Callaway Supports Bifurcation

Very nice spot by reader Mark reading an Economist piece on Callaway CEO George Fellows, who apparently endorsed bifurcating the sport to save it.

Another obvious strategy, though a more controversial one, is to make golf more “consumer-friendly”—meaning easier. Golf's rulemakers have tended to focus on maintaining the integrity of the game for the best players, which has made life tough for the rest. Callaway has to conform to a welter of arcane specifications: there are regulations about how far from the centre of the club a ball can be hit and still go straight, for example. These are intended to stop Tiger Woods shooting 30 under par, but also make the game less fun for less gifted players. Golf needs to “bifurcate” into a professional sport and a game for the masses, says Mr Fellows. One opportunity is to think outside the old 18-hole, four-hour box. Callaway has recently invested in TopGolf, a business that turns a driving range into a sort of dart board, where players aim at targets and scores are calculated with the help of radio transmitters in the balls.

It's amazing that it took a major company this long to endorse the concept. But at this point, other than grooves, is there really much that could be done to make equipment so much more user friendly that it would encourage growth?

Perhaps if Mr. Fellows had noted bifurcation could lead to less expensive equipment thanks to less emphasis on spending ridiculous marketing millions to convince people that they can get the same benefits from technology as the PGA Tour's best, then he'd be onto something.

Protecting Par at Quail Hollow? Follow The Money!

Scott Hamilton of Golfweek reports that finally we have justification for a tournament protecting par:

Lots of birdies at this week’s PGA Tour stop – the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C. – could produce dividends for the title sponsor’s select customers.

Adding a new wrinkle to its sponsorship, Wachovia, the nation’s fourth-largest bank, has debuted its “Save Like A Champion” initiative. It will reward customers enrolled in the bank’s Way2Save savings program with an interest rate in June, July and August equal to the tournament’s winning score in relation to par. In the past five years at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, that number has ranged from 10 to 13 under.

"I'm delighted with the way things have worked out and believe we have a good test there. It's narrower, longer and tougher."

Take a guess which course R&A secretary Peter Dawson is talking about? Only that lowly Turnberry, which hosted all of those exciting Open Championships but has become outdated thanks to all that heavy lifting the boys have been doing.

Mike Aitken reports:

"The Open hasn't been back to Turnberry since 1994 and in that time the links, which is a resort course that caters for visitors, was in need of attention for a major championship," he explained.

"Work needed to be done and we're very pleased that the people at Turnberry were willing to allow us to undertake these improvements. I'm delighted with the way things have worked out and believe we have a good test there. It's narrower, longer and tougher."

Isn't it great, one of the governing bodies touting the narrowing of a course. That's good for the game.

"Perhaps the most noticeable change is at the 16th which is now a dog-leg left-to-right. It's an alteration which (changes the angle] and makes the second shot to the green over the burn much harder. That change has also allowed us to take the tee back on the par-5 17th quite significantly.

And why did you need to do that? Oh right, the working out.

"Another difference is a new tee on the third which is much further back on the top of the hill. There's also a tee which is 20 yards back of the one we used last time on the 18th. Perhaps the most spectacular alteration, though, is the new tee at the tenth where the players are going to have to hit their drives over more of the water. One of the great advantages of having an Amateur before an Open is that you can see if what you've planned works. So, some late tweaks could be possible, but I don't anticipate much changing now.

Who knew the R&A provides architectural services?

Let's see now, making course changes but not addressing changes in equipment. Good thing they know how best to attack the problem.

R&A Delays Open Championship Drug Testing

Lawrence Donegan reports on the latest example of procrastination, joining grooves, the ball, etc. In this instance, they are blaming the Asian and South African Tours. The difference here is that this is something Peter Dawson has been adamant about, which may give us some insight into why they are dragging their feet on issues they aren't so passionate about (grooves, the ball, etc.).

John Daly...There Are No Words

As reader Chuck noted, words fail to describe the video report of John Daly talking about his design work at, well, I don't know even know the name of the course. I was too distracted by the sight of him shirtless and shoeless for a photo op. Which prompted reader Gregory to wonder if John has set the new standard for staged architect photo ops? I think he may be onto something.

A flavor of what the video shows...

 

"Listen to the commentators? No, never."

From Larry Stewart in today's L.A. Times Morning Briefing:

Fox Sports Radio's Steve Czaban last week asked Woods: "Do you TiVo tournaments you're in, then go back and look at them afterward, maybe take notes, notice something, listen to what the announcers are saying?"

Said Woods: "I usually have my secretary get a copy of the telecasts from the PGA Tour and I'll take a look at it just from the swing standpoint, yeah."

Czaban: "Just the swing, though. You really won't sit down and . . . "

Woods: "Listen to the commentators? No, never."

"Or do we just like losing golf balls and shooting high scores?"

There should be a rule at the New York Times: don't let anyone besides Larry Dorman write about golf.

Exhibit A? Check out Bill Pennington's links golf lede. It sounds more like it came from a story assignment email:

What is it about links-style courses that has made them so popular with American golfers and golf designers? Is it because they remind us of golf’s Scottish seaside roots? Is it the blind shots? The pot bunkers?

Or do we just like losing golf balls and shooting high scores?

Golfers in the United States are drawn to the many links-style courses that have sprouted nationwide. We pay from $75 to $400 a round for the right to get battered across 18 distinctive holes.

Who would have thought that tall fescue, which you can grow in your backyard without trying, would have such cachet?

Pennington's piece was embellished by the video of him sporting one of Bill Murray's AT&T Pro-Am outfits. It's not Matty G Ambush video bad, but it's close.

Sunday Dramatics: Andy North Wins; Vows To Keep Lulling Us To Sleep With His Commentary

And I missed all of it attending the LA Times Festival of Books (yes, we read here in southern California).

This NY Times wire service compilation covers the basics, including Adam Scott's win at the Nelson and the team of Tom Watson/Andy North winning the Legeds.

This AP story explains how there's life in the old Swede yet. Annika even had Paula Creamer shaking. Literally.

And there's and ESPN.com report summing up the most exciting win of the day, Darren Clarke's Asian Open win.

For those of you who watched, anything we should know about? 

"Cobbs Creek was once a "must-play" course for visitors to Philadelphia."

Joe Logan profiles the GolfClubAtlas gents working to research and restore Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek, which has an amazing history.

The driving force behind building Cobbs Creek was not the city or the park commission but rather Robert Lesley, then president of the Golf Association of Philadelphia and a member of Merion, who preached the need for a quality course open to all golfers.

To goad the city into building a municipal course, Lesley appointed a committee to find a suitable plot in Fairmount Park that included Wilson; George Crump, designer of Pine Valley; and A.H. Smith, a member of Huntingdon Valley and the first Philadelphia Amateur champion. To further pressure city officials, Lesley appointed another committee made up of movers and shakers, namely the presidents of several local country clubs.

Although Wilson spent six months designing Cobbs, it's evident that he had help from Crump, Smith, George Klauder of Aronimink and J. Franklin Meehan of North Hills, all accomplished players. George Thomas, who designed White Marsh Valley, Riveria and Los Angeles Country Club, also spent time on the Cobbs site "learning."

Cobbs Creek was once a "must-play" course for visitors to Philadelphia. Ty Cobb and Connie Mack were among the regulars.

Donald Trump played Cobbs Creek often during his time at the Wharton School of Business in the late '60s.

Maybe he'll write a check and then not say a word? I know, I can dream.

If you want to help or get involved, you can email the group at friendsofcobbscreek@gmail.com

Who Needs Lorena?

When you have an Annika-Paula Creamer final pairing?

Now, I don't want to sound like Kramer yearning for a catfight, but the history between these two does make Sunday's final round more appealing than watching Adam Scott and friends plodding around TPC Las Colinas.

65 Hitting 2 of 14 Fairways?

Fairways hit has become an overrated stat with the landing strips so hard to hit these days. Not to mention the fact that any decently designed course likely rewards side angles of approach that are now covered in rough, but I still did a double take at some of Alex Turnbull's ShotLink highlights following third round play at the Nelson: 

Sergio Garcia – 4 under par
• Sergio shot the low round of the day (5 under 65) despite hitting the fewest fairways in the field in the 3rd round (2 of 14).  He ranks 2nd to last in the field for driving accuracy (38.1%) for the week yet ranks T3rd in the field for greens in regulation (70.3%).   

Our friends in Far Hills may want to copy and paste that for the ban U-grooves presentation. That is, whenever you get around to that. Then again, maybe Sergio's finally putting better thanks to Stan Utley:

• Of the 16 greens Garcia has missed thus far, he’s successfully salvaged par 14 times ranking 1st in the field for scrambling percentage.  Entering the week, Garcia ranked T107th on TOUR for scrambling from around the green (58%).

• Sergio Garcia’s 128 ft of putts made in the 3rd round was more than both his 1st and 2nd round distance of putts made combined.

"I hear the club might be making some changes next year to give us a break."

Thanks to reader Chris for noting Tiger Woods' newsletter comments where he reiterates what he said to a D.C. radio station about his belief that Augusta National will be undoing some of the course changes:

The course was very difficult. I didn't hear as many roars as I usually hear, especially on the weekend. It did play like a U.S. Open course, which is fine. But I think the galleries are used to seeing birdies and eagles. On Sunday, the way the wind was blowing, it was tough to make pars. I hear the club might be making some changes next year to give us a break. We'll see what happens.

"If it’s so hard to find accessible pin placements on these two tracks, then why bring amateurs here?"

Randell Mell reports from the Stanford International where an excessively difficult setup mixed with a pro-am format to create 6 hour rounds Friday.

"Just silly tough," Sorenstam said.

It wasn’t a bad day for Sorenstam, whose 2-under-par 68 on the Miller course left her just one shot off the lead, but she felt for all the amateurs struggling in high winds and on undulating greens with tough pin placements.

"It was way too tough," Sorenstam said. "Some of the pins, it’s U.S. Open. These guys are intimidated. They want to help out. It’s long, it’s tough, it was just way too difficult. They’re tucked behind bunkers, they’re tucked in the back."

Sorenstam and her amateur partner, Stanford Financial advisor Russ O’Brien, played a 5-hour and 50-minute round teamed with Natalie Gulbis and her partner, IMG Chairman Ted Forstmann. That was about the average round on both courses. The average early rounds with threesomes on the LPGA Tour is about 4 hours and 40 minutes, according to LPGA Tour officials.

Great to see Ted Forstmann supporting the LPGA Tour.

"It would be fun if it was a little more friendly for them, so they can enjoy it," Sorenstam said of the amateurs. "You can see they’re dragging in the end because they’re focusing so hard and want to help."

LPGA Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Chris Higgs said the pro-am setup is a work in progress. It’s the first LPGA pro-am within tournament competition in seven years.

"We have to make sure the course setup is worthy of a championship round of golf in an LPGA tournament," Higgs said. "And at the same time, you have amateurs playing as well, so there’s a balance you have to reach."

The tees, pin placements and overall course setup must remain the same today on both courses so everyone plays the same setup, but Higgs said the tournament staff will reassess for future consideration.

"It’s a necessary evolution of a format like this," Higgs said.

Beth Ann Baldry catalogs the slow play issues in more detail, sharing Young Kim's slow play related knickname and the disaster of a difficult par-3 second hole on one course. It's enough of a design flaw to have a par-3 so early in the round, and then to stretch it out and tuck the pin takes real talent!

Let’s start with the par-3 second hole on the Miller Course. Weighing in at 210 yards, it ranks as one of the longest par 3s LPGA pros will face all year. Add the element of amateur players into the equation and it’s no wonder players were waiting 45 minutes to an hour on the tee. (I’d tell you the hole’s scoring average for the week, but the tour didn’t keep stats on the Miller Course.)

Sounds like they're reading from the Tom Meeks School of Course Setup manual...

LPGA COO Chris Higgs convened the media Friday afternoon to revisit a conversation on course setup that took place the day before. He stuck by all of his comments from Thursday, adding that six-hour rounds were “normal” for this type of format. He also said tucked pins on these undulating greens were sometimes easier for players to get to than those sitting in the middle of these rather severe greens.

If it’s so hard to find accessible pin placements on these two tracks, then why bring amateurs here?

2008 U.S. Open Entries And Exemptions

After Monty's little Masters invite tirade (and, sadly the not totally unreasonable point he was making) something about reading the news of only 58 U.S. Open exemptions reads so beautifully. Throw in the lack of special exemptions and it gets even better.

Here is the list of exempt players, preceded by the highlights from the qualifying entry pool, courtesy of the USGA's Craig Smith: 

U.S. OPEN ENTRIES CLOSE; 58 GOLFERS CURRENTLY FULLY EXEMPT
 
Far Hills, N.J. (April 25) – The United States Golf Association has accepted 8,390 entries for the 2008 U.S. Open, to be played June 12-15 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif., including those from the 58 golfers who are currently fully exempt into the field
 
Ninety-two percent of the total entries were received online, including 1,192 in the final two days applications were accepted (April 22-23). The USGA received 102 entries online in the final hour. The last entry to arrive was from Keith Stone, a 39-year-old amateur from Chelmsford, Mass., who beat the 5 p.m. (EDT) deadline by 56 seconds. The first entry received was from Joseph Tumpach, a 31-year-old professional from Naperville, Ill.
 
The youngest golfer to enter was 12-year-old Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The oldest applicant was 79-year-old Harris Moore Jr., a professional from Los Angeles, Calif. Overall, the USGA received entries from golfers in all 50 states and 68 foreign countries.
 
Among the foreign applicants were professionals Dawuda Mahama, 40, of Ghana; Lawan Mallam, 28, of Nigeria; and Alejandro Villavicencio, 28, of Guatemala. To be eligible, a player must have no higher than a 1.4 Handicap Index®, or be a professional.
 
Eight past champions are already fully exempt from having to qualify for the upcoming Championship. They are: Angel Cabrera (2007); Michael Campbell (2005); Ernie Els (1994, 1997); Jim Furyk (2003); Retief Goosen (2001, 2004); Lee Janzen (1993, 1998); Geoff Ogilvy (2006); and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002). An Open champion receives a full exemption into the field for the next 10 years.
 
The number of fully exempt golfers will increase with the inclusion of the top 50 players from the World Golf Rankings, the top 10 money leaders on the 2008 PGA Tour and the top two money leaders on the 2008 European PGA Tour as of May 26. The winner of the Players Championship (May 8-11) also receives an exemption.
 
Local qualifying at 111 sites will begin May 5. Sectional qualifying at 13 sites will be conducted on June 2, including one in England. A 14th sectional qualifier will be played May 26 in Japan. It is the fourth consecutive year that the USGA has offered these two international sectional qualifiers. 

The Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. Other championships include the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Senior Open and 10 amateur competitions.
 
A list of the 58 golfers who are already fully exempt into the U.S. Open follows.
 
April 24, 2008
 
THE 58 PLAYERS WHO ARE ALREADY FULLY EXEMPT FOR THE 2008 U.S. OPEN
 
Robert Allenby                         9,10
Stephen Ames                        8
Woody Austin                          9,10
Aaron Baddeley                       8,9,10
Brad Bryant                             7
Jonathan Byrd                         10
Angel Cabrera                         1,8,11
Mark Calcavecchia                 9,10
Michael Campbell                   1
Paul Casey                             8,11
K.J. Choi                                 9,10,13
Daniel Chopra                         13
Stewart Cink                           9,10
Tim Clark                                9,10
Ben Curtis                               4
Luke Donald                            9
Nick Dougherty                       8,11
Ernie Els                                 9,10,11
Niclas Fasth                            8,11
Steve Flesch                           9,13
Jim Furyk                                1,8,9,10
Sergio Garcia                          9,10,11
Retief Goosen                         1,11
Todd Hamilton                         4
Soren Hansen                         11
Padraig Harrington                  4,9,10,11
Charles Howell III                    9,10
Trevor Immelman                   3
Lee Janzen                             1,8
Zach Johnson                         3,9,10
Shingo Katayama                   15
Jerry Kelly                               8
Hunter Mahan                          8,9,10
Shaun Micheel                        5
Phil Mickelson                         3,5,9,10,13
Colin Montgomerie                  11
Geoff Ogilvy                            1,9,10
John Rollins                            9,10
Andres Romero                      11
Justin Rose                             8,9,10,11
Rory Sabbatini                        9,10
Adam Scott                             9,10
Vijay Singh                              5,9,10
Heath Slocum                         9,10
Brandt Snedeker                     9,10
Henrik Stenson                       11
Richard Sterne                        11
Steve Stricker                         8,9,10
Toro Taniguchi                        15
*Michael Thompson                2
David Toms                            8
Scott Verplank                         8,9,10
Camilo Villegas                       10
Bubba Watson                        8
Boo Weekley                           9,10
Lee Westwood                        11
Brett Wetterich                        9,10
Tiger Woods                           1,3,4,5,8, 9,10,13
*=amateur
 
^{Key to Player Exemptions –
 
1)         Winners of the U.S. Open Championship for the last 10 years.
2)         Winner and runner-up of the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship.
3)         Winners of the Masters Tournament for the last five years.
4)         Winners of the British Open Championship for the last five years.
5)         Winners of the PGA of America Championship for the last five years.
6)         Winner of the 2008 Players Championship.
7)         Winner of the 2007 U.S. Senior Open Championship.
8)         From the 2007 U.S. Open Championship, the 15 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 15th place.
9)         From the 2007 final official PGA Tour money list, the top 30 money leaders.
10)       Those 30 players qualifying for the 2007 season-ending Tour Championship.
11)       From the 2007 final official PGA European Tour, the top 15 money leaders.
12)       From the 2008 official PGA Tour money list, the top 10 money leaders through May 26.
13)       Any multiple winners of PGA Tour co-sponsored events whose victories are considered official from April 25, 2007, through June 1, 2008.
14)       From the 2008 PGA European Tour, the top two money leaders through May 26.
15)       From the 2007 final Japan Golf Tour money list, the top two leaders provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the World Rankings at that time.
16)       From the 2007 final PGA Tour of Australasia money list, the top two leaders provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the World Rankings at that time.
17)       From the World Rankings list, the top 50 point leaders as of May 26, 2008
18)       Special exemptions selected by the USGA.}

Should Ochoa Tee It Up With The Men?

Steve Elling reports that Lorena Ochoa has twice turned down sponsor's invites to the PGA Tour's Mayakoba Golf Classic, staged in her native Mexico. And while it's not the Colonial in terms of exposure, it's hard to fathom a negative in this should she accept what sounds like an open invitation to play anytime.

Moving up a league seems downright logical, since tedium could set in at any moment -- if not for her, then her growing fan base. She's has won her five LPGA starts this year by an average of 7.6 strokes, including a pair by 11. Yeah, a touchdown, field goal and two-point conversion amount to a pretty big deficit in golf.

When Annika Sorenstam played against the boys at Colonial in 2003, it created a three-tiered public-relations boon for her career, the event and the LPGA. Ochoa last year supplanted Sorenstam as No. 1 in the women's rankings, and though the notion of females competing against men has since been relegated to the stuff of desperate publicity stunts (see: Michelle Wie), Ochoa's presence in a field can be justified on a competitive level.