Nine feet from immortality, Thomas Paul Fleetwood, first of his name, watched helplessly as his ball rolled perfectly end-over-end for eight of those feet and some change, before drifting deliriously to the right and narrowly catching a piece of the hole. The 62 that wasn’t, on the nation’s most stern test of championship golf (sorry, Oakmont), would also have been enough to likely force a playoff with Brooks Koepka and an opportunity to cap off his second majestic round–amid a brutal week–with a sterling sliver cherry on top. Two weeks later, I’m still thinking about that putt on Shinnecock’s 18th green. I can only imagine Tommy has sprung from his slumber on a night or two in a cold sweat about it.

This thing is dead-effing-center less than a foot from the hole. We all know what happened next.

Or maybe not. A native of dreary Southport, Merseyside, Tommy’s working-class upbringing crafted a young man 

as level-headed, humble, and appreciative as any professional golfer you will find

. And, among family, I’m near-certain Fleetwood has had a good upheaval (read: man cry) about coming up one shot shy of a chance to give Johnny Miller a proper ribbing til the end of time (and writing his name atop his own page the history books). But outwardly, he’s shown the same affinity for being likable, intuitive, and keeping it all in perspective. If you don’t believe me, all you need to read is his reaction to being presented with his second-place prize: 

“Well, there you go,” Fleetwood said. “My first medal. Thank you very much.”

 for Fleetwood since early 2017…you know…the 

 he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by one shot over Dustin Johnson and Pablo Larrazabal. Since that breakthrough, Tommy has been a human ATM on both tours, with a dozen top 10 finishes worldwide, including a victory at the 2017 HNA Open de France, runner-up finishes in Mexico and China, a solo fourth at Erin Hills, winning the 2017 Race to Dubai (with nearly $5 million in on-course earnings), successfully defending at Abu Dhabi, and then putting stacks on top of stacks and making it rain on Cat’s dinghy in The Hamptons. (Okay so I made that last part up, but wouldn’t you be willing to bet the $1,280,000 check he cashed was a tasty hair of the dog for his Monday morning hangover?)

“Fleetwood the Flusher,” as he was lovingly dubbed by Tron and Soly after personally witnessing his mystifying ballstriking, has every bit enough talent, intestinal fortitude, and staying power to eventually win multiple majors over his career. While my summer home on Fleetwood Island is sure to keep getting more crowded as he racks up one stellar finish after another, we have a very lax immigration policy:

“Give me your traj, your sauce, your huddled golf nerds yearning to card threes. The drunken refuse of your stuffy club. Send these, the hackers, tempest-tossed to me. On 

, we’ve cold pints in the pub.”



— Dustin (@ThisIsDFo) 

So I’ll pour one out for Tommy’s Sunday Shinny Sixty-Three, but I have a feeling we’ll be raising a glass to toast his maiden win in the United States before long. A star is being born right before our eyes, and I’m very thankful to be along for the ride. Crack on, Tommy Lad.

Fleetwood, nearing the end of a long and exasperating run of golf, is set to defend his title this week at the HNA Open de France. One of the longest-running tournaments in Europe, and part of the Rolex Series, the Open de France sports a $7,000,000 purse–enough coin to attract the European Tour’s best and brightest. Given the host venue of Le Golf National, it is also an opportunity for European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjorn to see how individual members of his squad perform and react to the course set-up. For the 

, this week is a chance to show why LGN is the perfect course on which to plant a flag.

For these reasons, it is supremely disappointing to see exactly one (ONE!!!1!) United States Ryder Cupper in the field: Justin Thomas. Although, it is remarkably #OnBrand for us to send 

 to “open up diplomatic relations” as a false flag operation while surreptitiously gathering sensitive intelligence. While I’m sure he’s been instructed by Furyk to take copious notes on his scouting mission, one would think the U.S. Team would be chomping at the bit to get an early look at this shortish, quirky course (and a taste of what kind of crowd fervor to expect). Alas, I guess most of the Yank squad would rather take a week off or suck up to Tiger at The National…it just seems like a missed opportunity to prepare for what is sure to be a raucous event.

Le Golf National very much resembles the quintessential American “Stadium Style” courses, and was built in 1990 as such philosophy was just coming into vogue. Photo cred: Albrecht Golf Guide

Meanwhile, the stout field in France is sure to provide some fireworks this weekend. With a 1.5 points multiplier, and no other Ryder Cup qualification points available anywhere else in the world this week, there is a chance for hopefuls to make a big splash, either on the Points List or in one of Le Golf National’s numerous water hazards.

Since our last installment of The Eurozone, we’ve had several significant events start to thin the herd and crystallize the team picture. While a full blown Ryder Cup update makes sense likely after The Open Championship, for now, here are a few gentlemen to really start keeping an eye on as they move closer to a wild card selection:

 Molinari won the first Rolex Series tournament of the year, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He notched his fifth career European Tour victory by going bogey-free on the weekend, demonstrating incredible mettle with one clutch swing after another on Sunday afternoon. The victory netted Molinari $1,000,000 and vaulted him from “best of the rest” into the third position in the R2D and an automatic qualification spot under the European Points list in fourth position. Captain Bjorn was eating it up, too:

Somebody decided to join the party………
World class performance from 

making the team at this point, as his ballstriking will be a valuable foursomes asset and his experience will be sorely needed on a young team.

 Olesen won the following week at the Italian Open on a picturesque track called Gardagolf CC in Brescia. The lights out -22 performance for Thorbjorn in the second Rolex Series event launched him from afterthought to fifth on the European Points list, overtaking a number of stalwarts including Rory, Rahm, RCB, and Noren. Thunder Bear is a notoriously streaky player that has probably underachieved in his career if we’re being honest. As 

 potential rookie, I’m not sure Olesen is a prime candidate for a wild card selection absent a run of very convincing golf this summer, but he does share Danish citizenship with Captain Bjorn, so there’s that? Of course, another win or two and Thorbjorn could find himself knocking someone like Fitzpatrick, Levy, or Casey from their perch.

“I’m gonna do one.” “HE’S GONNA DO ONE!!!!!” Victory tastes pretty sweet. Photo cred: Stadium Astro

 Poulter and Casey both had their chances to hoist a trophy in the last two weeks, respectively. Though both came up short, each added cachet to their resumes and all-important World Points to their standings. Casey now finds himself as an automatic qualifier in the eighth position on the World Points list, and Poulter sits tenth.

 Moving in the other direction are Levy and Fisher. Neither showed particularly well at the US Open (MC at +17 for Levy; T48 for Fisher). Fisher still sits at ninth in the European Points standings, but Levy has slid to 16th, and neither fare better in the World Points. Of the two, Levy likely has a higher ceiling for reasons previously discussed in the last column, and has a massive chance this week to cap a second victory of the season in his home country, virtually locking up a spot on sentimentality as much as merit. Fisher needs to find some serious form, and fast, if he wants to capitalize on his points accumulation from early in the qualification cycle.

All four rounds of the HNA Open de France will be broadcast on Golf Channel.

Thursday and Friday 6/28 and 6/29: 4:00 AM EDT – 12:00 PM EDT

Saturday and Sunday 6/30 and 7/1: 7:30 AM EDT – 12:30 PM EDT

*Feature Image photo cred: The Independent (UK)

The Eurozone: #10

Soly and I had a chance to play this year’s U.S. Open venue a few weeks ago and were blown away by the potential of this year’s tournament. The USGA keeps calling the U.S. Open “golf’s ultimate test” and if they get the weather they are hoping for, Shinnecock Hills will be a very fitting venue for it. It’s the perfect combination of a million different factors and after seeing in person how good it is, it’s kind of shocking that it’s taken 14 years to get back here.

The course was (understandably) playing really soft and slow when we saw it a few weeks ahead of the tournament, but if the USGA can dodge the rain that softened things last year at Erin Hills, and if the wind gets up the way it typically does in Southampton, ejections will be imminent.

The course has undergone a number of changes since 2004 – fairways were widened during a restoration by Coore & Crenshaw and then narrowed for the event. Greens have been expanded to their original sizes and surrounds have been cut tight to provide options around the putting surface. We outlined what to look for in the video below.

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Video: Playing Shinnecock Hills

He was probably already on the charter, but barring a complete disappearance of his game over the next few months, Bryson DeChambeau is going to Paris.

There’s a ton of golf to be played, and many points to be earned, so don’t look too closely at where he stands on the points list (eighth). A victory over this field, combined with a runner-up at Bay Hill, a T-3 at Heritage, and a solo 4th at Quail Hollow, should be enough to get Captain Furyk’s attention with a captain’s pick. The fact that he seemingly plays practice rounds with Tiger every week can’t be overlooked, and I fully expect Bryson to be breaking down the anatomical limits of Cat’s body and how he can best utilize them for his proprioception. He was a deserving winner this week, and he’s not going anywhere.

I don’t have the energy to root against him, and credit him for withstanding the social media blows and continuing on his own path. He does not seem to be well-liked on Tour, and doesn’t seem entirely comfortable in his own skin. Neil has dubbed him as a founding member of the Opus Dei society, and his self-torture reached comical levels on Sunday afternoon. Walking off the 14th after a bogey, he murmured to himself, but loud enough to hear, “I’ve been in the fairway on this hole every day, and I’ve played it over par. Ugh, I hate my life!” It was one of my favorite moments of the day.

Here’s what I wrote about Kyle Stanley after the Memorial last year:

Those who have followed us for a while know that Kyle Stanley’s traj was my initial man-crush way back in the pre-NLU era, even before he burst onto the scene at Torrey and in Phoenix. Unfortunately he had trouble maintaining the success that came so quickly to him, and after a couple of dark years, it’s awesome to see him have some really nice finishes in some big time events (T4 at the Players, T6 this week). His ball striking is still something to behold, and as I’ve said for years, when he putts it just average, he’s in some kind of contention. If you get a chance at a tournament, go follow him for 9 holes. The crowds won’t be insane, you’ll be able to get great viewpoints, and you’ll be really impressed with the lines he takes and how aggressively he fires at pins. Don’t be surprised at all if the putter gets hot one week, and he ends up winning one this year.

A month later, that win came at the Quicken Loans National. A year later, he so nearly added another at the Memorial.

What has always impressed me the most about Kyle has been his perseverance. Six years ago on the west coast swing, just one week after the embarrassment that came from blowing a three-shot lead on the 72nd hole at the Farmers Insurance Open, he won the Waste Management in thrilling come-from-behind fashion. What looked like a breakout ended up being a long trip into the darkness, where putting woes and a decline in his ballstriking meant the loss of his PGA Tour card. He revamped his game by dialing way back off the tee, and after tinkering with every possible approach on putting, settled on one that sufficed and he stuck with it.

The steady climb back to the big stage culminated with that win last July, which put him back in the Masters, the Tour Championship, and gave him the needed OWGR boost to get into the WGC’s. With the added job security, the pressure on his putting has seemingly decreased, and he’s actually 

 strokes putting in 2018 after posting the worst putting season (2014) since the strokes gained statistic has been tracked.

That perseverance showed again on Sunday, and without some horrific luck on the 72nd hole and in the playoff, it may have given him his third win. After a bogey on the 9th, he made a mess of the 10th before recording the first ever recorded 

 history (up and down from in between two different bunkers that you can touch with a rake without moving your feet).

On the par-5 11th, he drove it in the hazard left, hit his third into the hazard to the right, played from the hazard to 15 feet, then drained it for par. He proceeded to dump one in the water on 12 and make double to fall five shots behind. It was over.

After a par on 13, he stuffed one tight on 14 and rolled it in. Bryson made bogey, and the lead was three. An up and down for birdie from the greenside bunker on 15 brought him within two, and another 15-footer for birdie on 16 brought him within one. At this point, the wind was howling, and while Cantlay and DeChambeau were puckering a bit, KFS saved his best for the 17th:

After erasing a five shot lead in four holes, he pounded driver around the corner on 18, only to have this happen:

Wow.



What an awful bounce for Kyle Stanley at the 72nd hole. 

Other than it ricocheting all the way into the water, I’m not sure he could have gotten a worse break than that. Even if it hits the tree and goes into the bunker, he can easily get on the green with the wind at his back. If it kicks back into the fairway, he can shape a shot around the tree. If it just misses the 12 inch wide trunk of the tree, he’s got a flip wedge into the green. Aghhhhh now I’m getting all worked up again.

It didn’t end up working out for him, but that battle back after the double on 12 is what I’ll remember over the bad bounce. Unless I keep talking about the bad bounce. (OK the bounce is all I’ve thought about since it happened).

I asked for a sign of life on a course outside of the state of Florida, and he delivered. The putts obviously didn’t fall, but my God did he strike it beautifully all week. He even pumped one OB on the back nine on Sunday and 

 lead the field in strokes gained tee-to-green. I went from thinking that he for sure can’t win at Shinnecock to absolutely believing that he can. He’s not quite got it all working in the same week, but it really is just a matter of time before it hits. I continue to be amazed that he is striking it this well, and the putting woes honestly don’t concern me.

I’ve always held Muirfield Village in the highest regard. I was interested to see it in a new light after learning more about golf course architecture over the last year than I probably had in the previous 30. I walked away with even more appreciation for it. The green complexes are really interesting, and even though it didn’t play nearly as firm as they would have liked, there’s a lot of intrigue that goes into picking out a spot to land your approach shots.

I think the thick rough around the green actually makes it easier on the players, as the ball stays close to the green, and it’s relatively simple for these guys to slide lofted wedges under the ball, get it up in the air, and stop in near where they want to. The birdies are out there for the guys that play aggressively and execute, and the ejections are waiting there for you when you miss. Thanks to Tiger’s return and KFS’ run, this was one of the more fun Memorial weeks I can remember.

I caddied for Curtis Luck at the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier in Columbus on Monday at Brookside. It did not go well. Curtis struggled to a 78, and ultimately withdrew rather than heading to the Lakes for the afternoon. He did not have the driver working, and the rough was more brutal than anything he’s seen on the Web Tour this season or down in Orlando practicing (or in Australia growing up, for that matter). It was really fun to be apart of a day that I’ve always wanted to experience, and even though it didn’t go as planned, we were able to laugh about it at the end of the day.

To watch this day unfold just a few hours after leaving the grounds at one of the most prestigious PGA Tour events of the year provided perhaps the perfect glimpse at the thin dividing lines between the glory and the grind of professional golf. We crossed paths with four major champions battling to keep the dream alive, and a handful of other guys that have won on the PGA Tour. Brian Gay was in our group, and he bunted his way around Brookside and the Lakes and made it through to Shinnecock, while my guy and the third guy in our group (Daniel Mazziotta) blew it past them, and didn’t make it to the afternoon round. His short game was incredible, and it was a clinic.

There were high schoolers out there, push carts, caddies, caddies with push carts, pros in shorts, and just the hardest of the hardcore fans. These guys came from all over to play for just 14 spots out of 120 guys. And that’s just to get 

 a tournament. You guys are probably sick of us pointing out the less than glamorous parts of tour life, but there’s just so much more to this game than what you see on TV on Sunday afternoons.

latest episode of the NLU Podcast, where I was joined by Lucas Glover

. Lucas has been in the news for the wrong reasons in recent weeks. I addressed this in the introduction to the podcast, but for obvious reasons, the recent altercation regarding his wife was not discussed directly in the interview. He iterated that he can’t legally speak on the topic, and I respected his wishes in that regard. Before the incident occurred, Lucas and I had agreed to do a podcast during Memorial Tournament week, and I was pleasantly surprised that he wanted to continue with the interview despite his current circumstances. It would have been very easy for him to decline to speak entirely during this time, and we’re especially appreciative of his willingness to continue with the plan. I enjoyed talking to Lucas about his career, the 2009 U.S. Open, battling the yips, and his career resurgence.

Potentially poor weather on Sunday caused the Tour to move up tee times, and send guys off both tees in threesomes early on Sunday morning. Tiger being within shouting distance of the lead meant that the protocol was finally broken regarding tape delayed coverage. The Golf Channel went live at 8:30 AM, and the broadcast was available to be streamed live online starting at 11 AM for the first time in memory. Let’s take a quick second to praise progress. We got to watch golf live on a Sunday!

Now that we’ve done that, let’s now acknowledge that this has apparently been possible the entire time, and they’re just now giving us what fans have demanded for years. It’s unclear to me how much of this blame goes on the PGA Tour, and how much goes to CBS, but I think we can all agree that it’s some combination of the two. This viewing experience was basically lipstick on a pig, and 

 of the debacle golf fans had to go through just to watch the golf live:

11 to 2:30 – PGA Tour Live, CBSSports.com, CBSSports app–for the first time ever BTW, normally CBS would not stream and force us to watch a tape delay

2:30 – 4:00 – CBS comes on at allotted start time, tournament in progress

CBS swooped in on TV to show the conclusion live, then went back to the tape delay until the end of the allotted coverage. It was an absolute mess, while us hardcore nerds that actually know how to stream at least are able to watch coverage live if we really want to, the issue is not fully addressed yet, and I’m not sure it ever really will be.

Cantlay’s pace is downright brutal, but I had to refrain on commenting on it. I’m way, way out on Slow Play Twitter. Stanley had to play three of the four rounds with him, and it was honestly comical watching how many times he would look at the target before pulling the trigger. He needs to get it addressed before he gets his waggles counted like Sergio did at Bethpage in ’02. The guy is cold blooded, well rounded, and doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks about him. I still think he’s a fantastic candidate for Paris, and I can’t wait to see how triggered the Euros get over his routine.

At one point on Sunday, as he waggled over the ball on the 15th tee, a fan finally murmured (not loudly, but loud enough for him to here), “Alriiiight, let’s go.” He promptly hit it and didn’t appear disturbed by it, but you have to wonder how long he can handle the abuse that is only gonna get worse.

 – If you haven’t peeped D.J. Pie’s video on Winter Park, please do so. Even if you’re not in the same time zone as the golf course, chances are there’s a municipal course near you that could take a page out of the WP9 handbook and do something that makes a rather mundane golf course into something that benefits both the game and the community.

 – It’s back! Two new episodes of the Trap Draw Podcast have emerged in the last two weeks. 

 talking about our origins in the game, what we love about it, our best memories, and more. 

 both the men’s and women’s NCAA Championships, as well as the Web Tour (and Tron’s caddying experience, which you’re gonna wanna hear. Spoiler alert, Tron got ZB a two shot penalty).

 – We’ve got a video coming out about our day up there at some point this week. In the meantime, get yourself prepped for the U.S. Open 

: We have a rule about never talking about a podcast until it’s recorded, as these things fall through almost weekly. But we should have some good guests for preview podcasts in the coming weeks. We already have some U.S. Open stuff recorded with Paul Azinger, and hopefully some more insight from the Fox team as well. Stay tuned!

2018 Memorial Tournament Notes

Needing a par at the 9th hole at Muirfield Village to make the cut at the Memorial Tournament on Friday evening around 7:30 PM, Chris Kirk dug his 3-wood into the teeing area to build a little man-made tee out of the turf. I picked up his group (he was playing with the 36 hole co-leader, Kyle Stanley) after the rain delay, and could tell that he was searching a bit. He dead chunked a long iron on the par-3 4th, coming up well short of the green which lead to a bogey. It was not a shot that you typically see a professional, and it was enough to get me to fire off some texts about what I had seen.

He righted the ship and slid inside the cutline with a nice birdie at the 8th. But the 9th tee is where this story really begins.

I’ve seen a lot of professional golf. I’ve played a decent amount of golf with professionals over the last couple of years. I’ve never seen anything remotely in the realm of what I witnessed on this calm June evening in Dublin, Ohio. I’ve seen pros hit shanks, I’ve seen hooks, and I’ve seen slices off the planet. But without any shred of a doubt, this was the worst shot I’ve ever seen a professional hit. Kirk cold topped a ball so bad that I 

 it. No joke, my heart starting racing. Things were moving very quickly for 

, as a spectator. I can’t even begin to imagine what he felt in that moment.

The silence on the tee was deafening. Golf tournaments are littered with fans that have no clue how to conduct themselves from an etiquette standpoint, but somehow it was as if every fan that witnessed this knew they couldn’t even turn to the person next to them to acknowledge that this had just occurred. Kirk’s facial expression never changed. My jaw remained at my chest until well after Patrick Cantlay put his tee in the ground. Two more players still had to hit, and when Cantlay got it airborne, I was honestly impressed. I don’t know how you don’t think about what everyone is avoiding talking about as you line up to play your shot.

What happened next was even more unbelievable. Kirk got up to his ball in the rough 76 yards in front of where he played his previous stroke, and hacked one down the fairway, just missing into the light rough on the right. With the trees overhanging the ninth fairway on the right side, this was far from the ideal spot. Heroically, he stuffed one inside of ten feet, and made a downhill tickler for either the best or the worst par I’ve ever seen. If there’s not a plaque to where he played the topped ball from at this time next year, what are we even doing here?

Knowing he had likely just slid inside the cutline, it was finally safe to acknowledge what just happened. He and his caddie shared a laugh, as did the other caddies in the group. Three hours later, it’s still all I’m thinking about. How a guy can hit that shot, turn around and face the music, and get the par that he needed to make the weekend is blowing my mind. For the briefest of instances, fans could look upon that and say “hey, he looks like me!” But the fact that he still ended up making the cut makes me feel like it is now safe to talk about it.

Kirk even took to twitter to get in on the fun, so props to him for this one:

A few confessions to make. #1 this was about my 5th top (all with 3 wood) in 

 competition. #2 the 76 yards they gave me on shotlink was VERY generous. 

Chris Kirk Cold Tops a 3-wood, Makes Par to Make the Cut Anyways

Winter Park Golf Course has had a special place in my golfing heart since 2010, when it was really the only place I could afford to play during an unpaid internship in Orlando. Since then, it’s undergone a massive overhaul that helps provide a model for what municipal golf should be in the United States.

For my Special Ops project this month, I wanted to shine some more light on a place nearby that deserves all the accolades we have to give.

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NLU Special Ops: Winter Park GC

It’s a home game! After a sleepy post-Masters stretch, one of the best non-major events of the year has got the juices flowing again. It helps that I’ve attended this event in some capacity 22 of the last 25 years, but there’s a reason it remains one of my favorite weeks.

Growing up in Dublin, I had no idea that this tournament was a special one on the tour. I think I just assumed all events were that good. Having had the opportunity to see how a dozen or so other tournaments are run and how those venues play, I now have a full appreciation for how spoiled I was as a kid to get to see such a great field at such a tremendous site every year.

Muirfield was the site of Jack Nicklaus’ first career Open Championship, and became the name of his pride and joy in Dublin, Ohio, a small suburb of Columbus. Muirfield Village Golf Club was built in 1976 and designed by the Columbus native, and has played host to this event since then. My family set up shop in Muirfield Village in 1992, and my parents still live there today.

Two weeks out from Shinnecock, guys typically show up to this event primed and ready for the summer stretch. In 2016, the purse was jacked up from $6.2 million to $8.5 million. It’s now $8.9 million, and the winner of the event is granted a three-year exemption, as opposed to a two-year pass for regular events. Add in the fact this is one of the five invitational events on the schedule, one of the leaders in player hospitality, and on one of the best tour courses of the year, and you officially have a big boy event.

It may be blasphemous to say, but Muirfield Village may be the closest thing on the tour to Augusta National. Nicklaus admits that Augusta was a huge influence on the design, and to this day, the tournament is run in a similar fashion to the Masters. Like Augusta, the course is known as a second-shot golf course. It’s defined by its lush green grass, elegant water hazards, and underrated elevation changes that can’t be appreciated until you see them in person. The similarities on the back nine get a little bit creepy to the point where it almost feels as if Jack used Muirfield Village as an excuse to remind you of his six Masters titles.

Both the 12th and the 16th holes look and play like replicas of the same holes at Augusta, with the Muirfield Village ones playing longer and more difficult (the 16th green 

 doesn’t hold balls nearly as well as the other greens, seven years after the hole was redone).

Those two examples are the easiest to illustrate visually, but that is not where they end. At both courses, the first hole is a long, difficult, dogleg right par 4 that is protected by fairway bunkers to the right. The third holes are each short par-4’s that don’t require a driver. The fourth holes are long par-3’s that serve as one of the most non-descript holes at both courses. The 17th is a long, straight away par-4 on both courses, and the 18th is a long, dogleg right par-4 that chutes straight up the hill toward the clubhouse. The par-5’s are all reachable, and the course is ALWAYS being tinkered with – lengthening, adding/moving bunkers, resurfacing the greens. Muirfield is Jack’s lego set.

After a short spin around the course on Tuesday, it was easy to note that some trees are missing. I’m not sure if those are intentional removals or if they came down in storms, but the most notable was the one that hung over the front right of the par-5 11th green.

The spring in the midwest was brutal (it snowed twice in Dublin in April!), so it’s not surprising that the course is playing soft. With more weather on the way this week, I can’t picture it drying out, so it’s safe to expect some low scores.

With the large feline back in town for the first time in three years, the buzz around the event seems back. His last go around was unforgettable to those that witnessed, as he limped in with an 85 on Saturday, which stands as his worst round as a professional. I continue to be amazed that we are watching a healthy (and happy!) Tiger Woods, competing at the highest level of professional golf. Considering all that he has overcome (many of it self-inflicted, but still), and despite all the coverage he gets, I think this comeback is being underrated.

HOWEVA! I’ll be infinitely more impressed and more confident in him going forward once we see some success on a course other than a flat Florida layout. In his four starts in the Sunshine State, his worst finish was a solo 12th at the Honda Classic (accompanied by a T2 at Valspar, T5 at Bay Hill, and a T11 at the Players). His four starts outside of Florida are an MC, T23, T32, and a T55.

Muirfield Village is definitely more similar to Quail Hollow and Augusta in terms of elevation change than it is anything in Florida. How well will his body hold up going and down hills, chopping out of (low key) thicc rough (seriously, guys were losing balls in the rough during practice rounds), and potential starts and stops with weather? He’s obviously got a ton of great history here on his side, but it’ll be interesting to see how he fares out here in this phase of his career. If he passes this test, it’s time to start talking about him for Shinnecock. But until he proves that, I have a hard time believing he’ll be a factor in two weeks on Long Island.

– Trey Mullinax teed it up with JT on Tuesday in a practice round. JT went first and pounded a ball down the first fairway. As soon as he hit it, Mullinax goes, “I am so glad you went first. I was getting ready to hit to that fairway,” as he pointed up the 9th. I would have paid to see that happen.

– Robert Streb is just like you and me. This during Tuesday’s practice round:

– The U.S. Women’s Open is at Shoal Creek this week, and despite some torrential downpours, the USGA has stated that they will play the ball down. Mud ball alert! I get that the USGA wanted to stick to their guns regarding making the U.S. Open the toughest ultimate test in golf, but this seems a bit reckless. If you’re going to take the event to a golf course whose soil presents this issue, it’s pretty easily solved by letting players play it up in the short grass. That makes for a much better competition than watching players guess which way the mud is going to make their ball fly. The players already lost an entire day of preparation with the course closed on Tuesday (

and some even took their talents to Top Golf to get some reps in

– The ROLEX Series moves on in Europe with the Italian Open with Fleetwood, Noren, Molinari, Poulter, Fitz, Hatton, and RCB headlining the field.

– After the U.S. Open passes, the Euro Tour becomes the much more interesting story for the next several months, with the French, Irish, and Scottish Opens leading up to the Open Championship. And I’m not just saying this to appease the Butt Hurt Nation of Europeans that did not care for me pointing out that Wentworth hands out an astronomical amount of world ranking points despite pulling a weaker field than the Fort Worth Invitational. I’m (now) aware that the European Tour designates this event as a flagship event, which is why it has so many points attached to it. But therein lies the exact problem. 

The OWGR are biased towards all tours but the PGA TOUR

, and that’s just a fact at this point (seriously read the link before sliding in the mentions). I could go through and dig up more examples, but in that essay Broadie outlines numerous examples of this bias to the point where I don’t understand how anyone could argue otherwise.

Weekly Briefing: Memorial Tournament

Introducing the inaugural selection for the online book club you never knew you wanted (or needed):

First, there’s an Amazon link to purchase the book through the image above, but I’d encourage you to either support your local bookseller or utilize your public library. Second, the back of the book reads as follows:

The Old Course at St. Andrews is the great hallowed ground of golf, and it was there that George Peper was playing in 1983 when he hit a slice so hideous that he never found the ball. But in looking for it, he came across a for sale sign on a stone town house alongside the famed 18th hole. Two months later he and his wife, Libby, became the proud owners of 9A Gibson Place. Twenty years later, they moved in and settled in the “Auld Grey Toon,” in the land of golf, single malt scotch, haggis, bagpipes, and television licenses, where the neighbors had accents thicker than a North Sea fog.



When he isn’t attempting to break par on the Old Course, Peper immerses himself in the local golf culture: He learns the rituals for ordering a drink at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (est. 1754), where he becomes the first American elected to the Club Committee; endures homesickness (in the form of “Pre-Masters Post-Partum Syndrome”); and meets intriguing locals such as his neighbor Gordon Murray, quite possibly the only caddie to store his caddie bib in the trunk of a Mercedes, and Wee Raymond Gatherum, a magnificent shotmaker whose diminutive stature belies his skills.



Wry, warm, and witty, 

 will delight anyone who has played—or dreamed of playing—the Old Course.

In other words, a wonderful way to mentally prepare for the Open Championship in July!

So what’s this all about? Think Oprah’s Book Club, but golf focused. I’ve long been envious of folks belonging to vibrant book clubs, and have always hoped to use the NLU platform to start something similar. In my mind I envision a new book selection each month, though I think each book will have a two-month timespan (one month to read, the next month to discuss). I want to use the 

 for a home to discussion, and then hope to augment that with some sort of author interview in podcast or written form (whenever possible). At the very least I figure we can use the whole experiment to find and explore titles we may not have gotten to on our own. I 

it’s going to be golf books exclusively, but let’s reserve the right to wander outside the game, especially if certain ideas and topics can be tangentially tied back to golf. In other words, it’s going to be a feel-as-we-go process. Ride along for as much or as little as you wish!

Note: Listen to my interview with George Peper 

Selection #1: June 2018

If you missed out on the Women’s Championship this past week, damnit, what’s wrong with you? Luckily, there’s another chance, as the Men’s Championship begins Friday, May 25th. Let’s get the basics out of the way:


Friday, 5/25 through Wednesday, 5/30 at Karsten Creek GC, Stillwater, OK

:
Monday, 5/28: 4pm to 8pm EST
Tuesday, 5/29: 11am to 1:30pm EST AND 4pm to 8pm EST
Wednesday, 5/30: 4pm to 8pm EST

:
156 golfers will begin competition. The field is comprised of 30 qualifying teams (five members each) plus 6 individual qualifiers. Everybody plays 54 holes of stroke play over the first three days, with team standings determined by the best four scores each round. After 54 holes there is a cut down to the top 15 teams plus 9 individuals not on an advancing team. The final 18 holes of stroke play on Monday, May 28th will determine an individual national champion (overall 72-hole medalist) as well as the top 8 teams. These 8 teams will be seeded #1 through #8 and compete in a single elimination, match play tournament (five individual, 18-hole matches, no halves) to crown a national champion. Tuesday, May 29th will be quarterfinal and semifinal matches, and the finals will be on Wednesday, May 30th.

You can follow the scoring in real-time here: 

The 30 teams qualifying for the Championship this week all finished in the top-five at one of six regional sites. Of the 30 top seeds across the six regional sites, 23 of those programs advanced to compete in Stillwater. The most surprising absentees are top-seeded Georgia Tech and LSU, along with second-seeded Cal. The most surprising team to advance through regionals, at least based on their seed, was Augusta (seeded 12th at their regional site). Two other double-digit regional seeds advanced: Central Florida and Iowa State (both 10 seeds). Here then is my attempt to categorize the 30 Championship teams:

: Oklahoma State –more on them later, but suffice to say the unanimous #1 ranked team in the final GCAA poll, playing on their home course, will be the undisputed favorites this week.


: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt –all top seeds at regionals and all within the top-5 of the final GCAA ranking.


: Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech, and UCLA –all these programs were top-5 seeds at their respective regional site and can absolutely win the title this week.


: Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina State, and Northwestern –they were all outside the top-5 seeds at regionals. If you enjoy rooting for the house in blackjack, I’d recommend adopting one of these squads for the week.


: Augusta, BYU, and UNLV — these programs have all won at least one team national championship and will look to play spoiler again this week.


: Central Florida, Kent State, and North Florida –comparative resource disadvantage, plus, they’ve never won a national championship. As was the case last week with the women, I’ll be rooting for the MAC representative, Kent State.

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS:
George Cunningham, Arizona
Pontus Nyholm, Campbell
Kyle Mueller, Michigan
Braden Thornberry, Ole Miss
Joshua McCarthy, Pepperdine
Charles Corner, UTEP

In an effort to provide you with only the best information, I reached out to a contact on the ground in Oklahoma to assist me with players to keep an eye on. This person, choosing to remain anonymous, has a much deeper knowledge of the collegiate game than yours truly, so I humbly cede the floor to the “Big Righty” (his nickname, not mine):

Doug Ghim – Sr. Texas. Winner of the Ben Hogan Award on Monday, Ghim is the latest in a long history of Longhorn greats. Is coming off victories at both Big12 (tie) & NCAA Regionals (Raleigh), was low amateur at the Masters and is ranked #1 amateur in the world.

Norman Xiong – So. Oregon. The Haskins Award favorite, 2017 Western Amateur champion and #3 amateur in the world has won 6 times this season including the NCAA Regional (Stockton). Is an absolute freight train when playing well and sniffing a lead.

Braden Thornberry – Jr. Ole Miss. Hogan Award finalist and defending NCAA Individual Champion will be competing as an individual this week as his team failed to qualify. Holds the all-time Ole Miss wins record with 11, as a Junior. #2 ranked amateur in the world.

Viktor Hovland – So. Oklahoma State. A native of Norway, Hovland is the #7 ranked amateur in the world and has been the model of consistency, finishing in the top 7 in 8 of the previous 9 tournaments with one victory.

Nick Hardy – Sr. Illinois. The 2018 Big10 Player of the Year has finished in the top 10 in 11 of 12 events this season with a win in the Big10 Championship and T4 in NCAA Regional (Columbus).

Matthew Wolff – Fr. Oklahoma State. The hands down best freshman in the country possesses a swing that is as equal unique as it is lethal. Will be captivating television watching Wolff compete this week and expect him to contend as he has 4 runner-up finishes during the season.

Theo Humphrey – Sr. Vanderbilt. The 2018 SEC Player of the Year is the leader of the #3 Vanderbilt team looking to improve on last years semifinal appearance. Humphrey finished 3rd in last years NCAA Individual Championship and was a semifinalist in the 2017 U.S. Amateur.

Chandler Phillips – Jr. Texas A&M. 4 wins in 12 events, including winner of the College Station Regional. Ranked #9 amateur in the world and only once finished outside top 15 on the season.

Shintaro Ban – Sr. UNLV. The 2018 Mountain West Player of the Year won 4 of his 13 starts this season, including a blistering -16 (200) at the Mountain West Championship.

Dylan Meyer – Sr. Illinois. Has a knack for the big moment and a stalwart of a match play player. Has 2 wins on the season to go along with 7 top 10 finishes and is the #6 ranked player in the World Amateur Rankings.

Kyle Mueller – Sr. Michigan. Will be competing as an individual as his team did not qualify for postseason play. Won the Columbus Regional against a field including Oklahoma State & Illinois.

Stephen Franken – Jr. NC State. Recently named ACC Player of the Year and coming off a T5 in Regionals (Raleigh).

Andy Zhang – So. Florida. Has come on very strong as of late winning both the SEC Championship individual and NCAA Regional (Kissimmee).

Fredrik Nilehn – Sr. Texas Tech. Is the 2018 Big12 Player of the Year. Battled through some injuries this year and is lethal when healthy. From Sweden, is the 16th ranked amateur in the world.

Zachary Bauchou – Jr. Oklahoma State. There are no weaknesses in the 2017 Canadian Amateur champion’s game.

Kristoffer Ventura – Sr. Oklahoma State. Do not let being listed as 4th member of the OSU team fool you, this senior who was co-medalist at Big12s possesses tremendous pop and 4 years of experience around Karsten Creek.

Brad Dalke – Jr. Oklahoma. The leader of the defending national champions, playing in home state, at rival school’s home course. Won the 2013 AJGA PING Invitational at Karsten Creek.

George Cunningham – Sr. Arizona. Qualified as an individual in the Kissimmee Regional and has had a great senior season and risen to inside top 25 in rankings.

Davis Riley – Jr. Alabama. Big hitter that usually shines on tough courses and in big events.

Ryan Gronlund – Jr. Oregon. Has a knack for the spotlight. Birdied the final 4 holes in 2017 to send Oregon into match play, which ultimately led to a runner-up finish. Went out in 29 at Regionals to lead a spirited charge for the Ducks to rally and qualify as the 5th seed in the Stockton Regional.

The Big Righty thinks the following teams will make it to the Quaterfinals (no love for my Golden Flashes!):

Oklahoma State. Top ranked team, home course. Will be huge disappointment if they don’t advance out of stroke play.

Oklahoma. Motivated, experienced, arguably the best 5th man of the top 4 teams, which could prove valuable in match play.

Vanderbilt. Veteran team returning 4 members off the semi-final team last year at Rich Harvest Farms.

Texas A&M. Have been ranked as a top 3 team all season. Will be paired with Oklahoma & Oklahoma State the first 2 rounds which will add a big stage for the Aggies.

Baylor. The Bears possess a solid 1-5 lineup but its most important asset this week is Coach Mike McGraw. McGraw was a coach at Oklahoma State from 1998-2013 and has been a coach on 3 previous national title teams (2 at OSU & 1 at Alabama).

Florida. An explosive team that can be boom or bust. If firing on all cylinders can compete with anybody.

Illinois. Has 2 show ponies in Hardy & Meyer who are as good of a veteran combo as any team possesses. Young in spots 3-5 could be their undoing.

Auburn. The Tigers gained valuable match play experience in route to winning the 2018 SEC Championship. Start 3 underclassmen but their pair of freshmen, Padgett & Mancheno, are talented.

Alabama. The Jay Seawell-led team finished runner-up in the 2018 SEC Championship

Iowa State. A team that is catching fire at the right time finished 4th in the Big12 Championship and 3rd in their Regional (Stockton).

-Oklahoma State is one of the most successful men’s golf programs in NCAA history. This is due in large part to their former coach (and current AD), 

. Aside from being the driving force behind the construction of Karsten Creek, Holder won eight national championships at Oklahoma State. He won NCAA titles in four different decades, one of only five coaches in any sport to accomplish such a feat. Additionally, his squads captured 21 conference championships, second only to legendary Kansas basketball coach, Phog Allen, across all sports. Finally, Holder’s squads produced numerous individual champions, an embarrassment of All-Americans, and many notable professional players. Oklahoma State enters this year’s championship as the best team in the country (unanimous #1 ranked team per GCAA, winners of 9 of 12 tournaments this year), competing on their home course, and subjects of a Golf Channel show (“Driven”). All this is to say they will be under immense pressure to win a championship. Anything less will be considered a failure.

-One of the teams looking to play spoiler will be OSU’s hated rival, Oklahoma. The 2nd-ranked Sooners (per GCAA) are the defending national champions, have three members from last year’s squad, and appear to be peaking at the perfect time as they won both the Big12 championship and their Regional tournament. An Oklahoma v. Oklahoma State matchup at some point this week will be crazy good drama.

-Karsten Creek showed out well on TV this past week for the women. With temperatures expected to climb into the 90s each day of the tournament, look for the course to play firm and fast, and the competition to turn into as much a test of endurance and will as it is skill. At least come team play.

-As mentioned briefly up top, the biggest team absences this week are Georgia Tech and LSU. Both were top seeds at Regionals. It marks just the third and fourth time, respectively, since 2009 that a top seed at Regional failed to qualify for the Championships.

-The best players not competing this week are a pair of Pac12 guys, Cal’s Collin Morikawa (4th ranked amateur) and USC’s Justin Suh (5th ranked amateur in the world/Pac12 POY).

-The last time Augusta (nee Augusta State) made the NCAA Championships, some cat named Patrick Reed was helping them win their second of back-to-back national championships in 2011. I wonder what ever happened to that dude?

-Aaron Wise, 21 years old and fresh off his massively impressive win at the Byron Nelson, won the 2016 individual title (his Oregon Ducks won the team title). What’s scary is Wise could be competing this week at Karsten Creek had he not decided to turn pro early.

-Speaking of former champions, last year’s winner, Braden Thornberry, is back to defend his title. He’ll try to become the first repeat national champion since Phil Mickelson went back to back in 1989 and 1990. Mickelson, you’ll note, went on to add a third title in 1992, joining Ben Crenshaw of Texas as the only 3x winners. Two-time NCAA champions include Houston’s Dick Crawford, Yale’s Dexter Cummings, Princeton’s George Dunlap, Tulane’s Fred Lamprecht, and USC’s Scott Simpson.

-I think it a bit surprising only six non-Americans have won the individual national championship. The first to do so was Australia’s James McLean (Minnesota) in 1998. Since then, England’s Luke Donald (Northwestern, 1999), Spain’s Alejandro Canizares (Arizona State, 2003), Canada’s James Lepp (Washington, 2005) and Matt Hill (NC State, 2009); and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters (Illinois, 2012) have won titles.

-Other sports get a lot of attention when it comes to the split between Power-5 schools and non Power-5 schools, but I’m here to tell you the distinction in golf seems to be of the utmost importance when it comes to winning national championships. Only seven non-P5 programs have captured a team national championship since 1950–Houston (16 of them (!!!!) but none since 1985), North Texas (1950-1952), Augusta (2010 & 2011), BYU (1981), Pepperdine (1997), SMU (1954), and UNLV (1998). I think it puts into contrast just how unique those Augusta teams were several years back.

-You may not recognize the name Mark Laesch. I admit I didn’t before reading about him. As the founder of Golfstat, Laesch helped grow the reach and accessibility of the college game. If you check in on the scores this week, at the link above, that’s Golfstat. Unfortunately, Mark succumbed to ALS earlier spring. I really enjoyed learning about Mark and reading about his spirit from this 

-If you want to do a bit of digging into the various teams and players competing, the NCAA produces a digital program. It can be found 

NCAA D1 Men's Golf Championship Preview

On behalf of the entire team at NLU, plus our partners with BMW and Callaway, we just want to say THANK YOU for helping us raise $23,520 plus the entire matching donation of $10,000 from BMW, for a total of $33,520. This total will be split evenly between the Greenville Health System Children’s Hospital and the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Over 500 individuals donated, with more than half of the donations coming in for Soly, which is both predictable and a complete disgrace. In total, Soly had about $12,600 in his corner vs. $10,860 behind yours truly (a few refused to decide and simply donated.)

 has the final dispatch from an 11-shot victory by 

As for the raffle – winners are listed below, all of whom supported the victorious Team Tron. We had several individuals win multiple items, and frequent NLU contributor Job Fickett improbably taking home the BMW Driving Experience up in Greenville (I can assure you that there were no improprieties!) Emails will be forthcoming over the next few days on how to claim prizes – please be patient, as we gave away a lot of stuff!

Congratulations to all of our winners and thanks again. We are truly staggered at how successful this campaign was!

BMW Charity Recap + Winners

The 2018 NCAA Division-1 Women’s Golf championship kicks off later this week. It’s the opening act of a two-part drama (the men begin their championship next week) which is genuinely one of my favorite stretches of the golf calendar each and every year. In all seriousness, if I only had five golf telecasts to watch in any season, the NCAA championships, collectively, would be an easy pick for me. It’s richly compelling drama showcasing the very best of individual stroke play and team-based match play.

It wasn’t always like this though. Beginning with the first women’s championship in 1982 and up through 2014, the finals were strictly a 72-hole format, with the low team and low individual claiming respective national championships. In a rare moment of wisdom and progress the NCAA tweaked the format starting in 2015. An individual champion is still crowned after 72 holes, but now the low eight teams after stroke play enter a single-elimination match play tournament to decide the team national champion. Sprinkle in Golf Channel’s stripped-down, tightly-focused coverage of the event and what we have is a wonderfully tasty recipe combining high-level golf with notes of drama, unpredictability and raw emotion. In this the #YearofRejoicing, it’s important to highlight that which is righteous and good. Well, the NCAA Championships are awesome. If you’ve missed out the past few years don’t let it happen again. Tune in. You won’t be disappointed.

Friday, May 18th, through Wednesday, May 23rd, at 

Twenty-four years ago Karsten Creek opened up as the home course for the Oklahoma State men’s and women’s golf teams. A Tom Fazio design, the course was the culmination of the multi-pronged efforts of former coach (and current AD) Mike Holder. Karsten Creek consistently rates in the upper echelon of public courses across the country and should provide a good backdrop for the action over the next couple weeks. As their write-up says, “the zoysia fairways were cut from a forest of oaks and black jacks, complemented by an undulating terrain that flows throughout the course. The back nine cascades around the 110 acre Lake Louise that is featured on the finishing holes.” I’m excited to see it for myself on TV! Until then, here’s the scenic video tour:


Two NCAA national championships will be awarded: one for the team champion and one for the individual champion.

The team format consists of 72 holes of stroke play to whittle the field from twenty-four programs to eight. The eight remaining teams are then seeded accordingly and square off in five individual match play competitions, with the winning team winning at least three of the matches. The team tournament from the quarterfinals through the finals is single elimination with individual matches consisting of 18 holes.

The individual format consists of the aforementioned 72 holes of stroke play. The low competitor from the competing twenty-four programs, plus an additional twelve individual qualifiers, will be crowned the individual NCAA national champion.

: 4:00pm to 8:00pm EST (Final round of stroke play–individual champion crowned, plus team match play brackets finalized)

Articles

The Eurozone: #10

Video: Playing Shinnecock Hills

2018 Memorial Tournament Notes

Chris Kirk Cold Tops a 3-wood, Makes Par to Make the Cut Anyways

NLU Special Ops: Winter Park GC

Weekly Briefing: Memorial Tournament

Selection #1: June 2018

NCAA D1 Men's Golf Championship Preview

BMW Charity Recap + Winners

2018 NCAA D-1 Women's Golf Championship Preview

The Eurozone: #9 (Ryder Cup Watch: Part II & The French Connection)

NLU Special Ops: The Bandon Experience

BMW Charity Pro-Am: Partner Update

Weekly Briefing: All over the world

BMW Charity Pro-Am: Soly vs. Tron

The Eurozone: #8 (Tenemos la carne)

Weekly Briefing: Heritage

Monday (Post-Masters) Leftovers