When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Sigh…I drove by this one in 2019 going between Portrush and Giant’s Causeway without stopping. Maybe in 2025! Bushfoot sure looks like a model 9-holer for the community as well as a nice spot for a morning or late nine if you should be so lucky to play Royal Portrush. And hit the Causeway too.
From the Cookie Jar golf team:
I got the dreaded red light telling me this one was too long. So out went a photo of Omar Uresti.
As always, I invite you to sign up if you haven’t to receive the weekly edition. Paid subscriptions and gift options are available too.
North Berwick
The game has grown! And America barely added to the increase of 5.5 million or so people who identify as golfer.
14 December 2021, St Andrews, Scotland: New research figures revealed by The R&A and Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) show golf has enjoyed a significant increase in popularity worldwide since 2016 with over five-and-a-half million additional golfers taking up the sport.
The number of total golfers globally has increased from 61 million to 66.6 million in a five-year growth period, surpassing the previous high mark of 61.6 million set in 2012. The measure includes club members and non-member independent golfers playing nine or 18 holes and users of driving ranges in markets where course availability is limited.
The new figure reflects a positive trend in golf in which participation levels are now rising worldwide after a period of decline. This was recently highlighted in the 2021 European Golf Participation Report, which highlighted that over 10.6 million golfers now enjoy playing full-length courses on the continent – a healthy increase from the 7.9 million last monitored in 2016.
Phil Anderton, Chief Development Officer at The R&A, said, “Golf is enjoying a real boom in popularity at the moment and we are seeing substantial increases in participation in many parts of the world, particularly in the last two years when the sport could be played safely outdoors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The new figures are very encouraging but we need to work together as a sport to make the most of this opportunity by retaining those people who have returned to golf or tried it for the first time. We can achieve this by offering a variety of attractive and flexible options that encourage golfers to play more regularly and enjoy its many health and wellbeing benefits with family and friends.”
Options! Now we’re talking.
Check out these numbers…
SMS collected participation data reported by national federations in different regions around the world, using nationally representative studies and expert estimates to calculate the global number of total golfers.
Regions experiencing the largest rises include Asia (20.9 million to 23.3 million); Europe (7.9 million to 10.6 million – driven largely by Great Britain and Ireland 3.6 million to 5.7 million); and North America (29.9 million to 30.6 million).
The research figures indicate the growth trend began before Covid-19 and then accelerated during the pandemic as the popularity of golf grew due to golfers being able to socially distance in a safe outdoor setting and stay active to boost their physical and mental health.
Physical health for sure. Not sold on the mental part.
In Great Britain, the number of adults playing a nine or 18-hole course began to gradually increase before the onset of Covid-19, rising from 2.5 million in 2017 to 2.8 million in 2018, then to 3 million in 2019, before surging to 5.2 million in 2020.
Following the easing of lockdown restrictions, The R&A sought to carry out additional research into this rise in demand and how different types of golfers were engaging with the sport.
The Post Covid Opportunity Research, along with findings from Bayfirth Research, details experiences of golfers during the pandemic, motivations for playing and long-term plans for the future. Among new golfers, 98% of those interviewed identified they are enjoying playing golf and 95% see themselves playing golf for many years to come.
The research also outlined recommendations clubs can take to retain new players, including feeling welcome and valued; a friendly culture and relaxed atmosphere;
You don’t say!
participation options based on ability and experience; good customer service; having an efficient booking system; the quality and maintenance of the course; and, importantly, playing in an encouraging environment.
Nice, schmice. What about all-you-can-eat comfort stations? Bigger, lighter, more expensive drivers?
After the relentless attention the Associated Press’ Stephen Wade gave the Olympic golf course project in Rio—none of it positive—it’s nice to see the same news organization covering a golf-related game grower in Rio who has created the “City of Golf” training ground.
From Diarlei Rodrigues' and Mauricio Savarese’s story about Marcelo Modesto.
A caddie for four decades, the 54-year-old Modesto has opened a golf training center in the most violent area of the favela. Without public or private funding, from just a sheer passion for the sport, Modesto has attracted 100 kids to the ground in hope of starting some on the path to becoming professionals, or doing something to get off the favela streets.
The City of God golf training ground is part of a program that hopes to develop children from one of Brazil’s most violent favelas into budding golfers who are invited to use the course from the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Their introduction to golf is rudimentary, at best.
The City of God training ground is only 1,600 square feet (150 square meters), which is less than the size of your average putting green. A community center once filled the site. Interested kids, who are mostly Black, play with donated clubs and balls. Instead of holes, they hit buckets. As a warmup, they swing wooden sticks around their backs.
And no matter how intense practice gets, they remain alert for any sound of gunshots.
Longtime sports writer Kaye Kessler, who met and covered the career of Jack Nicklaus earlier than anyone, has passed away eleven days shy of his 99th birthday.
Four years ago Gary Van Sickle filed this lovely look at the life of Kaye Kessler who, besides witnessing the rise of Nicklaus and 56 Masters tournaments, also covered Ohio State’s Woody Hayes and Fred Taylor.
So is Kaye Kessler. His life’s course was irreparably altered in 1950 when Scioto Country Club hired a new golf professional, Jack Grout, and Kessler was sent over to write a story about him for his paper, the Columbus Citizen. The paper’s photographer needed a photo so Grout posed with a posse of Scioto junior golfers. One was a 10-year-old named Nicklaus.
And they wonder why Chris Wallace took a job at CNN+?
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller appears to have worked hard to test out Titleist’s golf ball personalization censors after an enraged customer was rejected over a “Lets Go Brandon” request. The phrase became one of the more pathetic dimwit dogwhistles of this or any generation.
When Fox News Digital attempted to personalize a Titleist Pro V1 ball on the company’s website with the phrase "Let’s Go Brandon", an error message said, "Sorry, one or more of the words you have chosen cannot be used. Please see our Terms and Conditions to learn more about what we will imprint."
On the website, part of those Terms and Conditions reads, "Acushnet Company reserves the right to reject orders for imprints on our products that may, in our sole discretion, be inconsistent with our company values or brand identity, including, but not limited to logos, designs and/or personalizations that are negative in nature, advocate violence or illegal activity, or are slurs, hateful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene or pornographic."
It is unclear which of those categories the phrase "Let’s Go Brandon" violated.
Miller goes on to share the vulgar messages he tested and did not get the same error message. Some of them are not pleasant. Still, it’s fascinating to see Fox News upset over Titleist reserving their rights as a corporation to not sell a product.
And besides, all is right with the world. The customization feature allowed me to create some important messaging:
Wally, before you get upset: I’m just combating juvenile humor with juvenile humor. That’s all! We know they’re too scared to roll it back.
Going through the Instagram photos someone uploaded for him, the impression is one of a busy week for Greg Norman at the tournament he’s hosted since 1989. He even earned his keep this year by playing the pro-am and dropping a lot C-Suite references during a pre-tournament press conference.
And yet if you were watching the Golf Channel and NBC telecasts for this year’s QBE Shootout, Norman’s name was rarely mentioned. The CEO of QBE didn’t give the Shark a nod in the telecast opening while doing his best Joe Ford impersonation. Even Norman’s role as Tiburon course architect seemed rarely mentioned. (But we did learn that Naples, Florida got its name because of a resemblance to Italy’s Naples.)
But since Greg Norman is a such a hero in the eyes of today’s youth, at least he got plenty of mentions on the PGA Tour Twitt…wait, what? None? All week?
Not even the traditional pic with the winners? Since Norman’s not much of a presence on the tournament website, that might be asking too much.
Surely there was the all important in-booth visit with NBC/Golf Channel’s Steve Sands and Curt Byrum? You know, to talk about Greg’s favorite subject? No sirree.
The Shark was finally seen on the telecast Sunday when he greeted the champions in the most masculine way possible. But who wouldn’t be elated when Kevin Na and Jason Kokrak win your tournament?
I should note that there was no announcer mention along the lines of, “There is tournament host Norman to greet the champions, a great tradition here at the QBE Shootout.”
For all we know, this was just jacked Florida retiree who paid $150 for a Norman Collection uniform and fulfilled a lifelong dream of working as Kevin Na’s final round standard bearer.
You know, maybe the problem is Norman’s role as CEO of LIV Investments fronting Saudi Arabia’s deep desire to grow the game and disrupt the PGA Tour’s business? It’s almost as if some are not too happy with the Shark!
But at least the week ended with nice wire story about Greg Jr.’s wedding to Michelle Thomson. Except for this mistake…
Links editor George Peper filed “A Rant Against Golden Age Golf Architects” in the latest issue and while I suppose a backlash was inevitable, he also makes a few points that warrant a Golden Age defense.
The old architects are certainly getting a lot of ink these days and no matter how many old photos we turn up showing their courses were just better, there will be a subset that just wants to be living in a better time. And another subset that needs to be living in a better time for their self worth.
But in making his case, Peper ignores when key trait of the restoration movement results and deification of the old architects. First, this attempt at suggesting they are overrated:
If, as one of today’s leading designers Tom Doak has astutely observed, “the best architects are the ones who get the best clients,” then maybe the individuals we should be venerating are not the Golden Age designers but the Golden Age owner/developers, the gentlemen golfers with deep pockets and a simple, steadfast vision that began and ended with the creation of an outstanding golf course: Dick Tufts (Pinehurst No. 2) rather than Ross; Clifford Roberts (Augusta National) rather than MacKenzie; George Crump (Pine Valley) rather than Colt; Robert Moses (Bethpage Black) rather than Tillinghast.
With the exception of Crump, the architects were the difference between having a nice development and a masterpiece. Though Crump famously relied on many opinions besides Colt’s and the overall collaborative nature ended up spawning several successful design careers.
In Roberts’ case, he attempted to redo MacKenzie’s 8th green and turned it into a flying saucer that was rebuilt a short time later. If not for Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, the Augusta National would not have been the success it was. (And contrary to the prevailing narrative MacKenzie spent a great deal of time at Augusta during key stages of construction. Which we know from David Owen’s book.)
The truth is, the early golf architects were not particularly revered or famous during their own lifetimes or for decades thereafter. Indeed, as recently as 50 years ago, if you had asked a member of just about any club in the world who the designer of his golf course was, he would have been hard pressed to tell you.
Not sure about the lack of fame part. Having flipped through thousands of magazine pages from the era, the household name designers were covered pretty thoroughly, featured prominently and praised for their work transforming rudimentary courses. And fame does not translate to timeless design, as Rees Jones and Tom Fazio prove over and over again.
Suddenly, belonging to a club with a course designed by an A-list Golden Ager became a badge of honor. More than one layout of 6,500 theretofore nondescript yards rebranded itself overnight as “a great old Donald Ross course” and a coterie of insufferable poseurs arose, boasting of their familiarity with MacKenzie bunkers, Macdonald templates, and Raynor greens. I know this because I did some of that boasting. Let this be my mea culpa: “I’m George and I’m an archaholic.”
Name dropping has always been part of the elite golf world. The difference now? After playing a course people can tell the difference and like any other kind of connoisseurship, seek more because of the satisfaction derived.
I guess what got me riled about this Golden Age regurgitation is the pretentiousness it’s fostered in some circles.
Except that successful restorations have led to more enjoyable golf, newfound respect for a course, increased value of memberships or land, interest in reclaiming once-grand public courses, and an appreciation of architecture that is fun to play merely serving to move lots or punish bad shots.
While the occasional pontificating that comes with the Golden Age reverence may not be progress to all, I’ll take the doses of pretentiousness if it means more people are enjoying the courses they play. After all, that is ultimately the point of good architecture and something that the old masters and their restorers keep reinforcing.
A split screen of Riviera’s 6th with Tommy Naccarato’s proposed restoration of bunkers and barranca next to today’s lamentable eclair bunker tongue and permanent temporary green.
I can’t find a thing to quibble with most of Andy Johnson’s list of great restoration opportunities, though I have no idea how World Woods got in there. But setting aside an unnecessary rejuvenation of yet another overrated Fazio, Johnson’s top ten includes the last three courses the aforementioned salesman is consulting at and making worse, along with other gems. Sadly, my man George Thomas lands three in the top 15 and southern California remains a hotbed for necessary restorations.
The list does not include courses were a restoration plan is at some stage and hope remains for a happy architectural ending.
The top ten: Augusta, Riviera, Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, Ojai Valley Inn, U. of Michigan, George Wright, Kankakee Elks, Timber Point, Sleepy Hollow (Ohio).
He also includes important public courses Griffith Park, Santa Anita and Sharp Park.
Greg Norman (artist’s rendition)
Greg Hardwig reports from this week’s QBE Shootout on the latest related to Saudi Arabia’s attempted takeover of the pro game after Greg Norman spoke to assembled media. The LIV Golf Investments operation running the potential Saudi Golf League had named a new COO Thursday: Atul Khosla, who has bee the chief corporate development and brand officer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This gave the Shirtless Shark a chance to ride “C-suite” as only he could.
“Our C-suite (or major executive team) has been very, very special to say the least, and it’s a testament to our business model, it’s a testament to our commitment to the game of golf and our C-suite, which is deep and very experienced not only in sport, team sport, not only in business, but right across the board,” Norman said. “Our C-suite starting in London to where we’re going to be in West Palm Beach is solid. Really, it is a commitment by them of, like I said, believing in the product, believing in the business model and believing in the players.”
Three C-suites in so little time. Oh but why quit there?
“‘I’m very, very passionate about that,” he said. “I’m not going to lose focus on that at all. I stay finely tuned with my C-suite people on the same thing about our future and about how we want to get to certain milestones in our life and obviously for our investor.
“They’ve invested for a reason, they invest for a reason because they see golf and sport as an asset class now and you’ll see it all around the world, whether it’s in IPL cricket or whether it’s even the NFL, NBA, NHL, you see it in all different leagues, people invested in sport in general.”
Meanwhile Graeme McDowell suggested he was displeased at seeing his name “plastered all over the media like I’m a bad guy” for being one of eight listed as asking the PGA Tour for a Saudi International release. His interest was first revealed by Golfweek and McDowell was subsequently revealed as part of the tournament field list while his photo is used in the official tournament masthead.
“I’m on the list of guys that were given permission to ask for a release, and then it gets plastered all over the media like I’m a bad guy; I’m just doing what I was told to do, which was ask for a release,” he said. “Listen, it’s really up to Jay Monahan, however Jay wants us to handle the situation. I’m just going to wait and find out what Jay wants. First and foremost, I’m a PGA Tour player until further notice. That’s the bottom line.”
The Saudi International is scheduled to go up against the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where many C-suite types turn up every year.
This week’s edition looks at how USGA Presidency history was made this week, twice.
If you’re not signed up for free or as a paid subscriber, you can do so here.
If you had took the over—50 words—you’re a winner.
It took Bubba Watson 51 before he dropped a “grow the game” to rationalize his hopes of a PGA Tour release to the Saudi International. Quite a contrast to Lewis Hamilton’s stance before the recent Saudi F1 race.
Speaking before this week’s QBE Shootout:
Q. Just your thoughts on you're on the list for the Saudi Arabia tournament and obviously a lot of players are just waiting to see what happens or what the Tour says. How are you approaching that part of it?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's one of those things where I love to travel and I wanted to travel somewhere else.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
And Saudi Arabia, they're trying to change.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
They started with women's golf, started supporting the women's golf and then they started supporting men's golf. There's women's tournaments already that they sponsor. Trying to grow the game.
ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL
They're trying to change industry over there, bring golf, bring tourism to Saudi Arabia with the beautiful beaches that they already have.
ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL
It will be interesting to go over there and play, but also see the beauty of other parts of the world that God's created. I can't wait to get over there.
Okay this is not funny now. Someone needs to convey to Mr. Bubba that in the eyes of those paying him lavishly to come see their country, his God did not create those beautiful beaches. And they don’t really like his God. At all.
Hopefully the Tour lets us go. Again, you know, the charity dollars is what's most important, so the more money I can get in my hands, the more I can give away. So it's an honor and a privilege if they let me go over there and play.
BINGO!
We got a grow the game, God and charity.
Given what we know of his accident and the relatively short healing time since then, it’s amazing to see this. But he’s obviously feeling good and undoubtedly has the approval of his doctors. Should be fun:
TIGER WOODS TO PLAY 2021 PNC CHAMPIONSHIP
ORLANDO, Dec. 8, 2021 - Tiger Woods has confirmed he will return to competitive golf next week at the 2021 PNC Championship, taking place at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, Grande Lakes, Dec. 16-19.
Woods will partner with his son Charlie as they return to the PNC Championship for a second time, having finished tied for seventh place in 2020.
Woods commented, “Although it’s been a long and challenging year, I am very excited to close it out by competing in the PNC Championship with my son Charlie. I’m playing as a Dad and couldn’t be more excited and proud.”
IMG’s Alastair Johnston, the executive chairman of the tournament added, “I am delighted to confirm that Tiger and Charlie Woods will be participating in the 2021 PNC Championship. We have been liaising with Tiger and his team for some time and are delighted that he has now decided to make his return to competitive golf at the PNC Championship.”
The 20-player final field for the 2021 PNC Championship is:
Pro
Bubba Watson Wayne Ball
David Duval Brady Duval
Gary Player Jordan Player
Henrik Stenson Karl Stenson
Jim Furyk Tanner Furyk
John Daly Little John Daly
Justin Thomas Mike Thomas
Lee Trevino Daniel Trevino
Mark O’Meara Shaun O’Meara
Matt Kuchar Cameron Kuchar
Nelly Korda Petr Korda
Nick Faldo Matthew Faldo
Nick Price Greg Price
Padraig Harrington Paddy Harrington
Rich Beem Michael Beem
Stewart Cink Reagan Cink
Tom Lehman Sean Lehman
Tom Watson Michael Watson
Tiger Woods Charlie Woods
Vijay Singh Qass Singh
The tournament, which will be broadcast live on NBC, attracts major champions whose victories this year span from 1959 to 2021, and last year, saw a field gather that had won a remarkable 67 Major titles. With only 20 teams in the field, players past and present have shown unprecedented interest in campaigning for a spot in the star-studded line-up.
Since the inaugural tournament in 1995, when 10 major winners gathered with their sons, the PNC Championship has continued to evolve and develop. It now features 20 major champions and their relatives competing for the total purse of $1,085,000 in a two-day, 36-hole scramble for the Willie Park Trophy. The 2020 edition was won by Justin Thomas and his father, Mike.
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has been the title sponsor of the tournament since 2012. The event formerly known as the PNC Father/Son Challenge, was renamed the PNC Championship in 2020 to reflect the high level of competition and field composition, while still celebrating an inclusive family event that showcases the special bonds that the love of golf creates.
To qualify for the PNC Championship, players must have won a major championship or The Players Championship. Their partner must not hold a PGA TOUR card.
The PNC Championship is operated in partnership by IMG and NBC Sports.
The Cookie Jar gang took their drone to Royal County Down Golf Club which was made for drone shots. Shockingly, they were there on a crude looking day which only adds to the beauty. Enjoy!
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
