Back In The Saddle

Did you miss me as much as I missed you?  I thought so....

No weekend wrappage per se, but let's clear the decks of some items we need to discuss, then we can flood the zone on Baltusrol coverage.

Rota Doings - The header to Shack's review of the reimagined Ailsa Course will have heads in Philly exploding:

DONALD TRUMP'S TURNBERRY: THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE DELIVERS WITH HIS RENOVATED AYRSHIRE COURSE

Well, he hired the best people and it's gonna be YUUUUGE!

As Donald Trump has set sight on the White House, a prominent part of his life prior and 

during the run has been a revitalization of this historic resort. There is a reason he left the campaign trail to christen the re-opening: Turnberry has been a labor of love and a significant capital investment. 

Turnberry is a marvel in every way. The resort has become one of the world’s elite again, the stuff dreamers a century ago hoped for in putting a five-star hotel on a hill overlooking a links and majestic lighthouse. Should your budget allow and your pallet call for world-class links golf, dining and accommodations, Turnberry is an essential stop. But don’t be in a hurry to leave.

You say pallet, I say palate, let's call the whole thing off.  But seriously, are there no editors and/or proofreaders left?

But it's quite the rave:

The new 4th green.

While always a beautiful setting thanks to the Ailsa Craig, the Firth of Clyde and the resort’s own majestic lighthouse, the old Turnberry featured several uninspired holes and -- despite being home to four of the Open Championship’s most memorable finishes -- a bland back nine. 

Turnberry has reopened with almost no weak moments, improved views of the Firth, restoration of ancient-looking fringed bunkering and an abundance of thrilling shot-making opportunities. Furthermore, Turnberry’s dramatically revamped 9th, 10th, and 11th holes are comparable to the best trifectas in golf: Pebble Beach (7th-8th-9th), Cypress Point (15th-16th-17th) or Augusta National (11th-12th-13th).

Turnberry is often the favorite course of those visiting Scotland, as its rugged coastline and visual beauty will mask the existence of too many indifferent holes.  In that sense the comparison to Pebble Beach is obvious....

But like Pebble, when it's good it's really good....The other obvious issue is that the two finishing holes were always weak sisters.  Now this is something of an occupational hazard with links, as there is often a simple necessity to get the golfers from the clubhouse, built inland near the road, to the more interesting terrain nearer the water.  But at the old Ailsa, there were just too many of the weak sisters, and it didn't help when Open Championships were won and lost on them.

Most of the interest has centered on the new ninth hole, as Geoff explains:\

Ebert didn’t have to do much to the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth, as both are beautiful, left-turning holes playing through coastline dunes. It’s at the new ninth where Ebert and many others (including R&A officials) pondered a better use of the cliffs and lighthouse setting. Ebert briefly toyed with a drivable par 4 but Trump insisted on a classic par 3 over the cliffs, a huge improvement over the par-4 tee shot that used to be played from the same tees.

As we've previously discussed, it's a classic design.... for Hawaii.  I can't think of such a hole in Scotland and Ireland, and one can't help but wonder about playability in heavy winds.  Though the old ninth, with it's humpback fairway that kicked balls left and right, will not be missed.....

Geoff's slideshow doesn't include a photo of the new ninth, but he does include this of the new Par-3 11th:

You know, if you like this sort of thing....

Read the whole thing. because it sounds like everything has been thought through fully and the garishness has been limited.  There's a short course located just below the hotel that they've had the good sense to upgrade as well, and a forthcoming renovation of the Kintyre course as well.

So, while politics is another strong interest of mine (or was), I'm puzzled as to whether a Trump win increases or decreases the odds of the Ailsa staying in the rota.... 

In other rota doings, Lewine Mair tells us in the Global Golf Post that the R&A is a tad chintzy with the host venues.... Color me shocked.  

See No Evil... - Have you heard the Scott Stallings story?  Well then, pour yourself a fresh one and pull up a chair.... Here's the background:

When his 2014 season ended at the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston,

Stallings returned to his home in Knoxville, Tenn., and paid a visit to Dr. Raye-Anne Ayo, a local family medicine practitioner. According to a sworn declaration signed by Ayo, a series of blood tests revealed that Stallings' testosterone level was hovering on the low end of the range of normal, possibly the result of a 2005 surgery in which doctors removed from Stallings a potentially precancerous undescended testicle. Ayo concluded "Stallings's testosterone level was sub-optimal for him and was possibly contributing to his feelings of fatigue" so she recommended that he take a daily dose of the over-the-counter hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) "if it was permissible by the Tour." 

Stallings' testosterone levels weren't low enough to garner a diagnosis of hypogonadism, a disorder in which the body produces little to no testosterone, but according to some experts, that doesn't mean Stallings shouldn't qualify for medical treatment.

Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, an associate clinical professor of urology at Harvard Medical School and the author of a book called Testosterone for Life, said that there is "a growing awareness that testosterone deficiency is a serious medical condition that profoundly affects men in terms of general health."

Stallings then makes a mistake, taking a supplement readily available at your local CVS....then self-reports to the Tour:

It was April 2015, and the three-time PGA Tour winner had been summoned to meet the most powerful man in golf, Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, in the clubhouse at TPC Louisiana before the start of the Zurich Classic. Stallings would finally have the chance to plead his case in person. Or so he thought.

The golfer reviewed his talking points in his head. He had made a mistake, but he also had immediately reported himself, as golfers are supposed to do, and apologized. Surely, the Tour would forgive him for acting hastily when his health was on the line. Finchem, he thought, would understand.  

"I walk into a room, Finchem is there with a few other guys, and before my butt hits the seat, I'm handed a piece of paper telling me I was suspended for three months," Stallings recalled. "I was very much in shock."

My first question is why is Finchem the one dropping that hammer on Stallings?  He's got minions and sycophants to do his dirty work, no?

And this is pretty naive:

"I thought the Tour would have my back, but obviously they didn't," Stallings said. "I hope no one has to go through it ever again."

You screwed up Scott, you trusted them....

Obviously Stallings made a mistake and the rules have some grey area related to low testosterone, but the guy had a serious medical issue and he turned himself in.  So, why deprive the man of his career for three months over this?  Well, see if this clarifies anything?

The decision to make Stallings the newest member of the most exclusive club in golf had already been made. He joined Doug Barron, Vijay Singh and Bhavik Patel as the only players known to have run afoul of the Tour's Anti-Doping Program since its inception in 2008, his name forever etched on a public naughty list in perhaps the only sport that prizes integrity over success.

Does it surprise you that:

1.  Only four guys have been caught in the Tour's drug testing, and that the only household name was long past his prime (and a noted thorn in Commissioner Ratched's side);
2. That failed drug tests for recreational drugs are a private matter, but the Tour would announce this suspension as a "self-reported drug violation" with no further details;
3. That in refusing to add blood work to their protocols the Tour can't possibly catch any use of PEDs by their players.

The above will only surprise those under the misapprehension that the program was designed to eliminate the use of PEDs in golf.   As opposed, of course, to creating the appearance of a rogorous drug testing regime.

Where's The Beef? - Endorsements, like mergers, often leave us scratching our heads, certain that the benefits can't cover the cost.  For instance, is there a little kid in Texas insisting that his mother only serve him the high fructose corn syrup peddled by Jordan Spieth?

But the good ones are notable, whether it's TopGolf acquiring ProTracer or even Brooke Pancake revealling that she's more of a Waffle House kind of girl....  But this one, is more of a "What took so long?" reaction:

It has already been a storybook year for Andrew Johnston, the golfer better known as "Beef," who most recently notched a sixth place finish at the British Open last week.

Though he won earlier in the year at the Spanish Open, his performance at Royal Troon was most memorable, establishing him as the fun-loving cult hero receiving raucous "BEEF!" chants on each tee come Sunday.

Furthering his legacy, the 27-year-old Englishman has now inked an endorsement deal with Arby's, also famous for their beef. So, starting at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, he will wear the logo of the franchise sandwich restaurant on his shirt and hat.

Hey, I'm just glad these two kids found each other....

Millennial Bait -  I've long bemoaned the dreary sameness of week-to-week life on Tour, but I'm guessing this is a bridge too far:

The European Tour is set to revolutionise golf with a radical new format, played over just six holes and featuring time limits for shots, music and 'different' clothing. 

Following the lead of Twenty20, which has transformed cricket, the European Tour are looking to play golf over a shorter format than its traditional 18 holes, with added elements of theatre to add to the spectacle.

He added: 'Yes, there'd be a shot clock. Yes, there'd be music and players would probably be dressed a bit differently.

Why would they do this?  C'mon, the answer is in the header:

The theory goes that these additions will help attract more young players and boost TV audience figures.

We usually discuss these millennial-inspired "innovations" in the context of golf course operations, in which I typically note that it's fine to try anything, though you might want to ensure that you're not alienating your existing customer base.

In this case, knock yourselves out....though Geoff is making his support contingent on including the stymie.

Henrik 2.0 - Bob Harig has an interesting profile of Henrik's work with Pete Cowen, and to me the interest is mostly in how bad a state the Swede's golf game was at its nadir:

Yet as Stenson makes the quick turnaround to this week's PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club, it is interesting to note how bad he once was, how little ability he had to do anything close to what he accomplished in Scotland. 

"He couldn't hit the world, let alone the fairway,'' said Pete Cowen, Stenson's longtime instructor. "And it could be with every club in his bag. He could hit 5-irons out of bounds, 7-irons out of bounds. There are three important things, and they are to start the ball on line, and have the correct flight and spin. Henrik couldn't start it on line, and then you have no idea where it is going to finish.''

And now he's a ball-striking machine.... But I love that Cowen has skin in the game:

The deal Cowen makes with his clients is to be paid a percentage of their prize money; he does not charge them a fee per session, nor a set amount per week or per year. So working with Stenson meant some bleak times for the instructor as well. 

"It was two and a half years of nothing, basically, but that was my commitment to him,'' Cowen said. "You're not winning anything so I can't charge you anything, so let's keep going until it happens. We saw bits of sparks in there occasionally, but not very often. He just persevered.''

And I just love this closer:

Warming up prior to the final round at Royal Troon, Stenson was hitting everything perfectly. Cowen knew his work was done. There was little left to do but see his longtime pupil off to the first tee, from where he proceeded to produce the round of a lifetime. 

Cowen didn't stick around to watch, opting instead to get in his car and head south back to England. He listened to the final round on the radio, from where he could undoubtedly hear that sweet sound of the club meeting the ball, one he had worked so hard to help produce.

So much for the longest walk in golf....