With Northern Europe currently sweltering in the midst of a heatwave, here are @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social's words on baked out courses from a few years ago... www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/brow...

Summertime at The Addington and the focus is on tee complexes. Work has now moved from the 8th to the 4th. @ivgd1.bsky.social on site today with MD Ryan Noades and CM Jonathan Taylor.

Pitchmarks #161 - REISSUE "Of heathery lies and heavenly days" open.substack.com/pub/pitchmar... @claytondevriespont.bsky.social @ivgd1.bsky.social

golf.com.au/news/clayton... Great piece on Adam Scott by Mike Clayton @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social

10th Hole, New Zealand GC, Surrey, England 2002 vs 2022 Designed by Tom Simpson Restored by @ivgd1.bsky.social #afterisalwaysbetter

Time surely to make a team’s event for women which includes the best players - Asians -in the world? Something akin to the Curtis and Ryder Cups. Maybe start with the Presidents Cup. Amateur or pro - doesn’t matter. Just something recognising their skills and contribution to the game.

A grotty day weatherwise for @ivgd1.bsky.social's visit to Sutton Coldfield. MacKenzie's proposed revisions and his thoughts on the final outcome adorn the clubhouse wall. Sadly, not everything was undertaken but what is there is very special and will be better for the upcoming TLC.

Work has started in earnest at Golf de St Cloud. @ivgd1.bsky.social on site with shapers Louis Bussemakers and Jamie Willis.

Holes That Aren't Holes The Addington, Surrey, England 11th tee to 5th green 200 yards #holesthatarentholes @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social

Much talk on Sky golf re players being between clubs. Just one more indication of how the game at the highest level is now more science than art. Anyone out there think Lee Trevino was ever between clubs?? 🙄

The first edition of Golf Club Atlas's new, smart periodical has arrived at HQ. Delighted to see both Blackwell and Fontainebleau included in the spotlight.

Jack Nicklaus first had his own golf tournament when he was 36 years old. He had one before Arnold Palmer. Amazing. Now it’s 50 years on. Wrote a little about it for the Daily Drive open.substack.com/pub/thedaily...

The glamorous life of the course architect... One minute you are marking out a bunker at Golf de St Cloud, the next you have fallen in head first. @ivgd1.bsky.social today after his slight mishap.

Course walk around Royal Dublin this afternoon with Shane Derby was squeezed in just before the rains arrived to break the drought. Won't look this brown shortly.

Holes That Aren't Holes 3rd tee to 2nd green The Royal Dublin GC #holesthatarentholes

@mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social trying to find the elusive top tier from 85 yards away at The Addington's newly restored 7th green. You may not see a longer backswing with a putter this year.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e... The latest guest is one of Australian golf’s finest - Mike Clayton @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social

The point being missed here is that watching really good players take on a course with a ball that a) is shorter and b) goes sideways more would make the pro game more interesting. As for longer hitters having an advantage, that is as it should be, albeit the current edge is wildly disproportionate.

Appleby's 15th - the Bell Hole. 176 yards of terror and fun traversing Hilton Beck, a beautiful stream, in search of a bathtub green. @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social wanted to see if the foregreen would make a good extension to the green. Committee member Ray Cousin was kind enough to hold the flag.

"The nuttiest of nutty holes in the world." @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social on Appleby's Bell Hole.

Work has commenced on our first new build in Europe - Val de Rois in Galicia, Spain. Gonzalo, Hendrik and Frank have been staking out the routing. Here's the 18th...

Emotional scenes there as Nicolas Colsaerts bows out of professional golf. A fine career. Magnificent ball-striker. And one of the best long-iron players of his or any other generation 👍

Frank at England's Berkhamsted GC yesterday walking the course with the committee as we continue work on the long-term course plan. @ivgd1.bsky.social

@mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social on the newly restored 7th at The Addington. #afterisalwaysbetter

Written at wentworth two years ago…. www.australiangolfdigest.com.au/aaron-rai-career-changing-2024-season-pga-tour-dp-world-tour-ryder-cup/

Aronimink is clearly terrific. But my heart aches for a time when the ball travels a sensible distance. Then we wouldn’t have such thick rough. Then we wouldn’t have bunkers in the rough. And the strategic creation of angles could then show this wonderful course in its absolutely best light 🤷‍♂️

One of the more famous backdrops. The 9th at Golf de St Cloud. 📷: @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social

St Cloud 9. Pretty iconic backdrop.

@ivgd1.bsky.social and @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social spent this morning at Golf de Fontainebleau. Course walk with the committee to discuss the next phase of our restoration. Also a chance to reintroduce Clayts to a tree he can't touch and the local cuisine. Apres c'est toujours mieux.

PGA Championship Notebook open.substack.com/pub/thealbat...

After yesterday's celebrations at The Addington and the unveiling of the newly restored 7th hole, @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social and @ivgd1.bsky.social provide an overview of the project and details of this year's work.

The Addington. 7 green restored. Maybe the world’s wildest green. 95y front to back. Reminds of the sadly -no matter how crazy they were -lost greens at Sitwell Park

He may be 10,000 miles from home but @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social has found a course and a site to make him drool - Appleby on the Cumbrian moors.

A course walk yesterday at Wallasey with its irrepressible CM John McLoughlin examining those areas that are earmarked for renovation. Also a change to see a Hole That Isn't A Hole (but used to be) - 9th tee to 10th green. Tough one-shotter. @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social @ivgd1.bsky.social

www.skratch.golf/news/golf-cu... Catriona Matthew's Major Win Ended With a Late- Night Bottle (Not That Kind)

This afternoon's course walk at Hallamshire in Sheffield. Clayts' search for teeing angles found a new extreme when he was found on the roof of a hut on the 17th. Inspected @ivgd1.bsky.social 's new 14th hole which is growing in well.

@mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social in praise of Sutton Coldfield during today's course walk, seen here with CM Chris Roberts.

@mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social Utrechtse GC De Pan

@mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social during yesterday's visit to Utrecht's De Pan, photographed here in search of a site for a new 18th tee. "I have always thought Morfontaine to be the best course on the continent but De Pan is wonderful and well worth its World Top 100 ranking." 📷: @ivgd1.bsky.social

Lot of intelligent thought here. Throw in the fact that the game at Eddie’s level would be more interesting played with a ball that moves more sideways and we have real hope for the game 👍

With thanks to Matt and Antonia at Angus & Grace, our summer team apparel arrived in the office today. At @mikeclaytongolf.bsky.social 's request, it's white shirts, cream waterproofs and seersucker hats all the way.

For the Saudis it was never about golf but domestic, regional and global politics. Once the calculus on that changed, the billions made no sense.