Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we are saddened by the big news involving our favorite chain restaurant. Chili’s is slashing its glorious menu by 40 percent and this directly affects me in two golf-related ways. The first is my streak of eating at the same Ponte Vedra Beach Chili’s during the Players Championship for five consecutive nights over the past seven years. That comes out to 35 dinners there in a row during the tournament, a feat that has been greatly aided by the chain’s expansive — and obviously, delicious — food choices.

Then there’s the matter of next year’s HGGA Championship champions dinner. As you probably may not definitely don’t remember, I won my annual golf trip’s coveted green jacket this past July, meaning I get to pick the menu (i.e. pick a reasonably priced restaurant) for next year’s champions dinner. I assumed I would host at a Chili’s wherever next year’s trip takes us (That’s the beauty of Chili’s. They are EVERYWHERE.), but now I’m going to have to re-evaluate. It was hard enough getting over Chili’s discontinuing the Awesome Blossom a few years back, but a total menu overhaul? This is going to take awhile to recover from. In the meantime, here’s what else has us talking.

 

U.S. amateur golf: The Americans cruised to a 19-7 victory at this year’s Walker Cup, AKA the Walkover Cup, at Los Angeles Country Club. The 12-point difference came on the strength of three players (Maverick McNealy, Doug Ghim and Collin Morikawa) winning all four of their matches. They let you know about it, too, in this photo:

Throw in the fact that PGA Tour superstars Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are just a couple years older than these guys and you have to feel pretty good about the future of American golf.

Lexi Thompson: Lexi won her second event of the season at the inaugural Indy Women in Tech Championship and got to do an actual victory lap on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sounds fun!

Like the Indy 500 winners, she also got to dump milk on her head. Sounds. . . not so fun!

“Yeah, I guess all the tradition behind winning, kissing the bricks, pouring the milk on me, kind of regretting it now because I feel really gross,” Thompson said after. The winner’s check probably made her feel better.

Short par 3s: Speaking of fun, LACC turned the already short par-3 15th hole into a 78-yard pitch and putt on Saturday morning. And why not? Unlike gargantuan par 3s that have become the norm in recent years, a setup like this is actually fair to everyone. OK, so I’m partial because my favorite course to play, Myrtle Beach’s Caledonia, has a par 3 of a similar length and my favorite club is my 60-degree wedge. But still, I think every course should have one of these mini holes in addition to a drivable par 4. That’s a campaign platform I can get behind.