U.S. Senior Amateur Presented by Cialis?

Multiple sources say the USGA is actively seeking "Presented by" sponsorships for some of its championships. 

This is not a huge surprise since the March hiring of USGA "Chief Marketing Officer" Barry Hyde, who according to the press release announcing his arrival "has spent the last 15 years in golf marketing, including the last four years as vice president of global sponsorships and events for MasterCard International."

So... 

Is the USGA having financial problems? 

Are they looking for more ways to add to its war chest for an equipment battle (right!)? 

Is this to appease NBC and deliver a significant buyer of ad time? 

Or are those in the executive ranks simply so enamored with the bottom line that they're willing to sell the soul of the organization? 

In Living Color

My latest Golfobserver.com column on "color" in architecture is now posted.

You'll notice that the latest Michael Miller masterwork is included with the column. It's titled "Approaching Weather at Bandon Trails, #17."

For you Bandon Trails fans, Mike can produce beautiful Giclee prints of the painting, with the cost ranging from $100 to $350 in price depending on size. Or he can do prints of his other works, which can be seen here. You can email him at MichaelMiller861@msn.com.

MOI?

E. Michael Johnson at Golf World breaks the news that the USGA is getting serious about driver moment of inertia (MOI).

"Research conducted by the USGA has shown that the clubhead size limitations already in place will not effectively prevent increases in clubhead MOI beyond the levels achieved by clubs which were submitted to the USGA prior to March 2005," the notice said. "The USGA has allowed substantial increases in MOI, but it now believes that a limit is appropriate."

In March the USGA said it was "concerned that any further increases in clubhead moment of inertia may reduce the challenge of the game." The primary concern is the potential development of a strong, lightweight material that would allow for 460cc drivers with an incredible amount of free weight to move around, providing a super-high MOI.

"We had thought maybe clubs had reached a natural limit on MOI with the head size of 460cc, but with further research and analysis we came to a different conclusion," said USGA senior technical director Dick Rugge.

And I wouldn't want you to miss this quote in the Johnson article from John Solheim of Ping. 

"They are eliminating the things we can do and I'm worried about the long-term effect on the game and the industry," said Solheim. "It scares me. It could have a huge effect on the health of the game. Our kids are not going to be able to get significantly better clubs a few years from now."

Ah, the poor children. What will we deprive them of next? 

Let's have a moment silence for this sad moment in the history of the future of the game.

If PGA Tour Players Could Rewrite The Rule Book

Jim McCabe talks to Tour players about what rules in golf they'd change. Naturally, intense self-interest come roaring to the top of their lists. Shorts, sand filled divots, etc...

They're Better Athletes...

How do you hurt youself playing Ping Pong? Vijay did.

Ferguson on the U.S. Amateur's Lost Luster

AP’s Doug Ferguson writes, “Somewhere along the way, the U.S. Amateur seems to have lost its status, if not some luster.”

He tries to determine “when the U.S. Amateur lost its status as a major is as unclear as when the Masters and PGA Championship took over.”

And he concludes, “Golf at the highest level is now about professionals. So are the majors.”

But well beyond record book quibbling, it seems that now is a good time to ask what is causing the Amateur’s recent slide in stature, separate of the pro vs. amateur major debate? 

• Date played. It's played the first week of school for many college golfers after a summer of competitive play. Not an ideal time to bring out the best in players. But the other options have problems too.

• Qualification standard. Reader Blue Blazer came out of hibernation to point out that the Amateur could give quite a few exemptions to say, the Western Amateur final 16 (since qualifying is usually held right after the Western). And of course, winners of other prestigious events like the Pacific Coast, Northeastern, Porter Cup, etc... A reasonable group of exemptions from the summer's best events would still barely put a dent in the 312-player field.
  
  
• Amateur Status. This is the most difficult area to measure, but at some point the virtual end of amateur status seems to have taken some of the life out of the U.S. Amateur. Whether it’s players (especially from big Division I programs) getting free equipment, or a significant number of former pros in the amateur ranks, the concept of an amateur has lost its luster a bit. Perhaps that's also hurting the USGA's premier amateur event?
  
  
• Big Money. Consider Michael Putnam’s decision to take a sponsor’s exemption instead of playing the Amateur at Merion (where he would have been one of the favorites). What’s the point when his career can be kick started? Granted most players don't do what he did. But after his performance, the minor gamble has turned into a potentially enormous career boost and one that many more players will look to as an excuse to turn pro ASAP.
  
  
  

White On Flogging

George White at The Golf Channel isn't a big fan of flogging and looks at some of Michael Campbell's recent comments on the deregulated power game and the impact it's having.

"It's no fun there. It's just a smash, just a slog. It's a power game. There's no finesse in the game,” [Campbell] says.

Campbell says he isn’t going to be playing professional golf much longer. So, to him personally, it’s really almost a moot point.

“I could retire by seven years' time - so 2012,” he declares. “After that, I don't really care, to be honest.”

That isn’t entirely truthful, to be honest. He cares a lot. But the people who matter don’t. And those people hold the game’s future in their hands.

The Ever Evolving Customer

Adam Barr at The Golf Channel reprints emails about "tailoring the game of golf to the ever-evolving customer."

The responses ranged from thoughtful to downright scary.

Here is his original column that prompted the responses.

Tour Driving Distance Watch

17 PGA Tour players are now averaging over 300 yards off the tee this season.  Looking at all of the guys at 299, the total may reach 25 by the end of the year, barring heavy rains.

In 2004, 14 players averaged over 300 yards.

9 players averaged over 300 yards in 2003.

John Daly was the only player averaging over 300 yards for the 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Trumpminster

SI's Gary Van Sickle writes about "Trumpminster," a.k.a. Trump National Bedminster. The Donald had the media out during PGA week.

Trump insisted on about a dozen killer-A pin positions to show off the course to the media, apparently unaware that a majority of golf writers have double-digit handicaps and low pain thresholds.

Van Sickle basically says The Donald's best bet is a PGA, and even that is doubtful after Baltusrol'$ performance.

How Did It Get This Way?

That's what Travelgolf's Tim McDonald asks about the cost of a round.

Putnam Story

A nice story on Michael Putnam's impressive debut in Hartford.

More Merion Reviews

Here's the New York Times story...wait, they didn't cover the Amateur. They did pick up an AP story.

Mike Kern in the Philadelphia Daily News writes about Merion's Open chances, and he's lukewarm. He notes that some of the players were "hitting wedges into No. 18, a hole Ben Hogan made famous in 1950 with a 1-iron approach. Just thought it was worth mentioning."

Kern obviously missed the moment on The Golf Channel when David Fay brought Hogan's 1-iron and noted that Hogan was very tired in the afternoon round of 36, which is why he needed to hit 1-iron into the green.

And Joe Logan, who has been pretty high on Merion's Open worthiness, seems to have been influenced by Edoardo Molinari's play on Sunday. He hopes Merion sets its sights on more Amateurs:

I hope Merion celebrates the success of the Amateur and the strength of its golf course.

And then, I hope somebody at Merion with a lot of sense and a lot of influence pipes up and says, "What more do we need to prove? Forget the Open. Let's do an Amateur every 10 years."

Merion Finale

What's the Farmer's Almanac saying about Ardmore in June of 2013? Hope it's not rain! Seven birdies in 15 holes for U.S. Amateur champion Edoardo Molinari in the afternoon? Perhaps some of those Merion hasn't become outdated by the USGAS's inept handling of equipment stories were filed just a wee bit soon?

Either way, Merion put on a great show and deserves to be the host of as many USGA championships as they want. Besides making less money in 2013, who cares if it rains a bit and the winner is 18 under? Oh wait...I forgot who I was dealing with for a second.

Anyway, the USGA game story is here. And here are Ken Klavon's notes, looking at how Molinari made 7 birdies in the final 15 holes. Impressive stuff.

Here's the USGA.org story on the Dougherty's, truly one of the more impressive performances in a long time. It was pretty hard to imagine the emotions they were experiencing and pretty much impossible not to root for Dougherty to win after the unfortunate passing of his golfing grandfather.

Here's Molinari's transcript and Dougherty's. And here's the match scorecard.

The Sky Is Sad For Tom

USGA.org had such a good week. And then there was Sunday morning.

Ardmore, Pa. – As Craig Smith, USGA director of media relations, drove through a pelting rain toward Merion Golf Club Sunday morning, he had an intuitive grasp of the moment.

"It’s raining because the sky is sad for Tom," said Smith, making the transposable statement that very well could reflect many feelings in the golf world. The Tom would be precursor for the surname Meeks. As in Tom Meeks. Sunday’s U.S. Amateur championship match represented Meeks’ last official course setup for the USGA’s senior director of rules and competitions.

Or maybe God opened up the sky because he thought the greens at Merion were looking a bit tired?