"They kill off imagination. There is only one shot."

John Huggan profiles Jose Maria Olazabal, who goes off an enjoyable rant about the state of course setup in America:

Now competing basically full-time in the US, the Dunhill represents for Ollie a rare opportunity to escape the seemingly-endless tedium of life on the PGA Tour. Never a fan of American culture, the proud Basque, one of golf's most accomplished shot-makers inside 150 yards from the hole, is increasingly frustrated by the on-course sameness that he endures almost every week.

"What I don't like is that there is less artistry in the game now," he sighs. "And the set-up of the courses contributes to that. When you have rough that is five inches high, not even a magician can create shots.

"I do believe players still have the skill. They can shape the shots, hit them high or low. But we don't find ourselves in situations where creativity is encouraged. As technology has advanced, players have hit more and more fairways, so the courses have adjusted. One seems to have led to the other, in an attempt to keep scores up.

"Now we have rough right up to the edge of the green. There is no imagination in that. All the long grass hurts people like me. I don't mind rough off the tee so much; there should be a penalty for being in the wrong place. But around the greens, it is silly. You can hit a shot to 15 feet from the hole and be just off the green, and another guy can hit to 45 feet, but on the green. He has the better chance. That is not right.

"They kill off imagination. There is only one shot. You don't have to think. Miss the green? Give me the 60-degree wedge, and I'll flop it up there. All the touch and finesse is gone.

"The great sadness is that you can make courses just as difficult - and so much more interesting - without any rough. And there is no need to have courses that are 7,500 yards long. I look at guys like Justin Leonard and Corey Pavin and wonder how they can compete most weeks. I'm not sure we are on the right path. Courses are getting longer and longer, and we see fewer and fewer where length is not the biggest factor in success. Which doesn't make it fair for everyone."

Week In Review: October 1-7, The Ping Branding

The folks down at Ping PING taught us a lesson in branding with their hissy fit over 10% military discounts. Several readers came to their defense.

JT: remember that PING won't let a retailer dump out of date inventory (last years models) on e-bay or at a discount to turn over stock that is out of date. Great company to work with as a shop owner. NOT.

Anon: Cartier, Bose, and other high end products do the same. Discounting causes a loss of credibility. Greed isn't really the issue is it?

Bob Smithson: What PING is doing is completely legal and is their business policy and which they can document is being followed. The only way this policy gets changed by PING is for the consumer to stop buying PING products and shopowners to quit stocking it ...

Brad: The retailers in question knew they were in violation of Ping's policy. Plus they were not exactly making sure all those they discounted really were in the millitary.

On the subject of Tiger's "streak" of 6 straight wins, Martin Del Vecchio wrote: I will say that Tiger's current swing isn't as beautiful to look at as his 2000 swing was. But it's hard to argue with the results.

Regarding the news that Greensboro event host Forest Oaks may be in danger of losing the tournament because the clubhouse facilities are outdated, Pete the Luddite wrote:  Seriously, we have gotten to the point where clubs feel compelled to re-vamp their courses repeatedly in an effort to stay current or keep the Tour's attention. Are we now going to add clubhouse and amenity renovations to the mix as well? Where will the spending end? This does not bode well for the future of golf. Club memberships will not be sustained if assessment after assessment get tacked on for these reasons.

Commenting on my column about the lack of imaginative play, MacDuff tells us: Just returned from UK and had a great time playing courses where the ball actually ran after landing, and where tight turf allowed 40- and 60 yard pitches and bump-and-run shots. All rounds took 3 & a half hours maximum. The people I played with and against made no agonizingly long decisions about the line of putt or exact yardage to green. Golf was a recreation. It was fun. Oh, and nobody shouted their way around...as seems to be the custom here.

On the likely-to-emerge groove debate, Glyn proves that he has way too much common sense to ever serve on the USGA Executive Committee: What I find interesting is that the USGA is moving towards some action - groove change - thus admitting that there in fact is a problem. So we at least agree there is a problem. The USGA has refused to admit that the problem is distance however. Now it's grooves in wedges. Hmmm..one way would be to change the goove shape of wedges...still another way would be to reduce the amount of wedges being hit. Let's see...wouldn't that relate back to distance being a factor?

RGT says: PGAT once required all tournament green watering to be stoped after Tuesday evenings, allowing greens to get baked out and hard as concrete. Hand watering the greens every evening is the standard on Tour today. If PGAT was still in the baking process Toms would be out of a job. Being at a multi club disadvantage is a problem for Toms on most weeks, watering the greens every night plays right into the errent bombers strategy. Tiger, Phil and Vijay are exploiting these golf ball qualities and playing short shots to a dart board.

And finally, on the trevails of the San Francisco city courses, including the fate of future events at Harding Park, Gus writes:  The last article I read on Harding focused on the buyers remorse of some city officials, the funding mechanism that verged on being criminal, and the unlikely prospects that there would ever be a positive return on the investment. I think the people would be better served with reasonably priced, pragmatic improvements (drainage?) that would allow affordable golf to continue. If these improvements included a nod to the heritage of a course then so much the better. We have enough high end daily fee courses. Some muni's need to remain muni's for the health of the game.

"If you knew what you were going to get every week, then there's no point in having me"

The Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux considers the impact of Nick Faldo's sudden retirement from Masters play:

Faldo might have been pushed into the booth at Augusta somewhat prematurely by the latest batch of changes that have lengthened and tightened the course beyond the reach of aging, moderate hitters such as himself. When he got his first glimpse of the course last April, he offered a clue about his future at the Masters.

"I can't play it now," he said. "I'm just here for fun. I can't compete on a course like this, but fortunately I know that I have three jackets in the locker room, so that's fine by me."

As for some of the changes, Faldo wasn't afraid to be critical. Having those three green jackets earns him the license to be critical without fear of retribution, just as other multiple winners and club members Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer enjoy. Faldo called the changes to the tee shot on No. 11 "a little heavy-handed," with the dramatic alterations making the hole "not the same by miles, and it's a shame."

"I'll be smiling and laughing in another 10 years' time, when all these pine trees have grown up," he said last April. "It will be a scream sitting up here drinking pina coladas and watching them thread it through the Augusta needle."

Faldo certainly won't be drinking cocktails from the tower above the 18th green, but whether or not he will be free to be that candid on the air with his say-no-evil colleagues at CBS remains to be seen. Faldo is a man not easily muzzled.

"I duck and dive and go with the flow each week," Faldo said. "If you knew what you were going to get every week, then there's no point in having me, I guess. ... I'm respectful. I'm not going to beat on the guys but I think I call it pretty fair and square."

"Marriage of inconvenience for hackers and hacks"

Andrew Baker has fun with the pro-am concept that has overtaken the once great event known as the Dunhill Cup.

"You should know how to hit every shot and every club. If you’re on the PGA Tour you don’t have to"

Hal Sutton talks to Cameron Morfit about the state of American golf, and in particular, issues confronting U.S. Ryder Cup teams and the PGA Tour.

The “high and long” way to play is an epidemic in the United States, Sutton says, but that style isn’t translating to birdies amid the ever-varied setups and unpredictable weather that define the Ryder Cup.

Courses continue to be built by developers trying to one-up each other in the race to build the next toughest track (even if it means driving mere mortals to quit the game) while the PGA Tour chooses broad-shouldered venues that cater mostly to bombers.

“That’s why I’ve kept hammering on it, and will until the day I day: Variety. We’ve got to have more of it,” Sutton said. “Play fast greens, play slow greens, play ’em all. Throw everything at every player. We’ll find out who the best players are. I told [PGA Tour commissioner] Tim Finchem, ‘You can cut 18 holes in the parking lot and Tiger will find a way to win.’”

To show that he’s walking the walk, Sutton pointed to Boot Ranch. He went out of his way, he said, to make sure the course included doglegs left and right, short holes, long holes and a variety of lies and looks.

“There’s a driver, there’s fairway woods, there’s long irons, middle irons, short irons, wedges and a putter,” Sutton said. “There’s 14 clubs in there. There’s a fade and there’s a slice. There’s a draw and there’s a hook. There’s a high ball and there’s a low ball. There’s backspin and there’s overspin. And by the way, they’re all part of the game, and by the way, you should know how to hit every shot and every club. If you’re on the PGA Tour you don’t have to."

Phil's Family Vacation

Ed Sherman and George White offer two very different takes on Phil Mickelson vanishing from the face of the planet until the Bob Hope Classic. While White seemingly dusts off something from a Gaylord Sports release (complete with a breakdown of charitable donations), Sherman points out that Mickelson's lack of interest after the PGA does not bode well for the FedEx Cup, a system developed with Phil's input in mind.

Skinned?

Marcel Honoré writes about the city of Indian Wells pursuing the Skins Game for its newly refurbished Golf Resort at Indian Wells. Look at what they will have to pay to host the likes of Stephen Ames and Fred Funk:

Under the terms of an agreement with International Management Group, the city would pay $1.4 million, $1.47 million, and $1.54 million to host the game during the next three years.

Does This Sound Familiar?

Helene Elliott in today's LA Times writes about the NHL's disastrous move away from ESPN to OLN (now Versus). It's hard not to think of the PGA Tour and The Golf Channel when reading this:

A year ago, with its season about to start and ESPN refusing to pay big bucks to renew its rights deal, a desperate NHL aligned itself with OLN, now known as Versus when it's mentioned at all. Either side can end that agreement after this season.

If the NHL is serious about becoming a major player, it must flee Versus, crawl over broken glass if need be, and beg ESPN to take it back.

Like it or not, ESPN is ingrained in our sports culture. NHL executives were furious that under the previous deal, ESPN cut its NHL coverage after it added the NBA. However, a profit-sharing deal with the NHL would give ESPN incentive to restore hockey to prominence.

"ESPN provides the sort of Good Housekeeping stamp of approval," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon and a hockey fan. The NHL, he said, "would be better off finding a working partnership between themselves and ESPN. If it were my decision, and not knowing the reason, this league needs as many symbolic attachments to maintain their position as a major professional sport."

Versus' appeal had three prongs: It was willing to give the NHL lots of airtime, it was willing to pay a rights fee, and it was there. It hasn't grown fast enough to give the NHL the exposure it needs, having only recently extended its reach to 70 million homes, 20 million fewer than ESPN and ESPN2. Nor has Versus created a distinct identity that separates it from its competitors in the cable universe.

"If we were going to grow, we needed to do something different," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in defending the deal. "While we gave up some distribution, the coverage was phenomenal. They will continue to grow over time and we think as a result, people will see better coverage of hockey."

Bettman said Versus has committed extensive resources and money to its growth...

Hey, but look on the bright side NHL. You aren't locked up for 15 years. 

Latest On Harding...Nothing New

Ron Kroichick wonders when Harding Park will see the next of its four more contractually obligated PGA Tour events and says the dire state of the other city courses is a big part of the problem:

All the while, there is an ongoing effort to get the National Golf Foundation to offer its analysis -- how much it would cost to renovate Lincoln Park and Sharp Park, so those courses could generate revenue rather than lose money, and whether such a project is even feasible.

These local issues play into the lingering question of when Harding Park will return to the national spotlight. It will not happen in 2007 and it looks like a longshot for '08. Combs essentially dismissed the possibility of the Tour adding another WGC event, one way to satisfy its commitment to San Francisco.

So pay attention when the Tour announces the venue for the 2009 Presidents Cup, a decision likely to come before the end of this year. That remains the most logical match for Harding, though it would require the Tour trusting the city to resolve its economic issues.

Is the problem with the other courses one of design or maintenance? Anyone want to fill us in? And is there any talk of possibly bringing back Dr. MacKenzie's touch at Sharp Park? 

Bad Shower Division, Ryder Cup

Bob Verdi was the only correspondent to write about the shower situation at a Ryder Cup hotel, following up on his stellar reports from Hoylake. So I guess he's pretty much a lock to win the the GWAA writing contest's first ever Bad Shower Division.  

I promised on my last trip over here that I would never again complain about showers, but I must relate one more incident. The other night, the shower pipe wiggled loose from its mooring and attacked me. It was my most frightening shower event since Anthony Perkins and his knife went after Janet Leigh in "Psycho." The pipe, with a mind of its own, wrapped around my neck and I had a decision. Do I continue blowing 400 pounds per night here at the O'Bates Motel, or do I just die right here? I've said mean things about showers in Europe, and it's obvious they talk among themselves when I'm not around. I chose to put the pipe in its place and live. You know what they say. Another day, another Euro.

The LPGA "Playoffs"

Jeff Shain comments on the silliness of the LPGA's "ADT Playoffs," and like the FedEx Cup, it sounds a bit odd.

With a few breaks, next month's ADT Playoffs might end with three players laying claim to ``champion'' status.

Tradition, of course, gives the title to the player atop the money list. But with the ADT winner cashing $1 million and second place $100,000, the list could get skewed.

There's also a Player of the Year points race, which places the ADT on the same level as its four majors.

And now to add to the confusion, the LPGA has resolved the ADT winner will be declared the ``season champion'' - much like the Heat was the NBA's last team standing.

Got it all straight?

``I think we are all questioning that,'' said Annika Sorenstam, taking a wait-and-see stance during a teleconference with reporters. ``Let us see how it turns out.''

The Player of the Year race is its tightest in years, a four-player chase among front-running Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Sorenstam and Cristie Kerr.

Meanwhile, any of seven players could top the money list with a $1 million payday - a number that could go up or down in upcoming weeks.

But suppose someone outside those seven - Morgan Pressel? - won the ADT with Webb second and Ochoa eliminated after 54 holes.

Webb would move past Ochoa on the points list but not the money list, while Pressel would reign as ``season champion.''

Voila! Three champions. The only element lacking would be Don King.

Greg Norman To Play In Senior Event...

...just not one on the Champions Tour. Instead, Norman is to play in the Senior Spanish Open...and we're still waiting for that first non-major Champions Tour start Greg!

Why do I have the feeling that Tim Finchem will not be writing a book jacket blurb for Norman's forthcoming biography?

Update On TGC Announcer Lineup

Golfweek's Rex Hoggard has new details on The Golf Channel announcer line-up (I know you were losing sleep in anticipation...but hey, with 15 years to go, this stuff matters to some of us).

Tilghman and Faldo will be joined in Hawaii by Dottie Pepper and Jerry Foltz, both TGC staples with extensive experience working LPGA and Nationwide Tour events as on-course reporters. Rocco Mediate, a five-time Tour winner and current player, also is slated to work the year's first three events as an on-course reporter.

Peter Oosterhuis and Mark Rolfing will share the 17th tower duties and Rich Lerner will produce essays and features.

Definitely sounding a bit more professional than what initially leaked out, especially with the addition of Pepper and Oosterhuis.  

Scores Since '34

Thanks to reader Jay for the heads up on this 5-year study on golf score improvement since 1934, as well as this blog analysis at Sabermetric Research.

First Prize: Your Own Infomercial?

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If you have a golf related invention, let us know! The Golf Channel is looking for people of all ages and backgrounds, and with all types of golf inventions for this potential new series.

If The Golf Channel proceeds with the series, you will have the opportunity to showcase your product to an entire world of golf enthusiasts with the support of The Golf Channel and potentially turn your idea into the next big thing in golf!

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The Golf Channel
Attn: Inventions
7580 Commerce Center Drive
Orlando, Fla., 32819

Please do not submit photos, sketches, descriptions or other information about the nature of your product or idea at this time.

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