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The pitch: “9 star golfers. 1 meeting. What could possibly go wrong…?! See what happened when Martin Kaymer hosted a weekly video conference call meeting with fellow golf stars Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Gary Player, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood.”

The European Tour social team is back and better than ever:

If you ever measure your driver loft, you may discover it doesn’t match what’s on the label. We answer why and much more on episode 41 of No Putts Given. Let’s get it!

1:22  – Is your loft a lie? And does your ego get in the way of your game?36:54  – Years ago a mysterious “TC” mailed a bag of phallic gummy treats. Surely it wasn’t our Tony Covey…was it?.42:58  – The ongoing impact of the pandemic on golf manufacturing1:03:35  – The Top 5 Spiked Golf Shoes of 20201:04:59  – #MyTubSpy talks graphite shafts in your irons

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The post INSIDE: The “Tiny” Golf Industry Secret | #NoPuttsGiven 41 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Every once in a while, you see something that makes your head snap to one side and say, “What the hell…?” SQAIRZ golf shoes are one such something.

We first saw SQAIRZ golf shoes in January at the PGA Merchandise Show Demo Day. At first glance, my occipital lobe was whispering “cross-country ski boot.” Chris Nickel, however, blurted out what my frontal, parietal and temporal lobes were all thinking.

“What the f**k are those?”

Those happen to be what may be the most unique – and quite possibly most innovative – golf shoe of 2020. SQAIRZ (pronounced squares) is the brainchild of founder and CEO Bob Winskowicz, and they are most definitely different looking. They’re also attention-getting, as today SQAIRZ is announcing a long term partnership with Hall-of-Famer Sir Nick Faldo, who is investing in the company.

“Everything can be looked at and improved, and that’s what SQAIRZ has done,” Faldo told MyGolfSpy in an exclusive interview. “They’ve invented a shoe that’s going to take shoe design and performance up a notch. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Better balance has increased club head speed and improved dispersion.”

Bryson DeChambeau’s physical transformation and continued ability to play at a high level is a sight to behold. And something totally unimaginable. Except to the distanistas (guilty!) who have long feared that a day would come where distance was so clearly the primary tool, that we’d see players transforming their bodies to take advantage of the remarkable technological advances.

So we will keep seeing the progression to this modified World Long Drive with the potential for an array of health issues, no sign it’s adding fans to the pro game and worst of all, telling aspiring young golfers trying to find speed to play high level golf (and possibly before their bodies are ready).

Then there are all of the absurd side effects on courses, cost, length of round, and the general cancer such an evolution would be on the game. The governing bodies have never taken these notions seriously in relentlessly passing the buck over the years.

Longtime PGA Tour caddie John Wood noted this other overlooked wrinkle by the governing bodies following the Bryson show at Colonial (below). From this week’s Golf.com roundtable:

3. Bryson DeChambeau’s bulked-up physique and booming tee shots (he hit 11 drives 340 yards or longer) were the talk of the tournament. If DeChambeau’s fine play continues, are we destined to see a wave of beefy bombers descending on PGA Tour tee boxes?

Wood: Yes. I think there is quite a bit of shock at how much his size, his clubhead speed and his ball speed have increased in such a short amount of time, all the while seeming to maintain his flexibility, his feel and accuracy. On Thursday and Friday, we played behind a group that included Brooks, Rory and Rahm. There was a long wait on the 15th hole, and we were there when Brooks got ready to play his tee shot. We were standing behind him, and I remarked to Matt: “You know, looking at him, if this was 10 years ago, you would have thought you were watching a long drive contest.” It just wasn’t believable that a body that big and strong would be conducive to playing great golf. We were wrong. And now, watching what Bryson has done, I can only imagine the impact it will have on the young players we know, and the younger players we don’t know yet. You better get your head out of the sand fast and come up with a long-term plan, USGA and R&A – the ball is going to get longer and longer and longer and longer.

The numbers are just astounding, particularly on a fairly confined course with few so driver holes":

Brian Keogh at the Irish Golf Desk reports the comments of former Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, who is part of the Sky Sports team and is also an influential member of the European Tour board.

Discussing the 2020 Ryder Cup sticking with its current date this year despite player demands to cancel a fan-free event, McGinley begged for harmony.

"Personally, I hope it's going to be played and there's some kind of understanding where we all get united rather than the players having on view and Ryder Cup committees having another view," McGinley said during Sky Sports' coverage of the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday. 

"It's important that we are united. We have always been united in Europe, and it's important we don't have disharmony.”

I think it’s a little late for that!

Matthew Marsh is superintendent at Mesa Verde Country Club where it appears the cart chargers are working overtime to keep the club fleet going. Walkers be damned! Here’s what GPS tracking data shows us 121 carts in one day on one course looks like. And make sure to read the comments!

This is yesterday and the traffic from 121 golf carts. Pretty unreal to see. 😳 pic.twitter.com/NSi1TYc5q6

— Matthew Marsh (@MesaVerdeSuper) June 13, 2020

CBS did not make any ratings predictions for the “Return to Golf”, but the Charles Schwab Challenge tournament director predicted a final round rating of a 6, which would have been equal to a lot of majors.

The rating is dismal when you consider:

—This was the first live, official PGA Tour event since mid-March.

—Network competition was non-existent. Fox’s presentation of NASCAR was delayed by rain (eventually airing in prime time). NBC was airing the Beverly Hills Dog Show (again). And ABC wheeled out Last Dance (still!).

—Heading into the final round, the leaderboard featured star players and the promise of a close finish (and it was, with Daniel Berger beating Collin Morikawa in a sudden death playoff).

Ron Kroichick with the exclusive details for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The tournament will be played at TPC Harding Park August 6-9.

The tournament website has yet to be updated to reflect the change.

AP’s Howard Fendrich looks at how various sports will fare without fans and it’s worth reading to consider where golf’s issues in the COVID-19 era fit with other spectator-friendly sports.

The golf portion from the PGA Tour’s perspective (but not the major championships).

Eliminating spectators means eliminating significant chunks of a tournament’s revenue. That starts with big-earning hospitality tents and pro-ams that can bring in upward of $1 million, and includes other revenue sources like merchandise and ticket sales. Tournaments rely heavily on title sponsors — “We wouldn’t be able to return” without them, Commissioner Jay Monahan said. But it’s the local sponsorship that sustains each tournament. And if discretionary spending by corporations dries up, the effects could be greater in 2021.

2020 SUNDAY BAG BUYER’S GUIDE

Safe to say Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon would not recognize today’s Sunday bags.

Last year, we remarked that modern Sunday bags sure aren’t the Sunday bags of old. Lighter materials and a wider definition of what constitutes a Sunday bag have changed the category dramatically.

That trend continues for 2020.

While Sunday bags are still little brothers to traditional stand bags, they are starting to take more cues from their heftier siblings. A number of participants in this year’s test even incorporated stands into their design.

So why wouldn’t those particular bags qualify for the stand-bag category? Well, they still lack other important components such as storage, have limited divider space and a more lightweight design. What we are seeing, however, is an evolution into a hybrid Sunday/stand bag that incorporates the essentials for a casual round.

I spoke my piece in this Winners and Losers post, but wanted to touch on a few of those and just zero in on the most absurd of first world issues, players and microphones that they treat as their Kryptonite.

I’m also joined by show producer Tim Parochka to dive into a few things thar arose Charles Schwab Challenge week, and he dares to bring up the distance issue! No explicit tag was needed, however.

The Apple podcast link where iPhone users can subscribe.

The iHeart link or you can always play the embed below:

The above quote belongs to Golf’s Michael Bamberger, who covered the PGA Tour’s return at Colonial. It has prompted a thought, but first, the exchange from the SI roundtable, starting with John Wood, looper extraordinaire for Matt Kuchar this week (71-68=MC).

John Wood, PGA Tour caddie for Matt Kuchar (@Johnwould): Pretty much an A+ across the board. The Tour did a phenomenal job of preparing for each and every eventuality. Testing and safety were the number one priorities, and there were redundancies in place for everything. I couldn’t have been more impressed with their preparation. The players were just excited to be back and playing golf, and seemed to handle all the newness in stride. Once they got inside the ropes, things were the same as always. Shoot the lowest score, win the tournament.  

Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): Watching from afar, it sure seemed to go smoothly. And you could sense the genuine excitement of the players to be back out there competing, which helped make up for the lack of fan electricity. There were oddities, of course, with Nantz flying solo in the booth and no gasps or cheers from a gallery, but there are oddities in almost all of our old rituals these days. Whether there were any public hiccups, I guess we won’t know that for certain for a couple of weeks. But from a distance, it looked a whole lot safer than some pool parties I’ve seen on social media.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer: It was odd. These are odd times. The Tour is being as responsible as it can be by appearance. It’s obvious that the system is not by any means foolproof. It’s not that the show must go on. It’s that the Tour has decided to let it go on. I think they’ve made the right move. But there is no bubble. Way too many variables.

Obviously Bamberger’s remarks stand out because he supports the return, but is highlighting that “too many variables” remain. This presumably is after a week of seeing players spread about in multiple hotels or other locations in the “bubble”. It also suggests pro golf will have to decide if the variables are worth risking and if organizations not governed by the PGA Tour will accept similar risks: namely, the PGA of America, USGA and Masters, all with majors scheduled in late summer and fall.

As I noted in this Schwab Challenge roundup, the optics of seeing several non-players who work for the PGA Tour not adhering to the safety suggestions so clearly on national TV proved jarring and terribly shortsighted. Bad optics or actual viral spread could easily derail the Tour’s plans, the majors and even the perception that golf is a safe haven. The sport is placing a an excessive amount of trust in the PGA Tour to do the right thing.