Friday Frisson

Yesterday's freakishly warm temps allowed for some actual golf to be played, so let's catch up on some stories you might have missed.

'Tis the Season - Wednesday we had the utterly wholesome Halloween pairing of Jordan Spieth and Michael Greller, so today we note that ExtraSpin is running one from the opposite end of the spectrum that we had for you last year:

 

The photo credit goes to barstool_sports, and you know that I couldn't make that up...

Jumping on the barstool bandwagon, The Loop runs this slideshow of the pro golf's best Halloween costumes.  In it's own bizarre fashion, this might be my favorite photo of the Watson family:

Who knew that Oakley made mouse ears?

And we'll throw in this one of the future Mrs. Dustin Johnson, yanno, just to make sure that Maggot keeps reading the blog on the left bank:

In another paen to the season, The Loop also runs this slideshow of the thirteen most terrifying, frightening, fear-inducing holes in golf.... I know, that's a bit of over-kill for a gallery that's mostly the usual suspects, think Road Hole, Sawgrass No. 17 and the like...

But in honor of next year's U.S. Open venue, I'll excerpt this one:

Hitting off the first tee is hard enough. When the opening hole is a 482-yard par 4 with eight bunkers off the fairway and two more by the green? It can be a downright dream-killer.

That it is, just ask Aaron Baddeley...

And this last one technically has nothing to do with Halloween, it's a promo for the Turkish Airlines Open, you'll agree that Iron Chef makes a perfectly fine Halloween theme:

That's Rory and Charl Schwarzel in case you were in doubt...

It's Baaack - Having proven itself an uninspiring and completely forgettable venue, this was inevitable:

SCOTLAND has won the right to host the Solheim Cup in 2019, when Gleneagles will become the third venue in the home of golf to stage the biennial event. 

In what was a straight fight, Scotland was given the nod ahead of Sweden after the two countries were short-listed from an initial 10 countries from all over Europe.

“I want to congratulate the Scotland bid team for their work,” said Ivan Khodabakhsh, chief executive of Ladies European Tour.

Let me translate the technojargon for you, winning a straight fight means they offered to write the larger check.  As for the representative of the LET, there's got to be an interesting backstory as to how a guy with a name that would inspire Vanna to give away vowels got into golf...

I'd caution our Shack to not drive himself crazy with the what-ifs, noting that Catriona Matthew would make a fine Captainess for a Scottish-based Solheim Cup in that time frame, and from there it's only a hop, skip and jump to imagining the event taking place on her home links at North Berwick.  Careful Geoff, that path leads to insanity,  I mean thinking that these folks care about the quality of their venues....  I see padded walls in your future.

The Shark, Self-Absorbed as Ever - I'm pleased to report that The Great White Shark remains the apple of his eye....really, he simply can't take his eye off the mirror.  You know the drill, from the wide range of shirtless photos to the bronze bust, he's an Adonis for the Cialis set.

But we have a new entry, this time a bearded Shark:

If it's your thing, go here for the Instagram call and answer over whether to keep the beard.  But who are these people following him?  They need to get out more...

Lost Links - Losing a golf course is very much a dog-bites-man story, but losing this one will get your attention:

One of the most important golf courses in Canada may someday cease to exist. Glen Abbey's parent company recently filed a proposal to redevelop the golf course's 230 acres into a residential and shopping area. The golf course has hosted the Canadian Open many times, and has been in operation for 40 years. It is an important part of the community in southern Ontario and the history of golf in Canada. 

Canada's Globe and Mail reports that the parent company, ClubLink Corp., was not motivated by flagging profits in the golf industry or the lure of property developers' money. "This is just a very preliminary thing," CEO Rai Sahi told the paper. However, Glen Abbey occupies a very valuable slice of real estate, and another ClubLink course that closed last year may also be turned into an upscale neighborhood.

It's hosted the Canadian Open some 27 times, and will always be linked with this shot:

Alex Myers had this witty take on it: 

It was also where Mark Calcavecchia made a PGA Tour record nine consecutive birdies in 2009. Unfortunately, it sounds like the next time someone tears up this course, it could be for real.

That's a good one....

Finally Frank -  After seemingly being airbrushed out of far too many May Day parade photos, Mike O'Malley notes that the late Frank Hannigan has at long last been recognized:

You could do worse than be commemorated with your beloved pet at a place that reveres 

history and the people who have had a hand in making it. So it was that family, friends and associates of Frank Hannigan gathered to honor the late USGA executive director Wednesday night with the unveiling of his portrait at the USGA Museum’s Ben Hogan Room. 

“Unique,” said the USGA’s Mike Butz. An iconoclast, said Jerry Tarde of Golf Digest, where Hannigan’s biting opinions spared no one, and his observations were prescient. Hannigan’s wife of 50 years, Dr. Janet Carter, cited one of his Golf Digest stories from a decade ago: “More and more, the future of golf is looking like Donald Trump." Added longtime ABC colleague Peter Alliss, via video: “He was naughty, cheeky, and sometimes he could be a bloody nuisance … but I loved him.”

It's hard to understand how these things play out, but given that Frank served as Executive Director through 1989, couldn't this have been accomplished in a time frame that would have allowed Frank to be there?

As Shack notes here, Hannigan has incurred the wrath of the USGA for telling the truth as he saw it, but it's hardly his fault that the organization seemingly goes out of its way to prove him right.

Feherty, Unplugged - If Marika Washchyshyn married Ivan Khodabakhsh, I think my head might  explode trying to type her hyphenated name, so let's just note that she scored an interview with David Feherty about his move from CBS to NBC.  This will no doubt get most of the attention:

It was a combination of things. Money was always an issue, of course. I have been doing this for about 19 years, it was time to make that change. But the other aspect was that I’m going to be doing basically the same thing at NBC/Golf Channel. I’m going to be working more four-day events there than I was at CBS. Because I’m working all four days, whereas I was only working five four-day events at CBS, I’m going to work less events overall but more of the four day ones [by extension, more time in the booth]. The first few days, I’ll be in the tower like I was at CBS, but look, I’m an outside pet. Someone has got to be out there stirring things up on the course.

As for future guests on his eponymous talker, I don't think you'll be shocked by this list of usual suspects:

There are a number who are on my bucket list, some of whom haven’t been able to come on because of scheduling, like Freddy [Couples], Ernie Els, Phil, Tiger. But really, I’d say Tiger. I want to show the side of Tiger that I know, the side the media doesn’t show. Part of the reason he hasn’t been on is that he’s not ready - he gets defensive, because we in the media have given him such a hard time.

Feherty acknowledges being a first-class Tiger suck-up, but where's the ROI?  In any event, I'm guessing that show would be far more boring than anyone realizes...

Memory Lane - Golfweek is running some of their old stories from the last forty years, and you might enjoy scrolling through these on Ben Hogan.  They manage to capture many of the kindnesses of Hogan that he kept well hidden behind his gruff exterior, such as this:

A few years later, when Frost asked him to watch, Hogan said, “I don’t give lessons.”

Before Hogan walked away, Frost asked a backswing question. “Son,” he said, “you don’t hit the ball with your backswing.” 

Occasionally, Frost visited Hogan at the factory. Once a house guest of Frost’s from South Africa tagged along. However, a secretary informed Frost, “Mr. Hogan will see you but not your guest.” And so a young Ernie Els had to wait in the lobby.

Remember that at the 1955 U.S. Open only two contestants played Ben Hogan branded clubs, Hogan and the man that beat him.....

 I hope that's enough to get you all through the weekend.  Between golf and house guests, you'll not likely hear back from me until Monday.