free-to-play pool that captures the action of both sports.

Oh, do tell.

Bryson Speed Pursuit Update: "Electricity in the air, a lot of music" When 403-Yard Carry Happened

I’m feeling a distinct Studio 54 vibe to Bryson DeChambeau’s pre-Masters speed build-up teased not long ago on Instagram. Maybe some strobe lights and a disco mirror ball?

From Steve DiMeglio after he caught up with the U.S. Open champion preparing for next week’s Masters.

As was the day he crashed the 400-yard barrier for the first time. DeChambeau, 27, who topped the PGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 322.1 yards last season, posted on Instagram a picture of his FlightScope X3 launch monitor screen that revealed eye-popping numbers – a ball carry of 403.1 yards and a ball speed of 211 mph. And he did so with a 45-½ inch shaft in his driver, not the 48-inch shaft he’s experimenting with.

“I was speed training, there was a lot of electricity in the air, a lot of music going on. I’m up there for 45 minutes swinging my butt off and the numbers go up and they go down and they go up and they go down,” he said. “And all of a sudden, I swung as hard as I could and caught one really good in the middle of the face.

“I turned around and saw 211 and I just went, ‘Oh, my god.’ I was jumping up and down and then I saw the carry distance over 400 and I went, ‘Oh, my god.’ I was going crazy. That was moving it. It was a bit of a draw but it was really good.”

DeChambeau also shared details of a recent Augusta National scouting trip. After rehashing a few yardages and contrasts in how the course played over the two days, DeChambeau said…

“I don’t want to alarm anybody. I don’t want to come off as bragging, but the golf course does play shorter now for me.”

Hit the link if you want to know how the 48-inch driver effort is going.

Nicklaus Knew Trump Endorsement “Would Cause Some Grief”, Suggests Hospitals May Be Fudging COVID-19 Death Data For Profit

The Palm Beach Post’s Tom D’Angelo followed up with Jack Nicklaus following last week’s provocative endorsement for President Donald Trump’s re-election. D’Angelo says the idea to make the social media endorsement came from Vice President Mike Pence.

“I’m delighted to do that,” Nicklaus, the North Palm Beach resident, said Friday, speaking about the controversial post for the first time. “I said, ‘You know how I feel about him. He’s been very supportive to everything we’ve ever done. He’s asked for nothing. If I can just on my own do that, I would be happy to do it.’

“And I know it was going to cause me some grief. So, that’s what I did.”

Later in the story, D’Angelo reports Nicklaus’s claim of hospitals attempting to profit by false-reporting COVID-19 deaths, a recent claim of President Trump.

Nicklaus told a story about two people he knows whose parents died from something other than COVID and, according to Nicklaus, they were asked if the cause of death could be changed to COVID and declined.

“The hospital gets more money with COVID death than they do another death,’ Nicklaus said. “I’m sure there’s been a lot of that.

Politico has reported that Nicklaus lobbied Trump on behalf of the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami seeking $20 million toward a mobile children's hospital project.

Guardian: Golf May Get Reprieve In England's COVID-19 Fall Lockdown

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announced lockdown measures were announced last week and include golf getting a not-so-special shout-out for England.

Outdoor exercise and recreation encouraged and is unlimited - only with your household/bubble, on your own or with one other person from a different household (golf is not allowed)

Sean Ingle and Ewan Murray report that a reprieve may be coming for golf, tennis and swimming.

The possible compromise could come after Johnson has been pressured by England Golf and its chief, Jeremy Tomlinson, to reconsider. A petition has garnered over 250,000 signatures.

In an open letter to “fellow golfers”, Tomlinson took issue with protocols revealed by the prime minister on Saturday. “I would like to make clear England Golf’s intention to respectfully challenge the government’s rationale for closing golf courses. We will do so utilising all in our network – MPs, colleagues, media and friends – to make sure we are heard by government,” he said.

“Listening to the prime minister, the news that he is actively encouraging safe and responsible outdoor exercise for households or two individuals pointed to our great game of golf being at the heart of this policy. The guidance which followed stating that golf courses were on a list of venues which should close, therefore, appeared contradictory and came out of the blue.”

A petition has garnered over 250,000 signatures.

Courses in Ireland have already been closed over a week and were caught off guard by the lockdown measure, reports the Irish Times’ Ruaidhrí Croke.

R.I.P. Sean Connery

Aljean Harmetz’s NY Times remembrance of Sean Connery (thanks reader Chris for sending):

Like the months that 12-year-old Charles Dickens spent working in a factory that made shoe blacking, Mr. Connery’s deprived childhood informed the rest of his life. When he was 63, he told an interviewer that a bath was still “something special.”

His anger was never far below the surface. What he called his “violent side,” he told The Times, may have been “ammunitioned” by his childhood. The same was true of his odd combination of penury and generosity.

A passionate golfer — he discovered the game about the same time he discovered James Bond — he was the only player at the Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles who carried his own bag.

Other stories, including one from Jim Nantz (embedded below), indicate he was a lifelong walker/carrier even where caddies were required.

There was also this and why he ended up a member at Valderamma:

Mr. Connery and Diane Cilento, an actress he had met when they played lovers in a television version of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie” in 1957, were married on Nov. 30, 1962. Their son, Jason, who would grow up to become an actor, was born six weeks later.

The marriage lasted, more or less, until Mr. Connery met Micheline Roquebrune, a French artist and obsessive golfer, at a golf tournament in Morocco in 1970. She was married, he was married, and they both won medals. After their marriage in 1975, they lived in Marbella, Spain, mostly to avoid British income taxes but partly because of Marbella’s 24 golf courses.

Two years ago, Connery penned this Golf Today essay on his life and fascination with golf titled “Bond, Golf and Me”.

I never had a hankering to play golf, despite growing up in Scotland just down the road from Bruntsfield Links, which is one of the oldest golf courses in the world. It wasn't until I was taught enough golf to look as though I could outwit the accomplished golfer Gert Frobe in Goldfinger that I got the bug. I began to take lessons on a course near the Pinewood film studios, and was immediately hooked on the game. Soon it would nearly take over my life.

National Club Golfer posted this item two years ago on his preparation for the scene.

The golf scene from Goldfinger, filmed at Stoke Poges.

Cheats never prosper... as Auric Goldfinger discovers in this classic scene from GOLDFINGER (1964). It was filmed on location at Stoke Poges and filming began ...

Nantz with a terrific, though painful, Connery golf story:

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/06/11/Jim_Nantz_Always_By_My_Side CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz tells the story of his day golfing with actor Sean Co...

"Hickory finds its way back to Pinehurst"

Morning Read’s Shaun Tolson reports on a very exciting collaboration: Pinehurst and Tad Moore Hickory.

The rental sets are a steep $50, but anyone who has played unsuitable hickories can attest that the price is worth it given the quality of Moore’s clubs. The rental sets can be used on any Pinehurst course, though the resort is advocating their use on Nos. 1, 3 or the Cradle.

Tolson writes:

Yes, playing a round with hickory clubs may open doors to a new social circle of golfing compatriots, but it will definitely open newcomers’ eyes to the challenges that the sport’s greatest players faced a century ago.

“They’re just fascinating to hit,” Smarrelli said of the clubs. “You get so much satisfaction when you hit the ball solid with those things. When you hit a good shot, you say, ‘Wow! This is how they played golf way back.’”

As Barksdale eloquently and astutely describes it, a round of golf on one of Pinehurst’s early courses played with hickory clubs allows guests to “take a step back in time,” he said. It encourages those players to adopt an old-school mentality and it requires them to think creatively about the shots that they will hit each step along the way.

“It’s just a really neat thing to do that you can’t necessarily do everywhere,” he said, “because they don’t have them everywhere.”

If you haven’t seen Moore’s clubs, you can see plenty here on his Instagram page.

State Of The Game 107: The Claytonites And Guest Daniel Wexler

On State of the Game 107 we welcome author Daniel Wexler to discuss his new book A Timeless Game but quickly run off topic into the future of golf in urban centers, technology and the distance debate along with a brief addressing of Brandel Chamblee's uncomfortably dishonest attacks on co-host Mike Clayton and pro-regulation types.

I highly recommend Wexler’s latest, available here on Amazon. The paperback features ten essays. Topics include the life of Willie Anderson, to heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis’s life in golf, to the dominance of Korean women golfers. And of course, the modern equipment issue. It’s a steal at $14.95!

TaylorMade CEO Suggests Rollback Would Prompt Introduction Of Non-Conforming Equipment To Market

The Guardian’s Ewan Murray talks to TaylorMade CEO David Abeles about the possibility of equipment regulation. Abeles’ “what if” scenarios floated fall a tad flat given recreational golf’s recent resurgence that have not a thing to do with distance gains via club purchases or golfers running out to buy what the pros are playing. They’re spending on soft goods, balls, bags and other essentials because they have time and golf is safe.

Most interesting is Abeles’ suggestion that should some sort of rollback occur, he would consider bringing non-conforming equipment “to market”. This is something the company could do today since there is no law requiring manufacturers comply with USGA and R&A rules.

“As a governing body you can choose to modify your rules in any way you feel acceptable,” Abeles says. “That’s ultimately their decision. The question is who is going to follow it? Right now, we can design and develop whatever we want as an authentic company. We play by the construct of the rules that have been created around the sport as relates to equipment and ball development. We believe that’s the right space to be in, in the spirit of the traditions of the game.

“But there is nobody prohibiting us from going and building a ball that goes further or a driver that does the same. We are working on advanced technologies all the time to do that. We have chosen not to do that [bring such products for sale] because we want to unify the sport and apply the same rules. If there was a rollback, we would have to draw real consideration as it relates to what we choose to bring to market.”

So if game improvement is sacred, and they have developed things that would make the sport easier, why not sell those clubs?

“I believe if there was to be a rollback considered, at any level, we run the risk of alienating millions. If we do that, we want to provide golfers who might look at things in a different way if it gets more difficult with products that will suit their game. That could lead us down the road of a couple of different equipment lines. We hope that is not the case because it gets very complicated.”

It’s only complicated because companies who have defied the USGA/R&A equipment rules suffered with golfers. The only documented cases of alienation suggest golfers value the rules over purchasing freedom. That the governing bodies have not had the courage to enact rule changes targeting the upper 1%, even after these past episodes of manufacturer hostility toward the rules, remains so strange.

Abeles at least is using the right tone and respect for the rules, unlike the often outlandish anti-governing body stances (here and here) and greed-driven decisions of former Taylor Made CEO Mark King.

2020: Slumbers Defends R&A's Decision To Postpone The Open

Interesting that R&A Chief Martin Slumbers felt the need to justify his organization’s cancelling of the 2020 Open Championship given the leeway most organizations have gotten during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From John Huggan’s GolfDigest.com discussion with Slumbers about the decision to postpone Royal St. George’s:

“The situation here was very different to that in America,” Slumbers said. “The United States is so much bigger than the U.K. All the messages we received from government were prompt. We were getting very clear steers that this virus was not going to go away in four weeks. Having said that, I can’t be happier for my colleagues at the USGA and the PGA of America and Augusta National who have found ways to get their events done. Do I have a slight tinge of jealousy? Yes, I do. Having no Open rips the heart out of the R&A. Our rhythm of life, as it has for so many, has been disrupted. I didn’t enjoy what should have been Open week.”

There was one more piece of ammunition for potential critics. Did the financial safety net provided by the presence of the R&A’s “communicable disease” insurance policy play too much of a role in the eventual decision?

“Although it would be wrong to say that having the insurance in place was not linked to what we came up with, all the decision-making was done through the lens of being uninsured,” Slumbers said. “We would have come to the same conclusion, irrespective of that. We were fortunate to have insurance. That protects part of our expenses, and we are working though all of that with the insurers at the moment. But it was independent of the final decision. [Slumbers would not say how much the insurance cost, how much the R&A has or will receive as payment or what it covered.] The All-England Tennis Club at Wimbledon was in the same position. They had an identical policy, and they canceled their championship, too.”

Yes we know.

While I know some fault them, I don’t sense many question the call and look forward to a return next year.

Bubba Watson Opens Up On Anxiety Issues: "I thought I was going to die"

Bubba Watson spoke to USA Today’s Steve DiMeglio about anxiety issues that have crippled his game at times and sent the former world No. 2 to dark places he never imagined.

It’s an important read so hit the link. But the happy setup:

But Watson has emerged on the other side, saying he’s feeling as good as he has in a very long time. And helping him battle the anxiety is talking about it.

“I’ve sought help in many different ways, many different forms, trying to overcome it,” Watson said. “It really comes down to me being nuts. I’m trying to make light of it because using humor helps. But it’s all in my head. It’s all anxiety.

“I think more people are speaking out about mental issues and I want to be one of them. I think it’s the only way to get through it. We’re designed to talk to people, to air it out, and get help. I am old enough now to realize my life is a waste if I don’t share, if I don’t try to get better myself so I can help other people.”

Over the years, Watson has often said he needs help, that he fears many things, including flying, crowded spaces, the spotlight, and now COVID-19. He worries about being a good father, good husband, good Christian, a good friend.

Pure golf obervation here: Watson’s tee to fringe game looks to be in fine form. He was incredibly focused at the recent ZOZO Championship, noticeably calmer in demeanor and moving the balls in ways no other player can. Look out if the two-time Masters champion continues this trend and finds his touch on the greens in a couple of weeks.