1 – We need a movement

Bring back the days when players took drops over their shoulders.

2 – Just sayin’

Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods didn’t use analytics.

3 – Confoundment

So, putting a small bunker in the middle of a wide fairway to force golfers to make a decision off the tee is considered bad form by a large audience of golfers who fancy themselves amateur architects. Ah, but a golf course where on one hole you have a cross-bunker the size of the Sahara in the middle of a fairway, then on another you have to drive it over the corner of a hotel is not only OK, it's worth paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the opportunity. Tell me we’re not a fickle and contrary bunch.

GOLF COURSE SIGNS -- The passion we have for golf is contagious. So, too, is having an eye for those unique signs that are displayed at courses throughout the world, all of them demonstrating a profound respect for the game. Longtime friend from NEPGA days, Dave McAdams, snapped a shot of this beauty at the St . Andrews Links clubhouse that overlooks No. 18 at The New. Submissions are always welcomed. Email to jim@powerfades.com.

4 – She’s a fun show

If we could bottle and sell Leona Maguire’s spunk we’d make a fortune.

5 – He’s back . . .

Should you be keeping score at home, Sergio Garcia has been given an exemption into the upcoming Open Championship so he’ll be in position to add to his rather inglorious major championship tally. In 27 major appearances since winning the Masters in 2017, Garcia has missed 16 cuts and shot a cumulative 128 over par for 76 rounds.

6 – Way better than heads or tails

How old am I? My generation came before rock-paper-scissors-shoot became a thing. We just did buck-up.

7 – All over the map

Pretty neat that temperatures are taking after my golf scores these days. One day mid-high-90s, two days later low 70s. Then into the mid-80s. (Yeah, yeah, the numbers don’t match but you get the point.)

8 – Reading putts and providing laughter

“Aye, laddie, you see that steeple way out in the distance?” I told my caddie I couldn’t. “Aye, that’s a shame, ‘cause that’s your line.” I asked him what I should do. “Get glasses, laddie.” No, I mean for right now, on this tee box. “Just play your fade. It’s the only shot you brought.” I’m telling you the entertainment went on like this for 18 holes one glorious day in Ireland.

9 – Name games

The R&A has announced that in 2026 it will hold a “last chance” qualifier the Monday of Open Championship week at Royal Birkdale. Twelve players will compete over 18 holes for the last spot into the field. Good idea, methinks, but will “Final Qualifying” two weeks earlier be remained “Penultimate Qualifying” or perhaps “The Qualifying Stop Formerly Known as Final?"