Golfing News & Blog Articles

Brendan Quinn at The Athletic dropped a doozy of a feature that I’ll return to next week when Golf Channel’s U.S. Open coverage is over.

But among the many exclusive details: NBC (and therefore Comcast)’s dismantling of Golf Channel: the stunning end of the channel’s reliable, award-winning golf website, GolfChannel.com.

Quinn writes:

Golfchannel.com is being shuttered at the end of the year. Its content will move to NBCSports.com, where it will be found as a drop down option off the main page, like any other sport. Its staff is shrinking dramatically, weakening the focus on written content and originally produced journalism.

Now holding heaps of live programming costing countless millions of dollars, including documentary work and television series, Golf Channel is expected to dramatically reduce if not outright eliminate original productions.

Coffee for wellness, 19 clubs, 2 launch monitors, last minute driver adjustment...US Open Thursday for Phil. pic.twitter.com/wvuvk5Y1IE

— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) September 17, 2020

Not sure if you’ve heard, but to recap: Phil Mickelson did not finish well the last time Winged Foot hosted the U.S. Open, New Yorkers are just amazing in every way, and Danny Noonan caddied in the tournament practice rounds.

The only story of those that matters: 50-year-old Mickelson’s return hot off a Champions Tour win. But a 79 ended his bid to win the 2020 U.S. Open. He was gracious after a round that probably was over before it started judging by the range scene four hours prior (above).

Q. Obviously you got off to a great start.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah. I don't know what to say. It's a disappointing day.

Tiger has some work to do. So does Dustin Johnson. But Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and even Lee Westwood are in good shape. Here are the key storylines heading into Round 2 of the U.S. Open.

Justin Thomas (65) was one of 21 players to shoot under par Thursday at Winged Foot. The result: a 1-shot U.S. Open lead over Patrick Reed, Thomas Pieters and Matthew Wolff.

Phil Mickelson's 79 at Thursday's U.S. Open was tied for his worst opening round in any major in his career. He's in second-to-last place at Winged Foot.

The U.S. Open, especially at Winged Foot, is not supposed to be easy. It's not supposed to be hard. It's supposed to be impossible. On Thursday, it wasn't. Will that change, or is the USGA softening?

I’m not sure I would have dropped on day one of the U.S. Open and might recommend bookmarking if you want to stay focused on the tournament. But Michael Williams files a lengthy, shocking, bizarre and eye-opening piece for The Undefeated detailing something he witnessed at last year’s U.S. Open.

Shocking because it involves one of the best people you’ll meet in professional golf—Charles Howell—who has gone above and beyond to learn from the incident. As always, please hit the link and take all of Williams’ piece in, but below is the setup.

I’ll add this to expedite matters: picture a lot of affluent people in a Lexus tent at Pebble Beach, one that make you wonder why need to have these corporate tents in the first place (oh, right, growing the game).

Williams writes:

I had been invited to the tournament by one of the corporate sponsors of the USGA, the organization that owns and operates the US Open. One of the perks was the opportunity to attend private post-round interviews with players, including Howell, in the sponsor’s hospitality tent beside the 18th fairway. As a golf journalist, I was familiar with Howell as a player, but I didn’t know much about him personally. While he wasn’t a contender to win (Howell finished tied for 52nd, 17 strokes behind winner Gary Woodland), I decided to attend to get some insight into how a physically unremarkable guy had willed himself to a remarkable career.

Todd Lewis of the Golf Channel was slated to ask Howell and fellow pro Patrick Cantlay about how the players thought they did, what their chances were, the difficulty of the course, etc. Typically, the players’ answers would match the banality of the questions.

But after a couple of softballs, Lewis started describing a story that Howell had shared with him when asked for an amusing anecdote. “You all remember the night Tiger Woods hit the fire hydrant with his car, right?” The 75 or so people in the tent laughed nervously and nodded, unsure why the 2009 accident outside Orlando, Florida, that contributed to Woods’ tragic fall was being raised at the national championship.

Jordan Spieth, the three-time major championship winner who has no victories since his 2017 Open victory, managed to shoot 3-over 73 but is tied for 78th place at Winged Foot in the U.S. Open.

Even though he had five birdies on his card, Tiger Woods could not find much that was positive about his start to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

Patrick Reed recorded a hole-in-one at the seventh hole in the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Watch it happen.

There were good moments, bad moments and plenty of moments of scrambling for Tiger Woods in the first round of the U.S. Open. Here's how it all went down.

 

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Have you ever tried to walk in cement shoes?

Chances are kids feel that way when trying to swing a golf club that isn’t right for them. When introducing kids to golf, parents often think they need to choose between proper instruction and good equipment.

The fact of the matter is, as an instructor, it is nearly impossible to help kids develop the proper foundation for their swing when the clubs aren’t right for them.

With all of the options available, finding the right set of junior golf clubs may feel daunting. It doesn’t have to be that way.

As a parent, the first thing you need to ask is: What is a realistic goal for my child and the game of golf? If you just want them to get out and swing a golf club with you without focusing on improving their swing mechanics, then Grandpa’s cut-down forged blades will suffice. If you are looking to get them started by learning the proper fundamentals, are considering registering them for a local junior golf program or camp or hoping they’ll learn enough about the game and their swing to play a round of golf with you, then start them off with clubs that will maximize those opportunities.

USGA

The appeal of hack-out, last-man-standing golf has always been a mystery.

The joy of seeing tour pros brought down to a lower level is deeply narcissistic. To want to watch skills reduced or nullified, to make you feel better about your lousy game is both selfish and terribly simplistic.

But it’s been a while since we’ve heard of a setup so anticipated for the carnage it will inflict. Winged Foot this year sounds legitimately cruel, with spot-fertilized rough, tight fairways, old-style rough, restored hole locations and no fans to mash down the tall stuff.

Players made very clear in pre-tournament assessments that they expect this to be a war of attrition.

The next time someone mentions “ironclad” and sports rights contracts, you’ll probably think of this story by Dave Shedloski at GolfDigest.com.

He speaks to several figures, including NBC’s Jon Miller, who largely orchestrated the unbelievable swap of USGA rights from Fox back to NBC/Golf Channel by staying in touch with the Fox execs. Former USGA official and now-NBC Sports head Pete Bevacqua also played a key role in bringing the two sides back together after the shocking end to NBC’s prior deal.

Most amazing in the sequence of events might have been this revelation:

FOX and NBC had to hammer out a deal in which the two sides split nearly equally the cost of the remainder of the FOX contract. Talks wrapped up in early June. But that was hardly the end of it. FOX did not have the right to simply assign the TV rights to NBC. The USGA had to sign off on it, essentially negotiating an exit deal with FOX and closing on a new deal with NBC.

FOX representatives broke the news of their agreement with NBC to Davis at a June 17 meeting at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

Well that must have been a surprise!

The USGA’s annual U.S. Open news conference this year was a roundtable went 47 minutes and highlighted initiatives, corporate sponsors, the high rough and the distance issue.

We learned about the “cadre of social media influencers” helping to bring the tournament to everyone who can’t be there. So there was some humor.

I enjoyed this from John Bodenhamer on why the opening pairing was selected:

We can't wait for two local players, a little special start tomorrow. Brandon Wu from Scarsdale and Danny Balin from White Plains will hit the first shots off the 1st and 10th tees tomorrow morning when we start, and we're pleased by that.

Warning, there is now a brand anthem that you’ll be tired of by Sunday. From Craig Annis, Chief Brand Officer:

It’s amazing when we hit perfect shots and wish that we could capture that swing in a bottle. It seems to be magic but it’s really the fact that you used the swing skills that you already know. You just need to bottle up the right moves in every swing.

My Recent Awakening
After I played 9 holes of golf with consistently poor drives my wife suggested one of my swing thoughts: “Are you swinging with a flat wrist?” I thought “What a stupid question!” Of course she may not really know what I mean when I tell her to swing with a flat leading wrist but she said it as a serious reminder. Sure enough that was my exact problem. I immediately pared the next 4 holes. It was that one simple thought that I forgot during my backswing. I had been cupping my wrist.

Recreational golfers should avoid cupping your wrist in your backswing. You need power like Dustin Johnson to manage a severe bow shape in his wrist. Flat wrist is the best solution. GOLFSTR (used in this image) helps you learn to swing with a flat wrist.

It’s the same thing that a teaching pros will do with professional golfers when they sees a swing mistake during a tournament. I’ve heard interviewers discover after a round of golf why a pro has had an amazing turnaround during a round of golf. There is one small detail in their swing that they tend to forget about as they get frustrated with their game. Their trainer spotted the problem and the fix is instant.

FLAT WRIST IN YOUR BACKSWING
That’s one of the 6 swing fixes that you can discover when practicing with GOLFSTR+. I invented this training aid to remind me to keep my leading elbow straight in my backswing. Teaching pros suggested 5 more uses for GOLFSTR and that’s why we call it “GOLFSTR PLUS”.

1/ STRAIGHT ARM BACKSWING: It’s applies pressure on the back of your arm to remind you to keep your leading arm straight and to limit your backswing to avoid bending your elbow.
2/ FLAT WRIST PUTTING: Forces you to learn to putt by rocking your shoulders and NOT bending your wrists.
3/ FLAT WRIST BACKSWING: Swinging with a flat wrist forces your tailing elbow to graze your ribcage during your downswing and to swing from inside-to-up-your-target-line. That was my recent BINGO THOUGHT and it really works..
4/ FLAT LEADING WRIST for CHIPPING: It prevents you from bending your leading wrist while chipping for better direction control to your target.
5/ MINIMIZE TRAILING WRIST LAG while chipping: It stops your wrist from bending more than 30 degrees as you sweep down into the ball.
6/ LAG TRAINER: Reminds you to bend your trailing elbow 90 degrees during your backswing to feel that you have loaded up a proper lag.

Thanks to reader Brian for this Caroline Wilson story where the Herald writer tells us American golfers are less likely to hit balls into the Old Course hotel than Scots.

This “news” comes as the hotel has filed for netting to protect the Jigger Inn’s outdoor revelers from incoming golf balls after all these years.

The five-star hotel, which is owned by Herb Kohler, a bathroom hardware magnate from the US, has historically had a problem with wayward balls hitting its walls and it seems Scottish golfers may be mostly to blame.

According to hotel bosses it is the American golfers who are able to add enough curl in their stroke to prevent it hitting the walls of the hotel, which borders the famous 17th ‘Road hole’. Scots golfers, are said to be more likely to hit the building.

A hotel source said: “They have to hit it over the green sheds which is part of the hotel. It is famous and notoriously difficult.”

And we know those Scots all just hit it a few feet off the ground!

The story does seem to be talking about a pair of different tasks here: hitting over the faux railway sheds from the Road hole tee, versus slicing one into the actual hotel.

USGA CEO Mike Davis said the organization looked at making Winged Foot "a little bit easier" for the U.S. Open.

More money has been bet on Tiger Woods to win the U.S. Open than has been bet on any other golfer at William Hill sportsbooks, although Phil Mickelson has attracted the largest single bet.