"They've Cashed Our Check"

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Len Ziehm reports the news I know you've all been anxious to hear, Cog Hill has retained the Open Doctor. This may just be the cure for my acid reflux.

Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek had been in negotiations with Jones and his staff for nearly a year in Jemsek's efforts to make the Western Open site a suitable U.S. Open venue. Jones associate Greg Muirhead visited Cog Hill last July before Jones toured the course with Jemsek on Oct. 11. Jemsek revealed during last weekend's Chicago Golf Show that negotiations were successful.

"They've cashed our check,'' said Jemsek, who said work will begin on a limited basis after this year's Western, which ends July 9.

Jones was traveling and unavailable for comment Tuesday, but he noted after his original tour of the course that bunkers will get primary attention during the renovation. Many will be moved and some deepened.

The heart of the renovation will be on Dubsdread's last four holes. No. 15, which plays as a short par-5 now, will become a long par-4 with new tees shortening the hole.

You know, I think we should just eliminate par-5s until we get all birdies out of the game! Oh, sorry...

Nos. 16 and 18, both par-4s, will be lengthened with green-side hazards accentuated. And the par-4 17th, deemed much too easy by Jones, will be completely rebuilt with the green reduced and bunkers added.

Ernie's Site Time

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From Friday's sit down with the assembled inkslingers at Riviera:

Q.  Most people have a 100-mile drive to La Costa, your’s is going to be like 5,000?


ERNIE ELS:  Yes, I'm doing (designing) a golf course in Hawaii, in Honolulu.  Fly out Sunday night and I will be back Monday night in San Diego.

Q.  A little spot inspection thing?

ERNIE ELS:  Just an in-and-out thing. You get there Sunday night – sleep. Probably get up at 6 in the morning, I want to be in the plane 3 o'clock coming back.  That will get me back about 11 o'clock or so.

You know, how do I say this nicely. Wasn't he going to be taking it a little easier this year on the travel front? 

Dawson To The Rescue

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At least when the USGA messes with a time-tested golf course, they try to act like it was someone else's idea. Preferably, a golf architect.

turnberry-lighthouse.jpgNot the R&A. Mike Aitken writes about the effort to inundate Turnberry with more driver-eliminating bunkers. Donald Steel is the supervising architect, but he's not the one making the decisions.

"There are a number of other changes in the pipeline which are yet to be finalised between ourselves and the Royal and Ancient," [Turnberry GM Stewart] Selbie added. "The discussions are ongoing. Obviously, there are going to be some changes to championship tees. Just adding length to the links is not necessarily the answer, although there are a couple of instances where we will be looking to add a little more distance around the 16th and 17th holes."

Concerned that Turnberry's finishing stretch, which brought out the best in Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in 1977, is not quite as testing as it once was for a new generation of players who all hit the ball further than their predecessors, the R&A is examining a number of options related to the positioning of tees and greens.

David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, said: "Peter Dawson, our chief executive, is due to visit Turnberry later in February and will have a look at three different options. As it stands, we think we could make the 17th even better."

Now, anyone can hang out a sign and call themselves an architect. Guilty as charged.

But is it really the job of the R&A Executive Secretary to meddle in course design?

Well, it beats doing something about the distance problem. 

Dubai Progress Reports

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You know what this week's Dubai event means? Time for player-architects to make ceremonial design visits!

At IMG they call this synergy.

I know you've all been wondering about the progress of Ernie Els' signature design in Dubai. So there are plenty of quotes in this story from the Big Easy about how wonderful it is. But here's the money quote a man named U and whose last name is the real reason copy and paste was invented:

Accompanying the Big Easy on his tour, U Balasubramaniam, CEO Dubai Sports City, said:” It is a great pleasure to have Ernie back in Dubai and we are particularly pleased that he has been able to take time out of his busy schedule to take a look at the ongoing construction of his golf course. We are proud to have such a big name in the game of golf associated with Dubai Sports City.”

Yes, pleased he could take time out of his schedule to look at the construction of his course. The sacrifices.

Speaking of sacrifices, Vijay actually talked to reporters about his project.  Actually, these sound more like press release quotes...

The Fijian born star then flew to the site of his course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, which lies approximately 22km south west of Dubai city centre to review the initial course routing plan against the existing topography and wind direction, discuss tee and green heights, and review the proposed lake edge details and integration of the real estate components.

Singh said: 'We have an incredible canvas to work with for my course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. I am honoured that Nakheel has given me and my design team the opportunity to showcase my design skills and commitment. I take this responsibility very seriously, and clearly I'm not the kind of person that settles for second-best.'

'My courses are designed by Vijay Singh, not for Vijay Singh,' he continued. 'The Water course will be a challenging test of golf, but it won't be unfair. This golf course will stand the test of time and will be a worthy addition to the best courses in the world.' 

"I Have A Theory"

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It'll never be confused with Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" proclamation, but the mid-fourth round car wreck at Torrey Pines prompted Gary McCord to note that the play looked "like my buddies at home," which then had Peter Kostis announcing "I have a theory, I have a theory."

You keep building golf courses like this thing and you're going to breed a generation of 6'5" 240 pound golfers where power is everything. This golf is brutal...

Bobby Clampett chimed in at this point to remind us that the course is 7,600 yards at sea level, so we didn't get to hear Kostis expand on the theory. 

So, was he...

A) Going to say that the architects and developers are to blame for the current state of course setup and the way golf is played (flogging/ugly)?

B) Going to say that architects are to blame for the power game? 

C) Going to say that the emergence of 6'5" 240 pound players is the result of equipment that provides significant benefits for those who are taller and stronger? 

I'm guessing answer was NOT (C). So let's add architects to the better athletes/agronomy/workout programs/grooves/loft etc... rationale for doing nothing that might impact the sacred ball-driver synergy.

Spc. Dustin Kendall, RIP

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Sad news courtesy of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:

Spc. Dustin Kendall...21, was killed in Baqouba, Iraq, on Sunday in a noncombat-related accident when his humvee struck an M 1 A 2 Abrams tank and rolled over, according to the Department of Defense. He was assigned to the Army’s 1 st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3 rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4 th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Kendall spent about two years in the Army Reserve before signing up for active duty last summer. He was deployed to Iraq in November, Ballew said.

“He was very outgoing, very flirtatious,” Ballew said. “He was just a happy-go-lucky guy.”

She said he had studied business but was considering a career in golf-course design. “He loved to golf.... He was very competitive in sports and in girls.”

Parrish recalls him purposely driving a golf cart into a pond one chilly February day.

A memorial service will be held for Kendall on Saturday in South Carolina, where one of his sisters lives. Bradford said about six or seven employees are planning to attend.

Kendall is the 39 th soldier with Arkansas ties to have died in the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — 36 in Iraq and three in Afghanistan. To date 2,225 military personnel have died in the war in Iraq.

Lorne On Canadian Open, Coore/Crenshaw

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Lorne Rubenstein looks at the lousy date given to the Canadian Open. 

But why that summer date? Ross said yesterday that the PGA Tour had been aware from discussions during the past 10 years of the RCGA's preferred dates. That would be around Canada Day, which would put the tournament two weeks after the U.S. Open and three weeks before the British Open.

Given those dates, Canada's national championship would fall around a time when Canadians take the time to appreciate where they live and when many celebrations occur across the country.

These factors, of course, don't matter to the PGA Tour, which gave the date to the Buick Open in Flint, Mich. Well, that's just an hour by car from the Canadian border at Sarnia, Ont.

"The PGA Tour has a big contract with Buick," Ross said. Draw your own conclusions as to why the Canadian Open didn't get the far better week between the U.S. and British Opens.

He also wrote a wonderful column a few weeks ago on Coore and Crenshaw, and the possiblity that they may do a course in Canada.  Interesting quotes from Coore too.

Achenbach On The Ball

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After writing about how the modern golf ball is all things wonderful--and no one can argue with its amazing design and construction--Jim Achenbach's gets to the heart of the matter:

Touring pros, aided primarily by technology and greater athletic ability, have become longer because they have learned how to outmaneuver golf ball testing standards. The U.S. Golf Association's Overall Distance Standard now reflects a maximum combined carry and roll distance (under normal test conditions) of 320 yards.
Some players have been known to carry the ball farther than that.
Now, you'd think this notion would outrage the USGA and R&A, right? 
So when is enough enough for the bombers of the PGA Tour? It may be sooner rather than later.
If the USGA rolls back the golf ball – in a drastic alteration to the rules – it should reimburse golf ball manufacturers for the expense of adapting to the new distance standard.

You laugh, but I can't think of a more appropriate headache for all sides in this caper!

The USGA handing out millions of dollars to ballmakers? Absolutely. It is the only fair thing to do.

With a shorter golf ball, golf courses will move the tees up. Golfers can play shorter courses. Older layouts can regain some of the muscle they lost in the era of golf ball expansion.

Well, no one is going to move tees up. But if they stop wanting to move them back, that would be a nice, nice start. 

Annika: Euphoria...

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Annika Sörenstam flew into South Africa on Monday to announce that she was set to stop a trend and make some golfing history in the process. She is to become the first lady of golf course design in Africa.

Until now the job of designing South African golf course has been the strict domain of males, some of the best known of these being Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Darren Clarke.

But that's about to change.

Retief Goosen and Darren Clarke have designed courses in South Africa?

You learn something new and meaningless everyday.

Now, for the first time, Sörenstam is to create the first lady's signature course in the country - to be called the Euphoria Golf Estate and Hydro and to be developed on a site north of Pretoria en-route to Polokwane, the hometown of SA number one, Retief Goosen.

Euphoria Golf Estate and Hydro? It's official, they have run out golf course names.

"South Africa is a country I have always wanted to visit and I'm absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to take part in this project," the 35-year old World No 1 told reporters. "Courses are typically designed from the back tees for men whereas the brief at Euphoria was to design a course that will challenge men, women and children equally."

The brief at Euphoria? Note to to Annika's quote-maker-up-er...you can't have her talking like a South African in the same release she's mentioning how she's always wanted to visit there.

Oh, and we non-lawyers in the States call them talking points, not briefs.