Golfing News & Blog Articles

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.

Collin Morikawa bounced back from his first missed cut with a 7-under 65 on Thursday for a 1-stroke lead over Adam Hadwin at the Workday Charity Open.

The PGA Tour's Dylan Frittelli says it was hard not to feel like an outcast Thursday but said playing despite a positive coronavirus test was still fun.

The European Tour restarted Thursday after a four-month break because of the coronavirus outbreak with the first round of the Austrian Open, where former winner Joost Luiten shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead.

The FedEx St. Jude Invitational has scrapped its initial plan and will not allow fans to attend the tournament slated for late July.

Tony Romo, the two-time defending champion, is the betting favorite at this week's American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, but John Smoltz is attracting the most money at some sportsbooks

Tiger Woods, who hasn't played an official event since finishing last among those who made the cut at the Genesis Invitational, will return to the PGA Tour next week at the Memorial Tournament.

Precision Pro Personalization.

That’s a fun bit of alliteration, isn’t it?

What consumers love about Precision Pro is simple. It offers quality products and uber-reasonable prices. In fact, its NX7 Pro Slope rangefinder was just named “Best Value” for the second time in MyGolfSpy’s annual Most Wanted testing.

Beyond that, it’s a company that lives its mission to treat every customer as the most important one. It might sound trite and there are plenty of companies that trot out some version of the same message.

The difference with Precision Pro is it fully understands how little things can have a major impact on consumers. For example, offering a lifetime free battery replacement or guaranteed trade-in values when it’s time to upgrade.

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

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) July 8, 2020

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.

The PGA Tour announced a clarification that will allow players and caddies who have tested positive for the coronavirus to return to work after 10 days, even if they continue to test positive, provided that certain qualifications are met.

Have you ever said “If I could only make a straight putt, I could sink this one”. Then you push or pull or leave your putt short. It’s so frustrating but it happens all the time. Fortunately if you say this to yourself, you are way ahead of 50% of all golfers. At least you understand the critical component of putting: Choose your line and make a straight putt.

Alignment is critical. If you swing your putter directly up your target line and impact the ball dead center on your putter face, you should at least hit the right line. Developing a “Feel for the Break” is the hard part. Getting the right swing speed for the right distance is a matter of practice but the break and slope is different on every putt.

Alignment
I saw an ad for a putting alignment mirror highlighting steps to hit a straight putt:
-Choose the right target line. The mirror has a line which is easy to line up when you stand behind it and line it up with your target point. [Too bad it’s not legal on the course.]
-Make sure that your head and eyes are directly over the ball to avoid a distorted view of the direction to your TARGET. [Basically, that’s all the mirror is helping you control.]

-Swing so that the putter will impact directly on the center point of your putter. [That’s your primary thought during your swing.  [Test your putter on a perfectly flat surface to build confidence in your putting stroke and your swing for a straight 4 foot putt.]
-Limit your backswing so that you can accelerate through the ball and continue your swing directly up your target line. (Don’t jab at it and quickly return your putter.)

A silent Ryder Cup just wouldn't work. The players wanted no part of it, either, and have been saying so for months. Waiting a year and hoping the gates will be open again in 2021 was the only choice.

The PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio June 9-12 for the Workday Charity Open. Here are our experts' best bets.

The original T Grind dates back to Bob Vokey’s work with Tom Pernice. Based on the M Grind, the T is what Vokey points to as the one that made wedge grinds a thing. The utility of the T grind along with an acknowledgment of its significance in Vokey’s history helps explain why some variety of Vokey WedgeWorks T Grind finds its way into the lineup nearly every season.

About T Grind

At the risk of stating the obvious, the signature feature of the T Grind is its sole. It’s a low-bounce (four-degree) grind that features a channel in the sole known in Vokey circles as a Pro Groove. The grind fluctuates a bit based on the year and loft of the club. From what we can tell from the photos, this year’s Pro Grove implementation might be a tad more subtle than others.

Finer points aside, the foundation technology of a WedgeWorks offering typically mirrors that of the mainstream – in this case, SM8 – offering. We don’t need to rehash the specifics. If you want to read about Reimagined Progressive CG or 100% Inspected Grooves, our original SM8 story has you covered.

WedgeWorks T Grind – The Open Championship Wedge

As with a good bit of the equipment storylines this year, COVID-19 has altered the timeline for the WedgeWorkds T Grind. It was supposed to launch ahead of the Open Championship as a nod to the links-style conditions the professionals would have faced.

With that in mind, it isn’t surprising that T Grind use is more prevalent on the European Tour where more than a dozen are in play any given week.

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.

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).