"The fact is, I don't have anything else to do."

Lee Trevino, on golf.com, and brutally honest about his brief retirement:

That's why I'll be back for the 2008 season, my 43rd year in the game. I'll probably play about a dozen events, starting in Florida next winter. I really love seeing the guys, but the fact is, I don't have anything else to do. There's nothing wrong with wanting to retire. I wouldn't miss competing. I don't do that very well these days anyway. But I don't have anything else to fill my time. If I owned a golf course or a driving range in my hometown of Dallas, and I could get up, drop my kid at school and then spend five or six hours a day at work, that would be fine, but I don't have anything like that in my life.

Points Tweaks To Encourage Volatility**

According to Doug Ferguson, who reviews the 2007 PGA Tour season:

Tour officials are busy running hundreds of models to tweak the [FedEx Cup] points system, putting particular emphasis on players’ concerns the four playoff events were not volatile enough. In other words, they want more guys to have a chance, but it’s a tough balancing act keeping the regular season meaningful.

Any volatility would help quite a bit, much more so than reducing the field sizes. 

Update on 2007-11-06 16:14 by Geoff

Golf World's Jim Moriarty quotes Joe Durant, who seems less than thrilled with the progress on a FedEx Cup "tweak."

"I will say this. After the FedEx Cup was over this year, they were open to ­pretty much any and all suggestions," he said. "They want to make it better going forward, as we all do. The flip side of that, we sat in Scottsdale last week [to] talk about changing the point structure and [said] we'd like to see some models, but there were no models presented to us to show us how it would change. I think guys were frustrated with that because we want to see what's on the table. What can we do to change it? Now, we're going to have another PAC [Players Advisory Council] meeting by phone after next week and then we have the policy-board meeting after that. We've got to make some ­pretty quick decisions. The point structure doesn't necessarily have to be changed until the playoffs, but guys just want to have it put to bed."

And...

"I think more than anything, guys want to see a little more volatility at the end of the year, especially in the playoff tournaments. When you only have one or two or three guys moving in and out of tournaments, that's not enough movement, I don't think. Most guys felt the same way."

Requiem for a Country Club

Thanks to reader Steven T. for catching Rich Lerner's memories of Berkleigh Country Club, which recently closed and auctioned off plenty of memories.

I thought this was particularly interesting since I've recently heard of a number of clubs having serious trouble attracting new members.

Berkleigh was 81 years old. People die at 81, not lush golf courses with rich history. At 81 they get curvier and prettier. So many clubs, though, struggle now, desperate for members and families. Who has time, what with kids and jobs and the Internet and TIVO and 300 channels? Who goes to dinner dances anymore? Dressing up these days means Lucky Brand jeans with a Banana Republic t-shirt.

My generation had kids later in life. And either because we really wanted to be better dads or were driven through societal pressure, we went to Little League baseball games and soccer matches on Saturday mornings, joining the fitness craze and the $70-a-month gyms instead of country clubs.
 
Today, I travel more than 20 weeks a year and because of my job get more than enough invites to quality clubs to keep me satisfied. Most guys I know play a couple of times a month, maybe at a high-end daily fee or as a guest at a nice club. Many of us know at least a few of the generous and fortunate who belong to great places, those with gilded reputations that put them beyond the reach of economic downturns.

Striking Writers Take Comfort In Jack Wagner Heading Golf Digest's List Of Actors With Too Much Time On Their Hands

I know you are just dying to know how many shots it's going to take for Lucas Black to catch Jack Wagner, so here's the link.

Oh and please don't ask about the accompanying photo. Beats me what they were going for.

Mickelson Family Safari Makes Up For Otherwise Miserable Week In Singapore

Grant Clark reports that Phil Mickelson had his highest round in 3 years and is on antibiotics after inhaling California's ashen air.

But at least the kids had fun on the Singapore safari.

Snap

I just installed a new little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Final Money Lists

The final PGA Tour money list where the top 125 are fully exempt next year and the top 30 gets you in the Masters.

And the final Nationwide Tour money list reveals some familiar and new names in the top 25 earning a PGA Tour card.

Gulbis Seeks To Shed Image As Hot, Athletic Babe

Thanks to reader Jeff for this Jeffrey Kelley story on the planned "rebranding" of Natalie Gulbis.

I know I say this a lot, but really, you couldn't make this up...

Natalie Gulbis, the 24-year-old golfer best known -- at least until recently -- for her good looks, will be rebranded by Circle S Studios.

A 2008 calendar and day planner designed by the marketing shop in Old Manchester follows Gulbis' first LPGA Tour title at the Evian Masters in France in June.

The blonde Gulbis has done calendars since 2004. Pictures in her 2005 calendar -- in swimsuits or dresses -- were deemed provocative by the U.S. Golf Association. Though it was criticized for overreacting, the USGA banned the calendar's sale at the U.S. Women's Open.

The 2008 calendar, by contrast, is all golf and pushes Gulbis' game face.

"With the original stuff, she was in a beautiful bathing suit, tights and things and that certainly got the attention of a lot of people," said Circle S President and Managing Partner Susan Hogg. "But we're trying to scoot it more to who she is and where she wants to take [her career and name] . . . and being a role model, specifically to young girls and women in general. That's the brand we're trying to portray."

What a great idea. This is beautiful:

Hogg described the company's work as "a refinement of a truer image of who she is. Sometimes the media can start to control your brand, and we're trying to take control of the brand."

Just put some glasses on her, feature calendar photos of her signing her scorecard or taking a lesson from Butch, and I guarantee you'll have control of the brand as it heads right down the toilet. 

Still, it's not as though the tall, blue-green-eyed Gulbis will leave the minds of the males who know her. "They're still beauty shots. She's an attractive, wonderful athlete," Hogg said.

Whew, I was worried.

Ah, more #@&%!#$:

"The calendar is just one element of how you get perceived in the marketplace, so we tried to step back and look holistically in terms of how is she being positioned" in public, Hogg said.

That's why they get the big bucks. Helps pay for the therapy when they decide to look back at their life accomplishments and see quotes printed like that.

The firm, which occupies a converted box warehouse, is putting together "a series of recommendations, a strategic marketing plan" to Gulbis' sports-marketing firm, Octagon, Hogg said. Circle S is considering new merchandise and interactive features on the Web to help cater to the female teenage demographic -- conveying an all-American girl who eats well, exercises and works hard. "That's how you rise to the top, instead of the sex symbol, which is how it started out," Hogg said.

And it isn't doing so bad is she?

Connery, Sherwood Settle Just In Time To Spare All Involved Of Fighting Over Embarrassing Details In Court

According to Marc Horne of the Scotsman, Sherwood Country Club settled a suit brought by Sean Connery that was due to be heard in court Tuesday where Joe Pesci and Craig T. Nelson were expected to testify.

Gaffe Channel At Disney

Steve Elling notes a most unusual (well, silly) decision by the Golf Channel Saturday.

Bubble Boys

PGATour.com has the bubble boys heading into Sunday's final round at Disney.

Bob Harig looks at some of the bubble players who missed the 36 hole cut.

And on the Q-school front all of the first stage sites have completed play. Here's a link to all of the various scoring pages.

Bethpage Changes

Brad Klein of Golfweek details changes in progress at Bethpage Black in advance of the 2009 U.S. Open.

The work at Bethpage-Black is being designed by architect Rees Jones, with construction work carried out in-house and overseen by superintendent Craig Currier. The work, paid for by Bethpage (unlike earlier renovation work there, which was funded by the USGA) is already well underway, with new tees and at least one major bunker in place, and more slated in the next few months.

What a great use of state funds!

The par-70 course, which played 7,214 yards in 2002, is being stretched by 250 yards to 7,464 yards. Not coincidentally, the 3.5 percent additional length correlates closely to the 3.2 percent gain in average driving distance on the PGA Tour from 2002 (280 yards) to 2007 (289.2 yards).

Does that mean in 2018 they will...ah forget it.

The two biggest changes to Bethpage-Black are taking place on the only two holes that played to an average score of under par during the 2002 U.S. Open. The par-5 13th hole (avg. score in 2002 was 4.941) is being stretched from 554 yards to 605, with a new tee currently under construction adjacent to a new pump station that is being installed. The hole is also slated to get a new fairway bunker that will pinch the driving area from the left.

Glad we're correcting those defects!

This was interesting: 

During a site inspection by USGA officials to Bethpage on Tuesday, plans were also discussed by which Bethpage-Black would be develop a density of rough that was not quite as thick, lush and punitive as was the case during recent U.S. opens such as at Winged Foot in 2006 or Oakmont in 2007. Mike Davis, USGA senior director of rules and competitions, who was among those at Bethpage-Black this week, said “the goal would be to have rough that’s penal, but playable – not just chopping out, but would leave players with the chance to advance the ball, even if the spin were taken off and it would be difficult to control.”

That model of rough was first developed at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1999 and represents a refinement of the idea that primary rough ought to be simply a punishment. It remains to be seen how such a rough can be achieved on Bethpage’s notoriously dense, heavily fertilized ryegrass, with some Poa annua, bluegrass and fescue. But course officials have plenty of time to figure that out, as well as to complete installation of those new back tees.

Maybe Phil's wrist injury actually did hit home with the USGA and just maybe someone (well, Mike Davis) has the sense to start telling these courses to throttle back with the rough-on-steroids harvesting? 

Maybe Phil doesn't need to write that letter of apology to Oakmont, as Tim Rosaforte suggested? 

"That was when the "new breed" of business-savvy young pros, including Tiger Woods, began to recognize such moments as the branding opportunities they are..."

The Wall Street Journal's John Paul Newport pens an entertaining look at the hat-doffing trend in professional golf. I love the part about the LPGA Tour:

Henry Hughes, the PGA Tour's longtime chief of operations, pegs the increase in ritualized hat-doffing on the 18th green to 1998 or 1999. That was when the "new breed" of business-savvy young pros, including Tiger Woods, began to recognize such moments as the branding opportunities they are, and consequently transmitted the hat-doffing bug into the public bloodstream.

The 18th-green rituals on the LPGA Tour, incidentally, are much different. In large part that's because the relationship between hat and hair for women is more complex, which makes simple doffing more difficult. According to Ty Votaw, now an executive vice president at the PGA Tour but formerly the LPGA commissioner and still the husband of LPGA star Sophie Gustafson, the protocols work like this: Players who know and like each other hug, players who know each other but aren't especially fond "air hug," and players who didn't know each other before the round shake hands. Male caddies and players cheek-kiss.

"I look forward to helping unlock the true brand value that is embedded within MacGregor and Greg Norman Collection and to achieving their full potential.”

Look at Greg Norman, new MacGregor board member, giving the Commissioner a serious run in the corporatespeak gibberish divsion:

"The recapitalization positions MacGregor for sustained growth,” said Norman. “This is a very positive step for the company, and I look forward to helping unlock the true brand value that is embedded within MacGregor and Greg Norman Collection and to achieving their full potential.”

Online Handicap Access

The question was raised once before here, but I think that based on the many interesting comments in the post below on Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal getting caught playing golf while the company burned, there is an interesting debate here on the positives and negatives of so easily researching handicaps online.

I'd love to hear if you all think this has been a good thing for the game or if incidents like this only do golf harm? After all, as many noted, O'Neal might have been doing some entertaining and who is to say there was much he could do back at the office? But in general, his undoing was in part driven by the image of him out enjoying our beloved sport. And based on the fact he was canned, the imagery is not positive to the outside world.

Anyway, is it a good thing that handicaps are available to see for anyone and everyone in the world?

Or might it be better to only allow access for other registered handicap golfers (if that's even possible)?

Update on 2007-11-02 13:44 by Geoff

Thanks to reader Guy for pointing out Kate Kelly's Wall Street Journal story Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne is under fire for various reasons (excessive gambling, 420 addiction, lots of golf) and that he was exposed in part because he turned in some scores.

About this time, Mr. Cayne began his summertime ritual of taking a helicopter from New York City to Deal, N.J., on Thursdays to make a late-afternoon golf game at the exclusive Hollywood Golf Club, associates say. (He pays for the 17-minute, $1,700 trips himself, one person says.) After spending the night in his vacation home nearby, associates add, Mr. Cayne generally hits the golf course again Friday morning for another 18 holes, followed by 8 a.m. tee-offs on Saturday and Sunday. Friends say that after his Saturday game, he often heads back to his local home for several hours of online poker and bridge and to play with his grandchildren.

He played online poker and bridge with his grandchildren? Sorry, my bad.

Samuel Molinaro Jr., Bear's chief operating and financial officer, says, "I've never had a problem reaching him."

In the first week of June, the more leveraged fund told investors who wanted out that it couldn't immediately return their money. Wall Street creditors that had lent the fund money reacted sharply to this news, making margin calls, or requests for additional collateral. One creditor, Merrill Lynch & Co., which was owed $400 million, seized the assets that backed its loan on June 15. Mr. Cayne was on the golf course in New Jersey part of that day, a Friday, having left the office Thursday afternoon, according to a Web site that tracks individuals' golf scores.

Mr. Angelo says Mr. Cayne doesn't carry a cellphone or email device while golfing, in accordance with a policy at the Hollywood club. Mr. Povich says that on Fridays, Mr. Cayne would occasionally use a land line near the course's ninth hole to check in with the office. Associates of Mr. Cayne say top Bear executives often didn't try to contact him between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Fridays, preferring to leave messages with his assistants at Bear to call the office when he was free.

Update on 2007-11-02 17:25 by Geoff

On the subject of Cayne, the New York Post was far more direct, Photoshopping his face over Ty Webb's torso and writing:

According to online postings about his golf game, Cayne was on the course on Thursday, June 14 - the day Bear Stearns reported an embarrassing 10 percent drop in profits. The following Thursday he also was on the links as Wall Street recoiled from moves by other big banks to squeeze Bear Stearns for more money to back up loans to a collapsing hedge fund.

And sure enough, the following day - when Bear Stearns had to put up a stunning bailout pledge of $3.2 billion to rescue its imploding hedge fund - he was back at Hollywood taking his swings.

Still, despite those added hours on the course, his game only got worse. On June 14 he shot a 96; on June 22 a 98. He split the difference with a 97 the next day.

Most institutional investors resisted commenting on Cayne's golf habits while others found they weren't out of line.

"Being a 7-handicap myself, when you go out of the office you're always in contact with what's happening," said one investment firm's CEO. "His scores are so bad, I think he's spending too much time at work," quipped a portfolio chief.