Hey Everyone,

Happy U.S. Open Friday to those that celebrate, and more importantly, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

I got to tee it up a couple of times since the last newsletter. First, I played Brae Burn CC last Friday. Such cool history there with Walter Hagan winning the 1919 U.S. Open, Bobby Jones winning the 1928 U.S. Amateur, and Beth Daniel winning the 1975 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Harriot Curtis won the 1906 U.S. Women’s Amateur and then, 52 years later, an event with her name on it - The Curtis Cup - was contested at Brae Burn CC. Sterling National was the 148th course I checked off. Not as much history there. 🤷 

Reviews of those courses are coming. Paid newsletter subscribers will get early access, along with bonus content that always lives behind the pay wall.

For the next three weeks, I am offering a discount on the Supporter tier and a Bay State Golf merchandise sale. I would love any support you can offer.

🥂 Get $15 off the Supporter Tier ($35) for a year. Link here.

🥳 Use code BSG20 for 20% off in the Bay State Shop.

Come play the newly renovated CC of New Bedford on June 23!

The third event of the Northeast Team Tour will be at CC of New Bedford on June 23. The first two events have been a blast, and this is a really great opportunity to see this private course fresh off a hugh renovation.

News and Notes

Pro Golf

🏌️‍♀️ Alexa Pano shot a 69 (-3) in the first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic. Megan Khang…

🏆️ Steve LiDisio won the MassOpen in dramatic fashion. A 50-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole proved pivotal. He is now the 8th player to win the Mass. Amateur and Mass. Open double, joining Francis Ouimet, Jesse Guilford, Charles Volpone, Jim Hallet, Kevin Johnson, Fran Quinn, and Rob Oppenheim. Results and Mass Golf Recap.

Amateur Golf

⛳️ Ryan Downes shot 66-64 in the first two rounds of the Sunnehanna Amateur and sits T2 with 36 holes remaining. The event is the first of seven Elite Amateur Series tournaments. The second is the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club from June 18-21. Sunnehanna live scoring.

🌵 Isabel Brozena shot 72-72 in the Southwestern Amateur in Arizona. She’s currently T13. Live Scoring.

🏌️‍♂️ Nolan Skaggs earned medalist honors at South Shore CC in the only Mass. Amateur qualifier this week.

Plugs

I put together a video about getting onto private courses and shared some ways that anyone can gain access to a lot of private courses.

Some thoughts on the U.S. Open

🤦 If there’s one thing Rory McIlroy has always done, it’s prove that he’s human. For moments, he appears alien, untouchable. Then he hits a wedge into the water on the 13th hole.

It’s been a weird six weeks since he won The Masters and secured the career Grand Slam. I thought it would open the floodgates, but it seems it’s just turned him into a teenager awaiting his diploma, uninterested in doing anything that would be expected of him.

He skipped talking to the press at the PGA Championship after every round and continued the trend today after the first round at Oakmont CC. When he spoke to the media pre-tournament, he was surly while discussing his new driver.

I think back to the first thing Rory said to the media after he won the Masters:

“I have a question for all of you… What are we going to talk about next year?”

He was relieved. It was a line that had probably flashed through his mind thousands of times in the last eight years as his major drought extended longer and longer.

The line was delivered with a smile and welcomed with a chuckle from the media, but it was a little defiant.

Who’s to say what Rory McIlroy will do this weekend (I picked him to miss the cut…), next year, and in the next five years?

Maybe he wins more majors, or maybe The Masters was the final stamp in his major collection.

But unlike the other human versions of McIlroy, this version isn’t very much fun. But it is just another way that McIlroy has shown us he’s human… for better or worse.

💪 Imagine being told on Sunday at The Masters that Brooks Koepka might have the next best chance at a sixth major between the two five-time major winners. Koepka shot a 68 on Thursday and is suddenly lurking at a course built for guys like him. He’s won two U.S. Opens and is the last player to defend his title.

As I type this on Friday morning, he’s on the course, and we could be talking a lot about Koepka this weekend if his name is sitting on the leaderboard all afternoon.

🏎️ On last week’s Fried Egg Podcast, Geoff Ogilvy talked about how the early wave on Thursday can set the tone in a major. If someone goes low, it gives the afternoon wave some hope. If there’s 100% carnage, the mindset shifts. Rahm spoke about this on Thursday. Rahm is another one to keep an eye on in the second round.

📺️ It’s horrendous that after breathless lead-up coverage of the U.S. Open, the coverage on Thursday from 5-8 pm is on Peacock. This means it’s not on televisions in bars for people who might be stopping for dinner or a beer. It means people at home who might have fallen alseep on the couch at 4:45 pm woke up to The Mummy on USA. It means the last nine holes of Scottie Scheffler’s round aren’t on regular TV.

Shameful stuff.

Thankfully, the coverage will extend on Friday so folks don’t have to go hunting on Peacock.

🤓 One big talking point this week was how long it was taking players to play nine-hole practice rounds. The last six majors have been won by five players who were ranked No. 1,2, or 3 in the world.

The only player that wasn’t ranked that high who won? Bryson. And we can all agree he’s a top-five player in the world.

So what does this all have to do with practice rounds? I wonder if the best players in the world have more time to prepare. Bryson played all 18 holes at Oakmont CC and made a fabulous YouTube video. Rory said he shot 81 (one of us… one of us…) in a practice round at Oakmont CC last week.

Access to the major venues matters, and the top players have the time and means to hop on a private jet and play Oakmont before they have to suffer through 3 hour practice rounds.

Of course, the best players in the world will win events because they’re… the best players in the world. However, I think a trend could be percolating at golf’s four majors.

I’m writing this as J.J. Spaun sits atop the leaderboard, but the PGA Championship was a good lesson that Thursday is not Sunday.

🔥 👇️ Speaking of Spaun… I’m sorry… Wut?

🫢 This was so good that I texted friends while it was on TV, telling them they needed to tune in. Gil Hanse walks through the front nine at Oakmont CC. I love the term “buckets” to describe different sections of a hole from the tee box.

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When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

🏌️ Kyle Porter (Normal Sport) and Geoff Shackleford (Quadrilateral) are both putting out exceptional stuff this week.

I’m listening to…

🎸 Saw Paul Simon in concert at the Wang Center this week. He played for two hours and opened with his entire latest album Seven Psalms

I’m eating…

🥪 Banana and Nutella sandwiches should be in your rotation.

🌮 Taco bowls from Naco Taco are delicious.

🌯 Forgot how good the Zuni Roll from Parish Cafe is until I had it this week before the Paul Simon concert.

I’m watching…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Dept. Q continues to slap, and so do the NBA and NHL finals.

Know someone who might enjoy this newsletter… send it along to them!

Bay State Archives

• A list of golf courses open in the winter.

• Bay State Picks: Best courses you can walk for less than $60.

• Bay State Picks: Nine-hole courses to play before or after work

• Bay State Picks: 18 public golf that is worth your time

• Bay State Picks: Easy 18-hole public walks

• Bay State Deep Dive: Myopia Hunt Club

   

• "On Course" New England Journal Podcast

  • LISTEN HERE (and subscribe!)

  • WATCH HERE (and subscribe!)

• Amateur Golf Podcast

  • LISTEN HERE (and subscribe!)