West Coast Swing Impact?

Larry Bohannon says the Tour's possible move to an emphasized fall finish will make it tougher for the West Coast Swing to attract star players.

Rational Exuberance

Lorne Rubenstein looks at some of the recent reactions to heroic shots and feels they're great for a game that has recently seen less emotion from players. Or perhaps, where we've seen more hostility from players when their fellow players (over?)react to shots. 

Benchmarking To The Rescue

Golf Business writes about the golf industry leadership convening in Monterey to discuss the state of the industry. Lots of talk of actionable data, benchmarking, models and metrics.

Herrington on Merion

Golf World's Ryan Herrington has an excellent game story on the U.S. Amateur at Merion, with a surprising insight into Edoardo Molinari's daily ritual (packing) before his matches.

There is also a sidebar at the end of the piece on Merion's U.S. Open chances. The Executive Director is quotes. Not only does Mr. Fay call on yet another baseball analogy, he offers this on the USGA having to take a financial hit by going to Merion.

"I understand also full well that the U.S. Open is the engine that drives the entire organization. But you konw I've got two daughters. Maybe some year I have to budget for a wedding. So what will I do? Scale back somewhere else for the year." 

I guess that $530,000 salary (and $62,000 in expenses) just doesn't go as far as it used to.

The Fiction Issue!?

The latest Golf World is dubbed "The Fiction Issue." Now, I was excited when I first saw the cover. (Online of course. My print copy won't arrive for at least two weeks if the issue is at all heavy! Oh wait, it's my postman reading, I forgot.)

Anyway, seeing that at least half of the fiction pieces are reprinted short stories, well, I could point out about six or seven "packages" Golf World might want to try before regurgitating stuff that has appeared in several books and reprints. But what's the point?

It's A Spat About Nothing

Golf World's Stu Schneider looks at the Tiger Woods-Peter Kostis/CBS on-course announcer feud, or whatever it is. And though Schneider says it's all about nothing, he adeptly points out that the timing could not be worse for Tim Finchem.

DVR's Impacting Golf Advertising?

Will TiVo and other digital video recording (DVR) technology impact golf advertising? From Steve Pike in his PGA.com "Business Insider" column:

It's too early to provide a specific answer, but there's no doubt the technology's ability to provide commercial-free TV has caught the attention of golf industry marketing execs, whose companies spend millions to get on the tube.

"We're evaluating it on an ongoing basis," Andy Jones, vice president of marketing for golf shoe giant FootJoy, told PGA.com. "Our research tell us that golfers want to see the commercials -- particularly equipment. So we're watching it closely."

Oh I'm not so sure about that.

Either way, you can expect new forms of commercialization thanks to DVR's.

But Dan Murphy, director of marketing for Bridgestone Golf, sees the technology as a more immediate threat to commercials.

"We haven't given up on the 30-second spot yet -- we still are there. But there are two ways, we think, to deal with it," Murphy said. "One is, we think the Internet is more important than ever; so one way to distribute your TV spot, particularly if it's entertaining, is through email and clip attachments.

"The other way is to stay on TV to be work more toward the product placement strategy. In other words, insert your brand into a particular show."

Uh, don't they already insert their brand via player visors?

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.