How golf gives back on Memorial Day
+ Grading the majors at the schedule's halfway point; choices for your reading and listening pleasure; Motor City classic to get new look
THE STARTER
🏌️ Xander Schauffele made birdie at the 72nd hole to win the PGA Championship for his first major title. How big a deal is this?
🏌️ Scottie Scheffler’s arraignment for his PGA Championship arrest has been postponed until June 3. What are the chances Scheffler actually stands trial?
🏌️ Bryson DeChambeau not only came within a whisker of a PGA playoff but he endeared himself with fans on site and on television. Is this good for golf?
🏌️ Schauffele’s father, Stefan, says there’s no way that his son is going to LIV Golf. Should we ask Xander?
🏌️ Was Valhalla Golf Club, site of the PGA Championship, too easy after giving up a 21-under par winning total? Will the PGA come back to Valhalla?
🏌️ Should it have been clear to everyone that CBS made a concerted effort to keep LIV players off the PGA Championship telecast? (The network had no choice but to show DeChambeau.) Did you hear CBS announcers mention LIV even once?
🏌️ Nelly Korda won the Mizuho Americas Open on the LPGA Tour after having her streak broken of five straight LPGA wins. Is this the start of another run?
🏌️ Mark Flaherty became the second independent director of the PGA Tour Policy Board to resign in a week, following Jimmy Dunne’s high-profile resignation. Who should run the Tour, players or business leaders?
🏌️ Colonial Country Club’s $20 million renovation by architect Gil Hanse made its debut at this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge. Will it be enough to test PGA Tour players?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Memorial Day means more than a day off
For Brian Mackey, walking a 100-hole golf marathon fundraiser is the least he can do to honor America's veterans, including his grandfather Francis and father Wayne.
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
Marine veteran Ben Wilson serves new mission through golf
Aspiring PGA Professional found golf to be therapeutic following his military days, now he's helping veterans in similar situations through Patriot Golf Days and Veterans Golf Association.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on June 1, 2023.
:: Dan O’Neill | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 The sad fate of the sports parent
What’s left when your kid abandons your dreams and retires from competition?
:: Rich Cohen | The Atlantic | 05.11.2024
📖 The drawing the Art Institute won’t give back
The heirs of a famous Jewish entertainer killed in the Holocaust want the museum to return a work they say was stolen by the Nazis. But was it really?
:: Kelley Engelbrecht | Chicago Magazine | 05.14.2024
📖 Why an 'exciting' major and a 'good' major are two different things
:: Jaime Diaz | Golf Digest | 05.21.2024
SUBSTACKED
On the life of an actor who taught us how not to be.
:: Michael Weinreb | Throwbacks: A newsletter about sports history and culture | 05.22.2024
TFC PODCAST NETWORK
🎙️ Pat Bradley talks LPGA's past, present, future
The hall of famer, winner of six majors and 31 LPGA titles, joins host Ann Liguori to discuss the state of the tour and a number of its rising stars.
:: Golf Interview with Ann Liguori
🎙️ Applying a tech startup mindset to innovate golf club design
PXG chief product officer Brad Schweigert joins host Colin Weston for a masterclass in product innovation and entrepreneurship.
:: The ModGolf Podcast
🎙️ Callaway continues to push the boundaries of equipment marketing
Jason Finley, Callaway’s global director brand and product management, golf ball and packaged sets, joins co-hosts Jon Last and David Klein to discuss his nearly two decade front-row seat of golf product marketing innovation.
:: Driver$: Inside the Golf Industry
BUSINESS
WEEK IN REVIEW
1️⃣8️⃣ The industry’s names, news and notables that are making the headlines. | Read
PERFECT PUTT
The economic impact of a PGA Championship
Publisher Jared Doerfler looks at the financial benefit the major brings to a host city, which this year was Louisville, Kentucky, and was expected to be an $80 million boon for the region.
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
ICYMI
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LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
As we dive in to the unofficial start of summer, premium basics are a must-have for travel, golf and everyday life. BYLT Basics has this category nailed. I’m a huge personal fan of the women’s Opal fleece set. You might want to check out its sale this Memorial Day weekend … Gronk says so.
:: 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.
Jesse Mueller, one of the Corebridge Financial team of 21 PGA Professionals who competed in the PGA Championship: “I’m still saying a cold beer, but I’ll go with some dry rub wings this time around.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
HOME FRONT
The Preserve | Kiawah Island, South Carolina
Listing: 234 Eagle Point Road.
Stats: 3,975 square feet | 4 beds | 4 baths | 1 half bath.
Price: $5,495,000.
About: Located on an isthmus within The Preserve, one of Kiawah Island’s most naturally stunning neighborhoods, this custom home is quietly perched on more than a half-acre along Cinder Creek. The private site offers nearly panoramic vistas of tidal marshlands and long views of the Kiawah River beyond. A shared deep-water dock provides direct access to water-based adventures right from the back door. The Preserve’s central location means quick access to the beach, dining, shopping and the Island’s five public championship golf courses, including just a 15 minute drive to Pete Dye's world-famous Ocean Course — home to the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012, 2021 and the 2031 PGA Championships — and a seven-minute drive to Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Tom Fazio-designed Osprey Point Golf Course. Yet the property feels blissfully far removed from the hustle and bustle of resort life. A unique collection of community amenities includes a bark-clad boathouse with canoe and kayak storage, a covered pier with docks, an observation tower, and nature trails through some of the Island’s most spectacular forest and wetland areas.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Tyler Rae to renovate PGA Tour venue Detroit Golf Club
Michigan’s venerable Detroit Golf Club will go under the knife after its membership and board approved a renovation masterplan from architect Tyler Rae.
Both the North course, which has played host to the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic since 2019, and the South course were designed by Donald Ross in 1916. Since then, a variety of architects have tweaked the layouts. Rae will endeavor to infuse the Ross characteristics that defined the courses when they opened.
"As the current stewards of one of the country’s most renowned golf clubs, we would like to thank our members and lending partners for understanding the importance of these golf course renovations," Detroit Golf Club president Michael Pricer said. "At a time when our club has more members and golfers than ever before, we look forward to restoring our golf courses to their original glory."
Executing the plan won’t happen until after the North course has hosted the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June 2025. Within this $16.1 million first phase, Rae and the club will address golf course features including greens, tees, fairways, bunkers and trees, together with a comprehensive overhaul of the drainage and irrigation systems.
"As Detroit Golf Club is a special place with a celebrated history, we are extremely honored to be spearheading its golf course restoration which will incorporate many facets of Donald Ross’s bold original design including hummocks and mounds, angled drainage ditches and perched greens," Rae said.
Work is expected to conclude in time to play the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June 2026.
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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