The USGA's 2011 Herbert Warren Wind Book Award winner
The ebook edition.
Winners are different. They're a different breed of cat.
BYRON NELSON
But look at the intimidating presence the drummer and flutist had as over 300 golfers appeared for a double-shotgun fundraiser to save the Pacifica muni designed by Alister MacKenzie.
From reader Joel:
;)
This was a fun moment from round two at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, with a livelier-than-normal broadcast team including Chamblee, Gogel and McCord essentially betting on the possible outcome of Phil Mickelson's 9th hole predicament.
And as with most Phil recovery shots, Phil got the better of the architect though even by his standards this one was pretty, pretty slick.
AP's Tales Azzoni reports that a court has ordered the city of Rio de Janeiro to hand over the contracts it has with the landowner of the 2016 Olympic golf course property. City officials responded by saying that no such documents existed.
The city said it hasn't signed any contracts for the golf course because it will be a private undertaking. It had publicly announced earlier this year, however, that it made an agreement with the land owner to have the course built on it. It said it would alter some of the building requirements in the area and, in exchange, the land owner and a construction company would pay for the $30 million course.
"The golf course is an undertaking exclusively private, which will be developed by the Rio 2016 Committee," the mayor's office said in a statement.
Local Olympic organizers said they expect the contracts for the golf course to be finalized by the end of June, and that the city wouldn't be directly involved even though it was responsible for choosing the land and facilitating the agreement.
And this...
But the lawyer for the company disputing the ownership of the land, Elmway Participacoes, said Friday he wants to suspend any activity in the land until a decision on the property is made. Sergio Antunes Lima Jr. said the city doesn't have the right to make any deals to build on the land before a judge decides who owns it.
Nothing can take away from Rhein Gibson's 55 last weekend, but it's a nice occasion to revisit Homero Blancas's 55 in competition, as recalled in this 2001 story by Bill Fields.
For years Blancas' feat was listed in the Guinness Book of Records, but it was purged when the recordkeepers limited their low golf scores to those shot on courses of at least 6,561 yards in length, and at 5,002 yards, the funky, claustrophobic par-70 Premier GC--on which two slightly different sets of tees formulated 18 holes fraught with out of bounds and creeks--didn't qualify. But if you're the man who had the 55, the lowest competitive score any golfer has ever shot, there is nothing but beauty in the details.
How many golfers ever made Ripley's Believe It Or Not? How many other players have made 13 birdies and an eagle, totaled 27 for one nine and 28 for the other, hit 17 greens in regulation and required only 20 putts? "And the thing is," says Blancas, "I shot 62 in the morning. That might be the most amazing thing."
Jonathan Wall has the best summary of the bizarre situation in Idaho that led Colby Dean to be disqualified for using his rangefinder out of habit, only to be sent back out on the course to finish eight holes following completion of play, ultimately earning his team the state title while the runner-up team drove back home.
From an unbylined Idaho Statesman report:
According to the Idaho High School Activities Association’s state golf manual, players who use electronic devices — including range finders — are to be assessed a two-stroke penalty.
By the time the mistake was realized, the rest of the 5A field had already finished golfing.
Dean was then sent out to play holes eight through 18 by himself. The sophomore finished with a 2-over 72, giving Eagle (578) an eight-shot win over Coeur d’Alene (586) at Pinecrest Golf Club in Idaho Falls.
“The emotional roller coaster that I was on before motivated me,” said Dean, who said he used the range finder out of habit and immediately alerted his playing partners of the violation.
“I had a bitter taste in my mouth because I was in state last year and I didn’t play very well. I wanted to redeem myself this year. It gave me a huge motivational boost to know that I could seal the victory for Eagle High School and give us a three-peat.”
A staff report in the Coeur d'Alene Press has the runner-up's reaction, and as you can imagine, there is an unhappy coach:
“So it’s another example where Idaho doesn’t know the rules of golf, and should just let the USGA govern the rules of golf,” Duncan said. “What’s unfortunate is they decided to cover up a screwup with another screwup by putting him back out on the course.”
Looking at a 10-hour bus ride home, Coeur d’Alene didn’t stick around to watch Dean finish. Duncan’s comments for this story came from aboard the team bus, which was near Dillon, Mont., by then. At that time, he didn’t yet know how things turned out.
“I didn’t want to stick around for the second-place trophy, because we had won the tournament,” Duncan said.
I believe I saw some touching tweets this week saluting the Lexi Thompson prom date-for-PR scheme and for doing the right thing by taking a military man as her date. Along the way, that also included an appearance on Fox and Friends. If you've only got four minutes to live, this will make it seem like four months...
Who said Gretchen Carlson doesn't earn her pay?
It happened last Saturday but only now are the wild details emerging from Rhein Gibson's unfathomable 16-under 55 at Edmond, Oklahoma's River Oaks. The incredible round came in between rounds on the Golfweek National Professional Golf Tour. Thanks to readers Greg and Nathan for the links.
An unbylined story offers this about what was going through Gibson's mind...a song.
"I wasn't nervous," he said.
"I had this song playing in my head. It is that new one from the Eli Young Band. It was in there all day."
He says it is hard to believe he's posted a score unmatched by some of the game's greats.
"It's really only starting to sink in now," he said.
Now I know it's a 55 and the player in question plays the Golfweek Tour, but calling it the greatest round ever Mr. Babineau?
The best account of the 55 comes from Ryan Munson, who played with Gibson. And for once, a blow-by-blow account does not warrant a sarcastic "are we going all 18 here?" Because when it's a 55, you want to go all 18. In fact, the non-birdie/non-eagle holes may be the most interesting parts of the round.
I'm not sure what song was in Gibson's head, but if you are looking to channel some of his birdies, you can check out the Eli Young Band on iTunes.
Thanks to reader Steve for Paul Mahoney's account of Brandt Snedeker's wacky first round win over Thomas Bjorn at the Volvo Match Play, where Snedeker started his round with select clubs, knowing his own clubs would arrive at some point during the match.
"Kind of a weird day to say the least," Snedeker said. "I said to my caddie I feel like we are playing in a club tournament playing five or six clubs. You realize you are going to have some weird numbers and you're going to have to try some funky shots and have some fun with it," he said. "And I did that today."
Snedeker's clubs finally caught up with him on the fourth tee. By that time, the 31-year-old World No. 26 had raced to 3 up through three holes with irons and a putter borrowed from the pro shop, plus John Senden's back-up driver.
Snedeker set off in the knowledge that his clubs and spikes, lost in transit from Orlando via Miami and Madrid after last week's Players Championship, had finally arrived at Malaga airport, an hour's drive from the Finca Cortesin golf club on Spain's Costa del Sol.
CBS This Morning's Jim Axelrod profiles Dan McLaughlin, who has given up his job to put in the necessary 10,000 hours prescribed in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers to become an expert in a field.
No one ever said Brent Plater and the Wild Equity folks fighting (unsuccessfully) to get Alister MacKenzie's Sharp Park shuttered, do so with class, dignity or honesty. Now Plater and friends plan to clog the parking lot this Saturday when the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance holds a fundraiser for the legal cause that so far has managed to hold off the efforts of Plater.
Another group, Save The Frogs, is also part of the protest of the fundraiser and promises to be "drumming" for the frogs. I guess these folks don't know that most wildlife do not appreciate the sound of drumming, if in fact that is the ploy. Oh there I go again thinking it's about the wildlife!
May 19th, 2012. We will be drumming and educating people about frogs from 11am-1pm and again from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. These times coincide with the golfing tee-off and post-tournament festivities. We encourage everybody to attend both sessions (have lunch or take a hike in between). We strongly encourage everyone to attend the 4:30pm-6:30pm session, as that is when the golf-loving politicians and keynote speakers will be passing through the parking lot, and our presence will have the strongest impact.
There will be speeches from SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger as well as SAVE THE FROGS! Advisory Committee Chairman Michael Starkey and Wild Equity Institute Executive Director Brent Plater. There will be drumming for the frogs throughout the day.
Geoff
**Bradley Klein with some of the backstory behind the latest efforts to save Sharp Park on the eve of tomorrow's fundraiser.
In this week's Golf World, I wrote about the overall progress of the World Golf Hall Of Fame as a landmark in the game while offering a few suggestions to improve it.
As promised in the column, the unedited speeches are now online courtesy of PGA Tour Productions. Peter Alliss' right hand is still a melted knob, but everything else you'll want to hear is included.
Dan Jenkins
Sandy Lyle
Peter Alliss
Hollis Stacy
Phil Mickelson
The embedded versions of Jenkins, Alliss and Mickelson.
Forbes has unveiled their Celebrity 100 list and Tiger landed in the 12th spot, with the magazine lowering his income for the last year to $58 million, down from $75 million.
Of course, those numbers still look wildly inflated based on estimates by Fortune and others since his scandal.
During a BBC 5 Live interview to plug his new/old book, Captain Speeding Ticket said American fans are "not as knowledgeable" because...drum roll please...they are not members of golf clubs as many are in the UK.
But he added: "I don't think the golf fans in America are members of golf clubs in the way they are here.
"At Wentworth next week, most of the fans will be golfers and understand and respect the etiquette of the game."
Our Monty is back!
Nellie Andreeva reports from the upfronts on the TNT/TBS slate, which included the announcement of a development slate featuring "The Kid," a half-hour show set in the "high-rolling, fast-moving big-time world of professional golf."
Uh, not sure about the fast-moving part, but go on...
The Kid – To try and get his game back, a young and socially naïve golf prodigy named Quinn teams up with Joey, an unconventional new caddy. But much to the dismay of his father, Quinn learns more than just golf, as this new duo makes its way into the high-rolling, fast-moving big-time world of professional golf. The Kid is written by Donald Todd from a story by Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Bamberger and writer Jay Hass, along with David Morse (Tremé) and professional golfer Phil Mickelson’s longtime caddy, Jim “Bones” Mackay. Executive Producers: Donald Todd, Greer Shephard and Michael M. Robin. Production Company: The Shephard/Robin Company. Studio: Warner Horizon Television.
Bamberger and Bones you know.
Robin is the creator, director and producer of a documentary on the making of Bandon's Old Macdonald. He's also an executive producer and the director of next month's return of Dallas to the airwaves.
Eugene Paik in The Star-Ledger offers some new details on the Far Hills Heist, including the news of a whopping $5000 reward being offered. Pamela Mackenzie reports on the possible link to a Somerset Hills theft and says the reward is being offered by the county prosecutors. Call me crazy, but with the USGA holding $251 million in the bank and the U.S. Amateur trophy being one of their most important trophies, maybe this would be a good time to loosen up those purse strings?
From Paik's story:
The museum on Liberty Corner Road was closed Tuesday for a reception that allowed attendees to glimpse the new Mickey Wright Room, which is scheduled to open next month. Wright, the only player to have held four women’s major championship titles at the same time, had donated more than 200 artifacts.
The donation boosted what was already the world’s largest collection of golf memorabilia, with 42,000 artifacts, 14,000 books and a half-million photos.
According to the USGA, the Mickey Wright event lasted into the night.
About 2:30 a.m. today, an alarm brought police to the museum, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said.
Mark Lamport Stokes reports for Reuters and reminds us that the Hickok Belt isn't just a golf artifact.
The Hickok Belt, featuring a solid gold buckle encrusted with precious stones, was presented to the leading professional athlete of the year in the United States from 1950 until 1976.
Winners include boxers Rocky Marciano (1952) and Muhammad Ali (1974), baseball players Willie Mays (1954), Mickey Mantle (1956) and Sandy Koufax (1963 and 1965) and golfers Arnold Palmer (1960) and Lee Trevino (1971).
Geoff
**A local CBS affiliate has more on the story, including a video report and a photo of a crime scene van outside of Golf House.
