Celtics - here’s 60% of the Celtics analysis: they’re a different team without a healthy Porzingis. What now? They need Zinger to score more than 90 or more than 17 in a fourth quarter? Porzingis missed more than half the season, keys their defense more than anything, and shouldn’t be used as the excuse for being down 0-2.

Knicks - My basketball consigliere tipped me off that the Knicks were trading at 7-1 odds entering the series. He felt they were underpriced. I didn’t take the bet. MADONE! Not to out my units, but I could be looking at $70 big ones. Dang!

Thunder - hours of basketball analysis when you lose by one. What happens when you’re up by 40 for two hours?

KMARK drives by Luka (fat), spots Lebron rotating to the paint (late), sees a shooter in the corner, kicks the rock….BANG! Today we use a basketball analogy to introduce a golf article. There is no one more equipped to write this piece than the man I’m about to introduce. It’s an honor and pleasure. Now writing, from Soule Park Golf Men’s Club, please welcome, The Hairy Putter:

Hey sickos. We haven’t met yet, but the team behind KMARK 101 assured me that their audience (you) is deeply craving some non-specific, golf-centered musings from their favorite daily sports newsletter. As a former college pitcher and now frequent tinkerer in the golf equipment space, I’m all too familiar with a call to the bullpen. And so when the caller ID read “KM 101” and the voice on the other end said, “get Hairy Putter hot,” I wasted no time (within reason). First order or business? Ground rules. In order to make our time together worthwhile and properly scratch your golf itch, let’s establish a few working non-negotiables:

1. Keep it tasteful – no BLOCK LTTR hats

2. Keep it moving – net double bogey is your (my) friend

3. Keep it honest – play the ball down (no fluffers)

4. Keep it focused –  aim small, miss small

By no means an exhaustive list, but this ought to capture the spirit of what we’re (you and I) gonna be all about here.

Professional Golf won’t always be on our docket, but with the Philadelphia Cricket Club playing host to the PGA Tour’s Truist Championship this week, I couldn’t imagine starting anywhere else. Classic golf architecture on display in the city I called home (Go Quakers) for 4 years? Sign me up. But before I get carried away, let’s remind ourselves how we got here. 

It’s August 2024 and the former Wells Fargo Championship (former former Wachovia Championship) is void of both sponsorship and competitive venue for the 2025 edition. The PGA’s (range pros) uninspired choice of Quail Hollow Golf Club as host for their 2025 Championship left the PGA Tuwer with a choice to make. And for an organization that consistently markets its identity crisis to middle-aged men, the selection of Philly Cricket Club as one-off host for the newly coined Truist Championship is as striking of a selection as we could wish for. 

Golf fans have been trained to accept retreads throughout the men’s game. It’s not all too surprising, I suppose. You’ll hear words like scale and infrastructure and be forced to reckon with regrettable scenes like the 17th at TPC Craig Ranch last week. I don’t have any misgivings that the Tour won’t shoehorn some “gross shit” into the set-up and build-out at PCC this week. But for at least the remainder of this article, let’s highlight some aspects of this week that deserve laureates and may very well go underserved as you tune in over the weekend.

Did you know that PCC has the privilege of calling itself the country’s oldest country club? Their logo depicts an image of a man who is believed to be Delaware Chief Tedyuscung and the year of the club’s founding, 1854. I’m not gonna fact-check anyone on that (aim small, miss small), but as the name implies, Philly Cricket functioned as wicket and racquet hang for nearly 40 years before a member ever carded a birdie or bogey at the club. To this day, the club serves all manner of sporting enthusiasts (tennis, something called platform tennis, squash, padel, pickle, and yes, cricket again after an 80 year break). Predictably, the fellas got bored around the turn of the century and in 1895 turned to Willie Tucker (a stick in his own right) to route a 9-holer, turned 18-hole 1907 & 1910 U.S. Open venue, and back to 9-hole routing affectionately called St. Martin’s. It would not be until 1920 when the club called upon its own member A.W. Tillinghast (Quaker Ridge, Winged Foot, Bethpage Black, San Francisco) to design and build the now championship Wissahickon Course which opened 2 years later and 5 miles up the road.

Reinforced by a 2013 Keith Foster renovation, which restored the spirit of Tillinghast’s original vision, the Wissahickon stands on its own two feet in the company of neighboring giants, Merion and Pine Valley. The character on property is rich with a sense of place. Signature greens and amended yet thoughtful bunkering to challenge the modern player. Its routing is distinctive, marked by features such as The Great Hazard on hole 7, resembling similar templates on Bethpage Black and Pine Valley. Legend has it, the former club president had it temporarily filled to placate distressed members (his wife) who filed formal complaints (arguments over dinner). Not sure if net double could have made much of a difference here. 2002 brought PCC its 3rd course with Militia Hill, and gave the club the unique distinction of being the only club to open 3 18-hole golf courses in 3 different centuries.

No matter which story or frame of reference you prefer, it’s impossible to consider Philly Cricket outside of the unique backdrop that is Philadelphia’s golf community. Just down the road, you have a Perry Maxwell/Alister MacKenzie design in JC Melrose, which permanently closed just last year in the wake of a fallen tree tragically killing a golf cart passenger. On the more uplifting side, Tiger Woods himself has plans to restore Cobbs Creek Golf Club, establishing a brand new short course and educational facility for the community. Ironically, locals (and Rick Reilly) will tell you this is where President Trump first took up the game. Unclear as to whether Tiger’s new life partner played a role in this investment. We’re still respecting his privacy at this time.

And while the Tour may have sold you on the Creator Classic yesterday, you would have found a better deal sticking with podcast host and Philly icon, Jason Kelce, who took a more hands on approach with his tournament prep. The answers we’re looking for are in the dirt – “18 inspirations,” as Tillinghast called them. Some old school genius will be on display in Philly. So stay patient, stay curious and you might find some soul in the professional game for a change – just in time for golf’s second major back at Quail Hollow next week.