Cast Your Vote!

A pair of online surveys worth your time, the first on the lower right of ESPN.com's golf page asking if PGA Tour courses should "be set up to encourage low scores or protect par?" You can explain your thinking here and just maybe your comments will appear in Golf World.

As of this posting 299 votes have been cast and 74% say protect par. Apparently with all of the bad news surrounding Ambien the 74%ers are searching for sleeping pill alternatives.

Meanwhile Steve Elling is trying to decide who to vote into the World Golf Hall of Fame and is asking for reader suggestions.

"I know this is a complicated issue. Hopefully it can be addressed in the near future."

Tiger Woods made a little bit of news in his blog/newsletter post this week:

When I was in Tucson last week, I did a little shopping and noticed my new "Gatorade Tiger" in a store. Must admit it was pretty cool and weird; first my own video game, and now a sports drink. A lot of personal time went into the creation of this product and I am proud of all three of the initial flavors we have created, especially Red Drive.

Sorry, copied the wrong part. Here it is:

Before I go, I would like to talk about slow play. It's been an ongoing problem on the PGA Tour for a long time. I honestly believe the pace of play is faster in Europe and Japan. It has been suggested offenders be penalized with strokes. The problem is, you may get one guy that slows down a group for playing at a snails pace and gets them all put on the clock, which isn't fair. I know this is a complicated issue. Hopefully it can be addressed in the near future.

Nice somebody in his position will point it out. And funny, but in the same email he talks about his match with J.B. Holmes. Coincidence? 

"Nick Faldo enters agreement with TaylorMade-adidas Golf Co."

You can read the exciting, albeit old here. Meanwhile I've managed to procure an early draft of the press release that might explain last weekend's events:

Nick Faldo enters agreement with TaylorMade-adidas Golf Co.

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- World golf icon Nick Faldo has entered a long-term relationship with the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company (TMaG) in a role that touches on marketing, product innovation and creation, product testing, player evaluation and blatant shilling during his on-air duties with The Golf Channel.

"Nick Faldo is one of the game's true champions, and we're excited to add such an amazing asset to the TaylorMade-adidas Golf family of truly awesome brands," said Mark King, TMaG president and CEO. "Nick's knowledge of the game, his passion and ability to offset Kelly Tilghman's ties to Nike should help us better reach with Golf Channel's puny but loyal audience."

As a TMaG team member Faldo will contribute in very few ways. In addition to playing TaylorMade® clubs and balls and wearing adidas Golf apparel and footwear in his sleep, he will be involved in the design and testing of TMaG products. He will also act as a loudspeaker for marketing and advertising campaigns during his on-air duties, glowingly evaluating only up-and-coming players using TaylorMade® clubs while posing for photos in adidas glasses, pretending to be helping in the upcoming redesign of the golf range at TMaG headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif. Faldo is also expected to offset Jim Nantz's deep admiration and love for all things Titleist during CBS golf broadcasts.

LPGA: Just Kidding!

Turns out that two hour wait to pee in a cup was just a test run, only the players didn't know it (and they aren't too happy!).

Ron Sirak reports.

Noose Found at Tilghman Estates...Who Knew There Was A Tilghman Estates?

I haven't been to Myrtle Beach in a while, but the real news to me is in the third sentence of this unbylined AP story:

Police have removed a noose found hanging on a subdivision sign where an announcer for The Golf Channel used to live.

The announcer, Kelly Tilghman, was suspended for two weeks last month after saying golfers who wanted to overtake Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."

The noose was found at the entrance to Tilghman Estates, which includes the description, "Home of Kelly Tilghman, Golf Channel."

NGF Response To NY Times: "Mortality/Infirmity – some of the infirm return to play another day"

National Golf Foundation Vice President Greg Nathan took issue with the recent New York Times front page article on the Americans giving up golf, and sent out an email to "friends and colleagues in the golf industry."

One of those friends forwarded his comments:

I’ve received a few inquiries regarding The New York Timespiece that appeared last Thursday (“More Americans Are Giving Up Golf”).  Since the article included National Golf Foundationdata to support the writer’s negative view on the state of golf participation, I wanted to make sure you had the straight story on the numbers, directly from me and the NGF.    
 
There were a number of factual errors in the story and the general perception may be that all the data and conclusions are completely consistent with the NGF's perspective. That is not the case, however, and the NGF has forwarded a correction to The New York Times.
 
To clarify a few things:
The article correctly cites our data showing that the number of Core golfers (those playing eight or more rounds per year) has fallen from 17.7 million in 2000 to 15 million in 2006. This drop is due, in large part, to golfers “on the cusp” who have reduced their play from eight or 10 or 12 rounds per year, to seven or less rounds, and thus are reclassified as Occasional vs. Core golfers.
 
While the reduction in core golfers presents a meaningful challenge to the growth of golf businesses, the damage to the industry is mitigated by the stability of overall U.S.rounds played.  Annual rounds have remained static at roughly 500 million over the past five years. So, effectively, the activity of the 28.7 million U.S.golfers is holding stable at approximately 17 rounds per year, on average.
 
I’m not sure where the writer found his data for avid golfers (those playing 25 or more rounds annually). These are not from the NGF, though many readers came away with the impression that we were the source.
 
Regarding attrition, the writer stated that “about three million golfers quit playing each year and slightly fewer than that have been picking it up.”  The NGF never discussed this topic with the writer. In a study we did a few years ago, we estimated that about three million golfers come into the game each year. Of these, half, or 1.5 million, are retained for at least one year and the other half try it, and then decide golf is not for them. Meanwhile, 1.5 million previously existing golfers leave the game for three main reasons:
 
Mortality/Infirmity – some of the infirm return to play another day

The mortality ones probably don't make it back another day.

Hiatus takers – they return later

That's why they call it a hiatus!

Quitters – they don’t return
Thus, there is a net gain of roughly 1.5 million newand a loss of 1.5 million existing golfers per year – resulting in little or no growth.
 
The article also states that the total number of golfers dropped from 30 million in 2000 to 26 million currently. This is not correct, and NGF did not provide these numbers to the writer. Our data shows that the number of total golfers actually increased from 28.1 million in 2000 to 28.7 million in 2006, an increase of approximately 2%.
 
The NGF's mission is to Help Golf Businesses Succeed.  Reporting the most accurate possible data to the industry is central to our efforts.  I hope this was a helpful clarification of the flat, yet stable participation we've experienced in recent years.  The results of the NGF's 2007 participation study are starting to come in and initial numbers are positive.  More to come on that in the spring.

Flat, yet stable. And the spring collection looks strong. Especially in Canada, as reader Patrick noted this Garth Woolsey article saying things are better north of the border.

Staying interested is another matter. But a Stats Canada study in 2005 established that among Canadians aged 15 or over, golf had the highest participation rate of all sports, at about 22 per cent (one of the highest in the sport among all nations), ahead of, in order, hockey, baseball, swimming, basketball, volleyball and soccer.

"Depending on what survives the editing room, these promise to be funnier"

Larry Dorman reports that the new Phil Mickelson ad campaign for Crowne Plaza aspires to deliver something last year's roundtable discussions managed to avoid: laughs.

Generating the lines for the laughs was the star, Phil Mickelson, whose sometimes barbed, often self-deprecating sense of humor has been confined to the relative privacy of PGA Tour locker rooms, pro-am pairings and interview rooms. His audience will grow considerably now that Crowne Plaza, which last April started a series of amusing, golf-themed ads, is shooting a new batch starring Mickelson for release this April.

Depending on what survives the editing room, these promise to be funnier than last year’s six 30-second and three 15-second spots of unscripted banter from golf celebrities, moderated by Feherty.

Love the quote from Phil:

“I like doing this,” Mickelson said. “The gist of the humor is self-deprecating, which I like. It gives me a chance to laugh at myself in different settings. And I get to work with Feherty, who is really hilarious. Honestly, I’d rather be out playing tournament golf, but this is a different and challenging part of the game that every top player has to deal with.”

Ah the burdens of being on top...filming cutesy ads. 

"It's a great warm up for Doral, frankly. It's like Westchester was prior to the U.S. Open."

Jim Moriarty on the Golf Digest's Local Knowledge blog quotes the Honda Classic tournament director on their new date in '09:

"Looking at the big picture it's going to help us," says Ken Kennerly, the Honda event's executive director. "Wedged between the two World Golf Championships with Match Play being the event before us I think will help. Half the field is eliminated by Wednesday and then another 16 by Thursday. If it was a full field event prior to us and a full field event after us, that's a lot of big golf right in a row and I think that would be a little bit more concerning. But, I think with Match Play before us a lot of the international players are going to stay in America because they're going to want to play at Doral.

"We've really upgraded [the Honda Classic] substantially. It's a very similar golf course to Doral, in terms of condition. Bermuda greens, Bermuda grasses. It's a great warm up for Doral, frankly. It's like Westchester was prior to the U.S. Open."

Honda is to Doral as Westchester is the U.S. Open. I smell an SAT question.

Attention Lawyers: What Do You Think?

I've received a fun email from staffers of a certain organization in golf that would make for amusing blog fodder, but the email in question contains this disclaimer: 

The information in this email and any attachments may contain legally privileged, proprietary and confidential information that is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, retention or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. When addressed to our clients or vendors, any information contained in this e-mail or any attachments is subject to the terms and conditions in any governing contract. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately contact the sender and delete the e-mail.

Now lawyers, since I'm a journalist who has obtained something revealing and worthy of public consumption, just how seriously should I take this?

"Does the TV lifestyle make you soft? Apparently!"

From Alan Shipnuck and his golf.com Hot List: 

5. Rick Reilly. My esteemed former colleague and soon-to-be ESPN star was visiting NorCal and asked me to arrange a round for us at Pebble Beach, which I happily did. (And it was comped, too.) On the appointed day, a refreshing light mist was falling, so Reilly begged off, saying he doesn't like to play in bad weather. Does the TV lifestyle make you soft? Apparently!

Now, NOBODY gets comped at Pebble Beach. So to turn that down you really have to be special...in your own mind.

Walters Cleared; AT&T Invite Will Not Be Lost In Mail Until 2010

Brian Hewitt reports that America's most famous sandbagger has been cleared to defend his title next year and quotes a USGA official who suggests that the pro handicaps are "the real handicap crooks."

"He started the round by playing a lunch ball off of the 1st tee"

John Hussar of PRNewsWorks submitted this item to the Desert Sun:

Playing at Eldorado Country Club in January, Baker-Finch shot the 61 (32-29) from the tips - two shots better than the new Fazio-course record of 63. Without hitting any practice balls at Eldorado, he started the round by playing a lunch ball off of the 1st tee which officially kept him from claiming the course record.

Okay, I give up. What's a lunch ball? 

"The typical worker has five years experience and makes about $250 a month -- a better wage than at a legitimate foundry."

I first read E. Michael Johnson's excellent Golf World story on club counterfeiting with great interest and even sympathy for the buyers who were duped. But upon further reflection and a closer reading of a few key graphs, I decided to sit down with this tragic tale, dimming the lights, burning candles and setting up an continuous Itunes loop featuring Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly With His Song.

Why? Well, apparently now that the big four have outsourced all manufacturing to China and sold out the club pro first to non-green grass accounts and now the Internet, guess what? There are big consequences. And naturally, it's all someone else's fault.

Check out this:

At a typical counterfeit operation in China, it is not unusual to see young women sifting through castings while other individuals constantly work on grinding wheels, moving through the heads at a rapid rate. Another floor might contain those doing the cosmetic work, including paint filling, shaft painting and packaging. According to Golf Digest, the typical worker has five years experience and makes about $250 a month -- a better wage than at a legitimate foundry.

Yes, that's right. The counterfeiters pay better than the legit operations. And the counterfeiters are charging a lot less than the brand names.

Oh there's more:

The owners of such shops, some a front for organized crime, others no more than a mom-and-pop operation, can make upwards of $750 a week selling the counterfeits -- a much better life than grinding the toe and heel of the latest batch of 100-to-a-tray sand wedges for 10 hours a day. Although it would be easy to label China as an ever-expanding pit of deceit where no good brand is safe, the sad fact is counterfeiting offers a better way of life for those involved -- especially when the threat of being caught or prosecuted is minimal.

Again, isn't this the price of doing business in China?

This bit warmed my heart:

In an effort to stem the supply of phony golf products, the Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group -- consisting of Acushnet, Callaway, Cleveland, Nike, Ping and TaylorMade -- was established in 2004. That golf's largest companies and fiercest competitors would come together speaks to the industry-wide dilemma. According to Rob Duncanson, moderator for the coalition, the group was formed to petition governmental authorities in the U.S., China and other countries jointly to enforce laws against counterfeiting of golf products.

 Because they surely have nothing better to do!

Some headway has been made, including several raids and criminal prosecutions, but it is a case of winning some battles while the war still is being lost.

I have an idea. Don't outsource and maybe this stuff won't happen?

Oh I forgot...those precious margins...

LPGA Drug Testing Matches Tour's On-Course Pacing

Beth Ann Baldry reports on Golfweek.com that they LPGA testing is off and, about two holes behind for some players.

For Wright, the process of giving a sample with someone in the room was more worrisome than the results. But she got in and out in 35 minutes. For Maria Hjorth, it was only 20 minutes. Natalie Gulbis, however, waited for at least 2 hours before someone was available to administer her test.

“I think they have some kinks they definitely need to work out,” said Gulbis, who noted that more administrators were added as the day went along. “But everything was handled very professionally.”

And...

Kelli Kuehne opened with a 5-under 67 but never made it to the media room to talk about her round. She went in for testing immediately after turning in her scorecard and sat in a holding room for 2 hours, 45 minutes. By the time she’d finished, Kuehne didn’t even feel like practicing.

“I was one of the guinea pigs,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s something they will fine-tune.”

The Boo Files: "I didn't know after Houston was Augusta."

Where to start? How about this: Boo Weekley should be required to come into the press room every week. Who else is this entertaining?

Here are a few of the highlights from his pre-Honda Classic press conference, though I can recommend reading the entire transcript. It beat most other online reading.

On fame and the dreaded hollering out of his name:

BOO WEEKLEY: It gets kind of aggravating but it's still fun. All them people that you talk to outside the ropes, and they wish they could be here. They wish they could be the one walking inside them ropes and talking to all them people and just being in my footsteps. It's kind of an honor to say that, hey, I'm inside the ropes and this is what I do for a living.
It does getting aggravating to where sometimes, you know, people are hollering your name. It's like, all right, look, guys, I've heard enough of my name; I know who I am. But it's fun. It's always fun. That's the way I like to keep it, and I'm still going to be the same person whether I'm on this tour, the Nationwide Tour or mini-tours

On his preparing for his first Masters...starting by knowing when it starts. 

BOO WEEKLEY: No. My first trip going to Augusta, I didn't even know when it was. I was going to play all the way through to Houston, you know, and then take the week off. I didn't know after Houston was Augusta.

Q. So what are you going to do?

BOO WEEKLEY: Oh, I'm going to take two weeks off now before to get ready. But I reckon I can get ready. I reckon I just go home and do some turkey hunting, that's how I prepare.

 Q. Did you watch many Masters going up? Do you have memories of a great Masters?

BOO WEEKLEY: The one that Tiger when he chipped it in the ball, on whatever hole that was.

Q. Do you watch golf on TVs?

BOO WEEKLEY: I'm not a big golf watcher. I know I'm supposed to be representing the TOUR, but I'd much rather be watching NASCAR.

On PGA National and the "Bear Trap" stretch of 15-17:

Q. What do you think of the Bear Trap holes, 15, the par 3, 16, the par 4, and then 17, the par 3?

BOO WEEKLEY: You know, I just found out that was called a Bear Trap earlier today. I didn't even know it was called a Bear Trap. It's pretty good.

Q. Do you see why they have a name for it?

BOO WEEKLEY: No. I don't know, I just go and play golf, dude.

 And this was actually a fascinating insight...

If it looks like a tough hole and I hit it in the fairway, I'll turn around from the fairway and look back at the tee box and try to pick a line, you know, and say, okay, if I can start it on this line, and whichever way the wind is blowing, it should be good, it should be in the middle of the fairway if I can start it on that line. I look at the golf course backwards in a lot of ways and a lot of players do.