Ohio Golf Assn: Trying A Competition Ball

Thanks to reader George for the heads on Jim Achenbach reporting in the new Golfweek that the Ohio Golf Association will provide a designated golf ball to competitors in this summer’s Ohio Champions Tournament.

A new event on the OGA schedule, "it will be an event unlike any other."

That's for sure. From the online entry form: 

The Board of Trustees of the Ohio Golf Association has decided to take a stand against the eroding playability of our old courses due to the length of the modern golf ball. The Champions Tournament will be unique in the fact that the committee will identify a golf ball for use by all contestants.

The ball to be used will be a modern ball, with specifications as similar as possible to most popular balls, the only exception will be a lower compression. The ball to be used will be on the USGA’s approved ball list.

Like a tour event, the Champions Tournament will have several stations where ball flight, distance and swing speeds will be measured and documented for the entire field. The purpose is to extrapolate information that will prove useful in the ultimate goal of identifying a tournament golf ball.

If you wish to be part of this exciting experiment, contact the OGA at: tournaments@ohiogolf.org and you may be included in what will be the most revolutionary change in tournament golf since Softspikes.

According to OGA director Jim Popa, the 36-hole event will be played August 22-23 at Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, Ohio, where the Ohio State Mid-Am was played last year. The field will be comprised of Ohio club champions, city champions and local golf association champions, many of whom played the previous year's state amateur.

Alan Fadel, a one-time PGA Tour player and top amateur golfer is chairman of the OGA ball committee and says this is the culmination of several years of research and contemplation by the association.

Though no ball has been selected, both Fadel and Popa revealed that the group is close to selecting one that likely will not significantly favor clubhead speeds over 105 m.p.h. as today's balls tend to do. It will be a 3-piece ball, with a compression of around 70 with a soft cover.

Fadel says they will likely share the name of the ball maker at some point, but both confirmed that the ball to be used is on the USGA's Conforming Ball List.

In phone calls today, both Fadel and Popa emphasized that the impetus behind this project is to create a starting point for dialogue and to amass some information, but ultimately, to find a way to restore relevancy to many of Ohio's classic courses and also to deal with pace of play issues brought on by today's driving distances.

"Here in Ohio we have 800 golf courses and 25-30 just fantastic, world class older courses," said Popa. "And we can't use them anymore."

And he added, "it's time to get this game back where its supposed to be, a game of skill."

The OGA has a history of bold moves that may not exactly be popular in Far Hills (perhaps explaining why so few Ohio residents have served on the Executive Committee). 

The OGA was the first golf association in the country to endorse the use of SoftSpikes.

Could they be influencing another potentially significant trend?

Let's hope so.

Golfweek's America's Best

A more readable version of the latest Golfweek ranking is available online. Here is Brad Klein's summary. This link will take you to the Top 100 Modern and the Top 100 Classic. And here is the State-by-State public access list.

Notable moves on the Classic list:

 3. (4) Augusta National - Wow, amazing how many panelists get there each year to see the changes!
 10. (13) Prairie Dunes Country Club - Dave Axland bunker work must be going over nicely...
 11. (14) Chicago Golf Club - Restoration work and Walker Cup pay off...
 13. (10) Pinehurst No. 2 - USGA setup taking away some of the fun and sandy charm?
 17. (19) Oakland Hills Country Club (South) - And yet it's going under the knife...
 28. (30) Plainfield Country Club - The same year Golf Digest inexplicably drops it from the list...
 33. (50) Pasatiempo Golf Club - Restoration by Team Doak is going over nicely...
 34. (58) Congressional Country Club (Blue) - Look what hosting the Booz Allen can do...
 78. (84) Bel-Air Country Club - Someone likes that blinding white sand...
 90. (NR) Atlantic City Country Club* - Ultra exclusive course finally gets enough votes 

Newcomers to the Modern list:

>> No. 17: Bandon Trails, Bandon, Ore. Coore and Crenshaw
>> No. 31: Old Sandwich Golf Club, Plymouth, Mass. Coore and Crenshaw
>> No. 39: Briggs Ranch Golf Club, San Antonio. Tom Fazio
>> No. 41: Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course), Pebble Beach, Calif. Mike Strantz
>> No. 44: Trump National Golf Cub, Bedminster, N.J. Tommy Fazio and "The Donald"
>> No. 46: Lakota Canyon, New Castle, Colo. Jim Engh
>> No. 49: Boston Golf Club, Hingham, Mass. Gil Hanse
>> No. 51: Black Rock, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Jim Engh
>> No. 67: Whisper Rock (Lower Course), Scottsdale, Ariz. Gary Stephenson/Phil Mickelson
>> No. 68: Forest Creek Golf Club (North Course), Southern Pines, N.C. Tom Fazio
>> No. 71: Pronghorn (Nicklaus Course), Bend, Ore. Jack Nicklaus
>> No. 83: Sage Valley Golf Club, Graniteville, S.C. Tom Fazio
>> No. 99: Seven Canyons, Sedona, Ariz. Routing by Ken Kavanaugh, the rest by Tom Weiskopf
>> No. 100: May River Course at Palmetto Bluffs, Bluffton, S.C.  Jack Nicklaus

Another GD Blog

Golf Digest makes another shrewd move by adding a Ryan Herrington blog on college golf.

An Integral Part of the FedEx Cup

In announcing the Honda's move from Mirasol to PGA National, note Commissioner Finchem's quote:

"We look forward to a bright future as the Honda Classic moves to PGA National's renowned Champion Course and becomes an integral part of the FedEx Cup for years to come."

Not an integral part of the PGA Tour for years to come, but an integral part of the FedEx Cup for years to come.

Translation: after this year, the PGA Tour name is going to become secondary to FedEx Cup.

I hope they're getting a lot of money for this. 

GWAA Awards

The Golf Writers Association of America announced the winners of its annual writing awards, and for the second year in a row yours truly managed to bamboozle the judges, taking third in the "Daily Column" category with my review of Trump National.

The Dilemma Course Officials Face Across the Country

Bob Harig in the St. Petersburg Times writes:

For the second year in a row,  Tiger Woods  made Doral his personal playground, firing at pins and making birdies as if it were a pitch-and-putt course. His 20-under-par performance that culminated in his 48th career victory Sunday came a year after he set the tournament record at 24 under. Five times in the past 11 years, the winning score has been 18 under or lower. Three more times, it has been 17 under.

Those kind of numbers raised questions last week about Doral's viability as a World Golf Championship venue, which the tournament will become next year.

Wind has always been the course's main defense, and there has barely been a breeze, save for a day or so, during the past two tournaments. Technology, of course, has rendered many courses of long ago a far tamer test. But the lower numbers in recent years have been shocking.

Uh oh, Bob didn't get the memo! That's bias there, because after all, there is no evidence that technology has completely changed the game, just speculation. (As opposed to the overwhelming evidence that "agronomy" is responsible for 350 yard drives.)

Here, history suggests it is odd to see such low scores. But what can tournament officials do? Trick up the course to the point of absurdity?

It is a dilemma that course officials face across the country. Protect the integrity of the course against the best players in the world, or let them go at it?

Or they could be like Doral, probably pretty happy to have Tiger Woods as a back-to-back winner. 

Enlisting Bloggers For P.R.

Michael Barbaro of the New York Times writes about Walmart's efforts to enlist the help of bloggers:

Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance. "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards — no great friends of business — are ripping the bills," he wrote.

It was the kind of pro-Wal-Mart comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact, it did.

And..

Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters.

But the strategy raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has been forthright with bloggers about the origins of its communications, and the company and its public relations firm, Edelman, say they do not compensate the bloggers.

But some bloggers have posted information from Wal-Mart, at times word for word, without revealing where it came from.

What is different about Wal-Mart's approach to blogging is that rather than promoting a product — something it does quite well, given its $300 billion in annual sales — it is trying to improve its battered image.

Gee, I wonder if this kind of blogger-corporate synergy could happen in golf. I wonder, I wonder.

Peper: I "created a monster"

Former Golf Magazine editor George Peper's latest mea culpa comes in the form of a cover story lead in the new Links:

Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. The magazine got great publicity and sold more ads and copies, and I was proud of our biennial list, the first to rank courses from one to 100. Over time, however, I came to realize I’d created a monster.

...

Among golfers, we’ve seen the spawning of a new species: the conspicuous course collector, whose life mission is to play as many of the Top 100 as possible. Then there is the subspecies, the conspicuous club joiner, who collects Top 100 memberships as if they were bag tags—which essentially they are.

This wretched excess would be harmless if not for two problems. First, the lists are inherently flawed. No matter how experienced and knowledgeable, a selection panel will not—cannot—get the ratings right, simply because there is no “right.” Rankings are no more than a collective guess, an objective average of subjective opinions.

And... 

The GOLF panel also includes public relations execs, resort owners, tour operators, photographers, writers and others with close links to courses. The last I knew, all these conflict-of-interest votes counted.

Uh George, you left out the multiple USGA staffers to. Well at least you are mentioning the rest now! Continue...

I have little knowledge of the Golf Digest panel, except that it includes more than 800 low-handicap golfers, whose identities, unlike GOLF’s panelists, are kept anonymous. With a group that size, some raters inevitably will be more knowledgeable and responsible than others. I’m also not sure whether all low handicappers may be able to judge the capacity of a course to be enjoyed by all levels of player.

Amen to this...

The second weakness of the rankings is more important. The magic number—100—is simply too small. There are more than 30,000 courses in the world; to celebrate only 100 is ludicrous. Hell, there are 100 great courses within a three-hour drive of Manhattan!

Page 2 includes his list of the ten most overrated. Shockingly, none were designed by good buddy Rees Jones!

The Villages Sets New Record...

...for the most awful ads ever to appear repeatedly on a PGA Tour broadcast?

No, but while those dreadful spots that have been airing regularly and giving the Tour's VP of 18-34 year olds a headache, they were not the source of the record.

No, Erin Cox at SouthFlorida.com has the details. Warning, we're talking Guiness stuff here...

THE VILLAGES -- Leave it to Florida's retirees to shatter world records.

Official word came Friday that The Villages set the only Guinness World Record held by a retirement community. The September charity event nearly tripled the efforts of the previous group of retirees to orchestrate The World's Largest Golf Cart parade.

The 3,321 carts winding through the paths of The Villages in the fall is a meager showing for the 57,000 retirees who travel mainly by golf cart in the sprawling community. But parade mastermind Chuck Berkey, 77, thought nearly tripling the record of 1,138 was excessive on the first try.

"Someday, if somebody challenges us, we can bring out the big guns then," said the parade's mastermind, Chuck Berkey, 77. The 12-by-16-inch certificate arrived in Berkey's mailbox Friday afternoon.

"When I got that in the mail, I almost fell over," he said.

Berkey has been checking the box for the certificate every day. Guinness officials had said it would come months ago. But even without the paperwork, Villages residents considered themselves unbeatable.

"When it comes to retirement communities, we are the undisputed champions," said Doug Tharp, president of The Villages Homeowners' Association.

Manned By Some 1,200 Volunteers...

Sam Weinman writes about the USGA merchandising tent at Winged Foot.

Measuring 36,000 square feet, Lopuszynski's tent this June will sell more than 400,000 items, of which there are more than 1,000 varieties. It will be manned by some 1,200 volunteers. And while only open for 11 days, the tent's interior will feature all the fixtures — from carpeting to lighting to signage — of a high-end retailer.

I'm hoping we get an Open to L.A. again so I can volunteer to work in the merchandise tent. What fun!
 

"That's where the pros sell product"

The USA Today's Jerry Potter writes a press release about the resurgence of the vaunted Cobra brand.

Most of Harmet's young guys aren't playing a full line of Cobra products. Some are adding Titleist clubs, but Harmet plans to get them as many Cobra clubs as he can.

"The real important thing is the driver," he said. "That's where the pros sell product."

MacDuff's Post-Doral Fed Ex Cup Points

Thanks to MacDuff for an update on what a Fed Ex Cup race would look like under his points system treating every week the same. It's early, but even with two wins, Tiger is still only 13th in 3 appearances (4 but his WD isn't counting) while Phil Mickelson and his 0 wins is 2nd.

No one before Tiger has played less than 5 times and only one two other players in the Top 20 have played less than 5 times.

1    Sabbatini    10891.66        7
2    Mickelson    8934.37        6
3    C.Campbell    8850        7
4    Toms    8634.37        5
5    Glover    8529.16        6
6    Singh    8371.87        6
7    Furyk    7133.33        5
8    Petersson    6983.33        6
9    Lehman    6962.5        5
10    Appleby    6858.33        5
11    Oberholser    6737.5        5
12    Verplank    6712.5        5
13    T.Woods    6471.87        3
14    Gf. Ogilvy    6400        4
15    Palmer    6166.66        6
16    Parnevik    5930        6
17    T.Clark    5892.5        6
18    Weir    5834.37        4
19    Chopra    5724.5        6
20    Barlow    5713.5        6
21    Rollins    5662.5        5
22    Donald    5609.37        4
23    Van Pelt    5490        6
24    Love III    5437.5        4
25    JB Holmes    5433.33        4
26    Jerry Kelly    5325        4
27    Mayfair    5316.66        6
28    N.Green    5137.5        4
29    Villegas    5037.5        4
30    Cink    5021.33        5
31    J.Ogilvie    5020        5
32    Pernice    5000        4
33    DiMarco    4984.37        4
34    Leonard    4895.83        5
35    D.Wilson    4762.5        5
36    Bertsch    4725        5
37    Z.Johnson    4687.5        4
38    Senden    4625        4
39    Matteson    4575        5
40    Calc    4450        5
41    Olazabal    4412.5        3
42    Olin Browne    4387.5        5
43    A.Scott    4375        3
44    Jobe    4355        4
45    Franco    4350        4
46    Rose    4341.66        4
47    Atwal    4312.5        4
48    Bub Watson    4250        4
49    Watney    4137.5        4
50    Warren    4083.33        4
51    Kenny Perry    3962.5        4
52    Gay    3950        5
53    Vn Taylor    3825        4
54    Branshaw    3812.5        3
55    Imada    3787.5        5
56    Estes    3775        3
57    M.Wilson    3765        3
58    J.Byrd    3750        3
59    Bohn    3683.33        4
60    Choi    3675        3
61    Garcia    3662.5        3
T62    Couples    3650        4
T62    Immelman    3650        4
64    Slocum    3550        5
65    Sluman    3550        6
66    Triplett    3537.5        2
67    Bjornstad    3530        4
68    Funk    3525        5
69    F.Jacobson    3512.5        3
70    Crane    3482.5        3
71    J.Smith    3462.5        3
72    Gore    3350        3
73    Pampling    3292.5        4
T74    Bryant    3287.5        3
T74    Els    3287.5        3
76    Purdy    3262.5        4
77    Beem    3256.25        4
78    Frazar    3187.5        4
79    D. Howell    3175        2
80    Waldorf    3137.5        3

It's still early but it looks like MacDuff's balanced points distribution (with benefits for top 10 finishers, as explained here), rewards not only solid play, but players playing a lot. Similar to how it works over at NASCAR, the model for this swell idea.

Howell and Elk On WGC's

Andrew Both in the Telegraph:

European Tour Order of Merit leader David Howell has joined the growing chorus of condemnation over the Americanisation of the World Golf Championships."There should be at least one event every year somewhere other than America.

And...

"Obviously, the market is huge here but it is a world game and any opportunity to get the best players to other parts of the world is a great way to grow golf. I'm sure lots of corporate sponsors in America would be happy to see a tournament in China, but we're not having one for some reason."

Howell's comments, strong though they were, paled beside the amazing outburst by Steve Elkington, the Houston-based Australian who beat Colin Montgomerie in a play-off at the 1995 US PGA Championship, but who missed the cut here.

"They're not really world events any more. It's just a fancy name for a $10 million event," Elkington said in a blistering attack on the US Tour, who decide when and where WGC events will be played.

"They're killing world golf everywhere else. Next year we're going to be playing the Match Play in Tucson, Arizona. I mean, who's ever been to Tucson?"

Let The Grand Slam Talk Begin

Gary Van Sickle writes:

I apologize if I'm jumping the gun here (or trying to start a bandwagon), but is there any good reason why Tiger Woods won't win the calendar-year Grand Slam this year?  

No reason I can think of.  

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch, Week 9

Thanks to Doral's mysterious pre-tournament course watering, the PGA Tour driving distance average actually dipped every so slightly from 287.8 yards to 287.5.

8 drives were added to the 350 and over club, bringing the season tally to 540. There were no 400 yarders last week, so the season total remains 15.

Getting Ready For Oscar Night

I don't know about you, but I can only think brand consistency when I see these spellbinding images from LPGA Oscar night preparations.

Yes, that's right, LPGA.com has the exclusive details on the gift-bag trade out on LPGAers being invited to post-Oscar parties. I bet Elton immediately recognized Stephanie Louden!

Thanks to reader John for the link. 

To Watch Or Not To Watch

Mark Garrod looks at the contrasting takes on scoreboard watching, weighing the experiences and thoughts of David Toms and Tiger Woods, who each used different approaches during Sunday's Doral finale.

FlogWatch, Tiger At Doral

Tiger Woods en route to victory at Doral:

                               Total      Rank

BIRDIES                        25        1
DRIVING ACCURACY    46.4     T59
DRIVING DISTANCE     304.3     9
PUTTS PER ROUND     28.8      T56
PUTTS PER GIR          1.690     T33
GREENS IN REG           80.6      T1 

There You Go...

Somehow I don't envision Hogan or Nicklaus getting the kind of questions Tiger faced after winning at Doral again.

JOE CHEMYCZ: The front nine, statistically the computer said zero fairways but nine greens hit and still 3 under par.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I didn't hit a fairway, but hit like I guess

Q. You hit two fairways. ShotLink was wrong.

TIGER WOODS: Okay, cool. (Laughter) 3 under, there you go.

Q. How aware were you of the situation when you were playing 17, did you know you were two ahead?

TIGER WOODS: I knew that there was a board there, and after I knocked it over, I looked over at the board and saw that DT had made par, so I had a two shot lead, yes.

Q. Why were you missing left early? Because you had missed right, your misses had been right all week.

TIGER WOODS: Correct.

Forest Course Update

Joe Livernois has the latest on development plans for another golf course inside the 17 Mile Drive.