So, What Will Make LIV Golf Succeed?
+ Poll: What is your playing preference?
ON THE TEE
🏌️ Jon Rahm said unequivocally, no truth to the rumor he’s joining LIV Golf. Didn’t Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau once say the same thing?
🏌️ Photos from Eureka Earth indicate that Augusta National is finally moving back the tee at the par-5 13th hole after buying the land from next-door Augusta CC. Wouldn’t it have been easier — and just as exciting — to make it a par-4?
🏌️ Padraig Harrington dropped in on a caddie party at a bar in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the Champions Tour is playing this week. He picked up the tab for more than 40 people. Who says Tour players can’t find their credit cards when the check comes?
🏌️ Rickie Fowler has changed caddies, coaches and clubs in an effort to find his lost game. Do you rediscover it by looking on the outside or the inside?
🏌️ The Wall Street Journal took a deep dive into PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s multi-million dollar salary and frequent use of a Tour-owned private jet. Should he not have used it to attend Koepka’s wedding?
🏌️ Rory McIlroy says no LIV Golf players should play in the Ryder Cup, while Matt Fitzpatrick would be happy to have them. Who wants to win more?
🏌️ Next November, The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, will be on the LPGA Tour schedule. Don’t all the great ones have their own tournaments?
🏌️ Justin Suh, an All-American at Southern California who suffered from injuries and stalled from the pandemic after turning pro, leads the Korn Ferry Tour class to the big Tour. Aren’t stories like this part of why we love golf?
🏌️ The USGA opposes Calcuttas during member-guest tournaments. Does your club comply?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Opinion: Why the clock is ticking on LIV Golf
The upstart league has an opportunity to revolutionize golf through one basic concept — a format where the value of the brand is its team
:: Colin Weston | Read
What's next for PGA Tour's vintage Napa venue?
The Fortinet Championship opens the Tour's final wraparound season this week at the Silverado Resort and Spa in California wine country, a popular stop among tour players
:: Tom Mackin | Read
HOME FRONT
Suncadia | Cle Elum, Washington
Listing: 110 Queens Loop
Stats: 5 bedrooms | 4.75 bathrooms | 4,283 square feet.
Price: $2,750,000.
About: The Pacific Northwest is known for stunning scenery and the resort community of Tumble Creek at Suncadia provides homeowners with bountiful amenities. Tumble Creek is a place for adventure seekers, outdoor enthusiasts, nature lovers or anyone looking to get outside. Owners will enjoy unobstructed views of the Tumble Creek Golf Course and views of the Cascade Mountains from this spectacular home. An enormous covered deck that spans the width of the home is perfect for barbecues and provides an outdoor living room with stone fireplace, space for outdoor dining. This 5-bedroom home is elegantly decorated and only steps away from trails, Weekley Park, and club amenities that include the Great House, Hill House Swim and Fitness and the Tumble Creek Golf Course.
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always …
📖 The Queen who loves the sport of kings
Elizabeth II, a racing fan from childhood on, will be the first ruler to race the royal colors outside Britain when her horse Landau comes here next month
:: Andre Laguerre | Sports Illustrated | 10.16.1954
📖 Baseball Traveled to Japan 150 Years Ago. By Way of Maine.
Japan is celebrating the sport’s introduction there in 1872. The living descendants of the American teacher who took the game to Tokyo only learned of his role in 2000
:: Brad Lefton | New York Times | 09.05.2022
📖 LIV, The Saudis and Performance54
:: John Barba | MyGolfSpy.com | 09.12.2022
DESIGN NOTES
Jim Lipe renovates Southern Trace CC
The latest news and notes in golf course architecture.
⛳️ Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport, Louisiana, recently completed a two-year, $4.2 million golf course renovation and enhancement project. The project focused on irrigation and drainage system upgrades, green complex enhancements and the addition of a new short game practice area.
Golf course designer and Southern Trace member Jim Lipe, formerly a longtime associate in Jack Nicklaus Design, oversaw the course renovation with Wadsworth Construction, Black Creek Construction and Winterberry Construction performing the work.
"I’m very pleased with what we’ve accomplished here," Lipe said. "As a longtime Southern Trace member, I was able to identify areas on the golf course that needed to be changed or updated, and address those during this renovation. We have a wonderful superintendent, Graham Kornmeyer, who brought a lot of expertise and experience to this project."
Established in 1988, Southern Trace features an Arthur Hills-designed golf course that plays through open meadows and a dense oak forest. The 7,015-yard course has a proud history of hosting high-level professional and amateur tournaments, including the Web.com Tour’s Southern Open from 1990-2002, multiple state amateur championships and the AJGA David Toms Junior Invitational.
⛳️ Andy Staples, owner and principal architect of Staples Golf Design, is set to begin work on a strategic plan to upgrade Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona.
Originally built in 1899, then moved to its current location in 1921, Phoenix Country Club boasts an incredible tournament history, and a celebrated golf course designed by Harry Collis of Chicago. Subsequent renovations have been untaken by Gary Panks and by Tom Lehman.
"I’m beyond excited about working with this historic property," Staples said. "Phoenix Country Club is the preeminent club in the valley and is one of only a handful of courses that possess some really unique design history, and interesting design lineage. The construction of this golf course is in line with a period of time of some of the greatest golf courses ever to be built."
Master planning will begin this year, including property-wide assessments, aerial survey and photo archive research, and a review of past projects. A key aspect of the initial work is to understand how the golf course was originally laid out, and how it has evolved over time.
Phoenix Country Club is a premier urban club where many of the valley’s most influential citizens have enjoyed the game since 1899. The golf course was home to the Phoenix Open from 1932-1986, and has played host to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season finale of the PGA Tour Champions since 2017.
⛳️ Oak Ridge, North Carolina-based restoration specialist Kris Spence has refreshed or restored a fistful of acclaimed Donald Ross designs in his home state. Now he’s at in the Sunshine State. Spence recently finished a greenside bunker renovation at the Ross-designed Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota, Florida.
"Sara Bay is particularly interesting because Ross was closely involved with the development of the club and the associated real estate," said Spence, who has had a multiyear involvement with the club. “We wanted to take Sara Bay back to its past. Ross was in one of his best creative moods when he designed those greens! However, over the years the Ross design elements had been lost at Sara Bay. The greens had become excessively domed, and balls would not stay on them. In 2018, we rebuilt the greens and found they had twice as much rootzone as they needed, which meant we were able to lower them back to their original grade and expand them back to the edge of the fill pads."
The most recent work revolved around the greenside bunkers, which were reconstructed with liner from Capillary Bunkers.
Sara Bay now has a waiting list for membership and has initiated plans to embark on another phase of renovations.
⛳️ Salobre Golf Resort in Gran Canaria (Grand Canary Island), Spain, has retained architect David Williams to evaluate its two 18-hole layouts and to create a master plan to guide future enhancements.
Based in north Wales, Williams is a past president of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects and has extensive renovation experience in Europe, especially Spain.
Williams will evaluate both the Old and New courses at Salobre. The 6,370-yard, par-71 Old is a 1999 Roland Favre design, with some initial help from Dave Thomas. In 2008, Ron Kirby created the 5,729-yard, par-71 New, which is draped atop rolling, volcanic, ravine-laced terrain. The New closed early in 2020 at the dawn of the COVID pandemic. Nine holes — holes 1 through 3 and 13 through 18, which are those nearest to the clubhouse — are slated to reopen later in 2022. Williams plans to consult on renovations for holes 4 through 12.
In evaluating the bunkering on both the Old and the New courses, Williams is contemplating utilizing bunker liners and edging materials to improve their appearance and the ease of maintaining them.
Williams will also endeavor to massage the layouts in a concerted effort to display clear distinctions from other courses on the island.
"One particular challenge at Salobre is the difference between the two layouts," Williams said. "The Old is a typical resort course, mainly surrounded by housing but providing the holiday golf experience so loved by visiting players. In contrast, the New is in a wild and untamed landscape, with far-reaching views without any glimpse of buildings or other development. So emphasizing the difference is one of the challenges to be met in the master plan, explaining to all players that while the New is the shorter of the two courses, it isn’t automatically the easiest, especially with its dramatic long carries over ravines."
> Click here to read the entire article.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
NAMES | NEWS | NUMBERS
BUSINESS
▪️KemperSports: Acquires Fuzzy Zoeller’s Covered Bridge and Champions Pointe, two public courses in southern Indiana. … Malcolm DeMille: Crafts champions trophy for the PGA Tour Champions’ Ascension Charity Classic and APGA Tour St. Louis — Ascension Classic. … Ibkul: Athleisure apparel brand receives its second successive ‘Top Seller in Women’s Apparel in Private Clubs’ recognition from the Association of Golf Merchandisers. … Dunning Golf: To exhibit at 2023 PGA Show. Announcement follows the LPGA naming Dunning as the official uniform supplier of the 2023 and 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup Teams. … Finkbine Golf Course: Iowa City, Iowa, course opens Bump’s BBQ, Burgers, and Beer in Finkbine’s 19,000 square-foot Nagle Family Clubhouse. … Dunlop Sports Americas: Company to return to 2023 PGA Show and will debut its new global brand structure for the first time on the Orlando, Florida, showroom, Jan. 24-27. … PGTAA: 'End of Summer' offer for certified class 'A' PGTAA Master Teaching Professional training runs through Sept. 30. … Golftec: Opens new 2,500-square-foot instruction, clubfitting center in Atlanta. … International Network of Golf: Social media influencer Sabrina Andolpho will lead a seminar, "Building A Social Media Audience," at the ING Fall Forum, Nov. 28-Dec. 1 in Sebring, Florida. … Premier Golf: Launches a new brand and website for its golf travel company. The announcement is the first step in a wider investment in the Premier Golf label by parent company Palatinate Group.
COMPETITION / COURSES
▪️Robert Trent Jones II Golf Design: Construction of course in Grenada is underway. The course is part of an extensive Grenada National Resort project, which will include a five-star hotel and other resort amenities. … Annika Sorenstam: LPGA's Tampa Bay event to be The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican beginning in 2023. … PXG Women’s Match Play Championship: Vitis Energy becomes a founding partner, boosting the tournament's purse by 10% to a minimum of $55,000. … Charles Schwab Cup Championship: Tickets are now on sale for the PGA Tour Champions’ season-ending event played at Phoenix Country Club.
GEAR
▪️Bushnell Golf: Releases its new Pro X3 laser rangefinder, which introduces an update to its Slope with Elements technology. … Payntr Golf: Launches its first line of women's shoes — Women's Payntr X 003. The shoe will retail for $140. … Whiskers: Unveils inaugural autumn-winter golf sock collection, which features 12 styles — four solids, eight patterns. … Ping: Introduces 10 new putter models, each individually designed to achieve the proper balance of feel and forgiveness. … Wilson Golf: Padraig Harrington builds on legacy, wins Ascension Charity Classic with Wilson Staff's Model utility, CB irons and Model wedges.
PEOPLE
▪️PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler is named the 2022 PGA Tour Player of the Year as voted by the Tour's membership for the 2021-22 season. Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, led the Tour with four victories this season, including the Masters. … TMRW Sports: New sports, media and entertainment company announces personnel hirings. … Golfforever: Ambassador Scottie Scheffler wins PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award. Scheffler began using the brand's Swing Trainer prior to his run of four wins in 2022. … Harbour Ridge Yacht and Country Club: Appoints John O’Leary as the new executive chef for the Palm City, Florida, club. … Troon: Announces the following strategic appointments at its portfolio of international properties — Harris Abdullah as general manager at The Els Club Desaru Coast in Malaysia; Anna Darnell as resort director at The Grove in England; Lloyd Walton as general manager at Palmilla Golf Club in Mexico; Chris Geraghty as general manager and James Durkin as golf operations manager at Vattanac Golf Resort in Cambodia; Barry Barnard as golf operations manager at Al Zorah Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates; Stephen Payne as director of golf at The Track, Meydan Golf in the UAE; Peter Holland as director of golf at Centurion Club in England; James Ashman as golf operations manager at Montgomerie Golf Club Dubai in the UAE; and Freddie Rexstrew as operations manager at Muscat Resorts in Oman.
PHILANTHROPY
▪️Chipd In National Championship Team Scramble: Selects three additional Florida-based charities as beneficiaries — Harbor House, MS Foundation and Big Brothers Big Sisters Central Florida. The scramble will be played as part of the Chipd In National Championship, Oct. 15-16 at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. … First Tee College Scholarship Program: Selects four teens to receive up to $5,000 per year for their post-high school studies. … TeeOff, Latina Golfers Association: Partner to promote diversity as TeeOff customers 'rounding up' during Hispanic Heritage Month will generate funds that help support efforts to provide opportunities for Hispanic women golfers. … GCSAA: Announces the 2022 Par Aide Garske Grant winners. … Payne Stewart Kids Golf Foundation, SknVue: Announce an online fundraising auction, being held Sept. 17-21 through a partnership with TravelPledge. … RSM US, PGA Tour: Announce the start of the fifth RSM Birdies Fore Love charitable giving platform through an on-course competition over the fall portion of the 2022-2023 regular season. The top three finishers in total birdies or better earn $300,000, $150,000 and $50,000, respectively, for charities of their choice. … LIV Golf: Announces its support for the Kids Golf Foundation of Illinois, which provides outreach programs to assist children throughout the state. The announcement came in advance of this week's LIV Golf Invitational Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
THE STYLE LINKS
After 11 years with Ralph Lauren, the USGA taps Peter Millar as the official apparel outfitter for the U.S. Open and other championships.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
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