Roundup 2016: Year In Review Stories And A Few Thoughts
I've been taking in and enjoying the year-end golf summaries, mostly to shield myself from news that makes me want to have John Oliver's '16 tribute on a running loop. As is always the golf media custom, various writers emptied their notebooks and recalled moments that resonated long after they packed up their laptops. While taking in their thoughts I drew a few conclusions, which, if you'll indulge, I'll share before throwing a few good year-end links your way.
2016 lived up to its billing: a stellar-but-bloated schedule, plenty of sensational tournament venues and a continued refinement of course architectural tastes skewing toward the natural. But the sadness of Arnold Palmer's passing, which I'm not sure we got to completely take in quietly, just reinforced the sense that there is too much golf and it all went on way too long.
In spite of the pitiful WD's by Spieth, McIlroy and friends, The Olympics exceeded expectations while The Open Championship will go down as a classic (John Huggan and Dave Shedloski have put together a truncated oral history of Troon 2016).
For Golfweek's Alistair Tait, those were the two biggest takeaways in his eyes and he offers two anecdotes from each.
The women's side keeps producing young talent but now even Lydia Ko is showing signs of impatience that either could propel her to another level, or rapidly add her to a list of almost-legend status. This overall impatience by and for the youth to take center stage should be a more disconcerting sign for golf given how much damage it's done in tennis, but the desperation to ride some under 25-year-old coattails ignores that the average age of the men's major winners in 2016 was..34.
On a grander entertainment scale, fewer players and even fewer fans are clamoring for tournament officials to humiliate players via course setup to compensate for inadequacies in their own golf games. Woohoo! Yes, we still have too many green speed fiascos to mask the distance issue, but we also have fewer four-inch rough weeks and grind-it-out bogey-fests.
This increased clamoring for player-produced drama leads to a more positive energy when we tune in to watch golf. The effect has to seep down to the everyday game, no?
Consider the incredible outrage over the USGA's difficult-to-rationalize handling of Dustin Johnson and how quickly the public response produced a local rule introduction that will restore some sanity (though it still won't slow down greens). A less cynical, more sensible golfing public should take a bow.
The sport saw minor inroads on the pace-of-play plague and with the greatest single roadblock to progress just a few hours from retirement (woohoo 2!), we may see real reform in 2017. I sense an overall shift in values for the sport: golf is no longer seen by its followers as a sport of inevitable punishment separated by bursts of fun. It is now expected to be one that aspires to be a lifestyle activity that is fun, sensible and responsible to be part of. Progress!
Obviously this is generational and the infusion of many "millennial" values has meshed nicely with the "artisanal" trends that had already begun to reimagine design and experiential elements that inspire our passion for the sport. However, I can't help but think of 2016 without thinking of the incessant desperation the sport has shown in trying to appeal to a new generation while ignoring an aging demographic that loves the sport. In trying so pathetically to be cool to the kids the sport so often comes off as pathetic to the kids. If there's one thing we know about millennials, it's that we don't know what they really like. But they have shown a love for pursuits with soul, timelessness and some backbone. Golf should act more comfortable in its shoes.
Ultimately the genius of golf is that it can be played and loved by people of all generations. Probably never a huge audience, but one that spans generations. So perhaps the potential for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to duel one more time with a nice mix of young guns and veteran sticks joining the fight, a microcosm of this cross-generational meeting of minds will calm some of this desperation to get younger or die.
On that note...
If you need your memory refreshed, here are GolfChannel.com's newsmakers, with of course, that passing of Arnold Palmer in the top spot. We lost many others in '16 as Cliff Schrock notes at GolfDigest.com, but it was Palmer's death that will forever define the year.
Randall Mell steps back from the raw emotion of the initial coverage to consider what Palmer's passing means to the game. Brandel Chamblee also weighed in with this piece.
Jeff Babineau covered many topics in his year-end Golfweek.com thoughts, including Palmer's funeral. And GolfChannel.com's Mercer Baggs left the service feeling upbeat, thanks in part to the eulogy by Sam Saunders.
Doug Ferguson uses up his notes that weren't technically newsworthy, just entertaining. And while this Wayne Gretzky item is the best, the theme here is Palmer and he included this one:
The day after the U.S. Open, Arnold Palmer drove his cart to the back entrance of his office in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
It had been a rough year. Palmer declined to a do his news conference or a TV interview at Bay Hill, instead taping an interview for the NBC telecast. For the first time, he did not hit a ceremonial tee shot at the start of the Masters the following month.
But he was sharp on this day. Dustin Johnson had won the U.S. Open, but only after playing the final seven holes not knowing if the USGA was going to penalize him one shot for his ball moving on the fifth green.
"What did you think of the Open?" Palmer said.
"Interesting," came the fence-sitting reply.
Palmer grinned and, as always, got straight to the point.
"The USGA really (messed) this one up, didn't they?" he said.
Beth Ann Baldry filed her favorite memories from a year on the road covering amateur and women's golf, with the NCAA's in Eugene still resonating strongly. For Mell, Se Ri Pak's emotional retirement cameo was the memory he won't soon forget.
Off the course, the equipment and business side proved fascinating, with more news soon on the way for 2017. David Dusek at Golfweek.com summed it up this way:
Where would you start in a year that included Jordan Spieth cracking the face of his driver on the eve of the Masters, Adidas announcing that it wants to sell TaylorMade, Adams and Ashworth and the USGA and R&A reporting that they don’t feel driving distance is a problem in professional golf?
Which brings us back to the proverbial question that inspired the start of this website 13 years ago and saw it morph into a blog 11 years ago. Will 2017 be the year anything is done? Probably not. But I'm encouraged enough by too many other big picture trends to never rule out some action. Shoot, we might even see a slow play penalty on the West Coast swing. Strap, it's going to be a wild year ahead.
Until then, Happy New Year,
Geoff
Thursday, December 29, 2016 at 10:13 PM 41 Comments | in 2016 Masters, 2016 Open Championship, 2016 PGA, 2016 PGA Tour, 2016 Ryder Cup, 2016 US Open 
Reader Comments (41)
To all, thank you for putting up with my rambling posts and don't get out with the amateurs on New Years Eve.
May 2017 bring you love and happiness.
digsouth
“Adams and Ashworth and the USGA and R&A reporting that they don’t feel driving distance is a problem in professional golf?”
One has to ask just what world do these people live in, and perhaps more so just what game are they playing, because year on year they are removing golf and golf course architecture from our courses.
Of course, distance is a factor, the distance the ball travels has dictated the length of many a golf course and it would be totally unprofessional so say otherwise. However, its not the only ill on our courses, the inability to understand and use technology plays an equal part to the quality of today’s game and players alike. The belief that penal should not apply and strategic should replace it has won through over the last 100 years, yet how can we have strategic without a solid portion of penal within the mix. How do we reinstate commitment, in not just the game but the designs too, is there a case for ‘Land fit for Purpose’ where golf can be played or better still should not be played.
Then I suppose its how you were taught the game, that is why the history of the game is important but more so the history of golf course architecture as related to the Golden Age of Golf and Golf Course Design (1840’s-1890’s) If your introduction to golf was through super smooth, well-manicured billiard finished, well water Greens where technology flowed freely from advice from Caddies, distance aids in the format of markers, books or electronic devices, then I fear you have not encountered the beautiful Royal & Ancient Game of Golf and GB courses may present some difficulties as a percentage still
Retain small degree of penal.
Today’s elite of golf reign over a somewhat weak version of what was once a beautiful game that just required the golfer to traverse his own boundaries by using his mind and body to face Nature, the environment and all the forces of Nature.
Professional golf - does have a problem, it lies within itself, it’s the way it’s played and the belief that the professional game’s superiority over all things golf. Then does that not apply to the R&A and the USGC and not forgetting the manufacturers?
A golfer can have as much fun and enjoyment on a 4,700yard course as he will ever get from an 8,000yards course – reason being the shorter course requires the full commitment from the designer to challenge the golfer at every turn, hill or dell, forcing the game rather than sitting back just guarding the Green – sort of Atlantic Wall mentality, once breached it’s worthless (getting to the wall is the battle or the game and can be a more testing challenges in the process).
Good reading. Can't say I'm in the camp of reducing the difficulty associated with the US Open. Fairway width, rough, green speed or pin placements due to the proliferation of lofted iron shots. Do we really want playing conditions the same as any other Tour stop? Have we been sensitized to the point we abhor punishment for errors, so much that the best players in the world making the cut should be saved the embarrassment of doing so at anything worse than under par? This is pure ratings talk for the sake of business. Fine if the business of golf had to panhandle to make ends meet. I'm all for taking action on the urethane missile at the elite level. Related more to time, cost and environmental sustainability. I'm also old enough to remember many a US Open played with persimmon and a balata pellet, at 7000 yds and under, with conditions every bit as demanding, in 3-hours with bogey a good number off a mistake. And the public, players and press didn't require grief counseling over the death of the game when the winner was even par.
I wonder when the penny will drop that Par is not a dirty word and relates as much to the location as well as the course design. To be so far ahead of Par in no guarantee that your game is good, healthy and entertaining. In the good old days, Par was not expected to be reached for a few years with the odd exception.
Like most things too much has been forgotten and we are left not with the good bits but the easy bit because today's golf in just a business.
I am still trying to translate your comment using my trusted American to English dictionary.
And to the rest of my friends here at Shackland, Happy New Year! May 2017 be a great one for you, in both golf and life!
DMac, I don't think anyone, or most, mind a really tough golf course to determine the US Open champion. But when the course setup man or committee start tinkering, or manipulating, simply to get a desired number(par?) then it's gone too far. We cannot expect, in this day and time, with the advancement in technology, etc., that scores are going to somehow be the same as they were 30 years ago, on the same golf course. Jack the tees back, tough but fair pins, healthy rough, "championship" green speed, and let em' play. Stop this ridiculous "on the edge" manipulation that has backfired several times because of unforeseen weather elements.
As for the Olympics, I'm sure my opinion puts me in the minority. The golf was great, so was the course, but it felt like an exhibition to me.
The oral history on Stenson-Phil is really good. I'm 45 and I may never see such compelling golf again. I'm a Phil fan but can't help but be happy for Henrik.
Happy New Year to all. Hope 2017 brings peace, prosperity, and good health to each and everyone of you that read this golf blog.
And thanks to all those whose comments make it entertaining and educational.
By the way, if you can find it, the winter issue of Kingdom magazine was devoted entirely to Palmer.
Good to know you are still there. Either I missed them, or your posts have decreased in recent weeks, concerned for your H & H.
Perhaps the host's posts have been more commerical and less worthy of comment than in the past.
This blog has such an excellent cross section of views, experiences, locations, etc, I hope we all to what we can to maintain its quality and interest (even the way out posters are readable)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.🎉🎉
Play well!
More on the separation of the mens' and women's pro games. One is for the 34 year olds (mentioned as the average age of major winners) and another for teenagers and some slightly older. The Ladies average major winner's age was 20 if 31 year old geriatric Lang is isolated. The ladies appear get along with each other well during their 35 or so tournaments each year and for many past and present retire at 30. It must be good for girls' golf to have so many models to follow.
Doesn't that grow the game?
In between, we had a couple of golfers who are among the most talented of the generation. It was heartening for DJ to win the US Open after giving it away at Chambers Bay last year. Stenson and Phil at Troon was a tremendously compelling story. I hope that we see Stenson win another major, because his game and his work ethic deserves another. DJ and Henrik are great talents, and well deserving of their major titles.
The year should begin with examining the majors, and should end with examining the majors, as every year should. The fact that the Olympics diverted our attention from the majors is a development which threatens to undermine how we appreciate championship golf. Call me old fashioned, but the majors are the real deal. "Growing the game" is a saying which has little relevance to what occurs at the highest level of championship golf.
And that is my review of golf in 2016.
Too much Trump.
ANGC showcase plans fpr 4th and 5th to showcase a 299 yard par 3 and a 499 yard par 4.
Courses dumbed down to allow Tiger to make the cut.
Erin Hills and Davis.
Post- Ryder Cup boozed-up loudmouths at tournaments.
Apparently, as I commented on your post which was written in disappearing ink!
It would not surprise me if any of 2016's major champs are one and dones. But I feel the chance of another major for at least one is greater than even. Not referring merely to DJ and Stenson. Walker and Willett have it in them.
Thanks for the site, podcasts, and especially your writings. "Grounds for Golf " became a gateway to enjoying golf course design, findings sites like golfclubatlas and enjoying the game even more.
Site has folks very passionate about the game and make 2017 the year you play a round with hickory shafts. It will make
You love this crazy game even more...
Happy New Year
Happy New Year, Shacklanders.
And special thanks to Geoff, this is the best site.
...and yes too much golf on TV, especially when it overlaps football in Aug-Sept-Oct
"In trying so pathetically to be cool to the kids the sport so often comes off as pathetic to the kids. If there's one thing we know about millennials, it's that we don't know what they really like. But they have shown a love for pursuits with soul, timelessness and some backbone. Golf should act more comfortable in its shoes."
Hits the nail on the head when it comes to how "millennials" (if such people exist) will pay attention to and stay engaged with golf.
Thanks for all your work this year Geoff. You're doing great work and you do it consistently.
Happy New Year.
Now, it seems to me their is too much navel gazing at the state of the game. It will be fine. i think we are likely looking at something cyclic rather than permanent.
I had serious reservations about what the new Doonbeg would look like because I was not a fan of the work that the same Martin Hawtree had done a few years ago at Little Island where he messed around with the bunkers and put in many unnecessary and silly ones and in my view did a rotten job on the reconstruction of what was a lovely traditional Little Island hole the 12th.
At Doonbeg however he has I think transformed what was a mediocre course, in a great location, into a classic traditional links golf course and yes I am absolutely raving about it..it is up there with Ballybunion, Waterville, Portmarnock, Portrush,Lahinch and all the other top notch Irish links golf courses.
There is however one major problem at Doonbeg and if it is not resolved soon there could well be another major natural disaster waiting to happen. All that is needed is one major Atlantic storm and much of the great work done recently at Doonbeg could well be blown away.
Hey thank you for you comment. Yes the ''H'' has been the anchor in my ability to read/post.
Another surgery in January and I'll be back!!
@D Mac
Thanks!
Happy to all again, and be positive: your mind an spirit are one with your body--use them!
dig