Sharp Park Survives First Major Hurdle

Thanks to reader Dean for Rachel Gordon's SF Insider blog entry on the SF Park and Recreation report release (Friday-at-6:30 pm!!) recommending the salvation of Sharp Park as an 18-hole course, with some pricey design changes to accommodate the endangered species.

The entire report can be read here.

"Practice what you preach"

Hard as it is to believe, but someone is calling Gary Player out for not practing what he preaches. Shocking, I know. From Grahame Jones in the LA Times, writing about Gary Player hanging at Santa Anita's Clocker's Corner after receiving some sort of Breeder's Cup award.

"I'm a horse nut, so I come and see this every year," Player, who turned 74 on Sunday, said of the Breeders' Cup, whose 14 races take place today and Saturday in Arcadia. "All the best horses are here."

Player knows a thing or two about thoroughbreds.

"I just bred the best filly in our country, Lady Windermere," he said. "That happens once in a lifetime. She's won two Grade 1 races already. So it's big thrill."

Player, winner of nine major golf championships, not to mention owner of a 20,000-acre spread, including a stud farm, in South Africa, was presented with a bit of crystal by the Breeders' Cup folk in honor of his sporting achievements.

He also was presented with a blunt reality check.

After Player told onlookers the owners of top horses have an obligation not to duck the Breeders' Cup, he ran into Chip Woolley, the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

"Practice what you preach," Woolley tersely told Player, noting Lady Windermere's absence from Arcadia.

 

"Researchers found that golfers could reduce their handicap after a few months of using a night-time device that provides nasal positive airway pressure"

From The Irish Times...not The Onion:

GOLF: GOLFERS WITH the night-time breathing disorder obstructive sleep apnea can improve their game and cut their handicap by up to three strokes by treating their sleeping problem, according to a small US study.

Researchers found that golfers could reduce their handicap after a few months of using a night-time device that provides nasal positive airway pressure (NPAP) – a treatment that has been shown effective for curbing sleep apnea.

The study was based on 24 golfers and saw their average handicap fall significantly from 12.4 to 11.0. The effect was even more pronounced in better golfers with a handicap of 12 or under whose average handicap dropped from 9.2 to 6.3.

“The surprise was that the most significant improvement was noted in the lower handicap golfers, many of whom were older,” researcher Dr Marc Benton said.

Benton estimated that there are one to three million regular golfers in the United States who suffer from sleep apnea, and most are undiagnosed or untreated.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder in which the tissues at the back of the throat temporarily collapse during sleep, causing repeated stops and starts in breathing during the night. This leads to poor-quality sleep and, often, daytime drowsiness, fatigue, and cognitive impairment.

I'm guessing this isn't on the PGA Tour's banned list?

Kostis Calls For Purse "Rollback"

Retired Tweeter Peter Kostis has never been a fan of a ball rollback but he believes the PGA Tour should immediately cut all purses 10%, sending five percent of the savings to charity and the other five back to sponsors.

I'm sure the stand-up guy he is, Kostis has offered CBS a similar deal. Cut 10% of his pay and give half to the Les Moonves's bonus fund and the other half back to CBS.

Everyone is down, and spending in golf is seen as a very bad corporate idea when people are being laid off.

We need to have an immediate 10 percent rollback in purse structures. Of that rollback, 5 percent should go to local charities of the event and 5 percent should go back to the sponsor.

The Tour is fond of two words: partners and charity, and both need some help, a lot more than Tiger Woods needs another $10 million. If we can highlight the Tour's good charitable work and make some short-term concessions to the sponsors, then maybe we can change the perception that golf is a rich guy's game isolated from the concerns and problems of regular working people. Because golf is the game of regular working people, as you can see every day at your local muni.

And as a country club member, Peter can attest!

"Basically, I got to see Rickie Fowler paraded around like a well-groomed poodle at the Westminster Kennel Club."

It's fun to look at the contrast between the handling of Rickie 2.0 Fowler and Ryan Moore, who both made some news Thursday.

Stephanie Wei files an entertaining account of one of those "only-in-New-York" press junkets that help justify some CMO's overinflated salary. "Let's put him at Chelsea Piers!" "Spectacular idea!"

It was supposed to be “really informal” but after being there for five minutes it was obvious that “really informal” doesn’t exist within the Rickie 2.0 hype machine. Basically, I got to see Rickie Fowler paraded around like a well-groomed poodle at the Westminster Kennel Club.

Last week a PR rep asked me to give the general gist of what I was planning to ask him, so Rickie wouldn’t be caught off guard. Question 1: “Do you have a girlfriend?” PLEASE DO NOT ASK THAT. (But that was conveyed very nicely, of course.) Just “stay away from more personal stuff,” the PR lady explained, unless it “comes up naturally.”

I walked in the top deck of the driving range and I was greeted by the two PR people running the show. Small talk, small talk, nice-to-meet-yous ensued and then came Rickie, who politely introduced himself with a welcoming handshake.

“Hi, I’m Rickie.”

Meanwhile it was announced that the iconoclastic Ryan Moore, who coordinates his own outfits and sponsors himself, has signed a unique deal that will eventually give him a share of Scratch Golf.  Somewhere Jack Nicklaus is screaming to Ryan, "DON'T DO THAT!"

Michael Buteau reports for Bloomberg:

The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based custom clubmaker has an agreement with the 26-year-old Moore, who will use its irons and wedges beginning with this week’s HSBC Champions event in China. Moore, the 2004 U.S. Amateur champion, is tied for second at the World Golf Championship tournament at 6-under-par 66.

With many large club companies, such as Adidas AG’s TaylorMade brand and Callaway Golf Co., cutting back endorsement expenses as consumers reduce spending on leisure activities, Moore’s agreement is unique among professional golfers.

“Ryan is going to end up owning a portion of our company,” Ari Techner, Scratch Golf’s chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview. “This kind of speaks to the type of person he is. He likes to do his own thing.”

"The guy in the grandstand basically did a photo sequence. I flinched on it and hit it straight to the right"

I feel like we've done this before...excessive and ill-timed photo taking of Tiger in China. No?

"There's certainly a lot of people out there," said Woods, after shooting a five-under-par 67 to stand three shots behind the early leader, American Nick Watney. "There was a lot of people ... moving and things. We had to stay focused. I think it's a disadvantage because there are so many people with cameras here. The other groups probably don't have to deal with it as much as we do."

Taylor Made Appealing USGA Wedge Ruling

Jim Achenbach reports on Taylor Made's struggle to get its "exchangeable face technology" wedges approved by the USGA.

Frankly, I'm just shocked that a wedge where you the owner can easily exchange face plates from conforming to non-conforming grooves would cause a problem. Shocked!

TaylorMade immediately appealed the USGA decision, and chief technical officer Benoit Vincent traveled to USGA headquarters in Far Hills, N.J., in October to present his case. Vincent said he would discuss the wedges after Nov. 9, when a ruling on the appeal is expected.

The wedges, from 50 to 64 degrees, are scheduled for release early next year. A face plate can be removed and replaced in a few minutes, using the same torque wrench designed for TaylorMade drivers.

Equipment appeals are heard three times per year by the USGA, during regularly scheduled meetings of the Executive Committee and the Equipment Standards Committee.

TaylorMade’s argument is simple: Golf club manufacturers are allowed to produce wedges with larger, aggressive grooves during 2010, so TaylorMade should be allowed to sell face plates with the same grooves during the same period.

"Sharp Park as golf course is best for everyone"

C.W. Nevius provides another high-profile endorsement for saving MacKenzie's Sharp Park as a golf course as a significant Park and Recreation recommendation for going forward is about to be released.

L.A. Loses LPGA Event It Never Hosted To San Diego

Oh I know, it's all Southern California in some eyes, but the J Golf event was clearly announced by the Brand Lady as an LA tournament until event operators IMG apparently wised up and realized that their only option at Industry Hills would be a disaster. Obviously, they didn't take my advice about some other nice venue options.

Jon Show reports that the first J Golf Classic will be played at La Costa, and if you can't see behind the pay window like most of us, Tod Leonard shares some of the details.

Tiger Already Looking Forward To Kingston Heath

I know, I know, the HSBC event comes first and we should be celebrating a World Golf Championship event played outside the U.S. (Joel Shuchman shares some sights and sounds in this PGATour.com story). 

But we're also talking about a country that bans my blog and well, doesn't have a course like Kingston Heath. Which, incidentally, Tiger Woods is pining to play.

"As far as next week, I don't know a lot about the golf course other than the guys have generally said it's either one or two on their list of venues in Melbourne," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting down there for the first time and taking a look at it and seeing how it figures -- how to figure out how best to play the golf course."

He said what he liked best about Melbourne's golf courses was the bunkers, having previously played at the Royal Melbourne and the Huntingdale.

"Of all the courses that I've seen down there in Melbourne, I've always loved bunkering, some of the best bunkering in the world," he said. "From what the guys have said to me, Kingston Heath is no different."

Anticipation of Tiger's appearance may actually help pay off the big appearance fee since the Daily Telegraph reports that crowds up to 100,000 are expected to watch Tiger on big screens set up to help fill demand for the legions that can't get a ticket to Kingston Heath.

And for us here in the States, even better news: Golf Channel will be broadcasting the Australian Masters, starting Wednesday at 10 PM EST.

In other Australian golf news, Greg Norman pulled out of the Australian Open due to issues with his surgically-repaired shoulder.

And Then There Were 13 LPGA Events

Beth Ann Baldry reports that in spite of optimistic statements by LPGA brass in recent weeks, a preliminary 2010 schedule featured only 13 events "named specifically," with holes everywhere else you look.

LPGA officials keep assuring everyone that the 2010 schedule will be better than expected. Of course, they know expectations are extremely low, so it won’t take much to satisfy.

Players received a preliminary schedule awhile back that left more questions than answers. Only 13 tournaments are named specifically. The rest are noted as “On” or “Off” weeks, with three “Asia” tournaments sprinkled in next fall.

The schedule starts in Thailand on Feb. 15 and then goes to Singapore for the HSBC. There’s a three-week break, followed by the J Golf event (San Diego or L.A.?) in the last week of March and the Kraft Nabisco in Palm Desert, Calif.

Sounds like the event targeted for LA may be in San Diego now?

Rumored site Industry Hills does have a way of making people rethink their priorities.

Kim Diagnoses Himself With IMG Scheduling Fatigue

From Shanghai, via Doug Ferguson's story, Anthony Kim earns bonus points for only taking a year to recognize what some players took several to figure out--don't turn scheduling over to your agents:

"Next year, I just want to be prepared for our season," he said of the PGA Tour, where he failed to win this year. "The PGA Tour is my home tour, and it's where I need to play well. I've made it my priority to play well in the States. I was all over the place this year. I didn't do a good job of scheduling. Scheduling is half your job as a pro. I learned a lot this year."

And..

"Even if they don't have a Race to Dubai next year, I'm still going to sign up for European Tour membership," Kim said. "There's a different vibe out here, and it's good to experience it. I just need to do a better job with my schedule."

Kim would not be replaced in the Dubai World Championship.

"The country club has to evolve and become like piazzas in Italy, the town square where families—and not just the men who are golfing—meet on weekends"

Dean Foust looks at the demise of the second-tier country club in a Businessweek/Golf Digest collaborative piece.

The number of golfers belonging to clubs now is down to 2.1 million—900,000 below the peak in the early 1990s. Experts such as consultant Jim Koppenhaver, whose Buffalo Grove (Ill.) firm, Pellucid, monitors the industry, believes at least 400—and worst case, 1,000—private clubs will have to close, convert to public play, or be absorbed into healthier clubs before the carnage is over. "The whole country club model is at risk," says Koppenhaver. But "for a lot of golfers, the value proposition of belonging to a club is hard to pencil out."

Now this I'm not so sure about:

In the end, some industry insiders believe the long-term solution is to reinvent the country club, moving beyond golf to a broader array of services that meet the changing needs of younger members. In San Clemente, Calif., the once-bankrupt Bella Collina Towne & Golf Club has sold 120 new memberships in the past six months by adding pilates, karate lessons, and even a vegetable garden (for the restaurant) that members' kids help plant.

On the golf course, Bella Collina now offers a free junior golf program and permits members to take lessons from the club's instructors at no charge. That last move created turnover among the teaching pros, who viewed the cash from paid lessons as a perk of the job. But club officials say the gesture has helped get more mothers and children out on the course with their fathers.

I'm sure the PGA of America will be thrilled with that model.

"The country club has to evolve and become like piazzas in Italy, the town square where families—and not just the men who are golfing—meet on weekends," says John G. Fornaro, one of the investors who bought Bella Collina last year. That's good advice, but it may be coming late to clubs where the wolf is already at the door.

Is this the way to the future? Piazza golf? Don't men still need a place to go to get some alone time?

BCS Breathes Sigh: FedEx Cup To Retain Goofy Point System

Love this quote from Doug Ferguson's story on the PGA Tour retaining the FedEx Cup points system:

"We think the FedEx Cup did a lot of positive things and met the objectives we set for it," George said Tuesday. "We don't anticipate it changing."

Translation: we got Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson playing on Sunday of the Tour Championship. Objectives met!

"It's all for show."

GolfDigest.com's Matthew Rudy notes that Doug Barron's previous use of beta blockers may have behind his suspension. An as someone who has done quite a bit of reporting on the subjects, Rudy reminds us of several loopholes in drug testing

Say Barron really is the only one to fail a test in the 15 months the tour has been running its program. All that proves is that he didn't find one of the loopholes in the banned drug list. And if he's not the first person to fail, the Tour's drug testing program serves the exact, cynical purpose Yesalis said many sports leagues' programs do.

It's all for show.

"The extravaganza could be much grander."

Seems to me that Jeff Rude is onto something in suggesting the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony move to Players Championship Monday.

Move the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf tournament back to the King & Bear course at World Golf Village the week before the nearby Players Championship. Then hold the Hall party on the Monday that follows the Legends and kicks off Players week.

The shift would ensure the attendance of many more people from various factions: Hall of Fame members, visiting dignitaries, national media, etc.

Their inclusion would create more buzz for the Hall and for golf. It would move golf closer to baseball’s Cooperstown model. After all, the energy of a bash is measured by who attends.

T&L Golf Back In Digital Form

Thanks to several readers who forwarded this...

PGA Tour's 2010 Schedule

Leaner and including the "Century Club" as a sponsor in San Diego for now, but all in all pretty amazing considering the economic climate. 

Click to enlarge:

Update on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 12:38 PM by Geoff

Thanks for reader Warren for noticing this story on the Reno event going up against the celebrity event in Tahoe.

If You Missed The 2009 Hall Of Fame Ceremony...

You missed a dandy. The entire production seemed to be the finest I've seen in terms of Golf Channel production values (great video of Mark Cubbedge and team looting Lanny's office), great speeches, classy hosting by Rich Lerner and mercifully, only bursts of the mildy maudlin music that has plagued previous ceremonies.

You can read the entire transcript here. Jose Maria Olazabal's speech was particularly touching, as was the scene of the tough guy Wadkins brothers crying. I doubt the transcript will do it justice.

Gary Van Sickle sums up the highlights from his perspective.

If anyone sees clips of the speeches online, let me know and we'll post them. Golf Channel did post this nice Golf Central telecast preview.

Update on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 07:00 AM by Geoff

Thanks to reader Chris for these speech highlight videos on PGATour.com:

Lanny Wadkins, as introduced by Jim Nantz

Jose Maria Olazabal

Christy O'Connor via video

Arnold Palmer inducting Dwight Eisenhower

"I just wish they had gone to a straight, old, traditional V groove..."

Great stuff from Lanny Wadkins on many topics prior to his Hall of Fame induction, but the final comments about grooves are the most interesting:

I like the idea of trying to get back to V grooves. I just wish they had gone to a straight, old, traditional V groove because what they're doing with going to an area, the amount of area that's in the groove, which is basically going to shallower U grooves if you will, the manufacturers are going to figure out a way around it. They're going to figure out a way to keep as much spin as possible in the ball. I would love to see it back in the V grooves we played in the early '70s. No reason they couldn't do that in my mind and just be very straight forward about it, and I think it would require more imagination in today's game. I think it would involve ball changes for a lot of the guys on TOUR. With the changes they're making today that probably won't happen as readily as we thought it was going to. It would involve driver changes.

I mean, my generation has changed all the way along the line. We've changed from shafts that weren't frequency matched, then we went to frequently matched shafts. Then we went to wooden clubs that were heavy, 14 and a half ounces for a driver, a shaft that weighed 135 grams, which is probably what mine weighed early '70s, mid '80s at that point in time. We've changed to small-headed metal clubs to big-headed metal grooves to U grooves to balls that don't spin. My generation has changed all the way up. This generation like where my boys are, my boys have always played the same stuff. They've never hit a wooden club. They're 21 and 17, all they've known is big-headed metal stuff.

I think it's about time. This generation has to change something. Let's see if they've got some imagination.

And the thing about it is, guess who's been playing V grooves all along? Tiger Woods. All he's got to change is two clubs in his bag. He's got to change his 56 and his 60. He doesn't have to change balls, driver, nothing. Let's just give Tiger a bigger advantage. Just what he needs, right?