KMARK Memorial Day Weekend Preview

PGA - lean field after last week’s major, but Scottie’s in the house that Gil Hanse recently renovated. I’m watching Akshay Bhatia, Rickie, Scott, and Ryu Hisatsune. That’s enough juice for ya, right? Who’s grinding the cut line on Friday: Kevin Kisner, Si Woo, Jake Knapp.

NBA - Wolves face a must win game 3 Saturday, but if they lose then the series enters Turd Zone. Knick fans aren’t ready for this joy ride to end. Expect the Garden to be absolutely TENSE for Game 2.

NHL - is Dallas a golf/hockey town? Looks that way. Can the Stars take a 2-0 lead over Edmonton? A true north/south battle of Oil Towns.

MLB - last week was Rivalry Weekend. It’s branded and we’re all supposed to care about it. This weekend features Dodgers/Mets, Braves/Padres, and Cleveland/Detroit (for free Sunday morning on Roku). The Tigers have baseball’s best record. Read that again. Surely a storyline the Roku Boys are going to highlight.

It’s a Gil Hanse world and we’re just living it. Hanse is the Starchitect of choice for golf course renovations and his resume is exploding like a well thumped sixty degree from a greenside bunker. This weekend, his work is featured at the PGA (Colonial) and NCAA (Omni La Costa) tournaments. In a few weeks, the grandaddy of them all, we’ll get eyes on Hanse’s redesign of Oakmont at the US Open. Hanse also tackled the 2023 US Open host site LA Country Club, Pinehurst No. 4, and the 2016 Olympic course in Rio. Get a load of this guy!

His project list is significantly longer than the sites listed above. The Hairy Putter could no doubt put together 10,000 words on Gil in no time. Today, let’s bunt one down the fairway and talk what restoration even means.

Golf Courses are living animals. The best ones exist for decades (or centuries). Over time, traps decay from their original shaping. Greens flatten, contract or expand. Penalty areas from a different era perhaps don’t stand up to new technology like a Calloway Paradym Ai Smoke Max Driver. If the Paradym can’t cover the water, the Smoke Max can. What happens when too many players Smoke Max a course? Call in Gil.

Gil’s specialty is restoring courses to their original intentions. Shaping bunkers such that lips, curves, and run off areas present a challenge. He’s a green complex mastermind. Decade after decade of watering will smooth a green out. Hanse does amazing work to bring greens back to something Donald Ross would be proud of.

While Colonial this week is perhaps not the most TV worthy redesign, pay attention to the bunker complex on the par 3 13th. Note the pin location relative to the severe backstop and the different shelving on the green. This what they call the big guy in for. Use this week as a little Hanse appetizer. I’ll be at Soule Park today sampling his early work. Oakmont in three weeks.