Merry Christmas and here are ten more Fagan opinions in your stocking!
31. Being a sportswriter, and a golf writer in particular, is one of the best gigs going, providing you have another source of income and can afford it.
32. The expert players should play only a “tournament ball” that flies 10-15 percent shorter than the current ones. Having 8,400-yard courses and 400-yard drives is absurd.
33. The Europeans “get golf” better than we do. They play quicker, on firm turf, with match play more often. Their handicapping system tends to root out sandbaggers better, and they seem to enjoy the simple pleasures of the game in all conditions more. Finally, their courses are more sustainable.
34. The PGA TOUR and LPGA TOUR should start penalizing slow play NOW!
35. Augusta National USED to be a great golf course. It’s still a great golf experience, a gorgeous property, and a fantastic tournament, but it is not a great golf course. It has too many bad or ordinary holes, few options of attack, and it is not a sustainable model.
36. How can a lush, soft green golf course with riding carts be described as a “links” and also be the best Modern Course in America? Ballyneal or Pacific Dunes get my vote now over Sand Hills, but I love all three!
37. Jack Nicklaus for all his attributes is “The Father of Slow Play.” He wasn’t the first, but he was the one everyone copied.
38. The pension program of today’s PGA TOUR player is the biggest untold story in golf. Journeymen players who make a lot of cuts over the years reportedly will have pension nest eggs in the tens of millions by the time they are eligible for the Champions Tour.
39. While there are no bad golf courses, there can be bad golf holes.
40. Tiger Woods has helped golf viewership, but has not affected long-term participation in America.
