Jul 23, 2021 5 min read Email

THE STARTER SHACK

Well, it's only 256 days until The Masters. Hmmph, this could be a long drunken winter.

🏆 Where did the Majors come from...no, not a stork like you've been told

💩 Farts shook The Open Winner

💰 New Scotty Cameron putters...just take our money!

⛳️ New, New River Dunes course at Bandon?

PGA TOUR

Let's Have A Major Discussion

Welp, that was quick. The 2021 major golf season has come and gone. With a dash of the 2020 season sprinkled in, we’ve enjoyed six men’s majors since September 2020.

With The Masters 256 days away, expect withdrawal symptoms to kick in anytime now.

Although written in stone, one wonders how the modern Grand Slam’s major events came to be:

prehistorically, the major events were the Opens and Amateurs of Britain and the USA
when pros were just slightly less repugnant than the sheep that cut the course’s grass
Bobby Jones “stormed the impregnable quadrilateral of golf” in 1930, winning all four

We can thank Arnold Palmer and his cronies for the modern day major designations:

Palmer, after winning the 1960 Masters & US Open, departed for St. Andrews
en route, he and writer Bob Drum envisioned the Grand Slam as we know today

Timing is everything; prior to this plane ride, issues would have ruined this plan like Monty soiling his shirt at the 1994 US Open playoff:

PGA was match play until 1958, and ran during or right after the Open
Open qualifying fell during the PGA’s 36-hole semifinal and final matches
The Masters wasn’t a thing until 1934 (and took a while to gain traction/notoriety)
even in Hogan’s magical 1953 year, The Masters didn’t carry the cache it does now

Basically, professional golf’s current majors were decreed as such by a self-serving King and his court jester while tippling back more than a few drinks in a tin can criss-crossing the Atlantic - How Regal!

Although no arguments over the current major events exist, there’s a renewed vigor to include the The Players Championship a major:

precedent for five majors exists (both LPGA and Champions Tour)
some players and those who cover golf seem resistant to adding a major to the “rota”
main argument - it dilutes the historical significance of major winners

Is adding a Fred Funk, Craig Perks, KJ Choi, Tim Clark or Jody Mudd alongside actual major winners like a Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, Shaun Micheel or a Rich Beem really going to soil the sanctity of being a “major winner”?

GIMME

Whoever smelt it dealt it: Collin Morikawa backed off a shot because he heard someone fart. Ummm, that act right there is usually part of our pre-shot routine. They say "you can't swing with tension" so we get rid of all of it.
Open to the Ladies: not only are golf clubs dropping their men's only designations, EA Sports is including some LPGA players and a female commentator. Dottie? Dottie, is that you? Please say this is true!
Bubba takes gimmes: so he doesn't officially break the course record. But what he did do was dominate a 6,100 yard course...except for the holes that dominated him.
From LPGA hopefuls to funding LPGA hopefuls: while on the road chasing the dream of one day playing on the LPGA Tour, two ladies came up with the idea behind Backswing Golf Events. Now, they help hopefuls get to the tour and raise piles of cash for charity.
Pour beer at Augusta: damn, we thought we read the job description as, Drink beer at Augusta. Well, we hope whoever gets the job has a great time not serving us at next years Masters cause we didn't get picked for the lottery.
The cool kids get everything: Bandon Dunes is not only getting a 6th golf course (get over yourself), but it's also getting 13 USGA Championships over the next 23 years. All kidding aside we love Bandon...and we love all the golf balls it's drained from our bag too.
5 is not enough: that's what we've always said and that's why we always buy 12 beer. But we're not talking about beer, we're talking about the 6th golf course Bandon Dunes is preparing to build. Tentatively titled "New River Dunes" because it runs along the New River in amongst sand dunes. Wow, originality is hard to come by when you're the 6th course. It's going to be amazing, we know it. Take our money.

PIC OF THE DAY

Bag Check:
Do you want to check your bag sir?
DON'T TOUCH MY BAG!

Collin Morikawa casually strolling through the airport with The Claret Jug...no big deal. We once walked through the airport with a Cinnabon cinnamon bun, same thing, no big deal.

WITB

This post should be called WIGITB. What is going in the bag.

Scott Cameron has come out with the Champions Choice putter line. One champion and one putter in particular inspired the line...Brooks Cupcake and the Tour Only T10 Select Newport 2.

INSIDE THE ROPES

He likes it, he really likes it! Robert Garrigus really liked the 5th hole at Keene Trace Golf Club. He started off pretty slow, things got hot and heavy, and then smoothed out in the end. Sounds eerily similar to a lot of our dates, except the hot and heavy part and the smoothed out in the end part. The rest is spot on.

GOLF GEAR

Sucking back 3 irons: hitting a crispy wedge beyond the pin, one-hopping it and sucking it back are what dreams are made of. Unfortunately, the only thing we can suck back are PBR's and our tears after a string of double bogies. Crispy wedges didn't come with our set of clubs, so we use the alternative method...sharp grooves.

This groove sharpener really works. How do we know. We've done it. We do it. Grooves as sharp as Daly is drunk on a Tuesday.

*not a sponsored post (may be affiliate links at times)

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