And Yet More From The Communications Summit

After Finchem and Votaw put the assembled to sleep, their market research speaker took the podium. This is Barb Kaufman of Kaufman and Associates talking about her findings on the media-fan-player relationship.

Second point, on the fan component, fans need more technicolor, and a lot of the media I spoke with were not only representing golf but also cover other sports, and felt fairly strongly that fans really love the technicolor presentation of athletes. 

And you think they only talk like this in Hollywood?  What does that mean, need more technicolor?

Speaking of that, isn't Technicolor a registered trademark?  

They want to know more than their performance.  They want a little more depth, a little more context.  If they get that, it'll expand and create greater loyalty and longevity and loyalty to your sport.  NASCAR and the NFL were cited as benchmarks in that regard.

We're benchmarking!

A top line of the agent feedback, and I'm sure this is really going to shock you because it was the flipside of the coin, the agent and manager perceptions are that overall traditional golf media has become lazy and stale.  The sameole, sameole content has bred some degree of ambivalence by the players, and they just don't want to engage any longer because they don't feel the content is very innovative and creative.

Well, we could do more New York Post type stuff. That would be innovative and creative for golf! Bet the agents would love that.

The golf print media is becoming a dinosaur according to agents, and I want to specify that this means not the written word, but to Tim's point, print media in the traditional sense.  A lot of the younger players are very in tune to new media and would much rather give their time to those media outlets.  One particular agent said players would rather have 30 seconds on SportsCenter than a 900 word article written about them.

Wouldn't we all.

Players are becoming significantly more guarded with the media in the past by virtue of being burned.  Now, having said that, the majority of agents said it's a small percentage of the media who, quote, burn, shall we say, and that violators should bear the brunt of the burning and not all media because not all media are guilty of this travesty.

Travesty?

Many of the print media believe overall Tour coverage will decline and is declining if the playing field is not level between the electronic, print and quite frankly other emerging media.  They felt fairly strongly that preference and rights deals provide access to some media outlets and not others, which makes it more difficult to do my job.

From the agents' perspective, younger players are viewed as presenting great opportunities for unique and colorful content because they get it.  They've grown up in this entertainment world of sport and they know exactly what it takes to compete and keep their star rising.

They know branding!

It was at this point I had to take another break. Small doses, baby!

More From The Communications Summit

I used to think that if I was told I had six months to live that I would spend it watching The Big Break or Dr. Phil or listening to Celine Dion albums, but now I'm inclined to think that the PGA Tour Communications Summit will do the trick.

I could only get through 5 more pages. But Tim Finchem and Ty Votaw's statements were eye opening, if you can navigate the hurdles. I was tempted to plug this into the Ali G tranzlata, but why ruin such authentic frontier gibberish?

Finchem:

And then the second thing was, and this was we thought the most crucial thing, and it kind of overlaps the focus on tournaments, was to improve our ability working with our partners to utilize the media overall to communicate everything about the sport, the competition, who the players are, what the sport does and the rest, to engage the fans more effectively through the media. 

Ali Geoff tranzlata: Why spend all of that money on ad campaigns when you can get writers to spread the propaganda? Oh sorry...

If we're successful in moving the needle in this area, there are benefits for everybody in this room.  There are clearly benefits for our membership and for our tournaments and for our ability to grow the strength of this platform and continue to move the needle in terms of the benefits for players, the benefits for charities and our tournaments and the impact on the game of golf.

Is this really a good time to be using the needle metaphor? Just a thought.

The bottom line is, at the end of the day, we're moving needles here.

Here's Votaw talking about similar summits in other sports:

One interesting finding that we discovered in looking at those other summits was the extent to which they did not include the members of the media in the actual implementation and conduct of their communications summits.  They tended to include everybody but the media in gathering their communications stakeholders in order to improve their media outreach activities.

Yes, that's because those others sports didn't view the media as a group of stenographers who might just be dumb enough to write what you tell them.

Now, in the planning for this day, the phrase "sunlight is the best disinfectant" has come up many times in making sure if we do this and we do this right, we have to include all the stakeholders, including the media, get all the issues out on the table and get them out in the open and talk about them, and that's what we're going to do today.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant? That's one of those great metaphors that makes you stop and think, what the hell is he talking about? He is good!

To our partners in the golf equipment industry, we hope you take away the message that we want to work with you and identify and take advantage of quality media opportunities for players endorsing your products both within the golf industry as well as mass media markets.

Because moving your product is paramount to us.

Just look at how well that league driven product focus has worked for the NBA recently.

"His photographs are a little like the nude paintings of Bouguereau"

It's been a while since I've read some of that epic New York Times intellectual horsepuckey, but I got a nice pile of it while reading Charles McGrath's Sunday review of David Cannon's $195 coffee table book:

Many of the courses were photographed, moreover, either at dawn or at dusk, when most golfers never see them. The deepness of the colors — reds and yellows and shadowy greens — together with the lushness and grandness of the whole book and the great number of panoramic and aerial views, suggests that Cannon is less interested in the traditional aim of golf photography, which is to show you what it looks like from the tee of any given hole, than in evoking what the Romantics called the Sublime: an experience so dizzying it verges on the spiritual.

Or, maybe that's just the best time to photograph a golf course? Oh no, big metaphor coming. See if you can read this without rolling your eyes: 

His photographs are a little like the nude paintings of Bouguereau: they’re erotica that aspires to the condition of art.

Making The PGA Tour More Media Friendly

Garry Smits reports on the a PGA Tour hosted brainstorming session to make the sport more media friendly. Though I wasn't invited (shocking, I know), my NSA sources say they may have a transcript or two of the "break out" sessions reported on by Smits.

In the meantime...

More than 100 members of the media, tournament directors, equipment representatives and players agents met with PGA Tour officials Wednesday at the Sawgrass Marriott. They discussed issues such as on-and off-tournament site media relations and functions, non-traditional media exposure for players (such as appearances on David Letterman and Jay Leno's shows), the effect of new media such as the Internet, satellite radio and blogs and player accessibility.

Oh yeah, I'm sure Leno's bookers are clamoring to get Chad Campbell.

The debate was nothing if not lively during full and break-out sessions.

Much of the discussion began with the results of a survey conducted among members of the media that showed they believe agents have been whittling away at access, especially those representing the top players, and the PGA Tour is doing little to control them.

Hey, they have to earn their 10%.

On the other hand, a survey of agents showed they think the media frustrates players by asking the same questions at every Tour stop, that they write the same "stale" stories and increase their demands on the time of players who find time an increasingly diminishing commodity.

The same "stale" stories. Why is stale in quotes? This implies doubt that the reporting has become stale. There's no doubt!

"There's a feeling that these guys make a lot of money ... What's the problem?" PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said at the closing session. "But it's not that simple. Players' schedules have changed, and the job of the media is different. It's a real challenge, but it can work better."

Among the measures that will be launched or streamlined: weekly conference calls with key players, a smoother post-round interview process, and a Tour communications representative on duty at all times at practice areas to coordinate interviews.

The question is, will the communications representative also sit in on these interviews?

One reporter teed off in heels. Another hit the runway before the ball.

Jill Painter reports on the latest Tiger-hosted media gathering to show off the new Nike driver.

Oh to have YouTube video of this...

After Woods was done doing the demo, Nike representatives informed reporters that they could take a crack at the new club. Woods then laughed. Then he told everyone to not hit the ball in the street.

Had he stayed to watch the weekend hackers, he would've been as entertained as he imagined.

FSN West reporter Michael Eaves sliced his first shot onto 120th Street. One reporter teed off in heels.

Another hit the runway before the ball.

White's Final Column

George White signs off as a columnist for TheGolfChannel.com...

Golf's Current Desperation For Buzz

Cameron Morfit at Golfonline does a nice job illuminating the absurdity of stories still clinging to Tiger's PGA TOUR (C) "streak."

Woods finished two strokes back of South Korea's Yang Yong-eun, a.k.a. Yang, at the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, China, marking (all together now) the first time he's lost a 72-hole tournament since the Cialis Western Open on July 9.

So can we finally retire all talk of the so-called "streak?" No way! Tiger considered his loss to Micheel to be the end of it, but you can bet your Big Bertha that when Woods opens the 2007 season, most likely at the Buick Invitational at San Diego's Torrey Pines, the news will be that he'll be trying to extend his "winning streak" of six consecutive victories in official, PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments. (Sigh.)

Robert Palmer was addicted to love, America is addicted to oil and the golf world is addicted to Tiger. He's headline news when he doesn't win and even when doesn't even come close, which speaks loudly to golf's current desperation for buzz.

Harig On The Commissioners

Bob Harig pieces together an analysis of Tim Finchem's lousy year, and paints him as severely out of touch. But instead of drawing a conclusion about what this means for the PGA Tour and a man making $7 million a year, Harig details the rough year of Carolyn Bivens.

Still, it's a significant piece because a highly visible writer is offering the sharpest mainstream media criticism of the Commissioner's handling of the Western Open, drug testing and the FedEx Cup.

Readers here know that this story has been festering, but so far the major publications have not delved into the various misfires and other excessive spending in Ponte Vedra. If they want to attack what seems to be an enormous story, they also might want to consider the demise of the TPC "brand" under Finchem's watch, the Champions Tour decline, the...well, you get the idea.

It should be interesting to see if other writers pick up on the same theme as Harig, or perhaps take things a step further and suggest a change at the top. 

Another "Index" Review

Larry Dobrow at Media Post offers a positive, albeit slightly explicit review of Golf Digest's new "Index" magazine. A sampling:

Golf Digest Index is the newest entrant in the ha-ha-I'm-richer-than-you and my-wife-has-larger-breasts category. Its formula may not be novel -- pricey golf, pricey cars, pricey booze -- but the publication goes about its business in a distinctly different manner. I'm not sure how to put it, other than to say that you don't hate the people featured in it. Sure, you secretly hope a plumbing apocalypse soils their Oriental rugs beyond repair, but Golf Digest Index does the nigh impossible in making them interesting subjects of discourse.

PointMisser.com

...but at least I'm not a rally killer.

Yes, it seems my post last week on the latest musings from GolfDigest.com's "Bomb and Gouge" boys struck a nerve.  So much so, that Bomb and Gouge dropped their unfunny shtik for an ultra serious shtik.

Though somehow I suspect this post was more Bomb (E. Michael Johnson) than Gouge (Mike Stachura)...

We're sure Geoff Shackelford is a nice man. He is certainly an accomplished writer and contributor to the design of a golf course. But personal attacks on our integrity are a sign of weakness and low self-esteem.

But see, they never get personal. No sirree.

And, of course, point-missing. One of his latest musings suggests that our recent posting on attacking the issue of u-grooves was somehow motivated by a desire to promote the golf equipment industry and defend the USGA's equipment decisions.

No, just the golf industry part. I think we're all in agreement that the USGA is indefensible at this point. 

His overused lament is that the golf ball—that ongoing source of sturm und drang among the assembled panic-stricken, progress fearing golf Sanhedrin—needs to be dealt with in some draconian rollback, retrograde fashion.

It's a tired solution-less solution to a problem that does not exist.

I think it's time for the boys to visit The List, where they might note that it's not only little ole me suggesting something be done about this whole distance race, but people who actually matter like Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and, wait, who's that down at the letter T saying he wished a line had been drawn by the USGA? Oh right, your boss! 

But the bigger issue is what exactly are the Shackelfords of the world afraid of? That Myopia Hunt won't be able to host another U.S. Open? That Wannamoisett is too short to be appreciated by today's players? That the subtle beauty of the gently lofted mashie-niblick and the stymie are lost to eternity? The game is a living, growing thing, and just as I assume Mr. Shackelford, despite his bleating cries, no longer wears diapers, the game too must leave behind the things it no longer needs. We may be afraid of distance and the golf ball, but fear is borne and festers out of ignorance. Knowledge and rational thinking keep it in check.

Note to head pros at Myopia, Wannamoisett and anything else built before 1960: E. Michael Johnson says the game can leave behind the things it no longer needs and includes your courses! 

In my conversations with officials at the USGA and the R&A, average driving distance of average golfers has maybe increased 10 or so yards over the last 15 years, to a whopping 210-215 yards. If 215 yard tee shots are obsoleting your golf course, it might be time to pick a new venue. An ultra-elite group of players may be hitting it farther, but 99 percent of the rest of us aren't. And when we roll the ball back next year or the year after, how soon until we have to do it again? And which of us is ready to play a shorter ball? And if the insanely easy to play golf equipment were such an advantage, everyone would be shooting 59 every day. The game finds a way to win.

So the equipment never really works, therefore we must continue to keep pushing the latest thing...for what reason again?

And because there is no need to bog this debate down with an endless dissertation, let's just mull some facts.

1. Currently, there are just two players on the PGA Tour who are averaging more than 300 yards in the tour's statistics that measure all drives. Two.

2. In the tour's driving distance average statistics, 20 players are averaging 300 or more yards. But here's the thing, only half of that number have ever won a tour event—EVER—and a third of that number (Woods, Couples, Love, Mickelson, etc.) have always been among the longest hitters. And here's one more thing, the number of 300-yard hitters is down from a year ago.

3. Driving distance has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. But it's flattened out in the last five. It's up about half a yard this year over last year. 18 inches. That's an increase of 0.17 percent. Is that the sky falling, or maybe something else?

They were doing so well there until point #3.

Flattened in the last five? Now, according to my media guide, the 2001 average was 279.4. And as of this week, the current Tour average is 289.7 (+10.3 yards).  And the gain since 1996 is 23 yards, and nearly half of that has come in the last five years.  Flattened?

Okay, the big wrap up:

The game survives when it chooses to grow.

Was that Darwin or Wind who said that? Sorry... 

Equipment isn't making anyone a dominant player. And when it chooses to test elite players in the way we average golfers are tested on a regular basis, the game will be stronger because it has the power to consistently find ways to turn back all threats.

Maybe that will make sense if we put it in the Ali G translata...

equipment isn't makin anyone a dominant playa. and whun it chooses to da test elite players in da way we average golfers is tested on a regular basis, da game will be stronga coz it as da powa to consistently check ways to turn back all threats.  

No, didn't help. 

Golf Digest "Index"

Have you seen the new "Index" magazine published by Golf Digest, with Deutsche Bank CEO Seth Waugh on the cover and Gil Hanse's Boston Golf Club featured prominently?

I'm curious what you think. (Their listed website, GolfDigestIndex.com doesn't seem to work.)

The publication has some nice stuff and a classy design, but it also seems like a wannabe Links Magazine only geared toward the conspicuous consumer who would actually heed Marty Hackel's fashion advice. There was just a bit too much rejected Buddies Issue content, including a Bryant Gumbel-Matt Lauer fashion spread that seemed better suited for The Advocate.

Thomas Friedman's half-hearted interview with Waugh was disappointing because Waugh is a charismatic chap and avid student of the game who deserved to be asked better questions than, "Can you really learn about a person's character by playing golf with him?"

There's a spread on the Top 50 private golf "retreats" (Firestone!?!?!?) and a fascinating piece by Marcia Chambers on a country club hustler.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it, look for it at finer clubs and resorts (I think).

Dis Be DLIII

During his post third round press conference at Greensboro, Davis Love tried to share some interesting thoughts on design. Unfortunately, the ASAP person handling the transcript had trouble finding their comma key (amongst other transcription issues):

And, you know, I think we knew what the golf course looked like, we knew the old style and, you know, we liked the kind of the Chicago golf club, that kind of style green and we thought it would fit very well here and give the members a chance to get the ball to run up on to the greens.

You can kind of tell the downhill balls the ball runs on to the green, uphill holes little bit of false fronts. Very, very traditional.

Somebody like Lee Jantzen who is studying old golf courses comes up and talks to me about them all the time. If you appreciate some of the old Master kind of things, there's like that goofy No. 2 green, there's some designers that put a green like that on every course they built and, you know, we didn't do a punch bowl and didn't do a "Rhodan" but we did really old style greens and I think the members like it especially if the rough is a little bit lower than it is right now, they have a lot of fun playing it.

Reading his words after they've been run through the Ali G translator (when do we get a Borat version!?), I think you'll find that he actually makes a little more sense.

and, yous know, i think we knew wot da golf course looked dig, we knew da batty style and, yous know, we liked da kind of da chicago golf cukabilly, dat kind of style greun and we thought it would fit well well in da house and borrow da members a chance to get da ball to run up on to da greens.you can kind of tell da downhill mr biggies da ball runs on to da greun, uphill battys little bit of false fronts. well, well traditional.

somebody dig lee jantzun who is angin batty golf courses comes up and natters to me about them all da time. if yous appreciate some of da batty masta kind of fings, there's dig dat goofy no. 2 greun, there's some designers dat put a greun dig dat on every course dey built and, yous know, we didn't do a punch bowl and didn't do a "rhodan" but we did for real batty style greens and i think da members dig it for real if da rough is a little bit lowa than it is right now, dey ave a lot of wicked playin it.

Oh To Be A Subscriber, Vol. 86

Sharonda at SI customer service was kind enough to credit it me for the last two weeks of Golf Plus that I missed because the computers decided I was a Fantasy Plus man.

Anyone else get switched over?

I guess this beats getting the X-Games Plus or whatever its called, but it would not be fun to go an entire year without missing Golf Plus. Then again, my subscription has been extended two months thanks to the computers!

Meanwhile, Golf World has been arriving on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Scary I tell you. This can't keep up.  

"Navel Academy"

Somehow I have a hard time understanding how Golf For Women finds this "Navel Academy" photo spread to be in good taste.

I'm guessign that if SI or Maxim made the comments they make (pointing out a player's scar as in the photo to the left), there would be hell to pay.

But because it's a women's magazine, they can make comments about a player's weight?

Hmmm...pretty tacky.

Oh, and don't miss the Creamer picture. The second one! ;

GOLF Mag Going SI

From the memo on Time Inc selling some of its magazine titles...

Golf and Golf.com will join the Sports Illustrated group. The publishing side of Golf will report to SI president Mark Ford. Golf�s top editor will report to SI managing editor Terry McDonell. The move to Sports Illustrated is significant as it combines the number one general sports title with one of the leading golf titles and brings together two category leading web sites with a total of 9,000,000 unique visitors a month.