The only course that will remain difficult under all conditions will be one that is designed and kept for golf of a stereotyped, monotonous character, and this makes a most uninteresting proposition. BOBBY JONES
Available via Amazon (US): Golf Architecture For Normal People
Barnes And Noble (online and in stores)
Bookshop.org option to support local independent bookstores.
Reviews:
"Golf Architecture for Normal People . . . should be required reading for those who are not ashamed to admit they know little about the subject, and for those who think they do . . . . Golf course architecture geeks have trouble slimming their thoughts down to bite-sized chunks, but Shackelford has achieved a remarkable success here." —Independent (Ireland)
"From the relative newcomer who’s slowly getting hooked to those that have played the game for most of their lives and think they know a thing or two, Golf Architecture for Normal People provides a solid and sober perspective that will help everyone recognize why some golf courses are worth playing more than once while a single trip around others is all you’re ever likely to want or need." —Links Magazine.
“It’s a wonderful book. An easy read that arrives just in time for your summer reading list. If you’ve never thought about how an appreciation for course design could heighten your enjoyment of the game, you must check this out.”—The Peterborough Examiner
"As in his prior publications, in his newest book Shackelford shows a deep appreciation for what can be done to create a golf course that appeals to the broadest possible golfing audience…Shackelford’s prose is succinct, often witty, and accessible."—Cape Gazette
"Author, blogger and golf architecture expert Geoff Shackelford, who helped Gil Hanse design Rustic Canyon and restore 2023 U.S. Open host Los Angeles Country Club, taps into his passion by creating a guide that helps every golfer understand the nuances of course design. Published by Tatra Press, the 164-page hardcover book is a must-read for every golfer to better understand the game they love." —Golf Pass
"Shackelford provides an informative picture [and]...sprinkles in history lessons about those who planted the game's architectural roots, defines common terms and helps you hone your eyes when it comes to identifying some of the tricks of the trade."—FORE Magazine
"This new book does a great job demystifying golf course design ideas for average players, but can also be a beneficial read fro PGA Professionals and other golf course employees to get a better understanding of their home courses." —PGA Magazine
Steph Curry regripping his golf clubs ahead of the NBA Finals ➡️ Priorities. 😂 pic.twitter.com/ddtFpavCst
— Caddie Network (@CaddieNetwork) May 31, 2022
Non-golfers might find it a bit odd to see Steph Curry picking his clubs at the local PGA Superstore when the NBA Finals begin Thursday.
Presuming this was a regripping, any golfer can understand how that’s a task not to be trusted to an assistant.
Hayley Salvatore of the Washington Post tells the amazing story of 14-year-old Madison Smith, who has overcome Stage 3 colorectal and is competing for her high school golf team with dreams of making it to Augusta.
During a trip to Maui in August, Madison started experiencing extreme stomach pain and nausea. While she was initially diagnosed as being infected with E. coli and Salmonella — bacteria consistent with food poisoning — her symptoms persisted after she took medication, prompting her mother to suspect worse. Doctors performed an X-ray, found a stricture — a narrowing of the intestinal tract — and airlifted her to a hospital in Honolulu that was equipped to perform surgery.
When pediatric surgeon Sidney Johnson was finished, he pulled Molly and James Smith out of the recovery room to discuss the results. In the hospital’s chapel, Johnson told them he had removed 23 swollen lymph nodes and a foot of Madison’s colon and that a biopsy came back positive for both celiac disease and cancer. Molly and James were stunned to learn about their otherwise healthy daughter’s diagnosis.
“We had not even been contemplating that because she’s so young and it’s so rare for her age group,” James said. “It just doesn’t happen, so we weren’t prepared for that.”
The cancer afflicts around 100 kids Smith’s age annually, but with the support of her family, school and puppy, she made it through 12 chemo sessions and is back on the course playing high school matches with hopes of making to Augusta via the Drive, Chip and Putt.
Over the course of the season, she has amassed 8.5 points in match play. Her favorite match was her first varsity outing with the team against Paul VI. Although the Falcons lost, 6.5-2.5, Madison, who was up against a junior boy, won her duel.
“We were tied through the ninth hole, and he was sweating, he was getting nervous and he was like, ‘This is not supposed to happen,’ ” said Madison, whose long-term goal is to golf at the collegiate level. “I like playing against boys because they don’t expect it from a little girl.”
Playing at the home of the Masters has always been a goal of Madison’s, so much so that when she was asked what she wanted to do as part of the Make-A-Wish foundation, her answer was easy — to play Augusta National and spend a few nights in the Crow’s Nest, where amateur golfers stay during the Masters.
“If you could say, ‘Yeah I got to play Augusta when I was 14,’ people would be like, ‘Huh?’ ” Madison said.
That wish has not yet been granted, but Madison is confident that she will reach her chosen destination at some point, whether it’s through the Drive, Chip & Putt competition or Make-A-Wish.
“She’s convinced she’s going to get to Augusta,” James said, “one way or another.”
For $325 you too can have former New York City mayor and PGA of America consultant-turned-non-stop farce talk golf with your friends. Or wish them happy birthday.
Rudy Giuliani’s pitch, which was posted for a time on Twitter before someone told him the entire ensemble here might not lure the desired purchases, has been rescued. Thank you to all involved for leaving us this indelible image.
Rudy's pitch, in all its intended glory https://t.co/sReYnhMs3z
— Robert Lusetich (@RobertLusetich) May 2, 2022
It’s more like an elaborate practice area made of artificial turf, but it’s nonetheless worth a look if you’re in th market.
Jack Fleming of the L.A. Times with the details.
Wahlberg, who’s starring in the biographical drama “Father Stu,” bought the property for $8.25 million in 2009 and commissioned mega-mansion architect Richard Landry to build the home. Landry finished it five years later, fitting 12 bedrooms, 20 bathrooms and a myriad of lavish living spaces into the two-story floor plan.
Terraces line the second story, overlooking a park-like backyard with gardens, lawns, a grotto-style swimming pool, skate park and five-hole golf course with sand traps. Wahlberg, a Massachusetts native, also added a basketball court emblazoned with the Boston Celtics logo.
I’d say it’s a far cry from the great backyard golf courses of Hollywood elites, with Harold Lloyd, Jack Warner and maybe Bob Hope all able to make the case for the best.
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.
While it seems like golf has been fortunate on the player heckling front of late, it’s worth noting what happened to Naomi Osaka in Indian Wells as a reminder that tennis and golf are different.
I found it odd the heckler was not ejected when the timing of the noise impacted the flow of the match. Get ‘em outta there!
Anyway, Elliott writes:
Retired tennis great Martina Navratilova called it “heartbreaking” that someone would insult Osaka and also that Osaka had been affected so deeply. Navratilova also said Osaka would have to “toughen it out somehow” in the future and said Black players Althea Gibson, Chanda Rubin and Zina Garrison had endured tougher experiences in the sport than Osaka has had. It’s tricky telling people how to feel when we’re all shaped by different cultural factors and have different emotional trigger points.
Former men’s tour player Paul Annacone, now a coach and commentator, urged Osaka to prioritize her well-being. “Make sure that’s under control and in an area that she can manage,” he said on a Tennis Channel panel discussion.
“We’ve also all been to sporting events, and we all know that at sporting events you hear stuff and people shout stuff that they probably shouldn’t. … It’s very sad. I hope Naomi and her team can talk about it. I want her to be happy. I want her to play. We want to see her play. We want to see her healthy and feeling really good about things. Don’t let that get through you.”
Crowd outbursts stand out in tennis and in golf, which demand quiet before and during play. At NFL games, one heckler’s voice gets lost among 60,000 others. The same is true on a smaller scale at baseball and hockey games, where conversations, music and in-game promotions make noise a constant and customary background. The NBA invites player-fan interaction because fans are closer to the players than in any other sport. That leads to the sports equivalent of road rage, where fans take out their hostility on the nearest target.
Mercifully, even in the Live Under Par era desperate to see golf get younger and louder, the sport seems more united in having a zero tolerance view of similar outcome-influencing antics. Let’s hope it continues that way.
“Rob Manfred practices his golf stroke as his league melts down Tuesday. (Lynne Sladky/AP)”
While getting harshly criticized—okay, eviscerated on national TV and more thoughtfully in print—for his handling of labor talks, the owners, the Cheating Astros and pretty much everything else under his supervision, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred apparently wanted to drag golf down, too.
Committing the golf equivalent of playing an air guitar on karaoke Tuesday’s, the Commish used his lockout negotiating break to practice his golf swing without a club. Normally he would have been playing the Seminole Pro-Member. Here’s guessing a good time was still had by all.
And now, thanks to AP’s Lynne Sladky capturing the always sad sight of a golfer hopelessly practicing without a club, our sport has been unfairly dragged into baseball’s latest mess.
Portsalon Golf in Donegal, Ireland after Storm Franklin came through.
A rather unusual storm surge this morning @PortsalonGolf links pic.twitter.com/BDARYouCvW
— johnny shields (@johnnyshields1) February 21, 2022
And the dune below Royal Portrush suffered erosion as well.
— Graeme Beatt (@GraemeBeatt) February 21, 2022
Just a terrible story from Southampton where Maidstone caddiemaster Kevin Somers died after an altercation with caddie Marc Dern.
The two apparently started arguing while watching a golf tournament on February 5th, which was Saturday of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
From the NY Posts’ Gabrielle Fonrouge:
Dern allegedly punched Somers in the face and then put him into a chokehold, breaking a small bone in the victim’s throat that asphyxiated him, prosecutors said, according to the outlet.
Authorities allege that Dern left Somers on the front porch for three hours before calling 911 and told cops he felt his buddy’s body go limp while he was choking him.
Dern’s lawyer, John Ray, disputed the prosecutor’s claim that Somers had been left out on the porch, arguing that emergency responders told police his body was still warm when they arrived.
“If a man was lying from 7:30 to 10:30 dead, his skin would not be warm,” Ray said during the hearing. “That’s just common sense.”
l have some reading to do because as the press release says below, the “APGA Tour is a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry.”
And the winner of the televised APGA Tour stop finishing Sunday at Torrey Pines has Korn Ferry Tour status, so why he is eligible is also unclear.
GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard was on hand and writes:
The APGA is a tour that was founded to give minorities more opportunities to play professional golf, but it has not closed the door on anyone either. Tour officials estimate that about 15 percent of the competitors are white, and Newcomb is one of those golfers. He qualified for the Farmers Invitational by finishing fourth on last year’s APGA money list, having started to play the tour in 2021 because it offered more events than other circuits during the pandemic.
I’m just going to leave it there and let you read Cameron Morfit’s game story at PGATour.com or the press release below, or below that, the funeral winning putt.
Patrick Newcomb wins the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational®
Newcomb edges Tim O’Neal with birdie on the final hole
LA JOLLA, CA – With a birdie on the 36th hole at Torrey Pines South Course at APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational®, Patrick Newcomb earned his first APGA Tour victory at a landmark event for the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour which included the Tour’s first ever nationally televised broadcast on GOLF Channel and the largest purse ($100,000) and winner’s check ($30,000) in APGA Tour history.
Newcomb, who qualified for the Farmers Insurance Invitational via his ranking in the 2021 APGA Tour Lexus Cup standings, earned 2022 Korn Ferry Tour status through qualifying school. The 31-year-old flew to San Diego on Thursday following a T40 at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club. Newcomb credits being able to play on the APGA Tour through the pandemic in 2020-2021 for the development and improvement of his game that earned him Korn Ferry Tour status this year.
“That's one thing that I've talked about at other tournaments when they've asked me. The opportunity to play, they kept going and we were playing fantastic tracks every week, good talent. I know me and Timmy go way back, me and Tim O'Neal. Willie Mack, we're good friends, too. A lot of the guys out here, I've known them for a long time and it's good competition. It really kept me going,” Newcomb said. “The guys on the APGA Tour have been great, and have welcomed me with open arms. They had no issues with me coming and playing. It's been a fantastic atmosphere. What they're doing is great for guys to grow their game has been fantastic.”
Newcomb started the day with a two-stroke lead after an opening-round 4-under-par on the North Course. On Sunday, tied for the lead with APGA Tour veteran Tim O’Neal as he stepped off the 17th green, Newcomb’s tee shot on the par-5 18th hole sailed right and took a fortunate bounce.
“I drove it fantastic all day long, maybe missed two fairways all day, and then I hit the worst tee ball ever,” said Newcomb, a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. “I actually got a great break; it bounced on the cart path. And I couldn't get to this green in two, I'm not long enough, got a great break to go for it. It was one of the worst shots I've hit in a long time. Honestly, it's really weird. But I got a great break and it went down the cart path and gave me an extra like 40 yards off the tee.”
With the extra distance, Newcomb decided to go for the green with his second shot, finding the greenside bunker to the left of the traditional Torrey Pines South Course Sunday pin placement. O’Neal laid up and followed with a near perfect approach, leaving him with a birdie putt. Newcomb’s up-and-down combined with O’Neal missing his birdie made Newcomb the first winner of the 2022 APGA Tour season.
After O’Neal, Marcus Byrd finished alone in 3rd at 4-over-par with 2021 APGA Tour Player of the Year and Lexus Cup winner Willie Mack III, Trey Valentine and Kevin Hall all finishing T4.
Byrd, who played alongside Newcomb and O’Neal in the final group, was in contention until a double-bogey on the 16th hole.
“It was a privilege and an honor to be able to play here and playing in these conditions,” said Byrd, 24, who was the 2019 Conference USA Player of the Year. “I can't thank Farmers and everybody enough for putting on this event, it was an awesome experience. I think it's good preparation for the goals that we have set and for us to get to the level that we want to get to. I just think it's a huge benefit to be able to play a golf course like this, learn and do things that you need to do to get better.”
Established in 2010, the APGA Tour is a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry. This is accomplished through professional tournaments, career development and mentoring sessions.
Earlier this week, in addition to announcing the purse for the event, Farmers Insurance® announced a five-year extension of its relationship with the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA) Tour and the renewal of sponsorships for APGA Tour players Kamaiu Johnson and Willie Mack III. The extensions and the announcement of the increased purse support Farmers ongoing commitment to the APGA Tour and its focus on the growth of the game. In 2021 Farmers expanded their relationship with the Advocates Foundation, which focuses on career and wellness youth programs, announced sponsorship of the Black College Golf Coaches Association (BCGCA) and added a three-tournament APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series to the APGA Tour season with events in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Patrick Newcomb (@ThreeWiggle99) has won the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational! 🏆
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2022
This is his first career @APGA_Tour victory and earns him an exemption into the @KornFerryTour's Simmons Bank Open. pic.twitter.com/81ZHnSCwB1
Over at LPGA.com Sarah Kellam has filed a sensational read on The Murder of Marion Miley and author Beverly Bell. The story is true but Bell has fictionalized dialogue to bring this unbelievable story to life for a modern audience.
“I tried to write it non-fiction. I had gotten like a hundred pages in and it was the most boring thing that you've ever read,” Bell said. “I finally decided I had to have dialogue. The flexibility of using fiction and dialogue (made it) a lot easier. I don't know if you can say writing a book in three-and-a-half years is easy, but that's what I had to do because I had a full-time job and I was writing from about 4:30 to 6:30 every morning.
Miley was one of America’s great female amateurs who was murdered at Lexington Country Club in a sadistic plot.
Longtime readers know one of the worst parts of this whole blog thing is the consistency with which news feeds share horrendous stories of golf cart accidents. So this post is for all of you who think they’re extra clever to drive carts like total shmucks.
Because we learn in this glorious video: even an orangutan can drive a golf cart. What a cool customer!
Besides consisting of the most soothing 3 minutes you’ll enjoy today, there is also this glorious bit of tiger trolling:
I’m not clear where this was shot, but based on scenery, the orangutan’s age and the amount of knuckle hair, this could be any Tuesday in The Villages.
The full video:
The Charlotte Observers Michael Gordon with the bizarre story of San Diego Padre Wil Myers getting sued by Charlotte’s Carmel Country Club and then countersuing in what can only be called the First World at its Finest.
The short version: Myers joined the club, the pandemic hit and tee times became tough to get. Hardly a news story to any golfer. But the story gets strange given that Myers will make $22.5 million next year and is being sued for non-payment after resigning due to the lack of availability.
According to Myers’ counter-claim, all of this came as an unpleasant surprise. He said he joined the club after being assured that there were ample tee times available on both of Carmel’s courses. Instead, according to his court filing, Myers “found it almost impossible to find a tee time and frequently could not even use the driving range.” He and Margaret resigned their membership in December, telling the club that they had been duped into paying for golf privileges that they couldn’t enjoy. The club responded by citing the provisions of the Myerses’ membership contract and billing them for the $64,000 initiation balance, with a due date of Dec. 31, 2020, and some $785 in outstanding golf shop purchases and overdue charges. Carmel sued last March.
Myers fired back in June, claiming in his countersuit that he and his wife had been victimized by Carmel’s “knowing misrepresentations and omissions” which his complaint described as “immoral, unethical and unscrupulous.”
That seems a tad excessive.
One of the best causes in golf is auctioning off some stellar items right now to subsidize green fees for juniors. A number of top flight courses and resorts have offered up dreamy golf experiences, so check them out before Youth On Course closes the auction at 5 pm ET November 17th.
If you wondered what’s become of former Masters champion Craig Stadler, rule out Pilates instructor or working daily to live a gluten-free life.
But based on this video, one of the most gifted ballstrikers of his era still has it, carving a driver into this par-3 for a great cause. Enjoy!
You gotta love @TheMasters Champion Craig Stadler making an ACE from 169 yards with a driver during @OfficialMauiJim event for #childrenshomeofpeoria@TheWarriorsJrny @AminoVITALGolf @Titleist #countryclubofpeoria pic.twitter.com/u9YCRv6RcR
— Dan (@danboever) August 26, 2021
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
