Midweek Musings - Udder Stuff

Lots of good stuff to sort through before the lads tee off tomorrow....

Peggy On Our Mind - Jaime Diaz does far better than most in his remembrance of Peggy Kirk Bell.  I'll excerpt this anecdote, but you're banished from the site if you don't read the whole thing:

Having been a good player, Bell was harder on herself and driven by the mystery of the golf swing. Her son-in-law, 1978 PGA Tour rookie-of-the-year Pat McGowan, on

occasion would see Ma Bell make impromptu 300-yard trips in her 1964 Lincoln convertible from her home to Pine Needles’ expansive practice range, as if, well, she owned the place. 

“She’d be watching NFL football, which she was passionate about,” McGowan says, “but then she’d get a swing idea that she had to work out right then, and get in that huge car with the suicide doors and drive straight across the first and 18th fairways. When she got to the range, she’d brake with a big hook slide that sent pine straw flying, and hit maybe 10 balls with a 7-iron. She’d have figured something out, and she’d drive back the same way and watch the game. That was her—enthusiastic, curious, driven, always fun.”

She was a golf person if ever that genus species meant anything.... and another anecdote from the local paper's account of her memorial service:

And, oh, were there stories to be told. 

Rev. John Hage, the Brownson pastor, said he visited Peggy not long ago and at one point said, “Let’s pray.” 

Peggy’s response: “Let’s play.” 

“She was ready to play 18 holes of golf,” Hage said, smiling.

When Pine Needles and Mid-Pines are out your front door, anything less would be sacrilege.

 R.I.P.

Twitter Spat of the Day - You're gonna need some background here, so you might want to freshen that cup of coffee.

David McClay Kidd is a Scottish golf course architect who originally came to prominance through his design of Bandon Dunes (the original course).  How he got that gig is interesting of itself, but we don't have time for that now....  

Based upon that and other work, Kidd landed one of the most prestigious design awards of our generation, what became the Castle Course in St. Andrews.  So, you'll intuit where this is going, the course absolutel bombed....  I'll let Kidd defend it first:

As for the Castle Course itself, Kidd repeated what he has often said about the layout:

that he knew from the start that it would polarize opinions, given its standing as the seventh course in the hallowed St. Andrews Links Trust, not to mention its setting, on a bluff overlooking the home of golf. 

He acknowledged that the land itself was “relatively boring,” which nudged him toward a bold design approach. 

“I knew that no matter what I built, it was going to piss off half the people,” Kidd said. “So at some point, you say, screw it, I’m going to go balls out.”

That piece came as a result of Tom Doak's brutal assessment in his updated Confidential Guide:

“A friend of mine who had never played The Old Course waited for hours at the starter's box in July to try to get out as a single, and as the day was starting to wane, he told the starter he was thinking of going up to The Castle Course instead. ‘No laddie, you don't want to do that,’ came the reply. ‘We'll get you out yet.’ 

I'm with the starter on this one. I feel for David Kidd because a lot of the criticisms of the course are things one might say about The Old Course if it wasn't so famous: the greens are huge and wild, and it's hard to discern the strategy from the tee. However, the severe tilt of the land and the size of the greens yields a lot of recovery shots to greens that are up over your head, and the moonscape of the course is only appealing when you’re looking away from it, across the bay toward town. Trying to one-up Kingsbarns (a heralded course just up the road) turned out to be a formula for excess.”

And Doak's rating was famously a goose-egg, though one should note the longstanding enmity between the two.  

Way too much background given the silliness of the actual story, but we love when folks beclown themselves.  So Kidd (or DMK) got asked a question about this, and you'd assume hes' a millennial from the whiny response:

Well, blaming the media worked pretty well for Trump....

This is actually an interesting subject to which a return might be fun, as "resistance to scoring" is used as a rating factor.  More importantly, I'm always hesitant to jump on the designer without understanding the demands of their client.  I don't know how you blame the guy moving earth for making the client happy, as they are, after all, running a business....

Shack's got a good cross-section of the tweets and Kidd's recent work, Gamble Sands and Sand Valley, seem to be restoring his reputation.  Blaming the media, though, is for weasels....

The World Cup, An Appreciation - Aussie architect Mike Clayton has a thoughtful take on last weekend's competition entertainment, though the lede is quite regrettable:

We are often reminded professional golf is about ‘entertainment’ and ‘we are in the entertainment business’. 

Maybe, but what constitutes entertainment? 

Some think it simply revolves around birdies and eagles. Maybe, but is that the ‘mashed potatoes’, ‘baba-booey’, ‘get in the hole’ crowd or the galleries following last weeks World Cup play at Kingston Heath last week? Not once did we hear a spectator invoking the inane comments we hear so often from the telecasts of the American Tour.

Carful, Clayts, don't go all Peter Willet on us....  What follows is a timely discussion of the play on a timeless classic of a golf course not quite rendered obsolete by modern driving distances:

More interesting and entertaining to watch was how the field played the short par 4 4th hole (the club’s normal 3rd) There was a wide variety of clubs played from the tee in 

The Kiwi Kontingent

Saturday’s foursomes play with Rickie Fowler leaving Jimmy Walker a full nine iron to the flag while Soren Kjelsden, the shortest of the top players last week, left his partner Thorbjorn Olesen with barely anything more than a chip from the perfect angle. 

A few matches ahead the New Zealanders Ryan Fox and Danny Lee made a comedic mess of a seemingly simple hole by playing it completely the wrong way despite hitting two perfectly good looking shots.

Ya think?  Read his piece for the dissection of the Kiwi's mistakes, leading to this wonderful coda:

Great courses provide entertainment by asking thought-provoking questions. Great players do the same by hitting brilliant shots and great crowds respond and in their own way add to the entertainment. 

Mindless golf on boring courses may be a recipe for birdies and eagles but it entertains no one. Kingston Heath showed off professional golf at its best last week and it was the real star of the show. 

Alister MacKenzie well understood golf was about daring play and he made courses where it was properly rewarded.

And yes, with the exception of the West Coast swing, American professional golf is mostly of the mindless variety he describes, but so is every other professional tour.  But, unless you're prepared to make the case that the guy shouting "mashed potatos" is speaking of the venue, why go there?

The North, Ready For Its Close-Up - The newly-restored North Course at Torrey Pines has opened, and John Strege has the skinny on the focus on playability:

Toward that end, Weiskopf has reduced the number of bunkers from 60 to 42 and made

them generally easier from which to play. Average green sizes have increased from about 4,500 square feet to 6,000 square feet. He’s added his signature touch, a drivable par 4, the new seventh hole. The fairways are marginally wider and he’s softened playability in areas fronting the greens. 

“My philosophy is to put the penalties on the side of holes,” he said. Penalties are not directly in front, so people can play by missing the ball in front of these greens and still have a good pitch or a chip and even a long putt.”

And this makes so much sense it's hard to believe they did it:

Weiskopf also reversed the nines. “I thought that was very important. The back nine, the old front nine, is the more iconic of the two nines from the standpoint of its location of holes on the ravines overlooking the ocean and looking back on the beach south to San Diego. It just leaves you with a much more positive, memorable experience when you play the nines that way.” 

The new back nine includes the course’s two most memorable holes, the par-3 15th (formerly the sixth) and par-4 16th. On the latter hole, an uphill climb along the cliff to a green elevated to the extreme, he lowered the green by 10 or 12 feet.

The photo is of the old 6th/new 15th, perhaps the most famous hole in the complex.  It's never been a particularly interesting golf course, a bit os a waste of the tremendous site.  And Weiskopf didn't have near the budget to reimagine the dreary routing, so we should all keep our expectations in check.

I remain curious as to what Phil had in mind, a curiosity that Tom Weiskopf and the folks in LaJolla apparently didn't share.  But they at least had their priorites straight, recognizing that a Tour pro plays at most one round a year on this track.

Sue, Baby, Sue - A former Wall Street Journal editor takes to the paper to decry the USGA's ageism.  Ironic, no doubt, given golf's demographics and per capita Cialis consumption, but there you have it.

It's a two-count indictment, and we'll deal with them in the order presented:

A widespread problem as golfers grow older is the onset of the putting yips, a nervous flinching of the wrists, especially on shorter putts. This dreaded affliction rarely bothers

younger players. But it is common among seniors whose nerves tend often to be more fragile. 

An antidote had until recently been to acquire a longer, heavier putter and then to anchor the grip against the chest to reduce or even eliminate any flinching. But now, just when at last I had pretty well used this technique to conquer my late-in-life entanglement with the yips, the USGA rules people have declared no more anchoring. They were careful, however, not to ban the long putter itself, no doubt mindful that such a prohibition might trigger lawsuits by its producers. But without anchoring, the long and heavy putters can become unwieldy and far less helpful against the yips.

That last bit is what an attorney would call an admission against interest.  Kind of proves their point, doesn't it?

There's no excuse for the delay in banning anchored putting, which adds additional irony as relates to his second count.  But there's also no law preventing folks from using non-conforming methods in their games or solo rounds.  I'll not get into the full bifurcation argument here, just note that this seems a plea for an exemption based upon age....  Good luck with that.

Now, did I hear someone say something about solo rounds?  The Michael Jordan of segues still has game, as per Count No. 2:

The second change was even more discouraging for those of us whose partners from the old days grow ever scarcer, forcing us to discover the considerable joys of playing alone. Specifically, the rules people have outlawed submitting scores played solo. 

For those of us who play most of our rounds alone, that means fewer rounds will count toward calculating a handicap, which very likely will mean a less accurate handicap. That’s no small thing on those rare days when I do compete against friends for a few dollars. 

Writing of the joys of solo golf in The Wall Street Journal in 2013, I noted enthusiastically that a solitary golfer, using however many handicap strokes may be allowed, may compete quite happily “against the course” and “record an accurate score.” This score, in turn, may be submitted, I wrote, so as to maintain an accurate handicap.

To paraphrase Woody Allen, it's golf with someone I love.  And of course who isn't sympathetic about an older golfer losing his golf buddies?

I'm of two minds on this one....  Analytically, the handicap system is, and has to be, a peer review system.  Of all the GHIN joints in the world, only the folks who one plays with know if your handicap is accuarte.  One can readily see that a solo round has no peer review...

On the other hand, is this such a problem?  The USGA has aimed its fire at a core constituency, virtually accused them of cheating, its just not clear what they're cheating at....  My own personal experience is that in the alter cocker demo vanity handicaps are a far bigger issue, but again, good luck with that one.

The writer again shoots himself in his aged foot by noting that his solo scores mirror his witnessed score, confirming that his ahndicap should be equally valid....  He's just annoyed to be called out.

In a world of uncontrolled distance rendering classic courses obsolete, I'm pleased to see the deck chairs on the Titanic have been symmetrically arranged.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/golf/article117837943.html#storylink=cpy

Midweek Musings - Tiger Edition

Let's get the obligatory Tiger bit out of the way, shall we?  

The delightfully-named Jay Coffin listened to Tiger's presser so we didn't have to and distilled it down to some manageable excerpts:

On Tuesday, Woods explained the reasons for not playing that event, and the reasons why his game is now in good enough shape to take on 17 of the best players in the world. 

“One, the Ryder Cup helped a lot in the sense that I got a chance to be out there with the guys and see it and feel it and experience it,” he said. “Two, it hurt me by not being able to practice for a week.”

Yeah, that's a pretty loose definition of "reasons" my friend....and, as Shack notes, the Friday confirmation was after the Ryder Cup.  But please, do go on:

Woods said that he could’ve played Safeway with limited go-to shots in his arsenal but it wasn’t worth the risk to do that on a golf course he hasn’t played since his college days, 20 years ago.

Wowser!  Jordan Spieth shows up late Monday night in his Grand Slam attempt, but Tiger is worried about the subtleties of Silverado for his return in the Safeway?  I get that he's Tiger Woods and doesn't want to stink up the joint in public (or is it in front of Phil?), but it's a head-scratcher....

 But wait, there's more:

“As hard as it was on me to take it off and pull out of the event, it was a smart thing to do even though as a competitive athlete it killed me,” Woods said. “But if I’ve waited at the time, what, 13 months, what’s another couple more months? So let’s be a little patient, a little easier on myself, a little smarter and let’s come back when things are a little more together.”

Oh, how you've suffered, poor thing!  Rather than spewing more saliva on my monitor, I'll let Shack handle that pathos:

So he wasn't ready. We all would have understood. 

Why not just admit that it was a blunder, apologize for entering on a Friday before withdrawing on Monday after a bad weekend, and beg for the forgiveness of those who planned on attending to see you?

I'd just add that a commitment to playing there next year might also go a long way....  Because, you know, Johnny has a long memory and a microphone.

I don't know how you folks react, but I find myself not especially liking the man and his supreme self-absorption.  And this at a tie when he's making a concerted effort to more approachable, and his game more "vulnerable".

Other folks have different takes for sure:

Professional golf is in a great place, with exciting and charismatic young talent at the top

of the world rankings and leaderboards. It doesn’t necessarily need Tiger Woods to come back.

But how special would it be to have Tiger, with his 79 career PGA Tour wins and 14 major titles, return to relevance? It would make for a fantastic final chapter: the greatest golfer of his generation, now in his 40′s, going toe-to-toe with a group of young guns who grew up idolizing him, but aren’t intimidated by the transcendent player he once was.

That's why it's so aggravating.... The comeback should be all upside and no downside.  Is it his antipathy to the press?  Writing in The Scotsman, Martin Dempster makes a plea to give peace Tiger a chance:

Like it or not, it’s exciting for golf that Woods is about to be back playing. With all due respect to Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, they don’t come close to Tiger when it comes to generating interest, especially in the United States. Every shot will be scrutinised more than ever this week, but that, I’m afraid, comes with the territory when you are Tiger Woods. Let’s not be daft here, though, and expect too much. Give the guy a chance.

Martin, the guy not giving Tiger a chance is.....named Tiger.  OK, actually Eldrick, but you take my point.  If you look back at the commentary leading up to the Safeway, expectations were quite reasonable.  Folks were hoping to see a Tiger that was healthy and able to swing the club freely and with Tour speed (or something in that neighborhood).  No one expected him to have "all the shots", the end-game was understood to be 2017, perhaps something in the mid-April time-frame....

Lastly, for shear brilliance, we doff our proverbial cap to Ari Marcus, who introduces us to Tiger Bingo:

I think you'd want to free up a space for "glutes", "activation" and especially "gym", but we salute you Ari Marcus, whoever you might be.

Tiger Agonistes

I started this post yesterday morning, but the real world intervened once again.  Fortunately, with no hard data before Thursday, there's little loss of continuity.

So, let's see what folks are yakking about.  Via Shack, Steve DiMeglio had this:

For more than two hours, and with his trusted caddie, Joey LaCava, by his side, Woods sent one Bridgestone 330S golf ball after another into the horizon, working on all

trajectories and shot shapes with all sorts of clubs. While he hasn’t played in nearly 470 days — and his world ranking has dropped to No. 879 — the 14-time major champion and the winner of 79 PGA Tour titles is finally set to return to competitive golf this week in the Hero World Challenge at Albany, which begins Thursday and benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. 

“I’m ready to go,” Woods said.

Did you notice what I did there?  In the biz that's known as "burying the lede", since Tiger playing a Bridgestone ball is its own news....  More on that in a bit.  But first some pearls from Himself:

That’s no longer the case. Woods, who pulled out three days before the Safeway was to begin, said he was mentally drained from his work as an assistant captain for the winning USA squad in the Ryder Cup, so that didn’t help. And he knew his game just wasn’t ready for prime time at the time. 

“I have way more shots now, because I’ve played way more golf. I only had a handful of shots back then,” said Woods, who played nine holes at Albany shortly after he arrived on Saturday. “And you just saw a session where I hit everything. And I had control of everything. I can hit all the shots now, on call. ... 

“It was a smart decision in the end to pull out of the tournaments. The competitor inside me wanted to go so badly, I was itching to go, I had been playing at home, and I thought I could get it around. I had played feeling worse and won golf tournaments. But I finally decided why rush … I had waited more than a year, so let’s wait a little more and get it right.”

Surprisingly, Shack didn't excerpt that first comment, as it's not like him to pass on one of his trademarked "cart-driver" jibes....  Geoff, are you running a fever?  Let me pitch in, as I can well imagine the strain of remembering that Brooks Koepka does not like mayonnaise on his turkey club can wear a guy down....

But of course he's gonna throw out that tender spine in patting himself on the back for the Safeway WD.  Not seen in any commentary since is remorse for the unnecessary burdens borne by the event as a result, or even a commitment to play there when healthy.

I'll also confess to being unmoved by his explanation, because no one expected him to have "all the shots" first time out, that is, until he himself raised those expectations.

Bob Harig at ESPN apparently liked what he saw:

Woods had no trouble carrying drives over 300 yards, shaping shots in both directions with his various clubs while showing no pangs of discomfort. Of course, it's Sunday, not the opening round on Thursday of an otherwise low-key, 18-player tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. It's a year-ending cash grab for many stars of the game, and how they fare here is of little consequence. There are world ranking points at stake, and a $3.5 million purse with $1 million going to the winner.

That's a staple of the Tiger comeback genre, always a report of great things on the range or a low score in a worst-ball scramble, though those usually come from people with curious names like Jesper or Notah.

Shack has some Tiger prop bets in his post, but this bit sums up the state of cynicism:

In fact, according to the site as of Sunday morning, Woods has a much better chance of retiring by Jan. 1, 2018 than he does of winning a PGA Tour or European Tour event by that time. BookMaker lists Woods retiring by that date at +385 (You bet $100 to win $385), and him winning an event in 2017 at +900. Don't be too alarmed, Tiger fans. Woods not retiring by then is still a heavy favorite at -485 (You risk $485 to win $100).

Lee Trevino knows more about back issues than most, and offers this note of caution:

“When you injure your back, your body is telling you that you can’t move that way,”

Trevino said in a phone interview. “Tiger has to revamp his swing. If he comes back and keeps swinging the way he did, he’ll re-injure it. No question.” 

Trevino, like the rest of us, really doesn’t know what to expect when Woods makes his first tournament start in more than 15 months Thursday in the Hero World Challenge. It’s natural to view his comeback with rampant skepticism, given his aborted return at last month’s Safeway Open in Napa — he withdrew on Monday of tournament week, three days after officially entering the field. 

That made Woods look terrible.

Unless, lee, it was all that gym work that did him in....  but surely he's learned his lesson there?

After the long range session on Sunday, Woods recovered in a hot tub and got other treatment on his surgically repaired left knee and battered back. He was also in the gym

prior to his round on Monday. 

“I was talking to Jetes about it and Tino. How long did it take them to get ready for each game?” Woods said. “And it took them from 3-to-4 hours as they got older. And it’s the same thing for me. I was in the gym with [Rose], and he’s in there doing the same thing. He’s 36 now, and it takes him an hour, hour and a half, just to be able to go and hit balls.

“You have to activate the muscles. . . . We miss the days going to the first tee and hitting a drive 300 yards with a balata ball and a persimmon driver. You can’t do that anymore.”

Or not.  Just pray that his glutes activate, otherwise we may blow up Twitter.  Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing....

On the equipment front, we touched briefly on the Bridgestone ball.  Tiger does seem to go against the current in playing higher-spin balls, as Phil helpfully reminded us at the Ryder Cup.  there was video of him hitting an M2 driver, and it will be Throwback Thursday as far as the flat-stick:

Coming into the 1999 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Tiger Woods was T-102 in

putting on the PGA Tour and had won just three tournaments since a victory in the same event in 1997. At the ’99 Nelson, Woods, who rarely changes clubs, switched putters, put a Scotty Cameron by Titleist Newport 2 in his bag. Now, as Woods prepares for his latest comeback at the Hero World Challenge, reports are that the former World No. 1 is reuniting with his favorite flat stick. 

That’s not surprising given the club’s history. Woods was immediately successful with the putter as his putting average rank jumped to T-24 by the end of 1999. More important, he won seven of his next 11 starts with the club. In all, 13 of Woods’ 14 majors have come with the Cameron, and in his first eight full seasons he used the club (not counting 1999 and 2008 when he was ranked fourth before leaving the tour due to a knee injury), Woods ranked in the top 10 in putting average five times. Starting in 2004, which is the first year the tour has strokes gained/putting calculated, he ranked first, fifth, 21st, second and second, again skipping 2008 and 2010 when he did not play enough to be ranked. Woods changed to a Nike putter at the 2010 Open Championship and went back and forth between Nike and his Cameron for a bit before settling in with a Nike model in 2011.

The mystery, of course, is why the putter ever left his bag....  And speaking of the bag, I'm widely regarded as the Michael Jordan of segues, there was this:

In the wake of Nike exiting the golf club business, Tiger Woods is still sorting out the equipment he'll use in his latest comeback. In the meantime, it appears the bag that will carry his clubs will have a new logo. 

ESPN reports that Monster Energy will be the brand on Woods' bag when he tees it up at this week's Hero World Challenge. Monster is the second-biggest energy drink on the market, trailing only Red Bull.

Not classy at all....  It's bad enough to be hawking energy drinks, but when you're not up to the exacting standards of Red Bull....

And here's a truly depressing item about world ranking points.  I've ranted on this previously, but it's quite outrageous that an 18-player exhibition would carry OWGR points, but so it is.  Alex Myers saves me the trouble of actually explaining why:

Sadly, it's become commonplace on Twitter to provide updates of Tiger Woods' falling Official World Golf Ranking each Monday. Essentially, these tweets read as so: "Tiger Woods is now (blank) in the Official World Golf Ranking. He's one spot above (Insert name of a golfer you've never heard of) and one spot below (Insert name of another golfer you've never heard of)." 

As the 14-time major champ returns from a 15-month absence this week, the current number is 898 and the lesser-known golfers he's sandwiched between are Sean Riordan and Simon Yates. But the good news for Woods? While those two guys aren't playing in the Hero World Challenge, Woods is.

Not all that sad in my book, but here's the point from an epic nom de tweet:

As for the Twitter handle, you could look it up.

Can you see why Joe LaCava is making sure he can walk 72 holes?  Which, and do please note the segue genius, he'll be doing in these:

And I'll leave you with this breaking news courtesy of RadarOnline:

Tiger Woods isn’t keeping his relationship with girlfriend Kristin Smith a secret for much longer! RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal the couple will go public with the romance at an upcoming golf tournament. 

“She’s going to his tournament in the Bahamas that’s coming up,” a source close to Smith exclusively told Radar of the Hero World Challenge, which is from December 2-4.

The insider confirmed they’ve been splitting their time between Florida and her home in Dallas. 

RadarOnline broke the news of the golfer’s new romance with the personal stylist earlier this month.

I'm happy for the kids...  I just hope he broke the mold this time:

Errr...that would be a firm no.  What's the over-under for the first time the kids call her Lindsey?  Or, God forbid, Mom?

Catching Up

Please excuse the unexplained absence, but real life had it's way with us this week.  But we're together now, and that's what's important.

R.I.P. Peggy Kirk Bell - We've lost a lioness of the ladies' game:

Peggy Kirk Bell, one of the most influential women in the history of the game as both a teacher and a player, died Wednesday night at age 95. 

Born Margaret Anne Kirk in Findlay, Ohio, Bell was a top player before buying, alongside her husband Warren, Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Pinehurst, N.C., in 1953. She won the 1949 North and South Women’s Amateur and the 1949 Titleholders Championship, and was also a member of the victorious 1950 U.S. Curtis Cup team. 

As a teacher, Bell was one of the first female teaching pros, and was the first woman inducted into World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame. In large part out of respect for Bell, who won the 1990 Bob Jones Award, the U.S. Women's Open has been held at Pine Needles three times.

Somehow the dry recitation of highlights doesn't capture a truly iconic spirit.  Here's an attempt from a local source:

Bing Crosby serenaded her in the Pine Needles bar. Perry Como played her course. Jimmy Carter stayed at the lodge during the National Governors’ Convention. Rudy Vallee was a guest and she played with Jackie Gleason, Michael Jordan and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Jimmy Carter?  Get me rewrite, stat!  But I'm hoping that Kirk-Bell, Gleason, Jordan and O'Connor was an actual fourball....

Shack's got more links if you'r so inclined, and you could do far worse for company on a Sunday morning.

I'll just leave you with this picture of a younger Peggy Kirk with Babe Zaharias from the Western Open a couple of years back:

R.I.P.

The World Cup - Did you catch any of it?  Unless you're nocturnal, it was tough catching much beyond the first few holes of play each day, but even that had a spark to it.  Perhaps this team thing is catching on?

I can't find a game story, apparently our coddle golf press likes their beauty rest, but Danish hegemony is nigh.  First they threaten to punish the Brits, then for good measure they punish the lot of us for good measure....

No doubt Casa Wally is in mourning as #TeamBEL regressed to its mean....  I like Pieters as much as the next guy, but Colsaerts is the Jean-Claude Van Damme of professional golf.  There's a text out there purporting to show your humble correspondent picking #TeamSWE (which finished a credible fifth), but I was really intending to take Scandinavia in general....

In terms of impact, how about this?

It has drawn rave reviews from the players who have landed in Melbourne – including

six inside the world's top 20 – and Finchem said an Olympics overhaul would be explored in time for 2020.

"The feedback is very positive [on team-based formats]," the PGA Tour's Commissioner said. "We're looking at the formats for 2020 and we like individual competition, but we'd also like to mix in a different competition or two and we're looking at different possibilities.

Ya think? So, who was the guy that gave us nothing but week after week of dreary stroke play?

One event played in the dark of night, and all of a sudden folks wake up....  Mind you I'll take it, but still....  And kudos to those running the Zurich event, who saw the need to differentiate their week.

Now the downer is of course his continuing love of the individual competition....  I know, but old habits die hard.  There's nothing inherently wrong with stroke play...  So, Nurse Ratched got Shack thinking and here's the result:

So here is my final offer: 

72-holes of stroke play from a field of 60. Three medals will be awarded just like we saw in 2016. If you want to shorten the competition days to ten overall between men and women, make the first day a 36-hole first and second round. (Rio could not handle that due to shorter winter days, whereas Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles will all have plenty of daylight.) 

From that competition, the low eight two-person teams (based on country with pairings pre-determined by world rankings), advance to a two-day match play event. They are broken up into Pools A and B based on seedings from the stroke play competition. (Countries that only send one player or an odd number of three will not be included, sorry.) 

Day one of the two-person team match play is a 27-hole day, with three 9-hole foursomes matches played by each team within their pool. With nine-holes and foursomes, you may be looking at some very quick matches, addressing the speed issue that plagues the game. 

The two top teams advance from those pools to an 18-hole gold medal match, with the runners-up playing an an 18-hole bronze medal match. How ties in the pools are decided, I'm not sure. But sudden death playoffs would be fun. 

So to recap: five or six days of competition, with stroke play while team foursomes match play introduces a shorter, faster, high-pressure format. Both nine-hole rounds and alternate shot are put on an international stage for the world to see golf is not the slog it can sometimes be.

Sold!  Obviously this would be too good to be true, but let me just repeat the obvious caveat.  We need to do something about that field size, which renders the individual competition the equivalent of the Hero World Challenge (how's that for a topical reference?).  

And while those that brought us Olympic Golf are on the first turn of their victory lap, it seems an appropriate time t delve into that legacy thing.  One of the reasons, our betters told us, to support the effort was that the wonderful Gil Hanse golf course would serve to grow golf in Brazil and South America.  Unless:

With so few locals playing and no obvious plan for attracting foreigners, funding is already a problem. 

Neil Cleverly, the Briton who built the course and now manages the upkeep, says the company he works for, Progolf, has not been paid for two months. 

"What happens when we run out of gas or diesel? We've been close," Cleverly said. "None of us know if there'll be a job for us in December." 

A source close to the company who asked not to be identified said Progolf has been given no contract by the confederation and, having been forced to foot the $82000 monthly maintenance operation out of its own pocket, is set to pull out. 

Maybe "next month," the source said. 

If that happens, the confederation would quickly have to find expert replacements before damage set in. 

Without maintenance, "the golf course will die," the source said. "It could take four weeks, three weeks."

Yeah, couldn't see that coming....

 At least 2020 is in a first world country with an actually attachment to the game of golf.  But I fear that the legacy of the 2016 games will be the unraveling of the corruption that allowed this course to be built, and golf will be an unindicted co-conspirator.

Ryder Rahmbosis - Mired in task force hell, John Huggan has a vision of Ryder Cup Hell to come:

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Not that the European Tour needs any more selection controversies when it comes to the Ryder Cup, but in the wake of the Paul Casey and

Russell Knox affairs earlier this year, the meteoric rise of Jon Rahm has the potential to cause another headache. The 22-year-old -- the world’s top-ranked amateur during his time at Arizona State University -- posted two top-three finishes in his first four PGA Tour events as a professional and is many learned observer’s tip to be golf’s next superstar. 

But as of now the young Spaniard is not a member of the European Tour and therefore -- like Casey -- ineligible for the Old World Ryder Cup side. And it is a situation that is not likely to alter any time soon. Speaking at the end of the opening round in the World Cup at Kingston Heath -- where he and partner Rafa Cabrera-Bello hold the first-round lead -- Rahm expressed enthusiasm for the Ryder Cup but sees membership of his “home” tour as something that will have to wait at least a year.

This is the world our leaders have created.  It's so hard to secure playing privileges, that even a guy with these kind of credentials has to commit to one tour or the other.  

Now Rahm refers to the WGC's, so I'm not actually sure whether Pelley's tweak of qualifying events was a one-off, but at a minimum he'd need to find room for five non-WGC Euro Tour events, a major commitment wen you don't have your card locked up on your tour of choice.

Incoming - This will no doubt be Tiger week, and I'll leave most of that for later.  But thought you'd get a chuckle over this guy's reaction to suggesting the unthinkable:

I'm not sure that Tiger agrees, but we'll know far more by the end of this week.

We'll catch up soon, I promise.

Midweek Musings

OK shoot me for taking a day off....  But while I was loafing, here's what we missed:

Kingston Heath, A Primer - One can only hope that the folks in Ponte Vedra Beach are taking notes, because this is what the Silly Season should look like (per Shack):

Nothing evokes Thanksgiving memories like Kingston Heath, which returns to the tournament golf spotlight for the first time since the now infamous 2009 Australian Masters. Even better, the return comes with the historic World Cup of Golf sporting a fun format featuring two rounds of four-ball and two rounds of foursomes.

Fun?  Is that, you know, prudent?  Where does it end?  How many question marks will I force you to endure?

Here's a sample of the look (and Geoff has all sorts of worthy videos at his place):

Not too shabby, eh?

Some very good teams as noted here, including Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker making America great again.  Wally, save the text, I have you down for #TeamBEL.

As for #TeamAus, I do hope they're not contagious.  I'll admit that Leishmania is a condition that I did not anticipate....

John Huggan has a priceless piece on the oddities of the event, including these:

-- In 1967, eight years after becoming the 50th state in the union, Hawaii -- represented by Ted Makalena and James Ukauka -- finished fifth. 

-- Indonesia’s highest-finish in the event came in 1983, when the nations representatives were Sukarno and, wait for it…Suparman. 

-- Jean Garaialde of France holds the record for most appearances with 24. Mohammed Said Moussa is second on 22. No American has made it into double-figures.

Don't let that put you off, as it's a spectacular venue and fun (there's that word again) format.... and we've done far worse in the last couple of months.

Here's one admirer summing up the regard for the joint:

A rising legion of people immersed in the game regard Kingston Heath as the best golf course in Australia. And if not the best, certainly their favourite – a subtle but telling distinction. Where Royal Melbourne has its cavalcade of admirers (and surely always will), the band of devotees of ‘The Heath’ is far from insignificant. 

“It’s not uncommon,” Kingston Heath’s general manager, Gregg Chapple, says of the club hearing people call The Heath the best or their favourite course. “Led by the likes of Adam Scott, Peter Senior, Geoff Ogilvy, Ian Baker-Finch, there are many people who rate The Heath. We are very fortunate that the course is regarded as being worthy of being in the top-25 courses in the world (currently 18th), and as such we appear on numerous golfers’ bucket lists and on the list of top-50 or 100 courses to play.”

And here's Shack's own take:

What do I love about it? As much as any course on the planet, it checks off all the boxes: memorable, walkable, beautiful, bizarre at times and looks like no other course in the world. Many of its many subtleties probably don't translate well to television, but as these visual show, the bunkering most certainly does.

OK, I'm sold, though I hate to forgo watching Tin Cup for the 18th time... But Geoff, how did you not run this pic of the guys that put this event on the map way back when?

 It is Thanksgiving after all...

To Infinity And Beyond - From the Guardian comes this, ahem, guarded good news:

Golf is expected to retain its Olympic status despite the negative publicity that preceded

its return to the Games for the first time in 112 years. 

Confirmation that the sport will remain part of the Games until 2024 at least should come early in the new year. 

Several leading players refused to play in Rio for a variety of reasons and it was feared golf may survive, as had been guaranteed, only for 2016 and 2020. 

A source at the International Olympic Committee said it would be “very surprising” if golf is not afforded an extended run. The IOC meets early next year for a standard review and to announce what sports will feature in the 2024 Games

Very surprising?  You mean like Brexit or, dare I mention, Trump?

 OK, I'll play nice....at least for a moment.  But my concern is that this will take our leadership off the hook for fixing the format and field strength issues.  

Interesting?  Is That Like Fun? - Shack goes into rant mode under this promising header:

Golf's Cup & Race Season Ends, When Do They Get Interesting?

They don't because they can't....  OK, let's give you a taste of the bile from Geoff's spleen:

Another year of races to Dubai and to the CME Globe. 

Another year of FedEx and Schwab Cups. 

Another year trophies were handed out, bonus checks issued, and sponsors have been gratuitously mentioned to justify investments. But what do fans get out of these cups and races?

Fans?  Surely you jest?   

But I'm wondering what the sponsors really get out of this as well.... Yanno, tree, forest....

At the risk of covering ground we've been down previously, it all comes from Commissioner Ratched's reaction to an unusual problem.  Despite controlling the most important tour in the game, he doesn't actually control any of the 4.5 events per season about which fans care.

I know, Boo Hoo and all, but that's where it starts and the result is not aesthetically pleasing.  Remember that series of playoff commercials with the likes of Jerome Bettis.....  but our game doesn't lend itself the the playoff concept because the best players win so infrequently....

The go further astray in trying to achieve the following objectives:

1.  Keep the outcome of the season-long race in doubt until the end; and
2.  Have a worthy winner.

I would argue that those two objectives are irreconcilable, even if one were to reset points on an hourly basis.  And we've been treated to a succession of value-brand winners, so Bil Haas and Billy Horschel,  please take a bow.

I  would have opted to structure the "playoffs as a high-stakes shootout, with no pretense that it has cosmic significance.  But it should culminate in a small number (8 anyone?) playing for the $10 million large....  There's no guarantee that the winner will be any more "worthy" than the Billy H. boys, but the gamble is that the final day would include enough of the show ponies to draw eyeballs.  

You might like it or not, but it simply couldn't be any more boring than what we have....

Oh, and if it saves Judy Rank from abasing self in this manner, it's win-win:

Lydia Leftovers - In our Monday item on herself, I missed this little gem about her vacation plans:

“I’m so excited for it,” she said, for a moment clearly an overburdened teenager. “Month off. Don’t touch my clubs. I think they are sick of me too.”

Well, since the world now knows you're dumping them for the shinier PXG sticks, can you blame them for being a little pissed off.  I do hope you gave them the official George Costanza, "It's not you, it's me" break-up.

A Race To The Bottom - Josh Sens (Golf Mag.) and Alex Myers (Golf Digest) post dueling Turkey of the Year features and, well, it's an honor just to be nominated.  They're both a fun trip down memory lane (or in the case of Paulina, mammary lane), but let's see how they handled this one...  First Josh:

The Steve Harvey Award for Bungling an Award Presentation

Winner: Diane Murphy

And the winner is, Miss Colombia! No. Wait. The winner of the U.S. Women's Open was Brittany Lang. The only problem being that USGA president Diane Murphy repeatedly referred to her as "Bethany" during the awards presentation.

Josh gets point for his poop culture knowledge beyond the game of golf, and for getting in the important point that this was hardly a one-off.

But Alex has game as well:

Look, no one is perfect, and speaking in public can be extremely nerve-wracking. Still, the USGA President essentially had one job at the trophy presentation for the U.S. Women's Open: Get the winner's name right. After Brittany Lang won the event in a playoff for the first major championship of her career, Murphy publicly congratulated "Bethany Lang" for the victory. Whoops. To her credit, Murphy issued a heartfelt apology shortly after the ceremony.

And the winner is....Neither, since they didnt see fit to note her even more embarrassing performance at the men's open award ceremony, when she had obviously made copious use of the open bar.  

But they almost redeemed themselves for recognizing this gent who, pace President Obama, is the Michael Jordan of turkeys:

The at Least He Didn't Claim that He'd Been Kidnapped Award

Winner: Robert Allenby

Roughly 18 months after making headlines for his claim of being kidnapped, drugged and robbed outside a Honolulu bar (an account that Hawaiian police refuted), Allenby was back on the police blotter. This time, the action took place outside a casino in Illinois, where the Aussie was arrested for criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct after missing the cut at the John Deere Classic. Asked about the incident, Allenby was quoted as saying: "There's nothing to be said or done about. Nothing happened." If he says so.

Do they have a Lifetime Achievement Award? 

Weekend Wrap

I awoke to a covering of snow....  but the joke's on me, as I'm at home in New York.

The Irony, She Burns - You may have noticed that I'm not a fan of the blob they call the Wraparound Schedule....  I know, I need to tell you how I really feel.  But in the present moment all I can do is note how absolutely friggin' perfect it all is...

I'll let Shack take the lay-up:

Because 2016 apparently never wants to end, the last fall PGA Tour event will continue a sudden death playoff on Monday morning after failing to finish Sunday night. While two holes of sudden death were played and frankly, based on the number of mentions by all

about the darkness, the second hole probably should not have been played.

Most telling was Rich Lerner's mention from the booth that the final round threesomes took five hours on what appeared to be an almost wind-free, crisp fall day at St. Simons Island.

Yet on Sunday there was Tim Finchem's vision at its most glaringly tired: players seemingly in slow motion, lacking any fear of penalty, taking their sweet time even as the sun was setting. But all was well because hats came off and hands were shaken to reaffirm that this was a (slow) genteman's game. While this provides a the visual that stirs the souls of Finchem's favorite corporate chieftains, it doesn't move a single sports needle and scenes like this reaffirm that golf is for only those with enough free time to return on a Monday morning. 

So the McGladrey Classic wraps up a day late, minus Billy Horschel, who served up a short putt miss he refused to attribute to the dark playing conditions.

When Billy Horschel is the calm voice of reason, you might admit that you have a problem.

Shall we convene a task force to determine how they made such a hash of it?   The reader can sing along without aid of a libretto....  They insist on an event every week, so they're out there in late November, trying to cram five hour rounds into the 4 1/2 hours of daylight...  and of course still trying to finish as late as possible, so they're television masters can capture the six human beings not watching the NFL.

I just hope that Jay Monahan is taking notes....

An Hullacious Finish - Yeah, that was unnecessary, so I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me:

Charley Hull has one speed: fast. Everything she does – walk, talk, swing a golf club – operates at full blast. Even her rise to fame came quickly, debuting on the European

Solheim Cup team at age 17. 

That first LPGA victory, however, felt like it came in slow motion. Though 2016 marked Hull’s first full season on the LPGA, and she’s only 20 years old, it took 52 starts for Hull to nab her first tour title at the CME Group Tour Championship. The fact that 52 seems high speaks to Hull’s level of talent. 

“Feels like I got the chip off my shoulder,” said the former phenom. 

The $500,000 winner’s check at CME made Hull the 15th player this season to eclipse the $1 million mark. She finishes 2016 No. 12 on the money list with $1,114,295 and a career-high 18th in the Rolex Rankings.

Kind of surprised to learn that she hadn't already won.....  No doubt you heard that the season-long race for the $1 million pot went to the deserving Ariya Jutanagarn,  causing Jaime Diaz to analyze what went wrong for our Lydia.  Here's his lede:

It’s often said that the great ones make it look easy. By that measure, given that Lydia Ko has achieved the fastest start in the history of women’s golf with an effortless swing and unflappable temperament, there’s little question that, already at 19, she is great. Other than not being a long hitter, Ko is a complete player through the bag. She combines a capacity to have fun with a fierce focus. And she possesses the biggest intangible of all for a tournament winner: the ability to make big putts.

But when he gets around to quantifying that "not a long hitter" bit, you'll see that he undersold it:

Its instructive that for the entire season, Ko statistically lost distance and accuracy, dropping to 126th on the tour with an average of 246.73 yards off the tee, after averaging 

250.39 yards to rank 60th last year. Meanwhile, she went from second in greens in regulation in 2015 to 32nd this year. What saved Ko in 2016 was putting, as she was first in both the LPGA’s putting categories. After her first-round 68 at the CME in which she missed seven greens from the fairway, Leadbetter got Ko to make a steeper backswing, and the result was a spectacular Friday 62. But her ball-striking—and scores—got worse on the weekend as she dropped to T-10.

And that's with apparently tweaking her swing to add distance....  It's really quite the substantial handicap, especially against Ariya who can match her short-game skills.  And this came as unwelcome news to me:

Also in the offing is a change of equipment. Well-placed sources confirm that Ko will be leaving Callaway for PXG in 2017, with the new company reportedly offering a sweeter financial deal. Like any equipment change, the move carries risk.

She doesn't seem like a PXG girl, does she?   I've always said that distance would ultimately determine her career arc, as it's just too hard to play this game over the long-term from thrity yards back in the fairway.  

Tour Confidential Bits - The best part about this week's confab is the absence of a single question about the PGA event in Sea Island.  Well played, Commish!

They lede by reading tea leaves for that kid from Texas:

1. Jordan Spieth won his second Australian Open in three years on Sunday at Royal Sydney, joining an elite list of multiple-time winners that includes Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Greg Norman. How much should we read into this victory, given he prefaced his monstrous 2015 season with a win at the Aussie Open?

And some sample answers:

Mark Godich: I can't imagine anything bad coming out of winning. I'd also suggest it is

largely the result of a lesson learned from his globe-trotting early in the year. Spieth had a bounce in his step, his ball-striking was good enough, and he did what he does best, draining must-make putts on the last three holes of regulation and the first hole in the playoff. This is most definitely something to build on for 2017. 

Michael Bamberger: I totally agree, Mark: mental tiredness shows up in putting more than anything else, and the win, and the way he won, shows a well-rested Jordan Spieth.

If only there were a blog he could read to avoid such mistakes?

On the one hand I get that kids think they know everything and aren't prone to seeking advice from their elders....  Nah, my heart wasn't in that.  These were unforced errors that many saw from great distance.....

I'm still particularly rankled by his refusal to go over early for the Open Championship at The Old Course.  The point was that you don't want to look back and regret giving it your best shot, as he'll never have that opportunity again.  And for what?  To play the John Deere.....  All that talk of him being an "Old soul" was just talk....

And how do we feel about this question?

5. Pat Perez told GOLF.com that the media hype around Tiger Woods's scheduled return to competition in two weeks has been overkill. Given that Woods hasn't won since 2013 and struggled mightily during his last "comeback" in 2015, does Perez have a point? Is the media's attention on Woods out of sync with the public's interest?

Really?  What else should the golf press have been focused on?   The responses are mostly waht one would expect, this being the most notable:

Sens: Woods is going to be a big story until he hangs it up for good, and even then, a headline with his name will draw eyeballs for good reason. See "Key elements of Greek tragedy" for further explanation as to why. On a side note, I know we're living in the post-irony age, but worth nothing how Perez's comments about the excess coverage only generates … more coverage.

How amusing that in this year in which the major media outlets beclowned themselves, it's the golf press being held accountable.

Lastly, while this is a turkey of a question, the answers are pretty good:

6. Happy Thanksgiving! As a journalist, which golf story are you most thankful for this year?

Godich: The celebration of the life of the King. RIP, Arnold.

Bamberger: Nice call by both of you. I'm not thankful for it, and it was p-a-i-n-f-u-l to watch, but Jordan Spieth at Augusta reminded us, powerfully, that GOLF IS HARD. Not just for us. For everybody.

Passov: Since I'm chiming in at the end, I'll see your four stories and raise you a duel for the ages between Stenson and Mickelson at the Open. For sustained competitive excellence and sportsmanship (mutual respect), it had no peer in 2016.

All good stuff for sure.  I'd add Diana Murphy's awards ceremonies, but that's the kind of snarky guy I am....

David Owen, Unplugged - You know our David the guy that alternates between scholarly treatises and pure whimsy.  Today it's the latter, much more suitable for your humble correspondent's mood.  Doesn't this header seem promising?

A scientific hierarchy of shelf lives for logoed golf shirts

You know he's gonna deal some snark:

SHELF LIFE: IT SHOULD NEVER LEAVE THE CLOSET 

A shirt that holds zero personal affiliation or connection 

That was very sweet of your parents to buy a Hard Rock Cafe polo during their trip to Vegas, but that shirt brings no prestige to the table.

But what if you just like the shirt?  Never mind...

But here it becomes controversial:

SHELF LIFE: FOUR YEARS

St. Andrews 

Perhaps the most controversial spot on the list, as it's the undisputed Home of Golf. And forget its stature in the game; the town of St. Andrews might be one of my favorite places on earth, period. Keeping that in mind, there are so many counterfeit, knockoff St. Andrews items on the market that they devalue its esteem. Moreover, I've seen plenty of non-golfers wear ensembles baring the St. Andrews emblem, further hurting the brand. Kudos if you've stepped foot on the sacred ground, but it falls short in our rankings.

Wow!  Quite the diss,   Not that any of my shirts last more than two years anyway....

But here he's talking madness: 

SHELF LIFE: 10 YEARS 

A SUPER exclusive course 

The list is short but distinguished: Pine Valley, Cypress Point, Seminole. Click here for the full rundown. One of the few shirts that instills instant jealousy.

I've played only three of those courses, a sorry state of affairs indeed....

You can guess what logo can be warn until it vaporizes, after all, he literally wrote the book. 

The header on David's second item will make certain heads explode:

Why we should do away with bunker rakes

I'll let David explain:

Complaints about “unfair” bunkers are especially contrary to the spirit of golf: aren’t hazards supposed to be hazardous? On TV, the standard greenside-bunker shot is about

as thrilling to watch as a two-foot putt. You know the guy is going to spin it close, and he knows he’s going to spin it close -- otherwise, he wouldn’t have yelled “Get in the bunker!” when his ball was in the air. Sand’s function in a tour event is often just to make the surrounding grass seem troublesome. 

There’s a simple remedy: follow the example of Pine Valley, the legendary New Jersey golf club, which for decades has been listed at or near the top of nearly every ranking of the best courses in the world. Pine Valley has many, many bunkers -- some small, some large, some soft, some hard some coffin-shaped, some bottomless, some seemingly miles across -- but no rakes. The club’s maintenance regularly smooths everything out, but, if your ball ends up in a footprint (or behind a rock or under a cactus), that’s your tough luck, and you deal with it. As you should.

Dustin Johnson was unavailable for comment....

I certainly agree that bunkers have ceased to be hazards for the best players in the world, though my instinct is that they should challenge because of shape and location more than footprints.  But maybe I've gotten soft....