For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship gets underway.

1. Van Rooyen visits dying friend

Golf Channel staff report…”Following his emotional victory at the Wide Wide Technology Championship on Sunday, Erik van Rooyen said that he couldn’t wait to see his best friend, and give him a hug.”

• “Jon Trasamar, van Rooyen’s college teammate and roommate at the University of Minnesota, has terminal cancer and texted van Rooyen last week that he has less than three months to live.”

• “On Tuesday, van Rooyen, along with friends and other former teammates, including van Rooyen’s caddie, Alex Gaugert, visited Trasamar at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.”

• “Yesterday was special,” van Rooyen said Wednesday on “Golf Today.” “A chance to say our last goodbyes.”

2. Revisions to USGA handicap system

Notable changes to the World Handicap System for Jan. 1, 2024, via the USGA…

• “Inclusion of Shorter-Length Golf Courses Within the Course Rating System: The overall length requirements for Course Rating in the WHS will be significantly reduced. A set of tees on an 18-hole course may be as short as 1,500 yards [1,370 meters] to be eligible for a Course Rating and Slope Rating®, and a set of tees on a 9-hole course may be as short as 750 yards [685 meters]. This change is intended to expand the WHS to thousands of shorter length courses, including par-3 courses, and enable more golfers to obtain and use a Handicap Index.”

• “Use of an Expected Score for a Hole Not Played: Improvements have been made to the method used to handle holes not played, which will now be based on a player’s expected score rather than a score of net par. This new method will produce a 9-hole or 18-hole Score Differential that more accurately reflects a player’s ability. As golfers across the world are playing more 9-hole rounds, an expected score can also be used to convert a 9-hole round into an 18-hole Score Differential. For some countries, this means that 9-hole scores will be considered in the calculation of a player’s Handicap Index immediately after the day of play, rather than waiting to combine with another 9-hole score.”

• “Playing Conditions Calculation Adjustments Made More Frequent: The Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) has been modified to increase the likelihood of an adjustment for abnormal playing conditions. National associations were given discretion, beginning in July 2022, to introduce this revision within their computation platforms, which will be complete by April 1, 2024.”

• “Enhanced Guidance on Conducting a Handicap Review: The role of the Handicap Committee is vital to the success of the WHS and the Rules recommend that a Handicap Review is conducted regularly, or at least once a year to ensure a Handicap Index® remains reflective of a player’s ability. New reporting tools have been developed that national associations can incorporate into their handicapping software to assist Committees in conducting the review process effectively and consistently.”

3. Stricker WD with father in the hospital

Golf Digest’s Tod Leonard…”Because of a serious family matter, Steve Stricker will not have a chance this week to cap off his tremendous campaign on PGA Tour Champions. The 55-year-old issued a statement on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, which begins on Thursday in Phoenix, to be with his father, Bob, who was admitted into a hospital on Monday.”

• “I was eagerly looking forward to…competing in this event and capping off this season, which has been an incredibly special one for me, but a personal emergency has come up that requires me to stay home,” Stricker said. “My father was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon. He is currently receiving care and it is important that I am here for my family during this challenging time.”

4. How a 15-year-old earned a spot in this week’s field

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Betschart earned his spot in this week’s Bermuda Championship through a 54-hole qualifier, posting a final-round 68 and surviving a competitor’s missed birdie try at the final hole to gain entry. If a 15-year-old playing on tour sounds like a big deal, it is. Betschart is the youngest player to play in a PGA Tour sanctioned event in almost a decade since Tianlang Guan competed in a handful of events as a 14-year-old during the 2013 season. Along with Guan, only Michelle Wie West, Andy Zhang and Lorens Chan were younger than Betschart to make a start on the PGA Tour this century.”

• “While Betschart acknowledged he is feeling nervous ahead of this week’s start, he also pointed to a message that’s plastered on a bracelet.”

• “My sister made it before the qualifier. It says ‘the next shot’ on it,” Betschart said on Wednesday when speaking to the media. “And it’s just kind of a reminder to me, don’t focus on anything else except the shot that I have in the present moment.”

5. TGL co-founder confirms league’s top prize

Golf Digest’s Alex Myers…“Many golf fans may view TGL, the forthcoming tech-infused league headlined by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, as some sort of hit-and-giggle event. But there will be some serious cash on the line.”

• “The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that there will be a total purse of $21 million on the line, with $9 million going to the winning team. And Mike McCarley, a co-founder of TGL and TMRW Sports with Tiger and Rory, confirmed those figures on this week’s Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast.”

• “They’re playing for $21 million, the purse is $9 million to the winning team, so it’s legit competition,” McCarley said on the pod. “And these guys are some of the most competitive guys on the planet.”

6. Bryan Bros take Bermuda

From PGATour.com’s Sean Martin…”This week, George IV will make his PGA TOUR debut at the age of 35 while Wesley fights for his TOUR card at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. George, the better of the brothers during their amateur days, is finally getting his taste of life on TOUR after receiving a sponsor exemption into the event.”

• “I’ve always wanted just to say I played in a PGA TOUR event, and that’s going to be really cool,” George IV said last week during an interview for the “Talk of the TOUR” podcast from the trailer at Solina Golf Club, which they purchased this past spring.

7. Javelinas + golf course = mayhem

Jack Bantock for CNN…”Growling, clacking teeth, the rumble of hooves – as night falls at one of the United States’ most scenic golf clubs, sinister noises reverberate off the red-rock canyon walls.”

• “And when the Arizona sunshine breaks over Seven Canyons in the morning, the destruction is revealed. Sprawling mounds of ravaged turf blot the 7,000-yard course like open wounds, soil and grass strewn in all directions across otherwise pristine fairways.”

• “The perpetrators? Javelina, a pig-like creature with raking canine teeth whose capacity for chaos in the town of Sedona has seen them become a viral sensation.”

• “When you come upon them and see them, it’s like The Tasmanian devil,” Seven Canyons general manager Dave Bisbee told CNN.”

8. RIP Dale Reid

Michael McEwan for Bunkered…”Tributes have been paid to former Solheim Cup captain Dale Reid who has died at the age of 64.”

• “Reid, a two-time winner of the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit passed away at her home in Queensland, Australia, after a battle with cancer.”

• “A winner of 21 LET events – only Laura Davies has won more – the Scot played in four Solheim Cups, in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1996, winning four-and-a-half points from 11 matches before guiding Europe to victory over the United States at Loch Lomond in 2000.”

9. LIV eyeing up current KFT host course

Brentley Romine for Golf Channel…”LIV Golf is reportedly targeting a tournament at another golf course with PGA Tour ties.”

• “Sports Business Journal first reported that The Grove in College Grove, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, is in discussions to host a LIV Golf event next year. The course, which was designed by LIV CEO Greg Norman, is also home to the Korn Ferry Tour playoff event, the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, and was already on the schedule for Sept. 12-15, 2024, after hosting the event each of the past two seasons.”

• “GolfChannel.com has heard similar from a source close to LIV. The source stated a few days ago that LIV was “looking” at The Grove as a potential host site.”