News

November build will pay dividends for 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill

Published

1 year ago

Nov 29, 2022

From a recent press release on the PGA Championship, to be contested next in May of 2023, at Rochester’s Oak Hill Country Club:

“For the first time in PGA of America’s history, the groundbreaking of a major championship has started the year prior. In anticipation of any snow that falls in Rochester, and potentially lingers in early 2023, service providers are at Oak Hill Country Club laying the framework and beginning to construct the massive temporary infrastructure for the 2023 PGA Championship buildout.”

“Despite any snow on the ground in January, February and March, these pivotal preparations will allow the buildout to continue and ensure the restored East course is ready May 15-21, 2023, when the PGA Championship returns to historic Oak Hill.”

At GolfWRX, we decided to do something similar, and begin our coverage in advance of the 2023 playing of the PGA Championship. Eric Nuxol, the Operations Manager for the PGA Championship, connected with us for a quick six questions.

Originally from Orlando, Florida, Eric has been on the road with the golf industry for over 10 years, most recently in Rochester for the 2023 PGA Championship. His work has taken him to San Francisco for the 2020 PGA Championship, Chicago for the 2018 Women’s PGA Championship, and Williamsburg, Virginia, for the 2017 Kingsmill Championship — while also spending many nights in hotels across the country working for the Symetra Tour (now known as Epson Tour) of the LPGA. Before his career in the golf industry, Eric studied Sports Management at the University of West Florida, where he also pitched for the University of West Florida Argonauts baseball team.

Today, he’s Operations Manager for the 2023 PGA Championship, serving as the conduit between service providers, local agencies, municipalities and more. He sees that all operations happen, from planning to budgeting to execution and restoration.

Our questions touch on the beginning of the build, and what to expect from next year’s run-up to the main event. Be warned, though, that the fifth question is a healthy one!

GolfWRX: Why start in the fall?

Eric Nuxol: Our schedule is generally based on hospitality sales and entirety of scope. We anticipate a three-month build, sometimes a bit more or less. We wanted to make sure that we put ourselves in the position to succeed, regardless of potential winter-linger weather or rough spring weather. By starting in November, we wanted to get three weeks in the bank.

GolfWRX: Tell us which aspects or areas of the build were mandatory for November?

Eric Nuxol: Three areas of the course had our attention. The biggest component is the 4100 tent stakes going into the ground. These will give stability to all of our tents once they are erected. You can’t do it so easily in frozen ground. We will put in 200,000 square feet of scaffold, to support the wooden beams and plywood floors for those tents. When you walk through the PGA Championship shop or the concession spaces, these subfloor grids will provide stability/floor. Later, there will be mesh on the side of each structure, yet it will be something that folks will never see. After that, we will install perimeter fence and chainlink runs. In the spring, the windscreen around the perimeter of the course will go in.

GolfWRX: What will happen in February?

Eric Nuxol: We will resume the three areas on which we are currently working. We want to be above the frost if snow is still there. We do account for potential snow days. Doing everything to jump ahead. Wood on top of steel, followed by frames of tents. then, another group builds out the interior of the PGA Shops.

GolfWRX: What parts of the build wouldn’t you undertake ahead of time?

Eric Nuxol: The most important component is the wood. We do not want wood to rot or warp with temperature and moisture fluctuations that occur during a northern winter. We will begin all wood work in the spring.

There will be no offsite buildings by the PGA for the 2023 championship. We will work on a parking plan for fan, vendor, and media attendance and will develop an efficient shuttle system thereafter. We plan to use portions of open areas of the club’s West Course for broadcast, but we will not erect any structures on the fairways nor greens. The entire shopping district will be built over the club’s driving range. The player’s practice range will be on the West course. (Interviewer’s note: the range will probably be sighted on the West’s 7th hole fairway.)

You (the interviewer) made a Theme-Park comparison. That is not far off. We are extremely focused on guest experience. We want attendees to enter the world of the PGA Championship as soon as they exit the shuttle.

GolfWRX: You were on site for a number of PGA Championships in the past decade. What do you remember from each, and what did you carry forward to 2023?

Eric Nuxol:

2018 Women’s PGA-Kemper Lakes and 2020 PGA-Harding-Spectatorless PGA

Women’s and Senior PGA Championships-There are many similar elements, but the construction isn’t as expansive. Both require working with outside groups and local municipalities. We know what the final picture looks like, but we have to fit it to each unique site.

2019 Senior PGA at Oak Hill

I was at Bethpage during this event, preparing for that year’s PGA Championship. Our PGA team learned a great deal from our time in May 2019 at Oak Hill. We knew that two things would happen: we would be heare in May, four years later for a PGA Championship, and that the East course would close immediately after the tournament for an Andrew Green architectural restoration. The team did not have to start as early as 2023, as the footprint of a Senior PGA is not as large. The 2019 team gathered information on golf course preparation for a May major championship through its work with the club’s grounds crew and we are able to carry that information forward for 2023.

2019 PGA at Bethpage

If you haven’t seen it, the Bethpage State Park property is massive. There are five, 18-hole courses on site, and the Black course extends for nearly a mile, from the first tee to the ninth tee. We used bits and pieces of the five courses, and had a lot of room for buildings. The PGA will return to Bethpage for the 2025 Ryder Cup, and we will revisit all of our notes in advance. There is such a luxury in having so much room. It is unique seeing what you can do when you have that much property. It is a bit similar with Oak Hill having two courses, but want to minimize our use of the West course, to ensure that club members will have room to play.

2022 at Southern Hills

We tested the all-inclusive ticket option at Southern Hills. It allowed the holders to walk up to markets for concession and make their selections from food and non-alcoholic beverage options. Making those a part of the ticket allowed for a different level of service, and also eliminated a certain number of wait lines. Regarding set-up, our notes account for additional volume arrangements of these products with our championship event suppliers.

We had a few, cooler weather days in Tulsa, and we had to make adjustments on tent and crew assignments. It felt as if we experienced all four seasons throughout the four days of the tournament. The first few days had us in the 90s and then a front came through, bringing 57 degrees on Saturday morning. Ironically, the temperature in Rochester that day was in the upper 70s. Our fingers are crossed for good weather next May!

GolfWRX: What question haven’t we asked, that you would love to answer? Ask it and answer it, please, and thank you for your time.

Eric Nuxol: Q: What part of the early build are you looking forward to most?

A: Getting a head start is always nice, but I think being able to see our project managers and crews earlier than usual and catching up with them in person.

Photos courtesy of Joey Conti

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News

Morning 9: Anthony Kim speaks | New TGL team | ANWA contenders

Published

21 hours ago

Apr 3, 2024

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the Valero Texas Open.

1. McIlroy: Tour-LIV split unsustainable

Reuters report…”The split in the men’s game between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League is unsustainable and will not benefit anyone in the long term, Rory McIlroy told Golf Magazine on Tuesday.”

“The four-time major champion said it was disheartening as a competitor to see the best golfers play in separate tours for most of the year.”

“There needs to be a correction. I think what’s happening is not sustainable right now, so something needs to happen to try to bring it all back together so we can all move forward so we don’t have this division that’s sort of ongoing,” McIlroy said.

“They keep going down those different paths and I just don’t see how that benefits anyone in the long run. … I think [it’s] a shame for the overall game of golf.”

Full piece.

2. Anthony Kim speaks

Some excerpts from his interview with David Feherty…

Did he watch golf in his time away?

“I have an interesting relationship with golf. I don’t think I ever loved it. What’s very weird to me now is that I’m falling in love with the game. That’s such a weird spot for me because golf was filled with pressure and lots of different emotions for me because my family had to go through a lot to give me this opportunity to play golf. So with that added pressure, I was willing to risk a lot more, that was my nature. I was aggressive on the golf course, aggressive off the golf course and that led to my demise.”

On battling his demons

“I had no self-worth until I became a father….I started turning my life around about a year and a half ago.”

On becoming a father

“She’s my everything. Obviously my relationship with my wife is unbelievable, can’t thank her enough and owe so much to her. But a lot of the inspiration comes from Bella (daughter), I feel so blessed to be a dad, I wasn’t expecting to be able to have a child.

“I lost faith in myself, on top of that the doctors said I wouldn’t be able to have a child because of all the things my body has been through. That was very disappointing, that made me feel even smaller than I had felt originally. But this blessing happened and now I’m getting to experience this.”

Full piece.

3. Anna returns to Augusta

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”The 17-year-old Davis, who turned 18 on March 17, arrived on the Plains shortly after the first of the year, enrolling early and joining a Tigers squad that was already one of the best in the country; the midseason addition of Davis only amplified this program’s expectations. The SoCal native’s Instagram handle, @superannadavis, is aptly chosen. Super Anna ascended to the pinnacle of junior golf by winning the Girls Junior PGA and Augusta National Women’s Amateur, both before her junior year of high school. She’s since been tabbed for several national teams, junior and amateur, and fared well in an extensive LPGA apprenticeship – eight starts, half of them majors, and four made cuts – before the start of her somewhat surprising foray into college golf.”

“It’s fairly obvious to our team that a traveling spot has been taken by our new player,” Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said back in February. Davis has now logged five starts for the Tigers, her most recent producing her best college finish to date, a T-2 at Georgia’s Liz Murphey Collegiate, and giving her a ton of momentum as she heads down U.S. 78 to Augusta for her third ANWA.”

Full piece.

4. ANWA contenders

Gabby Herzig for the Athletic…”LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad will be hard to ignore as the 2024 tournament favorite. The world’s No. 1 amateur is coming off a stunning 10-shot victory at the Clemson Invitational, where she also became the winningest female golfer in SEC history. Hailing from Sweden, Lindblad is looking for sweet revenge: She missed the 36-hole cut at the 2023 ANWA after posting top-3 finishes in each of her previous appearances.”

“Besides Lindblad, we have our eye on 15-year-old Asterisk Talley — one of the youngest competitors in the field. Named after the Greek word for “little star,” Talley is coming off a historic victory of her own. Just down the road from Augusta, Talley won perhaps the most elite junior golf tournament in the world, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Anna Davis, the 2022 ANWA champion, captured the same title last year and is back in the field at ANWA.

“Avery is another potential contender. With T4 and T29 finishes in her last two starts, she’s found comfort on both golf courses. But as the 20-year-old multitasks — still strolling through the department store, scanning carefully for her Champions Dinner outfit — one comment about her previous competitive rounds at Augusta is particularly telling.”

Full piece.

5. TGL’s New York Golf Club’s additions

The New York Post’s Mark Cannizzaro…”New York is about to have another sports franchise for which to root, beginning in 2025.”

“New York Golf Club’s four-player roster in the newly formed six-team TGL (which stands for Tomorrow’s Golf League) is set to be unveiled on Tuesday.”

“The Post has exclusively learned that the New York team, owned by Mets owner Steve Cohen and his Cohen Private Ventures, will include Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Westchester native Cameron Young and former U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick.”

Full piece.

6. Tiffany Joh becomes new U.S. national coach

Beth Ann Nichols for Golfweek…”Team USA just got a whole lot more fun. Tiffany Joh, a former LPGA player who lifted the spirits of countless players during her 11-year stint on tour, has accepted a new role with the U.S. National Development Program as a coach. She’ll work alongside head coach Chris Zambri on both the men’s and women’s side to help identify and support American golf talent.”

“Joh, who currently works as an associate head coach at USC, will move from her native California to Pinehurst, North Carolina, following the completion of the Trojans’ spring season. A two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion, Joh is the first USGA champion to be hired by the USGA in the organization’s 130-year history.”

Full piece.

7. Photos from the Valero Texas Open

Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!

Full Piece.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open

Published

3 days ago

Apr 1, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.

The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.

GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

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News

Tour Rundown: Jaeger is meister | Korda wins again

Published

3 days ago

Apr 1, 2024

Ronald Montesano

We’re getting to that time of year that all fans of golf embrace. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins this week, followed by the Masters at the end of the fortnight. Tours offer a full set of events, although they will take a break the week of the first men’s major of the year. The world’s tours played events this week in Texas, Singapore, Arizona, Mexico, and California. Nearly all of these competitions came down to the final stroke, on the final hole. This combination of stout play and building drama is what we weather winter for. With that season in the rearview mirror, let’s embark on another spate of Tour Rundown recollections.

PGA Tour @ Houston Open: Jåger is meister of Houston

Stephan Jåger had performed feats of magic before against the fires of competitive golf. In 2016, on the Web.Com (now Korn Ferry) Tour, he posted a first-round 58 and stayed true to that arrow to win his first tour event. On his Wikipedia page, his surname is spelled both Jåger and Jaeger. To honor his ancestry, we’ll go with the former.

This week, the stakes were higher, as he chased a first victory on the PGA Tour. Marvelous opponents sprinted with him, including former Houston Open winner Tony Finau, and the world’s top-ranked player, Scottie Scheffler. Just as eager as Jåger, were Alejandro Tosti, Thomas Detry, and Taylor Moore. Each figured in the event’s conclusion.

It’s easier to write that each of those six men posted rounds between 66 and 68 on Sunday, and that all finished within one shot of the rest, than it is to recall precisely how they did so. Finau dropped ten shots (62-72) from Friday to Saturday, or he would have added another Houston Open title to the shelf. Scheffler (the 15th), Tosti, (the 18th), and Detry (the 14th) all made a bogey over the concluding holes, or they would have joined Jåger in a playoff. As for Moore, he could have done little more than make one more birdie. His pitch to the last nearly went in, finishing inside two feet from the extension of glory.

Jåger did all his work on Sunday over the front nine. His four birdies and one bogey brought him to 12 under on the week. He proceeded to secure nine pars on the inward half, including a 20-feet save at the 13th. Only at the 17th did he putt for birdie from inside 15 feet, and that effort was too strong. Yet, he did all that he had to do, to conclude an event at the podium’s summit, and hoist a PGA Tour trophy for the first time.

CLUTCH!

Stephan Jaeger saves par to hold on to the solo lead @TCHouOpen. pic.twitter.com/FXKlaQTlXR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 31, 2024

LPGA @ Ford Championship: Korda wins again, so watch out!

It appears that the mystery condition that derailed Nelly Korda in 2023, has run its course or been eliminated. Korda won for the second consecutive week on the LPGA circuit, and she did so in the manner that we’ve grown to know: efficiency. One week past nearly tossing a victory away, Korda was flawless on Sunday at Seville, in Gilber, Arizona. Her seven birdies and eleven pars led to a Sunday 65, and a two-shot margin of victory over England’s Hira Naveed.

Heretofore unknown at the top tier of women’s golf, Naveed posted 65-66 on the weekend to slide past a quintet of contenders, into second spot. Naveed signed for 16 birdies over the final two days, but a pair of bogeys separated her from a chance at Korda. Behind her, in third position, were Carlota Ciganda, Mi Hyang Lee, Frida Kinhult, Maja Stark, and a resurgent Lexi Thompson.

Nelly Korda began the week with birdies at four of her opening five holes. On days one and three, she posted but a single bogey over the play of the course. Friday was a bit topsy-turvey, with a trio of bogeys offset by a dramatic eagle at the fifth. When it looked as if things were slipping away, Korda closed with birdie on day two, to gain momentum at the halfway point. Her swing is efficient and consistent, and when her mental game and putting join the full move, little can stop her. The Ford Championship was her eleventh on tour, and her third of the young season.

.@NellyKorda is No. 1 for a reason ?

Nelly birdies for the solo lead with just two holes left to go ? pic.twitter.com/WimuZPK0Pf

— LPGA (@LPGA) March 31, 2024

DP World Tour @ Indian Open: Nakajima nearly romps to win

Keita Nakajima set a record of 87 consecutive weeks as the top-ranked amateur in men’s golf. He won four times on the Japan PGA tour and built a five-shot advantage over the first 54 holes of the Indian Open. When he turned in minus-three on Sunday, his advantage swelled to near-double digits. It was a coming-out party for a potential, future champion.

Things turned sour on the inward half. Don’t worry: we did not misleed with our sub-header; Nakajima won. After four solid pars to begin the trek home, the leader made a sloppy, double bogey at the 14th hole. The hole owned Nakajima all week-he played it in a combined plus-five shots to par.

The leader rebounded with birdie at the next but closed with three consecutive bogeys for an inward 40 and 73 on the day. No matter: Nakajima won by four shots over India’s Veer Ahlawat, Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg, and the USA’s Johannes Veerman. Ahlawat managed 71 on Sunday, to move up four slots. Söderberg and Veerman posted 67 to each ascend 11 spaces.

Keita Nakajima makes yet another long putt for birdie and extends his lead to six ?#HIO24 pic.twitter.com/wG1JmL6Lls

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 31, 20 24

PGA Tour Americas @ TotalPlay: JJR wins at home

By all accounts, the merger of the PGA Tour LA and PGA Tour CA was a positive thing. Gone are the qualifying for two tours, and the uncertainty of a season-long circuit for golfers striving to reach the Korn Ferry tier. This week, the PGA Tour Americas moved to the Atlas Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico. Those in attendance were treated to a wondrous performance by a son of the nation, José de Jesús Rodríguez. A man with a stress mark in each of his three names is specially-written, and specially gifted, after all.

Rodríguez was marvelous over the first three rounds. Scores of 68-65-67 brought him to the pole position, heading into the event’s final lap. Sunday saw an early bogey (3) and a late one (17), and a lot of grit and determination in between. Jesús Montenegro of Argentina closed within one of the leader, but 13-deep was the farthest he could advance. Derek Hitchner and Joey Vzich of the USA matched 71s on Sunday to finish at 12-under par, in a third-place tie. The title, after a 72nd-hole par, belonged to José de Jesús Rodríguez, aka El Camarón Rojo, and all of Mexico celebrated with an olé!

This close to an eagle ?@elcamaronrdgz taps in for birdie on the par 5, 15th to take a one shot lead with 3 holes to play. pic.twitter.com/izO5EyO9sE

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) March 31, 2024

PGA Tour Champions @ Galleri Classic: Goosen gets gift and glory

It’s easy to recall Retief Goosen’s twin U.S. Open titles, in 2001 and 2004. He displayed an icy disposition under pressure as those around him wilted. It’s difficult to forget his collapse at Pinehurst in 2005, as he was on the cusp of a third U.S. Open title, and a place among the game’s greats. Although three more tour titles would come his way, he was never again the same player in major events.

The senior circuit, aka PGA Tour Champions, is a second chance at many things, for many players. For Goosen, it represents an opportunity to rebuild competitive scenarios, and rekindle the fires that burn within the competitive soul. For much of the Galleri Classic this week, Goosen and others watched as Steven Alker and Ricardo González dueled in the desert. In the end, neither player stood ahead of the field.

Both Alker and González posted late bogeys. González made three of them, from holes 14 to 17, while Alker finished bogey-bogey. Each golfer concluded his week at twelve shots under par, one agonizing shot behind Goosen. How did the two-time, U.S. Open champion reach the magic number? He avoided old man bogey. Three birdies and 15 pars on day three were enough to place the South African champion in contention, and he simply held firm, as those around him fell. The win was Goosen’s third on the senior circuit, and his first since 2022.

The Goose is loose.

Retief Goosen trails by one with three to play @GalleriClassic. pic.twitter.com/MlJsFEFNUK

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 31, 2024

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