'Dis And 'Dat

I did manage to get out yesterday and enjoy the wonderful, late-Spring weather.  The leg is healing, but unfortunately no quicker than Il Duce is reopening N.Y. State... At least it held together until carts were available, otherwise I'd be a retired golfer.

Match Leftovers - I don't often blog gold TV ratings, as the ebb and flow of a niche audience seems of limited interest.  Shack has a giddy post on how strong the ratings were in the coverted 18-49 demo:

According to Showbuzzdaily.com, almost 1/3 of The Match 2’s audience was in the coveted 18-49 demo and the number was even better on on TruTV, also meaning there are people of any age group who know how to find TruTV:

About 30% of The Match’s audience landed in the 18-49 demo despite the 44.5 average age of the participants.

Veddy interesting..... 

Though his comparison to the prior week seems.... well, a stretch:

The numbers for TaylorMade Driving Relief with a foursome averaging 29.5 years:

That’s 25% of the almighty buyers for a younger, supposedly more millennial-friendly group of golfers. And a grand total of (at least) 860,000 fewer viewers 18-49. While not a huge difference in the percentage department, The Match did rout Driving Relief in overall audience and even took chipped away at NASCAR’s ratings. 

Given the sometimes blatant ageism in golf and view that young participants translate to a young audience, The Match’s overall dominating win should be noted. But probably won’t.

What?  You don't think millennials watch football?  

But the bigger issue is the event's appearance at a time when there was no live sports to watch...  and should we ever be surprised that people will tune in to see Tiger?

Sally Jenkins at the WaPo found much of interest in the chit-chat among the players:

Still, it was tremendously entertaining — and informative — to listen to the one-upping

asides and to watch the interplay among four men who have been famously buttoned-up competitors. And who normally show their personalities only in marketing campaigns.

Interestingly, you learned that even in a goofy golf situation and unshaven, Woods remains a fairly laconic and methodical sort. Whereas Mickelson, on the other hand, was a real surprise. You never knew he had quite this much effusiveness in him, with his almost epicurean love of a “tasty” contest on every hole. Mickelson’s willingness to explain and instruct the game — and his clear enthusiasm for doing so — was the highlight of the event. And it was something the PGA and networks should consider giving the audience a lot more of.

I don't think either of those guys were a surprise, at least not to actual golf fans.  We all understand the dramatic improvements in audio capture on golf telecasts, a major enhancement to the viewer's experience.  Despite how uncomfortable it looked, Phil told Dan Patrick that he's prepared to be mic'd up in regular Tour events:

"I would be open to the idea because of how it's being received, and some of the insight and so forth," Mickelson said. "But you don't have the play between individuals. I had a partner, and Tom and I could talk back and forth. And maybe you could get some of that with the caddie, but having a partner is much more intimate and you have much better conversation."

But even Phil gets that the key here is the format, which can't really be replicated on Tour.  It's the team concept and the addition of the amateurs...  Phil would never have schooled an actual professional the way he did Brady, nor would he have engaged in the chipping tutorial that was such good fun.

Although I think Geoff way over-interprets this:

I remain bullish on the idea of the Ryder Cup going forward this year as a tonic of sorts

without huge galleries and instead focusing on a stripped-down competition. After The Match and those record-setting ratings, I’m even more confident that a fan-free (or very limited gathering) would be the right thing this year for the biennial matches. 

The Match 2, Champions For Charity, confirmed that people will watch something with no fans. In record-setting numbers, actually.

Big caveat: this is as long as the lack of cheering is made up for with production values and other differentiating elements that take us inside the ropes. A day later, it’s clear this sense of tagging along with the group was why The Match worked despite the dreary day at a largely forgettable course free of fans: it felt like we were there, glitches and all.

I just don't see how you get from one to the other.... The boffo ratings and general praise for the event reflect a sports-deprived audience, and I'd suggest far more skepticism looking forward.  At the very least, you'd want to see how Colonial feels, which is a mere two weeks from today.

But I think we can all agree with this Sally Jenkins conclusion:

The rain shorted out the microphones at times, which made for some very dead silences given that there were no crowds. And let’s face it: Cart Cam is not exactly as thrilling as a Daytona 500 in-car camera. And, I’m sorry, men look like little boys in shorts, no matter who they are or how much Mickelson “activates” the shapely calves he so enjoys flexing.

And she gives Tiger a pass on his grandpa shorts...

Since someone mentioned the Ryder Cup, Rory is not on the same page with the Euro Tour hierarchy, which could make things delightfully awkward.  He continues to argue for a one-year delay, and makes the case that history is on his side:

"I think the majority of players would like to see it pushed back until 2021 so that they can play in front of crowds and have the atmosphere that makes the Ryder Cup so special.

"The players are the ones that make the Ryder Cup. If they are not on board with it and don't want to play then there is no Ryder Cup.

"I see it being pushed back until 2021 and, honestly, I think that will be the right call."

I've been arguing that for different reasons, as you guys are no doubt tired of hearing.  But Rory going his own way serves as a reminder to top-up my strategic popcorn reserve.

But pencil in the Friday after Thanksgiving for The Match III, and this guy just put up his hand:

The Usual Suspects are being bandied about.... 

“I think you could showcase guys like Steph Curry and Michael Jordan or Tony Romo and Patrick Mahomes, who are all good golfers, elite talents and have great personalities. Those personalities are going to come out with this event. Or you could have someone who loves the game and is competitive but is really entertaining like Larry David and Bill Murray. I think that could shine.”

If it keeps them from clogging up the KF and alternate field events, I guess we can do it for the kids.  But I'm thinking those last two names would be a level of pain I'm not prepared to endure....

One last bit, amazingly not from the N.Y. Times.  Tiger was there, so I guess we can't included minorities, but the usually reasonable Beth Ann Nichols reads from the intersectional style guide:

'The Match II' and TaylorMade Driving Relief were great, but where were the women?

Ummmm...in the kitchen where they belong? 

This player went to the same hymnal:

Let's let Beth Ann make her best case:

The TaylorMade event could’ve been a mixed-team format. Maria Fassi and Paula Creamer are both in Florida. Some of TaylorMade’s female stars could’ve also called in during the broadcast as Jon Rahm did. Staffers who could’ve called in include Natalie Gulbis, Muni He and Charley Hull. Sung Hyun Park, who speaks limited English, was involved in a charity exhibition in South Korea with current No. 1 Jin Young Ko. Women’s golf frequently takes center stage in that part of the world.

Look at those bold letter names!  What were they thinking?

There's actually going to be a time for this, but now is most certainly not it.  but let me express it in a rhetorical question for Beth Ann?  Should Tiger have paired with J.Y. Ko is the event would only have raised $5 million, in lieu of that $20 million?

I'll also remind that in a prior version of such matches Tiger included Anika and Karrie, which bombed terribly.  And those are actual bold print names, unlike the current women's game.  Tiger and Phil will, I believe, ultimately include women players, at least to the extent this makes it past No. III.  But the constant whining is becoming quite tiresome....Nobody owes you anything, you have to go out and earn the opportunity.

Acknowledging Greatness - OK, not exactly greatness, but this from Andy Pope is far more promising than you'd expect:

Why I deserve a special exemption into the 2020 U.S. Open

A guy you've never heard of exempted into the U.S. Open?  I don't think so...But....

Over the last five years, I’ve done something no other golfer can claim. 

Not Rory, not Brooks, not even Tiger Woods. 

In 2015, ’16, ’17 and again last year, I advanced through both local and sectional qualifying to earn a spot in the U.S. Open; I was in the fields at Chambers Bay, Oakmont, Erin Hills and Pebble Beach. Decent foursome, right? 

I won’t be making it five out of six this year, but not because I’ve lost my game, or my nerve. No, the run will end in 2020 because the USGA has cancelled qualifying for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, on account of Covid-19 concerns.

Of course not, but still... That's quite the accomplishment, and I just wonder whether it's been done previously.

Dahmen v. Kang -  As we've discussed previously, Joel Dahmen is one of my favorite guys out there, especially after the famous incident with Sung Kang.  he recently sat for the Subpar podcats with Colt Knost and recounts the most famous drop of recent years:

On the newest episode of GOLF’s Subpar, Dahmen told his side of the incident with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. It all began on the 10th hole during the final round of the 2018 Quicken Loans National. Kang’s approach into the 566-yard par-5 flew left of the green and into the hazard.

In Dahmen’s eyes, Kang’s ball flight meant his shot had to have entered the hazard a considerable distance from the green. In other words, Kang would have to drop from the fairway, then hit a lengthy approach into the green. 

“He wanted to drop up by the green and I said, ‘no, I don’t think it crossed [the hazard],'” Dahmen said. “I went very political about the whole thing, you’ve got to protect the field. I don’t want to do this, you know. That was the first five minutes.”

But Dahmen did something that I fear almost no other player would do, he actually took it upon himself to protect the field.  

“I got him to agree his ball didn’t draw. I go, ‘if you hit from back there and your ball didn’t draw, it couldn’t have crossed,'” Dahmen recalled. “We had a rules official come over 15 minutes later, and he was like ‘what do you think?’ and I go ‘I know that it didn’t cross here, I don’t feel comfortable with it, he’s got to go back.”

As I recall, Kang also admitted to the rules official that his ball did not draw, pretty much confirming Dahmen's fact base.  Yet, this is the adjudication:

Dahmen and Kang were then forced to let the groups behind them play through while PGA Tour rules officials attempted to figure out the situation. Nearly 25 minutes later, the pair got a decision: since no rules official had witnessed the shot, they were forced to defer to Kang’s argument. Kang hit his approach from 40 yards out in the fairway, made the putt, and went on to finish T-3.

Think about the message this sends to other players...  Don't bother trying to enforce the rules, because you're on your own.

How are Joel and Sung getting on these days?  Well, Kang obviously didn't like this:

 We all lost, Joel.

Then later, this bit of hubris:

A few weeks after the event, Kang confronted Dahmen at the Canadian Open. 

“He goes, ‘Joel, I want you to apologize to me,'” Dahmen said. “I said, ‘apologize to me? Look around, you should apologize to everybody else in that field. You took money from them, you did all this stuff.'” 

“I just said, ‘You did this to yourself, I didn’t do this,” Dahmen said. “Either way this was getting out. I just accelerated it.” 

Neither player wound up receiving an apology, and unsurprisingly, Dahmen and Kang don’t exactly have a jocular relationship. 

“It was back and forth for five minutes,” Dahmen said. “We have not spoken since.

I know which one I'll be rooting for... But what I'd really like is the name of that feckless rules official.

Golf in the Kingdom -  Have you noticed that a certain ilk of public official seems to like the feel of their boot on our throat?  But it's not just the Cuomos and Whitmers of the world, Scotland's own Nicola Sturgeon seems to like her population docile and obedient.  

Anyone who isn't beholden to the legacy media has long since realized that the chances of catching this virus outdoors is borderline nonexistent.  Also known is the fact that our elites refuse to be subject to those very same rules, whether it's Whitmers husband or Neal Ferguson's essential booty calls, but our elites appear immune to embarrassment.... 

Scotland, the ancestral home of our game, is finally prepared to allow its citizens to experience golf, but only under the most draconian of regulations:

The St. Andrews Links Trust announced it is re-opening four of its links on May 29. All courses in Scotland have been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic since March 23.

The Old Course, New Course, Eden and Balgove will be in the first wave of openings, with the Eden turned into two separate nine-hole layouts to encourage nine-hole rounds. The Jubilee, Strathtyrum and Castle will not open at this stage but “will re-open in a phased manner in the future. The St Andrews Links will advise 2 days before these courses open,” according to Ford Horsfield, head of golf services.

It will not be business as usual. The letter states that “at this time all courses are available for Yearly Ticket holders only.” Tee times will be made in 12-minute intervals with two golfers per tee time.

There will also be no walk-ups, so if necessary there is a track and trace record of who is on the links.

Last week Scottish Golf confirmed that May 29 would be the earliest return date for Scottish courses. However, a number of courses, especially those in Edinburgh, are targeting June 8 for re-opening.

Omitted from that article is perhaps the most draconian regulation of all, to wit, that during this Phase I process golfers should not travel more than five miles to their golf clubs....   But they're not control freaks.... no, not at all.

There is not any science that supports such measures, so we can eliminate public safety as a consideration.  If their actual objective was to inflict maximum pain and economic hardship on their people, what would they have done differently?

The Sheep Ranch - It's happening, not that any of us can imagine traveling there.  But the bar is set pretty damn high:

Is the newly opened Sheep Ranch *already* the best course at Bandon Dunes? Here’s how we see it

Let’s start with that first one: What’s it like? 

At a destination known for its minimalist aesthetic, the Sheep Ranch is, in some ways, the most stripped-bare of the courses, with just a smattering of trees and without a single bunker, on the smallest plot of Bandon’s five 18-holers, and by far the rawest looking swatch of land. 

In other ways, though, it’s a maxed-out design, claiming more oceanfront than any of its siblings, with a mile-plus of coastline, nine greens on the bluffs and water views from every hole. The wind can whip anywhere, anytime at Bandon, but nowhere harder than it does here.

This as close as Josh comes to answering the question:

And anyway, it’s all good. Grillroom course-ranking debates are a central part of any trip to Bandon. You play a bunch of rounds; you bat around opinions. There’s no objective truth, no right or wrong. In my view, Bandon Trails is the best course at the resort, but I’d place Sheep Ranch not too far behind, creeping up on Pacific Dunes for second. 

Disagree?

Very much, though that's where he hides behind that flimsy "no objective truth" bit.  Trails was my least favorite, though it is objectively an awfully good golf course, one that suffers the indignity of little ocean frontage.  Yanno, stuff like this:

If you like that sort of thing...

A similar take from Jason Lusk at Golfweek:

The design team led by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw had to dig deep into its bag of tricks to make this highly anticipated course work on a deceptively small piece of land that is roughly 600 yards across at its widest. With only about 140 acres for the course before the land climbs into trees to the east, Coore and Crenshaw fashioned a genius routing that plays as wide open as the views.

The most immediately noticed difference is that the Sheep Ranch’s cliffs are not as linear, with promontories jutting 100 feet above the beach that afforded somewhat surreal opportunities to build several greens and tees almost entirely surrounded by open sky. And second is the ground itself, with little natural foliage to hide the sweeping internal contours. 

“For the most part we did what we always try to do,” Coore said. “If you find a site that has a lot of inherent qualities, natural qualities for golf, you just let that guide the process. Certainly at the Sheep Ranch, the site was inherently different than any of the courses there. It definitely had different contours than most of the other courses. It wasn’t sand, wasn’t dunes. It just had such interesting natural contours for golf, amazingly interesting contours. We tried to let those contours and the coastline dictate the type of course.”

You'll want to give this one a read if you have any interest in the dark art of routing a golf course, because the thought process is quite interesting.  Just this small taste:

“Ben and I both agree, if we did anything that was maybe a bit unusual but was actually key to unlocking the routing there, it was combining those tee complexes,” Coore said. “By pulling tee complexes very close together where they almost become common teeing grounds for two different holes, it allowed us to really make it compact in the teeing areas. Then as the holes go away from the tees to the landing areas, they can get wider and wider. That was one of the absolute keys to the routing of the golf course.”

Combine smart guys with interesting land, and the results should be compelling.... here's the finished product:

Now I just need to get my butt back there, no easy task in ordinary times.  Of course, with five full 18's, plus the Par-3 that I've never played, one needs to block out more than a full week to play them all, plus a few replays on the favored tracks.

I'll probably skip tomorrow and see you again on Monday.  Unless, of course, something inspires me....