Easily one of my favorite moments of the tournament was meeting BB reader, Jerry R. Who tracked me down as I was absolutely inhaling some Korean short rib tacos and watching the action on the big screen in the Amex lounge... yep, I'm a cardholder. (Brushes nonexistent dirt off shoulder.)
Was a pleasure to meet you out there and hope you found yourself a nice polo for free 99.
And it got me thinking about finding more ways to connect with readers and continue building this community of 100k+ who love golf in the same way we all do over here at Bad Birdie HQ.
A top three most-emailed request I've seen is people asking for us to roll through and play some g.
So, HYPOTHETICALLY, if we were to take this show on the road. What cities are must-stops? Hit me up if you'd have a venue or any interest in hitting some high bombing slices off the tee with me and the BB crew.
RIV jumps in the US Open game
WAITING IN THE WEEDS
Hot on the heels of the public serving up gallons upon gallons of hater-ade on LACC. The USGA announced that the site for the 2031 US Open will be none other than fellow Angeleno venue and Genesis Open host—Riviera Country Club.
And it's almost like you could hear the committee at Riviera in their dark leather chairs, sitting on the spanish-style balcony, sipping expensive whisky, and chuckling to themselves (...maybe some Mr. Burns style finger twiddling, too.) Musing that all they needed was for LACC to fall flat as they swoop in and show the world how LA can host an Open.
Now, will RIV have many of the same problems as LACC did with bottlenecks? Probably. But having attended a few Genesis Opens now, with some well-placed grandstands and perhaps a slightly tighter setup, there are SO many better spots to post up as a fan and see the action.
None better than the hill surrounding the 18th green, pictured above. It's electric there on the Sunday of the Genesis. And I can only imagine how insane that hole will be when the US Open rolls through.
Commence drooling
INDOOR GOLF HEAVEN EXISTS—AND IT'S IN KOREA
Been frothing at the mouth to share this one for weeks now. I saved this post on IG from NBC golf reporter Kira Dixon.
Kira visited an indoor golf store and practice facility called Back_yard in Seoul and it's truly mind-blowing. I suggest clicking through the image above to watch her recap as it is weirdly better at highlighting how special this place is than their own IG...
(That said, reading or hearing the word "shooketh" hits me like nails on a chalkboard so while I stand by the video, the caption is another story entirely.)
THE HIGHLIGHTS
1) LOOK AT THAT GREEN! As seen in the screenshot above, the putting green has such an intense projection system that it tracks your tempo, face path, ball path, and any other path you'd dream of.
2) Chipping range. I consume a lot of golf content and golf social media each week. A lot. And I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever seen a range dedicated to chipping. It has different distances projected onto the floor so you can dial in your chips and pitches.
3) Fairway bunker sim bays. Ditto my intro to #2 above, but I've also never seen a sim bay with a real sand pit. I've seen those awful tan colored mats that are fairway bunkers in that they have loosely the same color scheme as fairway bunkers. But this? Another first.
Upon further examination, it seems that while Korea is the 3rd largest golfing country in the world. They play more rounds of indoor golf than they do outdoor. Largely due to the ultra-exclusivity of their clubs and how little land there is to develop courses on. But still, a wild fact.
Late breaking gem of the week
GUY WINS ONE F----N' US OPEN...
Often I won't include stories that break on Thursdays because I'm jusssssst over the wrong side of the lazy fence—but this one was too good to ignore.
During play at the Travelers, we caught a little slip on Justin Thomas' hot mic. JT, Homa and US Open champ (& fake hotel magnate) Wyndham Clark are paired—and after JT hit his approach onto par 4 12th, Wyndham asked to mark his ball. The catch? Wyndham was 72 yards out still...
To which Justin replied;
"Guy wins one f––ing U.S. Open and I got to mark it from 80 yards?"
A phrase spoken with the tone that I know too well from my own competitive golf matches. Cursing the nicest human beings on the planet under my breath because I just can't help myself. I need to win, always.
Now, JT admitted it was a joke and they all laughed about in the moment. But knowing Wyndham is on record saying he wishes he could fist pump and talk trash on every hole, you can't help but assume the "mark it" comment from him was gamesmanship of the finest degree.
Stealing some programming tips from MTV I see...
THE CHALLENGE: NETFLIX GOLF EDITION?
Originally reported by Wall Street Journal (look at me quoting some "behind the pay wall" content!), Netflix is considering a live golf event featuring stars from the Full Swing (duh) and Drive to Survive series.
The idea would be a pro-am style format and it's supposed to be held in Vegas this fall.
And this has MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge written alllllll over it. Sure, it's just called The Challenge now. And I don't even know if any actual cast members still compete on that show. But I'm in love with the idea and the only pieces I may add is that they all have to stay in the same compound/mansion and they vote someone off each week.
Right?!
Like, how incredible would it be to see Max Verstappen and Brooks play beer pong then almost come to blows over a lack of clarity on NBA Jam rules.
Carlos Sainz and Spieth create a secret alliance to vote off JT, creating a rift in their friendship for years to come.
Alright, so I'm realizing that this live event will be nothing like the dream show I'm envisioning. But still, interesting to see Netflix dipping into live events.
And I'll leave you with an iconic quote from Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos;
"We aren't anti-sport, we're pro-profit.”
It's giving me Logan Roy.
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