2025: Have money, will travel
+ Golfers are optimistic about the economy; Rory McIlroy has a few things to say; Michigan is getting a Gil Hanse-Jim Wagner design.
THE STARTER
🏌️ President Donald Trump played a round of golf each with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the last month, and met with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Adam Scott to talk about the LIV-PGA Tour deal. Is Trump’s involvement the final piece of the puzzle?
🏌️ McIlroy suggested that Trump could go straight to Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to get this deal done. Was McIlroy throwing shade at Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor and LIV backer?
🏌️ McIlroy said Trump said he isn’t a fan of LIV Golf’s format. What if they give Trump his own team?
🏌️ McIlroy, still talking, says nothing significant will be done about slow play on the PGA Tour. “I think that's always just going to be a stick to beat golf with basically.” Isn’t that simply the truth?
🏌️ Johnson Wagner of Golf Channel — a PGA Tour player himself — talking about McIlroy talking: “He’s said some things over the past couple of seasons that have rubbed a lot of players the wrong way.” Which players? The rich ones or the rank-and-file?
🏌️ Did you notice that Thomas Detry won the WM Phoenix Open by seven shots?
🏌️ Emiliano Grillo made a hole-in-one at the famous 16th at the WM Phoenix Open and Patrick Reed made an ace at the “Watering Hole” at LIV Golf Adelaide. Both set off thunderous beer showers. Are we still OK with this?
🏌️ Tiger Woods withdrew from the Genesis Invitational following the death of his mother, Kultida. The tournament is using a white flag on the 7th hole as a tribute — the number 7 and the color white are significant in Buddhism, which was practiced by Kultida. Fitting tribute?
🏌️ Suzann Pettersen, a two-time major champion and 2023 European Solheim Cup captain has created a talent management firm, called Voxa, focusing on women. Think she would be a tough negotiator?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Buffalo Groupe study cites U.S. golfers’ economic optimism
‘2024 Golf Travel Study Marketplace Report: 2025 Edition’ reveals a 16% jump in consumer confidence over previous survey.
:: Ken Klavon | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads — and listens — that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 Bluetooth speakers are ruining music
You have two ears for a reason.
:: Michael Owen | The Atlantic | 02.05.25 | Read
📖 The strategic genius of Taylor Swift
Her success is about much more than her music — and innovators can learn from it.
:: Kevin Evers | Harvard Business Review | 03-04.25 | Read
📖 Masters of the Knight: The art of chess carving in India
In Amritsar, artisans have hand-carved the most complicated pieces in the game for generations.
:: Roxanne Hoorn | Atlas Obscura | 01.23.25 | Read
THE LIBRARY
Recent drops to The First Call’s video and podcast section.
🎧 Discovering James Braid: Part 2
Guest: Historical researcher Simon Barrington.
:: Cookie Jar Golf | 02.10.25 | Listen
TFC Libraries: 🎧 Podcasts | ▶️ Videos
BUSINESS
THE FIRST CALL
Week in Review: The industry’s names, news and notables making headlines. | Read
This week’s editions: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Industry press releases | Industry press release videos | TFC / PR Newswire feed
Golf Industry Job / Internship Board
LIFESTYLE
19TH HOLE
“Course of Life” podcast co-host Alex Lauzon closes each episode with the guest sharing a favorite 19th hole food and beverage experience.
Stacy Lewis, 2023 and 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup Captain and LPGA major champion: “Thanks to my sponsor at Tyson, they sent me these [University of Arkansas] Razorback-shaped chicken nuggets. Me and my daughter are loving those at home these days.”
A PICTURE TELLS …
“Minch Old seems to exist as a rare and respectful custodian of the purest version of golf, the version we all fell in love with somewhere along the way, regardless of our location at the time … it celebrates the unadulterated pleasure of being in a dialogue with nature while knocking a ball round on foot. And under a vast sky, with mountains in the distance, we all savor this feeling of great freedom, of spaciousness, while the skylarks provide a heavenly soundtrack from their lofty perch above.”
:: Words: Richard Pennell / Pitchmarks | Photography: Simon Pope
Image: Hole No. 18, Minchinhampton Old Course, Gloucestershire, England.
HOME FRONT
Kohanaiki | Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Listing: Hinahina 12 at Kohanaiki.
Stats: 3,350 square feet | 3 bedrooms | 3.5 bathrooms.
Price: $4,395,000.
About: Discover the ultimate blend of luxury living and world-class golf with Hinahina 12, a stunning two-story residence nestled within the serene beauty of Kohanaiki. This home is perfectly positioned along the seventh hole of the Rees Jones-designed championship course and bordered by the breathtaking 1,160-acre Kaloko-Honokohau National Park. Owners will wake up to peek-a-boo ocean views and the lush expanse of fairways and lagoons. The upstairs is designed for seamless indoor-outdoor living, featuring a gourmet kitchen with Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, a spacious great room, and a primary suite that opens onto a private lanai — ideal for post-round relaxation or entertaining under the Hawaiian sky. After a day on the course, which offers six oceanfront holes along a sparkling 1.5-mile shoreline, retreat to the home’s tranquil lower level. Here, two guest suites and a cozy secondary living space open directly to a private yard, pool and spa.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Michigan’s Forest Dunes to branch out with SkyFall
Forest Dunes, the award-winning golf facility in northern Michigan that already has three Top 100 golf courses in the U.S., is poised to add a fourth — SkyFall Club, a new private club designed by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner that will also allow limited resort guest play.
"The opportunity to have Gil and Jim craft their first original design in Michigan on what is the most compelling property at Forest Dunes is really exciting," said Rich Mack, who owns Forest Dunes alongside business partner Tom Sunnarborg. "I’m also pleased that we will work with Gil and Jim a second time in our career and create something really special here in Michigan."
Mack previously hired Hanse and Wagner to create Streamsong Black at Streamsong Golf Resort in Florida. Mack was the vision and pioneer of Streamsong and began his business partnership with Sunnarborg by bringing him onboard to develop, launch and oversee the evolution of the resort.
"Gil and Jim are two of the most influential golf course architects of our era and are entrusted to advance projects of golf significance across the globe," Sunnarborg said. "We know they will find the best of the land to work with and turn it into something unforgettable that members and guests are going to thoroughly enjoy, hopefully many times."
Hanse said the course will certainly have some nods to a couple of his noted designs, including the sandy and rustic expanses that punctuate Ohoopee Match Club in Georgia mixed with the strategy and naturalism found in Scotland at Castle Stuart, and the rolling charm of the firm’s latest projects, France’s Les Bordes (respectively No. 81, 89 and 97 on Golf Magazine’s Top 100 in the World).
"This design is focused on the key landforms on the property," Hanse said. "When you look at some of the great old courses by [A.W.] Tillinghast or [Donald] Ross, there tends to be a landform they go away from and return to. That’s also the case at SkyFall, and it is those features that are the key to creating a truly compelling design."
The SkyFall project marks the first time Hanse and Wagner have worked on multiple original designs with the same ownership group. "We loved working with Rich and Tom and our relationship will benefit SkyFall and will certainly allow the team to get the most out of a spectacular piece of property full of rolling hills and sandy expanses," Wagner said.
With the addition of SkyFall to its portfolio, Forest Dunes will bring another stellar option to the highly acclaimed northern Michigan golf region and be the only facility in the world with courses designed by Tom Weiskopf, Tom Doak and the Hanse/Wagner team. Forest Dunes also offers a popular short course named The Bootlegger, designed by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns.
Entitlement work for SkyFall is in process and early construction could begin in late 2025 or early 2026.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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Slow play is partly due to increased player/caddy interaction as well as balls and equipment that arbitrarily allow balls to travel farther, both of which won't be changed anytime soon. In the interim, how about just playing 16 holes instead of 18? After all, golf was originaly played over 22 holes.