Punishing a tour pro's bad bet

Golf and gambling have a long sometime sordid history. Recreationally, few flinch at playing a $5 Nassau or $10 skins game (with another zero or two for higher rollers). And fan betting on pro events is so ubiquitous that players’ odds to win are listed right on the PGA Tour’s official leaderboard pages. But the ability for a tour pro to impact betting markets—and likely do it without anybody catching on—is exactly why the PGA Tour had to come down on Matt Gogel and make a very public notice of his suspension for violating the tour’s Player Integrity Policy. The tour could have been more specific about what events Gogel, 55, actually bet on (they described it only as “tour competition”), although they reassuringly said it was not any tournament Gogel played in.

Forcing Gogel to sit out six months until February 2027 is strong punishment but frankly might not be strong enough. As the tennis world learned in the last decade, any whiff of players quietly making one or two “bad” swings to impact their scores is too wretched an odor for golf to accept. Swift justice is what must take place when a situation like this comes to light.

PGA Tour Champions pro suspended six months or gambling on tour competition 

Matt Gogel must sit out until February 2027 from all tour-related events after an incident from this summer

By Joel Beall

What You Need to Know

Jay Coffin

Annika Sorenstam, a longtime Callaway endorser, weighed in on social media. Sorenstam backed the company she’s represented for three decades after Good Good released a video promoting a Callaway driver where a man shoved a woman to the ground. She referenced her partnership and shed light on Callaway supporting her Annika Foundation for more than 20 years. Here’s more from the 10-time major champ. “The recent ad was terrible. They have acknowledged that, apologized, and taken significant action to address it. I can say unequivocally that the ad does not reflect the values of Callaway or their CEO, Chip Brewer. Callaway is and has always been one of the strongest supporters of women’s golf on the LPGA and amateur level. Being a part of their family has been critical to my success and the success of countless other girls with big dreams.”

Paul Sullivan

What really happens with my initiation fee?

Joining a private club in this frothy time of ever-growing waiting lists and initiation fees is not for those who waffle. You need to show your commitment. Reinforce your commitment.

Even if you get on that waiting list, you might be at the whim of a membership committee that raises the initiation fee again and again, tightening the screws on your commitment.

In general, private golf clubs have increased the amount it costs to join by 55 percent since 2020, according to Michael Gregory, a director at GGA Partners, which advises private clubs.

Whether you’ve waited patiently or gate-crashed with your checkbook, you might be wondering what your new club does with your initiation fee.

It depends where you've joined.

Luke Kerr-Dineen

There are 5 keys to hitting the 'tour draw.'

Most amateur golfers want to hit a draw. Many pros do, too—it seems to be something of a trend on tour recently.

The difference is that pros try to hit a very specific kind of draw. The ball moves right-to-left in the air, but it's more of a gentle lean than a pronounced curve. It never veers into "it's more of a controlled hook" territory.

I call it a Tour Draw, and it's the subject of our most recent Golf Digest YouTube video, which you can watch right here.

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