Is The Masters The Major GOAT?
+ Adding up screen time
ON THE TEE
🏌️ Tiger Woods hinted that his time at the Masters is nearing its end. “I don't know how many more I have in me,” he said. Are those the saddest words in golf this year?
🏌️ No rancor between PGA Tour players and LIV Golf players was to be found at the Masters Champions dinner or anywhere else on the grounds of Augusta National. Did anyone honestly think there would be some kind of fight?
🏌️ Sergio Garcia, when asked by the media about the LIV-PGA Tour relationship: "Totally normal," Garcia said. "You guys (media) need to stop it. You guys are making a big deal out of this, and it's you guys." Agree?
🏌️ Brooks Koepka became the first player to win two events in the LIV Golf League, declaring himself finally free of injuries. Will we see the 2018-19 Koepka in 2023?
🏌️ After tying for the first-round lead at the Masters, Koepka was accused of a rules violation by Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee, even after Koepka and caddie Ricky Elliott were cleared by the rules committee. Chamblee’s bias at work?
🏌️ Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said of the USGA’s proposed ball rollback: “I think, in a general sense, we do support the proposal, but because it’s in the middle of a comment period, it could change.” Does that mean ANGC is in favor of a rollback until it’s not?
🏌️ It appears that Jason Day is in the middle of a career comeback, notably a 5-under 67 in the first round at the Masters. Is this the feel-good story of the year?
🏌️ Augusta National invited NCAA champion Gordon Sargent to this year’s Masters and said it will invite the collegiate champion every year going forward. Don’t they invite enough players who don’t have a chance to win?
🏌️ Is the Masters your favorite major championship?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Why the Masters is unlike any other major
Readers of The First Call put into their own words what sets the year's first major and Augusta National apart from the upcoming three
:: The First Call Inbox | Read
PERFECT PUTT
The Masters media deal
Augusta National Golf Club has arranged one of the most unique media deals in sports for the Masters
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 The impossible job: inside the world of Premier League referees
Players, pundits and fans complain bitterly that referees are getting worse each season — but is that fair?
:: William Ralston | The Guardian | 03.21.2023
📖 In search of lost time
The science of the perfect second
:: Tom Vanderbilt | Harper’s Magazine | 04.2023
📖 Augusta National: ‘The more you play it, the more you understand it’
Mark O’Meara, who won the Masters Tournament 25 years ago, talks through the pleasures and perils of Augusta National Golf Club, the only place that hosts a major annually
:: Alan Blinder | New York Times | 04.05.2023
OFF THE PLAYLIST
One golfer’s song of choice for the course. Hey, and if you don’t like it? Share your choice. Seriously.
🎶 “Augusta: The Masters Theme” | John Story [Spotify | iTunes]
19TH HOLE
Each episode of the “Course of Life” podcast closes with the guest sharing a favorite 19th hole experience.
Steve "Dakota" Happas, co-founder, SwingJuice.com: “Plenty of french fries, you can never go wrong there. And to drink, I keep it simple — clear Bacardi on the rocks with a little bit of water, a nice and smooth finish.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host | “Course of Life” podcast
DESIGN NOTES
Augusta National’s Par 3 Course rocks a redesign
⛳️ Augusta National Golf Club’s fabled Par 3 Course debuts this week with a redesigned layout, amid the most significant changes in its 65-year history.
After the conclusion of the 2022 Masters, the club reworked the first five holes of the popular Par 3 Course to accommodate new cabin construction. The net result brings the water of DeSoto Springs Lake more into play, affecting holes Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5. Expect more drama early on in the round.
While holes six through nine remain unchanged, the first five holes have shifted orientation.
Following a tree clearing, the 115-yard first hole (previously 130 yards), which formerly played to the north, now is played to the northeast, near the site of the old fourth tee. The old 70-yard second hole has been eliminated. The new second, at 100 yards, heads to the north, completely different from its previous west-to-east orientation. The new 105-yard third veers slightly more to the southeast than its 90-yard predecessor, which played due south. At 130 yards, the old fourth played directly over the water. The new version measures just 70 yards, with water edging the right side of the hole. The fifth hole had been 130 yards, but now measures 155 yards with its green perched slightly closer to the water.
Total yardage is 1,055, 5 yards shorter than the course’s previous incarnation.
⛳️ Mike Trout has enlisted Tiger Woods and his TGR Design team to belt a home run with a new course design in his home state. The Los Angeles Angels star, three times the American League Most Valuable Player, has teamed with golf’s MVP to create Trout National-The Reserve, an 18-hole championship golf course in Vineland, New Jersey, the southern New Jersey town where Trout was born and not far from Millville, New Jersey, where Trout grew up and currently resides.
“It’s pretty incredible having a chance to own your own golf course,” Trout told Sports Illustrated. “Getting Tiger to design it is crazy. If you had told me before that this would happen one day, I would have said you were crazy. It’s more than I ever thought possible.”
Woods, a huge sports fan, is thrilled with the opportunity, both for teaming with Trout and with the site for the new course. “I’ve always watched Mike on the diamond so when an opportunity arose to work with him on Trout National-The Reserve, I couldn’t pass it up,” Woods said in a statement. “It’s a great site for golf.”
Trout, who carries a sub-10 handicap, traces his passion for the game to his high school days, when he would frequent the practice range with his father, Jeff. He first explored owning a golf course with his wife Jessica, also a golfer, right before COVID-19 hit in 2020. Eventually, his desire led to local developer John Ruga and Ruga’s wife, Lorie. Trout was already a fan of Woods the architect, with TGR Design’s Bluejack National near Houston, Texas, being a personal favorite. Trout had his brother Tyler reach out to Woods’ design firm and after a site visit from the TGR Design team, the deal was inked.
According to the TGR Design website, the golf course will be set among gentle rolling hills and will seamlessly weave between two distinct settings that include a former quarry and rambling farmland. The sandy site was once home to a silica sand mine which will be evident throughout the routing, giving a distinct character.
Trout National-The Reserve will be highly strategic in nature as sprawling fairways will offer multiple routes from tee to green. Undulating green complexes with low-cut surrounds will further emphasize the challenging, yet fun-focused design where risk-reward opportunities will be presented throughout the round to create an ideal match play environment. The unique nature of the course will promote creative shot-making and optionality, qualities that will be underscored with a striking par three match hole inspired by the club co-founder Trout, featuring multiple tee and green options.
Accompanying the 18-hole championship golf course, the offerings at Trout National-The Reserve will also include a flexible short course and expansive putting course along with world-class practice facilities and performance center. Other club highlights include a modern state-of-the-art clubhouse, five-star lodging, innovative amenities, a wedding chapel and more. Although the championship course design isn’t finished, expect there to be an island green signature hole with multiple tee boxes, called “Mike’s Choice.”
Trout National-The Reserve is set to open in 2025.
⛳️ Construction is well underway at Kilada Country Golf & Residences, a Jack Nicklaus Signature design in the Peloponnese region in southern Greece. Dirk Bouts, a senior design associate at Nicklaus Design, is overseeing the work, which began in 2020. Tees and fairways feature Pure Dynasty, while greens are carpeted in Platinum TE paspalum.
“Various obstacles were overcome in order to achieve this goal, which makes it even more satisfying to see the first greened-up holes, Bouts told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. “With the first five holes complete, it becomes even more apparent how the course integrates flawlessly within the existing terrain, landscape and numerous features throughout the property.
“Greens have been kept gentle and will be fun to play on. Bunkers are on the small end; however, we are making sure they are strategically well placed. There’s a great variation in golf holes, and all through the course there are amazing vistas, not only over the golf course, but towards the sea and the surrounding mountains.”
Situated among olive groves and overlooking a traditional fishing village and the Aegean Sea near Porto Heli and the Greek Riviera, Kilada is scheduled to open later in 2023.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
THE STYLE LINKS
This is the week. All Masters, all the time.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
SCORECARD
1️⃣8️⃣ The golf industry’s week in review — the names, news and notables that are making the headlines. :: Read
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Yes. Without question.