What Can the PGA Tour Learn from the European Tour?
Since taking over the European Tour in August 2015, Keith Pelley has proved to be an agent of change. Under his watch the European Tour has tackled such topics as golf’s glacial pace-of-play problem with a 40-second shot clock at one tournament to breaking from the monotony of 72-hole stroke-play competition with such events as […]
Rising from the Desert: Golf in Saudi Arabia
By Adam Schupak I’ve seen the future of golf in Saudi Arabia and it looks a lot like a modern-day, high-end American golf facility on steroids. There is something oddly wrong or charmingly comforting—I still can’t decide—about flying halfway around the world and feeling as though I could be at a Ritz-Carlton in Scottsdale […]
Clubs Without Courses: How Some Golf Clubs Thrive Without a Home Track
When Sean Ogle abandoned the life of a financial analyst and began writing the blog “Breaking 80,” he never imagined how many fellow golfers would reach out and invite him to play golf at their home courses. Realizing he had formed an impressive network of “golf geeks,” Ogle decided there must be a better way […]
Dallas: A New Home for the PGA of America?
The PGA of America soon may be sending out a change of address notification. As first reported by Golf.com, the PGA is expected to announce it will relocate its headquarters from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to Frisco, Texas, about 30 miles north of Dallas. Multiple sources have confirmed to LINKS that the PGA is eyeing […]
Coul Links: Scotland’s Next Championship Links?
By Adam Schupak Editor’s note: In June 2018, Coul Links received approval to enter the construction phase of the project. This article, written in fall 2017, provides useful background on what will be the newest course in the Scottish Highlands. Ever since he first played Royal Dornoch 40 years ago, developer Mike Keiser has […]
Shinnecock Hills U.S. Open Preview
By Adam Schupak SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — As soon as the great, rambling white-and-brown gabled structure that is Shinnecock Hills Golf Club pops into view, hearts pump for golfers as if on a first date with a beautiful woman. Golf’s original clubhouse, a Stanford White design, dominates the surrounding landscape on the south shore of […]
The 5 Most Underrated Golf States
By Adam Schupak Underrated. By definition it means to underestimate, play down, sell short—you get the drift. For a golf course, or in this case the entire collective layouts of a state to be termed underrated, it’s a bit like being considered The Best Player Never to Win a Major—is it a compliment or […]
Short and Sweet: 9-Hole, Par 3, and Short Courses are the Future
Nine-holers, Par-3s, and other abbreviated courses are all the rage–and could be the secret to reviving golf Former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy missed the cut at the 2009 British Open, but that didn’t prevent him from making lasting memories that week. Each day, after practice and following his first two rounds at the Ailsa […]
Seeing the Tiger Effect From Inside the Ropes
The Tiger Woods effect, to quote a favorite Seinfeld line, is real and it is spectacular. Even Elvis was in the building to see the latest Tiger Woods comeback tour when he threatened to win for the first time in five years at the Valspar Championship.https://twitter.com/AdamSchupak/status/972895048948965376 It’s funny how fast we forget how much he […]
A Conversation with Mike "Fluff" Cowan
By Adam Schupak He’s caddied for Tiger Woods and Peter Jacobsen, now works with Jim Furyk, and is more recognizable than many of today’s players. So what are his favorite memories, what was it like when he started, and how did he get that nickname? Q. What is your fondest memory of being on the […]
