Dear Media Member...

This landed in my email box...name, email and phone number deleted to protect the innocent.

Dear media member,
 
We appreciate your consideration to join us on an upcoming media trip to experience first-hand two heralded destinations in Florida's Great Northwest.

This trip ­taking place February 28-March 4, 2006 will showcase the varied offerings of SouthWood in the state capital of Tallahassee, and the WaterColor Inn & Spa, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World member located on the Gulf of Mexico in Seagrove Beach.

Our itinerary includes 36 holes of golf at both SouthWood Golf Club and Camp Creek Golf Club, luxury lodgings, spa treatments, fine dining and VIP box tickets to the Florida State Seminoles vs. Duke Blue Devils basketball game on March 1.

Space for this trip is limited, so please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested.
 
Thank you and best regards,
 
xxxxx xxxxx
XXXXXXX Communications

St. Joe Towns & Resorts
Winter 2006 LUXURY GOLF FAM TRIP, February 28 – March 4
 
SouthWood Golf Club, Tallahassee, FL
www.southwoodflorida.com
Camp Creek Golf Club, Seagrove Beach, FL
www.campcreekflorida.com
The WaterColor Inn & Resort, Seagrove Beach, FL
www.watercolorinn.com
 
About the Courses
 
SouthWood Golf Club -- Opened in Nov. 2002 and located at the heart of the SouthWood development in historic Tallahassee, the Fred Couples/Gene Bates designed SouthWood Golf Club was named one of “America’s Best New Courses” by Golf Digest Magazine. Chosen from more than 500 courses, SouthWood was the only course in Florida to be named in the “Best New Upscale Public” category. Framed by towering live oaks draped in Spanish moss, the course was also named to GOLF Magazine’s prestigious “Top Ten You Can Play” list in 2003.
 
Camp Creek Golf Club/Water Color Inn -- The Tom Fazio-designed Camp Creek Golf Club offers a link-style, “dunescape” experience where rolling fairways, plenty of water and abundant bunkering make for challenging-yet-fun rounds. A member of the elite “Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the luxurious St. Joe’s WaterColor Inn & Spa includes the renowned Fish Out of Water restaurant, a private beach club, extensive exercise facilities, dune walkovers and boardwalks, a lakefront park and the recently opened WaterColor Spa. Camp Creek is rated the no. 8 course you can play in all of Florida by Golfweek and was named the “No. 1 Florida course of the new millennium by T+L Golf.
 

Defending Roy

A very minor quibble. Adam Barr writes in a New Year's rules resolution column:

DRIVER ENVY. A player shall do his best to strike a decent tee ball without delay occasioned by bragging about the new war stick he or she received for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Boxing Day. Enforcement of this rule may be waived by the committee, unless the offender uses terms such as “Linda Ronstadt (Blew By You)” or announces loudly that his drive is a monster, even as it lands in ankle-high Kikuyu.

Recently Butch Harmon evoked the eye-roll inducing "Linda Ronstadt (Blew By You)" on the Natalie Gulbis Show (yes, yes I watched the show).

Besides the fact that it's not funny (as Barr is kindly trying to point out without offending his readership), the citation is not accurate.

But if you must use it, that's Blue Bayou, and Roy Orbison wrote the song along with Joe Melson in 1963, and also recorded it to major acclaim. Linda Ronstadt covered it in 1977.

I believe Tim McCarver started this "Blue Bayou" nonsense a few years ago during a baseball telecast.  And I know your day wouldn't be complete without this kind of important insight and clarification.

Ranting Killjoy Gone (Wonderfully) Mad

John Huggan darts way past yours truly to the top of the subversive, technophobic evildoer list with this 2006 non-preview preview that must be read (because Lord knows you won't get anything like it here in the good 'ole US of A). And I don't want to hear any nonsense about how you have to register for The Scotsman...

Because even Monty might like this one, since he only takes a minor drumming compared to others.

So as James Taylor sang, line 'em up:

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington - haven't yet come out to play, as the wee souls are apparently in need of a break from first-class travel and all that arduous walking round courses with someone else carrying the bag...

It snowballs from there. 

Paired on the first day of the Bay Hill Invitational, old chums Rory Sabbatini and Ben Crane begin to reminisce about their previous rounds together. Unfortunately, the conversation remains in limbo when the duo become separated somewhere around the sixth hole. Still, in a gesture of friendship and goodwill, Sabbatini doesn't leave without saying goodbye. The South African eats lunch, hits balls for an hour, then has a massage as he waits for Crane to finish. 

 And....

The latest "new" Augusta National is unveiled at the Masters. Measuring 15,500 yards, the course is said by officials to be a throwback to the strategic, St Andrews-like golfing values extolled by Bobby Jones back in the 1930s. An eerie laughter is heard from somewhere up in the clouds. Tiger Woods wins by 25 shots, shooting four rounds of 82, 32 under par for the par-90 layout.

Mickelson makes his first appearance of the year at the tournament he won in 2004, but withdraws after 18 holes. "I'm missing my cousins back in California," he says.  

And that's just the first third. 

Wi' O' Wi'

From the Desert Sun:

Tribal leaders of Cabazon Band of Mission Indians on Friday chipped onto the first green of what will become an 18-hole, championship Ka´ Wé aH´ Golf Course at Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in an elaborate ground-breaking ceremony.

Renowned golf course architect Clive Clark will design the $10 million project. With carvings that look like alluvial fans already etched into the desert landscape of the 150-acre course, tribal chairman John James called the moment precedent-setting.

Huh? The desert already has a hundred other overbuilt, forgettable layouts. What's the precedent?

He is also the designer of the "Clive" Course at The Hideaway Golf Club in La Quinta and the new West Course at The Golf Resort of Indian Wells. Clark said he keeps getting asked how he'll fashion a course out of a flat piece of land.

"I believe that has advantages,'' as it can be shaped to fit the backdrop of the mountains.

Shaped to fit the backdrop of the mountains? People actually bought that?  

Clark said the Cabazon course will sport roughly 1,500 trees, and include lakes and waterfalls. The 18th hole will also include a water design element that Clark believes has yet to be tried in America, a tumbling water feature with a 30-foot drop. It has been designed in such a way golfers in their carts will roll along a path taking them out onto a lake and through a cave, emerging with a spectacular back view of a massive water fall.

Cutting edge, I tell you. Sad to break the bad news to Clark, but the Donald has "tried" the tumbling waterfall with cart cave at Trump Trails:

 

Week In Review Jan 1-7: ABC Out

A lot of bloggers recap the week and I'm not really sure why. Therefore, I'm joining the week-in-review club.

Besides looking back at posts from the week, I'll sometimes highlight discussion threads and user comments of the week (just in case you missed them). 

Which reminds me, I've started a thread on the Discuss Tournaments page about Kapalua and the new look greens. Curious what you all think.

Since Sunday:

• Lonard and Campbell had some interesting comments about the Mercedes no-shows.
  
• I previewed the year in tournament courses while Steve Elling looked at possible stories for 2006.
  
• Stu Schneider had the first scoop on the TV deal. The big news of the wee was not pretty for fans or the Tour: ABC is out.  Others weighed in. I asked a question.  John Steinbreder reported later in the week that ESPN had walked away from the negotiating table. And Larry Bohannon wrote what many are sensing: that ego is may be getting in the way of common sense.
• Jerry Potter interviewed Tim Finchem, who had little of interest to say, though he did slip on the subject of the USGA "experimenting" with rolled back balls. 
  
• I rambled on about lack of truly thrilling do-or-die situations in golf that leads to thought provoking Monday-morning quarterbacking.
• And Dan G. started a thread on what people are watching this year.
  

There were plenty of fine reader comments this week, highlighted by this from Mark Smolens on the news that the Tour was cutting its purse subsidies by 12%:

So the Western Golf Association, whose entire reason for existence is to provide college educations for kids who caddy, is supposed to come up with an additional 12% for its purse? Kinda makes that Drive for a Billion seem like nothing more than words doesn't it?

Golfers Prefer Well-Conditioned Courses...

How about that newsflash from the city!

At the sixth annual Golf 20/20 Conference last fall, attendees heard a variety of presentations on how to deepen the connection between the game and its best customers, as well as how to further golf among the corporate community...Among the presentations was a detailed look at a survey of avid golfers presented by Jon Last, vice president of research and development for the Golf Digest Companies. According to Last, there are a number of key factors that affect participation by golf's best customers – those defined as avid and core golfers. (Avid golfers play 25 or more rounds a year, core golfers play 8 to 24 rounds.)   Among those factors, the work of golf course superintendents ranked right at the top. When these groups were asked, "Do you generally prefer to play a course that is very challenging, not top condition" or one that is "challenging but in very good condition," 88 percent of them said they'd choose the course in very good condition.   

Really? You don't say? So hard-and-lousy condition lost out to not-as-hard and in great shape. Okay.

They were also asked to rank conditioning against course design in a decision to pay 25 percent higher green fees. The two key groups selected "better course conditioning" twice as often as "better architectures and layout." 

Better architectures? 

Finally, golf's best customers ranked the factors that drive their enjoyment of the game on a scale from 1 to 7. The conditions, people and their own performance received the following mean scores:   

Well maintained greens & bunkers - 6.34
Well maintained fairways & tees - 6.28
The people you play with - 6.24
Playing well on the course - 5.84
Availability of practice facilities - 5.68
Beautiful surroundings and scenery - 5.74
Scoring well - 5.65
Challenging course - 5.65
Fast pace of play - 5.39
Knowledgeable marshals and starters - 5.38

And they forgot to ask about the design of the course...score another one for architecture(s).  

So conditioning is why everyone is going to Bandon? We know it's not because of the weather.

Thanks to reader Josh for this. 

Chase For That Kind Of Money

Larry Bohannan in the Desert Sun:

But as the current negotiations drag on, and as players such as ABC and USA walk away, the questions of how the tour is dealing with the networks and sponsors grow. The final six or so weeks of the 2007 season are being sacrificed to cable to avoid the NFL.

If the tour is negotiating to maintain current revenue levels, it's now clear that won't work. If in the chase for that kind of money the tour is alienating sponsors, television networks and even its individual tournaments, the tour might be doing a remarkable disservice to the fans and the game. 

To Go Or Not To Go?

Listening to LA sports talk radio shows slam Pete Carroll over the decision to go for it on fourth down of yesterday's national title game, I got to thinking how rare it is in modern golf to have those essential do-or-die moments that are debated for days, weeks, or even years after. 

It should happen every few weeks. We're lucky if it happens once a year.

A reader told me today about watching Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach during the 1982 U.S. Open final round. Nicklaus was debating whether to go for No. 6 in two, concerned that he could not get the ball high enough to clear the hill that bisects the par-5. After an agonizing few minutes, Nicklaus finally decided to go for it. When he pulled his 3-wood headcover off, the crowd went wild.

How rare have those moments become when the player stands in the fairway, actually fretting and debating between a lay-up or go-for-broke shot as we fans debate the situation. How unusual are those memorable events (Curtis Strange at Augusta in 1985 and Chip Beck in 1993 come to mind) when the anticipation is so great that there is an emotional release from the crowd when a decision is made to go-for-broke?

It should happen a lot more in tournament golf, but sadly seems relegated to the times someone drives a par-4. 

Bland architecture is part of the problem, but mostly, the game is just played differently. With trajectory and questions of having enough distance so rarely part of the equation for today's player, we rarely see the golfing elite placed in that tempting, awkward, annoying but possibly rewarding situation that can make golf viewing so captivating.

Well, this rambling rant is just something to remember when you wonder why all of the questions here about the wonders of technology. Or if you wonder why television networks have trouble justifying an investment in televised golf, which just isn't the "product" it could be if the sport was in balance.

ESPN Taking A Break

Golfweek's John Steinbreder reports that ESPN has walked away from the PGA Tour TV contract negotiating table. He says it's likely a ploy. Or they ran the numbers again and remembered that reruns of rodeo and poker would outdraw golf.

Elling Previews 2006

Boy, you just can't pick up a newspaper these days without these technophobes spreading the message of the devil! In spite his extremist views on technology, Steve Elling delivers an entertaining read. This time he previews 2006. (I love the "dump-and-chase" hockey metaphor for what has become of PGA Tour golf, and I don't even follow hockey).

What's it going to take for someone in a position of authority to take a real stance on runaway technology?

Driving distances are up a whopping 16 yards since 2000 on the PGA Tour, a massive increase that has rendered the game into a one-dimensional display of dump-and-chase hockey. The tour's driving leader averaged 319 yards -- and the first third of the season was played on slow, sloppy tracks because of rain.

Courses such as Augusta National have been forced to stretch (read: desecrate) their storied courses repeatedly, because the USGA is afraid of the equipment companies, and the PGA Tour won't get tougher with its course set-up.

And this on the USGA and PGA of America. Such cynicism. ;)

Place your bets. Which organization will screw up their major championship worse, the U.S. Golf Association or the PGA of America?

The USGA is the safer wager, having ruined so many U.S. Opens over the past decade that it was a huge surprise when absolutely nobody complained last year at Pinehurst.

The PGA, however, capitulated to the broadcasting whims of television and failed to react when rainy weather was in the forecast at the PGA Championship. Because tee times weren't moved up, rain delays pushed the end of the final round to Monday morning, robbing ticket-holders and weekend viewers of a terrific ending when Mickelson birdied the 72nd hole to win by a shot.

Whatever happened to common sense, guys?

Potter Interviews Finchem

The USA Today's Jerry Potter interviews Tim Finchem about the state of the Tour and the game. It's pretty dull, except this bit on technology.

Q: A question now about technology. It's a big issue. I know you guys have done a lot of research on that through ShotLink. There are people saying they should roll back the golf ball, make other changes. Do you have any information now that will give you a better idea about how you should react to this?

A: I think we're not ready to pull the trigger on that decision just yet. The USGA is experimenting with some new golf balls that actually do that, or are intended to do that, to curb distance a little bit. We'll see where they go with that work.

Now, if I'm not mistaken, the USGA scoffed at the accuracy of Frank Hannigan's 2004 "Miracle Ball" exclusive. The USGA/R&A have said they were collecting balls for study, yet Dick Rugge has said that the USGA does not believe the ball should be rolled back. And the USGA has said that they nor the R&A have received rolled back balls from manufacturers for study.

Yet the commissioner says they are experimenting? Encouraging if true. Continue...

The other changes that have been made to revise the overall distance standard, and put a limit on what happens with the configuration of the face of the golf club, and things of that nature we think have had a good effect. I do think that we need to continue to look at distance. We're meeting with the other elements of the industry — the USGA, the R&A, Augusta National, the PGA — on a regular basis. And we recognize that regardless of what you do with limits on equipment, the players continue to get bigger and stronger. ... And even if you don't do anything at all with equipment to enhance it further, which I don't think will happen, that athleticism that's coming into the sport is going to continue to create a situation that these golf courses are challenged in ways that they haven't been in the past. It forces us to set them up in different ways, which in some cases may not be advantageous. So it's something we've got to look carefully at. 

Not sure what you all think, but Finchem was much more clear two years ago:

"There is some point -- nobody knows where it is -- when the amateur player feels divorced and really doesn't appreciate the game at this level, just because it's so different that it doesn't become particularly relevant," Finchem told the Palm Beach Post. "The second thing is, if everybody is driving every par 4, it's not particularly interesting to watch.

"We are anxious, because we are continuing to see some distance enhancements in a short period of time. Unless something happens, we may have to move toward bifurcating the equipment specs for amateurs and professionals. In that case, we would be more involved."

Yun's Wasted Youth

New Links editor Hunki Yun confesses what few golf writers would dare: he wishes he'd appreciated golf architecture at a younger age.

Anything's Possible!

From PGATour.com:

"These Guys Are Good," the longest running and one of the most recognizable tag lines in professional sports marketing, gets a fresh look through a new round of advertising from the PGA TOUR’s longtime agency, GSD&M of Austin, Texas.

It's amazing how long that campaign has lasted considering it was a replacement for "Anything's Possible," the slogan that outlived its purpose when the Tour took Casey Martin to court (and proved not quite everything was possible).

"THE PROFESSOR" campaign will include as many as 10 different TV brand and tune-in ads along with print, radio, internet and retail.

Brand and tune-in ads? Eh, I don't want to know.

The new ads put a spin on the different dimensions of competition in sports. Most sports are largely man vs. man. In golf, however, players not only compete against each other, they face equal and sometimes greater challenges of man vs. nature and man vs. himself. To highlight this idea, the campaign features a mock professor describing fictitious clinical scenarios of various life obstacles that are also realities that both TOUR players and recreational golfers can relate to, such as man's inner demons and the forces of nature.

Hey, is Max Behr sitting in on those rivetting brainstorming sessions?

 “TOUR players are confronted with a new set of obstacles with every shot, with a fine line between success and failure. That creates a great deal of intrigue, drama and excitement among golf and sports fans,” said Ric Clarson, senior vice president of Brand Marketing for the PGA TOUR. “There's a story in every shot, and every shot counts.”

In other words, this is why you should tune into the Thursday telecast from Memphis. You might see a shot you will then get to see over and over again on Sportscenter.

In one of the ads, "Pressure Seeker," the professor describes a person who derives satisfaction from extreme pressure situations. While most people succumb to pressure, TOUR players are the best in the world at coping with it. The professor suggests these type of individuals, even when dealing with extreme situations, can often appear "cool as a cucumber."

"Dendrophobia" has the professor discussing the fear of trees, rare among the general population but very common in even the best golfers. The professor suggests "…those afflicted with dendrophobia seek open grassy spaces.”

... 

38% of Almost A Billion...

In the Golf World story on the new Tour TV deal, Stu Schneider writes:

The source said the tour would likely reduce its subsidy of purses from 62 percent to "somewhere in the 50s," putting pressure on tournament directors to get that revenue from other areas.

Now if 38% of the television money over the last four years stayed in Ponte Vedra, and it was valued at "almost" a billion dollars, would that mean the PGA Tour takes somewhere between $75-95 million a year for executive salaries, marketing and overhead? 

Sal, Others Weigh In

Sal Johnson writes about the rumored TV deal, why it became a money loser for ABC, the loss of work for a lot of talented people and he wonders how the Tour will spin this.

Since NBC doubling its golf coverage would mean going from 5 to 10 events, Johnson seems to feel CBS will be doing a lot more golf and wonders how viewers will feel about that (especially since their telecasts seemed a bit tired when they did just 17 events last year).

Here's the AP story on the Golf World story with its own confirmation from another source, and here is Golfweek's rehashing of the Golf World story without attribution.