How Many Credit Cards Do You Have and What Color Are They?

"The Golf Digest Interview" is typically full of fresh stories and revealing insights. Then there was January's sitdown with Paula Creamer that would have been better suited for pages of Miss Teen. Maybe.

And no, I'm not making this up:

GD: When you turned pro, was your press conference televised?
PC: Um . . . no. I think I had something later on The Golf Channel, but it was nothing like she had.

Do you have any idea how much you're worth?
I have no idea.

No idea?
I don't care about that kind of stuff. I care about my quality of life and money, but I don't know an exact number.

Definitely not $10 million?
No, not $10 million.

Maybe $5 million?
In that area.

Who handles your money?
IMG [International Management Group]. My parents are also involved, but I have a person who handles all of my money.

So if you go to an ATM right now and get cash, what's your available balance?
I've never gotten cash out of a machine. I use my credit cards, so I don't need to do that.

You've never gotten cash out of a machine?
Never. I've watched people, but I've never done it.

Come on! How do you get cash?
My dad, I guess.

How many credit cards do you have?
Three.

What color are they?
I have platinum. I have a new green one, which is pretty cool.

Golf Digest people probably don't get the new green ones.
[Laughs.] I do go to the bank and make withdrawals, but not from those machines.

Do you have a PIN number?
I might have one, but I don't know it. I have a debit card, I think, but I've never used it.

Do you get an allowance?
From who, my parents? No, but I'm trying to learn how much I'll allow myself to spend each month: $4,000, maybe $2,000. I haven't figured out the number yet. It depends on where we play. New York was terrible. That was the week I won for the first time, so I went crazy.

How much a month do you spend on clothes?
Too much. It depends. I can go from $1,000 in a week to $1,000 in a month. It's a lot.

Rees-toration of a Rees-toration?

I can't keep up with all of these brilliant modern classics going under the knife.

First we had Best New Remodel of Best New's, and now we have Rees Jones renovating his own Rees-torations. A Rees-Rees-toration? Or a Ree-ees-toration? Eh, either way, thanks to reader Frenchie for this from PGA.com.

Atlanta Athletic Club is turning Rees loose on their Highlands Course...again. He apparently didn't make it forgettable enough prior to the 2001 PGA Championship, so he's back to install more tees, more 2-d bunkering and more nonsense just in time for the 2011 PGA.

 --All fairway and greenside sand bunkers will be reshaped and made deeper, with new drainage and bunker sand installed.

--The locations of all greenside bunkers will be studied in detail to promote variety and develop more challenging approach shots and hole locations. When reshaped, all greenside bunkers will be shifted closer to the adjacent putting surface.

To promote variety? Hmmm...guess that monotonous left bunker/right bunker thing made every hole bleed together? Shocking.

--Fairway mowing patterns will shift closer to the edge of each renovated fairway bunker.

--All fairways to be regraded and drainage to be installed.

--All tees, collars, approaches, green surrounds that are cut at fairway height and fairways will have Diamond zoysia grass.

All of the holes will undergo some revision, although the greens will not be rebuilt. Most holes will have a new championship tee built, adding length to nearly every hole.

Length? It was plenty long enough in 2002...what happened?

Flogging To Be Studied

There have been (not too subtle) hints that the governing bodies believe improved grooves encourage the flogging approach to championship courses.

The USGA's David Fay recently told a gathering of regional golf association heads that grooves may even pose a greater threat to golf's integrity than optmization-fed distance increases. He also shrugged off the distance issue as something only impacting the sport at the "highest level." (As opposed to grooves having an effect on all levels!?)

And now according to Douglas Lowe in The Herald, the USGA and R&A are going to study grooves. And all because of 2005's hip, edgy, cool and might I say, quite 18-34 approach to golf, better known as flogging.  Lowe writes:

To make it more difficult for the world's top players to reach for the stars, the R&A is using specially modified missile-tracking equipment to keep a check on the progress of the ball, with the help of Dr Steve Otto.

Dr Otto said the radar had revolutionised equipment research, despite the difficulties. "Tracking a small, white ball with very little metallic compound is a lot harder than tracking missiles."

The profile of a winning golfer 20 years ago used to be one whose drives found the fairways and whose iron shots found the greens. Now the world's top golfers are blazing away with abandon from the tee, with scant concern about direction, and more often than not getting safely on to the putting surfaces from long grass.

In a free market world, what's wrong with a new progressive approach? You can't legislate progress!

Dr Otto, the R&A's assistant director with responsibility for research and testing, said: "Players are not worrying so much about whether the ball is on the fairway. That has led us to look at different aspects of the game, and not just distance.

"We are looking at a player's ability to recover from the rough and whether that is based on their skill and strength, or whether equipment changes have helped."

Backspin imparted by the grooves on a club allows a player to stop the ball on the green, but top golfers have been making a nonsense of the idea that it is more difficult to do that from long grass.Dr Otto said that, in the 1980s, about 50% of a golfer's earnings could be credited to accuracy from the tee. By the 1990s, that figure had fallen to 25% and currently it is running at as little as 5%. As a result, there is concern that brute force in golf is taking over from skill.

And it's all the grooves fault!? 

"This trend has made us look more carefully at how grooves on the face of wedges are evolving," he added.

"They used to be basically ground out, but now they are milled with much greater accuracy, using computers. Perhaps they [manufacturers] are able to make sharper edges and better groove profiles."The current rules on the grooves on wedges have been in place for more than two decades when non V-shapes were allowed, but the distances between them were at the heart of a legal dispute with the Karsten Manufacturing Company.

Sales pitches of greater length and control and the need to maintain skill levels have always been a conflict. Now the possibility of limiting the shape and the distance between grooves is under the microscope again.To monitor the latest advances, the R&A and its partner organisation, the United States Golf Association, have employed this radar device developed by a Danish company that specialises in missile tracking.

Yes, I think it's safe to say the game is in trouble when you are using missile tracking radar to determine how the ball is coming out of the rough.

Hate to break this one to them, but golf did fine for 300 years without crops of rough being harvested to keep golfers gingerly teetering down a narrow center line.

I've started a thread over on the Discussion Technology page asking if you think grooves are significantly better than a few years ago and if you think it's something the USGA/R&A should be studying. 

Dawson's Speak

Lawrence Donegan reports on the significant changes to Birkdale (analyzed in a post below) for the 2008 Open Championship. Donegan has this quote from Peter Dawson, who is defending the need to drastically change a storied Open venue:

"Players are getting bigger, better and stronger and we, in conjunction with the golf club itself, felt there was the need to keep the test of golf presented by Birkdale up to date. Technology has [also] been a factor in these changes. It is advancing and it would be daft for the Open Championship organisers not to recognise that fact."

But here's Dawson the day after July's Open Championship finished, an event where the driving distance average was up 27 yards over the previous Open:

"Hitting distances have reached a plateau. This is definitely happening; all this discussion that players are hitting the ball further is not true."

Donegan also writes:

...the news that a venue acknowledged by some as the best on the Open Championship rota is to undergo such extensive surgery will add fuel to the on-going debate over the introduction of a new ball, not least because this announcement comes days after a similar plan to toughen up another Open venue, Turnberry.

The Scottish course is to gain an extra 200 yards as well as 30 new bunkers in time to host the Open in 2009. "We needed to meet the challenges of the modern game," Paul Burley, Turnberry's director of golf, said yesterday. "The players are so much more athletic, the ball is flying so much further and golf technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years.

30 new bunkers? 

These guys make Hootie's approach to Augusta look subtle, tender and respectful.

Birkdale Overhaul

The R&A news release on changes to Birkdale, interrupted by my skepticism: 

COURSE ALTERATIONS TO ROYAL BIRKDALE
In February 2004 The R&A announced that Royal Birkdale would host the 2008 Open Championship, the ninth time that golf’s oldest major will have graced the wonderful links at Southport.

In 1965, when Peter Thomson rounded off his collection of Open wins with a further triumph that he described as his ‘greatest win’, he added that Birkdale was "man-sized but not a monster."

Alterations are currently being put in place to maintain that description but at the same time to pose new challenges for the world’s greatest golfers.

These course alterations have been agreed between Royal Birkdale Golf Club and The R&A and have been completed with the assistance of Martin Hawtree, golf course architect, who has been involved with previous modifications at Royal Birkdale. The Hawtrees, have been involved with Royal Birkdale since the 1930’s through the original connection established with Martin’s grandfather and then father, both named Fred. The present brief was to ‘tighten up’ the course without resorting to an excessive increase in length.

This has resulted in one new green at the 17th, 20 new hazards, 16 of which are fairway bunkers and six new tees, leading to a total length of approximately 7122 yards, an increase of 154 yards.

The works are being carried out by SOL Golf Construction Ltd who are based in Ireland and will be completed well in advance of the 2008 Open Championship. Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A said: "Royal Birkdale has always been a strong Open venue and we feel that by introducing these changes, that challenge can be maintained."

But, if it was always a strong Open venue, then what chang...ah, sorry.

"We have paid particular attention to the introduction of tee shots that give players a number of strategic options and through tighter bunkering and the recontouring of green surrounds, intend to make players execute more imaginative recovery shots around the greens."

Sounds like your basic desperate tricking up to impact the scoring bottom line. Adding strategy through "tightening" up (you know, the forced lay-up decision between a 4-iron and a 3-iron, that kind of strategy).  

Speaking on behalf of Royal Birkdale, the Captain, John Henthorn said: "The Club is delighted and excited to be introducing these changes which will toughen up the course, providing a greater challenge not only for the world’s top players but also for our members and visitors alike."

Get a caddie, looks like we're going 16 here. Oh, and see if you can detect a trend.

The major changes are: -
HOLE 1
Fairway - Reposition and reshape left hand fairway bunker and mound, to be more threatening from the tee.
Green - Reposition left-hand approach bunker and rework and deepen hollows surrounding the green.

HOLE 2
Fairway - Two new fairway bunkers added on right at 300 yards. New mounding in left rough between 250 and 300 yards to better define the fairway.

HOLE 3
Tee - New tee back right of former tee, now making the hole slightly dogleg left to right.
Fairway - Two new bunkers added on left at 315 and 330 yards.
Green - Recontouring of surrounds with introduction of ridges and hollows. New bunker constructed front right.

HOLE 4
Green - Left-hand bunkers tightened up and right-hand bunker expanded and moved closer to green. Extensive recontouring with mounds and hollows to right of green.

HOLE 5
Green - Bunkers tightened up and green extended behind right-hand wing bunker.

HOLE 6
Tee - Tee lengthened by 19 yards
Fairway - Bunker added at left corner of right-hand dogleg (280 yards)
Green - Bunker added on left-hand approach to green with mounding to tie in to left-hand dune.

HOLE 8
Fairway - Ridging formed at 260 yards behind existing bunker on right and bunker added at 265 yards on left with ridging behind. Further bunker added on right at 310 yards and existing bunker at 320 yards repositioned into new mound on right.
Green - Green extended at back.

HOLE 9
Tee - New tee constructed back right of existing tee to give better line for tee-shot
Fairway - Fairway eased left to accentuate the left to right dogleg. Bunker repositioned (270 yards) at dogleg on right. New mounding and recontouring in right rough beyond this point.
Green - New bunker added front left of green.

HOLE 10
Tee - Tee enlarged and levelled
Fairway - Two bunkers added on left at 225 and 235 yards. Bunker added on right at 285 yards.

HOLE 11
Tee - New tee 24 yards back.
Fairway - Bunker added on left at 285 yards.
Green - Bunker at front left moved closer to green edge and tightened.

HOLE 13
Fairway - Bunker added on right at 290 yards. Existing bunker on left at 325 yards, widened by three yards into fairway. Cross bunker on left at 350 yards incorporated into a larger mound.
Green - Greenside bunkers pulled closer to putting surface and swales formed in the green surrounds.

HOLE 14
Green - Bunker added front left of green and green extended at rear. Swales recontoured

HOLE 15
Fairway - Two new bunkers constructed on right at 300 yards. Fairway narrowed on approach to green and extensive recontouring with formation of hillocks on left, short of green.

HOLE 16
Tee - New tee (+ 22 yards).

HOLE 17
Fairway - Two bunkers and mounding added at 310 and 320 yards on right. Bunker on right 100 yards short of green repositioned and additional dune added to narrow the fairway.
Green - Green moved back 20 yards with present top tier becoming the bottom tier of the new green. Bunkers repositioned as appropriate.

HOLE 18
Fairway - Bunker and mound added at 300 yards on left.

Yes, only two holes escaped change on a course that hosted the Open just seven years ago.

The work on No. 17 sounds miniature golf-esque. How do you add a dune? Oh, and the green the are re-doing on No. 17? It was a new green prior to the last Open too. Ah the tradition continues...

Drive To A Million

Ken Klavon reports that the USGA Members Program turned 30 on Dec. 18 and stands some 900,000 "advocates" tall.

That's over ten years since Reg Murphy set a goal of reaching 1 million. Almost there!

I reported in The Future of Golf that the total was just over 700,000 members only two years ago. That number was confirmed by the USGA.  The uh, "growth," is likely thanks to the USGA's push to sign up free members from state and regional groups. After a year of free newsletters and Christmas card offers, the USGA hopes they'll sign up paying members from this group (imagine how easy that be if they had Golf Journal still around.)

So at this stunning growth rate, they may get 4% of the U.S. golfing population on their side. 

Which reminds me, this story is reporting that the National Golf Foundation pegs the number of U.S. golfers at 30.1 million, yet rounds played are flat.

We're up 3 million golfers, but no increase in play?  When did we go from 27 million to 30 million? Did I miss a meeting?

Bivens Gives In

Not a big surprise (or a big issue?), but new LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens is going to allow Morgan Pressel to play before her 18th birthday. Something tells me this is not that big of a deal.

On the other hand, Bivens has already shown a tendency to overvalue marketing and undervalue the rules.

Year In Review, Vol. 1, Torrey Pines Stories

Time to look back on the most interesting, informative and uh, impactful golf stories of 2005. Well, at least in my view!

Volume 1 is dedicated to Tod Leonard's San Diego Union-Tribune reporting on the state of Torrey Pines.

At issue was a costly redo of the North Course, even though local golfer were not enjoying the renovated South, host of the 2008 U.S. Open. 

Starting in November 2004, Leonard exposed the astonishing conflicts of interest and obvious backdoor maneuvering centered around the "needs" of the 2008 Open, the mysterious "Friends of Torrey Pines"  (represented by a USGA Executive Committee member!) and the Lodge at Torrey Pines.

His series of articles started an uprising after he revealed that the Lodge was promoting a North Course renovation that had not been approved by the City Council.  A later story generated this comment from SD City Councilman Michael Zucchet:

"My opinion was that they ruined the South Course, but at least I understood why they did it – to get the U.S. Open," Zucchet said yesterday. "I love a tough golf course, but I miss the old, historic South.

"Now, it's a Rees Jones masterpiece, but the old one was a San Diego masterpiece. We've lost that, and I want to do my best to make sure the same things don't happen again."

Such a masterpiece that no one wanted him to touch the North, but more importantly, no one seemed to want the USGA greens on the North that were struggling on the South. Leornard's other work was highlighted by this December 4 story, followed later by this January 8 piece, followed by the City Council debate that halted the North Course redo just prior to the Buick Invitational.

I summed up the saga and Leornard's fine reporting for Golfobserver. 

More Family Time

Jennifer Mills leaves The Golf Channel to spend more time with her family. Didn't I read somewhere a few weeks ago that she had not been offered a raise or had not yet been given a new contract?

I think that leaves just Kraig Kann and Brian Hammond as folks who were there when it started.

Maybe This Is Around The Time...

...John Daly broke his hand?

Thanks to reader Stu for the heads up on these lovely images of John Daly over at Deadspin.com.

Seeing these makes me think is was a good idea that big John skipped the Open Championship past champions dinner. Not his cup of tea.

Deadspin also posts on the Wendy's Three Tour Challenge and uses it as an excuse to post an epic photo of Christie Kerr kissing a trophy. 

Truth Behind The Power Game

Just when you think it's safe to go out, up comes another rabblerousing, technophobic, anti-technology, oh, my favorite, ranting distance killjoy (and that didn't even come from a manufacturer!).

Mike Clayton writes about his recent retro round at Royal Melbourne with Geoff Ogilvy, and then writes about the distance issue. Thanks to readers Mark and Graeme for the heads up on this one.

There can only be one answer if pro golf is not going to descend into an increasingly unwatchable television spectacle played largely with drivers, wedges and putters.

But Mike, the ratings are down in all sports...well, wait, not the NFL and Nascar.

Jack Nicklaus has advocated a ball for amateurs and another for elite players. Administrators argue they don't want to create two games but that is what we have now.

A "newer and better" model comes out every year and there isn't a touring pro with a three wood or a driver more than a couple of seasons old.

Profit is the manufacturers' primary motive and certainly that comes before what traditionalists would argue is "the good of the game".

Ball makers care not a dot that the best courses are obsolete in the sense of playing the way the designers intended. Their aim is to produce a ball that flies further and straighter than their competitors.

There is nothing wrong with that but when the administrators dare suggest winding back the ball, there are howls of protest. They somehow seem to think it will reduce their profits, but unless golfers protest by giving up the game because the ball goes 15 metres shorter, how can it possibly do that?

Anyway, there should be a different ball for professionals. The greatest thing the manufacturers could do is produce a ball for average players that goes further. Golfers will hit the same number of shots they have always hit and they need a ball to do it with.

What is unconscionable is manufacturers threatening to sue administrators charged with custodianship of the game if they suggest putting a cap on equipment advances. There must be compromise and innovation but the game and great courses need strong advocates who will not be bullied by those bent on profit.

Mike, come on, didn't you get the message. It's the agronomy!

2005's Best Images

Don't miss the Golf World/Golf Digest staff's 10 best photos of the year.  If the Steven Szurlej shot of Tiger's chip-in was a poster, I know I'd buy it. And the Wie-Pressel stare-down shot would make for a nice summer time image, you know, to chill an overheated room.

Lost Canyons...Estates and Country Club?

Thanks to reader Scott for the heads up on this Ventura County Star story on Lost Canyons potentially going private and developing the "Shadow Course" into high-end housing. This has been rumored for quite some time.

"I think there is a demand in the town for that kind of land use," said John McClure, a senior vice president with Hillwood Capital, the group that owns the club. "I think it would attract a different kind of client given the number of courses built in the area. We are trying to do something different for ourselves and the city."

As of now, the plan calls for 314 custom-built homes on what is now the Shadow Course, which sits toward the back of the 1,750-acre club. 

And this...

Councilman Steve Sojka sees the good and bad of the proposal and wants the input of residents.

Having the type of exclusive housing that attracts chief executive officers is a boon to the city, Sojka said, but "taking away a public amenity now and making it private for the rich" bothers him.

"My concern is with the community and not the developer's bottom line," he said.

Discussion Group

One of the elements I love about this blogging nonsense is the whole interactive concept. The comments on various posts have been great, but they never really catch fire as "discussions" because posts roll off the first page and into the archives.

In poking around Squarespace today (and yes, I just figured this out), I can offer discussion groups rather easily.

They have the added benefit of being on the first page all of the time, and appear quite easy to use. At the moment I'm not going to ask that people register, as the only trouble I've had with the comments came from bloggers subsidized by equipment manufacturers shilling for their team.

For now, I have one DG posted, Discussion Architecture. Other topics I may add include technology, rules, books and history. When the tournament season starts up again in a few weeks, I'll add a Tournament page.

Please feel free to comment here or on the Discussion Architecture page about this rivetting development. And thanks for checking in.

Special Pricing!

This went out to Golf Coaches Association of America members. 

Dear GCAA Member: 
SkyGolf, a proud new Corporate Partner of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), is extremely pleased that the SkyCaddie has been selected as the preferred GPS rangefinder of the GCAA.  A full package of information on the SkyCaddie will be sent to you the first week in January, but we wanted to quickly provide you with some of its highlights and our special GCAA pricing program.
 
Highlights
SkyGolf is the clear leader in 21st century rangefinders. At a mere 4.8 ounces, our handheld SkyCaddie provides more essential data than any other system and does so quickly and from anywhere on the golf course. The SkyCaddie requires no aiming or line-of-sight, can be used close to the green, works under all conditions and uses a WAAS enhanced GPS system that is accurate within one meter. The SkyCaddie will provide your players with the necessary distances to bunkers, water hazards, doglegs, lay up points on par fives and the front, back and center of the greens. Proven in competition on the Adams Tight Lies Tour in 2005, the SkyCaddie provides all the distance information one would expect from a top PGA Tour caddie and will help your players with their course management and practice routine.
 
Special Pricing
We have established a special GCAA price of $299.95 per SkyCaddie unit, plus shipping, for your staff and team that includes five (5) years of unlimited access to the more than 8,000 courses worldwide that have already been professionally GPS-enabled by SkyGolf. This package has a total retail value of $649.95 per unit, plus shipping.  There is no monthly charge.
 
SkyCourses
The rapidly growing list of U.S. courses set up for full SkyCaddie use now numbers over 8,000 including 65 of Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, more than half the top resorts and many of the Greatest 100. A listing of these SkyCourses can be found at www.skygolfgps.com. If your home course has not been enabled for play with the SkyCaddie, we will help you obtain permission for that process, which costs the host course absolutely nothing and uses no ugly markers, reflectors or special flags.

If a particular course has not been professionally GPS-enabled by SkyGolf, a player can easily record the front, back and center of the greens on the SkyCaddie unit during their practice rounds. This simple process, which takes less than a minute per hole, will provide more information than any optical or laser rangefinder and do so instantly from anywhere on the course, even if the green is not visible.

SkyGolf Commitment
SkyGolf is strongly committed to the future of college golf and we are confident that our product and service will have an important impact on both player performance and the pace of play. We will be happy to start the process of equipping your team with SkyCaddie units.
 
Please watch for your package and should you have any questions or wish to place an immediate order for mid January or February delivery, please contact me. I have provided my contact information below. I look forward to meeting you at the GCAA annual meeting in Daytona Beach. If you are planning to attend the 2006 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando that week, please be sure to stop by our booth - #8101.
 
With regards,
Kyle Loftis
Director of Customer Support
and Special Programs 

The prospect of forking out say, $2000 (for six devices, plus tax), may not sound like a lot. But to coaches at a majority of Division I schools, it's one more expense to add to the fundraising tab (and don't forget, in five years if SkyGolf is still uh, part of the marketplace, another bill will be coming).

It remains unclear to the coaches where exactly the NCAA stands on this for competition, but they believe the organization will allow them in NCAA events.

I'm trying to think back to the many times in college golf I waited for someone to compute a yardage. Not too often. Now, time spent waiting for someone to find a lost ball or wait for a green to clear or while someone lined up a putt?  Pretty much all of the time.

So I'm still having trouble seeing how this would speed up play when all competitors are walking and doing their own yardage work. 

Then again, I had a coach recently tell me that one of his players asked him what his yardage was from...oh about 40 yards out.