Golf at Goodwood

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Thanks to reader Phillip for this intriguing story from the Independent:

Lord March, the son of the Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Gordon and owner of Goodwood House - the Sussex pile famous for the Glorious Goodwood horseracing festival - would appear to be an unlikely disciple of Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the Greek founder of easyJet, the budget airline.

What is all of that Lord and Duke nonsense about anyway? Sorry, continue...

In January, March will unveil Golf at Goodwood, a concept that he hopes will prompt revolution in the hierarchical world of golf clubs, with their dress codes, prohibitive prices, long waiting lists for membership and snobbery.

Golf at Goodwood will be based on the easyJet principle that the cost of the service will be directly linked to demand - the lower the demand, the cheaper it will be. Golfers will buy "credits" and the number of these expended per round will depend on how busy the course is. There will be no dress code, no waiting list for new members and no parking space reserved for the secretary.

But the purists do not need to worry that they will be playing on a second-class course. Nestling on the South Downs with a view of the Isle of Wight, it was designed by James Braid, who created the famous King's and Queen's courses at Glen-eagles. Laid out in 1901, it has been under-used in recent years, but is seen by some aficionados as one of the finest downland courses in Britain.

So what is March up to? Why is this landed peer opening up his course to the hoi polloi?

He says he is trying to knock the elitism out of golf, or - as he puts it in a chillingly Blairite phrase - trying to create an "inclusive experience in an exclusive environment".

"Golf has very much been the domain of the stuffy members' club. I think there's a much younger audience who don't want that any more and aren't prepared to be told that they've got to wear certain things," he says.

"Take Formula 1, where everything is cornered off and hierarchical. It is impossible to get where you want to get unless you've got the right passes. You immediately feel that you are not good enough. We are keen to have none of that," he says.

 The story goes on to cite various numbers and more on the "concept."

Clayton On Presidents Cup

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golfobserver copy.jpgGolfobserver's Mike Clayton looks at the Presidents Cup and questions Gary Player's selection of Trevor Immelman. He, like many others, wonders why Geoff Ogilvy and his stellar season in the majors was not rewarded with a selection. Well, he doesn't wonder, he just comes out and says what many have felt:

Immelman was fifth at Augusta but Ogilvy has played all over him this year and if he had been a South African one has to suspect he would have got the last place.  

Huggan on Schofield, Hewitt

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John Huggan looks at Ken Schofield's post European Tour work and includes this anecdote:

...there is little doubt that Schofield is enjoying his new roles in life. Already, there is a more relaxed aura about him, a less guarded and less intense outlook. Even his legendary propensity for talking in politician-like circles when answering the awkward questions is less pronounced.

The edge is still there, though. Sitting with his notoriously jingoistic and often xenophobic Golf Channel colleague, Brian Hewitt, during an on-air conversation at last month's USPGA Championship, Schofield was quick to stick up for those he represented so zealously for so long. More than once the horrible Hewitt found himself politely chastised.

I think it's safe to say that if there's ever a Golf Writer's Association of America four-ball, there will not be a Huggan-Hewitt team! 

Gore Wins

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Jason Gore's post round press conference says it all. Some interesting stats on Gore's win at the 84 Lumber Classic:

Gore never finished higher than 18th during two previous stays on the PGA Tour, in 2001 and 2003, and had won only $40,399 on that tour this year. Now, he joins Paul Stankowski (1996) as the only winners on the developmental Nationwide and PGA tours in the same year. The portly, big-swinging Gore is the first to do so after earning the automatic in-season promotion that goes to any three-time Nationwide winner.

And here's proof that those Pepperdine preacher, err, professors didn't ruin his sense of humor:

"It's pretty incredible," said Gore, who played with a sponsor's exemption. "Around May-ish I was wondering if I could get formula for my child, if I was going to make a house payment, and now look. They just handed me a check for $792,000. It's amazing where a little perseverance and grit and maybe a little ignorance can take you."

Gore's funny, he smiles, he has perspective and he's self deprecating. (Trust me, it's those wretched religion classes they make you take in Malibu.)  He is exactly what the PGA Tour needs, and oddly, what the Tour discourages in some mysterious, perhaps unintentional way.

AP Els Story

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There's an AP story appearing all over the place announcing that Ernie Els "will skip the first two PGA Tour events in the United States next year to rest his knee and stay fresher for the majors."

He had to have won a tournament to be eligible for the first of the two that he's chosen to skip. I know, quibbling again. Anyway...

"The South African will not play in the United States until the Nissan Open in California in mid-February, and he will only be there for 10 weeks until after the Masters in April."

Hey, at least someone knows the 2006 PGA Tour schedule! So we can pencil the Nissan in for mid-February?

Anyway, the main point here is that this is all from John Huggan's reporting in The Guardian (Sept. 17), which was posted here a few days ago. The AP story does not mention Huggan or The Guardian.

Now I know he wasn't reporting the content of the Pentagon Papers or the names Hugh Sloan mentioned to the grand jury investigating Watergate, but Huggan did have an exclusive that should have been acknowledged by AP. Maybe this looser standard is part of AP's attempts to pander to a new audience, though I thought such shenanigans would be left to its forthcoming asap service (which you can bet the 18-34 year old obsessed PGA Tour will be pandering to in no time).

Presidents Cup Excitement

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presidents cup.jpgAt least a few writers seem excited about the Presidents Cup. If you are trying to get up for it, click here and here for some inspiration.

Hard to get up for an event that has yet another different format, along with a course re-route in the interest of better corporate hospitality viewing. And as Brett Avery reported in Golf World this week (yes, my postman got through the issue fast), Robert Trent Jones's self-declared masterpiece has seen numerous revisions by PGA Tour Design Services.

Kenny G Post Round Press Conference

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Never thought you'd read those words did you?

Really, it's time again to update the Rapture index. Why, you ask?

kenny g 2.jpgBecause schmaltzy saxophonist Kenny G took up a spot in this weeks Nationwide Tour event. That's the PGA Tour operated circuit where aspiring professionals play and attempt to make a living with the hope of making the PGA Tour. But that didn't stop the tournament sponsor from bequeathing a sponsor's exemption to the frizzy Grammy-award winner (oh how wrong the Grammy’s get it sometimes!). Kenny G fired rounds of 82-83—165, but made up for his absurd appearance with many Yogiesque thoughts on wasting a spot in the field:

I played with Tiger once and we talked about this kind of stuff and he said “If you know what you need to do, just do it. Don’t wait until it’s comfortable. If I’m working on something, I’m going to do it in competition. I want to know what it feels like. I said I’m not going to go back. I’m going to do what I’m supposed to do.”

That wasn’t the best advice I got from Tiger. The best advice I got from Tiger was he told me to take the cashmere insert out of my driver. That’s the best advice I got from him.

Really. How special. Please, show us just how delusional you really are. Of course, you need help from someone who actually asked if your handicap index would go up after turning in your 82-83.

I don’t think my index will go up. I think the computer will spit them out. They’re too high. From the blue tees at Sherwood, you could tie one hand behind my back and I wouldn’t shoot higher than a 75 or 76. This is different. This is the big boys out here.

Yes, this the big boys. But come on, what held you back this week Kenny? 

Something’s going on with my putting. I’m going to go see Scotty Cameron and I’m going to get myself fixed up. With all that said, I haven’t worked on my putting. I’ve worked on my swing. I think I hit the ball good enough today. I just didn’t putt well enough. I think I should have been 2-3 under over my last 8 holes.

Tell us what this experience was like, you know, like, as an artist. And like, remind us how you missed your calling as one of Yogi Berra's joke writers.

As an artist, I have feel and putting is a lot of feel. I can feel it, but my body is just trained not to feel that.

For those who haven't screamed yet, consider this. Someone ask Kenny what song best describes his performance this week. I'd nominate that new duet with Richard Marx where they absolutely trample the soul out of "Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word."

The best song that suits my performance this week? It’s got to be a song that has a good heart. It has to be an innocent song and it has to have some sort of dramatic ending, but not necessarily a happy, dramatic ending. I wrote a song called “The Champion’s Theme” It’s about being a hero. It’s all in my mind; there are no words. It talks about feeling strong. I look at my score and some people might go “That guy sucks.” I look at that score and I feel really proud of what I did. I think a lot of guys might not be able to break 90-95 out here. They wouldn’t be able to do it for a lot of reasons. I feel like I really rose to the occasion. My swing came together. I didn’t lose my attitude, I didn’t get down on myself. I could have, easily.

Lines of Charm

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LinesofCharm final.jpgI know you've been losing sleep over the extreme secrecy surrounding the release of my latest book. Well, no secrecy, just a little uncertainty over when exactly the book would go to press. But it's on the Ann Arbor Media Group presses now and should be shipping early in October.

Lines of Charm: Brilliant and Irreverent Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes from Golf's Golden Age Architects can be preordered at Amazon.com. I've set up the Lines of Charm page so you can get a preview of the contents and a link to the Amazon page, where the book is $13.57 (Amazon says it will ship Nov. 4, but I suspect much sooner than that). If you prefer to buy it in a store, look for Lines of Charm in late October.

I'm very excited about this one for a few reasons. First, to be doing books again with some of the former Sleeping Bear Press people is a joy, and I think they'd done a fine job on the production of this one.

More importantly, this is my first contribution to the bathroom reading/cash register gift book genre.

All kidding aside, if you like the quotes posted at the top of the website each day, I think you'll enjoy Lines of Charm. The various chapters open with a humorous architecture anecdote (including a few fun ones from Darwin). And besides the classic lines on each subject, the book is decorated with over 100 old drawings, ads, architect field sketches and a collection of really funny old New Yorker-like cartoons about golf architecture-related topics.

My hope is that this is a quality reference book for aficionados, architects, writers, superintendents and golf pros. But more importantly, Lines of Charm should be a pain free introduction to the Golden Age architects. So hopefully it's a gift that you'll feel comfortable giving out to friends who can't understand our fascination with Redans, punchbowls and St. Andrews.

Golf at the Expense of Tennis

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Field Maloney at Slate.com writes about the demise of tennis and the rise of golf:

Tennis has become a political liability: effete, preppy, what high-schoolers call a "wussy sport." Whereas golf, no matter how fey the links attire or how pricey the greens fees, has become so solidly red-blooded and all-American that even our folksy president can embrace it.