When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Bill Elliott profiles Greg Norman on the eve of his return to Turnberry and talks about the state of his game. There was also this at the end of the piece:
"The return of V-grooves is the greatest move technologically in golf for years. That's gonna teach today's players a huge lesson on the art of understanding a lie, controlling a ball and flight trajectory. Some of these guys have no idea what they're going to be in for," he grinned.
I know what you're asking yourself! Who said that? Was it MacKenzie? Tilly? Dye? Doak? Hanse? Oh wait, only one architect sells wine and clothes! (Which reminds me, Jack, why don't you have your own wine label?).
Thanks to reader Nick for Wing-Gar Cheng of Bloomberg's report that Greg Norman is looking at up to 20 design projects in China.
Chrissy, you better start learning to say Ni hao.
Norman, known as the “Great White Shark” for his aggressive golf style and blond hair, is chasing 20 golf-course design leads in China, said Harley Kruse, an architect at Greg Norman Golf Course Design Co. Each course could attract a fee of more than $1 million, Kruse said in an interview late yesterday.
“When we get our boots down on golf course design, it opens up to every kind of deal we have, the wines, clothing line,” Norman, 54, said in an interview in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. “China is the bright spot.”
Wonderful that he's eyeing the opportunity to grow the game and share his vision of 250 yard carries and misery at a premium.
The company plans to open offices in China in the next five months, and may establish a wine distribution partnership within a year, Kruse said. Norman previously designed courses at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen and Kai Kou Golf Club in Xiamen, where another Norman course is under construction.
“What you have within your corporation is what your brand represents,” Norman said late yesterday. “I’m not trying to get everything. You just have to identify your market and know what you’re going after.”
Just think architects: there will be 20 redesign jobs in just a few years! So Greg's opening up two markets, design and redesign.
Thanks reader Steven T. for Jose Lamblet's report.
From Greg Norman's chat with the working press Wednesday prior to the Senior PGA:
Q. When you were younger in your 20s and 30s you were obviously a great ball-striker, but always considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball. That was in the year of the persimmon heads. Has it changed a lot now? Do you think there's more guys who hit 70 percent plus in fairways hit because of equipment or back in the day that was a heck of a lot harder figure to reach?
GREG NORMAN: I think it's easier to hit the golf ball straighter now days. And the ball goes longer. No question. Is that -- that is technology. No question about it.
I think a great barometer, just to get off your question a little bit is, a great barometer is when the V grooves come into play next year. And I hope it does. There's rumors floating around here this week that it may not even come into play. But if the V grooves do come back into play, that will be a great barometer to see how good these players are with their touch and their feel and their imagination. And understanding that that ball, it looks like it's going to leap 40 yards extra off the club face, how do you play that?
That's going to be great to watch on television. Because that's, to me, is the art of understanding the game of golf. And understanding the spin of the golf ball. Not just a pure given fact if you hit it in the rough and I did it a couple times today on these firm greens, I'm in the rough, I know it's going to spin, I'm just going to open that club face up a little bit more and the ball comes down like an old dog lying by a fireplace. It just drops on the green.
Now that's not going to happen next year. So those are the type of things that actually help the better players distance themself from the average players. And I think that's why in my generation you saw such great shot makers out there, Trevino and like I said, Seve in a lot of ways, he hit phenomenal shots.
Gosh, this is going to be so fun. Golf.com's Michael Walker reports on the dream couples' Australian TV show interview.
The real "Wow!" moment of the interview came when Norman described what it's like to write a check for $100 million, the amount of Andrassy's divorce settlement. "It's good to know you have it," Norman said. "It's the price you pay for freedom."
Evert strikes back too, saying that Andrassy's accusations are untrue and "come from a place of pain." She then suggests that Andrassy "get a job."
Chrissy is such a sweetheart!
It's been so long since I've had anything to add to The List. Great to see what Greg Norman had to say this week:
Norman, who was in Australia to play the Johnnie Walker Classic last weekend in Perth, also said golf's international administrators should limit the impact of technology to save time and money rather than lengthen courses to accommodate for players hitting the ball further with increasingly advanced clubs.
"I think the powers that be could have done a better job of managing the technology breakthroughs that took place over a period of time and implemented different rules for us, the professionals, and not having to spend millions upon millions of dollars to change golf courses for four rounds," he said.
Tom Ramsey shares some if the Shark's imagery, which I must say, is better than the usual MBASpeak.
"The world's financial climate has changed dramatically. It's a big change for my business ... I am putting every extra ounce into looking after my business. You build it up, and then something like this happens which is beyond your control - you just have to put the saddle on the horse even tighter and ride it a bit harder.
And somehow I doubt Greg Norman has ever been chased by men with spears, but...
"When you're at the tip of the spear, everybody behind you is throwing other spears at you,'' Norman said during the week."
Thanks to reader Andrew for Josh Robbins' story on Greg and Gregory Norman. Dad knows his cheesy Tony Robbins metaphors:
"I've learned from Gregory his tenacity and his desire to be good at whatever he does," the father said. "It resonates out. When you're under pressure, you could see the intensity that comes out of an individual. What do you want to do? "Do you want to fly like an eagle or fly like a buzzard? And Gregory wants to fly like an eagle."
Gregory responded: "I learned how to do those things from him."
Gregory Translation: "Okay dad, that was a bit over the top. I'm going to keep my answer brief."
Now the real news:
It's possible, however, that Evert, not Gregory, may caddie for Norman in the Par 3 event on the eve of the Masters. In fact, it's an idea that Gregory endorses.
"She should definitely caddie," Gregory said when a reporter brought up the possibilityon Friday.
Norman agreed, saying anything is possible.
"[Chris and I] have talked about that actually," Norman acknowledged. "Whether that happens or not, I don't know."
Seems the new owners of Turnberry may realize that their course needs fixing post-Peter Dawson's R&A branded redo in advance of the 2009 Open Championship.
John Huggan writes for Golfobserver.com:
Still, for Norman as for everyone else who has endured a sporting loss, life goes on. Only a couple of hours after completing his opening 75 at Troon, he was at Turnberry, scene of his first Open victory back in 1986. Accompanied by David Spencer, the chief executive of Leisurecorp, Norman toured the back-nine on the Ailsa course with a view to recommending changes that will be implemented immediately after the Open Championship returns to the famous links for a fourth time next year.And...
While he was too diplomatic to say as much, one got the feeling that Norman was less than impressed with the work already done on the Ailsa’s closing three holes. Under the direction of the R&A’s chief executive, Peter Dawson, the 16th fairway has been moved 50 yards left of its previous location and new tees have been built at each of the last two holes. Brown had apparently wanted to leave the 17th alone and call it a par-4, but the man from St. Andrews would have none of it.
Then again, maybe Brown had a point. Although Dawson was understandably quick to hail the changes “a great success” in the immediate aftermath of the recent British Amateur Championship, it would perhaps have been more professional of the press pack in attendance to ask some of the players what they thought. Especially those unfortunate individuals who, unable to reach the fairway into an admittedly strong wind at the long 17th, took ten or more shots to eventually hole out.Oops. So I'm not the only one thinking a few too many writers have R&A memberships in their eyes!
“The R&A have obviously recognized that some adjustments to the course are required if it is to stand up to the technology available to the players nowadays,” said Norman, ever the diplomat. “It’s interesting how, when you look at it from a player’s perspective, you see things differently than you might do on a plan. Some of what they have done I might have done a bit differently. But that is what my eye sees; I see it from a player’s perspective as well as an architect’s.”Welcome to the backstabbing world of golf course architecture, Mr. Dawson.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
