Tom Doak will design Pinehurst Resort’s newest course, bringing to 10 the number of regulation tracks at the “home of American golf” in Pinehurst, North Carolina, the resort announced.
The proposed course will be located four miles south of the resort on the site of The Pit, a course that closed before Pinehurst bought the land in 2011. The Doak course is expected to open in late spring 2024, coinciding with the return of the U.S. Open to Pinehurst No. 2.
Doak, an architectural minimalist and the head of Renaissance Golf Design, created such celebrated courses as Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Ballyneal in Colorado, St. Patrick’s Links in Ireland, Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand.
In a statement, Doak called the Pinehurst site “topographically distinct and drastically different from anywhere in Pinehurst,” notably with “about 75 feet of elevation change.” READ MORE
When the PGA Tour made its season debut last week in Kapalua, NBC introduced its new broadcasting lineup.
Former tour winner Smylie Kaufman joined NBC as an on-course reporter, walked the rolling oceanside grounds at the Hawaiian resort during the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Brad Faxon, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, was expected to start with NBC next month as a hole announcer at the Honda Classic. They effectively will replace Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie, whose contracts were not renewed after years – 31 for Maltbie, 26 for Koch – with the network.
Curt Byrum, another former tour winner, replaced analyst David Feherty, who left last year for LIV Golf. Damon Hack and Cara Banks, longtime studio hosts for Golf Channel, will handle player interviews for parent NBC.
Also, NBC is planning 450-plus hours of PGA Tour coverage for this season. READ MORE and MORE
The PGA Tour and Warner Bros. Discovery restructured their 12-year, $2 billion international media-rights deal after WBD closed its GolfTV streaming service, Sports Illustrated reported. READ MORE
Sky Sport Golf, a new dedicated channel for the DP World Tour, will debut this year ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome under a deal signed by the European Tour group with Sky Italia. READ MORE
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The PGA Tour has granted an undisclosed number of releases for its members to play the Saudi International next month, Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard reported. The tournament, a former DP World Tour event that now is part of the Asian Tour, is sponsored by LIV Golf’s financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The event, set for Feb. 2-5 at Royal Greens in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, is expected to feature a number of LIV Golf competitors who have been banned from competing on the PGA Tour. READ MORE
Jack Nicklaus won a favorable ruling in a New York court allowing him to compete against his eponymous former company, against which he is involved in a lawsuit, in course-architecture work while the legal dispute plays out. READ MORE
The USGA hired former PGA Tour player Scott Langley to head up its player relations. He replaces Jason Gore, who left after three years for a similar role with the PGA Tour as it seeks to appease its members amid the LIV Golf incursion. READ MORE
Fred Perpall was nominated to serve as USGA president. Perpall, the CEO of The Beck Group in Dallas, Texas, completed his fourth year on the Executive Committee and first year as president-elect. If elected at the USGA’s annual meeting Feb. 25 in Napa, California, he would succeed Stu Francis, who will end a three-year term, and be the first Black president in USGA history. READ MORE
11 principal changes to the Rules of Golf recently took effect. READ MORE
The QBE Shootout will become a mixed-team event beginning in 2023, Golf Channel reported. The tournament, an unofficial PGA Tour event formerly known as the Shark Shootout after original host Greg Norman, dates to 1989 and has been played since 2001 in Naples, Florida. The PGA Tour last played a mix-team event in 1999 with the JC Penney Classic. READ MORE
Keith Pelley, the CEO of the European Tour group and its flagship DP World Tour, was elected chairman of the International Golf Federation. Pelley will serve a four-year term, succeeding the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan. Annika Sörenstam was re-elected as the IGF’s president. The IGF, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, represents 132 federations – mostly professional tours – in 26 countries and oversees golf’s participation in the Olympics. READ MORE
Dr. Ed Updegraff, a urologist from Tucson, Arizona, who was one of America’s most accomplished amateur golfers and a former winner of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award, died Dec. 23. He was 100. READ MORE
Australia’s Minjee Lee ranked 10th on the Forbes magazine list of the highest-paid female athletes for 2022, with $7.3 million in combined on- and off-course earnings, to lead all women’s golfers. Tennis’ Naomi Osaka of Japan led the list, which featured seven tennis players among the top 10, with $51.1 million in earnings, the vast majority of it in off-court money. READ MORE
France’s Antoine Rozner and England’s Richard Mansell secured the final two spots for the inaugural Hero Cup, which will be played this week at Abu Dhabi Golf Club as Europe’s top 20 candidates for the Ryder Cup prepare for this fall’s matches in Rome. READ MORE
The Challenge Tour, the top developmental circuit for the DP World Tour, will play at least 29 tournaments spanning 18 countries, starting with four co-sanctioned events with South Africa’s Sunshine Tour in February. READ MORE
The Ladies European Tour will play 30 events for a record €35 million (about $36.8 million), the tour announced. READ MORE
The Epson Tour, the LPGA’s top developmental circuit, revealed a 22-tournament schedule for 2023 featuring a record $4.9 million in prize money. READ MORE
The days of golf being played at Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, which sits on an ancient earthworks site, are numbered after the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of preservationists and their bid to acquire the property by eminent domain. READ MORE and MORE
Coaches were named for the Arnold Palmer Cup college matches, to be played June 8-10 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Sweden’s Golda Borst of Kentucky and Canada’s John Handrigan of Notre Dame will lead the Internationals, and Oregon’s Derek Radley and Pepperdine’s Michael Beard will direct the Americans. READ MORE
Gary Player filed a lawsuit against his son Marc and a grandson regarding the sale of the golf legend’s memorabilia, The Palm Beach Post reported. READ MORE
Paul Earnest was named director of golf and operations at Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco, which is scheduled to open at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in north Texas in the spring, the PGA announced. READ MORE
Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington, will host the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of the LPGA’s five major championships. READ MORE
A professional tour featuring 54-hole tournaments has qualified for Official World Golf Ranking points, and it’s not LIV Golf. The Gira de Golf Profesional de Mexicana, a Mexico-based developmental tour that, unlike LIV Golf, has a 36-hole cut, will be the 24th tour to qualify for the world order, the OWGR announced. READ MORE
American Sihwan Kim, a two-time winner in 2022 on the Asian Tour and the leading money winner, was named the tour’s player of the year in voting by his peers. READ MORE
Stephen C. Mills, a former executive with the NBA and the league’s New York Knicks, was elected to the LPGA Board of Directors, and John Veihmeyer succeeded the retiring Diane Gulyas as board chair. READ MORE
Eric Nicoli was appointed to chair the board of directors for the European Tour Group, which oversees the DP World Tour, Challenge Tour, Legends Tour, G4D Tour and the Ryder Cup in Europe. READ MORE
Callaway Golf announced a deal with Good Good Golf, which has more than 1 million subscribers to its YouTube channel, to collaborate on video content. READ MORE
Michael Block, Sandra Changkija and Bob Sowards won the PGA of America’s respective professional player of the year awards for the men, women and senior divisions. READ MORE
Stephen Gallacher, who played on Europe’s winning 2014 Ryder Cup team, will captain Europe’s 2023 Junior Ryder Cup team. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon