PGA Tour's Golfbet Partnership With The Action Network Hints At Aggressive "In-Play Betting"

Remember the old days when Tim Finchem didn’t even like the PGA Tour getting in those high stakes, dozen-balls-to-the-winner world of fantasy golf?

If he only knew what would make Shotlink even more valuable in the coming years.

Because the post-Finchem PGA Tour is touting partnerships even when only 25 states legally allow sports gambling (Though by the end of 2021 essentially every state populated by more people than cows is expected to make sports betting legal.)

While I would never condone such duplicitous behavior (though do keep an eye on Nadal in the Derby), the PGA Tour insists its approaching things carefully by partnering with the Action Network and saying they are wading into the pool, not diving head first.

John Lombardo and Bill King of Sports Business Daily covered the Action Network partnership, how it allows PGATour.com to separate itself from a deadly sin and spoke to Norb Gambuzza, the PGA Tour’s SVP of Media, Gaming and Crapshooting, Or Something To That Effect.

And it sounds like gambling was a draw for networks re-upping media rights.

“The betting space is a topic of significant interest with all of our media partners,” Gambuzza said. “Having this deal sync up with our media deal was important.”

Gambuzza suggested the Action Network deal (full press release below) suggests an awareness that too much gambling talk will backfire.

“We’re going to give [Action Network] video, give them data, collaborate on functionality and push fans there,” Gambuzza said. “We’re going to talk about Action Network content on our digital platforms and social platforms. But we’ve got to do that in a matter that is not obtrusive or too direct or in our fans’ faces. We’re going to wade into the pool instead of jumping in, and experiment a bit.”

As for the GolfBet “platform” announced Monday, it will not be a place to bet.

Note in the press release that data on shots is a focus, suggesting that the PGA Tour’s belief fans will want to bet on shots.

For Immediate Release:

The Action Network and the PGA TOUR today announced the launch of GolfBet, a first-of-its-kind, golf-focused betting content platform. GolfBet will be powered by The Action Network and hosted at www.actionnetwork.com/golf, and also will be available within The Action Network app. Through the strategic partnership, the PGA TOUR will provide GolfBet content distribution via TOUR digital platforms, footage rights to support GolfBet video content, and official TOUR data to ensure that GolfBet and The Action Network offer golf fans and golf bettors the most accurate data and compelling content available.

“We believe that golf fans and sports bettors alike are in search of a deeper level of information that has not existed until the launch of GolfBet,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA TOUR’s SVP Media & Gaming. “The Action Network is the perfect partner to create this type of content platform to educate and entertain fans about responsible betting on golf while bolstering the overall gaming ecosystem. We are bullish that GolfBet content and the growth of sports betting will drive fan engagement and expand our overall audience.”

“The PGA TOUR is one of the most forward-thinking leagues and rightsholders around the massive growing legal sports betting business,” said Patrick Keane, CEO of The Action Network. “Our consumers are passionate golf fans, and we are excited about the opportunity to enhance our coverage via the launch of the GolfBet platform.”

The PGA TOUR has been very active recently in the betting space, including a 2018 announcement of an integrity program, partnering with Genius Sports to protect its competitions from potential outside influences related to gambling. Later that year, the TOUR announced a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world, which will revolutionize in-play betting on golf and will be available to the market later this year. In August, the TOUR partnered with DraftKings to relaunch “PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf,” with exclusive intellectual property to differentiate DraftKings in the daily fantasy space. Now, with the launch of GolfBet, the PGA TOUR is developing a robust betting content ecosystem that supports both sports betting and daily fantasy.

“In a typical PGA TOUR season, there are approximately 1.2 million golf shots taken across our schedule,” Gambuzza said. “This represents a massive opportunity for in-play betting, new types of markets for operators who have access to official PGA TOUR data, and tremendous opportunities for content generation. We think that The Action Network has the unique expertise to develop a diverse array of tools, analysis, and other content which will help fans and bettors understand, access, and enjoy these new betting opportunities as the market evolves.” 

In 2019, The Action Network produced more than 800 individual pieces of golf-related content and offered robust bet tracking and analysis tools focused on golf. “Action Network users tracked over 50 million picks on our platform last year, and golf was our fastest-growing segment at nearly 300 percent year over year,” Keane said.  

In addition to The Action Network producing the majority of the weekly content for GolfBet with well-known experts like Jason Sobel, Josh Perry and Peter Jennings, GolfBet will also strike partnerships with other media companies to power the platform.

“We envision GolfBet as a one-stop platform where fans can get all of the most relevant and up-to-date betting information,” Keane added.

Max Wright, Senior Vice President of IMG ARENA, said, “Golf was one of the few major sports that had not yet offered consistent in-play betting markets. We see a massive opportunity for growth through ‘in-play’ betting once our official PGA TOUR betting data hits the market later this year. This partnership between PGA TOUR and The Action Network is hugely complementary. We believe that an information hub like GolfBet which delivers high quality content to help to inform and educate users about golf and golf betting will be a net positive for the growing golf betting market.”

GolfBet content is planned to be largely subscription free for the foreseeable future. The PGA TOUR and Action Network plan to work with TOUR’s domestic media partners, as well as Discovery on ex-U.S. collaboration opportunities, as GolfBet continues to grow on a global basis.

Besides the obvious concerns about fan interruptions intended to influence a wager, I’m still not clear on whether there is time to look at data AND bet on a live shot.

As someone who watched 2019’s The Match with an eye on live betting, it was clear that even with just two players, between sharing a pertinent stat and execution of the shot, making a bet would require a fast connection and easy method to make a selection. Maybe that will come within the PGATour app or on The Action Network at some point.

Either way, these days of golf gambling are a far cry from the old days.

Gasp: NASCAR Trying To Grow Their Game By Slowing Cars Down

Many strange and soul-sucking acts are tolerated in golf. Except one: a regulatory reversal taking away distance from elite players!

We’ve been told the masses would trash their clubs, courses would voluntarily close, priests would be summoned. And yet, NASCAR is doing the golf equivalent of taking a few yards off drives to win back fans. Who, it seems, were not captivated by a season long cup race and who miss daring race moves that helped NASCAR ascend in popularity.

Note this is now a year into their efforts and the most watched sports event last weekend was a NASCAR race from Las Vegas (not the Lakers-Celtics or PGA Tour golf).

An unbylined AP story from a year ago explained NASCAR’s efforts to win back fans focuses on an overhauled “rules package” with an eye on restoring excitement.

The new package uses aerodynamic ducts and a tapered spacer to reduce engine horsepower — in simplest turns, it should slow the cars and bunch them closer together to increase passing attempts and improve the overall competitiveness. It will debut in the second race of the season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

One major difference between NASCAR and golf’s technology influence: how the best separate themselves.

While a case could be made that modern golf technology masks deficiencies and makes it hard for supreme skill to separate from the field, NASCAR’s push was viewed as potentially muting the elite.

The old package permitted a handful of teams to move so far ahead of the competition it took too long for anyone to catch them, the racing suffered and fans stopped watching. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. combined to win 20 of 36 races last season, though the “Big Three” lost to Logano in the championship finale.

The new package is controversial because it is supposed to level the playing field, and elite drivers believe it will diminish the advantage their talent has given them.

A year in, however, reviews suggested the driving has been more interesting and confrontational. No one is complaining about the loss of speed since the cars still go very, very fast.

Just like drives dropping from 330 to 310 yards still go very, very far.
__

Continuing on the topic a year later after the Daytona was trending huge until rains came, The Indicator from Planet Money podcast covered the NASCAR push to improve the “product” via rules changes. Thanks to reader Bobby Ricky for this…

Distance Debate: Do Manufacturers Who Circumvent Current Equipment Rules Deserve A Seat At The Table?

Now that we’ve had a couple of weeks to contemplate the impressive USGA/R&A Distance Insights study, comments have been largely predictable from elite players and the equipment industry: all is well, grow more rough, tuck pins, move along.

This ignores the six-or-so million who have quit the game over the last fifteen years despite amazing equipment advances. And yet there seems to be a pressure to skirt the rules, market increased distance and create equipment that can sell at a premium price.

The governing bodies are forced to preach diplomacy in dealing with so many factions and factors. But what if the manufacturers are working around the rules? Or as Callaway CEO Chip Brewer acknowledged last summer, his company puts drivers in hands of players that cut it close to non-conforming.

And then more recently there was this from Bridgestone’s Elliot Mellow on Golf’s Fully Equipped podcast. At the 1:01:00 or so mark (full January 15th show embed below), Mellow responded to a question about the biggest area for future “growth” (i.e. distance). Thanks to reader M for catching this.

Without getting into too much trouble with our friends at the USGA, there’s 72-plus shots per round with 14-plus clubs and you know there’s not necessarily regulation on all of those clubs, or shots at this point in time, so we play within the rules that exist and then we innovate beyond them where there’s opportunity. And trust me, there’s a lot of opportunity.

It is 100% optional for equipment makers to follow the Rules of Golf. A USGA/R&A “conforming” stamp of approval is a selling point to customers and therefore, a privilege manufacturers should theoretically respect.

But when you highlight working around the rules or bemoan surprise tests or fight rules bifurcation, then maybe this is a sign governing bodies need to stop working around the “needs” of clubmakers. Perhaps these are signs for the USGA and R&A to simply make the rules they deem best.

If skirting the rules will deliver such enjoyment for the masses and “grow the game”, why won’t manufacturers just make non-conforming equipment? Oh right, because core golfers have shown they’d rather play by the rules than be seen as skirting the rules. Perhaps the folks making the clubs should adopt a similar ethos or give up their seat at the distance debate table.

Golf Needs To Get Ahead Of Its "Banging Scheme" Before It's Too Late

Those following the Houston Astros debacle in baseball that was not properly handled by Commissioner Rob Manfred would likely agree that had more been done early on to stop the shenanigans, there would less of a crisis than the one now facing Major League Baseball.

I’m also confident in saying that had Patrick Reed been disqualified and suspended for conduct unbecoming a pro golfer following his Hero World Challenge lie improvement, there would not be an appetite for more Reed bashing that we see today.

Which, in case you didn’t know, continued Tuesday morning when Brooks Koepka mocked Reed’s efforts and excuses and used the dreaded cheater word. Thene things took an even more incredible turn Tuesday night when No Laying Up’s podcast with Peter Kostis led to explicit accusations of multiple cheating incidents.

From Will Gray’s GolfChannel.com summary of the Kostis portion of the podcast:

"I've seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now," Kostis said.

One such instance came during the final round of The Barclays in 2016 at Bethpage Black, an event that Reed went on to win. After hitting his drive on the 13th hole into thick rough just off the fairway, Reed put an iron down multiple times behind the ball before ultimately hitting a 3-wood, a turn of events that drew Kostis' attention in live time on the broadcast.

"That's the only time I ever shut [Gary] McCord up. He didn't know what to say when I said, 'Well, the lie that I saw originally wouldn't have allowed for this shot,'" Kostis said. "Because he put four or five clubs behind the ball, kind of faking whether he's going to hit this shot or hit that shot. By the time he was done, he hit a freaking 3-wood out of there, which when I saw it, it was a sand wedge layup originally."

Kostis can’t be accused of sitting on his observations:

But another comment from Kostis may speak to something I saw extensively last week at the Genesis Invitational and also at the Farmers in January: a habit of most modern golfers to put their club down behind the ball in not-so-gentle fashion, test the lie, and often with obvious pressure levied.

Kostis on Reed:

"I'm not even sure that he knows that he's doing it sometimes. Maybe he does, I don't know," Kostis said. "I'm not going to assign intent. All I'm going to tell you is what I saw."

After watching players regularly put a club down behind the ball, change clubs, do it again and test how their club sits (even on tight turf), I can only conclude that no one has told a generation of golfers: “that’s a bad look to be, uh, banging at the ground. Some people might even think you are improving your lie.”

While it took a long time to get backstopping under control, perhaps someone in golf will begin talking to players immediately when they are seen banging away at the grass and pressing into the ground behind their ball. It might just prevent an integrity crisis the sport does not need.

Breaking Shock Flash! Titleist Says All Is Well, Distance Study Undervalues The Athleticism Of Today's Players

I know this stuff works on some people, and I do appreciate that Acushnet CEO David Maher’s tone is much more agreeable (sorry Wally). But it’s hard to buy the claims of a CEO whose company advertises a product going longer and straighter also saying that it’s not going longer and straighter, but instead, all on the amazing skill and athleticism of these kids today.

If that sounds like a bizarre crossover with the PGA Tour messaging on the distance debate, it is.

Here is Maher’s stance, admirably posted after the USGA and R&A released their Distance Insights Study and the first significant rebuttal from a manufacturer to those excellent reports. Though don’t expect even some light cherry-picking of the report.

Maher writes:

In the spirit of contributing additional perspective to this discussion and the game’s timeless, and healthy, debate between Tradition and Technology, we believe the conclusions drawn in this Report undervalue the skill and athleticism of the game’s very best players and focus far too much on the top of the men’s professional game and project this on golf and golfers as a whole.  Furthermore, we believe that existing equipment regulations effectively govern the prospects of any significant increases in hitting distance by the game’s longest hitters.

So any claims we have made a new product going longer will probably need further study?

Like all sports, golf is played differently today than it was centuries, and even decades, ago – from the people who play, the rules by which we play, and the equipment we use.  Almost all would agree this progress has been a great benefit to the game and that innovation in golf equipment has been an important contributor to this progress. 

Participation peaked in 2001 and has dropped many million since, if that’s progress. Shareholders looking for value may not agree.

Golf is bringing younger players into the game sooner and keeping older players longer than ever; professional golf is as dynamic and entertaining as it’s ever been; and the game remains a healthy challenge for all players and at all levels.

More exciting than ever, just not to Nielsen families.

In fact, the Report itself shows that hitting distance on the PGA Tour decreased in 6 of the past 13 years, including 2019. 

I guess we’re going to ignore the increase years?

We believe this helps to affirm the effectiveness of regulatory efforts, particularly those adopted since the early 2000s, which continue to achieve their desired intent of setting boundaries around future distance increases while also rewarding skill and encouraging innovation.

That’s wonderful you support regulation! Maybe just a smidge more for the good of the game?

Ok let’s get to the good stuff.

The Report, however, suggests that consideration be given to a “Local Rule option that would specify use of clubs and/or balls intended to result in shorter hitting distances.”  We believe that playing by a unified set of rules coalesces our game, is an essential part of its global understanding and appeal, and eliminates the inconsistency and instability that would come from multiple sets of equipment standards.  We think it should be preserved for these reasons and those outlined in the article entitled, The Case for Unification.

Wally! You’re back! At least, a nice link back to that old gem.

Serious question though: if playing under one set of rules is so important, then how come no one actually knows the rules?

We appreciate that the Distance Insights Project was fueled by the best intentions of The R&A and USGA acting in what they believe to be the game’s best interests.  We also recognize that golf is best served when its stakeholders advance and advocate what they understand to be in the best interests of the game. 

Just not when it comes to our product.

We also appreciate The R&A and USGA’s commitment to the November 2011 Vancouver Protocol and its established processes for the consideration of equipment changes, and we look forward to continuing to work with the game’s stakeholders over the coming months and years to advance the best interests of the game.

Great. Take some dimples off and let’s light this candle!

Koepka Lumps Patrick Reed's "Building Castles" With Astros Scandal, Says Lie Improvement Going On More Than It Should

Well there’s some synergy for you.

Brooks Koepka, co-architect of revisions to Memorial Park, home to the 2020 Houston Open benefiting the Cheating Astros Foundation, shared his views on Patrick Reed’s Hero World Challenge waste area antics with SiriusXM’s Sway Callaway (full clip below).

After answering in the affirmative to the “cheating” word, Koepka is more than clear on his views about Reed and overall lie improvement practices he sees.

From a GolfChannel.com report:

When asked by host Sway Callaway if Reed was cheating when he improved his lie, Koepka said: “Yeah. I don’t know what he was doing, building sand castles in the sand. But you know where your club is. I took three months off and I can promise you I know if I touch sand. If you look at the video, obviously he grazes the sand twice and then he still chops down on it.”

After making an Astros comparison, Koepka touched on something once sadly controversial and now going on too often in pro golf: mashing the grass down behind a ball.

In fact, during a U.S. Open (he didn’t specify which year), Koepka said that he watched one of his fellow playing competitors blow a drive right, into 6-inch rough. He saw that player take out a 3-wood and pat down the thick rough behind the ball, only to then grab a wedge and hack the ball out 60 yards down the fairway. Koepka looked at the other player in his group and said, “This ain’t right.”

“It goes on a little bit more than people think,” he said, before adding: "I’ve been guilty of it. I haven’t opened my mouth. But now if I saw it, just because of where I’m at in the game, the stature that I have, I would definitely say something.”

The full interview…hope Brooks doesn’t get too big of a fine for this!

How You Know The Ball Goes Too Far After Another Week At Riviera

You know how I know the ball goes too far and just makes a total mess of things?

—This driving range fence was just a normal chainlink fence in the mid-80s. Now they bring in a special extension tournament week and Bryson DeChambeau was still able to clear it last week…

Riviera’s range, with temporary extension installed during tournament week.

—Monday’s Celebrity Cup participants could drive the 10th green. They had to wait for the surface to clear to tee off. Oliver Hudson drove over the 10th green…

After a long wait for the green to clear, A-Rod tees off in the Celebrity Cup.

—They put a concession stand where players used to hit bad drives off the 434-yard third hole. Now they miss 40 yards farther down the hole. And in Phil Mickelson’s case (this is the long ball search for him), 40 yards right of the fairway edge…

That concession stand was once a popular spot for missed drives, now it’s a safe spot!

The 10th at Riviera is not a drivable par-4, it’s a 3-woodable long par-3 where the layup is at a disadvantage based on the birdies made. The 2020 ShotLink scatter chart:

Rory: "If they want to try to contain what we do as touring professionals, I'm all for that."

It’s rare in golf history to have an active player call for sensible regulation or a splitting off of the pros from amateurs, but Rory McIlroy did it yesterday at Riviera.

Speaking in advance of the Genesis Invitational, answering a question from the LA Times’ Mike James who filed this piece on the distance debate:

Q. Rory, where do you see the discussion after the distance insight survey evolving and where would you like to see it end up?

RORY McILROY: How long have you got?

Q. I have lots of time.

RORY McILROY: You know, I think the biggest thing that came out of the report for me, a lot of the stuff about the ball going too far and technology, it really pertains to 0.1 percent of golfers out there. So look, if they want to try to contain what we do as touring professionals, I'm all for that.

Selfishly, I think that that's only a good thing for the better players, but for the game in general, I think one of the best things that came out of it was the sustainability aspect and the fact that architects building these golf courses, and not even architects to a degree, but also the people that are giving the architects the money to build these golf courses with this grand ambition of maybe having a Tour event one day. Building these golf courses on these massive pieces of land, having to use so much water, so much fertilizer, pesticides, all the stuff that we really shouldn't be doing nowadays especially in the climate we live in and everything that's happening in our world. You look at what happened in Australia, you look at what happens in this state every August, September, October time with fires and global warming.

I think golf has a responsibility to minimize its footprint as much as it possibly can. For me, I think the sustainability aspect of what they're trying to do is very important and that's the one thing I would definitely stand behind.

Westlake Golf Course's Remarkable Place In The Game

Sean Martin of PGATour.com returns to the course where he was introduced to the game that has produced a fascinating array of players and coaches despite having a short course and artificial turf driving range mats. Not only is it a fantastic look at how Westlake Golf Course succeeds without luxurious facilities, but how a place with an important part in the community can still also produce elite players (current headliners are Matthew Wolff and Danielle Kang).

From Martin’s piece, with images by Keyur Khamar:

I returned recently, as well, to tell the story of the course where I was introduced to the game. You may have caught glimpses of Westlake on Como’s show or in the pages of Golf Digest or on the Instagram feed of swing instructor George Gankas. The success of Gankas and his star student, Matthew Wolff, has brought attention to this tiny public course in Southern California.

There are other affordable and accessible courses in the country, but Westlake provides a unique case study. What it lacks in length, it makes up for with a communal atmosphere that nurtures players’, especially juniors’, passion for the game.

Westlake is a small course with a large footprint. Yard for yard, I don’t think another course has had a larger impact on today’s game. It may seem an audacious claim, but consider the evidence. Two of the game’s most influential instructors and several successful pros have called it home.

Tiger On Distance Insights: "It's going to be probably...well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out."

Tiger Woods was asked at today’s Genesis Invitational about the Distance Insights Report and remained consistent with past views, but did reiterate how the sport has run out of room to grow courses.

Q. Tiger, how do you see the discussion around the distance insights study evolving and how would you like to see that discussion resolved?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I've always said that the game of golf, it's fluid, it's moving. The golf ball is certainly going a lot further than the balata days. We've changed it from using a tree to using high-tech metal. We've come a long way in this game. What's been crazy, I've been a part of all that. My career when I first started, I beat Davis Love in a playoff and he was using a persimmon driver. To see the technology advance as fast as it has, the average distance was, from when I first came out on here, if you carry it 270, it took a lot of trouble out of play. Now guys are hitting their hybrids and 5-woods 270 in the air. So the game has evolved and it's changed. We're running out of property to try and design golf courses that are from the back 7,800 to 8,000yards, it's difficult.But on top of that, we want to keep the game so enjoyable and we've trying to get more participation, and having the larger heads, more forgiving clubs, it adds to the enjoyment of the game. So there's a very delicate balancing act where we're trying to keep the game at, but also as we've all recognized, the players have changed over the years, too. When I first came out it was just Vijay and myself in the gyms and now seems like everyone has their own trainer and physios and guys got bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic like all sports.

He seems resigned to not seeing any kind of rule change for the remainder of his playing days:

Q. Just to follow up on that, can we put you down for bifurcation or do you still want to read the report and kind of think that through?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that is certainly on discussion, it's on the table whether we bifurcate or not. It's only one percent of the guys or women that are going to be using that type of equipment, but we want to keep the game enjoyable, we want to keep having more kids want to come play it. It's so difficult now, I mean, with everyone walking around with their head down because they can't get away from their mobile device to come out here and play a game that's hopefully more on the slow side, we want to have that type of enjoyment. Part of the discussion going forward is do we bifurcate or not. That's, you know, it's going to be probably even well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out.

And this on Riviera and classic courses:

Q. Tiger, one more thing on the distance. Riviera seems maybe as well as any other course to have withstood the test of time and the changes, I mean, without having to add five, six, seven hundred yards. What is it about this place that's allowed it do that?

TIGER WOODS: You know, it has and it hasn't. We've lengthened 12, redone 8, they've moved a few tees back. Yes, the alleyways are still the same, but when they moved No.12 back, what, 70yards, it used to be just a 1-iron and a wedge and now you're hitting driver and 4-iron. Yeah, there have been some holes that they're able to extend, but for the most part the confines are what they are here. So where they've tried to add distance, they have, but there's really nowhere to go.

Malnati: "I would love to see where a drive of 300 yards is absolutely bombed."

Dave Shedloski quotes several players for GolfDigest.com on the distance topic, and besides the usual nonsense where the decathletes in the game today believe they would be harmed by 15 fewer dimples on their golf balls (or some other needed remedy), there was at least Peter Malnati.

A member of the Players Advisory Council, he offered this sinister technophobic threat to capitalism as we know it:

“As the ball has gotten longer, it has become disproportionately longer for the biggest hitters,” said Peter Malnati, who advocates for a 10-percent rollback that would impact all players. “Selfishly, I wouldn’t mind seeing them make a ball that affects only the top guys. That’s being selfish. I would love to see where a drive of 300 yards is absolutely bombed. That’s the limit. It’s clear that the path golf is on is not sustainable in regards to courses that we’re building that all are approaching 8,000 yards. That seems crazy.”

What The Governing Bodies Cannot Say: The Golf Equipment Industry Is A Financial Blip In The Grand Scheme

In the wake of the USGA/R&A distance insights study, we’ve predictably heard golf pros whine about the same old stuff in hopes of appeasing their golf manufacturer sugar daddies.

There are the laments of amateurs making rules for pro golf.

Desperate analogies to other sports.

Reminders of winning scores not changing much.

Developers causing all of this.

It was windy at Pebble Beach and the greens are so goofy small, that’s all you need to protect the shareholder value.

Webb Simpson beat Tony Finau, case closed.

Anyway, the Golf.com gang recentered the debate with some great stuff in their weekly Confidential, including this rebuttal to Phil Mickelson from Michael Bamberger.

Bamberger: Lefty made a point but I would say different from the one he was trying to make: the amateurs who run the USGA and the R&A–in concert with a group of highly trained professionals–aren’t looking to make money in the game. That keeps them pure. Pro golfers are typically trying to move product in the interest of making more money. The amateurs who serve at the USGA and the R&A have something broader in mind.

To the point of something broader, a few numbers to consider and which the USGA/R&A cannot point out without hearing excessive manufacturer whining.

Golf is an $84.1 billion industry in America when you factor in everything from courses, to travel to sales, according to We Are Golf.

In the United States, the National Golf Foundation puts the manufacturers contribution to that number at $2.6 billion. Frankly, that seems woefully low to me, but even if you quadruple the number it’s still not a significant portion of the golf industry.

Needless to say, we thank the companies for taking the risks they take as businesses, for bringing joy to lives and making wonderful equipment within the Rules of Golf.

But in the grand scheme, fussing and fighting over the manufacturing world’s needs over the greater good seems short-sighted given the course industry and its 2 million or so domestic jobs. A healthy golf industry is good for all, but giving disproportionate attention and weight to the view of one constituting such a small portion of the overall financial picture, seems unwise.

State Of The Game 102: The Show We Never Thought We'd Have; The First Cut With Kyle Porter

Pods!

So much to talk about and so many fun people to talk to in these wacky times, starting with a special State of the the Game where I promise we technophobic, Golden Age architect cultists don’t gloat too much about this week’s distance announcement. The show page.

And I spoke to The First Cut/CBSSports.com’s Kyle Porter about the distance report and the Premier Golf League story. Hit the link above, or play below, or just go and subscribe already!

Golf Pros Who Put The Game Above Themselves When It Comes To The Distance Debate

While golf’s move to placing players above the game has never been better highlighted of late when immediately seeking their views on distance, something strange has happened. While we still have some weird, even delusional comments in response to the USGA/R&A stance that something must change, an equal number are coming around. This is a huge change from even a few years ago.

Graeme McDowell, as reported by GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell:

“When it starts to affect the integrity of some of the greatest courses in the game, where you don’t have a lot of real estate left to make changes, there’s a problem,” McDowell told GolfChannel.com. “To me, when they moved the 17th tee at the Old Course, I was like, 'Is that necessary?' It’s one of the most iconic tee shots in the world.”

“If this continues, continues, continues, and we fast forward into the future, it could become silly,” he said. “I guess I generally agree with [the project’s conclusion]. I don’t think we want to continue the way we are going. It really needs to stop somewhere.”

Padraig Harrington, who may want to get a golf ball tester for his next batch of Titleist’s, as reported by Adam Schupak at Golfweek:

“I’ve told him I 100-percent support a rollback for the golf courses. It’s purely because of the cost to the golf course – the size, the maintenance, the water, all the costs. There are great golf courses that can’t be used. Roll it back and start again,” he said. “My personal opinion is I would set new specifications and the let the manufacturers have another race to the top. If the ball was rolled back 10 percent, we’d all start again and off we’d go.

“I’m with Titleist, which I think has the best ball now, and they’re a big enough company that if they had to start from scratch, they’d be the best ball again.

Remember Wally, I just copy and paste this stuff.

Sorry, go on Padraig…

“It would be a shock to the system, to the manufacturers, sure. There’s a risk when you have a company like Titleist that has the largest market share. They would like the status quo but I think they are in the best place to produce the next best ball under the new parameters.  Let them compete again. I think Titleist would actually gain from it.”

There is, of course, Jack Nicklaus who has been consistent on this topic since the late 1970s. He took to Twitter to express his joy at the news of the USGA and R&A:

Now that they have clear findings obtained from century of collecting data & its impact on all levels—from golf played at highest level to recreational golf—I look forward to supporting industry’s collaborative effort to find solutions that are in best interest of game’s future.

— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) February 4, 2020

As many know, this has been an important topic to me for years, if not decades, and I have been passionate about my position. I applaud the @USGA and @RandA for their comprehensive research, as well as their continued hard work and efforts. Pleased the process has started ... https://t.co/AQPILal0MO

— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) February 4, 2020

For those hoping to hear what younger guys think, check out the comments here from Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm acknowledged in 2017 that something will have to be done. The clips aired on Golf Central this week for the first time.

Rahm notes that at some point the distance chase will make golf “not as attractive to watch” while Thomas says, “They’re going to have to change some technology things…there’s going to be a big change at some point, whether it’s the golf ball or the driver.”

Fried Egg Podcast 170: Talking Distance Report From The Architecture Perspective, PGL And More

Andy Johnson flew all the way to LA to taste delicious Bixby Coffee and with a variety of major golf stories related to preferred topics, asked me to sit for a lengthy chat about the USGA/R&A Distance Study, the Premier Golf League, the upcoming Genesis at Riviera and even how to cope with folks who whine about losing distance. In five years. Maybe.

The iTunes link is here and you can find the Fried Egg Golf Podcast wherever fine shows are streamed.