Thursday Thoughts

But just a few quick ones....  We've had 3" of fresh snow and our standards have been lowered to the point where this qualifies as a powder day.  I acknowledge that it's a first world problem, but it's MY first world problem....

You're Gonna Need a Bigger List - See if you don't agree:

Top 10 golf controversies of 2017

Alas, it's a curious list for sure....For instance, this was curious and amusing, but has nothing to do with, you know, golf:

8. Disappearing act

Brent McLaughlin made for a fun story as the tattooed, Harley-riding tournament director for the RBC Canadian Open. That story took a hard left turn when McLaughlin lost his title midway through the tournament for reasons which remain unclear.

Gotta be sexual harassment, right?  After all, 'tis the season...

This is overly broad, as the Irish Open incident was the more important one:

6. Rahm Rules

Jon Rahm enjoyed a stellar season 2016-17 season, during which he rose to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He also found himself at the center of several controversies including salty on-course behavior and two separate rules issues. Lee Westwood called him out mid-round for a possible infraction at the British Open, which came just one week after a ball-marking issue at the Irish Open.

And, the question begs itself, where's Hideki?

This was heartbreaking, but not the least bit controversial:

2. Concession controversy

“I didn’t say that was good.”

A simple statement from Erica Shepherd in response to her caddie’s question at the U.S. Girls’ Junior led to a really ugly situation. Shepherd, a 16-year-old Duke commit, was viciously attacked on social media regarding the conclusion of her semifinal match and ultimate victory in the event.

The winner is no surprise, but see if you find this Sam Weinman column as curious as I did:

But what did Lexi learn?

An otherwise successful year for Lexi Thompson was still marred by two painful losses. Whether they end up helping or hurting in the long run is mostly up to her

We saw her reaction to the most painful of those through her play for the remainder of the season.   

Just curious, but see if you enjoy this no-good, horrible appeal to authority:

Failure. Loss. Disappointment. Setbacks. The sports psychologist Jonathan Fader, who works with the New York Mets and New York Giants, puts them all under the broad clinical umbrella of “unwanted outcomes.” Implicit is that no athlete welcomes these episodes, and understandably so: it’s far easier to just win. 

It’s when you don’t, though, when athletes are posed with a choice, and Fader detects a healthy divide depending on what happens next.

I'll grant that the Mets' sports psychologist might have a passing familiarity with Failure.  Loss.  Disappointment.  Setbacks.  Just curious as to his quals in the recovery therefrom?  

And this unfortunate news from the girl:

The 22-year-old announced Friday that a wrist issue flared up and she has been advised not to hit golf balls until mid-January. That meant Thompson was forced to withdraw from the Diamond Resorts Invitational (a combination players and celebrities event that will take place Jan. 12-14).

Ugh!  Forget the psychological drama, if there's a concern about Lexi (other than her putting, of course), I'd worry about the health of her wrists given the amount of earth she moves on every shot.

Racist Trees? -  Honest, kids, I didn't come up with that:

City officials commit to removing 'racist' trees from golf course in Palm Springs

Did they catch them wearing Make America Great Again hats?

A longtime symbol of segregation that has stood alongside a golf course since the 1960s will soon meet its end in one California town. 

Decades ago, a large grove of tamarisk trees was planted on the border between Tahquitz Creek Golf Course and a historically black neighborhood, along with a chain link fence. But at an informal city meeting this week, officials promised residents that the trees and the fence would be removed. 

According to USA Today and The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun, the residents of the bordering neighborhood "said the invasive tamarisks, which block views of the Tahquitz Creek Golf Course and San Jacinto mountains, have artificially depressed property values and prevented black families from accumulating wealth in their property over the past half century."

As long as everyone's happy....  Personally, I didn't realize that blacks were allowed in Palm Springs.

The Year in Review, Lucky Bastards Edition -  You know the type, guys that get paid to travel and play great courses.  First up is Travelin' Joe, a favorite pinata.  Though, to be fair, I don't have much to criticize in his performance of his primary job....  Here are some highlights, first as relates to a new Tour venue:

Trinity Forest GC

Dallas, Texas

Situated 10 miles south of downtown Dallas, Trinity is a private club that opened in

October 2016 and counts Jordan Spieth among its members. It was built on old landfill, and lacked much of anything in the way of natural features. Coore took a look, and ultimately discovered some intriguing contours. Bill and Ben then did what they do best, utilizing the best natural pitch and roll the terrain offered, and molded the rest to create a truly wondrous track. Typical of a Coore-Crenshaw layout, strategic options and ground game emphasis predominate, leading to tremendous variety. Also noteworthy are the shapes, sizes and placements of bunkers — as well as nary a water hazard, virtually unheard of on the PGA Tour these days. When I launched one of my rare quality strikes on the chilly day I played Trinity, I found the left side of the green complex at the wild par-3 17th, and watched my ball doink to the right, creep along the giant, sectionalized green and settle eight feet from the pin. All the while, Coore cooed appreciatively, "That's how to play it!" Naturally, I missed the putt, but I can't wait to see the PGA Tour tackle this unusual firm, fast-running, cunningly contoured test in 2018, when it becomes the new host for the AT&T Byron Nelson.

It will be very interesting to see how the spoiled children of the Tour take to it....  especially if the conditions are indeed firm and fast.

This one just pisses me off, the fact that others get to go to places such as this:

Kingston Heath GC

Melbourne, Australia 

It's not as if Kingston Heath's greatness should have surprised me. I had walked a few holes at this Melbourne, Australia-area layout back in 1992 and was immediately smitten with the most remarkable bunkering I had ever encountered, in my then-young career. I

didn't play it, and didn't really explore it, but felt like I got to know it through tournaments on television. I heard Tiger rave about it, and saw it rise to No. 20 in the World in GOLF's 2017 Top 100 Courses ranking. Could it really be that good? I wasn't convinced, even after I asked Gil Hanse what course he considered to be the best ever built on modest or mediocre terrain. "Everyone points to Kingston Heath as the perfect example of a great golf course on a fairly uninspiring piece of land," said Hanse. "The architect (Dan Soutar with Alister MacKenzie on bunkers) took what the site possessed, the sand, the scrub, the vegetation and enhanced that property by features that sit down at ground level. Truly great work."

What I learned was that you have to see it, walk it, and play it for yourself to fully appreciate its merits. I did that in October. For me, Kingston Heath still doles out the best-looking bunkers I've ever seen. Now, however, I know that they're more than just pretty faces. They intimidate with steep lips and with positions that obscure fairway landing areas and seemingly block green entrances. In truth, you ultimately discover there is sufficient room to play, accessible avenues where you can avoid the bunkers and scrub, but that there is a preferred angle, and corresponding risk/reward at every turn. This is a small, easily walkable property, without a water hazard, yet it delights and confounds throughout the round. Kingston Heath is superior architecture, period.

I'm just gonna sit here and pout.

Also making the Grand Tour was Martin Kaufmann, who typically handles the TV beat at Golfweek (and we have his thoughts on that in a bit).   

First, this note is near and dear to my heart:

If you want to drink well, go to Islay. This island off the west coast of Scotland, at the southernmost end of the Inner Hebrides chain, is the country’s greatest scotch

destination. There are eight – soon to be 10 – active distilleries on an island of slightly more than 3,000 people, and they are some of the genre’s greatest brands: Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Bowmore, among others. The smoky, peaty character of these whiskies sparked my love for scotch and, by extension, Scotland. 

Truth is, my stated reason for visiting Islay was to see the recently renovated Machrie, a links that dates to 1891. The fact that my trip corresponded with the annual Islay Festival – a week-long celebration of scotch and music – was less than a coincidence. 

I’m a big fan of D.J. Russell’s renovations to The Machrie – I’ll have more on this in early 2018 – and hope to get back later this year to see the new hotel that is nearing completion behind the 18th green. 

This is a real sleeper destination, particularly for those who are well traveled. If you’ve been everywhere on the Scottish mainland and are looking for something different, take a ferry or flight from Glasgow to Islay.

Having previously made it to Machrihanish and Ashkernish, The Machrie is my great white whale du jour.  It's supposed to be a hoot, with more blind shots than the player can count....  And it should work, in theory, as a destination, because Employee No.2 has a fondness for brown liquor.   The dilemma is that we've talked about parking ourselves in one spot on our next trip...  Islay isn't the easiest place to get to....

You'll want to scroll the entire piece, to read about how David Maclay Kidd works and grills, as well as his thoughts on the revise Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry.  I did like these thoughts:

A note: I write all of this, fully aware that praising anything that carries the Trump name is verboten in some circles these days. Frankly, I don’t care. All I care about is that new ownership took over an iconic, but troubled, property, poured a lot of money into it, and put it on par with the world’s greatest golf resorts.

If only others would see it that way as well.... Of course, he's likely comped.

I Saw It On TV - As promised, here are some of Martin's thoughts on televised golf, first that which he thought worked:

David Feherty: After Feherty’s disappointing first year with NBC in 2016, one got the sense during the Florida Swing that the game’s most prominent cut-up finally was beginning to find a home on the dead-sober NBC crew.

Meh!  Still seemed an awkward fit to me.... 

You'll not be surprised that I'm more focused on that which didn't work:

Lack of consistency: This is a continuing industry problem, from week to week and year to year. One obvious example is the use of tracers and other helpful technology. CBS won’t use tracers at the Masters, insisting it’s better without, but it boasts about using tracers on every hole at the PGA Championship. NBC used tracers sporadically, at best, during the British Open and Solheim Cup, but was much more aggressive with this technology at the Tour Championship. The point is, when we get to these big events, I’d welcome a little consistency.

OK, my understanding is that CBS is not allowed to use tracer on their broadcast, just as they're not allowed to have a blimp or on-course reporters.  Tracer was used on the streaming coverage, making all the more frustrating.  Is there a golf hole more in need of a Tracer than the tee shot on No. 13?

Now CBS does deserve blame for their treacly coverage and the limited actual golf shown, but this apparently isn't an issue for Martin.  And calling out ESPN for excessive Tiger coverage?  Even is true, isn't there enough to critique in those networks that actually broadcast golf?  Fox isn't even mentioned....

And this is one of his TBD's:

Fall schedule: The quality of the fall events, across all of the tours, has greatly improved over the past 15 years. But the reality is that, for most sports fans, the only must-watch event of the past three months was an 18-man tournament, the Hero World Challenge – and only because Woods played. That’s a lot of time and money spent airing tournaments toward which the American market has little interest. It just feels like something has to give.

Let me explain it to you, Martin.... It sucks and it isn't going anywhere.  But before we leave the TV beat, how about these boffo ratings?

Here's Shack's take:

Yes, golfing royalty was in attendance and there is undoubtedly something special about the PNC Father-Son, but the final audience size for NBC's weekend coverage triples or quadruples most fall PGA Tour events on Golf Channel.

Given the demise of Skins and other silly season events, maybe there is just a thirst for some non-stroke play viewing in December?

It's all of the above, but also that most of the country is housebound and there is nothing else worth watching on TV....  Golf in December actually makes more sense than golf in September.

You Wynn Some.... -  perhaps my favorite story of the day:

Golf lost a friend this week, and I did, too. On Dec. 17, Las Vegas's 12-year-old Wynn Golf Club closed. It died with a whimper, without fanfare or a funeral. Some —

including the man who conceived of and built it, casino and hotel magnate Steve Wynn — say it simply outlived its usefulness. Others, citing its outrageous price tag of $350-$500, argued that Wynn epitomized what was wrong with golf. 

Me? I'm bummed. I hate to see good golf vanish, especially golf as attractive and unique as Wynn. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Or was it? 

Wynn Golf Club was the owner's response to scratch an itch. He had poured his heart and soul into his co-design (with Tom Fazio) of Shadow Creek in 1989, only to see it snatched away during a hostile takeover of his Mirage Resorts, in March 2000. Wynn plotted his comeback and emerged in April 2005 with the Wynn Resort and Country Club, which featured a stunning hotel, luxury golf villas and a Fazio-designed course draped atop the remnants of one of the Strip's most revered layouts, the Desert Inn Country Club.

That's Joe Passov again, and he doesn't exactly pay full retail....  

Projects such as this don't offend me, but those that are have no shortage of targets for their criticism.  My question is how is this any different than the Obama-Tiger course in Chicago?  Trick question, because there's one humongous difference....  Wynn Used his own money and, most importantly, didn't build on a site holding two course played by the local citizenry....  Just sayin'.