TPC Scottsdale 16th Buildout Video: Why Not Make It Permanent?

The fascination never ceases with the 16 at TPC Scottsdale, especially from casual sports fans who take notice of the antics and energy.

Even golfers who play TPC Scottsdale love sharing photos on social media of themselves playing before an empty "Coliseum", imagining what it must be like.

So while watching the timelapse video from the PGA Tour, I was left to wonder again: why not make this a permanent structure?  I'm guessing this is a permitting or zoning issue. But the surrounding grandstands have become so massive both in size and popularity that a permanent conversion would make sense. No?

Update on 2017-02-02 16:29 by Geoff

**John Strege answered the question a year ago and it's both shade and code that prevent a full build out.

“Number two, if it became permanent, there’d be a whole new list of code requirements,” Williams said. “They’d probably include restrooms and elevators.”

There you have it. And once the temporary stadium is disassembled and returned to storage, the 16th is rendered a ho-hum par 3.

“It’s pretty funny when guests play in the summer time when nothing is going on,” Williams said. “They say, ‘That’s it? That’s 16? Really?’”

PGA Show Review: "An absolute sloth"

Tony Covey at MyGolfSpy.com breaks down the PGA Show highlights, trends and observations.

However, it was his overall take on the model of a convention that will not go down well in West Palm Beach.

While the daily propaganda blasts from show organizers might have you believe otherwise, I’m here to tell you that the 2017 PGA Show was an absolute sloth. With noticeably light traffic in the aisles and plenty of open space (both on the show floor and the range at demo day), 2017’s easily qualifies as the most depressing PGA Show during my time in the industry.

Take it for whatever it’s worth, but several of my media colleagues (and others I’ve spoken with from inside the industry) are in complete agreement. Call it a worse show on the heels of a bad show on the heels of a not so good show.

Covey says the show in its current form, due to cost for all, "makes less and less sense."

Thoughts from those who attended?

Hogan Equipment Co. Files For Bankruptcy, Website Down

Even though CEO Scott White said a few weeks ago that "reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated," the Ben Hogan Equipment Company, which unveiled a revamped brand and irons in 2015, has filed for bankruptcy, reports the Dallas News.

From the report (thanks reader Steve):

The Chapter 11 petition, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth on Saturday, lists both assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Among its top creditors are Perry Ellis International, which licensed the Hogan name to the company, owed $267,500, and Conti Edgecliff-Sias LLC, its landlord in south Fort Worth, owed $77,256.74.

The company website is no longer functional.

Roundup: Rahm's (Seemingly Special) Farmers Win

Maybe it's that we've been hearing what a supreme talent he is, or perhaps it's just how impressive Jon Rahm was in his post-round press conference. Either way, his back nine 30 over a host of players who vied for the 2017 Farmers title moves him to the seemingly endless list of emerging talents.

Now at world No. 46 after joining 91 spots (according to GolfChannel.com's Will Gray) and, reports CBSSports.com's Kyle Porter, Rahm is the fastest to make $2 million in PGA Tour history (passing Spieth who passed Woods)

He also charmed everyone with his infectious blend of class and enthusiam over winning at Torrey Pines, as noted in Teryn Schaefer's PGATour.com roundup that includes some fun behind-the-scenes footage of his trophy ceremony and celebration.

Doug Ferguson does a nice job telling Rahm's story in this AP look at Sunday's winner.

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau wrote this of Rahm:

Sunday evening, Rahm made for a pretty proud picture sitting next to that beautiful copper trophy of a Torrey Pine that he’d just earned. He loved the golf course before he ever saw it in person, reciting various Torrey Pines’ South highlights (such as John Daly’s bunker shot) he has viewed through the years. It’s an iconic place, and to him, winning here was extra special.

Mark Whicker had some fun anecdotes in this OC Register column, including this from caddy Adam Hayes:

“The college game is so good now,” Hayes said. “If you win there, you can win here, as long as you don’t change anything.’

The most fascinating anecdote may have been Rahm's belief that his excellent English was best shaped by listening to hip-hop. Steve DiMeglio reports this aspect of the Rahm story for USAToday:

The cadence of rap appealed to the latest winner on the PGA Tour as he memorized tracks, especially two of his favorite songs — Eminem’s Love the Way You Lie, and Lamar’s Swimming Pools.

“Memorizing rap songs in English … helped me out a lot to pronounce and actually understand what was going on and keeping up with people in conversation,” Rahm said following his breakthrough win Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. “You can look (those songs) up. They're good.”

For a deeper dive on Rahm, GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner chronicled Rahm's ASU career in 2015.

ShackHouse 25: Jon Rahm and the Rise of the Young Guns

On this week's show we kick around Jon Rahm’s impressive Farmers Insurance Open victory, one that may end up being a bigger deal than many casual observers might have guessed. We also evaluate Tiger’s performance, golf-related Super Bowl prop bets and the value of rivalries in golf. We wrap up by making some picks for the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

As always, you can subscribe on iTunes and or just refresh your device subscription page.

Here is The Ringer's show page.

Same deal with Soundcloud for the show, and Episode 25 is here to listen to right now!

Here is the Rahm press conference I mentioned in the show.

As always, ShackHouse is brought to you by The Ringer and kindly sponsored by Callaway, who have unveiled the new Great Big Bertha Epic driver, Microhinge Technology-fueled Odyssey putters and the lively Callaway Community.

Bring your love for golf talk online to the Callaway Community where likeminded golf nuts are:

--testing and review products before they are in stores
--getting custom fitting advice
--and…mixing it up with the ShackHouse hosts. This year we’ll be doing giveaways, answering questions and more at CallawayGolf.com/Community. It's free!

Farmers: A Golf Tournament With Not A Single Grandstand!

As was noted earlier in the week, the Farmers Insurance Open has made strides since nearly becoming extinct. But the operation, at least for the average paying customer, leaves much to be desired.

With a daily ticket price of $50 ($35 for senior), the event does not offer a single grandstand for general admission fans to sit on a green and watching play. Even worse, there is only a small 50-yard long area right of the 18th green for standing to watch action, leaving play to conclude, at a public golf facility, to finish in front of only corporate customers.

Compounding the problem: many of the corporate guests came dressed as empty seats, even on a gloroius Sunday with a stacked leaderboard. It was that way all week, but here's how it looked when the third to last group was approaching, not long after Jon Rahm's stunning eagle:

This might be moot if Torrey Pines had stadium mounding or even a green complex or two that were not raised surfaces. They do not and with all of the closing holes off limits to fans, this leaves surprisingly few places to comfortably watch action.

At the $50 general admission ticket price, the Farmers could be the worst tournament experience in golf. Growing the game, it will not.

The event obviously needs to generate revenue to pay off debts and surrounding holes 14 through 18 with corporate tents helps sell premium tickets and expensive packages. But at a public facility that the people of San Diego sacrifice for a few weeks, the anti-grandstand gesture seems in poor taste. And given the game's need to add new fans and keep old ones coming around, is it too much to give people a place to sit down once in a while?

The 16th green is off general admission limits to fans as well.

Some Saturday Farmers Open Storylines To Watch...

The pairing taylor made for excitement fizzled: Tiger, world No. 1 Jason Day and Dustin Johnson are gone after an uninspired two days. However, the Farmers Insurance Open from sunny Torrey Pines still offers some intrigue and the chance for some young talents to have a breakthrough weekend.

As for Tiger, the performance paled compared to past play here, yet as Jeff Babineau notes for Golfweek.com, it was one stretch that ultimately prevented a chance to play on the weekend.

Woods will have the weekend off in SoCal due to a sloppy four-hole stretch on the South Course on Thursday that he played in 5 over par. He went from 1 under through 11 holes to 4 over through 15, and on a course that yields very little in return, barring a low round in tough conditions Friday, he basically was done.

Jason Sobel at ESPN.com considers whether Woods can take a page from his geezer peers Brady, Williams, Williams, Nadal and Federer.

It was Woods' 16th missed cut as a pro. That and other "By The Numbers" from GolfChannel.com are here.

I wrote for Golfweek about Ollie Schniederjans clicking with his ultra low ball flight. The ex-Georgia Tech star is two back of leader Justin Rose and one behind the red hot Adam Hadwin and defending champion Brandt Snedeker.

Bryson DeChambeau is one player not staying around long this week after coming from the PGA Show and getting in very little practice. Throw in squabbling with the USGA over his putter and all sorts of other fun insights, and, well, he's not dull. Ryan Lavner reports for GolfChannel.com:

Golf Channel goes live at 10 am PT and CBS takes over around noon ET with the traditional half hour graphics changeover.