Today In Much Needed Distractionary Content: Cookie Jar Golf Takes Us To Musselburgh, East Lothian

As the classy purveyors at Cookie Jar Golf understate in their description for the latest video, “The game of golf owes a lot to this little stretch of East Lothian linksland. “

Longtime readers know of my affinity for Musselburgh and the entire East Lothian region for its incredible variety of links and importance in fostering the game.

This could not have landed at a better time for those seeking much needed distractionary content. Video one focuses on Musselburgh, the second is a longer piece on their fall trip to East Lothian. Enjoy!

Sports Will Be Watching: Augusta To Welcome Back A Limited Number Of Patrons

Just a quick glance at today’s news and the sports world is still struggling with various pandemic related issues. The NBA is teetering on the brink of disaster with its non-bubble season. I’ll pause here to let you feign surprise.

And Major League Baseball is squabbling with the players union opposed to vaccination, so they’re going to play a full season and hope to welcome back fans asap. I’d expect more but then the Astros still have their 2017 banner hanging in their glorified Costco so…

Maybe that’s why I’m hoping the Lords of Augusta will have something more…anything.

My latest Quadrilateral letter to subscribers and still free as I ween you on this fun new writing format.

Thanks to all who have shown amazing faith in just four days since launching, I’m honored by your trust in my work and in Substack’s delivery.

Also, apologies to subscribers that I referred to the press release today as arriving on Monday. Yes, it was Tuesday, my apologies and the web version reflects that.

Every day feels like a Monday right now.

Masters: Limited Number Of Patrons In 2021, ANWA And Drive, Chip and Putt To Happen

Plenty of questions to ponder reading between the lines here and I’ve reached out to the Club for any illumination they can provide regarding what will be needed to attend and how they are selecting the lucky few.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, announced today that the Club intends tolimit attendance at the 85th Masters Tournament, scheduled for April 5-11, 2021. The Tournament will be conducted with similar health and safety standards to those previously instituted in November 2020. With these protocols in place, efforts are being made to include a limited number of patrons, provided it can be done safely.

“Following the successful conduct of the Masters Tournament last November with only essential personnel, we are confident in our ability to responsibly invite a limited number of patrons to Augusta National in April,” Ridley said. “As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance. Nothing is, or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved. While we are disappointed that we will be unable to accommodate a full complement of patrons this year, we will continue our efforts to ensure that all who purchased tickets from Augusta National will have access in 2022, provided conditions improve.”

In addition, Ridley announced that the Club intends to conduct the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals as scheduled. Both of these competitions also intend to host a small number of patrons. Augusta National is in the process of communicating with all ticket holders of record, and refunds will be issued to those patrons not selected to attend.

Ratings Non-Shocker: NFL Playoffs Relegate PGA Tour To Bottom Of Ratings Barrel

For your definition of insanity files: the PGA Tour annually tries to play at the same time as NFL playoff games and no one watches. With expanded playoffs in 2021, the NFL added a game each weekend day and the Sentry Tournament Of (Some) Champions stood little chance.

Showbuzzdaily.com reports Sunday’s early coverage drew an average of a million viewers on NBC, but about 40% of those watchers did not head to Golf Channel for the conclusion.

Saturday’s third round coverage was out-rated by Thursday and Friday coverage. It landed in Saturday’s cable listings with a 1 am episode of Dateline and episodes of Ryan’s Mystery Play Date on Nick Jr network. Yikes.

The final round .39 on Golf Channel matched last year’s final round .39, but as the numbers show, the miniscule number from coveted demo is headed in the wrong direction.

One ray of good news?

Golf on NBC was not the lowest rated sports broadcast on linear TV. Not even close. Sunday’s early coverage drummed both Drone Racing AND Supercross 1Q1!

"A Different Order Of Magnitude" For Trump In Losing Major Championship Ties

There was no intention to neglect the blog this week for The Quadrilateral but as I mentioned in explaining the newsletter, major championship news happens year-round.

Today I recap Donald Trump’s not-surprising reaction to the PGA and R&A cutting all ties with the outgoing President and also have a lighter note on the 2022 betting race.

Yes, you can get a price on venues decided on by a board of golf professionals. What a world.

Slowing Down Golf Courses Is Not A Distance Debate Solution

Several sent along Dr. Chamblee’s latest distance elixir, his 43rd pivot on a topic Golf Channel’s lead analyst has adopted to the detriment of his otherwise compelling analysis work. And it hasn’t even brought a certain Massachusetts advertiser back into the fold.

I won’t waste much time highlighting his view that you slow down home runs by raising the infield grass, but that is the case being made to deal with today’s absurd carry distances. But remember, these are back to back sentences as they appeared on GolfChannel.com:

But there is also a graph which shows, quite clearly, players’ increased visits to the fitness van plots the line of the increased yardage gained over the last 40 years. I’d argue that one could also make a graph where the increased driving distance, to some extent, corresponds to the decreased fairway heights, which over the last 30 years have come down from being cut at 3/4 of an inch, to now being cut at 3/16 of an inch.

Yes, you read correctly: he went from players going to fitness vans to get their distance gains “to some extent” corresponding with lowering mowing heights.

Actually, no extent.

There was also a whopper of a misrepresentation that might have been fact-checked if they hadn’t fired most of the editors. Chamblee’s claim of most fairways getting cut at 3/16th of an inch was refuted by the USGA’s Championship Agronomist on Twitter:

Vast, vast majority of courses are not routinely cutting fairways below 1/4 inch, not even close. Not even at the Tour courses.

— Darin Bevard (@DarinBevard) January 6, 2021

This was all really a roundabout way to point out that last weekend’s Sentry Tournament Of Some Champions was hard to watch. The views and whale shots were as spectacular as ever, but Kapalua’s Plantation course was a sponge.

A Coore-Crenshaw design to played on the ground with the ball running had taken on a lot of rain leading up to the tournament, hasn’t played faster after the renovation designed to help it do so, and therefore called on little creativity or shotmaking. It played longer, yes, but it was also tough to find remotely compelling.

Every course plays better firmer and faster. Harvesting rough, slowing down fairways and attempting to mute technology-fueled gains via agronomy is not only a woeful idea, it goes against the very soul of a game built on firm ground.

Does anyone want to sacrifice a core principle of golf to avoid taking 10% of carry away from 1000 golf pros? Trying to watch lush and lifeless Kapalua should give you the answer.

R&A: No Return To Trump Turnberry Any Time Soon

This has always been the position since Donald Trump’s purchase of Turnberry but post events of 1-6-21 the R&A has codified its stance on what is one of the very best courses in their "rota”.

STATEMENT FROM THE R&A
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A:

“We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future. We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.”

The Replacements: PGA Of America's Best Options For 2022

Another edition of The Quadrilateral because, as I forewarned back in Saturday night’s first edition, breaking news would warrant extra editions.

With the PGA of America leaving Trump Bedminster, I look at the options for a venue on short notice. It’s not as easy as you think.

The latest edition of The Quadrilateral. It’s free to subscribe. And if you weren’t here for Saturday night’s big rollout, the website FAQ page should answer most questions.

PGA of America President: "It has become clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the PGA of America brand"

In a video sent to the PGA of America membership not long after the organization board voted to terminate its contract with 2022 PGA site Trump Bedminster, Jim Richerson read this statement in a video sent to PGA of America members. (Thanks to all who forwarded.)

The key lines should the hostage be rescued and the video taken down:

“It has become clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the PGA of America brand and would put at risk the PGA of America’s ability to deliver our many programs and sustain the longevity of our mission. Our board has thus made the decision to exercise our right to terminate the contract to hold the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster. It was a decision made to ensure the PGA of America and the PGA professionals can continue to lead and grow our great game for decades to come.”

It’s a tad alarming the PGA “brand” was mentioned but we get the drift. Plenty of folks would have suggested the statement was relevant years ago. It took an insurrection attempt against the United States by the sitting president to put them over the edge. This is where we are.

The Trump organization has issued a statement as quoted in this ABCNews story:

"We have had a beautiful partnership with the PGA of America and are incredibly disappointed with their decision," said a spokesperson for The Trump Organization. "This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement. As an organization we have invested many, many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster. We will continue to promote the game of golf on every level and remain focused on operating the finest golf courses anywhere in the world."

**CEO Seth Waugh also mentioned the brand and suggested the situation is not of the PGA’s own in comments to AP, as noted here

"We find ourselves in a political situation not of our making," Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA of America, said in a telephone interview. "We're fiduciaries for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand. And how do we best protect that? Our feeling was given the tragic events of Wednesday that we could no longer hold it at Bedminster. The damage could have been irreparable. The only real course of action was to leave."

Update on the 2022 PGA Championship from PGA of America on Vimeo.

PGA Of America Searching For Trump Bedminster Replacement

**Well not long after this went up, the PGA of America board voted to rescind the event and posted this statement on Twitter:

"The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster." — Jim Richerson, PGA of America President

— PGA of America (@PGA) January 11, 2021

I thought I’d be easing into The Quadrilateral but the beauty of the newsletter format? I could send out news on the PGA Championship and Trump Bedminster.

My reporting is a bit more careful in characterizing the timing and status of the PGA of America’s effort to leave the 2022 PGA site. The situation is still developing, which is news itself for those reading between the lines.

My reporting certainly differs than some fairly oddball recklessness that I note in the item: NJ.com taking a prediction by Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch and making it news.

Signing up to The Quadrilateral is free for now, check out the item here.

In other reporting, Golf.com’s Alan Shipnuck says a few venues have emerged and that Bedminster members aren’t happy, either (Tweet since deleted).

This week in The Quadrilateral I’ll be breaking down these venues and other options that have been mentioned by sources. It’s trickier to find a venue on short notice than you might think.

Just spoke to a key source close to the '22 PGA. They say it's a done deal that it will be moved from Trump Bedminister but the PGA is waiting until post-inauguration to announce. Southern Hills/Liberty National are the top contenders as a landing spot. Shoal Creek making a push.

— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) January 10, 2021

The Quadrilateral: Majors Will Be This Decade's Superstars

After the calendar mercifully flipped I mentioned a pivot in coverage in addition to GeoffShackelford.com.

So I present to you, The Quadrilateral.

I started posting random internet items in 2003 on a clunky website before “blog” was a word. There weren’t many others in golf then and fast forward to 2021, even fewer golf newsletters today by one writer. (The Fried Egg started that way but they’ve grown and aren’t we grateful for that?)

As explained on the The Quadrilateral’s About page, I’ve come to love the format after growing attached to the missives from trusted scribes. I’ve been struck by how unencumbered they sounded thanks to a more direct, semi-private connection to readers. Also helping: the visual cleanliness, clickbait-free burden lift, a lack of cookie requests and conflict-free analysis.

I expect to bring the same with a focus on my favorite part of golf tournament coverage: the four men’s majors (and 2021 Ryder Cup).

The newsletter name is from a 1930 reference to Bobby Jones’ grand slam and to kick things off in the inaugural missive, explains why majors will be this decade’s superstars. It’s my explanation why the big four will only get more interesting as the week-to-week pro golf product falls flat.

Subscribing is free and easy thanks to Substack’s design. You’ll get a good sampling of the format and tone over the next month. But as we move closer to the majors expect fewer newsletters available unless you join.

The Quadrilateral is $5 monthly or $49 a year). I’ve also added a Founders option for $150 that will include a one-year subscription for you and a friend.

If you just want a simpler explanation of The Quadrilateral with pretty pictures, I’ve built this standalone website. There you’ll find my explanation for jumping to this format, a FAQ page and the original reference to the quadrilateral.

No questions and you’re ready to start enjoying the majors even more: just go here to subscribe and read the kick-off letter.

What Do We Know About HBO's Tiger Doc Premiering Sunday?

We know it’s in two parts debuting Sunday January 10 at 6 pm on HBO and HBO Max.

We know Tiger isn’t thrilled about it and did not cooperate (or play in Turner’s The Match 3).

And it’s based on Armen Ketayan and Jeff Benedict’s book.

Ian Casselberry of Awful Announcing on what to expect:

Part 1, which premieres Sunday night (Jan. 10) at 9 p.m. ET, chronicles Woods’ development as a golf prodigy, taking up the game under his father’s tutelage while he was still a toddler. The first 90 minutes follow his rise from amateur star to a professional who changed golf upon winning the 1997 Masters and became a cultural phenomenon.

Ultimately, this opening part of the documentary covers the relationship between Earl Woods and his son, how he practically engineered and conditioned Tiger into becoming a dominant golf machine. Yet being raised with the focus on becoming an all-time great in the sport — and perhaps a transcendent global figure — deprived him of formative experiences in childhood and adolescence.

Woods’s first girlfriend, Dina Parr, is interviewed extensively and arguably the most powerful moments in Part 1 come from home videos she took while they were together, showing Tiger genuinely smiling and having fun with friends rather than pleased with his success on the golf course.

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch sums it up this way:

If you are looking for a comparison to ESPN’s mega-successful “The Last Dance,” look elsewhere. “Tiger” doesn’t have the close to the scope of “The Last Dance,” nor the personal insight from the main subject. But it travels into the darkest areas of Woods’ story far more than “The Last Dance,” which was co-produced by Jordan’s Jump 23 company. It is an attempt — and I’d call it a successful one — to offer a psychological portrait of Woods. The film examines the father-son relationship of Earl Woods and Tiger Woods; the infidelities of both father and son; Tiger Woods’ search for his own identity amid those around him creating identities for him; and, of course, an examination of the greatness of Woods as a golfer.

James Colgan at Golf.com on the producers’ approach:

Heineman and Hamachek (alongside executive producers Alex Gibney, Sam Pollard, Stacey Offman and Richard Perello) instead relied on several thousand hours of archival footage and 50-60 hours of interviews with more than two-dozen subjects. The directors also leaned on Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian’s 2018 Tiger Woods biography (Benedict and Keteyian receive executive producer credits for their contributions to the film).

“There was a constant drive on our part to make sure that even though we didn’t have Tiger, we gave him a voice, and we let the people who knew him well put us inside of his mind,” Hamachek told GOLF.com “What we really wanted to do was reach out almost exclusively to people who knew Tiger and his family intimately.”

The trailer:

Why The "Golf's Biggest Events" Graphic Evokes So Much Outrage

Given the terrible times you’d think golf fans might be shrug off a silly, poorly-executed graphic.

The current graphic of scorn comes under the banner, Golf’s Biggest Events. In the past it’s been something about Championship Season, Season of Championships, etc. and has been relentless mocked by the younger sophisticates the game theoretically hopes to embrace.

The PGA Tour’s partners at CBS, NBC and Golf Channel all have used the graphic because of exposure to PVDS, currently untreatable by any drug or vaccine.

Ponte Vedra’s Desperation Syndrome has been seen most in VP’s based around greater Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It generally inflicts males with marketing backgrounds. Scientists looking into the syndrome have found PVDS to most impact those with almost no sense of the game’s history, no interest in anything but PGA Tour, and who have shown an almost irrational belief in The Players and FedExCup Playoffs rising to major championship levels.

PVDS has also been known to be highly contagious in certain sectors. Researchers find that senior level television network executives often labor under the syndrome’s most relentless, bonus-impacting elements. They will even sometimes take to Twitter, as NBC’s prime PGA Tour liaison Tom Knapp did, to defend the madness as viewers point out flaws in the graphic’s logic and execution. (See below.)

(The replies now sleep with the fishes after just one too many replies slamming Golf Channel for ignoring the women’s game, but that’s why we leave browser tabs open.)

Various LPGA players and media shared the tweet and their disdain for the inconsistency (examples here, here, here and here. The most pointed from an LPGA player:

“Ratings”

1. Golf network decides women’s golf has no value to fans(?)
2. Golf network pretends women’s events don’t exist
3. Casual fans can’t fit them into the context of the golfing calendar
4. Casual fans don’t watch the events they were never told about
5. Poor ratings
🔁 https://t.co/MJezU448N5

— Meghan MacLaren (@meg_maclaren) January 8, 2021

You can still see the offending graphic above and screen captures of the replies below. Obviously, the graphic should have simply said Men’s Biggest Events or something more clever. And the graphic should correctly state the dates of the FedExCup Playoffs, though the inclusion of those playoffs is only to keep the Ponte Vedra red phone from ringing. Few syndrome-free individuals believe they warrant inclusion on the list of championships above and many other smart folks could make a case that the desperation undercuts the cache of certain “biggest” events.

The outrage in a time of strife and pandemic speaks more to the channel’s unexpected new direction for those outside of the thralls of PVDS and who, devoted as viewers, fear for its future.

Just this week, Golf Channel reporter and anchor Lisa Cornwell painted a less than rosy picture of the network’s culture and its recent elimination of females from the channel payrolls in the name of Comcast/NBC Sports cost slashing.

The graphic causes more annoyance than is should due to relentless rollout of the USGA’s “Women Worth Watching” campaign, fueled on and off air by a woefully inorganic Golf Channel rollout.

And finally, these kinds of graphics remind viewers that a successful channel built on catering to many different golf audiences and viewers is fueled by a move to PGA Tour state TV mode that is already tough to watch and increasingly harder to trust.

Now, back to the more serious matters at hand.

**The people were heard!

@BigRandyNLU you did this! pic.twitter.com/EEKL9MApy1

— Golf & Science & Bulldogs (@BrianMcGolf) January 8, 2021

Player, Sorenstam Accept Presidential Medals Of Freedom Day After Capitol Carnage

As America reeled from the aftermath of Donald Trump inciting a Capitol-storming mob, a stealth Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony was held on White House grounds honoring golf greats Babe Zaharias, Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player. This, on the same day a Capitol police officer became the fifth person to succumb to injuries incurred as a result of the riot.

GolfDigest.com’s John Feinstein called out the “tone-deafness” of holding the ceremony given death and destruction inspired by the President’s comments (which he could face charges over for inciting a riot).

USA Today’s Christine Brennan writes that the reputations of Player and Sorenstam “are sullied, forever.”

They had nothing to do with the insurrection of the Trump mob on Wednesday, of course, but they happily became Trump’s Thursday accessories. They celebrated with him as our nation mourns what he has wrought.

When she retweeted Nicklaus’ endorsement of Trump, I texted her a question:

“How do you reconcile Trump’s awful record on women – bragging and joking about sexually assaulting women ("Access Hollywood" tape), calling the Democratic VP nominee a 'monster,' being accused of sexual assault or sexual harassment by at least 26 women, etc. – while being a woman who has forged an amazing career around the issues of inclusion for women and treating women equally and fairly and with respect?”

She never replied. On Thursday afternoon, I texted again, this time to say I’d like to talk to her about accepting the Medal of Freedom a day after the awful rampage of Trump supporters at the Capitol. She did not reply.

Player’s estranged son Marc also called out the timing of the ceremony:

I wish my father would simply & politely decline this “award” at this time. Tone deaf. In denial. Wrong!!

— Marc Player (@Marc_Player) January 7, 2021

I reached out to the International Golf Federation, where Sorenstam recently replaced Peter Dawson and hope to receive a statement from Executive Director Antony Scanlon on the medal acceptance. The IGF represents the game to the world via its role with the Olympic Games.

*Updated with IGF statement:

The International Golf Federation is extremely proud that Annika Sorenstam has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with Gary Player and the late Babe Zaharias, each of whom not only excelled at golf but transcended our sport as role models, mentors and philanthropists.  

As noted when she was named as the IGF’s new President in December, Annika is universally respected as a generational talent in women’s golf who, since retiring from competition, has dedicated herself to promoting women’s golf at all levels through her foundation. We are extremely proud of Annika and all that she has accomplished.  

Sorenstam’s longtime sponsor at Callaway has not replied to a request for a statement.

PXG, which includes Player as part of its Tour staff, offered this statement from CEO Bob Parsons:

“Mr. Player has led an exceptional life on and off the golf course - leveraging his celebrity and his resources to drive positive change and inspire generations. We are absolutely thrilled to see his legacy underscored with an honor as significant as the Presidential Medal of Freedom. While the timing of the event is unfortunate, nothing should detract from the merits of this accomplishment. Congratulations Gary!”

Both players opted not to release images of the ceremony or medal reception on their social media accounts.

The White House has not posted any images or transcripts of speeches from the event.

The only indication Player came to Washington arrived via his grandson’s public Instagram account:

No Pro-Am, Down To Two Courses For The American Express (AKA The Hope)

Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s American Express moves to two courses and no pro-am format with a $6.7 million purse, reports the Desert Sun’s Larry Bohannan.

Sponsor AmEx will match last year’s charitable donation of $1 million despite the loss of pro-am revenue, though the number is a far cry from the amounts generated during the Hope years.

“Due to the current local climate in Riverside County caused by COVID-19, and considering national travel associated with the event, the tournament will be played without the traditional multi-day pro-am format and ticketed spectators, and will be held on only two courses: PGA West’s Stadium Course (host) and Nicklaus Tournament Course,” the PGA Tour said in a release Thursday. “The three-day pro-am format, which has been a part of the tournament since its debut in 1960, will return in 2022.”

The pro-am has evolved in recent years from the original concept of golfers from desert clubs playing in the event to one in which more pro-am participants fly from across the country to the desert for the tournament.

One positive of no pro-am? There will be no appearances from genocidal sleezebags this year.