Welcome to the first installment of GHIN & Tonic. Our hope is that this space serves as a callback to the spirit of the original writing that appeared on No Laying Up dot com: unvarnished, wide-ranging, and somewhat random, but with golf as the loose thread. Some will be more golf-heavy, some golf-light - think TrapDraw Podcast plus some golf sprinkled in. We’ll pass the ball around on these on a weekly basis and all will be personal in nature. And if you can’t figure out which sections are “GHIN” and “Tonic”, that’s on you!
GHIN
Wrapping up some points from the Masters-recap pod and beyond…
- We did our usual major hand-outs and have probably awarded at least 200 majors over the next 30 years. HOWEVA, I want to make note: After what we just witnessed at Augusta, the other guys pegged Ludvig’s career major total at TWO VICTORIES. TWO! Meanwhile, Scottie was awarded three future Masters wins and a lot of talk about a calendar year grand slam. I had Ludvig pegged at six or more major wins, which I think is achievable and likely with his mindset, skillset and fitness level. I can’t believe the disconnect. And then to see both of them validate the performance this week at Harbour Town (as if they needed, to) is invigorating. With Scottie playing at this level the margins are so thin for any challengers, so Ludvig can evaluate these performances with absolute clarity on what he needs to work on.
- For the record: Ludvig was the #3 ranked amateur in the world when I called his name out during the Ryder Cup, not #1, as was suggested on the pod. Keita Nakajima (#1 at the time) wasn’t mentioned for future Presidents Cup stardom, nor was Pierceson Coody (#2) for even future Ryder Cup appearances. Ludvig is special!
The Midnight Troubadour
Tough and timeless, this polo is built for the long ride. Featuring a crisp, non-collapsing collar and a rugged, stretchy fabric, it's the perfect shirt for any cowboy's wardrobe.
- Another note from the pod I think is worth calling out: I gained a much deeper appreciation for the 14th hole at ANGC. The combination of the firmness, the hole locations they chose, the slopes on that green, the width, slope and various angles of that fairway, and the limited depth available to land a shot made for really engaging viewing and a distinct difference between good and great. On the flip side, the opposite seemed true with the par fives, most acutely the 15th hole. The firmness, downhill slope from the fairway and wind combined to suck some of the art and suspense out of that hole to the point that most guys played conservatively, and the ones who did go for it and executed good shots ended up in the same general area just long. It was a cool thing to see how the course ebbed and flowed from a few soggy years into the conditions we were blessed with this year, but on 15 it really called attention to how little those trees down the left side of the fairway make sense. If it’s going to be tough then you’d almost rather encourage guys to go for it if they’re brave enough, regardless of which side of the hole they’re on. Or if you want to add a variable, do so with mounding or something more thoughtful than trees. It will be very interesting to see what “The Riddler” does over the next 3-5 years as far as the course goes. The man seems like a genuine golf nut who values the stuff that us sickos value and will try to bring back some of the MacKenzie spirit to the golf course (on that note, bring back more of the boomerang on 9 green!) One promising note this year was what seemed like a retreat for the second cut. Hopefully, we see that continue so that the fairway height is mowed all the way up to the pine straw, thus reducing the friction on wayward balls that are currently keeping them in the grass!
- We made it a point to cast aspersions upon the Pimento and Skip It hats on offer in the Masters Pro Shop (which, Augusta doesn’t need to be doing that stuff - you don’t need to be all things to all people. You’re the Masters! I think there’s a bit of a correction coming on that front with a few things they’re doing that are a little too cute, but we’ll leave that for another day) only to see news of this atrocity emerging from the upcoming PGA in Louisville. I shudder to think of what the PGA has in store for us next month, between the one-year anniversary of Blockie and all of their social media thirst and their continued post-haste social promotion of ZJ’s tragic captaincy (would link, but they deleted the tweets.)
- Related:
View post on X
- Speaking of merch: I think the Augusta merch situation is out of hand. When I was growing up, or in the 2000s, all through the mid-2010s, and even as recently as 2022 at ANWA, you didn’t wait in lines and you went in, snooped around, bought a few things for friends and one or two impulse items that caught your eye and then you checked out, stored it and got to the golf. It was a quick deal. At ANWA on Saturday, I witnessed lines that stretched for hundreds of yards all the way down to the entrance gates and just didn’t make any sense. It was evident there was a subset of people (I won’t even call them patrons, because that’s not the correct term in this instance) who purchased tickets that day just to get first crack at items in the pro shop. On one hand, it was truly a bummer, because it’s such an intimate experience getting a first look at the course for the week in a more intimate setting and real competition going on. On the other hand, it seemed like they sold quite a few more tickets for ANWA this year, so anything to soak up the crowds a bit. I’m not sure what the solution is: dollar amounts for each transaction? Limited selection on SKUs and variety that day? I know they want to sell things to people in return for money, but the over-commercialization reminds me of the Billy Payne Olympics in 1996! And there may be some troubling downstream effects.
- I was excited to hear about The Patch getting some love and resources courtesy of Augusta National. That said, let’s take it a couple of steps further and get Forest Hills some love, too. That place could be so good, and I know it’s not as simple due to Augusta University running the show over there, but it
