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V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
Five, six, seven years ago, I made repeated lobby here for the PGA Championship to do SOMETHING to rescue it from its cemented reputation as a moribund, mid-August superfluous fixture...change the format, expand the field, make it two weeks, stroke play Qualifier, third day cut...SOMETHING!  This was no original thought as the board generally agreed; at least very few people were taken in by the marketing tags "Golf's Last Chance at Glory" etc with which the PGA thought to counter the critique...


Another tack to this end was my public enthusiasm for a move to May, which seemed a corporate impossibility (to many posters) once the Players went there in 2013(?)...


But now here we are...we (I) will see if the Gods punish when they grant us (me) our (my) wishes, but on so many counts, given the particular excitement of THIS PGA, I think it is hard to refute that this was a wiser course for the juice and vitality of this tournament...


1. It wasn't working as the last shot at glory, lumped in with the artificial points season...it wouldn't be accepted as the first, usurping the Masters hegemony... the US Open and Open Ch. are not moving from their ensconced spots....


2.   ... and the tournament calendar (before the Players move) was the blankest/least interesting in the 6 weeks between Augusta and Muirfield Village (with all apologies to the oil producing states of Texas and Louisiana).


3. The site choices were being limited by August climates/agronomic conditions in many parts of the country. The move to May liberalizes that some, and indeed we see (as future venues are penciled for many years out) that a slightly broader geographical swath is carved...


But most importantly...


4a. Can't you plainly see that the PGA by going SECOND, increases the public interest in the tournament, its field, the courses and the individual pursuits of leading players...?   Forget Woods' return for a moment and imagine that Koepka, Molinari, DJ, Rory or another Top 20 contender had won the Masters... the anticipation would still be peaked, the story lines nearly as rich, the possibilities of a calendar Slam just as prevalent....


4b. ...on that last point, the calendar Slam, isn't it also plainly obvious that the move to May, now makes the PGA the true gatekeeper (for the public anyway, if not the golfers themselves) to the professional calendar Slam?...WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DONE... even without the Woods return, can't you see how a Koepka, DJ, Rory, or Molinari Masters win gets talk of this started? True that if Danny Willet or Trevor Immelman or Ian Woosnam or Craig Stadler win, that year's calendar Slam seems lost, but you must balance that "yeah but" with the sober memory of what was such a win doing for the PGA anyway, as the last thing in August? The night before the Masters any of its Invitees can be the winner of the Slam, the night before (now) the PGA only one can...


5. And in the temporal moment, we have the competitive rejuvenation of Tiger Woods.. at a course he's won a major on before...with a vibrant class of accomplished young competitors to tackle fully... on the biggest media stage on the world...


6. Oh yes.. the delicious irony of John Daly on a cart, on perhaps the only municipal/public course in the world that doesn't permit them...as I said in another thread (about the Bethpage Sign)... the image of Daly in Evel Knievel pants pulling up to a greenside with a loud grass fart/stamp of the parking brake pitching away the Marlboro stub after a long pull is every bit as entertaining as DeChambeau's sextant adjustments and endless talk of the swing coaches.


cheers  vk

"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0


6. Oh yes.. the delicious irony of John Daly on a cart, on perhaps the only municipal/public course in the world that doesn't permit them...as I said in another thread (about the Bethpage Sign)... the image of Daly in Evel Knievel pants pulling up to a greenside with a loud grass fart/stamp of the parking brake pitching away the Marlboro stub after a long pull is every bit as entertaining as DeChambeau's sextant adjustments and endless talk of the swing coaches.


cheers  vk





He usually has a boombox and beer cooler in his cart but I'm not sure those are covered in the ADA regs.

Terry Lavin

  • Karma: +0/-0
The timing is forced, a recognition that the PGA Championship has far less esteem than the other three majors. The month of May won’t really help that IMHO.
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.  H.L. Mencken

MCirba

  • Karma: +0/-0
I would say that I have way more interest in the PGA right now in May than at virtually any other time in my life for a number of the reasons you mentioned..   I think the April, May, June, July calendar for the Majors is appealing and the only downside I can see is that it will be a long, long late summer and fall for professional tournament golf as far as maintaining interest.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

JESII

  • Karma: +0/-0
What are the odds the Superintendent at BPSP determines cart paths only after this weather?

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
The timing is forced, a recognition that the PGA Championship has far less esteem than the other three majors. The month of May won’t really help that IMHO.


That used to be the case but the USGA's insistence on yearly debacles has really helped to alter that equation to the benefit of the PGA.
Pebble as a site should offset that his year, though you can count on the USGA to somehow find a way to upstage Pebble beach
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
I'm with Mike on this one.  May seems better suited than August for a few reasons:


1)  A few more courses further south could be included in the Rota that no way in hell you're going there in August.
2)  August is a heavy vacation month with lots of other distractions as compared to May when people still staying put and haven't kicked off the summer yet.  This could translate to more interest.
3)  It moves glory's last shot to The Open, which is probably better suited for that tourney anyways..
4)  Fills the awkward two month major gap, that quite frankly the Players just didn't fill...

V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
What are the odds the Superintendent at BPSP determines cart paths only after this weather?


Then we set up JD with a blue pennant... but honestly I don't know how he's getting up the 9th or 15th hills... I was crying with laughter a moment ago, thinking of his wheels spinning on wet turf, shooting mud in the faces of Rich Beem and YE Yang as they're trying to push him up the hill.


Here's hoping he has a gas cart too.



That used to be the case but the USGA's insistence on yearly debacles has really helped to alter that equation to the benefit of the PGA.
Pebble as a site should offset that his year, though you can count on the USGA to somehow find a way to upstage Pebble beach


I agree: the Masters isn't going anywhere in the public mind and the British is appropriately placed with seniority, with deference and prestige as the final Major... that leaves the USOpen or the PGA...someone has to be the fourth, the least prestigious (although its a silly argument that any major tournament is a "least")...and the way the USGA is going with these course set-ups, it is now in danger of being the problem child of the four.
"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

Terry Lavin

  • Karma: +0/-0
So the PGA in May is better because the USGA will wreck the setup in June, leaving fond memories of the PGA in May?  Why not the opposite?  Why wouldn't golf fans be happy to forget about the "watching grown men crawl on broken glass" US Open setup by watching "Aren't these Bomb and Gougers Great" later in the summer?


Either way it will be interesting to see if the players kill this brutal golf course.  I'll be watching some, despite my protestations to the contrary.
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.  H.L. Mencken

V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
So the PGA in May is better because the USGA will wreck the setup in June, leaving fond memories of the PGA in May? 
No Terry, this portion was to amplify your word ("lowest esteem"); its' not "better in May" BECAUSE the USGA will wreck the setup in June, but because the PGA "esteem" (your word) was clearly #4 and not going anywhere in August, no matter how bad the USGA might screw it up...it's better in May for all the other reasons.

Either way it will be interesting to see if the players kill this brutal golf course.  I'll be watching some, despite my protestations to the contrary.
"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

JESII

  • Karma: +0/-0
Agree that for the PGA, May will be better for all those reasons...but I suspect this week is most joyous to you because of the location. Not the weather lead in they would have been praying for.[size=78%] [/size]

Peter Pallotta

The move to May is indeed what the PGA needed. Even the courses they play will seem better now, their reputations enhanced. What great course has ever hosted a major in *August*?
Though not great for the PGA Tour, methinks -- putting in relief even more starkly how meaningless most other stops are...like with tennis, where I can't name a single non major tournament

« Last Edit: May 14, 2019, 04:21:42 PM by Peter Pallotta »

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Peter,

I never really thought of it that way....but i'm guessing this list doesn't stack up to the other 2 majors in terms of "great courses" for venues.  But there are at least a few greats on there...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Championship

Michael Felton

  • Karma: +0/-0
What are the odds the Superintendent at BPSP determines cart paths only after this weather?


Then we set up JD with a blue pennant... but honestly I don't know how he's getting up the 9th or 15th hills... I was crying with laughter a moment ago, thinking of his wheels spinning on wet turf, shooting mud in the faces of Rich Beem and YE Yang as they're trying to push him up the hill.


Here's hoping he has a gas cart too.



That used to be the case but the USGA's insistence on yearly debacles has really helped to alter that equation to the benefit of the PGA.
Pebble as a site should offset that his year, though you can count on the USGA to somehow find a way to upstage Pebble beach


I agree: the Masters isn't going anywhere in the public mind and the British is appropriately placed with seniority, with deference and prestige as the final Major... that leaves the USOpen or the PGA...someone has to be the fourth, the least prestigious (although its a silly argument that any major tournament is a "least")...and the way the USGA is going with these course set-ups, it is now in danger of being the problem child of the four.


I'll be looking forwards to the "beep beep beep" as he takes off the brake and rolls backwards while someone else is playing.


As to the original post, I think it's great we have another major so soon after the Masters. It definitely helps that Tiger won the Masters (I think he's going to win here too). I am somewhat biased since it's ten minutes from my house and I think it's pretty cool there's a major championship so close.

V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
Agree that for the PGA, May will be better for all those reasons...but I suspect this week is most joyous to you because of the location. Not the weather lead in they would have been praying for.
.


I know it would seem that way Jim, but my days trekking out to the Black (for play, caddying or spectating) are over....  been there, done that...it is has never been a hop skip and a jump to get there from my long-time hometown of Danbury...when I lived in the Bridgeport area for a few years in the 90s, it was easier (I took the highly recommended Port Jeff ferry and trekked back west to BP)...


But also too, I'm nearly done with going to local PGA golf tournaments altogether... I think WF next year will be my last...the inability to watch the action comfortably and also stay free of the largesse of parking/merch/food and beverage hijacks, just sours me on the whole thing...Shinnecock ( a course I've played 3x and visited for two USOpens) was such a disappointing visit this last season, if I didn't have Member's parking, it would've felt like a ring of Hell.


I much happier for the move to May for what it does for the tournament, the broader range of venues and the concentration of the most fun part of the "watching" season into a four month window...in essence, the Bethpage thing this year is way down the list, as I'm not even going.


But I do admit it is infinitely more fun to TV watch an elite Tour event on a course one knows so well as I do Bethpage which I've had over 50 rounds on playing and caddying (and watching) over the years.
"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
The timing is forced, a recognition that the PGA Championship has far less esteem than the other three majors. The month of May won’t really help that IMHO.

To each his own. To me clearly the Masters is the far less esteemed of the majors. Move it to August and it immediately will be dropped from consideration as a major.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
What are the odds the Superintendent at BPSP determines cart paths only after this weather?

Then we set up JD with a blue pennant... but honestly I don't know how he's getting up the 9th or 15th hills... I was crying with laughter a moment ago, thinking of his wheels spinning on wet turf, shooting mud in the faces of Rich Beem and YE Yang as they're trying to push him up the hill.

Here's hoping he has a gas cart too.


http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/26756394/daly-calls-cart-disadvantage-hilly-bethpage


You See; you see?!  He's thinking about it too!
"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

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