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Emilio Gonzalez Won the Trophy but We All Won the Albertsons Boise Open

BOISE, ID – Mexico’s Emilio Gonzalez dazzled the Korn Ferry Tour with a sparkling final round 61 to win the golf tournament, but the whole city of Boise won the Albertsons Boise Open. Indeed, the final chapter of the Korn Ferry Tour regular season was a rip-roaring success on every level, especially seeing as how organizers had to pull off not one, but three concerts...

The Albertson’s Boise Open, Where Dreams are Waiting to Come True

BOISE, ID – Now comes the knife’s edge, the crucible of the late season of the Korn Ferry Tour, where dreams of the Big Time! and Bigger Money! slumber cheek and jowl with the nightmare of another seemingly interminable year of slogging, soldiering, and soul searching. Some of these golfers are destined for the PGA Tour next year. Relief! Satisfaction! Success! It’s...

The Spectator’s Guide to Hillcrest Country Club and the Boise Albertson’s Open

BOISE, ID – [Author’s Note:  There’s watching golf and there’s there are WAYS TO WATCH THE GOLF, if you understand the nuance. Anyone can go to the tournament, but maximizing your enjoyment is the ultimate goal. What are you looking for? Golf action? The beer tent? The party scene? People watching? Being watched? If you’re going the Korn Ferry playoffs this week in...

Oakmonster – The Golf Course that Eats the Golfers

The next time it’s Halloween or your kids are out camping and everyone wants to tell ghost stories and other tales of horror, I’ve got the mother of all bloodthirsty slashers for you. Never mind the guy with the razor blade fingernails, or the dude with the Ghostface mask. Forget about Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. Not even Vincent Price or Edgar Allan Poe have...

Haunted by the Oakmonster on the Night Before the Open

Picture yourself for a moment lying in bed the night before you tee off in the U.S. Open…only it’s the U.S. Open at Oakmont. The National Open is routinely played at only the finest and most difficult golf courses in the country. “Golf’s Toughest Test” is the semi-official moniker, and the USGA means it. Historians may quibble as to the exact genesis of the inception...

Betting Odds to Win the 2025 U.S. Open

As you all know, we here at JF.com use VegasInsider.com for all our handicapping needs in any sport. Here are the up-t5o-the hour odds on the players in the field for Oakmont. Author’s Note:  That’s a great price for Bryson. Also Hovland, Lowry, and Cam Smith. Scottie Scheffler +470 Rory McIlroy +1000 Xander Schauffele +1200 Jon Rahm +1200 Ludvig Aberg...

News and Notes from the USGA – Awards, Venues, and Championship Details

We have a collection of announcements from the USGA to catch everyone up on:  awards, venues, and championship details. First and foremost, storied and historic Pine Valley will host the 2044 Walker Cup. I know it’s 20 years in the future (well 19 to be exact…) but beg borrow or steal to get there. Fabled Pine Valley opening its doors to the general...

Tales from Oakmont, America’s Grassy Golf Guillotine

Augusta National may be the most venerable course in America, Pebble Beach may be the most beautiful, and Winged Foot may be the Yankee Stadium of golf, but for my money, Oakmont may be our country’s greatest major championship venue, and it returns this summer for its record 10th U.S. Open Championship. Pittsburgh, PA is indeed the city of champions and befitting...

Golf Course Trades Runs My Stories of Oakmont Piece

Big thank you to Golf Course Trades for running my latest story – a retelling of many of the worst golf train wrecks at Oakmont. Oh Oakmont, our great grassy guillotine! We will see her again this June for the 125th U.S. Open. The story is here.  Here is a snippet from the piece: So the legend is actually true:  You could play the U.S. Open at Oakmont with...

Ski Area Management Magazine Runs my Golf Course Restoration Article

Ski Area Management, one of the most respected, intelligent, and important magazines in the winter sports world ran my story about how ski area golf courses can improve their designs with minimal cost. They really made it look good. And – BONUS! – Mt. Snow is renovating their golf course right now and over next season as well. We’ll have that story...

The Tedesco — The Sinking of a Ship, The Birth of a Club

[Author’s Note: Massachusetts’ Tedesco Country Club, a course designed and redesigned by many hands, including Wayne Stiles, Jon Van Kleek, and Donald Ross, and most recently renovated by Ron Forse, is named after one of the most famous shipwrecks in New England, the cargo bark Tedesco, which sank in a blizzard offshore over 160 years ago. To stretch my...