When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
My Golf World story on the second cut's 10th anniversary is now posted.
I couldn't use this Geoff Ogilvy quote with the story because it didn't fit in with the theme of whether the second cut has made Augusta more difficult or easier:
Augusta's setup is the model setup for every course on the tour except for Augusta. Flyer rough and slightly wider fairways would be perfect.
John Mutch rolls balls to possible 3rd round hole locations at Riviera's 10th (click to enlarge)I began working on this story for Golf World back in December at the Target World Challenge. The tour kindly granted me access to tournament director Mark Russell who then introduced me to John Mutch, the unlucky chap who would be stuck with me tagging around with him for three days at Sherwood, and then again at Torrey Pines and Riviera.
The idea was not to do the typical story we see a few times a year where a writer tags along with an official and explains the official's every move, from the cherry Danish he ate to the time his bowels typically move. Instead, I hoped to better understand the big picture approach to tour course setup in the face of technology advances and in light of player frustration boiling over at Firestone. While I'm not sure the story ever settles the direct question of who is advocating an increase in rough, narrowed landing areas and tucked pins (because it doesn't appear to be in response to any specific directive), I hopefully convey the sense that surprised me somewhat: the amount of pressure the field staff faces from host courses.
Mutch charts out hole locations and refers to last year's selections in a constant quest for balance and variety (click to enlarge)
Easily the No. 1 player gripe surrounded the increase in new back tees and the use of all too many, no matter how silly the tee seems to be. The rules officials are clearly expected to embrace those tees (as well as silly other little pressures like having to lock in a tee placement for ventures such as the tour's new Trackman thingy). I saw the pressure (subliminal and up front) both at Sherwood and Riviera, where the host courses were asking whether new tees recently constructed would be in use. At Riviera, there were questions directed at the staff about not using the two new hole locations (and the staffers are too gentlemanly to simply say, they stink!).
Mutch sets a tee at Sherwood. The PVC alignment tool to the left is his own homemade device to ensure the tees are properly aimed. (Click to enlarge)The most surprising player beef, and one I wholeheartedly agree with, revolved around par-3s and the lack of variety in yardages from day to day on specific holes. The players also pointed out that there is often not enough variety within a round. Mutch did his best to vary the numbers, but sometimes they can't use an interesting forward tee because it's too beat up with divots (and we know how the players would react to that!). Other times it would be nice to see some outside-the-box thinking that really throws the player a curve by playing a hole at 210 one day and 150 the next.
Also surprising were the number of players who now connect course setup tactics with the technology revolution. Compared to a few years ago when they would defend the use of setup to offset distance gains, most I talked to seemed to have soured on using rough and tucked pins to offset distance. Even more amazing, every player I spoke to was in favor of regulating grooves. Nearly all brought it up without prompting. Now, the rationale's varied. Some want to see rough take on more meaning. Some buy the USGA's idea that it will make guys throttle back off the tee. Most (thankfully) want to see firm greens and preferred sides of fairways mean something again. They all hope it leads to fewer absurdly tucked hole locations and less injury inducing rough, and as I noted in a sidebar to the story, Russell says eliminating U-grooves would influence his thinking on rough. 
Tee Square and Paint: Mutch's two most important tools. (Click to enlarge)
I can't convey enough how devoted the field staff is to equity and running a great event. Few people realize the hours they put in, and while the course setup part of their job is arguably the most interesting aspect, it's disturbing how many babysitting tasks they have which potentially get in the way of doing their course setup work. I never saw it with Mutch, and the guys I spoke to downplay that they would ever get distracted, but you just don't see officials in other sports having to tend to some of the things the field staff handles. Considering how much their thinking influences what we see on television, it's an unusual situation.
It's also difficult to put into words just how good the players and their equipment are these days. I saw some incredibly firm greens at Sherwood and Riviera, yet saw scores I could not have imagined based on what I knew firsthand about that day's setup.
Mutch paints a ball drop for the ages, Sherwood's 18th (click to enlarge)Actually, someone I spoke to for the piece summed it up best.
David Eger, who was widely respected for his setup work during 14 years with the tour and praised by several of the rules officials for his work, offered this line. Due to space constraints it couldn't make it into the final piece:
"I watch on TV and see some of those hole placements on the regular tour and I think I wouldn’t have put it within 5 yards of that thing when I setup the course. And then the next thing you know, not only Tiger, but half-a dozen other guys are hitting it in there 5 feet and I’m thinking, how in the hell did he do that?"
My Golf World story on PGA Tour course setup has been posted.
Tomorrow I'll post some further reflections (because I know you can't wait) on the time I spent with the rules officials and players that I spoke to for this, as well as some photos to supplement the images captured by J.D. Cuban.
Golf Channel is doing the ESPN thing by airing a show celebrating themselves and their construction of an on-site studio to host their various shows this week. However, they promise a segment on Riviera's history, which I talked to them about. Not sure if I'll make the final edit, but just in case there are small children watching, I thought you should be warned.
Air times are Wednesday, February 13th from 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM EST and 1:00-1:30 A.M EST.
My Golf World feature on the rise of driveable par 4s in PGA Tour golf is now posted at GolfDigest.com.
Make sure to check out the "scatter charts" Golf World created using the Tour's ShotLink data to see what players scored from the location of their tee shot. (Mini version here on the left, the full version is embedded in the article.)
My Links Magazine interview with Pete Dye is now posted. I didn't even have to ask about the USGA. He brought it up!I'm not entirely sure what direction the site will take each day, much less all of 2008 (but hopefully that keeps it fun).
However, I can report that I hope to do more video posts in the new year, particularly related to our course design project at Querencia and our soon to be announced project on Vancouver Island, which is slated to start this spring. I'm hoping to put together fairly regular video diaries that reveal our design process. I know you can't wait!
I'm also putting the finishing touches on a book compiling Max Behr's brilliant essays on golf course design. Look for it sometime this summer.
So in other words, you were warned. There will be shilling in 2008, but it beats pop-up ads.
This seems like a good time to ask a few things: A) what would you like to see more of on the site, and (B) do you use RSS and how?
With that, happy new year!
Geoff
The wealth of important news, the stories crying out for heckling and most of all, the holiday laziness on my part translated to no posts remembering 2007's highlights and lowlights.
Should you desire to relive the year, monthly archives are here for your enjoyment. And never hesistate to use the site search feature if you are looking for an old post. Both can be found in the lefthand column.
Tomorrow I'll warn you about things to look for in 2008, including video diaries, a new book in the works and a preview of hoped-for web site content. But for now I'd like to thank you all for your active participation both in the comments sections and via email. I could not do the site without all of the reader contributions, so thanks for the enlightening comments, wry observations and spell-checking.
And please keep the comments, story links and photos coming.
Traffic this year easily doubled 2006's and grew steadily each month except in August when you were hopefully out enjoying the summer sun. Though I don't know much else about my readership, these browser and operating stats might be of some slight interest to demographics types. (My sympathies to the Vista users and pray that Macs arrive on your doorstep soon...the Internet looks so much better on an Apple!)
BROWSERS ACCESSING GEOFFSHACKELFORD.com
E6 35.07%
Gecko(Firefox) 19.61%
IE7 19.39%
Unknown 15.81%
Safari 6.82%
IE5 0.83%
Opera9 0.57%
OPERATING SYSTEM % ACCESSING GEOFFSHACKELFORD.com
WinXP 61.01%
Unknown 16.1%
MacOSX 10.52%
Win2000 5.14%
WinVista 2.31%
Win98 2.14%
Win2003 1.06%
Linux 0.53%
WinNT 0.31%
Win 0.23%
Win95 0.18%
So with that vital information shared, I thank you for a great 2007 and look forward to an even more enjoyable new year.
Geoff
For those of you in LA and really bored online, I'll be sitting in on KABC 790's Sunday Night Sports Show with John Phillps from the end of Sunday night football telecast until 10 p.m. PST.
According to NBC's Dan Hicks, Golf Digest has received over 4000 entries now for the pre-U.S. Open reality show.
Well, I've decided to enter and need your help. Here's the challenge:
Can you break 100? Tell us what you think you would shoot, and why you should be the Golf Digest reader in the foursome with three celebrities. Max 100 words.So here's what I wrote:
Yes, I can break 100. I feel a 99 is definitely possible, particularly if I'm inspired by playing with one of my heroes, such as Donald Trump or Danny Gans. I should be the Golf Digest reader playing because (A) I love famous people and what little they stand for, (B) I can explain to viewers how Torrey Pines is one of the great missed opportunities in golf course design history, pointing out the remarkable sameness of the bunkering, the horribly insufficient use of the clifftop edges, and the almost completely lack of risk-reward opportunities, and finally, (C) I can tell viewers about all of the great things the USGA should be doing but is afraid to try.
What do you think? How would you touch it up before I hit the send button?
SI Golf Plus runs a My Shot by yours truly this week on Jim Vernon's relatively unnoticed nomination as the next USGA President.
**Oops, here's the link to the story.
Yes, I have survived and can live to tell you about the Golf Digest Panelist Summit presentation I gave this evening in Pinehurst's St. Andrews Room. Rees Jones sat in the front row, which made things interesting when I showed a few photos of his work. But I have to say, the panelists were by far the best audience I've ever spoken to. They were fully engaged and asked some great questions after, while some offered very thoughtful counterpoints to my horribly biased take on classic architecture. Sorry, I know, you wanted horror stories!
I'd share more but there's a great history of Pinehurst on the hotel room widescreen that I just have to watch. And you hopefully have better things to do anyway.
Greetings from the home of American golf. I'm informing you of my presence not because you should care, but should this be my final post, you will know where I met my demise. You see, I'm speaking to Golf Digest's annual gathering of panelist's and while Google has mercifully lost some of my more disparaging columns questioning the sanity of the panel or the rationale for such a panel gathering, I know some out there in panelist land never forget.
I'll be sure to let you know if I survive. I'm confident that the requested chicken wire from the Golf Digest audio-visual department should at least shield me from Newcastle's and Becks.
If the sun comes out I might even post some photos, but apparently the forecast is for (much needed) showery weather tomorrow and early Saturday.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
