"Why would anyone bother trying to design a course for us?"

For those of you new readers who haven't followed the technology debate and its impact on the game, John Huggan offers a juicy primer that is also filled with some fresh quotes and thoughts for those of you who have tracked this key issue.

The other day, former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy played a round with friends at the splendid Kingston Heath course in his home city of Melbourne. When they came to the 567-yard 14th hole, which was playing downwind, admittedly, Ogilvy hit a good drive... before striking a 7-iron approach through the green.

That's not a misprint. How long does a hole have to be before one of the game's leading exponents is unable to reach the putting surface with two full-blooded shots? Given that Ogilvy hit a drive and 7-iron around 575 yards, he was capable of reaching a green about 200 yards further on with his 3-wood.

Let's make the hole 800 yards in length, just to make him think a little. As the world No.11 asked companions rhetorically: "Why would anyone bother trying to design a course for us?"

Fast forward... 

"I don't pay too much attention to distance statistics, because most of my courses are not being built for the professionals," says leading designer Tom Doak. "But I try to stay abreast of what's going on, because the governing bodies don't!"

Wow, the Doakster finally speaking out forcefully! Better late than never.

And from Huggan: 

The typical response to this new breed of tour player has been predictably, and disappointingly, one-dimensional. Most courses have resorted to golf's most boring hazard - longer and thicker rough - and ever-increasing length, and in the process have destroyed any semblance of strategic choice for players who are supposed to be the best.

In other words, thinking and planning have largely been eliminated from the game at the highest level. On almost every hole there is but one choice of shot, with the creation of interesting angles for the approach something those old guys did before technology ran amok. It is tedious and heartbreaking to watch and, no doubt, to play.

The danger is that the average golf club committee will imagine that growing more and deeper rough and creating longer holes by way of more back tees offer the way forward for their course. Big mistake. That approach ignores the fact that the average golfer gains little or no advantage from modern technology. Largely starved of the club-head speed that is yardage's fuel, his drives have "stretched" by only a few measly yards. Besides, there is a better way.

"On most of the courses we work on, we put in back tees for the good player only on those holes where the green size is appropriate," says former European Tour player Mike Clayton, now a much-respected course designer. "We would not, for example, make a 310-yard hole 40 yards longer just because we could.

"In fact, par-70 is the answer to many tour course design questions. By reducing the par by two shots, you create two less vulnerable holes. Throw in a couple of great short par-4s and a short par-3, and it is possible to keep a course around 7,000 yards in length while still making it both difficult and thought-provoking for the professionals, and playable for the members without having tees they never go anywhere near."

Of course, all of that could be achieved by hauling the ball back 50 yards. Come on guys, get it done!

50? Shoot, I'll take 20 at this point. 

"Well, it's a simple issue. You just fix it. You do it."

Bob Carney does a super job summing up the various debates and vigorous give-and-take that took place during the Golf Digest Panelist Summit, and offers this from Tom Fazio on his work at Augusta National. I missed his presentation today while flying the unfriendly skies. But it was a typically masterful blend of Fazio rationalization:

Fazio, who did that remodeling, was having none of it. "Put yourself in Hootie Johnson's postion. You are in charge. And you have the best players in the world and you have a venue that used to contain long, strong par 4s--No. 1, No. 5--that required a long drive and a mid-iron. What do you do. Well, it's a simple issue. You just fix it. You do it."

Yes, and it's been so well received.

Length, yes Tom. Rough, silly tree planting, no optional tee flexibility and an overriding emphasis on protecting egos through other contrived features?  Not working.

Fazio suggested another exercise in imagination. He said imagine Donald Ross, today, watching Tiger Woods tee off on Pinehurst No. 2. The ball explodes off the tee. "Donald Ross has never seen anything like this, says Fazio. "What do you think he thinks? He's going to say, 'If that's the way golf is now, we need to look at that.'"

Yes, on the regulatory side. But since Fazio has openly encouraged the distance expansion, it's clear he has his own best interests at heart over the health of the game. What a shame. 

A Few More Panelist Summit Comments

I sat through two enjoyable Powerpoint presentations by John Fought and Rees Jones here at the Carolina. Two points by Jones were of most interest.

Encouraging was his message to Golf Digest and the panel: categories like Aesthetics, Ambiance and Conditioning threaten to make the rankings "into a rich man's list." Losing those categories while emphasizing how much "continuing interest" (repeat playing fun) of a course would make, in Jones's view, for a better ranking that serves the game better. Naturally I wholeheartedly agree.

Another comment of interest was his disdain for the Golf Magazine panels' love of "collapsing" bunkers and how courses featuring this "fad" were overtaking their list and threatening to ruin it. Collapsing would be your Coore/Crenshaw/Bradley/Doak/Urbina/Hanse/Wagner/Devries etc. style that Rees has always hated, but unfortunately which many golfers are finding more appealing looking compared to cleaner, rounder hazards.

I got a giggle out of his remarks, yet on a similar theme, the panelists who had just played Pinehurst No. 2 were saying privately at the evening dinner (after Jaime Diaz gave a great talk on Tiger entering the design business) were consistently underwhelmed by the course. And in large part, their lack of enthusiasm stems from the course's lack of visual interest, and in particular, the bunkering as well as the mundane wall-to-wall Bermuda look eliminating much of the sandy scrub that once gave the course such a distinctive flavor. I have to say I strongly agree that Pinehurst has lost much of it's unique character and other than its distinctive greens, looks like way too ordinary.

So the morale of this story is simple: visual stuff does matter in making you want to play a course. I think those rugged, wild, inspiring and seemingly natural "collapsing" bunkers are here to stay.

More importantly, Rees posed for a photo with his favorite golf blogger (I've cropped the others in the shot to protect the innocent from any potential photo caption fun!).

Survival!

Yes, I have survived and can live to tell you about the Golf Digest Panelist Summit presentation I gave this evening in Pinehurst's St. Andrews Room. Rees Jones sat in the front row, which made things interesting when I showed a few photos of his work. But I have to say, the panelists were by far the best audience I've ever spoken to. They were fully engaged and asked some great questions after, while some offered very thoughtful counterpoints to my horribly biased take on classic architecture. Sorry, I know, you wanted horror stories!

I'd share more but there's a great history of Pinehurst on the hotel room widescreen that I just have to watch. And you hopefully have better things to do anyway.
 

"This is utter rubbish and it has to stop."

Dottie Pepper in the current SI Golf Plus:

What will it take for Team Wie to realize that things simply aren't working? There were whispers in tour circles earlier this season that her driver was actually heavier and stiffer than Tigers Woods's driver. Even if that's not true, it shows how poisonous the atmosphere around Wie has become. Some believe Michelle hasn't had a personal lesson with her teacher, David Leadbetter, in a very long time. Still, a simple video comparison from three years ago should make her deterioration apparent and be a wake-up call for Michelle's dad, B.J., who seems to have become her day-to-day coach. At the same time, B.J. and Michele's mom, Bo, have moved to Palo Alto, Calif., where Michelle is a freshman at Stanford.

This is utter rubbish and it has to stop. Michelle has already sacrificed her childhood, and now her college experience is in jeopardy as well. Let Michelle grow up and make her own decisions. Her play might or might not rebound. But what's happening right now goes way beyond birdies, bogeys and bank accounts. It's stifling the person as well as her game.

Great to see someone (as usual, Pepper) willing to state such an important point about Wie's future well being.

Greetings From Pinehurst

Greetings from the home of American golf. I'm informing you of my presence not because you should care, but should this be my final post, you will know where I met my demise. You see, I'm speaking to Golf Digest's annual gathering of panelist's and while Google has mercifully lost some of my more disparaging columns questioning the sanity of the panel or the rationale for such a panel gathering, I know some out there in panelist land never forget.

I'll be sure to let you know if I survive. I'm confident that the requested chicken wire from the Golf Digest audio-visual department should at least shield me from Newcastle's and Becks.

If the sun comes out I might even post some photos, but apparently the forecast is for (much needed) showery weather tomorrow and early Saturday. 

Let's Not Rewrite The Classics Yet

Now posted is my latest Golfdom column on questions about the restoration movement's validity

Also posted is David Frabotta's story on environmentally progressive superintendent Pat Blum's efforts to improve his own course and the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program's requirements.

"They need to start over anyway.”

From Rex Hoggard posting on the Golfweek blog:

Big talk on the practice range here at the Tesoro Club, site of this week’s PGA Tour stop, is on the wild fires that were raging in southern California.

One update late in the afternoon suggested Torrey Pines, site of the annual Buick Invitational and next year’s U.S. Open, is in danger of being scorched. “Good,” snorted one player, among the many who don’t like the changes to the venerable South Course, “they need to start over anyway.”

"In June 2007, Lincoln's only fairway mower broke."

Dan De Vries, Eden Anderson and Richard Harris authored a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed column on the latest at Lincoln Park, where the city and residents are battling over the course's future. I can't imagine why it's in poor shape:

Lincoln Park, the city's oldest and most scenic golf course, is Exhibit "A" for the need to change the public golf course maintenance status quo. Lincoln's fairways are a patchwork of gopher mounds, leaky-sprinkler-fed bogs, and brown patches where the water has been shut off to stop leaks. In June 2007, Lincoln's only fairway mower broke. Instead of repairing or replacing it, the Recreation & Park Department mowed the fairways infrequently all summer with a narrow, slow, trim mower, leaving grass so tall that the fairways became indistinguishable from the roughs. After rain, Lincoln's fairways become waterlogged and inhospitable both to golfers and mowers, due to poor drainage system. The quaint, 1920s clubhouse is dilapidated, its public rooms empty, food service minimal and the bathrooms dank. The pro shop and restaurant have been on a month-to-month lease for more than five years, discouraging the concessionaire from making needed repairs. It is more than coincidence that the number of annual rounds declined from 55,000 in 2002-03 to 35,000 in 2005-06, the last year for which complete figures are available. So far as we are aware, the city has no current cost estimates for the needed infrastructure repairs.

And this was disturbing...

Why is this happening? Between the Recreation and Park Department, the Board of Supervisors, and the Mayor's Office, no clear statement has been made of the city's intentions at Lincoln. But one thing is perfectly clear. Lincoln is extremely valuable property, as it adjoins the exclusive Seacliff neighborhood. When neglected or abused, such property becomes target for developers. And thus civic birthrights are lost. At Lincoln, there is an ironic twist to this old story: a so-called friend of public parks, San Francisco Neighborhood Parks Council, is calling for construction of an "event center" on Lincoln's famous 17th hole. No details have been released, but an "event center" inevitably means building complexes, roads, parking facilities, congestion, noise and traffic. And all of this in the middle of the famous view of the Golden Gate now enjoyed not only by golfers, but also neighbors, strollers, schoolchildren, bikers, motorists, dog-walkers, birders, museum-goers, not to mention visitors from around the world.

A shame the PGA Tour, which is using nearby Harding Park, can't step in and offer the city some assistance. Then again, maybe some of the city don't want any help. The worse it gets, the less it makes and as the columnists note, the more willing people are to accept redevelopment.  

Mickelson Home OK; Entire Family Heads To China On Human Rights Fact Finding Mission

Tim Rosaforte reports the good news and a heartwarming tidbit:

Phil Mickelson's home in Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.) has escaped fire damage, a source told Golf World on Wednesday, but five homes in the same neighborhood, including one across the street, have burned to the ground. Mickelson, whose family evacuated the home Monday, was able to gain access to his property Wednesday, and he's planning to leave Sunday for a two-week trip to Asia, where he's scheduled to play the Singapore Open and HSBC Champions.

Mickelson's family will accompany him; they're planning to turn it into an educational trip with a visit planned to the Great Wall of China, among other historical landmarks.

Oh I smell a children's book in the making. 

Meanwhile Rex Hoggard reports on the fire's impact on others in the golf industry. 

T&L Golf Profile of Rustic Canyon

Thomas Dunne profiles Rustic Canyon in the October Travel and Leisure Golf. Warning: I'm quoted extensively.

I've also posted various items related to the course, including before-after photo sequences. 

PGA Tour Players Find A New Course To Hate

I know you'll be shocked to find out, it's a Palmer. Craig Dolch reports:

Ask any player in the field for this week's inaugural PGA Tour Ginn sur Mer Classic about the Arnold Palmer-designed layout at the Tesoro Club, and you'll get a variety of responses.

Some of which you can even print in a family newspaper.

While unfamiliarity with any course causes consternation among golf professionals, especially when they're trying to keep their jobs, a lot of players don't think the course - unlike the meaning of Tesoro - to be much of a treasure.

One caddy called it a "walk-off" course, predicting at least one player will walk off in the middle of the round this week because of its quirky nature, not to mention long distances between holes that will require numerous shuttles from greens to tees, adding to the time of the round.

Shuttles. In Florida? Nice.

Another player, when asked about what he liked about the course, paused for a few seconds before he smiled and said, "It's got a lovely clubhouse."

To be fair, Palmer was designing this course for high-handicappers who don't come to resorts just for the golf. Moreover, the area has been hit with several storms recently that dumped more than 5 inches of rain, making the fairways soggy and muddy.

"If we hadn't gotten all that rain, it would have been a really good test," said Palm City resident Ken Duke, a Tesoro member who ranks 44th on the PGA Tour's money list. "It's still going to be (a good test), but it would have been a little tougher. I just hope there aren't a lot of negative comments about the golf course because of the long walks. There's nothing you can do about that."

Well, that's not entirely true, but...perhaps it's not just the architecture that's the only issue.

Hitting the fairways won't be easy because they've been narrowed in some spots to 15 yards, flanked by 23/4-inch Bermuda rough, to help put some teeth into the resort course.

15 yards? Take that USGA!

Because of logistical reasons, PGA Tour officials won't use the par-3 sixth hole on the Palmer course, replacing it with the par-4 18th on the adjacent Tom Watson course, making for par-73 layout. Jupiter's Robert Allenby said some other holes don't add up.

"On the 16th hole, I hit a driver that went through the fairway," he said. "So then I hit a 3-wood and that left me with a 3-iron. There's another short hole where you have to hit a driver or a 3-wood just to clear the hazard, then all you have is a wedge going in. It's not your typical course, but I will say this: These greens are the best we've putted on in South Florida this year."

Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen said he'll rely on an odd combination of clubs this week. "You need to hit your driver and your wedges well," he said. "There's a lot of long holes, as well as quite a few short ones."

Palm Beach Gardens pro Steve Marino was one of the few who wasn't complaining. "I don't know why everyone hates it," he said. "I have no problem with it."

One thing most players agree on is if the winds kick up this weekend, as they're supposed to do, this will not be a course where everyone goes low. Duke was asked to compare the Palmer course to the others used during the Fall Series.

"I think this golf course is five shots harder than any of them, no question," Duke said. "Maybe than some of other courses we play, too."

But no matter what the players say or how much they complain, someone will walk away with the $810,000 first prize this week.

"Everybody is playing the same course," said Johnson Wagner. "It doesn't make any sense to complain about it. Other than it being soggy, the course is in great shape. So just go out and play the course."

Ferguson: Monty Should Not Count On A Captain's Pick

Doug Ferguson reviews the history between lovebirds Faldo and Monty and concludes that if the round Scot wants to play at Valhalla before his self-appointed captaincy in 2010, he better play himself onto the team.

Montgomerie has played in every Ryder Cup since 1991. His 23 1/2 points are second only to Faldo and Bernhard Langer. He has never lost a singles match, and one more singles victory would break the Ryder Cup record he shares with the likes of Faldo, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead.

Yet, that won’t assure him a spot on the team, especially not with Faldo as the captain.

They were contemporaries, but rarely rivals. Montgomerie narrowly beat him to capture his first Order of Merit in 1993, but Faldo spent the rest of his decade focusing on the PGA Tour, the toughest tour in golf, where Monty never won.

Their social relationship began to slide in 1999, two weeks before the Ryder Cup. Faldo was at the Canadian Open when he was asked why Montgomerie, who was on his way to a seventh consecutive Order of Merit, had never tried to spend a full season on the PGA Tour.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t thought of doing something different as a challenge,” Faldo said. “But hell, I think he likes to earn his fat checks each week, which is no harm in that, I guess. If you’re motivated by that. A few are. Most of us go for 10 Claret Jugs.”

Montgomerie was hurt. European captain Mark James was so outraged that when Faldo wrote the team a note wishing them well, James tore it up and tossed it in the trash.

And...

One of the most amazing transformations in golf was from Faldo, the prickly superstar with few words and even fewer friends, to Faldo, the golf analyst with a dry wit who can’t stop talking. He probably would host infomercials if Golf Channel would let him.

Being a captain makes him competitive again.

“My days of winning majors have gone, and now this is the biggest project in my golf career right now,” he said. “So yes, it’s very important to me.”

There is an aura about Faldo that appeals to a younger generation — Paul Casey, Nick Dougherty, Luke Donald — who grew up with Faldo as the face of European golf. His contemporaries, such as Torrance and James, have experienced the selfish side of Nasty Nick.

But they won’t be playing for him.

And if Montgomerie doesn’t make the team on his own, he might not be, either.
 

"They are behaving as they please. Korea has become a chaotic place where violence reigns."

A follow up to the Korea golf tournament uh, riot, from the English edition of The Chosun Ilbo (I type that like I'm a longtime reader...LPGAFan apparently is):

On Sunday, around 500 spectators shouted curses and threw water bottles for about 50 minutes at a golf resort hosting an LPGA tournament in Kyongju. They demanded a refund of their entrance fees and transportation costs after the contest was suspended for a third day because of strong winds. One of the spectators even flashed an obscene hand gesture and verbally threatened a foreign golfer who had come out to sign autographs. Fearing for their safety, the LPGA golfers left the club in a hurry.

Contest officials say they were just following regulations when they delayed and canceled the matches because of sudden showers and lightning storms. The spectators who attend matches also know the rules. Those golfers will talk about the violence displayed by Korean spectators as they travel around the world. This is a tremendous embarrassment.

Both the unionists and the spectators have abandoned their sense of order and dignity. They are behaving as they please. Korea has become a chaotic place where violence reigns.

Whoa there. No, no...they just love their LPGA golf!

Southern California Fires Hitting Golf Community

Brian Hewitt reports that Phil Mickelson and family are among the San Diego area's 250,000 evacuees and that the good folks running next week's Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek are facing several issues, including access to their homes and the course.