Late-Week Laments

I shan't keep you too long today, but there are a few things to cover before I wish you an enjoyable weekend.

All Things Pebble - What happens when you put the Fox in charge of the chicken coop?  I still need that highly specific audio filter to block the specific frequency of Joe Buck's voice, but they did promise all sorts of new tech:

Trackman on Every Hole

Fox Sports will feature Trackman technology on every one of Pebble Beach’s tee boxes, capable of delivering all the delightfully nerdy swing data we’ve craved. Swing Speed,

Ball Speed, Smash Factor, Carry Distance — maybe even spin loft! It’s the kind of on-course data that isn’t always easy to come by, by something golf nerds like me crave.

Two Different Shot Tracers

We all love shot tracers, so good news: There will be two of that at the 2019 U.S. Open. Alongside Trackman on nine of the tee boxes, there’ll be the standard “ball trace over live video” feature that we all know and love. On the other nine tee-boxes, there’ll be a Fox FlightTrack feature, which superimposes the shot tracer in real-time over a graphic version of the golf hole, which helps viewers place players’ drives within the context of the hole. 

Fairway Tracers

Outside of the tee boxes and the TopTracer Tower, Fox Sports plans to have “RF tracers”, which will be manned and roaming the grounds. Holes 6 and 12 will have FlightTrack stationed within the technology.

Spin loft?  Sit tight, there's way more:

TopTracer Tower

The TopTracer Tower is a new tech roll-out this year, and will be stationed on the 14th hole. Usually, when we see TopTracker, the camera has to be stationary as the shot flies off. With the new TopTracer Tower, the camera will be able to move around — zooming, in, up and around — at the same time we get to the TopTracer line.

Do we think the guys will be going for the green on these shots?  This has always been a true three-shotter, but then again the guys continue with all that core work.

More Augmented Reality

Fox Sports has been leading the way in augmented reality, in golf and beyond. We’ll get

more if it this year, so get ready. The broadcast plans to use blimps and cranes that will layer all kinds of statistical information onto the live coverage, such as wind direction and real-time statistics. It’ll be fun to see how this one pans out.

Penalty-area Cameras

Another new technology this year, Fox will have Out of Bounds cameras capable of “210 degrees” of capture on holes 4 and 5 so viewers can see whenever balls start flirting with the various hazards. 

More Drones

We’ll get another drone this year showing us the beautiful layout of one of the most scenic courses in golf, which will be operated from a boat just off the coast.

 I've been calling them Hazard Cameras since 1744, and am unlikely to change at this late date.

Just because we can, here is a list of resources from Fox's press release:

Staff & Support

455 technicians

72 support staff

66,000+ man-hours over 15 days

Field Support

51 miles of multi-strand fiber optics (over 1,872 miles of actual fiber connectivity)

912 strands of fiber optics available across the course

IP Networking

1,056 1Gbps Ethernet ports distributed across the course

28 managed network locations

94 distinct managed networks

6 Gbps of Internet data managed

78 Gbps of broadcast data managed

Cameras

121 Total Cameras

18 – 1080p wireless cameras

6 – 1080p HDR wireless cameras

52 – 1080p HDR cameras

12 – 100x lens-based cameras

19 – 95x lens-based cameras

5 – Xmo High-frame-rate cameras (4,000+ fps)

2 – Sony – 8x – High-frame-rate cameras (480fps)

4 – Cinematic Cameras with FOX Films look

3 – RF Tracer cameras

2 – Mini portable robotic cameras

75’ Strada Camera Crane

Audio

12 audio consoles

232 microphones across the course

8 RF announcers

18 hole microphones

20 RF walking microphones

Replay / Post Production

178 Record Channels

54 Playout Channels

768 TB real-time storage

5 Edit Bays

Can't help be curious as to the production budget...  Thos Xmo High frame-rate cameras don't come cheap.

Pairings - I found this header to be, well, quaint:

Tiger Woods placed in star-studded grouping at Pebble Beach

Shockingly, so were Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose...  

Do we think this is Mike Davis' payback?

8:13 a.m. / 1:58 p.m. – Dustin Johnson, Jupiter, Fla.; Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland

As a group, they've got two U.S. Open wins.  They've got forty-eight hours to discuss among themselves... perhaps Phil will pick up some useful tips.

Did you know that Phil's maternal grandfather caddied at Pebble?  A nice story for sure:

Al Santos, Phil's grandfather, is on the far left.

Everyone's a Critic - Shack has been continuing with his two-a-day video flyovers, and adds some architectural notes, when appropriate.  It gets a bit nerdy, for sure, but I thought you might enjoy a few portion-controlled doses.  First, on the scenic ninth hole:

Anyone who doesn’t stop and ponder their fortunate fate when on the 9th hole is missing out, as the view toward Carmel and beyond never gets tiresome.

That said, the 9th as a piece of architecture, has some issues.

Players in last summer’s U.S. Amateur were less than enthralled with the new 526-yard tee leaving an awkward decision. Many actually hit 3-wood and even a few irons late in the day, leaving their ball atop the hill instead of an undesirable hanging lie and stance. There is a definite advantage for bombers here to play the hole as it had been attacked before the latest tee was added to offset the amazing modern athleticism delivered by Trackman.

Originally the fairway spilled down to the right next to the ocean. It would appear the tees were positioned to hit into that fairway and a lovely spot exists to restore such a tee. But the hole would play very short in a world where players better manage their rest to hit the ball longer than the geeks of yesteryear.

Either way, the 1929 renovation of Pebble Beach by Chandler Egan appeared to present a far more interesting and complicated hole.

My biggest criticism of the ninth has always been its similarity to the following hole.  They're great, I just would have expected a touch of variety in the routing.  

We've previously discussed the belated rebuilding of the 14th and 17th greens.  Shack points us to the next candidate, the eleventh:

Back in 1929 this well-bunkered green was created think of 3 iron approaches, now of course it’s little more than a flip wedge for the players who hit driver. Probably the smallest and least-functional green on the property due to hears of flying sand shots and faster green speeds, the 11th is down to about 100 square foot area to place holes at the traditional U.S. Open pace.

The overall architectural deterioration here gives critics of the inland holes very reasonable ammunition in making their case against Pebble Beach. It doesn’t have to be that way.

And a hole that disappoints, if only because one turns inland.  Who am I kidding, there's little of interest in this hole, and insufficient length to obscure that.

And on the Par-3 twelfth:

The par-3 12th is another odd one when the U.S. Open comes and firms things up. The bunker face is at its highest and most penal on the right portion where most daily-fee golfers have hit the ball over the years. It’s a pretty common sign of age and should have been addressed long ago since it discourages a direct shot at the center hole locations, while the more left the pin goes, the more accessible it becomes all due to the bunker face build up.

There can be a bit of a Redan component here but the opening is so slight that modern players seem to just take their chances getting up and down from the front bunker or from the rear rough. The green has also lost many great wing hole locations due to a square footage deterioration.

Sounds like the world's first accidental Redan. 

Mudders Corner - Actually, it's Eamon's Corner, and he's been pissing off just about everyone recently, excluding your humble blogger:

There used to be something in golf called a U.S. Open player. 

These golfers had much in common but mostly they had attitude. That is often the

difference in golf’s most demanding major test. A few of them were just plain mean. But all of them had grit. 

The U.S. Open has changed. But the players have changed, too. The Open that was once associated with tough guys who took care of their business is now more associated with players who start blubbering about how the USGA will surely screwed things up long before the tournament even begins. 

We all know the USGA has deserved its share of black eyes. But when the whining starts weeks in advance, it makes you wonder if those players are focused on winning a major or laying the groundwork for excuses when they fall short.

That sound you hear is your humble correspondent scratching his chin, pondering about whom Eamon might be speaking... 

Also submitted for Phil's approval is this from last week's winner....  I haven't heard the over-under on the number of drivers in his bag, but one better be capable of finding fairways.

 Udder Stuff - A few non-Pebble notes.....

We'll Get Back To You - How else to respond to this header:

New greens in place, Chambers Bay ponders majors future

Good luck with that....

Rather than continuing to try to fight off the invasive poa annua grass that caused so many problems on the greens during the U.S. Open, the course took the drastic step of

closing down for six months to replace 15 of 18 greens. Three had already been replaced in 2017. The fescue grass was torn out and replaced with new poa annua greens. Some of the grass had been grown onsite for about six months, while another batch was delivered from a sod farm in British Columbia. Chambers Bay reopened in April. 

“It’s going to be better for Chambers Bay long term, for their clientele and their everyday play,” USGA director of championship agronomy Darin Bevard said. “They’re going to have better conditions and I think ultimately that is probably the most important thing.”

 A links course with poa greens seems curious....  My understanding of the 2015 debacle was that an unprecedented heat wave caused the fescue to go dormant, and the uneven growth of the poa caused the bumpiness.  

I feel conflicted about this project...  On the one hand, you know my love of links golf, and to have this venue near a major city is so great.  That said, the concept of bringing our national championship there never excited me.  Links golf is not in any way American, and there are precious few opportunities to give it a go here in the States, Plus, as you might have noticed, we already have an Open Championship on the schedule.

More Silliness - Remember when the silly season was just, you know silly?  Now we're inundated with FedEx Cup and Wyndham Rewards points, and it all seems that much sillier.  I felt no need to blog this Tour announcement initially:

On Wednesday the PGA Tour added a new event, and destination, to its fall slate.

Bermuda is getting its first official PGA Tour tournament in the island's history next season in the Bermuda Championship. It will be an alternate event to coincide with the WGC-HSBC Championship, starting play on October 31. 

“We are excited to add the Bermuda Championship to the PGA Tour,” said Ty Votaw, executive vice president, international for the PGA Tour. “Bermuda is an appealing year-round destination, and the players will love visiting in the fall, plus we will be hosted by an outstanding golf course. It promises to be a wonderful opportunity to showcase Bermuda—a beautiful island destination that embodies genuine hospitality—to the world.”

We're all excited, Ty.  Any players you actually know will be off on that Shanghai Money-grab, but no void can be allowed on the schedule.

So, why blog it now?

New PGA Tour Event In Bermuda Should Help Highlight Close Of Hurricane Season

What could go wrong?

Jim Furyk, Hold His Beer - Did you say crazy low?

Thirteen birdies, one eagle and four pars. 

That’s a lot of red on the scorecard for Alex Ross of Davidson, who shot a 57 on

Thursday in the Dogwood Invitational. 

Yeah, that’s right. A 57. 

Ross was nine under on holes 9 through 16 before inexplicably parring the 17th. 

We kid. But seriously, seven birdies and an eagle during a eight-hole stretch is just nuts. 

The Dogwood, by the way, is one of the top amateur events in the country.

That score wins a four-person scramble.... Net!

More Good Press - The USGA subcontracts the administration of their qualifying events, though one still assumes this will end up on their doorstep:

Right after Skyler Fox finished his opening round at Woodmont Country Club at the U.S. Open sectional Monday, the 16-year-old from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, ran to his car. 

After posting a 6-over 42 on the front nine on the North course in Rockville, Maryland, Fox began suffering from a headache around the 12th hole. The pain persisted, and after he shot even par on the back nine of his first U.S. Open sectional, he said he bolted off the green, grabbed his medicine and used the bathroom. 

By the time Fox — a junior who has won three Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League championships at Riverside High School — made his way to the scoreboard area to see where he stacked up, he saw an ‘NC’ next to his name, meaning he hadn’t delivered his scorecard. At the scorer’s table, he saw his swing coach, Sean Swidzinski, and father, Joe, arguing with a tournament official.

It all hinges on the definition of "promptly", though the officials in charge seem awfully eager to impose their will.  

It's All On Hank -  The ratings are in, and apparently your humble correspondent is the only person in these United States that watched the Women's U.S. Open:

Revised: U.S. Women's Open Final Round Draws Just A .5

In the immortal words of Ian Faith, their appeal is becoming more selective.  And by way of comparison:

Keep in mind that coverage aired directly opposite the final round of the PGA Tour Memorial tournament, which featured Tiger Woods (2.1, 2.96M). While last year’s coverage also faced the Memorial, the PGA Tour event aired primarily on tape delay due to rain. 

The final round was no match for the corresponding days of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur (0.9, 1.36M) or last year’s Women’s British Open (0.7, 964K).

As recently as three years ago, final round coverage had a comparably healthy 0.9 and 1.31 million. Five years ago, when Michelle Wie won, the final round had a 1.4 and 2.04 million on NBC. Thirteen years ago, when Annika Sörenstam last won, ratings and viewership reached as high as 3.1 and 4.28 million.  

Hank's comments remain stupid and ill-advised, and yet the reactions were all so predictable.  They'd much rather blame it on misogyny and racism, than the far harder work of figuring out how to draw an audience.  

Have a great weekend, Dear Readers, and we'll flood the zone on Pebble all next week.