THIS WEEK'S EDITIONS OF THE FIRST CALL

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Is newly minted Masters champion Scottie Scheffler on a hot streak of late or is he establishing himself as the game's most dominant player in the mold of the game's greatest players?

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> Read responses to last week's question.

Solheim Cup: Announces Skyscanner as the travel technology partner for the 2024 and 2026 matches. For Skyscanner, a search aggregator and travel agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland, this is its first multiyear sponsorship agreement. The company seeks to increase its brand awareness with travelers in some of the fastest growing segments in sport and sport tourism.

LPGA, Ladies European Tour: Announce a multiyear partnership with Nikon Inc., and the CoolShot Rangefinder will become the official rangefinder of both Tours. As part of the partnership, LPGA and LET players will receive Nikon rangefinders for use during competition and practice, with the rangefinders featuring a special competition mode to comply with the Rules of Golf. 

International Golf Federation: Celebrates April 23 as being 100 days until golf commences at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at Le Golf National. The men’s competition will be held Aug. 1-4, followed by the women’s competition Aug. 7-10. Paris 2024 marks the fifth time golf has been featured in the Olympics, and just the third time since 1904 after its return at Rio 2016.

American Golf Industry Coalition: To host its 16th National Golf Day in Washington, D.C., May 8-10. During the three-day event, a host of golf industry representatives will converge on Capitol Hill to discuss with policymakers key issues affecting the golf industry and highlight the industry’s economic impact. In 2023, the Coalition released a study that highlighted the golf industry's $102 billion direct economic impact, an increase of 20% over its $84 billion direct impact in 2016.

LPGA, Chevron: Announce that Chevron will extend its place as title sponsor of The Chevron Championship through 2029 and is increasing the purse of this year's first major to $7.9 million. The increase is $4.8 million over the last three years with Chevron’s title sponsorship. Also, players who miss the cut this week will receive $10,000, up from $5,000 in 2023, which is currently the highest missed-cut stipend on Tour.

Duca del Cosma: Italian fashion brand renews and elevates its commitment to the Association of Golf Merchandisers. Prior to the 2024 PGA Show in Orlando, Florida, Duca del Cosma was the presenting sponsor of the AGM Retail Conference opening. The company will share new footwear and glove launches, customized AGM buying promotions, and will participate in both regional and national AGM conferences. 

Witkoff Group, Access Industries, PPG Development: Announce that the newly rebranded Dutchman’s Pipe, after a multimillion-dollar renovation and complete overhaul of a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, will open in West Palm Beach, Florida, this fall. The course will be accompanied by elevated practice facilities, including a driving range exceeding 300 yards and two acres of dedicated short game area. 

Travis Club Austin: Breaks ground on its Beau Welling-designed golf course, which is part of a 1,500-acre master-planned community in Spicewood, Texas, west of Austin on Lake Travis. The championship course is scheduled to debut in late 2025 along with the accompanying practice facility, comfort stations and initial social outlet, the Golf House. 

Country Club of North Carolina: Pinehurst, North Carolina, course is selected to host the 2026 Carolinas Amateur and the 2027 Southern Amateur Championship. The Carolinas Amateur has been contested four previous times at CCNC — 1969, 1984, 2004 and 2018 — and will be held July 9-12. CCNC has hosted the Southern Amateur seven times previously, the last being in 2017.

Omni La Costa Resort & Spa: Announces that following a comprehensive renovation of its Champions Course by Hanse Golf Course Design, the layout will revert to its original name, the North Course, and will open for resort guest and member play beginning June 1. Originally designed by Dick Wilson and debuting in 1965, Omni La Costa’s North Course previously served as a home to notable PGA Tour events. For thirty years, the resort hosted the Mercedes Championships (originally called the Tournament of Champions) from 1969-1998, and has hosted the WGC-Accenture Match Play and the LPGA's Kia Classic. Also, the Legends Course at Omni La Costa is also going back to its original name, the South Course.

Casa de Campo Resort and Villas: Announces that its Pete Dye-designed Teeth of the Dog golf course in La Romana, Dominican Republic, will undergo a restoration project led by Jerry Pate Design beginning January 2025. Pate and his team will modernize and update the course with an assortment of predominantly cosmetic enhancements, the chief being a complete regrassing of Teeth of the Dog with Dynasty Paspalum. In addition to the turf on the tee boxes, fairways and greens, three inches of sand will be added to the fairways before seeding for improved playability and irrigation. Teeth of the Dog will reopen for resort and member play in November 2025.

Memorial Tournament: Accepts entries from two-time winner Patrick Cantlay, past Memorial and major winner Hideki Matsuyama, Sahith Theegala and Tommy Fleetwood. The PGA Tour's 49th Memorial Tournament is June 3-9 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

Folds of Honor Collegiate: Announces that the third tournament will be contested Sept. 9-11 at the Jack Nicklaus-designed American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan. This year’s tournament has expanded to 15 men’s and women’s teams, and will be a 54-hole format that will broadcast live on Golf Channel. Also, Michelob Ultra has been named as a presenting sponsor. 

United States Golf Association: Reigning champion Wyndham Clark and all the Official World Golf Ranking top 50 are among the 10,052 entries that have been accepted for the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina. The U.S. Open will be held at the venue for the fourth time, June 13-16. This is the third time in championship history that the number of entries has exceeded 10,000. The record was established last year when 10,187 entries were accepted. In 2014, 10,127 entered to play.

LIV Golf: Announces that Grammy Award-winning artists Macklemore and Dan + Shay will perform live at the LIV Golf League’s debut tournaments in Houston and Nashville, respectively. Macklemore will perform on June 8 at the Golf Club of Houston, while Dan + Shay will perform at The Grove on June 22 at LIV Golf Nashville. All event grounds passes and hospitality tickets for June 8 and June 22 include the concerts.

Ram Golf: Introduces its FXT irons that promote increased yardage, improved feel and more forgiveness. The irons feature a dual material face and have a muscleback design to deliver a forged-like effect. Clubs are offered in an anodised black finish or a chrome satin finish and are available with a choice of aftermarket shafts. The irons retail for $399.99 and are available at RamGolf.com.

LPGA Tour: Introduces the "Inside the LPGA Podcast," which is hosted by the LPGA’s Hope Barnett and golf journalist Adam Stanley, alongside weekly guest hosts. Each episode will feature informative discussions about golf enhanced by KPMG Performance Insights and interviews with top LPGA Tour athletes. The podcast is available on YouTube, LPGA.com, Spotify, Amazon, Apple and all other major podcast platforms.

Jupiter Links Golf Club: The TGL team co-owned by Tiger Woods announces that Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner will join Woods on the four-man roster that is set to compete in the league’s inaugural season that launches Jan. 7.

Presidents Cup: International Team captain Mike Weir announces Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas as captain’s assistants for the 2024 Presidents Cup, which will be played at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, Sept. 24-29.

International Golf Federation: Guy Kinnings, chief executive of the European Tour group, has been elected as the new chairman of the IGF Board. Kinnings will serve in the role through 2027, inclusive of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics Games. Kinnings takes over as the IGF chairman from former European Tour Group chief executive Keith Pelley.

LIV Golf: David Phillipps is been named chief financial officer; Ross Hallett has been named EVP, head of events; Katie O’Reilly has been named EVP, head of team business operations; Tim Taylor has been appointed to a new EVP role and will also lead LIV Golf’s London office; and Pam Sacree has been named Head of Human Resources. All of these new executive positions will be based in either LIV Golf’s New York or London offices and will start working over the coming weeks.