No. 28: Mixing Business With Pleasure
Dear Pards,
My grandson showed me a clip yesterday of a bunch of 28-waists hitting darts into a 250-something-yard par 3 at Merion. Boy, has the game changed. As a man who still pushes down a clutch in my Ford and played in a few of these myself back in the day, I think this event is one of the purest forms of competitive golf left. Or it was, anyway.
Lately I'm seeing more and more ex-"pros" turned part-time State Farm reps getting their amateur status back to play in events that used to be saved for the plumbers and firemen who play this game for nothing more than pure joy and the occasional Nassau.
Fine, some of these guys were pros for five minutes and could hardly break 80 on the Hooters Tour. But some of them made six-plus figures and even won on multiple tours around the world. Maybe the bigger problem is that a guy can "go pro" with nothing more than a tweet, knowing full well that if it doesn't pan out, he'll be an amateur again before his facial hair comes in.
Is nothing sacred anymore? Feels like the USGA is trying awfully hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube, co-mingling real amateurs with guys who once treated this as a job. What're your thoughts? Am I just an old head stuck in first gear, or is there cause for concern here?
-Clutching the Past in Plano
Dear Clutching the Past,
I appreciate the concern. For censorship purposes, I removed your WNBA remarks, as I did not find them relevant, nor entirely apples-to-apples with this particular issue.
I, too, saw the video of what seems to be a bunch of protein-overdosed teens ripping irons into the long par-3 third at Merion. I’d like to know what headcover the 63-year-old Mike McCoy is taking off on that tee this week.
The second you say you’re a professional should be the second you forfeit all privileges to play in amateur events forever. If there were real consequences for a status change, I think it’d make more people think twice before “going pro” after winning $16 in shop credit at their county am.
Though there is an issue with the current blurred line between pros and ams, I think it’s less of a problem on weeks like this, when the field is filled with college-level studs and the next crop of Tour pros who are pursuing a professional career.
I’m way more passionate about the issue at the mid-am level and events geared towards players who view a club championship as their zenith.
Nobody wants Blake Griffin coming to play in their Tuesday night pickup runs. And if he did, it’d say more about him for wanting to come dunk on kids in the shallow end. Show some pride.
I say all this with one caveat: if you want to switch sides (of the ball) and play with the opposite hand, you’re more than welcome to throw an (a) by your name and play in anything you want.
P╞r╠℮P.S. The stamp at the top of the newsletter is a short par 3 on the Monterey Peninsula, by Dave Baysden. If you’d like to purchase a full print, you can do so here.
When a friend of mine flashed hospitality badges while asking me to the final round of the Wyndham, I obliged. Here are four of my favorite things I saw while simping sipping Landshark behind the 17th green at Sedgefield on Sunday:
Webb Simpson excavating a half pink, half neon golf ball while taking a practice swing in the (thicc) Bermuda behind the green.
Denny McCarthy hooping a nasty 31-foot, slippery double breaker that I was above and down the line for.
Joel Dahman using a green, Titleist carry bag with no headcovers on his woods, other than a Seattle Mariners driver cover that looked like it came off the rack at Dick’s.
Every player hitting some sort of less-than-driver club to the valley in the fairway 100ish yards out. Except Jordan Spieth. Who found himself in an awkward 70-something-yard sidehill lie in the right rough.
The August edition of our mail club will go out later this week. I’m excited to share it and thankful for every one of you who pay for it each month. If you are not a subscriber, August is your month, as I will throw in a free high-crown visor for anyone who subscribes or upgrades to a yearly plan. Maybe I’ll send one to Brennan too.
Thanks for being here.
