“The sweet spot on the driver is the size of a peach now. When I was playing it was the size of a pea.”
Nick Price is regarded as one of golf’s great gentleman but bring up the subject of golf equipment and what advances in technology have done to the game and the former world No. 1, three-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Famer doesn’t hold back.
“Equipment is making all of our great courses redundant,” Price told Golfweek last week at the PNC Championship in Orlando, where he teamed with son Greg. “You ask any of the old guys – but they’ll say you old guys always complain and this is a new generation and they work a lot harder than you, well, I can name five guys that are fatter than I am and still hit it 340 yards. So, don’t give me that yarn just because everyone is working out. A lot of guys are working out, which is great, and they work on the right things and whatever, but the sweet spot on the driver is the size of a peach now. When I was playing it was the size of a pea. I’m not saying we need to go back to (persimmon woods) but these poor golf courses, you’ve got 620-yard par 5s and they’re reaching them in driver-4-iron. Something needs to be done.”
Nick Price with the trophy after winning the 1994 British Open at the Turnberry in Scotland. (Photo: Phil Sheldon/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
A native of Zimbabwe, Price won 18 times on the PGA Tour, earned two PGA Tour Player of the Year Awards (1993, 1994), and spent 43 weeks as the No. 1 player in the world.
The 66-year-old isn’t just another “old guy” voicing his opinion. He’s been intimately involved in the process as a member of the U.S. Golf Association Executive Committee for the past five years and served on the Championship and Equipment Standards committees.
“I was quite vocal about it, it was the ball, it was the driver, it was the grooves,” he said.
The announcement came after years of debate, study and communications between the USGA and R&A with stakeholders like golf equipment manufacturers, the PGA Tour, the PGA of America and other prominent groups in the golf world.
Of the governing bodies electing to roll back the ball in 2028 for pros and 2030 for recreaional golfers, Price was tepid on the move.
“It’s a step,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want to do anything about it.”
Initially, the USGA and R&A proposed the creation of a Model Local Rule that would have resulted in only elite men being required to use distance-reducing balls. But under the new rules, everyone is going to transition into the balls tested in a new, distance-reducing way.
Asked for his stance on bifurcation, Price said, “I thought there could be that. It was an option. We talked about if you played in a USGA championship you’d have to use a specific ball and clubs. But that ain’t going to happen.”
With 26 courses already bearing his name, Price hopes Soleta will expand his design business and his solo portfolio.
MYAKKA CITY, Fla. – Nick Price’s enthusiasm is evident as we trundle across a pasture in a four-wheeled off-roader, skimming shallow puddles and curving around the sandy Florida scrub.
The three-time major championship winner keeps pointing out features about the land. See that stand of trees over there? That will be a tee box. See that hump? That’s a green. See that fence line? That will be a par 4. Let me show you the river, if you have time.
For almost an hour, Price shows off what will become Soleta Golf Club. The Zimbabwean couldn’t be more thrilled to be the lead architect. As I pepper him with questions, he chats amicably about his plans to transform all the former farmland around us into a top-tier private golf course, typically in great detail.
“You’ll have to come back to see how this works out,” said Price, 66, a former World No. 1 who retired from steady competitive golf eight years ago. “You’re going to love it. Well, I’m going to love it, I know that.”
Before ground has even been broken, Price has made dozens of site visits, driving across the state’s peninsula from his Hobe Sound home in southeast Florida to what will be the club and residential community about a 40-minute drive east of Sarasota and 75 minutes southeast of Tampa. He plans to make the trip dozens of more times to keep an eye on every detail as the course is built, with a planned opening in late 2024.
Since Soleta – named for the indigenous Native American word meaning sandhill cranes, according to the club – was announced in July, Price has set about turning this fairly flat piece of Florida upland into the 27th golf course with his name attached, be it as a consultant or lead designer. And he’s determined to be hands-on.
“I’ve got to stand in this space while it’s being done, to make sure everything looks right,” said Price, who won two PGA Championships (1992, 1994), one British Open (1994) and 18 PGA Tour titles in all among his 48 worldwide wins. “I have a much better vision for distances and feel for the property when I’m actually here. That’s why I enjoy doing the dirt work. I’ll probably come out once every two weeks, for a couple days each time. I need to see it.”
Under development by a private group led by David Turner and Charles Duff, Soleta will include a planned 93 high-end residences and a village center. But those will be kept at the north end of the property separate from the golf, leaving Price more than a mile-long run toward the Myakka River. The club also will include a 30-acre practice facility designed by instructor David Leadbetter.
“From the very start, these guys have allowed us to put the emphasis on the golf,” Price said of the developers. “It’s not about the homes, not about anything else. The emphasis will be on the golf, and I love that.”
This is typical inland Florida, with one-light towns clustered around crossroads and more cattle than people. It’s a far cry from the traffic of Interstate 75 and the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Drive these dozens of miles east of the Gulf of Mexico, and instead of golfers you likely will find farm workers lined up for lunch at gas stations. There are plenty of golf communities closer to Sarasota, but Soleta is well east of those crowds.
As with most of its neighboring parcels, the land for Soleta was farmed and family-owned for decades. This land is relatively flat with a few wet stretches, challenging Price to create what he desires most in a golf course: firm and fast conditions that incorporate the ground game.
“All the great courses I have played over the years allow you to run the ball in, at least on certain holes,” said Price, known as one of the top ball-strikers of his generation. “You use the bounce and you use the slope, and that’s what we’re trying to do here.”
Developer Charles Duff, left, and Nick Price tour the site for Soleta Golf Club in Myakka City, Florida. (Courtesy of Soleta Golf Club)
The plans are to move as much or more than 1 million cubic yards of dirt, creating a handful of small lakes, the digging of which will provide sand to lift the golf holes. Price plans to generate elevation changes where currently there are none, with wide expanses of sandy native areas and natural-looking landscaping between holes instead of what a golfer typically finds in Florida, which is great expanses of green turf among pine trees. Taming the water flow will be key.
“To me, the brilliance of any architect is how well they get rid of the water, especially in Florida,” Price said. “Here, we have so much water – the less time it spends underneath in the subsoil, the better. We’ll move the water away from the golf course to get those firm conditions.”
The planned layout features two loops playing southward toward the Myakka River, which this far inland is more like a gentle stream. The southern point of the club is a gorgeous Florida scene, the river slowly coursing through cypresses and oaks. The club plans to leave this area relatively untouched to protect the native wetlands environment. Price has altered the planned layout several times, tweaking his routing to take advantage of what the land offers as it approaches the river.
“We’ve got the bones of this plan looking really good now,” he said. “The angles will be everything.”
A map of the plans for the new Soleta Golf Club in Myakka City, Florida (Courtesy of Soleta Golf Club)
Price imagines a course built high enough upon the land to provide those firm bounces he craves, with a mixture of long and short holes that will make most players hit every club in their bags. The conversation keeps returning to firm and fast conditions, with Price’s love of old-school links golf in the United Kingdom evident.
“It’s like on links courses, where you have one little 5-yard bunker but it has a catchment area of maybe 40 yards where everything rolls in,” he said in describing ideal playing conditions. “You have to think about how you want to play that. You can’t ignore that one little bunker. That’s what we want to do here.”
Price goes on to name several architects – Gil Hanse, the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Tom Doak, even Tom Fazio in some cases – who have incorporated large areas of exposed sand into firm and bouncy American courses. He’s taking a similar tact at Soleta.
“It’s not just about how beautiful the flowers are,” he said. “You want a contrast of nature. That’s what I love. You never see anything with a straight line in nature, and very infrequently do you see anything dead flat in nature. I hate straight lines on a golf course, and I hate dead flat.”
Price is accustomed to building in Florida, with his biggest hit the original layout at McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound. Price partnered with Fazio to construct what is now the ninth-ranked private course in Florida and a top-100 modern course in the U.S., according to Golfweek’s Best rankings. He also built Quail Valley in Vero Beach alongside Tommy Fazio, Tom Fazio’s nephew. His other design credits stretch from Mexico to Myrtle Beach, from South Africa to Hong Kong.
Even with 26 courses already bearing his name, Price hopes to use Soleta as a springboard to expand his eponymous design business and his solo portfolio.
“I’m very focused on this project (at Soleta), he said. “I really always have protected my integrity with what I am putting my name on, and that’s what I want here, something that good.
“Beyond that, you know, I’m looking forward to the next 10 or 12 years to really being able to do some nice properties and do some nice things I can leave behind. More McArthurs and more Quail Valleys. Let’s see how far we can take this.”
A day before the United States Senate hearing on the proposed deal involving the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer – and interim leader in Commissioner Jay Monahan’s absence – Ron Price wrote an op-ed in the Athletic that previews the Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill and argues the framework agreement is the best option for the Tour going forward.
Price began by propping up the Tour’s mission and platform while noting its charitable impact before he dug into the tumultuous two years since LIV Golf joined the fray with the financial support of the PIF. Players and fans alike were shocked by the groundbreaking news of the deal, and the reaction was loud.
“Given the well-chronicled legal disputes that have existed between the PGA Tour and PIF, we understand the fair and valid questions raised by PGA Tour members, Tour partners, media, fans and now Congress,” wrote Price. “As we have moved beyond costly and destructive litigation (which the framework agreement resolved) and are now exploring whether we can reach a definitive agreement, we are committed to answering those questions and showing how this deal will benefit professional golf – particularly our players, fans, and partners.”
However, the Tour didn’t have an answer for those questions after PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan joined Monahan on CNBC on June 6 to announce the news despite the fact the framework agreement was signed an entire week earlier. A month later, details are still few and far between surrounding the agreement. Price blamed the negative reaction on “misinformation or misunderstanding” and said the Tour took ownership of the botched announcement. He also hedged the completion of the deal multiple times.
“Fundamentally, there are two reasons that the framework agreement with the PIF and DP World Tour marks not just a highly favorable outcome for the PGA Tour, but also the clear, best path forward for professional golf broadly. First, the agreement provides clear, explicit and permanent safeguards that ensure the PGA Tour will lead the decisions that shape our future, and that we’ll have control over our operations, strategy and continuity of our mission. Second, if we get a final agreement, it will allow us to further invest in the players who define our sport, and the events, venues, communities and technology that bring it to life. Working in partnership with the membership and Policy Board, we are stewards of the organization’s long-term health and leadership. Weighed against the prospect of a continued, unsustainable battle that threatened our very existence, given the safeguards that guarantee our self-determination and the possibilities afforded by new investments, “yes” was the clear answer to the framework agreement.”
Price said the new entity, currently referred to as PGA Tour Enterprises, “will include PIF as a non-controlling, minority investor,” despite the original news that the PIF would be the sole investor. He also noted how the new board of directors would be led by a PGA Tour majority and the entity will be run by Monahan, who will serve as CEO.
Price never mentioned Al-Rumayyan or the fact that he would be the chairman of the board.
“For two years, the question has been, who would lead professional golf forward? The answer provided by this work toward a definitive agreement is now clear: the PGA Tour,” wrote Price. “That future for the PGA Tour is significantly brighter thanks to this agreement. The PGA Tour now has a great opportunity to advance player rewards, enhance the fan experience, grow our audience, and expand access to our game. Across the board, we have ideas that will help us achieve those aims. The investments this agreement will bring to the PGA Tour will make professional golf more rewarding to play, and more exciting to follow.”
Four aces on one day on the same hole was cool, but it certainly won’t happen again this year.
Here’s perhaps the safest bet for this week’s PGA Championship: Four players won’t make holes-in-one on the same day at No. 6 of Oak Hill’s East Course. Sounds like a silly bet, of course, but it happened during the second round of the 1989 U.S. Open on the East.
There’s no way that exact feat will reoccur in this year’s PGA Championship on the same layout, because that hole no longer exists.
In a two-hour span that morning in 1989, Doug Weaver, Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate and Nick Price each made an ace on the 167-yard par 3. The hole wasn’t exactly in a bowl, but it was pretty close, having been cut into the base of a swale. None of the four holes-in-one flew into the cup, each instead landing left, right or beyond the flag then curling into the cup. Each player used a 7-iron.
An amazing occurrence, for sure. It had never happened before in major championship or PGA Tour golf. Before the round, tournament officials had noted that it was a likely spot for ace, and they ended up with four.
That hole isn’t on the course any longer, thanks to a recent renovation by architect Andrew Green to Donald Ross’s layout in Rochester, New York. That sixth hole from 1989 was created during a 1970s renovation to the course by George Fazio and Tom Fazio. Green ripped it out, instead installing a new par 3 as No. 5. Green’s new No. 6 is a punishing par 4 that plays over and along a creek, earning the name Double Trouble. The hole is listed on the scorecard at 503 yards.
Not that a repeat of what has been dubbed the “Four Aces” – not to be confused with the LIV team of the same name – was likely anyways. The PGA of America reports that the odds of any Tour player making an ace on a given par 3 are 3,000 to 1. The National Hole-in-One Association calculated at the time that the odds of four Tour pros acing the same hole in one day to be 8.7 million to one, although such a friendly hole location that allows balls to break into the cup from multiple directions surely improved those odds a bit.
We offer some of the most interesting records at the Masters: birdies, eagles, cuts made and more.
There have been plenty of records set since the Masters Tournament started in 1934. Hole-by-hole scoring records, round records, tournament records – tons of interesting marks and a Hall of Fame list of familiar names stacked in the official book for Augusta National Golf Club.
Which record matters most?
That has to be most wins, and that would be Jack Nicklaus with six (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986). Tiger Woods is entered this year, and a victory by Woods (1997, 2001, 2022, 2005, 2019) would tie Nicklaus for that record. They are followed by Arnold Palmer with four titles (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964), then five players with three wins at Augusta National (Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson).
Check out some of the other interesting records below, courtesy of the official Masters media guide.
The Presidents Cup, now in its 14th edition, first launched in 1994.
The Presidents Cup, now in its 14th edition, first launched in 1994.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Virginia, was the host site for the first biennial competition pitting the top 12 American golfers vs. 12 of the best golfers from around the world, minus the European nations.
The 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford, was named honorary chairman.
The team captains were Hale Irwin, who also played for the U.S., and David Graham for the International squad.
The U.S. won that inaugural event, 20-12. Davis Love III went 4-0-1 that week, while Fred Couples went 3-0. Jay Haas (3-2-0) and Jim Gallagher, Jr. (3-1-1) also each won three matches for the U.S.
The International squad, which lost Greg Norman just days before the competition due to illness, was led by Vijay Singh, who went 3-1-1.
The last time we saw Woods play golf on television was at this event back in 2020. Time really is a flat circle.
However, the Woods-duo isn’t the only big-name partnership headed to Florida. Defending champions Justin and his father Mike Thomas will look to triumph again. Bubba Watson will be playing with his father-in-law, while Nelly Korda will be playing with her dad, Petr.
Here’s a look at the 20 partnerships at this year’s PNC Championship, which requires that each team have a major champion. The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando, Grande Lakes is the host venue.
Ernie Els, Catriona Matthew, Padraig Harrington and Nick Price have joined the R&A’s elite list of Honorary Members.
A foursome of British Open champions accepted invitations to become Honorary Members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
Catriona Matthew, Ernie Els Padraig Harrington and Nick Price join an all-star list of past and present members that includes Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Peter Thomson, Roberto De Vicenzo, Renee Powell, Kel Nagle and Louise Suggs.
“I would like to congratulate Catriona, Ernie, Padraig and Nick on becoming Honorary Members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club,” said Clive Edginton, captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, in a release.
“They have each distinguished themselves with their long and hugely successful careers in golf. As well as being great champions, they are superb role models for any young golfers to follow and embody so many of the qualities which make golf such a special sport. They have done a great deal to help promote golf around the world and this recognition is extremely well deserved.”
With 11 major championship victories between them, each have captained teams at the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup. (Harrington and Matthew are current Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup captains.)
Scotland’s Matthew won the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2009 and has 11 professional victories worldwide. She also led Team Europe to a thrilling Solheim Cup victory at Gleneagles last year. She was among the first recipients of an R&A Scholarship at the University of Stirling.
Els, a four-time major champion, won at Muirfield in 2002 and Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2012 along with his two U.S. Open titles in 1994 and 1997. The former No. 1 has 73 professional wins around the world. In 1999, he established the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation to support children from families of limited resources to progress in golf and has helped the careers of numerous young players.
Harrington won the British Open in back-to-back years at Carnoustie in 2007 and Royal Birkdale in 2008, winning the PGA Championship that same year. In 2011 he became an ambassador for The R&A, helping to support to support and promote a wide range of participation, coaching and Rules education initiatives.
Price is a three-time major champion and former No. 1 who won at Turnberry in 1994. The Zimbabwean has 48 professional titles and represented the International team in the Presidents Cup on five occasions and captained the team for three matches.
