June 29, 2020

The Story Behind Dropping

Golf is a complicated game. No matter how low your handicap, you will still occasionally end up in a situation where you are dropping a ball. Sometimes dropping can benefit your situation, such as when you get free relief from a condition on the golf course that is not meant to be there (like temporary water or a cart path). Other times, you are dropping because you are in a situation where you cannot or do not want to play your ball as it lies (such as in a penalty area).

In 2019, the dropping procedure saw a major overhaul when it shifted from shoulder height to knee height. However, this was not the first time that this procedure saw a major pivot. In 1984, the Rules of Golf went through another significant reorganization which, at the time, was considered the biggest in the history of the game. While the Rules of Golf had been written jointly by the USGA and The R&A since 1952, each organization was still issuing separate Decisions on the Rules. In 1984, the two organizations came together to write a truly unified code with a single set of Rules and a single set of Decisions.

To take a drop prior to 1984, you were required to stand facing the hole and drop your ball over your shoulder and behind you. Effective in 1984, the Rules of Golf shifted to the shoulder height drop that we are all familiar with.

Dropping Over the Shoulder

Harris English on Monday became the fifth PGA Tour player to test positive for the coronavirus, learning the results at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

If watch any golf on TV you’ll notice that there certainly doesn’t seem to be one backswing that is universal to all Tour players. Their backswings range from long to short, laid off to across the line and fast to slow. The million dollar question is which one will work best for you and your game. Watch this video to start to understand your options…

Length of Backswing

Don’t be overly anxious to shorten your backswing. If the arms are collapsing or the hands are letting go then by all means work towards making the necessary upgrades.

Longer backswings should almost have an across the line look, while shorter backswings simply must have the clubhead more behind them with a laid off look.

Amount of Time

PGA Tour players Bubba Watson, Harold Varner III, Jason Day and Wesley Bryan will participate in a nine-hole match on Wednesday to benefit charity initiatives for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Press releases these days are usually so light on details and heavy on the fluff. Not this!

Let’s get to it, For Immediate Release:

USGA Announces New Media Rights Partnership with NBCUniversal  

Move is a win for golf fans  

Wow, even the subhead has layers.

No two golfers have identical swings. Why, then, would we assume (or be led to assume) that any two golfers would require exactly the same thing from their equipment?

It’s our mission to understand what equipment best serves each unique golfer. The desire to capture more data is why our 2020 Most Wanted Driver Test consisted of 35 real humans and captured more than 15,540 shots. The more we know about the performance of each of the 37 drivers in our test, the better we can help narrow your choices.

It’s tempting to watch the PGA TOUR and assume the same drivers that work for the pros will also serve you. The data say otherwise.

Once again, we’re segmenting our data for 2020 to provide more meaningful information to the individual golfer. We’ve broken down our driver test results into three different swing speed categories. Today, we’re focusing on slow swing speeds (less than 94 miles per hour).

No two golfers have identical swings. Why, then, would we assume (or be led to assume) that any two golfers would require exactly the same thing from their equipment?

It’s our mission to understand what equipment best serves each unique golfer. The desire to capture more data is why our 2020 Most Wanted Driver Test consisted of 35 real humans and captured more than 15,540 shots. The more we know about the performance of each of the 37 drivers in our test, the better we can help narrow your choices.

It’s tempting to watch the PGA TOUR and assume the same drivers that work for the pros will also serve you. The data say otherwise. Once again, we’re segmenting our data for 2020 to provide more meaningful information to the individual golfer. We’ve broken down our driver test results into three different swing speed categories. For this breakdown, we’re focusing on mid swing speeds (95 to 105 miles per hour).

While overall results for the Most Wanted Driver test yielded small differences, the mid swing speed group showed a significant difference between the longest and shortest drivers. The mid swing speed group is the middle of the bell curve and encompasses the greatest number of golfers so likely you’ll find information here that applies to you.

No two golfers have identical swings. Why, then, would we assume (or be led to assume) that any two golfers would require exactly the same thing from their equipment?

It’s our mission to understand what equipment best serves each unique golfer. The desire to capture more data is why our 2020 Most Wanted Driver Test consisted of 35 real humans and captured more than 15,540 shots. The more we know about the performance of each of the 37 drivers in our test, the better we can help narrow your choices.

It’s tempting to watch the PGA TOUR and assume the same drivers that work for the pros will also serve you. Data say otherwise. Once again, we’re segmenting our data for 2020 to provide more meaningful information to the individual golfer. We’ve broken down our driver test results into three different swing speed categories. For this breakdown, we’re focusing on high swing speeds (greater than 105 miles per hour).  

Whether you’re an off-the-rack buyer, someone who’s constantly tweaking your gear or a golfer who is going to take the time to get fitted by a knowledgeable professional, we’re here to help you.

This year's U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York will be broadcast on NBC after Fox Sports asked to end its 12-year contract with the USGA, multiple people told The Associated Press.

Nick Pietruszkiewicz of ESPN.com was one of the select media members on site at the Travelers Championship and summed up the PGA Tour’s third week back:

• There were positive tests, of players and caddies.

• There was the sudden arrival of the PGA Tour commissioner and the possibility of another shutdown.

• There was one major champion leaving and one playing a round all by himself.

So yes, the stark reality of all this was evident all across the property, every day of the week.

He goes on to detail the whirlwind events and while drawing no conclusions, the new normal outlined in the story sounds like something that will be tough to sustain. And this was all before yet another positive test was announced (more later).

But if things continue at this pace of positive tests, contact trace-based WD’s and daily guideline changes and is juxtaposed against nationwide outbreaks, golf’s importance may pale.

The good news?

AP’s Doug Ferguson reports that Fox Sports has “asked to end” its 12-year USGA contract and, over the last two weeks, a deal was ironed out.

Andrew Marchand of the News Corp-owned New York Post, confirmed the news in a Tweet. An announcement is expected Monday.

From Ferguson’s story, the pandemic appears to have played a role:

One person said NBC would pay for just under half of the rights fee through the rest of the contract.

Two other people said the deal began to take shape this month, especially with the U.S. Open being moved to September during the opening month of the NFL.

One person said Fox was contemplating moving the U.S. Open to FS1, an idea that was rebuffed by Mike Davis, the CEO of the USGA. That led to deeper conversations about the contract and how it could be resolved.

Dylan Frittelli became the fourth PGA Tour player to test positive for the coronavirus and had to withdraw from Rocket Mortgage Classic next week in Detroit.

Dustin Johnson ended a 15-month drought and extended his career-long season victory streak to 13 by winning the Travelers Championship.

Things had gone smoothly the first two weeks. That changed this week at the Travelers Championship, where golf's return endured positive tests, needs for adjustments and plenty of resilience.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fourteen-minute Oak Hill restoration video and narrated by Rich Lerner. It gets downright emotional at a point when almost all of Donald Ross’s original Postage Stamp 15th is restored.

Bradley Klein kindly called the asinine Fazio-addition “ridiculous” in previewing the 2013 PGA, and if you feel confident in your digestion system, you should get one last look at it in that story. It really is one of the great architectural acts of vandalism.

Mericfully, the club and architect Andrew Green have brought back the original, minus the right bunker included in Ross’ original plan. The finished product looks like it’ll (re)join the list of tournament golf’s iconic short par-3s when the club hosts the 2023 PGA Championship and, as announced last week, the 2027 U.S. Amateur.

The video:

The best news from Saturday’s Travelers Championship came when Cameron Champ revealed he’s tested negative for COVID-19 three times since Tuesday’s positive test and can return home.

Also, the first player to test positive on the PGA Tour, Nick Watney is feeling ok and tells GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard how he awoke last Friday to Whoop readings that made him realize he had a problem.

The bad news is for Champ. Home for him is one of America’s hottest spots and his positive test/WD from the event will inevitably raise concerns about the efficacy of Sanford Health’s testing.

After this week’s much ballyhood adjustments to the PGA Tour’s tournament guidelines related to COVID-19, they made a meaningful adjustment Saturday after both Champ and Watney stepped on grounds potentially with the virus.

Joel Beall reports on the bubble fix that should have been either implemented sooner, or enforced more closely in the form of daily checks instead of, as regulations said, regular checks.

Heading into the Travelers final at TPC River Highlands, Brendon Todd (-18) leads Dustin Johnson (-16) by two.

Now, we know the players eating all those brussel sprouts, listening to their teams and planking for ten minutes at a time explains their distance gains. But whenever folks try to downplay actual distance numbers, we hear how scoring has not budged.

Yet one interesting twist of this “Return to Golf”, with its oversized fields, is the difficulty to protecting par. With bloated fields and warmer weather, we’ve seen softer conditions and easier setups to move players around.

The result: absurd distances (mostly carry) and low scoring. Through 54 at TPC River Highlands and courtesy of the PGA Tour:

Brendon Todd seeks to become the first three-time winner this season

I share this for the country club set of the world who need a story to know that no matter how much bickering, infighting and overall first world wackiness their club might be experiencing, there is always the latest from Bel-Air to top it.

According to TMZ, actress Lori Loughlin and husband/GFore creator/designer Mossimo Giannulli are resigning from Bel-Air as a result of their guilty pleas in the Rick Singer college admissions scandal. Things did not go smoothly.

Brendon Todd and Dustin Johnson each shot career-low 61s at the Travelers Championship on Saturday, leaving Todd with a 2-stroke lead over the 2016 U.S. Open champion.

Phil Mickelson didn't have his best day Saturday at the Travelers Championship. Did that cost him a chance for a win on Sunday?