PGA State Of The Game: "Certainly it feels like there is recovery in the industry."

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The PGA of America's State of the Industry Roundtable at the PGA Show is an annual gathering of bluecoats talking up the great state of the game and their latest initiatives. Thursday appears to have been no different as they unveiled the 2012 intiative, Golf 2.0, complete with a Boy and Girls Scouts component.
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Jack: "China...is shut down right now golf-wise."

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Greg Stoda covers an array of topics with Jack Nicklaus who spoke at a charity event.

Two of interest in the architecture world:

On the weak global economy and its impact on golf ...

- "China, for example, is shut down right now golf-wise. We were over there about a month ago with a course two weeks from being finished that was shut down. They put a satellite up to monitor it to see that nobody was working."

Or maybe they just played the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain and don't want you to get carried away again?

On the situation in the United States ...

- "I haven't been to a country in the last year where the outlook is as bad economically as it is here for us."

So we got that going for us. We're at the top of the bottom of the charts.

Jack: Tiger Can Still Win More Majors; Now Can We Just Pick An Olympic Architect!

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Making the rounds in South Korean (ESPN, AP), here's the unbylined AP story where he made comments suggesting Tiger can still pass his mark, Tiger is a fine Presidents Cup selection, all while urging the Olympic golf course process to move along. When does the hard sell become desperation?
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Jack's Coming To Town To Talk Valhalla Redo

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Thanks to reader John for Rick Bozich's Louisville Courier-Journal coverage of Valhalla's latest greens redo, which is prompting a Thursday visit from Jack Nicklaus his ownself. Members have been advised to bring their questions and Jack will provide answers.

In a story for the paper, Jody Demling does not mention the flood damage that had been cited by some as the reason all greens needed to be rebuilt (that would take some flood to get the 9th and 18th greens!). Instead, extreme heat seems to have been the culprit.

The project is expected to begin in September with renovations expected to be complete by next summer.

“The extremes of severe summertime weather these last two years have necessitated the enhancements to begin next month in time for the fall growing season,” Steranka said in a release from the PGA of America.

The PGA said a more heat-tolerant bent grass will be installed. A new irrigation system will replace the existing 25-year old infrastructure, and fairway drainage will be addressed.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed Valhalla has hosted the 1996 and 2000 PGA Championship and the 2008 Ryder Cup along with the Senior PGA in ’04 and ’11.

The course has already undergone three sets of major alterations, including changes before the 2000 and ’04 events.

Players Praising Royal St. George's, R&A

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I've noticed a recurring theme in a few stories about the course: the R&A addressed complaints by widening fairways and keeping the rough tame. Uh, let's give credit where credit is due: the Golf Gods have kept Sandwich dry and therefore, at least based on the player comments I could find, the course is going to present itself well thanks to the lack of tall grass lining the fairways that has become an R&A staple to slow down swelling driving distances.
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