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
Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and yours truly discussed the long-awaited follow-up from the USGA and R&A.
We discussed some of my reporting and comments from the R&A’s Steve Otto, featured here.
As always, State of The Game is available wherever podcasts are streamed. Or you can check it out here at the show’s page. Or just listen via the embed:
Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig was first to notice contrary to some meager press reports sidestepping credit. He filed a report here on Phil Mickelson sitting out the 2022 Masters and how the past-champion-not-playing status came to be.
The move of the biennial team matches to even number years implies the schedule impact of golf in the Olympics and a chance to help the World Amateur Team Championships apparently motivated the decision.
The announcement sets up matches in 2025 at Cypress Point and in 2026 at a UK venue to be determined, with previous announced U.S. venues Bandon Dunes and Oakmont moving up a year.
For Immediate Release from the R&A:
THE R&A AND THE USGA MOVE THE WALKER CUP MATCH TO EVEN YEARS BEGINNING IN 2026
21 March 2022, St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A and the USGA today announced that the Walker Cup match will be contested in even years from 2026 onwards.
The shift moves the biennial men’s team match between Great Britain and Ireland and the USA away from the World Amateur Team Championships which will be played in odd years beginning in 2023.
Phil Anderton, Chief Development Officer at The R&A, said, “We have looked at this carefully with the USGA and believe that this change creates the best schedule for the players and for the Walker Cup match itself. The Walker Cup is at the forefront of men’s amateur golf and we want to ensure that its status is reflected in its position in the golfing calendar.”
“The re-emergence of golf in the Olympic Games has had a ripple effect on the overall golf calendar and this is just the next step in that as we make sure team competitions have a balanced schedule and in this case, encourage participation by the world’s best amateurs without unnecessary conflict,” said John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer, USGA.
The World Amateur Team Championships announced in 2020 that it would move to odd years to avoid a same-year conflict with the Summer Olympic Games.
The 49th Walker Cup match will be contested from 2-3 September 2023 at St Andrews. The home of golf has hosted eight previous Walker Cups, more than any other venue, most recently in 1975, when the USA defeated GB&I, 15½-8½.
And in the buried lede department, the announcement also moves the 2034 U.S. Open scheduled for Oakmont up a year to 2033.
It’s not clear if the two have much link or if the USGA just wanted to free up 2034 for Oakland Hills.
Reader R pointed out that the Asian Tour schedule no longer features the previously June stop near London because that event is now on the LIV Invitational circuit’s 2022 schedule.
The Asian Tour announcement for the new “international series” was on February 1 and the London stop was the centerpiece for growing the tour along with an additional $100 million from the Saudi sugar fund.
"We are on the threshold of a new era for Asian golf," said Cho Minn Thant, Asian Tour commissioner and CEO.
"The International Series is a new upper-tier of elite events, the likes of which the region has not seen before, that will mark the start of a phenomenal period of growth for the Asian Tour.
"It also signifies the beginning of our relationship with our new strategic partner LIV Golf Investments and its CEO Greg Norman."
Indeed it did.
From the R&A/USGA 2021 Distance Report
No kidding, right? But there are also numbers showing the PGA Tour’s longest have leveled off again. So Mike Stachura considered the USGA/R&A distance report and boiled a key number that might justify not only a hard stand but the dreaded “r” word.
Then again, there is a fundamental difference between looking at the rate of growth in distance compared to the actual growth. In the last five years, distance on the PGA Tour is increasing at a rate of about a yard per year. That’s less than half what it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but more than double the rate from 1980-95. And when those increases are coming on top of a driving distance average that is in the mid-290s now compared to the low 260s then, that’s what has the ruling bodies concerned. It’s not the size of the distance gains, it’s that, at least to the ruling bodies, they don’t appear to be leveling off, despite all the equipment regulations. That’s especially concerning to them at a time almost two decades removed from their Joint Statement of Principles that declared “any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable.”
Unlike the bubbly bro massage he received on Golf.com’s Subpar podcast, LIV Golf Commish Greg Norman faced real questions on Gary Williams’ Five Clubs podcast where he was pressed about that beheading-prone guy controlling the purse strings of Norman’s 8-event schedule.
Sitting in front of the Sydney Opera House minus his ears, Norman made one bit of news while producing pathetic answers on funding front.
First the news. This was an odd line to me for a series of eight, come-as-you go events for independent contractors.
“There are contracts, but I’m not going to give out any names on that,” Norman said when pressed on commitments to the league. He later said that invitations would be going out “very shortly.”
Contracts but invitations have not gone out. Interesting. Also, I get it that you need contract for to give away your likeness and stuff, but here’s guessing the fine print mentions more than that. As in, a lack of independence as a contractor.
Regarding the Saudi stuff, get ready for some robust “grow the game” nonsense. But do chuckle when the Shark notes the Saudi’s deep history of support for the game. You know dating to 2019.
G.C. Digital wrote a summary of the pod and noted these lines:
“We’re not a political organization,” Norman said. “And what we’ve done and what the PIF have done and what Saudi Arabia has done, like I said to you before, golf is good for the world and golf is good with Saudi Arabia.”
He later added: “My passion for the game of golf and growing the game of golf is my priority. … This is all about the game of golf and growing the game of golf. I’m not even going to go down that path of trying to get into a political discussion about it. I’m focused on growing the game of golf the best way I possibly can. End of story.”
It’s also fascinating to hear him talk about the “long process” and “massive amount of effort to build this enterprise, including all the stuff with the lawyers, blah, blah, blah. This would seem to be disregarding how the Saudi group unashamedly stole the Premier Golf League’s playbook they were once a funder of.
Anyway, if you’re doctor forbids you from hearing more than two “grow-the-games” a day, this isn’t for you. Here is the portion on Saudi Arabia that’s so telling (full pod embedded farther down or wherever you get your pods):
Norman also gave an interview to CNN’s Amanda Davies and delivered similar grow-the-game broken recordspeak.
"We're here to grow the game of golf. Money from Saudi Arabia has gone into the game of golf and since 2019, Saudi Arabia has put on the Saudi International," the 67-year-old said.
"That was co-sanctioned by the European Tour, now the DP World Tour. So the money's been there and the other tours have co-sanctioned these tournaments by Saudi money. Golf is good for the world and golf is good for Saudi Arabia too. We've seen it.
"Saudi Arabia has invested a lot of money into women's golf. They're the largest investor in women's golf today. So when you look at all the facts sitting out there, yes, our investor is Saudi money. I'm proud of that because, like I said, golf is good for the world and we're just going to grow the game of golf on a worldwide basis."
What an amazing fall for the living brand.
Updating a previously published story with the 2022 Masters in mind.
The story in question from Golf World in 2010.
While not embedded with the latest Quadrilateral entry honing in on the 5th and 11th holes at Augusta National, here is Joe McDonnell’s look at the 5th hole through the years.
I do wonder what master club hurler Tommy Bolt would make of Charl Schwartzel’s throwing angle here, given the potential damage to the shoulder and irrefutable evidence provided of an intentional throw (as opposed to grip slippage). But this fit of rage at the Valspar undoubtedly elevates him into elite club throwing world status.
We think it slipped. pic.twitter.com/9s2xjw09dk
— Skratch (@Skratch) March 17, 2022
But all was right in his world a few holes later when he holed out from 194:
Buckets 🗑
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2022
Slam dunk for @CA_Schwartzel from 194 yards. pic.twitter.com/Tob62Yz0kg
The Guarian’s Gwyn Topham and Rachel Hall explain the brouhaha over “P&O Ferries’ mass sacking of 800 British seafarers to replace them with agency crew as shameful and ‘completely unacceptable’, amid furious calls for action against the company’s Dubai owners.”
The story explains the dispute and throws this in at the end:
DP World bought P&O Ferries for a second time in 2019, for £322m, after selling it earlier in the decade.
The business is believed to have been making escalating losses, with the rising cost of diesel adding to disruption from Covid and post-Brexit paperwork in cross-Channel traffic. DP World said it had never taken a dividend from P&O Ferries.
DP World has also come under fire for a £146m deficit in the Merchant Navy Ratings pension fund, which includes retired P&O crew. Sources said the taxpayer could be liable for the shortfall if it was left unpaid.
DP World last year agreed to sponsor the European golf tour – at a cost of £147m.
The “European Pro Golf Tour” came up in the House of Commons as well. Thanks reader D for catching this that will have the branding experts running around in circles.
How long will this government allow predatory companies to treat workers with contempt whilst leeching of the U.K. public pic.twitter.com/eGQXBZ46F2
— Barry Gardiner (@BarryGardiner) March 17, 2022
GolfDigest.com’s Mike Stachura assesses the R&A/USGA joing announcement of specific “areas of interest” for future possible changes in testing. The item covers a lot, but a change from 120 to 125 m.p.h. change might mean exceeding the “Overall Distance Standard” and render many current golf balls non-conforming.
John Spitzer, the USGA’s managing director of equipment standards, said the 125-mile-per-hour number isn’t based on any biomechanical theory of human limitations with the golf swing. It’s based on the eye test.
“We don’t know if it’s enough, but we do have a little bit of a crystal ball in the long drive competition. So the question of whether [this kind of speed] is physically possible is answered based on what we’ve seen from those folks.”
As for the number of current balls that such a rule change might make nonconforming, Spitzer said it wouldn’t be all. “There’s a substantial number of balls that wouldn’t run afoul or would require only very minor tweaks,” he said. But when asked specifically whether it would be almost all of the balls played on tour, which based on current sales from Golf Datatech account for 35-40 percent of the market, he said, “Yes. It would be a much higher percentage but not all because there are certain players that fall in love with a ball that might be three generations back.”
Plus, Korda, Masters on Seatgeek, Corrections, Reads, Listens and Tweets.
And just a reminder that as the Masters nears there wiill be plenty more Quads as the major season heats up. So sign up. You can write it off, too. Or at least read up on the whole newsletter thing here.
Also a housekeeping note: iPhone users can now read Substack newsletters in their new free app. I’ve been enjoying it for a few days now and the reading experience is way, way better. The notifications come eerily fast. While email will always be an option, the Substack app should cut down on posts getting lost in spam filters and makes the comment experience better. As with the email edition, you can scroll text without somehow opening up an ad or trying to close out a pop-up video.
A horrific accident involving the University of the Southwest golf teams has taken six beautiful souls and their coach. Two more more players remain in critical condition with burns.
Any Given Tuesday has created a page for the victims of the horrific tragedy involving the University Of The Southwest golf program. All funds will be given to the families of the victims. This is an opportunity for all who care and work in the college golf world to support a program in need!
And Bryson DeChambeau brought attention to another GoFundMe for Dayton Price of Canada, who is in critical condition with third degree burns.
A GoFundMe for survivor Hayden Underhill.
A page set up by the university to help the victims and their families.
Greg Norman and friends rolled out a schedule for eight events beginning in June offering big money and venues that scream “not quite good enough” for big time tournaments. The league does not yet have a television partner though in the era of streaming they have more options than a few years ago. The bigger issue will be attracting players after the last few weeks of bad news and inability of the Kingdom to stay out of the news.
“We had to react,’’ Norman said. “No question the PGA Tour’s reaction to where we were positioned at that time was very strong. They put down a tree in their road to put another obstacle in our way. But no matter what obstacle they put forth we work our way around it. And that’s why we are here today. It’s up to the players.
“We are going to give them opportunities to play where they want to play and choose. We are not going away. We are here for the long haul.’’
The LIV Golf Invitational (oh what a name!) 2022 schedule would allow a player to use their three waivers per season if allowed to play these without a full commitment (thanks to the wraparound schedule putting the first three events against the 2021-22 schedule and the last four against the 2022-23 schedule):
• June 9-11: Centurion Golf Club – London
• July 1-3: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club – Portland
• July 29-31: Trump National Golf Club Bedminster – New Jersey
• Sept 2-4: The International – Boston
• Sept 16-18: Rich Harvest Farms – Chicago
• Oct 7-9: Stonehill Golf Club – Bangkok
• Oct 14-16: Royal Greens Golf Club – Jeddah
• Oct 28-30: Team Championship
Time will tell who plays and how long before waivers are denied. Though with the wraparound schedule it would appear four of the individual events are played after the 2021-22 PGA Tour schedule’s window.
Meanwhile, they’re exited about the LIV Tour over at Golf.com, where they also have a partnership with Saudi Arabia to promote Nicklaus designs and buddies trips to the land of beheadings.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series is set to launch in June. pic.twitter.com/cibQxGvJ8z
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) March 16, 2022
Lots and lots to chew on here for the next six months, but as I write at The Quadrilateral with exclusive comments from the R&A’s Chief Technology Officer Steve Otto, we may be on the cusp of reigning in the madness while opening new innovation doors for average players.
For Immediate Release from the R&A (the USGA also sent out the same release):
THE R&A AND USGA RELEASE UPDATED AREAS OF INTEREST AND RESEARCH TOPICS ON HITTING DISTANCE IN GOLF
16 March 2022, St Andrews, Scotland and Liberty Corner, N.J., USA: The R&A and USGA today released updated areas of interest and research topics on hitting distance in golf.
In doing so, the governing bodies are continuing their work to address the long-term cycle of increased hitting distances and course lengthening that threatens golf’s long-term sustainability and undermines the core principle that a broad and balanced set of playing skills should remain the primary determinant of success in golf.
The update follows a consultation with the industry and focuses on the Notice and Comment and Areas of Interest from the 1 February 2021 release.
The official notice to manufacturers regarding these new Areas of Interest can be found via this link.
The R&A and the USGA will investigate the potential impacts on hitting distance from increasing the ball test speeds for golf balls to reflect the clubhead speeds achieved by today’s longest hitters.
The governing bodies will also narrow the focus of previously announced research topics for drivers, specifically within the context of potential Model Local Rules, to explore a reduction of spring-like effect to reduce hitting distance and changes to the Moment of Inertia (MOI) limit to enhance the reward of a central impact.
The R&A and USGA have also made industry stakeholders aware that they are considering whether these potential changes could be coupled with other changes to the Equipment Rules that could provide the potential for enhanced innovation for recreational golfers.
The governing bodies believe that the changes being considered could:
· Address hitting distances for the longest hitters, whose impact on the game and golf courses has been the most significant.
· Minimise the impact on shorter hitters with slower swing speeds at the recreational level.
· Allow for continued innovation of balls and clubs for players at all levels.
The updates released today are as follows:
Areas of Interest
1 Potential changes to the testing methods for golf balls
Evaluate the effect of increasing the clubhead speed used to determine conformance to the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) to at least 125 mph and to use optimised launch angle and spin parameters (that are specific to each ball tested). In conjunction with the potential new test conditions for the ODS, the Initial Velocity Test may be modified or eliminated to provide the opportunity for innovation for shorter hitters. These potential changes would apply to balls used at all levels of the game.
2 Model Local Rules – club performance
Investigate the impact of a reduction of the allowable spring-like effect and moment of inertia in drivers. The governing bodies are considering these topics within the context of Model Local Rules that could be utilised for competitions involving the highest level of elite golfers. There is also interest in considering whether the adoption of these potential Model Local Rules could also allow the elimination of the MOI limit for recreational golfers, which could facilitate greater innovation and provide modest distance increases at this level of the game.
Golf’s stakeholders can provide feedback and research on these topics by 2 September 2022.
Distance in Golf
The Distance Insights Report released in 2020 identified a long-term cycle of hitting distance increases and lengthening courses that the governing bodies concluded is detrimental to golf and the way it is played. More specifically, the report highlighted how this cycle is impacting, and is likely to continue to impact, the strategic challenge of the game and alter the variety of skills needed to be successful.
The report also found that the overall trend of golf courses becoming longer has adverse consequences that ultimately affect golfers at all levels of the sport, including by increasing the cost and time to play, limiting the advancement of sustainability efforts especially with respect to water usage and reducing the challenge of courses - in some cases creating a risk of them becoming obsolete.
The R&A and the USGA are working with the key stakeholders in golf to address these issues and to ensure that skill remains the primary determinant of success in golf.
The governing bodies have also researched how course-related factors such as set-up, conditioning and maintenance could be selectively used to impact the way a course plays. These factors have modest and varying degrees of impact on distance, costs and golfer experience and, therefore, should not be viewed as a means to sustainably reduce the long-term impact related to distance across the game. These potential practices will continue to be reviewed as part of the ongoing conversation with the industry on distance.
In line with Equipment Rulemaking procedures, the latest Areas of Interest confirm the key areas of focus of the governing bodies but do not represent a proposal or decision on any aspects at this stage.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We have been working through this process carefully and collaboratively with the golf industry and greatly appreciate the constructive feedback we have received. Our thinking on these areas continues to evolve and we believe we are moving in the right direction to maintain the balance between skill and technology in golf that we have said is important. We will continue to work quickly but carefully as we look to resolve this complex and challenging issue for the sport as a whole.”
“We’re moving forward on this important work because we want golf to remain just as strong 50 years from now as it is today,” said Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. “It energises all of us to do what is in the best interests in the game and keep it thriving long into the future.”
The 2021 Annual Driving Distance Report
The R&A and the USGA also today released the 2021 Annual Driving Distance Report. The full report can be found
here.
Here’s the letter Greg Norman and LIV Golf Investments sent to a number of PGA Tour players today.
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) March 16, 2022
“You should know that we are launching….we will not stop.” pic.twitter.com/wy2UrQKP3I
Sounding a tad humbled but as ageist and delusional as ever, Greg Norman is branding his Saudi Arabia-backed concept as a “start-up” with March 16 plans to unveil a schedule.
Oh that Shark is such an incubator!
SI.com’s Bob Harig was the first to report on Norman’s letter here.
GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport Tweeted the letter (above) sent to some players preparing them for news of a schedule encouraging them to play both the LIV league and the PGA Tour. This move was telegraphed by Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch as an attempt to eventually take the PGA Tour to court for blocking releases.
And all of this comes on the heels of LIV’s Public Investment Fund sugar daddy slicing off more heads of dissenters last weekend.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
