Tour Guide: Golf Renaissance

Links golf might not need much of an introduction at this point, but just in case: it’s incredible. Watching players use the ground, battle different elements, and play courses that look vastly different from the kinds of things Americans get to see on a regular basis is always worth doing. That’s where we’re at this week, and Joseph LaMagna dives into the Renaissance Club and what kind of test it poses to top players. Plus Meg Adkins works through some frustration about the Evian, the LPGA’s most minor major.

A Mediocre Test in a Wonderful Setting

By Joseph LaMagna

Among all the courses on the professional golf schedule, the Renaissance Club might be the one I have the least strong opinion about. If the right case were presented, I could be swayed towards it being a compelling golf course and a proper test for the world’s best. I could also just as easily be persuaded that it’s not a very engaging golf course, which is where I currently lean.

On the positive side, golf in Scotland has a high floor from an entertainment-value perspective. The Scottish Open offers a welcome scenery change from a golf schedule that’s dominated by American venues, which is refreshing. Though conditions may be soft and mild this week, wind is typically a reliable factor here, a massive plus for testing the best golfers in the world. Specific to the Renaissance Club, I’ve always appreciated the understated beauty and elegance of this golf course. It doesn’t try to do too much. It isn’t gimmicky. It isn’t littered with contrived hazards and garish features that offend the eye. It’s a pretty simple layout, with strategic bunkering and extensive rippling contours on many of the greens.

On a more negative note, I’ve always felt as if the majority of the holes run together in my head, perhaps partially a byproduct of the understated nature of the design. With a couple exceptions, like the 13th hole which runs along the ocean, many of the holes don’t stick with me, at least through my experience watching the course on TV. I constantly find myself forgetting what each hole looks like, which is pretty rare with golf courses on the professional golf calendar.

Another potential negative is that the playing areas can play small and awkwardly when the wind kicks up. In firm, windy conditions, some of the holes commonly yield hit fairway percentages below 30%.

When you combine that characteristic with green surrounds that aren’t especially penal, it doesn’t make for the most robust test for professionals. It’s also why many of the shots start to blend together. More troublesome areas to miss around the greens would elevate the shot value for professional golfers. That’s not to say that the golf course should be tweaked for the purpose of testing pros once per year, but I think that’s a significant part of why the venue doesn’t engage me much as a viewer. None of the holes at Renaissance strike me as being bad, per se. It’s just that none of the holes really strike me much at all.

With a golf course like this one, it’s possible that many of its subtleties will reveal themselves over time, or perhaps present much better in person than on television. I’ll leave room for the possibility of the golf course to grow on me, but in general I think Renaissance does more to hold the Scottish Open back than it does to help the event realize its full potential. But, hey, we still get to watch professional golf in Scotland. That’s enough for me to eagerly await this tournament every time it rolls around.

The Magic Major

By Meg Adkins

The Amundi Evian Championship, golf’s youngest major, takes place this week. If that’s news to you, you’re probably not alone. Coming off a holiday weekend here in the U.S., there hasn’t been much of any lead-up for the event. Evian’s social channels have never been very robust, and the LPGA social team leans heavily on reposting content from Evian. On the men’s side of things, The Open begins next week, which means previews, course insights, gambling odds, and catnip videos of pros playing North Berwick are fueling the content machine. On top of all that, this is the third major in eight weeks for the women. With less stature than the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s PGA, Evian always feels lesser than.

The sun rises on The Champions Course.#EvianChamp | #LPGATour pic.twitter.com/FaD2R55fPs

— The Amundi Evian Championship (@EvianChamp) July 9, 2024

Lack of hype and a tough spot on the calendar are just a couple of Evian’s many issues. Often referred to as “not a real major”, I thought it might be helpful to illustrate why Evian doesn’t fit the bill as a major-worthy event.

Majors Have the Biggest Checks in the Game

Let’s start with the most superficial reason majors are the biggest tournaments of the year. This also just happens to be how Evian became a major: by putting up a massive purse during one of the LPGA’s most difficult times in its 75 year history. That caught the eye of newly appointed LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan back in 2011 when he elevated its status to a major championship. Take a guess as to what Evian did next! Shock of shocks, it stopped raising its purse for six years. SIX. YEARS. From 2011 to 2017, the Evian purse stayed the same. During that same time period, the U.S. Women’s Open grew its purse by $1.75 million, the Women’s PGA by $1 million, and the Women’s British by $750,000. Evian got what it wanted and from then on no longer had to push prize money to new heights. In doing so, it lost its one differentiator amongst the rest of the majors. This year’s purse at Evian is $8 million. That puts it just $100k ahead of the Chevron, which brings up the rear in major prize money.

Majors Are Steeped in History

That’s a big nope for Evian. But it’s a big nope for the AIG Women’s British Open and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, too. They have only been recognized as majors since 2001 and 2015 respectively. The caveat here is that the Women’s British is backed by the oldest governing body in the game, the R&A, while the Women’s PGA is backed by the PGA of America. Both have corresponding majors on the men’s side. Those factors brought immediate credibility to each tournament as a major, and the R&A and PGA of America have continued to elevate the events by raising purses and taking their tournaments to some of the best courses in the world. Case in point, the Women’s British will take place at St. Andrews in just over a month. Women’s golf has never had a clean and tidy relationship with the definition of a major. The lack of consistency forces Wikipedia to break it down into three entirely different eras, just since 1973.

Majors Are the Toughest Tests in Golf

Evian and “tough test” have never been uttered in the same breath. Since it became a major, only once has the winner finished single digits under par. To play devil’s advocate, the Women’s British has a similar history of players going low in that time period. But the British Open allows for favorable weather and conditions permitting low scores. Evian’s low numbers come from the fact that it’s a resort course playing at just over 6,500 yards. There have been three rounds of 61 shot in the majors, from Hyo Joo Kim, Jeongeun Lee6, and Leona Maguire. They all did so at the same place: Evian.

The best view on Tour 🏔️ pic.twitter.com/xw2B7AJU8N

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 9, 2024

A side note here about how making the Evian a major has muddied the waters on some of the most important records in the game. We hold statistics and records in majors in the highest regard. The trio of 61s at Evian seriously dilutes one of the most important records in golf. Especially considering the women’s game is not in need of a rollback, so scoring records still mean something.

One more side note: the Grand Slam is the rarest of accomplishments in golf. It’s never been done in the women’s game. If someone was to win four of the five majors next year, the LPGA would recognize it as a Grand Slam. If someone was to win all five, the LPGA would elevate that accomplishment to…wait for it…the Super Grand Slam.

That’s what this mess comes down to. The LPGA determines what it counts as a major, what qualifies as a Grand Slam, and so on. Therefore, with regards to the record books, this week is one of the biggest on the calendar. It doesn’t count as half a major or have an asterisk next to it. It will be a highlight on the resume for whoever walks away as the winner. Whether we like it or not, with the wave of Mike Whan’s magic wand, the Evian became a major. Putting the proverbial toothpaste back in the tube is not going to happen under Mollie Marcoux Samaan. I firmly believe it will be a good day for women’s golf if Evian ever goes back to its regular tournament status. Just pray for the poor Wikipedia editors who have to come up with another new table to document it all.

(Featured photo courtesy PGA Tour)