Thursday Thoughts

A mere 5" of fresh snow overnight..... Kind of disappointing, though it does bring us to a round 50" since the weekend.  It likely will fell like more, since the winds have been blowing snow out of the trees.  We had one moment of note yesterday....  We had ripped through some woods known to the cool kids as Lee's Tree's, and were spread out on a runout awaiting the last man's exit from the tree.  A huge gust of wind caught the trees, and moved so much snow that we were all blinded for a good 30 seconds.  Quite weird....

Given the toll on my body, it might be a good day to go to those backup quads....

A Pebble in My Shoe - The rules snafus and other issues have caused a deferral of any discussion of this week's edition of the Clambake, one that serves as a preview of sorts for June.

There is, of course, everyone's favorite sponsor's invite:

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – He happily jogged to the media center, brought some of his family with him, and got off his chair during the interview to demonstrate what his swing used to look like when he started playing the game 20 years ago. 

And when the interview was over, he thanked the media. 

Yep, Hosung Choi is going to enjoy this week. 

The internet sensation with the unorthodox swing – specifically his follow-through with all its twists, turns and bows – received a sponsor exemption and makes his PGA Tour debut Thursday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. And in Tuesday’s meeting with the media, he said he isn’t changing a thing with his swing that has created buzz the world over. 

“I personally love my swing,” Choi said through an interpreter. “I didn’t start golf until I was in my late-20s, so technically I didn’t take any lessons growing up. But regarding flexibility or anything like that, I might not have as much compared to the other Tour players, but I do what I can with what I have.”

He thanked the media?  Hosung, I know you're new around here, but we prefer that you not feed the wild animals....  It only encourages them.

Shack informs us that Aaron Rodgers got his wish, sort of:

Hosung Choi has got an A-list partner in actor Chris O’Donnell and a pairing with Jerry

Kelly and Aaron Rodgers for three days as Rodgers had hoped, including Saturday at Pebble Beach. (Full times and TV listings here.) 

Choi’s already got a logo, a following, haters and who knows what else. But the 45-year-old has no plans to change his swing, writes Steve DiMeglio. Shoot, maybe by Saturday Peter Kostis will even have seen him swing and might have his first humorous observation since the mid-90s when Frank Chirkinian fed him a line!

It's news to me that Hosung has haters, as apparently does Peter Kostis.  As for actually watching the Saturday coverage from Pebble, perhaps if you're battling insomnia....

Golf.com has unveiled a new website, which looks unwieldy on my laptop and is quite unreadable on my iPad.  It even has a feature story on putting by Jason Day, who I hope doesn't read it on their homepage, as I fear it might trigger his latent vertigo.

They convene an anonymous panel of their course raters to discuss Pebble:

1. Pebble Beach Golf Links currently stands at No. 9 in GOLF’s rankings of the Top 100 Courses in the World. Too high? Too low? Just right? 

Panelist 1: I’m okay with that number. Most all of the courses ranked 1-15 are very strong and the subjectivity of the rankings and panelists may render the list more fluid. There is, however, one course ranked higher than Pebble that does not belong where it is, in my opinion. That’s Augusta National. Our concept of what makes a great golf course has been altered by a return to the Golden Age minimalist style with the success of Coore-Crenshaw, Mike Keiser and a few notable others. This has caused a paradigm shift that causes people to look differently at the perfectly manicured, wall-to-wall green that is Augusta. There is nothing Mackenzie about that, and Mackenzie is back in style

I've always referred to Pebble as the most overrated golf course on the planet.  There is admittedly an element of intentionally stoking controversy there, as well as a reference to the price of admission.  But I do believe that Pebble has far too many weak holes to be in the pantheon of golf courses.  That said, the good holes, especially the stretch from five through ten, are otherworldly.

Panelist 4: It’s about right. Discussions of Pebble Beach emphasize the ocean holes and the beautiful setting but what should be discussed more is that Pebble is such a great test of ball striking. The combination of small, well-bunkered greens, ocean breezes and the lack of runups require solid and precise shots to succeed. 

Panelist 5: I personally believe it is slightly too high and vote it bi-annually in the 10 – 24 column. While there are some spectacular “wow” holes along the ocean like 8, 9, 10 and 18, there are too many “ordinary” holes like 1, 3, 11, 13, 15 and 16 to warrant a place in our Top 10. Furthermore, if there is no wind, even the 7th hole can be quite ordinary, requiring a simple wedge shot on a hole measuring just over a 100 yards. Yes, the view is great, but if we were ranking courses based on the views, then Old Head would be right up there.

 I like the cut of Panelist Five's jib.

2. What is the best hole at Pebble and why? 

Panelist 1: Have to agree with Jack Nicklaus and say number 8. It has great natural beauty to compliment the design and the strategies required to navigate the hole for all levels of golfers. 

Panelist 2: The 8th. Once you reach your blind drive, the downhill scene in mind-boggling. There is a forced carry over an inlet 50 feet below with churning ocean water. The tiny-looking green with bunkers at both sides and behind and the steep cliff just to the right make this the most beautiful and challenging hole in all of golf. This view will be burned in your memory forever.

Really?  What Jack really said is the second shot on No. 8 is his fave, and amen to that.  Admittedly, as a fader of the golf ball and able to lane it softly, he would....  But really, it's as good as it gets.  The problem with No., as this gentleman astutely note, is the tee shot:

Panelist 4: Everyone talks about the 8th, but I do not think a truly great hole requires a lay up off the tee and a blind one at that. Despite the greatness of the approach at 8, the best hole at Pebble is the 9th. It is a great example of north-south strategy. The player can play a shorter club off the tee leaving a flat lie but a long approach to a tiny green, or they can hit driver leaving a shorter approach off a hanging lie into the green. The setting along the beach is pretty good, too! The hole that has improved most with modern technology is the 18th. In the past it was an almost guaranteed and predictable three shot hole in an idyllic setting. With the hot clubs and balls, it is enticing to take a more aggressive line near the ocean on the tee shot to get close enough and leave a good angle to reach the green.

Nine is awfully good, though a further critique would include the fact that, while Nos. 9 and 10 are great holes, they are essentially the same golf hole.

They then get asked to name the worst hole:

Panelist 1: The 16th. Its quality was diminished by the addition of trees on the right at the turn that eliminated several options off the tee and made the right hole location inaccessible from everywhere but the extreme left of the fairway 

Panelist 2: The 5th. The location of this recently moved par-3 offers the potential for something spectacular. The land hugs a steep cliffside tumbling down to Stillwater Cove. Before playing it for the first time, my anticipation was really high and then the reaction was “is this the best you can do!” It is okay, but compared to so many great holes here there is something lacking. Instead of hiring one architect they should have opened up a competition to everyone. Maybe someone with real imagination would have come up with a gem. 

Panelist 3: The first is perhaps the worst, and most forgettable. It just doesn’t get the heartbeat up, and it’s probably the easiest par on the golf course. But perhaps they wanted it that way 100 years ago when it opened, to loosen the muscles before the rest of the challenge?

You see how competitive this category is?  I've never been a fan of No. 17 either, though perhaps we should see if the new green solves some of those issues.  No. 18, for all the fawning it receives, was for decades the most boring golf hole in championship golf.  Unreachable and featuring a green on which no one ever sank a putt, just think of Graeme McDowell's yawn inducing finish in 2010.

There's lots more good stuff there, including discussions of the other Monterrey golf courses...

Upon Further Review - I was reliably informed that the science was settled:

The question over whether you should putt with the flagstick in has sparked plenty of debate. The one thing missing until now has been any real science. 

Partnering with California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo professor Tom

Mase, a Ph.D in mechanical engineering and a member of the Golf Digest Hot List Technical Advisory Panel, we sought to find out if it is in fact true that putting with the flagstick in is always better than not. While Mase’s research is preliminary, the takeaway is pretty clear: The benefits of the flagstick are at best inconclusive and may in fact prevent off-center putts from going in more often than they would if the flagstick were removed. 

In other words, hold on to your DeChambeau. 

(Bryson DeChambeau, you’ll recall, seemed fairly unequivocal in his assessment of golf’s new rule that allows players to leave the flagstick in while putting. He said in January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions: “After the testing we’ve seen, and what we just did out there now, absolutely, I’m going to leave it in. I’m going to do it until I can see that it messes me up. For the most part, we’ve seen it to be a benefit and not a detriment. That’s from anywhere.”)

What's a fellow to do?  Those first rounds in late March-early April will be a sorting out for us all, though I do think it's an obvious benefit on long putts.

Nothing To See Here - None of us quite know how to absorb the distance data that comes out, but Shack picked up this that seems significant:

In 2015, 29% of drives on the PGA TOUR traveled 300 yards or farther. In 2018, that number went up to 41%. That’s a 40% increase in three years. Now, extrapolate that and it isn’t long before half the tour is hitting it over 300 yards on average.

Also, in 2015, 7.63% could hit over 320 yards. Three years later, that number has doubled. Imagine if that trend continues over the next ten years.

Perhaps of greater interest is the fact that the original item has disappeared:

**And the link was disabled just hours after highlighting the piece here. It had been up since the day of the report’s release. Hmmm…

Must be the Russians....  I assume Bob Mueller is on the case.

Definitely Something To See Here -  Exciting news about an opportunity to see one of the great courses your humble blogger is anxious to play and/or see:

Some would argue that there isn’t a better final nine holes in the world than at the Alister MacKenzie-designed Pasatiempo, which opened in 1929, four years before another well-known MacKenzie gem, Augusta National. 

For Oberholser, it was certainly one of the best back nines he’s ever put together. He tracked down Kribel and pulled away from Woods with an inward nine that included two more eagles, a 12-foot make on the par-5 13th and hole-out wedge at the par-4 17th. 

Oberholser shoot 6-under 64 that day, a performance that was broadcast live as part of interest in Woods. 

Now, after 23 years, the Western Intercollegiate is returning to live television.

That the event is being televised is wonderful news.  That it's being televised from Pasatiempo, is quite epic.

In terms of oddball historical notes, Pasatiempo is the only one of Mackenzie's masterpieces that the Good Doctor saw completed.  In fact, he lived out his final years on the golf course.

Exit Music - I do need to be getting on with my day, but I'll just leave you with this amusing Alex Myers thought that captures many of our memes of recent days:

I'm pretty sure that Tiger doesn't actually make the pairings, but amusing nonetheless.