The 2nd Cut Newsletter: THE US OPEN Edition #51
Golf Update, 1 Year Anniversary, Pinehurst, Johnson Wagner, Fox Squirrels, Scottie is Good
“If I had one golf course, from a design standpoint, one that I really love, it would probably be Pinehurst. There's a totally tree-lined golf course where trees are not a part of the strategy.” —Jack Nicklaus
NEWSLETTER NOTE: Apologies for the late edition. This week there will be no deep dive.
Also, next week I'll be on vacation, so no posts!
📰 THE US OPEN EDITION #51 📰
Welcome back to The 2nd Cut Newsletter!
📫 In today’s Newsletter 📫
Golf Update, 1 Year Anniversary, Pinehurst, Johnson Wagner, Fox Squirrels, Scottie is Good
Check out last week’s Deep Dive 👇👇👇
Quick Golf Game Update:
With kids sports cooling down, I’ve ramped up my golf and it’s been quite a roller coaster.
Below are my last four outings, which include a 9-hole league. (Shout out to The Mount Collective)
Scores:
90, 38, 81, 100, 43
All over the map. Yes, I shot 100. Golf man…
The 2nd Cut Anniversary
Tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary of The 2nd Cut Newsletter. (first ever edition below)
When I started the newsletter, I had three goals for the first year.
The first was to write consistently for one year. It was sometimes difficult to write a coherent paragraph, let alone a full post, and some posts were better than others, but I’m glad I kept up with it.
The second goal was to gain 700 to 1,000 subscribers. The newsletter has grown organically to 750 subscribers across 48 states and 18 countries, with over 100,000 views.
The third goal was to continue learning and sharing quality golf content and information with others who found it interesting. This was the easiest goal to hit. I enjoy learning, and hopefully, you’ve learned something that helped your golf game or at least found interesting.
Finally, I wanted to say thank you to all the readers for subscribing. I appreciate you taking the time to read my newsletter.
A special thanks to everyone who has reached out to me or contributed to the letter. The best part of this has been my interactions with readers and golf experts. I’ve learned a ton from you.
Dad, thank you for sharing the newsletter with random golfers and asking me if I got new subscribers.
Shout out again to Alex and Liberty, who helped me get started.
At some point, I will share my goals for this newsletter going forward, but for now…
On to year two.
✉️✉️ Q&A Mailbag Submissions ✉️✉️
If you have a question, comment below, reply to this email, or email me directly at the2ndcut@substack.com. I will select the best questions for a future deep dive Mailbag.
The 2024 US OPEN at Pinehurst
As I write this, I’m watching the first round of the US Open. Rory looks great (we’ll see if that sticks), Scottie is +2, and the leader Patrick Cantlay is at -5. Bryson and Ludvig are looking good as well. I imagine the course will get harder, but we’re off to a nice start with this leaderboard.
Scottie is at +600 to win now, btw…
TV SCHEDULE:
🐦 Tweets of the Week 🐦
Spot on. We’ll see if it brings him good luck for the rest of the tournament.
P.S.- Bearded Scottie > Clean Shaven
A good intro to Pinehurst in this video. LINK
Golf Channel and Johnson Wagner are killing it with these walk and talks. They’ve done multiple longer interviews on the course to give viewers a better idea of what the players are seeing and thinking.
This one above with Cam Smith is worth the 6-minute watch. LINK
More of this, please!
Here is another great clip of Wagner demonstrating the various approaches players will face at Pinehurst. Wagner is becoming something of a fan favorite with these demos. LINK
📺 💻 T2C Media 📺 💻
Min Woo Lee asks what animal this was while playing his practice round. It’s a Fox Squirrel. They are big and not shy.
We were warned by our caddies about these Fox Squirrels. My caddie said it would eat through my golf bag to steal food. I didn’t believe him.
I left an unopened, Uncrustable sandwich in my cart a few days later. I went to hit my shot, and it was gone. Lesson learned.
🔢 Stat(s) of the Week 🔢
Nothing to add. Crazy.
Enjoy the rest of the US Open, and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks!
Thank You
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Til next time.