The Digest Panelist Summit Itinerary

My latest Golfobserver.com exclusive. Remember panelists, this is satire. Just a little fun for a Tuesday.

Golf Magazine Ranking Shake-Up?

Looks like new Golf Magazine editor David Clarke is shaking up their Top 100 ranking process, reportedly naming former Links editor Joe Passov to supervise an overhaul.

Here's a GolfClubAtlas thread on the topic, including a confirmation from former contributing editor and ranking coordinator Tom Doak, who didn't waste much time lavishing praise on the new guy. I wonder why!? :)

What caused the shakeup?  Perhaps Nine Bridges making the list raised a red flag. Perhaps the panelist conflicts of interest that were undermining the credibility of the magazine. Possibly the excessive number of U.S. courses on the world list? Or all of the above and much more?

Either way, it's a bold and wise move by Clarke.
 

Mark Your Calendars!

The inaugural Golf Digest Panelist Summit takes place November 18-20. Borrowing from Golfweek's playbook, the magazine is convening its panel for education seminars and guest speakers. Three days for just $1200! The program:

• Friday November 18: Town Hall discussion on Golf Digest rankings with Jerry Tarde and Jack Nicklaus, Dinner with address by Mitchell Fox, CEO of The Golf Digest Companies.

• Saturday November 19: The future of Golf Digest rankings panel, discussions with Pete Dye and Tom Fazio (and Rees Jones?!), Dinner address by Thomas Friedman titled, err, no, I won't go there.
  

• Sunday November 20: Ron Whitten and Golf Digest ranking criteria, Ron Whitten on "Architorture" and Stan Zontek on "what good course conditioning really means" (oh Lordy...).

Golf Magazine Top 100 Question 3

No listing of panelists, no explanation of criteria. There is a comment in the September issue that a visit to golfonline.com will allow someone to see "how we select the Top 100 in the World and the U.S."  But not yet.

Still posted is the 2003 list of panelists. And it's still a woefully low 86 voters. Perhaps they'll post the 2005 panel this year (though it should appear in print).

Hopefully the panel will top 100 voters this time around so that we can see who is so infatuated with Rees Jones. And so that some courses get, oh, I don't know at least five votes every two years.

Golf Magazine Top 100 Question, Vol. 2

Looking at the architect credits next to the current Golf Magazine Top 100 lists, it's surprising how many of the listings are inaccurate or missing key original design contributions.

It'd be nice if, say, William Flynn got some credit for his extensive to shape Merion into the course we know today.

Same for Press Maxwell, who did 9 holes at Prairie Dunes. How about a little something, you know, for the effort? The Prairie Dunes listing simply says "Maxwell, 1935-56" (meaning dad, Perry, who did the first nine holes that opened in 1937). Perry died in 1952, five years before the second nine opened in 1957.

Mike Clayton is not included in the credits for the newly opened Barnbougle Dunes. (Actually, it's listed as Barnbougle, which definitely is not its full name.)  That's like listing Sand for Sand Hills.

Then there are the incorrect years. (Torrey Pines, Bell, 1926? Try William F. Bell, 1957). Hey, they were related.

And one of these days, some magazine will get the Riviera opening year right (1927) or that L.A. Country Club-North was Fowler in 1921, Thomas/Bell 1928.

Why isn't Fazio listed at Augusta National (along with about 40 other people)? Or what about the parade of stars that have been through Bel-Air and Quaker Ridge? Only Trent Jones is listed next to Tillinghast for Quaker Ridge.

Again, no big deal except to the courses themselves or whoever it is that put the listing together (the magazine doesn't say).

Yet if either Rees Jones or Robert Trent Jones did restorative or non-restorative work at your course, they are likely listed. (Well, except Baltusrol Lower, where Rees is mysteriously left off, but he is included on the Upper listing!)

If an architect mangled a classic badly enough, he gets credit. Ex: Fazio at Oak Hill and Inverness even though no one likes his additions.

But then folks who do restoration work are only mentioned a handful of times for no apparent reason other than someone thought to include them (Doak at Yeaman's Hall, Silva at Baltimore CC). Why not Doak at Valley Club or San Francisco, or Silva at Seminole, or Hanse at Plainfield, or Coore/Crenshaw at Riviera, etc...

Meanwhile Rees Jones is listed at Bethpage and The Country Club, which were sold to us as restorations (or were they?). Robert Trent Jones is listed at say, Olympic Club, while original contributors Willie Watson and Max Behr are not included. And Trent pops up at Baltusrol, Congressional, Interlachen, Oak Hill and Oakland Hills, but not Augusta National where he added a pivotal hole?

Not only is the listing inconsistent and confusing, there is a troublesome aspect to it as well. It could (or maybe already has) sent the message to architects that the only way to get your name on a ranking list is to make changes.

Just restoration? That won't get you listed. Changes? There's always hope.

Most of the courses on this list do not need to be changed. Restoring a few features? Sure. Major changes, no way.

After all, they're the best courses in the world. Right?

Golf Magazine Top 100 Question, Vol. 1

Okay, technically, this is quibble/question #2.

As part of the Golf Magazine rankings package, writer Lisa Taddeo talks to panelist Leon Wentz about his feat of playing all Top 100 in the world. Wentz says:

I was flipping through Golf Magazine, saw the Top 100 World list, and thought, "Now, here's a challenge!" I asked my wife if it would be okay if I made this my chore for the next few years, and she said go for it. I lost 11 courses because of the list changing. For example, I had to go back to New Zealand three months ago to play one that came up on the last list. I wanted to play the current list, not an old list.

Now this means a few things. First, Wentz knew what the 2005 list looked like at least three months ago. Or three months before the interview took place, so more like four months ago. This would mean that he probably knew what the list was going to look like in April or May.

Which is interesting since list newcomer Bandon Trails didn't officially open until June.