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
Bradley Klein saw many mixed signals at the PGA Show, from Taylor Made's over-the-top booth to Rob Rigg's shoes selling like crazy to the obviously disturbing play numbers.Friday we learned that Taylor Made's Mark King, who just eight years ago couldn't see the makings of trouble down the road now wants a re-write of the rules because the game is not growing.
Now in an online video interview posted Saturday at Golfweek.com he goes further, calling for all-out bifurcation that manufacturers have steadfastly refused to even consider as an alternative best suiting the game (skip to the two minute mark unless you want to hear him hump the new white driver).
2% cite men's golf as their favorite U.S. sport to watch, down 50% from 2009 in SBJ's annual survey.
The LPGA Tour gets an asterisk along with the WNBA.
Paul Dunn pens a Pilot guest essay decrying the Pine Forest project in Pinehurst going before the Moore County Board of Commissioners this week.
Developer MHK Ventures Inc. estimates the planned gated community could ultimately contain 600 to 700 homes, two 18-hole and one nine-hole golf courses, a 300-room resort hotel and a commercial district. With 43 excellent golf courses already situated within the so-called Golf Capital of the World, one might question the project’s financial prospects with the economy in deep recession.
After 9/11, ClubCorp abandoned bold plans for Pinehurst Courses No. 9 and 10. The Dormie Club, Legacy Lakes and Little River haven’t seen strong demand for golf venue homes. Stonehill Pines, ambitiously touted to be a major Foxfire project, lies dormant on the drawing board. So the first question the public and commissioners should ask is, “Are 45 more holes of golf and another resort hotel realistic at this time and place?”
The Herald's David Ross reports that the Machrie, which has been teetering has been closed.
By all accounts it's a splendid links. Hopefully they'll find a way to make it work.
Thanks to reader Rick for this disappointing report on the recommendation of a University of New Mexico advisory committee to shut down their renowned golf course, which is an astonishing $4.6 million in debt.
Kris Sherman of Tacoma's News Tribune, the same paper that did a bang-up job covering last summer's U.S. Amateur, weighs in with an exclusive on the bleak financial state of Chambers Bay. The story would seem to indicate that any hopes of the hotel, beach house, water park and ampitheater will not be happening anytime soon and almost assuredly, not in time for the 2015 U.S. Open.Nearly two years ago I vowed to profile more of the great, perhaps unsung places in golf and I've failed miserably since that initial post on Santa Anita Golf Course.
But with the holidays looming and the news drying up, it's a nice time to highlight a very special place. It's been an amazing year for me, with stops in Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, Churchill Downs and many other great spots, yet no day brings back fonder memories than a late afternoon round at Kingarrock.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
