Back in the day when I worked (I still work... what, you think these random musing write themselves?) and lived across the street from my club, I used to play a ton of evening golf. I don't do that much anymore, but wandered up there yesterday afternoon. Ran into a guy just back from Scotland, and talked all things linksy while we played our back nine. Gotta admit, I had somewhat forgotten the pleasures of golf without a pencil..... My bad.
Morse Code - Hello friends, an item on the founder of Pebble:
In 2012, shortly after we moved into our home at Pebble Beach, I spent a morning strolling about the colonnade at The Lodge, getting a feel for the surroundings I’d soon get to experience every day. I walked into my favorite shop, a golf antiquity and collectibles store called Golf Links to the Past. If you like old clubs, books, artwork and the like, the store is one of the best on the planet.
After exchanging greetings with the man in charge, Kip Opgrand, I glanced at his offerings. Within three seconds, my eyes fell on a large painting propped on the wood floor. Moving closer, I saw it was a stunning landscape of a scene at Pebble Beach, a mélange of red, burgundy and orange illuminating cypress trees, with a hint of Stillwater Cove peeking through. It was enormous, and I immediately envisioned it hanging on the wall of our dining room, which was unoccupied.
“Guess who the painter is?” said Kip, noticing I was held rapt. I stooped down and saw in the corner the signature, SFBM, 1968. I bolted upright and stared at Kip in disbelief. “That’s right, it’s by Sam Morse,” he said, smiling. “It’s an original. It just came in yesterday.”
Within 30 minutes—Kip and I hadn’t even settled on a price—the painting was mounted on a golf cart and being driven slowly to my residence, where it fit the dimensions of the wall to within an inch. If that sounds like a reckless way to buy a rare piece of art, understand that Samuel Finley Brown Morse, the founder of Pebble Beach, is to me the greatest golf visionary who ever lived. We’ll all get to see the fruits of his vision this month when the U.S. Open is played at Pebble Beach. But it’s important to remind that Morse also was behind the creation of Cypress Point, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula. Moreover, he didn’t just foresee and develop the incredible courses, he laid out the entire area, which might be the most beautiful in North America, if not the world.
Not sure I knew that Morse was involved with Cypress....The article is as treacly as his broadcasts (I'm assuming you've guessed the author), as he feels compelled to remind us that he lives on 17 Mile Drive and can purchase any old Sam Morse photo he desires. About the only thing he fails to mention is the backyard replica of the 7th hole...
This little bit drew an official Unplayable Lies smirk:
In his grandson Charles Osborne’s fabulous 2018 biography, Boss: The Story of S.F.B Morse, the Founder of Pebble Beach, he talks of how Morse in 1918 was riding his horse, Moonlight, around Pebble Beach, imagining what it could become, when he was called to a meeting with Crocker, in which he revealed his desire to have Crocker help with financing so Morse could make the purchase himself. Crocker demurred because he didn’t want to essentially be both seller and buyer. Morse struck out on his own and a short time later obtained the $1.3 million financing through a bond offering arranged by Herbert Fleishhacker of the Anglo California National Bank in San Francisco.
Anglo? That's far from the only whiff of white privilege you'll get from this piece. My snark aside, Jim does recount just enough history to make it worth your while...
Also amusing is that I mistyped unplayable above, and Spellcheck helpfully suggested "unpalatable" as an alternative.... Why is everyone a critic?
Better than anything Jim Nancy-Boy has to offer, is this near miss recounted by Shack:
One other important note about Morse: legend says that Jack Neville’s first routing for Pebble Beach featured homes on the clifftops, golf holes inland. He was doing what any sensible real estate man would do, but Morse declared the golf took priority, otherwise the entire development would not succeed.
That was a close call....
But Brooksie, The Narrative - A huge Kinseyesque gaffe from the two-time two-major defending champion, speaking of his objectives for the Canadian Open:
Koepka 'could care less' about result in U.S. Open tune-up
Koepka likes to play his way into major form – he also teed it up at the AT&T ByronNelson, the week before the PGA – and isn’t concerned about his results this week.
“I could care less what happens,” he said. “I just want to feel good going into next week. As long as I can leave feeling confident, striking the ball very well, starting it where I want to, finishing where I want to, hitting some good putts ... it doesn’t matter if they do go in or not. I just want to feel confident leaving.”
Koepka has played the week before all four of his major victories, and he pointed to the fact that he’s won back-to-back U.S. Opens despite finishing 30th or worse in each of his tune-up starts at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
“The result doesn’t really matter this week,” he said. “It’s just how I feel I’ve played. Am I hitting enough good shots and really finding a rhythm?”
But Brooksie, I had been reliably informed that you guys only care about FedEx Cup and Wyndham Rewards points? This changes things completely....
Such candor is usually rewarded with a nasty phone call from the 904 area code, followed by a mandatory deduction from his next check.
A Mutual Breakup? - To me, it's like Nessie or the Yeti, mythical creatures.... There's also this take on it:
Jerry: It was unprecedented. I mean, it was the first truly mutual breakup in relationship history. No rejection, no guilt, no remorse.
Elaine: You've never felt remorse.
Jerry: I know. I feel bad about that.
Word comes today of another mutual breakup, in which one of the participants is too stupid to feel remorse:
Johnson's early 2019 returns under the new dynamic seemed to be promising. He won in Saudi Arabia and Mexico in February, and tied for second with Claude Harmon's longtime student Brooks Koepka at the Masters. But at Bethpage for the PGA, Johnsonused Terrell as his set of eyes on the way to a second-place finish—two shots behind Koepka.The middle of major championship season isn't a good time for mixed messages or misaligned expectations, so Harmon texted Johnson from Memorial—Johnson was in Florida working with Terrell—to say it was time to move on. Johnson said in a statement the split was mutual, and he'd continue with Terrell, who recruited him to Coastal Carolina in 2004, and also maintain his long-distance relationship with Butch Harmon. "DJ sends me swing videos every week, so it's easy to keep in touch on how he's doing," said Butch Harmon. "Allen has been out there some, and it's fine with me. He's known D.J. since he was a junior golfer. The key is making sure everybody is on the same page. I never have a problem when a player wants another set of eyes. D.J. is the boss—however he wants it to happen is the way it should happen."
Ironically, this news breaks as we head to Pebble.... where, in 2010, the myth that DJ is too stupid to feel pressure, crashed upon the rocks of reality.
In another example of my mastery of the effortless segue, check out this Lexi Q&A from Alan Shipnuck's mailbag feature:
Is Lexi in danger of becoming the next Michelle Wie of American women’s golf? -@LabLoverDE
No, she’s in danger of becoming the Dustin Johnson of the LPGA: an incredible physical talent who never quite lives up to her potential. Wie is sui generis, given the crushing hype that was heaped on her as a tween, her (commendable) self-imposed exile at Stanford and then the endless injuries she’s faced. Lexi’s issues are more about focus, motivation and then converting in the clutch. Sounds like DJ, no? I hope she’ll mature into a more ruthless closer but that’s a tough skill to learn a decade into a pro career.
I've certainly shared my thoughts on Lexi's swing, but the amusement comes from the fact that most players would take DJ's career in a heartbeat, but would simultaneously be very put off by the comparison.
But Lexi is just a one-off.... the backstory is supposed to be that she grew up competing at everything with her two older brothers, which made her into a steely competitor. Except for the fact that she isn't... in fact, she seems to be quite the delicate flower, requiring breaks from social media and the game to allow her to compete.
Or perhaps it's the family secret that explains it all.... But she's become the poster child for American women's golf, and she's as big an under-achiever as DJ, although she really is about as bad a putter as you'll see out there.
More Alan - I do need to get on with my day, so I'll milk Shippy's mailbag for some low-hanging fruit:
So tired of slow play by the pros. It’s like watching grass grow. -@KeithMathhews14
Lotsa discussion about Patrick Cantlay’s glacial pace and related ills, but honestly this topic makes me as fatigued as a six-hour round under a hot sun. We’ve been complaining about slow play going back decades. Clearly the vast majority of the players don’t care, and neither do any of the bureaucrats who have the power to effect change. So I’ve given up and moved on. Pace of play on Tour is always going to be slow. You gotta embrace it as a chance to spend more time enjoying the subtleties of the game, or to dash off tweets, or snack…or nap. To quote one of our great philosophers: It is what it is.
I can't fault that reaction, as it's hard to see where anything can be accomplished. I did like that recent comment that explained the perverse motivations that favor the slower player...
Of course there are questions on Haneygate:
Are you and Haney the best predictors in the game? -@TheAleMarcoli
The only difference is that I know when to cut bait! Olé, olé, olé, olé…
That's an amusing bit on Alan's famous prediction of U.S. Ryder Cup dominance....I do like how he's handled that, but here it gets interesting, at least to me:
Litmus test for Tiger’s “candid” response to Haney’s idiotic comments: Would he have responded the same way if Butch Harmon said it? -@CHFounder
Definitely not, because Tiger doesn’t have beef with Butch, whereas he’s been pissed at Haney ever since The Big Miss was published. He’s been waiting to take a swing and, boy, did Hank ever tee it up for him. It was commendable that Tiger offered a rebuke, but this was more of a personal vendetta than a deep, burning desire to opine against the disparagement of female Korean golfers.
Of course, but it's your buddy Bamberger that's peddling the nonsense that Tiger has, ahem, "found his voice".
Is pimp-stepping pallbearer at your own professional funeral the biggest miss of all? -@Lou_TireWorld
Honestly, it’s getting hard to keep track of all the self-sabotage! If you talk or type for a living you’re going to offer something dumb eventually. The interesting part is what happens next. Haney is offering a clinic on point-missing followed by grave-digging.
But.... I totally get that Hank goading the SJWs is only going to make it worse for him. And yet, I do so want folks to stand up to these a*******es.... What Hank said was quite idiotic, given the predictability of the outrage in response.... I think the lack of originality was the greater sin, but can't we just disagree and... what's that felicitous phrase? Oh yeah, move on.
Tiger’s over-inflated odds of being the favorite at the U.S. Open go to what now?? -@jviohl_01
Vegas spent the full decade post-hydrant cashing in on pigeons’ (mostly) irrational betting on Tiger. Similarly, the odds ahead of the Masters were rather silly, given Woods’ play to that point in 2019 and his recent history at Augusta National. But after his epic victory at the Masters, anything is possible. Brooks has more firepower but, in discussing favorites, I think Tiger deserves to be the second-favorite. So whatever the odds wind up being, they aren’t that inflated.
I'm always surprised at the extent to which folks don't understand the business of a sports book. They're not there to predict outcomes, they're just protecting their own vig.
With all the (somewhat justified) crap that’s been hurled at the USGA recently, can we credit the organization for a nice job of course setup for the U.S. Women’s Open? -@PopGaryPopovich
Certainly! The Country Club of Charleston was a delight, and its charms were accentuated by the firm, fast setup. The women’s game is better suited for many classic courses because they hit the ball reasonable distances and, therefore, play the holes the way they were meant to be played. Pebble is also an old course that demands finesse. The fission comes when modern bombers attack such a layout. Can the USGA show the same good judgement and restraint they brought to CCC? We shall see.
No issue with women's events, and they can even consider old-timey venues.... I know it's heresy, but they're almost more interesting because of that fact.
Your life depends on one of these to win the U.S. Open.. do you pick Jordan, Dustin or Phil? -@BrunoGarret1
Oof, tough one. You can make a strong case for any of the three, but I’ll take Spieth. He’s rounding into form and quite simply is more gritty than the other two pretty boys.
Isn't this why we invented "None of the above"? But I can't wait to see how Phil gets DQ'd.... You know if he's not in contention he'll need to exact payback on the USGA.
Do you believe Jack was in the 120+mph in his day? -@JosephDitto88
Oh, hell yes! At the 1963 PGA Championship, Big Jack won the long drive contest with a 341-yard poke, with equipment that now belongs in a museum. I think the better question is whether Nicklaus was reaching 130 mph.
Alan, I have a correction:
That week, I took away a little bonus victory, as I also won the Long Drive Competition. I only recall us having it for two years. There might have been others, but the only two I entered were in 1963 and ’64, and I won both of them. In 1963, I won with a drive of 341 yards, 17 inches, while using an old Persimmon-headed driver that was 42 3/4 inches with 11 degrees of loft. Everybody used a wound Titleist golf ball, which they provided each player off the tee so that everyone was hitting the same ball.
Don't be cheating my Jack out of those 17 inches.... But the more interesting number might be that 42 3/4 inch shaft.
If you were the captain and the Presidents Cup WAS two weeks away, who are your four picks? -@72holesaweek
Tiger, because, duh, it’s the Presidents Cup and the intrigue of him as playing captain is one of the few reasons to tune in. Spieth and Reed, because both are crucial to future Ryder Cup teams and this is a good chance to start rebuilding various relationships. And Kevin Na, because he could be wickedly effective in match play and he’d bring good energy to the team.
I eagerly await that presser in which Tiger picks Tiger. I can only hope he speaks of himself in the third person like Jimmy (yes, our second Seinfeld reference of the day).
Have a good one and we'll get together tomorrow.
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