Late-Week Laments

Got more than a few of those these days, not least this stubborn shin splint.  I hate being a buggy golfer, but that's my fate in the current moment.

The Match II, It Can't Suck More - This one obviously doesn't reek like the original, though that may be largely the result of our forty years in the desert.  It's not forty years yet?  I'm gonna need confirmation...

Where to drop in?  How about this Golf Digest Viewer Guide?

The Teams

The two-man teams for The Match: Champions for Charity are Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning and Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady.

Handshakes are now hate crimes.

The Format

The format for the event is an 18-hole match, though the front and back nines will be very different. On the front nine it will be Four-Ball, better known as best ball to the weekend golfer. Each team member plays their own ball, and the lower of the two scores is the team score for that hole. The low score between the two teams would win the hole. Brady and Manning will each get three strokes on the front nine, one on a par 3, one on a par 4 and one on a par 5. A committee will determine which three holes.

On the back nine, the teams will play a Modified Alternate shot, which some may know as the Pinehurst format. In this format, each team member hits a tee shot, then they select the best tee shot of the two and alternate from there until the ball is holed. There will be no handicap for Brady and Manning in this format.

In the event of a tie, the match will go to an extra, shortened hole. Teams will continue playing Modified Alternate Shot, though it will be from a spot 100-125 yards away from the 18th green. They’ll repeat until a winner is determined.

OK, finally they answer my question about handicaps.  Of course, one expects folks that draw a paycheck from Golf Digest would be expected to have accumulated some actual golf knowledge, but not so much...  This Modified Alternate Shot is quite obvious not a Pinehurst, in which the players choose a ball to play into the hole after their second shots...But since I'm in an amiable mood, we can call it a Modified Pinehurst...

But that format description was incomplete:

Additional Challenges

So far, there have been two reported challenges that will take place. According to Yahoo Sports, players will play Medalist’s par-4 fifth hole with only one club, a page straight out of MGM Resorts’ The Challenge, which took place this past fall in Japan with Tiger among the foursome competing. On Tuesday, Bleacher Report announced that Charles Barkley, who will be one of the analysts for the event, will also play one hole as part of a Bogey or Better challenge for an additional $200,000 to charity.

How about if instead of having to watch Charles play we just have Trump call in to the announcing team?  And just like that, heads are exploding all over America.

I hear you asking, What has Phil had to say about this all?  As a defense mechanism, I've tuned out the frequency of Phil's voice, but fortunately others haven't:

“I can’t wait to go to Tiger’s place and take him down,” Mickelson said in a phone call 

Remember that word, Phil.

with Golfweek. “Tiger thinks he has a huge advantage playing there because he was insistent that this event is played on his home course. Despite everyone else wanting to play it elsewhere. That’s fine. We’ll take it to him and Peyton. 

“There will be no excuses. It’s his home course but Tom and I are going to go down there and put it to them, and we’ll make it that every time Tiger shows up at his home course, he’ll have a bad memory.”

But doesn't this seem an admission against interest?

“Tiger and I clamped up the first time,” Mickelson said. “That won’t happen again. I think having Peyton there will be a big part of it because he gives me and Tom somebody to rough up. Peyton, when he comes back at you, he does it in a funny way that elicits a laughter from you as opposed to a defensive response. 

“And I think that’s why he’s so funny, because even the person he is cutting up finds it funny and doesn’t take it personal. And that will allow us to free it up and do it a little bit more.”

So, what you're sayig is that Tiger and you aren't enough to carry the event?  Now you tell us?

And one last bit from Phil the Shrill:

This alternate-shot wrinkle puts a lot of pressure on Brady and Manning. 

“I give them a lot of credit for putting themselves out there because there is going to be a unique pressure,” Mickelson said. “But that’s why it’s going to be so much fun, because we are going to have mishaps and we are going to have some bad shots and we are going to laugh at ourselves.”

Mickelson also said there will be plenty of ribbing, unlike the near silence during his and Woods’ first match in Las Vegas. Each of the four players will be mic’d up, with each riding in their own cart. There will be no caddies or spectators.

I find myself nodding my head, just when I've learned to be most cautious if ever I'm on the same side of an issue as Phil...

The obvious takeaway from recent "challenge matches", and I go back as far as those Tiger prime time events, is that they mostly suck.  Said suckage comes from the absence of high stakes, but also because of the likelihood of poor play.   

The original Match had all of those failings in spades, beginning with the horrible optics deliberately employed:

We're obviously on better footing this time, with the event supporting relief efforts.  The logic of that first match seemed to be that, as put by Phil, they would play for enough money to make Tiger uncomfortable...But there likely is no such amount, unless the loser has to fund Nancy Pelosi's $3 Trillion Covid stimulus wish list.

They tried every martial metaphor known to mankind, but it proved a bad fit for pampered professional golfers.  The go around seems more promising, as I think the amateurs and the format choices seem designed to add some interest and, most critically, two guys not named either Phil or Tiger.  

Josh Berhow tells all sports fans that they need to watch this one, which I assume is the liquor talking.  The match will be on opposite NASCAR, so I'd recommend keeping expectations low.  But he agrees on the format:

2. The format 

Let’s be honest, 18 holes of a fourball would be boring. Nine holes of it? We’ll take it, especially since the back nine, in this writer’s opinion, will be a lot more fun with a modified alternate shot. The simmering pressure of an alternate shot for Average Joes like Manning and Brady — dealing with the anxiety of potentially letting your parter down — will be real. And the results might be fascinating. (Give us at least a shank or two, please?)

I agree, just adding that the decision of which drive to play will have its own interest...  Hopefully, despite the minimalist broadcast footprint, that they can capture the audio.  I'm most interested in how the pros will manage these decisions, presumably with the objective of keeping the amateurs comfortable.

This can be taken a couple of ways:

4. The betting 

FanDuel said betting for last Sunday’s Seminole skins match was “nearly double that of a normal PGA Tour event.” That’s nuts, and proves people are eager to throw down a few bucks on live sports. This Sunday, an event with even bigger stars that will almost certainly bring in a bigger audience, should easily see a betting increase from last Sunday.

Obviously, those who gamble on sports haven't had much succor recently, so that's the implied message.  But I'd also add that PGA events kinds suck for gambling, lacking the clarity of team mano-a-mano results.  

And a couple of notes on the venue:

7. The course 

Medalist is an exclusive club that many pro golfers call home. It’s also a place few fans have seen, both inside the gates and on the course. Now we’ll get that chance. Greg

Norman founded the club in 1995 and co-designed the course with Pete Dye. It was renovated by Bobby Weed five years ago. Oh, and it’s hard. Good luck, Peyton and Tom. 

8. The members 

Few clubs, if any, have more pros as members than Medalist, which includes Woods, Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka and more than a dozen others. And like noted above, the typical golf fan doesn’t get a glimpse of Medalist very often. If nothing else, it’s a cool experience to see a place that some of the best in the world choose to call their home course.

Medalist, unlike Seminole, has actually been on TV previously:

It’s been 25 years since Medalist Golf Club last appeared on national television, when Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf pitted then-world No. 1 Nick Price against Greg Norman, the world No. 2 and founder of the newly opened club.

Just don’t expect to see Greg Norman anywhere.

Why not?  It's been a rough stretch for the emotionally needy Shark:

It’s been seven years since Norman had an acrimonious and very public split from Medalist after the board hired architect Bobby Weed to make changes to the course, which the two-time major winner furiously described as “a slap in the face.” He famously removed a stuffed shark mounted above the bar in the grill room, which was replaced by a board listing winners of the member-guest including, in 2002, Norman and Andy Mill, his former best friend whose wife, tennis great Chris Evert, left him for Norman in 2006.

Gee, why aren't they BFFs any more?  Oh that little thing?  But Greg was willing to give her back within a week or so, so why's Mill holding onto that grudge?

Back to Josh, who we all can agree is setting the bar way too low:

13. It WILL be better than the first match 

The Las Vegas Shadow Creek match between Tiger and Phil was a trial run of sorts. What went well? What didn’t? Organizers and producers have had lots of time to mull, so it’s safe to say this one will come back better because of it.

 Hoping to clear that hurdle by a LOT.

So, who ya got?  I know, a profoundly silly question, as this is best understood as frivolous entertainment.  Vegas has Tiger-Peyton as the substantial favorites, though I'd encourage you to bet with your head on this one.... Form is just a wee bit hard to judge... This guy lays out some prop bets, including a long drive and closest to the pin.  I know, but I do like the one-club challenge... This Tale of the Tape doesn't tell me much, but I do like E. Michael Johnson's deep dive on the QB's GHIN data.  First, the lower handicap:

He’s remarkably consistent. 

Manning’s low score out of his last 20 is a 78 and his high is 88. But perhaps more remarkable is that half of his scores only range from 80 to 82. That said, when you

complete 65.3 percent of your passes in your football career, consistency can be expected.

Unlike his professional partner... 

Difficult courses are his thing. 

The Honors Course can be a bear and Manning clearly doesn’t shy away from tough tracks. Of his last 20 rounds only one has been played at a course with a slope below 137 and eight have been on courses with a 140 slope or higher.

That bodes well, though I haven't seen how long a course they'll play...But Medalist is a obviously difficult, just look at the membership.  Of course, he hasn't posted a single score in 2020, so perhaps he's focused on handicap management.

As for the best Tampa Bay quarterback in franchise history:

His play is sporadic. 

Unlike Manning, Brady has played in 2020, posting an “away” score of 86 in April, so

good for him. Before that, however, his most recent score was from July 2019. Football season can do that to a guy.

There is some game there. 

Brady has a low score of 82 on his card, but he hasn’t reached that level of play since May 2014. That said, he has a nine-hole score of 40 from May 2019 so there has been a glimpse of the old form.

Let me just guess that the absence of caddies might affect these guys more than Tiger or Phil (though, of course, Tiger should have no need of a caddie on this track).  We'll see who gets the most help from their pro, as well as who adjusts best...

Got time for some udder stuff?

Restart Blues -  Although many have residences in the States, add Adam Scott to the list of Tour players not rushing back to work:

Unsatisfied with the US PGA Tour's safety measures, Adam Scott is set to go into the the year's first major championship with just one tournament under his belt following the shutdown. 

World No.6 Scott will watch from home on Queensland's Sunshine Coast for the first six weeks after the tour resumes on June 11, but is then pondering a marathon stint of nine weeks or more in the US.

And this:

"What concerns me is dialogue that (the tour) is hopeful of returning one or two-hour test (results). You'd want that in place before competing. 

"The other (concern) is it seems an asymptomatic person could operate within a tournament. 

"If they're not showing symptoms and I somehow picked it up inside the course and I'm disqualified I'm now self-isolating (in that city) for two weeks. I'd be annoyed if that happened.

"I thought you'd start quite tight and loosen those protocols to normal if appropriate."

I sense that he's being overly-cautious, though I'm not incline to blame anyone for that.  

Probably the most interesting aspect at the current moment is the fight over the Ryder Cup, which Derek Lawrenson characterizes as a battle between players and administrators:

Four months to go to the Ryder Cup and, as ever, the battle lines are being finely drawn,

and the speculation ramped up. The composition of the two opposing sides is coming into sharp focus. 

What's different this time is that the two sides are not Europe versus America. It's the players versus the administrators, over whether the contest should take place at all in late September at Whistling Straits. 

At the heart of the matter is whether a meaningful Ryder Cup can take place without fans. The administrators want to see what the game looks like without spectators when the PGA Tour resumes in the middle of next month, and are urging everyone to keep their counsel until then.

But battle lines have been drawn:

How would the players react to all this subtle coercion? Would they come on board with the move towards reserving judgement? Last week, we had the answer. The two best players on either side dug their heels in. Brooks Koepka said he mightn't even bother playing if there were no fans. Rory McIlroy said it would be unfair to ask players to turn up in such circumstances for a contest in which they would be reluctant participants. 

You can see both sides of the argument although, as so often these days, it's McIlroy who presents the most persuasive case. After all the momentum built up by a string of compelling Ryder Cups, there would be a real danger of causing lasting damage with a soulless charade.

Derek is looking at the argument of whether it ca be played, whereas I've made the case that it shouldn't be played.  In a year desperately short on playing opportunities at all levels of the professional games, the governing organizations prioritizing a 24-man exhibition just seems profoundly wrong.

But above that last excerpt comes this curious bit:

The PGA of America - who run the contest when staged in the US - want to keep their options open because they've bills to pay and cottage industries to think about. They tried to keep the ball rolling by wheeling out a couple of vice-captain picks last week. 

The PGA Tour - a separate body, running the most powerful circuit in world golf - will not want the Ryder Cup postponed for a year, because that would have a knock-on effect for their own Presidents Cup affair in 2021, when a US team takes on the Rest of the World.

Anyone know what "cottage industries" he's talking about?  More importantly, I'm hearing mostly that it's the Euro Tour pushing to play this event to mitigate their rather dire cash flow.

Lastly, there's a lot of this out there:

The United States Open Championship won’t be played this year. 

It has been replaced by “The United States Closed Championship.” 

What else can we call it? The U.S. Golf Association made official Monday what many

had expected – there will be no qualifying for the U.S. Open or U.S Amateur, men’s or women’s, for the first time since 1924.

Those championships are effectively closed to competitors who aren’t already world-class professionals or amateurs, unless they become one in the next three months. (Practice hard, people!) 

The USGA just kicked every dreamer to the curb and out of its tournaments, whose fields will be filled by players who receive exemptions. The USGA did not say how those exemptions will be allotted. (Lottery, anyone?) What should we expect from the exemption process? Flawed rankings (pardon the redundancy) and politics.

Kicking folks to the curb?  It's old friend Gary Van Sickle, who's typically more even-tempered than this...  It's not like anyone is happy about this, but I'm not quite sure what he expected.

Gary does a good job of making clear what a perfect storm this all is for those trying to make their way on Tour:

With the big tour effectively closed to Korn Ferry Tour graduates, the KFT canceled its Q-School and rolled over its season, too. You didn’t make it through Q-school in 2019? You’re on the sidelines until December of 2021. Now that’s a shutdown. 

Monday qualifying spots for PGA Tour events were cut from four to two for the rest of this season and will return to four next season. The KFT, which cut qualifying spots from 12 to 8 before this season, has not announced whether it will have Monday qualifiers at all or if so, how many spots will be available. 

The USGA national championships were the last hope for a lot of players, especially those college seniors who lost graduation ceremonies and a chance to play in the NCAA Championship and now have nowhere to go to make a living as a pro. Many will go back to school to play golf for a fifth season and were thinking, “Well, I can always qualify for a USGA championship.” Probably not now, pending the coming exemptions controversy. Will a couple of college stars get slotted into the Winged Foot field? For public relations purposes, probably.

Which is exactly why we were all so pissed at Vijay....  It's a disappointment, but the logistical challenges of running qualification sites all across this great land are daunting, especially given the uncertainty that the main event will be played.  This gives a sense of the scale:

“There were a number of factors,” Bodenhamer said, “and one of them is that with any (competition) that we conduct, there is a need to test and to implement robust health and safety protocols. The inability to do (uniform testing) at 660 qualifying sites, several hundred of those that would have been rescheduled into a timeframe that was already getting jampacked with other things, presented (insurmountable challenges). Those venues and our allied golf associations have lost revenue; they’re struggling; they’ve canceled events; they need to run events; they need to generate revenue, just as the host venues for those qualifiers need to do their own things.” 

Revenue at the USGA was never mentioned but those on the outside believe it played a role. It is widely believed that the USGA has a big financial incentive to conduct the U.S. Open in some fashion this year. Fox television network pays a healthy sum for the delivery of the event. No tournament means no revenue, which likely would put a healthy dent in future operating budgets.

There was a hope that perhaps sectional qualifying might be maintained, but folks don't realize that each of those requires a willing club (sometimes two, as 36 holes is required) that can commit, and where does one find those in the present moment?

I'm just happy to have the USGA trying to host its championships...  Yes, we can challenge their motives, but I'm liking them way more than the R&A right now.

Be Careful Out There - With golf newly legal in all fifty states (sorry, Elsie and John, who are living under Nicola Sturgeon's Reign of Terror), there have been no shortage of these kind of features:

Coronavirus: 5 tips for staying safer on the golf course

Including the obligatory...

4. Leave the flagstick in: When the powers in the game changed the rule and allowed the flagstick to remain in the hole when a player putts, there was some outrage. Now, it might be the go-to precaution on courses. Grabbing the flagstick and laying it on the ground or holding it while others putt is something that happens in almost every foursome, meaning a lot of people are touching that stick. Simply leaving it in the hole while people in your group putt is one less item you have to worry about in your day of prevention.

Don't forget the highly dangerous bunker rates...

Except, as you may heard, the CDC has asked for a breakfast ball:

CDC Now Says Virus 'Does Not Spread Easily' on Surfaces

Now you tell us.  The next thing the CDC gets right will also be the first...

Forgive a minor rant, but remember all the guys that passed on Rio in 2016?  They have been harshly criticized by folks like Alan Shipnuck and Brandel Chamblee, with which I strongly disagree.  Yeah, no one seemed to come down with Zika, but have you been watching since March as our elected officials and government organizations actually hurt our efforts to control the virus?  

I took Rory and other's refusal to go to Rio as less a worry about Zika specifically and more a recognition that we can't depend on government for the simplest things.  So Rory's decision to not test the limits of third-world governance for a meaningless competition seems prudent from my vantage point.

Isn't This Why We Have Forensics? - Geoff had an item a few days ago on a struggling Scottish club:

World's Seventh Oldest Club Offering Membership Specials

The incredible Fraserburgh is offering options for membership to help raise funds for both domestic and international players. I wrote about the course here for GolfDigest.com and Ran Morrissett published this profile many years back. 

You can check out the primary offerings here and the more extensive options here.

First, this is an embarrassing hole on my resume, mostly because I've spent less time in this corner of Scotland than around other clusters of courses, mostly because it has the reputation for having the worst weather in Scotland.  That, as we know, is an extremely competitive category...

For some reason, I am unable to get to the Fraerburgh Golf Club website, seemingly under some hacking or denial of service attacks if Google's security warning is to be believed.  My interest is in adjudicating that claim of being the seventh oldest golf club in the world, as I'm aware of a competing claim.

As you know, the bride and I have joined the delightfully named Crail Golfing Society, which has this on the history of the club:

The Fraserburgh Golf Club dates to 1777, so I think my guys are going to come up short here.  In fact, let's go to the Scottish Golf History website to see the official reckoning:

1735 Royal Burgess Golf Society 

1744 Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers 

1754 Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews 

1761 Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society 

1766 Royal Blackheath Golf Club 

1774 Royal Musselburgh Golf Club 

1777 Fraserburgh Golf Club (1881) 

1780 Royal Aberdeen Golf Club 

1786 Crail Golfing Society

Certainly Fraerburgh is older than Crail, I'll just have to cope with that reality.  But I'll venture a guess that not all those clubs are still in existence, and that the wording on Crail's website reflects that.

I don't have time to read about all of these clubs, though I did click through to read about Royal Burgess (I had always thought the Honourable Company to be the first club formed), which is still in existence.

From their history, I found the following amusing:

A few years after the grant of the Seal, in 1807, the club was split in two over a row about the Stymie as outlined in the Rules of Golf, though this time there was a reconciliation.

And you guys think I take this stuff too seriously...  

I'll wish you the best of holiday weekends, and likely see you next on Tuesday. 

Midweek Mishegoss

A fair amount to discuss today, but being 2020 little of it is good... 

Open And Shut - The USGA has confirmed the inevitable:

Switching this year’s U.S. Open dates from June to September won’t be the only big change brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The USGA is canceling local and final

qualifying, the infamously arduous process by which half the field makes it into the championship. Instead, the 120th U.S. Open contested Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot in New York will feature an all-exempt field. 

“This is a decision that was exceptionally difficult. The openness of our championships is our DNA—10,000 people following their dream,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director of championships. “It was not on the table at the beginning. We felt confident we could conduct qualifying for everything.” 

The original schedule called for 108 local qualifying and 12 final qualifying tournaments, the latter conducted in eight states, Japan, England and Canada. 

“Rescheduling that into the fall just wasn’t possible,” according to Bodenhamer. “The biggest consideration has been the need to test players, caddies and essential workers inside the so-called bubble. We looked at every single scenario before we decided to cancel anything.”

Unfortunate, though we all understand that qualifying had to go if there is to be an Open this year.  In addition to the logistical challenges of holding the many local and sectional events, there's also the likely need to cull the field given the shorter days of September.

Qualifying isn’t the only USGA event falling victim to the reality of a public health emergency: the governing body is also cancelling another four of its amateur championships, in addition to the six events that have already been iced. That leaves just four of the planned 14 championships to be contested in 2020. Those are the USGA’s four oldest and most important tournaments: the U.S. Open at Winged Foot; the 75th U.S. Women’s Open, which was moved to December 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston; the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur, scheduled for August 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.; and the 120th U.S. Amateur, which takes place August 10-16 at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.

The Am is going to Bandon?  How did I not know that?

Dan Rappaport makes the case that it's our loss:

In a normal year, roughly half of the field comes from qualifying, though the vast majority of the guys who make it were exempt from the local stage and went straight to sectionals. The most recent winner to come from a sectional was Lucas Glover in 2009 at Bethpage Black, with Michael Campbell also pulling it off in 2005 at Pinehurst.

It’s much rarer to make it through both local and sectional. Rare, but not unheard of. A number of guys—touring professionals, teaching pros, college players, teenagers, insurance salesman—have made it through both rounds and then left their mark on the Open itself. In light of today’s news, here are a few of the best.

Can anyone name any?  Sight unseen, I'll throw out Marty Fleckman....

Ken Venturi, 1964

The World Golf Hall of Famer’s career got off to a solid start in the late 1950s, when he broke out on Tour and nearly won a couple Masters. But he experienced such a dramatic loss in form that he had to play in a local qualifier for the 1964 U.S. Open. Good thing he did—after nearly collapsing from opprsive heat during a 36-hole final day, Venturi ended up winning at Congressional, a comeback significant enough to earn him Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year. 

The Sarge.

Orville Moody, 1969

Moody won exactly one of the 266 tournaments he played in during his pro career: the U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston, And like Venturi, he did so after playing his way through both local and sectional qualifying. He is the last player to win the championship after such a journey.

Sarge puts Andy North to shame, as that Open was his only Tour win, although he did have some success as a senior.

No appearance from Fleckman, and Google did not reveal how he got into that 1967 Open, during which he was the shocking 54-hole leader.  Shocking, because guys named Nicklaus and Palmer were on his heels...

I'm a nice guy, so I'll let Geoff have the tip-in on this story, although I'm not sure his shotgun approach was his best strategy:

As GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport notes, no one is happy about the U.S. Open having to be an invitational this year, on the slim chance it’s even played at Winged Foot this September 17-20.

The charm of an open national championship has become so profound, the USGA found a few extra pennies to come up with golf’s second worst slogan that is now in a sprint with Live Under Par to the trash heap of ad agency asininity.

So, put me down for conflicted, wanting to see a U.S. Open at Winged Foot but wondering how it can be called a U.S. Open when it’s no longer open. Which is my cowardly way of asking for a deciding vote on whether this is a good idea.

By the way before you vote, can you imagine what His Ownself is saying right now that the U.S. Open has been announced as an invitational while the USGA won’t credit Hogan with a fifth (Hale America) U.S. Open?

 For those who have blocked it from memory, this is that silver medalist:

I think "From a Few, One Lucky Bastard" has a nice ring to it...  The USGA is on quite the roll...  Not only have events overtaken that slogan, but they spent another kings ransom developing that worldwide handicap system, just at the moment people stopped traveling... Of course, they're pikers compared to the CDC, but it's not fair to hold anyone to those standards.

Trouble In Paradise - The clubs in GB&I have long been dependent upon the traveling golfer, a logical if somewhat risky business model.  The UK golf guy has a must-read pots on this subject, beginning with an analysis of how aggressive the pricing of these tee times has become:

I’ve looked at the increase in green fees for a selection of top courses since 2000. The average summer weekend green fee for these courses in 2000 was £88. Coming in to summer 2020, the average for that same group is over £240. Had the cost increased in line with UK inflation then the average would be only £145.

Now your humble blogger has never complained about the price of tea in China for the simple reason that I'm too grateful that these clubs allow me to darken their doorways...  Our host explains:

The great Australian golfer, and professor/student of the game, Peter Thomson said that no golf course in the world should charge more than a round at the Old Course, but now a round at Turnberry is almost twice as much. 

The increases have been eye-watering, but tee-time sheets have still been filled. There have always been enough visitors willing to pay the prices, while the local market has largely been priced out of playing some of the nation’s most revered courses. 

For some, it may be the only visit to these shores in their lifetime and they have been understandably keen to squeeze everything in to their trip. Most golfers from the US won’t have access to the uber-private courses that dominate the top of the rankings at home. So while green fees here have increased, visitors are often surprised and delighted to find that the top UK courses are open at all.

 Unfortunately, he's unable to answer my most pressing question, as this is as close to it as he gets:

From the clubs’ point of view, the pricing of a green fee is a simple case of supply and demand. If people are willing to keep paying for the tee times then they will keep on putting the prices up.

Most clubs will have a target for green fee income in a year baked into their financial plan and they basically have two levers to pull - the cost to the visitor per green fee and the number of visitor tee times they make available.

To me,the threshold question is how much of the clubs' budgets come from such traveling golfers?  I assume he simply doesn't have access to such data, but it has to be a scary big number.

The case is made for lowering guest fees to make up for part of this lost revenue from those who don't need an airplane to get there, a point that seems pretty obvious from my perspective.  That said, it's hard to get excited about that when our Scottish friends remain under house arrest, and even here in the U.S. guests are hypothetical at best.

But clubs in GB&I are going to be hit much harder than the clubs here at home, so if you've ever had a hankering to be an overseas member at one of their clubs, you'd be helping tremendously.  I've had a few friends jokingly asking me if we've gotten or money's worth from Crail, but the answer is surprisingly "Yes".  I've taken some pleasure in having helped them in a very small way....

Lastly on this subject, I've been somewhat critical of the R&A for not even attempting to hold their signature championship... OK, upon further review, you can strike that "somewhat".  In the interest of fairness (Ed: Why start now?), there is this R&A press release:

The R&A today launched a £7 million funding package, The R&A Covid-19 Support Fund, to help golf deal with the impact of the pandemic. 

The fund will be largely aimed at national associations and other affiliated bodies in Great Britain and Ireland. 

Assistance for clubs and facilities 

With the global pandemic leading to widespread temporary course closures and drastic reductions in domestic and international travel, many golf clubs and facilities are facing serious financial difficulties. The fund is being provided to help The R&A’s affiliated national associations to support those clubs and facilities, although some of the money may be used for other activities key to the future health of the sport. 

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “The pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on golf and many clubs are facing dire financial situations through no fault of their own. Golf is in our DNA and we want to see the sport continue to thrive from grassroots right through to the top level on the professional tours. We have a responsibility to do what we can to help in such a crisis.

Yes, this is the reason they cited for grabbing the insurance money, though I remain unconvinced.  Not only were the coffers already pretty full from their recent TV contracts, but to me they'll look silly if the three U.S.-based majors come off.  Now I could see their point if this year's Open was to have been in Scotland, where Nicola Sturgeon's boot remains firmly pressed against her citizenry's throat.

Golf In The Time of Corona - Have you followed the secondary marker in.... pushcarts? 

If you're shopping for a push cart, get in line and take a number. 

The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on the push cart market. Major retailers are reporting that they are sold out and won't get new product in for several months. Trying to buy one online through a third-party like eBay or Craigslist will set you back considerably, as prices have soared for new or used models. I found a $260 clicgear model for $500 on Craigslist. 

"There's been a tremendous rush for push carts," said Craig Ramsbottom, the president of Dynamic Brands, which sells popular BagBoy models like the Nitron. "It caught us off-guard. The demand, it’s hard to describe. ... Over the last week, we got down to zero carts. It's amazing. Whether it was a slower moving model or color, anything and everything sold."

I make far too many boneheaded mistakes, but here's one that I aced.  In mid-March, even before I could get confirmation from Fairview that they would be allowed (and, it goes without saying, before it was clear that we could lay through this), I just decided that I wouldn't risk being without and therefore unable to play.

You have to love this WSJ header as well:

We’re Out of Toilet Paper, Hand Sanitizer—and Golf Pushcarts?

The good news is, should you need it, you can swap out your Clicgear for about six ventilators....  Of course, Gavin Newsome thinks the federal government is morally liable to solve this problem...

So, what else has changed in this moment?

Coronavirus is retiring the handshake. Here’s why that could change sports forever

If the custom fades — and not everyone thinks it will — experts hope something else

will take its place. 

Contact might not be required, the mere orientation of the hand conveying fundamental information. Think of a friend raising his hand in greeting or people turning their palms upward in exasperation or confusion. 

So a simple nod and wave might suffice, or maybe the Hindu greeting of namaste, with hands pressed together as in prayer. When the PGA Tour returns with a tournament next month, officials have asked players to consider “a tip of the cap or an air fist bump or something from a distance.” 

“You wouldn’t get the full effect of the actual touch,” Givens said. “But the recognition of another’s physical presence, you’re taking them seriously.”

I'm still of a mind that this recede more quickly than anticipated, but that doesn't mean all of our traditions will return.   It's a nice tradition in our game, though often mistaken for actual sportsmanship, so I do hope we can find something acceptable with which to replace it. 

As the piece makes clear, this is a factor in almost every sport.... In fact, he frames it in the ritual handshake line of the conclusion of a Stanley Cup playoff series.

I don't even really see why this should be an issue, as long as the athletes use a sanitizer or sing Happy Birthday immediately afterwards.

 In other news, we have music to Seth Waugh's ears:

We recently had Tommy Fleetwood indicating that he wouldn't likely head to the U.S. anytime soon, dues to local quarantine policies.  Now comes Lee Westwood:

These guys are speaking of the Tour's projected reboot in June, which raises an issue of fairness for the Tour.  But probably a few Euros unable to make it is manageable, unless U.S.-based players prove reluctant to travel as well.  But the standards are higher for a major, and if international players are unwilling or unable to make it, tit quickly becomes the Hale America Open.

Today In Long Reads - That Golf Digest vaults holds many gems, not all penned by Dan Jenkins.  But they have one of Dan's today, that is somewhere between politically incorrect and a hate crime:

Dan Jenkins: Why I hate family golf

I'll just allow the Master to make his case:

Not long ago I had the unforgettable experience of trying to play 18 holes behind one of those foursomes known as a plague on earth when it is not known as the Family That Golfs Together.

I don't believe I've ever taken vacations that long, frankly.

Upon finishing the round, I limped into the men's grill and asked the bartender for a pen and notepad. While trying to calm my rage with a few cocktails, I thought it would be therapeutic to make a list of things I would rather do in this lifetime than play another round of golf directly behind such lovers of the game. I decided I would rather:

Eat a veggie burger.

Lift heavy furniture.

Attend a political rally

Drive across country without smoking.

Watch a game show on TV

Listen to accordion music.

Discuss wine.

Read Proust.

Go to a rock concert.

Try to deal with "frozen cursor syndrome" on my word processor.

First, what is the "word processor" of which you speak?  And second, shouldn't there be a Jopardy exclusion in number five?

But since this article dates to 1994, I'm a bit baffled by the Patrick Reed reference:

What's more, I can hit two mulligans while my companions are improving their lies.

His description of the family's play on one hole is spot on, though you'll have to click through to enjoy it by your ownself.   

I'll release you here, and plan a return to the keyboard on Friday.  I've saved up the items on Sunday's match at Medalist, and we'll preview that match then.

Weekend Wrap

A weekend featuring two beautiful days?  Perhaps 2020 has finally run its course?

Not so fast.  Just as thoughts of emerging from our national nightmare cross my mind, my body decides to pile on.  Late in Saturday's round I felt a familiar sensation in my right shin, the onset of the dreaded shin splints.  This may ring a bell fro anyone that's been with me since I commenced blogging, as I've only experienced the one prior instance.  Interestingly, that was in the other leg...

The astute observer will note that the rock-hard links turf could well be the cause, but the unique feature of that trip, in which we parked ourselves for two weeks at Ballyliffin, was hand carts.  Obviously the turf at Fairview is much softer than proper linksland, especially with all the rain we've had, but I've been using our paved cart paths whenever possible...  When I revert to walking (as in that post from Ballyliffin, I had to grab a buggy yesterday to be able to play), I may have to stay on the green stuff....

In any event, I fear that 2020 has more in store for us.

Scenes From Seminole - The power of low expectations was on display, as it was great to have something, anything really to watch, as this game story lede notes:

Live. And maybe an inch or so below it on the bottom right cornerof all of our televisions, cellphones and computers. Golf.

That’s what we had most every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tee shots and approach shots, birdies and bogeys. Our professional golf routine. That’s what we hadn’t had every day since the middle of March. Our coronavirus routine.

That’s what we had again Sunday when we turned on the broadcast of the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game. A live golf event. We were the winner. 

Charity was the winner, the event raising more than $5 million for various relief funds.

Yeah, somebody had to actually win the thing:

And, as it was live golf, there were live golf winners on Sunday at Seminole Golf Club. Even a live golf, closest-to-the-pin tiebreaker. Rory McIlroy won that, along with six skins and $1.5 million, and he and partner Dustin Johnson won over the team of Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff, their 11 skins and $1.85 million for charity besting the seven skins and $1.15 million of Fowler and Wolff.

So, shall we see how folks enjoyed it?  You should perhaps mark your calendars, because we have a weekly Tour Confidential panel that doesn't lead with a Tiger-related question.  

1. Live golf – live golf! – returned Sunday with the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game, featuring Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson vs. Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff. McIlroy and Johnson prevailed, winning $1.85 million of the $3 million pot for Covid-related charities. (The players won additional money for their charities through various bonuses.) As a television event for fans at home, would you deem the match a success?

Certainly a qualified success... Especially as they were smart enough to get the jump on the Tiger-Phil show.

Sean Zak: Definitely! It put live sports on the screen, which is all we asked for. Though our standards for compelling television have certainly dropped these days, I was thrilled to be able to see one of the best courses in the world for the first time. The broadcast was clearly well planned and orchestrated. Considering it was a skeleton crew, it was impressive in all the information it delivered.

Michael Bamberger: I couldn’t say about the home TV experience. I was watching it in person, and at a distance far greater than 6 feet. What I saw, l loved. But I can only think of it as an unqualified success. People love golf, great courses, golf played at a high level, wishful thinking. (We could play there, we could play those shots.) People need to lose themselves on others’ lives, and sport is a safe and good place to do that.

Alan Shipnuck: Qualified yes. The golf was uneven, the banter flat, the ending kind of unsatisfying. But it was certainly more fun than no golf at all! 

Dylan Dethier: You’re all correct. The charity, the live sports, the new golf course — all exciting in these times.

They also trumped that other reality show with their astute choice of venues...  More on this later, but I thought Seminole looked great and provided sufficient challenge.  

I can't comment on the ending, as my tape cut off before then.  We were both nodding off anyway, but it does sound like a contrived ending....  Yanno, just like the FedEx Cup.

Before we move on, I just loved the look of them lugging their bags, and small moments such as watching them clean their clubs.  

These guys as well:

3. McIlroy, Johnson, Fowler and Wolff played without caddies. What part of riding solo do you think was the biggest adjustment for them?

Riding?  What a God-awful phrasing, as I for one took pleasure in the fact that they weren't, you know, riding....  Not sure what to expect next week, because after sixteen back surgeries I can't imagine Tiger doing the same.

Zak: Having to pick that bag up and put it down some 70-80 times! I know they’re all great athletes and in great shape (we can only assume right now), but doing that for 18+ holes gets tiring, I don’t care who you are.

Bamberger: Well, a week from now, they will ride solo, I understand. In carts. This is what millions of us do. Play golf. They’re young and fit. Should not have been an issue at all. 

Shipnuck: I think it had more to do with rust, and some wind, but a lot of times they looked off by half-a-club. Makes me wonder if caddies could have had them more dialed in. And nobody made any putts besides Fowler. Again, Seminole’s greens are tough, but I think these guys missed the ritual of confirming their reads. 

Dethier: I think a good caddie helps his player commit to shots. A couple of these guys looked like they could have used some help in that department.

Strike that comment above, as Mike thinks they'll be in buggies.  This one felt like the NCAAs, though next week seems more like....well, Big Break.  

I had many of the same thoughts as Alan, though I'd just add that Donald Ross greens will expose any weakness in approach shots, hence the pitch marks in regulation.... These guys haven't played much golf, so rust seems the most logical explanation.

Shall we grade their endeavor?  Nah, how about we let Dylan Dethier do so, beginning with the summa cum laudes:

Dustin Johnson’s pace of play 

Grade: A+. Dustin Johnson did not play his very best golf on Sunday, but he did appear to play his very fastest golf. Despite the languid manner with which he speaks, D.J. is among the world’s fastest walkers and he certainly wastes no time over the ball. Throw in a general apathy plus the comforts of a skins game format? Light speed. 

Rickie Fowler’s putter 

Grade: A. The guy made what, seven birdies? He was rolling the rock and carrying his partner around. He just didn’t quite carry him over the finish line. More on that later.

Yeah, DJ played more than one shot before the cameras were ready for him... Rickie was the only one that played like a touring professional, otherwise the golf was pretty desultory.

I agree with this as well:

Carry bags 

Grade: A. Carry bags rule. Pros carrying bags rules. Even though I’m sad we didn’t get any “I left my bag in the fairway, but topped my drive short of the forward tees” moments, this was still fun and relatable. Why do staff bags exist again?

On that topic, see if this amuses you as much as it did your humble blogger:

Heh.

Oklahoma State’s facial hair 

Grade: B. I think I’m supposed to feel like Wolff and Rickie going Mustache Bros was either the Best Vibe Ever or Worst Look Ever, but I can’t quite summon that sort of passion. This seems to be Slick Rick’s go-to look now anyway, and Wolff? He looked nice. Bit of a Baker Mayfield vibe. Well done.

Employee No. 2 was calling Rickie Inspector Clousseau...  I thought they were going for that 1970's porn 'stache look.

Seminole on TV 

Grade: B. The hype was always going to be tough to live up to, and given the circumstances they did an excellent job of showcasing the golf course for the first time. Awesome drone footage and flyovers for between-shot action. Plus, the Donald Ross greens were on solid display. But tons of rain took any of the firm-and-fast fire out of the place and the impossibility of a fully operational camera setup meant we were still left wanting more.

It seems churlish to downgrade Seminole's marks because of the minimalist TV coverage.  

I thought it looked great and that the NBC/GC crew did a reasonable job of explaining its appeal.  Of course we geeks always want more, but I give them an "A" for effort, as they explained those two ridge lines that Ross route through imaginatively. 

One place I was disappointed was when they played the sixth hole.  They at least utilized it to introduce Hogan's love of that particular golf hole, though they didn't feel compelled to explain the why...

You'll no doubt guess what's coming, as here I can only assume that Dylan is grading on a curve:

The witty banter 

Grade: D. If the closest thing to a zinger felt like a FedEx-sponsored segment of Tour Trash Talk, probably wasn’t great. These guys seem slightly too aware that they’re performing, when all we’d really want is for them to be themselves.

 Let me see if I have this straight?  DJ is in the field and you're expecting pithy banter?  

That Rory bit about the FedEx Cup was a mishit as well, though did any of you hear what triggered him?  Not a great look when you're out there playing for others.

But I'm unclear on why Dylan thinks they weren't being themselves.  Most of the top professionals are good guys, but they trend boring...  Your own trash talk is fun, but listening to others' is rarely amusing.

But good to know they're as whiny as the rest of us when they miss a putt.

Dave Dusek performs the same ritual, starting with the venue:

Seminole Golf Club: A+ 

If that’s what Seminole is like after about 3 inches of rain, we can’t imagine how

challenging Donald Ross’ gem must be when it is running firm and fast.

This was the first time Seminole had been shown on television and it did not disappoint. The variety of the holes, the challenging greens and the creative uses of sand and water made it a feast for the eyes and a challenge for the players.

The course is going to host the 2021 Walker Cup matches, and now that the golfing world has seen Seminole, we expect the television ratings for that match between the best amateurs from the United States against their counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland tp draw much bigger ratings.

A special place.  Now, how do I get on it?

Dusek grades the four players individually, but seemingly on a massive curve. 

The TC writers also opine about the venue:

4. Seminole Golf Club, one of the world’s most exclusive courses, made its television debut during the skins game, giving much of the world its first peek at the Donald Ross design. Did the course live up to the hype? 

Zak: Yes! The Atlantic offered a breeze late in the day and gave the course some teeth. Loved seeing the greens play pretty firm, all things considered with the rain the course received on the weekend. Any misses left and right were placed in bunkers, and if you did that short-sided, you were screwed. That’s good, proper, modern conditioning.

Bamberger: The course is both American and British, tough and accessible. As Rees Jones says, it’s a boutique course. A one-off. There’s really nothing like it. In a hyper age, this course is a model of calm. 

Shipnuck: It was great to see it. Seminole asked many questions and demanded precision. It’s not the course’s fault it’s built on flattish Florida land. 

Dethier: It was good, but I’m still not sure we saw Seminole in full. Soft fairways, difficult camerawork, none of the bells and whistles we’ve grown accustomed to. It’s a great golf course, and I hope we can see it again.

Seminole has always been high on my list to play, because it begs the question of how South Florida golf can be interesting.  Part of the answer is that, contra Shipnuck, it's actually an interesting property by the standards of the region, principally due to those two ridge lines.  Folks that revere the place speak of Ross' imaginative routing that use those elevation changes to best effect.  We got a sense of that from the broadcast, but limited by the production values of the day.

I had not realized that the course could be extended to more than 7,200 yards, but even in soft conditions the guys were challenged.  

Daniel Rappaport offers his six takeaways from the day, though I'm not convinced by this one:

Let the men wear shorts

All four players wore shorts on Sunday. No surprise there. It’s May in Florida. It’s also no surprise that they all looked perfectly professional doing so, at least to this admittedly

biased observer. 

There’s just no reason to not let players wear shorts during tournament rounds on the PGA Tour. It’s clear they want to—ever since the rule was changed a few years ago to allow pros to wear shorts during practice rounds, the vast majority of them do so when they can. We’re in the business of marketing these players as athletes. Athletes wear shorts. Yes, there’s the tradition element involved—that pro golfers have always worn pants—and that it might look out of place for a bit seeing guys wearing shorts down the stretch on a Sunday. To that, there’s this reply: Everything must evolve. We adapt, or we die.

I don't actually agree with Dan that they looked professional, though that's obviously a matter of opinion.  I think the shorts worked perfectly for this event, especially with the bags slung over their shoulders, but I'd encourage the Tour to keep the guys looking different from the rest of us.  Of course, I'd also encourage the Tour to avoid Memphis in July, but they know better....

On that very subject, Golf.com has up a reboot of their 2015 profile of Forrest Fezler, a man famous for wearing shorts for all of one hole:

In 1973, he had three runner-up finishes earning Rookie of the Year honors. The

following season, he won the Southern Open and gave Hale Irwin a run for the money at the U.S. Open known as “The Massacre at Winged Foot.” Forrest Fezler did all of that and more in 10 years on the PGA Tour, but three decades later, he is still best remembered for breaking The Shorts Barrier, becoming the only man to ever wear shorts while competing in the U.S. Open. “I still hear it two or three times a week,” Fezler, 65, said by phone from his home in Tallahassee, Fla. “They say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy who wore shorts!’” 

While recreational golfers sport shorts all the time, Tour pros aren’t allowed to. But back in 1983, the USGA didn’t have a rule expressly barring shorts, a loophole Fezler memorably exploited. It was Sunday at Oakmont and Fezler wasn’t in contention. After putting out on 17, he darted down the hill behind the green, ducked into a port-o-john and quickly changed into shorts. An Associated Press photographer captured the Superman-coming-out-of-the-phone-booth moment, a key reason the stunt became big news.

Who doesn't like to stick it to the man?  It's worth a read to remind ourselves of the odious Purvis James Boatwright...  Boy that organization has been run by some gems, no?

 Lastly from our TC friends, lessons to apply to a future event:

5. Next up: the Match II, with Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning taking on Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at the Medalist Club this coming weekend. What lessons could or should that event take away from the skins game? 

Zak: Use Shot Tracer as much as you can, especially with the QBs. It’s difficult to track how every shot begins and ends with fewer cameramen than normal, so automated cameras make even more sense now. When today’s shots were not picked up by Shot Tracer, it was difficult to tell what side of the hole they were on 

Bamberger: I’d prefer to watch four pros, but these are exceptional times. I’d have the players walk. I’d have holes where the QBs have to finish. I wouldn’t have any moments of hit-and-giggle or trash talk, unless it’s natural. This is golf.

Shipnuck: The Match is what it is. I think this was a helpful reminder that televised golf is never going to be super exciting except down the stretch at a big tournament. But there are many little pleasures for those of us who love the game, and that’s enough.

Dethier: Tell the players not to perform for the cameras! That’s not what they’re good at. Play golf, have fun, we’ll watch.

Completely agree on Shot Tracer, though with the flat landscape that's not always enough.  Although telling Phil not to eat the scenery isn't likely to change his behavior....

But I think Mike will get his wish, as the modified alternate shot planned for the back nine next weekend could be good fun.  I expect that the decision of which drive to play will be the best part, as it involves actual strategy about who plays what kind of shot (and from what distance).  Though I expect the best ball front nine to bore us....

Veej, The Solution - John Feinstein wants to take all involved to Camp David, as he's solved le affaire Veej.  Unfortunately, he subjects logic to waterboarding and other myriad violations of the Geneva Convention in the cause.

Here's where he first jumps the tracks, at least in my humble opinion:

If there was actual golf going on right now, this wouldn’t be nearly as big a story.

But there’s not, so it’s getting a lot of play.

John, I think we can all agree that 2020 is not like normal times...  The argument against Vijay is based on that premise, so was it necessary to sacrifice that strawman?

But the logic fails keep coming:

Plus, it’s Singh, one of the most polarizing players in golf history. Let’s be honest, if Davis Love III, who is in the same lifetime member category as Singh, had chosen to make the one-hour drive from Sea Island, Ga., to play, no one would have been critical of his decision to “take a spot” from a struggling player in the field.

Why? Because Love is as popular as anyone who has ever played on the PGA Tour.

Johm, I'm going to type slowly in the hopes that you can keep up.  Forgive my highly technical language, but it's a dick move made by one of the biggest dicks out there.  Not only should we not be surprised that dicks do dick-like things, but your reference to Davis is unintentionally hilarious, because it's not random that Davis doesn't do crap like this... Cause, effect...

Anyway, his solution is almost as funny as the above:

All of that said—on both sides of the argument—the Tour could resolve the issue and make everyone happy by expanding the field at Sawgrass with an extra threesome. That way, instead of Singh’s presence costing someone a spot, it would actually add two spots. Given the time of year, there’s plenty of daylight, even with social-distancing tee times, to add one group. The tour has apparently discussed adding players to all tour events this summer once play resumes but has thus far rejected the idea because it might mean finishing Thursday-Friday rounds the next morning. Let’s pause a moment here to remember that commissioner Jay Monahan long liked to insist that pace of play on tour hadn’t been a problem. Almost 15 hours of daylight isn’t enough?

They should do that, I agree, but also tell Vijay to F-off... That way they'll add three worthy Korn Ferry players, which beats John's two.

Every field should be expanded to the extent permitted by daylight.  But Vijay should never be allowed on the Korn Ferry Tour, but especially not in 2020 when playing opportunities will be so limited.  If he doesn't get that on his own, then someone in Ponte Vedra Beach needs to explain life to the man.  

Glad to have had some actual golf to dissect.  See you later in the week.