Finding Fault With The U.S. Ryder Cup Effort
+ Trade you a Phil Mickelson and a Fred Couples for a Tiger Woods?
ON THE TEE
🏌️ U.S. captain Zach Johnson said he wouldn’t have changed a thing in the Americans’ 16.5-11.5 loss to Europe in the Ryder Cup. Besides the captain, what else needs to change?
🏌️ In the now infamous Rory McIlroy vs. Joe LaCava shout-down on Saturday night at the Ryder Cup, who was in the wrong? Who would you bet on in a toe-to-toe?
🏌️ Did McIlroy use a Michael Jordan tactic of ginning up a “they-disrespected-us” grudge to give the Europeans extra motivation going into the Sunday singles?
🏌️ Will Tiger Woods be the next U.S. captain for 2025 at Bethpage Black? Should McIlroy grow some thicker skin between now and then?
🏌️ Word is leaking out and no one wanted to use it as an excuse but just how many U.S. players fell ill and how sick were they?
🏌️ ESPN acquired the media rights to TGL, the star-studded simulator golf league that features Tiger, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, et al. The inaugural match will air the following night after the College Football Playoff title game. Will you really watch?
🏌️ Lexi Thompson will play on a sponsor’s exemption at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open that starts Thursday in Las Vegas. Isn’t she having a hard enough time beating the best LPGA Tour players?
🏌️ An excerpt was released from Alan Shipnuck’s new book, “LIV and Let Die,” in which he acknowledged the use of a high number of anonymous sources. That being the case, can the accuracy really be dependable?
🏌️ Kyle Berkshire, the long-drive king, hit a world record smash of 579.66 yards in Wyoming, beating the old mark by a reported 26 yards. Does he even try to play real golf?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Golf trading card business is in need of a mulligan
While the trading card industry is enjoying a resurgence, the golf category has never really caught on — partly because of the sport's individual nature
:: David Droschak | Read
Plenty of blame for America's latest Ryder Cup loss
The First Call readers spared little in critiquing America's performance, ranging from captain Zach Johnson's picks and decision making to players taking a lengthy layoff prior to play
:: TFC Inbox | Read
Q&A: Adam Levy | CEO / President, Club Champion
The club fitting company has been on the rise since Levy's arrival in 2021. He discusses a number of aspects contributing to Club Champion's ascension with The First Call
:: Stuart Hall | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 A baker’s secrets
Why Ted Odell abandoned his cult-favorite cookies
:: Dave Denison | The Baffler | 09.2023
📖 Explore the evolution of beer, from Stone Age sludge to craft brews
Raise a mug to some of history’s milestone brews and take our quiz to find out which you may have liked – or loathed
:: Bonnie Berkowitz / Tim Meko / Manuel Canales / Leslie Shapiro | Washington Post | 09.19.2023
📖 The enduring charm of John Grisham
Thirty years ago, he was key in an American Ryder Cup road win
:: Molly Bell | Time | 10.02.2023
WORTH A LISTEN
The healing power of golf for kids who can use a boost
PGA Teaching Pro Kevin Corn joins “The ModGolf Podcast” host Colin Weston to discuss the impactful program Corn spearheads at the Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital outside of St. Louis
:: The ModGolf Podcast | Listen
BUSINESS
SCORECARD
1️⃣8️⃣ The golf industry’s week in review — the names, news and notables that are making the headlines. :: Read
PERFECT PUTT
The Ryder Cup's impact on Italy
Italy has a relatively small golf population. Can the Ryder Cup turn it around? A look at the economic impact of the Ryder Cup in Italy and why golf will grow in Italy as a result of hosting the event
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
THE FIRST CALL THIS WEEK
This week’s editions of The First Call:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
Galvin Green’s functional layering system is ideal for fall golf rounds.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
19TH HOLE
Each episode of the “Course of Life” podcast closes with the guest sharing a favorite 19th hole experience.
Henry McGannon, a former caddie at Pinehurst and Kiawah Island resorts and founder of Real Golfers Co.: “It's the grilled cheese at the local Charleston (South Carolina) muni. The bartenders know you there and they recommend it to a lot of golfers.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
HOME FRONT
Costa Palmas | East Cape, Los Cabos, Mexico
Listing: Four Seasons Los Cabos Beachfront Casita No. 6.
Price: $22,500,000.
Stats: 10,245 square feet | 6 bedrooms | 6 bathrooms / 2 powder rooms.
View: Gallery
About: This fully furnished Beachfront Casita gives you life on the water that is effortless and full of adventure. With the privacy of a single-family home and unmatched views of the Sea of Cortes, Beachfront Casitas are spread out over two levels for comfortable family life and casual entertainment, both inside and out. The Beach Club, with its Aventura hub, is a short stroll away, as are pools and restaurants, the golf course, marina, village and yacht club. The home’s lot is split with a large stone feature wall organizing the split and framing the circulation path into the large common area spaces. This feature wall also offers framed openings from every space in the home into a private garden that allows the beauty and natural landscape of Baja to fill every area of the home. The large courtyard and stone feature terminate at a celebratory stair that connects the master bedroom with all of the other spaces while framing the ocean view with the deck and pool in the foreground. Costa Palmas Golf Club provides a scenic golf experience with views of the Sierra de La Laguna Mountain range, Sea of Cortez and the marina. Designed by architect Robert Trent Jones II, the Costa Palmas Golf Club is a true walkable 18-hole golf course, offering an unparalleled experience complete with generous landing areas off of the tees, superb approach shots and green complexes, and an on-site restaurant, Bouchie’s. The course is comprised of three six-hole loops each with a distinct transition.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Tom Doak’s Te Arai North debuts in New Zealand
⛳️ Tom Doak’s latest New Zealand creation, executed atop high dunes 90 minutes north of Auckland, officially opened for play on Oct. 1. The North Course at Te Arai Links joins its sibling South Course to make up a 36-hole resort complex.
Doak and his team at Renaissance Golf Design have fashioned the North Course in the shadow of their own work just up the beach: the ultra-private Tara Iti Golf Club, a layout routinely ranked among the top 25 in the world. Just down the beach, the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw-designed South Course at Te Arai Links has garnered similar acclaim since it opened on Oct. 1, 2022.
"It feels a bit weird to apologize for having seven holes on the ocean, especially when the rest of our North Course plays through terrain where the best comp might be Pine Valley," Doak said. "At Tara Iti, you’re looking at the Pacific Ocean from every hole. On Bill’s course, all but the first few holes play directly at seaside. That’s just the reality down here, yet everyone is pleased with the way the North Course stands on its own, beside each of these world-class golf courses. We honestly didn’t feel we were competing with Tara Iti or the South Course. But we did want the North Course to be different — and fun. We’re quite certain that we succeeded on both counts."
Doak’s 6,931-yard, par-71 North Course opens and closes at seaside, with another sweep down to the Pacific Ocean at holes eight and nine. Elsewhere, the unique routing explores what had been a pine forest set on dunes high above the beach. Doak spent months on site — personally shaping green complexes and fairway features behind the controls of a bulldozer. Typically, Doak jets into a project, inspects and suggests for several days, then leaves the earthmoving to his long-time associates in the Renaissance shaping and construction crews. However, because the North Course took shape during the COVID-19 pandemic, Doak traveled to New Zealand in the spring of 2022, and stayed for two full months.
"I’m still not that great on the dozer, but I do love it," Doak said. "Some of the results are pretty wild, like the greens at four and seven. Maybe too severe at first glance. But in the end, they looked really cool and we all agreed: Let’s keep that.
"To be honest, for this course to be spoken of equally, alongside the South Course, we felt we had to do more with the golf. This is legitimately great inland terrain — pure sand and dunesy, with big undulations. But we couldn’t rely on that. We agreed that if we’re going to produce something different, we should probably be a bit edgier. The overall shaping, greens and fairways speak to that, I think."
The routing includes several world-class seaside holes — including the par-3 17th, and the par-5 closer that tracks the shoreline all the way home. Throughout the routing, Doak and his fellow shapers Angela Moser, Clyde Johnson and lead associate Brian Slawnik (who also shaped Tara Iti) each managed to create dramatic features.
However, the inland holes on the North Course are what Doak talks about first — especially those that occupy a massive valley in the middle of the routing.
“Before we moved any dirt, we all identified that natural bowl and I think we used it very well,” he said. “I really like how the holes in there, four through seven, came out. All of them. Eight plays down to the water from the edge of that bowl, and I love the way nine comes back uphill into the bowl. Really cool, with a blind approach — over a road. The last 150 yards of that par 5 are just awesome.”
Doak’s routing also produced a traditional, linksland staple: half-par holes.
"At one point, we had the potential of five or six par 5s out there,” he said. "The course will play to a par of 71, but the routing does affect difficulty. There are some very strong par 4s on this golf course. Good short ones, too—but some real beasts. The reality is, everything on the North Course remains very close to the ocean. On any given day, each of the 18 holes can play completely differently depending on wind direction. That’s what golf by the sea is all about."
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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