The problems associated with the Saudi-backed LIV Tour notwithstanding, golf is in excellent shape.
Start with the exceptional links-style layouts coming online these days. And what’s not to love about the Golden Age courses that have been brilliantly restored in recent years by modern-age masters such as Gil Hanse, Tom Doak, Andrew Green and Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw?
Throw in advances in golf equipment and clubfitting as well as the fabrics and materials used in shirts, slacks and rainwear, and it is possible to aver today’s players have, in fact, never had it better.
Here’s yet another development showing we are truly rolling in the clover: more and more places are branding superlative craft beers from local breweries and offering them for sale to their golfers.
Think of Bandon Dunes Pale Ale and Sheep Ranch Lager at that coastal Oregon resort – and something called Ghost Tree Hazy, which will be available later this season. Inverness Ale, too, at that historic club in Toledo, Ohio. Prairie Dunes purveys an ale of its own, as does Cabot Links. And to help celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1925, the Southampton Golf Club on Long Island recently released Southampton Centennial Ale.
Even Augusta National has gotten into the act with its Crow’s Nest, a Belgian-style wheat ale brewed exclusively each year for the Masters.
To be sure, these quaffs give golfers a well-crafted lager or ale they can enjoy before or after a round. But they also help them connect with a club or course and better appreciate its history and the things that make it special, such as an upcoming anniversary (Southampton Centennial Ale) or a signature feature (Ghost Tree Hazy), just as buying a logoed hat or shirt might.
The first time I sampled one of these beers was several summers ago at Inverness. My friend Derek Brody had just taken over as its head golf professional, after a stint as an assistant at Augusta National. And he was looking for a way to draw members into his shop, which was detached from the clubhouse.
“People would tell me before their rounds that they wanted to buy, say, a sweater or a pair of socks,” he said. “But when their games were done, they’d go right from the 18th green to the locker room, have a couple of beers and then go home.”
So, Brody went to a local brewer and started selling one of his beers, re-labeling it Inverness Ale and pouring pints from a tap and keg he set up in the middle of his pro shop.
“I knew we were on to something when there was a rain delay during a tournament, and we suddenly had dozens of golfers in the shop, drinking Inverness Ale and buying shirts and sweaters.”
I have realized many times since my first pint there that having a craft brew like that is a very good thing for golfers. Whether we are shopping or not.
John Steinbreder
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