I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. And when I find my ball.
In a fried Egg, Frida Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg, Friday, Frida Egg Egg, fridagg Bride Egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the hump.
Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Golf podcast. Today I am joined by Frida Egg Golf's Brendan porth By, co host usually on the Shotgun Start. We haven't done a podcast on here since the start of the Shotgun Start. I don't think as well as the great Jeff Shackelford, a podcast regular, the writer of The Quadrilateral, a wonderful
newsletter on substack that I recommend everybody subscribe to. And we are going to break down our five kind of favorite most memorable events of twenty twenty four as a way to kind of cap off the year, as well as talk a little bit golf architecture right out of the gates. So I'm excited for this. I wanted to get a little extra episode out before the holiday season here give people something to listen to on their travels.
I hope everybody has a great holidays, safe travels and looking forward to next year with this podcast, we will have an episode out I think on New Year's Day is probably one we'll release it, but that will be a PGA Tour season preview with the golf kicking off at Kapalua. Maybe some another topic in there as well. But looking forward to next year on this pot cast. First, before we get to this conversation, I would urge everybody to go check out Fat Cork. They are a longtime
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This guy, uh, the the owner, is a a golf nut and and I'm glad to have him support this podcast, So check it out. Uh use the promo code golf for free shipping. All right, I am joined by two of my favorite people to talk golf with Brenda Porath, who I talk way too much golf with on a regular basis on Shotgun Start and Jeff Shackelford, uh, the.
CEO, head of Creative Lead editor, writer podcast aster CMO, Chief Operating Officer of the Quadrilateral A a staple of any golf Officionado's newsletter collection. In a wonderful holiday gift, you know, wonderful gift, last minute gift, Brenda and I like to talk about Shotgun Start on shotgun start. You know those types of gifts that you can get at the last minute, print out a receipt and just put in an envelope and hand it to somebody that is your this is Quad Gifting season.
Well thanks Andy. Yeah you left out chief Content Officer, but that's okay. Yeah, it is that time of year when when you forgot somebody or something too that I mean not that that ever happens, and you just hit a few buttons and there you go. I've got a little discount for my current subscribers, so I appreciate the plug and appreciate the reading, and I've enjoyed your your year in review. And a couple of the memory said I helped Jog with my various ramblings during the majors.
I got to ask this is an off topic question. We'll get into the into the meat of this podcast in a second, but how are you enjoying Big ten hoops? You're a big U c l A guy. Welcome to the Big Ten.
Yeah yeah, reality will set in when they go east. But I mean they played Washington. Uh yeah, the rut. I mean everybody always both football and basketball. Everybody mentions, oh, I can't wait for UCLA Rutgers or UCLA Maryland, you know, kind of has a basketball tradition they've played and there's some stuff there, but yeah, it's uh, look, the Bruins are ready for it. They're they're they play kind of
a big ten style, tough, ugly Mick cronin basketball. So but right now the UCLA women that everybody's i mean, they get they're getting bigger crowds than the men. It's kind of frightening, uh to be honest.
Well, you know that's a that's what everybody wants out of women's golf, is the popularity.
And uh well that'll be up to the next commission.
Yeah, yeah, I will. I do have to stand up for Rutgers basketball. They've got they've got projected to the top three picks. They got Ron Harper's kid, right, and the other his dad was yeah, yeah, so he's he's unbelievable, the kid. So Rutgers Rutgers might be a powerhouse this year.
Ron Ron Harper was.
He was not.
His dad was unbelievable. When he before he started hurting his knees, I mean when the Clippers got him, and of course he went to the Clippers and the injuries began, so anyway, but that's cool, that's good to know. Yeah, it was a Danny Fairy trade. Nice nice, I remember that.
Miami, right, Yeah, then he came to the Bulls and won a bunch of championships, right right, that's right, all right, So topic for today, we're gonna do one golf architecture take away from twenty twenty four, and then we're going to dive into our five favorite event of twenty twenty four. I'm guessing we're gonna have some overlap in here, so this should you know, it should just take an hour and a half, like every pod does. Jeff, we'll start with you. What's your golf architecture take Hm.
Well, I'm going to try to take the thought thought free, whatever it may be. Yeah. So, well, I'm working on a it's just over twenty years of an update for my grounds for golf, and most of it's held up well, but I'm throwing out a couple chapters that are now outdated and it's shocking what's changed. This is my way of trying to be positive before I bitch and moan
about something. But it's amazing how much has changed in those twenty years, and so it's great to see the fun factor still being something of late that is on, you know, top of mind for people on whether, of course, whether they like it or not. But Andy, I got to tell you this year, my current thing is the cost of these projects and these dollar figures. I just
can't believe some of them. I just saw the green fee at Cabot in Florida three ninety five, and that's being passed along, you know, the high construction costs, and I just don't get it, and I think we have to kind of have a serious conversation about what's going on. I mean, the minimalists are charging a lot of money or running up pretty big tabs, and we know, you know, sometimes people put a big dollar figure on a project because they think that impresses somebody. I don't know if
it does or not. I don't think it does. And certainly at a club where people are probably financing the project, they don't think it's so cute. So anyway, that's that's kind of my take on the current state of affairs. Everything is pretty great in terms of the architecture business, but this cost thing, and of course twenty twenty five could be a disaster for the golf course construction industry if the if the uh Trump administration goes forward with
the deportation program. So that's gonna If you think it's expensive, now it's gonna get worse.
I think the thing that I completely agree with your sentiment. What's crazy to me is that sometimes you hear the cost as like a badge of honor. Yeah, I wouldn't believe we're spending twenty five million on this project. And it's like and then it's like, oh, but our guest fees because of it are now going to be three hundred dollars. It's just like, what are we doing? What's the point of being a member of a club if
it's three hundred dollars for a guest fee. Yeah, and I said this in another pod, but I think like one of the things that people miss. Everybody thinks they can reple k the Kaisers and what they do, but like the Kaiser secrets soft they build golf courses for cheaper than everybody, and then they maintain them for cheap like they they like that's one of the beyond like finding the great land, you know, hiring the right architects, having a great customers experience. The big thing they do
is they they keep their cost slow. But like everybody else doesn't seem to understand that, and it's like, I don't know, it drives me insane. You go, you hear people like like wax Poetic about their experience abandoned dunes, and it's like, you know, those greens are like ten or nine. People go to Scotland, Ireland and they're oh, it's incredible. It's like, well, how do we come back and it's like, well, we need our greens fifteen you know, well.
You're right. It starts with the land and sand. Sand saves a lot of money. But here's a fun fact for you, because I went down a little rat hole for a piece I wrote on North Barrett and I got confirmation of this. Guess how many you now? And I'm not blaming the USGA green entirely for this rising costs, but it is one of the costs, both creatively and financially that we're seeing. Guess how many USGA greens Corn Crenshaw have built in their their career.
I'm guessing like one course wanted them May eighteen, Yeah, zero, zero, Okay, I was thinking maybe one, maybe one golf course demanded them.
They've done some California modified at some at a couple of renovations like Riviera, but that's not how they work.
You know.
They just dig out a hole and they dump sand that's been tested and you know whatever for agronomic purposes, it'll work, and they build and creatively it's so much better, just the tie ins and the surrounds, the approaches and the beauty and and then costs wise that you know, that's a chunk of change. But some of the other stuff too, irrigation systems, and it's nuts, and like you say, it's a weird, a weird badge of honor, and not everybody's in agreement with that. A lot of people are
rolling their eyes with some some clubs are spending. But it's essentially doubled in ten years. That's just nuts. Ten years, like three that could even be less. I was, Yeah, I think I feel like.
It's doubled in the last five five years at least.
I'm with that.
The other thing that's happened, it's like this like it's like this strive for perfection. Yeah, yeah, I remember years ago I had Stephen Britton on Great Superintendent and he talked about like why do we want every green to be perfect? Isn't there like a beauty? And if you play at a club and one of the greens sits in shade all morning, you know it sits in shade
all morning. And because you understand the dynamics of your course, like the local knowledge of this green's going to be a little bit softer when I roll around to it, so it's going to spin a little bit more. Like these are all little things that make the game of
golf beautiful. Like I remember as a kid playing my local Muni remembering like the little intricacies of this green versus this green, this this green always just like the ball bounces a little bit more, so I need to land this a little bit shorter, like that is all part of the joys of golf.
And one of the things unfortunately, and I've had this chat with regard to major setups is and the tour to how much they're all working to try to get every green the same. And you know, like with La North before the US Open, you know, it's just it's a big leap now for these organizations to treat a green differently than the others, and they have to write
memos and post it and reveal it. It's like, well, you know about how about rewarding somebody you play some practice rounds or gets a local caddy and figures it out, you know, I mean this has happened to Riviera. Every year the eighteenth green sits higher than every other green on the course. It dry, it drains better, it dries out faster, it's firmer. And guys either take that into
account or they don't. And the idea of trying to manipulate the conditions so that players don't have to figure it out is is it's depressing and and then it gets expensive obviously when they get into it architecturally where they actually rebuilding stuff just to make them not have to think as much. And it's it's another reason why so few guys played a lot of practice rounds on golf courses.
Now, I was rage finders came out when I was in high school. But I remember early in my competitive young junior career, and this is probably you, this was you lived through this. But like, if you were a really smart player, you were looking at where all all the pins were on a golf course when you walked by yep. And it's just like you think about some of the like what made like a high IQ player was like, Okay, I'm spotting where these whole locations are.
I did it, used to do it when I caddied to It's like, okay, this one's like it looks like about four yards back of center, Like it's it's kind of here because you used to not know this stuff. And I think like some of the like we love, I mean, like Jalen Brunson's a great example of the NBA player where he was a second round draft pick because people were worried about like could he athletically hang
in the NBA. Now he's one of the best players in the NBA because he's just a smart basketball player. And I think like one of the things that we're starting to lose a little bit in the game across the board, from club level up, from municipal level up is the idea of golf IQ and what you know, when we don't ask people to have a higher IQ, it kind of like it it removes an element of the game where you can differentiate yourself.
Yeah, And I don't know why the organizations they still I mean, they still protect whole locations, although then you get those the night before now. But yeah, I don't know why they go to these efforts to to to do this stuff. You know, if a guy complains about that, then they kind of sound like an idiot. Plus they have these so many guys have such good caddies now doing great stuff. I mean, I loved watching I love it.
The old course. You'll see somebody like you know, Jolaicava out walking the course, you know, with an afternoon tea time and going walking the course in the morning. Or Greller did that I think in the year Speed contended there.
I mean, that kind of stuff I love. I mean, you're absolutely there should be a great reward for uh for for trying to outsmart the course or at least just make sure you've covered all the bases and you don't get out smart by the setup and uh and it's just kind of this this worrying about UH player reactions and meltdowns and man and look at we you you bitch loud enough looking at Matt Fitzpatrick got his
way with the uh, the the crack driver thing. This week they announced another you know, modification and it's like yeah, so yeah, no and he was relentless about it, and so he got his way. And same thing with the golf ball distance debate stuff. So it's, uh, yeah, it's something I wish the the the majors would would kind of get a little bit tougher on and but I kind of fear they're going the other direction. So anyway, is that enough? Old man?
Ranking Brandon, what's your bring?
Bring a rand that I was gonna be sort of a stretch forest in and in the corner wait waiting for you guys to create, And I, honestly, I don't know if I'm bringing the positivity. I come with no amount of arrogance with this take. It's more of a pondering and it kind of doubles off what Jeff has said. I think it seems like we're in a boom era right of building, certainly compared to the preceding are era, and a boom sort of follows that there's a demand,
right and so people want to create. Oh, people like this, there's a demand for this, Let's do more of this.
I feel like there's been sort of a monotony. We're get touching like a monotony level here in terms of a like why is this created to add, you know, the sixth or eighth or fourteenth course at a resort that is going to be very expensive trip for people, or it's a course that a billionaire can fund himself, or a bunch of guys can chip off high six figures to make it their third course or their second
course out of town. And I'm not saying this is bad or regrettable, but it seems to be getting monotonous in the purpose of why this boom is occurring or why more golf courses are being built. Now, I won't pretend to be sophisticated enough on the design front to
say that the builds are monotonous. They aren't, although I equipped internally recently, if you did a carousel and instagram of all the recent courses built in the Southeast, what percentage of the consumer would be able to tell let's just say Pinehurst number ten from Broom's Edge from More Like the Now. That's why the sophisticated player joins these plays because they like this restaurant and they can tell,
whereas most restaurant goers cannot. I think you know it does feel like and not just to you know, but are a present company like is a rustic canyon which wasn't built, was built this century like that kind of purpose built. Like I'm not suggesting there's land of plenty in urban areas or ex urban areas, but the game is booming, golf course building is booming. Is excess is any kind of the golf course boom meeting the actual
golf met the actual golf boom of the population. And even where I am in suburban DC, it's just so overcrowded and jammed. And if it's fifty miles outside of the city center, there's land that is not being pursued, and so I feel a little bit of a monotony settling it. And it's not to say it's bad for the builders, but as a consumer, it feels sort of unattainable.
I think what you hit on ties perfectly with what Jeff talked about, because what Jeff mentioned, the cost has made the model only work for big resorts and billionaires or multiple one hundred millionaires, or you know, a collection a cohort of extraordinarily wealthy people, like that's the only two that financially it makes sense to build a golf course right now, because like what Jeff's say, oh, it is twenty twenty five million dollars sometimes more to build
a golf course with verticals, you're probably getting to thirty million. How do you possibly pay that back? Make the investment work at an affordable dollar some like? So if I do one hundred you know, let's just back of the napkin math. Let's say I charge one hundred dollars for and I do forty thousand rounds. That's four million dollars in revenue. It costs me one point five to two million to maintain a year. Let's just say two for
round numbers. So I have a fifteen year if everything goes great, a fifteen year payback for the thirty million I put in. It just doesn't make any sense. Yeah, I'm not trying to.
Yeah, this is certainly not totally a great explain. This is not laying the blame at sort of the builder. It's just you hear about every new project, right, and it's it's always like, well, that's it's it's kind of more of filling that same purpose for why it's built, and and so there's there's there's that's sort of settling in. And that's not to say, go good for the design of the architect Go get it. This is what the work that's out there. But uh, that's where I've gotten to.
And it was awesome the first last few years, and now it's just sort of setting in as as a consumer from the other side, and who lives in a massive urban area, you know, with the giant population, how hard it is for some of this new work and this new demand to be to meet somewhere in the middle.
I think the shame too is that like the work, I would say, and I'm curious what Jeff thinks. I think like we're in this period where there's never been such a high standard of golf design being built, but it's built for so few and it's built in the cost of it is so high that it's impossible for it to be built right now for the masses.
Yeah, and also is probably a deterrent to renovating some places that would serve a lot of the purposes that that Brennan's talking about. I mean, I'm the same situation here in LA you know, demands crazy, but but the public offer courses are generally run down and the bones
are there to have good stuff. But I mean, if somebody's going to look at freshening it up, and and you're you're at five six million dollars before you really even get into the architecture, just whatever irrigation and you know, maintenance facility, whatever that is needed, which is usually the case with all these before you even get to the fun stuff of just kind of more lively bunkers or some tree removal or bringing act some some cool hazards
or getting rid of crap that people added. That's what that's what's depressing to me. And that's that's kind of where you know, I think the the U s g A had an opportunity. I think they still have the opportunity, but to kind of bring together their expertise on the green section side their name there there there, you know. I mean, the National Links Trust is great what they're trying to do, but the us GA is still the us GA. And uh and and and then look at Bethpage.
We're gonna go there next year, and people still associate that with the U s g A. Uh, they don't. They don't really associate it with Rheese Jones or anybody else. It was bringing the us open there and what David Faye and everybody did the state of New York and and so that's what that's what bums me out when you get into these dollar figures. Look, I I have no problem with rich guys building places out in the middle of nowhere that are cool and great. But it's that.
It's that, but it's not trickling down. I guess in a in a way that you'd hope so we'll see.
I mean, like, I don't want to sit here and tell somebody how to spend money. But you know, to me, if the USGA did a project every decade and they spent twenty to thirty million dollars, that would be very well served funding you know, sources, and you think about like places that they could do this at. I mean, imagine Rancho Park revitalized. Yeah, and you have somebody like Gil revitalized Rancho Park. I mean, that place would be extraordinary. It would be an amazing, amazing It already is an
amazing community hub. I frequented it so much in my mid twenties. At three pm, when my office in Chicago was shut down and I was living in la I would go over there and I'd play like five holes. It was the winter. I kept five holes in in two hours. But it was an amazing place. And it's like they have the little par three course. That place could just be one of the beacons of approachable golf in America, you know, and it already is, but it's still run down.
It is. It is, and the thing that we've seen in La for instance, it is really wild. And I still don't fully understand how it happened. And I'm not complaining, but somebody on the golf committee decided, you know, we need we need better food at our courses. Like, yeah, well you need better golf too, but okay, So then they farmed out the food and beverage to all these hipster foody operations and they're absolutely killing it now, Rancho. They found some asbestos, so it hasn't been finished yet.
But when it is finished, the group has They've already done this great little outdoor bar. Uh you know, they got a burrito thing. Yeah, the indoor is going to be like a fifties cafe. I don't know what it's gonna it's there. They're working again anyway, pen Maar, dreadful golf course down in vent is nothing there. I mean, it's a it's it's where people crash land planes from Santa Monica Airport. Basically courses packed. Though it's green grass,
it's a beautiful place. You get the sea breeze. But they've got this food, betterfage operator that's got concerts, good food. They've got epic merchandise. I don't want to talk too much about because there's some people who might come hunting for some some copyright related knockoff stuff. And so you look at that and you go well, and I realized somebody on the golf committe, I go, well, the courses are full, right now, what do we need to replenish
the stuff for? But it's like, well, why not aspire to to match what's happening with the food beverage with the golf experience, what you know? And like I occasionally go hit balls there and I just look at you know, the balls are like pickleballs and no dimples or crap. Mats are crap, and I'm looking at kids come and I'm like, you know, I don't need a pyramid of titleist and perfect grass, but come on, can we We're
in the twenty first century. We can do better. And it's and so, I mean, the good news is there are great examples. But yeah, again like West Palm Beach, lovely story. But you know, you just keep hearing this fifty five million dollar number. Well, how do you how do you take that to other cities and places and that do have a you know, let's say a fund which LA does right now of profits from the golf to put back and they're going to but but then you don't have a lot of great examples to point to.
I guess is what I'm getting at.
Yeah, and that's where once a decade, like imagine if the USJA had been doing this since Beth Page. Beth Page was nineties, so you have the nineties as Beth Page say, they did something in Boston, Yeah, Boston, something like that, they did one in LA in the twenty tens, and then they did one, say they did one in
you know, Chicago. Oh, you know, I'm going to show my bias here or DC, you know, and like at this point we've got, you know, five great places or four great places of public golf that were all because of the USGA. Like it just seems like a no brainer and a you know, in the relative scheme of a billion dollar organization, a small amount of money to allocate to, you know, the place where the most people pick up the game of golf.
And I think they get a lot of donations too, and that's something they seem to be very interested in. They're they're going about it with the national team program, you know, that's what we need. That eludes me as as to not not not necessarily trying to help out some some promising players. Uh and now there's a spot available with blades Brown turning pro.
But uh, well they all do you recall?
It eludes me because like I don't quite get why a rich guy I would want to fund that versus having their name, you know whatever on the starter shack at a place where he has five million helped replenish the golf course something like that.
Anyway, did you see do you remember Seth Wah's comment about how pro golf and golfers interact, how it changed has changed, How it used to be people watched on TV and that inspired them to go to the golf course, and how now it's very clear that people are less people are watching than ever and more people are playing than ever. And it's like completely and it's like almost like this national program is like the ideology of yesteryear. Yeah,
you know, I'll do mine here. We're well on our pace to an hour and a half here, So my moment, I guess that the year is one of the greatest players of the generation talking about golf course architecture helping him become a very US Open player. So here's Rory McRoy. He was asked about, you know, what's happened at the US Open? Why has he started to play such great golf at the US Open? Now, I didn't. If you have a look at the US Open that I did win in eleven, it was more of a PGA championship
rather than a US Open. Typical US Open setup, tough scene for congressional right there. I really don't think I embraced the US Open setups. Probably ten years into my US Open career, played my first one in O nine, and I think I really changed my mindset around them in twenty nineteen that won in Pebble, and then since then I've I've started to enjoy the style of golf a lot more. It's a lot different than the golf
we play weekend, week out. I really appreciate that, and I've started to appreciate golf course architecture more and more as the years have went on, and I've started to read more about it and understand why golf course architects do certain things and design courses the way they do, just becoming more of a student of the game again. And I think because of that, I've started to embrace
golf courses like this and setups like this. I just think that's a great moment for golf architecture in a major championship to have Rory McElroy saying, listen, I started to read about golf architecture. I'm paying more attention to golf architecture, and it's helping me play better at these really tough setups.
And it was I mean, that's my top The Pinehurst week was just a great week, and that was in his performance, in Bryson's performance, and the way they managed the course, just the whole thing was was was special. And yeah, I it's it is. It's wonderful what he said.
It's also incredibly depressive. It's like him, Tiger and about five others that kind of get that big picture view and he's really the only one that can can say it and and and elaborate and uh and and really explain it well, but we'll we'll take anybody who's interested in that. So it's and I think it's why he still has the energy to to to play. I mean, he's been at this a while now and he has
a lot of money. He's done well for himself and a lot of guys who are in the situation that they hit a wall, and so it's pretty clear that's the thing that that's motivating him and exciting him and there's some great stuff coming in that sense for him. So I'm thrilled. And yeah, it was and I was just thrilled, I think given the way Pineers went last time, the combination of whatever, the look of the place and yeah, they had a rough winner and then and this time
it was probably almost too green, but whatever. I'm not gonna complain about that, but it was greened up. But they had to in some cases with certain greens had to be kept a certain way and holdable. So some of them are really I don't even know what shots they hold. But so it was, Yeah, that was that was that was a special event. You know, sometimes they come together and that one. You just it was a big deal for that to go well. For the USG
because they're coming right back. And and I didn't see any sign really of the whole anchor thing and what that meant other than I think Andy, you and I discussed it a while back. But you know, Pinehurst showed they put the money in, they put their their investing, and that was cool. I didn't see it much in the fan experience that that that spoke to, O, we're coming here a lot. But whatever, that's that's a small thing.
So I was looking at recently, I was looking at Google search traffic for golf courses, okay, and it's unbelievable, absolutely incredible if you look at Pinehurst and what a US Open brings in terms of people searching Pinehurst and it and the same thing happens for Pebble at the US Open, and it's just a reminder of why these these courses jumped and did backflips for the USGA in order to come there. And then you go to Pinehurst and it's like, oh, this place, it's just booked out.
Every single day, it's just completely full. And you know, it was a great tournament. But let's get to the events. Unless Brendan's got thoughts on, let's go.
I think it makes sense.
Why wouldn't the corner waiting for the ball?
I mean, what makes like quickly, why wouldn't you want to engage your brain? Why wouldn't you want their brain to match up with whatever athletic and god given skill you had, right? And maybe because your guy given skills too good. Maybe because you don't need to engage your brain fifty weeks of the year, and maybe at the US Open and the Masters or you do and you
just don't have to worry about it. But yeah, I just think about like I don't know Luke Keikley, right, middle linebacker, Right, They always talk about how he knew what like the plays of the offense before this, So he was an all pro on his athletic ability. Only he's a Hall of Famer because he could match his brain up with that ability. And it makes sense, Like, I don't know why people my more to Jeff's point, wouldn't do this right, Why you wouldn't try to engage your brain more more often?
Well, there is the architecture, Andy, I mean, you know there's a danger in noticing too much and taking too much in And I mean, and I that's why I always marvel at Tiger, Nicholas Ben Crenshaw, Jeff Ogilvie, I mean the the the when you if you talk to him or read what are they They say they see a lot, They take in a lot, including you know, where all the trouble is and where things can go wrong.
And it's a very special gift. And Rory's I think now in that class too, of just taking in everything, every detail, but then being able to pull off the shot and and it's it's it's just a very Bobby Jones too, another one who caught you know, every detail of a golf course, but somehow could just kind of put it all. So, I mean Jack, you know, we used to look at stuff and get bored trying to thinking how he'd redesign it just because it was so bad. But it didn't. It didn't impact I packed his game.
I think Jeff Ogelvie at times it might have impacted his game, you know, bad setups or whatever. And I totally understand that, by the way, as somebody who was very guilty of that when he played in college, just getting caught up in stuff that you go, well, why they do this and why is there internal ob and that kind of thing. So yeah, it's another thing that's really impressive about Rory and then also select group of others who love golf architecture.
Yeah, I think that like playing just the weekend, week out tour for someone who is creative and thoughtful is really hard because it's just such a you know, once rewarded on tours, just mundane. This is how I go about my day day in day out. And I'm not saying that Scotti is necessarily mundane, but his process is so simple and so boring and so perfect for week in, week out PGA tour golf. It is like, I do this, this is how I get ready, this is what I do every week, and I'm okay living this way.
Yeah, And I think that's been exposed at times on certain setups with at majors, and you see the patience that gets lost pretty quickly at stuff that, yeah, you probably don't see in a regular tour event. And it's probably very bad news for his peers that he actually has room to probably improve and appreciate sometimes that yeah, I missed another Birdie Putt, but pars pars are good.
I think Rory made a comment about that this year too, you know, kind of realizing that was part of the genius of Tigers at his prime, that he really, you pars were pretty valuable even even in a changing game and twenty underwinnings sometimes and too in a major to appreciate those and to not get annoyed when you when you missed your eighth thirty part of the day.
I think we should be worried that Skotty just learned what crypto curtaincy was. You know, who knows what could happen.
Yeah, I don't know if he learned it, he had questions. He has it now he's in possession of some or whatever session means.
But he can he can buy some guns and drugs and all sorts of great things. That's about all you can really do with crypto.
Right now, we're going to get the crypto crypto fans and in the in our grill here, all right, let's get to number five in your top five events of the year, Brendan, are you supposed to go from five down or.
What's go one?
Let's go one. We just talked about, all right, Scotty being Yeah, Scotty Fox with the unpredictability Rory's quote with the architecture, Rory talking about how he could take in too much. I think after the fact, sort of his post mortem, I mean, he may be genuine in saying this, or he may just be kind of covering stuff up. I think he's genuine that he got too engaged with everything around him.
He got two and that was one of.
The great privileges and pleasures of being on the ground was being able to sort of take in a lot of what was happening in those last two groups. And the tension, as I said, was floating through the air almost from the prior tee up to the fairway in the green as these groups kind of went through the round.
So yeah, that might be an instance where Rory was like, I wish I hadn't been too too perceptive of what was happening behind me, of the shot that landed on the green as I stood on the seventeenth tie, or whatever it may be. Clearly, in our year review you talked, I think Andy said like the event of the decades, maybe a major of the decades.
It was just it was a really special one. I don't we know what happened.
I'll just put a quip put a bow on it, saying rarely do we like remember majors, both for their failures and their triumphs. And I think like this highlight package or this sort of these memories will last before they Bryson Bunker Shot certainly, and obviously for Rory's you know, shortcomings, failure at sixteen and eighteen specifically, And so it just had the whole package combined with the golf course.
Yeah, I mean, it's my it's my vote, and it's just the whole thing. And I I do wonder what Pineers is going to be like in five years when they're all another a few yards longer off the tee. It was already kind of yeah, I mean the eight will eighteen be drivable? You know where we're heading, But that part's kind of kind of nuts. But we'll enjoy this one. And I was just thrilled the other thing, just to get into architecture a little bit on Piners. That was I just love the way, other than when
they tried to make thirteen. I'm still not wild on thirteen becoming being forced as drivable, but I love that the third, seventh, and thirteenth holes, which are basically a drive and a pitch, the three fifty to three ninety yardage range, which has kind of been a dying breed of hole with architects and with courses that those were probably the three best holes out there, and they created all sorts of fun and excitement and variety and they
just played beautifully. And I guess even thirteen drivable other than the grand stand behind the green is a sort of a backstop things, you know, but because long was good there, it wasn't that hard of a downhill chip so anyway, but I loved how those holes played, and also just an incredible effort by the maintenance team to
kind of get the name areas just right. You know, we heard I think you guys heard it too going in and they've done a bunch of plantings and I was like, uh, that could be that could be bad, but I think it was great. And I know they were taking a bunch out right after the Sunday. Well I didn't think they were that bad, to be honest at all. Frankly, I thought the randomness was just perfect. It was just you just didn't quite know what you were going to get. But look how many guys we
saw hit recoveries. How how few guys just had like a sideway punch out. It was. It was perfect.
I would say that Brandle would disagree with you. But the other thing I would say about that that I heard in weeks after was that maybe maybe just the lack of supply was the greatest thing that happened to the Usgay. They bought every piece of wire grass they could, uh huh, and they like, you couldn't buy it anywhere in the area because of the US because the US Open so may it might have been just that they ran out and by that was the perfect amount because there was not too much to buy.
You know, nice I will never know, but good, well, now there's plenty to buy, I assume from what the superintendent said.
So one of the things I loved about that US Open was just the shots around the Green. We saw just such a wide array of different shots. And I think like one of the things that's neat about Pinehurst is the emphasis. It's it's kind of like Augusta National, where there is a uber, uber high premium on tee to greenplay. But if you have the have the around the Green play going, you can really separate yourself with
some of the up and downs. And I think like when you think back to that Sunday between Rory and Bryson. There were a lot of memorable great shots that led to Birdie's, but the most memorable shots of the round were around the green, the up and downs, the saves that kept the momentum going. And I think that was like the thing about that golf course was it just was so taxing and so difficult to keep the train
going forward. You know those those momentous par saves, and you think back to Bryson where he was able to do it on eight on fourteen was an extraordinary up and down save, and then of course on eighteen, and you know those three saves, and you think about Rory where he gets the you know, tough break, maybe not perfectly executed shot on five, but then on six seven he get makes these up and downs that kind of keep the round together where it's it could have spiraled
out of control, even the up and down on seventeen. After that miss on on sixteen where it looked like, you know, it gave him the chance on eighteen to be be there. I think like the premium I appreciated about it was like it really felt like a all around test where if you drove it well you were getting rewarded, iron play really rewarded, and then the short game had a huge, huge emphasis. So that's one of the things I appreciated so much about it.
And last thing on that, you know, people seize on Maury's pot on eighteen, but it was it was a chip that was the mistake. He just left himself the one putt as a right hander you really don't want. And Bryson's bunker shot, I mean, he was he kept it below the whole. I don't I mean that he was just I don't know what he was trying to do, but he tried not to hit it on the clubhouse roof, which was very doable if you caught a little too
much ball, but he kept it below the hole. And and I think that's kind of why, you know, Rory snapped a little when he saw what the coverage said, which they just they just blew it. I mean, NBC just completely blowed. Johnny Miller would have been immediately all over. I can't believe he just left himself that putt. You don't know, you can't believe how hard that putt is. And they were like ah, I went back and watched it, like ah, Okay, well he's you know, they just completely
and their their tower was right there. I mean, it was just a whiff. And I'm not saying they're to blame for the miss putt. It just to your point, Andy, it was the short game element I felt like was You're right it was compared to Augusta. Let's say you could. I mean, there are hardship shots and there aren't many bumping runs left at Piners, but you you did see some really cool stuff that held rounds together or spark to come back. And I feel like at Augusta it's
getting to wear. When you miss greens, it's more of just trying to manage and not make double and just kind of, you know, get it on and maybe you make the par putt kind of thing. They've they've taken some of the skill out, I think some of the work around the greens there and the way they maintained the turf. So anyway, that's a whole other rat hole.
All right, Number two, any other parting thoughts on Pinehurst?
Nope?
All right, number two. What do you got? VP?
Number two for memorable or favorite, I'm gonna say the Men's Olympic competition. This was kind of Scottie Scheffler maybe at his peak. I mean it's his best quote unquote funnel round quote unquote best fun round of his career, sixty two course record, nine under just sort of as an event, it's certainly on architectural you know, separate out the golf course design, the Golf Nationale though we've become as a custom with that place as Augusta National, it
feels like in the last four or five years. But yeah, it's like the best player in the world in full flight and nine under sixty two. I think he started four shots back, six shots starting on the back nine, thank you, Bertie. Those last five he hit that on eighteen, not Bertie's last. He had five on the back nine.
That in eighteen.
He like gouged that eight iron like we thought had no chance from that le Gulf National rough maybe not the Ryder Cup version, but still it's it's rough onto the green and made the birdie putt to close it out. So it was like Scheffler the top of the world. It was six back. At one point there was John Rahm's collapse. We had the element of live players together or some of them together. John Rahm, uh really collapsing down the stretch and talking about the pain of like
I let my country down. He said, I losing by day, by losing today, I have a much deeper appreciation appreciation of what this tournament means to me than if I had won any medal. But you wouldn't hear that very often. He appreciates it almost more than had I won. So you had the rom clups, you had the rory, uh you know, still in the aftermath of Pinehurst kind of you know, early August, and I think he opened his
back nine with five birdies. It was it was still a hail Mary chance, but he got in the mix there five birdies in a row on the back nine and then hid it in the water. And that is that You had Tom Kim going for a metal stand and all that brains with the military service. You have Victor Perez, the net home favorite, missing the metal stand by a shot, and they had Fleetwood. He had five birdie chances in a row coming down the stretch, he
gets a metal. Fleetwood gets a metal. It was just I kind of had it all in terms of the the gold chase and then also the stakes below that on a Sunday that that featured the best in the world going his absolute best down the stretch. So I don't know if that's not number two, but it's up there for the summer.
Well, he just gave it your number. Yeah, Jeff, what do you got?
Uh, you know, I'm gonna I'm going to go over to Saint Andrews and the Women's Open.
My number three.
So that was your three? Okay? Good? Well then you can you can you can pick up off of that. I just it. I mean, the weather was pitiful, but it was fun seeing the old course play. Well, it was fun seeing stuff that you don't see you in the Men's Open. There just just just whatever long irons
into the road hole green and holding the green. Uh, some of the strategy stuff that we we wax on about actually happening, seeing the holes not stuck on top of you know, ant old aunt hills and the greens and and some of the stuff they do to protect
par and the Men's Open or the regular Open. But you know, Lydia code down the stretch, just that that weather was just so awful and what she did, and and and Nelly played so beautifully but just too just too strange, shocking double Bogies, you know, hits it out on Saturday on sixteen with the wind from the west, which is really hard to do when you have the whole world to the left, and then and then the double on Sunday on the fourteenth, when she she was up by the green in two shots and in a
really good spot and otherwise played pretty much flawlessly. Just a lot of clutch final rounds. And you know, to your point, Brendan on the on the Olympic sixty two and I ad meant to go back and look at this year, and I haven't done it yet. It seems like there's been a lot of incredible final rounds this year,
just incredible final rounds. And I don't know how you quantify or compare that with past years, but it just feels like we had a lot of people play clutch golf the last day instead of people just kind of hanging on to win. And that's that's been that's been great. And obviously Lydia Coe doing that on Sunday, I forgot what she shouts, she can't go super low, But I mean the weather was.
Was the weather was insane on that back nine, Yeah, it was, it was. It was nuts it was. I thought like she had the driver off the deck on seventeen. I think also like it was this great Nelly year and Nelly, you know, like there was like a cadence of the year, and then you had this lydia Co part of the year. And I think like everybody likes to talk about like who's gonna be the next big thing in women's golf, and a lot of times we forget how big of a thing Lydia Coe has been
in terms of like like incredible career arc. I think like extremely relatable career arc in the sense of like
sensation awesome early career. I always, I personally am drawn to career arcs that have struggle and then had some years where it didn't work well, didn't go well, lots of like changes, poor play, and then to have her win at the Old Course, you know, after the Olympics, obviously getting the Olympic medal and this, and just like you know, I don't know how many more years of Lydia Coe we have, which is one of the sad
things about the women's game. Not sad, but like you know, it is like you kind of one day you just lose these stars and unlike you know men's golf, where you'll see Rory play into his early forties and who knows how long, and you know, you see Tiger still playing in his fifties. Like I don't know how many more great years of Lydia Cooe we had, but we got a really great year of Lydia Coe that matched
up with a great Nelly year. And this was them showing down, a showing a showdown between kind of the two of them with other great players Lily of vou Ronnie Yin Uh you know too. Yeah, you got four top five players on the on the leader board, duking it out at the Old Course, hitting, as you said, shots that we don't see the men hit, and was really really fun.
I would just you know, we think of Lydia Coe, this is this incredible career and it is all that. But her majors had been eight years, and her majors were the Ana Inspiration now known as the Chevron, Carlton Woods and the Avon, and it had been eight years similar to that Rory length that Pinehurst, and so I think a women's Open at an old course felt the fitting of the totality of the career right, and it had been a while, so on top of the visuals of hitting lumber just on top of the road hole
bunker and having courted. And I'll add this like, I get a lot of pushback from I guess PGA Tour network sort of people who have been in trench there
too long the venues like don't really matter. But man like to add to this, with Pebble Beach, even if it's a lower ameter event, a women's event, they can elevate it, like for you have to have both the diehard golf fan invested in some reason, right and whether it's the old course that brings them the table to then go evangelize it to the You're not going to get the person the casual unless the people who love
golf are already in the boat. And so I just feel like the old course brings an element obviously and elevates the women elevates an amateur event, same with Pebble Beach the year before. Why not so often in women's golf it's this Frankenstein where we bolt on the sponsor to the time of year, to the market that will have us, and then we choose the course and why not try and it clearly elevated this championship. It's such as it's undeniable.
On that thought, I was contemplating getting Lancaster in this in this top five, and it was like, it's like an example. It's like, that's not the world's greatest golf course, that's not the old course, but it just shows what a really good golf course does for a tournament. And it also showed the I think the potential that the women's game has if they just visit really good golf courses.
They could visit a Lancaster level golf course, I think, almost every single week on their calendar, and that should be the thing that zeroed in on is like, we're gonna go visit the golf courses that other that men can't visit anymore, that are great golf courses. My number two is absolutely on the venues matter list of golf events. It was impossible, Jeff brought up our friends at NBC.
It was almost impossible to watch this event. It was shockingly, it was like being teleported back to nineteen ninety five on my couch as a kid watching European Tour golf. It's the Irish Open at Royal County.
Yeah, I wondering where you're going now. I remember, yeah, it was.
It was extraordinary golf tournament. Another ry McElroy heartbreak down the stretch and it was but the golf shots, the mystique of Royal County down the visuals, even without any bells and whistles, just with ground cameras that struggled to track the balls. You know, no golf course commentary whatsoever about what makes this place you know, an out of
the sublime test. But you saw just you know, the degree of difficulty, the level of shot making that was required on that golf course was just at a different level than your week in, week out tour stop and it led to this unbelievable finish, a really good leader board given the field with Rory Rastus Hoyguard, Brenda's favorite Mateo Manaso, who was in a resurgent period of his career, because they went the next week to Wentworth and it was you know, Mateo and Rory again and in the
final groups. But this was, this was an extraordinary golf event that I will not forget. And again, venues really matter. That should have been that event should have had all the best players in the world, and you know, the the full treatment of telecast.
And then they go to the K Club next year.
So yeah, why why is it? Why was it relegated mid September? It's not like going with golf and we're relegating it to streaming here and there and wherever it was.
You had to go to NBC Sports app, right, right, not even it wasn't even on Peacock right right.
I mean he speaks to your earlier quote about the Rory quote, right, I mean, engaged with the architecture and certainly bringing out a little bit more of him.
He's great everywhere, but.
But well that's a golf course. They I think historically he had had fits.
With right different era of his Yeah, yeah, yeah he missed?
Did miss Did he miss the cut the last time it was there? I think so yeah he did? Yeah yeah, yeah, it's it was spectacular and you're right, it was a shame that, yeah, relegated to September. And I mean, I just don't know how we don't have a link season, a permanent run of the Scottish and the Irish and the Open.
Do we want to opine about why we don't have a Lenk season? Oh well, because players don't want to leave America for well, yeah, yeah, and that's what.
That's Yeah, that's possibly a bigger part of it now. It used to be. It wasn't that long ago. Guys were in this kind of well I can't three three weeks of that, we'll screw up my swing kind of thing. And I don't hear that as much now. I think with track Man and different stuff, you don't A guy doesn't want to believe that would happen. And but yeah, it's probably just yeah, time away from from the US.
So maybe when when the PIFF buys the European Tour, they can they can establish a link season or something, I'm sure, or Royal Greens, you know.
So yeah, well they're going to build all the all the great links of courses of Saudi Arabia by that Neil right.
Today, No alcohol at the twenty thirty four World Cup. I'm sure that'll go overwhelm.
Oh that's great. Get out ahead of it, are they. Yeah, it's not going to help ticket sales. So how do we get some stadiums built and then we decide what the alcohol policy will be.
It is it is remarkable, like some of the blame goes to the DP World Tour, right, and I understand their hamstrun and it's like what I just talked about, the sponsors wagging the dog, you know, and all this stuff and and but you kind of have to put your foot in the ground and try to put the product first and not relegate such a quote unquote event. You're event of your season essentially in terms of golf fans, uh to you know, mid September it's and.
The Scottish renaissance has kind of run its course and they're they're lovely people and and and it's a good it's certainly better than you know, loch Loman to prepare for the Open, but it's also time to to to probably get back to the little road that they had. I know that's more work from the infrastructure side, but but they have just they just have so many great places and the and the Open, the Scottish Open is a gulling were so good and Castle Stewart were great.
And so it.
Yeah, and they need to finish on Saturday so that the get out of the way of the Wimbledon final and all that stuff. Anyway, that's that's.
A nice.
All right, Let's take a quick break. We are humming in Club TFE. I think it's a great membership. We produce a lot of content in there. Right now, we're in kind of our event swing. We we give members early access to event. An event that we just launched was the Sand Valley Trip that sold out just for CLUBTFE members. So if you're interested in coming to our events, Club TFE is a great way to make sure you
get into the events that you want. Also, from a content side, we are humming in there with a lot of writing about golf courses, golf architecture, and you know, I'm really excited where. We've got some big plans in twenty twenty five for it. So if you like what we do, if you haven't joined and become a member, consider it in the new year. It is one hundred and twenty dollars for the year. Go to the fridegg dot com slash membership to learn more. Thanks, let's get back to Jeff and Brendan.
All right, who's up next?
Andy?
I had Women's Open three, which we've already gone. I'm gonna zag here. I didn't necessarily, I don't know if I understood the assignment at five memorable. I don't know if it's all.
My favorite I like to be I like to be very loose with my Yeah, one.
Of my like favorite could mean a lot of things. One of my honorable mentions was the Phoenix Open, just because we finally found the bottom and it's provoked change, like we've gotten so.
Bad, Like that's what we had to get so bad?
Well, I mean apparently we're you know, zero tolerance policy for the next Phoenix Open.
We finally got so that one.
I can appreciate that we at least reached the bottom to stay like, all right, well this is too much.
But the next one.
In a similar vein one of my favorite events, the Travelers Championship. The week after the US Open, number one on this list, I think we sort of the mask came off for laired Bear Rory w D's. Well, of course he w D's like the signature event we're supposed to hold, and of course he's not playing the freaking Travelers Championship the week after this had just happened.
There were days after this had just happened.
I want to also historically note that this is the year they wanted to debut. There are millions of dollars have changes to the golf course to increase the difficulty of it.
This is where this is why it made my list.
It's on.
So we add new tea boxes, more mounding, shrinking the eleventh green, cutting the twelfth fairway off at landing disks, just stopping the fairway. All right, let's let's do something different, replacing it with rough more trees, narrowing a bunch more fairies. Millions of dollars. After they went twenty twenty two under last year or twenty three under last year, the Winnings Course twenty two under this year, Rory had called it obsolete, like I'm sorry that in twenty three. It's just obsolete.
Technology has rendered the golf course obsolete. Not that it was, you know, the old course of Royal County Down or.
Pinehurst before that, but it had sighting.
Yes, so there was a fifty nine. Kim Young had his fifty nine. There were to sixty one on Sunday. There were seven sixty twos shot throughout the week. This is millions and million, seven sixty twos, fifty nine, multiple sixty ones. It's twenty two under and look it's a signature event.
The field.
The smaller scoring average was essentially the same as the prior year, and this was millions of dollars spent to make it quote unquote harder or toughen it up for essentially one week, and then it's added, we get this protest at the end, you got paint flying everywhere. It's just a memorable goofy event for a lot of different reasons. And then you backed it up. I'll stop my soliloqually
here with John Deere. A week later or two weeks later, Hayden Spring are breaking sixty and it's just so clear the tournament players club or course, these courses that were built to test the actual best in the world are no longer relevant, are no longer they're they're pillow they're pillow fights.
You got see side Farm still, you got the Middiesota. You know that that's twenty on there, your tests than Valhalla. So anyways, that's why it made my list. River how there was the rory like, of course the sign of course he's not playing. This is the real world that we can address these up as signature designated of course he's not and then the course changes and then a
little protest to end it off. I got asked to go on local radio here on Monday, and I was like, no, Grant is not in the middle of the football season. But I only do one radio st Buddy hosts the main radio station in towns.
Like why are you wait?
What? Why?
Why you expected after the US Open or that, like the protests to be made in a larger sports radio subject. So yeah, the Travelers hit this year for a number of reasons.
Wo good and bad.
So do you want to mention who won?
Scottie Shuffler won, he dominated, he went, he went.
I don't think he did. I just want to make sure I don't think.
Yes, he got back to the he got back to the confines of Bluegrass Rough, got for the wire Grass, got to the confines of Bluegrass Rough and everything clicked.
So yeah, that was a memorable, memorable ish week for both architecture reasons.
You're all red, you're all worked up. I love it.
Got the juice there, the Travelers champions.
It is an incredible, incredible I mean they're gonna do the same thing with TPC craig Rams this year. They're spending what fifteen million dollars with Landy Watkins mm hmm. And it's gonna end up being the exact same thing. The scores are gonna be exactly the same, yeah, right, right.
Right, Actually might get better because of course we'll be in probably in really great shade. They'll have all the new bells and whistles and and you just you give these guys greens that hold and good conditioning. There's it just takes eighty five hundred yards and freak of stuff to prevent them from from shooting low scores at this point, so like, why bother?
All right, you got number three? What's your number three?
I'm gonna uh uh bring a more civilized selection. After the travelers ranting, I go with the Curtis Cup at Sunningdale.
You know, a good choice here.
Well, we've been overdue for a really good close cup event that could go either way right to the very end. We don't get many of those. Une was kind of close.
But the President's Cup didn't make your list.
It did not, It did not, It did not make my top twenty five. So the H and I stopped at twenty. I mean it just was spectacular, and you know, in a weird way that the minimalist television coverage was was kind of uh, it just fit. It worked. I mean I could have you know, it would have been nice to have some other stuff, but no tracer and and but it was. It was clean and solid, and there was too much talking from one of the encourse reporters.
But other than that, it was a great event and just brilliant play, clutch play, asterisk tally, you know, just whipping Lottie wode on Sunday three and two. It was just playing great, best best amateur in the world. Blah blah blah. Fifteen year old just drums her eagles the tenth. They had a great driveable hole setup, was perfect, course, was magnificent. The captains were great, classy, gave all the
credit to the players. You know. It was a one point win for GB and I, Patriana Matthew, you know, it was all the players. No none of her you know, analytics and none of the other hilarious stuff that we get in events. It was it was just Sarah Byrne was incredible. She went undefeated. Then we had we had you know, we had a little testing this there with Megan schoffel Chow film. Yeah, getting a little annoyed at
not being given a pot. So it had a little bit of an everything, and I just I thoroughly enjoyed it, and and the people out in the walking, the course, the dogs, you know, just the whole thing.
It's a great event.
Yeah, at bel Air, it should be it should be spectacular. They they they'll have the clubhouse open even by then, so it should be great.
I think it's open now, right, Yes, yes, it's open.
Yeah, finally, finally I talked to a remember the other day, and the Nobu trained chefs are are just just bringing the heat with the great I said, can you get a burger though, Yes, yes you can still get a burger?
Okay, good, might go.
I might have to go down there this this this winter.
You know, Yeah, I'm going to rain down here, so you should come down. It's wearing another we're in a drought. You're getting all the rain up.
There and dumping up.
It's going to be eighty here today in l A. So come on down and uh yeah check it.
Out, all right. My my number four is uh wait, what are you three? Well, three's women's open. I'm gonna go with Canada, Canadian Open. I just loved the story. Bobby Mack. Once Bobby Mack was his dad with his dad on his bag. Yeah, overcoming the drones, but he
wins with his dad on the bag. I feel like anybody that grows up playing golf with their dad, this is just a dream scenario, right, the dad sent Bobby Mack wins with his I mean like wins with his dad on the golf bag, like anybody that you know. He only was was one loop. And then my favorite part about think so I don't think he did.
For something later in the year anyway, go on, sorry.
My favorite maybe he should come back for the Ryder Cup next year. Give Bobby Mack a little bit more juice than that event. My favorite part of about it is the wins. And then he and he bypasses the big payday at Memorial and goes home to open and uh and and drinks a bunch of pints and and has a good celebration there and uh and then comes back for the US Open. So this is just a
this is a sentimental pick. I think like winning a golf tournament with your father on the bag is just you know, that's about as good as it can get for anybody that's pursued golf.
A couple of good, meaningful wins for him obviously winning the Scottish which he said we cared more about.
Than you know, anything other than I think the Open.
I'm not even I think even more than the other ajors the Open and yeah that went with your dad. Doesn't get much better than that for him there in a month. Aside from the drone the drone interference.
Yeah, he's got to deal with that. I mean, he's just got to get over that.
Yeahm had trouble at Live.
Oh right, yeah, not that loud. I don't understand it. And it's not like they're in the middle of the night and you know, and they're not seeing a Ryan up there. It's like Jesus, just deal with it. It's it's you know, it's weird about it is it's a consistent noise. Because they were getting a little aggressive at Valhalla with with one and I was and guys were looking at it. I'm like, well, but it's a it's not like it's going up and down and making, you know, accelerating,
And that's what usually pro golfers just tell you. As long as it's just sort of steady and it's not going to change, it doesn't bother me. But it's when they kind of fluctuate that that's and understandably you don't want that, you don't want to be surprised. But Bobby seems to have the new Monty Rabbit ears going, so pro golfers.
Kind away find away whether it's a nice choice.
All Right, Who's who's got number four? You guys both have number four.
I'm already on four. Yeah, Jeff's got hit.
Well you're four.
What was your your your father? Was your three? Was the Open?
Four?
Was the Travelers?
Yeah?
No, US Open, Men's Golf, Olympics, Women's Open, Travelers four.
So there you go. Jeff's on four.
All right, I'm gonna go with the Open troon. I just thought it was okay, it was. It was a great week. Tough week, of course, really was was weird the way the wind direction, uh just changed a lot, and it just was brutal on Friday afternoon, I mean the late the late wave had no chance and the postage stamp played beautifully. Uh, the whole course just played. It played really well given the non traditional win most of the time, and some places don't perform as well
when that happens. And so I mean some of the stuff the guys did on Saturday when it was it was so cold and nasty, and then Xanders sixty five on on Sunday and Justin Rose and Billy Hell giving him, you know, they kept him honest, and it was I thought it wasn't, you know, the most thrilling final round, but it was just it was just great off and Xander did some brilliant stuff down the stretch. It was interesting.
He didn't really pay much attention to the leader board until about fourteen, and that little up and down on sixteen, even though it was looking pretty good for him, that was very chunkable into the bunker or it was just not an easy shot and Rose was hanging in there and reached a green of two and he just kind of put him away with that. And I thought the setup was great. The fan experience seemed to be pretty good. There were a few things, but a lot of people.
So I just thought it was a classic great Open and kind of kept the whole Americans at Trooon thing going, which is a pretty wild situation how well US players do well there. So yeah, just a just a great solid week and another good open.
Uh yeah, I think the thing that I loved the most about it is the idea of like you have this tournament that anybody can win, and then the best player of the group of anybody can win, you know, reaches the hardest part of the golf course, the eleventh hole, the railway hole, and just hits the gas, hits the gas pedal and it and he was just gone, you know, yeah, and nobody was going to be able to keep it was.
It was just like the It was like when you watch like a horse race and it's close and you get to turn three and then the best horse in the race just hits the level that nobody else can touch. And and to me like golf tournaments that unfold that way. Like everybody loves their underdog story. But like what you a lot of times, like the joy of watching sports is to watch the sublime athletes and performers touch levels that you sit back and you say, you know what,
he's better than those guys. And I think that was like a moment was Xander where it's just like, Wow, this guy is, you know, one of the three best players, four best players in the world. And I think, you know, the PGA win at Valhalla was great and all, but that was like kind of one of those tournaments that anybody in the top four or five could have won.
It was a total crapshoot. Who made a putt at you know, the right moment was that this was I'm better than you and I'm putting putting this tournament away, and I really appreciated that. Also, I'll never forget Scottie Shuffler on the eighteenth hole that like chunk iron into the silly sand scrape.
It was crazy. It was just crazy.
I think it wo'll be the worst shot we ever see. Scotty Shuffler.
Oh yeah, yeah, unreal, not supposed to be in play.
That's hands out there, and he brought it into play.
Scotty did.
Also, I think, like Scotty, it seemed like he had solved the putter and then he gets on these slow greens and windy greens. It seemed like a real real issue. It looked like the old issue.
And it made me.
Also think, like, you know, it seems like when he has to hit the putt, it's a lot harder, you know than when it's just like if I just touched this and get it online, it goes in, which is the PGA Tour speed, you know.
Yeah, and that's why. I mean, slow greens generally expose putting and then and they highlight people with a good stroke because you do have to you're not just starting the ball. They are tricky greens to read. But I thought he really let them get to his head. It was it was I think that was about as cranky as he was all years, seem like, in terms of barking back at Ted Scott and stuff. One other thing that's about Xander. I just you know, the contrast and
styles between that and Valhalla. To win on those two golf courses is just, uh, I mean, just the complete opposite in terms of firmness and stuff you need to do around the greens. That's just that's that's impressive.
And uh yeah, So he goes, He goes, turns at turns at five, Rose is at six, Thurston is at seven, and Billie's at five. The eleventh, he Birdie is to get to six. At that point, he's one behind Thurston, Pars the twelfth, Birdie's the thirteenth, gets to seven, Birdie's the fourteenth to get to eighth, Pars fifteen, Birdie's sixteen to get to nine, and it's it's over. It was, yeah, as what do you got BP, I mean, I.
Have the open chammpionship, but just for all the reasons you've stated, is number five, for all the uncomfortableness that it brings and the unique, you know, the usual, the unique that the win what we thought would be sort of the wind guys who shape it one way really
challenging them right going coming back. You know, nobody wants that ball being blown away on the left or right, and it kind of flipped on him there and having guys you know, unable to reach part fours and too was this unique wrinkle on Saturday when it got really cold and windy coming down the Strets and obviously left Shane Lowry extra grumpy.
But yeah, it was.
It was a pleasure pleasure to watch, like firmly entrenched Truan. I don't know if our generation really remembers true as much as it should. Uh, And I think this was really a refresher for people our age. I had the Players close by though too, another sky guy I realized I was going really scotty predominant here between the Olympics and the Travelers is a little bit of it wrinkle.
But the Players was a great championship, right Wyndam Clark at the time the number two player kind of tour, Scotty the number one player, Scotty having a neck injury, still shooting a sixty four kind of that was and showing it on a different kind of different kind of test and going first person, going back to back at
the Players. That was a great championship. But when you think about it, I was thinking about this week of all the of all the tour properties or tour positions that have been weakened by the arrival of Live, it feels like the Players has been the most sort of
delegitimized as whatever it claimed to once be. Right, Scotty's winning without John ram in the field and without Brooks and without Bryce, and that feels decidedly on Major Ish or Major adjacent, which is what they kind of It's really weakened that Live is really weak in their position. But it was a great championship when we kind of needed after a stinker of a sort of first quarter of the year on the tour.
And how about I mean, I thought it was didn't get much play, but the Ryder Cup points come out in the in the Players is being treated just like any tour event. Last year's players is not. So that's why Brian Harmon has a slight chance to make the team at the moment. But this coming players is just gonna be like the Honda or anything else. Points wise, I was shocked that they didn't keep that whatever the point and a half, you know, the major like system
in for the players. That was kind of a sad admission that it is is not what it used to be.
What's your those guys, what's your number five?
You know, I have to get off the architecture bus now and go with Valhalla. It was, you know, the place. Just your review was spectacular, by the way, if people haven't heard it, but on the on the Shotgun start your review of the I mean, it's just unbelievable how
whenever they go there stuff happens. Obviously, there were a couple of things that weren't attractive, somebody dying and Scotty's driving, But the stuff that went on early and I mean Jimmy Dunn dropping that that letter, and the Rory's divorce coming out, and and uh, just all the stuff that that went on, it goes on there and then you know, the finish was it was spectacular. The course I was. You know, I don't know why I keep falling for this when places go to Zoysia grass and they, oh,
it's going to be better, it'll be firmer. I don't know why I fall for that every time. It's not it's it's cucula light, it's it it even if it had not rained, I just didn't see that. Uh, you know, leaning into the tournament, I just didn't see that place playing firmer and faster. It was in great shape, don't get me wrong. Superintendent's beautiful job, and they brought it together really well given some of the stuff that happened. But but yeah, it's it's amazing how that golf course
just seems to produce exciting stuff. One funny thing that happened, so Xander opens with his sixty two, which you again recounted on the on the sh going to start. But one thing you didn't know or see, I don't think so the PGA has got this kind of messed up press conference thing, which again is not their fault. This
is trying to keep the players happy. So they have this you know, kind of sitting standing weird thing and we all stand and there's really only that there's no other secondary areas, and so Xander shoots the lowest score in the history of the PGA Championship. And the guy who runs the press conference is great, nice guy. He's got a little clock, you know, they like to have a little stopwatch, like see you know it's somebody, it's something's going on too long. He can kind of go, oh,
we went ten minutes enough. But anyway, so the clock is running and Xander's just starting to talk about this historic round and it's at like four and a half and I'm standing behind him and I can see it, and here comes Tiger, and Tiger just walks and opens the door and Xander kind of looks and it's like, Okay, well, I guess we're done. So the lowest round the history of the PGA at that point, Xander got four minutes to barely and we're all just like, uh, we're not
that's it. And but you know, Tiger runs the show and there's no other place to talk to them because they're so determined to keep press from intermingling with players somewhere other than this stage. And that was just it was just kind of chintzy and weird, and so yeah, but Louisville great, great, great golf town, great great fans. Uh just was you know?
It?
Just did it again? I'm I I don't I don't want them to go back there.
But Solheim, right, Solheim next, and then I think a PGA will be going back there.
Really?
Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, that I think the ownership one's another one.
I know.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry to end on such a note. It was an eventful Come on, you're content creators. You're not creators around soil level content creators. But that's right, Come on, generation.
Were you surprised you're left off the creator console?
You know, I would have brought I'd make those meetings so likely if they had me. But I'm quite pleased to not be a part of that.
Well, I think Andy introduced you as the CEO of Quadrilateral. I think you can make a lateral move to this.
Yeah, well created.
There's another CEO job you know that's available now, so and who wouldn't want that job after that rollout videos?
So sure, Well we're just spitballing here.
To go off. Well, what the hell was that?
I can tell you you're holding the do.
I just want to know because it's just it's just I don't know.
I don't think anybody knows what it was.
Who are they trying to glure?
Like?
I just don't And then the commissioner is going to report to this what a mess anyway? And of course j doesn't even have a CEO.
So go ahead, last question and we're done with this. We're right at the one and a half.
What your yeah, what's your final.
Event right now? Right now? Event you're most looking forward? Dude twenty twenty five, didn't tell you to prep on this?
I mean, I just go ahead, go ahead.
Well, this is an easy one because I've surveyed my fine subscribers and they've come back with a pretty The Quad.
The Quad listens to.
The Quad, folks are excited about port Rush in the Open, I have to give a slight edge, although you know, we'll see what happens. But to Cyprus point in the Walker Cup, I mean, I don't know who the hell's going to be playing for these teams? Is going to be like a bunch of sixteen and seventeen year olds.
But Blades is gone, Blades is gone.
I don't see Luke Clinton making making an amateur status to September. I just don't I don't feel like that's going to happen. It would be great, but it just doesn't seem likely. But it doesn't matter. It's Cypres's point. I wish the captains would designate, you know, a twenty twenty eight conforming golf ball be used, but I don't think that's going to happen. But either way, and then who knows what Golf Channel will do with it. But hopefully the they'll get enough people out there and it'll
be it'll be a good event or great event. It's just there's nothing quite like it. But other than that, yeah, obviously Port Russian and would be second for me, and maybe Oakmont. I'm curious where they're going to hit drives at Oakmont. But yeah, my readers overwhelmingly picked port Rush.
I took that survey. I was a respondent in that.
Thank you turnout.
I'm meant to meant to respond.
You still have time. The polls close in about six hours and then I'm going to wrap it up tonight with a whole the votes.
You got to stuff the ballot.
Yeah, well, there's a tight race for organization of the years. So the folks that the RNA and Augusta National are probably will be closely monitoring that vote.
I thought your PTA tour is not winning.
They were not an option on organization of the Uh you should.
You should have put it in there just for fun. Yeah, Fay garnered any posts about.
So what do you got?
It was a similar similar order. I think, like I said, like you said, who knows what the networks will do? Who knows how much you know evangelizing will be able to or accessibility of viewing will be able to be consumed next year September. But I think that that's kind of a similar order. Port Rush, certainly for me having gone there in the intervening year as well, is very very high on the list. And you know we got a senior open.
I know PJ.
That will be a note of him at Sunningdale that the Senior Open is going to sunning Timers kind of s PJ to signing. Yeah, we could send them to just Firestone maybe for the call It Company.
Do you think do you think we could get Sunningdale to have a h a life or a dinosaur sized UH inflatable? Do you think do you think we could get that? Really it really fits with sunning Dale's.
Well there, yeah, yeah, I still can't believe.
My favorite thing about that's still I think it's the most unbelievable thing I saw all year. But they actually anyway, it's just unbelievable.
My favorite thing about PJ is on these he can't talk on these. Well, you see him.
We've entertained him at least you see him.
You see him just kind of spacing out. And then anytime the champion stur gets brought up, it's just like he's like, uh, he just perks up, he sits up in his chair. I think I've been a very similar sentiment. I will, just for for difference in Penny, I'll say that the port Rush will be mine.
Yeah. I guess it's gonna be interesting, but kind of sad, I think, because you know, I've got some reports and it's pretty significant trees, tree loss and in ways that aren't great. So well, we'll see, but it's gonna be interesting, but it's not one that's fun to talk about. I think. More interesting on the fun way is like what are guys going to do at Oakmont? Because to our earlier conversation, it is it is, you know, we talk about architecture.
The one thing that blows my mind with players today is the stuff that they come up with on trying to come to play an alternate route on a hole and stuff I would just never think of and see and go, are you kidding? Like number nine at Augusta playing down one, like the launch angle to get that
t shot over the tree. Anyway, how they come up with some of that stuff, and Oakmont is just going to be it's gonna be dreamy for them to figure out how they could just not play down the hole they're supposed to.
Be lots of into you know, in course out of bounds.
It could happen.
That could be one I might throw a six man six man vote in for just an extra one maybe for the Wells Fargo moving up to Philly cricket, see what the big boys can do there too as well, like they might at Oakmond, all through Pennsylvania bash it around some of those older courses.
So six man option for next year.
It could be some interesting weather in May there.
Yeah, you could set ups.
That's whether. It's always a key ingredient to memorable golf. All right, that does it? Thank you, Jeff. Everybody go check out the quadrilateral, like like we just talked about. You know, your voice is heard there. It is uh you know, it goes straight to Jeff's email, you know, and it's a great holiday gift and I'm sure he loves all the responses. So thank you Jeff for coming on, and we'll talk to you in the new year.
All right, Thanks guys, good chatting with you.
All Right, that does it for the last episode of twenty twenty four. Thank you all for listening, Thank you all for another great year. We will be back next year. As I said at the top, I hope everybody has a great holiday season. Big thanks to PJ Clark for editing and producing this podcast. We did a lot of pods there at the end of the year, and between the Shotguns Start and this, Pj's done a wonderful job putting them all together. Big thanks to PJ. And yeah,
we'll be back in twenty twenty five. Thank you guys. Have a great holidays.