Midweek Musings

Jackson Hole has lived up to its billing, with lots of interesting terrain to traverse.  They're having a monster season, approaching 500" of snow.  The resort reported 7" this morning for the last 24 hours, though it certainly seemed much deeper out there...  So where were we, when last we spoke?

Rules Updates - The USGA and R&A are out with a preview of their proposed changes to the rules, and they are far more substantial than the previous guidance suggested.  The claim that it's the most dramatic set of changes ever now seems more plausible...

Blogging this will be quite the challenge, but let's give it a go... I'm going to work off Geoff's bullet-point summary and interject where I have thoughts.

--No more penalties for accidentally moving a ball on the putting green or in searching for a ball

The latter is an addition to this change, though I'll just add that we all probably know folks that have a higher propensity towards "accidents" when searching in deep rough or trees.

--Golfers may putt without having the flagstick attended or removed. A speed of play, play.

They snuck this one in on us, and I'm of mixed minds.  Yes, no doubt it could save a little time, but that "tend or pull" question from your caddie just added a third option, which no doubt will be utilized for lengthy and downhill putts. 

--Repairing spike marks and other damage on the putting green to be allowed. Not a speed of play helper.

No, but it's a fairness issue... 

--More red hazard lines to include desert areas and no penalty for touching the hazard in such an area, which also includes moving loose impediments.

This is going to depend on the implementation...  We've all seen placed where unkempt areas or those with environmental issues are treated as laterals (Spanish Bay pops into mind), and this seems to encourage more of it.  But combined with the ability to move loose impediments, aren't we creating a Chinese menu of options whereby the cost of a bad drive is systematically mitigated?

--In bunkers, no penalty for touching loose impediments or for touching the sand with a hand or club. Still no grounding the club next to the ball or in front of the ball. We'll call this the Anna rule.

I think we can all agree that the Anna incident is one that really shouldn't be penalized, as no advantage was gained (nor could it really be seen with the naked eye).   Shack has a sparate post on this, which I'll get to in a sec.

--We trust you, we really really trust you rules. This is a video evidence situation again, allowing for "reasonable judgement" when estimating point of entry drops, etc...

Reasonable?  Good luck adjudicating that one, my friends.... one buried item is that you can no longer take relief on the opposite side of a lateral water hazard.  

--Reduced time for searching for a lost ball from five down to three minutes 

--You can keep playing a damaged club during a round. No penalty for an altered club, even if you wrapped it around a tree in a childish hissy-fit.

Should we call this the Robert Streb rule?  And what, praytell, happens when one's opponent wraps their driver around a tree and magically reduces the loft on teir driver as the match approaches a long, into-the-wind Par-4?

--Use of distance measuring devices permitted at all times, except by Local Rule (this should be fun for Augusta and the PGA Tour).

Wow!  This is 20th century technology we're embracing here...  Funny thing is that I agree that this will look bad, I just can't see a logic for the prohibition. 

--No more caddies lining up players before a shot. This was almost strictly an LPGA Tour problem.

This is my fave....Alignment is part of the swing, and this should never have been allowed in the first place.  

--A new “Maximum Score” form of stroke play, where your score can be capped to a number set by the Committee. In this proposed format you can pick up and move to the next hole when your score "will be at or above the maximum."

And this differs from a Stableford or Equitable Stroke Control how? 

--New presentation of how the rules are presented

--New "plain" language in the writing of the rules

Geoff goes into the long grass of the bunker rules revisions (mangled metaphor intended), focusing on this aspect of the proposed change:

• Removal of special restrictions on moving loose impediments: There is no longer a penalty if you touch or move loose impediments in a bunker.

Here's his reaction:

"Play it as it lies" is a principle of importance since it was a bedrock of the original rules. Rules, Decisions and other changes in the game have dented the meaning of playing it as it lies in a sport that originally resonated because it was nature-based. So will this new language make bunkers more or less hazardous and more or less maintained. 

I'm hoping more hazardous and less maintained. 

We all hate rocks in bunkers and what they do to a pretty new wedge. And perhaps with a loose impediment rule the governing bodies are actually applying reverse psychology here by saying to courses you don't need to spend so much time on making bunkers perfect, rock-free sanctuaries for recovery.

Yet I can't help but think that given the freedom to fidget with the playing surface, modern players will continue to see bunkers as a sacred place where all golfers are entitled to a recovery and pristine lie at all times. Or, play it as I want it to lie.

Yeah, I'm cringing a bit as well....  Advances in maintenance and the quality of the sand used have led us to a point where bunkers are no longer hazards.  Anyone for a return to furrowed rakes?

Lastly, anyone catch the dog that didn't bark?  In earlier discussions there were plans to take away the club length latitude for drops, a provision that I objected to with vigor.  So, either we get results or I just missed it buried in the miasma.

There's a six-month comment period and the changes will not take effect until January 1, 2019.

First Drool - Did someone mention 2019?  I know it's way out there in the future, but you'll get your first look at a very special place, Royal Portrush Golf Club.  Today we have a peek at their two new purpose-built golf holes:

Given the dramatic dunes into which they were to be fit, they were always going to be great...

They replace the current 17th and 18th, which are stern but aesthetically off-putting holes, built on the flat land wrapping around the clubhouse.  The dog that didn't bark is when they will be available for play by civilians, since a certain blogger needs to plan a links golf trip for this summer.

Chapultepec Daze - Shack introduces us to Club De Chapultpec:

The WGC Not Trump Doral lands in Mexico City this week for the first time, and while early reports suggested a boondoggle based on past issues, PGA Tour rules official Gary

Young tells me the course and operation look promising.

Club de Chapultepec is no Doral Blue Monster, one of the more consistently compelling Tour stops in any of its many design iterations. And yes, the Mexico City club replacing Doral is tight, tree-lined Willie and Alex Smith design dating to 1921 but now featuring tired elements that won't resonate with television audiences increasingly aware of dated features. (Fatigued bunkers set atop the landscape, fountains in lakes, etc.). 

Still, Young says the combination of a stern driving test, sneaky green and property tilting that will reward sound play, and the endurance element caused by the elevation (7600 feet) should make for some challenging golf.

There's nothing in and of itself wrong with the Tour being in Mexico City, especially under the banner of the World Golf Championships (whatever those are supposed to be).  And the Smiths of Carnoustie are certainly a better design pedigree than one would expect... Let Geoff fill you in on who they be:

For golf history and design wonks, the original course was started by 1899 U.S. Open champion Willie Smith of the Carnoustie Smith's. He had moved to Mexico City in 1904 to be a golf pro, and later was injured in the Mexican Revolution because he refused to leave his post at the club. 

Smith died of pneumonia in 1916 before completing the course, which his brother Alex finished. Alex won U.S. Opens in 1906 and 1910.

Golf history and design wonks?  It's like he's speaking directly to me...

But there's an opportunity cost, as Mike Bamberger explicates:

Golf has a tendency to make things harder than they need to be. Change is good, change is necessary, change is inevitable, but sometimes it is just illogical. For years, the Florida Swing was four consecutive tournaments that the players and caddies could easily drive to: Honda, Doral, Bay Hill, Players. It was easy. This year, for the first time since 1961, there is no Doral stop. Instead, this week the Tour is going to the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City. It arranged two charter flights, one to accommodate players who participated on Monday at the Seminole Member-Pro. You hope it will be a great tournament, in Mexico. Since becoming a World Golf Championship, the event at Doral had certainly lost its mojo—and its sponsorship. A change was needed. But the point here is that the Tour had something that was easy, and it got replaced with something that sounds like work.

To this observer, the Tour at times seems to go out of the way to disassociate itself with its history, then regrets it.  No doubt they'll lay this one at the foot of Trump and/or sponsors, but the Tour seemed to hardly exert itself to avoid the move.

It could take some adjusting to, as per Alex Myers:

The course's clubhouse sits approximately 7,780 feet above sea level. That's an altitude that's 50 percent higher than Denver, aka the "Mile-High City." And yes, that kind of height will have a big impact on how the golf ball travels. 

"I live at 8,000 feet, and I know that if I played here every day and I didn't go to sea level, my equipment would look completely different," 12-time PGA Tour winner Justin Leonard said during a recent NBC/Golf Channel conference call. "And I think you will see guys making adjustments at altitude, especially with driver, possibly with the golf ball. The golf ball doesn't spin as much, doesn't curve as much." 

"You're going to see guys putting in quite a bit of work Tuesday and Wednesday," Leonard added.

The driving distances should be bodacious...

Really? -  Is this wise?

The PGA of America Tuesday announced that that shorts may be worn during practice

rounds of PGA of America member and major championships. 

The new rule includes practice rounds during the PGA Championship, which will be played at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina in August.

Last year, European Tour golfers were allowed to wear shorts during practice rounds and pro-ams for the first time.

If the accompanying photo doesn't make my case, then nothing likely will. 

The PGA of America that holds its most important championship in August at Quail Hollow, Atlanta Athletic Club and Kiawah should perhaps consider this.  But the PGA of America that's considering moving the event to May?  

Rut Roh - I'm so old that I can remember when signing Tiger was thought to be enough to hold onto TaylorMade....  Not so much:

Losses at TaylorMade are much greater than many potential bidders anticipated, causing suitors to walk away, sources said. 

The golf division that Adidas announced was for sale last May — which includes golf

club maker TaylorMade, and the much smaller Adams and Ashworth brands — is losing between $75 million and $100 million a year, according to sources close to recent deal talks. 

That is quite a fall from 2013 when TaylorMade was posting $1.7 billion in sales and a healthy profit, sources said. Today, sales are a little better than $500 million. 

Adidas last year was asking for more than $500 million for the business, but now may have to give it away, a source who considered making a bid said.

At that price, Tiger could be a buyer.... But wait, it gets worse:

TaylorMade’s reputation is largely based on its market-leading drivers.

Rival Callaway last month introduced a completely new driver, the Epic, which takes direct aim at TaylorMade. 

“It’s Callaway’s most intriguing driver in two decades,” GolfDigest said in its review.

I'd wait to see some volume numbers before assuming this will hurt them, but those numbers above should be taken with a grain of salt.  2013 was when they flooded the channel with three major releases in a year, but still....  $500 million is about the size of Titleist's ball business alone.

Cally Me Away -  We gave Callaway props above, but see what you think of this baby:

The new Sure Out wedge from Callaway is ideal for players who struggle with greenside 

shots from the sand or rough. Reminiscent of the original Ben Hogan Sure Out of yesteryear, the new iteration was designed with help from famed instructor Hank Haney and features a wide sole with high bounce and enhanced camber (front to back radius) to prevent too much digging at impact. 

In a prepared statement, Haney said, “Sure Out allows you to simplify bunker shots by playing them with a square face.” 

That’s a feature that ought to give higher handicappers some confidence on sand shots. The wedge has 17 full-face grooves to produce high spin rates, even on toe hits or shots struck high on the face. Available in 58° and 64° lofts with choice of KBS 90 steel or 65-gram UST graphite shaft. $120; in stores March 10.

Ummm.....errr.....OK.  Does it also get Sirius/XM Radio?  But haven't we seen something along these lines previously?  Anyone?  Bueller?  How about this?

Coming to a late-night infomercial near you soon....

Great Headers - This is my fave for today:

Rickie Fowler follows Honda Classic win by tying for 20th in ‘first major of the year’

Curious?

The “first major of the year,” as Rickie Fowler once called it, passed without much notice on Monday, maybe because Fowler didn’t win it. 

The Seminole Pro-Member is an annual one-day affair at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., on its renowned Donald Ross course adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. It features a star-studded field of tour pros partnering with Seminole members. 

How star-studded? After Steve Flesch and his partner Mark Loomis of Fox Sports finished second in the Low Gross competition and tied for second in the Low Net competition on Monday, Flesch Tweeted: “Great day at Seminole Pro-Member. Think I picked up some much needed World Ranking Points too!”

On the one hand, this is elitism in its purest form, and logically it's racist and sexist as well.... Yanno, at least until I'm offered membership at Seminole.  But it's also good for us to see touring pros having fun playing the game.