Free golf in unusual places and...

comeback kids, fixing golf, and 2001 Tiger

Author

Sean Melia
February 23, 2024

Friday, February 23

Hey Everyone,

Four things on my mind this week:

  • Can we create free golf around the community?

  • NBA All-Star game and the PGA Tour have the same problem

  • The real comeback kids.

  • Tiger’s insane putt at Sawgrass in 2001 and his ability to face down “difficult things.”

But first… don’t be this guy at the range…ever

Anyway, I appreciate you opening this Friday Newsletter. There are plenty of ways to kill time on a Friday morning on the Internet.

I’d love your help in spreading this newsletter. Forward it along to anyone you think might enjoy my inane musings, and tell them to click on the subscribe button!

Thanks!

Let’s get to it.

How can we create free golf opportunities?

Every sport has a business aspect to it. Whether it’s club sports, AAU hoops, TV contracts, NIL, or apparel. Folks are trying to make a buck.

Golf is no different, and it’s obviously become more apparent over the last two years as hundreds of millions of dollars are being exchanged between professional players and leagues.

One measurement of a sport’s popularity is how many people play it recreationally.

Some of that is anecdotal - kids playing baseball or soccer in a local park.

Some of it is measured - kids playing youth soccer every year.

Golf might be the most measurable sport we have because nearly every experience with the game is tracked. Every round played is logged, and every bay at Top Golf is tracked. I will concede it’s impossible to track “fake swings while waiting in line for the bus.”

Within a mile of my apartment, there are plenty of places to enjoy a recreational activity. There are tennis courts, basketball courts, and street hockey rinks. I could go for a run along the Charles River, which has dedicated running trails, or I could hop on a bike and use the bike paths. Excercise equipment can be found in playgrounds and other public parks.

All are free to use at any time of day.

However, there is almost no way to experience golf for free in any capacity. The Navy Yard in Charlestown had a charming temporary mini-golf course set up in the summer. A clever idea and the only example I could think of.

When we were at Pinehurst, Tiff and I grabbed some beers and played the Thistle Dhu putting green. A massive green with wild slopes. It was free to anyone, not just guests of the resort, and it was a blast.

I wish there were more ways to play free golf. There should be more ways to experience the sport in a simple way. Most parks have signs that announce the banning of three things - alcohol, dogs, and golf.

Why not set up small astroturf spots at various parks with two or three cups? I’m sure a bunch of people would start to gather and create games or just hang out. Heck, there are bocce ball courts in the North End replete with old, shirtless Italian men playing on warm afternoons.

During my quest, I have played a few courses that don’t exist anymore - Bungay Brook - or have been sold and won’t be golf courses soon - Maplegate and Stow Acres (North).

Golf’s growth has always been based on how many people are paying to play golf courses or using places like Top Golf because golfers, more than most hobbyists, are paying customers.

I think skiing is a comparable sport. Both are expensive and require specific land. This Chronicle story jogged some of this idea free. Community Ski hills charge very little for a weekend pass ($19) as opposed to the $150 average daily lift ticket in Vermont.

Of course, First Tee and Youth on Course are killing it when it comes to free golf for juniors. Which is incredible.

Urban Golf Club is another great example of free golf in places we might not find golf all the time.

I’d love a few free spots nearby where I could grab a putter, or even a sand wedge, and some golf balls and go practice. Maybe I’d meet some like-minded golf sickos.

If you know of any opportunities for free golf, shoot them my way. Would love to highlight them. I hope they’re out there.

Double Click

I’m going to use this section to “Double Click” on something I discovered or thought about from the week. Could be anything; in this case, we’re talking NBA All-Star game and the PGA Tour.

The NBA All-Star was a complete joke this year. The East scored 211 points in a 48-minute game. Players went through the motions and chucked a million three-pointers. Karl Anthony-Towns chased 50 points and celebrated in the waning minutes as his team was getting their ass beat.

It was a lesson in one-dimensional sports. No defense and tons of uncontested threes and dunks. The competition was watered down, even though the best in the world were exhibiting superb skills.

On the PGA Tour, the West Coast Swing ended with a Hideki Matsuyama masterclass. He shot a 62 to win the Genesis at Riviera. But it was probably the highlight of the opening six weeks of competition from Hawaii to Los Angeles. The stars didn’t really show up. Rory was, frankly, horrible. Tiger got sick. Spieth had a WD. Sam Burns and Justin Thomas got stared down by an amateur in the American Express and those two Ryder Cuppers blinked first.

On Monday, the discussion about the All-Star Game wasn’t about how to tweak it or improve it; it was about how to fix it. That word is a powerful one because it means it’s broken.

The PGA Tour is in the same boat. Improvement and tweaking have gone out the window.

We’re in full fix mode. Rory McIlroy is bringing up ideas that mirror soccer’s Champions League to get the best 80 players in the world playing against one another.

That’s fixing talk. That’s “we have black mold in the ceiling” talk.

Of course, the NBA All-Star game is an exhibition that has turned into a bore. The best 24 players in the league couldn’t be bothered to play hard for the fans. That’s troubling.

The PGA Tour’s problem is that it’s been watered down and it needs a thickening agent to return it to something that interesting and competitive.

Maybe the only thickening agent remaining are the majors, which isn’t good for the PGA Tour because they don’t own any of the four crown jewels.

Comeback kids

While golf fans later themselves up in Tiger Woods comeback stories, there are some other actual comebacks that should make any golfer feel some sense of hope.

Will Zalatoris had spinal surgery last April. He finished runner-up at Riviera last week. He’s using a broomstick putter and he seems to be flushing the ball again. I remember being at Zalatoris’ U.S. Open presser (no big deal…) after he lost to Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club. He was angry and felt he was just a few inches from having at least two majors. Sure, he’s 27 and has only one PGA Tour win, but he plays well on tough courses and seems to be rounding into shape.

Jason Day was the best player in the world in the mid-2010s. He won the 2015 PGA Championship and seemed destined to win a lot more. But injuries slowed Day’s progress and he fell off the radar. Now, in his new Malbon gear, Day seems rejuvenated and healthy. Some people are turned off by Day’s seeming inability to play through any sort of pain, but I like him and I’m glad he’s back. Shane Ryan’s book Slaying the Tiger shines a light on his tough childhood in Australia.

While he hasn’t be great this year, Rickie Fowler is another one who slipped down the ladder and has slowly and steadily climbed back into the fray. His U.S. Open at Los Angeles CC was excellent. He’ll never play up to what the marketing agencies would hope, but he’s been another example of players not named Tiger Woods, who have battled back.

Speaking of Tiger…

Without any live sports to watch this week, I popped on Golf Channel right as Tiger Woods was hitting his tee shot into 17 at Sawgrass on Saturday in 2001. As Tiger stalked that impossible putt, Johnny Miller said, “When Tiger gets really engaged in something difficult, he usually does extra good.”

Putting aside the awkward grammar, this quote was so good. It speaks to what made Tiger great and what the PGA Tour is missing these days. This quality is rare, maybe the rarest. And when it comes to golf, which is so freaking hard, overcoming the difficult things and doing “extra good” is almost impossible to do on a regular occurrence.

It’s why Tiger made 142 straight cuts. He faced plenty of difficult things on those Fridays when he could have packed it in and grabbed a bite to eat at a Perkins Diner…

Another thing I loved about this sequence: Tiger was playing with Phil Mickelson. Mickelson, after watching Tiger drain the undrainable putt, Mickelson flaccidly three-putted from half the distance.

Merch Table

One way to help support me in my quest to play every course in the Bay State would be to spend a little money on some Bay State Golf swag. Check it all out here.

When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

  • Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevins is the newest novel I’m reading. I’m just 45 pages in, but it’s excellent so far. It’s set in Cambridge and focuses on two characters who are both in college and studying video game design.

  • I’m still picking up Same as Ever and reading a couple chapters at a time. It’s excellent.

  • What happens when a golf course is closed and grows wild? NYTimes visits a couple of them, and the results were very cool. After Shutting Down, These Golf Courses Went Wild.

  • Remember the Presidential Fitness Test… could you pass it today…. I know the sit-and-reach and the pull-up would be my bugaboos.

I’m listening to…

  • Vampire Weekend announced a new tour. I quickly bought tickets to the TDGarden show and listened to some of their old stuff.

  • I love listening to Geoff Ogilvy talk about golf. He’s sensible and smart.

I’m eating…

I’m watching…

  • The third season of Sunderland ‘til I Die is very good. It made a Wembly League one or Championship promotion game a bucket list item.

  • Started watching the Patriots Dynasty series on AppleTV. A good mix of nostalgia and new details. First episode covers the Brady and Bledsoe debate.

PLUGS

New stuff:

  • I picked out nine courses south of Boston that have the best Bang for your Buck. Listen here. The YouTube video has some images and video of the courses, too. As always, would appreciate if you subscribed, liked, commented, reviewed!

Old stuff: 

I'm (shamelessly) plugging...

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