Quiet on the tee, please: The golfers would like to focus on golf now

Kevin Lynch had come to TPC River Highlands to have a few laughs with his old Navy buddy, Tony Davison, and play in the Monday pro-am at the Travelers Championship last year. Back in the day, the two had served together on the USS Boston, a nuclear-powered attack submarine. Davison was a torpedoman and Lynch ran the food service operation. Even then, the two loved golf, storing clubs under their bunks just in case a course was nearby when they weren't out to sea. RELATED: RSM Birdies Fore Love "We were kids," Lynch says, laughing. "We were silly enough to think that if we took our clubs with us on board that if we pulled into Scotland, we’d be able to go play St. Andrews. What did we know?" On this Monday, Lynch and Davison were paired with Dylan Frittelli, a South African in his first full season on the PGA TOUR. He was drawn to the good-natured banter and barbs between the two old friends, as well as their shared military background. "I was quizzing them on how it all worked and the Navy because my sports psychologist, Jay Brunza, was a Navy psychologist," Frittelli says. "… So, a lot of the stories I’ve heard from Jay about going down to Antarctica and serving in Desert Storm and stuff." On Wednesday before the tournament started, Frittelli met Lynch and Davison at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. Davison, who works for a global defense contractor with offices there, had arranged for a tour of the USS South Dakota. Weapons, sonar, navigation and intelligence were just a few of the departments they explored on the massive boat. "Now I had at this point been out since my gosh, 25 years," Lynch recalls. "So, everything was different. … It was shocking to me. And Dylan was just mesmerized." "It was so cool," agrees Frittelli, who Lynch remembers peppering the SMEs or, the ship's Subject Matter Experts, with thought-provoking questions about things like oxygen displacement and hydrogen storage on the submarine. But Frittelli and Lynch bonded over something else, too. Something much less visible, but just as powerful - their shared interest in mental health. Lynch runs a non-profit called the Quell Foundation which awards college scholarships to students who have a mental health diagnosis or have lost a close family member or caregiver to suicide. The foundation has distributed more than $1.8 million to students in 49 states at over 450 universities since its inception in 2015. Lynch had given a book about the organization to Frittelli, who was intrigued and went to Google to learn more. So, three months later, when the 30-year-old led the field with 24 birdies at last year's Sanderson Farms Championship he knew just what to do with the $50,000 he won in the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition. He gave it all to the Quell Foundation, which Lynch started in response to his son's struggle with managing his bi-polar disorder and kicking a heroin addiction that led to two incarcerations. "What Dylan did is something that really shocked me to my core because it was just a very, it was very kind and thoughtful thing," Lynch says. "… It really was all part of a chance meeting and a discussion. We were walking down the fairway just talking — everybody knows somebody, you have 63 million Americans that live with a mental health illness. "That’s kind of the connection we were talking about. It went back and forth. And obviously, he was listening." For Frittelli, it was personal in so many ways. His father Ray has struggled with mental illness over the last decade or so, although he currently is in a good place. "Obviously being away from him playing golf and being at Texas is it’s kind of been tough for me to figure that stuff out," Frittelli says. "But he’s done well now, and we’ve managed to get him back on track and he’s totally healthy and functional now. … "And I just think it’s something that very few people and men, especially, it’s a really tough thing for men to talk about." When Frittelli was in college at Texas, he encountered another kind of mental health issue. A friend on the women's soccer team, Kylie Doniak was nearly run over by a drunk driver as she was leaving downtown Austin one night. She had numerous broken bones and was in a coma for weeks. "And the main thing was the head injury she sustained," Frittelli recalls. "So, in that sense, obviously it was a traumatic thing, but the recovery she made from that accident was amazing for me to see firsthand." Just last week, Frittelli had a friend back home in Austin commit suicide. Plus, the South African has extended family in that college town, and a friend of those relatives came back from serving in Afghanistan with PTSD. So, Frittelli knows better than most that taking care of a person's mental health is as important to life as the good nutrition he practices and the exercise he makes sure to get each day. "I always try and tell people there are like three or four facets of your life," Frittelli says. "You've got to exercise, stay fit, stay healthy there. You’re got to have a good diet. And then you also got to have good mental health and people don’t see that as a facet of life. They just think that’s something that’ll take care of itself. Like if you’re happy, you’ll be well adjusted and fine. "But through my work with my sports psychologist, I’ve realized that no, it’s just like your physical side. You have to go to the gym, you have to work on it. And the mental side too, you got to feed your brain with the right chemicals. You’ve got to eat well, you’ve got to meditate, and you’ve got to find things that give you the advantage there and not to go down the negative path." Frittelli's donation provided Quell Foundation scholarships for 40 students, giving them a different kind of advantage in life. The scholarships are broken into three areas - the Survivor, the Fighter and the Bridge The Gap, which go to students pursuing a degree related to the provision of mental health services. Part of the application process is writing an essay, and Lynch says those words are powerful. "If you can imagine reading 300 essays of people talking some of the worst times in their life," Lynch says. "You know, sexual assault or losing a parent, finding a parent who committed suicide, having depression, having been hospitalized for two years — all of them are really traumatic stories. "And yet, I’m looking at their GPA and they’re 3.9, 3.5. And these are people who are going on to some of the best colleges in our country and you just want to freaking hug them and say, ‘I don’t know how you did it, but Holy smokes, let me help you.'" Four of the Fighter grants Frittelli's donation funded went to student athletes, a new scholarship category created in part because of his gift. Three have a primary diagnosis of anxiety, the other of depression. Two of them have PTSD. But they are succeeding in life — two are premed, one is a psychology major and the other one is a nursing major. "I say this all the time, there are people out there who impact lives that they will never know," Lynch said. "Dylan will never meet these 40 kids. He will never know who they are and what they go on to do, but he made a difference in their life. That's a huge, huge thing.”

Click here to read the full article…

The CME Group Tour Championship’s purse in 2019 will double to $5 million, with the winner getting $1.5 million, the largest first-place share in women’s golf history.

Click here to read the full article…

THE OVERVIEW CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After spending the previous 14 years as host of the PGA TOUR’s Wells Fargo Championship, the Quail Hollow Club this week hosts its first major, the PGA Championship. Same location. Not exactly the same course. There are three new holes (Nos. 1, 4 and 5). Two other holes (Nos. 9 and 11) were modified. All 18 greens were reconstructed and resurfaced with Bermudagrass. More than 43 acres of sod were installed, with 200,000 pounds of earth moved and re-arranged. This all happened in less than 90 days last summer. Very impressive. So it’s different. Definitely different than in 2010 when the PGA of America announced Quail Hollow as the host venue for this year’s final major. But just how different? “It’s going to play a lot different,â€� said defending PGA champion Jimmy Walker, who has played 22 rounds at Quail Hollow since making his first Wells Fargo start in 2005. But another Quail Hollow veteran, Rory McIlroy, said the course is essentially 83 percent the same. “Obviously there has been a few changes and there’s a couple holes that look a little different,â€� said McIlroy, who has two wins and four other top 10s in seven career starts here. “But for the most part, 15 of the 18 holes are pretty much the same.â€� Phil Mickelson — who has more experience at Quail Hollow (52 rounds on TOUR) than anybody in the field except perhaps Quail Hollow resident/club member Webb Simpson – said the changes are noticeable but not jarring. “It’s actually made the golf course a little bit tougher, but it’s done it in a very subtle way, rather than overdoing it, overcontouring the greens, overcontouring things.â€� Tougher seems to be a word everybody can agree on. Last year when it hosted the Wells Fargo, the course played to a par 72 at 7,575 yards. The scorecard this week is just 25 additional yards (to 7,600) but now playing to a par 71. It’s the opening stretch that’s most noticeable. What used to be a gentle, inviting start to the round could very well be an immediate slap in the face. The par-4 first previously played at 418 yards; now it’s a 524 yards, essentially combining the old first and second holes. The old second was a par-3 at 178 yards; now it’s a par-4 at 452 yards. Meanwhile, about 30 yards was added to the third hole and is now at 483 yards. The opening three holes could rival Quail Hollow’s famed three-hole closing stretch (aka the Green Mile) as the most challenging on the course. Add the new No. 4 (a par 3 that was once a par 4) and No. 5 (a par 4 that was once a par 5) and there’s no easing into the round. “Used to be you got through the first five holes here at 1- or 2-under par and that was a decent start,â€� McIlroy said. “Now you get through the first five holes at even par – and that’s when the golf course starts to open up for you.â€� How much it will open up remains to be seen. An inch of rain this week has softened the fairways and will make the course play longer without the usual rollout. Plus, the third Bermuda rough will punish wayward shots. Said Walker: “There’s no worse grass to try to hit out of the rough than this stuff, especially when it’s wet.â€� Jordan Spieth called it “brutal.â€� “This is going to be,â€� Spieth added, “one of the most challenging tracks I think that we’ve played.â€� Three weeks ago, Spieth won The Open Championship with a score of 12 under. In June, Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open at 16 under. Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose reached 9 under at the Masters in April before Garcia won in a playoff. From the sound of things, it doesn’t appear the winning score this week will get close to the other three majors this season. “You put in rough now that is extremely challenging, rough around the greens,â€� Mickelson said, “and you’ve got a major championship that a score very close to par is going to end up winning.â€� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Jordan Spieth Says he hasn’t been this relaxed going into a major since Chambers Bay in 2015. We all know what happened there. Hideki Matsuyama T-11 at Masters. T-2 at U.S. Open. T-14 at the Open. Hear that sound? It’s Hideki knocking on a major door. Rory McIlroy Given the course changes at Quail Hollow, are we overplaying the whole Rory-has-won-here-twice angle? Perhaps. The Flyover Say hello to the Green Mile, one of golf’s most treacherous three-hole closing stretches. At last year’s Wells Fargo Championship, it played to a cumulative 0.734 strokes over par. The 16th, at 506 yards, is one of three par 4s more than 500 yards this week. The signature 17th, at 223 yards, has a green that’s practically an island. And the 494-yard 18th was merely ranked as the hardest closing hole on the PGA TOUR last season. So, you know, have fun with all that. The Landing Zone Jordan Spieth said that if he were a fan this week, he would hang out at the 14th hole, which is 344 yards, the shortest par-4 on the course (the eight is 346 yards). “You would see guys potentially driving greens and you see short holes yielding really anything,â€� Spieth said. “You can make a 5 or 6 there pretty easily too. I think short drivable par 4s are the most fun holes for me.â€� Last year, the 14th played to a stroke average of 4.002 with just two eagles. Here’s where all tee shots landed last year. Weather Check Quail Hollow has already had an inch of rain this week, and the forecast doesn’t provide any comfort once the tournament starts. “It’s softened the golf course certainly more than we would want, and I think more than everybody would want,â€� said the PGA of America’s chief championships officer, Kerry Haigh. “But golf is an outdoor sport and it is what it is.â€� For the latest weather news Charlotte, North Carolina, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. Sound Check “Do I have to be the youngest? No, I don’t feel that kind of pressure. Would it be really cool? Absolutely.â€� Odds and Ends 1. LAST TWO CHAMPS. Defending PGA champ Jimmy Walker and 2015 winner Jason Day say they are on the upswing after going through some struggles (both on and off the course) this season. Walker, who earlier this year was diagnosed with Lyme disease, said about his form: “It’s trending. It feels pretty.â€� Said Day, whose mother underwent successful lung cancer surgery in the spring: “I feel like I’m starting to turn the corner.â€� 2. SPEAKING OF DAY. If he indeed turns the corner this week, he’ll do so without much practice time at Quail Hollow. He didn’t register at the course until Wednesday morning after flying to Charlotte the night before. Day has played the Wells Fargo Championship twice, but the last time was five years ago. He said he’s not worried; last year at Baltusrol, he played just one practice round and finished second behind Walker. “You know, there’s been tournaments where I’ve walked up and haven’t even played a practice round and I’ve played well,â€� he said. 3. WHAT DID I JUST EAT? Jordan Spieth went to a Charlotte restaurant called the Cowfish. It’s a sushi burger bar. “I had no idea how to feel going in with the menu, just burgers and sushi,â€� Spieth said. “I needed like a 20-minute break afterward to try to figure out what I just ate. But it was good.â€� 4. IT’S BEEN SEVEN YEARS. At Whistling Straits in 2010, Dustin Johnson had a one-shot lead with one hole to play but was penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a bunker off the 18th fairway. The T-5 finish remains his best in seven PGA starts. “I don’t think it owes me one,â€� Johnson said when asked about the controversial ruling. “It was my fault. I grounded a club in what they still say is a bunker.â€�

Click here to read the full article…