Former Golf Channel personality Peter Kessler is going after the network’s current star, Brandel Chamblee.
It all started when Chamblee recently tweeted a breakdown of the correlation between distance and scoring average on the PGA Tour, as well as the correlation between accuracy and scoring average.
“The most challenging aspect of golf is eroding, and that erosion needs to stop,” Chamblee said.
Correlation of distance to scoring average on the @PGATOUR
1980-13%
1990-14%
2000-31%
2017-44%Correlation of accuracy to scoring average on the @PGATOUR
1980-53%
1990-48%
2000-35%
2017-12%The most challenging aspect of golf is eroding, and that erosion needs to stop.
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) November 3, 2018
PGA Tour player and golf course architecture nut Zac Blair chimed in on the debate, bringing up the need to bifurcate. When Blair said he wanted par 5s to play like par 5s and that he’d love to see more people hit long irons into par 4s, Chamblee made a comment about nostalgia.
Nostalgia has its pull, it’s why Starbucks plays Sinatra during the holidays….
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) November 4, 2018
That’s when Kessler found his way to the thread. “You have totally lost your way,” he told Chamblee, before continuing.
https://twitter.com/peterkessler/status/1059033128734466048
But that wasn’t it. Chamblee brought up “The Golden Age” of golf course architecture when replying to another tweet (not Kessler’s). Kessler took another shot there.
“The Golden Age” is like saying silent films are better than Netflix .. a few “relevantly designed” new golf courses for major championships and a different philosophy for setups would ameliorate the problem.
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) November 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/peterkessler/status/1059037419209662464
Kessler has had no problem speaking his mind on Twitter, but not often do you see a former network star call the current face of the franchise a “bad influence,” punctuated by “just go away.”
Kessler was a long-time Golf Channel personality, hosting “Golf Talk Live” and “Academy Live.” He also had a high-profile gig on HBO Sports.
Recently he has become one of golf media’s harshest critics. On Tuesday, for example, he criticized a trailer from No Laying Up — “That was certainly one of the worst things ever presented” — and didn’t back down when others fired back. He replied to 85 tweets on that day alone.
On Sunday morning, soon after tweaking Chamblee, Kessler engaged Ian Poulter, who had posted a photo of himself in a Ferrari simulator, resulting in this tweet from Poulter:
Incredible analogy from someone who is so intelligent and who once employable by the best.. Why so bitter in your old age ? Is this what I have to look forward to when I become irrelevant. https://t.co/Ts1vTgoZnV
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) November 4, 2018
A Chicago Tribune story from 2002 said Kessler contended “he got too big for the Golf Channel’s comfort level,” which led to his departure.
“Senior management resented my work,” Kessler told the Tribune. “They resented the press I received. They told me my status caused tension [with the other personalities].”
Chamblee has not responded to Kessler’s tweets.
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