THIS WEEK'S EDITIONS OF THE FIRST CALL

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The First Call's Gary Van Sickle wrote about professional golf's pace-of-play issue and the Shot Clock Masters. How do you believe the issue should be addressed? 

Send replies on this question or other topics and questions you would like to have asked to shall@buffalogroupe.com. For a response to be published, you must include your first and last name, along with the city and state of residence.

> Responses to last week's question: What’s the worst golf advice you’ve ever received? | Read

Turf Life: Unveils its updated website at TurfLifeClub.com, which launched in 2013 and celebrates all aspects of turf culture, including the sports, athletes and industry professionals that depend on the quality of grass. The expanded website allows consumers to purchase branded apparel and merchandise.

Aescape: Partners with Invited to expand its fully automated, customized massage experience to Jupiter Country Club in Jupiter, Florida, and The Hills in Austin, Texas. Aescape provides robotic massage technology for personalized recovery and this partnership mark's the company's third market expansion since its commercial launch in August. 

Evergreen Partners: Acquires The Blackthorn Club, located in Jonesborough, Tennessee, from its founding developers, Rab Summers and Duke Ingram. The private club features an Arthur Hills-designed championship golf course and a stately clubhouse offering multiple indoor and outdoor dining venues. Other amenities include a 17,000-square-foot indoor tennis and fitness facility, four outdoor tennis courts and three pickleball courts.

PGA Tour: Nine tournaments were recognized with Best Of awards for the 2024 season at the Tour's annual Tournament Meetings held this year in Orlando, Florida. The 2024 BMW Championship, contested at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado, was named Tournament of the Year for a record sixth time. Other winners included The Ophelia Project (The American Express), Charity of the Year; Ken Hoffman (Arnold Palmer Invitational), Volunteer of the Year; Travelers Championship, Best On-Site Staging; Travelers Championship, Most Fan-First Event; John Deere Classic, Most Engaged Community; Rocket Mortgage Classic, Best Volunteer Program; John Deere Classic, Best Title Sponsor Integration; The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Best Charitable Impact and Integration; RBC Canadian Open, Best Marketing Initiative; Rocket Mortgage Classic, Fair Way Award; Zurich Classic of New Orleans, PGA Tour Sustainability Award; WM Phoenix Open (Concert in the Coliseum), Best Special Event; WM Phoenix Open (Tee Side Seats), Best Product; Myrtle Beach Classic (The Q at Myrtle Beach), Best-In-Class Element; BMW Championship, Best Tournament Sales.

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Caledonia Golf & Fish Club: Rises to No. 76 on Golf Magazine’s biennial list of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play, moving up eight spots from the Pawleys Island, South Carolina, course's previous ranking. Course architect Mike Strantz’s first solo design, Caledonia blends South Carolina’s Lowcountry beauty with the late architect’s vivid imagination.

Vineyards Country Club: Completes extensive redesign and renovation of its North Course, a championship 18-hole course originally designed by golf architect Mark McCumber. The project, which began in March 2024, was overseen by course architect Kipp Schulties and included expanding yardage from the professional tees, returfing tees, fairways and rough with Bimini Bermudagrass on tees, fairways and roughs, and refurbishing bunkers with Par Angle White sand.

PGA West: Completes its multimillion-dollar, three-year restoration initiative across its three Pete Dye-designed resort courses. The investment was made by new owner Hankuk Industry, which owns golf courses throughout the United States and Japan, and Century Golf Partners, an established operator of high-end clubs and resorts. Course architect Tim Liddy oversaw the restoration of the Stadium, Mountain and Dunes courses. The Pete Dye Stadium Course is host to the PGA Tour’s The American Express, which is slated for Jan. 16-19.

Witch Way: The ball marker that made became prominent at the Valspar Championship is now available for purchase. Witch Way is a precise, rotating ball marker on a spike with a line on top to achieve perfect aiming of the line on your ball. It also has a notch that shows marker movement using a blade of grass as a reference. The ball marker is available as a single ($9.99) or as a five-pack with a carrying case ($29.99) and can be ordered at FinnScooters.com/pages/witchway.

Wanabi Puerto Rico: Wins a Suncoast Regional Emmy in the Editing – Long Form Content category for its documentary series, "Puerto Rico Swing." The series, produced by Wanabí Puerto Rico in collaboration with Rums of Puerto Rico, celebrates Puerto Rican resilience and excellence through the lens of golf, and chronicles the journeys of professional Puerto Rican golfers Rafa Campos and Robi Calvesbert. 

PGA Tour: To premiere exclusive programs on Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele across its PGA Tour channels. "Scottie 24," which documents Scheffler's dominant 2024 season, airs Dec. 23 at 9 a.m. ET on the PGA Tour YouTube channel, with a network premiere on Golf Channel on Jan. 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET. "Xander Embedded" will give fans an opportunity to go behind-the-scenes with Schauffele, leading up to and throughout the 2025 PGA Tour season. The show premieres Dec. 27 at 9 a.m. ET on the PGA Tour YouTube channel, PGATour.com and PGA Tour social channels, with six additional episodes of the series set to release throughout the 2025 season. Both programs will also be available on PGA Tour Fast channels, including PlutoTV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi and XUMO.

Giants Ridge: Director of golf John Kendall is named the Facility Promoter of the Year in the Resort Category for 2024 by the Minnesota PGA section. The award recognizes Minnesota PGA professionals for outstanding contributions to their facility. Giants Ridge is located in Biwabik, Minnesota.

U.S. Golf Association: Colorado native Hale Irwin, a World Golf Hall of Famer and five-time USGA champion, has been named honorary chair of the 45th U.S. Senior Open Championship to be played at The Broadmoor Golf Club’s East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 25-29. Irwin is a two-time U.S. Senior Open champion.

LPGA Foundation: Names Ashaunta Epps as the inaugural recipient of the Carrie Russell Champion for Change Award. This new award recognizes an LPGA Professional who demonstrates exceptional leadership in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within golf. Carrie Russell broke barriers by becoming the first Black American to achieve Class A and LPGA Master Life Professional Member status and later served as the first president of the LPGA Professionals Northeast Section. Epps is CEO and founder of A Perfect Swing Inc., a nonprofit foundation that seeks to make golf more accessible and had introduced over 3,500 women and over 5,000 youth to golf.

PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler, the 2024 FedEx Cup champion and world No. 1, wins the Jack Nicklaus Award as the 2024 PGA Tour Player of the Year. Scheffler, who won seven PGA Tour events in 2024, the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the season-long FedEx Cup title, is the first player since Tiger Woods (2005-2007) to win Player of the Year honors in three consecutive seasons. Player of the Year is determined by a member vote, with PGA Tour members who played in at least 15 events during the 2024 season eligible to vote. Scheffler received 91% of the vote and was selected over two other nominees — Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy.