Game In Need Of a Boost? We Have Some Tips
+ Poll: Who is your favorite to win at Royal Liverpool?
ON THE TEE
🏌️ PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is set to return to work on July 17, following an absence of more than a month due to an undisclosed medical condition. Is his plate fuller now than when he left?
🏌️ A Senate subcommittee grilled PGA Tour COO Ron Price and Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne on Tuesday. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) thinks the Saudis are trying to buy professional golf. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) thinks it’s merely a business deal to ensure the survival of the PGA Tour. Who’s right?
🏌️ Among the items revealed by the subcommittee, PIF investment in PGA Tour Enterprises (NewCo) could exceed $1 billion. What percentage of ownership stake that will buy?
🏌️ According to the framework agreement, PGA Tour wants LIV Golf CEO and league commissioner Greg Norman placed in a strictly “advisory” role. Doesn’t that really mean no role at all?
🏌️ Also mentioned was a play to offer LIV teams (franchises) to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and have them play in some in LIV events. Was that a pipedream?
🏌️ McIlroy says he’d rather retire than play LIV events. He says he hates LIV; is this how much?
🏌️ Former AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson resigned his from the PGA Tour Policy Board over objections to the deal with PIF. It’s a principled stand but does losing Stephenson really matter?
🏌️ Jordan Spieth and others say Monahan needs to regain their trust. Would a seven-figure check help?
🏌️ In some rare on-course news, Cameron Smith won LIV Golf League London, two weeks ahead of his British Open defense. Is he one of the favorites at Royal Liverpool?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Golf gear to help cure the summertime blues
From drivers to shoes, this selection of five items may be the boost your game needs heading to the latter half of the year
:: Dan O’Neill | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 Quality wins
Wimbledon's fractious fortnight drew to a close with order restored by Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf
:: Sally Jenkins | Sports Illustrated | 07.17.95
📖 Bitter rivals. Beloved friends. Survivors.
After 50 years, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova understand each other like no one else can. When cancer came, they knew where to turn
:: Sally Jenkins | Washington Post | 07.03.23
📖 What happened to all the sports books?
20 years after Moneyball, the genre has been drained of its significance—and there's an important culprit to blame
:: Jordan Teicher | Esquire | 07.06.23
PERFECT PUTT
The business of women’s golf
Breaking down LPGA and Epson Tour money
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
SCORECARD
1️⃣8️⃣ The golf industry’s week in review — the names, news and notables that are making the headlines. :: Read
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
The USGA and Pebble Beach Golf Links, in addition to hosting the women’s major, had many thoughtful behind-the-scenes plans and activities to celebrate the first U.S. Women’s Open at the iconic venue.
A few examples:
> Bringing in 30-plus female groundskeepers from around North America to keep the course in tip-top condition all week. Then including them for the trophy ceremony to thank them for their work.
> The flyover by all-female pilots, and inviting them to walk with players and attend events.
> Hosting a legends in women’s golf dinner and a round at Cypress Point, plus more events at The Hay.
> Having influential women in sports, politics, business in attendance … think Condoleezza Rice, Mia Hamm and Heidi Ueberroth.
It was all very impressive, and if you were lucky enough to be there, the swell of pride and excitement filled the air so much that you couldn’t help but feel it.
:: 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.
Reggie Duvalsaint, sports concessions vendor and journeyman: “After a long day for me and my shoulders and back, I need some quick carbs. I'm usually a quesadilla or tacos guy at the end of the night."
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
DESIGN NOTES
Nick Price is right for designing Florida’s Soleta
⛳️ Soleta Golf Club in Myakka City, Florida, is entering the Sarasota/Bradenton/Lakewood Ranch markets with a recently approved private residential club community that will feature extensive amenities, including a Nick Price-designed golf course, David Leadbetter practice and performance facility and family-focused sporting and social activities.
The planned Soleta community places a premium on quality and Old Florida charm that will appeal not only to golf aficionados but active families who seek a tranquil lifestyle. Over 500 acres of preserved land present an unspoiled environment featuring two scenic miles of the Myakka River, freshwater marshes, stands of mossy oaks, towering pines and native vegetation.
Construction of the Nick Price-designed golf course begins this fall and will be ready for play in late 2024. The 7,400-yard, par-72 Soleta Golf Club course is routed separately from the residences and amenity locations. Holes will wind through the sanctuary-like land and of great importance is the commitment to the preservation of all wetlands with absolutely no impacts to these sensitive areas.
Leadbetter is designing a world-class 30-acre signature practice and performance facility. In addition to the expansive outdoor practice areas, an indoor center will include a state-of-the-art biomechanics studio, clubfitting, a putting studio, simulators and other advanced training technologies.
Soleta is the name used by indigenous native Americans from the area for sandhill cranes.
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
⛳️ Architect Bill Bergin, in collaboration with construction firm Duininck Golf, are on the home stretch of their renovation of the Palmetto course at the Landings Golf & Athletic Club in Savannah, Georgia.
Originally designed by Arthur Hills in 1985, the Palmetto was the fourth of six eventual courses and has long been considered the most challenging of the group. Tweaked several times since its debut, the Palmetto required a healthy makeover to meet the demands of today’s players, according to the club.
"We are committed to proper maintenance and preservation of all of our assets," said Steven Freund, general manager at The Landings. "And, like everything else, golf course infrastructure has a lifespan. The Palmetto course may be our most comprehensive test of a golfer’s skill, but we needed to update greens, bunkers, irrigation, and tees to ensure the best conditions and relevance for the modern golf game."
Bergin and Duininck Golf aim to provide superior putting surfaces and rebuild the bunkers to enhance playability and maintainability.
⛳️ Links Golf Club, the new owner of Spey Bay Golf Club in northeast Scotland, has retained Clayton, DeVries & Pont (CDP) to make over the 116-year-old layout. Located at the mouth of the River Spey, the course was a 1907 design from Ben Sayers, a leading architect, clubmaker and teacher of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
CDP’s renovation will be led by Mike DeVries and supported by Frank Pont, Mike Clayton and Sam Cooper. The team intends to enhance the integration between the course, the native sand dunes and the coastline. The seaside links, on the Moray Firth will further benefit from the designers via enhanced shot values and playability, including more variety of shots off the tee and additional angles of attack from the fairway. New bunker placement will also elevate the playing experience.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with a group like Links Golf Club that embraces visionary thinking and is excited by the challenge of creating a truly unique golf experience in a spectacular location,” DeVries said. "Having the chance to work on a Scottish links course is the dream of every golf course architect. Although my colleagues are already doing so, this will be my first. We are excited to share our bold designs for Spey Bay very soon."
CDP is expected to start work on Spey Bay in autumn 2023.
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