Back In The Saddle

I'm safely ensconced in the Unplayable Lies Western Regional HQ on my last ski golf trip of the winter....That change required by the alarmingly warm weather.  It's going to be 60 degrees on the mountain on Sunday and 74 in Salt Lake City...

Let's catch up, shall we?

WGC Blues - The great Jaime Diaz diagnoses the sorry state of the WGC's in the Golf World item.  It's one of those e-mag formats that bloggers detest, and I'm far to lazy to do the screen shot thing to

provide excerpts.  You'll just have to read the thing yourself...

As much as I respect Jaime, I can't help but add a quibble or ten.  he does a reasonably good job of recounting the environment in which the WGC's were created, though a bit more perspective would be helpful.  You might have noticed that I can at times be somewhat critical of the Commissioner of the PGA Tour....I know, iit was so subtle you probably missed it.

But while being critical I also try to acknowledge that he does have a problem unique in the sports world, that he runs the most prestigious league in the world, yet does not control the 4 1/2 most important events in that sport (the half is the Ryder Cup played every other year).  So much of Commissioner Ratched's scheduling overreach ties back to that existential crisis (at least it seems a crisis to him).

Because at its heart the problem with the WGC events is that there is simply no need for them...the best players in the world already compete against each other on great venues, and one of them is even outside the U.S.  The only problem with that from a Ponte Vedra Beach-centric viewpoint is that the small man with big hands doesn't have a seat at the table.

Jaime's focus on the Match-Play event is I think appropriate, though he elides the reason.  It is important because it's the one exception to the dull repetitiveness of everyday life on the PGA Tour...we actually get to see a different format.  I give them credit for solving their problems with the event, though I'd maintain that their changes are more least-bad than actually good, though of course I'm not the guy that has to keep the players happy and induce sponsors to write big checks.

Raising The Bar on Dull - Our great game is stands accused of being dull by those immune to its charms, especially on TV.  And I get it.... if I didn't play I'd have no appreciation for the skill involved.  In fact, when I've occasionally met non-golfers who enjoy televised golf that puzzles me more than the reverse...

But you want dull?  Take a look at a few moments of this, and just please bear in mind that there are folks that think this will help grow our game:

Promise me you'll only watch a minute or two, as prolonged exposure, like with a solar eclipse, could be dangerous...  

Reed Redux - We spent some time with World Number Five Sixteen Patrick Reed earlier this week, and acknowledged our inability to determine which of the parties was playing us.  Stephanie Wei, at her delightfully named Wei Under Par, commits an actual act of journalism, and obtains the "affidavit" of Georgia's golf coach Chris Haack:

Well, the “affidavit” from Coach Haack has been obtained under the Georgia Open Records Act, which was made possible because Haack used university counsel. Note that when the document was sent, the Georgia legal affairs representative wrote, “Please note that this is not an affidavit.” (Emphasis mine.) According to a legal affairs officer, the distinction is that an affidavit would have to be sworn officially under oath and notarized for use in court—this document is far more informal. Haack himself confirmed that this is the only document he signed for Reed’s attorneys.

I am not now nor have I ever been a lawyer, but this distinction seems rather trivial to me.  I don't care at this point if the document can be used in a court proceeding (of which there isn't one, as of now), but whether Haack supports Reed in the specifics of the story.  Here's the statement in its entirety:

 Wei does a good job of explaining how carefully chosen the wording is, as in the example below:

The second point from Haack’s “affidavit” is even trickier: “While Patrick Reed was at UGA, I was not aware of any allegations of cheating or theft against him.” 

That’s because it came to his attention after Reed had transferred, which Haack confirmed. It seems as though Reed’s lawyers are attempting to play a game of semantics, and hoping that the public will misconstrue Haack learning later as Haack never learning at all—which is not the case.

I'm so disillusioned....  I'm sure more will come out, so stay tuned.

Public Service Announcement - I am going to suggest that this be posted in the Willow Ridge locker room and mailed to all members:

If you like grass on driving range, then please -- we implore you -- don't just scatter your range balls all over the place and start hitting them. Keep them in a pile, and hit them one-by-one. Once you've hit one, place your next ball about an inch or so behind your previous divot and hit away. Trust us: It makes the range better for everyone.

I'm sure it will do no good, but I'll feel better.

Harshing The Mellow - I think most folks generally wish Dustin Johnson well and are happy for his success since his return.  That said, there seems to be some denial in play, aided and abetted by the Tour's pathetic lack of transparency, which raises concerns about his ability to stay on the right path.  Derek Lawrenson of the Daily Mail doesn't pull his punches:

Johnson stands 6ft 4in and is such a naturally talented athlete he had every sporting coach at his college clamouring for him to specialise in their particular pursuit. 

When he started making millions from golf, it was hardly surprising that temptation lay at every turn. Only Adam Scott attracted more swooning women than Johnson, but only Scott was wise enough to pick his way through the pitfalls.

And now Johnson’s back. Will this turn out like another John Daly fable, where he returns but only to fall back into his old ways as quick as a lead can disappear on a pressure-filled Sunday?

That's gonna leave a mark, but I do hope DJ reads this and takes JD as his anti-role model.

And The Winner Is -  No need to wait four weeks, as golf's most prominent statistician has determined who will win The Masters.  Not really, but it is good fun:

With the season's first major upon us, I thought it would be interesting to develop a

statistical model to predict the Masters winner. And why not? Netflix predicts movies you might like based on your viewing habits, and online music-streaming station Pandora suggests songs to match your listening habits. Sounds straightforward, right? Unfortunately, ShotLink isn't used at the Masters, so I can't look at Augusta-specific Strokes Gained data to assess how a player will perform there. That means I'm limited to using stats from the PGA Tour season and from past Masters finishes.

It's 2015 and we massive computational abilities, but no ShotLink data from any of the majors....Sheesh!  As you read Broadie's methodology you'll understand that it's really next to useless, and not surprisingly his top ten list contains little knowledge.

But I thought this part of it was the more interesting:

So now that we have our contenders, let's determine which holes will be most important at Augusta. The player who gains the most strokes against the field grabs the green jacket, so it makes sense to identify the holes where the tournament's top five finishers gained the most on the field each year. 

At Augusta, the holes topping that list (in order of most gain) are Nos. 7, 18, 13, 12, and 14. Let's focus on the first three. Statistics show that the field plays the par-4 seventh over par, with an average score of 4.2, but the top five finishers play it slightly under par, with an average score of 3.9. Thus, the top finishers gain 0.3 strokes per round on the field, or just over one stroke in the tournament, on average. Since the top finishers average 0.4 strokes under par for four days on No. 7, savvy players could set a target of even par or 1-under-par for the tournament on this hole.

Good stuff.

Back9 Back? - The vultures are picking over the carcass, never an attractive sight, as two players try to raise capital to salvage the operation:

One is the founder and former CEO, as well as the largest shareholder, Jamie Bosworth, who if successful, might “offer him a door back into the CEO’s chair,” the Courant wrote. Bosworth, who resigned under pressure last summer, said he is attempting to raise between $30 million and $40 million, “which will allow us to produce the type of content that excited both investors and the golf lifestyle industry.” 

The other is Bosworth’s replacement as CEO, Charles Cox, who is working with company executives who have “a couple of groups that have shown interest, and we're trying to push them to get to the finish line as quickly as possible,” he told the newspaper.

 Mr. Cox seems to have double-dipped on the Kool-Aid:

“I wouldn't have left a nice safe career at ESPN if I didn't think so. I think it's a no-brainer channel offering. You've got the only sport you can play until you die. You've got a 70-billion dollars annual consumer spend around the lifestyle. Look at other [sports] genres that have a lifestyle around it. There's only one, outdoors, hunting and fishing, and they've got several channels.”

Whenever you're told that something is a no-brainer, run, don't walk, away.

 I've got more, but am going to quite here and we'll pick things up later.