LIV Golf money talks, but are fans listening?
+ Adams Golf founder, former CEO Barney Adams still talking his mind; Perfect Putt looks at Topgolf's struggles; PGA Tour venue gets a significant renovation.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Hideki Matsuyama lost a five-shot lead in the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship before making birdies on the final two holes to win the first PGA Tour playoff event. Comeback of the year?
🏌️ Brooks Koepka beat Jon Rahm in a playoff to win LIV Golf League Greenbrier for Koepka’s second LIV victory this year and fifth overall LIV event. Who says Koepka doesn’t care about tournaments other than majors?
🏌️ Rahm had a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Greenbrier event before losing that lead and the tournament. Should he ask Matsuyama for some advice?
🏌️ Golf Digest quoted an anonymous “veteran tour insider,” who said Rahm would eagerly give back the LIV money and return to the PGA Tour if afforded the chance. LIV CEO Greg Norman vehemently denied the assertion. Whom do you believe?
🏌️ Max Greyserman said Kuchar didn’t say anything to him when Kuchar decided to stop play on the 18th hole at the Wyndham Championship for darkness. Greyserman, who lost a back-nine lead, finished the hole in the dark. What kind of “message” did Greyserman think Kuchar was sending?
🏌️ Kuchar’s caddie, Brian Reed, said the overnight was “worth the wait,” saying his boss would have needed a ruling in the dark and they thought Greyserman would stop, too. Do you think the volunteers who came out Monday for half a hole thought it was worth it, too?
🏌️ Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee’s son, Brandon Thomas Lee, had his membership revoked at Sherwood Country Club, near Los Angeles, for what the club called “bad behavior,” according to TMZ. Is bad behavior genetic?
🏌️ The current U.S. Solheim Cup points list has Lexi Thompson 14th. What are the chances U.S. captain Stacy Lewis uses a pick to put Thompson on the team?
🏌️ Castle Pines Golf Club outside of Denver hasn’t hosted a PGA Tour event since 2006 because it was too easy for the pros at altitude. Now it’s hosting the BMW Championship and tipping out at more than 8,100 yards. Remember to reduce that number by 10 percent because of altitude and it plays like 7,290 yards. Still, what happened to make Castle Pines worthy of a playoff event?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
LIV Golf has the money, but what about relevance?
PIF-backed league is embodying the 'If a tree falls in an empty forest and no one is around ... ' question. An example is Brooks Koepka's playoff win over Jon Rahm — did anyone see it or care?
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
Industry legend Barney Adams looks forward
Founder, executive remains an innovative thinker about equipment and the state of the game, which he discusses with co-hosts Jon Last and David Klein.
:: ‘Driver$: Inside the Golf Industry’ podcast | Listen
Talking Lydia Ko: Olympic gold, LPGA Hall of Fame
Longtime golf writer Ron Sirak joins host Ann Liguori to discuss the 27-year-old New Zealander's recent double accomplishment at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
:: ‘Golf Innerview with Ann Liguori’ podcast | Listen
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 How to start a professional sports team, win games, and save the town
After the A’s announced they were leaving Oakland, a pair of lifelong fans set out to do something audacious: start a beloved pro baseball team of their own. Remarkably, they pulled it off. Now the Oakland Ballers need to survive.
:: Dan Moore | The Ringer | 08.13.2024
Watching a parent’s mind slip away from dementia is difficult in any circumstance. It’s even harder when your father is a lifelong lawyer who insists he has one final case to win.
:: Andrew Bloomenthal | Boston | 08.13.2024
📖 The point about the FedEx Cup Playoffs that too many people are still missing
:: Jaime Diaz | Golf Digest | 08.20.2024
📖 Surf Bugle exclusive: Kelly Slater in conversation
"I remember being probably in kindergarten and realising “I think I'm a surfer. I think that's my thing.”
:: Ben Mondy | Surf Bugle | 08.23.2024
BUSINESS
THE FIRST CALL
Week in Review: The industry’s names, news and notables making headlines. | Read
This week’s editions: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Golf Industry Press Releases | Read
TFC / PR Newswire Feed | Read
PERFECT PUTT
Topgolf's issues
Same venue sales are declining.
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Publisher Jared Doerfler analyzes the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt.
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
This could very well be our favorite collab of the year … Adidas x JAY3LLE. The one and only Johan Lindeberg and his daughter. Yep, that J. Lindeberg.
:: 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.
Pat Monahan, avid golfer and Grammy award-winning frontman of the band Train: “My order is a glass of champagne — French champagne, not prosecco. Even if you're on the golf course and you have a bottle of champagne, you look like you know what you're doing. To eat, usually a half a turkey sandwich and a salad sounds good to me.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
HOME FRONT
Panther National | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Listing: Portrush Custom Estate.
Stats: 9,263 total square feet| 5 bedrooms | 5.5 baths | 4-car garage.
Price: $8,995,000.
About: Situated on a .5-acre preserve-facing lot, the home features a sophisticated open floor plan with luxurious finishes. The Portrush includes formal living and dining rooms, a spacious kitchen, and family rooms that open to the covered loggia. Additional amenities include a club room with a sit-down bar, a pool and patio area, and wine storage. The Portrush is among a selection of one- and two-story Custom Estate floorplans available to buyers. Panther National, founded by Dominik Senn, is the first golf and lifestyle community to debut in Palm Beach County in nearly two decades. The 18-hole championship course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas, is complemented by premium amenities and facilities. Prospective homeowners can choose between semi-custom Signature Estates or fully custom homes, ranging from $4.5 million to over $15 million.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
TPC Craig Ranch gets a Lanny Wadkins redesign
Texas’ TPC Craig Ranch, home to the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson event since 2021, will undergo a major renovation by area resident and former PGA Championship winner Lanny Wadkins.
Located in the northern Dallas suburb of McKinney, TPC Craig Ranch was a 2004 Tom Weiskopf design. In its four editions hosting the PGA Tour, scoring has been extremely low, but course owner Invited, formerly known as ClubCorp, has playability for all in mind with the re-do.
The Wadkins-led renovations will completely overhaul the existing course, incorporating new turf varieties that will enhance turf conditions and durability, bringing them on par with those seen at the nation’s top facilities. In turn, this will significantly elevate playability for TPC Craig Ranch members, delivering premium conditions for the course year-round that can challenge the world’s best players, while also maintaining a member-friendly golf experience. Some bunkers will be added and others relocated closer to greens. Several holes will be lengthened, stretching the 7,438-yard layout to roughly 7,600 yards.
Wadkins, a long-time design partner for Invited, and his Wadkins Design Group team will lead the redesign on select holes. Wadkins won the Byron Nelson in 1973, when it was played at Preston Trail Golf Club.
"I am excited and honored to be doing the redesign of Craig Ranch," Wadkins said. "It is a great site for world-class golf with gently rolling terrain that features Rowlett Creek which meanders through the property and provides great strategy for multiple holes. My goal is to build a golf course that will challenge the best golfers in the world for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, but more importantly be a great club for the members to call home the other 51 weeks of the year. The new course will include entirely redesigned bunkers, green complexes, new irrigation, drainage and improved turf varieties."
The course’s zoysia fairways, tees and rough will now feature TifTuf Bermuda, which is a sturdier grass that stays green deep into the winter months and re-greens earlier than other varieties. TifTuf can be maintained to ensure a firm, fast course that is both challenging and exciting to play.
The conversion of the roughs to TifTuf will create thicker, denser grasses for players to navigate, while also creating greater flexibility for course management. During the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the fairways can be mowed narrower to challenge the game’s best players, while they can be mowed wider throughout the year for member play.
The greens will be converted to ultradwarf Bermuda, which will deliver consistent speeds throughout the year and reduce fluctuations in play. The new greens will offer firm, fast approaches with strong collars, and they are resilient in the Texas heat, eliminating the need for hand-watering and fans.
Most prominent of the design changes will occur at the par-4 18th, where the hole will be lengthened and the green moved down to the edge of the creek. Formerly an easy birdie, the hole will be intended to play as a demanding par 4.
Additionally, the existing 20-year-old irrigation system will be replaced with 2,000 new sprinkler heads and a more efficient pump station that maximizes the amount of water distributed in a shorter period of time. This will reduce water usage and ensure consistent playing conditions throughout the year. A revamped drainage system will ensure more playable conditions and fewer cart path-only days.
THIS WEEK: Read the complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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While I appreciate the TFC comeback comment, I'd like offer a new thread that asks do your readers actually care that the Tour needs to have two distinct season-ending-showcase trophies. In other words, why can't the guy who wins it all based on points (aka $$$$) just win the 'PGA Tour Championship' & be awarded the 'FedEx Cup' for his efforts. Personally, I'm sick of all the contrivances (sorry Jaime Diaz) invented to rationalize the process. My point is, does there need to be a bonus factor after the guy who won the most regular season points? If guy who starts in 30th place in the Tour Championship wins, doesn't he deserve the biggest payday - he not only made the final cut but then went on to beat the best in a four-day competition. I'm sure the guys starting at the top of the 30 man field will feel bad/disappointed but them's the breaks & they don't deserve anything more than what they earned in the tournament.
Re: Tour championship rotation question- “don’t Care” should have been a choice