AGM helping add pop to the pro shop
+ TGL winds down inaugural season; a case for a fifth major; how technology is helping the everyday player.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Rory McIlroy won The Players Championship in a Monday playoff over J.J. Spaun. Does that make McIlroy the favorite at the Masters?
🏌️ Spaun took a look in McIlroy’s bag to see what club he it on the 17th tee in the playoff. Bad move?
🏌️ Ravioli will be one of the items on Scottie Scheffler’s champions dinner menu at the Masters. He’s not making the ravioli himself, is he?
🏌️ Scheffler hasn’t won yet in 2025 and some observers are starting to panic. It’s only March, isn’t it?
🏌️ Joaquin Niemann, who has been invited to the Masters, won LIV Golf Singapore last week. Have you found LIV on TV yet?
🏌️ The Masters is in three weeks and it seems as if the three tournaments that precede Augusta don’t matter. Whose fault is that? Media? Fans? PGA Tour?
🏌️ Angela Stanford was named captain for the 2026 U.S. Solheim Cup team. Good choice?
🏌️ Richard Globensky, a former Augusta National employee, was sentenced to one year in federal prison for stealing merchandise from the club, including three green jackets, that he sold for $5 million. Was the punishment tough enough?
🏌️ The TGL playoffs have started. Do you know who’s winning? Do you even know who’s in the playoffs?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Shop until you drop
The Association of Golf Merchandisers offers courses and clubs creative ways to make their pro shops pop with originality.
:: David Droschak | Read
The Players pleads the 5th (major)?
After 51 years, The Players Championship has all of the ingredients of a major, except for some LIV Golf stalwarts. If that issue is ever resolved, then a compelling case can be made for a new major.
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
What sets The Players Championship apart?
TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course with its fabled par-3 17th hole and the quality field are what jump immediately to mind for readers of The First Call.
:: TFC Inbox | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads — and listens — that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 Elon Musk: Triumph of his will
For his entire life, Elon Musk has bent people to his insatiable will. But is he A) the visionary who forces Americans to become explorers again, or B) a man so distracted by vision that his life's work is a series of brilliant disappointments?
:: Tom Junod | Esquire | 11.14.12 | Read
📖 Why America now eats a crazy number of avocados
When we hear tariffs, we think of avocados. This is how a Mexican import conquered the U.S. market.
:: Ben Cohen | Wall Street Journal | 03.07.25 | Read
THE LIBRARY
Recent drops to The First Call’s video and podcast section.
▶️ How Rapsodo Golf is changing golf technology
Justin Bryant, community manager for golf, joins host Mo Gesualdi to talk about how technological advancements are transforming golf for everyday players.
:: The Coach Mo Golf Show | 03.19.25 | Watch
ARCHIVES: 🎧 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
THE STYLE LINKS
Sold out in hours and wait listed. The first major of the year hype is alive and at a fever pitch.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
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.
“Course of Life” podcast co-host Alex Lauzon, on Horseshoe Bay Resort’s Slick Rock clubhouse: “An elite 19th hole with a fireplace in the middle. I had a buffalo chicken wrap and a couple of John Daly's to cap off a great weekend.”
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Brian Curley reimagines Nevada's Wildcreek
Brian Curley, one half of the Curley-Wagner design firm, has broken ground on a reconstruction of the former Wildcreek Golf Course in Sparks, Nevada, just outside of Reno, for new course owner First Tee – Northern Nevada.
Wildcreek was formerly owned by Washoe County, but it was transferred to First Tee in 2021, as part of a larger deal that saw the construction of the new Hug High School on part of the golf course site.
The sale of the land to the school district has helped to fund the golf course project, while First Tee has raised the remainder of the cost. The rest of the land occupied by the former 18-hole course, which also had a nine-hole course and practice range. The area will now be transformed into a full-sized nine-hole course, a nine-hole par-3 course and a three-hole practice facility, which will, innovatively, be built from repurposed storage containers.
"The main nine-hole course will be entirely new, meandering over previous golf terrain recaptured and designed for this overall project theme," Curley said. "On the nine-hole par-3 course, we are not changing a great deal in order to keep costs down — most notably saving all the greens — while the new driving range will be built on top of two of the former golf holes.
“There will be an emphasis on playability for all levels from young beginners to seniors, and we will be laser focused on sustainable maintenance to keep green fees low. From an overall design point of view, our intent is to provide ample turf within an environment that ultimately transitions to native areas of slope and grasses. Incorporating a natural look and theme while still catering to all levels of play is front and center to your efforts. My hope is for a stunningly crafted course that incorporates a natural character and walkability in an environment of massive views of the valley."
The two nine-hole golf courses represent the first phase of the project, which should be completed and grassed by the end of the summer.
"It could possibly open before the end of the year," Curley said. "The three-tier range, the first such facility in the Reno area, will be built in phase two, which also includes a new learning center for year-round use, and a total refurbishment of the existing clubhouse to deliver restaurant, bar and changing facilities, as well as offices and meeting space, for the First Tee chapter."
The project will make First Tee – Northern Nevada one of only a few such organizations across the U.S. to own and operate its own public golf course.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
SUBSCRIBE | FOLLOW
The First Call [Monday-Friday edition]: Subscribe
Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin | X | Threads | BlueSky
The reason I won't be watching the TGL Finals is they aren't televising it on ESPN+, as they have for all of the preliminary matches. Sort of bait and switch, isn't it?