Beauty and the best
+ Erin Hills is poised to host its first U.S. Women's Open; Northern Michigan destination gets a bit of Scottish flavor; South Carolina retreat is calling.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship by six strokes for his third major championship title and his 15th PGA Tour title at age 28. What’s his limit?
🏌️ Rory McIlroy made the cut at the PGA on the number — including an opening 74 — after random testing found his driver was non-conforming. He finished T47. Was it the driver or the man behind the wheel?
🏌️ Scheffler also used a new driver for the PGA after his was found to be non-conforming, as well. Was it the driver or the man behind the wheel?
🏌️ Wyndham Clark apologized for throwing his driver for being non-performing. Understandable frustration or immature tantrum?
🏌️ Quail Hollow Club, site of the PGA, had two par-4 holes that players could reach the green from the tee using less than driver. Is that a proper major championship test?
🏌️ Jon Rahm finished with a bogey and two double bogeys on the final three holes at the PGA on Sunday after being tied for the lead on the back nine. Was he beaten by the Green Mile or his own shortcomings?
🏌️ Bryson DeChambeau was also in the hunt at the PGA but was once again betrayed by his short irons. He said he needs to find a straighter golf ball. Don’t we all? How about he finds shorter short irons?
🏌️ At the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, Scheffler said this week of LIV’s players, “They left. It’s on them to bring golf back together.” Do you agree?
🏌️ Angel Cabrera won the Regions Tradition, the PGA Tour Champions’ first major of the year. Was anyone watching?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
The Land as It Lies: Erin Hills
The Wisconsin beauty has hosted the best men players, so now it's the women's chance as the 2025 U.S. Women's Open takes on the test of slopes, wind and bunkers that architects Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten pieced together in 2006.
:: Up River Film Company | Watch
Tariffs: At what cost to you, the golf consumer?
The First Call readers opine on what the Trump Administration's import taxes will mean for them as consumers and the sport overall.
:: TFC Inbox | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads — and listens — that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 New LPGA commissioner: The player his kids can’t wait to meet and the 4 pillars that define his vision
On May 22, the LPGA announced Craig Kessler as the tour’s new commissioner.
:: Jill Painter Lopez | Golf Digest | 05.22.25 | Read
📖 They invented the game. Will they be allowed to play it in the Olympics?
Lacrosse returns to the Olympics in 2028, on American soil. Why won’t the I.O.C. let Indigenous North American teams compete?
:: S.L. Price | New York Times | 05.13.25 | Read
📖 An old-school pitching coach says “I told you so”
Leo Mazzone was right about the undue focus on pitch velocity.
:: Michael Powell | The Atlantic | 05.10.25 | Read
📖 Is Jeff Bezos selling out the Washington Post?
How the paper that brought down Richard Nixon is struggling to survive the second term of Donald Trump.
:: Clare Malone | The New Yorker | 05.12.25 | Read
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
Memorial Day sales are in full swing. Lots of savings are to be had, like these new summer kicks for up to 50% off at True Linkswear.
:: 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.
Patrick McDonald, CBS Sports host and broadcaster: “At the Ryder Cup bar at Kiawah they have an amazing pimento cheese and grilled cheese combo sandwich. Definitely my favorite thing on the menu there. To drink I like a bourbon on the rocks.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
A PICTURE TELLS …
"Minch Old isn’t on that many radars, but it always feels to me like a distillation of all that once was, and can still be, pure and natural about this game I love so much. It’s like the soul of golf haunts this place, quietly blessing us in the whispering of the breeze"
:: Words: Richard Pennell / Pitchmarks | Photography: Simon Pope
Image: Hole No. 16, Minchinhampton Old Course, Stroud, England.
HOME FRONT
Palmetto Bluff | Bluffton, South Carolina
Listing: The Loblolly | The Grove.
Stats: 3,786 square feet | 4 bedrooms | 4 bathrooms / 1 half bathroom.
Price: $2,350,000 +.
About: The Grove is the first neighborhood ownership offering from Palmetto Bluff Builders and merges a turnkey process with outstanding quality. It celebrates courtyard living and connects residents to the natural surroundings and the larger Palmetto Bluff community. Located in Moreland Forest, situated between Wilson and Moreland Villages, The Grove offers 12 homesites and three home plans thoughtfully designed to embrace the surrounding, preserved wetlands and 7.5-mile Inland Waterway. Community trails weave throughout Moreland Forest and The Grove, providing access to the preserved forest super trail, a new nine-hole golf course opening this winter, and a future wellness and recreation campus. Canopied pathways along preserved wetlands connect The Grove to Moreland Village, offering residents an array of inviting amenities, including a riverfront dock and boat launch, multiple restaurants, bowling, fitness and wellness studios, a bottle shop, concerts and social gatherings. Clarke Design Group has crafted three home plans positioning the outdoor living room as the heart of the home. Three varied interior design selections curated by Leighann Markalunas Design — traditional, modern and transitional — feature timeless elements such as warm-toned wood floors, natural brick and neutral palettes. The Loblolly model is a two-story home plan with an attached two-car garage with finished flex space and bathroom, first-floor primary ensuite and expansive outdoor living spaces, including a private courtyard and screened porch with an optional outdoor kitchen. Palmetto Bluff is home to a world-class golf offering that includes three distinctive courses — May River Golf Course, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature design that winds through centuries-old oaks along the May River; Crossroads, a nine-hole reversible course by King-Collins Golf Course Design, featuring two unique routings — The Hammer and The Press — crafted for match play and strategic shot-making across a dynamic landscape; and an 18-hole course by Coore & Crenshaw that is set on 500 acres and is projected to open in winter 2025–2026.
Home Front Archive | Read
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Boyne Golf to debut Doon Brae short course
Boyne Golf will open its new Doon Brae par-3 short course and the Back Yaird, a Himalayas-style putting course, on June 6.
Doon Brae is the Northern Michigan golf destination's 11th golf course and is located at The Highlands in Harbor Springs. The course is situated behind the Main Lodge.
The name Doon means going down into a valley and Brae means steep bank or hillside in Scottish. The combination is fitting as the course's routing is on the site of the former Cuff Links nine-hole par-3 course set along the hillside that doubles as a ski slope during the winter months.
"As far as I know, this is the first modern golf course ever built on a ski hill," said Bernie Friedrich, director of golf course renovations and development at Boyne Resorts. "The combination of small greens inspired by some of the great green templates from overseas with sod-faced bunkers and tight mowing patterns will be a fun, perfect add-on to the daily golf itinerary. It also provides a wonderful option for families, kids and beginners to try golf for the first time."
Complementing the new par-3 short course is the Back Yaird (Scottish word for yard), a 1.5-acre 27-hole putting course featuring three nine-hole combinations. Inspired by great putting courses like the Himalayas at St. Andrews and Thistle Dhu at Pinehurst Resort, this golf experience features a variety of slopes and swales. The location, just off the Slopeside Patio of The Highlands, will be convenient for lodge guests.
"Adding the Back Yaird putting experience creates the perfect combination for a fun golf experience for everyone," Friedrich said. "Having experienced some of the top resorts in the country with their short courses and putting courses they have created for guests, it is exciting to bring that type of golf entertainment for our Boyne guests."
Golf course architect Ray Hearn was selected to design the latest golf attractions. Hearn, a Michigan native, was the perfect choice, as he has been working closely with the Boyne Golf team to modernize and renovate many of the resort’s golf courses over the past several years.
Although Doon Brae is routed on a ski hill, Hearn focused on minimizing the walking uphill. The course offers three sets of tees — blue (1,050 yards), green (851) and silver (678). The routing features a variety of fun yardages with downhill, flat, uphill, and sidehill lies, generally moving horizontally back and forth across the slope. Holes range from 57 yards (second hole, silver tees) to 136 yards (fifth hole, blue tees).
“I wanted to make sure we were creating something fun and unique without it being a difficult walk,” Hearn said. “We also considered all the families taking their kids out to play the short course and then the putting course. Every time I visited Scotland with friends, I was always inspired by The Himalayas at St. Andrews. We just kept playing it over and over and never got bored. The Back Yaird will provide that kind of experience.”
Hearn’s favorite part of the project was the creatively designed green complexes.
“Drawing on our inspiration from the British Isles allowed us to create scaled-down versions of famous template greens highlighted by The Short at National Golf Links,” he said. “Other inspirations include Eden, Punch Bowl, Redan, Reverse Redan, Whinny Brae, Steep Slope, Postage Stamp and Biarritz.”
Design Notes Archive | Read
Skye Golf Resort in Upson Wisconsin is built on Whitecap Mountain sky resort