Alternate Shot: Professional Golf Venue Problems

Joseph LaMagna: Brendan, I was tickled reading a couple of quotes from Full Swing star Neal Shipley in advance of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. With two lines, he accidentally (?) captured a couple of crucial venue-related problems succinctly.

Quote No. 1: “I feel like the golf courses (on the PGA Tour) suit me a lot better than out on the Korn Ferry Tour.”

Mind you, Shipley won on the KFT last month. I don’t want to put words in Shipley’s mouth, but I believe he’s politely suggesting that the golf courses on the Korn Ferry Tour stink. I’m not sure too many people would disagree. And honestly, I have sympathy for the PGA Tour with respect to their roster of developmental tour venues. It’s hard enough to find courses that are both capable and interested in hosting PGA Tour events, especially non-signature events. Can you imagine trying to lock down venues on the Korn Ferry Tour?

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Quote No. 2, on Colonial Country Club: “It definitely has a lot of that old-school characteristics with a lot of slopes in the greens even though they're small. I think it plays modern though where those slopes aren't so severe that you can't pin locations on the green.”

That is quite a characterization of the modern state of the game. And while I’m not sure I’d frame old-school versus modern golf the same way Shipley did, he’s not wrong! To accommodate modern green speeds capable of testing the best players in the world, we’ve softened slopes. Unless you significantly expand putting surfaces, if you want high green speeds, your only option is to soften slopes. Accordingly, what do we see in much of professional golf? Softened slopes and increased green speeds. Look no further than TPC Sawgrass, as Davis Love III articulated on a recent episode of the Fried Egg Golf Podcast.

The modern game requires an enormous amount of space. Space to lengthen golf courses, expand greens, and assemble ShotLink towers. Space for grandstands to host tens of thousands of fans. Enough space on the driving range for 100-plus golfers to practice and hit 320-plus yard drives without killing anybody.

Not to sound like a broken record, but it is both hilarious and impossible to reconcile these challenges with the PGA Tour’s persistent anti-rollback position, which only reinforces the issue. Not just in terms of lengthening golf courses but also punishing wide misses, which often find some form of infrastructure-related relief. But if we’re being real, even a fairly aggressive rollback does not alleviate many of the above challenges.

Two points that have been on my mind:

1. The PGA Tour should spend some of the money it’s recently raised on building modern venues.

A million stars must align for a venue to be capable of hosting a pro golf event. Not just the space requirements, as outlined above, but you generally need an airport nearby, enough hotel rooms for fans, etc. And if it’s a private club, you need the membership to agree to hand over the golf course during ideal periods of the year. I’m not sure how many of these venues even exist right now. It seems prudent for the PGA Tour to build some of them.

2. Relatedly, I have zero interest in criticizing Quail Hollow as a venue.  

Criticism as far as the design of the golf course? As a test of professional golf? Sure! Let’s have at it. But as a venue? They found a golf course that checks all the boxes.

Brendan Porath: So what they should do is build their own set of venues better suited to hosting this game that becomes increasingly unfamiliar to the game played everywhere else and in eras prior? Maybe they could make it a network? They could give it a name, something like the Tournament Players Club to signify their connection to each other and the pro tour.

I kid, I kid. We know the issues. If the SSG money is interested in an improved product, and not purely costs or bottom lines, a beefed-up, more interesting set of Tour-owned stadiums might be suitable. They could bring in KFT events each year, letting the prospects and next wave show out on the same courses they’ll face on the big tour. Finding KFT hosts has to be a nightmare and a series of forced arranged marriages. Related, should the fact that most of the best courses and clubs 1) want nothing to do with hosting the best Tour in the world or 2) are incapable of hosting even though they have status (or ranking if you want to get specific) as the best for everyone and everything else be the kind of thing which prompts inward reflection and consideration?

Meet the New Boss

By Meg Adkins

The LPGA has a new leader. Craig Kessler has been chosen as the organization’s 10th commissioner by the LPGA's Board of Directors and Search Committee. Kessler, 39, has built his career both in and around the golf industry, most recently serving as COO of the PGA of America. He brings experience as a business leader, has established relationships with many of golf's biggest stakeholders, and is bursting with enthusiasm to begin his new role.

That enthusiasm is shared by Board of Directors member and LPGA Player President Vicki-Goetze Ackerman. On a virtual conference call on Thursday, she said her reaction to the initial interview with Kessler was wondering if she had missed anything because he seemed too perfect. Search Committee member Stacy Lewis told Golfweek Kessler brought excitement and a clear vision to the interview process, adding, "I just like the guy."

Likability, enthusiasm, and business acumen. All important qualities that Kessler will need to start tackling a long list of complicated issues facing the Tour. Strides need to be made in player marketing, the tournament schedule, and broadcast rights, all while bringing the organization out of the red and improving its financial livelihood. It's a tall task and one that has already begun for Kessler despite not officially taking over until July 15th. When asked about the urgency to start implementing changes, Kessler stated, "Respectfully, there really isn't time to go on a 100-day listening tour." The LPGA has a lot of catching up to do. It’s clear Craig Kessler understands that and plans to hit the ground running.

‍This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.