Golfing News & Blog Articles

Since the U.S. Open will not be “open” for the first time since 1942 when Ben Hogan won, trying to get a field in place without qualifying was no easy task. And for the most part they appeared to a superb job bringing a diverse group of players to Winged Foot this September.

Brentley Romine has the full list of exemptions, including six time runner-up Phil Mickelson thanks to a World Golf Ranking cutoff date of March 15 when Mickelson was ranked 61st.

There were a couple of surprises near the end, pleasant in the case of the Order of Merit winners and top seven ranked amateurs. Surprising but not shockingly so: the top three from the 2020 PGA Professional Chanmpionship scheduled for late July, and of course, that old standby, Special Exemptions.

-Order of Merit winners from the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour Australasia as of July 15.

-Top three finishers in the 2020 PGA Professional Championship.

-Top seven ranked players, not otherwise exempt, in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of Aug. 19, following the U.S. Amateur.

-Special exemptions.

Back in March when the Players Championship attempted to play on as other sports shut down, most felt it was Rory McIlroy’s suggestion to “shut it down” if a PGA Tour player tested positive that put the gravity of the pandemic into perspective.

After his opening 63 at the Travelers he praised Commissioner Jay Monahan’s uplifting press conference and suggested calls to stop playing following a few positive tests was silly.

From Christopher Powers at GolfDigest.com:

“I think people … you hear one or two positive tests and people are panicking, and I saw a couple of calls to shut the tournament down, which is silly from my point of view,” McIlroy said. “You know, I thought [Monahan] did a really good job explaining. There’s been almost 3,000 tests administered. The percentage of positive tests is under … it’s a quarter of a percent.

“I think as a whole, it’s been going really well. There’s a couple of loose ends that we needed to tidy up, and I think we’ve done that. So yeah, I feel like the mood and the tone of the event was probably lifted by Jay yesterday.”

One update to the Tour guidelines not mentioned in Jay Monahan’s Tuesday press conference involved how Shane Lowry’s possible COVID-19 brush was handled. The Commissioner approved Lowry’s place in the Travelers Championship field—and opening with 66)—but he must wear face covering in scoring and is precluded from entering the TPC River Highlands clubhouse.

From Brentley Romine at GolfChannel.com on Lowry proceeding cautiously:

“I contacted the Tour pretty quickly because I asked them what did they think I should do because I wanted to do the right thing,” said Lowry, who decided to remain in the field and shot 4-under 66 Thursday. “But I don't think I was within enough contact with Ricky over the course of the nine holes we played on Tuesday. … I spoke to [Tour commissioner] Jay [Monahan] yesterday evening here at the club, and he said that I'm good to play, so I'm here to play.”

He may be playing, but Lowry also is having to take extra precautions. He is wearing his mask into the scoring area and he’s restricted from going inside the clubhouse and player dining.

Mackenzie Hughes fell just short of the 12th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history, but took a three-shot lead after going bogey-free Thursday at the Travelers Championship.

June 25, 2020

NCGA Mourns the Loss of Past President Jerry Blackmore

Jerry E. Blackmore, who served as NCGA president in 1992, died June 23.

Mr. Blackmore was born August 19, 1940 in Great Falls, Montana.  The only child of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Blackmore, he grew up as a young child in Duluth and Ely, Minnesota.  His family moved to Castro Valley when Jerry was a freshman in high school.  He’d graduate from Castro Valley High in 1958.

Later, Jerry earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from San Jose State and an MBA in Taxation.  He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity while at San Jose State and was a member of the California Society of CPA and American Institute of CPA.  He served in the Vietnam War in 1962 and 1963.

The recent spike in coronavirus cases has not deterred The Memorial Tournament from being the first event to have spectators since the PGA Tour's restart. Said a tournament official: "It reminds us we have to make sure we do it right."

It was early in the morning, on a largely empty course at the Travelers Championship. It was a round full of fireworks, even if nobody heard them.

Expanding the Official World Golf Ranking, awarding spots for high finishes at PGA Tour events, a points system for European Tour events and spots for Korn Ferry Tour players and amateurs are all part of the new exemption criteria for the U.S. Open.

We started Shaft University as an introductory journey into golf shafts focused on a single question. “What is involved in creating a golf shaft?” From there, we explored the topics of materials, design, and production, which brings us to the end of this design cycle – testing.

As a trusted colleague likes to say, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” Whether a shaft design results in a physical product that achieves the target objectives isn’t clear until the shaft is tested. Or, think of it this way – everything is theoretical until it isn’t.

In a sense, shaft testing is the seminal moment when a product either checks all of the boxes, or it doesn’t. This isn’t to suggest that every shaft manufacturer uses the same checklist or maintains identical spec tolerances. However, leading brands produce higher quality products more often and more consistently.

WELCOME TO THE END

With that, welcome to Testing 101, the final component of this edition of Shaft U. Particularly with high-performance (and high dollar) shafts, engineers are likely to argue that of all the steps, testing might be the most critical one.

…and in a charming, expedite-the-freak-show exposure of regulatory ineptitude as we wonder how much longer American tournament golf can be played without quarantining half the Tour.

Obviously, it is CLEARLY the better way to play the TPC River Highlands’ 17th by flailing away on a spectator-free course. I mean, who would play to that tiny water-guarded fairway when they could bomb away? Bryson? We need you in this time.

Luke Kerr-Dineen first posted this after DeChambeau’s practice round at the Travelers Championship.

Bryson tried driving the 420-yard 17th green during his practice round today. Reached 198 mph ball speed on the drive (!) and stayed dry, but says it's too risky to try in the tournament.

Was tempted to try and drive a few holes last week, but ended up "playing smart" pic.twitter.com/quAysDTpVb

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) June 23, 2020

But he has so far, decided not to do it, Brentley Romine notes here:

One was the greatest sprinter of all time, while the other rewrote record books in golf. Which one dominated their field like no other?

Too many golfers pull the trigger too early in their swing. I’m an active recreational golfer and I watch a lot of other golfers (as well as myself) who get so frustrated by their ability to hit a golf ball perfectly 100% of the time. They would even be happy with 50% or any improvement but they can’t seem to calm down and execute the shot. I know the secret.

Unfortunately golfers love to watch the pros on TV executing every shot perfectly. We rarely see the duck hooks or the fat shots or the topped balls, but the pros do it too. The program producers just make sure that they only show the best of shots unless they happen to be following one of the tournament leaders who happens to make a poor shot.

My point here is that the pros have an amazing ability to start the transfer of their weight from the trailing foot to the leading foot during their swing transition at the top of their swing. They have no problem doing this with amazingly fast swings. We see this and our minds think we can repeat it on the golf course.

In the Heat of Battle on the Golf Course
We are always wondering where our bad shots are coming from especially when we do them on the golf course. It seems so simple to repeat great shots on the driving range. But on the course it all changes. When our minds are caught up with our last amazing drive or our last disappointing flub, we tend to internalize our feelings and release them by pulling the trigger too early in our next shot.

Bro-Bumps: Jay Monahan and Rory McIlroy at Last Week’s 2020 RBC Heritage

Kudos to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan for expediting his wheels up time to be out front on today’s hectic virus news at the Travelers Championship, apparently earlier than expected.

Also, kudos to the PGA Tour media team for axing all press conferences to focus on the matter at hand: more positive tests, more signs pro golfers are not immune to the virus, and more signs the that tour officials hear the bubble bursting.

And that’s about it for the compliment department.

The day that started with the news of Whoop’s for everybody! (Contrary to reports, the wrist devices do not inject you with anti-bodies OR zap you after walking into the Tour’s physio area without having tested negative).

Despite seven positive tests out of the 2,757 administered across the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, commissioner Jay Monahan believes "every number hurts" and that "we all need to remind ourselves that we're learning to live with this virus."

If the PGA Tour had gotten complacent after two relatively smooth weeks, that changed in a hurry. So what does it mean for this week and ones after it? What would it take to cause another shutdown? And will there really be fans next month?

June 24, 2020

Sharing the Game With Friends and Family

After some very challenging months, we are all now enjoying the perks of summertime golf.

In taking stock of the situation, we more appreciate and realize how smart and fortunate we are to have chosen a sport that is proving to be such a great outlet in the midst of a pandemic.

Hopefully you’re not only getting back out to enjoy a few rounds, but getting some friends, colleagues or family members to join you. It’s time for some fun games again – but to play the games at even odds, everyone ought to have a handicap index.

In sharing the game with friends and family, here’s a reminder that there are several ways to join the NCGA and obtain an official handicap index via the new World Handicap System.

June 20, 2020

18 Things to Like About the New World Handicap System

NCGA Director of Handicapping and Course Rating Jim Cowan presents us with 18 reasons to appreciate the new system: (as seen in the Spring 2020 issue of NCGA Golf Magazine)

Click Here for a Printable PDF 

Global reach – The WHS is…well…worldwide. By year’s end, wherever you go, wherever you play, Course and Slope Ratings will greet you. And, you will be able to return those scores. Daily Updates – Play today… post today… receive a new Handicap Index (HI) tomorrow morning. Talk about a “current” handicap!  my NCGA App – For the first time ever, more NCGA scores were submitted by app in 2019 than via the posting kiosks at golf courses. Capture your new HI in the morning…determine your Course Handicap (CH)…play…post before midnight. Rinse, repeat.Ghin.com – Check out the features. My favorite? The ability to “follow” a golfer(s). Look up your 10 golfing buddies once. Designate you wish to “follow” each. Click the “Following” tab thereafter to view their current handicaps. Best 8 of 20 calculation – The new math for determining your handicap is more responsive to the entry of a good score…less responsive to a poor one. Reducing the number from 10 to eight of 20 also rewards consistency. Fewer scores to acquire a HI – Brand-new golfers are issued a handicap faster. You only need to post scores for 54 holes… in either 9 and/or 18-hole increments.Maximum HI of 54.0 –Let’s face it, there are many golfers with games that fall in the high 40’s/low 50’s HI range, which rendered the old limits of 36.4 (men) and 40.4 (women) inaccurate and a source of discouragement. With a goal of greater inclusiveness, the WHS gives such golfers a meaningful number that they can track. Par is important – Par held very little significance within the USGA Handicap System (single-digit handicappers limited to a max hole score of double-bogey, “par, plus any handicap strokes” applied to unplayed holes).
Under the WHS, no change to the un-played holes policy. Par impacts the net-double-bogey procedure. And par is a factor in the computation of a course handicap (CH). Net Double Bogey – Easily the source of the greatest confusion surrounding the WHS. I like the maximum-hole score procedure because it is tried and true (been used worldwide for years) and is favored by the mathematicians to generate superior results…and it’s not rocket science!
Imagine mapping out your entire CH over 18 holes according to the Stroke Index rankings. A 25, for example, receives two pops on the 1-7 ranked holes; one stroke on the remaining. Gross double bogey plus these handicap strokes represent your max hole score for posting purposes.Course Rating minus par – Prior to 2020, a CH represented the number of strokes you needed to play to the Course Rating of the tees you were playing (i.e., achieve a net score equal to the Course Rating). Now a CH represents the number of strokes you need to play to par. This is achieved by factoring the difference between the Course Rating and par directly into the CH.
Where once your CH varied little between tees, now you will find you receive more strokes from highly rated tees/fewer strokes from tees that carry a low Course Rating. Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) – A score of 80 at Poppy Hills on a day the wind is howling is a better performance than an 80 on a dead calm day . . . that’s common sense. The old system could not detect this; the WHS can.
The PCC is an automatic scores-driven calculation performed each evening that determines if conditions on that day of play (weather and/or course conditions, course set-up, etc.) at that golf course differed from “normal” enough to significantly skew scores up or down. If so, those scores/performances will be adjusted down or up. Limit on upward movement of a HI – Caps are in place to prevent wild upswings in your HI. A soft cap starts pumping the brakes once you stray 3.0 strokes above your Low Index of the past twelve months. Without club intervention (for injury, illness, etc.), a hard cap prevents an increase of more than 5.0 strokes.Exceptional scores – Submit any score 7.0 – 9.9 strokes below your HI and you will be assessed an automatic 1.0 stroke reduction. 10.0 below and more, a 2.0 stroke reduction.The USGA Course Rating System – One of the wisest decisions made in devising the WHS was to adopt the former USGA Course Rating System. No need to re-rate all courses, current ratings will do just fine, thank you.Section 3-5…gone! – Section 3-5 was the adjustment for golfers competing from different tees. It awarded the difference in Course Ratings between tees to the golfers playing the set with the higher value.
No more.
With CH now calibrated to par, no adjustment required if the pars of the multiple tees are identical. If different, those playing the tees with the higher par receive additional strokes equal to the difference in par…and pars do not have decimal points!New Handicap Allowances – New and improved handicap allowance recommendations for popular formats of play have been developed. Everything from an individual gross/net competition (95% allowance for fields of 30 and above), to scrambles. Check out Appendix C of the Rules of HandicappingNew Stroke Index Allocation –The recommendation for the ranking of stroke holes is now based on a raw difficulty standpoint (difficulty versus par) and not from the match play perspective that prevailed for decades. As these stroke play derived rankings will likewise be used for match play, it is recommended that certain accommodations be made to spread out the strokes, to avoid back-to-back high rankings, etc. See Appendix E of the Rules of HandicappingNew CH Tables – The USGA has developed better, cleaner CH tables that we hope to distribute soon. CH can also be determined via app, kiosk and ghin.com.

 

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Brooks Koepka, the world's No. 4-ranked player, won't play in the Travelers Championship after his caddie tested positive for coronavirus. Said Koepka: "We've got to do everything we can not to spread it."

Graeme McDowell withdrew from the Travelers Championship on Wednesday morning after being informed that his caddie has tested positive for the coronavirus.

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