Golfing News & Blog Articles

Martin Dempster catches up with Alfred Dunill Links chief Johan Rupert about cancelling the annual fall European Tour event in St Andrews that includes a pro-am. Safety was at the forefront of his decision.

“People could be acting in good faith and just accidentally cause reinfection. If you look at that time of the year in September and October, it’s cool, so people are indoors, they are going to be in pubs. Imagine everything going well and a couple of asymptomatic people come and they restart it. It is not responsible.

“Sorry, I love St Andrews too much and I love the Old Course too much. It is the culture, the space and the people that we love and we are not going to do anything to endanger that.

“My only sadness about the event being called off this year is for the community of St Andrews and also the community of Carnoustie because I know how much this event means to them. Also the caddies. I’ve had the same caddie for 17 years. It is devastating in that respect.”

The event would have been played in early October immediately following the Ryder Cup, which has also been postponed until 2021.

Dakota jumps in on the broadcast and doesn't miss a beat as he calls the great approach by Rickie Fowler.

📺 | CBS pic.twitter.com/vdTA1BrjLw

What would have been a dreary gray Saturday in Memphis perked up with CBS asking some patients of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to highlight the amazing work of Danny Thomas’s vision and the children currently under the hospital’s care who also love golf.

Not only did it provide a welcome break from the usual golf on TV and relentless cheerleading, but one in particular is already a budding announcer. Brentley Romine at GolfChannel.com with Dakota Cunningham’s story.

“Would you take this at the flag, Dakota?” Ian Baker-Finch asked Cunningham as Fowler prepared to hit his second shot into the ninth green, which is guarded by water.

“I sure would, right at it,” Cunningham responded, without hesitation.

Cunningham’s announcing captured the hearts of many on social media, with some people demanding CBS hire the kid on the spot. Nantz also invited him back next year before letting Cunningham send the telecast to commercial by reading the leaderboard.

CBS posted this on their account and I’m pretty sure it won’t get a take down notice, either. Great stuff Dakota and all of the kids who are bravely fighting.

Major props to Branden Grace, tied for second after two rounds of the Barracuda Championship, choosing to alert PGA Tour officials to possible mild symptoms that could easily have been attributed to altitude. Unfortunately, he ended up testing positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from the opposite field event.

His voluntary admission is particularly noble given that Grace is 156th in the FedExCup, has fallen to 79th in the world and could use the good week he was primed for. He will likely WD from next week’s PGA where he has two recent top tens. Grace is also the only player to have shot 62 in a major championship.

The full PGA Tour statement:

PGA TOUR player Branden Grace has withdrawn from the Barracuda Championship prior to the third round after testing positive for COVID-19. 

 “I felt great all week,” said Grace. “Last night, I was tired and thought it had to do with the altitude. This morning, I notified the PGA TOUR about my symptoms before going to the golf course. I wanted to get tested out of respect for my peers and everyone involved with the tournament. While it is unfortunate given my position on the leaderboard, the most important thing is our health.”

 The PGA TOUR has implemented its response plan in consultation with medical experts, including working with those who may have had close contact with Grace. Grace’s caddie tested negative for COVID-19, but in accordance with CDC guidelines and TOUR health and safety protocols, he will quarantine for a period of 14 days. After conducting necessary contact tracing, the TOUR’s medical advisors are not recommending any additional testing at this time.

Grace will have the PGA TOUR’s full support throughout his self-isolation period of 10 days per CDC guidelines and TOUR health and safety protocols.

I believe the kids would call this trolling.

Brooks Koepka Friday at the WGC FedEx St Jude in a tough spot. A day after Bryson DeCahmbeau and caddie lobbied for relief from a dangerous situation in the form of an ant hole as well as a burrowing animal hole:

No matter how @BKoepka plays this weekend, we’ll always have this. pic.twitter.com/uxGKT9Xr2Y

Michael Shamburger filed a nice post recapping both situations including the clip originally Tweeted by PGA TOUR partner CBS before getting scrubbed by Cult Ponte Vedra.

Enjoy while you a before the Brand Police serve a warrant on Shamburger show up at his doorstep in a valiant effort to protect Bryson’s image.

Danielle Kang shot a 1-over 73 for a share of the lead with Celine Boutier and Jodi Ewart Shadoff at the LPGA Drive On Championship, where only two players broke 70 on Saturday.

Brendon Todd has a 54-hole lead for the second time since the PGA Tour's return to play and is up 1 shot after shooting a 1-under 69 on Saturday in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Brett Quigley shot an 8-under 64 Saturday for a one-shot lead in the Ally Challenge, the first PGA Tour Champions event in five months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sam Horsfield will take a one-shot lead into the final day of the Hero Open, after leading by six strokes at one point in Birmingham, England.

Branden Grace, who was tied for second after the second round of the Barracuda Championship, had to withdraw after testing positive for coronavirus, meaning he can't play in the PGA Championship as he'll be in self-isolation for 10 days.

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Kyle Stanley had another eagle in a 14-point round Friday to take the lead into the weekend in the Barracuda Championship, the PGA Tour's lone modified Stableford scoring event.

Danielle Kang played bogey-free at Inverness Club for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead in the LPGA Drive On Championship on Friday.

Tommy Armour III and Billy Andrade each opened with a 6-under 66 to lead the Ally Challenge, where Jim Furyk carded a 68 in his Champions Tour debut.

Rickie Fowler is trying to end his long drought. Brendon Todd is trying to continue his astounding run. And Brooks Koepka is trying to determine if he's found his missing game.

Brendon Todd shot a 5-under 65 Friday and grabbed a two-stroke lead through 36 holes of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Overnight leader Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez of Spain held off a spirited challenge from England's Sam Horsfield to retain a share of the lead at the Hero Open on Friday at the halfway mark of the European Tour's latest stop in England.

Bryson DeChambeau says his goal is to live to 130 or 140. "I really think that's possible now with today's technology," he told GQ.

Some will say you can’t effectively combine the performance of a distance golf club with the sex appeal of a forged player’s club. Wilson Golf and its D7 Forged irons say otherwise.

The Wilson D7 Forged iron was introduced this year and recently took top honors as the Most Wanted Players Distance iron of 2020.

How good is it? What makes it better than the 12 other irons it went up against?

We are looking for five of you to tell the MyGolfSpy community.

Someone at PUMA must love watermelon sour patch kids candy. Once you take a look at the pictures you won’t be able to unsee it.

PUMA is stamping out the traditional preppy golf stigma with their unique styles and color schemes.

Additionally PUMA has donated three Rise Up Collection shoes to charity along with other major OEM’s to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. That’s not to mention they will be signed by PGA Pros after they have worn them at the weeks WGC-St. Jude Invitational. Sounds sweet if you ask me.

Take a peak at these Sour Patch Kids!

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried

Arccos Caddie Link – the add-on device for the Arccos Caddie shot-tracking system that eliminates the need to keep your phone in your pocket while playing golf.

Your Arccos Caddie Link Tester

Tony Covey – MyGolfSpy editor, writer and long-time Arccos user (I once played Mr. Arccos on an internet talk show) who is all too aware that some of you don’t want to keep your phones in your pocket while playing golf. Some others of you don’t even have pockets.

The Arccos Caddie Link Experience

Curious to see if Arccos Caddie Link was worth the 1.5 years it took to take it from vaporware to tangible product, I charged it, tossed it in my bag and headed off to the course.