Can anyone help me with synonyms for hunker? Seems like we'll be needing that going forward....
The Latest - We'll get to the Olympics for sure, but to me the biggest news is that golf in the UK is on lockdown:
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement announcing new restrictions on life in the UK in an effort to stop the spread of COVD-19, the English and Scottish Golf Unions confirmed the closure of golf courses and clubs. It’s the first significant closure since World War II, though even then some clubs remained open with special rules.
Forget that minor spot of trouble in the 1940's. As this guy notes, they do this every 529 years or so:
I'm thinking that that "Pointless" is dangerously close to the truth...
Shack has a strange riff on our current situation, under this header:
Golf Must Stand Down To Eventually Thrive Again
For the good of humanity, the golf needs to stop.
As much as the dreadful COVD-19 appeared to be an opportunity to serve as an outlet while combating the coronavirus, it’s clear the best way for the virus to be eradicated is through social distancing. And while golf has generally complied—except for the inexplicable renting of carts or allowing multiple riders—the game must come to a halt.Not because it’s suddenly less safe. But to avoid pretzly paragraph, everything must shut down because the planet is populated by a staggering number of numskulls who simply do not get it. Grade A, Prime Cut, All-Conference morons.Depending on where you live, you’ve seen the ignorance to varying degrees. And while it’s painful to shut down an important form of exercise and a way of life for millions needing a recreational outlet, golfers have to join with the world and help stop the frightening spread.
The silver lining: golf will be able to return to normalcy sooner than most activities. With a small values and priorities reset, the sport should be stronger despite likely losing some treasured community courses during this downturn.
I didn't realize that the social distancing was from "pretzly paragraphs".... Seriously, I'll need an English translation.
But if the argument is that we shouldn't play golf because of those idiot kids on the beach in Florida, count me out. Even stranger, this is the chart Geoff used in his rant:
First and foremost, did you actually believe those numbers from China? But I've also been reading that the Italian death numbers are highly inflated.... apparently any elderly citizen that unfortunately passed has been attributed to the virus. And it's a time of year when Italy's population typically experiences an elevated mortality rate, so we need some kind of estimate of the excess deaths.
But Geoff has this as his header quote today:
If Brora was a few hundred miles south, it would surely be a big club. I know of no course on the Open Championship roster that has more to it than Brora. I reckon it would confound modern champions. Their outrageous length would count for little.
PETER THOMSON
Which cues Shackologists that there's a news hook inside:
One of golf’s oldest and neatest places has shut down as ordered by the government, but is also signaling to members that survival is up in the air. Thanks to reader Chris for highlighting this distressing Tweet posted by Brora Golf Club to its members.
Damn, Brora is special.... It's way the eff up there, more than a bit North of even Dornoch. At that link above, Shack has great photos and videos of the James Braid links, and I'll just add a few of my own:
The most notable feature of Brora is that the players share the links with sheep and livestock.... Theresa didn't see the need for social distancing back then, though the sheep themselves rather insisted on it.
Here's Elsie on the delightful Par-3 ninth, at the far end of the property:
For folks unfamiliar with linksy golf, that's a ball-retriever for use should you catch the small burn with your shot.
This is the best picture I have of the low-voltage fences that protect the greens:
It's a wonderful, historic golf club, and sad to hear of their struggles.
Geoff's case is that golf will come back earlier than other sports but stronger than ever. But clubs have been under significant stress pre-Covid, and shuttering them will only increase that stress. All businesses and organizations are stressed in the present moment, and golf clubs are of course not the priority for society... But if the activity is safe and we can allow this aspect of normal life to move forward, why do we feel the need to clamp down?
Scenes From America - I imagine this is happening all across our great nation:
People are resourceful, but thankfully they can also be pretty damn funny....
They can also be good, no doubt you're hearing the stories of compassion:
This from Seamus Golf, the guys that make those wonderful headcovers:
Hello Friends:
Over the past few days we received inquiries from primary care physicians, nurses, and first responders for our masks.
Prototyping began last week and ended with our first production run on Friday. We are using materials and constructing them in a way that each of these individuals still wants us to send them masks to use as a last resort. They have confirmed that what we are making is better than what they are resorting to use.
We do not have the N95 material but are seeking it.
By taking last week to disinfect and set up the office for social distanced production, we believe that we can continue to make products and keep our employees through this time.We are temporarily closing the store to allow the full team to focus and assess the situation with masks. Our second production run begins tonight.
If you are on the frontline and would like an emergency kit, please email
And from golf clubs and their members:
On the other end of the spectrum (and, well, we do mean the other end), the Country Club of Fairfax in Fairfax, Va., is offering free toilet paper in limited quantities to its members, but management is encouraging the members to instead donate $20 per roll to add to an employee relief fund established for the club staff.In Newtown, Pa., the members of Jericho National Golf Club are taking a different tack. They have requested that their $150 monthly food minimum be given to the club’s employees.
Reassigning employees, or cross-training them, is a plan enacted by many clubs to keep their staffs working—and earning income. This has enabled The Cliffs and Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina, both owned by South Street Partners, to keep their 1,100 seasonal personnel employed.
Part of the reason not to shut down golf unless absolutely necessary....
This is equally nice, though Employee No. 2 is likely hardest hit:
Tito's vodka working to make 24 tons of hand sanitizer
Also amusing, what was this guy thinking?
After panic buying, Denver Mayor reopens liquor, pot shops but keeps ‘stay at home’ order in place
About Those Olympics... - Anyone surprised by the mendacity of the International Olympic Committee has simply not been paying attention for the last few decades. perhaps they don't scale the heights of corruption and depravity achieved by FIFA, but this is an organization from whom social distancing has long been appropriate.
So, you might have noticed that the IOC was rather late to the party in recognizing that Tokyo this July was not possible or helpful. Tellingly, they couldn't face that reality until the athletes forced their hand:
As the drumbeat to postpone the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games grows louder by theday, with athletes and national governing bodies continuing to speak out amid a patchwork of dispatches suggesting one alternative or another, the International Olympic Committee announced, finally and very belatedly on Sunday afternoon, that it will decide the fate of the Games within the next four weeks.
In the midst of the expanding coronavirus pandemic, the IOC still could decide to keep the Olympics on the calendar as scheduled, July 24 to August 9, or it could postpone them. The Games will not be canceled, IOC president Thomas Bach said.
It was the world’s athletes who forced Bach’s hand, who successfully urged that something be done to begin to address growing concerns about their health and their ability to train for the Olympics in the midst of so much uncertainty.
Not a good look, for sure.... Geoff had this reaction:
Some day, when things return to normal, we can look back on this latest hiccup for the Olympic movement and consider how golf best fits going forward. But for now, at least, we no longer have to see speculation about who will make teams or worry about the preparation being hampered and instead focus on those in need.
If only, Geoff.... Because we have you-know-who beating this oh-so-tired drum, first with quite the alt-history:
For some golfers those Games were a game-changer. In high school and college they may have been nerdy loners, but in Rio they were accepted as part of their respective national teams. They wore the same swag, ate at the same training tables, and worked out in the gym alongside the other athletes. The golfers finally got to feel both the support of a team and the respect of hardcore jocks. And seeing the lusty celebrations of gold medal winner Justin Rose helped shift sentiment a bit, too. As always, there are commercial considerations in explaining the uptick in interest for the Tokyo Games: Asia is a much bigger golf market than South America, so this time around Olympic success could help a player move product and scoop up fat endorsement appearances.
Really, name one? The 2016 comp benefited from likable champions who seem to revel in their gold medals. Though I've always thought that Rose's emotional reaction was the result of his not winning anything else that year....
But this is the nut of Alan's silly argument, including the item's header:
So the postponement of these Games feels like just another bummer in a string of sad news as this golf season continues to unravel. But there is a monumental silver lining: pushing the Games to next summer (as seems inevitable) will greatly enhance Tiger Woods’ chances of making the team and therefore turning Olympic golf into a big deal. Imagine Woods leading the entire American delegation into the stadium during the Opening Ceremonies, waving the stars and stripes – it would be a goosebumps moment that evokes Magic Johnson in Barcelona.
Tiger, 44, has openly coveted a spot on the U.S. team, knowing this is likely the last chance for the son of a Green Beret to represent his country. It would be a spectacular experience to share with his kids, who have become a powerful source of late-career motivation. But so far this season a bad back, mediocre play and a limited schedule has left Woods on the outside looking in. Bumping the Games to next summer will hopefully give Tiger time to get his body right, find some form and make a push to secure a spot on the U.S. team. That would definitely be worth the wait.
This is silliness on stilts, Alan. First and foremost, we're dealing with the cancellation/postponement of The Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship, and you're obsessed over a silly exhibition with barely 30 world-class players in the field? You might want to see someone over this obsession...
But in a certain way, this might represent progress for Alan....As I reread that header, it comes across as an admission that Olympic Golf needs saving....
But I'm also struck by how unlikely it is that Tiger would make an Olympic team, which requires that he be among the top four American golfers in the OWGR. Given that he's currently not sufficiently healthy to play golf, it's quite the leap to assume his health looking forward. But we also know that, even if healthy, the man is simply not going to play much golf. He would almost have to pick off a major to stay in the top four Yanks, and that's quite the big ask... Instead of just assuming its importance, how about we use our platform to argue for fixing the format to make it worth watching? I know, crazy talk.
But has anybody actually cared about the Olympics since the end of the cold war?
Date, Circled - I'd much rather focus on items such as this:
How might an autumn Masters look, feel and play? Here’s what the experts think
Do tell:
Looking for a nice problem? Consider this: How will the course play if the Masters is held in October? How will the fellas adjust to Augusta National in autumn?
Anyone who has been to Augusta National in October knows how beautiful the course is. The course has few hardwoods, but in the fall, which comes early to Georgia, they stand out amid the many pines. The members like to talk about how fast and firm the course often plays when the club has its annual opening weekend in October. But stubborn facts suggest the course would actually play softer and longer than it does in April, as October gets more rain in Augusta than April does, on average and over the years. One thing the club cannot buy is the thing it craves: firm, fast conditions that make the course more playable for players.
Of course, though we've had no shortage of wet and cold Aprils in recent years... For those of you in my age group, there was discussion at one point of playing there in the summer. Fire up the Waybac Machine:
Golf at Augusta in October has been in the news before, years ago. In October 1992, two Southern powerbrokers held an unexpected press conference at the club. The older of the two men was the club’s courtly chairman, Jack Stephens, from Little Rock. Beside him was a bespectacled Atlanta real-estate entrepreneur named Billy Payne. Payne wasn’t a
Jack Stephens. member of Augusta National then. He later became the club’s chairman and last year was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. But in October of 1992 he was the head of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, where the Summer Games were played in 1996. The Payne-Stephens press conference was held on the lawn behind the club’s iconic clubhouse. They had a dream, for golf to return to the Olympics in 1996, with Augusta National as the venue.
The dream died quickly, a victim of political fallout regarding the club’s exclusionary membership practices. But when discussion of a Masters in October surfaced in recent days, the picture from that day suddenly came rushing back.
Had there been Olympic golf at Augusta National, the course would have had to be suitable for both men and women to play in a two-week period from late July to early August, during a sweltering stretch when Augusta National had always been closed. It showed how flexible Augusta National can be, when it chooses to be so.
Stephens asserted in ’92 that the club had the means to maintain its famously slick bentgrass greens in the summer. And that was before Augusta National had installed a SubAir system that controls the greens’ temperature and moisture.
They can do anything they want... As for the rest of the course:
As for the Bermuda grass on the rest of the course, which every fall is shaved and overseeded with the perennial rye grass upon which the Masters is staged, Stephens said it could be prepped for tournament play at any time of year. And grass-growing has only become a more scientific pursuit since then.
There are some other issues of which we should be aware:
October is also the tail end of Georgia’s hurricane season. When Hurricane Michael cut a
Fall in Amen Corner. devastating path across Georgia in 2018, it wreaked havoc on Augusta on Oct. 11, bringing high winds, heavy rain and power outages.
The outside threat of tropical storms aside, the wind is actually gentler in October than in April. That doesn’t mean it would be easier. Jackson said October winds usually blow out of the north, which is in the players’ faces on the first tee and from right to left in Amen Corner. Good luck playing that second shot into 11, with that pond on the left of the green. A north wind would also make the two back-nine par-5s play longer.
So, let's sum up... Softer conditions with gentle winds from a direction making the Par-5's reachable for only the longest hitters? Smells like Rory's best chance ever....
But how wonderful would it be, in this odd and difficult year, to have the tournament then, as a grand fall golf party? To have a Masters golf tournament, famous rite of spring, played smackdab in the middle of football season? To watch the players try to figure out different grasses, winds, colors, clubs?
What a lovely set of problems to consider.
Amen, Sister!
Let the other organizations figure out whether the events can be held, given the progression of the virus. I'll be rooting for them, as more high-level golf is better than less. But let's get this one on the calendar soonest, as Augusta National can actually pull this off. I'm far more skeptical of the other championships... I mean, has anyone stopped to consider the irony that this is the year we're supposed to go to San Francisco and Westchester County? If you look at the location data for confirmed cases and deaths, the only thing missing from this year's rota is Sahalee or Chambers Bay.....
Upon further review, I suppose this might have been 2022, when the Ryder Cup will be in...wait for it...Italy.
Reading Suggestions - Folks are combing through the vaults, so old gems are available for time killing and edification purposes. This one is well worth your time:
The last days of Bobby Jones
The first in a series of classic stories in Golf Digest looks at a declining Bobby Jones at the end of his life and the enduring relationship he had with the authorBy 1968 Bobby Jones’ health had slipped from the terrible to the abysmal. His eyes were bloodshot from the spinal disease he had endured for 20 years, his arms atrophied to the size of a schoolgirl’s, his ankles so swollen by body fluids they spilled over the edges of his shoes. This was a man who could once effortlessly drive a golf ball a sixth of a mile.
Is that Clifford Roberts with Jones?
Still, he had not lost the humor with which he viewed so many things, often at his own expense. Confined to a wheelchair all day, he had to be put into and taken out of bed by a male nurse, who was the size of a linebacker. “He handles me like a flapjack,” Bob said by way of complimenting the man when he introduced us. Then he chuckled. Bob laughed a lot, although never out loud, and he laughed during his last days mostly to put people at their ease, especially strangers. Meeting him then for the first time could be a shock, and Bob knew it. But he insisted on shaking hands with everybody, painful as it had to be, excruciating if his hand were squeezed. But it was part of the price he insisted on paying for having been Bobby Jones, the one and only.
Having covered the Masters for 20 years, I had become his companion during it by a choice that was as much his as mine. Those years became the most fulfilling of the 44 I have been writing about golf. I’ve never written about them, and don’t know why. In looking back, that period in his life seems as towering as the Grand Slam.
We don't have many that can fill his shoes these days, but I do get this:
We would sit at a card table next to a window in his cottage that overlooked the 10th tee. A curtain prevented spectators from looking in but allowed Bob to peer out. He had the same thing for lunch almost every day. First there’d be a couple of dry martinis, which he drank with relish but scolded himself for. “I shouldn’t be drinking these,” he said to me one day. “They don’t mix with my medicine.” The martinis would be followed by a hamburger, in part because he liked hamburgers but mainly because he could no longer cut meat and disliked anyone cutting it for him, so gnarled had his fingers become.
Bob smoked more than two packs of cigarettes a day, sometimes in chain fashion, and they were lined on the card table in neat rows for him, each in a holder so he would not accidently burn himself. An elegant lighter, covered in leather, sat ready. All he had to do was push down a lever that any child could. But even that was becoming an effort. So, with as much nonchalance as I could devise, I’d pull out a cigarette of my own, thereby giving me the excuse to light his.
He had been a man who never looked as though he needed help, even when he was dying, and it was part of Bob’s magnificence that disablement evoked admiration more than pity. Those cigarettes were actually a token of his will to live, not the other way around. One day he left me speechless after I lighted one for him. “I’ve got to give these things up,” he said. “They’re bad for me.”
I find that strangely life-affirming.... a towering figure in our game, so you'll want to read the entire piece.
Folks have also been posting all sorts of old-timey photos, including this of Jones after his 1927 Open Championship win at St. Andrews:
he was, of course, holding Calamity Jane, his putter.... Jones had quite the relationship with St. Andrews, which began quite inauspiciously:
1921 : At 19, Bobby Jones made his debut at the Open Championship on the Old Course. It was at the infamous 11th High Hole that Jones took four shots to get out of a bunker, then picked up his ball and disqualified himself. After that day, Jones would never lose another match or contest at the Old Course.
His 1930 Grand Slam (O.B. Keeler had originally called it the Impregnable Quadrilateral, but later settled on the easier term from bridge) began with a win at The Amateur at St. Andrews as well, and this was his final visit to the Auld Grey Toon:
1958 : Honored with the Freedom of the City Award for not only his achievements in golf, but because Bobby Jones was "...a man of outstanding character, courage and accomplishment." Jones was the first American in 200 years to be honored by St. Andrews; Benjamin Franklin was the previous recipient.
The award comes with these wonderful benefits:
As you probably know by now, this allows him to take divots on the Old Course, to chase rabbits there, and to dry his laundry on the first and 18th fairways.
Jones' remarks were pitch perfect, with this most notable sentiment:
"I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St. Andrews and I'd still have a rich, full life."
But it's the scene after Jones' remarks that is remembered, and if you can keep a dry eye you're a better man than your humble blogger:
Jones made his painful way from the stage before going down the centre aisle of the Younger Graduation Hall in an electric golf cart, draped with the flag of the State of Georgia.
Whereupon an audience of 1,500 broke spontaneously into the Scottish love-song "Will ye no' come back again?" Herbert Warren Wind wrote later that it was "10 minutes before many who attended were able to speak again with a tranquil voice."
Those over-emotional Scots...
There's also a wonderful story of Jones dropping in without fanfare in 1936, en route to the Berlin Olympics. He played the old girl and by the time he came up the 18th fairway it seemed the entire town's populace was surrounding the green.
Here's another gem from the Golf Digest vault:
Will Greg Norman reach superstardom?
From the archive: Even as far back as 1984, Greg Norman's immense talent came in a complicated package
Obviously written in the early days of his career, the answer would seem to be, "Yes, but....".
But in introducing the piece and its writer, the worthy Peter Dobereiner, a story is shared that exlipses anything in the original profile:
He became equally known for failing to close in them down the stretch, the epic example coming at the 1996 Masters when he led by six after three rounds. Upon entering the clubhouse on Saturday night, all but triumphant, Norman encountered his old friend Peter Dobereiner on the way to the locker room. They embraced heartily and Peter whispered in his ear, “Greg, even you can’t f--- this one up.” The next day, Norman shot a 78 to Nick Faldo’s 67. Norman had finished runner-up in the majors for an eighth time.
Upon further review, he's got this!
And how about this one where the timing seems off:
Eleven years. That’s about how long Tiger Woods went between winning majors beforeclaiming the Masters in 2019. It’s also approximately how long Neil Oxman, who has caddied for Tom Watson in 150 events since 1999, had gone without seeing a replay of the 2009 British Open at Turnberry in Scotland.
But that was before the coronavirus shut down the sports world and left Oxman housebound. In trying to fill the gaps in its TV schedule, Golf Channel recently aired a replay of its documentary “Tom at Turnberry,” and Oxman tuned in.
“Someone texted me beforehand and asked me if I was going to watch it. My text back was, ‘Do you think the result will be any different?'” Oxman tells The Forecaddie. “At least 500 people have said to me, ‘Have you seen it?’ and I kept saying, ‘No.’ Nor had I ever looked at a replay of the last shot. Ever.”
Both Tom and Oxman believe that he hit the proper shot, which was undone by landing on a downslope and shooting over the green. Perhaps...
Last up is this summary of the best 13 moments from an event lost to the virus:
The 13 Most Memorable Moments from the WGC-Match Play
What would be top-of-mind thoughts here? Stephen Ames and a certain 9 & 8 result? Check.
Victor Dubuisson getting up and down from everywhere? Check.
Tiger losing to Nick O'hern? Check, though here one needs to be specific, because it happened twice.
But they actually captured one of my favorite incidents in the long history of our game:
Keegan and Miguel nearly come to blows (2015)
The undercard for that week's Mayweather-Pacquiao fight involved Miguel Angel Jimenez, Keegan Bradley, and Keegan Bradley's caddie, Steve "Pepsi" Hale. Apparently, Jimenez didn't like what he was seeing with a Bradley drop on the 18th hole, and Bradley and Hale didn't appreciate Jimenez butting in. Things got really HEATED (remember, this is golf) when Jimenez told Hale to "Shut up." In the end, Jimenez won the match and Bradley later admitted he "got schooled" in gamesmanship by the veteran Spaniard.
Here's what you need to be reminded of to appreciate the comedy gold.
First, this was the last year at Dove Mountain, but the first year of pool play, and occured on the Friday, the third day of said pool play. Both Keegan and Miggy had lost both previous matches, so this match had absolutely no import whatsoever, just two losers playing out the string.
Secondly, as an astute golfer, you'll recognize that this is match play, meaning that Miggy had every right to get involved, and was actually doing Keegan a favor in doing so.
But the final image is what lingers... Keegan was so upset by this that he took refuge in his courtesy car stroking his girlfriends lapdog. And that folks is my enduring image of Keegan Bradley.....
Stay safe, dear readers, and we'll get together again soon.
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