Klein On Mark Brown

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Brad Klein remembers Mark Brown.

Brown was a pioneer golf writer who held consistently, even stubbornly, to his traditional conception of the game and of course architecture. In an era when most writers were writing uncritical, laudatory prose, Brown took a more didactic approach based upon his agenda to preserve and restore the game's classical values. His ability to adhere to these values while earning a living in the burgeoning golf market of the Hilton Head area was no simple balancing act.

 

Shapiro: Bring On The LPGA

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Leonard Shapiro looks at Washington's place on the PGA Tour schedule, assesses the new TV deal and says the Booz Allen people were treated so poorly that they are looking at sponsorig an LPGA event.

The tour asks its title sponsors to put up about $8 million a year for the right to put its name on an event. What do you get in Washington for that sum? Almost certainly a mediocre field competing on a second-tier golf course in an afterthought event played during a time of year when many area courses are not in the best condition after a long hot summer and seven months of member play.

The tour also has treated Booz Allen rather shabbily in the manners department. The sponsor found out about the new schedule and its banishment to the fall with a phone call less than two hours before the tour announced it to the media in a press conference that would have made the spin control masters at the White House look like a bunch of ward-level political hacks.

The tour has said it is locked into its current schedule, not to mention an unprecedented -- and rather risky--15-year television contract with the Golf Channel to show 15 events in their entirety and first and second round coverage of tournaments covered on the weekend by re-upping partners NBC and CBS.

The Golf Channel deal came about because ESPN and ABC felt they weren't getting enough value for the money they also were plowing into the PGA Tour coffers. The Golf Channel says it's available to 70 million viewers, but industry sources indicate only about 45 million have the service included in their basic cable or satellite packages. Perhaps the tour will help increase those numbers, but it also risks becoming even more of a niche sport without the sort of daily exposure ESPN has provided in the past.

And this...

Still, there may be better news on the way.

We're already whispers that the LPGA may be interested in filling the PGA Tour void in Washington. And with Annika Sorenstam, the best female player on the planet, and appealing young American stars like Michelle Wie, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer emerging as mega-watt talents, perhaps Booz Allen ought to think about putting its dollars in a far better place, at a far better time of year with world-class players who actually want to come to the Nation's Capital.

Taking Aim With John Huggan

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AIMDarwin.jpgJohn Huggan is the European correspondent for Golf World/Golf Digest, a columnist for GolfObserver.com and he writes a must-read weekly column for Scotland on Sunday.

He is the second writer (after Stu Schneider) to participate in the "Taking Aim" interview.

Huggan chimes in via AOL Instant Messenger from Dunbar, Scotland:

 

JHUGGAN:    get on with it you plonker

JHUGGAN:    (fav saying of the late, great Peter Dobereiner)

GeoffShac:    so you've seen your share of golf shenanigans, the new women's world ranking has to rank high with the all time boondoggles?

JHUGGAN:    you think so? i can think of many more I'd rather get upset about!

GeoffShac:    please, do tell

JHUGGAN:    does anyone really care?

GeoffShac:    well no, but women's golf is trying to break through

JHUGGAN:    annika is number one...that is all that really matters

JHUGGAN:    they might manage that if they don't cut their own throats by banning press agencies...

JHUGGAN:    it is true that for the first time in ages the women's game is competitively interesting

JHUGGAN:    especially if annika is losing interest

GeoffShac:    well it does seem that everything they are doing is marketing driven, which I'm afraid might give some of our friends at the PGA Tour some bad ideas

JHUGGAN:    money is never a good reason for doing anything in golf

JHUGGAN:    money alone anyway

GeoffShac:    what about world rankings points? is improving your lie after a rain delay worth a few extra points? :)

JHUGGAN:    ah, monty

JHUGGAN:    poor, poor monty

GeoffShac:    who? :)

JHUGGAN:    no one's pal any more

GeoffShac:    how's that going to go over at the ryder cup?

JHUGGAN:    not well...the much vaunted euro team spirit will be badly affected

GeoffShac:    and lord knows you guys are already writing enough about it, when do we learn what the euros are going to be eating for breakfast?

JHUGGAN:    that's always been a bit of a myth anyway

GeoffShac:    what, team spirit or that the guys eat breakfast?

JHUGGAN:    both

JHUGGAN:    we love the ryder cup because you always come second

GeoffShac:    hey, some of us over here love it for the same reason

JHUGGAN:    that is to your credit

GeoffShac:    nothing like seeing our boys slapped around every two years

JHUGGAN:    the best part is how much they hate it all

GeoffShac:    why do you think that is?

JHUGGAN:    its a bit of a cliche...but golf isn't a team game in the US

JHUGGAN:    we grow up playing team matches over here

JHUGGAN:    and lots of foursomes

JHUGGAN:    which you guys confuse with fourballs

JHUGGAN:    if you don't know what the game is called, how can you play it well?

GeoffShac:    hey, they both have four in the title
GeoffShac:    do you think our boys would do any better if they actually played some different formats on the tour, or is it hopeless?

JHUGGAN:    actually, i think they may win this year...despite everything

JHUGGAN:    i do have concerns about your captain

JHUGGAN:    weird choice

GeoffShac:    oh?
GeoffShac:    his golf bag is not real happy with him at the moment

JHUGGAN:    job should have gone to o'meara...but the pga of america is still miffed about being asked where all the money goes

JHUGGAN:    where does it go, by the way?

GeoffShac:    Jim Awtrey's pension

JHUGGAN:    sizeable i'm sure

GeoffShac:    and of course they are strong supporters of The First Tee

JHUGGAN:    aren't we all?

GeoffShac:    eh, I'm not sure about the R&A

JHUGGAN:    the R&A has enough to contend with...all that gin and tonic

GeoffShac:    and they are doing wonderfully...square grooves seems to be their special project, can't wait to hear what they find

JHUGGAN:    hey, anything to divert attention from the real issues

JHUGGAN:    like tees outside the golf course at the last Open

GeoffShac:    speaking of diverting, tell us what you thought of the commissioner's rationale for keeping the WGC's in the US?

JHUGGAN:    yet again, short-term thinking

JHUGGAN:    or maybe he thinks that, having killed off the Aussie tour he can go after Europe next

GeoffShac:    how can you accuse of him of thinking short term when he's signed with the Golf Channel for 15 years?

JHUGGAN:    i rest my case....vacuous talking heads--Renton Laidlaw aside--are right up his alley...no tough questions

JHUGGAN:    i'm not sure I understand anything he says

GeoffShac:    is the European Tour going to be hurt by the new Tour schedule?

JHUGGAN:    next year for sure....

JHUGGAN:    after that i have a hunch that this Fed-Ex thing will flop

JHUGGAN:    the best players don't want to play that much in a short space of time

JHUGGAN:    the euros don't want to be in the US that long in the summer

JHUGGAN:    and history won't care who wins it

JHUGGAN:    and if history doesn't care, neither does Tiger

JHUGGAN:    if he loses interest, it's over

GeoffShac:    speaking of him...
GeoffShac:    I woke up last night and realized that he may win his 20th major at some dreadful 8,000 yard modern course in about 2015

JHUGGAN:    it's headed that way

GeoffShac:    do you think he cares about something like that...
GeoffShac:    that it might not happen at a "storied venue"

JHUGGAN:    i think he does

JHUGGAN:    i think he'd rather play proper golf

JHUGGAN:    he'd win even more if they did

JHUGGAN:    can't recall the last time i saw a shot shaped into a tucked flag

GeoffShac:    would you call the way he plays now "proper"
GeoffShac:    it works
GeoffShac:    but it's not the same game he played in 2000

JHUGGAN:    i can't blame him for doing what works

JHUGGAN:    he's not the problem

GeoffShac:    of course not, I admire him for adapting to the changing game

JHUGGAN:    he is so much better than everyone else it is a joke

JHUGGAN:    only ernie is close

JHUGGAN:    ish

GeoffShac:    well one difference is, Tiger isn't racing off for ribbon cuttings in between Sunday and Wednesday's first round

JHUGGAN:    i don't think you'll see him do as much of that

JHUGGAN:    only in weeks where he doesn't care about the event

JHUGGAN:    he hates la costa

GeoffShac:    can you blame him?

JHUGGAN:    which is to his credit....

GeoffShac:    yes and he loves Riviera
GeoffShac:    so he gets bonus points

JHUGGAN:    he does

JHUGGAN:    and he's a good guy

JHUGGAN:    likes a beer i hear

GeoffShac:    on a more heartwarming note...
GeoffShac:    you will be making your triumphant return to Augusta after 6 years

JHUGGAN:    i will....i'm sure they can't wait to see me

GeoffShac:    looking forward to fine cuisine in town and a nosebleed seat in the media room?

JHUGGAN:    nothing there is edible apart from the chicken sandwich

JHUGGAN:    actually, i'm looking forward to seeing a new course

GeoffShac:    yes, you will have to be reacquainted

JHUGGAN:    what is that slop stuff they serve?

JHUGGAN:    i know what it looks like....

GeoffShac:    pimento cheese
GeoffShac:    it's not so bad!

JHUGGAN:    nah, the other stuff

JHUGGAN:    it's brown

GeoffShac:    oh, I stayed away from that

JHUGGAN:    me too

GeoffShac:    well where can we read your correspondences from Augusta?

JHUGGAN:    the guardian and scotland on sunday

GeoffShac:    columns?

JHUGGAN:    bit of everything i suspect

GeoffShac:    tell us the truth, you are there to put the finishing touches on that lavish Monty coffee table book you have been working on

JHUGGAN:    it's a joint venture

JHUGGAN:    a tribute to our lasting friendship

GeoffShac:    touching I tell you

JHUGGAN:    teary

GeoffShac:    great to see you two back together

JHUGGAN:    it's always been an interesting relationship

JHUGGAN:    i knew him before he was Monty

GeoffShac:    oh? there was a pre-Monty?

JHUGGAN:    oh yes, he and i were even in the same team when he was an amateur

GeoffShac:    ah that's where the bond grew

JHUGGAN:    sprouted

GeoffShac:    ah, excuse me
GeoffShac:    well I know he'll be happy to see you at Augusta

JHUGGAN:    he does have more hair than me

JHUGGAN:    and a bigger chest

GeoffShac:    he does appear to be expanding again in the weight department,
GeoffShac:    the car washing isn't burning enough calories

JHUGGAN:    the man is in love, leave him alone

JHUGGAN:    and not only with himself

GeoffShac:    really? wow, this is serious

JHUGGAN:    nigel the ex-husband has moved out i hear

JHUGGAN:    only in england....

GeoffShac:    see, we Americans are above such petty gossip

JHUGGAN:    nah...you love it all

GeoffShac:    we'd love it if you came over here and covered Phil more often

JHUGGAN:    phil is well enough covered i feel

GeoffShac:    alright, last question before this gets ugly

JHUGGAN:    stu schneider got longer than this!

JHUGGAN:    i wasn't in caddyshack of course

GeoffShac:    exactly, we love our movie stars here

JHUGGAN:    he's too busy watching the hockey, believe me

GeoffShac:    no no, he really watches the Golf Channel
GeoffShac:    so this distance thing that you have a big bias about...
GeoffShac:    what do you see happening?

JHUGGAN:    i have to believe that sanity will eventually prevail

JHUGGAN:    my theory has always been that as soon as it becomes an economic problem for finchem, then it will change

JHUGGAN:    and the ball will be hauled back 50 yards or so

JHUGGAN:    once everyone starts switching off in big enough numbers...it will happen

JHUGGAN:    no matter what titleist thinks

GeoffShac:    so not economic because of the cost of changing courses but because no one can relate to the game as it's played?

JHUGGAN:    correct...while i have obvious sympathy for your point about courses, that isn't what will precipitate change

JHUGGAN:    money!!!

JHUGGAN:    finchem's money

JHUGGAN:    and, by extension, his employer's income

GeoffShac:    well that's a lot of money then
GeoffShac:    will the european tour be supportive?

JHUGGAN:    i think they will....even over here where there is a greater variety of course setup, the game is less interesting to watch

GeoffShac:    do you sense the players--outside of Geoff Ogilvy, maybe Ernie Els and a few others--are aware of this?

JHUGGAN:    the majority are not...or don't care

JHUGGAN:    see above...under "money"

JHUGGAN:    the long-term health of the sport is not something they spend a lot of time on

GeoffShac:    well, if you make it out of Augusta alive perhaps you can share some thoughts in another of these stellar interviews?

JHUGGAN:    do i get paid?

GeoffShac:    no

JHUGGAN:    didn't think so

GeoffShac:    you get the pleasure of getting your money's worth out of AOL

JHUGGAN:    get better questions next time

GeoffShac:    I will try (note to self: no questions about women's golf)

JHUGGAN:    you're holding me back

GeoffShac:    well, we've gotten personal with Monty, Phil, what have I left out?

JHUGGAN:    i'm a media personality waiting to happen

GeoffShac:    maybe The Golf Channel will hire you
GeoffShac:    wait, wrong accent

JHUGGAN:    you forgot the USGA

JHUGGAN:    i'd love to work with brian hewitt

JHUGGAN:    all that knowledge he could pass on

GeoffShac:    there goes your Sprint Post Game appearance from The Masters
GeoffShac:    you two are collaborating on a book right?

JHUGGAN:    not this year

GeoffShac:    well give it time, maybe you can bond at the Golf Writer's dinner

JHUGGAN:    uh-huh

GeoffShac:    I'll talk to the right people and make sure you are seated together

JHUGGAN:    sadly, i will be absent

GeoffShac:    it might be the only decent meal you get all week in Augusta

JHUGGAN:    i'll be applauding from afar during the writing awards

GeoffShac:    you don't exactly do the maudlin stuff, that goes over well with the judges you know

JHUGGAN:    i must find a terminally-ill child to write about

GeoffShac:    preferably one that plays golf left handed, was visited by Monty in the hospital and who supports a manufacturers right to sell unregulated equipment

JHUGGAN:    a sure winner

GeoffShac:    on that note, promise you'll share some insights from Augusta?

JHUGGAN:    if i have time in my busy schedule

JHUGGAN:    i'm terribly important you know

GeoffShac:    doing this interview tells the world that
GeoffShac:    thanks a bunch


At Least They Spelled Geoff Right

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Jeff Rude had this in his online Golfweek column:

Ogilvy is the lastest evidence, too, of the depth on Tour. Guys you couldn't pick out of a lineup are capable of winning $1.3 million on a given week.

In fact, the copy desk at the San Diego Union couldn't pick out Ogilvy out of a two-man lineup of guys with the same name. After the third round, it ran fellow touring pro Joe Ogilvie's mug shot instead of the Australian's.

"I'm very used to it," Ogilvy said, shrugging it off. "I get his publicity and he gets mine. Last year, I got a phone call that I was in the media guide at the Masters (instead of) a picture of him. ... At least I get confused with a nice guy."

And this a few paragraphs before:

Despite all the extra work, Ogilvie got stronger as the week went by.

A Crack In The Code

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Oh the 2006 Masters just got even more interesting.

In the coming days this will be analyzed a bunch more, but for now, here's Ron Whitten in the April, 2006 Golf Digest. Thanks Taylor for the heads up:

Past champions are on shaky ground when they privately gripe about the new length of Augusta National. No one is forcing them to play the course with persimmon woods and balata balls. If their games can't take advantage of modern technology, and Augusta is just too long for them these days, then their beef is with Father Time, not the Masters chairman.

With the exception of a couple of holes, the yardage added to Augusta National makes perfect sense, given how far many competitive players hit the ball these days. Whether the proper holes have been lengthened is another matter.

But sheer yardage is not what has gotten Jack, Arnie and others of the Old Guard riled up. They're mostly upset about the tightening of many holes, through the use of expanded bunkering, transplanted trees and the introduction of rough, what Augusta National calls, in delusional parlance, "a second cut of fairway."

This is where Jack and Arnie are absolutely right. Far from maintaining the integrity of the design that Jones and Mackenzie envisioned, the changes undertaken since 1998 have abandoned their philosophy of multiple options and different lines of attack.

"They've totally eliminated what Bobby Jones tried to do in the game of golf," Nicklaus says. "Bobby Jones believed golf was primarily a second-shot game. He believed that you should have enough room to drive the ball onto the fairway, but if you put it on the correct side of the fairway, you had an advantage to put the ball toward the hole. He wanted to give you a chance to do that shot."

Gone are Augusta's wide corridors that allowed every competitor to play his own game off the tee, to pick the spot he thought provided the best angle of approach for his trajectory and shot shape. Squeezed-in fairways now dictate the manner of play on every hole. It's as if the Masters Committee thinks it's now running the U.S. Open.

And...

The best course designs challenge different golfers on different holes. Augusta National used to do that. It no longer does.

Last summer, the club also eliminated the old backstop slope on the right side of the seventh green, the one players could rely upon to spin a shot back down toward front-right pin positions. Shots hit to that area will bounce over, into the bunker. The seventh was never that easy. Statistically, it played around par during every Masters. That could go up a half stroke this year.

Palmer found the new trees an irritation when he recently played the 11th.

 The older pines at Augusta traditionally had a bed of pine needles beneath them, which allowed players to attempt all sorts of recovery shots. The newer pines have rough underneath, deeper than the "second cut," and are planted so close together that the only recovery available is usually a pitch out. It's one more example of how Augusta has stifled some playing options.

What's worse, members and their guests can't try their skills at that old classic length. There are just the 7,445-yard championship tees, overwhelming for average player, and the member tees, at 6,365 yards.  

Elling Rebuts "Where's The Balance?"

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Steve Elling fights back with a note to Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein over the "Where's The Balance" commentary.

I've never thought of myself as "unequivocally biased," the term your Web site ascribed. But like lots of fans -- most of them don't have the forum to express themselves -- I've become downright contemptuous of the lack of finesse on display at many tour stops. It's not golf as we once knew it when a kid like J.B. Holmes is bombing his 3-wood more than 300 yards in the air while winning last month at Phoenix. Or when Tiger Woods wins tournaments despite missing half the fairways.

And... 

As for the notion of credibility, the Sentinel has zero financial stake in the technology issue. With regard to the latter, no sooner had Holmes won while hitting 197-yard 8-iron shots than did he become the poster boy for your Cobra subsidiary.

Within days, highlights of Holmes' jaw-dropping performance were edited into a new TV ad, featuring narrated snippets from CBS Sports commentator David Feherty uttered during the live broadcast.

There's no conflict of interest here. Feherty, meanwhile, is a paid Cobra endorser. Sure, the animated Irishman has a tendency to get carried away at times, but when he fawned over Holmes, claiming that he hadn't been this excited since he watched Tiger Woods play as a rookie, it sounded like your office was feeding scripted lines into his headset.

Oh there are going to be some busy bloggers this afternoon!
 

Palmer Not Happy With The Golf Ball

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Arnold Palmer in the L.A. Times:

"If I were playing the tour today, I would be doing what these young guys are doing: hitting the ball 320, 30, 40 yards and doing the things I would have to do to be competitive," he said at an event for Los Valles Golf Club, which is scheduled to open in 2008.

Those very distances he rattles off rankle him, though. The long-distance ball and new-age equipment, he laments, may be making some venerable old courses obsolete.

"I am not happy [with the golf ball]," he says. "The major things I would do [to change today's game] would be to slow the golf ball down right now, yes sir." By mandating a retro-ball that does not travel as far, golf's powers would not have to keep lengthening courses to keep up with today's power hitters.

"They wouldn't have to take such drastic measures to make courses like Oakmont and Winged Foot competitive," Palmer says of the layouts that play host to majors.

"You don't need to make that many big changes, but make it so the ball doesn't fly 400 yards. These kids that are playing [now] are going to hit whatever you make a long ways."

Notice the lack of journalistic balance in this L.A. Times story. Joel Greenberg should have gotten an alternative view to Mr. Palmer's anti-golf ball technology agenda. 

But I can only suspect he didn't because he appeared at this groundbreaking with an anti-technophobic agenda and convinced Mr. Palmer to endorse that agenda. Where's the balance? ;)
 

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch, Vol. 8

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pgatour.jpgLooks like the boys are back in the weight room (well maybe not David Duval), as the PGA Tour driving distance average jumped nearly two yards last week, to 287.8 yards following the WGC Match Play and Tucson.

39 drives were added to the 350 and over club, bringing the season tally to 532. There were no 400 yarders last week, so the season total remains stuck on 15 (4 shy of last year's total).

And even though I don't really know what to make of the percentage of drives over 300 stat (without past comparisons), right now, the PGA Tour average is 27.2% of drives finishing over 300 yards.

More on "Where's The Balance?"

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Ryan Ballangee at The SportsFan and 19th Hole Golf Show looks at Titleist's "Where's The Balance" commentary. After you look at what Ryan wrote, you might want to check out the Where's The Balance comment thread on this site. Fun debate.

Anyway, check out Ballangee's piece. It's short. But just in case it vanishes into cyberspace someday... 

It does not take a very keen set of eyes to notice that the game is fizzling. Further, it is only too convenient that the decline in rounds played and Tour fan base has occurred at a time when there has never been greater technology to allow professionals to hit the ball further than ever. Journalists have put two and two together and yelled "fore" about the bad direction that the game is going because of uncurbed technology. (This serious column needed some terrible humor.)

As it turns out, I am not the only one calling it as I see it. Other golf writers - who I have great respect for - are also calling for stronger regulation of golf technology now before the game gets out of control. Apparently, the golf equipment companies have been taking notice and they feel they are being gipped. Now, they're fighting back - anonymously.