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If there is an equivalent to an annual State of the Union address in golf, it happens on an early-April Wednesday in Augusta, Ga.
The PGA Tour, PGA of America, USGA and R&A are tremendously important governing bodies in golf, but they are branches of a far-reaching and complex bow tie, each with their own agendas and strengths.
At the center, neatening the knot for decades is Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament. That special status makes Chairman Fred Ridley arguably the most important spokesman in the game.
In his Wednesday address and question-and-answer session with the media ahead of the 2024 Masters, Ridley touched on several topics surrounding not just men's golf's first major championship of the year, but concerns that affect the ways and places in which millions of people experience the game.
Two of these topics stood out not just for their impact on the fortunate few who get to play in the Masters but because they will help keep golf - the sport and the game - healthy in the long run.
Augusta National Golf Club's support of golf equipment regulations
After an introductory statement noting several anniversaries and previewing the tournament to come, Ridley's first order of business was to update the media on changes to the golf course - both recent and historical.
"Adding distance to the Augusta National golf course has become standard operation over the past two decades," said Ridley. "For almost 70 years, the Masters was played at just over 6,900 yards. Today the course measures 7,550 yards from the markers, and we may well play one of the tournament rounds this year at more than 7,600 yards.
"I've said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards. But that is likely to happen in the not too distant future under current standards. Accordingly, we support the decisions that have been made by the R&A and the USGA as they have addressed the impact of distance at all levels of the game."
When the USGA and R&A jointly announced their plans to roll the golf ball back to the tune of about 5% - for pros starting in 2028, then for all golfers in 2030 - golf's other institutions were largely noncommittal in their support or opposition. Ridley's press conference aligns golf's Emerald City with the two bodies charged with curating the rules and regulations under which all competitive golf is played.
The lead-up and immediate aftermath to the initial unveiling of these subtle changes included various levels of hysteria from different factions within golf. As I explained in my op-ed after the December 2023 announcement, common-sense golf equipment regulations will be to millions of golfers' benefit.
Augusta National's support for the USGA and R&A essentially settles the issue permanently, guaranteeing that at least three of the four major championships will be played under the new regulations - and future ones - once enacted. The PGA of America will fall in line, as neither it nor the PGA Tour will be foolish enough to further divide the game by trying to create their own rules in defiance of tradition and pragmatic leadership, not to mention Augusta National's colossal influence.
"I'm holding to that 8,000-yard red line, and I just hope we never get there," Ridley said in response to a subsequent question in his press conference. Savvy golfers will note that "I just hope we never get there" is trademark genteel Augusta-speak for "ain't gonna happen."
Augusta National supports the Munaissance
The involvement of Augusta National in the future of Augusta Municipal Golf Course, locally known as "The Patch," has been quietly in the works for years, but on Wednesday, Ridley shared more detail as to the club's plans to become involved in the nationwide trend of investing in affordable, publicly-accessible golf facilities.
"We have reached an agreement with the City of Augusta to lease this facility, and over the past year we have had multiple community input sessions with the many stakeholders who frequent The Patch," said Ridley. "With the insightful feedback we received, we are on a great path to make significant improvements to The Patch and to the First Tee facilities.
"In that regard, we have retained two of golf's most respected course designers, Tom Fazio and Beau Welling, to lead the renovation of this historic municipal course. Along with our partners, we are excited to get started next January with the goal of an April 2026 opening."
The selection of Fazio and Welling makes perfect sense in the context of Augusta National's recent past, as well as a possible hint as to its future. Fazio, 79, is one of the best-known modern golf course architects, having laid out more than 200 courses over a career that spans back to the 1960s, when he worked for his uncle George, a noted midcentury architect in his own right. He is winding down his golf architecture career, but his influence remains strong; he has consulted on architectural adjustments to Augusta National Golf Club as far back as the 1990s.
Welling, 54, on the other hand, is coming into his prime. A native of nearby Greenville, S.C., he got his start in golf course design under Fazio before establishing his own practice in both golf and landscape architecture in 2007. Since then, he has been the main collaborator on design projects with five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, including Bluejack National in Texas and Diamante Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
Under his own brand, Welling designed the rollicking Fields Ranch West course at the Omni PGA Frisco resort in Texas. He also revamped the former Belleview Biltmore course in Florida into Pelican Golf Club, which hosts one of the LPGA Tour's top tournaments, The Annika. One of Pelican's founders: Fred Ridley.
In Welling's work, one can see an appreciation for Fazio's flowing forms as well as an interest in the heights the art form reached prior to World War II when names like Ross, Raynor and Tillinghast dominated. The greens at both Pelican and PGA Frisco show plenty of cheek without the kitchen-sink approach to contouring some architects favor. I fully expect the new version of The Patch to be a golf course locals will be thrilled to play every day they can, and one visitors will gladly pony up a bit extra to play.
Golf course redesign will be just part of the project at The Patch, which has been a central gathering point for Black golfers in the area for decades - including Augusta National's caddie corps. "We're going to honor that history," Ridley said. "[T]here's been a lot of history in that clubhouse, and we're going to hopefully make it nicer and freshen it up."
In addition, the club has partnered with nearby Augusta Technical College to make The Patch into a place where students in golf management programs can gain first-hand experience that will carry them into their careers in the game.
"[I]t's really a confluence of a lot of different elements of the game that can really be a great thing for Augusta," said Ridley. "So, while planning is still in process, we'll have more details next year, I think it's just going to be fantastic."
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