Two big wins this past week!! On to the next week!!

The NCAA is comical, you can’t make it up.

Cannot stress this enough: EVERYONE should go back and listen to Eric Church’s commencement address. Simply phenomenal and up there with Federer at Dartmouth and Admiral McRaven at Texas.

I have been asked my opinion of why the greens at Augusta national are drying out so rapidly and looks so bad on TV. The first thing they say is it would never look like that when Brad Owen was there. That couldn’t be further from the truth. These are tournament conditions. I know that of all the people reading what I’m about to post less than one percent of you has PGA TOUR championship Agronomy experience so you truly won’t understand. But I’m going to post what I just wrote to a very close colleague of mine. What Augusta Greens Actually Look Like Under Tournament Setup Those greens can visually appear: • Slightly off-color or “dry” • Tight, almost sealed at the surface • Firm to the point of sounding hollow underfoot But that’s often by design, not decline. ⸻ Let’s Talk Real Agronomy (Your World) 1. Firmness vs. Health — The Fine Line Augusta pushes: • Low moisture content (VWC) • High firmness (Gmax) • Extreme green speeds (13–15+ on the Stimp) To get there, you: • Back off irrigation hard • Use heavy rolling • Possibly regulate growth aggressively 👉 Result: The plant is under controlled stress, which can look like decline but is actually peak performance conditioning. ⸻ What Could Be Different Post-Brad Owen? Let’s be real — no one at Augusta just “drops the ball.” But subtle philosophical shifts can absolutely change surface perception. 1. Moisture Management Philosophy A new Director might: • Run leaner moisture targets • Trust SubAir more aggressively • Push firmness earlier in the week 👉 Risk: • Edges and high spots get too dry • Plant loses elasticity → ball won’t hold → players complain ⸻ 2. SubAir & Firmness Aggression Augusta’s biggest weapon is SubAir. Changes could include: • More continuous SubAir use • Pulling moisture even during marginal stress periods 👉 Outcome: • Surfaces get firmer faster than roots can keep up • Optics = “dry/unhealthy” ⸻ 3. Growth Regulator Strategy If they adjusted: • Trinexapac-ethyl rates • Frequency or stacking with other PGRs 👉 You could see: • Slight color loss • Reduced recovery capacity • Tighter canopy (great for speed, risky for stress) ⸻ 4. Rolling vs. Mowing Balance If they leaned more into: • Double/triple rolling • Less mowing 👉 That can: • Increase firmness and speed • But also compact the surface layer, especially on push-up zones ⸻ 5. Nitrogen & Spoon-Feeding Adjustments Even a slight shift like: • Less frequent spoon feeding • Lower N inputs pre-tournament 👉 Can lead to: • Less “pop” in color • Reduced cushion → firmer, louder, faster greens ⸻ 6. Weather Window Misread (This is Big) Even Augusta can get caught if: • Evapotranspiration spikes unexpectedly • Wind + low humidity outrun irrigation corrections 👉 That’s when you see: • Localized dry spots • Slight wilt that TV cameras exaggerate ⸻ The Player Factor (Important Reality) Players say: “They’re unhealthy” What they often mean is: • “I can’t hold this green” • “The ball isn’t reacting predictably” • “This is borderline unfair” 👉 That’s not agronomy failure — that’s setup philosophy clashing with playability expectations. ⸻ The Augusta Standard (Why This Matters) At a place like Augusta: • “Too soft” = unacceptable • “Too slow” = unacceptable • “Slightly stressed but elite performance” = preferred They intentionally operate: Right at the edge of agronomic failure… without crossing it ⸻ My Professional Take (Speaking Your Language) If something is slightly off, it’s most likely: • A moisture threshold pushed just a hair too low • Combined with environmental conditions that accelerated stress faster than expected • Not a systemic decline or poor management It’s just Tournament Golf

One ACC head coach to me on Hubert Davis' departure: "I had really hoped he was the coach forever. No one in the ACC was scared of him. I'm worried that they hire someone really good now because if you get a big-time guy at UNC, they could be right there with Duke again."

Pure cinema.

check now

One of the best stories in CBB belongs to @MiamiOH_BBall. Brant Byers goes off for 26 while Eian Elmer delivers 19-and-8 in a 76-73 win over an Akron program that’s been the class of the MAC with 3 NCAAT trips in last 4 years. Travis Steele’s RedHawks are 15-0. Dangerous squad!