We remain among the lucky few, with our course remaining open for walkers. Given the uncertainty that we can remain open, my strategy is to play as often as the body will allow. I'll admit that two rounds on our alpine track with the pushcart has me feeling it... But that's a vast improvement over that which I'd be feeling otherwise.
Schedule Stuff - The Four Families continue to jockey for position, with Jay Monahan maintaining his now trademarked long face. This seems highly optimistic, no?
I never thought I'd live long enough to see a PGA in August....Joking aside, it seems wildly optimist for San Francisco, no? Let's dive into this week's Tour Confidential to see just how aggressive that might be:
2. President Trump said in a conference call with commissioners from various professional sports, including golf, that he hopes games and tournaments will resume by August or September. Does that timeline seem realistic for the major pro golf tours?
Bamberger: I have no idea. Speculation is not helpful to one’s mental health right now. Trying to make every day productive, I think, is.
Sens: With fans? Hard to imagine. But to echo Michael, I have no clue, and unless Dr. Fauci is on our forum tonight, I don’t think anyone in this discussion would have an especially educated guess.
Shipnuck: Seems wildly optimistic. Even without fans, you’re asking many hundreds of people to fly in from all around the country to conduct and televise the events. Will that be feasible? The heart says yes, but the mind says no.
Dethier: I guess I hope so, too? Insurance claims aside, I like the idea of waiting to cancel events until we have to, at least. It’s nice to have things to look forward to, even if we have to push them back eventually. Needless to say, it’s disheartening to keep seeing cancellations rolling in — but obviously necessary.
Now I know the world has a mancrush on Dr. Fauci, but can I remind folks that he's hardly infallible:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Donald Trump’s top adviser on matters related to the coronavirus,said in a January interview that the virus was “not a major threat” to the U.S.
“Bottom line. We don’t have to worry about this one, right?” Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly asked Fauci on January 21.
“Obviously, you need to take it seriously, and do the kinds of things that the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security are doing, ” Fauci responded. “But, this not a major threat for the people of the United States, and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.”
As William Goldman famously said in a different context, no one knows anything.
Plus, I don't know how big a priority it is for the state. Seems like they're all in on making the current Martial Law permanent:
Newsom says coronavirus is an ‘opportunity for reimagining a more progressive era’
Those keeping a scorecard know that it's that progressive wet dream that fueled the virus' spread. Put me with the majority on this:
POLL: Most people unimpressed with their 30-day free trial of Communism
Of course, I've been reliably informed that real Communism has yet to be tried...
Let me bounce to another subject, then try to tie them together. Back to the Tour Confidential:
3. If the Ryder Cup keeps its place on the calendar (it’s currently scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits), it’s unlikely much professional golf would be played before that date. When asked by Sportsmail about the status of the matches earlier this week, European captain Padraig Harrington said, “It wouldn’t worry me if we were the first tournament back and I had to go with 12 picks with no qualifying.” Is an all-captains-picks Ryder Cup a viable option? Or would pushing it to 2021 make more sense?
Bamberger: No, it would be great to have the Ryder Cup if you can have it sensibly and safely, and having the captains pick their rosters would be fun. But if the choice is a major or a Ryder Cup, I’d go with a major.
Sens: Absolutely viable, with all the health and safety caveats. Would an all-captains pick roster be wildly different from a regular qualifying roster? Probably not. Besides, at this point, you could outfit 24 hamsters with miniature clubs and set them loose on a course in ugly shirts, and I’d be happy to watch.
Shipnuck: A team of all picks would be a fascinating subplot. Deep down, the captains already know who they want on the team. A lack of qualifying events hurts young players without a big body of work … but so what? We’ll take any Cup we can get.
Dethier: I think Sens is onto something. Josh, did you send that idea to our bosses? But YES, I’m obviously all in on a Ryder Cup comprised of all-picks teams. They’d look extremely similar, I’m sure, to the real thing — but those awkward picks announcements would be so much more fun! Imagine if Captain Woods had had to pick 12 guys from the Woods Jupiter last year. Maybe they should get rid of qualifying systems altogether, because I like this idea regardless of situation.
It's not that I'm anti-Ryder Cup, but I do think it's a luxury we're not likely to have. It further seems that exactly no one has focused on the optics of holding an event that specifically excludes Asian players....
But let me further posit that the PGA of America might have jumped at an earlier date in the hope of salvaging both of their premier events, and the penalty for that greed should logically be that neither happens.
Since we seem to exhuming unrelated quotes from recognized authorities, this seems a good time for my favorite Robert Heinlein quote:
“Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”
So, how's that Frisco course coming along? Oh, and how are the dues collections for your 28,000 pissed off members?
There's little doubt that Mike Whan has schooled Jay Monahan in this thing we call leadership, first as relates to the LPGA's first major:
Bohannan said there was at least something positive when Whan’s decision became public. “I thought it was key when the LPGA announced that the Founders Cup, the KiaClassic and the ANA were postponed,” Bohannan said. “They didn’t want a year without this particular tournament. It has more history and tradition than the rest of the LPGA tournaments combined, between the course and the great list of Hall of Fame winners.”
There’s also good news in the fact that the major championship already has been rescheduled for Sept. 10-13. The date has its own challenges, notably the fact that many of the snowbirds, those who winter in the desert and summer at home in northern states or Canada, will not yet have returned. The volunteer pool likely won’t be as deep and the crowds surely will be smaller.
No matter, the show will (hopefully) go on on a stage that won’t remotely resemble what it is in early April, save for the course routing.
And the U.S. Women's Open has been rescheduled for December. How many men's majors have new dates? Exactly.... Jay has foregone his salary, yet doesn't seem to know how to make himself worth even zero....
To further ruin your day, The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan suggests that access to venues could change dramatically (Original is paywalled. Link and excerpt are from Shack) :
“Whether it’s a digital certificate or a wristband, that typically sounds really bad, but this has actually been done before,” said Mark Miller, CEO of TicketSocket, an eventmanagement and ticketing platform that works with sporting events, food and beer festivals, races and obstacle runs. “Certain kinds of events you have had to have had a health check … to provide certain records because otherwise, you were a liability.”
Miller is referring not to fans, but participants in endurance contests, whether for Spartan races or marathons. But the concept of liability is similar. A marathon organizer does not want to let physically unfit competitors into the race. Now, does a team or event want a sick fan who could infect others?
There are of course complicated logistical and privacy issues. How and when do fans buying tickets send over their medical proof? And what if they don’t want to? Surely there are medical and personal privacy laws that come into play, though in a post-pandemic world such laws might come under scrutiny.
Le Sigh. The reference point here is 9/11, and we're still needlessly removing our shoes almost twenty years later....
Too Soon? - Salt, meet wound:
Opinion: Poor taste or good cause? Popular brand’s COVID-19 headcover sells out
On a day when the death toll surged to more than 7,000 across the country and the CDCrecommended all Americans wear a mask when going out in public, a popular golf brand that produces gear, bags and apparel launched a campaign aimed at raising money for COVID-19 relief efforts.
The #Driveitaway headcover uses a design we’ve all seen when reading about the serious public health consequences that novel coronavirus presents. According to the CDC, it’s an illustration of spikes adorning the outer surface of the virus as if it were viewed microscopically. It’s meant to reveal “ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.”
I’m not a scientist, but I think it’s safe to say the CDC didn’t expect a riff of the image would be used for commercial purposes, particularly for golf equipment – a headcover created by Stitch – that seems frivolous if not insensitive for the times we’re living in.
Just don't be leaving them on the ground.... I'm going with bad tatse, but only because most of their potential customers can't actually play right now.
Masters Stuff - Back to the TC gang for an intriguing question:
1. Sorry, golf fans, but it’s officially what-would-have-been Masters week. Because of the coronavirus, the golf world’s rite of spring has been postponed for the first time since 1945. Yes, it’s a drag, but instead of sulking, let’s use this stretch constructively! With a little extra time on its hands, what improvements could Augusta National make to its invitational?
Michael Bamberger: Get rid of the rakes. Put in some nasty beach sand in the bunkers shipped in from the beaches at St. Andrews.
This is a good point, but one not limited to the Masters. Lots of us think that bunkers have gotten too perfect over the years....
Josh Sens: At this point, the Masters is so dialed in, messing with it much doesn’t make a lot of sense. As an improvement, I propose they stop trying to make improvements. Quit lengthening the course. Let the winning score fall where it may.
Alan Shipnuck: Eliminate the rough. Chop down a bunch of trees. Stop using precious words like “patrons.” Expand the TV windows. Improve the telecast by incorporating Shot Tracer, ShotLink and other basics the modern fan has come to expect. Lose the treacly piano music in the commercials. Allow reporters to use cellphones on the grounds so we can offer better real-time coverage.
Alan has given us much to ponder, on two important subjects. The course itself has been moved away from the original vision. The rough for sure, but also the trees choking landing areas.
But the Masters has long denied viewers the full gamut of technological features, for reasons that remain unclear. It's a long story for sure, and now isn't the time...
Dylan Dethier: Press CBS to have Tony Romo on the ground at Amen Corner and see if he can predict who’s staying dry. “Ohh, I dunno, Jim! The wind — it’s SWIRLING down here!”
Color me surprised that no one mentioned the weak field. It's getting harder and harder to justify the fact that we barely fit fifty top tier players into he event each year. Obviously it will never match the other three majors in its field depth, but it just needs to bridge the gap a bit more. We can live without many of those former champions, Fred.
I'm deeming this quasi-related, only because of Mikey Bams' answer:
4. Our Michael Bamberger reported this week that Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s camps have been in talks to involve NFL greats Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in a match that would raise funds for Covid-19 relief. (For it to happen, the PGA Tour will need to give its blessing.) The possibility of the match raises the question: In what ways could the PGA Tour get creative and entertain fans/fundraise during the layoff? Would televised challenge matches be a good idea for the Tour to explore?
Bamberger: If you do it with all necessary safeguards, yes. Alex Miceli at Morning Read had the idea of playing it at Augusta National (where Peyton is a member). That would be fun. Could do it just as a club event with no spectators. TV camera stands are already in place.
One of the few things that could actually motivate me to watch it....
Dethier: Your caveat about charity made me cringe, Sens, thinking about the picture of Tiger and Phil with piles o’ cash in front of them before The Match v. 1. Feels like a million years ago. For my part, I’d like to see pros play Speedgolf, televised. (The basic rules of speed golf: total strokes + minutes to play 18 = your final score.) You could do the whole thing pretty easily and safely: one drone tracking each player from overhead — no need for any unsafe interaction! Would be an incredible test of stamina, composure, creativity, personality, etc. And there’s a couple guys who I’d love to see run 6 miles.
You mean this one?
I'd say it didn't age well but, then again, it wasn't a good look at the time either.
I like Dylan thinking out of the box, though I'm guessing that Phil and speed golf would prove an awkward fit. How about they play with 3-4 clubs? Show us some shotmaking, boys....
I'll leave you with this sad image from the Holy Land:
Let's hope folks are back out there soon.
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