A Visit To The Hope

Before visiting The Classic Club for today's third round of Bob Hope Classic play, I caught some of Thursday's telecast featuring a quintessential Hope moment.

Host George Lopez was playing at La Quinta Country Club and after a tee shot, entered someone's home where a large, festive gathering had assembled to watch the groups go through. Lopez sampled some dips, hugged a few of the guests, then uttered "thanks for not calling the police" and was on his way.

I note this because it was just the kind of simple fun that the Hope should be all about. 

Fast forward to today where I visited the Classic Club to talk to players after their six hour round. Well, only five stuck around to hit balls, a couple of others hit putts, and the rest were out of there as soon as possible. Thankfully Jeff Sluman and his insights made the trip worthwhile. But I digress.

The Classic Club holes I walked were not horrific, but the overshaping combines with the excessive scale to eliminate any of the intimacy that you find on the old desert courses. You won't see George Lopez going in someone's backyard or even into the gallery without having to work hard due to the climbs.

Since fans and volunteers have to work hard to get around the course and most are well outside of the coveted demo, the atmosphere is anything but festive. It's a shame because the tournament is well run and so many volunteers are devoted to the cause. But they can only give so much before the host course situation dampens their enthusiasm.

"The forward-thinking PGA has agreed to allow GPS use across its tournament calendar in 2008"

Thanks to reader Nick for catching this latest cave-in on rangefinders (I know, we're back to the good old days of golf debates over distance devices instead of nooses...for now):

SkyCaddie today welcomed the PGA’s groundbreaking decision to sanction the use of GPS rangefinders in its professional events this year – including the Irish PGA Championship, Scottish PGA Championship and the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship.

The market-leading distance measuring device was made official rangefinder of the PGA earlier this year and was used to monitor pace-of-play statistics during the PGA’s prestigious Glenbrae Fourball eight qualifying rounds and final at Fulford Golf Club in October.

Now, following positive results, the forward-thinking PGA has agreed to allow GPS use across its tournament calendar in 2008 – a decision taken at its executive committee meeting on 15th January. Other leading golf bodies are now expected to monitor closely the success of the scheme.

"Categorically, none whatsoever"

Steve Elling weighs in on Golfweek's replacement of Dave Seanor, and his piece includes this item on the possibility that the PGA Tour threatened any kind of advertising boycott:

The magazine's decision to use the controversial cover was first reported Tuesday on CBSSports.com. Thursday, a tour official indicated that advertising from the World Golf Village and its merchants might be pulled from the magazine as a result of the inflammatory cover artwork. The tour itself does not advertise with the magazine, though the World Golf Village is run by tour employee Jack Peter, who noted that the ad agreement was being reconsidered.

Nonetheless, tour vice president Ty Votaw said Friday that the tour did not bring to bear any pressure, either editorially or economically, that helped precipitate Seanor's ouster.

"Categorically, none whatsoever," Votaw said.

He also told the Associated Press: "Jack was not speaking on behalf of the PGA Tour. I can categorically tell you the PGA Tour has not threatened any advertising pull."

Golfweek Fires Editor Seanor*****

Gary Van Sickle reports the news which comes in response to the dreaded noose cover. Jeff Babineau will take over.  Thanks to reader Tony for spotting the golf.com story.

Van Sickle reports that Tim Finchem's comments combined with a likely advertising boycott led to his undoing. One wonders what other boycotts might have been coming had Golfweek not made a change.

Update on 2008-01-18 16:07 by Geoff

**Golfweek and Seanor's standing could not have been helped by columns like this one from Michael Bamberger spoofing potential cover images for other big events.

For instance, you may remember the Ryder Cup at the Country Club in 1999, when Justin Leonard holed that monster putt to secure at the least a tie for the U.S. and the American players ran all over the green even though Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain still had a meaningful putt. The SI cover shot showed Justin Leonard, celebrating, putter in the air. Bad choice.

Here's how that story should have been illustrated: a picture of Spaniards being trampled by bulls running through the streets in Pamplona.

Update on 2008-01-18 16:53 by Geoff

***Golfweek issues a statement and the announcement of a new editor:

“We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country,” said William P. Kupper Jr., president of Turnstile Publishing Co., the parent company of Golfweek. “We were trying to convey the controversial issue with a strong and provocative graphic image.  It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic.”

And...

“We know we have a job ahead of us to re-earn the trust and confidence of many loyal readers,” Babineau said. “Our staff is very passionate about the game. Our wish is that one regretful error does not erase more than 30 years of service we’ve dedicated to this industry.”

Update on 2008-01-18 19:35 by Geoff

***Richard Sandomir in the New York Times:

The magazine, with a circulation of 160,000, nearly all of it by subscription, also received about 100 to 150 demands for cancellations.

As far as was known, no advertisers have pulled out, but William P. Kupper Jr., president of Turnstile Publishing Company, the parent company of Golfweek, announced Friday morning that Seanor had been replaced by Jeff Babineau.

"It's also frustrating for Joe Ogilvie and Brad Faxon and David Toms, and also our independent directors"

Mark Lamport Stokes reports that Stewart Cink is taking exception to players who take an exception to the exceptional new cut rule:

"It's frustrating to me knowing that I put in a lot of time personally into decision making with the policy board," Cink told Reuters after Thursday's second round at the Bob Hope Classic.

"It's also frustrating for Joe Ogilvie and Brad Faxon and David Toms, and also our independent directors," the 34-year-old American added, referring to his colleagues on the Tour's policy board.

"We put a lot time into these decisions, there's a lot of study that goes on and then when something comes around, a lot of players blow the whistle and say: 'Hey, we didn't know.'

"Well I don't know what else we can do. We tried to notify everybody in at least three or four different ways, and that includes managers and spouses.

"Somebody needs to get the message to these players of the changes that are going on on their tour. It is their tour. It is very frustrating."

"The golf industry can lay claim to being a bigger American business than the motion-picture industry, newspaper publishing and the combined performing arts and other spectator sports."

Steve Elling reports on the seminar joined by Steve Mona, David Fay, Joe Steranka and Tim Finchem at the PGA Show to trot out some pretty wild numbers:

Orlando or not, the numbers sound like Disney fiction: The industry generates $76 billion annually in direct economic impact and can claim approximately 2 million jobs with a wage impact of $61 billion nationally.

The stage could not have been better to relay the splashy message. The PGA expo this year features 1 million feet of exhibit space and will draw an estimated 45,000 spectators for the week. So, from that standpoint, officials such as Mona and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who helped present the new data, were preaching to the choir.

The research was conducted by SRI International, which used federal government models to arrive at its estimates. This marked the second time the sport commissioned an economic study, and despite a broad slump in the sport's growth rate since the survey was conducted five years ago, the numbers have jumped markedly from the initial figure of $62 million.

And...

"We want to be able to quantify how big our industry has become," Mona said.

The primary indices used to measure the impact were from greens fee revenues, tourism, real-estate developments linked to golf, equipment sales, plus other money generated by courses (food, weddings, dances) and the like.

Don't forget Batmitzvahs...

"Golf generates more money than any other sport in the world that we know of," Mona said.

Now, wait a sec here. Don't people bet a fair amount on the NFL?

Update on 2008-01-18 06:48 by Geoff

The PGA Tour release says:

St. Augustine, FL, January 17, 2008 – A comprehensive new study, commissioned by the World Golf Foundation’s GOLF 20/20 initiative, has determined that golf in the United States generated $76 billion in direct economic impact in 2005, up significantly from $62 billion five years ago. The study, the 2005 Golf Economy Report, was conducted by SRI International. It was designed by the leadership of GOLF 20/20 as an update to a similar SRI study that measured the U.S. golf economy in 2000.

In addition to golf’s direct revenues, the 2005 Golf Economy Report presents for the first time the direct, indirect, induced and total economic impact of golf on the U.S. economy.  The report indicates that golf generated a total economic impact of $195 billion in 2005, creating approximately 2 million jobs with wage income of $61 billion.

PGA Tour and Friends Boycotting Golfweek?

Steve Elling reports on his CBSSports.com blog that Golfweek may face a boycott from PGA Tour related advertising, starting with the World Golf Hall of Fame:

Jack Peter, an official with the PGA Tour whose duties include running the World Golf Village in nearby St. Augustine, said tour officials on Thursday told Golfweek representatives that advertising might be withdrawn because of the tour's discomfort over the noose issue.

Peter said approximately $50,000 in ads for the World Golf Village might be canceled, creating the possibility that other advertisers could follow suit. He described the Thursday meeting with Golfweek representatives, which had been scheduled long before the cover-image controversy erupted this week, as "awkward."

"We have an (advertising ) agreement in place, but the contract has not been signed," Peter said. "I don't know that I am comfortable going forward with it."

Didn't Callaway put a huge dent in Golfweek budgets by pulling ads after ERC related commentary?

Finchem Blasts Golfweek

Jerry Potter reports that Commissioner Tim Finchem made the unusual move of issuing a statement on Golfweek's noose cover:

"Clearly, what Kelly said was inappropriate and unfortunate, and she obviously regrets her choice of words," Finchem said. "But we consider Golfweek's imagery of a swinging noose on its cover to be outrageous and irresponsible. It smacks of tabloid journalism. It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion."

Jeese, tell us what you really think.
 

Meanwhile, Ryan Ballengee makes an interesting point about the irony and hypocrisy of it all:

Golfweek's own Jeff Rude was among the first asking fans to drop the issue and forgive Tilghman for her gaffe. His own publication is not dropping the issue, though. They are devoting a cover to it - a cover that contains the image of a symbol that is becoming reborn in the southern influenced parts of the country as notice of racial deference, e.g., the Jena 6 case.

In essence, the cover propagates the coverage of the comment. It is continuing the news cycle on this particular story. I think that is unfortunate and inappropriate. The media should not be in the business of continuing to cover itself. It happens in varying forms, from when ESPN says that their reporters are reporting a story that someone else broke, to a magazine drawing other ink for making a controversial cover about a controversial media story. It can be enough to make the average sports fan's head spin at times.

The irony of this post is that the ploy is working. Elling, myself, and others are writing about what is being written and shown as a symbol of what Kelly Tilghman said. Maybe I should be lumped in with the crew that I am lambasting, but I thought this issue deserved a special comment.

"The tour sent an e-mail when the change was approved in November."

Doug Ferguson follows up on the cut controversy with this item in his notes column:

The Player Advisory Council considered four options before approving the proposal that only the nearest number to 70 play on the weekend if the cut includes more than 78 players. The proposal passed by a 75 percent margin.
 
The other options were top 60 and ties; top 65 and ties, as is done in Europe; the nearest number to 70 regardless of how many players finishing top 70 and ties; and a Saturday cut of top 70 and ties which Jeff Sluman has advocated for years.

Hey, now there's a great idea.  And we know how much traction those usually have. 

The most bogus complaint of the weekend was that players didn't know about the new policy. That's their fault. The tour sent an e-mail when the change was approved in November. It was in the "green sheet" report they get in the mail and in lockers. It was available on "Tour Links," the players' web site. And it was attached as a cover sheet to the 2008 regulations everyone received.

I have no sympathy with the player's plight considering the above.

But more than that, how can you feel for them when they play so terribly slow? This rule was brought on in large part because of pace of play. Granted, distance advances have totally changed the pace of play dynamics on many courses by introducing longer walks to new back tees, automatic fairway waits on nearly all par-5s and long waits on short par-4 tees that never existed.

Still, PGA Tour players are horribly slow. So unless they adopt something like the USGA's new pace of play policy that actually penalizes slow play and read the memos sent their way, do they really have a gripe? 

"PGA Tour officials, though, said Lopez didn't have the power to promote the Hope in such a manner, thereby killing the diary."

L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers says he wanted to do one of his entertaining 24/7 column series where he follows a figure around and documents all. But he's claiming "PGA Tour officials" shot it down.  I'm not sure I'm buying it, but here's what he claims:

I HAD plans to attend the Bob Hope Classic this week in the desert -- thinking maybe somebody should go.

It's a dying PGA tournament, as you know, and aren't they all when Tiger isn't playing?

This one is so far gone it's not on network TV this weekend, has none of the top 20 players in the world, and will be competing for attention here with the NFL, Lakers and UCLA taking on USC.

But I still thought it'd be fun to shadow the Hope's celebrity host, George Lopez, like I did Oscar De La Hoya before his last two fights, and like the week-long trip to Nebraska -- write four or five Page 2 diary columns on the Hope.

Lopez, proving he's willing to do almost anything for the Hope, agreed to make himself available 24/7, including parties, dinners and an invite to caddy for him Saturday.

PGA Tour officials, though, said Lopez didn't have the power to promote the Hope in such a manner, thereby killing the diary. The concern, of course, what happens if one of the golfers is seen wearing a lampshade at one of the parties? How would it look on Page 2 if I couldn't put a name to a face of one of their players?

It was a legitimate concern since the tour is now loaded with players who lack identity -- the exception being JohnDaly, who wouldn't draw a second look if he was wearing a lampshade, because that's John Daly.

The PGA Tour's idea of hyping the dying Hope was to make three players available for interviews Tuesday, and if I told you three of the six names here belong to golfers -- Lane Frost, Charley Hoffman, Billy Bishop, John Ware, Anthony Kim and RichardJohnson -- could you pick them out?

Hoffman is Hope's defending champ, and was joined in the interview tent by Kim and Johnson. The other three names belong to men who really are dead.

"If the tour can change courses to get Tiger, they could do the same for Phil. It would save The Hope."

Tim Rosaforte says he'd rather hang in Abu Dabi than the desert this week, offering this Classic Club related quote from Joe Ogilvie:

"What's somewhat frustrating is that the player directors have almost zero power over venue," Ogilvie said. "No matter how much we say we feel like we're making a mistake going to these golf courses, it kind of falls on deaf ears."

More powerful though was Rosaforte pointing out the irony of this week's Westchester-to-Ridgewood-to-appease-Tiger-move, and the likely permanent loss of Mickelson from the Hope as long as they stay at the Classic Club:

If the tour can change courses to get Tiger, they could do the same for Phil. It would save The Hope.

"Is this worse than the original offense?"

Steve Elling blogs about Golfweek's latest cover (which follows, help me here, a pill and some other strange stock photo recently?).

Traditionally conservative Golfweek magazine, one of the game's two national weekly magazines, is courting considerable controversy by putting an image of a hangman's noose on its next edition.

As civil rights activists grumble over Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman's comment Jan. 4 about Tiger Woods, the magazine is unveiling a series of follow-up stories on the issue, which includes feedback from former network broadcaster Ben Wright, who was canned by CBS several years ago for making sexist comments and lying about it to his superiors.

But is emphasizing the noose, given its racist connotations and galling symbolism, a form of intentional journalistic pandering?

"There was a great deal of debate over it," Golfweek editor Dave Seanor said Wednesday of the magazine's in-house deliberations. "But it was the news of the week, no question about it. That's what everybody in the game is talking about."

Tour Comments On Ridgewood Letter...Sort Of

From Golf Central's January 15 edition, reporting on the Ridgewood Country Club letter first reported here:

Hawkins To Rory: You've Got A Friend

After this latest rendition of the "The Angry Golfer" column, I see James Taylor-Carole King style duet with John Hawkins and Rory Sabbatini perhaps opening the GWAA dinner at Augusta belting out a heartfelt rendition of You've Got A Friend:

When Sabbatini bailed out of last month's Target World Challenge with 18 holes to play, the anti-Rorys found their pigeon on a silver platter. No one seems to mind when John Daly quits on a tournament. Tour pros whip out lame excuses to withdraw from events all the time. We want these guys to be unboring, to speak their minds and show us some personality, then batter them like piñatas when they show their true colors or reveal a bit of candor. Call it the game's hypocritical oath.

"Golf teaches us to have vision. The great players all have a plan — look to the future."

The USA Today's Steve DiMeglio writes about why Tim Finchem is a great humanitarian and all around savior of the game. Nothing too earth-shattering in the piece, but a few of the numbers mentioned got my attention:

"I've learned to take the long view of things," says Finchem, who got a six-year extension in 2006 from the Tour's board of directors at $4.5 million a year. "Golf teaches us to have vision. The great players all have a plan — look to the future."

Brilliant. Sounds likes the Commish read Golf In the Kingdom one to many times. Oh and I think that $4.5 million a year number is a bit dated, right?

But Finchem, who presided over the last three TV negotiations, worked out a six-year, $3 billion contract with CBS and NBC that runs through 2012 and a 15-year deal with The Golf Channel.

Has anyone ever seen that $3 billion number before? I don't remember that one.

The Golf Channel's reach is growing, from 68 million homes when the deal was signed to 80 million homes this year. TV exposure overseas is rising, too, with revenue increasing 36% in 2007 and providing more than $50 million a year.

That's good to know. Should help pay some salaries.