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
Cookie Jar Golf did a fine job highlighting the charm of endangered Cleeve Hill and they’ve posted another important short film on Brora Golf Club. Earlier in this grand year you may recall there were concerns about Brora’s future and the positive response to helping one of the world’s oldest and most important courses survive.
It’s all covered in this enjoyable four minutes:
We kick start out 2020 Scotland tour, with Brora Golf Club; Story of a Golf Club! This James Braid classic, that sits largely untouched since 1923 has gained...
Longtime and revered golf photographer Leonard Kamsler has passed. He was 85.
Golf Digest’s Peter Morrice put together this tribute to Kamsler with some of his best images and wrote:
Kamsler took assignments in other fields as well, working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice and the Harlem Globetrotters. He even shot for country-music labels and medical journals. But golf was the constant. Known for his innovative techniques, he brought high-speed stroboscopic photography to golf in the 1970s using a Hulcher camera, developed to analyze football plays. Kamsler retooled his Hulcher to shoot 100 frames per second, more than 200 images for a single swing, and the frame-by-frame swing sequence was born.
From Alan Bastable’s story at Golf.com:
Kamsler shot all the greats, even the famously camera-shy Ben Hogan — well, sort of. According to one story Kamsler liked to tell, he was assigned to snap a swing sequence of Hogan in Texas. “Hogan would never, ever permit anyone to photograph him,” Dave Allen, a former GOLF Magazine instruction editor, wrote in a text message on Tuesday. “So Hogan was out on this one hole with a shag bag to hit balls. Leonard tried to camouflage himself as a bush and sneak up on Hogan. He went through some great pains to do this, hauling his heavy camera out there and then covering himself with some green plant life he gathered along the way. Well, there’s a reason they called Hogan The Hawk — he spotted Leonard nearly right away, picked up his bag of balls and moved on.”
Kamsler, who grew up in North Carolina, had an interest in photography from a young age; his father gave him a movie camera when he was 12, igniting Leonard’s passion for visual arts. Years later, as an undergraduate at Duke University, Kamsler took an art appreciation class that had a lasting impact on him.
Earlier this year Kamsler was awarded the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Photojournalism. Bob Denney filed this excellent profile at the time.
Here is the PGA’s tribute video to Kamsler:
"The PGA of America is deeply saddened by the passing of Leonard Kamsler, a pioneering photojournalist whose talented eye entertained and inspired generations of all who love the game of golf." — PGA President Jim Richerson pic.twitter.com/7dTVtnCtLv
— PGA of America (@PGA) November 18, 2020
With a 2020 title in the pocket and the injection of real muni golf onto the PGA Tour schedule, I will set aside my feelings about the cheating Astros*. And this week’s host, their cheating, thoroughly remorse-free owner, Jim Crane (along with various dishonest players).
While I’ll never quite fully grasp why this murky crew pushed one of America’s elite golf associations aside to take over a storied Tour event, we at least have Tour players prepping for the one-off Fall Masters on a low priced public course. This is a long overdue victory for the Houston Open and validation for the Bethpage effect we hoped had taken a stronger hold by now.
Josh Sens gives the revitalized Memorial Park a positive review and explains how the Tom Doak-Brooks Koepka effort does not try to protect par for this week’s Vivint Houston Open.
The work that made Memorial Park Tour-worthy once more — bringing the Houston Open back from the suburbs, where it was held for decades, to within the city limits — began in earnest in late 2018.
The first phase alone cost $18.5 million, but the money didn’t come out of taxpayers’ pockets. It was furnished by the Houston Astros Foundation (a non-profit founded by Jim Crane, the owner of the baseball team), which, in consultation with the city, tapped the noted architect Tom Doak to renovate the course.
Every renovation brings its own demands. Doak’s mandate was to dream up a Goldilocks design, a course that would ask compelling questions of the world’s best golfers while answering the needs of its muni clientele during jam-packed year-round play. As his consigliere, Doak leaned on Brooks Koepka, an official advisor on the project, a four-time major winner, who provided his two cents on design.
From the start, both men knew that defending par against the pros couldn’t be a top priority. That would only yield a one-dimensional layout. The emphasis, instead, should be on excitement — especially, Koepka urged, on the closing stretch. Electric late-day lead changes were what he hoped to see.
History and design buffs will enjoy Sean Martin’s “Five Things To Know” about Memorial Park as the Tour descends on Houston.
This isn’t the first time Memorial Park has been the venue for the Vivint Houston Open, however. It hosted the event 14 times between 1947 and 1963. Winners at Memorial Park included major winners Arnold Palmer, Bobby Locke, Jack Burke Jr., Bob Charles, Bobby Nichols and Jay Hebert.
Burke’s father, Jack Burke Sr., was a Houston golf pro who is credited with hitting the first tee shot when Memorial Park opened in 1936. Jack Burke Jr., who also won a Masters and PGA Championship, was on-hand for Memorial Park’s re-opening ceremony last year. Burke is 97 years old.
Charles’ win at Memorial Park in 1963 was the first on the PGA TOUR by a left-hander. He won the Open Championship later that year to become the first left-hander to win a major.
Memorial Park nearly was the site of Jack Nicklaus’ first PGA TOUR win, as well. Nicklaus lost a playoff to Nichols after suffering a strange penalty in the third round of the 1962 Houston Open. While tending the flag for his boss’ 35-foot birdie putt, Nicklaus’ caddie accidentally pulled the hole liner out of the ground. Nicklaus was assessed a two-stroke penalty after his ball struck the liner.
The late Mickey Wright has left her entire estate and possessions to the USGA, news announced by the organization today.
Beth Ann Nichols got an exclusive look at Wright’s items and shared her observations in this Golfweek.com piece.
Wright carefully charted everything, from her calorie intake to a stock’s performance, the latter with hand-drawn graphs. She was particular about wanting her desk taken up to Far Hills. They also took the adding machine, a lamp, a 2014 Curtis Cup mouse pad and stacks of ledgers. She’d often write to the authors of the investment books she read seeking advice.
A green Titleholders jacket hung in her closet. One of her books, “Play Golf the Wright Way,” was opened up to a spread showing her driver sequence. Wright filled up notebooks with swing thoughts and kept dozens of VHS tapes of her golf highlights. She even had a professional studio preserve certain clips, giving future generations priceless footage of a swing Ben Hogan once lauded as the best in golf.
Opportunities don’t come around like this often, but given the multiple TPC Sawgrass renovations, it actually might be a stretch to say while supplies last.
From Rich Mueller on Upper Deck’s return to golf cards, with a very special gift included.
Upper Deck announced Monday it would be launching three golf releases in 2021, including Artifacts, which will launch the series at an as yet undetermined date in the spring.
Artifacts Golf will have a 50-card base set, a 30-card rookie set, a Multi-Majors Winners Memorabilia subset, signed memorabilia cards and Diamond Relic insert cards that can include up to four “lab created” diamonds per subject.
All three golf releases will include Legendary PGA Tour Course Relic cards featuring sand and dirt from the famed TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, home of The Players Championship.
Ok the sand I can see. But dirt?
Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger filed a long list of thoughts and memories of Winged Foot. Contributions are shared from Davis Love, Jim Nantz, Dan Hicks, Dave Marr, Sandy Tatum and Dave Anderson, among others, with cameos by Al Espinosa Jackie Pung and Tommy Armour.
From the piece, filed while waiting for his COVID-19 test.
Dave was a peach. Years later, by dint of alphabetical seating in different press boxes, we sat near one another. Dave, who died in 2018 and wrote some mega bestsellers, loved Winged Foot, wrote about it often and would have been just the kind of Winged Foot member Butch was talking about. But Dave was happy playing on his side of the Hudson River, at Knickerbocker, a Donald Ross course in Tenafly, N.J. As a reporter, Dave got stuff nobody else did. In 2006, the last time the U.S. Open was at Winged Foot, Dave captured this little exchange between Tiger Woods and Mike Davis for the benefit of his readers. This is how he wrote it and it’s perfect:
“When are you going to get the greens faster?” Woods said.
Davis wasn’t sure if Woods was serious or joking, but it didn’t matter.
“What you have,” Davis said, “is what you’re going to get.”
I am nearly certain Tiger was joking. That’s how his sense of humor runs. Also, the Winged Foot greens have so much slope. They’re always fast. There are many stories about four-putt greens in events major and minor there. Likely some five-putt greens, too.
Super work by Mike Dougherty tracking down Hale Irwin’s 16-year-old caddie from the 1974 U.S. Open for this Westchester Journal News profile.
Peter McGarey is 62 now and traveling from Scottsdale with his son to volunteer at the 2020 U.S. Open.
McGarey randomly drew Irwin and got the experience of a lifetime watching the eventual three-time winner prevail in the “massacre.”
But they did have one early week issue.
“Hale was very nice, very strict,” McGarey said. “He was disciplined and expected the same from me. There was a set of expectations. I’m sure it was on Monday, I wanted to see Arnold Palmer. You wore those blue jump suits and Hale’s name was pinned to my back. Palmer was coming up to nine green so I was waiting. I had the bag with me and Hale grabbed the back of my jumper. He was not very happy.”
Irwin laughs about it now.
“Who wouldn’t want to watch Arnold Palmer?” he said. “We all did. I got to know Arnie better and better over the years. He was a great man and I don’t blame Peter one bit.”
History, architecture and an epic clubhouse design awaits at Winged Foot for this week’s rescheduled 2020 U.S. Open.
At USOpen.com, Bradley Klein looks at Clifford Wendehack’s design, the many others he created and why he is the dean of golf clubhouse architects.
Ran Morrissett’s West Course review features plenty of details, critiques and some notes on characteristics might appeal to certain shot shapes.
For podcast listeners, Andy Johnson talks to Winged Foot historian Neil Regan who will teach you so much about the lore and design. A must listen!
They’ve had amazing finishes and thankfully the USGA has whittled down the drama into this 7-minute YouTube posting:
If you have more free time, this USGA film “Hale And Travail” has some incredible footage and moments from the 1974 broadcast.
There are a couple of super reads to help you enjoy this week’s Harding Park PGA Championship just a bit more. Besides the obvious rare major championship playing at a public course, it’s the stories the Cypress can tell that makes this place different.
The San Francisco City has played such a part in that and Sean Martin looks at its history and the many stories to easily forgotten from that championship, with winners ranging from baggage handlers to future pro stars (with a famous 49ers QB contending a few times, too).
One man and multiple winner of The City stands above all others with his ties to Harding Park: Ken Venturi.
The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn takes a deep dive into the life, times and stammering issues overcome by Venturi when he found golf, a story that will certainly be addressed by his longtime CBS colleague Jim Nantz as the tournament unfolds. Nonetheless, this should give you an idea why the Venturi connection here is so profound:
The Venturis lived less than three miles from Harding. Ken played his first round there using borrowed clubs with hickory shafts. His father’s only advice was to count every shot, no matter what, including whiffs. Ken claims to have shot a 172 on his first 18-hole round. (He later said he quite possibly held the course record at Harding for both the lowest score, a 59, and the highest score, that 172.)
Ken stuck with it, playing alone. Blissful seclusion. Just him, his thoughts and his swing. He learned by replicating the swings he saw when caddying, then picked up lessons along the way. He’d play two balls at once, hitting only draws with one and fades with the other. He talked to himself as he played, finding and hearing his words. He saw a correlation between the rhythm of the swing and the rhythm of a sentence. The course became a second home as Fred stopped selling twine at the marina and took a full-time job running Harding’s pro shop. Ethel eventually joined him there, working alongside him in the shop, turning the place into their own mom and pop operation.
Fine, fine work by The Fried Egg’s Garrett Morrison to present the history of the golf ball in fresh fashion and format. I highly recommend all three episodes and his effort to educate audiences to the remarkable strife and conflict the matter of selling golf balls has delivered to golf.
I learned a lot and felt unabashedly reassured that some form of golf ball regulation would be a really good thing for the game. But that’s me. I’m guessing even those who do not agree and place the perceived profit impact of a few companies over what’s best for the sport, will still feel more intelligent after listening.
Check out wherever you get your podcasts or listen here:
North Berwick from the Howard Schickler Photography Collection
Judging by what’s shown at USGA.org and what’s hinted at as part of the Howard Schickler Photography Collection, the USGA has made an incredible acquisition for golf.
Danny Vohden highlights some of the collection’s strengths, with a nice sampling of shots embedded atop the article.
The collection contains more than 1,000 high-quality, historically and artistically important golf images from the 19th and early 20th century. Many photographs feature top American and British golfers, both men and women, from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection was amassed over decades by collector Howard Schickler, sourced from the collections of some of the game’s most influential figures, including the personal collections of Old Tom Morris and F.G. Tait, the Auchterlonie and the Foulis families, the estate of Billy Burke and the collections of Ed Dudley and Bernard Darwin.
Schickler’s love of golf began when he started playing the game at age 13 in New York City. As a longtime curator and dealer of fine art photography, Schickler brings a unique perspective to this collection.
“I have been mostly interested in the human story in all the collections I have personally built,” said Schickler. “The collection in many ways tells the story, and to the extent important photographs are dispersed in the marketplace, a cohesive story may be permanently lost. I tried to bring stability and credibility to the collecting part by assisting other collectors, historians and auctions… and it made the collection that I was building that much more worthy to stand the test of time.”
Oh NOW they spring this on us at the PGA Tour Social Account Central.
Better late than never as the circuit heads east from Texas.
Ben Hogan's record at Colonial from 1946-1953:
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 15, 2020
1st
1st
T2
T3
T4
1st
1st pic.twitter.com/12iiDrloe8
Yahoo’s Ryan Young says “one lucky fan has secured the most iconic trophy in golf” and he’s right. However, the paltry $61,164 at auction price for Greg Norman’s 1986 replica version on Saturday night suggests the golf memorabilia market has understandably softened.
While it’s not the real Claret Jug — that trophy travels from winner to winner each year — winners receive a full-size personalized replica to commemorate their win. They can also order up to three smaller replicas.
There are three other replica trophies, too, two of which are used for traveling exhibitions and one that remains at the British Museum of Golf at St. Andrews.
This Claret Jug is just the latest to be auctioned off in recent years. Per the listing, Sam Snead’s 1946 trophy was sold for $262,900 in 2013, and Mark Calcavecchia’s 1989 trophy sold for $95,525.
The Claret Jug had left Norman’s hands some time ago and was with a collector, according to Golden Age Golf Auctions.
This sterling silver Claret Jug and its bands have matching English hallmarks from 1982 by famed Garrard & Co., the keepers of the Crown Jewels from 1843-2007. The bands are engraved with the names of all Open Champions up to Greg Norman's victory in 1986. Garrard was the Royal & Ancient's official producer of the Claret Jug in the 1980s. To our knowledge, the original owner of this Claret Jug had no ties to Greg Norman. Rather, it comes from the Estate of an avid collector of sterling silver pieces from Garrard (to our uninformed American collectors, Garrard is essentially the British version of Tiffany & Co.) with a special interest in horse racing and golf.
**Update, bidding was extended and it still went for less than Calcaveccia’s.
Now this is a charity match some of us would pay good money to watch (sorry Wally).
Justin Thomas posted this image and a short report on a Medalist round with the old stuff. That the old sound resonated with a player reared on modern equipment tells you that wood heads could be to millennial golfers what vinyl was to their music!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on
Thanks to Sean Tully of the Meadow Club for digging up David Forgan’s golfer’s creed and posting on Twitter (below). I’ve been asked by a few folks to post research or quotes related to the health and safety of golf when I come across them.
While this doesn’t quite qualify as an empirical work, it’s a keeper for those looking for a little inspiration or maybe fending off golf haters. Or maybe just a certain kind of reassurance that when safe and not disrespectful to times, there is a great reason to love the game and to maintain your pursuit of the royal and ancient.
Incidentally, I only knew Forgan was a descendant of the the St. Andrews Forgan family of clubmakers. It turns out, David decided to go into banking and moved to America where he was buried. Jim Craig, who blogs about various gravesites and the people under them, profiled David Forgan here.
Hard pressed to define golf better than was done here by Mr. Forgan. A gentle reminder of what joys the game can bring in so many ways! What are you doing to enjoy the game and share a golf experience with others? @gwatersgolf @erikanderslang @the_fried_egg @TheChristinaKim pic.twitter.com/xGJmRsG5SU
— Tully (@tullfescue) May 3, 2020
And just because I wanted an excuse to look at some St Andrews photos, a couple shots from 2015 of the Forgan shop location and plaque commemorating its location (now the Old Course shop).
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
