It's party time in Phoenix
+ Fueled by the par-3 16th hole, the WM Phoenix Open has risen to superstar status; How Laura Penney is charting her new path; Mike Purkey's nine questions to consider
ON THE TEE
🏌️ The PGA Tour is using most of its first wave of investment to distribute $930 million to 36 top players. How would you like to be the 37th player on that list?
🏌️ Tiger Woods announced he will play in next week’s Genesis Invitational as a “playing host.” Is he going to get a ride up the giant hill from the 18th green at Riviera to the clubhouse?
🏌️ Joaquin Niemann outlasted Sergio Garcia in the dark in a four-hole playoff to win LIV Golf’s first event of 2024 at Mayakoba in Mexico. Niemann has qualified for the British Open but does he deserve to be in the other three major championships?
🏌️ Jose Maria Olazabal, a former Ryder Cup captain, says he thinks Europe can still be competitive against the Americans without Jon Rahm. How about without Rahm’s partner, Tyrrell Hatton, too?
🏌️ Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler both say that the path back to the PGA Tour should be difficult for LIV Golf players, if that should come to pass. Would it change their perception after they get their cut of $930 million?
🏌️ Wyndham Clark said he chose legacy over millions when he turned down an offer from LIV Golf. Will he turn down his payout from the $930 million?
🏌️ The weather-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am left some wondering about a 54-hole, limited field, no-cut tournament getting world ranking points. Do they have a point?
🏌️ DraftKings left betting lines open late Saturday into Sunday after Clark’s 60 on Saturday at Pebble. One bettor had a top-20 parlay involving Clark but after the Tour canceled the final round, DraftKings changed its rules and the bettor’s $700,000 win was voided. Bettors were enraged. Wouldn’t you be, too?
🏌️ Some are blaming the game’s refusal to rein in equipment for Clark’s 60 at Pebble Beach and Niemann’s 59 at Mayakoba. Do you agree?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Q&A: Matt Mooney | Assistant Tournament Chairman, WM Phoenix Open
The PGA Tour's fifth-oldest tournament has evolved into most attended and raucous. Mooney discusses what has prompted the Arizona stop's popularity
:: Dave Droschak | Read
How Tiger Woods' ace shaped TPC Scottsdale's raucous 16th
The WM Phoenix Open has always been a party-like affair, but Woods' theatrics in 1997 showed the potential of how much fun could be had at the shortish par-3 hole known as The Colosseum
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
Q&A: Laura Penney | CEO, Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel
The Native American woman's rise through the ranks of the tribally owned Idaho resort has been enlightening and empowering, and she shares lessons learned from her 30-plus-year relationship
:: Stuart Hall | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 Super Bowl strip tease: The NFL and Las Vegas are together at last
Pro football and Sin City have been gravitating toward each other for decades. Now, as the Strip welcomes its first Super Bowl, the only question left for these sports and cultural behemoths is: What took you two so long?
:: Steve Rushin | Sports Illustrated | 01.30.2024
📖 Why be a point guard when you can be a grandmaster? Inside the NBA's chess club
In locker rooms and charter planes across the league, NBA players are flocking to a game that helps them blow off steam—and bears more than a passing resemblance to their day jobs
:: John McDermott | GQ | 02.01.2024
📖 Here's what a unified, global professional golf tour could look like
:: Joel Beall | Golf Digest | 02.07.2024
BUSINESS
WEEK IN REVIEW
1️⃣8️⃣ The industry’s names, news and notables that are making the headlines. | Read
PERFECT PUTT
Competition has increased the value of college stars
Publisher Jared Doerfler examines how competition at the professional level is trickling down to the collegiate level, where there are quicker routes to reaching The Show
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
ICYMI
This week’s editions of The First Call:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
TRAVEL
The First Call has partnered with SportGo Travel, an online booking service, to give you up to 50% off or more on hotel accommodations worldwide.
Whether you’re planning your next trip to a tournament, a buddies or girls golf getaway, or a family vacation, book your stay through SportGo Travel and save. Simply create your account and start planning.
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
The third most popular line to stand in at the WM Phoenix Open, following beer and restrooms.
:: 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.
Rick Barry, NBA Hall of Famer and 1975 NBA Finals MVP: “I'm never going to pass up a good burger with swiss cheese, medium rare with pink in the middle, raw onion, a jersey tomato slice, just mustard and some sweet potato fries. That would be like dying and going to heaven for me.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
HOME FRONT
The Villas at Creighton Farms | Aldie, Virginia
Listing: 40188 Jefferson Springs Court.
Stats: 6,367 square feet | 6 bedrooms | 6.5 bathrooms.
Price: $3,200,000.
About: This classic English Tudor style home sits on 1.12 acres adjacent to the first fairway of Creighton Farms’ celebrated Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and offers stunning views of the rolling hills of horse country in northeast Virginia. The home was built in 2013 by VIsnic Custom Homes and features a first-floor primary bedroom with vaulted ceilings and spectacular views of the countryside. Second-floor bedrooms and bonus room are accessible by the main staircase or a secondary spiral staircase. The gourmet kitchen has top-notch Thermador appliances, along with a 48-inch range, 36-inch fridge/freezer, two dishwashers, two sinks and two-tone custom cabinetry. A soaring vaulted ceiling spans the great room all the way to the kitchen and creates an open feel that is complemented by large windows that offer plenty of light and seem to bring the outdoors inside. The home also includes a lower-level exercise room and sauna, a full wet bar with dishwasher and beverage fridge, a rear porch with a wood-burning fireplace that is ideal for outdoor entertaining.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Raymond Floyd spices up Florida’s Saltleaf
Four-time major champion Raymond Floyd opened southwest Florida’s Saltleaf Golf Preserve in late November 2023. Located beside the state's oldest aquatic preserve in Bonita Springs, the golf facility is a public-access course that embraces Florida's natural habitat and doesn’t have any formal bunkers — only large sandy waste areas.
In keeping with his design philosophy of remaining true to the native topography, Floyd wanted the course to feel it belonged in the environment — as if it were carved into what was already there rather than placing something on top of it.
Working again with architect Harry Bowers, this completely new course was built on the site of the former Raptor Bay golf course, which Floyd and Bowers originally designed 24 years ago. The new course is longer, going from a 6,400-yard, par-71 layout to 7,075 yards, par 72. There’s more water (22 acres of lakes) and more challenge in general. Additional golf offerings include a nine-hole, par-3 course, a 40,000-square-foot practice facility and a 12,500-square-foot clubhouse.
"I’ve always been fond of trying to lay a golf course out as part of the natural environment and let nature be its beautiful thing that it is," Floyd said at the 2022 groundbreaking. "My philosophy has always been traditional. I like not to change the land where it doesn’t look like it belongs, and so many courses through the years, there’s so much earth moved, when you go play it, it just doesn’t belong in the environment."
The experience is one of absolute tranquility. Unlike most top courses in southwest Florida, Saltleaf is surrounded by scenic landscaping and native flora — homes are rarely in sight, despite the fact that it anchors a new residential community, Saltleaf on Estero Bay.
The $25 million makeover was a key part of a project from London Bay Development Group near the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs. Atop Raptor Bay’s old back nine, London Bay is building twin 22-story condominium buildings, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay and Saltleaf Marina are expected to open in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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