Liverpool, Cell Phones In The Rota

Peter Dawson tells Norman Dabell that Hoylake is in.

"Royal Liverpool is now back on that rota," he said.

And more importantly, we get to enjoy more years of interrupted play because the R&A doesn't want to put people through the awfulness of being checked for oh, cameras, purple paint bombs, weapons, etc...

And I'm hoping they'll do something about the golf ball...

 Dawson also said that despite growing concern over interruptions from mobile telephones and photographers, the R&A were determined not to introduce similar security controls used at the US Masters and US Open.

Woods and his final round playing partner Sergio Garcia were continually interrupted by amateur photographers, many using mobile phone cameras, on Sunday.

Both players complained about the interruptions and the matter was raised at the R&A's media conference.

Director of Championships David Hill said they felt electronic screening of spectators before they entered the course was not a step they wanted to take.

"As it was shown at the US Open, it will mean 20-30 minute delays at the entrances. We would rather encourage people not to use cameras and mobile phones on the course," said Hill.

"Confiscation is a problem, too. Just collecting the phones and cameras afterwards can mean quite a messy situation.

Not as messy as purple paint, or God help them, something that actually does real damage.

Dawson: R&A Supports Drug Testing

A largely dull set of exchanges between the inkslingers and R&A head man today at Hoylake. Check out this rivetting opening exchange:

Q. You mentioned the fire engines. Were they going to be on the premises anyway, or have they been brought on because of the situation?

DAVID HILL: The fire station here is about two minutes from the course, and if we had normal weather conditions they would have stayed there because the chief fire officer was quite happy about that. But given the weather, it's prudent for them to come to the golf course, just in case anything should happen.

Q. Number of engines?

DAVID HILL: Two fire engines, which is more than adequate should anything occur. The chief fire officer is very happy with the current situation.

Q. I presume you heard what happened at Hillside yesterday?

DAVID HILL: Yes, we are absolutely aware of that and we've taken the advice of the chief fire officer.

Q. Have the players actually been warned about smoking?

DAVID HILL: Again, we've simply issued the same instructions as we have to the spectators to take due diligence as far as smoking.

PETER DAWSON: Just to be clear, this is not a smoking ban, just asking people to be especially careful.

Q. But they've been given it on a piece of paper, this due diligence, or just made aware of it?

PETER DAWSON: There are notices going on all the scoreboards. We're in the process of actually implementing it at the moment; that's why we're slightly deterring as to whether the players have gotten the paper, but they will be informed.

Jeese, if we couldn't only get them to ask that many questions about the distance issue. Dawson was asked if they had any interest in the winning score:

The score, it would depend on how windy conditions are. We don't particularly mind about the score, as long as we find the best champion. If the conditions stay as they are, I'm sure we're going to see a lot of birdies. And many of the most exciting and memorable Opens we've had have been low-scoring ones. And we don't have a particular problem with that.

Just like the USGA!

Q. One of the newspapers this week said that The R&A are coming under increased pressure to introduce drug testing. Do you particularly feel under pressure?

PETER DAWSON: I don't particularly feel under pressure, let me be clear. I did read some of the reports about this. Our position is that we don't think at the moment that there is much use of performance enhancing drugs in golf. There have been quite a number of drug tests, mainly in France, and the majority of the positive tests were for social drugs, which under The R&A code are just as important as performance enhancing ones.

But that said, we do support the introduction of drug testing in golf, just as we would do in any other sport; we would be anxious to keep the sport free of it. The issue is how do you do that effectively.

And these elite players are playing golf all around the world 52 weeks a year, so it's extremely important that the game, the administration of the game as a whole, professional and elite amateur, introduces drug policies, if not totally together, then close together. The thought that one event in one weekend in 52 can effectively do this I think is not practical, not least because The R&A Code calls for every competition tested at times of the year when players may not be tested. The R&A, while not feeling particularly under pressure in drug testing at the moment, you need anti-doping policies and drug testing to ensure that's the case.

Q. Wouldn't you be the pioneers and everybody would have to follow?

PETER DAWSON: We are pioneering it this year at the World Amateur Team Championships in South Africa. There is going to be drug testing there. The country and the players are aware of it. And we are, if you like, cutting our teeth on making sure that we can administer that properly, as our first step.

Q. Do you call that a dress rehearsal, then?

PETER DAWSON: It's a rehearsal. I don't know when you're going to see drug testing in professional golf around the world, but we would support it.

What better time than now to kill the rally?

Q. You mentioned some quite unprecedented level of interest in the practice rounds here this week. Does that encourage you to be more experimental or adventurous in your choice of Open venues, so The Open appeals to a non-Open Championship audience?

Back to the newsmaking...

Q. What is it that's so difficult about implementing an anti-doping policy, which all sports seem to be able to do so?

PETER DAWSON: There's nothing particularly difficult about it; it is administratively complex. Every sport you read about has disputes about drug tests, don't they? So there are a lot of administrative problems and also costs. But that aside, the difficulty in golf is that not all governing -- not all bodies, rather, in the game, seem to be quite ready to think it's a good idea.

Q. Taking that further, though, Peter, as the law making body for half the world, couldn't you get together these people and get talking about it, or are you already doing that?

PETER DAWSON: Well, we're certainly doing that in our area of what you might call jurisdiction, which is with all the national golf unions around the world who send teams down to the World Amateur Team Championships. There's 60 or 70 countries participating there, and all of those have agreed that there will be an anti-doping policy and drug testing in application there. We are not the governing body, if you like, for discipline on the professional Tours, in Europe, Asia, Australasia, South Africa, America, Canada or South America. That is not an area we could dictate or influence, because it will be influenced by discussion and participation.

Q. Are you planning on doing that?

PETER DAWSON: The conversations about this subject have been going on for quite some time.

Here's a brilliant question. And we can be sure it wasn't an American.

Q. Do you think if the hot weather continues like this that there's a danger the tournament may become a lottery?

MARTIN KIPPAX: Well, I'm not sure quite what you mean by that. I mean, the ball is going to bounce on the golf course, if that's what you're saying. But it's going to be the same for everybody. And they are true links conditions, as you all know. The situation is we've had a very hot period. The course is in good condition, and the fairways are, as we said they would be, perfectly fair. And the rough is the rough. We've had a very strong rough, which is now fading back, if you will, with the heat.

But the reality is that I'm quite sure there would be lottery; as such, it will be the person with the most skill that prevails.

PETER DAWSON: When the ball bounces this much, it's more skillful in some ways, not less skillful. When the greens are like they are, which is they will take a good shot from the fairway, then it's more skillful, not less skillful. This idea that it's a lottery is just the reverse of the truth.

Ferguson On British Open Qualifiers

AP's Doug Ferguson compares the British and U.S. Open qualifiers and clearly isn't too impressed that only 12 spots go to qualifyings in England.

When the dust settles, only about 56 spots are awarded to those who compete in 36-hole qualifiers - 44 of those going to "International Final Qualifying" held in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe and the United States.

"We feel we have a good balance, in particular a good international balance," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said. "Our exemption criteria covers overseas tours that the U.S. Open doesn't. We believe we're reaching out to the players."

The U.S. Open now has overseas qualifying in Japan (three spots available) and Europe (eight spots). Michael Campbell came out of the European qualifier before winning last year at Pinehurst No. 2, and he might not have come to America to try for a spot in the field.

USGA executive director David Fay considered adding more spots overseas, but didn't want the U.S. Open to become a closed shop.

"You run up against numbers," Fay said last week at Newport Country Club. "They (British Open) get 2,100 or 2,200 entries. We're pushing 9,000 entries. We want to retain the openness of the Open. We have more than half the field come through qualifying."

Almost half, anyway. The U.S. Open field included 76 players who had to qualify, including 26 who went through 18-hole local qualifying and 36-hole sectional qualifying. That amounts to 49 per cent of its field.

The British Open will end up with only 56 players from 36-hole qualifiers, or 36 per cent of the field.

"We think we run the most democratic golf tournament in the world," Fay said. "If you have the ability, you can give it a shot."

British Amateur Date Change Improves Field

The R&A is quite proud of the improved field caused by the British Amateur date change. I'm more proud of the amateurs for making the trip: 

When the dates for the 2006 Amateur Championship were being considered, The R&A decided to play the Amateur during the third week in June to avoid a clash with the NCAA Division 1 Finals in the US.

That decision has resulted in 21 players in these NCAA Finals entering this year’s Amateur Championship which will be played at Royal St George’s and Prince’s from 19-24 June.

American college players Kevin Chappell, Stuart Moore, Dustin Pimm and Alex Prugh head the US entry of 19 which also includes 33 year old Kevin Marsh of Las Vegas, the winner of the 2005 US Mid-Amateur Championship.  Marsh is a reinstated amateur following a brief spell as a professional.

Other top-ranked overseas players who will be competing in Kent include Won Joon Lee, Australia’s number one player and the winner earlier in the year of the NSW Medal.  Countryman Tim Stewart, their national champion has also entered, as have Joost Luiten of the Netherlands, the German titleholder and Antti Ahokas of Finland, the recent winner of the Irish Open Stroke Play Championship.

Sunday Golf At The Old Course!?

The R&A Gold Medal, apparently considered equal to the final round of the Open Championship (at least to you know who) was and will be played at the Old Course the next few weeks. Stuart Nicholson has the story and the reaction. Thanks to reader Chris for this.

Play has been banned on the Sabbath since the course was gifted to the town in the 16th century. Exceptions are made only for major tournaments such as the Open and the Dunhill Cup.

But the Royal & Ancient broke with that tradition last week and held its Gold Medal tournament on a Sunday for the first time. Tournaments are also scheduled to be held on the next two Sundays.

It sparked an angry reaction from local people, with some claiming golfers reacted aggressively to them walking across the fairways last Sunday.

Elizabeth McIntyre, who is organising a petition, said the course effectively turned into a park for all townspeople on Sundays.

"However, last Sunday we arrived on the course to be met, unbeknown to us and without posted due warnings, with golfers playing three-ball," she said. "The dirty looks we got were very disturbing."

Jane Liston, a local councillor, said: "It would be a shame if such an ancient tradition was to come to an end."

A spokesman for St Andrews Links Trust insisted that it was only in "exceptional circumstances" that any play was permitted on the Old Course on a Sunday.

He said: "In this case, we responded to a special request to hold the R&A's Gold Medal, one of the most important competitions in the annual calendar. In future, we will endeavour to publish a notice informing local people of any exceptional circumstances."
 

R&A vs. USGA Operating Budget

In Mike Aitken's story on the R&A netting £9.1 million last year, he writes:

The running costs of the R&A itself in 2005 were £2.41 million, while support for events such as the Amateur, the Walker Cup and the Senior British Open reached a total of £1.12 million.

With the USGA at $120 million, that £2.41 million combined with the £1.12 million sounds rather low, doesn't it?

I know the USGA's travel budget is a bit more generous, but that's still a big difference. 

What am I missing here?

Turnberry Turns 100

Tom English pens a nice overview of Turnberry's 100th birthday for Scotland on Sunday.

In the Second World War the government commandeered the golf course just as they had in the First. They made a military air station of it, put 1,200 men on site and told those who wanted to know that golf had probably had its day at Turnberry. The links had survived one conflict. It was unlikely to survive a second.

The bulldozers moved in. Greens were ploughed up and several thousand tonnes of concrete and tarmac were poured on to fairways to make runways.

How times have not changed...they're revving up the dozers again.

It's a challenge that is going to get stiffer by the time 2009 comes around. It would have been appropriate for Turnberry to host the Open in this their 100th year but change was needed there. Foul weather defended the course against the bombers of today but you'd fear for it if the modern pros cut loose in dry conditions. The fear is they'd tear it to pieces. The game has changed a lot since Nick Price won there in 1994. Apart from the infrastructure around the course, they needed to toughen-up the Ailsa.

The changes are pretty radical, even if the R&A has asked for some of them to be undone. They were concerned the new and extensive bunkering on some holes was too penal and would force players to go defensive off the tee. Some have been filled in completely, others have been made less deep. Still, there will be approaching 30 new traps when the Open returns there and about 200 extra yards to negotiate.

The most dramatic alteration is the shifting of the 10th tee 50 yards to the left. Dinna Fouter now requires a 220-yard carry over the sea to find the fairway. Anything remotely hooky will end up wet. It's a hole to challenge the signature ninth, with all the stunning views of the lighthouse and the Ailsa Craig. It is a vision that brings to mind Henry Longhurst's plaintive words in troubled times.

"In those long periods inseparable from wartime service when there is nothing to do but sit and think," he wrote, "I often used to find myself sitting and thinking of the time when once again we might be playing golf at Turnberry."

Drugs In Golf Story By Bloomberg

Here is a lengthy story courtesy of reader Tuco about golf's weak response to possible drug use and testing, courtesy of Bloomberg News writers Curtis Eichelberger and Michael Buteau. A few highlights:

Golf's most powerful organization, the U.S. PGA Tour, says there is no evidence of drug use in the sport and testing is unnecessary. Results from Europe suggest that rationale may be flawed.

While muscle-enhancing steroids aren't surfacing, other banned substances are: Marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy have turned up in French and Italian tests of amateur and pro golfers, according to documents from sports-testing agencies.   Golf's rule-making bodies have little control over the PGA Tour, whose 275 active players include Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The tour's resistance makes it unlikely that mandatory, global testing of top pros will emerge in the next few years, current and former golf officials say.

"It's really a matter for the tours to embrace, and I think that's happening slowly, in the United States particularly slowly,'' says Peter Dawson, chief executive of Scotland's Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the sport's rulemaker outside the U.S. and Mexico."I don't think you're going to see a worldwide anti-doping policy in place in golf for some years.''

Because that look the other way approach worked so well for baseball, you know. Though I did find this encouraging from David Fay, who has been reluctant to push publicly for testing:

"It's just a matter of time before the sport of golf needs to deal with this in a comprehensive manner,'' says Fay, 55. The USGA, which oversees rules in the U.S. and Mexico, runs the U.S. Open. It has no control over the 47 other PGA Tour events, where $250 million in prize money is disbursed.

 And...

There are signs that young American golfers are using illegal drugs as well. The latest tests of U.S. college amateurs, in 2004, showed no positive results, yet an anonymous survey indicated drug use. The 2005 National Collegiate Athletic Association survey of a sampling of golfers indicated steroid use by 1.3 percent, amphetamine use by 3.5 percent, cocaine or crack use by 2.7 percent and marijuana use by 25 percent, according to the NCAA.

And...

The view of South African Ernie Els, a PGA Tour member who has earned $26.7 million over his career, is common among touring pros. "We're all-natural,'' he says. Els, 36, labels calls for drug testing in golf "ridiculous.''

We're all natural. Wow. Let's test Ernie first, because he's smoking something if he believes that.

If Congress requires random testing, the PGA Tour will comply, Combs added. He declined to respond to questions about other banned drugs or to comment about results in Europe. He also declined to say whether any PGA Tour golfer has been asked to take a drug test under the current policy, introduced in 1992.

At a press conference in March that focused on steroids, Finchem said there was no evidence of drug use among golfers, and he stressed that players adhere to a code of honor. Without proof, there is no need for testing, he said.

This is fun...

"These excuses are so lame, it's like reading something out of a Monty Python script,'' says Charles Yesalis, 59, an anabolic steroids specialist and professor of health policy at Pennsylvania State University in State College. "We don't have a problem because there is no proof, and we aren't going to test to get the proof.' This whole notion that there is something about carrying a bag of clubs that places you in a high ethical and moral plane is naive.''

And...

The Ladies Professional Golf Association, based in Daytona Beach, Florida, says it has no evidence of drug use among its members.

That's right, back acne and excessive facial hair have always been part of LPGA Tour life.

Drug testing will be conducted at the World Amateur Championships in October in Stellenbosch, South Africa, a first for the event."It's educational,'' says Fay, whose USGA is involved in organizing the tests. "We won't announce the results.''

 Golfing executives agree that any testing policy for pros or amateurs needs to be uniform across the globe. The European tour holds 46 events in 23 different countries.

And...

Stewart Cink, a 12-year veteran of the tour, says testing is probably a good idea if only to erase any doubt about drug use. Nothing players might take will make them better golfers, says Cink, 32.

"Everything you could take would diminish your performance,'' he says.

German government anti-doping officials are operating on the opposite assumption. They are working with German golf association executives to come up with a testing program partly because the anti-doping officials say golfers can enhance their performance.

"In every type of sport, it's possible to gain an advantage with certain substances,'' says Matthias Blatt, director of Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency. "Theoretically, golfers could even dope to increase concentration.''

 Beta-blockers, used to treat hypertension, create a more regular heart rate, possibly reducing anxiety and giving a player a steadier hand. They are prohibited in the Olympic sports of archery, curling and shooting and are often outlawed at chess and bridge tournaments, doctors say.

And finally...

In the U.S., Fay says it will probably take a crisis to get drug testing on the fast track.

"The court of public opinion doesn't seem interested in how it relates to golf because they sense it is a clean sport,'' he says. If there is a documented case or strong suspicion, that is when the interest level will spike.''

Aberdeen in '11

From the R&A:

ROYAL ABERDEEN TO HOST 2011 WALKER CUP

The 2011 Walker Cup match has been awarded to Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, the sixth oldest in the world.

In announcing the date and venue for the biennial match between Great Britain & Ireland and the United States , The R&A will be staging the contest at one of Scotland ’s true and most historic links courses located on the outskirts of Aberdeen and overlooked by the North Sea .

David Hill, Director of Championships for The R&A said: “We are delighted to be staging the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen which will provide a fitting showcase for amateur golf’s premier match between countries.

“Last year, the Senior British Open Championship was a huge success at Royal Aberdeen with the world’s top over-50’s players full of praise for the layout at Balgownie and with the condition of the course.

“I have no doubt that with the support of the knowledgeable golfing public in the North East, that the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen will match that success.”

Royal Aberdeen has been a venue over the years for championships at every level. It has hosted the Scottish Amateur Championship at regular intervals from 1924, the Scottish Stoke Play, the Scottish Boys, the Boys Amateur, the Scottish Ladies’ Amateur and most recently, in 2005, the Senior British Open Championship, one of the five senior majors.

In 2007 the Walker Cup will be played at Royal County Down, Newcastle , Northern Ireland and in 2009 at Merion Golf Club, Pennsylvania .

R&A Nominates Former Slazenger Sales Manager

Missing from the R&A's posted release on Michael Stanley Randle Lunt, its "Nomination of the Captain For the Year 2006-2007," was this bit that appeared in the emailed version:

Following that brief spell overseas, he became a director of the family wholesale textile business in Birmingham and when the company was taken over by Courtaulds, he took up the position of European golf sales manager for Slazenger. He retired in 1998 after 11 years as secretary/manager of Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club.

Huggan On Governing Body Setup Ploys

John Huggan returns from Open Championship media day and his Geoff Ogilvy chat thinking about the course setup "shenanigans" employed by the R&A and USGA in hopes of masking their regulatory complacency:

All of said shenanigans have had two results: winning scores have remained within what the officials would describe as a respectable range, and at times the players, the courses and the game have been made to look stupid, thereby severely compromising the integrity of the competition.

And...

It is heartbreaking, year after year, to watch the greatest of games being diminished by a failure on the part of the sport's administrators to cap distance. And it will be the same again at Hoylake come July. Given the narrowness of the fairways already and three more months of grass-growing weather, look for a lot of tedious hacking out and not enough opportunity for the better players to separate themselves from the rest by dint of their superior ability to create shots from off the fairway.

For "tricking up", read "dumbing down".

Tait on R&A and Links Golf

Alistair Tait writes:

Credit goes to the R&A for remaining loyal to the tradition of taking the Open Championship to seaside links. All I can say is long may it continue. Given the abundance of links golf in these isles, it is sad that the game's top players only play links golf twice a year at most – the Open Championship and the insipid Dunhill Links Championship.

So enjoy the pictures on your TV screen of this year's Open Championship over the glorious links of Royal Liverpool. Revel in the joy of watching the game's elite play the game as it was first played all those years ago on the windswept coast of the Kingdom of Fife.

Too bad we don't see the big boys playing links golf more often. Too bad the game's oldest championship isn't taken to more traditional courses in the British Isles.

R&A Design, LLC

Mike Aitken reports on the R&A's not so stellar start in the design business.

You may recall that most links have only seen minor tinkering in preparation for Open Championships, but now that the pesky ball is going so bloody far and scores might go lower if something isn't done, why, driver must be taken out of the players hands.

Therefore, the R&A has begun to inflict assorted design atrocities on the rota links that pale when compared to anything the USGA has ever...well I just had an Oak Hill flashback.

Anyhow, Aitken reports:

...after embarking this winter on the first phase of a programme of improvements which will cost around £250,000 and increase the number of bunkers on the Ayrshire links to nearly 100, Turnberry has been advised by the Royal and Ancient to remove a number of traps and soften others because the test was in danger of becoming too severe.

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, believed alterations to the first, 12th and 14th on the Ailsa now demanded too much of the golfer and needed to be revised.

You know how much I hate to be sarcastic, but you may recall this post about Dawson's planned February visit to help supervise these changes.

You see Mr. Dawson, there are people called golf architects who do this for a living and...oh I know, they would tell you to do something about the ball instead of littering Turnberry with rabbit-dropping inspired bunkers. Silly me!

Aitken provides the crime report:

On the first, for example, two new bunkers were introduced down the left and a third, large pot bunker was also added on the right at around the 280- yard mark. Dawson's reaction to this hazard was that it might take the driver out of the long hitters' hands and persuade them to err on the side of caution with an iron or utility club.

"Sometimes you can't fully appreciate the impact of an alteration until it's been built and you have another look at them in reality rather than on a drawing," said Dawson yesterday. "What happened on the first was that when we saw the new bunkering, we were concerned the element of risk and reward in going for the green might be taken away and the players would use an iron off the tee. But we haven't gone back to the way the hole was before. The hazard is just less severe than it was going to be."

On the back nine, though, the R&A did ask for new bunkers to be removed on the 12th and 14th holes. On the 12th, a new bunker was built on the left of the fairway beyond the existing traps. From what will be the new tee, however, the landing area was miniscule.

That bunker has been filled in as was one of the new traps on the 14th, where there were concerns the hazard couldn't be seen from the tee.

Stewart Selbie, the manager of Turnberry Hotel, was happy to comply with the R&A's wishes, though perhaps not displeased with the notion that the Ailsa had become so challenging.

The original plan was to add 30 traps before the Senior British Open is staged in Ayrshire in the summer and as many as 100 by 2009. Before work began, Turnberry had just 66 bunkers, the fewest of any links on the Open rota.

The second phase of upgrading will take place after the Seniors when Turnberry's finishing stretch will also be toughened up. Although plans for the closing holes have not yet been made public, it's thought the 16th could become more of a dogleg to create enough space to build a new tee which would extend the par-5 17th.

With an Amateur Championship also on the horizon, both Turnberry and the R&A are keen to retain a balance between heightening the challenge and retaining the character of a scenic links regularly ranked in the world's top 20. "What we don't want is to end up making the links unplayable for the regular golfer," said Selbie.

Aitken also outlines changes to Carnoustie to deal with "new technology and improved fitness," and the boondogglery continues...

And, on the treacherous 17th, there was concern a bail-out area now existed on the "island" rather than players having to think about laying up short of the burn or going for broke. This will be remedied by the introduction of rough mounding.

"We did feel that a bit of a bail-out area had emerged since the re-turfing of the 17th and so we've done something about that," acknowledged Dawson.

Rough mounding?

Grooves A Sticky Subject

Golf World's E. Michael Johnson takes a brief look at the USGA/R&A groove research project.

British Amateur Changes

The R&A announces major changes to restore luster to the British Amateur, including a new date and 55 tournament winner exemptions.