Today’s newsletter will take a different form, as day-to-day golf news doesn’t feel like a priority right now. We want to be helpful in the ongoing dialogue about racism and inequality, but we know our own perspectives on these issues are not the most vital ones. So for the past few days, we have chosen to speak less, tweet less, and release less content in order to let other voices take center stage. Our main purpose today is to amplify some of those voices.

Words to listen to:

GOLFTV’s Henni Zuël on the covert racism that she has experienced throughout her golf career

Golf Channel analyst Damon Hack on the impossible questions that are crowding his mind at this complicated moment

Long Drive champion Maurice Allen on being a black man in a predominantly white sport

PGA Tour player Harold Varner III on avoiding simplistic thinking, seeing the good in people, and striving for unity

From another sector of the sports world but eminently worthy of everyone’s attention, ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho giving answers to questions he often hears from white friends

Resources for learning and doing more:

George Floyd Memorial Fund – A GoFundMe page set up by the Floyd family to assist George’s children, fund their education, and alleviate various other financial burdens

The Legal Rights Center – A nonprofit law firm based in Minneapolis that specializes in criminal defense and seeks to rectify the inequalities of the legal system

Campaign Zero – A group that makes policy proposals intended to reduce police violence across America

News from the golf world

As we reported last week, the PGA Tour plans to hold back-to-back events at Muirfield Village this July. The first, slated for the week previously occupied by the John Deere Classic, will be a full-field tournament sponsored by Workday (shout-out Phil). The week after, the Memorial Tournament will take place as scheduled.

An email survey was sent to Mackenzie Tour, PGA Tour China, and the PGA Tour Latinoamérica players this week to gauge interest in creating a temporary feeder tour this season. The tour would feature six events with $100,000 purses. The Canadian, Chinese, and Latin American tours had their seasons canceled because of the pandemic. Full Story from Brentley Romine

The PGA Tour officially announced the creation of PGA Tour University this week. The program will guarantee status on the Korn Ferry Tour, Mackenzie Tour, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and PGA Tour China for graduating seniors. Press Release

Many PGA Tour players—Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, and Patrick Rodgers among them—took to social media this week to voice their support of racial equality.

The Latest from The Fried Egg

Shotgun Start: A makeshift feeder tour, the Workday Open, and SGS Spotlight on Calvin Peete

This Wednesday episode begins with a few comments from Brendan and Andy on the current protests in the country, golf’s poor history with race, and how they and the podcast need to be better. Then a short news segment hits on a report that the PGA Tour is considering a makeshift feeder tour to give players on some of the lower tours like the Canadian Tour and Latinoamérica tour some reps. Then they hit on the official announcement of the new Workday double dip at Muirfield, which leads to an odd ramble about the lost potential of a July Sawgrass event. This week’s SGS Spotlight features the life and golf of Calvin Peete, celebrating his career and discussing why we now see even fewer African Americans on Tour than the heydey of Peete some 40 years ago. The Spotlight attempts what it always attempts, and that is to re-acquaint or educate and then celebrate a bygone pro that a younger generation may have only general details on to go with a name. It discusses Peete’s incredible path to pro golf, accidentally falling in love with the game when he played it for the first time at age 23 after selling wares out of the trunk of his car to migrant workers. Peete’s legacy as the most accurate driver of all time is hailed as is his signature Players win and his peak run that edged Nicklaus for the Vardon Trophy and almost every contemporary in win rate. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.