Golfing News & Blog Articles

That’s the headline of a thorough Mike Diamond look into the United States “PPP” loans and Florida golf. The loans were meant to maintain “ongoing” operations at small businesses that had no other funding options.

The initial list of golf facilities taking the grants included mostly small amounts for obvious candidates in a time of pandemic, with the notable exception of courses recently hosting PGA Tour events like Colonial and Muirfield Village.

The Daily Beast’s William Bredderman published an extensive look at longtime Genesis Open host Riviera Country Club, which despite memberships costing north of $300,000, took between $2 million to $5 million, as noticed by Outside The Cut. More problematic: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is a Riviera club member.

Anyway, back to Florida. And kudos to the Palm Beach Post for giving Diamond the space to consider a nice variety of angles to the PPP concept and golf. It’s an especially complicated subject when it comes to golf courses versus country clubs and Diamond does a fine job looking at many points of view.

Scores of other Palm Beach country clubs had applied for the PPP loans. Many were approved but decided to refuse to accept the money on both moral grounds and legal grounds after reading the fine print. Government auditors are expected to review how the money was spent and can ask for the money to be returned and penalties to be imposed if they find misrepresentations.

Fifty-seven country clubs in Florida accepted the PPP funds. According to CNBC, more than 400 country clubs and golf courses received loans throughout the country. The issue of whether it is appropriate for golf course communities to receive PPP loans has been debated.

“At the end of the day, we decided we just did not need it,” said Stephen Wolk, president of the Gleneagles Country Club west of Delray Beach. “We could see the government looking very closely at how well-to-do country clubs were using these funds. How do you justify giving it to country clubs?”

Beth Ann Nichols reports on the Rose Series event wrapping at Royal St George’s, which next week was to host the 2020 Open Championship and now will host in 2021 after the R&A’s pandemic-driven cancellation.

Winner Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland held off English stars Charley Hull and Georgia Hall, the 2018 Women’s British Open winner.

The win is notable in giving Scotland a rising star who will make her Open debut next month at Troon after playing the two Ohio LPGA events.

Dryburgh has history at Royal St. George’s, having competed there at the 2014 British Ladies Amateur, the same year she represented Great Britain and Ireland at the Curtis Cup. The previous trip helped with the fact that she didn’t have a practice round at Royal St. George’s this week. She instead warmed up with a Clutch Pro Tour event at Sunningdale Health, finishing tied for ninth in a mixed tournament won by Will Percival.

On Wednesday after an LPGA player meeting, Dryburgh booked her ticket to the U.S. She’ll quarantine for two weeks in Texas before heading up to Toledo, Ohio, for back-to-back events as the LPGA reboots its 2020 season. She’ll then travel back home to Scotland for two more events, a most welcome homecoming in these uncertain times.

The tournament and what images we can see on Instagram give us a glimpse of what might have been at Royal St George’s. In a nutshell: the links would have been very green.

Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com item sarys the PGA Tour Policy Board is offering a “one-time” clause designed to fill out July 30-August 2nd’s WGC FedEx St. Jude field. What prompted it so far out, well, is pretty apparent.

In no particular order: Memphis in July/August, a date the week before the PGA Championship, or the inability or disinterest of international players to arrive and potentially have to quarantine for 14 days to play in Memphis in July/August the week before the PGA.

Hoggard writes:

Players were informed on Wednesday that the policy board has approved a one-time exemption for the event for players beyond No. 50 in the world ranking if the field is less than 78 players.

The current qualification includes players inside the top 50 in the world on March 16, when the rankings were frozen, and those inside the top 50 following next week’s Memorial.

“To maximize playing opportunities, adding an alternate list constructed from the next available players in order beyond 50th position on the Official World Golf Ranking [on July 20] . . . the alternate list would be utilized to fill the field to a limit of 78 players,” the memo read.

Optimize playing opportunities.

Thanks to all who sent the dreadful news of Dartmouth University ending both of its golf programs and announcing the permanent closure of semi-private Hanover Country Club, established in 1899.

From the communications department announcement quoting Philip Hanlon, President of Dartmouth:

The changes, which will eliminate five varsity athletic teams and a number of staff positions, will give Dartmouth more flexibility in admissions, reducing the number of recruited athletes in incoming classes by 10%. The move also contributes to the steps Dartmouth is taking to address budget challenges, including a projected $150 million financial deficit brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams to be eliminated, effective immediately, are men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's golf, and men's lightweight rowing, dropping to 30 the number of varsity teams. A total of about 110 student-athletes participate on these five teams.

In addition, Dartmouth is permanently closing the Hanover Country Club—which is owned by Dartmouth and operated at the College-owned golf course—after years of the club's running in the red, with deficits expected to swell to $1 million a year.

Reader Peter kindly sent this extensive and excellent Rick Shefchik story from 2014 looking at the course history, it’s place with students and golfers, how the course lost some character when 500 yards was added to the scorecard, and most disconcertingly, concerns then about the possibility of the land being developed.

CBS Sports' Return to Golf Continues to Earn Viewership Increase pic.twitter.com/unKHsFQ0j3

Another very solid weekend for PGA Tour ratings with not much sports competition due to the pandemic and a late start for NASCAR’s rance, a July 4 weekend that should have substantially cut into numbers, did not.

Bryson DeChameau’s win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic was up 56% from 2019 and if you ignore the silly demographics, earned plenty of eyeballs.

Showbuzz Daily’s full numbers for CBS and Golf Channel telecasts. The weekday broadcasts on Golf Channel were CBS-produced, while the weekend lead-in coverage was produced by PGA Tour Live.

Guy Kinnings (European Tour), Seth Waugh (middle, PGA of America), Jay Monahan (PGA Tour)

Kudos to European Tour’s Guy Kinnings and the PGA of America’s Seth Waugh for tolerating the Presidents Cup and Jay Monahan’s efforts to put it on the same plain as the Ryder Cup, all while conducting the 2020-Ryder Cup postponement news.

While there were some funny moments related to efforts at making sure the 2021 Presidents Cup postponement was of great interest, not even question-askers from Charlotte could muster up concerns for the PC’s postponement.

The Ryder Cup is just on a different level. And now it’s set for late September, 2021 at Whistling Straits.

I really enjoyed Seth Waugh’s sincere opening remarks about the responsibility entrusted in him and the PGA of America to do what’s best for what is an “exhibition,” but golf’s greatest one by a lot. Enjoy:

There’s a headline I wouldn’t have seen coming. Last week. But the “Return to Golf” marches on with regular adjustments.

Quick recap: the PGA Tour issued 36 pages of guidelines for the “Return to Golf” in mid-May and here’s how they initially planned to handle a player testing positive for COVID-19:

After five weeks and several positives, the window has closed to 10 days of quarantine and now less if you test negative twice (the Cam Champ clause).

On the eve of the first-and-hopefully-last Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village, a forklift was called in to move the goal posts again.

The PGA Tour announced no total test results for player and caddies this week as they also did not do last Wednesday. But this “update” revealing that three of the players who tested positive are still doing so, but feel fine so therefore, we have, a historic first: a coronavirus pairing.

Longtime readers know the plight of Detroit’s Donald Ross-designed muni, Rackham, has been watched since 2006 when there were signs the city might close it. The course was subsequently sold and last year we learned of this amazing woman trying to ensure its future as an important big city, affordable public course.

So it was great to see Golf.com’s Sean Zak using the website’s Muni Monday as an excuse to visit the place and highlight its amazing history with Joe Louis and in Detroit golf.

One can only imagine the stories they’ll be able to tell about what went on behind closed doors in the 2020 Ryder Cup discussions.

The PGA Tour’s first day back after the hiatus was dominated by Ryder Cup questions.

Almost three weeks ago, the Guardian said we’d soon learn about the fate the event slated for the end of September.

A majority of the readers here thought the event should be postponed but a surprising number were open to some option this year with limited or no fan access.

As has been well documented, players do not feel it’s a Ryder Cup without fans, led by the top two players in the world.

Outside The Cut highlighted top clubs and resorts taking significant workforce employment funds.

In recent days there has been national scrutiny over who received what, including some potential conflicts of interest as noted here by CNBC. In the golf sector, Outside the Cut Tweeted a list of the top golf operations securing SBA loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides several hosts of recent PGA Tour events (Colonial, Harbour Town) or upcoming events (Muirfield Village Golf Club), there is Riviera Country Club securing funds between $2-5 million earmarked to help “businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.”

The club is home to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who disclosed his membership there and at Sebonack on Long Island as part of his Senate confirmation process.

The full PPP list can be accessed here.

Over 1500 golf related businesses applied and received funds over $150,000, with just over half receiving less than $350,000. (Businesses receiving less than $150,000 were not disclosed).

Obviously, there is a reference here to Bryson DeChambeau’s annoyance that a cameraman trained a CBS lens on him as he was contending for the Rocket Mortgage.

The second inference takes things up a notch. Or four hundred given Brooks is only a mildly passive-aggressive based on past social media feuds.

pic.twitter.com/DTjuc48hFp

The R&A has confirmed plans to move ahead with the Women’s British Open in Scotland (now under their control but curiously still not subjected to The Open branding). From this wire story, it sounds like a very strict zone is being created to make this happen in late August, including all staying in one hotel.

As part of COVID-19 safety protocols, the Championship will create a "bio secure zone," and allow a reduced number of people who are essential to the operation including: players, caddies, officials, and staging staff.

To be allowed on-site, a negative COVID-19 test from an authorised testing centre must be returned, and in addition to limited movements between the golf course and the hotel, all players and staff will be subject to further tests and temperature checks "to maintain the integrity of the zone and the health of those within it."

The preceding week’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open is also forging ahead at the Renaissance Club in East Lothian. Players have have been briefed are already bracing for very limited movements beyond playing the tournament.

I sure will be at @LadiesScottish! Love LOVE golf in the UK! So excited! Just a bit gutted we will be quarantined so won’t have time to play North Berwick, Elie, Archerfield, or others. https://t.co/OPnCU1D6N2

North Berwick from the Howard Schickler Photography Collection

Judging by what’s shown at USGA.org and what’s hinted at as part of the Howard Schickler Photography Collection, the USGA has made an incredible acquisition for golf.

Danny Vohden highlights some of the collection’s strengths, with a nice sampling of shots embedded atop the article.

The collection contains more than 1,000 high-quality, historically and artistically important golf images from the 19th and early 20th century. Many photographs feature top American and British golfers, both men and women, from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection was amassed over decades by collector Howard Schickler, sourced from the collections of some of the game’s most influential figures, including the personal collections of Old Tom Morris and F.G. Tait, the Auchterlonie and the Foulis families, the estate of Billy Burke and the collections of Ed Dudley and Bernard Darwin. 

Schickler’s love of golf began when he started playing the game at age 13 in New York City. As a longtime curator and dealer of fine art photography, Schickler brings a unique perspective to this collection. 

On the latest Shack Show I take a few unmistakable forces in golf convering this week to highlight the issues surrounding Bryson DeChambeau’s use of power and the dreary lack of imagination in presenting two tournaments at Muirfield Village. And producer Tim Parotchka, big fan of the distance game then joins me to discuss the joys of the power game (that he passed up watching).

The Apple Podcast link.

And the iHeart embed option below, or subscription page here:

Bryson on "nothing burger" incident with cameraman

"People are going to make a big deal out of nothing, that's all it is. A nothing burger deal" pic.twitter.com/FP7mYZdQjC

So much for someone whispering in his ear, remember those cameras show you and the logos people pay you to exhibit.

Following Saturday’s bizarro Bryson DeChambeau beef with a cameraman filming the action as he’s obligated to do, the 2020 Rocket Mortgage champion took to Twitch following his Sunday win to answer questions. He continued to express his issue with television coverage invading his space, privacy, or something in that realm.

Thankfully for us geezers, Luke Kerr-Dineen posted the Twitch video (embedded above) and Christopher Powers transcribed DeChambeau’s doubling down on his view that cameramen are only suppose to shoot at select times and mind-read the rest of the time.

“I just felt like a minute long for videoing me was kind of a little weird, but we talked it out and it was all great, no issues whatsoever. So, I appreciate what they do, appreciate everybody that works hard out here to provide great entertainment.”

By the sound of it, he still didn’t quite get what irked some folks who were critical of his comments, but again, the news cycle moves quickly. Most of the discussion topics on Monday morning have revolved around DeChambeau’s game.

It doesn’t move as quickly when you double and triple down, however, which is exactly what DeChambeau did during a Twitch stream on Sunday night.

“The guy was videoing me for a minute after a shot,” DeChambeau said, “like a full minute. That’s just, it’s just obsessive. It’s not the cameraman, it’s nobody’s fault, there’s just got to be a little bit of respect, that’s all.”

Move Paul Lawrie high up the list of pros who have stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to help out the sport’s aspiring players.

As Martin Dempster writes, the 1999 Open Champion may be doing his best work yet for Scotland’s up and coming players, with some tremendous courses stepping in to assist as well: Royal Dornoch, Carnoustie and St Andrews where the New and Jubilee courses will be used. As will Devenick Course at Lawrie’s golf center (for a Par 3 Championship).

Six 36-hole events on the Tartan Pro Tour will offer a place for male and female pros to compete while travel restrictions and cancelled events reduce opportunities in the Home of Golf.

Dempster writes:

Scottish golf owes another debt to one of its favourite sons.

Of the many positive things he’s accomplished for the good of Scottish golf over the years, Paul Lawrie’s latest venture has to be the best of the lot.

Put it this way, the new Tartan Pro Tour, a series of six 36-hole events around the country in August and September, could make the difference between a Scottish-based pro going on to blossom in the game as opposed to being lost to the sport forever.

Well it’s a start, but the (ongoing) sad state of affairs at America’s top collegiate course and most affordable membership option in the area seem likely to be addressed.

Sadly, at Yale Golf Course during the pandemic—one of the few sad stories of neglect—will take time to fix. In such a short season, even the latest news below does not exactly make me optimistic for C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor’s masterful design. But at least the current Athletic Director seems concerned. This is progress.

Thanks to all who forwarded this.

Now that spectators have been ruled out for The Memorial, the back-to-back weeks at Muirfield Village will be delineated by contrasting course setups (Rex Hoggard reported three weeks ago).

Get ready to hear a lot about Stimpmeter speeds and rough heights. Oh, that’ll lure in the young people.

Also, the field for this week’s Workday Charity Open will consist of 156 compared to 120 for next week’s Memorial. 72-holes of stroke play for both. Scintillating.

The Workday provided an opportunity to inject something fresh onto the schedule while retaining the Memorial’s luster. Remember all the pre-pandemic talk about the need to slip in more variety on the schedule and offer alternatives to 72-holes of stroke play? I know, seems like decades ago.

Here are some options that would undoubtedly have required too many Zoom meetings and players inevitably offering their buzzkilling two cents.

Let’s ignore the fan vote component (Rory inevitably opens as the 3-1 favorite!) and instead enjoy the R&A’s fresh approach to pandemic “content”. The Old Course! A tournament! On national TV! Better than most!

For Immediate Release…

THE R&A TO MARK ‘OPEN WEEK’ WITH CELEBRATORY BROADCAST OF ‘THE OPEN FOR THE AGES’

6 July 2020, St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A is inviting golf fans around the world to take part in a very special celebration of golf’s original championship following the cancellation of The Open this year.

‘The Open for The Ages’ will bring together many of golf’s greatest champions for the first time to compete against each other over the Old Course at St Andrews in a compelling and innovative three-hour broadcast production. 

This exclusive edition of The Open features 50 years of archive footage expertly edited and woven together with modern graphics and new commentary to imagine a Championship contested by the legends of the sport including Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Sir Nick Faldo and Rory McIlroy.

‘The Open for The Ages’ will culminate in a final round programme that will air on Sunday 19 July when it will be broadcast globally to fans around the world on TV, TheOpen.com and The Open’s social media channels. The broadcast is being supported by HSBC and NTT DATA, both Patrons of The Open.

Anticipation and excitement for the final round programme will build up from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 July when coverage of the first three rounds of ‘The Open for The Ages’ will be provided by in-play clips, live leaderboards and end of play highlights across The Open’s social media channels.

The winner of ‘The Open for The Ages’ will be determined by a fan vote, which has registered more than 10,000 responses, and a data model developed in partnership with NTT DATA that utilises player career statistics alongside the input by fans to calculate the Champion.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “Golf is one of the very few sports where this concept can be created and brought to life. The way in which the sport is filmed allows us a truly unique opportunity to reimagine history and bring together the greatest players from many different eras on a scale which has not been done before, either in golf or in other sports.

“We are all keenly feeling the absence of The Open from the global sporting calendar this year and so we hope that this broadcast will generate real interest and enjoyment for the millions of golf and sports fans who closely follow the Championship every year.”

Laurence Norman, VP Sports Technology at NTT DATA UK, said, “Technology is synonymous with modern sport, helping athletes compete at optimum performance levels. What’s even more exciting is the new emphasis on technology being utilised to enhance fan experiences.

“Building stronger fan engagement through technology is the future of sports, and while it will never replace the thrill of live events, The Open for The Ages demonstrates how technology can keep pushing the boundaries of what it is possible in sports broadcasting."

The R&A’s international TV broadcast partners, including Sky Sports in the UK, NBC Sports and NBC Golf Channel in the United States of America, and TV Asahi in Japan, will televise ‘The Open for The Ages’ to fans all around the world.  It will also be made available via TheOpen.com and The Open’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

Commentators, including Ewen Murray, Nick Dougherty, Butch Harmon and Iona Stephen, will bring the Championship to life using a compelling narrative that will provide a fascinating spectacle at the Home of Golf.

‘The Open for the Ages’ will be supported by a digital and social media campaign featuring ‘in-play’ clips, leaderboards and statistics in the lead up to the final round being played when the outright winner is revealed.

The trailer:

From this week’s Golf.com Confidential, caddie and contributor John Wood on Bryson DeChambeau’s game following the Rocket Mortgage Classic win:

John Wood, PGA Tour caddie for Matt Kuchar (@Johnwould): Bryson seems to have broken the code for Bryson. And I think he has transferred what has been done at the long driving competitions for a while now to highly competitive golf. I couldn’t be more impressed. I was watching today and thought how economical this type of game is to practice. You practice drivers, wedges, chips and putting. He won’t often have to hit mid-irons, ever. Maybe a couple a day to par-5s. But for the most part, playing the game like he is playing it, and how courses are allowing him to play it through setup, why would you spend the time on fairway woods and hybrids and long/mid-irons when they will be used so seldom.

Will Gray at GolfChannel.com featured several of DeChambeau’s comments and summed up the whirlwind week at Detroit Golf Club, including this.

To that end, he’s looking to parse every possible advantage in a game where each player starts the week with the same score from the same teeing ground.

“I think the most important thing is that I’ve shown people that there’s another way to do it, and there’s going to be other people trying to come up and do it that way,” DeChambeau said. “For me, I think there are going to be people trying to hit it a little harder, some of them, but at the end of the day, it’s going to take a generation for all this to evolve into something different.”