Elliott Smith

Isaiah 41:10

[Elliott Smith @EasyE_212]

@jimsoxfan Oh no 😥, Poor Ranger is gonna have to be the 5th starter and start every 5th game…

I’m pretty sure he and every fan will be just fine. What a terrible take. Pretty sure Ranger pitching 5th wouldn’t be the reason the Red Sox would lose the pennant in April🤷

[Cincinnati Zoo @CincinnatiZoo]

✨ Reminder: please vote for PNC Festival of Lights for Best Zoo Lights in the Country! ✨ https://t.co/Ur5VtfxFh8

[Lexington Legends @GoLexLegends]

Banana Ball is coming to Lexington!

The BRAND NEW Indianapolis Clowns and the Loco Beach Coconuts will be coming to Legends Field September 11-13, 2026!

For more information on the ticket lottery, visit https://t.co/9afHkimiTN

[Wake Up Barstool @wakeupbarstool]

"Maybe it's just a bunch of golfers being babies..." - @stoolpresidente on Rory McIlroy and the Ryder Cup crowd

[Elliott Smith @EasyE_212]

@Stacey12Lane @AmericanAir No way they just said that…🤦🏼‍♂️

[Cincinnati Zoo @CincinnatiZoo]

Happy Father's Day! Make the dads in your life feel extra special this year at the Cincinnati Zoo. Every dad that comes to the Zoo on Father’s Day will get in for FREE! https://t.co/gG1vGD7719

[Mark Fox @ThePluggedLie]

Scottie’s last 6 starts:

🏆
🏆
T2
🏆
🏆
Prison

[The Pomegranate Shop @ShopThePom]

When the grass is always green ya never have to look on the other side ♥️best wishes to this sweet couple ⛳️@EasyE_212 @riverbendcctn

[Red Harrington @RedHarrington44]

I present to you 6 unedited minutes of why I prefer @livgolf_league to the @PGATOUR product.

[Adam Crigler @AdamCrigler]

If your choice of president is based on Taylor Swift's choice, you shouldn't be allowed to vote.

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

The #1 worldwide trend in the world. Momma there goes that man again. I'm back fully in on @Jerrythekid21

[Atlanta Braves @Braves]

The Atlanta #Braves today acquired LHP Chris Sale and cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for INF Vaughn Grissom.

[Matt Insell @minsell]

What a great TEAM win!!! Thank you Blue Raider Nation for showing up and showing out!! #ProudCoach #BLUEnited

[Conference USA @ConferenceUSA]

Hear from @MT_WBB Head Coach Rick Insell following a historic night in Huntsville!

#NoLimitsOnUs

[Travis Fulton @travisfulton]

One of the things I’ve seen on my lesson tee over the years is an amateur (male) who has a hard time with the fact that they don’t hit it as far as they use too. This is a difficult reality for many seasoned golfers. Regardless the reasonings for this frustration, it’s real and often times the leading contributing factor to not playing as much and for many eventually walking away.

Now you take away another 10 yards off the tee….that conversation gets even more difficult with what I think is a large number of “fringe” golfers. @USGA

[Elliott Smith @EasyE_212]

Golf was at its all time high

[PGA/LIV Hot Takes @PGALIVHotTakes]

This is what golf fans want.

[Rickie Fowler Tracker @Rickie_Tracker]

🚨❌ — “A HUGE STEP BACK”

Rickie Fowler’s drops the hammer on the USGA/R&A’s decision to roll back the golf ball. Full statement ⬇️

"To take the game and knock it back when it’s in the best position it’s ever been in, I don't want to see it as the golf ball being necessarily the right move.
I don't see how when we're at the best place the game has ever been. Oh, you love the game? Yeah. Hey, thanks for joining us over COVID. Now we're going to make you hit it 20 yards shorter. Have fun. I understand both sides. But looking at it as far as the game and everyone talks about growing the game, I think it's going to be a huge step back."

Via @GolfMagic

[Matt Ginella @MattGinella]

Let’s start with: We’re all forever chasing 10 more yards.

Remember the decades of building the longest, hardest, next best test for a US Open?

USGA was in on the Chambers Bay and Erin Hills developments, dangling the carrot of a major all along.

There was an actual ranking of “the 50 toughest” - now called “challenging,” because, yeah, there’s a masochistic subset of the golf world, developers, designers and consumers, who think that kicks to the nuts and pocketbooks is somehow a sustainable business model (see Sawgrass, Doral, etc).

That was the cause. The effect?

All together now: “Grow the game!”

Thank God Tiger came along. Thank you, @TigerWoods. We all owe you. Tiger grew the game. But the game he grew was too hard, too expensive, took too long. Most who tried it back then didn’t stay.

But with Tiger came more eyeballs. And with more eyeballs came more money. And with more money, better athletes. The elite level and college game got a lot better. So did technology. Faster swing speeds.
More architecture, but not better.

(Thankfully, there was Mike Keiser, who saw through the smoke.)

For decades now we’ve been subjected to:

“Play faster.”
“Tee it forward.”
“Make it more affordable.”
“Simplify the rules.”
“Make golf cool!”

We’ve seen the launch of:

First Tee
PGA Jr. League
Drive, Chip, Putt
Youth on Course
Jr. caddie academies

And then…

Top Golf!
Short courses!!
Simulators.
White belts.
Flat brims.
Music.
Hoodies.
Instagram.
YouTube.

Golf got cool and inclusive?!

And then came a global pandemic.
Now what?!

Growth in the game like no one could’ve ever predicted, imagined or anticipated. Some came back or they tried it for the first time. And they liked it! Men, but more importantly, women. Boys, but also girls! A more inclusive culture has resulted in a more diverse clientele. Wins across the board! Golf has turned several sharp corners…

Record rounds, participation, growth and money.

I believe we can point to the 150th playing of the Open as an issue for the governing bodies. On a venue they once played in reverse, in thick tweed coats and balls stuffed with feathers. And they played the 150th in four days of summer sun, almost no wind, fairways rolling faster than the greens, and even though it will go down as one of the more compelling majors since I’ve been following golf, and in spite of the fact that the guy who chipped and putted the best won, the governing bodies pick now to hit the panic button?!

The fact is, you don’t hit it too far. And neither do you. Or you. And you, the guy who really rips it (Rory? Bryson? Brandon Matthews? Cam Champ?), you have one major championship since 2014 (Bryson at 2020 Winged Foot because he was 3rd in strokes gained off the tee, 3rd in strokes gained in approach, 2nd in strokes gained around the green and third in strokes gained putting on Sunday.)

Sustainability matters. Obviously. But some courses were built where they shouldn’t be and they were used to sell real estate. And again, see trend of short courses. The game, reclaimed water and grasses are evolving.

So, I ask you, why now? If you truly love the concept of “golf for all,” then why do anything? Why not celebrate the growth? Provide a respite from the noise that is the professional game. The idea of governing bodies loading the gun and aiming it at their own feet seems crazy. They’re adding to the negative discourse, polarizing the masses and bringing on lawsuits. Put that gun down and get out of the way.

If people are clamoring and fighting for a rollback, they can tee it back, play persimmons, shorten their shafts, lengthen their fairway cuts and the rough, tuck the pins, speed up greens and cap lofts on their longest clubs.

Meanwhile, we all fight age, time and physical restrictions. There is literally rollback built into the life of a golfer. Father Time is undefeated.

Why am I against a rollback to the golf ball? Because it’s unnecessary. And horrible timing.

[Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) @LouStagner]

Golf courses are increasing in size because the golf ball goes farther!

Golf courses have to build a ton of new tee boxes because the golf ball goes farther!

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE?

They must be true.... Right????

Lucky for us the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America has run multiple surveys over the last 18 years (2005, 2015, and just recently in September of 2022).

This survey is part of the Golf Course Environmental Profile and it is done to help enhance best management practices and quantify environmental benefits.

In each of the survey years, they are measuring the land-use and energy practices of golf facilities.

Median Acres of a Golf Course:
2005: 149 acres
2015: 147 acres
2022: 146 acres

Golf courses have been getting smaller!

SAY WHAT?!!??!

Size of Fairways:
2005: 28.8 acres
2015: 27.7 acres
2022: 27.1 acres

The amount of land taken up by fairways has been getting smaller!

Size of Tees:
2005: 3.0 acres
2015: 3.1 acres
2022: 3.1 acres

Tees have increased 0.1 acres.

Summary:
I see claims that distance is causing golf courses to expand their footprint, increase the size of fairways, and build a lot more tees.....

The reality is that over the last 18 years:
- The median size of a golf course decreased
- The median size of fairways decreased
- The median size of tees increased 0.1 acres

Read the entire findings at the link in the post below.