Midweek Musings

It's not just any MM post, but it's a certain blogger's birthday....  and we have so very much to cover.

But before we get to our core competencies, a little ski video for your enjoyment.  This was made by the son-in-law's brother of my ski buddy Mitch.  They're Brits and came over in February en masse for a ski vacation.  Our auteur is named Joe, and his big breakthrough was the realization that falling wasn't, you know, painful.... so he lost his fear and tried to do everything, and comedy ensued.

But here's the best bit....  He's skiing a run-out back towards a lift, and somehow ends up down in a little creek.  You can see him flailing away trying to climb out, throwing his skis and poles up over the bank.  But the best part, and you couldn't stage this if you tried, is that a snowboarder comes flying over his head into the creek.

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled programming....

Run DMD - Fairly big news from the Tour where nothing ever changes:

For Immediate Release:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (March 28, 2017) – The PGA TOUR has announced that it will begin testing the use of distance measuring devices during competition at select tournaments this year on the Web.com Tour, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. 

Each of the three Tours will allow use of the devices by players and caddies at four consecutive tournaments, including Monday qualifiers. For these events, the PGA TOUR will temporarily enact a Local Rule in accordance with Decision 14-3/0.5 of The R&A/USGA Rules of Golf, which stipulates the device can be used to measure distance only (use of functions to measure slope, elevation or wind will not be allowed).

Shackelford is strongly against the use of DMD's, so we'll let him rant on the subject:

Allowing the use of rangefinders on such a stage will, once and for all, allow us to see if they speed up play on the professional level and how they "look" to a television

audience. I suspect, as we've seen with other elite golf where players use rangefinders as a way to double check what they learn via traditional yardage books, that play will not speed up.

There will also be the dreadful optics of watching someone looking through a device, which is about as fun as watching people test virtual reality devices. Perhaps the rule will allow caddies to use them but not players?

But now we'll have data and visuals so that we can remember how rangefinders really only help when a player hits their tee shot into the other fairway.

Well, do we think they'll hurt pace of play?  I agree that it's not a great look, but neither is Charlie Hoffman, and we haven't outlawed him....  and that last point is pretty important, no?

Will Gray surveys the lads in Houston who, with one outlier, think it won't help pace of play:

“I don’t think it’s going to make any difference to speed of play,” Rose said. “We don’t play ‘one number’ golf. We want to know what it is to the back edge of the green; we want to know the distance over a bunker. We want to know what the distance is to a certain slope. 

“So it’s not as basic as, ‘I have 179 to the pin.’ You kind of make decisions out on the golf course based on what’s around the pin.” 

Rose’s sentiment was echoed by multiple other players, who added that the utility of rangefinders will hinge on how players choose to use them.

Really?  Maybe I don't understand the complexity of their worldview (a free Unplayable Lies subscription for anyone that can identify that classical reference), but doesn't a DMD speed up the acquisition of the first number.  Yes, they'll use their pin sheets and yardage books to slice and dice target options, but I can't see how it doesn't help.

In a follow up post, Geoff  adds this concern:

I'm happy to wait out the experiment, but unless the PGA Tour is willing to subsidize the cost for juniors, advocating these devices means they will encourage young and aspiring golfers to believe they need such pricey devices. And just like that, the entry barrier to golf that any sane individual says we must break down, become $300 more expensive.

OK, I think he and others have it backwards....  the case for DMD's isn't that they'll speed up play, it's that there's no logic for the ban.  

This guy has it right:

 Ben Crane, are your ears ringing?

Got Ten Seconds To Spare? - Portstewart Golf Club is hosting The Irish Open this year, part of a multi-week links season which many of us are eagerly anticipating.  Just click here and watch the aerial video of Portstewart.  

Portstewart is very much a tale of two nines.... the back nine is stern and challenging, but it's the outgoing nine that makes it's reputation.  It's golf routed through some of the most dramatic dunes to be found in linksland, as that video attests.  For those interested in more, here's my take on it from our last visit.

Masters Stuff - OK, while it's never too early to panic, let's hope this is wrong:

Hmmmm....a golf course playing long and soft?  Who might that favor?

But it's music to the ears of someone like Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman's four major titles all came on tracks that were softened up -- Congressional at the 2011 U.S. Open, Kiawah's Ocean Course at the 2012 PGA Championship, Royal Liverpool at the 2014 Open Championship and Valhalla at the 2014 PGA. It wouldn't surprise anyone if McIlroy used his distance advantage to capture the career Grand Slam. Then again, the American transplant has admitted he doesn't like playing in bad conditions, though, so maybe this evens out. Oh yeah, Dustin Johnson, that guy who wins every week now, is also a long hitter.

What Rory truly hates is wind, and that forecast isn't too bad there....  

Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but at least go out on a limb....  Shack, writing in Golfweek and Alex Myers, for Golf Digest, pick ten and thirteen players, respectively.   As I note frequently, the Masters field is so small that the chances that the winner will come for those lists is approaching 100%.

Hoping to see a certain guy there?  There's good news from a frequent critic:

And so, during a teleconference Tuesday morning previewing the Masters, Golf Channel analysts Brandel Chamblee and Colin Montgomerie were asked the following question: I think it’s an easy question, but do either of you see any chance that Tiger plays? 

“I do. I do,” Chamblee answered. “If you can believe anything that you read on social media – I know that his coach has been down there, and they’ve been hitting a lot of golf balls down in Palm Beach. The way I understand it, he’s been practicing quite diligently. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Tiger showed up at Augusta National.” 

For his part, Montgomerie said that if Woods does show up, he hopes fans don’t see the 14-time major champ bowing out after “77-78 and going home from there.”

I'm happy to see him play, if he's ready....  

It's Different Out Here -  Do yourself a favor and read this Ron Sirak piece on looping on the LPGA Tour.  Ron is a strong supporter of the ladies' tour, and he spends time hanging with the boys.  Shack grabbed this for his excerpt:

The days of the hard-living bag-toter who would close the bars at night and work the

next day through bloodshot eyes are mostly gone. These loopers are more than mere porters lugging around a 45-pound staff bag. Caddies have evolved into a mix of mathematician, psychologist, cartographer and bodyguard, all while remaining a Sherpa. 

“Oh, my, those early days,” says Killeen, smiling. “At our house in Oakmont in 1992 [for the U.S. Women’s Open] we had empties stacked up this high,” he said, holding his hand over his head. “What do I like the most about this job? The people. The travel. The fact I have half the year off.” 

And Killeen clearly relishes his role as house father of the group. 

“You should have smelled it this morning,” Castrale says about their shared house in Phoenix on Thursday. “At 5 a.m., he’s already got the Irish stew simmering. John sent out a group text telling us where the car was parked and saying, ‘Early guys, when you get home, don’t forget to stir the stew.’ ”

Good call, as it's quite the supportive community.  Ron also gets into the financial side, which is quite interesting...  And, of course, you know that my eye is drawn towards the brutal firing stories:

The LPGA says about 150 caddie ID cards are issued annually. Some show up at

tournaments without a bag, hoping to pick up a Monday qualifier or catch on with a player who just fired her caddie—not a rare experience. 

These days, caddies are sometimes fired by text message. One was fired by telephone on Christmas Eve and told: “We were disappointed we didn’t win a major this year.” To which the caddie said he was thinking: Hey, I’m not the one who hit that ball that’s still bouncing down Bob Hope Drive. 

Another caddie was fired by his player’s agent at a gate at the Manchester airport the Monday after the 2006 Ricoh Women’s British Open. And then there was Jason Gilroyed, who was fired by Jessica Korda at the turn of the third round of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open and replaced by her boyfriend. 

“I was in that group, and we were on No. 10 tee,” says Killeen, who was working for Lizette Salas at the time. “I look over, and Jason wasn’t on the bag. I had no idea what was going on.” Later that evening, while sitting at a bar, Killeen nudged me and showed me his phone. On it was a text from Gilroyed that read: “Miss me yet?”

Just one more quick one... The revenge of the fired caddie:

Then there was the father who berated his daughter’s caddie so badly he quit. The next day, with Dad on the bag, the player got a bad yardage and hit a 7-iron out-of-bounds over a green. The caddie waited for his ex to finish then politely told Dad: “At least I can f---ing add.”

Just read the whole thing, and you can thank me later.

Wither Scotland -  Scottish independence talk is again in the air, which troubles me greatly.  I have no conceptual problem with the Scots asserting their sovereignty, it just seems to me that they want to do so only to capitulate to Brussels.  And that, is madness..... There's also the issue of the economics of the place, which look decidedly different amidst the current oil glut and diminishing North Sea production.

That said, laughter is the best medicine, and today's chuckle comes courtesy of our dear friend Elsie Coupland:

Scottish Independence 

If Scotland gains its independence in the forthcoming referendum,

the remainder of the United Kingdom will be known as the “Former United Kingdom,” or FUK. 

In a bid to discourage the Scots from voting “yes” in the referendum,

the Government has now begun to campaign with the slogan “Vote NO, for FUK’s sake.”

They feel the Scottish voters will be able to relate to this.

And they will....