Oct 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Eleven Years, 100 Starts, and One Very Big Sunday
Smotherman finally wins, Woodland opens up, and your next round gets simpler
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Eleven years. One hundred starts. Austin Smotherman finally won one.
He did it at Black Desert, which is the course we spent all of last week telling you to go play.
Gary Woodland won again too — his first since brain surgery — and then said something I haven’t stopped thinking about. He’s been fighting PTSD the whole way back, and he called it a fight he has every day.
I don’t have a clean transition from that to a wedge sale. But we’ve also got a five-second pause that keeps one bad swing from turning into three, the clubs in your bag that are quietly the hardest to hit, a polo, and a South Carolina course you can get on before it officially opens.
Then a Texas bourbon that sat through three summers in Hye.
Let’s tee off.
Birdies: Where the Pros Play 🏆
Austin Smotherman Finally Got One
Austin Smotherman spent 11 years chasing his first PGA Tour victory. On Sunday he finally got it, winning the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert in his 100th career start.
The 32-year-old finished at 26-under — a tournament record — two shots ahead of Doug Ghim, and collected $1.08 million. He also locked up a two-year exemption that carries him into 2028, which is a nice week for a guy who showed up ranked 121st in the world.
It wasn’t a stress-free Sunday. He made double bogey on the 13th after a fight with a bunker, cutting his lead to one. Birdie on 14. Birdie on 16. Then a bogey on 17 that gave Ghim hope. Then a 323-yard drive on 18, the green in two, and a tap-in to finish it.
Smotherman’s own verdict: “It didn’t have to be pretty. I got some nice bounces.”
Eleven years of grinding, and the winning round still had a bunker shot he’d like back. I find that weirdly comforting.
Gary Woodland's Biggest Win Wasn't Just About Golf
Gary Woodland had brain surgery in September 2023 and was back competing four months later. Fans treated it as a comeback story. He was struggling with PTSD the whole time and didn’t tell anyone.
He finally spoke about it earlier this year. Two weeks later, he won the Houston Open by five — his first PGA Tour victory since the 2019 U.S. Open.
He’s since described what hiding it actually looked like.
“There are days when it’s tough — crying in the scoring trailer, running to my car just to hide it.”
He’s recorded six top-10 finishes since and returned to the Tour Championship for the first time in seven years.
He’s also been clear that recovery isn’t finished just because the wins are back.
Bogeys: For Us Weekend Golfers 🏌️♂️
Your Golf Swing Might Need a Pause, Not More Speed
Ever hit a bad shot and rushed into the next one, determined to make up for it? I’ve done it plenty of times. The second one is usually worse, and that’s how one bad swing turns into three.
Golf Digest draws a useful line between slow play and slowing yourself down. They’re not the same thing, and only one of them is a problem.
At the 2022 PGA Championship, Mito Pereira rushed his swing on the final hole and found the water. Cameron Young does the opposite — his trademark pause at the top produced a 375-yard drive on the 72nd hole of this year’s Players.
Try this: before your next important shot, pick a specific target, take one deliberate breath, and commit to the swing. You don’t need an extra minute. Sometimes five seconds is enough to stop yourself from making a very expensive mistake.
The Hardest Clubs to Hit Might Already Be in Your Bag
There’s probably a club in your bag you haven’t hit well in months. You keep carrying it because, well, you paid for it.
Golf Monthly makes the point that some of the toughest clubs to hit come standard. The 3-wood is brutal off a tight fairway lie. The 4- and 5-iron ask for more speed and cleaner contact than most of us produce on a given Saturday.
Your putter can be working against you too. If an off-the-rack 34 inches has you hunched over like you’re looking for a lost contact lens, the length doesn’t fit you.
Try this: think about which clubs you actually trust. If your 3-wood spends more time collecting headcover dust than finding fairways, test a 5-wood or a hybrid. And get the putter measured.
There’s no prize for carrying the hardest 14 clubs in golf.
Gear Drop: This Week’s Picks ⛳
Mizuno Pro T-1 Blue Ion Custom Wedge: $129.99
If you're going to spend money on a wedge, it might as well be one you enjoy looking at. Mizuno's Blue Ion finish certainly handles that part.
Underneath the flashy color is a forged carbon-steel head with a copper underlay for softer feel, plus grooves designed to maintain spin in wet conditions. Six sole options let you choose what suits your swing.
My take: A beautiful wedge with serious short-game credentials. Just get the right grind, because that blue finish won't save you from digging halfway to China.
VRST Men’s Golf Pivot Printed Polo: From $21.97
Every golf group has that one guy who shows up looking like he's headed to a resort instead of the first tee. This polo might make you that guy.
The Glassware Black print brings some personality without going overboard. The lightweight stretch fabric is built to breathe and wick moisture when the back nine gets hot.
My take: A fun alternative to another plain navy polo. Comfortable enough for 18 holes and presentable enough for the clubhouse afterward. Your scorecard may still be ugly, but at least your shirt won't be.
A better round.
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Bourbon: Life on the 19th Hole 🥃
⭐ Course of the week ⭐
Candyroot Lodge — Jefferson, South Carolina
South Carolina has plenty of private golf clubs most of us will never get invited to play.
Candyroot Lodge is taking a different approach.
This new public golf destination sits on more than 1,200 acres of Carolina Sandhills, about an hour from Charlotte. Its first 18-hole course, designed by Mike Koprowski — the same name behind Broomsedge — opens for preview play October 28, with a full public opening planned for spring 2027. Michelle Wie West is helping design the second, a lighted par-3 called Sweet Tooth.
The interesting part is how little Koprowski changed the land.
The fairways follow natural sandy ridges and gullies, with small sloping greens and relatively few bunkers. Some shots are partially blind, and the terrain can make uphill approaches look downhill. It’s the kind of course where your eyes might get you into more trouble than your swing.
Where you'll lose shots: trusting what the green looks like from 150 yards instead of checking the actual slope. Those small, tilted greens won't be forgiving.
How to play it smarter: pay attention to the contours and leave yourself an uphill putt whenever possible. Sometimes the safer play is landing short and letting the ball run onto the green.
Would I make the trip? Absolutely. Once preview play begins, this looks like the kind of course worth planning a day around. Michelle Wie West is also helping design Sweet Tooth, a lighted par-3 course with flexible layouts that should make the evenings just as entertaining as the main course.
Planning a visit?
Preview play: Begins October 28, 2026
Full public opening: Planned for spring 2027
Reservations: Limited Day Passes rather than traditional tee times
Facilities: Temporary during preview play, with permanent lodging and restaurants still to come
I’d happily make the trip once those sandy fairways open for preview play. If the greens are as tricky as advertised, I might need another day just to recover from the three-putts.
This Week’s Pour
Garrison Brothers Small Batch
Texas summers are brutal enough without spending three years trapped inside a bourbon barrel.
Garrison Brothers Small Batch is a 94-proof straight bourbon made entirely in Hye, Texas, from corn, wheat, and barley, aged at least three years in new American white oak. No Kentucky sourcing, no shortcuts — just some very hardworking barrels. A 750ml runs $79.99.
Tasting notes:
Aroma: Golden apple, honey, cinnamon, and floral notes
Taste: Orange candy, lemon, pound cake, and smoky baking spices
Finish: Caramel apple, walnuts, cinnamon, and lingering oak
That’s practically a dessert menu with a proof statement.
Verdict: the bottle I’d open after a long Saturday once the clubs are away. At $80 I’m not pouring it for the guy who spent all afternoon insisting his 95 was actually an 89.
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One Last Thing
Shocking: I’m never going to know what it feels like to win on Tour.
But I keep thinking about what Smotherman said after eleven years of waiting for it. Not that it was perfect. That it didn’t have to be.
He made double bogey on 13. He bogeyed 17 with the tournament on the line. He still won.
I think most of us are waiting on some version of that. A thing that’s taken way longer than it should have, that we’ve half-convinced ourselves isn’t coming. And when it does, it’ll be a little crooked. There’ll be a shot in there we’d like back.
That’s fine. It still counts.
This weekend I’m going to slow down, pick the shot, and play the one in front of me. One bad swing turns into three fast when I’m still trying to fix the last one.
Then I’ll find a good pour and let the scorecard go quiet for a while.
See you next week,
Adam
Adam Rosen
Editor-in-Chief, Birdies, Bogeys & Bourbon
P.S. Answer: C. Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus shot a back-nine 30 on Sunday to claim his sixth green jacket and 18th major championship.
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