Monday Morning Sermon
Goals must not be simple thoughts, but architectural plans for the greatness. When we set our sights on something beyond our present self, we engage in an act of faith. We declare that tomorrow can be different from today, that we can be different from who we are in this moment.
Achievement is a discipline; it is a daily practice of small devotions. The marathon runner completes 26.2 miles not because of race day, but because of a thousand quiet mornings when they chose to take that first difficult step out the door.
Here is the most beautiful truth: we are transformed not just by achieving our goals, but by becoming the kind of person who could achieve them. The mountain climber reaches the summit changed by every step that brought them there.
It’s the Culture
Good morning and welcome back. I was on the grounds on Saturday, and while I’ll give a full review of the sights and sounds from Bethpage on Wednesday (The New York crowd was not great imo), I want to drop my two cents here on what I observed from a macro team perspective.
A picture is worth a thousand words:
The image that won't leave my head: two Europeans locked in a bear hug after sinking a crucial putt, genuine joy radiating from every fiber. Compare that to the polite fist bumps and awkward shoulder pats I witnessed from our guys all day.
Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen two American’s embrace like that in a Ryder Cup, ever? Sure Scottie and Burns are buddies, but it’s nothing like this. Even the Cam Young/JT embrace on 18 left something to be desired.
The brotherhood shared by the European team oozed out of their interactions all day, and it traces back generations. The reverence and relationships that the Europeans maintain with older Ryder Cup legends tells me that the competition is more of a tradition than a tournament to them.
While a lot of American players claim they are playing for their country, and how that allegiance is the driving force, I disagree.
The American’s play for themselves first, their country second, and don’t think much about the guy next to them. As much as they don’t want you to believe it, their record in Sunday singles playing alone enforces this point. They are individual first, team second.
The Euros play for the guy next to them first, whomever it may be. Country allegiances are tossed aside. They play for their brother, and the guys that played before them.
You can’t try and tell me that data or analytics matter at all. I won’t hear it. Yes, playing Morikawa and English in Foursomes two days in a row was gross malpractice, but does the difference between being down 9 or 7 points matter going into Sunday? Not at all.
Data doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story, and it’s a red herring and superficial scapegoat for a deeper, systemic misalignment of goals and character among the US players.
I watched Scottie and Bryson sleepwalk through their fourball match like strangers at a business dinner. On paper, they should have demolished whoever Europe threw at them. But I watched two guys in their own bubbles, playing their own games, happening to share the same tee box.
The Sunday matches showed the US team’s clear and obvious preference to play solo. They live for and thrive under individual pressure, and I’m not convinced that mentality is going to change any time soon.
There’s a reason we haven’t won an away Ryder Cup in 30 years, and it’s not because we keep messing up our pairings!
Alignment Stick Discussion
I’ve recently been badgered online by people who claim that good players don’t carry alignment sticks in their bag. Nothing could be further from the truth. Go attend any high level amateur or college event, and I’ll guarantee 90% of players carry them. Great players will almost certainly travel to a course prepared (they don’t play all of their golf at one club). They also understand ensuring correct alignment is a simple way to build a consistent swing and work on the correct stuff in a golf swing.
The counterargument I hear most frequently?
All nice clubs offer alignment sticks on the range, so good players don’t need to carry them. A broad and incorrect generalization. Elite players will almost always travel with alignment sticks and other portable training aids. End of discussion.
Rule Explanation
I played the other day and found myself stymied by a pitch mark directly in the line of my next shot. Since if was off the green, I was not entitled to relief (or allowed to repair it) under Rule 13.1c (2) and Rule 14. A forced chip ensued.
A Training Aid I Like
I’ve been fed enough Instagram ads at this point where I feel like the purchase of the Sure Golf Connector is inevitable.
As someone with limited practice space in the winter, working on swing feels on mats and nets needs to be complemented by a decent training aid.
The Etiquette Ledger - Rules from the Past
Royal Lytham & St Annes, one of the great Open Championship venues in England, is an extremely traditional club. Like many “old-school” British golf clubs in the 20th century, its bylaws and house rules extended far beyond the course itself. One of the most memorable examples was its shorts and socks regulation:
On the course:
Shorts were permitted, but only if they were “tailored.”
The shorts had to be worn with long knee-high socks (often in dark colors or with a turn-over cuff).
Later, after much pressure from visitors, white ankle socks became a grudgingly accepted alternative — but only of a certain length and style.
In the clubhouse:
Shorts were historically not permitted at all in bars, dining rooms, or lounges.
Golf shoes were also banned from many indoor areas, and jackets/ties were mandatory after a certain hour.
Why It Existed
Class associations: Long socks were tied to traditional upper-class sporting attire, so requiring them reinforced the club’s old-world image.
Uniformity: Clubs wanted members and guests to present a “neat and proper” look, especially since visitors from abroad often came during Open Championships.
A Famous Anecdote
When a large group of American golfers visited Royal Lytham in the late 20th century, they arrived in shorts but without long socks.
The club enforced its rule so strictly that the men had to rush to the pro shop and buy every pair of long socks available before being allowed on the course.
This led to the club softening its stance slightly, permitting white ankle socks as an acceptable alternative, though still banning “trainer socks” (too short).
Even today, Royal Lytham retains a version of this bylaw: shorts are allowed, but only with “long knee-length socks or short white sports socks.”
Talk soon,
BTG
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