European Tour Rolls "Expansive" Schedule With 42 Events But Major Reduction In Premier

The obvious positives? The 2021 European Tour is going to play 42 times, with 18 events lost to the misery that is 2020 returning. Scheduling is designed to reduce travel and the European Tour sounds like it continues to take COVID very seriously.

The but?

Just four Rolex Series events featuring the PGA Tour-level purses attracting top players, down three from last year’s plan. Low purses dominate and sadly, several events are TBD on the payout front but the tour is touting “increased prize funds” given the slight bumps from 2020.

For Immediate Release:

The European Tour today announces its 2021 schedule which will feature a minimum of 42 tournaments in 24 countries, as golf’s global Tour resumes a full international programme.

Running from January to November, the schedule also features 18 returning tournaments which were either postponed or cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 season is headlined by a refined Rolex Series which now features the European Tour’s four premium events spread across key points in the global golfing calendar, each one enhanced by a prize fund increase, elevated Race to Dubai points and enriched media, content and broadcast coverage.

Launched in 2017, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour, the Rolex Series highlights the Swiss watch manufacturer’s ongoing commitment to the sport at the highest level. 

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (January 21-24), the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open (July 8-11) and the BMW PGA Championship (September 9-12) will each now have a prize fund of US$8million – an increase of $1million. They will also all have 8,000 Race to Dubai points available, the same as on offer at the four World Golf Championship events.

There will also be new opportunities for all players to qualify for both the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship with three places now available from respective mini orders of merit based on a series of European Tour events leading up to them. Full details of these will be announced in due course.

The prize fund for the fourth and final Rolex Series event of the season – the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – also increases by US$1 million to US$9 million. The European Tour season-ending finale will also continue to feature the largest winner’s cheque in the world of golf - US$3million – with, additionally, 12,000 Race to Dubai points available, some 2,000 points above those on offer at the four Major Championships.  

While not in a position to announce the prize funds for all 2021 tournaments at this stage, some key points are:

• Prize funds for all four UK Swing events in July / August will be increased

• The second event of the UK Swing (July 29-Aug 1) – whose details will be announced early next year – will be co-sanctioned with the LET/LPGA

• The UK Swing will have a Bonus Pool for the players in addition to a charity element

• Prize funds for the new tournaments in Tenerife and Gran Canaria in April will each be €1.5million. The Portugal Masters, which follows these two events, will also increase to €1.5million

• Prize fund for the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett will rise to €2million from €1.25million

• Prize funds for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Italian Open will each rise to €3million, from €1.25million and €1million respectively

In addition to increased prize fund levels, the 2021 European Tour season also offers considerable playing opportunities across the 11 months with a schedule intended to reduce travelling wherever possible. 

Illustrating that point, in addition to the traditional group of tournaments in the Middle East at the start of the year, the schedule also includes the return of the Iberian Swing in April and the UK Swing in July and August, which follows on from the run of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and The Open Championship. Also next to each other on the schedule are the Open de España and the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters in Spain in the first two weeks of October followed by the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco the following week.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “I am incredibly proud to announce our 2021 global schedule today, one that once again sees us journey through continents and across the world.

“With the pursuit of Ryder Cup points beginning again in January for our European members; qualification spots now available for our Rolex Series events; a sustained pursuit of innovation and a continued celebration of our wonderful heritage, it is understandable that our overarching narrative for this season is that: ‘Every Week Counts.’

“There is no question that the challenge of reshaping our 2020 season in many ways informed our approach to 2021. One of the key learnings was to group events together in terms of their geographical location to create a more travel friendly season for our members. That is reflected in numerous concentrations of event locations. 

“Another was to continue to enhance our Rolex Series events at strategic points in the global golfing calendar when the European Tour will be the focal point of golf on the world stage. This is one of the many aspects we will continue to develop in our Strategic Alliance discussions with the PGA Tour, following our historic partnership announcement last month. 

“Our events in the initial part of the 2021 season will continue to operate under the guidelines of our world-class Health Strategy, which will evolve aligned to the latest medical advice.

“However, with the incredible progress that has been made in recent months in terms of a vaccine, we look forward to hopefully welcoming the gradual return of the fans we’ve so dearly missed, whilst at the same time continuing to entertain viewers at home through our unrivalled World Feed TV output and across our award-winning digital platforms.”                                                                

Ratings: Women's U.S. Open Was Not Worth Watching To Much Of An Audience

The rescheduled U.S. Women’s Open ratings reality was obvious to everyone but, apparently, those behind last week’s ill-timed “Women Worth Watching” campaign.

2020 has taught us that sports fans just aren’t into championship golf outside of their normal playing windows. So even though we’ve seen declines for all of the rescheduled majors—with the Masters and U.S. Open taking the biggest plunges—it did not take a doctorate to know that 2020 U.S. Women’s Open ratings would set record lows due to the timing, competition and overall trends.

Not the year to tell everyone Women are worth watching when nothing could reverse the trend. Which made the suffocating rollout of a “brand campaign” perplexing, particularly knowing how many meetings and dollars are spent to orchestrate the pretend-to-be-natural “content” (aka paid filler). The relentless hashtags, paid influencer endorsements, and force integration of the campaign even by media covering the event was all a really cool new thing back in 2018. But in 2020? It came off as desperate and ill-timed. At best. With 3000 Americans dying a day from COVID-19 last week, this would have been a good year for the USGA to remain quiet in the branding onslaught department.

Throw in Golf Channel sticking with the QBE Shootout’s live window when the Friday play was expedited due to forecasted weather, and the women were not even deemed worth watching live by the decision makers who were peddling the inopportune campaign.

Showbuzzdaily reports some of the numbers from A Lim Kim’s stunning win and they are dismal for a major. I’m still searching for Saturday’s third round on NBC and Monday’s rain-delayed finale** on Golf Channel. Sunday’s rainout consisted of a third round replay not noted in the Showbuzzdaily roundup.

**The final round on Golf Channel did not make the top 150 cable shows for Monday, December 14th. A .03 rating was needed to crack the lineup. The previous all-time low final round rating (.5) on Fox occurred last year according to Sports Media Watch.

Shows that beat the rain-delayed final round of the U.S. Women’s Open:

Morning Drive R.I.P.; Shane Bacon Joins "Golf Today"

As a contributor to Morning Drive over the years, seeing the news made officially near the end of this release announcing Shane Bacon’s hiring by Golf Channel was bittersweet. In its near-decade the show once was an important part of the daily lineup and a place where so many announcements, initiatives and other news was broken. But, as with so much related to the Golf Channel these days, the future is focused on showing tournaments, rebroadcasts of the same rounds and very little programming as Comcast shifts to a streaming focus.

As longtime viewers of the show will know, someone I respect tremendously and who brought enormous golf knowledge and insight, is not included in today’s news release:

GOLF TODAY – NEW DAILY GOLF CHANNEL PROGRAM – DEBUTS MONDAY, JAN. 4, 2021

Shane Bacon Joins GOLF Channel and NBC; Serves as Golf Today Co-Host Along With Damon Hack, Anna Whiteley and Jimmy Roberts

Golf Today to Lead Daily Conversation Across the Golf World, Drawing Upon GOLF Channel’s Roots and Representing Evolution of Morning Drive

STAMFORD, Conn. – December 15, 2020 – Golf Today – a new, live daily program that will lead and shape the daily conversation throughout the golf world – will debut Monday, January 4, 2021 on GOLF Channel, representing both a nod to GOLF Channel’s roots and the latest evolution of daily golf coverage on the network.

Shane Bacon will join GOLF Channel and NBC Sports beginning in 2021 and will serve as a co-host for Golf Today along with fellow hosts Damon Hack, Anna Whiteley and Jimmy Roberts. Bacon will also be a part of Golf Central Live From coverage and will provide play-by-play commentary and reports during GOLF Channel live tournament coverage.

“Golf Today represents a natural progression in our daily studio programming. At midday, we can lead the daily golf conversation with access to newsmakers in all time zones, Tour players on the range preparing for upcoming tournaments and live press conferences.” said Molly Solomon, executive producer, GOLF Channel. “We’re also thrilled to welcome Shane Bacon as a co-host of Golf Today. Shane has developed an avid fan base with his fresh and insightful approach across his work on golf broadcasts, social media and podcasts, and he’ll be a great fit with the Golf Today, Live From and tournament teams.”

“I’m excited to be joining the GOLF Channel and NBC family – it’s where golf happens, and I’m a golfer,” said Bacon. “The fact that I get to work with the top of the top in terms of analysts, play-by-play voices, and behind-the-scenes folks is a dream come true. I’ve known Damon for a long time and he’s the cream of the crop when it comes to golf journalism. Being a part of a new show will allow us to be creative and collaborative, lean on those ideas that we like, and build a great team together.”

Golf Today harkens back to GOLF Channel’s inaugural year of 1995, when the program of the same name served as the network’s original live tournament pre-game show. Golf Today also represents the evolution of Morning Drive, which winds down this week after kicking off weekdays on GOLF Channel for the better part of a decade. Golf Central will continue to air in its customary evening and pre- and post-event windows, with episodes re-airing on weekday mornings.

According to Golf Channel spokesperson, Morning Drive’s longest running fixture, Gary Williams, “will not be making the transition to Stamford and we wish him well in the future.”

Roundup: A Lim Kim Birdies Last Three To Win U.S. Women's Open And Hits A Trifecta Of Incredible “Firsts”

As always hit the links for some great reads on a captivating finish to an otherwise dreary last couple of days in soggy Houston where A Lim Kim improbably captured the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open.

From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek lede:

A Lim Kim’s first professional title fittingly came at the 2018 Se Ri Pak Invitational. It might have been Pak’s 1998 U.S. Women’s Open victory that ignited a golf surge throughout South Korea and an eventual dominance of America’s national championship, but it’s another golf icon – Annika Sorenstam – who stole Kim’s heart .

After little-known Kim aced the U.S. Women’s Open in her first attempt, becoming only the fifth player in championship history to do so, the USGA set up a video call with Sorenstam.

“Thank you so much! I love you!” a giddy Kim exclaimed.

Reporting from Houston, there was this from Doug Ferguson’s game story on the improbability of Kim’s win:

A two-time winner on the Korean LPGA, Kim got into the U.S. Women's Open off the world ranking when the pandemic kept the USGA from conducting open qualifying. She had slipped to No. 94, the lowest-ranked player to win the Open since the women's world ranking began in 2006.

She is the second non-LPGA member to win a major this year, joining Sophia Popov at the Women's British Open. She also is the third South Korean to win a major.

More firsts from Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story, also filed from Houston:

Kim held on to win by one stroke over World No. 1 Jin Young Ko (68) and Amy Olson (72), giving her the title in her first career start in a major and her first tournament played in the United States. She also tied the record for the largest comeback in tournament history.

And the mask. Kim would seem to be the first major winner wearing a mask due to the pandemic. (I am going to check and see if this happened in 1918 though…).

Tod Leonard with this item on Kim’s explanation for staying covered during play.

“Every time I practice, I usually wear a mask, so I’m kind of used to it,” Kim said through an interpreter during her champion’s press conference. “I’m OK to get positive tests for COVID-19, but I don’t want to affect other people, players, a caddie that’s playing within the group, so that’s the reason I wear the mask throughout the round.”

Which reminds, if she can birdie the last three holes to win the U.S. Open wearing a mask, in her first U.S. Open, her first start in America and oh yeah, her first major, you can wear one to driving range tough guys!

I don’t often note the winning sticks, but a woman playing Mizuno’s is always nice to see given September’s controversy when there were questions about the company interest in supporting elite female golfers.

Mike Johnson with her specs and mixed iron set over at GolfDigest.com.

Justin Ray penned 10 things to note from the final round worth checking out, including this:

3. Kim improved her precision iron play every day on the Cypress Creek Course. In Round 2, she had an average approach shot proximity of 44 feet, 8 inches. Saturday, that number improved to 40 feet, 11 inches. The final round was another level altogether, though, as her average proximity was at about 31 feet. On a day where the field averaged fewer than 10 greens in regulation, Kim hit 14.

A few more items from the USGA staff notes:

• Kim’s strokes gained of 7.43 was the second-best in a final round by a U.S. Women’s Open champion. Meg Mallon, who shot a 65 to win the 2004 title, owns the best mark of 7.88.

• A closing birdie gave University of Texas All-American Kaitlyn Papp low-amateur honors by two strokes over 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Gabriela Ruffels and Maja Stark, of Sweden. Papp started the day tied for fifth, four strokes off the lead. She closed with a 3-over 74 to finish tied for ninth and an exemption into the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club next June.

A few social highlights, starting with that finishing birdie stretch and followed by a call from Annika.

WHAT A FINISH!

A Lim Kim with birdies on 16, 17 *and* 18 to take the outright lead at the 75th #USWomensOpen#WomenWorthWatching pic.twitter.com/gqe0UNkVqj

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) December 14, 2020

A special phone call from one champion to another.

Thanks @ANNIKA59! #USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/8j14Lb6rXk

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) December 14, 2020

ESPN+ To Start PGA Tour Featured Group Coverage A Year Early, Holes TBA Each Day

PGA Tour Live pre-broadcast coverage moves from the glitchy NBC Sports platform to ESPN+ in 2022 and I’m fairly certainly the immediate technological wonders and affordable bundle will be a hit.

Even better, we now learn that current subscribers will get to stream featured-hole coverage from 23 PGA Tour events in 2021, a huge perk and yet another mysterious waiving of the white flag by current streaming partner NBC.

For Immediate Release:

ESPN+ and the PGA TOUR have reached an agreement for ESPN+ to stream live, featured-hole coverage from 23 PGA TOUR events in 2021, starting with the Farmers Insurance Open in January and continuing through the FedExCup Playoffs and the TOUR Championship in September. The new agreement follows a similar pact that covered 12 events in 2020 and comes ahead of the launch of PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, as part of the nine-year U.S. rights agreement announced in March, which begins in 2022.

 In 2021, ESPN+ will stream coverage of two featured holes on Saturday and Sunday of each event (selected each day of competition by the PGA TOUR), concurrent with the full telecast on CBS or NBC. 

This is an intriguing twist, which, in theory will allow the coverage to take advantage of a possible twist in course setup or based on early round play. Or, Saturday’s hole turns out to be uneventful and they pivot to another. Love it.

The schedule for 2021 weekend featured hole coverage on ESPN+

Chamblee Gives Us One Final Tour Of Golf Channel's Orlando Home

I’ve yet to see any plans announced by Golf Channel parent company Comcast or NBC Sports to send off the Orlando campus in style—or even acknowledge the end. So we’ll have to rely on this somber-but-respectful iPhone tour from Brandel Chamblee who shows off the many incredible elements headed for the trash bin of corporate consolidation history.

As someone who was an occasional guest there, it was hard to watch knowing how several hundred great folks won’t be returning to tell stories about the game they love. (Not to mention the effect this will have on what’s left of the “product” beyond reruns of tournament rounds.)

Founded 25 years ago, the operation has been geographically downscaled by Comcast and is moving to Stamford, Connecticut where original programming, features and other staples of the channel will not making the journey to that golfing mecca home of NBC Sports.

The studios Chamblee takes us through include one named for co-founder Arnold Palmer, who christened the new home of Morning Drive just seven years ago.

Thanks for this Brandel:

Olson Suffers Unimaginable Loss On Eve Of Rain-Delayed U.S. Women's Open Finale

With a U.S. Women’s Open Monday finish at Champions, Amy Olson sits just one shot back of Hinako Shibuno. But the former North Dakota State star will be playing with unimaginable sadness after learning of her father-in-law’s unexpected passing on Saturday.

Beth Ann Nichols deftly handles this heartbreaking story for the Olson family.

The updated TV times for Monday’s finish where Shibuno aims to win her second major of 2020:

The 75th #USWomensOpen will resume on Monday morning at 9 a.m. ET (8 a.m. local time in Houston).

Broadcast coverage can be found on @GolfChannel from 9 a.m. ET to 3 p.m. ET. pic.twitter.com/RVyhBZXvtS

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) December 13, 2020

Twitterers Make Clear Kuchar's Frugalgate Past Has Not Been Forgotten

While Matt Kuchar and Harris English’s dominant QBE Shootout will be forgotten quickly—if it was watched at all—but Kuchar’s past caddie frugalness dominated the comment section of an otherwise nice PGA Tour tweet devoted to his son.

Cameron Kuchar, who will play with his dad in the upcoming PNC Challenge, looped for the old man at QBE and Twitter readers made clear they are concerned about the lad’s winning compensation.

You can read all of the replies here. A sampling should someone accidentally hit the delete key.

Whew, Race To Dubai: Westwood Claims Third Vardon Trophy

The European Tour averted a silly Race to Dubai outcome with Lee Westwood becoming the oldest player to ever take the season-long points race. Scenarios included players with no starts in Europe and one with just two leading going into the final event.

Instead, a longtime European Tour member who supported his tour in the pandemic-shortened season took the title.

From Ewan Murray’s Guardian story on the win by Westwood becoming the oldest winner of the prize, as well as Matthew Fitzpatrick’s tournament victory by one over Westwood.

“The motivation’s never changed,” Westwood said. “I get up each day and do the job I love. I’ve always wanted to be a golfer and I don’t want it to end, so I’m prepared to keep working hard and put myself in the line of fire and try to get into contention in tournaments.

“It’s where I’m most comfortable and what I love doing. I love the work away from the course and the gym and on the range, the hard work that people don’t see, I love that. I don’t need to motivate myself very often.”

With muted celebrations, this was Westwood’s reception in the player lounge:

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McKellar Journal Issue 4 Available And Now All Four Issues Get The Boxed Set Treatment

Longtime readers know I tend to advocate the post-Christmas, what-can-we-buy-that-no-one-got-us guy. And in 2020 I plan no shortage of efforts to highlight the many nice holiday treats from big and small operations who make the sport just that much better.

But before I hopefully send you to those deals, my McKellar issue 4 arrived today and it’s another beauty from Tom Dunne and Lawrence Donegan.

You can see just some of the stories here.

I contributed a short piece on the importance of a golf course name and what they tell you about the architecture.

Even more exciting? The first four issues can now be purchased in a boxed set for just $60, a magnificent holiday gift for anyone with a shred of golfing taste. Check it out here. It’s beautifully done. Not to mention housing a rich presentation of writers, views and places in golf.

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Slugger, Russell Speak On Retirement And Huge Changes In Rules Administration World

Adam Schupak does a nice job packing a lot into this story and Q&A on golf losing a combined 160 years of experience at the top of the rules administration game. The players: White, Russell, Paramor and McPhee. Sounds like a law firm!

In the U.S., as reported here Monday, Slugger White and Mark Russell will be winding down their PGA Tour days as tournament directors and officials. White is hanging up his walky talky sooner while Russell will take a longer last lap around the country as he hands things over to Gary Young.

But the loss of golf’s four most prominent faces at applying the Rules of Golf at essentially the same time begs the question: how do the PGA Tour and European Tour begin to replace that institutional knowledge?

“The most important thing to me over the years that I thought I was responsible for was hiring the best possible people,” Russell said. “I’m extremely proud of the people that Slugger and I have hired and I’m sure it will carry on.”

“It’s a lot of years and you take a lot of experience with you,” White said. “I hope I’ve given some of that experience out and I’ll be around for a little bit. They know what they’re doing and they’ll be fine.”

In the Q&A White tells the story of his first ruling after retiring as a player. Of course, it was Jack Nicklaus who called for an official.

PGA Tour Outlines A Very Sensible Early Season Return Of Limited Fans*

Of course you know it’s *Scottsdale that wants 8000 a day and to continue its (indoor) corporate hospitality. A move which, combined with the uh, clientele, seems like a recipe for disaster. And there are the optics which are dicey in the best of times.

Their plans also seem bold after the Houston Open experiment was capped at a purported 2000 a day and did not exactly give the impression we’re quite ready as a society to gather in huge crowds. I mean, 2000 a day.

Otherwise, the plans for early season events are impressively conservative, restrained and in compliance with local officials, no doubt an arduous and painful process to work through.

Especially when there is the Waste Management Open still wanting to do its thing, albeit scaled down. Brian Wacker writes for GolfDgiest.com:

The tournament with the highest annual attendance on tour—in 2018 it had a record 719,179 fans for the week—will allow up to 8,000 fans per day next year, by far the most of any PGA Tour event to date. Scott Jenkins, who is chairing the tournament for the host organizers, The Thunderbirds, in 2021, told Golf Digest last month that the plan was to build a one-story structure to accommodate fans at the par-3 16th, which has in recent years had a three-story grandstand surrounding most of the hole.

We can only hope they build it in way that is well ventilated. spaced and limited, but it’s also a bit amazing they want to take the chance.

Rustic Carnage Caught On Tape: 60 MPH Gusting Santa Ana Winds For SGCA Championship

Won my club championships earlier this yr. Tourney for all champs was yesterday at Rustic Canyon. Conditions were brutal w 30-40 mph gusts. Putts would not stay on greens. The guy putting is a +1. @thescga proly should hv cancelled https://t.co/S0NlkG2Hhp @the_fried_egg

— Andy Ho (@techtrainingtip) December 8, 2020

I’m not sensing a good time was had by all at Monday’s SCGA Tournament of Club Champions.

The event was held this year at Rustic Canyon where I spent over 200 days on site and never experienced the Santa Ana’s that in recent years prompt course closures on days like this. But I digress.

Christopher Powers at GolfDigest.com wraps up the Tweets and video postings by some, including the postings by 100-shooter Andy Ho, the club champion at The Vineyard who enjoyed the course during Sunday’s low 70s, wind-free practice round (just saying).

Powers writes:

The wind was so bad that it caused 24 players to withdraw, in addition to one DNF (did not finish) and one NS (no start). It's hard to blame them after hearing what it was like from someone who played in the event. Andy Ho, who won his club championship at The Vineyard GC and shot 100 on Monday, tweeted out some inside info:

The full, agonizing video of the antics at 16 green were posted here by Ho.

And there was this:

Incredibly, Ho's 100 was not the high score of the event. Six players shot higher scores, including a 51-over 123. Just two players broke 80, the winning score a six-over 78 from Silver Lakes CC's Ricky Montanez. In another tweet, Ho claimed that there was just one birdie carded in his foursome the entire day, and it came from a player who also made a 10, 12 and an 18. That player is Grant Beachley, who shot the 123:

But a huge tip of the cap to Beachley for finishing the round and posting. You have my full admiration and the Golf Gods must some day reward your persistence.

Sound on:

Here’s a 10-second clip for ya. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/dTK0cVxlVn

— Andy Ho (@techtrainingtip) December 9, 2020

Wait, What? Reed, Morikawa Vie For European Tour's Race To Dubai After Just Two Combined Non-U.S. Starts

There are lame season-long points races and then there are just plain non-sensical, credibility-zappers. While the pandemic undoubtedly cut into the chances of leader Patrick Reed or contender Collin Morikawa from a spot start or two in Europe, that leader Reed played twice outside of the U.S. (Saudi Arabia, Wentworth) and Morikawa has zero Continental starts, making this week’s concluding competition all a bit absurd.

But as Derek Lawrenson reports, one of the “Race” contenders who did play a robust European Tour schedule, Lee Westwood, defends the format on the grounds that Reed and Morikawa turned up in Dubai.

“I can see why people might consider it weird if he won the race but we waived the rules on the number of events you have to be play for reasons we all understand,” said the veteran Englishman. 'I'd rather give him the credit for coming over here and playing. He's seizing his chance to make history owing to his major win and the pandemic.

Reed goes into the season finale starting Thursday in pole position, but Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood and Westwood all have their fate in their own hands, knowing a victory would be sufficient to dislodge the former Masters champion.

The Race purse has been lowered to $7.5 million from $10 million, with $1.5 million going to that season-long winner.

The Ball Goes Too Far Files: U.S. Women's Open Features In-Range Fences To Stop Shots

Photo of Houston’s wall by Golf.com’s Zephyr Melton

This week’s U.S. Women’s Open host has a two-sided range tee and 300 yards between the two. But as players now travel with foam rollers, eat more protein than carbs and are far superior athletes to any generation to ever play the game, ther was not enough room at Champions Golf Club, apparently.

From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story of 2020’s second bizarro “wall” at a women’s major:

The range is 300 yards long, and the fencing on each side is only about 30 yards in front of where players are teeing off, meaning it makes for not just an awkward look, but awkward shots, too.

“I'm not thrilled about it, to be honest with you,” said Danielle Kang, who is making her first start since a runner-up finish at the LPGA Drive On Championship-Reynolds Lake Oconee in late October. “I do a lot of wedge work. I do my wedge numbers with head covers every single day, so that's kind of bringing in a lot of obstacles for me.”

Zephyr Melton broke down the silly situation for Golf.com and noted another issue besides the oddity of hitting over a normal-height chain link fence.

For tech-reliant players, though, the barrier still presents a problem, because it impedes Trackman monitors from zeroing in down range on pins and can make for some wonky numbers.

“We just had to figure that out ourselves,” said native Texan Cheyenne Knight. “It’s different, but maybe after the cut they’ll take it down — it’s kind of weird.”

September’s ANA Inspiration featured an in-play fence/wall at the 18th green in place of a corporate tent, impacting the finish and earning its “Great Wall of Dinah” nickname from writer Beth Ann Nichols.