With the end of 2024 a new year is beckoning. Hope springs eternal in golf. How one fared previously does not assure continued success is a foregone conclusion.
Ask any golfer after hitting a brilliant shot if the one that follows will be equally brilliant.
Success in golf, at all levels, is akin to closing one door and then opening another.
Professional golf in 2024 saw surges of certain players and decline in others.
The global golf industry also saw gains with numerous classic courses engaging architects to return to their original roots.
Recreationally, golf is advancing on a number of fronts. Will those positive winds remain constant?
A new year undoubtedly means an assessment of the recent past. Questions needing answers may not always provide the most positive of outcomes.
Read on for Part 3 or click here for Part 1 or Part 2.
Is Rose Zhang ready to breakout for stardom?
When the talented Stanford collegian entered the ranks of women’s professional golf the bar for greatness was set high and deservedly so. Zhang secured a victory in her first tournament as a professional in 2023.
In the four majors Zhang played in 2023 she finished in the top 10 in three of them. In 2024 she thoroughly dominated the field in winning the Cognizant Founders Cup event with a 264 total – highlighted by a final round 66.
But the rest of 2024 was uneventful. Zhang missed the cut in two majors and her best finish in the most important events was a T29. Ranked 13th in the world the big question mark is whether the expectations coming into the pro ranks were too high? Is the Zhang elevator now ready to ascend to the top floor?
How engaged will security be for the Ryder Cup matches at Bethpage?
The intensity of the biennial matches goes beyond just the two teams. Fever-pitched emotions have also been demonstrated by attendees. Having exuberant crowds is part of the pageantry of the event but when lines cross over to excessive outward displays of vitriol to those involved with the matches or even between attendees gathered then the resulting chaos needs to be firmly checked.
Bethpage is no stranger to such engaged individuals. The 2002 and 2009 US Opens saw various instances in which certain competitors were specifically targeted.
Keegan Bradley, the USA Captain, stated he expects attendees to be “loud and proud” but that any behavior crossing lines will be dealt with by organizers. With 50,000 people expected to be on hand for each day of the event, matters of decorum and respect are tricky propositions to handle.
Unquestionably, the desire to have matches contested fairly is a central goal and should there be instances of such boorish behavior it will be crucial for appropriate actions are taken swiftly and consistently.
Is LIV Golf headed to Fox Sports?
Reports are circulating a move from the CW network to Fox Sports is on the doorstep of reality.
The CW’s reach was woefully small — even re-runs of “I Love Lucy” fared better.
Getting a much larger platform has been a long-time challenge for the upstart organization and speaks to the poor planning before LIV Golf actually launched in 2022.
The move to Fox Sports, should that be finalized, will need to align a workable schedule so golf does not compete against football telecasts. This was the same issue faced by the PGA Tour in getting its marquee tournaments away from that specific conflict.
Fox Sports jumped into the golf broadcasting arena they signed a $1.1 billion deal in 2013 covering 2015 thru 2027 for all USGA Championships — most notably the US Open. That deal terminated in 2020. Can the network’s mulligan be better than the first attempt?
What does Nick Dunlap do for an encore?
Winning on the PGA Tour is no small feat. But when you accomplish that feat as an amateur all attention ramps up considerably.
Nick Dunlap, the former Alabama collegiate star, captured the American Express event in the California desert in January. Not since Phil Mickelson won the Tuscon event in 1991 had an amateur won on the PGA Tour.
Dunlap also joined Tiger Woods as the only golfer to have won the US Junior and Amateur.
Then in July, the 20-year-old went one step further in his golf journey — winning the Barracuda event in Reno. No player had ever won in a single calendar year a PGA Tour event as an amateur and professional.
Dunlap also finished T-5 in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, moving on to the BMW Championship to finish inside the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings and earn a spot in next year’s signature events.
Just realize this- at the end of 2023 Dunlap had a world ranking of 4121. He’s now 32nd. Dunlap’s accomplishments earned him PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors.
The big question remains. Can the ascension up the golf ladder continue in 2025? The potential is there – the promise for more remains.
Can golf really “go” – the slow play quagmire.
No other aspect in golf matters more than the time it takes to play a complete round.
All of the major golf organizations have stated the importance in playing without undue delays but golf rounds have drifted closer to 5 hours rather than heading toward 4 hours or less.
Some clubs have hired outside companies to assist in such efforts and where continued focus and involvement are carried out the results have proven effective.
The future of the game hinges on being in alignment with the daily lives of those playing. Continued inattention and inaction by a good number of facilities is still happening. Far too many facilities see slow play simply as a talking point rather than an actual action item.
The time clock is ticking – no pun intended.
Are the economics of golf keeping a ceiling on minority development within the sport?
Golf is not an inexpensive game to play. There’s also the critical element of exposure which those coming from a lower rung on the socio-economic ladder face daily.
The arrival of Tiger Woods into professional golf in 1996 provided a brief uptick in minority involvement but at the PGA Tour level the faces remain overwhelmingly white.
Promoting the game through outreach efforts via First Tee have helped but the costs for equipment, getting consistent access to play and the inability to connect with quality instruction remain high hurdles to overcome.
No easy quick answers are going to change certain ingrained barriers. As golf heads into 2025 much more remains to be implemented. The drip-by-drip improvements underline the journey that meaningful impactful success still has miles to go.
What’s next for golf course development in southeast Florida?
Overall new course construction has slowed to a trickle in much of the United States but if one heads to southeast Florida, notably Martin and Palm Beach counties, the race to get a number of clubs up and running is happening faster than any rocket lift-off carried out by NASA.
The clubs are predominantly private and the modus operandi seen is providing every creature comfort possible in concert with well-crafted golf layouts.
Deep-pocketed residents having left States where higher taxes are more prevalent are planting roots on a permanent basis in the Sunshine State.
The architects hired are the most noteworthy in the sport and the creations have gone beyond formulaic efforts with predictable cookie-cutter results.
There’s the 54-hole Apogee Club, the Atlantic Club and a second 18 called The Back Yard at MacArthur Golf Club. Those clubs join the presence of The Grove – the ultra-private club founded by NBA-great Michael Jordan. All of the aforementioned located in Hobe Sound in Martin County.
Then there is Rolling Sand, a Tom Doak design and a 36-hole planned effort for The Ranch – both sites in Indiantown and also in Martin County.
Located southward in Palm Beach County in Palm Beach Gardens is Panther National designed by the tandem of Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas.
The first new private club in 25 years in West Palm Beach is also now open with Dutchman’s Pipe — on the former sites of what was Banyan Cay Resort and Golf Club.
Balancing matters on the public side is The Park Golf Course. The facility was built on a former 18-hole layout and is owned by the city of West Palm Beach. The finished product is miles beyond your traditional municipally-owned course.
The golf boom extends southward into adjacent Broward County with Shell Bay in Hallandale Beach. The Greg Norman design replaced the previous Diplomat Golf Club.
In a State where the total number of golf courses leads the USA the pace for such development goes into 2025 still gathering steam. When will enough be enough?
