Could you be a course architect?
+ LIV Golf speculation abounds; Bookmarked — A.I, history, Santa and not giving a f***; Why it's a good time to be a content creator; Harbour Town benefits from Davis Love III's experience.
THE STARTER
🏌️ “Flushing It” reported that Si Woo Kim was in “late-stage negotiations” to join LIV Golf but a report from a Korean publication said Kim turned down the offer. Would Kim be a “good get” for LIV?
🏌️ Sports Business Journal reported that Brooks Koepka might not play in the LIV Golf League in 2026, although he is under contract. Speculation is that he would play the DP World Tour until his PGA Tour suspension is up in August. Would you be surprised if this is true?
🏌️ LIV CEO Scott O’Neil told SBJ: “So, I feel like there’ll be the new world order, if you will. Seems like the dominant player in the U.S. will be the PGA Tour and the dominant player in the rest of the world is going to be LIV Golf … “ Does that tell you what you need to know about LIV’s strategy?
🏌️ Cameron Smith three-putted the 72nd green to lose the Crown Australian Open to Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen. Of all the ways Smith could have lost, would you have bet against a three-putt?
🏌️ Hideki Matsuyama won the Hero World Challenge, preventing Scottie Scheffler from a three-peat in the off-season event in the Bahamas. Is Matsuyama the most intriguing player in golf?
🏌️ According to Brad Faxon, Matsuyama has “about 400” Scotty Cameron putters. When you realize that Arnold Palmer had about 10,000 clubs in his collection, does 400 putters sound so bad?
🏌️ Daniel Berger, who was to be Charley Hull’s partner, withdrew from the Grant Thornton Invitational without giving a reason. He was replaced by Michael Brennan, who has to be the most charmed player in golf right now, doesn’t he?
🏌️ How do you feel about a future PGA Tour schedule? More golf? Or less?
🏌️ Which club in your bag do you wish you had 10 years ago?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Walking in their footsteps
Envisioning a golf course across virgin land takes a special talent. The mindset and process for altering an established property is a different skill set. What are architects thinking?
:: Lee Carr | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 Aging out of f***s: The neuroscience for why you suddenly can’t pretend anymore
Your brain’s middle finger to people-pleasing.
:: Ellen Scherr | Life Branches | 11.13.2025 | Read
📖 Playing Santa does strange things to a man. What it did to Bob Rutan was even stranger
Bob Rutan is legendary among the tight-knit fraternity of Macy’s Santa Clauses. Like many of these men, playing Santa changed Bob. Profoundly. His story is one of struggle and failure, heartbreak and grace and — yes — the magic of Christmas.
:: David Gauvey Herbert | Esquire | 12.04.2025 | Read
📖 How legendary historian Robert Caro is fueling OKC’s title run
The words from the author of “The Power Broker” and “The Years of Lyndon Johnson” have proven inspirational to Thunder general manager Sam Presti.
:: Baxter Holmes | ESPN | 11.26.2025 | Read
📖 Why does A.I. write like … that?
If only they were robotic. Instead, chatbots have developed a distinctive — and grating — voice.
:: Sam Kriss | New York Times | 12.03.2025 | Read
BUSINESS
FEATURES
Sean Guerrero: Golf’s perfect timing
One of the pioneers of golf influencer marketing joins the “Content Clubhouse” to share his story that coincides with the rapid rise of the creator economy.
:: Content Clubhouse | Listen
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
Dear Santa: I’ve been good. Like really, really, really good.
:: 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.
William Turner, private chef, on the keys to a great steak at the 19th hole: “You’ve got to start with the best possible cut, so I love a ribeye or filet or strip. A nice hot sear and some boursin sauce on the side is a great complement to it.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Davis Love III debuts his Harbour Town restoration
Following a six-month renovation spearheaded by Davis Love III and Love Golf Design, Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, reopened in November.
Originally designed by Pete Dye with his wife Alice, and assisted by Jack Nicklaus, Harbour Town has been the home of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage tournaments since the course opened in 1969.
Love III, who won the RBC Heritage a record five times, served as player-consultant on this current project. Love is very familiar with the region and the complexities of working here: He grew up on the Southeast’s coastal islands and his company, Love Golf Design, designed another course at The Sea Pines Resort, Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III.
From the beginning of the project, Love and the team responsible for the restoration — including Allan MacCurrach from MacCurrach Golf Construction; Jon Wright, head golf superintendent, Harbour Town Golf Links; John Farrell, director of sports operation; The Riverstone Group, which owns The Sea Pines Resort; and others —were committed, as Love said, “to protecting the strategy and integrity of Pete’s design.”
“We were very fortunate to own such a historic and popular PGA Tour tournament venue in Harbour Town Golf Links,” said Matthew Goodwin, representing The Riverstone Group. “We are fully committed to maintaining the golf course to the highest possible standard, while preserving the original design integrity of Pete Dye.”
Originally intended as an updating of the course’s infrastructure to ensure championship-caliber conditions year-round, the project also presented an opportunity to restore many features from Dye’s original design. It would also ensure that one of the country’s most recognizable layouts stood the test of time. Along with improvements to the agronomy and maintenance, all greens, bunkers and bulkheads were rebuilt. The turf species — TifEagle on the greens and Celebration Bermuda on the fairways, tees and rough — remain the same.
As for changes to the design, even the experienced Harbour Town Golf Links player will have trouble spotting them, explains Farrell. “Every ‘change’ we made had some documentation or images or video of what it was like previously.” Updates include returning some greens to their original shapes, which brought back some hole locations that were lost as the surfaces shrank over time. The same with some greenside bunkering, which, due to years of play and shrinkage, no longer abutted their greens.
Farrell added that while Love offered a Tour player’s expertise, he was in tune with management’s desire to keep the course fun, exciting and challenging the other 51 weeks of the year when resort guests, property owners and locals celebrate it.
Design Notes Archive | Read
Truly fascinatng how Love's approach to restoring Harbour Town shows the humility needed in renovation work. That commitment to documenting every change against Pete Dye's original vision rather than just stamping his own legacy on it is what seperates great restoration from ego-driven redesign. Had a buddy who worked on a similar project once and the hardest part wasn't the technical stuff but resisting the urge to "improve" things. This kind of reverence for original design dna is what keeps golf architecture honest.