19th Hole

A hacker plays the big ones: Pt. 1

Published

4 years ago

Aug 12, 2020

“A Hacker Plays The Big Ones” is a short story authored by Steven R. Roberts. The short story, written two months following the trip, tells the tale of Roberts and his friend, Bob Blackman’s, golf odyssey around Scotland in the 1970s where the two played four of most historic courses in the game: St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield and Gleneagles.

We have broken the short story into a four-parter and will publish Part 2. of the story in the coming days.

A Hacker Plays The Big Ones: Pt. 1

“RABBITS!” the starter said, reading from a rolled-up list of tee times taken from the pocket of his baggy raincoat.

“Rabbits,” he repeated, becoming more annoyed.

“Excuse me,” I said, not wanting to get too close to the man for fear of getting whacked with the old putter he used as a walking stick. “Did you say Roberts?”

“That’s it, lad, Rabbits,” the starter said, with his weathered face and his eyes peering up through bushy gray eyebrows. “Now, I’ve said it three times. You’re on the tee. Come along smartly now.”

Bob and I picked up our clubs and walked briskly to the middle of the first tee at St. Andrews, Scotland. The first tee and the adjoining practice putting green were surrounded with would-be golfers, mostly men staring and waiting, and now they were waiting for us.

The usual spitting rain had brought out the sweaters – jumpers, they called them – and rain gear, as we waited for a chance to play where the legends of the game had walked since the first “Open Championship” in 1754.

The bulldog-faced starter stood close, wiping the water from his watch as I teed my ball up and took a quick practice swing. It was quite a moment, made all the more nerve-racking by my stay overnight as a guest in the Perth city jail. I wondered what else could happen when something else did. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed I had inadvertently placed my ball on a pink tee. Had that tee actually come from my pocket? This inadvertent act of disrespect would not fit with my vision of this reverent moment.

I backed away from the ball and took a white tee out of my pocket. I tried to steady my hand as I re-teed the ball and it fell off. Not wanting to look back at the impatient dark ring of observers, I re-teed and took a quick swing before it fell again. The ball sort of scooted down the left side of the fairway in some kind of a “C-“ way but at least I survived the first tee. Bob went through the process more smoothly. We grabbed our bags off the ground and trudged down the first fairway, away from the scrutiny of the lord of the tees.

And so began the story of two of the world’s golf nuts who secretly harbored the universal dream that through some stroke of magic they would be able to play the historic Scottish courses responsible for creating the legends of golf lore. We hoped to play like the pros, if only for a day, or maybe a hole.

The dream embraced the thin hope that our normally faulty-but-workable swings would smash drives to record distances, have our iron shots pierce through the wind to stop near the hole and, best of all, have 10-foot birdie putts disappear like chipmunks late for dinner.

Come join us if just for the smiles along the way.

Bob Blackman and I had been temporarily transferred to England in 1978. He was with a drug company in Australia. I was working on a world design car for Ford Motor Company and Bob’s wife, Jan, was my secretary during my tour of duty in England.

Bob and I had met at a Ford event. Discovering our mutual interest in golf, we became friends. We vowed to get to Scotland to play the legendary courses before the end of our assignments in England.

A year later we were on a four-day trip with tee times at St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Gleneagles and Muirfield, four of the most historic courses in the history of the game. We weren’t going to be playing for a championship, but we did establish a bet of five pounds each day on the medal, or total score, results. We also agreed to the bet of a new ball for the match play winner each day. The British have a quirky tradition of betting a new ball on the outcome of golf matches. Finally, birdies were worth .20 p (about a dime at the time), and a hole in one was worth a bottle of champagne. Conservative bettors, but each prize would be hard-fought in our version of the Walker Cup.

We were both living in Brentwood, England, less than an hour east of London. On our first day, we drove eight hours to Peebles, Scotland, just south of Edinburgh. Our hotel, the Tontine, was built in 1808, the kind of information that made me check the location of the fire escapes. Luckily, in those days they didn’t construct buildings much over three or four stories high, and we were on the second floor. I also noted that there was a healthy stand of bushes directly under our window.

Our tee time at Carnoustie the next morning was for 11:04, and the course was a couple of hour’s drive above Edinburgh. It had been a long day, and Bob went to bed early to prepare for the next day. I was a bit nervous about the next day and lay awake for two hours listening to Bob’s happy snore.

Breakfast didn’t start until 8:00 AM in the dining room overlooking the Tweed River. The room cost about $35, including breakfast. The room seemed comfortable until I ran my forehead into the door jamb and realized the building was sized for the time when George III was King and Thomas Jefferson was President of a new, struggling country across the Atlantic.

We got a late start, but the bangers, muffin and eggs were a fitting send-off for two aspiring but yet-undiscovered golfing stars.

The trip took two hours, and we turned up Links Avenue for a look at our first championship challenge. At the end of the street was the quaint old golf shop (small gazebo) where we paid a modest fee of 3.75 pounds (about $8).

With the usual overcast skies and all bets in effect, the twosome of Blackman and Roberts prepare to tee off at Carnoustie. We were alone on the first tee, with the starter observing our warm up swings from his booth. A disinterested older couple and two stray dogs served as a reluctant gallery. Crack, crack, and we are off.

It is possible to get lost on Scottish courses. The grasses on links courses grow to whatever height God allows, waving like hay in the breeze. We soon realize we couldn’t even see the greens, in many cases, for our second shots, let alone hit them. The old caddies had to guide us.

Another feature readily noticeable is the skillful and frightening use of traps. There are little annoying traps everywhere; some are small enough to hide a VW Beetle. Some traps are located in the middle of the fairways. I got in one on the first hole and decided to blast out backwards. Bob decided to take a picture just as I fall flat in the sand. I threatened to expose his film if he persists with the photo thing.

After our initial excitement at being on Carnoustie, Bob and I settled down to survive. We both turned the front nine in 41, not too promising if we are going to beat Tom Watson’s winning score in 1975, but there were no broken bones or clubs, so we went on.

Without saying a word, it was understood that all putts would be holed out. It seems the least we can do for a course that hosted five British Opens – Tommy Armour in 1931, Henry Cotton in 1937, Ben Hogan in 1953, Gary Player in 1968 and as previously noted, Tom Watson in 1975.

I birdied 11 and went one up. This joy lasted until 14 where Bob made a putt he had no license to make. I stumbled heading toward the gazebo clubhouse, and at the end of the first day, the score was Bob 80 and Steve 81. I’ve lost a new ball to Bob and one in the burn on the 17th hole.

I don’t want to talk about it. I need a beer and a bit of a rest for tomorrow.

Coming soon: A Hacker Plays The Big Ones Pt. 2

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship betting preview: Tommy Fleetwood ready to finally land maiden PGA Tour title

Published

6 mins ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA Tour season ramps back up this week for another “signature event,” as golf fans look forward to the year’s second major championship next week.

After two weaker-field events in the Zurich Classic and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, most of the best players in the world will head to historic Quail Hollow for one of the best non-major tournaments of the year.

Last season, Wyndham Clark won the event by four shots.

Quail Hollow is a par-71 measuring 7,521 yards that features Bermudagrass greens. The tree-lined, parkland style course can play quite difficult and features one of the most difficult three-hole stretches in golf known as “The Green Mile,” which makes up holes 16-18: two mammoth par 4s and a 221-yard par 3. All three holes have an average score over par, and water is in play in each of the last five holes on the course.

The field is excellent this week with 68 golfers teeing it up without a cut. All of the golfers who’ve qualified are set to tee it up, with the exception of Scottie Scheffler, who is expecting the birth of his first child.

Past Winners at Quail Hollow

2023: Wyndham Clark (-19)
2022: Max Homa (-8)
2021: Rory McIlroy (-10)
2019: Max Homa (-15)
2018: Jason Day (-12)
2017: Justin Thomas (-8) (PGA Championship)
2016: James Hahn (-9)
2015: Rory McIlroy (-21)

Key Stats For Quail Hollow

Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes gained: Approach will be extremely important this week as second shots at Quail Hollow can be very difficult.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Akshay Bhatia (+1.16)
Tom Hoge (+1.12)
Corey Conners (+1.01)
Shane Lowry (+0.93)
Austin Eckroat (+0.82)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Quail Hollow is a long course on which it is important to play from the fairway. Both distance and accuracy are important, as shorter tee shots will result in approach shots from 200 or more yards. With most of the holes heavily tree lined, errant drives will create some real trouble for the players.

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Past 24 Rounds:

Ludvig Aberg (+0.73)
Rory McIlroy (+0.69)
Xander Schauffele (+0.62)
Viktor Hovland (+0.58)
Chris Kirk (+0.52)

Proximity: 175-200

The 175-200 range is key at Quail Hollow. Players who can hit their long irons well will rise to the top of the leaderboard.

Proximity: 175-200+ over past 24 rounds:

Cameron Young (28’2″)
Akshay Bhatia (29’6″)
Ludvig Aberg (+30’6″)
Sam Burns (+30’6″)
Collin Morikawa (+30’9″)

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs

Players who thrive on Tom Fazio designs get a bump for me at Quail Hollow this week.

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs over past 36 rounds:

Patrick Cantlay (+2.10)
Rory McIlroy (+1.95)
Tommy Fleetwood (+1.68)
Austin Eckroat (+1.60)
Will Zalatoris (+1.57)

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass)

Strokes Gained: Putting has historically graded out as the most important statistic at Quail Hollow. While it isn’t always predictable, I do want to have it in the model to bump up golfers who prefer to putt on Bermudagrass.

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass) Over Past 24 Rounds:

Taylor Moore (+0.82)
Nick Dunlap (+.76)
Wyndham Clark (+.69)
Emiliano Grillo (+.64)
Cam Davis (+.61)

Course History

This stat will incorporate players that have played well in the past at Quail Hollow.

Course History over past 36 rounds (per round):

Rory McIlroy (+2.50)
Justin Thomas (+1.96)
Jason Day (+1.92)
Rickie Fowler (+1.83)
Viktor Hovland (+1.78)

Wells Fargo Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: Off the Tee (23%), SG: Total on Fazio designs (12%), Proximity: 175-200 (12%), SG: Putting Bermuda grass (12%), and Course History (14%).

Wyndham Clark
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Shane Lowry
Hideki Matsuyama
Viktor Hovland
Cameron Young
Austin Eckroat
Byeong Hun An
Justin Thomas

2024 Wells Fargo Championship Picks

Tommy Fleetwood +2500 (DraftKings)

I know many out there have Tommy fatigue when it comes to betting, which is completely understandable given his lack of ability to win on the PGA Tour thus far in his career. However, history has shown us that players with Fleetwood’s talent eventually break though, and I believe for Tommy, it’s just a matter of time.

Fleetwood has been excellent on Tom Fazio designs. Over his past 36 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on Fazio tracks. He’s also been incredibly reliable off the tee this season. He’s gained strokes in the category in eight of his past nine starts, including at The Masters, the PLAYERS and the three “signature events” of the season. Tommy is a golfer built for tougher courses and can grind it out in difficult conditions.

Last year, Fleetwood was the first-round leader at this event, firing a Thursday 65. He finished the event in a tie for 5th place.

For those worried about Fleetwood’s disappointing start his last time out at Harbour Town, he’s bounced back nicely after plenty of poor outings this season. His T7 at the Valero Texas Open was after a MC and T35 in his prior two starts and his win at the Dubai Invitational came after a T47 at the Sentry.

I expect Tommy to bounce back this week and contend at Quail Hollow.

Justin Thomas +3000 (DraftKings)

It’s been a rough couple of years for Justin Thomas, but I don’t believe things are quite as bad as they seem for JT. He got caught in the bad side of the draw at Augusta for last month’s Masters and has gained strokes on approach in seven of his nine starts in 2024.

Thomas may have found something in his most recent start at the RBC Heritage. He finished T5 at a course that he isn’t the best fit for on paper. He also finally got the putter working and ranked 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week.

The two-time PGA champion captured the first of his two major championships at Quail Hollow back in 2017, and some good vibes from the course may be enough to get JT out of his slump.

Thomas hasn’t won an event in just about two years. However, I still believe that will change soon as he’s been one of the most prolific winners throughout his PGA Tour career. Since 2015, he has 15 PGA Tour wins.

Course history is pretty sticky at Quail Hollow, with players who like the course playing well there on a regular basis. In addition to JT’s PGA Championship win in 2017, he went 4-1 at the 2022 Presidents Cup and finished T14 at the event last year despite being in poor form. Thomas can return as one of the top players on the PGA Tour with a win at a “signature event” this week.

Cameron Young +3500 (DraftKings)

For many golf bettors, it’s been frustrating backing Cam Young this season. His talent is undeniable, and one of the best and most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. He just hasn’t broken through with a victory yet. Quail Hollow has been a great place for elite players to get their first victory. Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark all notched their first PGA Tour win at Quail.

Throughout Cam Young’s career, he has thrived at tougher courses with strong fields. This season, he finished T16 at Riviera and T9 at Augusta National, demonstrating his preference of a tough test. His ability to hit the ball long and straight off the tee make him an ideal fit for Quail Hollow, despite playing pretty poorly his first time out in 2023 (T59). Young should be comfortable playing in the region as he played his college golf at Wake Forest, which is about an hour’s drive from Quail Hollow.

The 26-year-old has played well at Tom Fazio designs in the past and ranks 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on those courses in his last 36 rounds. Perhaps most importantly, this season, Young is the best player on the PGA Tour in terms of proximity from 175-200 in the fairway, which is where a plurality and many crucial shots will come from this week.

Young is an elite talent and Quail Hollow has been kind to players of his ilk who’ve yet to win on Tour.

Byeong Hun An +5000 (FanDuel)

Byeong Hun An missed some opportunities last weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He finished T4 and played some outstanding golf, but a couple of missed short putts prevented him from getting to the winning score of -23. Despite not getting the win, it’s hard to view An’s performance as anything other than an overwhelming success. It was An’s fourth top-ten finish of the season.

Last week, An gained 6.5 strokes ball striking, which was 7th in the field. He also ranked 12th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th for Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. The South Korean has been hitting the ball so well from tee to green all season long and he now heads to a golf course that should reward his precision.

An’s driver and long irons are absolute weapons. At Quail Hollow, players will see plenty of approach shots from the 175-200 range as well as some from 200+. In his past 24 rounds, Ben ranks 3rd in the field in proximity from 175-200 and 12th in proximity from 200+. Playing in an event that will not end up being a “birdie” fest should help An, who can separate from the field with his strong tee to green play. The putter may not always cooperate but getting to -15 is much easier than getting to -23 for elite ball strikers who tend to struggle on the greens.

Winning a “signature event” feels like a tall task for An this week with so many elite players in the field. However, he’s finished T16 at the Genesis Invitational, T16 at The Masters and T8 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 32-year-old’s game has improved drastically this season and I believe he’s ready to get the biggest win of his career.

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19th Hole

DP World Tour pro has score improved after round following bizarre rules situation

Published

4 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

As originally reported by Ryan French of Monday Q Info, a DP World Tour player was impacted over the weekend by a peculiar rules situation.

Ivan Cantero was playing the Volvo China Open when he hit an errant tee shot on the 13th hole. Cantero was unsure if the ball was in play or not, as it went towards a jungle area, so he played a provisional.

French confirmed with a rules official that the provisional was legal due to the fact that the player didn’t know whether the ball was in play or not.

Cantero’s original ball was found in the penalty area, which should have rendered his provisional irrelevant.

A rules official then told Cantero he could no longer play his original ball because he hit a provisional.

French shares that Cantero asked for a second opinion and was given the same (incorrect) answer. He went on to play his provisional and made a long par putt on the par 5.

After the round, the rules officials realized their mistake and decided to take a stroke away from the player, changing the par to a birdie.

The report cites rule 20.2 in the Rules of Golf.

“If a ruling by a referee or the Committee is later found wrong, the ruling can be corrected if possible under the Rules. If it is too late to do so, the ruling stands.”

The score change resulted in Cantero making the cut on the number and he then rallied on Saturday to finish in 23rd place after a weather-shortened event.

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19th Hole

‘F*** around and find out’ – Phil Mickelson fires warning shot over LIV’s access to majors in since-deleted tweet

Published

8 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

On Sunday, the social media account “Flushing It” made a post about the importance of LIV Golf ensuring that their players have major championship eligibility going forward.

Never has there been a more obvious example of the immediate issue LIV faces than today. The Volvo China Open was played for a $2.25 million purse and several players qualified for the PGA Championship at Valhalla. LIV Golf Singapore played for a purse more than 10 times that…

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 5, 2024

“LIV can have the grandest of plans for their future but getting players access to major championships should be their number 1 priority. Especially with the major exemptions running out fast and nearly all player contracts up for renewal this year and next.”

Phil Mickelson then responded to the post, warning the golf world that excluding LIV players from majors will have unintended consequences, saying “FAAFO” which means “f*** around and find out”.

“Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO”

His post has since been deleted, but there are plenty of screenshots out there.

??????? #FAAFO — LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson has sent a clear message to the powers that be, when it comes to LIV players and their access into majors: “F—k around and find out.”@flushingitgolf | @PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/kVEL7VR6UN

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 5, 2024

It will be easier said than done, but it does appear that some sort of agreement between LIV and the majors could be coming in the future if the PGA Tour and LIV aren’t able to mend fences.