Opinion & Analysis

GolfWRX Interview: Jeff Brauer, first director of outreach for ASGCA

Published

2 years ago

Feb 1, 2022

The term “outreach” has the general American lexicon with verve over the past decade. Nearly every organization has appointed a person or team to spread not only its mission, but also its availability for assistance and support. The American Society of Golf Course Architects interviewed candidates for a new position, the director of outreach, in 2021.

Jeff Brauer was named to the position, and it is no surprise to this interviewer. I’ve had the fortune to engage with Mr. Brauer on the Golf Club Atlas discussion group for over a decade, and his availability and enthusiasm fit the position perfectly. Mr. Brauer was kind to answer my nine questions, and I’m happy to present them to you.

Ron Montesano: Introduce yourself and give us some background into how you got involved in golf, and what your involvement was until 2022.

Jeff Brauer: My next door neighbors were members at Medinah, in suburban Chicago where I grew up. My first round was on Medinah No. 2 at age 12, but we soon played no. 1 and 3. I went home after that first round and told my parents I was going to be a Golf Course Architect. (They told me to do something “where I would use my brain” )

In 1970, when I was 15, my Dad saw a blurb in the Tribune business section about the ASGCA moving its HQ to Chicago. He brought home a large envelope of ASGCA and National Golf Foundation articles and booklets on golf design. I noticed from the ASGCA membership list that Killian and Nugent were in the next suburb and arranged to visit their office. They told me to take drafting in high school, work for landscapers or on a golf maintenance crew, and then to take landscape architecture in college, with side classes of aerial photography, turf management, business, soils, and surveying, which I did.

When I came out of University of Illinois, they felt obligated to hire me, since I had followed their advice, despite a low workload. I apprenticed there for seven years until, including the last year with Ken Killian, after they broke up. I was always going to go on my own, and walked into Ken’s office on my 29th birthday, wanting to start before I was 30. I wanted to move south. I went to the local library to look at phone books, and Dallas was the only major city without a yellow page listing for Golf Course Architects, so Dallas it was. I moved without a single client in the wings and not really knowing anyone in Texas. What could possibly go wrong?

Not long after I moved, Jim Colbert called me to help him in the renovation of a Dick Wilson design in Vegas, which I had started under Killian. Other early jobs included a nine hole expansion in La., when the selection committee was headed by man who had also just started his own business and was sympathetic to “the new guy.” On the same day, I signed a renovation near Dallas and I went from virtually nothing to a real business in a hurry. A year later, Larry Nelson’s agent, who was in Dallas, called with some questions about design, and I ended up teaming with him on several projects, including my first 18 hole design, Brookstone Golf and Country Club NW of Atlanta.

Ron Montesano: You are the new and first director of outreach for the American Society of Golf Course Architects. What are the origin, role and purpose of the ASCGA?

Jeff Brauer: The basic mission of ASGCA is the same as when it was founded 75 years ago. Mainly, we help our members design good golf courses for a variety of clients and needs. Our mission has expanded as the world gets more complicated, with increasing technical, economic, community and environmental requirements found in modern golf courses.

We try to help members create better designs by fostering professionalism and fellowship among golf course architects, knowledge sharing, and continuing education that allows members to increase their skills and understanding of modern issues.

My new position is about engaging and connecting people in the profession and related fields, including both member and non-member golf course architects, builders, owner groups, suppliers, allied associations, and other consultants, making sure we personally stay in touch, especially on issues that affect us all. We believe there are initiatives and projects out there where we are better working together.

Perhaps even more than other professional societies, given the uniqueness, diversity of backgrounds (a trend which appears to be accelerating) and small size of the field, ASGCA is in the best position to create education offerings targeted specifically to modern issues in golf course design. ASGCA members have always shown willingness to share knowledge, and we will continue to foster that knowledge sharing at all our get together.

Ron Montesano: What do you anticipate will be your first duties as director of outreach?

Jeff Brauer: My first tasks will be to reach out – it’s in the job title – with a focus on finding out ways in which ASGCA can be better for the constituencies I listed above. In just my early calls, I have heard several “new to me” ideas to create more tangible value from ASGCA for those within the golf course design and building profession in general.

Of course, phase 2 will be implementing the best ideas we get. My calls will help me develop programs, but initially, I envision that new value will be created via more education for golf course architects, using both in person and web-based technology for learning and open discussion on important topics. I think the profession needs more than we can provide at our two annual meetings, and COVID showed us how useful Zoom and Webinars can be. I believe we will be expanding those types of learning events, but also organize more architecture oriented on course events.

Ron Montesano: If you could go back in history and choose three international architects, who were not able to join the ASGCA, who would they be and why?

Jeff Brauer: We’ve always required our members be a part of a North American based organization, even if living abroad. I suspect the European Institute of Golf Course Architects is similar and would want to lay claim to most of their own for memberships for guys like Colt, MacKenzie, etc.

As a post WWII organization, it was impossible for most of the Golden Age greats to be included, and I think all of them would have brought some interesting discussion. ASGCA is about passing on knowledge between architects and from generation to generation, and we can only speculate what knowledge may have fallen through the cracks due to the 15 year lull or stoppage of active golf design from 1930-1945.

Ron Montesano: What elements (five at most) are misunderstood or missed by the majority of golfers, amateur and professional?

Jeff Brauer: Golf course architecture is about taking the great strategic, playability and artistic ideas many of us think we have and getting them efficiently built to make the course functional. Otherwise, you are just playing in the sand box.

Few golfers consider how much drainage, air, soil, safety concerns, and golfer circulation, just to name a few affects design. And, that a professional golf course architect weaves all of those into every design. The best ones make it look easy, but it usually isn’t.

Ron Montesano: As an architect, you have been involved in many courses. Which was the most satisfying, and for which reasons?

Jeff Brauer: In general, the best projects have both great sites and a great working relationship between the Owner or Owner’s Representative and the Golf Course Architect. I was fortunate to have had those combinations on several occasions. As to the most satisfying projects I ever had, I go back to the four courses I did in northern Minnesota. In addition to great owners and sites, they were all an opportunity to get out of 100-degree Texas summer heat and go where it was much cooler. I put in a lot more field time than normal, just for the weather and scenery, and I think it showed in the final products. I think of myself as an honorary Minnesotan.

Ron Montesano: Which do you consider to be the most important project in the USA, past, present, or future, for the permanence of golf in this country?

Jeff Brauer: There were several watermark courses that contributed to golf as we know it today in the US. Certainly, early great courses like Myopia Hunt set a bar. But the early public courses like Van Cortlandt Park had to be almost equally influential. The first courses of any type, like residential, mountain, desert, and quarry courses, etc. also expanded the game and made it more permanent.

As to the future, it will probably be the course that maintain great design interest while using less water and resources.

Ron Montesano: How is your golf game these days? Which are your strengths and weaknesses?

Next question, please. (editor’s note: LOL and an oldie but goodie, ROFLcopter)

Ron Montesano: Which question haven’t we asked, that we should have? Ask it and answer it, please.

Jeff Brauer: I have been asked by my fellow architects why I am so excited about this position and how difficult it was to give up design. As with most things in life, timing plays a part. At the time this position was created, I was comparing my career to Broadway plays and wondered what the best script for the final act of a golf course architecture career might be. After 44 years of being in the profession, I am excited to spend years 45-50 helping set it up for a better future.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again

Published

3 days ago

Apr 30, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.

Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.

Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”

Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.

“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.

Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.

“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”

“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”

As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.

In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.

“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”

Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.

Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:

Fairways Hit

1.) Louis Oosthuizen

2.) Anirban Lahiri

3.) Jon Rahm

4.) Brendan Steele

5.) Cameron Tringale

Greens in Regulation

1.) Brooks Koepka

2.) Brendan Steele

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Cameron Tringale

5.) Anirban Lahiri

Birdies Made

1.) Brendan Steele

2.) Dean Burmester

3.) Thomas Pieters

4.) Patrick Reed

5.) Carlos Ortiz

LIV Golf Individual Standings:

1.) Joaquin Niemann

2.) Jon Rahm

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Louis Oosthuizen

5.) Abraham Ancer

LIV Golf Team Standings:

1.) Crushers

2.) Legion XIII

3.) Torque

4.) Stinger GC

5.) Ripper GC

LIV Golf Singapore Picks

Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)

Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.

This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.

Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)

Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.

This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.

It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.

Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)

Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.

Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.

Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.

Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)

Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.

Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.

If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.

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Opinion & Analysis

Ryan: Lessons from the worst golf instructor in America

Published

3 days ago

Apr 30, 2024

Brendan Ryan

In Tampa, there is a golf course that boasts carts that do not work, a water range, and a group of players none of which have any chance to break 80. The course is overseen by a staff of crusty men who have succeeded at nothing in life but ending up at the worst-run course in America. However, this place is no failure. With several other local courses going out of business — and boasting outstanding greens — the place is booked full.

While I came for the great greens, I stayed to watch our resident instructor; a poor-tempered, method teacher who caters to the hopeless. At first, it was simply hilarious. However, after months of listening and watching, something clicked. I realized I had a front-row seat to the worst golf instructor in America.

Here are some of my key takeaways.

Method Teacher

It is widely accepted that there are three types of golf instructors: system teachers, non-system teachers, and method teachers. Method teachers prescribe the same antidote for each student based on a preamble which teachers can learn in a couple day certification.

Method teaching allows anyone to be certified. This process caters to the lowest caliber instructor, creating the illusion of competency. This empowers these underqualified instructors with the moniker of “certified” to prey on the innocent and uninformed.

The Cult of Stack and Jilt

The Stack and Tilt website proudly boasts, “A golfer swings his hands inward in the backswing as opposed to straight back to 1) create power, similar to a field goal kicker moving his leg in an arc and 2) to promote a swing that is in-to-out, which produces a draw (and eliminates a slice).”

Now, let me tell you something, there is this law of the universe which says “energy can either be created or destroyed,” so either these guys are defying physics or they have no idea what they are taking about. Further, the idea that the first move of the backswing determines impact is conjecture with a splash of utter fantasy.

These are the pontifications of a method — a set of prescriptions applied to everyone with the hope of some success through the placebo effect. It is one thing for a naive student to believe, for a golf instructor to drink and then dispel this Kool-Aid is malpractice.

Fooled by Randomness

In flipping a coin, or even a March Madness bet, there is a 50-50 chance of success. In golf, especially for new players, results are asymmetric. Simply put: Anything can happen. The problem is that when bad instructors work with high handicappers, each and every shot gets its own diagnosis and prescription. Soon the student is overwhelmed.

Now here’s the sinister thing: The overwhelming information is by design. In this case, the coach is not trying to make you better, they are trying to make you reliant on them for information. A quasi Stockholm syndrome of codependency.

Practice

One of the most important scientists of the 20th century was Ivan Pavlov. As you might recall, he found that animals, including humans, could be conditioned into biological responses. In golf, the idea of practice has made millions of hackers salivate that they are one lesson or practice session from “the secret.”

Sunk Cost

The idea for the worst golf instructor is to create control and dependency so that clients ignore the sunk cost of not getting better. Instead, they are held hostage by the idea that they are one lesson or tip away from unlocking their potential.

Cliches

Cliches have the effect of terminating thoughts. However, they are the weapon of choice for this instructor. Add some hyperbole and students actually get no information. As a result, these players couldn’t play golf. When they did, they had no real scheme. With no idea what they are doing, they would descend into a spiral of no idea what to do, bad results, lower confidence, and running back to the lesson tee from more cliches.

The fact is that poor instruction is about conditioning players to become reliant members of your cult. To take away autonomy. To use practice as a form of control. To sell more golf lessons not by making people better but through the guise that without the teacher, the student can never reach their full potential. All under the umbrella of being “certified” (in a 2-day course!) and a melee of cliches.

This of course is not just happening at my muni but is a systemic problem around the country and around the world, the consequences of which are giving people a great reason to stop playing golf. But hey, at least it’s selling a lot of golf balls…

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

2 weeks ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.

TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.

However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

Past Winners at TPC Louisiana

2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)

Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.

This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.

McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.

Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)

Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.

Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.

Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)

Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.

NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.

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