A True Rags To Riches Story
+ Play Ball! Start of spring training just means we're closer to the Masters.
ON THE TEE
🏌️ Tiger Woods is back, playing for the first time since July, at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. In full-on Woods mode, he said he believes he can still beat the best players in the world. As outlandish as that sounds, has anyone ever made money betting against Tiger?
🏌️ Woods also went on a scouting mission to Los Angeles CC, whose famed North Course will host this year’s U.S. Open. Does that mean he’s making plans?
🏌️ Scottie Scheffler defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open and returned to world No. 1, despite his contention he didn’t have his best stuff. Does that sound quite as dismissive as when Woods claimed to win with his “B game?”
🏌️ Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas were paired with Tiger for the first two rounds at Riviera. By the look of the broadcast, did it appear as if they were the only three players in the field?
🏌️ The long-awaited Netflix documentary on the PGA Tour, “Full Swing,” debuted Feb. 15. Have you watched? Are you going to?
🏌️ Jon Rahm finished third in Phoenix and is still not No. 1, despite being the best player in the world the last three months. However, he passed $40 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour? Want to guess which is more important to him?
🏌️ Mito Pereira of Chile and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia are the latest LIV Golf signings. Doesn’t look like a big deal on the surface but aren’t they huge stars in their home countries?
🏌️ Anna Nordqvist ended her sponsorship relationship with Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil company. "I wasn't really prepared to get such an incredible amount of hatred and mean comments from people who don't even know me," she said. Would pro golfers be better off just ignoring social media?
🏌️ Why do people act as cheerleaders for the borderline out-of-control atmosphere at the WM Phoenix Open and then declare it a bad idea every week? Can you embrace something and dismiss it, all in the same breath?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Rafael Barajas has quite the story to tell
Renowned golf course superintendent who served as the 83rd GCSAA president in 2019 couldn’t speak English or knew golf existed when he arrived in the U.S.
:: David Droschak | Read
Q&A: Tim Schantz, President / CEO, Troon
Schantz, who shared No. 1 on Golf Inc.'s 2022 Most Powerful People in Golf list with role model and Troon founder Dana Garmany, discusses success and key elements of leadership
:: The First Call | Read
Chervo prepares for the world stage
Italian-based apparel company to use being a licensed 2023 Ryder Cup merchandiser as a way to break into the American consciousness
:: Ken Klavon | Read
Your guide to watching Netflix's 'Full Swing' series
After months of speculation about what viewers will see, the docuseries that follows various PGA Tour players during the 2022 season finally drops
:: Stuart Hall | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 The Old Folks Behind Home
Big-league ball on the west coast of Florida is a spring sport played by the young for the divertissement of the elderly
:: Roger Angell | New Yorker | 03.30.1962
📖 Play Ball!
The reporting of pitchers and catchers is a sign that spring is near, and nobody does spring training like the folks at Dodgertown
:: Tom Verducci | Sports Illustrated | 02.23.2004
📖 Artist CR Obetz salvages the iconic drawings of illustrator Anthony Ravielli with 21st-century methods
:: Emma Francois | Golf Digest | 02.14.2023
OFF THE PLAYLIST
One golfer’s song of choice for the course. Hey, and if you don’t like it? Share your choice. Seriously.
🎶 “Prelude / Angry Young Man” | Billy Joel [Spotify | iTunes]
19TH HOLE
Each episode of the “Course of Life” podcast closes with the guest sharing a favorite 19th hole experience.
Lindsay Hoskins, PGA Professional and director of instruction at Topgolf Las Vegas: “I like a nice glass of white wine, usually a Sauvignon Blanc especially if it’s hot out in Vegas…and I’m weird, I love it with Nachos. Give me some Nachos with meat on it and wine and I’m a happy girl.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host | “Course of Life” podcast
DESIGN NOTES
Tiger Woods, TGR Design to create Marcella
⛳️ Tiger Woods and his TGR Design team have inked a deal to create Marcella Club, a private championship course in the Rocky Mountain resort town of Park City, Utah.
Eyebrows rose when the rendering was revealed, showing the par-72 layout would measure 8,064 yards from the back tees. However, given Park City’s elevation of 7,000 feet, the course won’t play nearly that long.
In a statement on the TGR website, Woods notes that the course will be a stern test for low handicap golfers, yet also present a fun, family-friendly experience to allow individuals of all skill levels to come together and enjoy the course.
"I couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Marcella Club to design and create a new championship golf course just outside Park City," Woods said. "Utah is an incredible place, with favorable year-round weather that offers opportunities to be active outdoors throughout all four seasons — golfing, skiing, biking and fishing — the list goes on and on. I’m thrilled to be designing a course in such a special location. This new course is uniquely beautiful and will offer engaging play for every ability."
Marcella Club is a private club with amenities located on the slopes of Deer Valley, Historic Main Street Park City and Jordanelle Ridge, which will be the site of the new TGR Design golf facility.
The championship course will feature generous landing areas, helping players keep the ball in play while still challenging players with strategic choices and angles off the tee for the best opportunities to score. The greens will vary in size and contouring will reinforce the tee shot strategy, but with green surrounds mowed tight, players missing the green will be able to use their creativity to make interesting recoveries.
The initial rendering shows a routing that sports two par 3s and two par 5s on the front nine and three par 3s and three par 5s on the back nine. The shortest par 5 measures 607 yards, the longest, hole No. 10, tips out at 702 yards. The par-3 third checks in at a mere 150 yards, while the back nine sports the 275-yard 13th and the 292-yard 15th as the layout’s final par 3s. Eventually there will be a second 18-hole course for the club, with the architect to be determined. Woods' course is expected to begin construction in summer 2024, with completion slated for 2025.
⛳️ Steve Forrest and Shawn Smith of Hills-Forrest-Smith Golf Course Architects have concluded their work on a master plan for venerable Indiana muni Foster Park Golf Course.
Following survey input from residents and a public meeting on November 3, 2022, Forrest and Smith finalized the plan in December. The master plan is intended to offer many benefits to the 95-year-old course.
Owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department, Foster Park is a par-71, 6,434-yard spread with nine holes that date to 1928. Nine more holes were added in the late 1930s. Forrest and Smith plan to create several new holes and reorient others from north-south to east-west configurations, leading to a par-72, 6,855-yard course.
The impetus for the significant routing changes was to mitigate course closures due to flooding from the St. Marys River. The new routing and the creation of several new lakes for stormwater retention will alleviate the issues.
A new small detention pond near the current ninth green will assist as well, along with the creation of a larger lake between the new 14th and 18th holes. The revised routing will feature holes along Hartman Road that will head in the opposite direction from their predecessors, in order to keep sliced shots from finding the road. A new full-length driving range, short-game area and 23,000-square-foot putting course will complement the golf course changes.
Fundraising for the proposed improvements has commenced, with the goal of completion in the spring of 2028. “We have really enjoyed working with the knowledgeable team from the Parks Department,” Forrest said. “They have understood and supported our vision for the reimagined golf course and its new amenities every step of the way. We look forward to the remaining planning, permitting and implementation phases as we strive to have everything in place for a fantastic 100th anniversary celebration.”
⛳️ Bobby Weed Golf Design has completed a transformation of the Waynesville Inn & Golf Club’s 27 holes, that was both restoration and redesign. In the process he reduced the overall number of holes to 18.
Located in the picturesque mountains of western North Carolina, Waynesville debuted its original nine in 1926, designed by Donald Ross. Known as the Carolina 9, it was eventually joined by nine more holes, followed by a third nine, designed by Tom Jackson, in 1989.
Weed restored the original Carolina nine, which has become the front nine of the newly imagined layout. Henceforth, it will be known as the Ross nine. The other two nines, the Dogwood and the Blue Ridge, have been converted into the new Weed nine and will play as holes 10 through 18.
"Our goal was to consider a most appropriate 18-hole route that could incorporate new amenities as well as development opportunities for higher value uses," said Weed, who began the project in 2021. The Ross nine is a compact collection of flattish holes that wind through the valley floor. The Weed nine rolls over tumbling terrain.
“The new nine’s unique conversion from the two former nines allowed us to build a more distinctive, eye-catching series of mountainous holes with panoramic views,” said Weed. “Trees have been removed to reveal views of the surrounding Great Smoky Mountains. All streams have been exposed on both sides to better integrate the strategy of each hole.”
The metamorphosis intends to make maintenance easier by having diminished manicured acreage, a new single pump station with state-of-the-art irrigation and a new display of turf grasses, including fine fescues beyond the playable areas.
A new short course, practice range, putting greens and a 27,000-square-foot putting course are also among the offerings. MacCurrach Golf Construction carried out the construction work. Design associate Joey Graziani and shaper Kevin Millsaps were instrumental in bringing the job to fruition. Expected opening for the new Ross-Weed 18-hole layout at Waynesville Inn & Golf Club will be the summer of 2023.
PERFECT PUTT
Callaway's massive year
The company checked in at nearly $4 billion in revenue for 2022. But that isn't even the most exciting part
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Every Monday, Jared Doerfler writes on the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
THE STYLE LINKS
Peter Millar and G/Fore are gearing up for their debut as official 2023 U.S. Open apparel and swag providers.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
SCORECARD
1️⃣8️⃣ The golf industry’s week in review — the names, news and notables that are making the headlines. :: Read
THE LAST CALL
SUBSCRIBE | FOLLOW
The First Call [Monday-Friday edition]: Subscribe
Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin | Twitter