Putting the 2024 U.S. Open to bed
+ Pinehurst No. 2 had its lovers and haters. What becomes of Rory McIlroy? It's never too late — until it is.
THE STARTER
🏌️ After Bryson DeChambeau’s dramatic U.S. Open victory, is he really golf’s new man of the people?
🏌️ Can Rory McIlroy come back from his U.S. Open collapse?
🏌️ Is it finally time for McIlroy to replace his best friend Harry Diamond and hire a caddie who can read greens?
🏌️ Where does the DeChambeau-Johnson Wagner recreation of Bryson’s bunker shot rank among the TV moments of the year?
🏌️ Could Brandel Chamblee of NBC and Golf Channel have made any clearer his preference for the U.S. Open winner?
🏌️ The U.S. Open featured a record purse — $25 million — with $4.3 million to the winner. Do players have LIV to thank?
🏌️ Is Scottie Scheffler still the best player in the world?
🏌️ Charlie Woods qualified for the U.S. Boys Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills. Isn’t this more appropriate than trying to qualify for a PGA Tour event?
🏌️ All the spots for golf in the Olympics were finalized this week. Do you plan to watch next month?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Pinehurst No. 2: U.S. Open beauty or beast?
People will forever remember Bryson DeChambeau's 72nd-hole bunker shot as clutch, but will it overshadow an otherwise brutal setup?
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
2024 U.S. Open may have been one for the ages
The First Call readers offer their thoughts on the recent major that saw Bryson DeChambeau win his second U.S. Open on the 72nd hole.
:: The First Call Inbox | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
An elite handful of analysts, actuaries, and accountants have mastered Excel, arguably the most important software in the business world. So what do they do in Vegas? They open a spreadsheet.
:: David Pierce | The Verge | 06.12.2024
📖 Everyone should know about Rickwood Field, the Alabama park where baseball legends made history
The sport’s greatest figures played ball in the Deep South amid the racism and bigotry that would later make Birmingham the center of the civil rights movement.
:: Patrick Sauer | Smithsonian Magazine | 06.12.2024
📖 I called them brats, and I stand by it
Forty years and a doc later, I still don’t know why the words “Hollywood’s Brat Pack” caused so much agony.
:: David Blum | Vulture | 06.13.2024
SUBSTACKED
📖 Mastery isn't just for the young
Pursuing the long road to get good at something has tangible health & happiness benefits at any age.
:: Gwendolyn Bounds | Not Too Late | 06.17.2024
BUSINESS
WEEK IN REVIEW
1️⃣8️⃣ The industry’s names, news and notables that are making the headlines. | Read
PERFECT PUTT
A comeback story in Europe
Publisher Jared Doerfler tells the story of Jordan Weber, a former collegiate teammate who quit playing professional golf 12 years ago, but is on the comeback trail.
:: 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
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
Ready for a little prep + denim look on our U.S.A. athletes at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 opening and closing ceremonies? Ralph Lauren’s 16th consecutive time as America’s official outfitter.
:: 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.
Anthony Holder, director of golf at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Horseshoe Bay, Texas: “We have an unbelievable quesadilla burger at our Slick Rock Clubhouse, so I’ll take that and a Transfusion after the round.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
HOME FRONT
Martis Camp | Truckee, California
Listing: 9525 Wawona Court.
Stats: 8,198 square feet | 7 beds | 7.5 baths.
Price: $14,995,000.
About: Martis Camp is a luxury private community in the Lake Tahoe area for families who love the mountain lifestyle. With four seasons of recreation and adventure, including private ski access to Northstar California Resort and an acclaimed Tom Fazio golf course. This home’s kitchen is graced by a wine cellar whose 409 bottles are on full display. Tying this three-level home together is a glass elevator with stunning views and a series of graceful, floating staircases that lead to 7.5 bedrooms, including a primary suite with pocket doors, fireplace, deck and a stunning no-touch steam shower with floating benches. This suite has its own private access to the standout gym situated above the connected two-car garage. Located in a quiet cul-de-sac near the Ski Lodge and Lookout Mountain, this home is bookended by a pair of creeks — one off the back patio near the hot tub. The line between indoor and outdoor spaces in this home are blurred, and the scene can quickly shift from warm, intimate and enclosed one moment to one-with-nature the next. This is due to the great rooms retracting glass walls that connect to decks on all three sides.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Beau Welling to rejuvenate Vermont’s Stowe Country Club
Beau Welling Design began work in early spring on a comprehensive renovation of Stowe Country Club in Stowe, Vermont. Welling and senior design associate Chase Webb are directing the activity, which will focus on the club’s 18-hole course as well as on the practice facilities.
“As a design team, we are collaborators at heart, and we are excited to be working alongside Stowe Country Club to breathe new life into one of the best golf courses in the region,” Welling said. “This project will make the golf course more approachable for the average player while retaining the precise challenge that members and guests have enjoyed for 70 years. We’re honored to play a role in refreshing this historic club to be enjoyed by the current membership and generations to come.”
The improvements will include:
> Renovating all greens to accommodate modern speeds and enhancement of approaches and surrounds to promote creativity and fun;
> Shaping and regrading of fairways;
> Replacing and modernizing all fairway and greenside bunkers;
> Regrassing tees, fairways and greens with bentgrass and instituting a Kentucky bluegrass/fescue blend for roughs;
> Adding length and width, to enhance the value of approach angles;
> Completing a long-term tree plan to ensure consistent turf conditions throughout the property and further highlight long-range vistas and the movement of the terrain;
> Expanding fescue stands throughout the property;
> Improving drainage on every hole, focusing on known problem areas;
> Securing the water future and sustainability of the golf course through replacement of the irrigation system, new pump station and the addition of a supplemental river pump.
The renovation will take place in two phases to permit ongoing play. Construction on the front nine will occur in 2024 and on the back nine in 2025. Welling and his team are concurrently assisting Stowe with campus planning, including a new golf facilities area, practice area, expanded amenities and a future residential community.
“It’s an exciting time for our membership,” said Michael Harger, general manager of Stowe Country Club and its nearby sibling, The Club at Spruce Peak. “So many of us have a vested interest in this historic course, and it’s been a thrilling process to lay the groundwork for the next generation of golf enthusiasts in the Stowe community.”
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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