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
Or the option to play one of three golf balls...report Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson on the latest bizarro proposal from the PING folks in Arizona, hoping to stave off the governing bodies from more regulatory moves.
Winner in Thailand and now the world No. 2, Lee Westwood talks to James Corrigan about becoming the first Briton to break through the £25 million barrier and sounds way too grounded. Thanks to reader Chris for this:
One of the charges he and his fellow multi-millionaire colleagues often face, however, does not concern the contents of his trophy cabinet, but instead his bank account. "We play for a staggering amount of money, no doubt about it and I've always stressed we are very very fortunate," he said. "I think we are paid too much money – compared to police and teachers and nurses. But then compare it to footballers. I think the only thing you can probably justify it by is that when golfers have a bad day, we don't get paid anything, but when we have a great day we get paid a lot. It's part of the pressure involved. There isn't a wage as such."
Jennifer Bjorhus reports on another high-profile course closing, this time 8-year-old Tom Lehman-designed Windsong Farm outside of Minneapolis. Quite a statement from the banker...
"The world changed," said club member and shareholder Mark Lewis.
Lewis, a semiretired businessman in Edina, said Windsong Farm was insolvent and unable to renegotiate its loan with Commerce Bank. Two of Windsong Farm's seven employees will remain through the end of the month, he said.
Lewis blamed the club's demise on poor timing and the difficulty of finding new members to pay annual fees of $7,500 in a lumbering economy.
Windsong's 130 equity members and 100 golfing members, who don't hold stock, weren't enough to make the club work financially, Lewis said. He said he doubts the 130 investors will recoup their investment.
James Senske, CEO of Commerce Bank in Geneva, Minn., said the bank won't comment on customer relationships.
"Like many other banks, some customers of Commerce Bank have been hit hard by the current ongoing economic recession," Senske said in a statement. "In these challenging times for its customers, the bank continues to maintain a strong capital position and remains committed to serving its customers in the normal course of business."
Kera Abraham reports on Pacific Grove muni, an affordable, fun and scenic alternative to the 17-Mile Drive courses, bleeding red ink last year.
Peter Stone with the story of Perry Somers, acclaimed Australian hickory golfer, who wanted to use his decrepit old sticks in the Australian PGA this year, but was told they were non-conforming.
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.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
