GOLF’s 60th anniversary: A look back at the events that made the 2010s

From the inaugural April 1959 issue to the latest one that’s been delivered to your home, we’ve covered every moment, invention and trend in golf — a smart, independent voice for the game we love. We’ve made a bunch of aces (and a few double-bogeys) over the past 700-plus issues. Here, we celebrate some of the most memorable of them.

Let’s enjoy a trip back in time to GOLF in the 2010s…

-The tweeting and hashtagging never end
-Viral videos rule
-The climate gets crazier
-Politics get uglier
-Rory wins everything but the Masters

ICYMI: GOLF in the 1960s
GOLF in the 1970s
GOLF in the 1980s
GOLF in the 1990s
GOLF in the 2000s

Player of the decade: Rory McIlroy

“This new year that yawns before us promises to be fascinating. We wonder: Are you now, mentally and physically, poised to follow in the tradition of … Tiger Woods? Prepare yourself. You’ll see your name and his in the same sentence a million times in 2015. It’s funny, because one of the messages you’ve always delivered (and maybe it’s been subliminal) is this: ‘I am not Tiger Woods.’ Woods has always talked about trying to become the best golfer ever. You have always talked about being the best golfer you can be.” —“2014 GOLF Awards: The Player of the Year” By Michael Bamberger (Dec. 2014)

Tiger Dad

(“Elusive, Eternal Eighteen,” Aug. 2019) “They don’t remember me enjoying the game of golf because all they remember is Daddy on the ground in pain. And so now golf brings me so much joy, and they’re able to see that. And if it brings a smile to their faces, it brings a smile to my own.”

Free Child Labor

“Spieth, who turns 17 on July 27, became the sixth-youngest player to make a cut in a PGA Tour event.” (“Watch & Learn,” Aug. 2010)

Metaphorically Speaking

“If I don’t beat you with the short ones, I’ll beat you with a bomb.” —“Four Reasons Why You Can’t Beat Donald Trump” (June 2010)

The Dawn of Golf’s Big Data Era

“Why You Should … Drive It Here! Not Here!” By Mark Broadie (Mar. 2014) “My insight was that the quality of each shot — from 300-yard drives to tap-ins — could be weighted in a consistent unit of strokes. Strokes Gained reveals how much ‘closer’ the ball is to the hole at the end of the shot (compared to the beginning), measured not by yards, but by the average strokes needed to hole out.”

Bubba Watson: The Man of Feel

“He sees daylight where others don’t! He takes chances that others won’t! He hits shots that others can’t! ‘If I have a swing, I’ve got a shot!’ ” (Story by Alan Bastable, Illustrations by Joe Quinones, Apr. 2013)

Kick-ins (2010-2019)

BUG (PREDICTION) OFF
“The biggest hazard facing Olympic golfers in Rio won’t be the bunkers on Gil Hanse’s course but the gatecrashers potentially swooping down from above.” (“Heard About Zika?” Aug. 2016)

A FOND FAREWELL TO THE KING
“Palmer’s place was tucked into a block among other nice, tidy, upper-middle-class homes. As I slowed my rental car to a crawl, I could see the garage door was open, and I couldn’t believe it — there was the King himself, tinkering with a golf club in his workshop. Palmer looked up and saw my car idling in the road. Clearly used to such lookie-loos, he smiled and waved.” (“The Meaning of Arnie,” by Alan Shipnuck, Dec. 2016)

BROOKS KOEPKA ON EATING HORSEMEAT IN KAZAKHSTAN
“It tasted like any other meat — I know Americans find that weird, but in Asia it’s not out of the ordinary.” (Apr. 2015)

GOLF’S SUMMIT
“…North Korea sits high on the list of impenetrable venues, somewhere between Seminole and the moon.” (“Golfers of the World, Unite!” by Josh Sens, Jan. 2013)

NO LOOKING BACK
“It’s a game of quality and of vibrant color. It’s a joy. Hence, the reimagined GOLF.” (From the Publisher, Feb. 2019)

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