The Best Golf Courses to Play at Twilight
After-dinner golf tastes sweetest at Scotland’s Royal Dornoch One of the underappreciated joys that the summer solstice yields is golf in the early evening. Some days are so much fun you simply don’t want to stop. In June and July, every golf course offers supplemental sunshine, an artist’s palette of changing colors, and fewer golfers […]
6 of Golf’s Top Youth Programs
If it seems like there have been more kids on the golf course recently, well, you’re right. The number of junior golfers (ages 6–17) rose by 24 percent in 2020 as fairways and greens became safe refuge amid the pandemic. It was the industry’s biggest junior jump since 1997, the year a 21-year-old wunderkind named […]
Questions: Mike Whan
Mike Whan, the USGA’s new top dog, talks about his plans (listen), his goals (learn the Rules), and his time leading the LPGA (it grew every year) How are you and your family feeling about the move to New Jersey? I’m really excited to live on Hamilton Farm—a course where we played an LPGA event […]
10 Can’t-Miss Adventures in San Diego
If you’re planning a trip to San Diego to experience the 2021 U.S. Open venue at Torrey Pines—or for any other reason—you’re in for a treat. Lots of treats, actually. San Diego is one of California’s most vibrant cities and the capital city of fun in the sun. With more than 250 days of sunshine […]
The Brilliance of Old Tom Morris
June 16, 2021, was Old Tom Morris’s 200th birthday. While almost every golfer knows his name, few know much about him, golf’s first true Renaissance man—the best golfer in the world, the go-to expert in setting out a course, the first course superintendent, maker of golf equipment. Royalty, golf course architects, and journalists knew that […]
10 Questions with Rocco Mediate
It was arguably Tiger Woods’s most iconic moment. The 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines has long been remembered as the ultimate David vs. Goliath showdown. Woods’s victory on a severely injured leg has left us with lasting images of a warrior fighting through pain. But just as memorable as Tiger’s excruciating performance was the […]
Golf’s Successful Father-Son Duos
The first thing that seven-year pro Michael Visacki did after burying a 20-foot putt in a sudden-death playoff to earn a Monday Qualifying spot in the 2021 Valspar Championship was call home. “I made it,” he told his father, tears rolling down his cheeks. “You did it? Oh my god. Oh my goodness. I’m crying. […]
12 Questions with “The Open Doctor” Rees Jones
The U.S. Open has returned to the South Course at Torrey Pines; however, the 7,802-yard coastal layout that will challenge the world’s best players bears little resemblance to the course that first opened for play in 1957. Twenty years ago, Rees Jones—affectionately known as “The Open Doctor” for his restorative and redesign efforts that transform […]
Q&A: Geoff Shackelford Reflects on “The Future of Golf”
Seventeen years ago, Geoff Shackelford was somewhat disillusioned with the direction golf was headed. The acclaimed golf commentator and author, and future Golf Channel analyst, had serious issues with the way the USGA was operating and had become indifferent toward professional tour golf which, he felt, was now a dreary procession of long drives and […]
The Best Golf Rain Gear on the Market
I thought I was fully prepped for my first trip to Pinehurst. I’d packed several pairs of comfortable shoes, loaded up with plenty of golf balls and prepared an apparel “scripting” fit for a major championship. But when the skies opened on Day Three, during a bucket list round at No. 2, we realized the […]