Hall Proves You Can Go Back Home
+ Poll: Should Trump Have Pulled Plug On LIV Golf?
ON THE TEE
🏌️ Cameron Smith was seen stuffing the case that holds the Claret Jug in an overhead bin for his plane trip back home from the British Open. Couldn’t someone find a little safer place for it?
🏌️ Smith is rumored to be mulling an offer from LIV Golf but says he lets his “team” take care of such things. Won’t he be the one to make a final decision?
🏌️ Henrik Stenson was stripped of his European Ryder Cup captaincy with the announcement he, too, is signing with LIV. Will Luke Donald be the next European captain?
🏌️ Stenson, Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III are the latest LIV defectors. Will anyone notice?
🏌️ David Feherty is reported to be leaving NBC for LIV Golf. Isn’t the LIV commentators’ booth getting overcrowded?
🏌️ Charles Barkley is talking to CEO Greg Norman about joining the LIV Golf broadcast team. Shouldn’t Norman be more worried about people being able to watch the tournaments on an actual TV network?
🏌️ LPGA’s (other) European major is the Amundi Evian Championship in France. Don’t the world’s best women deserve a better golf course?
🏌️ Overshadowed by all the other noise in golf is the U.S. Adaptive Open, the USGA’s first national championship for the physically challenged. Isn’t this one of the reasons we love golf?
🏌️ Hate to say it but there are a lot of places in the U.S. where it’s too hot for golf. What’s your temperature limit?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
USGA brings WGHOF back home to Pinehurst
Sport’s legendary figures, memorabilia to be honored at Golf House Pinehurst starting in 2024
:: David Droschak | Read
Canada's home of golf relocating to Toronto
Golf Canada is moving its offices, along with the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, to a new venue at TPC Toronto
:: Adam Stanley | Read
True Temper's indelible mark on golf shafts
Keenan Phillips, True Temper's manager for product marketing and developmental tour, joins podcast host Paul Liberatore to talk about what keeps the brand ahead of the curve
:: Paul Liberatore | Listen
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always …
📖 The Doors song that was inspired by a real serial killer
:: Jordan Potter | Far Out | 07.18.2022
📖 This old dog
:: Keshia Naurana Badalge | Longreads | 07.19.2022
📖 Golf tournaments, a private jet and a red Ferrari: A tech CEO lived large while his employees went unpaid
:: David Jeans | Forbes | 07.20.2022
📖 Forget the LIV-PGA Tour feud — the U.S. Adaptive Open has reminded us of golf's true spirit
:: Beth Ann Nichols | Golfweek | 07.20.2022
DESIGN NOTES
Nebraska’s Landmand preps for opening
The latest news and notes in golf course architecture.
⛳️ The new Landmand Golf Course in Homer, Nebraska, will open for public play on September 3. It is the first 18-hole course from King-Collins Golf Course Design, a firm that came to attention as the creator of the nine-hole Sweetens Cove, which has been ranked by Golfweek as the best public course in Tennessee.
Located in the farthest northeast corner of the Cornhusker state, roughly 10 miles south of Sioux City, Iowa, Landmand was developed by the Andersen family, which has farmed the surrounding land for four generations. Landmand (the closing "d" is silent) is named after the word for farmer in Danish, reflecting the family’s Scandinavian origins.
The Andersens already own the nearby nine-hole Old Dane course, which it built in 2012. The initial contact with Rob Collins and Tad King came about with thoughts to renovate Old Dane, but the project became more ambitious after King and Collins visited Nebraska and viewed several parcels of land. They were captivated by a site in the Loess Hill, above the surrounding farmland, cleared of trees in the 1970s but essentially left fallow for more than 20 years. Now this 580-acre parcel has become the Landmand course. For visiting golfers, the most striking thing about Landmand will be the course’s sheer scale. The 580-acre site it occupies is almost four time larger than the average course.
The 7,200-yard course has almost 84 acres of maintained turf through the green, with close to four acres of bunkers and nearly 277,000 square feet (6.35 acres) of green surface. Four of the greens are over 25,000 square feet, including the 17th, a tribute to Alister McKenzie’s legendary “Sitwell Park” green, which measures a whopping 30,340 square feet. For comparison the enormous double green for the fifth and 13th holes on the Old Course at St. Andrews measures 37,000 square feet.
“It’s taking our crew about three hours to mow the greens with three triplex mowers,” family spokesman Will Andersen said.
“Tad and I knew immediately when we saw the site and met Will that Landmand was the big opportunity for us,” Collins said. “But it came with a catch. The site was and is extraordinarily beautiful, but it was clear straight away that delivering a course worthy of the property would take a mountain of work.”
RELATED: Design Notes archive
King-Collins is a design and build practice — Collins is the firm’s principal golf architect and Tad King takes control of managing construction. This is the model that has delivered most of the great courses in the last 20 years, but the vast majority of these were built on sandy sites that required little in the way of heavy-duty construction work. Landmand, by contrast, on loess soil — a mixture of clay, sand and silt, formed by the wind — was a much bigger construction project.
“We believe that the total amount of earthmoving to build the course was in the region of two million cubic yards,” Collins said. “That is an enormous volume, but it was necessary to create a walkable, playable course on terrain of this severity, traversing as it does the towering Loess Hills of eastern Nebraska. Thanks to a team filled with outrageously talented golf construction professionals, we are immensely proud of the final product. I believe it will be something that golfers have never seen the like of before.”
⛳️ Boyne Resorts has retained architect Raymond Hearn to create three new 9-hole par-3 courses — one for each individual property in Michigan, Maine and Montana. At Northern Michigan’s Highlands at Harbor Springs, Hearn’s short course will join four championship courses on property — and will be lit for nighttime play. The second layout will grace Boyne's Sugarloaf property in the mountains of western Maine. Sugarloaf currently has an 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Jr. course. The final par-3 spread will appear at southwestern Montana’s Big Sky Resort, another Boyne ski/golf destination that is home to an 18-hole Arnold Palmer design.
"It hits the mark for the entire range of current golfers as well as an unintimidating approach for that newer golfer, and that’s really the biggest growth opportunity," said Ken Griffin, director of sales and marketing for Boyne Golf, which oversees the company’s 10 courses at three Michigan resorts.
All three courses will feature large greens with three options for approaches. A more open entryway will cater to the less-skilled golfer, while more demanding forced carries will challenge better players. Expected opening for all three Boyne par-3 courses will be sometime in 2024.
⛳️ Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, Minnesota, has enlisted Bobby Jones Links for a bunker renovation on its 27-hole course known as The Pines. Comprised of three nines — the Lake, Marsh and Woods — The Pines is ranked fourth among Minnesota public courses by Golfweek. Work will begin in late September on the Lakes nine. Woods will get the bunker treatment in spring 2023 and the project will conclude with renovations on the Marsh.
The project involves adding, removing and renovating bunkers on each nine, with the goal of improving playability, aesthetics and drainage. All bunkers will feature new Ohio white sand.
⛳️ TPC San Antonio’s Canyons course, designed by Pete Dye with Bruce Lietzke consulting, and a five-time tournament home to the PGA Tour Champions, is currently undergoing a bunker renovation project. Duininck Golf is handling the work, which involves reshaping bunker faces and floors to match Dye’s original design. Duininck plans to improve maintenance and playing conditions, making the layout more visually appealing with defined sand features.
“Restoring the bunkers on the Canyons course will restore strategy, playability and maintainability and elevate the course even more, as we look to provide optimal playing conditions for Tour players, our club members, and resort guests,” said Matt Flory, general manager at TPC San Antonio.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
HOME FRONT
Residences at Salamander | Middelburg, Virginia
Listing: The Vineyards
Stats: 3,850 square feet. 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 1 half bathroom.
Price: Starting at $2,700,000.
About: Comprised of 28 homes and gracing homesites of 0.4 acres, each four-bedroom residence is a showcase of refined style: European oak flooring, quartzite and Brazilian black slate countertops, designer tiling, high ceilings, expansive windows, and a master chef’s appliance suite. The homes are positioned to capitalize on gorgeous vistas and the floor plan allows for masterful upgrades including bluestone terraces, summer kitchens, swimming pools and fire pits. Designed for ease in entertaining, every home’s thoughtful pairing of indoor/ outdoor living spaces ensures that residents are connected to the natural world across all four seasons. Practice your chipping and putting skills on the resort's state-of-the-art five-hole putting green, and some of the best golf in the Washington, D.C., region is within minutes of the resort. Salamander has an exclusive arrangement with The Club at Creighton Farms, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. It also partners with Bull Run Golf Club, Evergreen Country Club and Raspberry Falls Golf and Hunt Club.
NAMES | NEWS | NUMBERS
BUSINESS
▪️Troon: Two-month LEADer Program curriculum is preparing Troon leaders for high-level roles within the golf industry. … Elysian Park Ventures, PGA of America: Create EP Golf Ventures LLC, a new investment partnership designed to support innovation in the golf industry. EP Golf Ventures will invest in areas that drive value across the $84 billion-plus golf industry, and targeted areas include coaching and training; health, wellness and performance science; hospitality; and facility management. … NBC Sports Next, Indiana Golf Association: Partner to offer new benefits for IGA-member golfers and clubs. … Malcolm DeMille: To handcraft a money clip that encapsulates Hazeltine National’s history, which includes hosting a U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. … Ace Indoor Golf: Named the first U.S. distributor of PuttView putting greens, an Augmented Reality-based system that turns greens into an interactive learning platform. … The Academy at GPC: Offering up to $1.1 million to 12 deserving young athletes to attend The Academy at GPC in Ridgefield, Connecticut. … Ladies Professional Golf Association Foundation: Announces the next recipients of the Renee Powell Grant. The grant program honors Powell’s lifelong commitment to golf and will help assist 13 current and prospective LPGA*USGA Girls Golf sites create partnerships and outreach opportunities with youth organizations serving Black girls.
COMPETITION / COURSES
▪️Landscapes Unlimited: Completes installation of a state-of-the-art irrigation system throughout the 18-hole executive course at San Diego's Mission Bay Golf Club. … Jimmy Self Invitational: The 27th annual playing of tournament slated for July 29-31 at Palmetto Dunes in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. … Dundonald Links: Ayrshire, Scotland, to host Women’s Scottish Open, July 28-31. Resort to showcase renovated golf course, brand-new clubhouse, hotel rooms and standalone lodges.
GEAR
▪️DeWiz, Folds of Honor: Partner on a limited edition U.S. flag-themed device and a $100 donation for each themed device sold will support Folds of Honor’s mission to provide educational scholarships. … Fujikura: British Open champ plays the Ventus Tr shaft, while the company wins the driver shaft count title at St. Andrews. … PXG: Introduces its 0211 XCor2 irons that feature integrated XCor2 and power channel technology, and its thinnest club face. … Titleist: Introduces its Vokey Wedge fitting app for indoor wedge fitting. The app is available through authorized Titleist trade partners globally. … Edison Golf Co.: Will ship all wedge orders completely free via UPS in the continental U.S. starting immediately. … Precision Pro Golf: Limited-edition city and state custom designs for the NX10 rangefinder are available now. The latest collection includes a run of skins that depict flags and other iconic images associated with the cities and states. … Golfzon: Installs TwoVision Simulator in Troon's Reston, Virginia, office, making the installation the company's first North American commercial undertaking. … OnCore Golf: To provide all Advocates Pro Golf Association members with a free Eagle membership at no cost. Portion of golf ball sales through December will benefit APGA. … OnCore Golf: Andy Pope wins the 76th Florida Open Championship playing the Vero X1 golf ball.
PEOPLE
▪️Contra Costa Country Club: Private Pleasant Hill, California, club hires Ryan Ott as general manager and chief operating officer to oversee all elements of the club's operation.
THE STYLE LINKS
It’s never too late to take on the look of a winner. British Open champion Cameron Smith’s Sunday look was Original Penguin’s Retro Geo polo in a color called pirouette, which appears much lighter on the website. His pants were scripted to be black but instead he wore white Pete Performance trousers. Are they now his lucky pants?
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
THE GOOD LIFE
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