How a Saudi Rival Emerged
+ Russia-Ukraine ramifications on golf.
ON THE TEE
⛳️ Now we have two competing rival professional golf leagues — Premier Golf League and LIV Golf Invitational Series. If the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) refuses to recognize and give ranking points to either league, is that a deal breaker?
⛳️ In case you’re wondering who’s on the board of directors of the OWGR, they include Jay Monahan (PGA Tour), Keith Pelley (DP World Tour), Martin Slumbers (R&A), Mike Whan (USGA), Walton (Buzzy) Johnson (Augusta National) and Seth Waugh (PGA of America). Does that make things a little clearer?
⛳️ It appears the USGA intends to slow down the bombers on the professional tours by shrinking the sweet spot on driver faces and increasing the speed at which balls are tested, thereby making some balls nonconforming. Prepare to hear some noise.
⛳️ Love it or hate it — most people are on one side or the other — you have to admit that the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is the most discussed par-3 in the game.
⛳️ Jack Nicklaus has long been an advocate of making divots ground under repair. After seeing the unbelievably horrible break Paul Casey received after hitting a perfect drive at the 16th at the Players Championship, it’s hard to disagree.
⛳️ The pandemic golf boom shows no signs of slowing. Just saying.
⛳️ The Masters is fewer than four weeks away and Harold Varner III appears to be a lock for his first invitation. The top 50 in the OWGR are invited and Varner is currently No. 40. An invitation couldn’t happen to a better person.
⛳️ Why has golf equipment become so expensive? Even used clubs are fetching unheard-of prices. Is it simply the supply-demand curve? Or are other forces at work?
⛳️ Now that bunker rakes are back at golf courses, how about using them?
:: Mike Purkey
How Greg Norman's league became the PGA Tour's rival
A developing timeline involving the upstart LIV Golf Invitational Series, the PGA Tour, the Premier Golf League and the players who may decide their fate
Writer’s Take: Easily one of the most important stories in golf … ever. If the LIV Golf Invitational Series becomes what Greg Norman hopes it will be by attracting the game’s biggest names, then professional golf as we currently know it will be forever altered. Even if the Series doesn’t succeed, it has already disrupted how the PGA Tour does business with its players and that may ultimately be a good thing.
:: Stuart Hall
Russia-Ukraine conflict crimping golf in U.S.
The cost of keeping up a golf course — from fertilizer for turf to gas for maintenance equipment — is rising, but The First Call’s Bradley S. Klein believes it’s a small price as part of a broader picture
USGA, R&A dialing in on drivers, balls
Governing bodies to continue monitoring 'areas of interest' on distance, focusing on driver heads and how golf balls are tested
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always …
📖 Night shifts: Can technology shape our dreams?
[Michael W. Clune | Harper’s Magazine]
📖 What lies beneath hip-hop’s swagger
[Danyel Smith | The New York Times Magazine]
📖 Welcome to Georgia National: An alternate history of the home of the Masters
[David Owen | Gold Digest]
📖 Long excluded, female golfers are now key driver of game’s growth
[Michael Croley | Bloomberg]
DESIGN NOTES
The latest news and notes in golf course architecture.
➡️ Twenty-three years ago, John Harvey teamed with Roger Rulewich to design the Resort Course at Grande Dunes, perennially ranked among Myrtle Beach, South Carolina’s best courses. Harvey returned recently with plans for a renovation. Harvey will team with Max Morgan, vice president and director of agronomy at Founders Group International, which owns the course. Morgan was also involved with the original construction. "Priority work involves reclaiming the green platforms, thatch layer removal and bunker renovations," said Harvey. Construction begins in mid-May.
➡️ Given the name, it’s logical to have thought that Ernie Els would be involved in the design of Big Easy Ranch. Instead, it’s Chet Williams, a former Nicklaus Design associate who got the nod in September 2021 to add a 7,448-yard championship layout to the property’s existing nine-hole par-3 course that he also designed. Located in Columbus, Texas, roughly halfway between Austin and Houston, the 2,000-acre Big Easy Ranch is owned by Billy Brown, who gifted Williams a site that has 80 feet of elevation change, creeks and mature oaks. Construction is ongoing, with an expected completion date of autumn 2022.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
➡️ The dawn of 2022 brought a refresh to the Lakes course at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., courtesy of Nicklaus Design, the same firm that did the original design in 1984 as a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course. Square footage of bunker sand has been reduced from 150,000 to 100,000 (down from 250,000 at inception). Fifteen bunkers were eliminated entirely and other large bunkers were divided into smaller bunker complexes.
"In 1984, the site was one big cattle pasture with very few trees," said Chris Cohcran, senior design associate at Nicklaus Design. "Today, the framing, personality and much of the strategy of how the holes play is more about the mature trees on the golf course and less about the need for as much bunkering as there used to be."
Home to multiple U.S. Open qualifiers over the years as well as a PGA Tour Qualifying School, an intended by-product of the bunker reduction at Bear Lakes has been the bump up in recovery options around the greens.
➡️ Bill Bergin, who crafted McLemore, a top 100 layout in Georgia (in collaboration with Rees Jones), has signed on to do a substantial makeover of Alabama’s Indian Pines Country Club. In order to accommodate an adjacent airport expansion, the cities of Auburn and Opelika have retained Bergin to refashion the municipally-owned layout into essentially a brand new, 7,031-yard, par-72 course, keeping only a few corridors from the previous routing. Indian Pines is expected to close at the end of 2022, with the renovation work to commence soon thereafter.
NAMES | NEWS | NUMBERS
BUSINESS
▪️Drive Shack Inc. to open Puttery venues in New York City’s Meatpacking District and in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. Also, Drive Shack announces its 2021 fourth quarter and full year financial results. The company showed that total company Q4 revenue was up 17% to $70.5 million compared to Q4 2020, and that full year 2021 total company revenue was up 28% to $282 million compared to $220 million for full year 2020. … Golf Datatech analyzes the anomalies of rounds played and projects that rounds played in 2022 will outperform 2019 and 2020 pre-pandemic numbers.
COURSES
▪️Silverado Resort and Spa, located in Napa, California, is named the National Golf Course Owners Association’s Regional Golf Course of the Year for Region 4. … Sand Valley begins construction of Sedge Valley, to be designed by Tom Doak, on it Rome, Wisconsin, property … KemperSports to manage Old Tappan Golf Course, a nine-hole club located in Old Tappan, New Jersey. … Landscapes Golf Management to operate Twin Lakes Country Club, a family-owned club in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, that recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary.
DESTINATIONS
▪️Puerto Rico lifts several travel mandates. Visitors no longer need to show proof of vaccination or fill out a Travel Declaration Form to enter the island; Mask mandates have also been lifted with minor exceptions.
EVENTS
▪️Puma x Palm Tree Crew to host the inaugural Puma x PTC Invitational on March 24 during the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. … Youth on Course announces its annual Premier 100-Hole Hike sites. Hikers to play 100 holes of golf in one day to raise money for affordable access for junior golfers. … The Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau commissions coin to mark Donald Ross' 150th birthday. Proceeds from the Ross coin to benefit the Tufts Archives.
GEAR
▪️Ping introduces its Glide 4.0 wedges, which are designed to provide lower-launching, higher-spinning performance into and around greens. … MyGolfSpy names Sqairz Speed the most stable golf shoe for 2022. The shoes outperforms a category that features 30 shoes. … Srixon, Asics introduces the Gel-Kayanotm Ace. Companies collaborate on new waterproof, spikeless golf footwear model that will be available April 1.
PEOPLE
▪️True Linkswear names PGA Tour players Ryan Moore, Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk and LPGA player Christina Kim as its 2022 tour brand ambassadors … Rachel Kuehn receives a sposnor exemption for the JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes. … Callaway Golf Co. appoints Varsha Rao to the company's board of directors. Rao served as the chief executive officer of Nurx, a direct-to-consumer telehealth platform, since April 2019, and was appointed the head of Nurx following the closing of its merger with Thirty Madison in March 2022. … Payne Stewart Kids Golf Foundation appoints Cathy Harbin, a member of the PGA of America and a PGA master professional, to its board of directors. … Golf Inc. features Agustin Piza among its nine most innovative people in golf, citing Piza's ability to innovate, writing "If he were an auto manufacturer, Piza would be recognized for 'concept cars' — vehicles that showcase imagination and hint of future possibilities" … Honma names
Chuck Couch as vice president of sales, tasked with leading the North American sales force in bringing the brand’s product lines to a broadening array of merchandisers and consumers. … Heritage Shores Golf Club promotes Brooks Massey to general manager of the semi-private club in Bridgeville, Delaware.
THE STYLE LINKS
FootJoy’s new Fuel golf shoe comes in styles for men and women. It delivers sneaker-inspired looks, fit and feel, plus it’s packed full of golf-specific footwear innovation for support, traction, comfort and stability.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
THE GOOD LIFE
TUNING IN
PGA Tour: Valspar Championship
Television: Today-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC).
European Tour and Sunshine Tour: Steyn City Championship
Television: Today-Sunday, 6:30-11 a.m. (Golf Channel).
SUBSCRIBE | FOLLOW
Want to stay up to date with the golf industry throughout the week? Then sign up for The First Call daily newsletter, sent each Monday through Friday morning. Click here to subscribe.
Other ways to follow us:
Facebook: @FirstCallGolf
Instagram: @thefirstcall.golf
Linkedin: @TheFirstCall
Twitter: @firstcallgolf