Proposal to the PGA

[Tim Fenchel]

Michael Bamberger is one of my favorite golf writers. His most recent book Men in Green was fantastic and last week a wonderful bit of longform came off his pen titled "Arnold Palmer, Donald Trump and Abraham Lincoln"

Below is an article where he lays out something I have been thinking about for awhile.

http://www.golf.com/golf-plus/pga-championship-my-fast-fix-refresh-rota


With what has seemed like waning interest/excitement in the PGA Championship over the last decade or so, I've always thought it would benefit them to make a break from some of the venues that have been used so frequently over the years by both themselves and the USGA. 

I'd say have a rota of 4 or 5 regulars, mix in a few forgotten classics and I would go overseas once every 8 years or so.

Come to think of it…the USGA is sort of doing this already.  They have their normal rota of courses (Pebble, Oakmont, Torrey, Shinny, etc) and have started mixing in new courses like Chambers and Erin Hills.
 So if you were the PGA, what courses would you have in your mix? What might you do, course wise, to try and bring some spice back into the event?
I’d lay claim to Sahalee, Bethpage, Whistling Straits and Kiawah as recognizable regulars. (all while providing some geographical variety)
I would also get consistency with a few older classics like Cherry Hills and Aronomink.
Perhaps the most pop would be in what new courses you could visit.  French Lick? While remote, do places like Bandon or Cabot have the infrastructure to host a major? Maybe we want nothing of the sort showing up and pilfering the place.
Lastly, I would go overseas once every 8 years…starting at Royal Melbourne.
Any thoughts?

[Adam Lawrence]

I think if a Major went to Royal Melbourne it'd be such a huge success, with enormous crowds, that the pressure to relocate something to Australia permanently would be very, very strong. And I suspect the powers that be realise this too, which is probably why they won't do it!

[Wayne_Kozun]

Cabot is also not in the US and although I LOVE the idea of playing majors in other countries, especially Canada, it is inconceivable that this will happen, except for the possibilities created by Brexit/Scotexit/Irexit which could see the Open Championship played in three countries - the United Kingdom of England and Wales, Scotland and a United Ireland.


And Cabot does not have the infrastructure for anything like this.

[Cliff Hamm]

It is the PGA of AMERICA

[Doug Siebert]

Going international would make the PGA worth watching. It is essentially the US Open Jr., playing many of the same courses. Since the Masters is where it is, the British Open has its rota in the UK, and the US Open has its pick of courses in the US, let the PGA go outside the US / UK every other year.

Time zones would be a problem, but with most people having DVRs these days that should be less of a concern. Let's bring a major tournament to all those great courses outside the US/UK!

[Matt_Cohn]

The PGA got burned going to new, non-USGA venues back in the day — Oak Tree, Kemper Lakes, etc. And the USGA attempts haven't always gone well either — Chambers Bay, for example. It's not that easy to create a new major venue.

[Ben Hollerbach]

I'm not sure I'd classify Torrey Pines as in the US Open rotation, being that their second hosting is still 5 years a way. I believe the USGA does have an informal rotation; with venues like Pebble, Olympic, Shinny, Oakmont, Winged Foot, and Pinehurst being the 6 pillars, which allows for the inclusion of new courses or old favorites to be intermixed periodically.


The Pga championship has established a similar model in recent times; They seem to have designated Whistling Straits as their lead venue, while utilizing courses like Atlanta Athletic and  Valhalla on a once every 10 year cycle. They will be doing the same with Oak Hill in 2023.


One of the elements of the Masters that makes it so successful is the redundant history of Augusta. Every year you know what you're going to get and every year you're seeing players walk down the same fairways and hitting the same shots as the greatest that have ever played. The familiarity of the venue is presented like you're getting to see an old friend you haven't seen in a while. When the US Open returns to their storied venues the feeling is much of the same and the week ends up being both about remembering the past and looking towards the future. The PGA has a long history of traveling to new, untested, venues. Sometimes they work and develop their own place in major championships, sometimes they don't. Looking at the PGA schedule for the next 7 years you see an interesting mix of venues, Most new to major championship play few old standards.


I think the PGA has a great opportunity to put together a great stable of courses to pick from that can extend well beyond what the USGA utilizes. Being they are not afraid to let players go low, they are open to many more venue possibilities, but they need some more old friends that they visit on regular intervals.

[Mike_Clayton]

From an overseas perspective there is zero love for the PGA -if the measure is the levels of affection the other three attract. That is never going to change.


Despite it being the PGA of America the arrangers could completely turn it around by taking it overseas every Olympic year.
If you were starting golf again there is no way you would play 3 of the 4 majors in America.

[JJShanley]

From an overseas perspective there is zero love for the PGA -if the measure is the levels of affection the other three attract. That is never going to change.

Despite it being the PGA of America the arrangers could completely turn it around by taking it overseas every Olympic year.
If you were starting golf again there is no way you would play 3 of the 4 majors in America.

Accurate or otherwise, it always struck me as the most American of majors.  That's not a bad thing, but I don't see how a national PGA championship translates to a foreign venue.  The Players might work differently, but they've established Sawgrass as a thing.

[Mike_Young]

As the PGA of America seems one location patterned after ANGC might work equally as well...TPC did it....would be much more efficient etc...

[Pat Burke]

1) I have a hate/hate relationship with the pga
2) it is the U.S. PGA Championship
3) it and the Ryder Cup ridiculously fund the PGA


4) Melbourne would be ENORMOUS. A city that would support the event
  But....financially, you have to make certain that such a move would still support the beurocracy  of the PGA (don't like it, but what beurocracy  ever gives up its funds).


Assuming that works out, there needs to be incentive for the hosts to hold the event while helping THEIR own world.


And yes, wouldn't it be nice for the. Good of the game, but nobody writing those checks cares about that.  If someone can propose a PGA in Australia, maybe a world tour event right after, and a program that supports Ausgolf or their tour, while still lining the pockets of the USPGA, then you have something.


Maybe they could raise the dues of apprentices to fund it?  They make tons of money, right?

[Jon Wiggett]

The PGA Championship is not a major and is played at Wentworth. The USPGA Championship is a major but in my opinion would be better reverting back to a matchplay format.

[Ronald Montesano]

I cannot imagine a worse, four-course rota for this tournament. This rotation combines one Merion-esque course (CGC) with a place with not enough hotel rooms/fan base (Bandon) to an even more inaccessible place than the Hamptons (Montauk) to a course that clearly has a love/love affair with the USGA (LACC: first the next Walker Cup and then the Open.)


If he wants to redo a big-metro public course in the northeast, look to George Wright in Boston, not Montauk. if he wants an LA course, what's wrong with Riviera every now and then? Take the Northern Trust to another course each PGA year. If he wants a Chicago-land course, I don't know them well enough, but I do know that Kentucky's Valhalla offers a lot of excitement when it hosts major events, so I would include it.


I think the major handcuff on the PGA is the time of year. If the Masters didn't have such a stranglehold on the 1st Major of the year thing, the PGA could move (as it did one year in the 1970s) to February or March, at a southern venue in Florida or Texas. I also think a PGA at a course like Butterfield Trail in El Paso would be awesome. When have we ever had a major at a desert course, despite this look being a large part of the American West?

[Terry Lavin]

Is it the PG of Anywhere?  I'm no xenophobe, but our PGA guys are here, the touring pros are mostly here and we have plenty of venues. The event suffers because it is last of four and it comes after the best major of all. C'est la guerre.

[Will MacEwen]

The PGA Championship is not a major and is played at Wentworth. The USPGA Championship is a major but in my opinion would be better reverting back to a matchplay format.

Isn't the one at Wentworth the BMW?  Why bother with the US to distinguish it.

Since the British Open is considered the biggest title in most of the world, I would think it is the most appropriate to travel beyond it's current borders.

If you were starting the majors today I am sure 3/4 would not be in the US, but that horse has left the barn.

[jeffwarne]

I think if a Major went to Royal Melbourne it'd be such a huge success, with enormous crowds, that the pressure to relocate something to Australia permanently would be very, very strong. And I suspect the powers that be realise this too, which is probably why they won't do it!

Why on earth would the PGA of America go to Australia for its championship?
You're not the first to suggest this-it just make little sense.


The way the USGA is going, it will be the third major soon enough anyway

[Sean_A]

Make the PGA matchplay...simple..it couldn't hurt.  Hell, the PGA could get very inventive and create a Wimbledon like event which lasts two weeks....golf sorely needs an all-encompassing event such as this. 


I like the idea of big evets abroad, but I think we already have a tradition of opens across the globe.  We simply need to utilize these events as a "world tour" where guys qualify and play for big money like at Sawgrass. Jeepers, we have Oz, NZ, S Africa, French, Canadian, Dutch, German etc, events which have slowly dwindled to near no consequence.  Why not revitalize the history we have have rather than trying to create new history with the lame world matchplay crap?  Norman was right, a proper, elite world tour needs to be set up.  As long as the US tour dominates will shall have no chance to create more interest in golf. 


Ciao

[Jon Wiggett]

The PGA Championship is not a major and is played at Wentworth. The USPGA Championship is a major but in my opinion would be better reverting back to a matchplay format.

Isn't the one at Wentworth the BMW?  Why bother with the US to distinguish it.

Since the British Open is considered the biggest title in most of the world, I would think it is the most appropriate to travel beyond it's current borders.

If you were starting the majors today I am sure 3/4 would not be in the US, but that horse has left the barn.

Will,


I think you maybe need to find out about the subject before commenting. I doubt the British Open, which is a ladies event is considered the biggest where as The Open which is the men's is arguably the biggest though I would hope that for the US pros the US Open was the biggest to win.


The one correct thing in you post is it would be doubtful that 3 of the majors would be in the US if they were to be chosen now.


Jon


Jon

[Will MacEwen]

The PGA Championship is not a major and is played at Wentworth. The USPGA Championship is a major but in my opinion would be better reverting back to a matchplay format.

Isn't the one at Wentworth the BMW?  Why bother with the US to distinguish it.

Since the British Open is considered the biggest title in most of the world, I would think it is the most appropriate to travel beyond it's current borders.

If you were starting the majors today I am sure 3/4 would not be in the US, but that horse has left the barn.

Will,


I think you maybe need to find out about the subject before commenting. I doubt the British Open, which is a ladies event is considered the biggest where as The Open which is the men's is arguably the biggest though I would hope that for the US pros the US Open was the biggest to win.


The one correct thing in you post is it would be doubtful that 3 of the majors would be in the US if they were to be chosen now.


Jon


Jon

So the one at Wentworth isn't called the BMW PGA?   Please clarify that for me. Obviously I am wrong because I only got one thing right.

If you are going to call the PGA the USPGA, you should expect people to call the Open Championship the British Open.  They are both made up affectations.

That's another thing I got right.

[Adam Lawrence]

The PGA Championship is not a major and is played at Wentworth. The USPGA Championship is a major but in my opinion would be better reverting back to a matchplay format.

Isn't the one at Wentworth the BMW?  Why bother with the US to distinguish it.

Since the British Open is considered the biggest title in most of the world, I would think it is the most appropriate to travel beyond it's current borders.

If you were starting the majors today I am sure 3/4 would not be in the US, but that horse has left the barn.

Will,


I think you maybe need to find out about the subject before commenting. I doubt the British Open, which is a ladies event is considered the biggest where as The Open which is the men's is arguably the biggest though I would hope that for the US pros the US Open was the biggest to win.


The one correct thing in you post is it would be doubtful that 3 of the majors would be in the US if they were to be chosen now.


Jon


Jon

So the one at Wentworth isn't called the BMW PGA?   Please clarify that for me. Obviously I am wrong because I only got one thing right.

If you are going to call the PGA the USPGA, you should expect people to call the Open Championship the British Open.  They are both made up affectations.

That's another thing I got right.

The event at Wentworth has been sponsored by BMW for many years, but is essentially the Professional Golfers' Association Championship. The Professional Golfers' Assocation is a UK organisation. The PGA of America is separate. Essentially there are two events called the PGA Championship.