The Final Putt: Birdies and Burnouts to Scale Back in 2026

It’s 2026, and another golf season is quickly approaching. The 2025 offseason served as one of great reflection for myself in terms of the future of the blog. That being said, with great pride, great relief, and a touch of melancholy, Birdies and Burnouts will be bringing the golf side of the blog to a close. This was not an easy decision by any means. I wrestled with the idea for many months, but I truly believe this is the right time, for a variety of reasons.

Among the laundry list of reasons:

I don’t follow the sport as closely. – Don’t get me wrong, I keep up with the sport. But with NASCAR, I will sit there and watch every race, start to finish. With golf, I rarely sit down and watch over the course of a tournament. Primarily just leaderboard watching, and maybe the last 30 minutes of the final round. I have the golf knowledge, but it’s not as deep as it once was.

The sport is so much more toxic. – Ever since LIV came on the scene, the game of golf was fractured across the board, from management to players to fans to everyone in between. It’s tough to watch this happen to a sport that I love. The sport is trending in a positive direction though, which makes me happy, but the love isn’t as strong as it once was.

Social Media is even more toxic. – Good Lord, as the internet continues to prove, you can’t fix stupid. People on social media love to chirp for absolutely no reason. The ones who chirp loudest usually have the least to actually contribute. Anyway, after five years of dealing with arguably the two most toxic sports fan bases on the planet, something has to give. I’m not an argumentative person. I’m a pretty peaceful guy, for the most part. But social media is toxic, plain and simple. For the sake of my own sanity, I’m choosing the NASCAR fan base. Don’t make me regret this.

Ultimately, I’m tired and burned out. I have an amazing group of writers (Amanda, Joey, Kevin, and Steve, you all have been rockstars over the past five years). It’s tough to find people knowledgeable about golf, and even more difficult to find that knowledge paired with someone who can write about it without sounding illiterate. I won’t bring on more writers unless I’m confident in their abilities. I will not put out an inferior product at the end of the day, nor will I go through the motions just for a few clicks.

My goal was to always go 4 for 4 at least once but that has proven to be damn near impossible (Looking at you, Hideki Matsuyama at the 2023 Memorial Tournament). After so many bad beats (If I had a dollar for every T-11, T-21, T-26, or fades who made the cut right on the number…), tight deadlines, and choosing the sports with the two longest seasons, you really get burnt out so much quicker. I always said when I started this that this was just for fun and that if it ever felt like a chore, I’d call it quits. Well, that’s the point I’m at on the golf side. It’s felt like that for a good two years now. If I’m going to continue with predictions, I want to be fully dedicated and fully invested, and when it comes to golf, I just don’t have that mindset or drive anymore.

Going out on top with a winner feels like the only proper way to go out. Even more so since Sami Välimäki was listed at anywhere from 50-1 odds to 70-1 odds at most Sportsbooks entering the week of The RSM Classic. We had many winners over five years, but the last one always feels the most special.

I appreciate the support over the past five years, and we will continue to march along strong on the NASCAR side of the blog. If you’re here for the golf only, please stick around and continue to follow our NASCAR predictions. Could I possible fire the golf side back up down the road? Never say never. But for now, that’s par for the course, everybody. Time for a long trip to the 19th hole.

And for some parting words, here’s the great Lee Trevino, 86 years strong and still playing, on what the sport has meant to him in his life.