Perfect Bedfellows?

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The USGA and Donald Trump...sounds like a winning combination!

NEW JERSEY’S TRUMP NATIONAL GOLF CLUB TO HOST 2009 U.S. JUNIOR AND U.S. GIRLS’ JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Far Hills, N.J. – Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., has been selected by the United States Golf Association to be the site of the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championships. The dates of the championships are July 20-25. This will be the third time that these two championships have been hosted concurrently at the same club.

The original course was open for play in 2004. Designed by Tom Fazio, Trump National was routed through more than 500 acres of rolling farmland and horse pastures, with plenty of water hazards and demanding green complexes to negotiate. There are options with varied avenues for approach shots on almost every hole. Scenic wetlands and restored farm buildings dot the landscape.

Since its opening, Trump National has received numerous awards, including “Development of the Year (2005)” and a place among the Top 100 golf courses in the country.

The second course, being designed and constructed by Tommy Fazio, nephew of Tom Fazio, and his company, Tom Fazio II, will open for play in the spring of 2008.

“The USGA has given our club a tremendous honor by selecting Trump National Bedminster to host these two prestigious championships and we are committed to conducting the best Junior Championships ever staged,” said Donald Trump, chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization.

Within its grand scale, Trump National fittingly is dedicated to developing a top junior golf program for ages 5 to 17, with weekly clinics and four-day sessions offered each June and July.

“Junior golf is the cornerstone of our club here at Bedminster,” said Ashley Cooper, president of Trump National. “We are extremely proud to be associated with the USGA. Hosting two of its national championships is not only a crowning achievement for our club but for the Trump organization as a whole.”

The USGA announcement has drawn the attention of Bob Holtaway, mayor of Bedminster Township, a small town located in the picturesque central portion of the state.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Bedminster to be on golf’s national stage,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming the best junior golfers and the USGA staff to our town.”

Els Messes With Wentworth To Help Euros End Majors Drought

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This is just the kind of Ernie Els quote that makes you feel so glad Max Behr, H.S. Colt and Alister MacKenzie aren't around today:

"I know I could be getting some stick from the guys for what's been done, but at the end of the day they will be better equipped for the majors," said Els. "Anybody going to the U.S. Open will have a much better feel of what they are going into. Miss a shot in a major and you're either in rough, a bunker or in danger of three-putting."

Take That, Monty!

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Peter Dixon reports in the Times on Darren Clarke's anti-Monty act of sportsmanship.

Clarke, on six under par, had been leading the field by two strokes when play was called off on Sunday and he would have felt uneasy knowing that his ball was lying in deep rough after a wayward drive off the 9th tee. He knew that the slightest slip and a chasing pack that included Björn and Paul Casey would be ready to pounce.

On his return to the scene, however, Clarke found that the leprechauns had been at work overnight. Where once the ball had been buried, surrounded by long, wet grass, it now sat proudly on a good lie, with the surrounding grass flattened. The green had suddenly been brought within range.

Had it been done deliberately or by curious onlookers walking around the ball? Who knows? But as far as Clarke was concerned — having been told by the referee that he could play the ball as it lay — he had no intention of taking advantage of the situation.

For a recap on Colin Montgomerie's "Jakartagate" episode and the bad blood between Clarke and Monty, check out John Huggan's Golfobserver.com column from a few months back.

Meanwhile, here's Clarke explaining his move, with questions from the Mutual Admirat... the assembled scribblers:

Q. Talk about 9, you acted with incredible integrity?

DARREN CLARKE: That's part and parcel of the game. I had a lie when I went back out this morning, a lot of people had been looking for the ball and a lot of people had flattened the grass around it. It was a much better lie than what I left it yesterday. I come back to it and could have put it on to the front of the green if I had done, so just decided best thing to do, chip it out like I would have last night.

Q. You may not have won the Irish Open but you've won a lot of people's hearts; well done.
Who let Jimmy Roberts into the press room?

FedUp Already

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Ryan Ballangee looks at the rumored FedEx Cup standings (as reported by John Hawkins), and comes to the conclusion that the proposed setup is "worthless."

Namely, he can't understand how majors are only awarded a few more points, while the guaranteed paydays of the WGC's seems silly.
...the FedEx Cup (and, by extension, the PGA Tour) must respond to the logistical problems that the current Tour faces when it comes to money distribution, tournament field of strength, and schedule volume for individual players. It appears that the proposed structure of the FedEx Cup fails to meet any of those concepts and also propagates the failures of the existing structure and the pitiful ego of the PGA Tour concerning its own events. The Tour must drop its ego, stop insulting fans and top tier players, and actually introduce an original concept for the FedEx Cup, or it will actually make the sport worse off in the long run. The FedEx Cup was a gamble to begin with, but given the current indications of how it will look in practice, it looks like its dead money.

MacDuff's Post-Colonial FedEx Cup Standings*

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Reader MacDuff delivers his latest look at a mythical FedEx Cup points race. *And this is the correct version!

1    Mickelson    17509.37        11
2    Furyk    16475        11
3    Glover    15854.16        11
4    C.Campbell    15587.5        13
5    Singh    15221.87        12
6    Gf. Ogilvy    13762.5        9
7    Van Pelt    13440        14
8    Toms    13359.37        9
9    Pettersson    13258.33        13
10    Oberholser    12775        11
11    Weir    12734.37        10
12    Appleby    12662.5        10
13    Sabbatini    12541.66        11
14    Donald    12014.37        8
15    Mayfair    12004.16        11
16    Goosen    11775        8
17    Pampling    11672.5        10
18    Verplank    11612.5        9
19    Cink    11408.83        10
20    Gay    11212.5        11
21    D.Wilson    10937.5        11
22    T.Clark    10897.5        10
23    Olazabal    10875        7
24    Ames    10862.5        8
25    Parnevik    10767.5        12
26    T.Woods    10659.37        6
27    Pernice    10650        8
28    Bohn    10575.83        11
29    Vn Taylor    10487.5        9
T30    Love III    10375        10
T30    Hoffman    10375        10
32    Choi    10350        9
33    Els    10037.5        9
34    Jerry Kelly    10025        8
35    Warren    10012.5        10
36    Purdy    9925        10
37    Lehman    9825        10
38    Funk    9787.5        10
39    B. Quigley    9737.5        8
40    A.Scott    9625        7
41    Herron    9670        8
42    Z.Johnson    9425        9
43    Immelman    9000        7
44    Chopra    8992        11
45    J.Ogilvie    8945        9
46    Watney    8912.5        10
47    Senden    8750        8
48    Villegas    8750        9
49    Bertsch    8725        10
50    RS Johnson    8717.5        8
51    Crane    8645        8
52    JJ Henry    8275        8
53    Howell III    8137.5        12
54    Franco    8087.5        8
55    G. Owen    7975        8
56    Harrington    7962.5        7
57    Couples    7925        8
58    Garcia    7900        7
59    Wetterich    7850        6
60    N.Green    7837.5        9
61    Estes    7825        8
62    Lowery    7700        10
63    Rollins    7675        7
64    Rose    7654.16        10
65    Palmer    7604.16        9
66    Leonard    7545.83        9
67    Imada    7517.5        9
68    Waldorf    7512.5        9
69    Allenby    7450        7
70    JB Holmes    7420.83        7
71    F.Jacobson    7337.5        7
72    Branshaw    7325        8
73    Beem    7293.75        9
74    Micheel    7275        8
75    J.Smith    7225        8
76    Hart    7217.5        8
77    Sluman    7112.5        11
78    Olin Browne    7075        12
79    Jobe    7017.5        8
80    Bjornstad    6942.5        8
81    S. Maruyama    6900        8
82    Flesch    6855        10
83    Baddeley    6850        7
84    Barlow    6712.5        8
85    Lonard    6675        8
86    Langer    6541.66        8
87    Baird    6517.5        7
88    JL Lewis    6512.5        10
89    Fischer    6425        9
90    M.Wilson    6390        6
91    Calc    6342.5        10
92    D. Howell    6262.5        5
93    Pat Perez    6262.5        7
94    Poulter    6175        7
95    Pavin    6087.5        6
96    Bryant    6050        6
97    B. Haas    6050        8
98    Br.Davis    5992.5        8
99    Bub Watson    5962.5        6
100    Sutherland    5900        8
101    Gove    5737.5        6
102    DiMarco    5696.87        6
103    Slocum    5687.5        8
104    Curtis    5662.5        8
105    Atwal    5625        5
106    Kenny Perry    5587.5        6
107    Gore    5525        6
108    J.Byrd    5500        4
109    Ws Short Jr    5437.5        10
110    Austin    5425        10
111    Durant    5400        9
112    Gronberg    5337.5        6
113    Faxon    5312.5        8
114    Barron    5306.25        6
115    Leaney    5287.5        6
116    Sindelar    5237.5        8
117    Stricker    5212.5        4
118    Westwood    5187.5        5
119    Goggin    5125.25        5
120    Cabrera    5100        5
121    Matteson    5037.5        7
122    Maggert    4937.5        7
123    D.Clarke    4900        4
124    Triplett    4800        5
125    Azinger    4762.5        7
T126    Geiberger    4575      7
T126    Sean O'Hair    4575        7
128    Mahan    4550        9
129    Dickerson    4450        8
130    Armour III    4275        5
131    Lickliter II    4250        5
132    Frazar    4237.5        7
133    Andrade    4207.5        7
134    David Duval    4175        5
135    McCarron    4112.5        7
136    S.Jones    4030        7
137    Veazey    4025        5
138    Cook    4000        4
139    Ridings    3887.5        6
140    Kaye    3862.5        6

Last Pairing Dominance

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Wonder why the most exciting thing about a PGA Tour final round telecast is the latest Villages ad? (By the way, where would the PGA Tour be without their most consistent advertiser!?).

Anyway, reader Josh picked this up on ESPN.com, where Jason Sobel writes:

Most unbelievable fact on the PGA Tour so far this season? It has nothing to do with Watson's driving prowess or the multiple-victory seasons of Woods, Mickelson and Appleby. Instead, it's this: Through 20 stroke-play events, the eventual winner has come from the final grouping of the tournament in all but one. What does that tell us? That today's players, many of whom are putting increasing emphasis on the mental side of the game and remaining calm in high-pressure situations, are learning to become winners, with fewer final-round leaders choking away the lead coming down the stretch. Oh, and that one champion who did not come from the last grouping? If you guessed Kirk Triplett at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, give yourself a pat on the back.

Okay, the bit about learning to become winners does sound like Golf Channel punditry gone bad.

Naturally, I'd blame the lack of come-from-behind finishes on the anti-birdie, pre-vent anyone-from-noticing-the-distance-issue-course setup mentality. Is that enough dashes for you in one sentence?

Sure it's early, but the 2006 final round scoring average is 72.0. It was 71.5 in 2005, 71.1 in 2000, 71.3 in 1995.

Now, we've been told the players and fields are better than ever, that courses are better conditioned than at any point in the history of the game and the equipment better than ever. Oh, and their mental calm is better than ever from all of that Adderall great mental preparation.

And yet the final round scoring average going up? 

"We've been promised some good dates thanks to our friends at FedEx"

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Phil Stukenborg in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal (beat the Light and Shopper) writes about the St. Jude event and its excitement over a new June date in the 07 FedEx Cup schedule. Tournament director Phil Cannon is also excited for these reasons:

--The tournament, which will be known in 2007 as the Stanford St. Jude Championship, will be played June 7-10, or in the enviable spot one week before the U.S. Open.

--The FedEx Cup points competition, similar to the Nextel Cup on the NASCAR Circuit, is expected to increase player participation.

--And several more weeks to grow the rough should have the course in ideal condition.
That rough harvesting is tricky business!

Here's the line that will irk some tournament directors:
''There are about three primo dates on the PGA Tour in the summertime and we are going to have one of them next year,'' Cannon said. ''It hasn't been finalized yet, but the Tour has said we'll like our 2008 through 2012 dates just as much. We've been promised some good dates thanks to our friends at FedEx.''

And Cannon is excited about the FedEx Cup...

''The whole FedEx Cup points competition is going to change the structure of our sport tremendously,'' Cannon said. ''It's going to reward players for their performances and participation on a year-long basis, much like you see in NASCAR with the Nextel Cup. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt are in every race all year long. Thirty-eight races.

''I don't think you'll see pro golfers in 95 percent of their events, but I think you'll see them increase their starts and vary their schedules. From talking to players and agents, they all say this is going to revolutionize scheduling.''

Muirfield and Hillside Get British Ams

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From the R&A... 

MUIRFIELD & HILLSIDE TO HOST 2010 & 2011 AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Amateur Championship, 2010, will be played at Muirfield, the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, from 14-19 June and the following year, 2011, Hillside will host the Amateur from 20-25 June.

Both venues have in the past hosted R&A Championships but it is Muirfield, with a timeline stretching back to 1744 that has an almost unrivalled ‘collection’ of Open and Amateur Championships. The Open has been played there no fewer than 15 times while in 2010, the Amateur will be returning for the eleventh time since it was first played over the East Lothian links in 1897.

In 2011, Hillside will be celebrating the centenary of its founding with a welcome return of the Amateur Championship after a break of 32 years. The only time the Amateur was played there was in 1979 when Jay Sigel of the U.S. defeated fellow countryman Scott Hoch 3/2 in the final.

Other R&A Championships hosted by Hillside include the Boys in 2000 and the British Mid-Amateur in 1996.

Still Slow After All These Months...

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Sure sounds to me like Ben Crane's final round 64 would have been a much nicer 66 to the guys stuck behind him...

It's not always nice, though, to be summoned in public view by a PGA Tour rules official to be warned for the umpteenth time about lollygagging on the course.

For nearly 10 minutes against the brick wall of Colonial's clubhouse, Crane and the official each made their case.

"He said he wanted us to stay in front of the group behind us," Crane said. "He said, 'Look, if the group behind you waits, we'll fine you.' I said there was a discrepancy of whether they were waiting or not."

Crane's playing partner, Shigeki Maruyama, privately told Japanese television network NHK that he grew weary of Crane's pace. Publicly, Maruyama was his usual all smiles and had nothing negative to say.

Tour officials have yet to assess Crane a penalty stroke. Frustrated with Crane's pace at last year's Booz Allen Classic, Rory Sabbatini putted out of turn once, and left Crane in the fairway on another hole.

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch, Week 20

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pgatour.jpgGreat to see how Tim Herron's workout program let him average 308.6 en route to his win at Colonial.

On that sarcastic note, the PGA Tour driving distance average rose to 289.2 yards after Colonial, up half a yard from 288.7 following last week's Byron Nelson Classic. It also marks the first time that the Tour average has ever crossed the 289 barrier (and it's only May!).

Oh, and at Colonial there were 34 350-or-longer drives, with the season total now at 920. There were 2,059 last year.

And in case you are a new reader wondering why I'm following this, here's an explanation. 

Campbell To The Rescue

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Peter Williams writes about the troubled New Zealand Open, and Michael Campbell's possible attempt to help save it. Thanks to reader Hux for the heads up.
One scenario is that NZG go back to the sponsorship market but set their sights lower. The naming rights deal and second-tier sponsors would be sold for a lower price in order to raise about $500,000.
 
Then Cambo Investments, the company that handles Michael Campbell's affairs, would be prepared to put up $250,000 - if the government matches that.
 
But the Beehive wants its pound of flesh too.
 
Golf's governing structure in this country is not what it should be. Even though the men's and women's administrative organisations amalgamated last year, things are far from ideal. There is no formal relationship with the NZPGA and too many differing bodies are pulling in different directions in matters such as player development and the staging of tournaments.
 
Last year's amalgamation was a step in the right direction but didn't go far enough.
 
I'm told that if Cambo Investments put in their quarter of a million and the government matches that sum to meet the budget for the New Zealand Open, then a major administration review in this country must take place. That will include comparing our structure to countries with similar populations, such as Sweden.
 
It's likely to be a hugely controversial plan and there'll be some casualties but golf in this country is stagnating. Club membership is declining and despite millions of dollars being poured into high performance programmes we are not producing the quality international players that we should.
 
A crisis often brings fundamental issues to the surface. There is no doubt the New Zealand Open is in crisis. But with Campbell and some of his advisers highly thought of in government circles, a rescue plan for 2006 can be put together.
 
Then the future direction for New Zealand golf, and its premier event, can be worked on.

The Donald Has A Thing About Wind Turbines

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From Mark Macasill in the Times:

DONALD Trump, the American billionaire, has forced the relocation of a wind farm that he claimed would blight his planned golf course in Aberdeenshire.

The property tycoon had threatened to abandon his £300m luxury development unless the proposed wind farm in Aberdeen Bay was moved elsewhere.

Now, following talks with Trump, energy companies have agreed to shelve their plan to erect 33 turbines in the North Sea between Aberdeen and Newburgh.

Amec, one of the firms behind the project, said the £40m wind farm will now consist of 23 turbines clustered off Aberdeen’s coastline. The nearest will be more than three miles from Trump’s course.

Trump is understood to have approved an artist’s impression of the view from the clubhouse at the course. The 490ft turbines are barely visible in the drawing.
“The nearest turbine to the Trump hotel will now be more than three miles away,” said Iain Todd, an adviser to Amec and spokesman for the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), a private-public partnership. “We have given them the drawings showing what the view will look like from there. The changes mean the visual impact will be much less. I’m happy that we are moving to a position where the two projects can exist together.”