Thursday Threads

If I seem distracted it's perhaps because of play from Gullane in my peripheral vision.  The Scottish links are all running firm and fast, as they naturally would in a year in which your humble blogger is not visiting....

Phil in Phull - I read this wonderful Alan Shipnuck profile last week in the print edition, and have been waiting for its availability online.  It opens strong, with Phil's arrival in a pimped out golf cart, and see if you like this bit as much as I did:

Rancho Santa Fe is a hilltop hamlet a half hour north of San Diego, a sun-splashed Mayberry for the one percent. On a sleepy Monday morning in late May, amidst a

procession of drop-top Bentleys and sleek Teslas, a middle-aged dude in shorts and flip-flops rolls down the perfectly quaint main drag in an unexpected vehicle: a black golf cart, with a leather Tour bag bulging out the back. He's wearing a Whisper Rock cap and carrying a huge Yeti thermos. Stepping into Caffe Positano, a temple of gourmet coffee, this jovial patron is sized up by the barista like Sam Malone might gaze upon Norm Peterson, and asks, "You want the usual, Phil?" 

In short order, five shots of espresso are poured into the concoction that Phil Mickelson had already brewed a mile away at his Mediterranean-style compound. Phil takes his coffee drinks very seriously, and with the help of a de facto sommelier has concocted a magic elixir that he says strengthens his immune system and helps him train better by reducing inflammation. It consists of coarse ground Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee, almond milk, cinnamon, cacao nibs, collagen and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, which is extracted from coconuts.

Of course it is....  Because, well, for Phil his morning java is a highly competitive category....

Employee No. 2 remains convinced that he's had reduction surgery, though this seems the more likely explanation for the diminished man-breasts:

At The Bridges, he greets every waiter and busboy by name. Though neither of us are Millennials, we order the avocado toast. Phil's commitment to healthy eating and exercising—he owns a black belt in Taekwondo—began around the time he hit 40. "If I look back to when I won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol in 2005, I was 15 pounds heavier, I looked awful, and here I am 13 years older and I'm in better shape," he says. "I physically feel better. I eat better. I take care of myself better. Most people regress. I feel like I've improved a little bit over time."

I've perhaps been a tad tough on the lad recently, though I'm sure you'll agree that he had it coming.  The thing is that I like the big, goofy oaf as much as the next guy, except when I don't.  It seems to me that he gets himself in trouble when he's trying to prove how smart he is...  There's likely more insecurity there than we could ever imagine, but isn't that usually the case?

And speaking of mannaries, have you seen Monty lately?  Egads, someone needs to organize an intervention.

That Toddlin' Town -  The old gals are in Chicago, and it should be a hoot.  We'll lede with this Andy Johnson primer on historic Chicago Golf Club:

Chicago Golf Club owns the distinction of being the first 18-hole golf course in the

United States. Grandfather of U.S. golf, C.B. Macdonald was instrumental in founding the storied club and designing the original golf courses. The club is one of the five founding member clubs of the USGA and has hosted USGA championships across three centuries.

This is quite amusing:

Chicago Golf Club's competitive course record of 65 is held by member Pete Keller. The "other" course record is held by 2-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw. Gentle Ben fired a 62 playing with Tom Weiskopf, CGC pro Don Stickney and Ed Sneed. The score didn't hold because Crenshaw hit a second ball off the first tee, which he didn't end up playing. Here's the card and the balls from the round.

A breakfast ball?  That sound you hear is C.B. Macdonald spinning in his grave.  Do click through if only to read the scathing 1917 letter Macdonald wrote to the club about the sorry state of its golf course.  That led to Seth Raynor's redesign, which is essentially the course being played this week.

Beth Ann Nichols has a story meant to demonstrate how long it took to get this event started:

Pat Bradley peeked into my bag on the first tee at Chicago Golf Club and pulled out the Karsten I pitching wedge I’ve been using since high school. (My dad has a backup in the garage.) 

“Is this conforming?” she asked, noting that some U.S. Senior Women’s Open hopefuls had their clubs checked by the U.S. Golf Association, as the rules had changed since they last competed. 

That exchange elicited two thoughts: 1) Wow, this championship took entirely too long to come together. 2) I can’t wait to see it unfold.

An "open of their Own", she calls it, channeling her inner Virginia Woolf. 

Dan Moore has a good, short primer on the architectural background of the club, though the first thing that jumped out at me was this:

To escape the chaotic aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire in 1872, Macdonald’s parents sent him to Scotland at age 17 to live with his grandfather and attend the University of St. Andrews. The day after his arrival, Macdonald’s grandfather took him to meet Old Tom Morris, who provided the teenager with a few clubs and a locker in his shop. Over the next two years, Macdonald spent numerous hours on the St. Andrews links and developed his golf skills to a level where he could compete with the best golfers of St. Andrews, including Young Tom Morris. 

His two-year education in St. Andrews would not only prepare him for a highly successful business career, but also instill in Macdonald a passion to transport the game he called “Scotland’s Gift” from the sandy dunes of St. Andrews to the fertile prairies of Chicago.

Absent the Chicago Fire golf might have remained a Scottish obsession?  Good to know....

After several visits by Raynor and considerable input from Macdonald, the club approved a $170,000 plan and construction finally commenced in May 1921. Raynor oversaw the two-year construction, including the design of 16 new and two remodeled 

Very similar to the 16th at Sleepy Hollow, though seeming flatter.

greens. 

The “new course” of the Chicago Golf Club is unique among the portfolio of Macdonald-Raynor courses in that it not only utilized a number of Macdonald’s template holes and features – Road Hole (No. 2), Biarritz (No. 3), Principal’s Nose bunker (No. 6), Redan (No. 7), Short Hole Green (No. 10), Punchbowl Green (No. 12) and Cape (No. 14) – but also paid homage to the 1895 Wheaton course by retaining the original designs of six holes with new bunkering and redesigned greens. Many of the Foulis brothers’ mounds and bunkers were incorporated in the design of new holes. An ingenious example was the use of the mounds on No. 17, which now served to mimic the railroad sheds on the Road Hole. 

Barely altered since it reopened in 1923, Chicago Golf Club is a testament to the genius of Macdonald and Raynor, and almost 100 years later, the course remains an ideal challenge for members, top amateurs and, soon, the best senior women in the world.

Beth Ann Nichols catches up with two of the faves:

WHEATON, Ill. – The first two players in the interview room at the U.S. Senior

Women’s Open are two of the great quotes in all of golf: Laura Davies and Juli Inkster. Their 15 minutes behind the mic says all you need to know about why this championship was sorely needed. 

Davies actually moved her pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday to accommodate her World Cup viewing. She planned to watch England’s semifinal game versus Croatia at Quigley’s Irish Pub in Naperville, Ill. At last week’s Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, Davies watched the first 22 minutes of England’s game against Sweden and then ran to the first tee with her phone still in her pocket. After hitting driver, Davies put her earpiece back in to hear that England had scored the first goal. This continued on throughout the round in between shots until England won 2-0.

Hopefully her Sunday tee time will be sufficiently late to allow her to watch her beloved England in the World Cup final.  What?  To Croatia?  You OK, Dame Laura? 

We hinted at this issue above:

WHEATON, Ill. – JoAnne Carner got the shock of her life when she got to player registration at the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open. At the end of the table was a

gentleman from the USGA who manages equipment conformance who asked Carner a few questions. It wasn’t long before Carner realized that her trusty Wilson R-90 wedge wouldn’t make it to the first tee. Carner estimates she’s had the club in her bag for three decades, roughly the same amount of time she has waited for a Senior Women’s Open.

“Oh, it was awful,” said Carner of parting with a club that’s been critical to her game around the greens and from 75 yards out for so many years. It felt like parting with an old friend. 

When head pro John Guyton got wind of Carner’s predicament, he pulled out the wedges that had been cleared away from the pro shop to make room for championship merchandise and presented them to Carner. The 79-year-old legend whittled it down to two wedges, and Guyton adjusted both to match the loft and lie of old faithful. Guyton had the clubs out to Carner before she’d even reached the first green of her practice round. She wound up choosing a Titleist Vokey 54-degree wedge that was bent to 55.

I'm not expecting the golf to be of the highest caliber for that reason, but there are other reasons to watch.

Speaking of watching, apparently we'll have to wait until Saturday to do so:

GOLF

U.S. Senior Women’s Open from Chicago Golf Club

Third Round – Sat 7/14 (FS1) 4:00 PM

Final Round – Sun 7/15 (FS1) 4:00 PM

Well, that sucks...  

Tour Sauce, Explained -  Two acknowledged experts explain the fundamentals of.... well, let them tell it:

Some might call it unnecessary. Others would call it TourSauce. Either way, Tiger Woods loves it. What is it again? Oh, simply spinning your club after you’ve performed a shot. 

Woods was with Ahmad Rashad recently, banging balls on a driving range, when Rashad did an impromptu hosting job, asking Woods about the art of spinning the club post-shot. For Tiger, it’s pretty simple, but it all comes down to the right thumb.

Justin Thomas has a dissenting opinion, but it's all good fun.

On a somewhat related note, Dylan Dethier has the following in reaction to a swing that's long on sauce, but of a very non-tour variety:

Famous American writer John Updike once wrote that the golf swing is "like a suitcase 

No surprise that it's from a southpaw.

into which we are trying to pack one too many things." 

Roy McAvoy said in Tin Cup, "I tend to think of the golf swing as a poem." 

Payne Stewart astutely noted that "a bad attitude is worse than a bad swing." 

I turn to quotes here because the below swing has left me nearly speechless. It's an overpacked suitcase and a poem and a seemingly fantastic attitude all wrapped into one. It's less on-plane and more on-helicopter. And it's all to the perfect accompaniment: "T.N.T." from AC/DC. You, too, could garner some swing tips from the lyrics of this rock anthem. "T.N.T., I'm a power load/T.N.T., watch me explode!"

Video at link, of course.

The Professor Weighs In -  Bryson DeChambeau weighs in on the banning of his plastic pocket protector:

“Yeah, look, I’ll say one thing on that, and I will say it’s unfortunate. It’s just a referencing tool. I talked to John Bodenhamer (USGA senior managing director of

championships and governance) about it quite a bit, a couple hours, and we had a great conversation. The USGA has been really responsive and we’ve had fantastic talks. I’m honestly looking forward to working with them on helping make the rules better, more clear. That was never my intention, to skirt by the rules or anything like that. It was just a device that I thought had been used for a long time in different fields and I thought, ‘This shouldn’t be an issue. It’s not a distance-measuring device, it’s just a referencing tool.’ And so they obviously didn’t think it was legal and that’s fine. But at the same point and time, there’s a lot of different ways to go about referencing things. I could use my finger or things like that, so they’re working on that to clarify the rules in that regard as well. … On the compass issue, we’re working on it and hopefully we’ll come to a better resolution in the end.”

It does seem that we're at an interesting juncture with technology such as green reading books and DMD's, made odder by the banning of a device likely used by Copernicus.   

Props for Pops - Joel Beall with some of the prop bets available on the match of the century:

—When the match will occur: August 12/1, September 8/1, October 5/2, November 7/3, December 5/1, 2019 16/1. Our recommendation is to hit November hard. 

—Red 3/1, White 3/1, Black 4/1, Field 7/3. If you need this defined, you're at the wrong website. 

—Odds of a Hole in One by either player: 399/1. Phil is definitely dropping a sawbuck on this. 

—Odds a penalty stroke is assessed to either player: 25/1. Well, Phil is involved, so... 

—Odds on Broadcast Network. YouTube at 199/1 is very, very interesting. 

—Odds Where They Play: Nevada 5/3, California 5/1, Hawaii 8/1, New York 10/1, Arizona 12/1, FIELD 4/1. Alan Shipnuck's report stated Shadow Creek was the original site, but don't be surprised if a more fan-friendly venue in California is picked. 

—Odds of the largest bet placed on either player in Vegas: $49,999. Does this count competitors wagering on themselves? 

It should be noted the Woods-Mickelson match remains in an embryonic state, and there's a, ahem, good chance one of the parties leaked out the proposed details after the other backed out. Which is why, yes, you can even bet if the clash will even happen (1/2 that it will).

Is that last bit a suggestion that Tiger has gotten cold feet?   Because I can't imagine that Phil would....

Now perhaps I'm being too nitpicky here, but my understanding is that it'll be match play, under which penalty strokes are a rarity.  Pretty much any infraction carries a loss of hole penalty, so I wonder about the specific wording of that bet.  Another clear signal, lest you had any doubt, that I need to get out more....

You're Gonna Need a Bigger Blog - E. Michael Johnson with this irresistible clickbait:

The 13 Dumbest Things In Golf

Surprisingly, Robert Allenby fails to make the list.... So, what's E. grinding his teeth over?

Thinking you’re dialing in your distances with range balls

Man, you are just banging down that 100-yard flag with your wedges on the range, leaving you thoroughly convinced you’ve got that shot “dialed in.” Not. Even. Close. Unless, of course, you use a one-piece range ball out on the course. The range is a fun place and while you can work on your swing, you can’t work on your distance control unless you’re using the exact same ball you play on the course. Oh, and getting fit for that new driver with range balls isn’t so hot an idea, either. In other words, there’s a reason tour pros don’t practice with red-stripers.

At the old club they did range fittings with reduced-flight balls....  My fitter has his range pick and separate ProV1's, though my recent fitting tales of woe have been limited to the Indian, not the ammo.

I've only heard this gripe from one other source:

Juniors/college kids playing in club championships 

Whether kids of members should be allowed to compete in the club championship is an argument nearly as old as the game itself. On one hand, it’s supposed to be the best player in the club. But that’s a weak argument. Letting kids in leaves an unbalanced playing field. While the working stiffs who are footing the bill struggle to get in 18 a week, junior is playing 36 a day while hitting balls or practice putting at lunch before hitting the club pool to cool off. And there’s nothing fun about watching the best of the old guard get dusted 9-and-8 in the 36-hole final by a wannabe tour pro. Plus, it’s just wrong to buy the new champ a lemonade instead of a beer.

I don't even have kids, but feel like I should suggest a cheese to pair with this whine....