PGA Tour's Gambuzza Heading Up New York Office...And Already Bloodied?

This landed in my email box today and appeared just as you see it below. Captions please...

 
March 21, 2007

Norb Gambuzza Named VP-Business Development
at PGA TOUR’s New York Office

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL – Norb Gambuzza, a 15-year veteran in integrated marketing, media and sales, will join the PGA TOUR’s New York office as Vice President, Business Development and General Manager, effective March 26.

Gambuzza will be responsible for developing media and sponsorship relationships, with a particular focus on working with the TOUR’s network television partners, CBS, NBC and GOLF CHANNEL, to generate integrated advertising programs. He will report to Jon Podany, the TOUR’s Senior Vice President, Business Development.

“We are very pleased to have Norb join our business development team in the important role of leading our New York office,” Podany said. “Norb brings a diverse background with proven results in integrated media sales and sports marketing/sponsorship, and has a strong knowledge of the golf industry. We believe he will be a great representative of the PGA TOUR in New York.”

Gambuzza comes to the PGA TOUR after holding senior positions for the past five years with Golf Digest Publications in integrated marketing and events/sports marketing. Prior to that, he was with Fusient Media Ventures, where he was instrumental in developing the business plan for College Sports Television, as well as other consulting projects, including work with the TOUR and USA Network.

Gambuzza also has served as the Director of Sports Marketing at Sports Illustrated and held marketing and sales roles at ProServ Inc. and National Media Group.

“The portfolio of PGA TOUR media and marketing assets has never been stronger,” Gambuzza noted. “I look forward to representing the TOUR in New York and see great opportunity in putting those assets to work on behalf of marketers.”

The PGA TOUR office opened during the summer of 2004 with the purpose of establishing a New York City presence and enhancing the TOUR’s business development area, particularly in regard to integrated advertising sales to support its network partners. The office contact is Megan St. Germaine at 212-752-8687.

About the PGA TOUR
The PGA TOUR is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers. Its primary purpose is to provide competitive earnings opportunities for past, current and future members of the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world.

In 2007, the three Tours will compete in approximately 110 events for approximately $340 million in prize money. Tournaments are being held in six countries outside the U.S. and in 36 states.

In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, TOUR events also generate significant funds for local charities. In fact, the three Tours have surpassed the $1 billion mark in overall charitable contributions. The PGA TOUR's web site address is www.pgatour.com and the company is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

The Big Three Together Again?

Nick Seitz dreams of Masters honorary starter scenarios, including a Palmer-Player-Nicklaus trio. I think Middle East peace is more likely.

Where's The Brand Equity?

Doug Ferguson explains how Bay Hill and Memorial are spared the onslaught of FedEx Cup signage

Note that the PGA.com version of the AP notes column omits this anti-corporate, anti-brand equity story all together. Touching to see the PGA of America looking out for their good, good friends in Ponte Vedra.

Vardon's Illegitimate Son Not Demanding Back Royalties For Success at Golf: Hints for the Player of Moderate Ability

John Hopkins has the story of Vardon's son emerging and a ceremony for the first greatest of them all.

USGA Purchasing Drivers For Testing!?

On the Nike Sumo2 driver mess, Gene Yasuda slips this in his Golfweek.com story:

According to Nike officials, a competing manufacturer contacted the USGA and urged it to test the new Nike driver on suspicion that the Sumo2 was "hot." Upon inspection of drivers purchased from four retail shops in the New York-New Jersey area, USGA officials confirmed that some of them exceeded the CT (Characteristic Time) limit – a measurement that determines spring-like effect. Nike was notified in late February.

They had to buy four of those things? No wonder they have to cut employee benefits! 

Ammerman Speaks

Thanks to Steven T. for noticing this Joe Logan sit down with recently retired USGA Executive Committee member Craig Ammerman, who gets right to the point:

Q: What are the biggest issues facing the USGA and golf?

A: The USGA needs to find a new revenue source or two, which is why you've seen announcements about corporate sponsors (American Express, Lexus). Over the last 15 years, the staff of the USGA has more than doubled because we are doing things nobody thought of 20 years ago. To continue doing them is going to require additional sources of revenue because the single biggest source - TV rights fees - are declining.

Hey, I can think of oh, at least $500,000 in savings that could go to the recently scratched tuition assistance program.

This is interesting.

Q: The USGA has been criticized by some of the biggest names in golf, like Jack Nicklaus, for dropping the ball on the golf ball. Are they correct?

A: In 2002, the executive committee approved spending whatever was required to learn all there is to know about the golf ball. The staff and those they've retained have done that. The final piece, or a final piece, should be obtained this year when balls made by leading manufacturers to go 15 and 25 yards less than today's ball will be field-tested with players of all skill levels. Decisions that follow will no doubt be influenced by those field tests.

Now, why is that no one at the USGA can give that answer when asked about the ball testing? That wasn't so hard, was it?

Q: Any disappointments or business left undone?

A: The worst thing that happened in my five years was [the super-slick seventh green] Sunday at Shinnecock. It was embarrassing. I was supposed to be out on the course as a rules official that day. Once I realized what was going on, I spent the day in the media center, so I could give [USGA president] Fred Ridley and [championship committee chairman] Walter Driver a summary of what reporters and players were saying.

But they took that information and handled it so well!

What, they weren't able to see for themselves it was a disaster. Oh that's right, no, they couldn't.

News of the Weird, Vijay Edition: Vol. 91

From Craig Dolch, who outlined Vijay's problems with the media before sharing these antics from Bay Hill:

Another tale, albeit a minor one, occurred last weekend at Bay Hill. For some reason, Singh kept parking his car in a media parking spot instead of where the players park. Why? Who knows? A parking attendant told me Saturday morning how he and several of his fellow volunteers had gotten into a heated argument with Singh because after he was told he couldn’t park his car there, but he did so, anyway.

Singh did the same thing Sunday, even though a media official told the lady in his car it needed to be removed. She refused, saying they needed to speak to Singh, who at the time was starting his 67 that won Arnold’s tournament by two shots. Of course, this is a minor incident, but it says plenty about Singh. He never adheres to the philosophy that you should treat people the way you want to be treated.

There's a lede buried in this buried lede, but since this is a family values website, I ain't touching it!

"I'm having a tough time getting started on that one."

Brad Faxon, talking to Doug Ferguson about his post Bay Hill activities:

Brad Faxon was busy Monday morning, but he wasn't working on his swing.

"I'm writing notes to my pro-am partners," Faxon said. "And then I'm going to write Arnold and thank him for the invitation and tell him how much I liked the course. Although I'm having a tough time getting started on that one."

Limiited Fields, Limited Opportunities

The limited field issue appears to not be going away as Doug Ferguson tackles the issue of veterans not getting in Doral for that one last crack at Augusta. He also declares the WGC events a giant mistake.

The World Golf Championships have lost some zip the last few years, even when Tiger Woods wins them, which is often. They were designed to bring together the best players in the world. Now, the WGCs are best identified by players hardly anyone knows.

And a popular PGA Tour destination is worse off because of it.

The WGCs were a good idea when they were formed in 1999, but that was when the world's best players rarely got together outside the major championships. In this global environment of golf, the WGCs have quietly gone away — except they took Doral with them.

The Accenture Match Play Championship really is the only one left, and probably will stick around because of the format. The Bridgestone Invitational remains at Firestone, but look what it replaced in '99 — the World Series of Golf, which already was a WGC without the fancy title.

The other was the American Express Championship — now CA Championship with a new title sponsor — that alternated venues between the United States and Europe. Now it has been folded into Doral.

Instead of 144 players trying to keep it out of the white sand and blue water, there will be a 74-man field playing for free money. And there will be 70 other guys — more, really, considering the many non-PGA Tour members at Doral — who are home this week.

Worse yet, this is the last week to qualify for the Masters.

Golf.com's Cameron Morfit offers a different angle by making a case for the injustice of Ryan Moore struggling to find a place to play.

The problem is, thanks to limited fields, Palmer's Bay Hill party is a tough invite, just as Jack's is and the majors are, just as the WGC events are, just as the four FedEx Cup playoff events will be.

Rather than apply for a medical waiver last year, Moore played through the pain and found that by pointing the club directly out from his belt buckle at address, as if it were a fishing pole, he could minimize discomfort. He finished T2 at the Buick Championship and T9 at the PGA, his first major as a pro, and ended the year 81st on the money list.

It was reminiscent of 2005, when Moore, after making the cut in the U.S. Open, turned pro and made enough money in eight starts to earn his PGA Tour card without having to go to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He was the first person since Woods in 1996 to advance directly to The Show without enduring golf's dreaded bar exam.

Moore has his foibles. He doesn't use a yardage book and only recently decided to use a professional caddie instead of his brother. But Tom Lehman was speaking for many when he said recently that Moore could start winning in bunches any day. Ping prominently features Moore, a UNLV product, in its TV advertisements, waiting for him to blow up.

He blames himself, not his injury or Tour policy, for failing to qualify for this week's WGC-CA Championship, or the Masters. But when one of America's top prospects says he's finally healthy again and nabs a top-10 to prove it, and when that player is then snubbed from the following week's invitational in favor of players like Rummings and Stanley and sponsor's invite Mike Hulbert (MC), something is out of whack.

Golf.com Re-launches...

...with a classy new look that is not too cluttered, though the text in bold could be a bit darker, at least on my screen.

But as with any great site, it's easy to find stuff. The course finder feature looks promising too. Though there isn't much "stuff" to find on there, so I don't yet see a reason to check in daily (not yet).

However, it's definitely is worth bookmarking and giving a shot.

He's No Marty Hackel!

Golfweek TV introduces Robert Lohrer, Golfweek's new Fashion Director, and let me just say that this attempt to counter Golf Digest's one-and-only Marty Hackel is not off to a roaring start with the hole directors chair/cable access show set thing.

But more importantly, I can now say I've met Marty Hackel, and there is only one Marty Hackel!

In fact, we're only a few weeks away from his Masters fashion and merchandise tent reports, easily one of the highlights of Golf Channel's daily post round coverage (and now that I've said that, it probably means they've replaced him with a segment of Andrew Magee's top ten most incoherent thoughts of the day, sponsored in part by Grey Goose).

Limited Fields and Pace of Play

During Friday's Bay Hill telecast (before I switched back to the NCAAs), Arnold Palmer endorsed limited field events because they're easier to operate and pace of play is faster. (In the same interview he also endorsed the idea of ending Q-School...)

On the subject of Tiger's new D.C. event as a limited field tournament, Ron Sirak pointed out the brewing battle over the emergence of the Tiger Tour.

The situation brewing here--a player revolt against the tour's most valuable player--is both unprecedented and potentially ugly. Beem says the players can override the PGA Tour Board with a two-thirds majority. If that happens it will formalize what we already know. There is the Tiger Tour--and then there is everything else. And the players will be biting the hand that has fed them well.

Now, I know this is probably an oversimplification of the issue, but it seems that pace of play should be the real issue here.  Tiger this week:

TIGER WOODS: Oh, I always liked reduced fields, because obviously play moves along a lot faster. You get around in a much more rhythmical pace. You know, I think that's important.

You can't blame the rank-and-file for today's pace of play, just as you can't blame the elite players. It's in everyone's best interest to adjust to the tepid pace of the rest of the field. This corresponding response has allowed the situation to fester as it has.

I guess it's hard to fathom how a problem that is so clearly impacting spectator interest (on the "Tiger Tour" or run of the mill PGA Tour stops) and lies at the heart of this limited field debate, is not being addressed more forcefully by the Commissioner and the Policy Board?

Reason 3,916 That Tiger Woods Names His Yacht Privacy And Probably Wants Nothing To Do With People In General...

...from "Def Poet" Alvin Lau, courtesy of reader Jon, who clearly wants upset me:

It's The USGA's Fault!

Helen Jung reports on the Nike spin control conference call and attributes several interesting comments to Bob Wood. Unfortunately he is not directly quoted on a few of these topics (anyone with a transcript?).

My favorite bits from the story...

Nike Golf learned of the clubs' illegality from the USGA, the governing body of golf, which had been notified by a competing club manufacturer, Wood said.

Wood said that current tests for USGA compliance aren't keeping up with club technology. In the past, measuring the club face might have been a sufficient test for determining a club's "spring-like effect." But now, those tests might not be considering enough factors to give a true reading.

Yes, that's right, it's the USGA's antiquated testing that didn't stop Nike from manufacturing illegal clubs! 

Seriously, he's not trying to blame the USGA for having not caught the illegal clubs from reaching the market? Someone tell me the comments were mischaracterized? 

Sumo Wrestled Off Shelves

Nike's loud and ugly new driver has just a little too much non-conforming spring like effect and should be returned asap for a replacement.

According to Golf World's Bollocks and Gimcrack:

A source familiar with the document said that the document indicates that a manufacturing problem led to a number of the clubheads having "a conformance issue in regards to [spring-like effect]." According to the source, conforming versions will be shipped within a month and will have a circular sticker noting that it is USGA conforming. In addition, the source said, Nike will provide a website for consumers that will allow them to trade in their current Sumo2 driver for the new version.

The driver has been used by several PGA Tour players, including K.J. Choi, who won the Chrysler Championship in October with the club in his bag.

The driver is currently on the USGA's conforming list, and the document states that a new version of the club has already been submitted to the USGA and is expected to be on the new conforming list when it is published on Monday.

In the release sent to its sales team Friday afternoon, the company states that no Nike staff professionals, including marquee player Tiger Woods, are using product that does not conform to all USGA rules.

Boy that's a relief!