Week After Anti-Bombing Gripes, TPC's Anti-Bombing Change Causes Gripes

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Last week some players were mad that Glen Oaks' 18th favored Dustin Johnson's ability to hit a super-human length drive under pressure and be rewarded. This week at TPC Boston, the newly updated 12th is causing consternation because it's forcing players to consider possible routes interrupted by bunkering, some a play down the 13th hole possible according to AP's Doug Ferguson who predicts many players will go all Lon Hinkle on us.

Brian Wacker at GolfDigest.com has some of the player reaction, including Paul Casey calling the hole awful. That's an eye-opener given his general astuteness, appreciation of centerline hazards and understanding that you can't judge a hole by one practice round.

However, architect Gil Hanse, who oversaw the changes along with Jim Wagner, is preaching patience and is not shy in suggesting that hazards were placed to prevent the bombs away approach found to be so upsetting last week.

Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com allows Hanse to explain the thinking behind the hole and need to consider it after more than just one impression.

“The expectation was it would take several rounds for these guys to learn how to play it and how they wanted to tackle it,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of the early reaction came after one practice round.

“The conversation we’ve had with three or four players is, 'Listen, just give it three or four rounds. Try to figure it out.' If we build a golf hole that the players can figure out after one round, then we probably haven’t done our job challenging them.”

And on preventing the new 12th from giving long hitters a distinct advantage:

“This golf course, rightfully or wrongly, has always been characterized as a bomber’s golf course,” said Hanse, who lengthened the 12th by 50 yards. “So when you’re making alterations, you have that in the back of your mind, and you don’t want to be seen increasing that advantage. We felt like the positioning of these hazards gives the average guy room to hit the ball. But as you want to push around 330, it gets more narrow.”

Hunter Mahan Starts Effort To Kickstart Career With 68

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On the list of questions I get from readers, Hunter Mahan has recently pushed aside Nick Watney and Anthony Kim atop the list of "where has he gone?"

Thankfully Tim Rosaforte at Golf World answers what has happened to Mahan's game, what he's doing to repair his confidence and what the prospects are for the one-time 4th ranked player in the world and 2014 Ryder Cupper.

Most prominently, Mahan's switched to instructor Chris O'Connell.

Mahan and O’Connell were connected through Tom Dundon, a mutual friend and developer whose golf interests include Trinity Forest in Dallas and Topgolf. O’Connell had been following Mahan’s career since he finished second in the 2002 U.S. Amateur and won the Haskins and Hogan Awards before wrapping up his college career at Oklahoma State in 2003. Seeing Mahan struggle, Dundon was persistent that O’Connell was the correct fit.

“I don’t expect Hunter and Kuch to look alike, but they both do specific things critical in the area of delivering the club into the ball,” O’Connell said. “I told [Mahan] at first, 'I don’t want to teach you anything you didn’t know or do. I simply want to put back what you were doing when you were highly regarded as one of best hitters out there.' I would not want to do anything else but just restore him.”

The restoration process involves rebuilding confidence. Mahan missed seven straight cuts in the early stages of the transition, but he's coming off a T-16 at the Wyndham Championship that included back-to-back 65s. He jumped from 791st to 731st in the world at the Wyndham, and goes into the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship ranked 748th.

Mahan opened with a 68 in round one of the Nationwide Children's Hospital Classic.

Knapp Wins Senior Am On First Try...In His 43rd USGA Event

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Dave Shedloski files a superb Golf World game story from the U.S. Senior Amateur at Minikahda Club where Sean Knapp won the U.S. Senior Amateur in his first year of eligibility.

For a player who has had his share of moments in amateur golf, it's a great story. But winning after 43 USGA events, for someone who started the game at age 19, is something to behold in the era of short amateur careers.

When you add the emotions of winning one with Knapp's late father very much on his mind, it's an incredible story you'll want to take in.

An accomplished player in Western Pennsylvania, Knapp has been a fixture in USGA championships, twice advancing as far as the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur. In the 1995 U.S. Amateur at Newport Country Club, he defeated Notah Begay in a second-round match only to be stopped in the Round of 16 by eventual winner Tiger Woods. In 1998, he got to the quarterfinals at Oak Hill C.C.

But it had been more than three years since he had qualified for a USGA championship, and that one, the U.S. Amateur at Atlanta Athletic Club, ended before it began when Knapp received a call from his sister. Their father, Roger, stricken with cancer, had taken a turn for the worse. Knapp marched to his car and drove 11 hours straight home to Oakmont. On the way he phoned his dad. Said Knapp, “He could barely speak, but I told him this selfishly, ‘Dad, stay alive. We’re coming home for you.’ ”

When he arrived, Sean put his hand on his father’s chest and told his father, “I’m so proud of you.” His dad replied, “Sean, just in time.”

Hanse On Architecture's Future & TPC Boston's 12th And 13th

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Golf.com's Dylan Dethier looks at Gil Hanse's rise (thanks for the link PG), which started in large part at the TPC Boston. Host of this week's Dell Technologies playoff event again, the course has been a long-term redesign effort with the PGA Tour and superintendent Tom Brodeur's team.

The transformation of the course into a New England-vibe course, rock walls and quirk included, has helped give this event much character. Hanse offered this on the future of design, inspired in part by the example he hopes to have set at TPC Boston.

"The future of golf is fun," he said, noting the accessibility of the short course he just completed at Pinehurst as an example. "Golf is such a difficult game that whatever we can do to make someone's first interaction with the game fun and positive is going to be a win. Of any sport, golf has the best field and the best landscapes, and those selling points will always resonate with people. The allure of being outside and spending time with people is huge and you can't match it anywhere else."

Dethier talks to Hanse about the latest changes to the 12th and 13th holes.

Golfweek's Bradley Klein offered his assessment of the remodeled holes in his 18 hole-by-hole description, including this on No. 12:

What used to be the only unbunkered hole on the course has been stretched by 49 yards and given centerline fairway bunkering in the form of  Principal’s Nose 305 yards off the tee. There’s also a new green position farther back. Hanse and Wagner also created more of a tie-in to the next hole by opening up the tree line and extending an existing ridge line into the 12th fairway, creating more of a drop-shot feel to the second shot. The shared space is a classical New England element that gets away from the older, isolated hole corridors that prevailed here. The putting surface also has been been moved away from its rocky ledge over a wetlands hazard. It now sits closer to the next tee, making for a better connect-the-dots feel. The hole requires a commitment off the tee between two alternative paths, the low road (to the right) shorter but a bit riskier; the high road to the left safer but longer.

GB&I Captain Watson "Stands Down" Due To Family Illness

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A great shame for GB&I Captain Craig Watson after nearly two years of preparation. He will be replaced at next week's Los Angeles Country Club matches by Andrew Ingram.

For Immediate Release:

THE GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND WALKER CUP CAPTAIN STANDS DOWN

30 August 2017, St Andrews, Scotland: The Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Captain Craig Watson is standing down from next week’s match at Los Angeles Country Club in the USA due to a serious illness in his immediate family.

In his absence Andrew Ingram, Chairman of the GB&I men’s selectors, will take over as Acting Captain.

Ingram, 57, represented Wales at junior and youth level before going on to captain the Welsh men’s Home Internationals team on five occasions, including their victory in 2002. He became Chairman of the R&A Men’s Selection Committee in 2014 and has been Chairman of the Teams and Performance Committee at the Golf Union of Wales for more than ten years. Ingram captained the winning European Junior Ryder Cup Team in the USA in 2004 and also at Celtic Manor in 2006 where Europe retained the trophy. He currently plays to a handicap of two and is a member at Royal Porthcawl.

Parsing The Issues Raised By DJ's 341-Yard Playoff Drive

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I'm both disappointed and elated at the reaction to Dustin Johnson's heroic tee shot in the Northern Trust playoff win over Jordan Spieth.

Elated, because something about it has people thinking about the role of distance in the game and not feeling satisfied even when a player uses his skill to take such a risk and reap a reward.

Disappointed, because the reaction has been to blame the hole or the organizers or so even people who rail against the distance jump in golf.

Michael Bamberger filed a nice account of the day and excitement of having two top players going at it. Their contrasting styles added to the magic. Until, we saw the reaction!

Kyle Porter at CBSSports.com considered all of the issues and posted many of the outraged Tweets for those who want to catch up on the "controversy" here.

Spieth hit a six-iron into 18. Johnson had a 60-degree wedge. It was not a fair fight. Spieth made a 4. Johnson hit the most beautiful spinning, all-grace lob wedge you could imagine and it was nearly a kick-in 3. Set-up by that extra gear. Covering 300 hundred, no problem. The tee shot went 341. Ho-hum.

Spieth was more animated in defeat than Johnson was in victory. Just two totally different people. A reporter asked Johnson if he knew how wild it sounded to the ordinary golfer, that 300 yards was no problem to carry.

The winner kind of tilted his head, did a mini-shrug and said, "No. I mean, I'm used to it."

How nice, for him.

Alan Shipnuck answered reader emails and Tweets that were pretty consumed with the tee shot, though most were more receptive than some of the PGA Tour players who took to Twitter.

The key to understanding the beauty of the play, in my view, is to separate the tee shot number of 341 yards from the line taken, the shocking tracer lines and the huge advantage gained over Spieth. If you just see this as a long hitter taking a risk under pressure and reaping a reward, it's a beautiful thing. Even better is that the hole was part of the playoff and in a mini-match play situation allowed for this risk-taking.

I'm concerned how many players were suggesting a playoff hole should be chosen based on some sort of arbitrary design characteristics. No matter how you feel about the impact of distance gains, I would hope that when the day comes, we all agree that long drivers like Johnson get to continue to enjoy an advantage as long as their drives are accurately placed.

But obviously the 341 number is alarming and has been for some time. If you cut 10% off the drives of Johnson and Spieth, the options would have been different. In the case of many holes, things would be more interesting. It just so happens that in this case, the advantage gained was more significant than we're used to seeing in an era when there are few short hitters. That's an issue to take up with your governing bodies.

NY Times On Sweetens Cove: "The Little Golf Course That Could"

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Thanks to reader Jim who sent this wonderful Dylan Dethier New York Times piece a few days ago and I finally got around to reading.

Sweetens Cove is profiled, the low-cost, great fun, model-the-future risk taken by golf architect Rob Collins. It recently cracked Golfweek's Top 100 Modern Courses list and is just the kind of thing we need more of.

You can hear Collins on the latest Shipshow with Harry Arnett and Jeff Neubarth.

Dethier writes:

Collins worked with a skeleton crew for long hours and low pay on an accelerated timeline. Other architects and prospective owners circled like vultures, ready to buy up the property. In sheer desperation, Collins mortgaged everything and took over the lease himself.

The course cost about $1 million to build, while a top design firm would have charged $8 million to $10 million for such a project, Collins said.

“The whole thing just got bootstrapped together; it was a labor of love,” he said. “I had a thousand opportunities to walk away, but, damn it, I believed so much in the project, and I honestly had nowhere to walk away to.”

ShackHouse 47: Playoff Mania, Things We Won't Talk About And Gladwell!

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Apologies for me calling in but it was a tech disaster day on multiple fronts, but we ended having what I think is a lively chat before Malcolm Gladwell and Joe House finally faced off on golf. (You may recall House was a tad chippy about Gladwell's take on golf). Gladwell was also on last week's House of Carbs taking on a very important crusade.

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

Here is The Ringer's show page.

Same deal with Soundcloud for the show, and Episode 46 is here to listen to right now. Or this new platform or wherever podcasts are streamed.

ShackHouse is brought to you by Callaway, and of course, the new Steelhead fairway woods along with the new O-Works from Odyssey as well. Oh and red and black putter winner results announced on the show too!

Analysis: NCAA, Golf Channel Extend Through 2029

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I'm a little surprised there has not been more sports media world reaction to the NCAA locking in the golf championships with Golf Channel through 2029.

Given the constant chatter about the demise of pay cable and possibilties of streaming, the NCAA chose not to go down that latter path (there had been rumblings!).

Granted, this is not the NBA or NFL, but most rights deals are very closely watched and at least in the golf world, this was a potential content for CBS Sports Network or the PGA Tour's possible entry into the space. The length of the deal is also eye-opening given the supposed uncertainty of rights deals and the difficulty in trying to get the NCAA back on television (where it has since thrived).

From Brentley Romine's Golfweek report:

“This is an important day for NCAA golf, our student-athletes, coaches and fans,” said Joni Comstock, NCAA senior vice president of championships. “The partnership with Golf Channel has resulted in live broadcast of several milestone moments in both the men’s and women’s championships over the last several years, and we anticipate more exciting moments in the years ahead. Providing access and a media platform that gives our golf student-athletes more visibility and news coverage shows unified support for the game. This also allows others the opportunity to see the outstanding play of our student-athletes who excel in the classroom and on the course.”

Given the expenditure by Golf Channel on the production side, I'd also note this deal is another huge victory for team match play as a format. Not that a boost was given, but since the NCAA switched to this format and memorable finishes have ensued, it's another hint that television has fully embraced a format beyond stroke play.

Rio, It Never Ends Files: Degraded Golf Just Isn't Catching On...

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While it pales compared to the suffering going on in Houston, the sight of Rio venues a year later is no doubt newsworthy and an important reminder about forcing the Olympics where they just don't fit. Knowing the joyful expressions of athleticism that took place there a year ago and seeing those places now is an eye-opener.

But as chronicled here many times, the continued inclusion of the Olympic Golf Course in slideshows certainly is a continued reminder that rustic, "degraded" golf (essentially dry links-style conditions) just doesn't quite make sense to non-golf media outlets.

Two recent examples of golf's inclusion in the discussion of venues here and here, though there are many more. Meanwhile, the course's Instagram postings tells a much different story than various press outlets wish to tell.

Gil Hanse, architect of the course, had this to say to Golf.com's Joe Passov:

"I'm hearing good things from locals," Hanse said. "Back in March, one of the international news agencies put out something about the state of the Rio facilities—the terrible state the pools are in, the Olympic Park with a chain link fence around it. And they ran an aerial photo of the 'degraded' Olympic golf course. I looked at it and I'm like, 'You can see the mower stripes on the greens. You can see all the bunkers are raked. You can see the fairways are mowed. How is that degraded?' It was definitely a fake news story. Very frustrating."

This was three days ago:

Playoffs Need Emergency Tweaks (Or Lose The Playoff Word!)

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The 2017 Northern Trust had the best 36-hole  leaderboard of the PGA Tour season, an immaculately groomed venue on Long Island and the perk of opening the FedExCup playoffs in a market where major events will be common place through 2024. 

Dustin Johnson won in a playoff over Jordan Spieth, and while the August timing is tough when the weather screams "family-day-at-the-beach,"  the event fell flat for another reason: the "playoff" word.

We connote playoffs with excitement in sports.

With do or die.

With drama.

With upsets.

With play well or go home.

None of those things happen in the FedExCup because the entire "playoff" is built around keeping season points leaders around until the end. From day one this lack of urgency has plagued the PGA Tour playoffs, especially since we are a sport once family with the ultimate playoff: the event still known as Q-School but bearing none of the importance it once held.

Instead of something where top players are able to build on their season-long success or lose it based on some poor early play, we have something in between--with two points resets--that has left us with a flat playoff concept.

FedEx has renewed through 2027, and Commissioner Jay Monahan is working hard to envision a better playoffs with (perhaps) only three events and (perhaps) more playing-off that introduces some drama.

As we discussed on Morning Drive Saturday, the most immediate need for the first playoff event is some sort of points penalty for a non-start or missed cut. The thinking goes like this: if someone doesn't want to be here or doesn't come to the playoffs ready to go, there must be some penalty in the quest for $10 million.

Hideki Matsuyama points leader who missed the Northern Trust cut? 500 points deducted.

Beyond this first stage event, however, there must be eliminations along the way and even once the event reached East Lake.

As the 2016 Rio golf proved, even with star defections there will be other stars and storylines that step in. There will be people in contention who want to be there and deserve to be there. Like any playoff, some will go home, maybe even stars. The sun will set in the west and most of all, the PGA Tour playoffs will be real playoffs.

Otherwise, if it's just too hard to cut the cord and penalize players for poor play, then maybe we need to lose the playoffs word?

Deadlines! Tour TV Opt Out, Proposed Rules Of Golf Changes

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Just a reminder to the folks down in Ponte Vedra, you have until September 1 to get out of your current network deal and imagine a new television future! Oh, right, you know this.

Of more interest to the majority of golfers is this week's deadline, also September 1, to submit suggestions for the upcoming Rules of Golf re-thinking.

I'm still not a fan of dropping the ball one inch from the ground or tapping spike marks, and we'll see if the governing bodies heard from many on those topics.

The SI/Golf.com gang had a good (and perhaps motivational exchange) on this and many other topics in golf:

Ritter: We're getting there, USGA! I like the proposed changes, but we still need to do more to address the one true scourge of golf: slow play. How about a shot clock on Tour—just for a trial period to see how it goes?

Sens: Hate to sound like Ritter's pet parrot, but I'll agree with him again here. I just played a weekend round that took five hours and 50 minutes. Inexcusable. And clearly the result of too many people emulating Tour pros in all the wrong ways. Put the pros on a tighter shot clock and enforce it. Playing quicker just becomes a necessary skill to be successful, like a QB who gets his passes off before the rush hits. In the meantime, that pesky stroke-and-distance matter could still use some addressing.

Shipnuck: Yeah, ditching O.B. and making all of it red stakes would be a great start. While we're at it, how about a free drop from sand-filled divot holes in the fairway, too?

Bamberger: The rule changes are so minor they will make no impact on the game as we play it and only a slight impact on the elite game. Getting out some red paint would have been a real change and I think an improvement.

NY Times Highlights Work Of The Bridge Golf Foundation

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Nice work by the NY Times' Paul Rogers highlighting the state of New York's Bridge Golf Foundation in a lengthy Sunday piece (thanks reader BB for sending). Johnny Milano's images accompany the piece.

Designed to be a “model for progressive gentrification” through its work with underprivileged and mostly black adolescent boys, the foundation is the vision of The Bridge Golf Club founder Robert Rubin and former golf writer Farrell Evans.

And it's not all about golf...

Both the Bridge Golf Foundation and the Eagle Academies include character education in their curriculums to encourage students’ social and emotional development. This summer, for example, the Bridge students read “The Pact,” a memoir about three young black men who, while growing up in Newark, promised one another they would become doctors and overcame hardships to fulfill their dream.

DJ Beats Spieth In Energy-Light Playoff Opener

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What a strange weekend at the immaculately groomed Glen Oaks, as the first Northern Trust to replace Barclays fell a tad flat despite a fantastic leaderboard.

Maybe it's the time of year on Long Island (better things to do), the venue (exclusive club), every fan turning into a documentarian (cell phone video and photos allowed), chip-out rough (ugh!), but for a showdown with two top players this one seemed a bit low on energy.

Your theories?

If I had to pick an order, I'd blame time of year impacting Long Island fan interest, player fatigue at this point of a long season and a lack of urgency in the playoff format that might inject some life. Plus, Glen Oaks Club did a nice job but it's hard to beat Bethpage energy.

Dustin Johnson picked up his 16th victory in a playoff under sunny skies and perfect conditions, holding off Jordan Spieth in week one of the FedExCup playoffs. Will Gray's roundup of notes from the week here.

Johnson took an aggressive line at 18 in sudden death, setting up a short sand wedge shot.

 

 

Jarrod Lyle: "I am in remission"

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The golf news has paled a bit this weekend as Texas faces catastrophic hurricane-induced flooding but there is at least this piece of news about one of the best people in the game, Jarrod Lyle.