Iss. #212 | Fired Up at the Presidents Cup

Iss. #212 | Fired Up at the Presidents Cup

"Little bit of an age gap, too. He's basically an old guy at this point... I think he would get a headache after about a minute of my music." - Sahith on why he wouldn't pass the aux to Brian Harman... or the rest of the Bad Birdie staff in our fantasy league thread trying to guess my taste in music.

(More on fantasy updates at the end!)

Scottie's fired up

WHAT WAS THAT?!?!
Nothing like a little fire of competition to help old friends become fresh enemies. The Presidents Cup kicked off this weekend in Montreal and any time golf headlines make the New York Post, you know something went awry.
 
During Thursday's action, pals Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim had similar length birdies putts on the par 3 7th. Tom Kim hit first and drained one—pumped his fist and hit the crowd with a Tom Brady style Let's Go.
 
Immediately after, Scottie drained HIS birdie putt before yelling in Tom and Sungjae's direction "What was that?!?!" A rather odd phrase if I'm being honest but the energy was dead on.
 
(It reminds me of a story from one of my best friends who for reasons unknown has an extreme disdain for parking meter officers and parking tickets in general. So much so that after finding a parking ticket on his car, he pulled away and saw the meter maid down the block. As he drove by, instead of a classic "F@#^ you!" he proceeded to LICK both of his middle fingers and flip the double bird. A move I use myself for only the most blood-boiling moments. Similarly to Scottie, the energy is right but the execution is a little wonky.)
 
Back to golf, on the 8th hole, Tom Kim drained another birdie followed by another fist pump closer to Scottie. But before Scottie could even attempt his rebuttal putt, Kim and Sungjae walked off to the 9th tee. A semi-disrespectful move that earned the most "golf" response ever from Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley.

"Well, that’s bordering on bad behavior."
 
lol - who cares, let them play. Let's just celebrate the fact that they are invested in this.
 
Scottie missed the putt but it clearly didn't swing the momentum too much as he and Henley won 3&2—and, oh yeah, the Americans went 5-0 to sweep the day.
 
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

 

The ZoomBroom?

LEAVES RULE EVERYTHING AROUND ME
File this one under inventions I never knew anyone needed—but as it turns out, maybe a lot of golfers needed.
 
Recently, I was made aware of the Leaf Rule for our northernly climate friends. While it has been many, many years since I lived in a region that actually turned color in autumn, I miss it dearly. What I don't miss and what I never really experienced as a regular golfer at the time, was those leaves falling on golf courses and covering up balls and clogging greens.
 
The Leaf Rule apparently allows you and your playing partner to agree upon where your ball would've been—assuming you can't find it due to leaves—and drop a new ball for free.
 
What I have for you all today is a new, insane, dumb but is it also clever? invention for leaf-stricken golfers everywhere. (*Note - this will likely seem like a PR plant... I promise you it's just me being fascinated by quirky inventions no one asked for.)
 
Meet the ZoomBroom—the world's first portable leaf blower that fits inside your golf bag.
 
I was about to write more about what it does but that's kind of it. That's the pitch. I found some Sports Illustrated piece (that's ACTUALLY a PR plant) and I'll spare you the read. A private club dude got pissed about too many leaves, called up his engineering buddy, and boom... ZoomBroom.
 
Favorite quote of the piece?

"Every type of tree-dropping imaginable can be found there."
 
Tree-dropping lol

 

Speaking of private club members...

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
...or at least fixes hail damage.
 
Who says private club members are entitled and lazy? Check this out—I was cruising X and it revealed this story out of Oklahoma where a recent hail storm absolutely destroyed this club's greens.
 
But d&@# it if the Rose Creek members were going to let a deluge of ice pellets ruin their member-guest. So they all came out to one by one repair each divot. And it shockingly worked!
 
Another X user dropped a pair of before and after pictures. What's the Jurassic Park quote? Life always endures.

 

The TGL PR drip is back on!

ANOTHER PEEK BEHIND THE SCREEN
TGL dropped a bunch of new exclusive interviews with various golf media this week that dug into more detail around the specific hole designs for the new mixed reality golf league set to debut this January.
 
Golf.com had an interesting piece that included some video of two new holes but without seeing it in context of the arena environment, they ended up feeling like footage from the PGA Tour video game TikTok accounts playing through user-generated courses. Perhaps that's all this ends up being... which would be a bummer... but I still want to see actual balls in the air and how this whole green complex thing will work.
 
Instead, I'll talk more about Golf Digest's piece which included an interview with one of Latin America’s top architects Augustín Pizá.
 
Pizá earned his master’s degree in golf course architecture from the University of Edinburgh—a distinction that sounds perfect for myself post-retirement—and begins every project with pen and paper. And let me say, I would COVER my home in drawings like the one posted above. This may be my version of old oil paintings of boats. When I'm 65 and have my mahogany covered office, you can be d@#& sure it will have about 25-30 original hand-drawn sketches of golf holes.
Pizá shares a few quotes in the article about the exact rationale behind the two featured holes. Can't imagine they will use up broadcast time on ESPN to feature the architects and how they designed the hole, but if I'm TGL I'd definitely offer some deep dive content on their social accounts or YouTube. It's fascinating to hear how they approach designing holes in virtual reality—the differences between having to consider what the physical ground can offer versus having to consider how to create the physical ground from scratch.
 
One quote I found most interesting...

"In our design philosophy, we love the top player to analyze and then play, and the high handicapper to play and then analyze."
 
A nugget that would've been nice to keep in mind at Bandon, tbh. As I stood on tee boxes plotting out what 5 yard strip of fairway I was going to land my ball... only to watch it soar off 35 yards to the right after a wind gust and nestle into a gnarly pile of gorse.

 

BREAKING NEWS...

BB FANTASY LEAGUE UPDATE
Quick update from BBHQ fantasy league as those of you who made your selections are likely dying to hear.
 
After three weeks, here's where we stand...

Juandamien Nebraska sits at the top with both the highest points for... and the second lowest points against. A rare combination of good luck and, well, good luck.
 
Miguelito's Naberhood lies on the other end of the luck spectrum with the second highest points for but absolutely pummeled in their matchups with the highest points against.
 
Meanwhile, your boy sitting pretty (and lucky) at the six spot. Which means we're about three weeks (or a loss) away from convincing myself that I'm only one savvy trade from ultimate glory.
 
Let's look at the season long projections too, shall we?
Well, well, well—how the turn tables.
 
Sometimes the "worst" of drafts produces the "best" of teams, eh? Champions always have to find their edge, the chip on their shoulder to drive them from hitting a post-title slump.
 
And the fact that not a single one of you blindly trusted me to repeat... that's bulletin board $#&@.
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