What's in the cards?
+ PGA Championship week is on the brink; golf media is changing; Bandon Dunes opens its newest addition
THE STARTER
🏌️ Nelly Korda says she’s not thinking about the LPGA Tour record of six straight victories, which she will set if she wins at the Cognizant Founders Cup. Do you believe her?
🏌️ Brooks Koepka was the first player to win four times in LIV Golf with a victory in Singapore. Does that make him one of the handful of favorites at next week’s PGA Championship?
🏌️ Rory McIlroy won’t be rejoining the PGA Tour Policy Board, reportedly because of objections by board members Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth. Has McIlroy burned some bridges?
🏌️ McIlroy says he, Woods and Adam Scott will be on a PGA Tour subcommittee who will be directly involved in negotiations with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Will this significantly move the process?
🏌️ Scottie Scheffler (No. 1) and Ludvig Aberg (No. 6) are the two top-10 players missing from the elevated, small-field Wells Fargo Championship. Kind of takes some of the luster off these events, doesn’t it?
🏌️ Seven LIV Golf players received invitations to next week’s PGA Championship, including LIV points leader Joaquin Niemann. Will any of them make a significant run at the title?
🏌️ USGA CEO Mike Whan says if LIV Golf continues, there might be pathways for its top players to get exemptions into the U.S. Open. Don’t the major championships want the best fields possible?
🏌️ Collin Morikawa is back working with teacher Rick Sessinghaus, with whom he won two major championships and reached No. 2 in the world. About time?
🏌️ Condolences to the family of Peter Oosterhuis, who passed away one day shy of what would have been his 76th birthday. An underrated player, a knowledgeable announcer and one of the nicest people you’d ever meet.
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Upper Deck returns to the golf trading card mix
For the first time in nearly 20 years the company releases a new collection, one that features a number of fresh faces — and a GOAT.
:: David Droschak | Read
Myrtle Beach adds the missing golf piece
South Carolina's Grand Strand finally adds a PGA Tour event, the Myrtle Beach Classic, to its extensive golf resume.
:: David Droschak | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 The godfather of American comedy
The funniest people on the planet think there’s no funnier person than Albert Brooks.
:: Adrienne LaFrance | The Atlantic | 04.29.2024
📖 The PGA Championship’s lost and found Wanamaker Trophy story
After his 1925 PGA Championship victory, Hagen famously forgot the trophy in a cab, setting in motion a wild six-year ride of wondering where it went.
:: David Mackesey | PGA.com | 05.14.2023
Stiff, prudish, and wildly uncharismatic, Ed Sullivan inexplicably ruled the TV airwaves Sunday night after Sunday night through the 50s and 60s, introducing America to every body from the Beatles and Elvis Presley to the Moscow Circus, Myron Cohen, and Topo Gigio.
:: Nick Tosches | Vanity Fair | 07.1997
SUBSTACKED
I was driving. I was hungry. I had to pull over because I was about to eat my own steering wheel. The Tennessee weather was in full swing. I had a long way left to go.
:: Sean Dietrich | Sean of the South | 05.08.2024
BUSINESS
WEEK IN REVIEW
1️⃣8️⃣ The industry’s names, news and notables that are making the headlines. | Read
PERFECT PUTT
Golf's independent media explosion
Media coverage of golf is no longer dominated by the mainstream publications as various platforms are taking hold.
:: 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
TRAVEL
The First Call has partnered with SportGo Travel, an online booking service, to give you up to 50% off or more on hotel accommodations worldwide.
Whether you’re planning your next trip to a tournament, a buddies or girls golf getaway, or a family vacation, book your stay through SportGo Travel and save. Simply create your account and start planning.
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
Final reminder: In case you need a last minute gift for Mom, an e-gift card from Golf4Her is quick, easy and lets her pick out something she really wants. Just sayin’.
:: 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.
Bryan Witmer, head golf professional at Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco, Texas: “I would go with the chicken caesar salad wrap, and a nice whiskey and Sprite or soda."
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Bandon Dunes opens Shorty’s
Oregon’s Bandon Dunes Golf Resort celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 2, the same day its newest course, Shorty’s, opened for play.
Named for Shorty Dow, the caretaker of the coastal property before it became Bandon Dunes, the aptly named short course consists of 19 par 3s. The holes range from 51 to 152 yards from the back tees. Bandon domo Mike Keiser insisted that every hole be puttable, so the scorecard lists putting tee yardages that range from 35 to 75 yards.
Situated on large, undulating dunes to the south of the property’s other short course, Bandon Preserve, Shorty’s was designed by the team of Rod Whitman, Dave Axland and Keith Cutten, with all three contributing to its creation. The seventh course at Bandon Dunes is the first to feature architects new to the property since Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw crafted Bandon Trails in 2005.
RELATED: Design Notes archive
"We spent a great deal of time figuring out the sequencing and placement of the holes within the undulating terrain," Cutten told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. "The routing itself evolved over several months, starting with a 12-hole loop — this initial sequence was through the most walkable portion of the site. We were then urged to keep going and easily added another six [holes one through six]. However, the clubhouse shifted, giving us enough room to add an additional short hole, raising the total to 19. We could have easily kept going south, but the routing as it stands today takes full advantage of the site."
Prior to the pandemic, Keiser had tabbed Tom Doak to create a short course on the Shorty’s site. Doak routed 12 somewhat longer holes, but after COVID restrictions lifted, Keiser shifted gears, hiring the newly minted firm of Whitman, Axland & Cutten to bring the course to fruition.
Axland knew Bandon well. He had assisted Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in the field on the Bandon Trails project in 2003-2004. Both Whitman and Cutten had experience with a Keiser co-owned venue, Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Canada. Next up for the design team is Cabot Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada and The Tribute Club in Redmond, Oregon.
As with Bandon Preserve, all net proceeds from Shorty’s will directly fund the Bandon Dunes Charitable Foundation supporting conservation, community and economy on the Southern Oregon Coast. Bandon Preserve and Shorty’s will also protect and preserve the Silvery Phacelia, an endangered plant species whose habitat is threatened by non-native plants. By reclaiming the open sand along the golf courses, the Silvery Phacelia and other native dune plants will once again be able to flourish.
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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