TE AL N A B W O L A G R D E S H • T • E 0 ST 9 A 19 GARY GALYEAN’S BLISHED ® GOLF LETTER ® t h e i n s i d e r e p o r t o n w o r l d g o l f NUMBER 322 OUR 30th YEAR JANUARY 2019 Dear Subscriber: chose not to play in February may feel it is simply too early to be stalking the June major. Whoever the player, t would be a barely sentient soul who does not whatever their strategic approach, all eyes will be looking ponder the major championships of 2019 with I for clues at Pebble Beach in February for what will unfold some impatience due to the simple magnifcence of the in June and before. courses where they will be played and the speed with which they will be presented to us. For the frst time, the Bethpage’s Black Course, an excruciating and stun- four major championships will be de- ningly beautiful A.W. Tillinghast cided in four consecutive months: masterpiece, will be the venue for INSIDE THIS ISSUE 101st P.G.A. Championship that April - Te Masters for 2019 is sandwiched between May - Te P.G.A. Championship Te Excellence and Rapidity the Masters and the U.S. Open. A June - Te U.S. Open of compelling question that will be July - Te Open 2019’s Major Championships answered in May is how the P.G.A. Because the P.G.A. Championship of America’s setup will difer from moved this year from August to May, what we saw at Bethpage in 2002 all three U.S. majors will be decided and 2009 for those U.S. Opens. Will by Father’s Day; all majors by July 21. birdies fow more frequently; will the rough be less penal; will the scores be lower; will the audience be strong? For only the second time in the 148 meetings of the Open Championship, golf’s oldest and most revered con- Te Masters Tournament will exert more than its nor- test will be played in Ireland - Northern Ireland, County mal serving of agony and torment. Rory McIlroy will be Antrim, to be exact. Royal Portrush, formed in 1888 in in search of his frst victory at Augusta National, which the far northwest corner 60 miles from Belfast, hosts; and would complete his personal major grand slam. Although it was Royal Portrush that hosted the frst time the Open he has said that winning the Open at Royal Portrush is crossed the Irish Sea in 1951. his greatest goal for 2019, he has also commented that the Masters is the greatest major of all. It can be reason- Pebble Beach, the icon of American golf, will be the ably surmised setting for the 119th playing of the U.S. Open. Despite a that Mr. McIlroy P.G.A. Tour schedule that began feebly last October, the will be rising golf season does not start for many traditionalists until the As we begin our 30th year, most attentively Pebble Beach “clam bake”. we thank you for your loyalty to the Masters and welcome those It can be logically anticipated that many of the world and the Open. who have just joined us. contenders for the 2019 majors will enter to play in the His performances Pebble Beach Pro-Am [Feb. 7-10] in order to get the lat- at each of these Davis Love III, est, competitive look at the course where the U.S. Open will be afected by “THE GOLF LETTER ... the only will be played four months later. Such a feld will give us how he views the golf publication I really look forward to reading.” better insight as to how the course will be presented and other. how the contenders are preparing to play it. Tose who Published Monthly • Subscription Rate US $88 Per Year 30 www.thegolfetter.com • 19 I 1p In order of their appearance on the major champion- “Tere is a ‘high’ experienced entering the gates each ship schedule, here are some lesser known stories and spring like no other in golf,” he wrote in 1993. “It’s an- insights on the 2019 major championship venues which ticipation of something great that is bound to happen.” promise so much: Te creation of Augusta National was set in motion Augusta National quietly at the 1929 U.S. Amateur Championship that The MasTers TournaMenT was played at Pebble Beach, the frst U.S.G.A. champi- April 11 - 14 onship played west of the Mississippi Basin. Bobby Jones was the defending champion, the reigning U.S. Open Te 83rd Masters Tournament will be played, as al- champion, and the medalist after his 36-hole qualifying ways, over the beguiling grounds and through the murky with a score of 145. history of Augusta National. Johnny Goodman, from Omaha, who could only Will this be the frst year that one player will record aford to travel to California from Nebraska as a steer four rounds in the 60s? While this has happened 40 tender on a cattle train, was the highest scoring qualifer times in the other majors, it has never been accomplished and, therefore, the 64th seed. He qualifed at 158; 13 at the Masters. strokes higher than Mr. Jones. Te two faced of in the Tere are some who fnd the Masters experience too frst round as stipulated by the Rules of match play. routine and predictable, but most thrive on the tradi- On the 18th tee, Mr. Goodman was dormie one. Mr. tional scenes, the holes we have all memorized, and the Jones had to win the 18th in order to take the match to syrupy music that CBS continually overlays throughout extra holes. Tat did not happen. Te two tied the fnal their broadcast. Dick Taylor, the late writer best known hole, and Mr. Goodman won the match. Te miraculous for his work at Golf World from 1965 to 1989, com- result left the greatest player in the world, the U.S. Ama- mented that there is never a sameness at the Masters. teur feld and U.S.G.A. ofcials dazed. In 14 years of competition, Mr. Jones had never before been defeated in IMPORTANT 2019 CHAMPIONSHIPS the frst round. [Note: No one ever beat Mr. Jones twice in match play.] Latin America Am Caso de Campo Jan 17-20 In 1933, Mr. Goodman would win the U.S. Open as THE MASTERS AUGUSTA NATIONAL APR 11-14 an amateur. Tis provoked Mr. Jones to comment that PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BETHPAGE MAY 16-19 perhaps now people would stop asking him [Mr. Jones] U.S. Women’s Open Charleston May 30-Jun 2 how he could have lost to Mr. Goodman in 1929. In U.S. OPEN PEBBLE BEACH JUN 13-16 1937, Mr. Goodman fnally won the National Amateur. [British] Amateur Portmarnock Jun 17-22 Having traveled to California expecting to compete U.S. Senior Open Notre Dame Jun 27-30 for several days, Mr. Jones was not inclined to return to U.S. Jr. Amateur Inverness July 15-20 Atlanta quickly. He also had agreed to join Marion Hol- lins, the eventual founder of Cypress Point, for the cer- THE OPEN ROYAL PORTRUSH JULY 18-21 emonial opening round at Pasatiempo, which was to be U.S. Girl’s Junior SentryWorld, WI July 22-27 played immediately following the U.S. Amateur fnal. [British] Senior Open Royal Lytham July 25-28 Pivotally impacting the future of Augusta National [British] Seniors Am North Berwick Jul 31-Aug 2 [Mr. Jones’s idea for how the Club would be named], U.S. Women’s Am Old Waverly Aug 5-11 he had time during the intervening days to become re- U.S. Amateur Pinehurst Aug 12-18 acquainted with Alister Mackenzie and the Scotsman’s U.S. Senior Am Old Chatham Aug 24-29 work in the Pebble Beach/Santa Cruz area. Te result U.S. Sr. Women’s Am Cedar Rapids Aug 24-29 was that Dr. MacKenzie became Mr. Jones’s designer for Augusta National rather than Donald Ross, who was ex- Jacques Léglise Aldeburgh, Eng. Aug 30-31 pected by most to get the job. Te Walker Cup Royal Liverpool Sep 7-8 U.S. Mid-Am Colorado GC Sep 14-19 Mr. Jones won the Grand Slam the following year; then retired from competitive golf. By late November U.S. Women’s Mid-Am Forest Highlands Sep 14-19 1931, construction was underway at Augusta National Asia-Pacifc Am Sheshan, China Oct 1-4 and completed 124 days having required just 76 working Presidents Cup Royal Melbourne Dec 9-15 THE GOLF LETTER® • 19 I 2p days! Mr. Jones played the frst round with some friends to insure the future values of the various holes against on August 26, 1932. He scored even par. even more lively balls at than those of the present.” Rumors and suggestions circulated that Augusta Na- Mr. Jones makes the additional point that the Black’s tional could host the U.S. Open. Tat idea was quickly putting greens are more puzzling than many Open greens rejected because the Club was to be closed during the because “they have never been rebuilt with precision summer months. Cliford Roberts and Mr. Jones let it be grading in the modern style”. To save money during De- known that the Club intended to start a tournament of pression-era construction, several stumps were left under its own. the greens.