Does a banner year await in 2026?
+ How a putter grip maker was thinking outside the box; One Florida club meshes apparel and golf into a fun membership experience; Brian Curley returns to spruce up an old haunt.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Brooks Koepka announced that he is leaving LIV Golf after the league’s four seasons, saying he wanted to spend more time at home. His wife, Jena, had a miscarriage last year. Does that have something to do with his decision?
🏌️ Bryson DeChambeau announced that he is staying with LIV Golf. What would happen to LIV if both Koepka and DeChambeau were gone?
🏌️ Rory McIlroy said he has no problem with Koepka and DeChambeau coming back to the PGA Tour, saying they’ve “paid their consequence.” Do most players and fans agree?
🏌️ The Chevron Championship, the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year, is moving to Memorial Park in Houston. Trouble is, there’s no water on the 18th hole. Does that mean one of the signature LPGA traditions — the Chevron winner jumps into the 18th hole pond — is about to go extinct?
🏌️ The Plantation Course at Kapalua, normally the host of the season-opening Sentry Championship, is open for play and appears fully green, despite the PGA Tour canceling the Sentry because of water problems. Does this mean something else was an issue with Kapalua?
🏌️ The Sony Open in Hawaii will be played as usual without many of the PGA Tour’s stars, as usual. With talk of a smaller Tour schedule, are Hawaii’s days numbered?
🏌️ If the talk is true, the Tour would start after the Super Bowl, which means the Waste Management Open in Phoenix would no longer take place on Super Bowl weekend. Is that a waste?
🏌️ Akshay Bhatia, Michael Thorbjornsen and Chris Gotterup have all played in a TGL match in 2026. Wasn’t TGL supposed to be about the stars?
🏌️ Derek Sprague announced that he will step down as CEO of the PGA of America after less than one year on the job. He will focus on the extended care of his mother and mother-in-law. In the current climate, isn’t it refreshing for a high-ranking executive to leave his job for an admirable reason?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Being square in a rounded world
The time for Square Line Golf’s new putter grip may be now.
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 Why Peter Vecsey is spending the fourth quarter on the bench
The legendary NBA insider, late of The New York Post and ‘NBA on NBC,’ is an anachronism in the media landscape he defined.
:: Pete Croatto | Poynter | 12.16.2025 | Read
📖 Questions and candles
Tiger Woods’ 50th birthday is a milestone without a map.
:: Bill Fields | The Albatross | 12.30.2025 | Read
📖 How Kraft Heinz lost its lock on mac and cheese — and American shoppers
Buzzy upstarts and supermarket knockoffs eat into market share of leading brand; years of cost cutting, underinvestment and corporate chaos.
:: Jesse Newman | Wall Street Journal | 01.01.2026 | Read
BUSINESS
FEATURES
World Golf Village’s Sips & Styles creates a distinctive retail experience
New initiative transformed traditional product promotion into an interactive, high-energy experience that engaged club members.
:: Association of Golf Merchandisers | Read
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
Pantone color of the year, ‘Cloud Dancer’ white, was chosen for its feeling of serenity and minimalism, and to symbolize a desire for calm, fresh starts. We’re more inclined to think it was chosen for those who are outfit challenged, because white goes with just about everything. Happy closet coordinating in the New Year.
:: 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.
Brooke Matthews, LPGA Tour player: “At my home course in Florida, my favorite meal is the Asian chicken wrap. It’s so good. That and a chocolate cookie afterward with sparkling water and lime to drink.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Brian Curley, Fred Couples spruce up The Palms
Architect Brian Curley, principal of Curley-Wagner Golf Design, has returned to The Palms Golf Club, the private La Quinta, California, course he crafted with World Golf Hall of Famer Fred Couples in 1999, to complete a thoughtful modernization that restores the layout to its original splendor.
Curley’s and Couples’ recent work focused on reclaiming the clean, classical look that defined the course at its debut. Together they reconstructed creeks, removed trees to enhance strategic options and long-range views, and cleared vegetation to reveal features that had quietly filled in over time. Fairways were widened to improve playability and revive the dramatic doglegs that are a hallmark of the design. The result is a layout that feels more open and playable, and more visually connected to its desert surrounds — all showcased by an exceptional seasonal overseed.
“Over the past 25-plus years, the course had seen subtle changes that were mostly imposed to cater to the elite player,” Curley said. “These included tighter fairway widths and added trees that took out alternative angles of play. Fred and I feel that this recent effort brought back much of the original width, creating more playability for the average player, yet the course certainly remains one of the more challenging layouts in the desert.”
From the start, The Palms was conceived as an old-school golf club; walking-friendly, golf-first and free of distractions. Now, as then, there are no tee times, and fast play remains central to the club’s identity. Its ethos and aesthetics borrow from the game’s most revered traditional venues, including Augusta National, Riviera and Oakmont.
The Palms is also known for its “core golf” setting, with only a smattering of perimeter homes. The absence of real estate constraints allowed Curley and Couples to shape bold doglegs and lines of play that are rare on modern desert courses.
The routing itself offers variety and character. The opening holes unfold through a distinctive mesquite environment reminiscent of the Sandbelt, while later stretches are framed by towering palms that lend the course a timeless Coachella Valley feel.
The club’s membership reflects that tradition. The Palms is historically home to a collection of PGA Tour and LPGA Tour professionals, as well as many of the region’s top amateurs. Arnold Palmer was among its most beloved early members, often spending time in the clubhouse, even joining the club’s famed weekly “game,” a tradition that still thrives today and continues to attract elite players from across the valley.
Design Notes Archive | Read
Interesting angle on the Palms renovation with Curley bringing back original width. The idea of undoing "elite player catering" with tighter fairways actually speaks to a bigger trend in architecture where courses overspecialized themselves out of being fun for most members. I played a simlar restoration at a different desert course last year and the relief of not having to thread every tee shot was gamechanging.