There is a common misconception that the golf season ends in August. Next: the California Swing, five months out. Or, for the real casuals, the Masters, eight months apart.
But this is far from reality. Your uncle Mark probably knows about the Memorial and the US Open and Pebble Beach and that crazy 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, but it’s the real diehard, sick golf fans who get excited about all the wonderful September golf ahead and things like Lahinch (last week’s Walker Cup location), an Irish Open (names like Rahm, McIlroy, DP and the BMW World Championship) The flagship event of the Tour).
September is a heady mix of team events and tournaments contested on old layouts that we lucky Americans get to watch in the morning. It’s the best kind of golf, the golf you can watch when you wake up, when autumn approaches and it starts to get cold in the United States, but not as cold as it looks on TV at Doughmore Beach, a few steps from where they play the Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel. (The coffee, with the the smallest whipped cream, it’s always better too.)
But let’s go to this month’s menu.
You have already watched the Walker Cup last week. And if you haven’t, I miss you boy. Great Britain and Ireland came back to win for the first time in six years in what was an incredibly thrilling Sunday. They played at Lahinch, one of the best courses in the world and widely considered the best golf course in Ireland. It is a short walk from the nearest town pub. Lahinch is public, although the greens fee is more than $500 these days, but if you fly all over Ireland to play golf, you can splurge just this one time. If not, the Cliffs of Moher are a 13 minute drive for R478.
This week, we have the Solheim Cup in Holland, where hundreds (thousands?) of golf fans will cycle to the course. Let’s hope for Round 2 of Nelly Korda vs Charley Hull in singles on Sunday. (Hull won 6 and 4 in 2024, but the Americans won the Solheim Cup, 15.5-12.5.) The Irish Open is also this week, and as we mentioned above, the field is good. McIlroy defends his title. And do you remember what happened last year? Is it. It was Awesome.
In two weeks, the PGA Tour begins its Fall Series with the Biltmore Championship Asheville, which is fair, but not the point of this article. We are interested in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, which boasts a fantastic field: McIlroy, Rahm, Reed, Fitzpatrick (both), Fleetwood, Hatton.
And next week? The Presidents Cup outside of Chicago. The international team is due. It’s the third team event in four weeks, and we love it.
Finally, we look forward to the end of September and the beginning of October, with the Dunhill Links, which is played on three such good courses – the Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns – we offered our beloved family dog if it meant we could arrange a friends travel getaway in that trio.
So that’s the September golf list, at least the highlights. College football has started and the NFL soon, and the MLB playoffs are around the corner (here in Minnesota, we don’t think much of the baseball postseason this time of year; don’t get me started on that). But don’t think for a second that all good golf is in our rearview mirror until next year. Just know where to look.
You can reach the author at joshua.berhow@golf.com.
