Ranking LIV Golf's best ... and not so best
+ The TGL is taking shape, are you ready?
ON THE TEE
🏌️Justin Thomas signed with simulator golf league TGL on its Atlanta Drive team with three teammates to be named later. The six-team league starts Jan. 9 and they’re still looking for players?
🏌️TGL was started by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and former Golf Channel president Mike McCarley — and has the blessing of the PGA Tour. Matches will be broadcast on ESPN but the bigger question is: Where’s the revenue stream?
🏌️Jon Rahm backed out of his commitment to TGL, citing travel concerns. The league is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Rahm lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. Was travel the only reason?
🏌️Rahm threw out the first pitch at Game 4 of the World Series in Phoenix. Which was more impressive: throwing the pitch wearing his Masters green jacket or the fact that he also wore a necktie?
🏌️Two Korn Ferry Tour players were suspended for betting on PGA Tour events. One made a total of $116 in wagers, most of which was on The Match in 2021. Wonder what the Tour’s cut of the take was?
🏌️Woods told Stewart Cink in Mexico that he’s practicing again. “But for what?” Cink wondered. Aren’t two of Tiger’s majors the Hero World Challenge and the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie?
🏌️El Cardonal, which was designed by Woods and is the site of this week’s World Wide Technology Championship, saw driving accuracy of more than 90 percent because of the ultra-wide fairways. Did the designer create the course in his image?
🏌️European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald said caddie Joe LaCava, who triggered an incident with Rory McIlroy, “tried to reach out after the fact and apologize but we just tried to use that as fuel for Sunday.” Is playing with a grudge one of the secrets to Europe’s Ryder Cup domination?
🏌️At age 83, Jack Nicklaus says he hasn’t swung a club since his ceremonial opening tee shot at the Masters in April. "I would like to go play again,” he said. “I play so poorly anymore it's just really not any fun. And I run out of golf balls." Did you ever think you could identify with arguably the greatest player of all time?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
LIV Golf players want rankings? Well, here you go
The First Call's Gary Van Sickle has been crunching numbers for his LIV Golf Rankings and while the No. 1 player is not surprising, other results were telling
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 Don't meet your heroes, especially the dead ones
In 1933, Ernest Hemingway needed money. Esquire needed a writer. A boat brought them together. It’s a mostly true story that speaks volumes about the lives of men then and now
:: David Coggins | Esquire | 10.02.2023
📖 Confessions of a Pop-Tarts taste tester
When my family was enlisted nearly 60 years ago, little did we suspect that the pastry would become a pop-culture phenomenon and inspire a Seinfeld movie
:: Laura M. Holson | New York Times | 10.06.2023
📖 Watch this guy work, and you’ll finally understand the TikTok era
The creator economy is fragmented and chaotic. Talent manager Ursus Magana can (almost) make sense of it, with a frenetic formula for gaming the algorithms
:: Brendan I. Koerner | Wired | 10.19.2023
📖 Lululemon’s founder is racing to cure the rare disease destroying his muscles
For decades, Chip Wilson has been facing a form of muscular dystrophy. Now the notoriously unfiltered billionaire is spending $100 million to cure it
:: Ari Altstedter | Bloomberg | 10.20.2023
BUSINESS
SCORECARD
1️⃣8️⃣ The golf industry’s week in review — the names, news and notables that are making the headlines. :: Read
PERFECT PUTT
The cost of DP World Tour Q School
Jared Doerfler chatted with two of the 36 Americans playing in the second stage of DP World Tour Q School — the money and the process of trying to earn a DP World Tour card
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
THE FIRST CALL THIS WEEK
This week’s editions of The First Call:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
Galvin Green’s elevated performance outerwear protects from the elements, while adding a style element.
:: 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.
Tyler Feldman, sports broadcaster at KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas: “Here in Austin, I'm going to have to go with tacos — I'm a breakfast taco guy. Crispy bacon in one, maybe chorizo in the other ... and a Tito's and soda with a lime to drink.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
HOME FRONT
Fairmont Heritage Place | Mayakoba, Mexico
Listing: Garden Residence 401.
Stats: 3,853 square feet | 3 bedrooms | 3 bathrooms.
Price: $240,000 per 1/12 share.
About: Situated within private, boutique buildings in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, garden residence 401 at Fairmont Heritage Place perfectly accommodates both large-scale entertaining and intimate gatherings. It has multiple guest rooms, including one that sleeps up to four guests. Expansive windows and glass doors bathe interiors in natural light, plus there is an open-plan great room, expansive terrace, private pool and chef-worthy kitchen. Double-height ceilings, receding glass pocket doors, premier appliances and hand-crafted natural stone, tile and wood accents add to the beauty and sophistication of this residence. This residence is offered for co-ownership — a fractional system that divides ownership of each residence across 12 equal shares.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
William Flynn-designed Springdale gets renovation
⛳️ Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, New Jersey, has commenced a course renovation project — led by restoration specialist Ian Andrew — of its historic William Flynn design.
Crews recently began work on the course’s bunkers and the surrounding areas, with work continuing on the course’s irrigation system throughout the fall. Work is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The project marks Springdale’s most ambitious golf course renovation project to date and is expected to deliver a more fun and challenging course, while embracing Flynn's original design philosophy.
The 6,380-yard, par-71 course dates back to 1895 and is located adjacent to the Princeton University campus. Flynn is best known for his Golden Age creations such as New York’s Shinnecock Hills, Colorado’s Cherry Hills and for his extensive design and redesign work at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. He revised Springdale’s layout in 1926.
Wayne S. Morrison, co-author of The Nature Faker — William S. Flynn, Golf Course Architect, the most comprehensive study of Flynn and his work in golf, recently remarked, “the collection of 17 superb and original Flynn putting greens makes Springdale a unique, significant destination for the study of classic golf course architecture. It’s great to see that Springdale Golf Club is taking the necessary steps to ensure the preservation of this walkable and enjoyably challenging masterpiece for future generations.”
Springdale commissioned the course renovation during a historic boom in golf participation. According to the National Golf Foundation, rounds played in 2021 were up 19% over pre-pandemic levels, with growth continuing through 2022 and 2023.
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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liv really sucks!!