Weekend Wrap - Team Bonding Edition

It's not like I watched any of it, literally not a minute, but it's already an improvement over the last go.  Here's Geoff's take on the weekend:

Two years ago the United States Ryder Cup team began to fracture before a shot was struck, while the Europeans bonded ahead of a Rome showdown. Things unraveled from there, culminating in brats wanting to be paid and daring to suggest Ralph Lauren couldn’t make a hat big enough for (one) head.

How time, a $500,000 payment, and seemingly rational Captain can do to make the red-white-and-blue seem like worthy favorites.

The Americans are gelling, while the final week of stroke play tournament golf spawned legit questions about whether Europe is sending its best in-form team to Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup. Yes, Alex Noren’s BMW PGA Championship win at Wentworth is more of an annoyance than a scandal. And while there are no signs that any of Europe’s stars plan to pass up Monday’s pre-Ryder Cup trip to Bethpage over Netflix back-end points, it’s quite a thing to see America coming headed to the matches minus first-world drama while Europe has to be wondering why they ended the points race before their tour’s flagship event.

The Noren bit is pretty funny, although there's no logistical way they could delay the captain's picks until eleven days before balls are in the air.  

Golf Digest proclaims this guy "Ryder Cup ready":

Guess what happened when Scottie Scheffler went to California to prepare for the Ryder Cup? He won another golf tournament

It’s not that Scottie Scheffler makes winning look easy. It’s never easy to win on the PGA Tour. What Scheffler has been doing so well the last four years as he has cemented his place as the No.

1 player in the world is produce a level of golf that makes winning always look possible.

The wins come as a product of that relentlessness.

He got another one on Sunday, his sixth victory of the year, at the Procore Championship, the ostensible warmup event to the upcoming Ryder Cup. With a five-under 67 on the North Course at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif., Scheffler was able to overtake U.S. teammate Ben Griffin for a one-stroke victory.

Scheffler’s first win in the Golden State constitutes the 19th official tour title of his career, all of them coming since he broke through at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. He also won the Olympic gold medal in 2024.

This to me is one of the more curious aspects of the event, to wit, that I have little idea what to expect from Scottie.   Yes, he dominates the Tour, yet he's not exactly been a force in this event.  Not to mention that the event has never been that kind to the top players in the game.  jack and Tiger, call your office.

This specifically evokes that dreadful Ryder Cup at the K Club, one in which Tiger won a WEGC in Ireland the week before, then noted the million reasons it was more important than the Ryder Cup.  What?  You thought the tone deafness of touring professionals on money issues started with Cantlay?

Here's Geoff's take on the week for the Euros:

Noren’s 12th DP World Tour title and second in the last three weeks came after defeating Adrian Saddier in a playoff to win his second BMW PGA. He won the tour’s flagship event in 2017 with a final round 62.

This time, the recently named fifth Vice Captain for Luke Donald’s squad shared the third round lead with France’s Adrian Saddier, who made four birdies coming home Sunday in the lousy weather to force the playoff with Noren. But the 43-year-old birdied the first hole of sudden death to become Sweden’s winningest player in DP World Tour history, moving ahead of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson.

Aaron Rai and Patrick Reed shared third place on 16 under par, while Ryder Cuppers Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland were part of a six-way tie for fifth place. Other Ryder Cup notables: Jon Rahm (T13/-13), Rory McIlroy (-12/T20), Ludvig Aberg (-12/T20), Shane Lowry (-8/T46), Tommy Fleetwood (-8/T46), and Justin Rose (-6/T61).

Robert MacIntyre missed the 54-hole cut after rounds of 71-71-72, while Rasmus Hojgaard missed the 36-hole cut. Sepp Straka did not play.

The good news for Captain Donald: his first alternate and fifth banana-fetcher, Alex Noren, is in outstanding form! But it’s also awkward to have a VC beating the entire team less than two weeks before the matches at Bethpage where they will need plenty of fortune to win on enemy soil.

Maybe, if the events ends up a 14-all tie, Noren and Keegan Bradley will play off for the Cup?  

Decent weeks from Hovland and Aberg have to be a relied for Luke Donald, but there are still no shortage of question marks.   The T3 by P{Reed is also amusing, quite the contrast to Sergio turning into a tennis fan.... 

The Tour Confidential panel had some thoughts on the week as well:

The Ryder Cup is two weeks away, but 21 of the 24 players competing in it were playing over the weekend at the Procore Championship in Napa and the BMW PGA in England. From everything you read, heard and saw, what was your biggest takeaway from Ryder Cup training camp?

Zephyr Melton: Lots of Ryder Cuppers had their names on the first couple pages of the two leaderboards (Ben Griffin, Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland). Nice to see a bunch of them in fine form heading to Bethpage. Should make for some high-level golf in a couple of weeks.

Alan Bastable: I should hope they’re well-repped on the first two pages, especially at the Procore! No disrespect to the rest of the field but this is the kind of week in which the alphas should be throwing their weight around. I’ve been taken by the praise the U.S. players have been heaping upon Keegan Bradley, in terms of how he’s been communicating with his squad and keeping them on task; he seems to be pressing all the right buttons. We’ll see if that continues in the heat of battle.

Dylan Dethier: My biggest takeaway is that golf is hilarious; immediately after Europe selects its Ryder Cup team (and names him vice captain) Alex Noren wins two of his next three starts?! Including this week, where he beats the entire European team? You probably wouldn’t see an offensive coordinator beating out the QBs in a preseason game — but here we are. Also, both teams have now had ample time to bond and prep before Bethpage; there will be fingers pointed post-Ryder Cup but “carelessness” won’t be a valid accusation on either side.

Carelessness?   I've been laughing at least since 2014 that we need a Task Force™ to figure out how to get the twelve best players onto a Ryder Cup team, only to see said Task Force perform face plants.  Among their greatest hits are the use of guys like Phil and PReed in foursomes, not to mention Zach Johnson's focus on current form for his captain's picks, only to allow those hot players to cool off by not playing for over a month.

Whose Ryder Cup stock went up or down, both individually and as a team?

Melton: I’m not sure if you can put too much stock into one tournament, but if I had to pick I’d go with Team USA. Prior to Rome the Americans didn’t get many competitive reps, and it doomed them at Marco Simone. Their little “training camp” in Napa should serve them well in terms of keeping the competitive juices flowing.

Bastable: If there were any lingering questions about Ben Griffin, he answered them in Napa. On the flip side, Justin Thomas’s week might give Captain Bradley pause. JT made the cut by only one and closed with a rocky 75 that included two double bogeys. Not exactly the Ryder Cup springboard for which he would have been looking. On the Euro side, Matt Fitzpatrick, who finished T5 at Wentworth, is continuing to exhibit excellent form; I think he’ll be a problem for the Americans. And how ’bout P-Reed’s T3! He won’t be at Bethpage, but you can’t help but think Capt. America wasn’t playing with a little extra burn this week.

Dethier: Scottie Scheffler’s stock somehow keeps rising; this latest win felt like further proof that he makes golf simpler than the rest of the world. Other upward arrows? Ryder Cup rookies Ben Griffin, J.J. Spaun, and Cameron Young, who each finished in the top 10. On the flip side, Justin Thomas had an uncharacteristically poor week with his irons and his putter, which isn’t ideal (though also could easily not matter?) heading to the Ryder Cup. For the Euros I’m particularly excited by the idea of both Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg heading to Bethpage in good form — they were a blast to watch last time around. Just not to play against…

I suspect it's more important that they played, rather than how they played.  Though it can't hurt for the young-uns to play well with our eyes on them.

Did the last week change your opinion on the Ryder Cup outcome two weeks from now?

Melton: Not even a little bit.

Bastable: Right. At this point, nothing short of Scottie Scheffler getting the shanks can change my opinion of how the week is going to unfold: tense slug fest until final singles match.

Dethier: Nah, whether it’s a sleepy week in wine country or one of the DP World Tour’s biggest events, it just doesn’t compare to what’ll await at Bethpage. The only thing that made me think twice: Ben Griffin’s missed putt on 18. Whether that was good experience putting under the gun or a sign of sketchiness to come? That remains to be seen.

Since I suspect that Griffin will have his mornings free, I won't overly obsess over that last bit.

Geoff has this upbeat take on the home team:

Only Xander Schauffele (new father), Bryson DeChambeau (not eligible to play), and vice captain Kevin Kisner (who knows/cares) were not in Napa for the Procore Championship won by Scottie Scheffler.

Last week’s unprecedented step of asking the Americans to schedule a pre-match start for the purpose of remaining sharp appears to have been a wild success. The entire USA team made the Procore cut while three Ryder rookies secured top 10 finishes (Ben Griffin, J.J. Spaun, Cameron Young.)

Stories have emerged from Silverado of lively practice rounds, continued praise for Keegan Bradley choosing to captain (when he could have easily picked himself), with claims of unprecedented unity thrown in. The captain was out watching golf instead of grinding on his own game. Unheard of stuff in the megalomaniacal world of American golf.

Even more remarkable: everyone believes the claims of unity this time around. Always helps to not have the likes of Mickelson and Reed around to mess things up.

Fair enough with that last bit, but that terrific penis filled Phil and PReeds big shoes last time, so until I see a hat on his head....

But if this doesn't make you laugh.....

Whatever heckling European players might face at the Ryder Cup in New York could be what they already have heard before, all because of virtual reality headsets that Rory McIlroy says can be adjusted to hear the harshest abuse.

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has said his European team will be prepared for the noise at Bethpage Black, the public course with the reputation for having among the rowdiest and at times obnoxious golf fans.

McIlroy told reporters after the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday that Donald handed players the VR equipment on Tuesday night after a team gathering. It allows players to visualize the course while adjusting the noise -- and insults -- from outside the ropes.

"It is just to simulate the sights and sounds and noise," McIlroy said. "That's the stuff that we are going to have to deal with. So it's better to try to desensitize yourself as much as possible before you get in there. You can get them to say whatever you want them to say.

"So you can go as close to the bone as you like."

And yet, Sergio still wanted another go with those fans.

Not a bad idea, though perhaps one I might not have shot my mouth off about, not that Rory and message control are acquainted.  Of course, with the ticket prices  set at "Gouge", we're not sure the ragers can even get in the door.

One last bit, and here I'm perhaps a little late to the party:

The 5 elements of a great match-play course

Assessing Cypress Point and Bethpage Black ahead of the Walker

and Ryder Cups

It's not like I had any worries about Cypress Point delivering the goods, but Bethpage?  And not the most promising start to the analysis:

LENGTH

Bethpage rates highly in this regard demanding length and precision with three par 4s measuring more than 500 yards (not counting the 484-yard 15th, the hardest hole in each of the three previous majors) and fairways that dogleg and pinch in landing zones. In fact, the Black combines the difficult driving aspects of the two previous European host clubs on which the U.S. team struggled: Le Golf National in France, where the narrow fairways demanded pure accuracy, and Marco Simone in Italy, which presented opportunities for power players to cut corners and aggressively shape big carries.

Length is the last thing I'd care about, but it does tee up some more gratuitous Task Force bashing.  Their big takeaway from Medinah is that home game Ryder Cups should be set up to be birdie-fests, which seems an awkward fit with the Black, no?

ADJUSTABILITY

The ability to keep players off balance hole to hole and day to day is essential to great match-play courses. Length adjustment through tee-marker placement introduces a range of landing zones, putting added emphasis on adaptation and decision-making. Part of the head-to-head calculus is selecting the correct club based on the standing of the match and what the opponent has just done—the wider the range of targets, the tougher the choices.

Adjustable setups also factor heavily in foursomes, where teammates alternate shots. Setups that irregularly alternate between very long and shorter holes require strategic forethought into pairings and the order of who hits the tee shots. If courses can mix these combinations up daily, the pairings become a puzzle.

Not sure we need the above, but you won't be surprised here: 

Because of the tee-box limitations at Bethpage, that course has less flexibility—its holes are designed to be long and difficult. The par 5s, Nos. 4 and 13, need to be as lengthy and challenging as they can be, but an intriguing option would be to move the markers as far forward as possible at holes like two and, especially, 18 to try to temp players into going for the green with carries of around 315 to 325 yards.

It only has the one setting....

GREAT GREENS

Putting is as important a component to winning holes as driving and iron play. It follows that great match-play courses should possess fascinating, challenging green contours. The only way to truly test the putting acumen of the best players is through a world-class set of rolling or sloping greens like at Augusta National or Oakmont, where two-putting can put as much strain on the psyche as hitting narrow fairways.

I've got bad news for you here, Tillie died before they shaped the greens....

Of all the courses in Golf Digest’s top 50, Bethpage (No. 38) likely has the least distinguished set of greens. Though tilted and not particularly large, they generally don’t possess significant internal contour (the 15th and 17th are exceptions) and offer as much pinnable area as any American major championship course. When players keep their approaches below the hole, they’ll face mostly straightforward, makeable putts.

That at least conforms to the wishes of the Ryder Cup Task Force....

AN INTIMIDATING START

Ryder Cup and Walker Cup players are already intensely nervous teeing off on the first hole of their matches, but the intimidation factor intensifies when the opening hole is a brute. Stadium seating surrounding the tee during the Ryder Cup dials up the pressure even more. Bethpage’s first hole certainly qualifies as intimidating as hitting the dogleg-right fairway from the elevated tee is a must—no one wants to begin a match playing out of the Black’s deep rough.

I don't think the opener is all that penal, though it might induce aggressive plays off the tee in fourballs.  

But this is a repudiation of our Task Force:

PENAL LATE

As fun as it is to see players and teams exchange birdies or even eagles, they should be asked to physically and emotionally handle the stress of power holes late in the round. The best match-play courses have plenty of tantalizing half-par holes that test calculated aggression, but they should also possess difficult, penal holes that occur in the heart of the second nine when the tension is highest and matches are often won or lost.

For the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow, the PGA Tour adjusted the diabolical sequence of holes known as the Green Mile—holes 16, 17 and 18—so that they fell in the middle of the second nine to ensure the majority of groups would face them before matches were closed out. Bethpage needs no adjustment. Its 17th and 18th pose their own challenges, but they pale compared to the strain of the gauntlet of par 4s at 12, 15 and 16 sandwiched around the 13th, a tight 608-yard par 5. These holes have no problem extracting strokes and will provide a reckoning for many of the matches.

Just look at how Brooksie finished off that 2019 PGA, and you'll know we could see a Bataan death March as they come home.  But they've widened fairways and I'm sure they'll make it play  as easy as the Black can play for the big boys.

But, as good as it is, it just doesn't whisper "Match Play" in our ears.  It's just backbreaking hole after backbreaking hole, with none that make you ponder what the guys will do in  the different formats.  The course offers the hardest fairways to find in golf, so I expect the Ryder Cup to be about who can find the short grass.  And we know how that suited the U.S. in Paris and Rome....

Further Walker Cup Thoughts - Geoff just refuses to let go of his Cypress Point musings, and we thank him for that:

What The 50th Walker Cup Reinforced

Things we learned from the matches at Cypress Point.

Some is fairly obvious:

The yutes are smart. Gen Z’s finest took conservative approaches to several holes and often stuck with low-risk game plans. The format and team setting drove many of the decisions. It also never hurts to be able to hit an 8-iron from 178 instead of a 5-iron. But the 50th Walker Cup suggested that the next generation may be less inclined to bomb-and-gouge than the M’s. Maybe.

Golfers still can come in all shapes and sizes. If someone tries to tell you a golfer must be a certain height or build to reach an elite level, just point them to the 2025 Walker Cup team photos. The longest hitter at Cypress Point might have been the most height-challenged of the 20.

The key to that first bit is that the USGA put them on a golf course that gave them options.  That will be sorely missing in a couple of weeks.

Match play and big stages. It remains the edgiest and most compelling form of the sport. Attempts to create something “better,” more coveted-demo friendly, and or more “modern” never work. Match play creates intrigue without even trying, and in the silliest little ways. As with tennis, the tiniest mind games, petty grievances, passive-aggressive looks, annoying halves, and occasional refusal to concede a putt get magnified. Watching such competition from the fairways only heightens everyone’s appreciation for the quality of play and match dynamics.

But, isn't what Geoff is really extolling team match play.  We have to acknowledge that individual match play events are tough sledding....  Of course we should have one, but it's team match play that really rocks.

As for that big stage, Amen, Brother.  The USGA obviously has far greater options with the lower-profile Walker Cup, but the USGA has hit it out of the park with its venue choices.

This might draw some incoming:

Cypress Point has the best 18 holes ever intentionally created, and (right now) it’s not close.

Sorry, fine members of Pine Valley, but you’ve been too busy scratching backs to notice how things have been allowed to slide. Learn from CPC. Thanks to the gradual restoration efforts of the original 1928 design by Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter, there are no dull moments or nonsensical add-ons, missing bunkers, dated looks, or holes easily forgotten. The course is not excessively long or difficult and violates too many “rules” of design to list. Even with the ball flying absurd distances and very little wind, the Walker Cup’s firm, fast conditions and sound setup accentuated nearly all of the best features. Some of the extremes in green speed might have had the architects distancing themselves from the proceedings if not for the ball going too far and the course requiring some way of fighting back. The best amateurs in the world were asked to be precise with mostly approach wedge shots if they wanted a good birdie look instead of a stressful two-putt. The best fine line examples were found at subtle greens like the third, fifth, 13th, 14th, and 17th. Only one hole—No. 6—was negatively impacted by 21st Century fairway and green speeds.

It's the friggin' Sistine Chapel, so Duh!  But it's also sobering  to realize that Mackenzie was Marion Hollins' second choice....

You don’t need USGA greens and monochromatic turf to have dreamy conditions. Cypress Point does not have the modern substructure and therefore had retained nearly all of its original contours. Regaining shapes lost to time, mowing and flying sand would be much simpler as a result. The turf features too many varietals to mention, and while it benefits from generally light cart traffic, the many strains also show that mottled coloring and inconsistency can be elegant.

The ball goes too far and straight. Still. And will continue to past 2028. Worse, barring gale force winds, the thought of “flighting” a tee shot appears no longer necessary.

The Pacific Ocean certainly doesn't hurt....

But, while I'm going to read it along with you, I'm guessing that last 'graph will figure in this:

Preview: The 2068 Walker Cup

The matches turn up at Cypress Point and look different in a few ways since the 50th playing.

It's not bad enough that the USGA has announced a Walker Cup at Pine Valley outside my life expectancy, but Geoff needs to pile on with a return to CPC.

Captain Mason Howell greeted his 2068 Walker Cup squad at Cypress Point after each American player landed on the 16th fairway in red-white-and-blue adorned Robopods. But since each player—but 77-year-old mid-amateur Stewart Hagestad—is not yet of flying age, agents or managers for the 11 and 12-year-olds handled the flying to prevent a John Denver (too soon?).

Howell, the 61-year-old winner of three Masters tournaments who earned $1.2 billion on the PGA Tour, recently regained his amateur status after a longer-than-normal 3-week wait. He will lead his team against a Luke Poulter-helmed GB&I squad that arrived via the fully-electric, tiltrotor-equipped Concorde following stops in Florida and Arizona, where they picked up players stationed at Excel’s Aspiring Golfer Training Facilities. The Concorde carrying the 10-boy team landed at a nearby heliport before a short Robobus flight to the clubhouse.

In the pre-match press conference, Howell and Poulter reminisced about the 2025 matches won 17-9 by the USA.

“Remember how we used to look into a device for distances?” Howell laughed.

Players this week have been instructed to turn off brain chip inclinometers that send yardages to their Apple VisionPro contacts. Any player detected by the robot referees to be using slope-adjusted distances will face disqualification.

“That was top priority in the Captain’s Agreement,” said Poulter, who also revealed his 92-year-old father will be at the matches and serving as a spry, unofficial assistant. Ian Poulter is enjoying the benefits of successful Longevity Escape Velocity treatments that saw him recently win a Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia Tour stop at Crown Prince Wentworth.

Lots of playful shivs to be found within, but what is this 16th fairway he speaks of?

Longevity treatments were ruled conforming in 2059 under the USGA/R&A/PGA Tour of America/Augusta National Rules of Golf ©. The MRNA infusions allowed Hagestad to make his 12th Walker Cup team this week. He said he can once again remember details of his Cup-retaining putt in 2025. That’s no small feat for someone who has played 41 matches and is USA’s all-time points leader.

“Six years ago I could barely remember who I played, but it’s all come back like it was yesterday,” Hagestad said of the matches 43 years prior.

Poulter’s group of 11 and 12-year-olds will be looking to give GB&I a win for just the third time on U.S. soil. Even after several format tweaks designed to make the matches more competitive—while resisting calls to add other European nations— GB&I still has just two “away” wins.

“It’s tough these days to find ten quality players in their early teens since so many are turning professional before they leave the hospital,” Poulter said of the PGA Tour rule requiring an at-birth loyalty pledge or else face a suspension when the time comes to earn their keep.

Howell and Poulter also reminisced about the joys of playing in front of human beings who will not be present for Cypress Point’s third Walker Cup.

So, just like the Covid year?

You knew there would be distance jabs:

As for the golf course, the USGA lowered par on every hole since the last time matches were held at Cypress Point. Back then, par was 70 after the fifth and tenth holes were changed from par-5s to par-4s.

“We thought it was wild when they changed the par on those two holes, but now look,” said Poulter of the par-49 test that’s still played at 72 by Cypress Point members and guests using secret stashes of retro equipment. The odd state of affairs came about after successful lobbying by manufacturers led to President Donald Trump signing the “Distance Made (Mostly) In America” Executive Order on his way out of office. The order declared it illegal for any golfer to be in possession of pre-2028 golf equipment. While law enforcement has declined to enforce the order for decades and the Tiger Woods Persimmon Tour has continued on thanks to a special exemption, the Walker Cup will play the latest equipment to protect player contracts with manufacturers.

Maybe a bit too far out there to capture our fancy.....  But, yeah, the ball goes too damn far.  

I like the Tiger bit, though perhaps I shouldn't obsess over a Persimmon Tour that allows the players to use buggies?   

That will have to sate you for today.  We'll visit frequently between now and the 26th.  Have a great week.

Thursday Themes - Calm Before The Storm Edition

You'll not expect much from me this week, as I husband my strength for the coming deluge....  So, a few of those random musings and I'll let you get on with your day.

The Walker Cup Reimagined - It's such a great event and a welcome respite from the overwrought drama later this month that it seem ungentlemanly to harp on a few nits.  But harp Geoff does:

A Few Ways The Walker Cup Could Improve

Two automatic spots from continental Europe, Friday four-balls, and other tweaks would in no way undermine the purpose of the biennial matches.

I know. Picky. Picky. Picky.

The 50th match delivered a spectacular success as both a competition and a captivating visual spectacle.

Who would dare dampen the mood by going straight to quibbles less than 48 hours after the last putt dropped? Guilty as charged.

These suggestions are not new ideas to the organizers, who have probably kicked a few of them around. Many have been inspired by questions posed to the organizers. Maybe to the point of modest annoyance that engenders the dreaded shaking head before the question is even finished. Apologies in advance.

Or, yanno, just go to Cypress Point every two years, and not much else would matter. 

OK, maybe that required a spoiler alert, but you know his lede:

Include all of Europe, with a nod to the match origin.

Before the Harris Tweed Society of Greater Fife types start clutching their Saint Andrew saltires and hurling empty Scotch glasses at Freddie Tait and Nails’ portrait, remember this: the Walker Cup was established to stimulate interest in golf via spirited competition on both sides of the Atlantic, all while engendering international friendship and understanding between the USGA and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

As Gordon Simmonds reminds us in Golf’s Finest Contest, “When the matches for the Walker Cup began, the Treaty of Versailles was only three years old, the rebuilding of a war-torn Europe was underway, heavily reliant upon the economic support of a booming America, and the game of golf in Britain and America was predominantly the preserve of the educated and/or well-to-do.”

Okay, some things haven’t changed.

But a great deal has occurred since the first official match in 1922. Heck, the Royal and Ancient even finally budged on Welsh golfers when it suited them. Like the Johnsons of Rock Ridge eventually caving and taking in the Irish, it would be a natural evolution of the matches to make golfers from all of continental Europe eligible. Just as the Ryder Cup has benefited from expansion, so would the Walker Cup. In modest fashion.

Just as both sides have agreed to rely on the World Amateur Golf Ranking to select teams—another argument for another day—and just as each side selects one mid-amateur in an understanding that has worked out well, the time has come to inspire golfers from all over the continent. Perhaps there would be two automatic spots from GB&I and another two from Europe, leaving six Captain’s selections. Going by the latest WAGR, this would have put Filip Jakubcik (Czech Republic) and Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson (Iceland) on the team. Michael Alexander Mjaaseth (Norway) and Tim Wiedemeyer (Germany) might have made the team as picks. The rest of the roster probably would have been made up of worthy GB&I players based on the current ranking. The matches still would have been spectacular and certainly more of an international gathering.

Oh, and control of the competition and venue selection can also remain relegated to Great Britain and Ireland. That should keep the Royal clubs happy.

Are those clubs happy to land Walker Cups?  The members already cede a healthy portion of their tee sheet to visitors, do they love shutting their clubs down for a fortnight?   Or is it something they put up with in the hopes of ascending the Rota?

I'm not sure I get the case for automatic picks allocated to continental Europe.  If the picks are required to achieve the representation, doesn't that just dilute the team's talent base?  Europe can only buttress GB&I to the extent it's not a DEI program.

Making the event more competitive will inevitably dwarf other suggestions in terms of importance, as you'll notice a pretty sharp drop-off in anticipated sizzle

Publish a dedicated points list more prominently and hold Captain press conferences to announce the selections.

The Walker Cup does not need to become the Ryder Cup or within shouting distance of its

bombast and spats. But the Walker Cup does need more attention leading up to the matches in order to build anticipation and basic awareness. I was staggered by how many serious golf fans did not know the matches were this year, despite the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see high-level golf at Cypress Point featuring one player who was regularly contending in PGA Tour events this summer (Jackson Koivun). He has remained an amateur (whatever that is these days) to play the Walker Cup, the Masters (if he gets a McCormick medal-inspired invite), and to contend for another NCAA Championship. I get that the logoed-crest jacket crowd wants to keep the event to themselves (made clear to the plebeians by Friday’s strange flex sending ticketholders at 1 p.m. while practice was still taking place on the course).

The world has changed. We know from the Masters and Ryder Cup that a gradual “race” to qualify is as much a nice thing to track as it is a classic marketing tool to build interest. A dedicated points list updated regularly, followed by a Captain's press conference to explain the selections made by each side, does not seem like a big ask.

The shock is that Geoff penned two full 'graphs on this subject, yet CTRL:F: Sam Burns Yields zero results.

Let me first say that this seems an obviously reasonable suggestion that can't possibly hurt the process.  That said, a Walker Cup points list would get zero ink, although there's a far better reason for publishing it.

What Geoff doesn't share is that the USGA has not been merely opaque in their selections, they've seemingly gone out of their way to leave deserving players off the squad.  This is no small issue, as U.S. amateur golf has undergone a fairly substantive change, the NCAA Championships have been ascendant and the U.S. Amateur somewhat diminished.  Much of this comes from the PGA Tour, whereby the kids are ill-served hanging around until August for the Am.

You can read the Burns story here:

Somehow the college player of the year was left off the U.S. Walker Cup team and it has a lot of people upset

After winning the Jack Nicklaus Award as the Division I college player of the year in June, Sam Burns did what a lot of talented collegiate golfers do: He announced he would not be returning to

school for his junior year at LSU this fall, but instead would turn pro. However, the 21-year-old from Shreveport, La., has one more accomplishment he wanted to achieve before making the formal jump: play for the U.S. team in the Walker Cup. So he announced he wouldn't be turning pro until the end of the summer, hoping that his impressive college resume would be enough for him to make squad.

Turns out the wait was for naught as Burns’ name was not among the 10 listed Sunday night when the USGA unveiled the 2017 U.S. team at the conclusion of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Of course every year there are going to be players with solid pedigrees who just miss out on the squad. But the case of Burns might have a lingering impact on the U.S. Walker Cup teams down the road. By waiting the entire summer to see if he’d get picked, Burns passed up trying to play in any PGA Tour or Web.com Tour events on sponsor’s exemptions in hopes of winning enough money to grab a card for 2018 on either tour. Essentially Burns lost a year on his pro career by waiting the two-plus months to try and make the U.S. Walker Cup team.

First, a seemingly obvious point, that this isn't about Sam Burns,  Rather, it's about all the kids that come after Burns and see how the USGA treated him....  Even if you don't think it was personal, the kids will understand that the USGA cannot be relied upon to  pick the obvious candidates.  The Tour has added at least a year of indentured servitude on the Korn Ferry Tour, do we think the youngsters will want add another year wasted as per Sam Burns?

Am I the only one that sees linkage between Geoff's two suggestions.  The USGA seems to revel in their control of the young players, and there's no blowback because it never costs the U.S. a Cup.  I'm not sure the USGA is motivated to make the event more competitive, because they're not accustomed to ever losing.

None of us even knew this was an issue:

Enough with the home team’s early arrival.

The teams convened on the Friday prior to the matches. The United States, which did not have to travel from overseas, appeared to have done all of its prep work by Thursday and was bouncing off the walls by the time crowds arrived. They were understandably less enthused about playing many holes on Friday ahead of a busy weekend featuring four sessions in two days. The GB&I team took Tuesday off in an attempt to peak by the weekend. Thankfully, they played more holes than expected and gave the fans in attendance on Friday something to watch before being asked to leave. On Friday morning, the USA teed off as a ceremonial tensome, played a few holes, then weirdly went over to the ocean holes to play those under the watchful eye of former President George W. Bush. Would they have played any holes Friday if not for the presence of a former President, whose great-grandfather donated the trophy (as 43 joked in his speech)? Probably not. They can roll into Bandon Dunes on Sunday in September, 2028.

Not sure I'll get worked over that, although clearing the golf course midday on Friday seems unnecessary.

Geoff has one last suggestion, though only this header is available before his paywall:

Four-ball Friday.

An odd sign, given the absence of four-ball play in the 50th Walker Cup.

I was wondering whether Geoff would go there, especially since Geoff is well aware that fourball play in the Ryder Cup now verges on the unwatchable.  But the bigger issue is that this is an amateur exhibition match, does it need and/or should it be a grueling three-day event.  Seems to this observer that we should keep this to just the weekend.  No one watches even then, so how do we justify making it bigger?

Blessed Quietude - Eamon tackles the Tour's existential Fall issues, though not sure we're in agreement on the objectives, much less the solutions:

Lynch: As the PGA Tour kicks off its quiet season, it has to figure out how to make noise now

Do we need twelve months of noise?  Or is that perhaps how we got into this mess in the first place?

The Procore Championship, which begins the seven-stop FedEx Cup Fall this week, is the exception that proves the rule—the exception being that the presence of 10 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team adds reputational heft to the field, while the rule is that this stretch on the PGA Tour schedule usually boasts all the star power of a county fair hootenanny.

Last year, the California kick-off drew not a single player who might accurately be described as a boon for viewership and things weren’t much better at the other seven stops (Las Vegas is no longer part of the line-up). A few top guys competed at the Zozo Championship in Japan and Ludvig Aberg defended at the RSM Classic. Otherwise, Scottie Scheffler was on his couch and the European stars had decamped to play over yonder.

None of which much recommends the PGA Tour product after Labor Day and before the Super Bowl, and highlights the need for both a domestic rebrand and a global rethink.

Or, yanno, we can just ignore it.....

The Fall tournaments—whether positioned at the start of a wrap-around season or as an addendum to a calendar-year schedule—are relics of a time when the Tour focused on creating playing opportunities for its members, regardless of actual fan interest in seeing those particular members. Tomorrow’s Tour is obviously intent on building the business around popular superstars, which renders this portion of the schedule unfit for purpose. But should it be retired or recast?

Which would be great if the sport involved weren't, yanno golf.  Because, if golf is only about those twenty guys, where do the future stars come from?  That's why I'm so down on Tiger and Rory, amongst others, because this focus on only the handful of players is contrary to the nature of our game and quite destructive in the long term.

There is something at stake in the next seven events, though not for those who secured status for ’26 by finishing top 50 in the FedEx Cup. They’ve no incentive to play, save for sponsor obligations, boredom or marital discord at home. Those who end up in the AON Next 10 (positions 51-60) earn a berth in two early season Signature tournaments, a category Aberg and Maverick McNealy have used to great effect. And with only 100 fully exempt cards available, versus 125 previously, there’s no shortage of guys who will be competing under intense pressure for the next two months.

But that’s part of the problem with how the FedEx Cup Fall is marketed. Hey, come watch guys who had mediocre seasons jockey for a chance at a less mediocre season next year!

This is just so misguided and I'm a little surprised to hear Eamon seemingly buying in.  The Tour should be focused on playing opportunities, not that the Fall hasn't always seemed to be more logically Korn Ferry territory. 

But watching players fight for their professional status is the essence of our game and is actually great theater.  I'm not suggesting that it will ever draw big viewership or be able to go tore-to-toe with the NFL, but why are we dismissing it out of hand?  It's a lot purer to this observer than the made-for-TV signature events, which go out of their way to deny playing opportunities and protect those top tweenty players from actual competitive threats.

Here I think Eamon does better:

We’ve seen terrific stories emerge from Fall events, none better than Erik van Rooyen winning in Mexico under the weight of a close friend’s imminent death, plus breakout victories by McNealy and Aberg, and the comeback of Camilo Villegas. But crossing fingers for feel-good leaderboards isn’t enough for tournaments that need to better justify their existence. It demands a compelling narrative framework to juice fan interest.

It should be simplified as a stand-alone stretch. Let the 70 who qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs have their status and manufacture a hunger games-style battle for the last 30 cards. Dispense with presenting things in relation to a season-long points race that concluded months earlier, because when the Tour encourages fans to root for someone to finish 51st or 100th, it’s admitting they’re selling chaff. But fans might engage with a tussle for 30th place if 31st means unemployment. That subtle shift can change the perception of scavengers fighting for crumbs to one of hopefuls scrambling for seats at the banquet.

This window can be additive to the PGA Tour, but right now it’s awfully close to being dilutive. That’s a bad place to be when the new CEO, Brian Rolapp, and his investors at Strategic Sports Group are bent on streamlining the product according to business merits, not legacy attachments or satisfaction surveys in the locker room.

The Fall should be for the non-elites for sure, but perhaps we don't need to make the big money events such tiny fields?   They try to convince us that we don't want to see the no-names, but it's pretty damn exciting when the no-names take down the boldface crowd, no?  Which is exactly why they need to be kept out of such events.

I did warn you that today might be a little light.  I need to dive in on a few things and will expect to be back on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

Weekend Wrap - Walker Cup Nailbiter Edition

OK, I for one watched way too much sports this weekend....not least the above-referenced visit to Cypress Point Club.  Do we think anyone from AT&T tuned in and maybe had a thought as to how to improve their event?  I mean, Signature status is all well and good, though I can think of something that might draw more viewers than Patrick Cantlay.  I think we can all agree that Jack knows best:

"Pebble Beach and Cypress Point make you want to play... Spyglass Hill—that's different; that makes you want to go fishing"

Or watch football.

Cypress Point's Close-Up -  I didn't notice a single wrinkle or any crows feet, did you?  Dubbed by Sandy Tatum as the "Sistine Chapel of Golf", it looked sublime and perhaps played even better, as the ball had plenty of release and the youngsters proved quite adept at using the contours to their advantage.

Geoff has had daily posts from on site, so over to him for the lede:

The fog rolled in, and out went Great Britain & Ireland's dreams of pulling off an upset on American soil.

As brilliant sunshine gave way to more typical Cypress Point weather, the United States began revving up its traditional Sunday singles brilliance. By pulling away down the stretch in five of the first six matches while securing another half-point in a feisty battle of 18-year-old bucks Mason Howell and Connor Graham, the United States prevailed 17 to 9 in the 50th Walker Cup.

The matches were much closer than the final eight-point differential suggests. Only 90 minutes prior to the clincher, USA held narrow leads in seven matches with only a pair of the leads better than 1UP. And those two matches stood at a mere 2UP.

Geoff is being kind, as the U.S. rout in singles has become inevitable.  When I turned on Golf Channel before the coverage window, those 1 Up leads were already achieved.  yes, they were only 1 or 2 Up, but they all went the same direction, to wit, red (even though the U.S. was in blue on Sunday).

This is a wonderful event that's played its own unique role in golf history, although perhaps slightly less so in modern times.  Back in the day it was huge, older and far more important in many ways than the more famous Ryder Cup.  For instance, without the Walker Cup, Bobby Jones may not have even been able to dream of his Impregnable Quadrilateral, as he needed the USGA to pay his travel expenses to the 1930 Walker Cup at Royal St. Georges in order to be there for the Amateur at St. Andrews and the Open Championship at Hoylake.

But the one aspect we can't sweep under the rug is the competitiveness of the event, as the U.S. simply dominates against an outmanned GB&I team.  The obvious answer would be to channel that Nicklaus guy and add continental Europe to GB&I as was done in the professional event, although your humble blogger would miss the GB&I designation.  

Back to Geoff:

“I'm just blown away,” said USA captain Nathan Smith. “They showed up all weekend, in both singles matches in the afternoon, and I don't know if I've ever seen a Walker Cup team bring it like they did this afternoon in singles.”

The United States won 8.5 of the 10 points available in the final of four sessions. The Americans’ ability to read Cypress Point’s poa annua greens—they’d played the course nearly ten times since convening over a week prior—led to several huge makes and those definitive, slightly excessive celebrations that have come to define team USA while holding GB&I back from a third win on U.S. soil.

“We fought hard,” said GB&I Captain Dean Robertson. “Our foursomes performances were exceptional. But for a few putts, I think the big difference for us is we need to be better putters.

“But Nathan's team, big congratulations to them. They've played fantastic.”

Historians wanting to know how this election was called: Stewart Hagestad’s 4&3 win over Elliot Baker assured the Americans no worse than a cup-retaining tie. A few minutes later, Preston Stout’s 2&1 win over Luke Poulter ensured a victorious Sunday at Cypress Point.

That photo gives a sense of the marine layer that moved in Sunday afternoon, making the iconic 16th hole a blind shot....literally.

The old guy rocks:

Hagestad’s clinching of the Cup’s retention adds to the four-time winner’s incredible resume and

his inevitable first ballot status as a Cup legend in an era when teams are comprised largely of acne-prone types. The southern California native and “mid-amateur” great works as a broker for BDT & MSD Partners who gave him the time off to go 2-1. A pair of dominant victories in singles—7&5 and 4&3—moved his all-time record to 7-1 in singles play. Hagestad joins Charlie Coe at 10th on all-time points with eight.

It's a gift to GB&I to allocate a slot to a Mid-Am, although that record argues otherwise.  But who doesn't love a Charlie Coe callout?  If Jay Sigel wasn't the greatest amateur ever, then it was Charlie Coe, who won the 1958 U.S. Amateur and made it back to the 36 hole final in 1959 at the Broadmoor, only to meet up with this Nicklaus kid.  Jack always said that beating Charlie Coe was the most important step in his golf evolution, confirming that he could hang with the best.  That 1959 Amateur win got jack into the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, and if he thought competing with Charlie Coe was cool, what must he have thought of his final 36-hole pairing at that Open?

 I agree with Geoff that any lingering hope was largely extinguished by that key foursomes turnaround:

Great Britain & Ireland missed a monumental chance to make the Americans a bit more squeamish heading into Singles. Foursomes kicked off with an opening rematch featuring Connor Graham and Tyler Weaver facing off against Jackson Koivun and Tommy Morrison. The visiting team led from the ninth to 16th holes before losing the last two holes, allowing USA to enjoy a one-point lead over lunch instead of trailing by a point.

That was really quite the shame, because they had beaten that top U.S. team on Saturday and had things their way most of Sunday morning, only to drop-kick it into the Pacific.  But Geoff also had this curious bit, frustrating the last 'graph before ducking behind a paywall:

The morning foursomes also featured the week’s best hole-out and the weekend’s only sportsmanship embarrassment in a brilliant display befitting of the event’s heritage.

Hmmm, maybe I should have popped for access to Geoff's full posts?  I did see one of the GB&I players, possibly Connor Graham, kind of lose it after a bad drive on the quirky (Hey, I used a nice word) 18th hole, and then do exactly the same in singles.  Seems there were likely some F-bombs  and the like, not the best look for sure, although we do understand the pressure they put on themselves.  

However, to the extent that we're down on Connor Howell for his reaction to his tee shot on No. 18, let me add that I very much liked how he handled things on the 18th green in singles.  He had frustratingly missed his par putt for a chance to win the match, then Mason Howell missed his downhill par putt, which trickled 3-4 feet by.  He had every right to see it, but with the outcome no longer in doubt he graciously conceded Howell's putt.  It's not exactly Nicklaus-Jacklin, but a nice moment that Notah Begay noted on the broadcast.

The best news is that, thanks to Covid, we don't have to wait two years to do this again.  As you know, the USGA and R&A have been hitting it out of the park with venues.  I don't know how you top the last three (Seminole, The Old Course and Cypress Point), but this list doesn't suck:

2026 – Lahinch Golf Club (County Clare, Ireland)
2028 – Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
2030 – Prince's Golf Club (Sandwich, England)
2032 – Oakmont Country Club (Oakmont, Pennsylvania)
2036 – Chicago Golf Club (Wheaton, Illinois)[13]
2044 – Pine Valley Golf Club (Pine Valley, New Jersey)

Not a bad one to be found.  Chicago Golf Club is only the first 18-hole course built in the U.S., but Prince's might be the most surprising choice, having hosted the 1932 Open Championship.

But talk about a cruel streak.  The USGA decides to take a Walker Cup to Pine Valley, but they can't be bothered doing so during my life expectancy?  That earns a double middle-finger salute.

Lastly, this week's Tour Confidential panel took on this very issue:

Team USA won the Walker Cup on Sunday at Cypress Point Club, beating GB&I 17-9. While we got a chance to see several potential future stars, we also got a glimpse of Cypress Point, GOLF’s second-round course in the world. How important are venues for amateur events like this? And where else would you like to see a Walker Cup go?

Berhow: For all the regular PGA Tour events and majors that stop at venues that do little to excite the average fan, the Walker Cup gets it right. Old Course two years ago and Lahinch (look it up!) next year. These sites are important because they add juice to amateur events, which are often harder sells than pro events, and bring a little gravitas to an important two-day showdown that highlights some really stellar up-and-coming talent.

Schrock: Completely agree with Berhow. This is what it’s supposed to be about. Having this event at Cypress just added juice to one of the best golf events of the year, and the USGA/Walker Cup continues to do this the right way.

Zak: Would you be watching multiple YouTube videos about the creation of the course, the membership, the grounds crew, etc. if the Walker Cup was at … French Lick? Or Streamsong? Or even the Cypress-adjacent Spanish Bay? With ALL due respect to those lovely venues, they’re not Cypress, and they’re not close. And with all due respect to the amateurs in the field … they’re still just amateurs! Every golf event on TV needs some special combination between field, stakes and site — and this was as good as you can get for site. That helps push you past anything else that might be lacking. TL;DR: Venues for this event matter so, so much.

Yes, though it should be noted that the lower demands of the event, the footprint and the quality of the players, allow the organizations to go to interesting venues.  Though the amazing bit is they actually do so, which is undoubtedly a function of the lack of money in the event.  

Ryder Cup Catch-Up - I'm mostly skipping the clutching of pearls over Keegan's picks, but the TC gang had some follow up:

The Ryder Cup doesn’t start next week, although 21 of the 24 players competing in it will be teeing it up anyway. Eleven of the 12 members of the European Ryder Cup team are in the field at the BMW PGA Championship, while 10 of the 12 Americans will play the Procore Championship in Napa, Calif. Two years ago, only two U.S. Ryder Cup players competed in Napa and nine of the 12 had five weeks off between the Tour Championship and Ryder Cup, which was a move the Americans were heavily criticized for following their loss. How much does this week matter for the Ryder Cup? A little or a lot?

Josh Berhow: I think it matters! Now, you could argue the Americans didn’t participate in Napa back in 2021 and yet still cruised at Whistling Straits, but if the option is one or the other and I’m

the captain of this team, I’d elect to play. It’s good to get competitive juices going and I think the team-building aspect is important. A different conversation is the timing of the Ryder Cup and/or the Tour Championship, which makes the U.S. squad have to deal with this break.

Josh Schrock: It certainly doesn’t hurt. The U.S. players were obviously rusty in Rome, although I’m uncertain how much that had to do with the shellacking they took. Credit to Keegan Bradley for getting most of his team to buy in, and to Scottie Scheffler, who sets the tone as World No. 1 and is clearly bought into making sure the Americans are much sharper this time around. Will it matter? We’ll soon find out.

Sean Zak: I think it matters a lot, but not necessarily in the ways you’d expect. I think it matters that J.J Spaun feels like he’s teammates with Bryson DeChambeau. And that DeChambeau feels like a teammate of Scottie Scheffler. This time last year, those two were suddenly Crypto.com Showdown opponents, and not exactly amicable that week. DeChambeau will be in Napa for team-related activities, and I think that’s important. Just as Collin Morikawa needs to keep grinding on his putting and Harris English grinding on his … whole game. Everyone needs to feel more comfortable, and next week can really help.

It was nice of Phil to gift us that Ryder Cup Task Force™ in 2014, but I wonder how much extra it would have cost to arrange a competent task force?  If you go back to these pages from 2023, you would find musings about the U.S. teams potential rustiness, something I was apparently the only observer to anticipate.... Sheesh!

Luke Donald finalized his Ryder Cup team with six captain’s picks he made last Monday, and his roster consists of 11 of the 12 players who beat the U.S. in Rome. How much stock do you put in that experience?

Berhow: A lot, especially since it’s an away game for them. But what’s important here is that he didn’t reach for experience like what might have happened in years past with some of those long-time regulars. He’s got the 12 best players possible and I think there’s little debate about that, at least less debate than there is on the American side.

Schrock: Don’t see how you can’t put a lot of stock in it. Not only does he bring experience back, but its experience that isn’t past its prime. Team Europe knows how these guys play together and has a good feel for what pairings they want in what sessions. I think Josh made a good point in that Donald didn’t take experience for experience sake, but he took experience that is also still playing well and not past its prime as has been the case in the past (see: Europe, 2021).

Zak: It feels greatly important that Sepp Straka got his feet wet and Ludvig Aberg paired so well with Viktor Hovland and, well, that Matt Fitzpatrick felt whatever it feels like to deliver a match victory. It’s all important for feeling like you belong and not feeling the inverse — like you don’t belong. The Ryder Cup cauldron is different, and weird thoughts can arise.

As William Goldman famously said in another context, "Nobody knows anything."   I think Donald made the obvious choices, and we should just enjoy the bizarre circumstances in which the one guy not back is replaced with his identical twin.  To extend the Hollywood analogy, if you wrote that in a script it would be rejected as implausible....  Because it's the Ryder Cup and that Ulsterman will be there, please note that it's Hollywood, not Holywood.

One last bit:

At the Irish Open, Shane Lowry said he didn’t think the home Ryder Cup fans would be too tough on his European squad, saying: “We play week-in, week-out in America. We all live in America, or most of us do, anyway, and we have all got a lot of fans in America. … I don’t think they can turn on you that bad for one week.” You buy this?

Berhow: Oh no. No, no, no, no. It could get ugly. And it certainly won’t be tame. Ironically, this comment might not help matters, like in “Dazed and Confused” when Jodi Kramer told her friends to take it easy on her kid brother, Mitch Kramer, for the freshmen hazing. Jodi, you just made it worse!

Schrock: Oh, Shane. The American fans might love you at the artist formerly known as the Northern Trust, but things are not going to be friendly come the end of the month in Long Island.

Zak: Sorry, Shane. But you’re just wrong. Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm, to name just two, didn’t particularly love it when Americans were brutal to them at Whistling Straits. And that was in a mostly non-competitive Cup. If this thing is close — I’d like to think it will be — Lowry will not have many fans cheering for his ball-striking at Bethpage.

Yeah, methinks denial isn't just a river in Egypt.  I'm not in doubt or concerned about the crowd's rooting interest, I'm worried about far worse.  There's a piece of this that I think gets lost in the shuffle, to wit, that the inevitable boozed up crowd will not have much to watch.  In normal golf events play is pretty much continuous, but Friday and Saturday at a Ryder Cup is quite different.  Four lone groups in each session, but hours before, in between and after, with an open bar.  Hard to see what could go wrong.

I must get on with my day.  Have a great week and I'll get back to the keyboard as obligations permit.

Cup Mania - Part I: Cypress Dreams

The serious golf is well behind us, but there are two September weekends that should be circled on your calendar, with the first upon us.  While Ryder Cup venues have been mostly dreary affairs, the USGA and R&A have hit it out of the park, having alit at Seminole and the Old Course in recent years, and this week might just be the best venue yet.  At least the most photogenic....

Your humble blogger has personal history at Cypress Point, having played it twice in the Mesozoic Era (OK, technically the 1980s), ironically before I was a sufficiently avid golfer to understand what a lucky bastard I was.  Is it as good as they say?  That's an easy one, as it's far better than even its elevated reputation.  I usually tell folks that it's not only the best course they will never play, it's actually the best three courses they'll never play, as it's a sublime mash-up of parkland, dune and ocean-front holes, leaving only that finishing hole to ignore.

I'll lede with this hole-by-hole video of the course narrated by Condoleezza Rice, which is well worth 10:57 of your time.  Don't worry, I'll wait for you to finish before I move on.

Cypress Point has its own unique place in the history of our game, though the game has largely moved on from it to the game's detriment.  Cypress was the most interesting of the three historic Crosby Clambake venues, the scene for this iconic moment involving Jack Lemmon, Clint Eastwood and Peter Jacobson:

That time @JakeTrout once formed a human chain with Clint Eastwood and Jack Lemmon. He couldn't help Jack keep the ball out of the ocean! pic.twitter.com/nUsXj49sN8

— Golf Today (@GCGolfToday) January 19, 2021

Yeah, while we were micromanaging membership polices, the Tour replaced Cypress with Poppy Hills, a trade so one-sided I can only assume it was negotiated by Brian Cashman.

I'm going to lean heavily on Geoff here, but the history is pretty wild.  There's two aspects that I find most interesting, the first being that Saint Alister MacKenzie, who created one of the masterpieces of golf, was no better than second choice for the project.  Seth Raynor had the job but unfortunately passed away before his design made it past the planning stages.

The second fascinating occurrence is the confluence of Mackenzie, Bobby Jones and fate.  By way of background, Pebble Beach opened in 1919, but the original golf course was by all accounts a fairly unremarkable effort by two amateur designers.  Pebble's coming out party was the 1929 U.S. Amateur, before which Chandler Egan, a former Amateur Champion and silver-medalist at the 1904 Olympics, created what is now Pebble Beach, assisted behind the scenes by Alister Mackenzie (who had built Cypress Point and was finishing Pasatiempo further up the coast).

What I love most about history is its randomness, and in this case we have in spades.  Bobby Jones arrives for that 1929 Amateur at the height of his powers, you might remember that he had a pretty good 1930, but then golf intervened:

“It would’ve only been a natural connection for Bobby Jones to hire Donald Ross,” said Pinehurst historian Lee Pace.

When Jones went to Pebble Beach to compete in the 1929 U.S. Amateur, it was assumed that Ross would design Jones’ new course.

Fate intervened.

In the first round of match play, Jones faced the then-unheralded Johnny Goodman, a 19-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska. Goodman would go on to win the 1937 U.S. Amateur – and the 1933 U.S. Open, becoming the last amateur to do so – but it was his performance against Jones that would create a ripple effect throughout the game.

Goodman won the first three holes. Jones staged a furious rally, but Goodman hung on, 1 up.

Jones, presumed by many to make a deep run in the championship, had to wait several days before his scheduled return trip home. He spent his time on the Monterey Peninsula. He played Cypress Point, designed by Alister MacKenzie, then took part in an exhibition at nearby Pasatiempo, also designed by MacKenzie, who attended the event and talked with Jones throughout the round.

Somehow I've gotten this deed into things without mentioning Marion Hollins, who was the force behind Pasatiempo and Cypress.  There's a famous story that the architect said it was a shame that the carry to where the 16th green is was too daunting, and that Marion Hollins just dropped a golf ball and pulled off the shot, proving it playable.  What's interesting to me is that I had heard (assumed, perhaps) that the scene was with Mackenzie, although on a recent broadcast it was said that she hit that shot in front of Seth Raynor, not the Good Doctor.  One of those stories perhaps too good to fact check.... 

Geoff has a lot of Cypress coverage, beginning with this provocative post:

Could Anyone Have Designed A Masterpiece At Cypress Point?

Spoiler alert, here's his sub-head:

No way.

Followed by this:

 Hate to argue with Geoff, but I'm not sure you could screw up a course on that piece of land....

Since this year’s Walker Cup host site opened in 1928, collective wisdom has insisted that any old schmuck with a handicap lower than 36, at least one eye, and magazine panelist business card could have taken Marion Hollins’ marching orders, accommodated financial backer Samuel Morse’s demands, worked from Seth Raynor’s first routing, and proceeded to design something comparable to what Alister MacKenzie, Robert Hunter, and The American Golf Course Construction Company pulled off at Cypress Point.

Not a chance.

A century removed from the 1925 to 1930s golf architectural gold rush that saw the art enjoy an incredible five-year burst of American designs inspired by National Golf Links and Pine Valley, masterworks like Cypress Point employed innovative techniques and design lessons learned to propel the art forward. This resulted in seemingly uber-natural works that “looked like they’ve been there forever,” but with a lot going on under the hood. By employing new tools and driven by a desire to do right by the canvases they were handed, several architects produced sophisticated designs capable of exciting golfers for generations.

I love his take on what followed this Golden Age:

The Great Depression put a sad and far-too-damaging halt to the guiding spirit of that robust

period. One that in California alone saw the creation of Cypress Point, a radical overhaul of Pebble Beach, Riviera, Bel-Air, and Pasatiempo. Even more remarkable? All were real estate developments.

When course construction resumed after World War II, the approach to financing, building, and designing courses within similar development schemes emphasized a mass-production, hard-is-good approach that protected land devoted to home sales. Those pesky details that affect golf shots or the overall experience became way less important. Armed with mass earthmoving tools, any craftsmanship or devotion to building a seemingly natural course full of intrigue gave way to a depressing uniformity.

Trent Jones to the rec courtesy phone.  That's collaborator Robert Hunter with the Good Doctor during construction at Cypress Point.

Geoff throws some shade to Raynor:

MacKenzie was at the center of these driving forces when the Cypress Point project received the necessary support to finally break ground. He brought a different personality to the job than his predecessor, Raynor, who had a portfolio of incredible works and big-name backers in Hollins and H.J. Whigham. But as a non-golfer engineer, Raynor’s best work amounted to the music equivalent of an ingenious cover artist. Raynor took the basics of “template” holes, taught to him by C.B. Macdonald, and regularly put new twists on those wherever he went. Raynor took difficult sites and made most of them (sorry, Lido) functional. But he was not an artist nor a salesman of MacKenzie’s ability. He could not have pulled off what MacKenzie’s team accomplished.

As a golf course site, Cypress Point had the usual site quirks related to soil, irrigation, and weather. Several holes required manufacturing that remains indecipherable today. Microclimates and differences in soil forced decisions about what kind of embellishments should be made to bring out the best features and to never do aesthetic battle with the dunes, cypress, pines, and ocean front holes.

That’s a fancy way of saying that Cypress Point did not need an architect to come in, play his Redan, Double Plateau, and close out the encore with a Biarritz. Nor would his deep, straight-lined, grass-faced bunkers have worked on a site of such unusual beauty.

In hindsight, we really can't know how Raynor's Cypress Point would have come off, w2e just know that Mackenzie's was, well 17 holes of perfection followed by an uphill walk back to the clubhouse.

Like a trusty group of session players who can play anything or improvise when called upon, the American Golf Course Construction crew could adapt to the inevitable hiccups and last-minute pivots of a golf course construction project. The Cypress job involved big personalities, but at least they were looking to build the best holes possible while also protecting real estate and tourism interests. Marion Hollins was there to guide the overall project as a visionary golfer who also could welcome A-list visitors, push the artisans, and inspire confidence in potential members or lot buyers.

Cypress Point’s finished course featured a highly unorthodox routing. Before various design norms like par 72, returning nines, and other mysterious rules led to so many forgettable courses, this one violated every unwritten edict. Not many of the holes penciled in by Raynor made the final cut, nor should that matter. The West Coast Chapter of the Seth Raynor Marching and Chowder Society might disagree.*

That's the last 'graph before the paywall, so it's a hanging asterisk.  I excerpted it because of the routing comment, Cypress featuring for member play both back-to-back Par-5's, as well as back-to-back Par-3's (at least for member play).  

Geoff has lots of additional coverage, here focusing on the Par-5's:

Cypress Point's Three Left Turns

The par-3s are deservedly famous, but the par-5s are as great as any in the world. A look at three front nine holes that bend left and violate design rules in all the best ways imaginable.

 I'm listening:

Cypress Point features a trio of par-5s in a five-hole stretch. On a normal, non-Walker Cup day, there are four “three-shotters” in its first 10 holes.

Another twist: the fun comes early in the round. The second, fifth and sixth holes are all par-5s and each bends to the left.

Cue up the panelist points deduction for a distinct and concerning lack of shot value balance!

On a course full of design abnormalities, no rule-bender better encapsulates why every other plaid-clad, blueprint-ferrying, finger-pointing genius is only vying for a distant second in the Grade I Greatest Golf Architect Stakes.

The outside world is unlikely to see much of the action on Cypress Point’s first three par-5s during this week’s Walker Cup. Not to worry. You won’t miss seeing how the architect ingeniously designed them to play. The fifth (and tenth) have been reduced to par-4s on the Walker Cup scorecard—as if it matters in match play. Maybe the USGA setup team did this so historians will someday ask, “who let the equipment get so juiced that we drag the masterworks down to the crass level of worrying about one corporation’s bottom line and their VP’s second-home purchasing power, above the game?” Or something like that.

If you’re coming to the Walker Cup, shut out the silly approach distances and pay special attention to the front nine’s par-5s while imagining how they play for mere mortals. There are design lessons to be learned!

 Those TV windows are a real problem.

I think Geoff is onto something here:

As with the other par-5s at Cypress Point, it’s MacKenzie’s focus on the lay-up shot that makes the second holes so lively and timeless. Like his hickory-era counterparts George Thomas and A.W. Tillinghast, certain architects built surprisingly long holes but finished them off with lightly protected greens. This prompted them to put more thought and decision-making into the second shots of par-5s, whereas today’s design focuses largely on the shot going for a green in two.

I would only add that I think Pete Dye refocused the world on creating interesting lay-ups, after the misery of the Trent Jones era.

Geoff isn't afraid to stake out bold positions:

In Defense Of Cypress Point's 18th

The often-criticized finishing hole could play a pivotal role in the 50th Walker Cup.

Ok, Geoff, but the case seems to rest on matches being decided before reaching this hole:

An average of 9.5 matches have reached the 18th hole in the last six U.S. Walker Cups. Only six

contests came to Ocean Forest’s closer, while a whopping 13 of 26 matches made it to Seminole’s finishing hole four years ago.

During the 1981 Walker Cup matches at Cypress Point, eight of 24 matches reached a home hole that famously prompted Jimmy Demaret to label this year’s venue “the best 17-hole course in the world.”

There are hundreds of more impressive finishing holes than Cypress Point’s. It’s never helped by sitting just down the 17-Mile Drive from one of the very best at Pebble Beach. Other nearby closers at Monterey Peninsula CC’s Shore and Dunes, Spyglass Hill, Spanish Bay, and Pacific Grove are generally forgettable for similar reasons to Cypress Point: the architects needed to return golfers from the ocean-adjacent holes and back to clubhouses situated on higher ground.

But is the last hole for this year’s matches really as terrible as Demaret and plenty of others have implied? Or maybe just a letdown after the extraordinary journey that leads up to it?

Maybe there's a better case made behind the paywall?

Cypress Point’s 18th hole also receives harsher reviews than its neighbors because the rest of the course offers so much drama, jaw-dropping beauty, and thrilling shots to play. No other hole at CPC is as narrow or forces a layup off the tee. And the apathy toward No. 18 also prompts a question: does a finishing hole have to be a rousing, knockdown, drag-out extravaganza of thrills and spills to receive declarations of greatness?

Not every great symphony, concerto, pop album, or story ends with a bang. A good sandwich peaks early before reaching the crust where you’re missing those initial bites. Same goes for a muffin. It’s pretty much all downhill after the top half.

In traditional storytelling structures, the second act’s conclusion is where stuff goes down before the ending provides (sometimes) a satisfying resolution. And it’s not like Cypress Point’s 18th offers a peaceful and gentle fade to black. Two very good shots are required, even if you aren’t entirely sure how to get there.

Part of the problem lies in what comes immediately before the 18th. Golfers are coming off the world-famous 375-yard 17th, even though it's got its share of awkward qualities, thanks to the cypress in the way of most average golfers’ tee shots. That will not be an issue for the Walker Cuppers, who will power drives past them thanks to their relentless high-intensity interval training.

After the beauty of No. 17, Cypress Point’s home hole plays through a narrow thicket of old Monterey cypress. Some are now mere twisted trunks, prompting Lewis A. Lapham, the son of club founding member Roger who hit shots during construction for MacKenzie, to write how the cypress looked “like an alfresco exhibition of modern sculpture.”

Draw your own conclusions from the video at the top of the post, but the tee shot is as awkward as anything I've ever experienced on a golf course.   

I think Geoff is on far more solid ground in discussing Cypress Point's most famous hole:

MacKenzie's Careful Embrace Of Cypress Point's Legendary 16th

The most incredible one-shotter in golf will get a rare public showing during next week's Walker Cup. Its architect often sounded skeptical about Cypress Point's 16th working as a long par-3.

Do tell:

Alister MacKenzie never shied away from a hearty humblebrag. And the master architect was also no fan of losing golf balls to bodies of water.

At a time when hickories were still the stick of choice and balls were made of Malaysian tree gum, the vast majority of golfers couldn’t carry the ball 200 yards, leaving MacKenzie conflicted over what became a career-defining creation— Cypress Point’s par-3 16th—that most golfers would sacrifice a limb to tackle just once.

“Being a Scotsman, I am naturally opposed to undiluted water,” the designer of Cypress Point wrote. “The admixture of water with both highballs and hazards is an art depending to a great extent on the right time and the right place. My Scotch blood comes to the fore again in prejudicing me against any hazards which create the expense, annoyance and irritation of losing balls or even searching for them.”

When MacKenzie and Robert Hunter took over the Cypress Point design job following the passing of Seth Raynor, the decision had been inadvertently made to make the 16th hole a par-3 instead of a par-4.

The boss had made her feelings known.

Postcard with Alister MacKenzie on the tee (left), postcard of Cypress Point before golf (upper) and MacKenzie, Marion Hollins, H.J. Whigham and Robert Hunter during construction. (lower right)

What a thing!  To have built this golf hole when players were still sporting hickories is quite unbelievable.

“To give honor where it is due, I must say that, except for minor details in construction, I was in

no way responsible for the hole,” MacKenzie wrote. “It was largely due to the vision of Miss Marion Hollins [the driving force behind Cypress Point]. It was suggested to her by the late Seth Raynor that it was a pity the carry over the ocean was too long to enable a hole to be designed on this particular site. Miss Hollins said she did not think it was an impossible carry. She then teed up a ball and drove to the middle of the site for the suggested green.”

Long before cars and golf came along, the 16th hole site had become a tourist destination featured on postcards and visited by horse-drawn wagons. Taking away the destination for a private club meant the architects needed to get it right. Envisioning golf holes on the spot known as “Cypress Point” required little imagination. The former 17-Mile dirt path was dotted with grasslands and wildflowers just waiting to be converted to fairways. The real trick would be in finding the sweet spot for a tee.

In playing the hole way back when, I just hauled off and tried to cover the carry.  Amusingly, my first attempt almost made it, settling in the ice plants short of the green, but each subsequent effort came up shorter.  With a scorecard in your pocket you'd almost have top play out to the left towards that solitary tree, which felt quite awkward.

In a later post, Geoff gives us one of his characteristic by the numbers bits:

• 1928: Opened for play
• 2: Architects of record (Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter)
• 2: Consulting architects since 2014 (Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw)
• 70: Par for the Walker Cup (36-34)
• 72: Par at Cypress Point (37-35)
• 6,620: Walker Cup yardage (3,409-3,211)
• 73.1/141: Course rating and Slope
• 0: Sprinkler heads with yardages to the green
• 63: Course record by Ben Hogan, Jim Langley, Adam Scott, Casey Reamer, Kramer Hickok
• 3: Par-5s in the first six holes (non-Walker Cup pars)
• 137: Yardage of the shortest hole (No. 15)
• 579: Yardage of the longest hole (No. 2)
• 141: Feet above sea level, highest property point (5th green)
• 23: Feet above sea level, lowest property point (14th fairway)
• 4,500: Average green square footage
• 157: Total property acres
• 32: Acres of fairway
• 30: Acres of rough
• 104: Bunkers
• 3: Holes with the Pacific Ocean in play (15-17)

There's lots of other good stuff in the post, but I especially like that Geoff focused on this:

Match Play Moments

The fifth and tenth are listed as par-4s but will be the only two of the 10 par-4’s like to see more than a wedge for an approach shot. Modern distance absurdity could give birth to some fascinating match-play moments if players are feeling frisky (or desperate).

9th - This one has been drivable since MacKenzie and Hunter figured out how to nestle a green into the dune. But now that it’s essentially a long par-3, there could be scenarios where the outcome of the tee shot by the player holding the honor could lead to—gasp!—a lay-up. The right side provides a much better angle into any hole location.

Just a great hole through the dunes.

• 14th - This 391-yard dogleg right generally calls for an automatic layup and this should be the case again. The risk of taking on the dogleg involves a lost ball or unplayable lie in the cypress that surrounds the second half of the hole. But in match play featuring a bunch of young golfers who need a bold shot to get back in a match? It’ll take a drive carrying 315 yards but will leave a flip sand wedge and much better view of the tiered green compared to what lay-ups will see. It’s 360 to the front of the green. But is the direct line worth the risk?

• 17th - Perplexity has always dominated the thought process on this 381-yarder thanks to a cluster of Monterey cypress in the fairway. The maimed but still standing giants stand where most golfers would like to hit their best drive. Downwind and with firm fairways, players may try to blow past the trouble to set up a flip wedge shot into a pretty quiet green. Weather, the state of a match, the less imposing condition of the cypress could all factor into the drama. Smart golfers are most likely to still lay-up now that modern launch angles and the less-imposing cypress only obstruct views instead of shots.

Sure, though I'm wondering how the lads will handle No. 16.  We expect them to go for everything but, while they can readily reach it, any dispersion will end up wet.  Also remember that the Walker Cup does not include fourball, so only one ball in play each hole.  If the player with the honor goes for and misses the green, doesn't his opponent lay up?

I hope I've whet your whistle and that you'll tune in to see one of the truly special places in golf.  Not that watching is all the easy, as here are your TV windows:

Where to watch Walker Cup 2025

Saturday, Sept. 6: 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (Foursomes), Peacock

Saturday, Sept. 6: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (Singles), Golf Channel

Sunday, Sept. 7: 12:30-3:30 p.m. (Foursomes), Peacock

Sunday, Sept. 7: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (Singles), Golf Channel

Set your DVR.  I expect to be signing up for Peacock, only to cancel immediately.  

Enjoy the Walker Cup and Cypress Point, and then next week we can circle back and pick up our Ryder Cup blogging.  Have a great weekend.