Valhalla only got majors because the PGA owned it for awhile. A new group owns the course now so the PGA can’t make as much off of it as when they owned it. If you notice where the PGA has the major and the Ryder Cup, it’s at courses where they have a significant relationship in which they can make money: Bethpage, Olympic, Hazeltine, Congressional. They don’t care as much about the course itself. One of the biggest hamstrings on US Ryder Cup play is where the US Ryder Cups are. Europe hosts Ryder Cups on European tour courses in which they have greater familiarity. The US hosts Ryder Cups on PGA Championship courses which doesn’t give the US as much of a home course advantage as what Europe plays with. That’s why the US has started cutting rough down and speeding up the greens at US Ryder Cups because that at least plays to US players’ strengths though the Euros that play on the PGA Tour are experienced in those conditions as well.
Well written, well said. I play Harding Park in San Francisco a lot. It’s hosted The Amex and PGA championship. Nice track but very much a muni at the end of the day. Your comment gives good context.
And then the PGA did this: PGA of America partners with Congressional Country Club to host Championships
Once the USGA decided they weren’t coming back, the PGA stepped in. The same thing happened up here at Oakland Hills for a short stint but now the USGA is back and Oakland Hills will have a US Open in a few years.
A criticism of Valhalla and one that’s deserved IMO is the simplicity of the greens. The greens aren’t complicated and are easier to read than a lot of other major venues.
Now I’m trying to think about the most ridiculous country club I’ve ever been to a wedding at. The contenders are:
-Congressional
-Old Warson (canceled a PGA event rather than admit black people in like 1992(!))
-The Country Club (so named because it’s the first one)
I think you mean Deane Beman.
Let’s remember that the police were investigating a fatal pedestrian accident at the time. The incident with Scotty did not happen in a vacuum.
In watching the pre-match PGA banter, yesterday I noticed they showed several of the players arriving in their courtesy cars…and all of them appeared to have drivers. Perhaps Scheffler got apprehended in part because he was the driver of his own vehicle…and he was also arriving according to reports at 6;45 A.M. so if drivers were made available to the players, perhaps they were only available at something like after 8 A.M…which made guys who wanted to get to the course early for their pre-match workouts/ breakfasts having to self-drive to Valhalla.
That being said, it was still handled poorly by the cops even considering the tragic death which occurred nearby.
Players were given courtesy cars, but not given drivers. Some players had drivers. Players were told to show their credentials while driving past the back up. By the account of the reporter in the vehicle, that’s what was done.
Adding to @Blackbird’s comment - the detective was not investigating the fatality. They were directing traffic. On top of that, LMPD protocol is all officers must have their body cam activated while performing their duties. There is no exception for inclement weather or wearing a slicker. If they felt the situation escalated too quickly to turn their camera on, they must complete a Failure to Activate Officer Body Worn Camera form. When submitting the report, the officer ticked the box indicating they had their camera activated and never filed out the above report. If that’s the case, I have very little sympathy for an officer who not only can’t keep their composure, but proceeded to lie about it as well. Being a cop is a difficult job, but if you can’t keep your cool directing traffic at a golf tournament because a pedestrian was struck by a bus (not a violent crime, just an accident), you probably should find a different profession. That’s ignoring that lying on any official report is reprehensible.
Just to clarify, since I haven’t been following the updates, they were told that specifically for the stoppage around the accident site?
The initial impression I got was that Scottie didn’t know what the stoppage was about and assumed that he could go around in the PGA car, and the cops who were out there weren’t giving any special privileges to the PGA cars since they were there for the accident as opposed to the tournament. That would have made it a fairly understandable initial mistake by both, followed with an overreaction to grab onto the car and arrest Scottie. But if the players were actually briefed about the accident site specifically and told to go around that makes the whole thing more bizarre and looks terrible for the cops.
Yep, those were the instructions for the accident stoppage. It’s turning into a very bad look for a department that’s already had body cam issues in the past. Absolutely inexcusable to not follow protocol and then lie on a form.
I was fortunate to go to the third round on Saturday. I liked the design of the course, but the scores were so low that I can’t see them bringing a major back to Valhalla. I heard an interesting interview this morning on PGA Tour Radio where the golf analyst interviewed thought that the course is more suited for team competition, i.e. Ryder Cup. It has hosted a Ryder Cup event before, so maybe another might be in its future.
My biggest beef with the PGA and US Open is they tend to pick from the same courses over and over. There are hundreds of great venues for these majors in America that never get considered. Granted some of that is logistics: can the course support the crowds. Same with the community infrastructure ie hotels and restaurants. Is there a major airport relatively nearby. Can the media logistics work. Does the timezone work for most viewers. If you base it on just those criteria, I would venture there are at least 50 better options than the course they picked. It looks beautiful, but so too is the local track I play and it’s not in the consideration set because it’s too easy.
thechuck–I guess it was too much to ask for you to apologize for the BS comment you made about me believing that only the rich deserve special treatment based on the size of their wallet. I wrote a response which you liked. When I asked why on a dm, you said “B/c I thought it was a good comment.” Fine–but your comment accusing me of something that could not be further from the truth saw several posters like your comment accusing me of something that is NOTHING like I am. Posters that included Grumpy, Bash, Johnny Mac–posters I felt I had a good relationship with.
You made me look like an idiot. Like one who only supports those with money. ABSOLUTE bs. I asked for a clarification or “Gee, sorry. I guess I was wrong.” I gave you an opportunity to do the right thing, but that was more than could be expected from you. So, I go public. I am not going to allow that comment to go unanswered, but I initially took the private route. Now, not so much.
Thanks, Chuck. Sorry, Jive.
@MightyMU1 Sorry, but I read your original post the same way @thechuck_2112 did. Thanks for clarifying that is not what you meant.
Thanks.
One of my regrets is not knowing how to play golf for such a long time and then finding the Oxford Country Club my last 2 years in Oxford. Nice little 9 hole track and a good place to get lunch or dinner
I have now muted MightyMU1, so I can’t read what he’s saying. But if it’s along the lines of his DM to me, it’s clear that he wholly misinterpreted what I said, which was not a comment on him at all. Rather it was sarcastic commentary on the larger problem of people (especially as regards the LMPD) only caring about police misconduct when it happens to someone it isn’t “supposed” to happen to.
Funny–Grumpy and Eddie thought otherwise. You could have said the same thing yesterday and I would have been satisfied. But no. You wait to “explain” you didn’t mean what you said while others thought what you said was exactly what you meant. Boy, I am really crushed you’ve muted me.
What took you so long?
The Sackman–a poster who can not post without disparaging/insulting someone and using profanlty to insult those he finds beneath his level of perceived excellence. “Perceived” when he yearly claims the BJ’s are going to “win the Cup this year”. Well, I’m waiting.
As I said once before, the Wings will win their 12th cup (11 is most of any US team) before the big city BJ’s win their first.
And you have been unusually quiet and reserved. Maybe Jive let you know he was not going to put up with your insults, attacks, profanities and disparaging comments about other teams or athletes.
And please–mute me. I would appreciate your doing so. What has taken you so long?