Nice Going Wally

Scott Paske in the Wichita Eagle, reporting on the response to help local athletes in hard hit Greensburg, Kansas:

Tim Hacker, who runs a golf academy based in Alpharetta, Ga., has led an effort to assist GHS golfers. Hacker graduated from Greensburg in 1983 and has followed media reports about the tornado and its aftermath.

Working with his friend and fellow teaching pro Stan Utley, he secured the donation of golf equipment to the school from Titleist chairman and chief executive Wally Uihlein.

Hacker, who is affiliated with Callaway Golf, was also working with that company on a possible donation.

State Dinner Guest List

Golf was well represented at last night's State Dinner for Queen Elizabeth II:

Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., chairman and president, Kohler Co., and Natalie B. Kohler.

James W. Nantz III, CBS sportscaster, and Ann-Lorraine Nantz.

Arnold Palmer, professional golfer, and Kathleen Palmer.

Great Greens In Golf

I'm in the midst of writing something and need your help. (Hey just remember, no pop-up ads, no animation junk...I'm allowed to take advantage of the brilliant minds who check in here).

So, I'm trying to write this chapter on my ideal greens and in thinking about it today, the 17th at TPC Sawgrass is one of my favorites. The green contours here are as much a part of the drama as the water.

Most of all I love the "compartments" that make what appears to be a one-dimensional hole so different from day to day.  And I love how the key features of the green are memorable, a trait that encourages creativity and shotmaking. Because memorability of features on a green makes it more likely that players will be suckered into playing at tempting hole locations, moreso than they might otherwise try if a green before them were simply a sea of meaningless bumps.

Therefore, I'd love to know what you think are some of the best greens in golf?

Or to put it another, name a green (or a few) where the design supremacy of the hole is mostly dependent on the contours, size, shape and angle of the putting surface.

Don't be shy. There are no right or wrong answers. Just help for a lowly writer. 

Fifh of Four Majors Watch, Vol. 2

It's Monday of fifth major week, which means no one has much to write about. So Jason Sobel and Bob Harig try their best to be like Brittle and Gorse over at GolfDigest.com by doing their alternate shot shtick. Let the fifth major debate begin!

Sobel: Well, I've always disliked the notion of The Players Championship as the "fifth major" and I hated those snarky comments we heard throughout the week about the Wachovia Championship becoming the "sixth major," according to some of the pundits.

Oh I don't think Andrew Magee was being snarky! You did mean Andrew, right?  Lord knows, the word snarky has never been uttered in the same sentence as moi!

That said, it was an enjoyable, memorable weekend of golf from Quail Hollow, culminating in Tiger Woods' 57th career victory.

It's one they'll talk about for weeks. I know I enjoyed thinking about not watching it at while I lounged at the beach.

Of course, it's the same old story: Did Tiger outplay the field in Sunday's final round or did his fellow contenders simply wave the white towel and get out of his way?

Harig: First things first. The idea of a fifth major is ridiculous, no matter how good The Players Championship was, is, or might be. So a sixth is even sillier. A Grand Slam in baseball does not consist of five runs scoring on a home run, and one in golf does not include five (or six) tournaments. And it never will. Too much history would have to be rewritten. And then there is this: When was the last time you saw 19 of the top 20 in the world play the week prior to a major? Probably never.

So cynical Bob!

Meanwhile Doug Ferguson spent Monday trying not to get lost in the new clubhouse, unlike Geoff Ogilvy.

“I’m a little lost,’’ U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said. “It’s such a big building.’’

And Doug did the fifth major thing, and he comes out firmly that The Players remains the fifth of golf's four majors.

“I think enough fun has been made of their place in the golf kingdom,’’ Sluman said over the weekend. “There are still only four majors, but it is an unbelievable golf course with bar-none the best field in golf.’’

Shouldn’t that be enough?

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has said that he only wants The Players Championship to be the best it can be, and he has stopped at nothing to accomplish that. The Tour wants the tournament to be known as “The Players,’’ similar to “The Masters.’’ Television coverage will include only four minutes of commercials every hour, just like the Masters.

The winner of The Players gets as many FedEx Cup points as the winner of a major. In the World Golf Hall of Fame ballots, The Players is listed in bold print alongside the four majors.

“Nobody likes being force-fed,’’ Sluman said. “I think everybody associated with the tournament needs to let it take its course. It will find its spot wherever that ends up in five, 10, 15 or 50 years. But just let it happen.’’

Ogilvy called it the fifth-best tournament in the world, which probably is what The Players Championship is. But what inevitably followed were more examples of what it’s not.

“It’s not a career-defining win,’’ he said.

Can't you get fined for saying things like that? 

"It's like being inside a great big pinball machine"

Thanks to reader WF for this fun Laury Livsey story on PGATour.com on the first tee shot ever hit in the Tournament Players Championship THE PLAYERS and what's happened to the fellow who hit it (you would never guess who it is or what he does now, unless you live in Cleveland!).

The story also weaves in some of the early history of the course and includes some great old lines, including the Weiskopf line featured above. 

Irwin To Put Colorado Grads Through One Last Boring Lecture

It seems the folks in Boulder ran out of speaking options, because they signed up one of the mast famous alums to put the grads through one more boring lecture. Kirk Bohls in the Austin American-Statesman reports:

"Does anybody listen at commencement speeches?" said Tom Purtzer, who left Arizona State eight hours shy of a degree. "They're kids. It's not like they're paying attention. You're so excited to just get out."

Irwin gets it. As he puts it, "they get a piece of paper and good friends. You don't know what you take away until you look back years later when you have to ask, 'Did I apply myself?' "

He did, and he still is.

Following the advice he received from former Supreme Court associate justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Irwin plans to follow his heart and say what he really feels. So he'll get something off his chest to the cap-and-gown crowd.

His message?

Respect your elders.

"I'm going to talk about respect," he said. "That's something young people don't do very often."

Oh how I have missed Scott Hoch:

Hoch applauded Irwin for the high honor of joining the elite company of those who give commencement addresses, a list as diverse as Steve Jobs and Billie Jean King. Hoch graduated as well — "I'm one of the few" — completing his communications degree at Wake Forest in 4 1/2 years when the dean convinced him to give up the notion of an economics major because of the demands of travel with college golf.

He takes mild exception to the fact that Arnold Palmer gave the headliner speech at Wake Forest in 2005. Arnie had an army but no diploma.

"My feeling is you shouldn't give it unless you graduate," the candid Hoch said. "But Arnold's Arnold. People probably would get more out of his speech."  

Emailing With Retief

James Corrigan e-interviews Retief Goosen and the chat is surprisingly engaging. Maybe Retief should conduct his post round Q&A's on a laptop in a chat room?

On the distance issue...

There is a growing argument about the ball travelling too far, turning courses into "pitch-and-putts" and forcing the authorities to lengthen and "trick up" layouts. What should be done about it?

People always go on about the equipment and the new balls, but I think 60 per cent of the reason for players hitting it so far is down to them being fitter and stronger. It's become an athlete's sport. It's not just sitting at the bar and going out to play any more; it's regular trips to the gym and protein milkshakes. No more beer. Even the caddies are working out. There's fitness trainers and physios everywhere. It's been an amazing transformation.

Only 60 percent? What about the 40 Retief!? 

I know which percentage is easier to change. 

The TiVo Test

Golfweek.com's Travis Hill says the Wachovia didn't pass the TiVo test, and offers other notes worth reading.

"He's melting down like Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot"

One can only hope Phil and Amy didn't put the kids to bed, settle in on the couch for Entourage, only to hear Ari Gold say that.

"It appeared the boys were stinking up the gym. That speaks of one thing..."

I only watched a few minutes of the sixth major (love the blue jacket for the winner...how original!).

However I noticed on the Golfweek.com Tour blog that the real genius of Quail Hollow was picked up by Jeff Rude:

The top two Wachovia Championship finishers both made double bogeys coming in. And high finisher Vijay Singh made two bogeys and a triple coming in. It appeared the boys were stinking up the gym.

That speaks of one thing: Quail Hollow is one of the best courses on the Tour. You might say it deserves the strong field and favorable date it received.

It's one thing for a newcomer to the game evaluating a course based on its difficulty, but after all of the great stuff Dr. Klein has penned in Golfweek about what actually merits architectural legitimacy, you'd like to think we could something a tad more nuanced than the course's ability to churn out doubles and triples. Right?

Opposing The Donald

Jeremy Watson reports that opposition is building against The Donald's Scottish development. Frankly I'm shocked.

Both the Ramblers Association Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) will today lodge formal objections with Aberdeenshire Council, claiming the proposed Trump International Golf Links at Menie Links will seriously damage an ancient sand-dune system.

Frankly, the name alone should be enough for most people to object.

The Ramblers say the huge development - which includes two championship golf courses, a 500-bedroom hotel and hundreds of new luxury homes - will destroy the rural character of the area and be in breach of local and national planning guidelines.

It also argues that by increasing the number of golf tourists flying into north-east Scotland from destinations across the world the development will add to global warming. The SWT says Trump's plans to "stabilise" the sand dunes will destroy their value as a wildlife habitat.

So far the majority of the 60 responses to the scheme from local environmental organisations and individuals have also come out against the project

"And that's all you can do."

Deane Beman is featured in a PGATour.com interview and handles the dreaded fifth major question well (in other words, he's proud of what's become and admires the operation and leaves it at that...)

PGATOUR.com: Now, the major question. Is it or isn't it?

Beman: It's the best tournament that can be put on -- in every respect. From the standpoint of -- the golf course and the fairness of the challenge of it, the volunteers, the organization, the field, the financial reward, the clubhouse facility -- now it's the highest standard in the world. It's the standard by which all facilities will be judged in the future. And we can't do anymore than that. I consider it the best tournament in the world. The moniker the press puts on up ... it's up to them. We did all we could do to make it the best event in the world. And we did it. I did that for the 21 years I was there and Tim Finchem and his crew have done a fabulous just of taking it to a new level. And that's all you can do.

"The fans want to see a car wreck, and that's what it is."

Martin Blake, quoting Mike Clayton on TPC Sawgrass's 17th:

"It's American golf," says Mike Clayton, the renowned Melbourne golf course architect. "It's entertainment. The fans want to see a car wreck, and that's what it is."

The placement of the hole in the rota at No. 17 is significant, too, for no player is safe in the lead until he gets past the island green at the penultimate hole.

Clayton remembers Tom Doak, the great American designer, having a dim view. "He (Doak) called it the germ that started the plague," says Clayton. "It's been copied too often, fortunately not in Australia, but mainly in Asia where they think that everything American is great.

"It's a decent-sized green. You have to hit a good shot. At the 71st hole, you find out who's in control and who's not. The history of that tournament is that the leader's always hit a great shot."

Blake also has a note on the health problems of several players that started at the Masters. 

"That's just ridiculous, in twosomes"

An unbylined story on Tiger fuming about slow play at golf's sixth major where it's all right in front of you...

Woods, playing with Vijay Singh in the final pairing, finished the 18th hole in semi-darkness, a few minutes past 8pm local time at Quail Hollow.

The start of play was delayed by two hours due to nearby lightning, so Woods and Singh did not tee off until 3.40pm.

He could not understand why it took more than four hours, 20 minutes to play 18 holes, especially on a course well designed for walking, without many long distances between holes.

"That's just ridiculous, in twosomes," said the world number one, who bogeyed the last two holes to finish a shot behind leader Rory Sabbatini of South Africa.

"I didn't think we were going to finish and Vijay didn't either, but we got it in somehow.

"It's like playing under caution all day. No-one ever gave us a green to go. That was the way it was and we had to deal with it."

"The teaching of golf is a bitchy business."

John Huggan uses his Inverness On Sunday Scotland On Sunday column to highlight the drama queen antics of golf instructors and players...

Especially at the top level, the teaching of golf is a bitchy business. Typical was the vitriolic reception that Hank Haney received from many of his peers in the wake of his assuming the role of coach to Tiger Woods, replacing the aforementioned Harmon. For a while there, things were neither hunky nor dory.

The last word in that particular skirmish, however, belonged to Haney. In the immediate aftermath of the 2005 Masters Tournament - Woods's first of four major victories under the tutelage of his new coach - the Dallas-based instructor lifted a leaf out of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, and took dead aim at one of his biggest critics, wannabe star teacher Jim McLean, describing him as "the biggest asshole I have ever met" - a label that left little room for misinterpretation.

"As for other teachers who have been critical [most notably and ironically, Harmon and Smith], it was obvious where they were coming from," Haney declared. "I viewed them speaking out as a form of pre-emptive strike. They wanted Tiger to lose patience with me before we even got started, so I wasn't surprised by the crap they were talking. Those other instructors never wanted to give us a chance. The result was never going to make them look better."