The big impact of a small ball
+ Questions loom about PGA Tour, LIV and TGL; the return of some brand faves as Ben Hogan and MacGregor; Bill Bergin eyes a crown in Ft. Meyers.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Sixteen players withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The reasons include injuries, flu and the usual assorted mystery excuses. Have WDs become an epidemic on the PGA Tour?
🏌️ The Farmers’ place in this year’s schedule puts it right before three “signature events” in a row, which means most of the game’s stars didn’t enter to begin with. Slap in the face to a longtime sponsor?
🏌️ The Genesis Invitational, a signature event, is likely to be played at Torrey Pines because of the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The stars will be willing to play Torrey this time, won’t they?
🏌️ Television ratings for TGL cratered this week, but next week’s match features Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links GC vs. Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common GC. Will that matter?
🏌️ Does TGL need some tweaks or a major overhaul? Or do you like it as is?
🏌️ LIV Golf signed a television deal with Fox, its first big announcement under new CEO Scott O’Neil. Will you be more likely to watch in 2025?
🏌️ LIV will play its first 2025 event Feb. 6-8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the lights. Yes, a night game, which means you can see it on TV at 10:15 a.m. on the East Coast. Good idea or gimmick?
🏌️ Oh, and Sepp Straka won the American Express. Did you already know that?
🏌️ If every new driver of the last 20 years was 10 yards longer than the previous model, we’d all be hitting it 400 yards by now, wouldn’t we?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
About that golf ball rollback
While it's only 2025, the rollback for professionals is just three years away — five for amateurs — and not everyone is on board with the decision, especially the PGA of America.
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
Old is new again
Simon Millington is pumping new life into once-great golf brands such as MacGregor and Ben Hogan.
:: Tony Dear | Read
How is 'growing the game' coming along?
While participation is up, readers of The First Call offer their opinions on what industry leaders have done and what they should be doing.
:: TFC Inbox | Read
2025 PGA Show
> Omni seeks edge on the golf experience :: David Droschak | Read
> New GPS solution seeks to reduce courses' slow-play issues :: David Droschak | Read
> Notebook: It's all about the Swag :: David Droschak | Read
> Notebook: Greenup making the best of recycled coffee grounds :: David Droschak | Read
> Notebook: Making the driving range experience fun is Toptracer's mission :: David Droschak | Read
> From the apparel aisles :: Janice Ferguson | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads — and listens — that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 Ichiro finds special joy in his place of peace, the Hall of Fame, which he’s forever changed
Ichiro Suzuki was a near-unanimous selection for baseball’s Hall of Fame. The Japanese great, now 51, earned his way in with a graceful and productive style of play.
:: Jayson Stark | The Athletic | 01.23.2025 | Read
📖 The master origami artist whose collection turned to ash in Altadena
As the flames approached his house and studio, Robert J. Lang had time to rescue only one piece of art work: a cuckoo clock he folded from a single sheet of paper.
:: Oren Peleg | The New Yorker | 01.20.2025 | Read
📖 Destroying paper is a sweet gig, until someone tosses a gun into your shredder
Oh, the things a South Texas commercial shredder will see.
:: As told to Rose Cahalan | Texas Monthly | 01.2025 | Read
THE LIBRARY
Recent drops to The First Call’s video and podcast section.
▶️ Merchandising mastery and mentorship
Grace Hurley, vice president of brand and national sales at Catapult, joins host Mo Gesualdi to discuss leadership, branding and navigating a career in golf.
:: The Coach Mo Golf Show | 01.12.2025 | Watch
TFC Libraries: 🎧 Podcasts | ▶️ Videos
BUSINESS
THE FIRST CALL
Week in Review: The industry’s names, news and notables making headlines. | Read
This week’s editions: Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Industry press releases | Read
Industry press release videos | Watch
TFC / PR Newswire feed | Read
Careers: Golf Industry Job / Internship Board
LIFESTYLE
19TH HOLE
Each episode of the “Course of Life” podcast closes with the guest sharing a favorite 19th hole experience.
Elizabeth Diane Veith, golf travel influencer: “When I played Pasatiempo, I got to their clubhouse and had an amazing breakfast burrito and a margarita.”
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
TFC EVENTS
The Friars Golf Club: Best of Napa '25
July 23-27, 2025 | Napa, California
:: Event and registration information
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Florida’s Crown Colony to undergo a Bill Bergin redesign
The Golf Club at Crown Colony — part of a private community in Ft. Myers, Florida, known for its scenic beauty — has announced plans for a significant renovation to its golf course and other amenities.
Members resoundingly approved a $12 million master plan that includes a total renovation of its golf course, which hosted the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship, 2023 Florida Open and 2023 PGA Tour / Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying. Noted golf course architect Bill Bergin, of Bergin Golf Designs, has prepared plans for upgrading the irrigation and drainage on all 18 holes, as well as other design enhancements to make the course appeal to all levels of golfers. Work will begin in 2026.
RELATED: Georgia on his mind
"We are elevating both the golf course and member amenities as part of The Golf Club at Crown Colony’s long-range plan," said David Kent, general manager and COO. "Key elements of that plan are continual improvements to keep the club at the top of this highly competitive market. The club is known for its low membership cap of only 260 golf members in a golf-rich geographic area. Limited memberships are available."
Without altering the routing, Bergin still says "everything will be changed." That’s especially true of the bunkers, greens and tees, plus an upgrade to Platinum Paspalum grass from wall to wall. New or relocated tee boxes will let the course play from 4,300 to nearly 7,000 yards.
"Crown Colony is under the radar," said Bergin, "especially as a place to play golf in a beautiful environment. I want to expose all that while creating a course where you’ll have to use your head. We realize people don’t always execute perfectly, but we’ll give them room to play less than perfect golf and still have fun."
Among the most visible changes will be to modify grass-face bunkers, making the grass around them visible. "Typical Florida bunkers are flashed sand and that’s all you see," Bergin said. "I feel there are three forms of art to a bunker — the crest line; the sand line; and the bunker face itself—and how those lines complement one another, their shapes and movement, where there’s grass. These bunkers will stand out."
All 18 greens will be redone with a combination of new locations, new shapes and sizes, and more fairway-cut chipping areas around them. "We don’t overdo putting surfaces. They’ll be challenging and fun without wild contours," Bergin said.
Bergin is especially excited about his redesign of the 10th hole, a short par 4 with water along the right side and a massive area of raised sand that currently makes it all but impossible to see the fairway from the tee.
"Right now, golfers must hit over this blind sand bank, which would be cool if there were room, but there isn’t," he said. "All the trouble on the left is hidden. We’re going to widen the hole and make it visible, exposing the blend of sand and water so golfers can make a choice of where to hit it. It’s going to be a hole that everyone will look forward to playing, high risk but fun with a good chance to score.
“I like it when players recognize the risk on a hole but are so enthralled with the opportunity that they take the challenge. You know the risk, but you can’t help yourself.”
One aspect of the course Bergin will maintain is the "beautiful buffer of wetlands that gives more of a sense of being on a golf course than in a community," he said.
The redesign of the 18th hole moves the fairway closer to the large lake on the left and brings the final green nearer the clubhouse. This will open a large portion of land that will help greatly enlarge the practice area, which will include a double-sided range and short game area. Additionally, land gained back from the 18th hole modification will be the site of a 4,000-square-foot events pavilion and bar overlooking the new 18th green, an entertainment lawn, and bocce courts.
Prior to the renovation, the club will host the 2025 U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Open qualifying play in spring 2025. The course will remain open through the 2025 season. All upgrades are expected to begin in early spring 2026 and should be completed by the end of that year.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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Those targets at the Omni are the DRAW and are Smart Targets. They are not inflatable but built out structures and when hit will ball flash with light. This is a patented target response integration.