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Lying Four

Stories
Places
Conversations
Wanderlust
Pros
Voices
Podcasts
January 26, 2020
Stories
Will Bardwell
Too Big to Trail

Imagine building 26 golf courses at the height of the golf development bubble, with nine figures in public pension money — in an effort that now loses money year after year. Welcome to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

Too Big to Trail
December 17, 2019
Stories
Will Bardwell
Rebirth and Reimagining in Mississippi

In theory, 12-hole designs should be cheaper to play, build, and maintain. But in the staid industry of golf course development, there’s been no rush to test the theory. The minds behind Sweetens Cove are ready to change that.

Rebirth and Reimagining in Mississippi
July 29, 2019
Stories
Will Bardwell
Rob Collins and the Long Road Out of Hell

Rob Collins had one shot. At Sweetens Cove, he took it — and he bet on himself over and over again. Somehow, impossibly, it worked.

Rob Collins and the Long Road Out of Hell
July 18, 2019
Pros
Will Bardwell
Coffee, a Dark House, and the Open

Waking up at 1:30 a.m. to watch golf isn’t conducive to work, or anything else really. But it’s become my favorite TV viewing experience of the year.

Coffee, a Dark House, and the Open
July 16, 2019
Pros
Will Bardwell
History will Judge the PGA

Through its silence in the face of Donald Trump’s racism, the PGA of America is not merely acquiescent in his behavior — it is complicit.

History will Judge the PGA
Will Bardwell
June 12, 2025
Stories

Someone's Gonna Die at the U.S. Open

Will Bardwell
June 12, 2025
Stories
Someone's Gonna Die at the U.S. Open

Also, a return to the bad place — and I don’t mean Oakmont.

Tagged: Guy Clark, Black Mountain, North Carolina, J.J. Spaun, Si Woo Kim, Michael La Sasso, Ole Miss, Texas, Scottie Scheffler, U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson, Batman, Twitter, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee

Will Bardwell
June 11, 2025
Stories

Now, Where Were We?

Will Bardwell
June 11, 2025
Stories
Now, Where Were We?

Let’s try this instead.

Tagged: U.S. Open, LIV, PGA Tour, Scottie Scheffler, Baseball, Power Rangers, Hunter S. Thompson, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Spencer Schwellenbach

Will Bardwell
November 6, 2024
Stories

Election Day

Will Bardwell
November 6, 2024
Stories
Election Day

America’s next four years under Donald Trump will not be without their challenges. But our battles against those challenges must begin with hope.

Tagged: Dancing Rabbit, Donald Trump, Tom Fazio, Mossy Oak, Overton Park, Mississippi

Will Bardwell
October 23, 2024
Wanderlust

Golspie

Will Bardwell
October 23, 2024
Wanderlust
Golspie

At the foot of one of Scotland's most controversial monuments, meditations on accepting history without honoring it.

Tagged: Scotland, Golspie, Brora, Tain, Royal Dornoch, Mississippi, Civil War

Will Bardwell
August 21, 2024
Wanderlust

Grove Park Inn

Will Bardwell
August 21, 2024
Wanderlust
Grove Park Inn

Maybe the authentic Donald Ross golf experience isn't actually what you're looking for. If not, then Grove Park Inn might be for you.

Tagged: Donald Ross, North Carolina, Asheville, Grove Park, Seinfeld

Will Bardwell
July 17, 2024
Pros

Eight Years Gone By

Will Bardwell
July 17, 2024
Pros
Eight Years Gone By

The world has changed since Royal Troon’s last dance with the Open Championship. Withstanding that change’s permanence will not be easy.

Tagged: Open Championship, Royal Troon, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Carnoustie

Will Bardwell
June 28, 2024
Places

Black Mountain

Will Bardwell
June 28, 2024
Places
Black Mountain

Sprinting through Donald Ross’ nine-hole design just east of Asheville, N.C., and mid-round reflections on midlife juggling.

Tagged: Black Mountain, North Carolina, Donald Ross, Egg McMuffin

Will Bardwell
June 17, 2024
Pros

Golf Media Cheer DeChambeau But Silent on His Consequences

Will Bardwell
June 17, 2024
Pros
Golf Media Cheer DeChambeau But Silent on His Consequences

Coverage of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst failed to tell the full, ugly truth of LIV Golf and Bryson DeChambeau’s complicity in Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

Tagged: Bryson DeChambeau, LIV, Golf media, Winged Foot, Pinehurst No. 2, Brandel Chamblee

Will Bardwell
May 27, 2024
Pros

Remembering Grayson Murray

Will Bardwell
May 27, 2024
Pros
Remembering Grayson Murray

Grayson Murray deserves to be remembered most of all for the bravery he showed in normalizing recovery from alcoholism and depression.

Tagged: Grayson Murray, PGA Tour, Depression

Will Bardwell
May 14, 2024
Pros

Jimmy Dunne, Rory McIlroy, and a Lesson in Missing the Point

Will Bardwell
May 14, 2024
Pros
Jimmy Dunne, Rory McIlroy, and a Lesson in Missing the Point

Rory McIlroy was LIV’s loudest critic. His opinion has softened, but reality hasn’t.

Tagged: Jimmy Dunne, PGA Tour, Rory McIlroy, Saudi Arabia, LIV, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau

Will Bardwell
April 29, 2024
Places

Langston

Will Bardwell
April 29, 2024
Places
Langston

Langston Golf Course in Washington, D.C., serves a community with experience being ignored then heard. Its new nonprofit operator wants to change that.

Tagged: Washington, East Potomac, National Links Trust, Langston

Will Bardwell
April 13, 2024
Pros

The Masters and Me

Will Bardwell
April 13, 2024
Pros
The Masters and Me

There’s nothing new that I can write about the Masters and Augusta National. But I know how it made me feel.

Tagged: Augusta National, Masters, Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Open Championship, PGA Championship, U.S. Open

Will Bardwell
February 26, 2024
Places

The Backyard

Will Bardwell
February 26, 2024
Places
The Backyard

The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s short par-3 course is an important step forward from its monolithic collection of regulation-length designs, but it falls short of divorcing itself entirely from some of the Trail’s more mundane qualities.

Tagged: Alabama, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Pinehurst, Cradle

Will Bardwell
June 6, 2023
Podcasts

Dramatic Readings of Internet Golf Writing, Ep. 4

Will Bardwell
June 6, 2023
Podcasts
Dramatic Readings of Internet Golf Writing, Ep. 4

A dramatic reading of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan's letter to Tour players concerning the merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Tagged: PGA Tour, Jay Monahan, LIV, Greg Norman, Saudi Arabia, Sportswashing

Will Bardwell
February 6, 2023
Pros

Pebble Beach and the Dark Side

Will Bardwell
February 6, 2023
Pros
Pebble Beach and the Dark Side

Long neglected by the PGA Tour, Pebble Beach and LIV could form a match made in Hell — but a match just the same.

Tagged: Pebble Beach, PGA Tour, LIV

Will Bardwell
January 6, 2023
Places

Pinehurst's Missed Opportunity

Will Bardwell
January 6, 2023
Places
Pinehurst's Missed Opportunity

Deciding No. 10’s designer was a moment that cried out for boldness. Instead, Pinehurst blinked.

Tagged: PInehurst, Pinehurst No. 10, Tom Doak, North Carolina, Streamsong, Forest Dunes, architecture, The Fried Egg, Gil Hanse, Coore and Crenshaw

Will Bardwell
August 17, 2022
Pros

Patrick Reed's Libel Case is a House Built on Sand

Will Bardwell
August 17, 2022
Pros
Patrick Reed's Libel Case is a House Built on Sand

Patrick Reed’s defamation lawsuit against Brandel Chamblee and Golf Channel digs a deep hole for itself.

Tagged: Patrick Reed, Larry Klayman, Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel, LIV, Saudi Arabia, PGA Tour

Will Bardwell
August 10, 2022
Pros

Hell No T.R.O.

Will Bardwell
August 10, 2022
Pros
Hell No T.R.O.

Judge Beth Labson Freeman hands the PGA Tour an early win in its courtroom war against LIV.

Tagged: PGA Tour, LIV, Judge Beth Labson Freeman, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones, Hudson Swafford, Greg norman, Phil Mickelson, Mickelson v. PGA Tour, No Laying Up, Sherman Act, Jay Monahan, Pat Perez

Will Bardwell
August 3, 2022
Pros

And Here. We. GO

Will Bardwell
August 3, 2022
Pros
And Here. We. GO

Until now, Phil Mickelson versus the PGA Tour was a storyline. As of August 3, 2022, it’s a historic lawsuit.

Tagged: PGA Tour, LIV, Phil Mickelson, Gibson Dunn, Antitrust, Sherman Act, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Bryson DeChambeau, Abraham Ancer, Ian Poulter, Fedex St. Jude

Will Bardwell
June 11, 2022
Pros

LIV Golf is the NWO

Will Bardwell
June 11, 2022
Pros
LIV Golf is the NWO

LIV is golf’s New World Order. But as wrestling’s NWO showed, that ascent brings no guarantee of permanence.

Tagged: New World Order, NWO, WCW, WWF, WWE, Vince McMahon, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Greg Norman, Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood, Patrick Reed, Ian Poulter, Chase Koepka, Slugger White, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash

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