When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
My Thursday Quadrilateral News and Notes turned mostly into an all-things USGA and U.S. Open edition, with a look at the 2008 Buick-U.S. Open combo and what we can learn watching this week’s Farmers at the 2021 U.S. Open venue.
Other notes include some revealing thoughts from Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, two favorites at Torrey this year and the USGA’s return of U.S. Open qualifying.
A new edition of The Quadrilateral is out to subscribers.
A wrap-up of majors news, including the historic pivot from Donald Trump plus other random notes, heavily tilted toward The Masters just 84 days from now.
Learn more here or just go ahead and subscribe here. The options; Free, $5 a month, $49 a year or a $150 founding membership that includes a free subscription for a friend.
After the calendar mercifully flipped I mentioned a pivot in coverage in addition to GeoffShackelford.com.
So I present to you, The Quadrilateral.
I started posting random internet items in 2003 on a clunky website before “blog” was a word. There weren’t many others in golf then and fast forward to 2021, even fewer golf newsletters today by one writer. (The Fried Egg started that way but they’ve grown and aren’t we grateful for that?)
As explained on the The Quadrilateral’s About page, I’ve come to love the format after growing attached to the missives from trusted scribes. I’ve been struck by how unencumbered they sounded thanks to a more direct, semi-private connection to readers. Also helping: the visual cleanliness, clickbait-free burden lift, a lack of cookie requests and conflict-free analysis.
I expect to bring the same with a focus on my favorite part of golf tournament coverage: the four men’s majors (and 2021 Ryder Cup).
The newsletter name is from a 1930 reference to Bobby Jones’ grand slam and to kick things off in the inaugural missive, explains why majors will be this decade’s superstars. It’s my explanation why the big four will only get more interesting as the week-to-week pro golf product falls flat.
Subscribing is free and easy thanks to Substack’s design. You’ll get a good sampling of the format and tone over the next month. But as we move closer to the majors expect fewer newsletters available unless you join.
The Quadrilateral is $5 monthly or $49 a year). I’ve also added a Founders option for $150 that will include a one-year subscription for you and a friend.
If you just want a simpler explanation of The Quadrilateral with pretty pictures, I’ve built this standalone website. There you’ll find my explanation for jumping to this format, a FAQ page and the original reference to the quadrilateral.
No questions and you’re ready to start enjoying the majors even more: just go here to subscribe and read the kick-off letter.
The San Diego Union Tribune’s David Garrick notes the incredible economic impact made by the 2008 U.S. Open and considers if next June’s event will have fans.
As two vaccines now get distributed, I was surprised no mention was made of what role that might play in who can attend (the story was filed 8 days ago).
Sink, the USGA’s senior director for the U.S. Open, said the organization is hopeful they can go with the scenario where there are fans and hospitality tents and all the other hoopla that was here in 2008.
But they have created four other scenarios.
One includes no fans at all, just essential personnel, TV crews and a bare bones team of volunteers. That was the approach in September when the U.S. Open was played just north of New York City.
Another scenario would allow some limited guests, but no general admissions fans.
A third option would allow 25 percent capacity, a fourth would allow 50 percent capacity, and the fifth would be a normal U.S. Open with all the bells and whistles.
It feels like major sports leagues and live music promoters are all waiting to see who might make the first move to throw out the idea of a “vaccinated-only” clause for attendance.
I haven’t a clue how you spend $14 million at an exsiting golf complex—oh wait, Landscapes Unlimited was involved, I stand corrected.
You’d think for that amount Torrey Pines might take on some character but judging by the photos and descriptions offered by the San Diego Union Tribune’s Tod Leonard, the course appears to have fewer trees, more visible cart paths and additional bunkers in that inimitable Rees Jones style: looking like bad puzzle pieces dropped randomly from a helicopter.
Players arriving for future Farmers, the 2021 U.S. Open or simply to pay a green fee, will find more examples of Jones’s imprint. Most heartbreaking of the various changes outlined by Leonard come at the 10th. As someone who first played there in 1991 and remembers how charming the 10th hole and green complex once was, this was particularly dispiriting:
The next hole, No. 10, was arguably the most bland on the course.
“The back nine really started at 11,” Jones said., “The 10th was a driver, wedge every time.”
A new tee was built to make the hole longer, and the visual changed dramatically, with the left side of the fairway split with a bunker, while a right fairway bunker pinches the landing zone.
Judging by the photo above by K.C. Alfred, it should be encircled in yellow tape.
But hey, the views are great, The Lodge makes a killer burger and you can get great fish tacos within 15 minutes of the course.
Seeing Torrey Pines so immaculately groomed for this week’s Farmers Insurance Open makes the prospect of even more gratuitous spending tougher to swallow given the projected $14 million cost. What will they get> A new South Course irrigation system, modern bunker floor capping and tweaks to two holes. All as the architecture continues to age so poorly, the facility works out of the same 2008 U.S. Open maintenance tent—TENT— and the property continues to have way too much water-wasting turf in out of play areas.
The horrendous 4th green is also now off the table in the latest round of work, but the project will still include fairway bunker shifting on the 4th and 17th holes.
The bunkers need better drainage and their shape returned to the original work after years of sand building up on the edges, Marney said. The greens will not be altered.
There will be several strategic changes with bunkers. Most notably, the fairway bunkers to the right at the par-4 fourth and 17th will be shifted to the left and closer to the cliffs. The fairway also will move left to create more of a driving challenge, especially for the pros.
You may recall that in firmer but hardly fast U.S. Open conditions, balls were not staying on the 4th fairway. Presumably with shifted bunkers and grading work, it’ll become an automatic layup shot and even more of a missed-opportunity than the current version.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
