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Morning 9: Mental health crisis among golf superintendents? | TW’s “workout secret?” | Worst golf advice

Published

5 years ago

Sep 26, 2019

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt

[email protected] is unmonitored! Email me at [email protected] with high praise and tips (monetary or informational). Find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram.

September 26, 2019

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. A mental health crisis among golf supers?

Leading the M9 today is a story that is an order of magnitude greater than our usual fare-and one more than worthy of top billing.

Digest’s Ron Whitten opens an examination of the trend of mental health issues among golf course superintendents with vaunted superintendent Dave Wilber’s story…

It reads in part…”So in 2015, Wilber picked up a 90-day prescription, a beta-blocker for his heart rate, opened the bottle and swallowed its contents.”

“I was thinking it would shut off my heart,” Wilber says. “All it did was make me super sick. I dozed off, then woke up vomiting it all up. I’m thinking, God, I’m such a f—up I can’t even off myself. I can’t even get that job done.”

And he writes this about the profession and Wilber’s decision to publicize his darkest moment…”Wilber is not the only one in the turfgrass business dealing with such an issue. Maintaining a golf course is a high-risk occupation and can put one’s physical well-being, personal relationships and mental health at risk. But revealing struggles with anxiety, depression or something worse is still considered taboo in this occupation, just as it is in many other lines of work.”

“Wilber admits his candor about his suicide attempt, which he revealed two years ago on the website Turfnet, might cost him his career. But he no longer cares. He believes it’s essential to bring these issues to the forefront, because it might save someone.”

“When I started writing about my struggles on Turfnet,” he says, “I got an inbox full of responses from golf-course superintendents-like 60 emails-mostly supportive. One said, ‘Don’t tell anybody, but I’ve dealt with depression, too.’ Another told me, ‘I wanted to kill myself, too.’ It was mind-numbing.

“We need to get this out in the open. Real people have real struggles, and they shouldn’t have to beat themselves to death for what they are or aren’t at work.”

Full piece.

2. Romo’s major

Golf Channel’s Will Gray…”But this is the first time that tournament golf has conflicted with Romo’s full-time gig as an NFL analyst for CBS, which has him traveling from one stadium to the next for much of the fall. While the football work means he has had less time to practice than he otherwise might in the spring or summer, his game has still received plenty of attention in recent weeks.”

“This has been on my radar for a while, so trying to get the game ready for this. For me, it’s like a major,” Romo said. “I feel comfortable. The more times you’re out here, the more comfortable you feel.”

Full piece.

3. JT keeping goals under wraps

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…“Count Justin Thomas as one of the PGA Tour pros who likes to set goals at the start of the season. Just don’t ask him to share them publicly.”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he said with a smirk.

“Thomas is making his season debut this week at the Safeway Open, the third tournament on the PGA Tour’s 2019-20 wrap-around schedule. Over the past few seasons, he has been tight-lipped about his goals before revealing on social media how he did in achieving them at season’s end. As Thomas explained, he once spouted off a few lofty goals he’d set for himself to members of the press only to be constantly reminded of his shortcomings for the remainder of the year.”

“Rookie mistake,” he said. “After that I keep them to myself. They are in my phone so if anyone ever steals my phone and guesses my password they can find them.”

Full piece.

4. “Significant renovation” ahead for Muirfield Village

Golf.com’s Sean Zak with the report…”Muirfield Village Golf Club, home of Jack Nicklaus and the Memorial Tournament, will look a bit different in the future, thanks to a 2020 renovation that was just put in place this week.”

“The course that hosts the PGA Tour every summer will shut down the first week of July 2020, which was first reported by No Laying Up. According to GM Nicholas LaRocca, it was Nicklaus’ decision, and plans are, “to redo all the greens. Probably make a few minor changes on a few holes, and get the place ready to go for [the following] May.”

Full piece.

5. Worst pieces of golf advice

Matthew Rudy with a superb survey of the bottom of a few top teachers’ advice barrels…

“What’s the worst tip you’ve ever heard somebody give?...Shaun Webb, Golf Digest top teacher in Louisiana: “How much time do you have? ‘Keep your head down.’ ‘Don’t use your arms.’ ‘You’re swinging too fast.’ One of the worst I’ve ever heard came from another teacher. He told someone that if you fire the hips, the club will square automatically. There’s so much wrong with that-I’ll bet the student doesn’t even play golf anymore.”

“Clearwater: ” ‘Hold the club like a baby bird’ is one of the classics. The long drive guys are the biggest, strongest people on earth, and through impact, they’re trying to rip the grip in half. There’s a lot of force going on down there….”Of all the ways you move in a swing, ‘keep your head down’ is the worst advice you could give. Just go look at the tour players. Nobody is trying to stay bent forward. Nobody. You’re not hitting poor shots because of where your eyes are pointed.”

Full piece.

6. The key to TW’s fitness?

Golf Digest’s Peter Morrice…”In all sports, it’s about the legs,” Tiger Woods says in his new 12-part video series “My Game: Tiger Woods,” produced by GOLFTV and Golf Digest. “Have you ever seen a home-run hitter with small legs? That just doesn’t happen. It starts with the base.”

“Tiger talks about running and how he used daily runs as a release but also to boost his endurance for long stretches of competitive play. “I was never very big, but my legs were strong, and they could go forever. I just never got tired,” Tiger says. “And because legs feed the wolves, the more I ran, the better I played.”

Full piece.

7. Stephanie Meadow

Johnny Watterson at the Irish Times with this regarding the rise, fall, and resurgence of Stephanie Meadow…

“Stephanie Meadow, 22-years-old. Third in the 2014 US Open.”

“It could have been a career epitaph. Qualifying as first alternate and in the mix on the last day of a Major. It was her first professional tournament. No one knew her. The world expected her to fade. She didn’t. That would come later.”

“After the first round she was tied 8th, second round tied 10th. On the Saturday a 69 took her to third with three other players.”

“When Meadow looked around Pinehurst on the final day she saw the world’s most famous golfer Michelle Wie leading the field. Her partner was Hall of Fame Australian Karrie Webb. The seven times Major winner Webb faded, the Irish rookie did not. Where did Stephanie Meadow go?”

Full piece.

8. Mickelson impressed with up-close view of Steph’s golf game

Golfweek’s Schupak again, this time with what Lefty said after his pro-am round with Chef Curry…”Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry doesn’t just drop bombs on the basketball court. Playing alongside Phil Mickelson in the pro-am ahead of this week’s Safeway Open, Curry launched drives that had Lefty waxing rhapsodic about “hellacious bombs” after the round.”

“I think the thing about Steph Curry’s golf game is his touch, his hands, his chipping, putting. He’s got incredible touch but he also has a ton of speed,” Mickelson said. “You saw him dropping all kinds of bombs off the tee, just hellacious bombs, deep and very accurate, certainly straighter than what I have.”

Full piece.

9. In praise of Phireside with Phil

From Phil’s commending of the on-course efforts of Curry to Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger gushing over Mickelson’s work alongside an open flame.

Bamberger wrote this regarding the latest episode of “Phireside”…”If possible, Phil has reached a new high with this week’s show, in which he interviews Larry David. The camera work is shaky, at one point a finger crosses the lens, Larry rambles, Phil stares and it all works. On one level you could say it’s about Larry’s extraordinary history as a world-class junior golfer, cut short by a heinous hand injury, but on another level it’s about nothing. Phil is wearing golf shoes, shorts and his Hall-of-Fame blazer. Of course, Larry should have a blazer, too, and likely would, except for the hand thing. Phil has a deep Rolodex and it makes you wonder: who should Phil have next?”

Full piece.

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News

SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

Published

3 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Ronald Montesano

Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

360° and in!

A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063

8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024

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Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious

Published

4 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Monday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour gives us yet another breakthrough winner.

1. Pendrith wins first PGA Tour title

AP Report…”Taylor Pendrith took advantage of Ben Kohles’ final-hole meltdown to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.”

“Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. After having to chip twice from the rough and already looking stunned, Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.”

“Pendrith two-putted for birdie on the 18th, holing a 3-footer for a 4-under 67 and 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old Canadian won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.”

Full piece.

2. Koepka takes LIV title in Singapore

S.I.’s Bob Harig…”Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.”

“His timing wasn’t bad, either.”

“A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance, Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.”

“The year’s second major begins on May 16.”

Full piece.

3. Otaegui wins Volvo China

AP report…”Adrian Otaegui overturned a five-shot deficit to win the Volvo China Open on Sunday, the Spaniard’s fifth tour title.”

“Otaegui had been trailing the in-form Sebastian Söderberg after Friday’s round – Saturday’s was cancelled because of thunder and lightning – and he shot 7-under 65 in his final round to win by one shot from Guido Migliozzi, who finished runner up with a 67.”

Full piece.

4. ICYMI: Teen Kim makes the cut

Guardian report…”English teenager Kris Kim became the youngest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour in 11 years after a birdie at the last saw him get through to the weekend of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas with a shot to spare.”

“Amateur Kim, the son of former LPGA player Ji-Hyun Suh, made a second-round four-under-par 67, which included a run of five birdies and one bogey over his front nine.”

“At 16 years and seven months he became the youngest player to make the cut on tour since 14-year-old Guan Tianlang at the 2013 Masters, and, according to the PGA Tour, the fifth youngest in history.”

Full piece.

5. Winner in a rainout

AP report…”Scott Dunlap was declared the 36-hole winner of the Insperity Invitational when rain washed the final round Sunday, giving Dunlap his first PGA Tour Champions title in nearly 10 years.”

“Devastating rain in the Houston area previously washed out the opening round Friday. Players managed to play 36 holes on Saturday, and Dunlap posted a 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead over Joe Durant and Stuart Appleby.”

“That proved to be the winning score when rain soaked The Woodlands Country Club. It was the second 36-hole event in the last three weeks on the PGA Tour Champions because of weather. The other was in the Dallas area.”