Handicapping The Olympic Design Finalists

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The field has been set for golf architecture’s grandest Grade 1 race. Eight will line up in a fiercely contested battle to become the lucky designer charged with building a course expected to inspire future creations with its environmentally sensitivity and playable charm. Here’s a look at the field set to be chosen by a jury panel in late January or early February.
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Olympic Format Claims Another Victim

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Bernie McGuire gets confirmation from Mission Hills' Ken Chu that the two-man World Cup will go to 72-holes of stroke play and world ranking points starting in 2013.

"The World Cup will change format, and it will begin enjoying world rankings points, and it will still be held biennially and at around this time of year," he told Reuters.

"But with golf to be in the 2016 Olympics the equation in golf changes, and these changes to the World Cup will be having the Olympics in mind."

Chu, along with his younger brother Tenniel, Mission Hills vice chairman, held meetings earlier this week at Haikou with the Federation of Golf Tours heads, including PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and his European Tour counterpart, George O'Grady.

Chu indicated the Federation would release a joint statement shortly confirming the changes.

Ah no need now!

"PGA TOUR Latinoamérica to kick-off inaugural season in 2012"

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For Immediate Release...

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica to kick-off inaugural season in 2012

Wow, only one cap on Latinoamérica...

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (October 20, 2011)—The PGA TOUR announced today the creation of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, a professional tour initially consisting of 11 events played in seven countries across Latin America.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “This expansion into Latin America, when combined with what the Nationwide Tour has been able to accomplish in the region in recent year’s, is part of the natural progression for golf which continues to grow globally.  We see this as an opportunity to help in the further development of elite players across the region.  The timing is right, with South America hosting its first ever Olympic Games, which includes golf’s return to the competition for the first time in more than 100 years.  The Latin American market has already produced several PGA TOUR stars, and one of our goals for this tour is to help develop the Latin American stars of the future.”

The 11-event schedule, the result of a collaborative effort among the PGA TOUR, Tour de Las Americas, National Golf Federations, promoters and host clubs in the region, will be contested from September through December 2012.  In 2013, the plan is to have up to 14 events on the schedule.  The events will take players through various parts of the region including Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. A complete schedule will be released in the near future.

And now for the quote pile-on.

Alright, let's get to the takeaway here...

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica events will be 72-hole stroke play tournaments consisting of fields of up to 144 players. The fields will consist primarily of the top professionals in the region with the top money earners receiving access to the PGA TOUR’s Nationwide Tour the following year. The specifics of Nationwide Tour access will be disclosed next year prior to the start of the 2012 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica schedule.

Receiving access? Translation: details to be bickered over at upcoming player and policy board meetings.

From there, the release features a big quote pile-on that won't improve your day.

My knee-jerk takeaway?

The European Challenge Tour should stay away from Latin America, and, as Sean Martin noted when writing about this earlier this year, this should help get more South Americans world ranking points and therefore eligible for the 2016 Olympics.  But as Martin notes in a new story on the announcement, discussions about those points have a ways to go.