"So much for France’s Ryder Cup legacy."

With the European Tour’s 2021 schedule announced this week noticeably missing the French Open, Alistair Tait reminds us of the many perks the 2018 Ryder Cup would bring to French golf.

It was a tremendous event and Le Golf National will host Olympic golf’s far-less captivating 72-hole stroke play events in 2024, but Tait highlights the ostentatious claims made by organizers in bidding for the Cup. Besides the securing a prime date and purse for the French Open, there were grow-the game numbers that seemed outlandish at the time. Because they were.

And don’t forget the very noble dreams of 100 par-3 courses that hasn’t happened.

Still, it’s a bit surprising given the huge economic impact of the Cup and European Tour win suggests it was a one-off. Just a year after the Cup, the French Open was downgraded by the European Tour and as Tait points out, the game is not declining in France, but the one million golfer number dreamed up as a result of the French Open-Ryder Cup combo is not happening.

According to KPMG’s Golf Participation Report, there were 410,377 registered golfers (golf club members) in 2010. One year before the match, the same Participation Report showed a slightly lower figure of 410,171. Last year, KPMG reported a French participation figure of 412,726, a 0.62% growth year on year.

It might be a wee while before Levet realises his one million golfers dream.

There was talk of a plethora of new courses opening thanks to the successful Ryder Cup bid. Latest figures show there are 607 courses in France. There were 574 in 2010. An increase, but hardly a golf course construction boom.

What does this have to do with the French Open? Good question, but I would have thought Ryder Cup success would have had companies queueing up to sponsor the French Open. The tournament, one of the oldest on the European Tour calendar, wasn’t played this year for obvious reasons. Perhaps it’s not surprising it isn’t on the 2021 schedule considering its fall down the European pecking order last year.

After two years as a $7 million Rolex Series tournament, it came with a $1.78 million prize fund last year. The 2018 French Open featured Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Graeme McDowell, Tommy Fleetwood, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matt Wallace, Lee Westwood and winner Alex Noren. It had a strength of field rating of 288, fifth strongest European event outside the majors and WGCs. Last year that rating fell to 51, joint sixth lowest on the schedule, as Nicolas Colsaerts won in a field short name players.

With the constant uncertainty of the Italian Open and 2022 (now 2023) Ryder Cup in Italy, it is hard not to wonder if the pandemic will bring an end to how Europe packages its Cups from a highest-bid approach to going with the best courses and letting the economics fall into place? I know, absurd.

"From Earl to Tiger to Charlie, how golf is passed down from Woods to Woods"

As this weekend’s PNC Challenge nears and Tiger Woods tees up with his 11-year-old son Charlie, Bob Harig at ESPN.com reminds of the parenting and golf mentoring approach of Earl Woods vs what we know so far from Tiger.

Sure, Tiger could turn into one of those parents but it’s hard to see this happening…

As far as we know, Charlie has no "team'' around him at this point other than his dad. But early on, Earl developed the concept of Team Tiger, and it included his first coach, Rudy Duran, and Jay Brunza, a Navy captain and clinical psychologist who often caddied for Tiger but also helped him with the mental side of the game.

One other fun component to the weekend parent/grandparent-child-stepchild-third cousin gathering of top players: Joe LaCava Jr. will be on the bag for young Charlie, reports GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport.

Ringer: "What Happened to Tiger Tracker, Golf’s Most Beloved Twitter Account?"

Hell of a read here.

Though somewhat uncorrelated, how Golf Channel handled the *one* authentic thing they had speaks volumes as to why there’s a glaring absence of relatable, original programming on the network. https://t.co/uqAVkhplns

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) December 16, 2020

There should be so many painful elements in reading John Gonzalez’s Ringer account of Golf Channel’s Tiger Tracker and the accounts’ demise.

While it’s obviously a first world account of a silly-fun social media account, it’s also the story of a the brutal implosion of a Golf Channel staple that no beancounter could fully appreciate. After all, the GCTigerTracker did not generate revenue but in the world of “content” it did connect fans to the channel in ways no accountant or, as the story notes, even executives could grasp.

So while this is a look at TT’s demise, it’s also a devastating look into the point-missing that is quickly taking a once wildly successful 25-year-old start-up into no man’s land. Some of the details here should raise alarm bells with Golf Channel and NBC’s partners, particularly because the writer in question admittedly knows little about golf or the account, yet with some digging, was able to grasp the insanity of destroying the kind of authentic, slightly crazy and sometimes captivating connection the account made with “consumers.”

Please read the entire piece, but this from Gonzalez is particularly brutal regarding TT’s resurfacing at the 2020 Masters.

According to Tracker, executives at the company didn’t understand why, in the wake of layoffs that gutted the Golf Channel staff, TT didn’t have the manpower to cover the Zozo Championship just as it always had. In fact, the bosses didn’t know the most basic details, like how to log into the account. They didn’t even have the password. Ultimately, Tracker skipped the October event, the first tournament TT missed that Woods played in since the handle launched eight years earlier. Fans noticed.

“I sat and watched people lose their freaking minds when Zozo was going on,” Tracker said.

The discontent over the discontinued account finally registered with the brass, who realized that they ought to get the handle tweeting again for the Masters, considering Woods was the defending champion. But here again, there was a disconnect about what that required. Tracker says Geoff Russell, a senior vice president and executive editor for Golf Channel, wondered if maybe TT’s Masters responsibilities could be outsourced to a freelance golf writer who had never worked on the account before and didn’t know its voice, which confirmed what Tracker thought—that the bosses “didn’t understand.” (Russell did not respond to several requests for comment.)

Castle Stuart Gets The Cookie Jar Golf Treatment

I’ve recently posted short films Cookie Jar Golf’s wonderful storytelling on Scottish golf, including their important work to help save Cleeve Hill and on historic Brora’s fight for survival this year.

This week they launched a new piece on the magnificent Castle Stuart by Hanse Design and the late Mark Parsinen. It was great to see the former Scottish Open host and think of better days when folks can return to the incredible golf destination of greater Inverness:

In the early 2000s the American visionary, Mark Parsinen, began planning the design of a golf course on the Moray Firth. Parsinen had been closely involved w...

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.