Back in August, our Alex Myers documented the shoddy conditions he saw during an August round at Yale Golf Course (photos from Myers below), which underwent a massive restoration by Gil Hanse and his team over the past couple of years. Now The Athletic's Gabby Herzig has dug deeper, finding out the university is acknowledging a problem and looking to rectify things for future seasons. Herzig's piece is a must-read for anybody fascinated by course design, but our biggest takeaways were Hanse's quote: “I do not believe that there is anyone who has been involved in this project who could be objectively happy with how the course is currently being maintained and presented.” Hanse and his team are liaising on getting the course back to semi-decent conditions. It's been a tough summer in the Northeast, but no other course looks like Yale right now, and the university is charging $350. Give Gabby's piece a read. It'll be interesting to see how Yale fares in our Best Renovation survey, which will publish in January, considering how highly anticipated Hanse's work was, and considering conditioning is only 1/8 of the formula we use for scoring courses.

the problem is that Fitzpatrick has no clue who it is. The Internet does, however, and the man behind the texts is apparently golf obsessive Tom Egbers. For what appears to be the last few years, Egbers has been congratulating Fitzy on all of his victories while also never revealing his true self:

The trusting Brit will send a thanks each time, but still can't tell who the messages are coming from. It’s a beautiful friendship, especially when you remember that Egbers even helped out Alex Fitzpatrick in a tight spot.

When Callaway announced the Quantum Mini Spinner, the company said the club was inspired by several JLPGA players who wanted more stopping power from their high-lofted fairway woods. What Callaway didn't share was their names.

Consider the introduction made for one of the pros.

Yuna Nishimura, a six-time winner in Japan, picked up her first LPGA title last week at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, closing with a 66 at Pinnacle Country Club to win by five. The Quantum Mini Spinner 7-wood she helped develop was in the bag.

Nishimura's problem will sound familiar to anyone carrying multiple lofted woods. Her 7-, 9- and 11-woods weren't generating enough spin or a steep enough landing angle on approaches into par 4s and par 3s, so she asked Callaway for a club that launched high and stopped quicker. Since the Mini Spinner went in play, Callaway said her spin is up 600 to 700 rpm, and her peak height has climbed too.

Callaway calls it "the scoring wood," and the recipe runs counter to most modern fairway woods. Rather than a low center of gravity (the head's balance point) built to knock spin down, the Mini Spinner pairs a high CG with an Ai-optimized face designed to add spin. It also plays 0.75 inches shorter than a standard fairway wood for more consistent contact, with a taller face that offers more usable hitting area out of the rough.

Callaway said the Mini Spinner is already the No. 1-selling fairway wood in Japan. Now the club can add an LPGA win to its resume.

Folks, is the game gone? People are asking themselves that very question in the replies of this tweet send out by the USGA on Monday. In the video, you'll see highlights of Drew Kittleson taking down Stephen Behr Jr. in the Round of 64, 2 and 1. The issue people have? Kittleson played the whole match ... UNTUCKED. The horror:

However you feel about dress codes, it's undeniable that this is a startling sight. We're talking about a USGA event, here, and this man is in the match play portion of it fully untucked and proud of it. They've even got him front and center on the main U.S. Mid-Am web page. Crazy times we're living in. 

Bryson DeChambeau is a shape shifter. He's assumed various roles throughout his career—the scientist, the body builder, the YouTube host—carving out countless unforgettable moments, both good and bad, along the way. Now, we may be witsnessing of the birth south-paw Bryson after this video of him PIPING a drive lefty went viral on Tuesday.

Sheeeesh. That's one of the best switch-hitter swings we've seen since Mickey Mantle. Sure, his clubhead and ball speeds are noticeably slower, but as a result, his tempo actually seems smoother and sweeter. Almost Ernie Els-ish in its effortless arc. Keep hating all you want, but this is another point on the board for DeChambeau, who despite all his eccentricities, continues to prove he's one of the most multi-talented humans in all of golf.

In identifying the keys to breaking 80, Luke notes one of the biggest is keeping your drives in play and away from trouble. Easier said than done? Maybe, especially on those holes when we have a mental block and repeat the same mistake. According to Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher Will Robins, one strategy for overcoming your nightmare hole is what he calls “scratching the record.” In other words, you seek opportunities to disrupt your pattern there by purposely hitting a bad shot – maybe even aim out of bounds off the tee. Why would you do that? Because the next time you play, you’ve ingrained a new pattern. “What actually happens is during that moment, you trigger such a response that you can't play the record again,” Robins said. “You can't go back and go, ‘Poor me. This happened to me,’ because your brain is completely freaked out, right?”

It's been a big year for Wyndham Clark. He racked up three wins, including his second U.S. Open title, to put himself firmly in the PGA Tour Player of the Year conversation. More importantly, he's planning to propose to his girlfriend Emily Tanner after the Presidents Cup, a fact that he accidentally blurted out at East Lake last month. But don't worry, love birds, despite ruining the surprise, Clark told reporters that engagement is still very on following the U.S. team's comeback victory at Medinah on Sunday.

Asked if that premature reveal was a "slip up," Clark replied, "Kind of! When they [reporters] asked me what I was doing, that's what was on my mind because that's really all I'm focused on. So I said it and was like 'oh boy,' But she already knew—we went and picked out the rings and stuff ... but now I gotta really try to disguise when I'm going to do it."

So there you have it, folks. With a little luck, maybe Mr. and Mrs. Wyndham Clark will get to enjoy their honeymoon at Adare Manor next fall.

Play a round from the forward tees.

Teeing it way forward only makes one thing easier—getting your drive up near the green. Once you're there, nothing else changes. That 70-yard wedge is just as hard. A 12-footer is the same 12-footer. So you end up with a round stuffed full of scoring shots: wedges inside 100, greenside chips, and a ton of makeable putts.

Playing from way forward forces you to hit a lot of these really important scoring shots. And if you're not scoring markedly lower, you'll instantly know why.

And it will remain that way for now as 2025 champion Brandon Holtz lost, 2 and 1, to Jonathan Fricke in the first round Monday at Wisconsin's Sand Valley Resort. Meanwhile, 2024 runner-up Bobby Massa, who earned medalist honors over the weekend, came out and won his opening round match against Brett Viboch, 4 and 3. Massa is a reinstated amateur, which is something being followed closely this week after seven of the eight quarterfinalists a year ago were former pros—to the chagrin of many who are hoping the USGA will speed up its review of the reinstatement process and make more stringent the rules for getting your status back. AmateurGolf.com broke down the numbers as to how many former pros made it to match play this year, finding 27 of 64, including 11 of the top 16. 

More than 80 percent of your improvement in score comes from avoiding bogeys compared to making more birdies.

And this is crucial for golfers hoping to break 80.

A 10 handicap may only makes one less birdie per round ton average than a scratch, but they make almost two and a half more double bogeys, and that accounts for about half of the entire difference in those two handicaps.

And the data shows that there are some patterns in how they're making these bigger mistakes, as you can dive deeper into below...

—he claimed a fourth victory of 2026 Sunday at the FedEx Open de France—can be tied to an array of skills and attributes. His special-edition Bettinardi DASS BB1 Flow putter, however, is part of the picture, too. Fitzpatrick first put the club in his bag in July around the Open Championship. This past week, he picked up nearly two strokes on the field and ranked fourth in strokes gained/putting at Le Golf National on his way to a three-shot triumph. Now, that putter’s unique design, which includes distinctive face grooves in a semi-circular pattern in the center of the face, is available as a special part of Bettinardi’s BB Series ($550). The BB1 Fitz Flow features a thinner flange and a short flow-style neck design. It’s milled from 303 Stainless Steel with a 350-gram headweight. The face groove pattern was a team effort between Fitzpatrick and the Bettinardi design team, and evokes the shape, style and feel of the C-groove pattern of the Yes! putter that Fitzpatrick used earlier in his career. His latest version also includes a honeycomb pattern on the sole to keep the putter from slipping on slicker putter surfaces.

According to the LPGA, the former chief brand officer at Dude Perfect is leaving to "be present with his family." Coleman was charged with leading global marketing, brand, communications, content and fan engagement. His focus was on accelerating audience growth, deepening relevance with younger fans and storytelling of LPGA players. Storytelling and social media have gotten a boost in the last year, but TV ratings for the final day of this month’s Solheim Cup, one of the tour’s marquee events, were down nearly 40 percent from 2023, the previous time the event was played in Europe. According to Sports Business Journal, only 170,000 people watched on Golf Channel during Sunday singles, which was also fewer than the 179,000 people who watched Saturday, despite the fact the match was deadlocked in a 8-8 tie entering the last session.

An LPGA spokesperson said the tour is not filling Coleman's job title, but has hired Taylor Strick to lead the marketing team as a senior VP. Also joining the tour is Ryan Ogle, formerly with the PGA of America, to oversee the operations of the Solheim Cup and CME Group Tour Championship.