Editor’s note: It’s the holiday season, so I hope you are enjoying time with family and friends amid the usual hustle and bustle. And my wish for you in the upcoming new year is that it’s filled with joy and prosperity.
Also, I wanted to thank you for being a loyal reader of The First Call’s Substack platform.
On February 19, 2022, we published the first weekend edition of The First Call, which was aptly called The First Call | Weekend Edition. Like many other writers / publishers, we were new to this burgeoning platform and unsure of where the weekend endeavor might lead. As of this writing, we currently have 3,041 subscribers — and growing — and we are grateful for each of you. Along the way, our “little engine that could” has evolved — as you can see from that first edition. Somewhere along the line we changed to The First Call | Extra because we started adding occasional features. And we’re not done evolving.
We are taking a short break for the holidays and will resume weekend publishing on January 6. Below are the best stories of 2023 that we published on Substack.
Enjoy and happy holidays.
— Stuart Hall
Managing Editor
THE BEST OF 2023
Following is a selection of our top stories and editions published exclusively on Substack during the year.
Features
LIV Golf players want rankings? Well, here you go
After crunching numbers, we reveal the somewhat scientific LIV Golf Rankings and while the No. 1 player is not surprising, other results were telling
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
Reviving the memories of Lawson Little Jr.
Because the former U.S. Amateur, British Amateur and U.S. Open champion did not play golf in the television era, his grandson, Chris Little, believes the story of his career is worth sharing — again
:: Ward Clayton | Read
Los Angeles CC checks all the boxes
Geoff Shackelford, author of 'Golf Architecture For Normal People,' poses three simple questions to determine that the 2023 U.S. Open host site is going to be memorable
:: Geoff Shackelford | Read
Has golf lost its way with proposed rollback?
Course architect Tom Marzolf, a senior designer with the Fazio Design Group and former ASGCA president, believes the USGA/R&A golf ball proposal is a step, but perhaps not the right one
:: Dan Vukelich | Read
Editions
LIV Golf gets boost with U.S. TV deal
:: January 21, 2023 | Read
A true rags to riches story
:: February 18, 2023 | Read
How a little ball may make big waves in golf
:: March 25, 2023 | Read
Brothers in arms ... until the first shot is struck
:: April 15, 2023 | Read
Golden Age architects get new life
:: May 13, 2023 | Read
What to make of the PGA Tour-PIF deal
:: June 10, 2023 | Read
A looper's life
:: July 22, 2023 | Read
A logo on a hat can speak volumes
:: August 19, 2023 | Read
Has golf's Hall Of Fame lost its way?
:: September 2, 2023 | Read
The U.S. Ryder Cup team's identity crisis
:: October 14, 2023 | Read
If it's broken, then by all means fix the problem
:: November 17, 2023 | Read
What to make of the golf ball rollback
:: December 9, 2023 | Read
SUBSCRIBE | FOLLOW
The First Call [Monday-Friday edition]: Subscribe
Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin | Twitter