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Issue No. 225 | July 4, 2025 | Read Online
To celebrate July 4th weekend, I have a few thoughts on golf this week. By the way, I’m told the above image is me at the fireworks stand trying to place an order: “Got any of them nippy spinners, mud balls, yippy doos, yippy donts, Phil bombs, shanksy daisies, hosel rockets, or Whistin Straits?!”
Me, seeing that illustration and note from Jason …
Anyway, we’ll get to my thoughts, but two Normal Sport-adjacent items real quick.
1. Our web designer/brand strategy person just left his full time job and started his own business. His name is Jeff Smith, and if you enjoy how our website or branding has been done and you run a business that needs web design/solutions, you should contact him (jeff at normalsport dot com). He is the best.
2. Golf is Art 3 is out and for sale. It’s amazing. My friend Jeff Marsh tells some extraordinary golf stories throughout photography all over the world, and he graciously invited me to write the foreword for it. He’s giving NS newsletter readers 15 percent off when you use the code normalsport at checkout.
Also, if you’re thinking of purchasing it, just join the Normal Club instead. I will buy one for each of the next 10 people who become members.
Today’s newsletter is presented by Precision Pro.
Here at Normal Sport we can’t get enough of the machinery dotting the John Deere Classic (and The Big Green Egg Open on the Ladies European Tour, while we’re on the subject). What an insane and playful feature.
We’d like to see more of it in pro golf, starting with the Titan Elite.
Precision Pro sent this email last week: Feature Friday - Indestructible design and why it matters. This is absolutely begging for an oversized feature like they have at the John Deere!
They continued.
When is the last time you did this to your rangefinder?
Tossed it in the cart.
Threw it on the ground.
Accidentally dropped it.
Ran over it with the golf cart.
Played in the rain.
Left it in a humid car overnight.
Can you imagine … folks taking sledgehammers to a Titan Elite device the size of a small building? Kids riding slides inside of an oversized range finder? Just abusing it to see how it functions in any and all elements.
When we host a Tour event someday, we’ll make it happen.
OK, now onto the news.
Let’s get right to it.
1. This Estonian kid making it in The Open on this shot is ridiculous. Golf rules. Imagine a college basketball player playing in the NBA Finals based on what he did in a few pickup games over the summer after his junior year.
That’s not exactly this, but it’s also not that far away from this.
You’ve maybe seen people use the phrase “You can just … make stuff” as it relates to entrepreneurship. I think the same about golf.
“You can just … play your way into The Open.” Amazing.
2. I’ve been thinking about this clip of Scottie talking about what a proper test looks like. He said players just want a golf course that rewards good shots and punishes bad ones. But he also says it’s weird that fans want to see players look like amateurs. He noted that this doesn’t happen in other sports. That nobody wants the tennis ball to go slower so that pros look more like us normies.
Bad news from Andy Murray, Scottie …
But I agree with JLM’s take on all of this, which is I think what Scottie was trying to say (?) as well. I think fans and pros are on the same page here. Not all fans, but a lot.
Per the usual, I blame par for all of this. People see a score to par and immediately make a judgement on whether a course is a good test or not. What if par was 68 instead of 70? What if Keegan won the Travelers at -7 instead of -15?
I think that would help the perception, even if — as Scottie noted — it wouldn’t really change how the golf course tested players.
The bigger picture and longer term issue is that it gets more and more difficult to test good and bad shots as equipment gets more and more out of control. When you can fly anything that’s considered trouble, it’s like skipping to the end of the test and just answering the essay question. If you get it right, all the multiple choice and short answer before that are counted as correct also.
Bad for test taking, even if it’s good for the test taker.
3. You guys know I love some satisfying separation on a leaderboard, and someone sent me this one from the Senior U.S. Open last week. It’s as good as I’ve seen. Eight unique positions. Six different countries. One and eight separated by nine shots.
It’s beautiful.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members and includes …
A cool tennis-golf crossover equipment convo.
One of my favorite books of late.
The PGA at … Kapalua?
If you aren’t yet a Normal Club member, you can sign up right here.
If you are, keep reading!
Welcome to the members-only portion of today’s newsletter. I hope you both enjoy it and find it to be valuable to your golf and/or personal life.
4. (Didn’t expect to be writing this but) … Speaking of Andy Murray and equipment that’s out of control (!), this video of him and Bob Mac talking about rackets and driver faces is excellent. Couple of old school guys who seem to care very little about Trackman and very much about putting the ball where it should go.
Bob talking about hitting toed shots on purpose when the wind is off the right is nuts. Yes, I too hit toed shots when the wind is off the right, and I am going to say from now on that this is also on purpose.
In all seriousness, I can’t get enough of guys talking about stuff like this. So good and brings so much texture to watching and following these silly games.
5. I recently finished this book by Jeff Passan called The Arm. Elite, elite stuff. Good writing, sure, but world class reporting and editing. It’s tremendous.
I’ve always been obsessed with arms. Matt Stafford, Rafael Furcal, Michael Vick, Bo, Ichiro, Vlad, doesn’t matter. Monster arms get me out of my seat. If you’ve been up close to it, there’s not much in sports like 97 with movement on the outer half.
So I obviously loved the book, which was predicated on arm speed and how to prevent injury. My big takeaway: The youth baseball system — which my kids are now in — is not evil, but its tentacles can be quite dangerous. It’s OK to not completely give in to the machine and to continue letting kids enjoy other sports and other activities.
My second biggest takeaway is a bit counter to my first: Arm speed — which I always thought was a birthright — can be, similar to swing speed in golf, taught and developed. We see this happening in golf at all levels. Bryson adding speed by drinking strawberry punch protein shakes, Matt Fitzpatrick getting genuinely long with training and obviously the speed warz going on in the NCAAs and at lower levels.
It seems more obvious that this skill (and it is a skill) can be learned in terms of swinging fast. Less so that it can be learned in terms of throwing fast — at least at levels that are noticeable — but the book definitely changed my mind on that.
If you have any interest in any of this, it’s worth picking up and reading. I loved it.
6. I agree with this deeply, especially the last part.
It’s very, very difficult to build a media business with a lot of capital.
I think we’ve seen this over and over again in the golf world? And while it’s not easy to built a media business without capital, it’s definitely easier. Because when you receive capital, you have to start producing a return, and then, by definition, you are serving a different subject than the one you should be serving, which is your audience.
This is not universally true all the time, but I think it’s mostly true most of the time. Also (related!), we’re starting a podcast in Sept. that will also go on our YouTube channel. Getting really excited for that.
7. Here’s a reader email I’ve been meaning to comment on for a while.
We can all agree that the PGA Championship has the most anonymous identity of all the majors. I love that they’ve been to some great courses that are less well known than the USGA rota (i.e. Southern Hills, Oak Hill, etc.).
And I feel bad suggesting this idea on the heels of the Quail Hollow “they shouldn’t play majors at Tour stop courses” dialogue, but …
What if the PGA Championship was held at Kapalua?
Hasn’t Kapalua given us a TON of awesome champions (especially before the field expanded)? The Tiger vs. Ernie duel in 2000 is criminally underrated. It has an amazing finishing hole that brings eagle into play. The crosswinds could make for some interesting rounds if they’re up (don’t know what they’re doing in May vs January). And seeing the best players in the world in a birdie fest (on primetime on the east coast!) would be incredible.
Joe G.
Agree with all of it (maybe not the birdie fest part), but the problem here is that it would be extremely difficult to get big crowds over to Kapalua, which would prohibit the PGA from 1. Making money and 2. Showing off its event in full.
As a made-for-TV PGA? Yes, I agree that it could go to Kapalua, and it would be awesome (although I do get weary of Tour stops as major venues). But it won’t happen, and I think the PGA should just go to USGA castoff courses anyway (Erin Hills, Chambers Bay etc.).
8. This is a good place to end on a holiday weekend. Happy 4th. Put your devices down. Beat your kids up in golf or front yard football or whatever so that when they eventually beat you, it will actually mean something.
Thank you for reading until the end.
You’re a complete and total sicko for reading a newsletter that is 1,909 words (!!) long on a major holiday weekend, and we are grateful for your support of this business.
Issue No. 225 | July 4, 2025 | Read Online
To celebrate July 4th weekend, I have a few thoughts on golf this week. By the way, I’m told the above image is me at the fireworks stand trying to place an order: “Got any of them nippy spinners, mud balls, yippy doos, yippy donts, Phil bombs, shanksy daisies, hosel rockets, or Whistin Straits?!”
Me, seeing that illustration and note from Jason …
Anyway, we’ll get to my thoughts, but two Normal Sport-adjacent items real quick.
1. Our web designer/brand strategy person just left his full time job and started his own business. His name is Jeff Smith, and if you enjoy how our website or branding has been done and you run a business that needs web design/solutions, you should contact him (jeff at normalsport dot com). He is the best.
2. Golf is Art 3 is out and for sale. It’s amazing. My friend Jeff Marsh tells some extraordinary golf stories throughout photography all over the world, and he graciously invited me to write the foreword for it. He’s giving NS newsletter readers 15 percent off when you use the code normalsport at checkout.
Also, if you’re thinking of purchasing it, just join the Normal Club instead. I will buy one for each of the next 10 people who become members.
Today’s newsletter is presented by Precision Pro.
Here at Normal Sport we can’t get enough of the machinery dotting the John Deere Classic (and The Big Green Egg Open on the Ladies European Tour, while we’re on the subject). What an insane and playful feature.
We’d like to see more of it in pro golf, starting with the Titan Elite.
Precision Pro sent this email last week: Feature Friday - Indestructible design and why it matters. This is absolutely begging for an oversized feature like they have at the John Deere!
They continued.
When is the last time you did this to your rangefinder?
Tossed it in the cart.
Threw it on the ground.
Accidentally dropped it.
Ran over it with the golf cart.
Played in the rain.
Left it in a humid car overnight.
Can you imagine … folks taking sledgehammers to a Titan Elite device the size of a small building? Kids riding slides inside of an oversized range finder? Just abusing it to see how it functions in any and all elements.
When we host a Tour event someday, we’ll make it happen.
OK, now onto the news.
Let’s get right to it.
1. This Estonian kid making it in The Open on this shot is ridiculous. Golf rules. Imagine a college basketball player playing in the NBA Finals based on what he did in a few pickup games over the summer after his junior year.
That’s not exactly this, but it’s also not that far away from this.
You’ve maybe seen people use the phrase “You can just … make stuff” as it relates to entrepreneurship. I think the same about golf.
“You can just … play your way into The Open.” Amazing.
2. I’ve been thinking about this clip of Scottie talking about what a proper test looks like. He said players just want a golf course that rewards good shots and punishes bad ones. But he also says it’s weird that fans want to see players look like amateurs. He noted that this doesn’t happen in other sports. That nobody wants the tennis ball to go slower so that pros look more like us normies.
Bad news from Andy Murray, Scottie …
But I agree with JLM’s take on all of this, which is I think what Scottie was trying to say (?) as well. I think fans and pros are on the same page here. Not all fans, but a lot.
Per the usual, I blame par for all of this. People see a score to par and immediately make a judgement on whether a course is a good test or not. What if par was 68 instead of 70? What if Keegan won the Travelers at -7 instead of -15?
I think that would help the perception, even if — as Scottie noted — it wouldn’t really change how the golf course tested players.
The bigger picture and longer term issue is that it gets more and more difficult to test good and bad shots as equipment gets more and more out of control. When you can fly anything that’s considered trouble, it’s like skipping to the end of the test and just answering the essay question. If you get it right, all the multiple choice and short answer before that are counted as correct also.
Bad for test taking, even if it’s good for the test taker.
3. You guys know I love some satisfying separation on a leaderboard, and someone sent me this one from the Senior U.S. Open last week. It’s as good as I’ve seen. Eight unique positions. Six different countries. One and eight separated by nine shots.
It’s beautiful.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members and includes …
A cool tennis-golf crossover equipment convo.
One of my favorite books of late.
The PGA at … Kapalua?
If you aren’t yet a Normal Club member, you can sign up right here.
If you are, keep reading!
Normal Sport is supported by exactly 947 crazed individuals. By becoming a member, you will receive the following …
• Our very best stuff during majors.
• The delight of helping us establish this business.
• A first look at our new gear.
