"I told myself there ain't but one way to get them out of there, and I reckoned I was gonna have to do it the manly way."

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boo2.jpgYes, there are actually people who speak like that. Boo Weekley to be exact.

Golf World's John Hawkins profiles Weekley and shares this among several classic anecdotes:

By October the bumpkin had turned back into a pumpkin. Perhaps the lowest point came when Boo used a Port-a-Pottie at a tournament and dropped his courtesy-car keys in the toilet about two hours before a flight. The good news was the airport was only 20 minutes away. The bad news was Weekley didn't have a fishing rod. "I told myself there ain't but one way to get them out of there, and I reckoned I was gonna have to do it the manly way," Boo says. "So I put some snuff up my nose to cut down the smell, stuck my arm in there and reached around until I found 'em."

 

Vijay Withdraws From Design Project So He Can Spend Less Time Mailing It In

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Thanks to reader John for the sad, sad news that Vijay Singh will not be lending his name to a pair of former IMG Design Services masterpieces in his native land.

IMG Worldwide Inc, the manager of Fiji's star golfer, last week cancelled its design contract for the championship golf course at Natadola Resort.

In a statement today, Renee Lal, legal representative for IMG, says the Natadola Bay Resort Ltd (NBRL), a subsidiary of the Fiji National Provident Fund will no longer have the right to use Vijay Singh's name to promote the course.

No comments could be obtained immediately from NBRL's chairman Felix Anthony.

Last month, the FNPF, the financiers of the multi million dollar project, had said it had cancelled the Natadola project manager's, Asia Pacific Resort International (APRIL's) contract after Anthony claimed that Interpol reports showed that APRIL chief executive Gerard Saliot had a criminal record, which he did not disclose when obtaining a work permit.
A show of integrity from IMG? Eh...
APRIL, which is the founder of the Natadola scheme, says its contract is still in force and has not been legally terminated.

Golfer Singh had said he would withdraw from the Natadola Golf Course project in Fiji if APRIL and Saliot are removed.

"I thought that (the statement) was a bit irresponsible," Anthony had later said in a press conference.

Lal says Singh has indicated publicly his trust and confidence in APRIL and Saliot, its chief executive.

Singh in association with IMG, has been personally involved in the design and development of the course.
Well...let's not get carried away here. 
Lal says she received a message from Singh through IMG expressing his concern at the circumstances that led to the contract cancellation.

"His actual words were that what had happened 'has caused great disappointment to me as my dream is now altogether gone to provide this masterpiece for the people of Fiji'.

"I have been instructed to say that criticisms of Singh by FNPF and NBRL board member, Felix Anthony, are completely false," Lal says.

She claimed that they were made without as much as a "phone call to Mr Singh or an offer of discussion".

Lal says that any suggestion that Singh does not fully understand the situation between the FNPF and APRIL is untrue.

"He is well informed and is in regular contact," she said.

Lal claims FNPF's contractual default has led to a new crisis.

She said IMG had exercised its right to terminate the course design agreement with immediate effect and that the NBRL was informed about this late last week.

Lal claims that despite repeated requests, the NBRL had failed to pay outstanding sums of about $103,000 to IMG.

She claims that there was a clear and unequivocal breach of the design agreement.

Lal says that IMG may proceed without further notice to take legal action against NBRL to recover the full amount due, together with costs and interest.

According to her, the IMG is also making a demand for payment of sums due under a separate management agreement which she said at March end totaled about $275,000.

In IMG's view, the NBRL's failure to pay these amounts was also a clear breach of agreement, Lal says.

She said that although the design agreement had been terminated, it was still possible to negotiate a new agreement.

"The option is still there if matters can be resolved."

Lal who also represents APRIL says it was estimated that the interruption of the golf course contract alone could involve additional expenditure of some $5 million.

She claims the FNPF is now exposed to a number of legal problems with potentially far-reaching consequences.

Well if you can make sense of that, please feel free to explain in the comments section. 

"He can do "nice" if he wants to"

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John Huggan on Vijay Singh:
Actually, not many media outlets print much of anything said by Singh, for the simple reason that he rarely says anything worth printing. Just this past week, your correspondent e-mailed one of America's most respected journalists to ask if Singh had ever commented publicly on the possibility of steroid use in golf. The response was short and to the point: "Has he ever commented publicly?"

He has, but not often. Two years ago, Singh was approached by a journalist - OK, me - on the practice ground at Pinehurst just prior to the US Open. He was asked to name his three favourite holes in Scotland, a subject that both surprised and intrigued him. Not only did he take a few minutes to ponder his decision, he was interested enough to ask what holes other players had offered up. It was, to my lasting shock, a pleasant little interlude.

So he can do "nice" if he wants to; it's just that Singh rarely seems to want to.

Seve To Play Masters; WD Announcement Pending

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From the wires:

Seve Ballesteros is heading back to professional golf and will compete in the Masters and British Open next year.

The five-time major winner said yesterday that he also wants to join the Champions Tour in the United States when he turns 50 in April.

"My plan is to continue withdrawing for another four or five years," Ballesteros said.

Wait, I meant to copy and paste the version where he says he will continue playing for another four or five years. 

"College golf eats its young"

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Gary Van Sickle looks at the best under-30 American golfers, and notes:

College golf eats its young in the U.S. Coaches aren't eager for their players to make big changes to improve -- they need a good finish at next week's tournament. And since the college season almost never ends -- September to mid-November, February to June -- there isn't time to worry about long-term goals. It's all about next week's or next month's tournament.

In Australia, regional sports institutes do just the opposite. They provide coaching -- mental and physical -- and nutrition and conditioning and competition. It's all about building better athletes. The result is, Australia is flooding golf with far more top-level players than a country of its size has any right to produce. American players need more resources and more down-time to focus on getting better for the long run.

Now, American collegiate golfers are playing quality events on decent courses, while also competing prior to those events through team qualifiers. They get free equipment. Most are following conditioning programs laid out by school trainers.

Meanwhile, international players are still populating the college ranks, with Paul Casey and to a lesser extent, Camillo Villegas having breakout years after U.S. college golf careers.

But does Van Sickle have a point about the long term approach issue? After all, this is a short term, instant gratification culture.

I still contend that the international players are more imaginative and talented all-around players because they've been exposed to a variety of designs and course setups.

Thoughts?

Bubba Talks

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Thanks to reader Barry for this Jason Sobel Q&A with Bubba Watson.

Q: Would you be in favor of ever rolling back the golf ball to make courses more playable?
A: The sad thing about that is, there's a lot of great ideas out there, but the problem is, if you roll back the golf ball, you're still going to have the longest hitter and you're still going to have the shortest hitter. And there's nothing you can do about that. There's going to be a longer and shorter hitter, no matter if you all use the same clubs. There's always going to be a shortest and a longest, so it's not really going to affect anything.

As you can see, he's given the issue much thought and consideration. Reminds you of Ogilvy doesn't he?

Q: Do you think some courses are becoming obsolete now that players are hitting wedge into every hole?
A: There's a lot of great golf courses that we play that are tough and they're old golf courses. You think about the U.S. Open. All they did this year was add rough and the greens are fast. It wasn't tricked out, it wasn't sloped too much; it was just tough. Westchester is just tough, and Colonial -- a lot of the older courses are just tough and you didn't have to add any yardage, you didn't have to do anything. If you've got rough, some overhanging trees, it's a tough golf course.

All they did was out rough and the greens aren't fast, and it wasn't tricked out. I guess it hasn't occurred to Bubba that rough and fast greens are forms of trickery?  

Huggan On Harrington

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John Huggan devotes his Scotland on Sunday column to Padraig Harrington.

In an era when the explosion in club and ball technology has all but eliminated any need for shot-shaping, imagination and flair from those at the sharp end of the game, "one-dimensional" is an easy label to hang on many leading professional golfers. While hitting the same straight shot time after time may make them feel consistent, the reality is that such tedium is but one reason that so many American viewers are reaching for their flickers whenever the PGA Tour appears on TV screens.

Still, let's not condemn them all. Not Padraig Harrington, anyway. Not if his performance during last Wednesday's BMW Championship pro-am is an accurate indication of his versatility.

 

Coltart: "Golf has so little culture today"

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John Huggan catches up with Andrew Coltart, who has plenty to say about the state of the game. My kind of rant:
"The explosion in distance that has come with the new clubs and balls over the last few years has hurt players like me. I can't comprehend how far some guys hit the ball now. It used to be that the wide, erratic hitter was punished, but that is not the case any more. Not as much anyway."

Underlining the sad truth that golf at the elite level is now more about power than pure skill is the fact that Coltart's average drive has stretched by more than 15 yards since he battled Tiger Woods at Brookline in 1999. As he has grown more powerful, however, many of his fellow competitors have exploded past him, encouraged by the lack of due diligence shown by golf's administrators when it comes to equipment.

"Courses on tour today are set up to encourage players to bomb away off the tee," claims Coltart. "Which is admittedly exciting, especially for the less sophisticated spectator or viewer. But it doesn't help guys like me, those whose games are built around accuracy.

"Then there are the sprinkler systems courses tend to have in the fairways, but not anywhere else. The water runs off into the first couple of yards of rough. That grass gets thick in a hurry. But ten yards further out, the rough isn't nearly as lush. So the bombers get more encouragement. They get to hit from relatively sparse rough and they are 60 yards closer to the green.

"Also, greens are generally too soft. So the big hitters are able to 'plug' wedges and 9-irons in there. In contrast, hard and fast greens would encourage a bit more thinking, and make the game a bit more strategic. But playing for position never enters the long driver's head these days. Every hole is a 'wellie' off the tee, and a gouge from the rough. I see so many guys making birdies from the long grass and the trees - because they are so close to the green after the drive. It's mind-blowing."

Coltart is not only concerned with the negative effect all of the above has had on his career. Unlike so many others, he recognises the wider and longer-term implications for golf.

"I think the game has diminished over the last decade or so," he says with a shake of the head. "Shot-making and shaping have all but gone. Round the greens we all play the same boring lob shot with our 60-degree wedges. Golf today is a lot like tennis. They stand up there and it is 'smash' 15-love, 'smash' 30-love and 'smash' 40-love.

"But few people are watching that. Instead, they are looking at the clock that says the ball was hit at 150mph or whatever. Now, golf is all about the 350-yard drive. There have apparently been 881 drives longer than that on the PGA Tour so far this year. Success is measured on distance from the tee rather than tournaments won. It's a circus.

"The mass appeal of distance has overtaken any other approach to the game. Golf has so little culture today. It was great when Seve was playing the way he did. He was artistic. Where is the artistry now? There is no artistry. Or feel. Ask a young guy to hit a little knock-down shot into a green, and he a) doesn't know how, and b) wonders why he should bother. It's depressing.

"I never see guys holding shots up against the wind. The money has a lot to do with that. They figure they can go for the flag every week. When they are on, they will shoot eight under par and win a huge cheque. And when they are off, well, there is always next week.

"If they were baseball players, they would all be home-run hitters who strike out a lot."