Ned Ryerson!

Best read with happy feet

Howdy, folks. We hope you had a nice Easter weekend and squeezed in a few Masters highlights between bites of ham.

News and updates

• After watching a replay of his 2019 Masters victory on Sunday, Tiger Woods gave an emotional interview to Jim Nantz about his thoughts and feelings during the celebration with his family behind the 18th green. Check it out HERE.
• The PGA Tour is considering returning to action without fans. Officials are still weighing their options, but a memo sent to players last week presented fan-less tournaments as a possibility. Full Story from Joel Beall and Brian Wacker
• Doug Sanders passed away at 86 this weekend. While he never won that elusive major title, Sanders had a successful PGA Tour career. He won 20 events, including the 1956 Canadian Open as an amateur. RIP, “Peacock of the Fairways.”

The Storylines

The devil is in the details

During a CBS interview that aired on the First Cut podcast this weekend, Jack Nicklaus revealed that the Memorial Tournament will “probably” move from its customary spot in early June to mid-July. “Whether we’ll be ready on the 1st of June, I seriously doubt it,” he said. “Whether we’ll be ready in the middle of July, I don’t know. But we certainly hope.” Specifically, Nicklaus mentioned that the Memorial could be rescheduled for the weekend of July 16-19, previously reserved for the Open Championship.

Jack’s comments can be interpreted a number of different ways. He could mean the Tour may not be able to return by early June, or that the Memorial Tournament staff may not be ready by then. We know that the Tour is looking into fan-less events, so perhaps Nicklaus is actually hoping for a mid-July date in order to give his tournament the best shot at occurring.

Regardless of what exactly Jack meant, this news highlights how complicated this summer will be for the PGA Tour’s event organizers. The current hiatus not only erases spring events but also prevents summer and fall tournaments from getting ready with any confidence. Organizers can’t confirm vendors, prepare volunteers, or give their normal assurances to their communities. It’s up to the PGA Tour to take all of that into consideration before rushing back to competition.

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WALK THIS WAY

The Must-Sees of Public Golf Architecture in America

Augusta Wind Golf Course, Thedford Golf Course, Pelican Beach Golf Club (Nebraska)

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As Andy Dufresne wrote to Red in The Shawshank Redemption, “If you’ve come this far, maybe you’re willing to come a little further.” For genuinely rugged, minimal, of-the-place golf in the Sandhills of Nebraska, play one (or all) of these nine-hole courses. They are true Midwestern links, built close to their towns on ultra-low budgets, and enjoyed and embraced by locals. The turf is a bit longer and a bit more at the mercy of Mother Nature, but it allows crazy greens like the 4th at Pelican Beach or the 2nd at Augusta Wind to function properly. And of course the wind is ever-present. So if you’re passing through this part of the world, I can think of no better way to stretch your legs than to head out to one of these local nine-holers.

Insider tip: These courses rely heavily on community volunteer efforts. They exist because good people value the direct and indirect benefits that golf provides. Your money supports not only the golf course but also the town and the people. So when you slip your green fee into the honor box, maybe err on the generous side. -Blake Conant

Photo credit: Blake Conant

The Latest from The Fried Egg

The Art of The Opener: The 1st at Southern Hills – The first hole of a golf course needs to do more than just kick off a player’s round. Garrett Morrison walks us through how Perry Maxwell uses the land and setting at Southern Hills to preview the entire course in one hole.

ICYMI…

• Eggsplorations: Grand Rapids – The second edition of our Eggsplorations series winds through western Michigan.
• Credit Hours: Pepperdine University Men’s Golf – Will Knights runs down the truncated season of the Waves, who were hunting a national title in 2020.
• The Fried Egg Podcast, Episode 176: Joel Dahmen – The bucket-hat-clad PGA Tour pro took time out of his Arizona quarantine to chat with Andy.

The Shotgun Start: The Masters rewind experiment, 10 events we want saved, more AMA

Brendan and Andy return from the weekend with our golf appetites satiated in a way by the Masters Rewind on both ESPN and CBS. We discuss why this worked from the minor details to the obvious advantages, and if it is at all replicable for events that are less prestigious. Why are we not seeing more of these real-time lookbacks with player interviews and just more experimentation from the Tour? In news, we hit on the Tour’s plan for fan-less events and spotlight some of the achievements and quirks of Doug Sanders, who passed away over the weekend. Then we go back and forth on 10 events that would be the hardest to part with in the remaining year, or which 10 we most want to see for either giggles, intrigue, or schadenfreude. Finally, we conclude by knocking off a few more AMA questions on topics from a hypothetical Brooks vs. Ernie fight, TopTracer convincing every junior to hit a fade, hotel bed preferences, the SGS target audience, the infamous lost guest tape, and why we rarely have guests at all. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.