Mark Hubbard is scheduled play in this week's RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and while his name may not be recognizable, there has been no shortage of opportunities to see him play. The 2022-23 season-ending RSM Classic is the PGA Tour's 54 tournament, and the 34-year-old Hubbard is making his 39th start, the most of any player in a single season since such records started being kept in 1983. Hubbard, ranked 90th in the Official World Golf Ranking, currently is 61st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and needs to crack 60th to qualify for The Next 10. Nos. 51-60 in the standings earn access two earl 2024 -season Signature Events — the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. Hubbard has six top-10 finishes in his 38 previous starts.

IN THIS ISSUE

> Design Notes: Tripp Davis completes a vintage bunker reno at Sonoma GC | Read
> How to fix the U.S. Ryder Cup team selection process | Read

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holidays rolling around, what one golf item is on your gift list to receive this year?

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.
> Read responses to last week's question.

Future Champions Golf: To begin using the Clippd golf data platform for its tournaments. Clippd currently provides golf scoring and ranking services for the NCAA, NJCAA, NAIA and in-depth performance insights for over 120 Division I, II and III college programs.

PGA Tour: Joe Gorder, executive chairman of Valero Energy Corporation, is unanimously approved by a vote of the PGA Tour Policy Board to join the board as an independent director, effective immediately. Gorder succeeds Randall Stephenson, who resigned in July 2023 after more than 12 years of service. 

Aon, LPGA: Angel Yin wins the 2023 Aon Risk Reward Challenge, and will receive the Aon Trophy and a $1 million prize. The award is presented to the player who performs the best statistically on the most strategically challenging holes throughout the LPGA Tour season. Yin went for the green on 46% of this year’s Challenge holes, compared to her overall percentage of 12% on all drivable par-4s and second-shot par-5s. As a result, Yin reached the green successfully 24% of the time on the Challenge holes.

PGA Tour: Chris Kirk receives the recipient of the 2023 PGA Tour Courage Award. Kirk, 38, took a leave of absence from the Tour in May of 2019 to address issues of alcohol abuse and depression. He returned to the Tour later that year after a break of more than six months, regained exempt status in 2021 through a Major Medical Extension and in 2023, earned his fifth PGA Tour title and first since 2015. The award, established in 2012, is presented to a person who, through courage and perseverance, has overcome extraordinary adversity.

> Jay Monahan tells players PGA Tour remains on track to deal with Saudi Arabia amid rumors
[Joel Beall | Golf Digest | Read]

> A rebuffed bid to inject a little basketball into the PGA Tour
[Lauren Hirsch | DealBook | Read]

> Can golf really change? Streamsong’s new short course, The Chain, is a model worth watching
[Brendan Quinn | The Athletic | Read]

> Camilo Villegas’s comeback was sparked by a caddie who loves to coach
[Doug Ferguson | Associated Press | Read]

European Tour: DP World Tour Championship
Site: Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth), Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Television [ET]: Thursday-Saturday, 2-8 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1:30-7:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).

LPGA Tour: CME Group Tour Championship
Site: Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Fla.
Television [ET]: Thursday-Friday, 3-5 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel-tape delay); Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (NBC).
GCSAA Fact Sheet

PGA Tour: RSM Classic
Site: Sea Island Golf Club, St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Television [ET]: Thursday-Friday, noon to 3 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel).
GCSAA Fact Sheet

BEHIND THE GOLF BRAND
Seamus Golf: More than meets the eye
Co-founder and CEO Akbar Chisti joins host Paul Liberatore to discuss his company's origins as a clubhead manufacturer and its growth
[Listen | More 'Behind the Golf Brand' episodes]

DRIVER$
Technology innovation fuels 'smart ranges'
Toptracer national sales director Alex Goodman joins co-hosts Jon Last and David Klein to talk about how technology is driving on-course revenue
[Listen | More 'Driver$' episodes]

THE MODGOLF PODCAST
Storyteller Danielle Tucker talks golf and a 25-plus-year radio career
The Hawaii-based host of 'The Golf Club Radio Show' joins host Colin Weston to share tales of her more than quarter century in journalism and how her show has evolved
[Listen | More 'The ModGolf Podcast' episodes]

> Head Professional (St. Martins Course)
Philadelphia Cricket Club
Flourtown, Pennsylvania | Info

> Manager Communications, Championship Management
PGA Tour
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida | Info

> 2024 USGA P.J. Boatwright Internship (Communications)
Colorado Golf Association
Greenwood Village, Colorado | Info

> View a complete listing of jobs

Make Golf Your Career is a golf industry DE&I initiative launched by Make Golf Your Thing that allows job seekers to search, find and apply for opportunities throughout the industry in one place.

JANUARY
23-26: PGA Show, Orlando, Florida | Info
29-February 1: GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, Phoenix, Arizona | Info

MARCH
4-8: Club Management Association of America World Conference and Club Business Expo, Las Vegas, Nevada | Info

> View complete calendar

To submit events for the calendar, please include the event name, date, location and informational link to info@firstcallgolf.com.