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Morning 9: 78% of courses open | Koepka: November Masters wining score will be around E | Tiger’s next start?

Published

5 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com and find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram and golfwrxEIC on Twitter.
May 6, 2020
Good Wednesday mornings, golf fans.

 
1. Latest NGF report
Our Gianni Magliocco writes…“The National Golf Foundation’s latest research for the week ending May 3 shows a significant increase of open golf courses nationwide with 78% of courses now open for play.”
  • “That’s an increase of 20% on last week’s figures, and the NGF is estimating that in just two weeks, 90% of courses will be open throughout the U.S.”
  • “With courses in Washington and New Hampshire re-opening within the next seven days, just three states have an order in place temporarily closing their tracks – Massachusetts, Vermont and Maryland.”
  • “The most significant surge in open courses came in the mid-Atlantic, with New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania seeing a combined 221% jump in open courses.”

Full piece.

2. Golf fares well (relatively)  in WAPO reopening poll
Geoff Shackelford filed a blog post on some interesting data from a Washington Post survey…”While a majority still opposed golf courses reopening (59%), the numbers that likely speak to an overall misunderstanding of how the sport works safely or just traditional elitist-sport apathy. But first place is better than most.”
  • “…Gun stores are next, with 70 percent saying they should not be reopened, followed by barbershops and hair salons (69 percent opposed) and retail shops such as clothing stores (66 percent opposed) and golf courses (59 percent opposed).”
3. Defiance in Massachusetts
Todd Kelly at Golfweek…”A Massachusetts golf course owner is preparing to re-open two courses this week in defiance of the statewide ban on the activity, according to a report by Fox News.”
  • “Cara Cullen owns the Wachusett Country Club in West Boylston and the Kettle Brook Golf Club in Paxton. Both courses closed in March because they’re considered “nonessential businesses.”
  • “…Basically for five weeks, I’ve sat by watching my family business get destroyed while thousands of golfers have crossed the borders to go to Connecticut and New York, which is causing huge safety concerns. … There’s like 47 states that have opened golf courses. By not opening golf courses, [Baker’s] actually creating a more hazardous condition,” Cullen told Fox News.

Full piece.

4. Reshaping golf? 
Credit to Geoff Shackelford for highlighting this excerpt from Global Golf Post’s Ron Green’s report on the future of top-tier men’s professional golf…
  • “Multiple leaders within the game believe some form of consolidation between the PGA Tour and the European Tour is coming. The European Tour needs it. The PGA Tour can benefit from it.”
  • “It’s important for the PGA Tour, according to multiple sources, that the European Tour emerges intact from its current uncertainty. Different, but still here. At professional golf tours around the world, a forced reimagining is underway.”
  • “Of immediate importance to the PGA Tour is getting through what will be at least a three-month suspension of tournament competition. Each week the tour sits idle, it costs the organization millions of dollars.”
5. #LikeArnie
PGATour.com staff report…“The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation today announced a campaign of charitable efforts to support people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Called “#LikeArnie,” the campaign operates from the premise that “hungry kids can’t learn” and aims to support youth and educators across the country, including those in a number of PGA TOUR event communities. #LikeArnie builds on the Palmer Foundation’s immediate response to the pandemic, in which masks and face shields were provided to more than 20,000 workers at Orlando Health, of which the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies are part.”
“Through the Feeding America® member food banks, #LikeArnie will support the provision of nutritious food to children in Orlando, Fla. (the Foundation’s home city and site of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard), in Arnold Palmer’s hometown of Latrobe, Pa., and in nearby Pittsburgh. In addition, Feeding America food banks, Food Banks Canada, and FareShare in the U.K. have received gifts in support of 10 communities that were impacted by the cancelation of PGA TOUR events. Focusing on children’s educational challenges, the Palmer Foundation is providing a major gift for the new DonorsChoose Keep Kids Learning initiative, which will support students and teachers across the nation. Also, in partnership with other organizations, the Foundation will address educational needs for children in Orlando.”
6. Tom Watson: How Byron Nelson enriched my life
While we’re missing the Byron Nelson this year, at least we have some excellent tournament-related content from PGATour.com, including this reflection from Tom Watson…
  • “Even before meeting him, I had considered him one of the greats, mainly because of my father’s love of golf history. He always talked about the Great Triumvirate – Nelson, Snead and Hogan. My dad’s favorite was Snead and his golf swing. But he always told me, “You know, that Nelson, he had a dip in his swing but man, could he really play.”
  • “The next time I saw Byron, though, was under less-than-ideal circumstances. It was a few months later after the final round of the ’74 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. The day before, I shot 69 to take the lead and had a chance to win my first major. But that Sunday, I shot 79 in the final round to give it away. Afterwards, I was up on the second floor of the clubhouse, having a beer with my friend John Mahaffey. In walks Byron – Lord Byron — and the place goes silent. He stood at the swinging doors there and asked me a question. “Tom, could I speak with you for just 5 minutes?”
  • “I went out to meet him for that private conversation. He started out, “I really enjoy watching you play. You conduct yourself well. You played great yesterday. And today, your swing was just a little bit off. I think you got a little fast, which is typical to do when you have a chance to win the U.S. Open. I know of what I speak.”
7. Where will Tiger play next? 
ESPN’s Bob Harig contemplated Woods’ full schedule, including if he’ll play a tournament before the Memorial… Here are his thoughts on the first two events on the calendar…
  • “June 11-14: Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial...Woods’ lone appearance in the event came in 1997, when he finished fourth a week after winning his first start since capturing the Masters by claiming the Byron Nelson Championship. Colonial apparently wasn’t much to his liking at the time, but it would seem to be now. And if Woods is really itching to play, the first event back makes a lot of sense.”
  • “June 18-21: RBC Heritage….Another event Woods has played just once — a tie for 18th in 1999 — at a course that didn’t seem to suit him but now very well might. Harbour Town Golf Links is the kind of place he should love, especially the way he is so adept at working the ball on a layout that demands it. Plus, he can summon his yacht, Privacy, to the South Carolina shore. This one makes plenty of sense too, but Tiger isn’t going to play both of the first two. You’d think he would play one of them, however. This is the week previously scheduled for the U.S. Open, which has been moved to September.”
8. Julieta Granada: Unfortunate psychic? 
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…“Two weeks ago, Julieta Granada had a dream that someone stole her 2010 Range Rover with her golf clubs inside. She woke up sweating.”
  • “Granada, 33, said the dream was so real she told everyone about it…”Well that’s crazy,” her boyfriend told her, “because a car recently got stolen like three houses down.”
  • “On Sunday, Granada’s nightmare became a reality. She’d left her keys in her boyfriend’s locked car in front of his Lake Nona home in Laureate Park. When she went outside to retrieve her keys, they were gone. Along with her Range Rover, which was parked about 200 yards away.”
9. Masters where even par wins? 
Golf Channel’s Will Gray…“I don’t think any of us know what to expect,” Koepka said Tuesday on the Dan Patrick Show.”
  • “Koepka raised a litany of questions, ranging from whether the course will be overseeded to the potential length of any rough. But after posting a total of 12 under a year ago, he expects much tougher scoring this fall.”
  • “Among the factors raising the difficulty could be the wind. According to Koepka, players can expect the prevailing winds to come from a different direction in the fall, which could make Nos. 13 and 15 more difficult to reach in two.”
  • “It’s going to be so cold. Balls aren’t going to be flying as far,” Koepka said. “Every par-5 basically plays into the wind from what I’ve been told. It’s going to change the golf course. I think you’ll see scores around even par instead of that 12, 15 under that you’ve been accustomed to. And I think it could really affect the back nine.”

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Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

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News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

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Aug 4, 2025

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I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 29, 2025

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GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

 

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News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

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Jul 28, 2025

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Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

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WITB

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