"But just a step lower, the market is vulnerable."

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The Wall Street Journal's John Paul Newport says the news isn't all bad for golf. There are still a lot of rich people!

In North America alone, there are more than 40,000 families with investable assets of $30 million or more, according to the CapGemini/Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report, and approximately 300,000 U.S. taxpayers with reported annual incomes greater than $1 million, according to the IRS. Among them are many golf nuts. To say nothing of the huddled masses of superrich abroad.
However...
New residential golf developments in the U.S. are few and far between, leading to a net standstill in golf-course openings generally. More courses closed than opened in both 2006 and 2007, according to the National Golf Foundation, a sharp contrast to the course-building boom that started in the 1990s.

Even top-drawer designers are feeling the pinch. "I've got quite a few projects in the U.S.," Mr. Nicklaus told me recently, "but they have all kind of slowed down or are on hold or are kind of waiting until the economy turns a little bit." Tom Doak, the celebrated designer of Pacific Dunes in Oregon and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand, doesn't lack for work but in recent months has seen two of the courses he designed struggle: St. Andrews Beach in Australia is closed and for sale, and Beechtree in Maryland will shut down in December.

"The people I really worry about are the young designers and apprentices coming up, and the talented course superintendents and club pros who are suddenly out of a job," Mr. Doak said.
Now this is interesting...
For golfers still clinging to jobs, there is an upside. Less demand and more supply equals bargains. But even many seemingly successful clubs and golf communities aren't filled to capacity, which often means higher fees and assessments for members and, in some cases, extreme difficultly leaving without taking a bath.
Could this be the moment that private clubs in the U.S. start going semi-private like our friends in Scotland? Or will they go down in flames before taking a little outside play?

Meanwhile, there's still Tiger's project for the super wealthy, which prompted Newport's column. Now, those of us invited to the press conference launching Punta Brava were forbidden from asking personal life questions. Perhaps because he'd filled his quota for the month in this Today Show interview?

Latest On Seve

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Graham Keeley in The Times reports that Seve has a brain tumor, but the hospital won't confirm. Say it ain't so.

Monty:

“What we are hearing puts everything into perspective in a heartbeat,” said Montgomerie, who played under Ballesteros at Valderrama.

“Seve has this fighting spirit, this never-say-die approach. He has come back from four down with nine to play to defeat both Paul Azinger and Raymond Floyd and he has done much the same against me a couple of times. His great attitude and his passion should serve him well now.”



"Yep, we've been looking."

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Alan Bastable asks Tiger a few different questions about his course design work, including this...

Q: All three of your courses will be private and ultra high-end. What about Joe Public?

A: When it's all said and done, I will have a whole portfolio of golf courses — not just high-end private courses.

Q: Are you currently looking to develop a public course?

A: Yep, we've been looking.

There are plenty of millitary courses that could use some love and care. If Tiger ever wants to do some different charity work that is consistent with his family history, he could do some really great things for our nation's servicemen and women.

Just a thought.

Re-routing Harding?!

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The PGA Tour re-routed Robert Trent Jones Golf Club to accomodate luxury boxes but I don't recall it really helping, yet they've done the same with Harding Park for the President's Cup as Ron Kroichick reports:

PGA Tour officials plan only one physical change to the course for next year's event: They will build a new tee on what the public knows as No. 9 (it will be No. 18 for the Presidents Cup), stretching it to 535 yards. That hole will play as a par-5 next October; it played as a par-4 (at less than 500 yards) for the American Express Championship in 2005.

Tour officials also will "re-route" the course, so the customary closing holes - Nos. 16, 17 and 18 - will become Nos. 13, 14 and 15. (This makes it more likely matches will reach those holes.) The holes that are normally Nos. 1, 7 and 9 will become Nos. 16, 17 and 18, respectively.

Those new finishers may be the least interesting holes on the course. Something to not look forward to.

"There are a number of ideas on the table"

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Steve Elling says that Tim Finchem is going before the PAC board in Vegas to lay out FedEx Cup possibilities. SInce he's gotten it wrong so far, why not let him fix this problem.

Even by Vegas standards, where chaos is a nightly and desired occurrence, that sounds like a potentially frenetic panel discussion, eh? Let's see, that's 20 golfers arguing over a half-dozen completely different points plans, which sounds like an exchange of flying elbows and opinions not seen since the tour last served free sushi at the media buffet table.
Interestingly, I was incorrect in guessing that the best case alternative was being quietly pushed by the Tour's media folks. I should not have given them so much credit for (A) a good idea, and (B) having the ability to sway writers into reporting it as a likely alternative. Elling reveals the source:
The Chamblee model: First espoused by Golf Channel analyst and former tour player Brandel Chamblee, his spin calls for the 72-hole stroke-play event to be staged to end on Saturday, with an 18-hole shootout for the $10 million held the following day featuring a handful of the top points earners. This plan ensures that the 72-hole tournament isn't diminished and creates additional drama Sunday, although if one player goes low, it risks being a runaway no matter what the tour does. Moreover, if a player finishes eighth in each of the four FedEx events and qualifies for the Sunday shootout, then fires a 65 and wins, does that player truly deserve the $10 million? If four players make the Sunday final, the difference between first and fourth could be a couple of shots -- and a difference of $8.5 million in bonus money. Is that fair? "Do we really want to go that route?" Dennis asked. "I don't know."

The Chamblee model is the Tour's best alternative at this point because it (A) guarantees a must see Sunday, which has always been a must, (B) allows them to do something different than the LPGA even though the ADT Championship model would be far more rivetting and memorable, and (C) did I mention that this allows them to do something different than what the LPGA does to end their season?

Naturally, Finchem in a room with mostly guys who are good at their job because they dont' think too much could be dangerous. Still, it'd be fun to listen in!

Azinger Regrets Not Being There To Tell Boo and J.B. To Avoid The Big Lake On 18

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Apparently his boys were so stupid focused on the job at hand that they needed to be told to hit the fairway?

Brian Hewitt reports:

“There’s only one thing I would have done differently at Valhalla,” Azinger said. “And that would have been making sure I was on the tee box on the 18th hole in the Friday afternoon fourballs match when Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes both hit their balls in the water. If I had been, I would have made sure they knew where their tee balls needed to be.”

Holmes and Weekley had a 1-up lead at the time over Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen and wound up halving their match as a result of the wayward drives.

“I was really kicking myself Friday night,” Azinger told FM104.3 The Fan, a Denver-based sports talk radio show hosted by Jerry Walters and Jon Lawrence. “I was by the 17th green and I couldn’t get my cart to the 18th tee because of a TV tower. I should have gotten off the cart and just walked through the tower. Fortunately for me, that was my only regret for the week.”

"We're just happy to be coming back to a great golf course."

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In Leonard Shapiro's story on Tiger's tournament moving to Aronimink for two years, I couldn't help but wonder after reading this what they'll do if the players inevitably fall in love with Aronimink and dread returning to dreary Congressional.

McLaughlin said he was "thrilled" that the tournament will return to Congressional after 2011, despite the close vote. "It gives us clarity that we know we will be back in Washington at Congressional from 2012 to 2014. It's difficult to speculate on why the vote was so close this time. We're just happy to be coming back to a great golf course."

"The club has made alterations that will help the course assume some of its former personality."

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Thanks to reader Don for catching this in Lorne Rubenstein's column on Mike Weir's interest in course design:

Tournament chairman Billy Payne told Weir during the Tour Championship in Atlanta two weeks ago that the club has made alterations that will help the course assume some of its former personality.

"They've moved the tee up on 7 and changed the green contours there," Weir said of the tight par-4. "There are other changes also, at 11 where the tee's been moved up a bit, and maybe at 18, too."

"How to fix the FedEx Cup playoffs and ensure drama at the playoff finale?"

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This concept has popped up again, meaning someone at the PGA Tour is doing a good job peddling it. Jeff Rude writes:

The best plan: Play the Tour Championship on Wednesday-Saturday and award the tournament winner the trophy and $1.26 million check. Then the top four players in FedEx Cup points at that point start from scratch and play 18 holes Sunday for the current mega-bonuses, including $10 million for first.

"We're so heavily involved in the project, whereas in some others we've been hired guns."

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Thomas Bonk talks to Jack Nicklaus about Quivira Los Cabos, "a branded Nicklaus oceanfront community, two Nicklaus golf courses and a Nicklaus golf club in Los Cabos, Mexico."

Apparently this will be like the Bear's Club, whatever that means.

This one is special, Nicklaus said. "We're so heavily involved in the project, whereas in some others we've been hired guns."