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Are players majorly unhappy with Quail Hollow redesign?

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Quail Hollow was shut down following James Hahn’s win at the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship for requisite pre-PGA Championship doctoring under Tom Fazio’s scalpel.

Golfweek’s Bradley Klein detailed the surgery with far more eloquence and expertise than I can muster here, but a quick sketch of the changes looks like this.

Before the 2016 shutdown, Fazio and company had already worked to move the first and 10th tees, ninth and 18th and greens for more spectator room, as well as strengthen the 14th through 18th holes. They also moved the par-4 16th hole 50 yards to the left.

Since 2016, the greens were regrassed with a new variety of bermudagrass. Predictably, tree work, rebunkering followed.

As Klein writes

“The old first and second holes have been combined into a demanding dogleg right par 4 measuring 524 yards (played as a par 5 for members). The old third and fourth holes were re-sequenced as the second and third holes, then comes a virtual splitting up of the old par-5 fifth into two holes through use of some lateral land.

“The new fourth hole, a 184-yard par 3, calls for a forced carry over three front bunkers. A new fifth hole, a 449-yard par 4, was flipped to the right.”

Interestingly, it seems like some players are less than enthused about the changes to the first hole and fourth green, as ESPN’s Michael Collins found in his latest Caddie Confidential feature.

“Collins: All the players in front of the camera are saying the course (Quail Hollow Club) is fine, but off camera that ain’t what they’re saying. What’s the truth?

“Caddie: I would say most of the guys are not happy with No. 1 or No. 4, to be fair. I would say No. 1 should be played as a par-5. The green was designed to be a par-5 green.

No. 4, I think the green is just too penal. It’s too severe for the length of shot. I think if it was a shorter shot, you’d actually have a third (tee) box for that to be fair.”

Collins then indicated he heard from a Quail Hollow member that there are plans to entirely redo the fourth green.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that the opinions of the anonymous caddie are not necessarily representative. However, Collins, a former caddie himself, is one of the most plugged in guys out there. If he says this is what the chatter is, you have to be inclined to believe him.

All of this leads to the obvious question: Why has Fazio’s carte blanche doctoring yielded two holes players hate before even facing them in competition?

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19th Hole

TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract

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This week, TaylorMade Golf announced that they’ve signed AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Miles Russell, to an NIL contract.

In a statement, TaylorMade called Russell “nothing short of remarkable”.

“Miles’ record setting success at his young age is nothing short of remarkable and we are excited he chose us to support him in his growth as a golfer to continue to accomplish his career goals. Identifying and developing the top junior talent in the world has always been a priority for us at TaylorMade. Miles and his family epitomize the type of athlete and human being we are looking to add to Team TaylorMade.”

Russell has broken plenty of records in recent months. This season, he was named American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Boys Player of the Year, making him the youngest male player to receive the award. The record was previously held by Tiger Woods who was about 10 months older than Russell at the time he received the award.

At age 14, J he became the youngest player ever to win the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass at age 14.

The 15-year-old also played in his first Korn Ferry Tour event on Thursday, the LECOM Suncoast Classic, and shot a first-round 68.

In the aftermath of the agreement, Russell released a statement.

“I have had a great relationship with the team at TaylorMade for years now and couldn’t be more excited to continue to work with them in the future. TaylorMade has a history of developing the top junior talent in the world to help reach their goals of becoming PGA TOUR and major championship winners. I am looking forward to working with the team to reach those and other goals I have laid out for my career.”

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Group of PGA Tour caddies sign endorsement deal with underwear company

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In an interesting turn of events, a group of PGA Tour caddies have signed an endorsement deal with an underwear company.

Geno Bonnalie (Joel Dahmen), Aaron Flener (J.T. Poston), John Limanti (Akshay Bhatia) and Joel Stock (Will Zalatoris) and John Ellis (Wyndham Clark) have signed a deal with the underwear brand, SAXX.

Here are some details about the endorsement deal:

  • The deal eclipses six figures in total value, extending what last year marked the first significant apparel agreement with a group of pro caddies. Of note, Geno and John Ellis appeared in the Netflix docuseries, Full Swing.
  • The caddies will wear SAXX underwear, shorts and polos on and off the course.
  • SAXX will donate $100 to the Testicular Cancer Foundation for every birdie made by the caddies’ players for the rest of the season.
  • SAXX will bring the Ball Masters to the masses at the Travelers Championship, hosting a fan activation with underwear giveaways, photo opportunities, appearances from the Ball Masters and more.
  • Fans can become an honorary Ball Master, which includes a year’s worth of underwear, among other things. Go to SAXX.com/ball-master-application from now until June 15 to enter.

The partnership is great for the caddies and also represents a great cause.

Check out the video they shared on YouTube:

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Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National

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Augusta National

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.

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