A near boycott, a lot of friction, 'Lefty' and his statement, providing shade for fellow players and where's the money? The comments were anonymous to encourage an honest response but included their credentials to give us an indication of who may have provided the quips. I found it an eye-opener but not entirely surprising and there were a couple of supporters too.
PGA Tour pros & caddies with their candid thoughts on USGA
Whew...long read!
I get where they are coming from, and I hate watching those tournaments set up like that. It's not the course as it's meant to be. BUT, I do feel it is the same for every player, and if they do not like it, they do not have to play it, much the same as we will not play certain courses for various reasons. They are Pros, and should be more adaptable to conditions as they are set up, in any form. Although, I do not feel a course needs to be completely raped in order to keep scores 'under control'. Esp. at Pebble Beach.
The players and equipment companies screwed up the game when they decided that 340 yard bombs hit anywhere was how the game was supposed to be played. The USGA tried to play along with cutting down every tree in site and 60 yard wide fairways. Then their only way to defend the course was crazy green speeds and pin placement. Golf is a skill game of accuracy, strategy, and shot making. If you hit the driver and miss the target you should pay the big price. You should have to use all 14 clubs on a given day and think your way around the course. As equipment became more lethal the courses should have become tighter and more challenging. More trees, more obstacles more shot making. Getting in position for a easy putt should be the challenge, not trying to putt in a bath tub.
Par4QC Whew...long read!
I know but it was like reading a compelling novel that was hard to put down.
Some of the quips were cutting like this one from a PGA caddy that has toted for multiple tour winners: The USGA official with every group always patronizes the caddies on the first tee: “Make sure you've got 14 in there—count your clubs.” That's insulting. That's not their job; it's mine. And if I have 15, it's my fault. I heard a caddie say once, “Don't worry, I've got this. I do it every week of the year. It's only you guys who do it once a year.”
mikeintopeka
Wow....the USGA really got "taken to the woodshed!" While I don't disagree with the school of thought that everybody plays the same course, and that after all they are professionals, I've always admired the fact that the R & A doesn't seem to trick up the courses in their rota. If it's hot and dry in England/Scotland in July, that's the kind of course that you get. If it's damp, windy and rainy, that's what you get. If the winning score is 3 over, 10 under, or 20 under (I looked it up....each of those scores has won in this century), they don't seem to care. The USGA's obsession that "Par" be the winning score is silly, IMO. The lengths they have to go to to achieve that is what led to all
that criticism from the people who were quoted in the article.....and those players, champions, instructors of champions, caddies, etc. are the ones in a position to know. It will be interesting to see how they set up Pebble
Beach, and if they react to this article. Good article....thanks for sharing.
Bunch a whiners! Every US Open has a handful of players who have the mental balls and the skill to deal with the setup. Yes, the USGA botches it now and then, but it separates the men from the boys and it's only once a year. MAN UP!!!!!
sdandrea1 Bunch a whiners!
I'd love to take them out on a few courses I play. Let them hit their tee shot from an uphill lie. Let them, 1st, find their tee after sticking it in the ground. Let them tee up on a dome, or with the ball way below their feet while standing on that dome. Let them putt on the aerated greens, that had nothing done to them after punching. I wanna see how many of those 30' diameter greens they hit also.
The USGA has been directionless for quite a while. No new news there.
Then you have the entitled elite tour players who feel like they're bigger than the game itself. They say all of the right things in front of the camera, but behind the scenes they're not walking the talk. The hypocrisy is off the charts.
Most recent example: Tom Gillis. Despite two bad rounds at last weekend's Senior PGA Championship, Gillis assumed he'd miss the weekend cutline. He wasted little time hopping on a plane and heading back home. So he gets back home, only to realize that he actually made the cut and had a tee time early Saturday morning.
“I wasn’t going back,” Gillis told Tony Paul of The (Detroit) News. “I chose family over golf . . . It was more about spending the weekend with family.”
That all sounds great, who could blame him? Hmm... except maybe the guy he took to task on social media for his "lack of professionalism" as it related to compensating his fill-in caddie down in Mexico, perhaps?
To my knowledge, Kuchar has made no disparaging comments toward Gillis openly about him taking the weekend off and turning his back on his tour in recent days. Come to think of it, nobody has. In fact, several in the media have stopped just short of recommending no fewer than two major bridges in Detroit to be renamed after him and a Medal of Freedom for "choosing family over golf." No mention of a lack of professionalism with his decision to skip town after two bad opening rounds.
I'm not meaning to pass judgement, just pointing out the hypocrisy, the double standards.
Most of these people are talking out of the sides of their mouths.
PA-PLAYA Maybe some of the tournament directors will honor Mr. Gillis' commitment to family by not tempting him with any more invitations to play.
johnnydoom
Perfect!
I hope Mr Gillis still payed his caddy for the weekend of work he SHOULD have had.
KCee This thread and others like it on the Buzz are as close to social media as I get. If I ever jumped into facebook or twitter I'm afraid I would get too far from shore and drown.
johnnydoom Me too. I don't use Twitter and barely go on FB. I love Instagram because you just go on and look at pretty pictures.
