BLACKTEES
Issue #000.1 September 16, 2026 5 min read

Good morning.

Golf news from
the back tees.

The PGA Tour redraws its guest list. Cabot heads inland. And a $329 driver enters the group chat.

01 The Starter

AROUND THE GAME

The PGA Tour is rewriting the guest list

Beginning in 2028, the Tour’s Championship and Challenger series will change who stays, who moves up, and what winning actually buys.

The framework includes 90 retained Championship players, 20 promoted from Challenger, and other qualifying categories. The consequential distinction: win a regular-season full-field event in 2027 and earn Championship membership through 2028. Win a fall or opposite-field event and earn Challenger membership through 2029.

Why it matters

Field access and the reward for winning help define an event’s value. The commercial challenge is giving the Challenger Series an identity fans follow for its own sake—not merely as the room everyone is trying to leave.

Read the reporting ↗
Aerial view of a golf course with winding fairways and bunkers
Golf’s simplification project now comes with six pages of eligibility rules.
02 Courses & Architecture

NOVA SCOTIA · 2027

Cabot’s next Nova Scotia trip turns inland

Cabot Wilds is planned for 2,500 acres in the Cobequid foothills, with a Jeff Mingay course following the River Philip valley. The landscape—not another coastal postcard—is the reason to watch.

Take the first look ↗
03 The Pro Shop

$329

A new driver. Your slice remains separately owned.

Takomo’s Ignis D2 earns attention on price. Forgiveness is still a performance claim—and one your next launch-monitor session should settle.

Inspect the D2 ↗
04 Gear + Style

BRAND TO WATCH

Ladies Tees: from founder idea to pro shop

Usable pockets, movement, and separate undershorts are practical details. The next proof point is whether that product brief earns wholesale space.

More interesting than another label asking us to admire its mood board.
Meet the brand ↗
05 Range Balls

Three more before the bucket runs out.

01

Lancaster commits through 2044.

Five USGA women’s championships, spanning the Girls’ Junior through the Women’s Open.

02

Monte Rei is back.

The Algarve’s North course reopens after a six-month renovation covering far more than the glamour shots.

03

Wentworth adds a starting point.

The BMW PGA Championship will use the 1st and 9th tees to accommodate six more players and limited daylight.

ARCHIVE

Every issue.
No giant taxonomy.

SEP 16, 2026Issue #000.1

The PGA Tour’s two tiers, Cabot Wilds, Takomo’s $329 driver, and Ladies Tees.

→

BLACK TEE OF THE DAY

“The most revealing thing in golf is often who gets access—and on what terms.”