“We’re full steam ahead as a business,” said PGA Tour COO Tyler Dennis.
LOS ANGELES — United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan began the governing body’s annual new conference ahead of the 2023 U.S. Open by wishing PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan well.
“Hope you’re watching this, hope you’re feeling better, and everyone at the USGA wishes you a speedy recovery,” said Whan.
On Tuesday night the PGA Tour announced that Monahan, 53, is “recuperating from a medical situation” and that in his absence, Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and Executive Vice President Tyler Dennis would lead the day-to-day operations. The Tour also held a brief meeting Wednesday morning to address the staff amid a great time of uncertainty.
Appearing on Golf Channel’s “Live from the U.S. Open,” Dennis said there was no further update on Monahan’s situation.
“We’re full steam ahead as a business,” Dennis said. “All of our priorities remain unchanged. We had a big announcement last week and nothing is changing in that regard. We’re working very hard toward the definitive agreements. There’ll be a lot of news on that subject in the coming weeks and months.
“It’s full steam ahead, day to day as a business, and we’re stronger than we’ve ever been and we’re focused on the future.”
Last week the bombshell news broke that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had partnered to create a new global golf entity. Monahan, 53, was thrust back into the spotlight because of his previous comments about LIV Golf, which was fully financed by the PIF, and the commissioner was heavily criticized, especially by the 9/11 families group.
Monahan joined the PGA Tour in 2008 and was named the Tour’s fourth commissioner on Jan. 1, 2017, when he succeeded Tim Finchem. The Massachusetts native graduated from Trinity College in 1993 and was a four-year member of the golf team. He then earned a masters degree in sport management from UMass in 1995.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with PGA Tour commissioner and friend to many, Jay Monahan, his wife Susan and their entire family,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh via a statement. “He has given so much of himself to our beautiful sport and we wish him a very quick recovery back to health and the game we all love.”
The tossing of toys from the LIV crib is an almost daily occurrence now as the reality of their circumstances sets in.
Since being accused of a “dick move” by Phil Mickelson is comparable to having the Pope commend one’s catechism scholarship, Mike Whan ought to take the stigmatic legend’s intended insult as a compliment, and file it as yet more evidence of how Mickelson never emerges best in USGA contests.
Mickelson attacked Whan in defense of Talor Gooch, who Mickelson felt was unfairly discriminated against by a change in exemption criteria that cost him an automatic spot in next month’s U.S. Open. Having now taken a stand in support of someone treated shabbily by tournament regulations, it can only be a matter of time before Mickelson steps forward to shield those who might find themselves at the business end of his employer’s bonesaw.
Gooch himself has a highly-developed sense of injustice, at least as it relates to Talor Gooch. Last week he bemoaned the Australian government deducting a hefty amount of tax from his $4 million winnings at the LIV Golf event in Adelaide, a predictable gripe from someone known to have a flexible interpretation of what he owes and to whom, and when such obligations ought to be settled.
On his disappearing U.S. Open exemption, Gooch claimed the criterion change impacting him was “retroactive.” The USGA publishes Open criteria annually, and with no specifications for 2023 having previously been announced, no change can be “retroactive,” as any dictionary definition will indicate (it’s right there after “retribution,” which is what Gooch imagines this to be).
The tossing of toys from the LIV crib is an almost daily occurrence now as the reality of their circumstances sets in.
Last week in Singapore, Bryson DeChambeau panned the world golf rankings as “obsolete,” while simultaneously demanding LIV be included in said obsolete system. LIV isn’t afforded ranking points because it is non-compliant in many areas, and has made clear it doesn’t intend to become compliant. Nevertheless, DeChambeau (and Mickelson) insist the ranking is broken because it grants points to tours, not based on the past accomplishments of individuals now competing in a closed circuit where they’re contractually protected from the consequences of poor play.
“It’s not right, and I hope people can see through that,” DeChambeau said. (For late arrivals, he’s protesting the denial of ranking points, not of human rights in his benefactor’s kingdom).
\Talor Gooch, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson leave the 12th tee box during a practice round for The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network
Eager to keep pace in the victimhood stakes, Lee Westwood was among four players to resign their DP World Tour memberships after a British sports arbitration panel ruled that the European tour can sanction members who played LIV events without permission. He too claims rules are being unfairly applied against him.
“As a European Tour member, I was allowed to be a member of the PGA Tour without any problem for all those years. Tell me, what is the difference?” Westwood said to the Telegraph. “Just because LIV is funded by the Saudis — a country where my tour used to play and where we were encouraged to play?”
Westwood is conflating separate reasons why the LIV enterprise upsets people. For many fans — including plenty of his own, once upon a time — the issue is absolutely where the money is coming from, in this case, an autocrat eager to use golf to sportswash his abuses. But for those in charge of the DP World Tour, or the PGA Tour for that matter, the issue has only ever been where the money is going — to a rival league. For them, LIV is a commercial threat, not a moral dilemma.
That’s the context Westwood omits when he says there’s no difference between playing sporadically on other tours versus signing a long-term commitment to a circuit intent on supplanting the very tours he claims loyalty to. The LIV threat underpins the strategic alliance between the DP World and PGA tours, an arrangement Westwood dislikes.
“I don’t want to play under that sort of regime,” he said, displaying all the awareness one would expect of a man who has proudly boasted of never having read a book. Ignorance worn as a badge of honor seldom goes unnoticed.
Among some LIV players, the stench of desperation is rising as rapidly as Greg Norman’s hollow promises are falling apart. Those who believed the flaxen-haired finger puppet have cash, sure, but no access to the PGA Tour, no right to cherry-pick from the DP World Tour, no ranking points, and no respect as game-growing visionaries. Decisions by the British arbitration panel and a federal court in Northern California have for now marooned LIV players on an island, a reality that must be apparent to even the most obtuse of their number (it may take a while longer with Pat Perez).
This explains the rising pitch of whining about access, about ranking points, about all manner of supposed conspiracies against them. It’s the defining trait of LIV and its bottom-feeders: the legitimacy of any institution is entirely dependent on whether it favors them, be it rankings, regulations or elections.
The crybaby routine is destined to grow louder in hopes that some spineless industry executive will act as a pacifier and see to it that LIV demands are met. It could work. Golf’s upper echelon doesn’t lack men who would cheerfully peel off Saudi riyals for their beleaguered organizations under the guise of making peace among warring factions. But for all the noise, the arguments mounted by LIV players are little more than whimpering by those who made a clear-eyed choice, the consequences of which they are increasingly unprepared to live with.
Gooch is on the cutline of being eligible for the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. The top 60 in the OWGR as of May 22 and June 12 are exempt into the tournament.
Despite his place in the ranking system, Gooch thought he was already exempt after qualifying for the 2022 Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. He did not play in the event due to his move to LIV.
Thanks to a recent rule change from the USGA, that achievement no longer gets him in the field.
“The USGA annually reviews its exemption criteria for all championships, and we did for the 2023 US Open,” a USGA spokesperson wrote in an email to Golfweek. “Importantly, we provided more clarity to a specific exemption category to reflect that players must be both qualified and eligible for the Tour Championship, beginning with the 2023 U.S. Open. The change was not made retroactively, but rather as a part of our annual review process and included within several other changes made to the criteria for the upcoming 2023 championship.”
Gooch, for obvious reasons, isn’t too thrilled.
“That was obviously disappointing because that changed rule only affected one person, which was me,” Gooch said on the “73rd Hole” podcast. “So that was frustrating and tough because with LIV still not being rewarded with World Ranking points, I have only two options to qualify for the U.S. Open: via my World Ranking, which is going to be very challenging, or trying to obviously go through the qualifying route of sectional qualifying.”
Phil Mickelson has come to Gooch’s aid on Twitter, calling out Mike Whan, the USGA’s CEO, over the exemption change.
Yep. He qualified 9 months ago via Tour championship. 3 months ago Whan changed the wording on the qualifying criteria to take it away. Total d!*k move by Whan. He leads our governing body. Sad
Hey cowboy, The USGA is not the pga tour. His pga tour suspension has nothing to do with the USGA. The rule clearly stated he qualified via tour championship. He did not have to play. Whan changed the rule 6 months after the fact to exclude him. Like I said, a d!*k move.
Mickelson needs a win at the U.S. Open to complete the career grand slam. He is exempt into the field next month thanks to his win at the 2021 PGA Championship.
It’s fitting that Michelle Wie West will take part in what could be the most important U.S. Women’s Open.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Michelle Wie West’s husband, Jonnie, tested positive for COVID-19 just a couple days before last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Wie West tested negative for four days and felt it was somewhat of a miracle that she was able to compete at Pine Needles as she transitioned away from a competitive career on the LPGA, though it stung to be across the country from her husband, daughter and parents.
“I just remember sitting in my hotel room thinking, this is not the way to go,” said the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion. “This is so sad.”
The 78th U.S. Women’s Open, July 6-9 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, will provide the chance for Wie West to say a proper goodbye in her beloved Bay Area, with her husband on the bag and the rest of her family watching every shot. It’s fitting that the most well-known player in the women’s game in recent years will take part in what could be the most important championship in U.S. Women’s Open history.
On Tuesday, Wie West took part in Women’s Open media day, playing nine holes there for the first time in blustery conditions.
“I didn’t dream of this to be the last one,” she said, “but if I could this would be the way to go.”
Michelle Wie West at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open Preview Day in Pebble Beach, California, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/USGA)
As Wie West got her first glimpse of the iconic course, Annika Sorenstam announced on Twitter that she had accepted a special exemption to compete at Pebble, making an historic week in the women’s game all the more special.
“I think this is a dream-changer,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan of the U.S. Women’s Open coming to Pebble Beach for the first time. “I think this really matters to the people playing, but the real impact of this is the girls that are thinking about playing or aren’t really sure what they think about golf.”
History won’t just be made on the course as the USGA announced record-breaking television coverage (26 hours) and live prime time network coverage over the weekend on NBC. In addition, the media and fans will be able to track every shot that’s hit at Pebble Beach as the USGA utilizes the PGA Tour’s ShotLink scoring system for the first time at a women’s event.
The message: This isn’t just a big week in women’s golf. It’s a big week in women’s sport.
Michelle Wie West at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open Preview Day in Pebble Beach, California, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Photo: Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
Former U.S. soccer star Brandi Chastain and Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, who became the first Asian-American to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympic competition in 1992, joined major champion Morgan Pressel on a panel to talk about the potential impact of the historic week. Pressel will be lead analyst for NBC.
Chastain became a household name in the U.S. after scoring the winning goal at the 1999 World Cup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Northern California native believes there are many things that could be taken from that history-making Cup, which broke records in attendance, television ratings and interest.
“I think No. 1 is the leadership that said we see what could be,” said Chastain, “and we must put it out there in a way that’s brave and bold.”
The Women’s Open at Pebble Beach could be a milestone for women’s sport, much like the Rose Bowl was in 1999.
The 54-year-old Chastain grew emotional when she talked about her personal connection to Pebble, where her grandfather took her out to watch the Crosby as an 8-year-old. They’d walk the course together and eat strawberry shortcake along the 18th fairway.
“As I was sitting there listening to Mike (Whan),” said a teary-eyed Chastain, “I realized I would be bringing my two granddaughters, and we’re going to have the same walk.”
Brandi Chastain at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open Preview Day in Pebble Beach, California, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/USGA)
Wie West, who will have her daughter Makenna onsite, had originally planned to start grinding on her game in April, but got busy and now plans to start this month. Jonnie, who works for the Golden State Warriors and plays to about a 2-handicap, will caddie for her for the first time at Pebble, though he has looped at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am a couple times as well as a Web.com event for Steph Curry.
“I know I play my best golf when I have fun,” she said, “so having my husband on the bag is going to be key for that.”
“Imagine Lydia (Ko) and Rory (McIlroy) walking down the 18th hole together. How cool would that be?”
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Something unusual happened early this week at the Chevron Championship. Golf’s most important leaders gathered on LPGA soil to brainstorm how to drive the women’s game forward. Attendees of the inaugural Commission at The Chevron Championship in Houston included PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh and U.S. Golf Association CEO Mike Whan.
“We convene at the (men’s) majors and the industry comes together in various forms,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “We just felt like it was really important to bring people to an LPGA event.”
The commission was hosted jointly by Marcoux Samaan and Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth. Other attendees included executive vice president of content and executive producer for NBC Universal and Golf Channel Molly Solomon, LPGA board chair and former KPMG chair John Veihmayer and LPGA major champion and television broadcaster Dottie Pepper.
Guest panelists included Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, co-founder and CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, Danette Leighton, CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation and Angel City Football Club CRO Jess Smith.
“Mostly our goal was to educate them,” said Marcoux Samaan. “Level-set on where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going, where women’s sports is more broadly. And then to really think about innovative ways to think about women’s golf and the LPGA.”
Marcoux Samaan said one of the most eye-opening topics to many in the room was the impact of the LPGA’s travel schedule. Organizers shared a social media post from Golf.com’s Claire Rogers that illustrated the way players bounce around the country and the globe in head-spinning fashion.
“We don’t have as much of an ability to control our destiny as much as they do,” said Marcoux Samaan of the LPGA’s schedule compared to that of men’s leagues.
“When we build the demand and build the understanding of how good our women are, we can help dictate the schedule a little bit more.”
Marcoux Samaan believes that shared resources with the PGA Tour around technology could make an immediate impact on the women’s game, such as ShotLink for scoring and data management.
The event served as a great conversation starter for many topics, Marcoux Samaan said.
After the morning session, attendees were invited to play in the Chevron Championship Pro-Am, where Marcoux Samaan and Monahan teed it up together with Nelly Korda on the front nine at The Club at Carlton Woods.
Stacy Lewis only had two holes with Monahan on the back nine before he had to head back to Florida for family reasons. Lewis was impressed by how prepared and engaged Monahan was during their short time together.
“I think he realizes that they need to do more,” said Lewis on Wednesday. “He said that to me multiple times yesterday. … it’s just now whether we can push it forward and actually do something about it.”
Lewis put forth her desire to see the LPGA and PGA Tour come together for an event that features the top men and women playing together in full-field events with separate leaderboards and separate purses across two courses on one site.
“Imagine Lydia (Ko) and Rory (McIlroy) walking down the 18th hole together,” she said. “How cool would that be?”
Korda hinted at the same to Monahan, though she noted that the unofficial Grant Thornton Invitational later this year that features LPGA and PGA Tour players partnered together is a good step.
“They have such a big platform,” said Korda. “I feel like the best way to grow the game at the end of the day is to combine the two.
“Girls golf is growing at an incredible rate, and they see that too.”
Perpall was appointed president-elect during last year’s Annual Meeting.
Fred Perpall was elected to serve as the 67th president of the United States Golf Association on Saturday at the Association’s Annual Meeting in Napa, California, the USGA announced.
Perpall will serve a three-year term leading the USGA Executive Committee, the all-volunteer, policy-making board that provides strategic direction and oversight to the USGA’s full-time staff. He is the first Black man to hold that post in the association’s history, dating to 1894.
“We talk too much about what separates us, and not enough about what unites us. In golf, we’re a community,” said Perpall following his election. “When we lean in together, when we include more people in the game, not only will the game get better, but our lives will get better, too.”
Perpall succeeds Stu Francis of Hillsborough, California, whose term ended this month.
Perpall was first elected to the Executive Committee in 2019 and has served on the Governance, Nominating, and Compensation/Leadership Development committees. In 2021, he became the chair of the USGA Championship Committee, which introduced the U.S. Adaptive Open during his tenure along with the announcement of several USGA championship anchor sites. He was appointed president-elect during last year’s Annual Meeting.
“The USGA is stronger with global business leaders like Fred on our board,” Mike Whan, USGA’s CEO, said in a release. “Beyond his work with golf in the last three years, Fred clearly loves the game and wants to leave it better than he found it. We couldn’t ask for better energy to propel our strategy and mission, and we’re rolling up our sleeves with that inspiration and drive to guide us.”
A native of the Bahamas, Perpall earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas-Arlington and later graduated from the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He played basketball and ran track in college and was a member of the 1994 Bahamian National Basketball Team.
A registered architect, Perpall is CEO of The Beck Group, where he leads the firm’s domestic and international architectural design, planning, real estate consultancy and construction businesses. He is an avid golfer and was a member of the board that helped build Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
He welcomes three new members elected to the USGA Executive Committee, who will also each serve three-year terms beginning today. They are Leslie Henry of Houston, Bryan Lewis of South Haven, Michigan, and Michael McCarthy of San Francisco.
If elected, Perpall, 47, will succeed Stu Francis, who will conclude his three-year term in February 2023.
Fred Perpall has been nominated to serve as the 67th president of the United States Golf Association. He would be the first Black man to hold that post in the association’s history, dating to 1894.
If elected, Perpall, 47, will succeed Stu Francis of Hillsborough, California, who will conclude his three-year term in February 2023. Highlights of Francis’ presidency include helping to guide the organization successfully through the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing on Mike Whan as USGA CEO, and working to elevate all USGA championships and host sites, among many other contributions.
Perpall, a native of the Bahamas who now calls Dallas home, is completing his fourth year on the executive committee, and his first as president-elect. He chairs the Championship Committee, helping to usher in the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open Championship and the site selection of several USGA championships to many of America’s iconic courses.
Fred Perpall USGA President Elect as seen during the USGA Golf House Pinehurst Ground Breaking in the Pinehurst, N.C. on June 6, 2022. (USGA/John Mummert)
Professionally, Perpall is the CEO of The Beck Group, where he leads the firm’s domestic and international architectural design, planning, real estate consultancy and construction businesses. A registered architect, Perpall was elected to the prestigious American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2016.
Perpall earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He played basketball and ran track in college and was a member of the 1994 Bahamian National Basketball Team. He took up golf just under 10 years ago.
“Fred is a dynamic leader who has a tremendous passion for the game,” said Whan.
The election of officers and members of the USGA executive committee, a volunteer group of 15 people that provides strategic and financial oversight as the Association’s policy-making and governance board, will take place at the organization’s annual meeting on Feb. 25, 2023 in Napa, California.
“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, who will hand over a $2 million check on Sunday.
NAPLES, Fla. – The seeds of the CME Group Tour Championship began with a pro-am 15 years ago. In those early years, CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy received note after note from clients who so enjoyed their rounds of golf with LPGA players that they instantly became fans of the tour.
Beginning in 2011, CME began title-sponsoring the LPGA’s year-ending event, eventually integrating the firm’s Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida, with the LPGA’s season-ending event at the Ritz-Carlton’s Tiburon Golf Club. This week, Duffy will hand over the biggest check in the history of the women’s game – $2 million. The overall purse of $7 million is the largest on the LPGA outside of the majors (and is bigger than the purses at two of the five majors). The last player in the field of 60 will make $40,000, close to what 10th place made last week.
Former U.S. presidents, secretaries of state and business tycoons have presented at CME’s conference, and for Tuesday night’s dinner, the firm typically invites a select number of players to attend. Earlier this week, when Duffy asked for the houselights to be turned on so that he could applaud the players in the room, the only people standing were those serving the tables.
Not a single player showed up.
“It’s an embarrassment to a company of my size and an embarrassment to me personally,” said Duffy, two days after the event.
Duffy’s beef isn’t with the players, though — it’s with who’s at the helm.
“I am exceptionally disappointed with the leadership of the LPGA,” he continued. “They better get their act together because they’re going to lose people like me over stuff like this.”
When CME first sponsored the Titleholders event in 2011, the purse was $1.5 million and the winner received $500,000. Three years later, the Race to the CME Globe season-long points race was introduced with a $1 million bonus. That bonus has since been folded into the official prize money with a winner-take-all format. In 2018, it was announced that the winner would receive $1.5 million, which at the time was more than what most PGA Tour winners received.
“This announcement is really about setting a new standard in women’s golf,” said then-commissioner Mike Whan four years ago. “I would love to lie to you guys and say that I called Terry 16 times and pushed and pushed him for it, but it was his idea.”
Duffy aimed to blaze a trail that he hoped other organizations would follow. His influence today is similar to what David Foster did at Mission Hills in the 1970s to elevate the women’s tour with the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks with the media during a roundtable during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 18, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Mollie Marcoux Samaan was named commissioner of the LPGA 18 months ago, and she was at the dinner that players skipped.
“There hasn’t been any greater supporter of the LPGA than CME Group and Terry Duffy,” Marcoux Samaan told Golfweek on Friday when asked about the incident.
“There was clearly a disconnect, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t happen. So on this particular issue, I’m taking full responsibility as a leader of the organization to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
This week, the LPGA announced that the total prize fund in 2023 will cross the $100 million mark for the first time, despite losing three full-field events and only adding one (although it’s unknown at this point if players will actually be able to travel to the two events in China that are worth $4.2 million). The majors and CME represent nearly half of the tour’s prize money, with only three additional events on the schedule with a purse of at least $3 million. A dozen events still offer purses below $2 million.
As the LPGA’s big events do the heavy lifting, it’s still a grind to push longtime sponsors to higher purses and fill in the gaps of those who don’t renew. Veteran players, who not too long ago worried that the LPGA might not survive, understand that a culture of appreciation remains vital.
The accessibility and approachability of players is what drove Duffy to take a pro-am event with about 20 players and build it into a benchmark event for women’s sports.
While the LPGA continues to reach new heights financially, the chasm between the men’s and women’s tours only grows deeper as some purses on the PGA Tour’s schedule now reach $20 million. LPGA veteran Karen Stupples believes it’s critical that LPGA players maintain the “act like a Founder” mantra that Whan preached for years.
“They went to baseball parks and did tricks on the fields to bring people in to watch them play golf,” said Stupples of the 13 women who founded the tour in 1950. “The players don’t have to do that anymore, They have to go to a party or two. Just treat it as your job. Your job description is to do this.”
Terry Duffy addresses the crowd with Keith Urban, who performed on the lawn at the Ritz on Wednesday as part of the week’s festivities at CME. (Photo courtesy of CME)
It’s not unusual now for top players to turn down pre-tournament interviews, even at major championships and CME. Some will meet with the print media or Golf Channel, but not both. Sometimes, it’s nothing at all.
When Stacy Lewis became the No. 1 player in the world, a couple of LPGA Hall of Famers sat her down and outlined the expectations.
“They just said, as a top American, as No. 1 in the world, you’re going to be asked to do a lot of things,” said Lewis. “You’re going to be asked to do a lot of interviews that you don’t want to do. You need to do it because it’s what’s best for the tour. It will be productive for you; it will be productive for the tour. It creates more exposure, and that’s your job. Your job as a top player is to help build this tour.”
Stupples believes that players often get so caught up in their own little bubbles that they fail to see the bigger picture. Lewis agrees.
“It’s all these kinds of things that for so long they were unsaid, and people just did it because it’s the right thing to do,” said Lewis, “and the current generation needs to hear it, needs to be taught it.”
For the LPGA to continue on an upward trajectory, player buy-in remains critical, especially when it comes to knowing the expectations of those who write the checks.
“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, “because the leadership needs to work with their players to make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of how we grow the game together, along with sponsors and others. There’s no one person, no two people who can grow it alone. You need everybody. They say it takes a village, and I think their village is getting a little fractured.”
Marcoux Samaan said she continues to emphasize the “act like a Founder” culture Whan created at staff and player meetings, believing that the organization’s “secret sauce” of hospitality, sponsor engagement and accessibility remains one of its biggest strengths.
“We just need to continue to deliver that message,” said Marcoux Samaan, “and I don’t think anyone disputes it. I think everyone believes it. Sometimes you just miss in the moment.”
From taking out turf to upgrading irrigation systems, golf courses are constantly focused on water.
In charge of 500 acres of irrigated turf at Sun City Palm Desert, including two 18-hole golf courses, parks and softball fields for the 50-and-over community of 5,000 homes, Tyler Truman is no stranger to concerns about how much water the courses and the surrounding areas are using.
“I can see where (the critics) are coming from,” said Truman, director of agronomy at Sun City, which includes the two golf courses at the Mountain Vista Golf Club. “And you listen to them. And then you try to educate them. This is how we are trying to use the water. This is how we are using the water.”
As the drought in the southwest deepens, with a first-ever Level 2a Shortage Condition declared for the Colorado River—a major source of water for the desert and all of Southern California—golf courses in the Coachella Valley are aware that golf is always a target for those looking at water usage.
With golf courses using between 750,000 and 1 million gallons of water a day in the desert, and with 120 golf courses in the Coachella Valley alone, golf industry officials know they need to both reduce water usage and reinforce the benefits of the usage.
Mike Whan, executive director of the U.S. Golf Association, said earlier this year he’d like to see a 45-percent reduction in golf course water usage in the next 15 years. Other USGA officials are now trying to figure out how to meet such an aggressive goal.
“I was part of a meeting to discuss if that number is realistic or not, and I think it probably is,” said Brian Whitlark, agronomist for the West Region Greens Section for the USGA based in Arizona, whose region includes the Coachella Valley. “Will a golf course in Los Angeles reduce its water by 45 percent? Probably not. But nationwide, I think that is possible.”
The Firecliff Course at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, California. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)
From taking out irrigated turf to upgrading irrigation systems and computer technology, golf courses are constantly focused on water, said Craig Kessler, director of government affairs for the Southern California Golf Association.
At the recent Southern California Golf and Water Summit in Chino Hills, Kessler was one of the speakers to a crowd of more than 200 golf professionals, general managers and course superintendents looking to share ideas and learn new strategies on water reduction.
“We want to continue to bring this great game to Californians,” said Kessler, who is also the chairman of the Coachella Valley Golf and Water Task Force. “And we understand that we live in a land of permanent drought. As we read the headlines every day, we can see the consequences of a warmer, drier climate. We recognize that we need to do those things, we are dedicated to doing those things and we want to do those things in partnership.”
The summit was held in the shadow of negotiations on availability of Colorado River water that saw Nevada and Arizona have their water allotments cut by the federal Bureau of Reclamation by as much as 21 percent. The Coachella Valley Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District are still negotiating river water allotments.
The drought is a major concern for the California golf community, which the California Alliance for Golf estimates is a $1.2 billion per year industry. In the Coachella Valley, the alliance estimates 8,000 people are directly employed in the golf industry.
Making progress on reductions
For Truman, cutting water usage at Sun City Palm Desert began when he arrived at that job 11 years ago.
“When I first got here, we were using close to 4,000 acres feet of water a year,” Truman said. “With using the technology, the soil moisture meters, not just in greens, but with Toro’s in-ground sensors, we’ve now gone from 4,000 down to 3,000 in that time period.”
To save an acre foot of water, or 325,851 gallons, managers like Truman rely more and more on technological advances. That includes soil moisture meters, which measure moisture in the soil at various spots on the golf course. Irrigation software allows Truman and his staff to individually control the nearly 10,000 sprinkler heads at Sun City Palm Desert.
Moisture detectors on the Santa Rosa and San Gorgonio golf courses allow Truman to identify where turf is being overwatered or underwatered against Truman’s desire for an 18 to 20 percent soil saturation goal. Soil wetting agents, which draw water from the surface down to the roots of grass plants, also help courses cut back on water use.
Whitlark says more courses should be using soil moisture sensors, which cost no more than $15,000 or $20,000 for a course. But other measures also will save water, he said.
“Just optimizing the irrigation system by raising the level of the sprinklers, changing nozzles, changing the irrigation system about every 30 years to save water, the strategy of wetting agents and growth regulators, that one’s not really being utilized to the extent that it can be,” Whitlark said.
Advances are also being made in the grasses being used to carpet desert courses. At UC Riverside, the turfgrass science department is developing Bermuda grasses that could stay green in both summer and winter in the desert. That would reduce the need for overseeding, the process of converting from warm-weather Bermuda grass to cool-weather grasses like rye grass. Even changing from old types of Bermuda to new hybrid Bermuda grasses can save water, said Dr. Jim Baird of UCR.
The Coachella branch of the All-American Canal flows through the Golf Club at Terra Lago in Indio, California. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)
“The savings would be in the 30-percent range, realistically, but is that enough to do this?” said Baird, a turfgrass specialist for UCR. “As we mentioned, renovating from one Bermuda grass to another Bermuda grass is no easy measure. Because one thing I know about Bermuda grass is it is hard to kill. So that said, I think we certainly will do our best in that regard to make some strides.”
River, recycled water important
The source of irrigation water is always a concern for desert courses, especially in light of the ongoing negotiations over the Colorado River and historic low levels in Lake Mead in Nevada, said Scott Burritt, director of service and communications for CVWD.
“The golf courses have a strong interest in conserving water because that’s part of their bottom line,” Burritt said. “It can be a major expense, so they have an interest in conserving water, and there are a lot of discussions about what different golf courses are doing.”
Thirty-six Coachella Valley courses use strictly Colorado River water for irrigation, while another 17 ½ courses (a course is considered to be 18 holes) use a blend of river water and recycled water from CVWD. Other courses use ground water from the aquifer beneath the desert, with Burritt saying CVWD replenishes more than 40,000 acre feet of water to the aquifer each year.
Plans for switching another 40 ½ courses to non-potable water are underway, though many of those courses need pipes extended from the two CVWD recycling plants to reach the courses before switching over. Burritt said current street work in Palm Desert is designed to take more recycled water to big landscape customers like golf courses.
But Burritt points out that recycled water’s drawback is that in the summer, when courses need more water to fight high temperatures, the desert has less recycled water available because fewer people are in the desert to take showers or flush toilets.
Turf reduction could be key
Another strategy for reducing water is simply reducing the amount of turf being irrigated. In the last seven years, CVWD reports more than 160 acres of turf, or the equivalent of nearly two average golf courses, have been removed at desert courses, but convincing golf courses to reduce turf and replace it with drought-tolerant native plants and desert landscaping can be difficult.
“You don’t just remove turf and you are done with it,” said Chris Bien, head agronomist at the city-owned Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert. “There is a cost involved with (removing) it. There is a cost involved with maintaining it, and that sometimes gets shoved under the rug.”
Whitlark and superintendents in the desert say removing an acre of turf can cost $20,000, including putting in new irrigation systems and planting drought-tolerant plants in place of grass. At one time CVWD offered a rebate of $15,000 to golf courses for each acre of turf removed, up to seven acres per course. But money for the project ran out, and Burritt said the agency is always looking for more grant money for such programs.
While the return on the investment of reducing turf may not be immediate for golf courses, Truman hopes more courses make changes.
“What I am seeing is that the newer people that we have, the younger generations that are moving into our facilities, a lot of them are okay with the desertscape popping up in (golf) areas,” Truman said. “You are getting people who are understanding hey, we need to do this. The older generation likes that parkland setting where everything is green and lush. So I think just like everything, the younger generation is more open to it.”
Removing turf is also something that impacts course homeowners, Bien said. Desert Willow has two courses, the Mountain View and the Firecliff, totaling about 150 acres and including acres of desertscape on both courses.
“It’s a property-to-property thing, though, because you run into a danger of are there homeowners next to your golf course,” Bien said. “That is their backyard and they want the green backyard, and there are property values and the like to think about. For here (at Desert Willow), we don’t really have homes on Desert Willow, which is great.”
Whitlark said repeating the message of turf reduction is important, with Arizona golf courses often having just 70 to 80 acres of turf compared to courses in the Coachella Valley that often have between 100 to 120 acres of grass. The message isn’t always popular but needs to be pushed, he said, pointing to a course in Sun City, Arizona, he has been working with for 15 years.
“My very first visit, they almost shoved me out of the room,” Whitlark said. “But every year, I just kept saying it, turf reduction, turf reduction. Finally they realized they need to make some changes because they saw the writing on the wall.”
Cutting back expectations
Part of the problem for golf courses in the desert, particularly private ones, is that the area has a reputation for perfectly manicured and green golf courses in the winter. Those are two factors that lure snowbirds to the area for months at a time.
“That’s tough. It’s just such a long history of having that oasis out there in the wintertime,” said Baird. “That’s going to be tough.”
Overseeding, the planting of cool-weather grasses to keep courses green in the winter, is still needed because Bermuda grass can go dormant and brown in the winter, when part-time residents and tourists spend their time in the area.
“From October to May is so important as the prime revenue season,” Whitlark said. “Overseeding is still going to be important for now and probably not something that courses can consider reducing.”
Some golf visitors to the desert don’t want to see a change in what they view as a key element of the appeal of desert courses: a lush, green carpet of grass. Doug Evans of Oklahoma City, who was recently playing golf in the desert with two of his friends after not visiting for a few years, said he loved the conditions at Marriott’s Desert Springs on a hot afternoon.
“The course is beautiful. But if the golf course was not in as good a shape or was brown, what would be the point of being here?” said Evans, who spent his summer golf vacation last year in Arizona.
Other golfers understand the drought might cause needed changes.
The Firecliff Course at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, California. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)
“You can walk around any golf course and see areas where there is grass where no one is going to hit a golf ball,” said David Barnett of Mission Viejo, California. “So why not take the grass away. It is the desert, so let it be the desert. We save water all the time in Orange County. The desert should, too.”
Bien says expectations have to change based on the golf course and its clientele.
“There are different levels of managing expectations. I want to have a firm, fast golf course,” Bien said. “People get better playability out of a firmer, faster golf course. Does that mean that I’m okay having the golf course brown? No, it does not. Does that mean I’m okay with having a brown spot here or there? Absolutely.”
Looking to the future
Truman said talk of river water cutbacks have to be a concern for desert courses.
“California has a lot of water rights, but who’s to say if this federal government doesn’t step in and renegotiate all of those rights?” Truman said. “I know CVWD will do everything to protect our water. Hopefully, we can keep those things. But I look at people who need water and we need to manage our water the best possible way that we can.”
Whitlark says with a focus on water reduction for golf courses, mandatory cuts might be in the future.
“It is probably going to take a regulatory body to say, hey, I don’t care how you reduce the water use, but you are going to have to reduce the water use by 20 or 30 percent,” Whitlark said. “It is probably going to take that. Either that or water costs are going to have to go through the roof. Now many of those courses use canal water, which comes from the Colorado River, so I imagine they are going to feel some impact from the Bureau of Reclamation.”
For Kessler, keeping the regulatory agencies and state government out of the decision process is important, but so is assuring the future of golf and courses.
“What is the point of living in the great southwest in Southern California or Arizona or Nevada, where you can literally play golf 365 days a year, if we can’t continue to provide golf,” Kessler said.
Whan is looking to make improvements after the social media outcry.
USGA CEO Mike Whan has heard the criticism.
The social media backlash from countless viewers who found NBC’s broadcast across multiple networks bordering on unwatchable due to the endless ad breaks didn’t fall on deaf ears.
“I’m on it!” Mike Whan tweeted from his personal account. “We have the best sports production team in the world here with our partner NBC Sports (Olympics, Super Bowl, etc.) and if the amount of interruptions are problematic, we will work with our partner to do better.”
Golf.com, citing multiple sources, reported that “stakeholders from both the USGA and NBC held conversations on Saturday to address the social media backlash to the broadcast, specifically in regard to the commercial load.” It is common for the network to have daily conversations with USGA officials, including to discuss elements of the coverage.
The USGA and NBC are longtime TV partners. But the USGA struck a lucrative deal with Fox that began in 2015. This is the second year that NBC has returned to broadcasting USGA championships after buying out the back end of Fox’s bloated 12-year deal. Of the USGA’s 15 championships, the U.S. Open is far and away the most in demand among advertisers. To recoup expenses, the U.S. Open has more frequent commercial breaks.
I’m on it! We have the best sports production team in the world here with our partner NBC Sports (Olympics, Super Bowl, etc.) and if the amount of interruptions are problematic, we will work with our partner to do better!
NBC’s coverage also has been derided this week for asking viewers to flip channels between Peacock, its premium (paid) streaming service, USA Network and NBC, but not Golf Channel.
Whan is in his first year at the helm of the USGA after previously serving as LPGA Commissioner. He tweeted back at No Laying Up, who was highly critical of the coverage and tagged Whan in one of its missives.
“More TV people here than the Super Bowl (true!) so we/the USGA will work to free them up to do what they do better than anyone,” Whan wrote. “This has been a great U.S. Open and we will work to make 2023 at LACC even better!”
More TV people here than the Super Bowl (true!) so we/the USGA will work to free them up to do what they do better than anyone. This has been a great US Open and we will work to make 2023 at LACC even better!
The last hour of Sunday’s broadcast of the final round should be more to the liking of viewers as it will be shown commercial-free thanks to Rolex, which is an official USGA partner.
