"Then I've done what should be done."

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The architect press release quotes are getting more torturous every day.

Jack Nicklaus, on the Tucson course he's started that will reportedly land the WGC Match Play when it's done, assuming the design proves worthy...well, and that site licensing fee check clears in Ponte Vedra...

 "Golf course design has been a blessing for me," said Nicklaus. "It has allowed me to take what I learned playing the game of golf and apply it to a piece of ground to create a legacy that will live well beyond what I accomplished as a golfer. If I can design The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain to take advantage of its spectacular high desert setting and beautiful vistas, while integrating solid strategy and good, fair golf shots, then I've done what should be done."

"A yellow school bus idles in its parking lot; the driver collects ten dollars from those who board."

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img10412091.jpgT&L Golf's Thomas Dunne covers the one day a year you can get in the gates to walk Pine Valley.
Clementon Amusement Park in South Jersey is not exactly a place brimming over with good cheer. Although it is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year, Clementon carries a distinct aura of hard luck—all faded paint and sharp edges and arcane dangers.

But once a year, usually on the last Sunday afternoon in September, the park becomes a portal to another world. A yellow school bus idles in its parking lot; the driver collects ten dollars from those who board. The bus heads down a nondescript lane and then, minutes later, pulls up at the end of a gravel road, where local kids sell burgers and hot dogs off a grill and soft drinks from a cooler. Nearby, a small green-and-white building serves as both town hall and police station and hints that the territory beyond is a separate and sovereign place, far removed from the strip-mall tedium of the surrounding burbs.

A man in a blazer waits near a guardhouse and hands the visitor a scorecard. "Have a nice time," he says. And just like that, one steps, blinking in disbelief, inside the sylvan fold and onto the grounds of what's commonly regarded as the greatest golf course in the world: Pine Valley.
In a strange coincidence, a Links profile by the late, great Pam Emory was posted over at CBSSports.com.

"Just giving him the respect he deserves is really all it would take for Finchem to carve out a relationship with the No. 2 draw in golf."

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In this week's "Quiet Please" column, Golf World's Tim Rosaforte writes:

Tim Finchem might learn a lesson from Phil Mickelson's appearance at this week's Fry's Electronics Open.  Mickelson is playing at Grayhawk GC for no other reason than he's a loyal guy. He's carried the club logo on his bag without re-upping his contract since 1994, has the grillroom named after him and is the front man and course designer at Whisper Rock, just north on Scottsdale Road. It's his way of paying back a community that has been supporting him since his days at Arizona State. The lesson: Phil is good to people who are good to him. Just giving him the respect he deserves is really all it would take for Finchem to carve out a relationship with the No. 2 draw in golf.

Now, off the top of my head, I can think of one embarrassment Finchem saved Mickelson from this year.

So I'm struggling to understand what it is that the Commissioner is supposed to do that he's not doing now for Mickelson? 

While we're on the subject of Whisper Rock, Tom Dellner profiles it for the current issue of Links. 

Rory's Mom: It's The Irish Blood That Makes Him Do It

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maar01_sabbatini.jpgJaime Diaz profiles Rory Sabbatini in the November Golf Digest and gets to the bottom of the South African's easy going manner:
"You pass the genes on," says his mother, Sharon, by phone from South Africa. "I've got Irish blood in me, and I've got a very, very short fuse. And I also speak my mind, and it gets me into trouble as well. You get to a boiling point, and you explode, and obviously you regret it afterward. But most people appreciate me for being straightforward. I'm not one of these mundane, boring people, and neither is my son. I've always let him be himself."

"Which is why they’re going to wear full rain gear to practice Thursday, regardless of the weather."

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chappell.jpgSean Martin's Golfweek.com excellent profile of the UCLA men's golf team and issues they are facing, starting with the fact they haven't played an event yet.

Then there's the team member who is playing round 1 of PGA Tour Qualifying school the day after UCLA finishes their first event (they call this amateur golf!?) and there's the incoming freshman who had a rough summer...after missing three PGA Tour cuts.

Oh and this reminder that college coaches have been known to overthink things from time to time.

Even the course that’s hosting the Bruins’ first tournament – Chambers Bay Golf Club in University Place, Wash. – is a mystery. The links-style layout opened just four months ago, but is already No. 2 on the recently-released Golfweek’s Best New Courses list. The late-October weather in Washington could throw another wrench in the Bruins’ debut, which is why they’re going to wear full rain gear to practice Thursday, regardless of the weather.

If they're playing Riviera, should be nice and warm in those suits. 

In Case You Missed It...TNT Notes From Grand Slam Day 1

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Shocking as it may seem, but I elected to have baseball on instead of the Grand Slam of Golf. But thanks to TNT, we can still relive Bobby Clampett's most profound day one insights:

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the 25th Annual PGA Grand Slam of Golf from the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda

First Round – Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Clampett on Zach Johnson’s early-round struggles:  “(Zach Johnson) has been like a deer in headlights on these greens.  (The greens) have really spooked him.”

Like a deer in headlights? Never heard that one before.

Clampett on the different style of play at the Grand Slam: “Players are not used to playing in foursomes, so it’s a different pace of play.  That’s why I like a guy like (Angel) Cabrera who plays so quickly in this format.  The slower player feels like he is in everybody’s way if he takes extra time.”

Or the fast player gets itchy and cranky thinking that he picked the wrong month to quit smoking.

Clampett on Angel Cabrera’s physical fitness: “(Angel Cabrera is) a modern-day John Daly.”

I'm sorry, did I miss something? John Daly is still alive and playing isn't he?

Clampett on player’s hitting off the scenic 18th tee along the shoreline: “It’s a challenge to get set up on a hole like this with all this beauty around.”

Kratzert: “(Players) find (themselves) staring and kind of dreaming.”

Clampett: “Zach Johnson and (Angel) Cabrera (are) looking out in the ocean more than they are looking at (Jim) Furyk (hitting his tee shot).”

Boy am I sorry I missed that exchange when it happened. 

Oakmont East Closed...For Good?

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230136-1097695-thumbnail.jpg
Oakmont East From Googe Earth (click to enlarge)Mike Dudurich reports on Oakmont Country Club closing it's neighboring 1938 Emil Loeffler public course, possibly for good.

The 18-hole public layout, which borders historic Oakmont Country Club's 3rd hole, was closed for play in the fall of 2006 as preparations began in earnest for the 2007 U.S. Open.

It has not opened in 2007 and, while no decisions have been made beyond 2008, the possibility exists that it may not reopen at all.

"With all of the considerations for the 2010 Women's Open (which will be held at Oakmont CC), at least for 2008, we are not going to open the Oakmont East golf course," said Oakmont CC general manager Tom Wallace. "It would require rebuilding the course so that it's safe again for play and then it would be put back in use for the Women's Open. We need a clearer picture about what the footprint will be for the Women's Open before we make any long-term decisions. We're reviewing all options."

If the USGA Executive Committee were in touch with reality, they might understand that the closing of a public course to make it a one week permanent tent village every few years or could ultimately reflect poorly on them and their all important corporate partners.

“I'm scared for her future.”

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Lorne Rubenstein writes about Michelle Wie and features some strong comments from her coach, David Leadbetter.

“If she hadn't played those [men's] tournaments, then everybody would have considered 2006 her best season yet,” Wie's swing coach, David Leadbetter, who had made his opinions known to her and her family, said Monday from his home in Orlando. “It was absolute madness for her to play them. That started the whole debacle. Now with Greg Nared leaving, you feel like this is the Titanic.”

Wie has also been dealing with injuries. She'd developed tendinitis in her right wrist. Then, in February, she broke her left wrist. She came back too early.

“First, the wrist hadn't healed properly and she'd done very little rehab,” Leadbetter said. “You don't come back and play so fast. The injury has to heal and then you have to rehab it. Then you have to get stronger. When you don't use your wrist, the forearms and upper body atrophy. After you get stronger, you have to hit balls and get competitive. Then you play. Michelle bypassed the whole process.”
And... 
Wie is a wealthy young woman because of endorsements with Nike and Sony. For a time anyway, it seemed reasonable for her to play PGA Tour events. She had a dream, and she came close to making a PGA Tour cut when she was 14. But at some point, as Leadbetter said, her and her parents' approach became unrealistic.

“It's not even logical,” Leadbetter said. “I'm scared for her future.”

"Talk about a lost opportunity."

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Alan Shipnuck notes in this week's Hot/Not golf.com column something missed by most in the announcement of ESPN as new Masters cable partner:
1. Golf Channel. First it misplaced its 'The.' Now the Masters has dumped USA for a new Thursday-Friday cable provider, but it snubbed the so-called home of golf in favor of ESPN. Talk about a lost opportunity.

"Woods even picked out the flavors himself"

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This man is hands-on! And it's definitely a slow news day since I see nearly every paper online picked up this vital story.

Tiger Woods will have his own brand of sports drink next year under an endorsement deal announced Tuesday with Gatorade that marks a couple of firsts for the world's No. 1 golfer — his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement.

Gatorade said it will introduce "Gatorade Tiger" in March, with more products to follow. Woods even picked out the flavors himself, with the drink available in a cherry blend, citrus blend and grape.
That's so good to know!
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Golfweek magazine reported last month it was for five years and could pay Woods as much as $100 million, moving him closer to the $1 billion mark in career endorsements.

"There have been some licensing elements to things we've done," said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, who cited video games produced by EA Sports as an example. "But everything he does with Gatorade is going to be creating new products. It's something Tiger and I and our licensing business has been looking at for some time."
Fascinating! 
"Gatorade has been part of my game plan for years, whether I'm training or competing, so this is an ideal match," Woods said in a statement. "I'm eager to launch my first signature product in a few months and look forward to developing additional sports performance beverages with Gatorade in the coming years."

It's almost like he said that himself. Almost.

Woods, with 61 victories on the PGA Tour and 13 major championships, joins a stable of star athletes at Gatorade — Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning and Mia Hamm. None of those athletes has licensing deals, which also is a first for Gatorade, a division of PepsiCo.

"His iconic nature resonates everywhere he goes," said Jeff Urban, senior vice president of Gatorade. "Bridging that iconic nature with his will to win, those things make this a big deal for us."

Urban said it was too early to say how Gatorade would market Woods and his new product line, especially since the drink will not be available until the spring.

On pins and needles here.

The company released video of Woods going through sweat analysis testing with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, which tested such things as his sweat rate and energy needs during exercise.

Woods has endorsed everything from sports equipment and apparel (Nike) to financial services (Accenture) to automobiles (Buick) to shaving products (Gillette). His first beverage deal comes after 11 years as a professional.

"We wanted to get away from a straight endorsement deal in the beverage category," Steinberg said. "We thought this would be the best fit for his first licensing deal. It's authentic to what Tiger does every day, as hard as he works out every day."

Okay I gotta cut this one off.

Woods Skips Christening, U.S. Media Skips The Story

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I missed this story last week while traveling but I'm not sure what excuse the golf press has for not reporting it. Here it is, first reported (in English) by Marcus Oscarsson in the Times:

The golfer Tiger Woods has missed the baptism in Sweden of his three-month-old daughter, Sam, according to Swedish media reports.

Woods is married to the Swedish model Elin Nordegren, whose family turned out in force for the christening ceremony in Stockholm yesterday. But one source close to the family said: "“Everybody was very surprised over the fact that Tiger did not show up.”

This Daily Express story explored things a bit more:

While the traditional christening was important to Elin and her family, insiders said Woods’s Buddhist beliefs meant the ceremony was less of a priority.

However, photos of Woods, 31, posing with his arms around Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher at the fund-raiser 6,000 miles away merely fuelled gossip. One columnist wrote: “Hey, hasn’t the guy heard of a daily planner?

“Couldn’t he and Elin, have picked a free day – no charity events, no golf, no shooting a dozen TV ads – then had their daughter baptised?”

Elin’s Swedish relatives were reportedly “very surprised” her husband was not there.

After flying into Stockholm on a private jet, Elin, 27, and baby Sam Alexis Woods were picked up by the model’s twin sister Josefin and the baby was christened in a specially decorated gymnasium. Meanwhile, last Saturday’s Tiger Woods Block Party in California raised £500,000 for a school learning programme.

A friend said Woods was “in great spirits”, adding: “He was the life and soul of the party. We had no idea his baby was being christened on the same weekend.”

Allan Maki in the Globe and Mail was the only writer to question Tiger's decision:

But hey, hasn’t the guy heard of a daily planner? Couldn’t he and his wife, Swedish model Elin Nordegren, have picked a free day – no charity events, no golf, no shooting a dozen new TV ads – then had their three-month-old daughter baptized?

Now, I could care less what Tiger does or does not do with his spare time. And frankly, I can't say I blame him for skipping a baptism in a gymnasium halfway around the globe.

But considering that way too many questions asked of Tiger this year in press conferences were schmaltzy, lame and mindless softballs revolving around the birth of his daughter, resulting in countless "fatherhood will make him a more complete man" columns, shouldn't some of the scribblers who peddled that at least report this?