Welcome to The Pin Sheet, a quick guide for your day in golf that pairs beautifully with our Clubhouse Newsletter.
Between this daily aggregation and the Newsletter, you’ll find everything you need to know that’s going on in the world of golf to be the most well-informed player in your foursome.
Without further ado, now on the tee…
Today’s Clubhouse Newsletter
NCAA Grants College Golfers Extra Year Of Eligibility
DI Council grants waiver to allow additional eligibility for spring sport athletes whose seasons were impacted by COVID-19: https://t.co/v1zriEBDvR pic.twitter.com/g9BbOkmnt0
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 30, 2020
Men’s and women’s Division I college golfers who would have exhausted their eligibility this spring were granted an extra year of eligibility on Monday by the NCAA, a decision that came after most of their season was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Penn, said in the NCAA’s official announcement. “The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student-athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”
The tricky part of the extension is that each school will determine how much scholarship money they will allot for extended-eligibility student-athletes. Scholarship limitations — 4½ in men’s golf and six in women’s golf — will be adjusted next year. Schools also will have the ability to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to pay for scholarships.
Tour Increasing Field Sizes To Make Up For Cancelations
When the PGA TOUR resumes, they will be expanding fields to make up for lost playing opportunities.@RexHoggardGC with more: https://t.co/4JgXcS0O3c pic.twitter.com/4NIgKfUmiY
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 31, 2020
The PGA Tour hasn’t hosted a tournament in more than three weeks, but when things do get back up and running the Tour’s brass is committed to giving more players an opportunity to tee it up, according to a memo sent out to players this week.
“We are working around the clock to make adjustments to our future schedule,” the memo, which was obtained by GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard, said. “To this end, please know that it is a priority of the Tour and the player advisory council to maximize additional playing opportunities this season.”
With 11 events either canceled or postponed thus far, individual fields at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial are going to be expanded from 120 players to 144 with other events possibly adding more players as well. Hoggard also reported that the Tour plans to play as many opposite-field events as possible as well.
Pinehurst Raises $250,000 For Employee Relief
In what should be peak season at @PinehurstResort, an online auction celebrates the place while helping people who need it, raising approximately $250,000.https://t.co/q2qAZcGqaa
— RonGreenJr (@RonGreenJr) March 31, 2020
Like the majority of the country, Pinehurst Resort’s typical busy schedule came to a screeching halt in the past few weeks as the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdowns became a part of daily life.
In an effort to offer aid to the hundreds of displaced workers, the resort put together a package of golfers’ dream getaways in hopes of raising some money for those who needed financial assistance.
Within 12 hours, over $100,000 was raised, and when bidding closed on Monday, the resort had raised a quarter of a million dollars offering experiences such as two nights for a foursome in Dornoch Cottage, Donald Ross’s Pinehurst home, with three rounds of golf including Nos. 2 and 4, a package of golf on all 10 of Pinehurst’s courses, a walking tour of Pinehurst No. 2 with Bill Coore, who, along with Ben Crenshaw, handled its restoration, a round of golf with designer Hanse on No. 4, which along with No. 2, hosted the U.S. Amateur last summer, creating, brewing and naming your own beer at the Brewing Company and playing No. 2 with Payne Stewart’s caddie, Mike Hicks, telling the story of how the 1999 U.S. Open unfolded.
“Over the past two weeks, we’ve made significant reductions to our workforce,” Tom Pashley, president of Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, said. “That made this crisis very personal. We quickly needed to find ways to help as many employees as possible.
“Lots of great people offered to help. Our challenge was taking the time, amid the tears and chaos, to organize our efforts. After several early ideas, we began to write down a list of ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Pinehurst experiences. The ideas came to us effortlessly and we knew we had an idea that just might work.”
Linksoul Making Limited-Edition Shirt Benefitting COVID Relief
While many golf companies and entities are trying to do their part to help with relief efforts required by the coronavirus outbreak, California-based Linksoul is using what they do best to lend a hand: creating a piece of clothing.
The limited-edition Flatten The Curve t-shirt goes for $40 and benefits the Center For Disaster Philanthropy.
“Like many of you, our thoughts are with those impacted by COVID-19, their loved ones, and all of our communities,” the company said in an Instagram post. “We at Linksoul are working from home in an effort to help #flattenthecurve. But with your help, we can do much more.
“We posted this design by @parnography last week, where you suggested we make it into one of our soft t-shirts. We heard you loud and clear, and not only did we create the shirt, we are giving 100% of the proceeds to Center for Disaster Philanthropy. CDP is a top charity in transparency and accountability, as recognized by Charity Navigator. They have a COVID-19 direct relief fund that specifically helps the most vulnerable populations affected by this crisis, including hourly wage workers, the elderly, and those with disabilities. They also connect with NGOs to provide desperately needed supplies to those on the front lines in our hospitals.”
Orders made on the Linksoul website are expected to ship by the end of April.
