THE STARTER SHACK
If you've been reading our little newsletter since the very beginning—first, thank you, second, we just celebrated 6 months and some 60+ newsletters delivered. We're feeling pretty good about ourselves...like a shank off the wall of the bunker that trundles through the rough to tap-in range...in front of the patio on 18 (hat tip).
🍭 These clubs are sweet!
🚀 New launch monitor alert
🛒 Golf pro uses pull-cart (not a push-cart)
⛳️ Bryson getting pumped at Long Drive Competition
PGA TOUR
Show Up, Keep Up, And Shut Up
The world of caddying used to be... Show Up, Keep Up, Shut Up. In recent days it has grabbed headlines in publications much larger than ours.
Jim “Bones” Mackay is casting aside his on-course microphone to sign on to a seven-figure looping job with Justin Thomas. Ted Scott and Bubba “The Adolescent Temper Tantrum” Watson are splitting.
There is more inbreeding amongst caddies and players than Ned Beatty and Burt “Turd Ferguson” Reynolds witnessed in Deliverance. Once one world-class player tires of a world-class caddy, there is surely going to be somebody else lining up.
The short list below is a small sampling of the characters that live like true vagabonds.
Mike “Fluff” Cowan - looped for Peter Jacobson, famously as Tiger’s first hired hand, and then made a tidy sum being subject to Jim Furyk’s swing for the past two decades. Never has a yellow cigarette-stained mustache looked so divine.
Angelo Argea - c’mon, this man’s 70’s chic look alone should have him in the caddie Hall of Fame. Famously was Jack’s bag man for years. Fun fact: All of Nicklaus’ Masters wins were with Willie Peterson, except for 1986 when Jack Jr. was on the bag.
Carl Jackson - was Ben Crenshaw’s Augusta whisperer from the mid-70s until the mid-2010s. The Godfather of Augusta caddies, so revered that Jordan Spieth uses “Carl’s reads” for his Masters green reading prep. Also, pretty cool story about the bond between the two men that goes beyond golf.
Bruce Edwards - long-term man of the sack for Tom Watson, also caddied for Greg Norman for a stretch. Obvious claim to fame as a caddie, however, long-lasting impact is his work drawing attention to the scourge of Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Billy Foster - famously caddied for some of golf’s elite; Seve, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia, and currently with Matt Fitzpatrick. Of note, Foster is perhaps the world’s finest caddy storyteller of the current day.
While it is a worn-out trope that professional golfers are “independent contractors”, that leaves the caddies of the world feeling like a roofer’s assistant where there is no job security coupled with never-ending job hazards.
GIMME
- Fiesty Irishman: Shane Lowery didn't hold back when asked to sum up his thoughts about the Ryder Cup. Patrick Cantlay pissed him off, Bryson's putter is 4 feet long so there is no inside the leather, Justin Thomas made him make an 18-inch putt. I think Shane is harbouring some undeveloped anger that may explode in Rome. We'll be tuning in.
- $800 Driver Shaft: A Korean golf company came out swinging during the pandemic with a "mysterious" new shaft technology, Autoflex. Everyone from Michelle Wie West to Fred Couples started to play with the bright pink shafts which, despite being whippy, produced faster clubhead speeds and longer drives (for some).
- SWING BATTA BATTA BATTA: Bryson DeChambeau goes from the fiery competitiveness of the Ryder Cup to the fiery(?) competitiveness of the World Long Drive Championship Finals! And glory to god, we watched some of it on Youtube Live...(shakes head)....the commentary was a dumpster fire of growth hormones and tattoos. At the same time, we couldn't look away. Bryson makes the Top 8.
- Golf Styles to improve your game: Yes, you read that correctly. We just tripped and fell into an article on Golf Digest that says if you wear brown it'll give you stability, reliability, and practicality...none of which exist in our golf repertoire. When we shanked one onto the freeway and heard a massive crash, our underwear turned brown and it did the opposite of providing stability, reliability, and practicality.
- 8 foot gimme: Mid-Am champ Stewart Hagestad conceded an 8-foot putt to his opponent. Yeah, we have friends that give themselves 8-foot gimmes but to be given one in the heat of competition? Hagestad forgot to move his ball marker back but was reminded by his opponent before making his stroke—after missing the putt, Hagestad gave his opponent his 8-footer to tie the hole.
- How much to play on tour?!: it's expensive being a professional golfer...close to $2 million expensive. You add up all of the expenses: accommodations, travel, chefs, massages, etc, it starts to get a little ridiculous. Apparently, they spend upwards of $5,000 in tips. Here's a tip, don't eat yellow snow!
PIC OF THE DAY
Bond, James Bond.
As if golf isn't hard enough, imagine having some jackass point a gun at you while trying to chip off the hardpan. That being said, guaranteed we could blade our ball into his undercarriage before he could pull the trigger. #hardpanishard
WITB
Miura:
Cue the Homer Simpson drooling sound effect. These clubs works of art have been designed for players of every skill level. We've never made love to a golf club before, but there's a first time for everything...like hitting a fairway.
Art and love-making don't come cheap with a price tag of $2,640 for 8 clubs.
*not a sponsored post
INSIDE THE ROPES
LOWEST SCORE (relative to par) EVER!
Alejandro Del Rey, shot a shankdefying 58 on a par 72. It has been reported that Del Rey carried his own bag throughout the round but we would like to set the record straight that he, in fact, pulled his bag throughout the round.
Also please note that this was a pull-cart, not a push-cart. Big difference.
GOLF GEAR
Launch Pro:
Bushnell and Foresight have teamed up for a relatively reasonably priced launch monitor called Launch Pro. Reasonably priced in the fact that it offers a lot of what the Trackman's of the world offer at a fraction of the price.
But, and this is a big BUT, it's subscription-based. $3,000 gets you the hardware and basic functionality and that's where they get you. The packages are $99/year, $399/year, and $799/year. If you've got a regular foursome or eightsome, what's the big deal in joining forces and dropping $3k and an extra $800.
*not a sponsored post
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We thank you in advance!
Today's email was brought to you by: Nolan Filipenko & Colby Johannson
