Webb Still Hasn't Heard Sound Reason For Anchoring Ban

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From an unbylined AP story quoting Webb Simpson at the Grand Slam of Golf, and while the language wasn't perfect, he seems to be suggesting that banning anchoring of the putter will be more problematic if it's the USGA doing the banning instead of the PGA Tour. Not that Commissioner No-Controversy would ever do something to protect the game.

"If the USGA bans it, I think it's going to be a whole other ballgame if the PGA Tour bans it," Simpson said.

"It's going to be tough if they do ban it. It's going to be tough for a lot of people. Not players, I think it's going to be tough for the committees to really have their stance on it. If you look at the facts, last year there was no one in the top 20 of strokes gained category that anchored a putter."

"So the argument of, 'It's an advantage', you have to throw that out there," he said. "There's a bunch of arguments going around but I haven't heard a good one yet."

And he continued to point out a bigger change in the game and he continues to be correct.

"We all know that the R&A and USGA love to keep golf as original as possible," he said. "But I think with the changes in the grooves, the golf balls, the drivers — you've got a little persimmon head 20 years ago the size of a fist, and now a titanium head 460 cc. In 1980, the long drive guy was hitting it 285, and now if you hit it 285, you're one of the shortest guys on the Tour. To me, it's a bigger change to go from that size head to what we play now than the putter."

 

Holy Cow: A New Public Golf Course Is Opening!

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We knew from previous reports that there were only a handful of golf courses under construction and now Laredo's new public course by Robert Trent Jones Jr. is opening this week. Thanks reader Scott for the reminder.

PGA.com's John Holmes has the news of the first noteworthy course opening in a while, which even PGA.com noted is a bit of a stop-the-press moment.

The Max A. Mandel Municipal Golf Course – already nicknamed "the Max" -- is the first city-owned golf facility in Laredo, as well as one of only a handful of new courses to open in the United States this year.

Designed by Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects, the par-72 layout is routed along bluffs overlooking the Rio Grande and winds through 270 acres of sandy terrain. Encompassing almost a mile of riverfront property, the course presents four holes that play adjacent to and high above the water as it traverses deep arroyos and navigates through 30-foot tall mesquite woodlands and open farmland.

With five sets of tees and wide, inviting fairways throughout, the course can be configured as a tournament test of more than 7,200 yards, yet is still a perfect fit for golfers who desire a more manageable challenge of less than 5,000 yards.

Yada, yada, yada... more importantly:

Green fees for Laredo residents range from $33.50 to $46, while non-residents – including the flocks of snowbirds who winter in south Texas – will pay between $46 and $56. There are also discount rates for seniors and juniors.

"153 Golf Organisations unite to focus on sustainability as a core priority"

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The International Golf Federation that spearheaded golf's return to the Olympics is broadening its scope by issuing a statement today announcing sustainability as its "core priority." You can read the statement in PDF form here.

"The future will present many challenged but the IGF and its member organizations are working to ensure that many more generations will enjoy golf and the facilities on which it is played."

A couple of screen grabs of the fine print:


We were doing so well until the last jargon dump of an item. Go on...

It's pretty exciting to read this kind of focus on the future and desire to shrink the footprint of golf courses. But this is all utter nonsense if the distance the ball travels is not reduced via some form of regulation. Otherwise, the game will continue to spend money on new tees, more rough, faster greens and bigger properties.

Jack Thinks The USGA Will Be Rolling Back The Golf Ball "In the not-too-distant future."

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From his ESPN 980 radio interview transcript when asked about the ball and the size of the driver head.

“I think both. I think it all starts with the golf ball. I think the USGA will probably end up doing that in the not-too-distant future. (Host: How about a tour ball?) More for the game of golf. The game of golf has three problems. It’s too hard, it’s too expensive and it takes too long. If they dialed the golf ball back it would reduce all those costs. The costs of maintaining the golf course, the cost of land and all those things would be dialed back and as an added benefit there’s only one golf course in this country that is not obsolete to the pros and that’s Augusta National, they’re the only people that have enough money to build the golf course and do the things they needed to do. Every time they have an event what do they do? Build new tees, new bunkers and do everything. It doesn’t make any sense. The simplest thing to do is fix the golf ball.”

Irony: Augusta's Muni Shuttered

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Newer readers wonder why I'm hostile toward The First Tee, which, while no doubt a fine program with fantastic tax implications for those who give to the program, too often receives all of the attention from those generously giving to "grow the game."

However, the problem for American golf's future remains the same: we may be introducing new people to the game through The First Tee, and then turning them loose to limited or unappealing options for graduating to a "big" course. Like in the case of Augusta, Georgia, where there's a well funded First Tee and now we learn, the closed muni, a.k.a. The Patch.

Susan McCord and Gracie Shepherd report the sad news of The Patch's closure Wednesday, complete with Club Car picking up its leased equipment and a hapless city government that feeds off of golf-related tax dollars refusing to turn the lease over to interested parties who requested some basic repairs.

Augusta commissioners decided not to make the repairs or comply with other requested concessions, so the Kelly group backed out.

“We had a good alternative, but they didn’t like it,” an irritated Commissioner Joe Jackson said Thursday, referring to other commission members.

In fact, someone placed a sign at the clubhouse Thursday pointing those wanting to play to three commissioners – J.R. Hatney, Bill Lockett and Alvin Mason – and suggesting they were responsible for the public golf course closing.

Jackson said those commissioners certainly didn’t help The Golf Course at Augusta LLC, the new firm headed by the Kellys.

An angry Jackson even suggested the city’s handling of the situation might warrant termination of top city personnel.

“Someone’s going home,” he said.

Brandel: "Society has changed, and golf has to adapt."

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Bob Young captures the highlights of a Brandel Chamblee ad campaign for Scottsdale Golf. He touches on a variety of topics in his usual way, including Tiger and the state of the game.

"There is a lot wrong with where golf has gone. The game has become too expensive, in my opinion. And golf-course architecture is responsible for a lot of that. Courses are too ornate and difficult.

"People fell in love with golf architecture that makes the game no fun. Courses should be interesting, not hard. They should be for enjoyment and competition.

"We should be building courses with three- to six-hole loops so people can come out and pay to play three holes or six or nine or 12."

"And there needs to be a more aggressive campaign to get more women and juniors involved in golf. I think larger holes cut on the opposite side of the green from the other hole is a way to do that, and building junior tees 150 yards from the green would do that.