“If they don’t even know survival English, they’re totally dependent on the dad.”

Karen Crouse of the New York Times went to some LPGA Tour events and got to know Korean players. She also talked to the Brand Lady (from what I can gather), and it seems the Commish said something unusual and upsetting to some players. (Shocking, I know.)

First, Crouse summarizes:

Although language has become a primary talking point on the tour, the cultural gap may be wider than any English-speaking policy can bridge. Bivens has since strained relations more by indicating that her plan was also meant to help the South Korean players shake their omnipresent fathers. By singling out the South Koreans, Bivens has reduced them to one-dimensional stock characters, which is like reading no break in a putt on a contoured green.

There's a resume quote for ya CB!

Bivens’s motivation extends beyond the fiscal health of the tour. In a recent interview, she said her goal was to help assimilate the South Korean players into a culture starkly different from their own and to emancipate them from what she characterized as overbearing fathers. Forcing the players to learn English and threatening their livelihoods was the best way she saw to accomplish that.

“The language is part of the control the parents have over their young daughters,” Bivens said. “If they don’t even know survival English, they’re totally dependent on the dad.”

Seon Hwa Lee, the L.P.G.A. rookie of the year in 2006 and a two-time winner this year, is considered one of the quieter South Koreans, but she was outspoken about Bivens’s emancipation proclamation.

“I don’t think that’s her job,” Lee said.

You mean to be the tour's in-house, strict Freudian?

Of course, considering that the NY Times ran four player capsules in the print version, including one of Mi Hyun Kim. There it's revealed her parents wouldn't let her marry a guy until she won a major. Maybe the Commish isn't so far off?

The meat of Crouse's excellent reporting:

In Korean culture, parents will do whatever is necessary to help their children’s prospects. They have a name for it, child farming, and cultivating successful sons and daughters confers great prestige on the parents. For golfers, that means fathers leave their jobs to travel the circuit and serve their daughters in many unofficial roles: coach, caddie, chauffeur, counselor, critic and cook.

At night during the Danville tournament, the halls of an Extended Stay America Hotel smelled of garlic and kimchi as parents of the South Korean players made dinner. Filial obedience and financial independence are not mutually exclusive to the South Koreans, who see nothing contradictory about taking home the bulgogi (barbecue beef) and letting their mothers or fathers fry it up in a pan.

Some of the fathers turn up the heat, pushing their daughters to practice and berating them when they do not play well. Three caddies who work for them said there were a handful of South Korean players on the Tour who have been ostracized by their compatriots because of their overzealous fathers.

Christina Kim said: “I can understand and appreciate what Carolyn is trying to do in regards to emancipating Korean players from their fathers. However, it is my firm belief that just like in any other culture, one has to go and reclaim their independence, learn who they are as humans in this world, of their own volition. If someone is not ready to leave the comforts of the nest, or they haven’t got the strength to do it, I feel that it is their own choice.” 

Loch Lomond Up For Sale**

The credit crunch forces Lyle Anderson's hand...

Its 700-strong membership is thought to include no more than 100 UK members, each paying fees of up to £40,000.

In a letter to members, Mr Anderson said: "I am confident the bank shares my view that Loch Lomond Golf Club is one of a kind in the world.

"I have explored many alternatives, including restructured loan arrangements and potential sources and terms for additional equity.

"Regrettably, I have been unable to conclude arrangements for a restructured credit facility with the Bank and have been unable to raise new equity or debt."

He wrote that plans to take "a co-operative approach with the bank" to avoid disruption at the club and said he had agreed to "facilitate change of ownership at the appropriate time".

Mr Anderson added that he is pursuing his own "vigorous independent search for new equity or debt funding for the communities and clubs."

Update on 2008-11-03 18:22 by Geoff

And it's not just Loch Lomond:

Upscale golf course community developer Lyle Anderson Cos. has lost control of four large projects including Superstition Mountain in the southeast Valley.

The other properties include Las Campanas in Santa Fe, N.M., Hokuli'a in Hawaii and Loch Lomond Golf Club of Scotland.

The Scottsdale-based developer's lender and partner in the projects, the Bank of Scotland, has taken control of the properties and handed over management to a firm named Oasis Management Resources.

Hoch Unable To Understand Why World Can't Look Past His Old Course Dissing

Art Spander catches up with the Champions Tour player about how he was the Kenny Perry of his day and how people still haven't gotten over his various idiotic remarks.

"I think the one thing that's been held against me so long,'' agreed Hoch, "Was what I said about St. Andrews. People (used) that as a blanket statement for all the British Open courses. I was talking about one course.

"They actually have my favorite course over there. My favorite course in the world is Muirfield, over in Scotland. But, no, 20 years later, they take (the quote) about all British Open courses. That's not the case.'' 

Lawrie Wants To Be A Ryder Cup Captain!

Yes, the 1999 Open Championship winner is throwing his name in the mix for somewhere down the road even though he has only played in one Ryder Cup and American's don't know how to pronounce his name (or care!). John Huggan reports. 

"But it felt like I was always just a foot into the deep stuff and a foot away from having a perfect lie, and it wore on me."

Steve Elling looks at the concept of PGA Tour players fleeing for the European Tour and includes this more detailed version of Robert Allenby's suggestion that course setup is influencing his decision.

Next week, while the Disney event will be mostly filled with journeymen seeking to retain their cards for next season, the HSBC field is expected to include Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Adam Scott, Kim, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Trevor Immelman. To be sure, the European Tour allows players to receive appearance fees, but the imbalance of power is pronounced.

Allenby said he's looking for variety, too, and took a thinly veiled shot at the PGA Tour's prevailing bomb-and-gouge mentality.

"I joined because I wanted to expand my golf, I wanted to play a different style of golf," said the Australian, who has lived in Florida for nearly a decade. "I thought I was getting a little bit stale. The golf courses (in the States) are set up the same way every week. I kept getting injuries over here, pretty much because the rough was so high, and I got sick of it.

"I got sick of playing out of six-inch rough every week. I'm not bitching or moaning about it. I know I am a great ball-striker, and I drive the ball very straight. But it felt like I was always just a foot into the deep stuff and a foot away from having a perfect lie, and it wore on me."

Fair enough. But like they say on the police shows, if you want to find the real reason behind the mystery du jour, follow the money.

"I can’t think of one."

Part two of Sandy Tatum's GolfClubAtlas.com feature interview is posted. It includes talk of the 17th at Cypress Point, The First Tee, Oxford golf, Pine Valley and the demise of fun golf design.

What is an example of a design in the past ten years that lends itself to a fun game with one of your grandchildren?

I can’t think of one. 

"Do we need to prepare John Daly’s obituary?"

From the sad but true files, Martin Kaufman writes about John Daly and says the folks at Golfweek are wondering if they should start preparing his obit.

And Then There Were Eight Tossers

Club throwers that is. Straka.com's first ever club hurling championship has eight finalists.

Ty, I still say it would make a heck of an Olympic sport.

"Why not go to Asia and tap into the huge popularity of women's golf there?"

That's the question Ron Sirak asks and answers rather convincingly. And it's one many of us asked when the LPGA seemingly was going in a different direction with it's English-only saga:

Why not go to Asia and tap into the huge popularity of women's golf there? In Japan, for example, the women routinely gets better TV ratings than the men and throughout Asia LPGA players are treated like rock stars. Follow the money, baby, follow the money.

Besides, it is certainly true that the main thing on the minds of American sports fans this time of the year are matters pigskin:

Will Joe Paterno have his fifth Penn State team to go undefeated and not win the college national championship?

Are the Tennessee Titans really that good?

Think it's not difficult to pry eyes and minds away from football this time of the year? Just check out the TV ratings for the World Series, were you have to go back to when there were still day games to find numbers this low -- and in at least one case not even then.

"You have to be patient here and realise that the same kind of thing is happening to everybody else."

In all of this worldly turmoil, it's comforting to know some things never change. Like players hating Valderrama, as Lawrence Donegan reports after day one of the final Volvo Masters:

The players are never less than respectful about the course but they are occasionally given to grumbling about its difficulty and unfairness.

"I hit a great tee shot on the 8th tee and still ended up behind trees," Westwood said pointedly. "You have to be patient here and realise that the same kind of thing is happening to everybody else."

"I don't do men with breasts."

Thanks to reader John for this unbylined BBC story on artist Jack Vettriano turning down a National Gallery of Scotland gig to paint Monty.

Golfer Colin Montgomerie has laughed off artist Jack Vettriano's claims he refused a commission to paint him because of the sportsman's looks.

The Fife painter reportedly said he was asked to produce the work for the National Galleries of Scotland, but said: "I don't do men with breasts."

He has often complained his work is not appreciated by the art establishment.

Gallery officials said a suggestion was made for a portrait but denied they had formally approached Vettriano.

The painter told art lovers at An Audience With Jack Vettriano in Kirkcaldy, Fife, earlier this week that his art dealer approached him about the offer.

According to a report in the Scotsman, the 56-year-old, said: "I was in France when I got a call from my art dealer who said there might have been a breakthrough. 'The National Galleries would like you to do a portrait'.

When told it was Colin Montgomerie, he said: "I'm afraid that the answer is no. I don't do men with breasts. And I don't mean that as unkind to Colin Montgomerie."

During an appearance at the Adam Smith College on Monday night, Vettriano said he did not give it a second thought, despite pleas from his dealer to reconsider.

John Daly Goes Logoless!

Well, there's probably some text stamped on the back. And it is nice that they use Hooters orange. I wonder what Marty Hackel would say about the collar up and that open?  Sorry, this isn't funny.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

“Everything was going along pretty well, even this summer, and then it was like someone turned the switch off Sept. 1.”

Bill Huffman does an excellent job making anyone in the golf business want to slash their wrists  leap off a bridge consider alternative business models. Actually, he very thoroughly considers the plight of Arizona golf and the sudden downturn in play, talking to SunCor Golf VP Tom Patrick. Thanks to reader Steven T. for catching the story.

This was interesting:

Still, and despite ridiculously low green fees already popping up lately in the West Valley, Patrick doesn’t expect a price war to break out. That’s because costs for rye seed are way up, water has never been more expensive, and maintenance costs are running through the roof after a mass exodus of undocumented workers back to Mexico.

“If people don’t come out to play, the courses will just go broke,” Patrick predicted. “In fact, that’s why so many are up for sale right now, even being foreclosed on — and you’re going to see more of that.”

Case in point: Starfire Golf Club in central Scottsdale went on the auction block this week for $8.5 million.

In another statement on the economy of Arizona golf, Royal Dunes, the former all-men’s club in Maricopa originally named Southern Dunes, completed its foreclosure on Wednesday when it was returned to lender Duane Young of Palm Springs, Calif.

Rumor on the street is the course is going to shift from private to public. (And, yes, women will be able to get a tee time there for the first time.)

“The golf industry is like everybody else,” Patrick said. “Things are not good, and until the banks loosen up some money, it’s going to get worse.”

Meanwhile, Patrick said, the golf industry is bracing for that perfect storm.

“You’re already seeing it,” he said.

“In places like Las Vegas, which really is getting hammered, they’re cutting back on everything, even the size of the courses by taking out turf.”

Well that's not such a bad thing.

Dean Barnett, R.I.P.

John Kirk's lovely tribute on GolfClubAtlas tipped me off on the passing of someone I only knew through email and his writings, though we tentatively planned on meeting and playing Rustic Canyon sometime this winter. That's one round I'll sorely miss playing (and you know how much I love slashing it around for five hours). But Dean's passion was so strong and his eye so unique, I couldn't wait to take him on a tour.

Dean wrote one of my favorite golf architecture stories, which you can read here. This spring he also filed this entertaining blog item on The Players v. The Masters.  He was working on a follow up to his architecture piece titled "Saving Golf" and had quizzed me about a variety of topics via email. For a Red Sox fan, he sure got it.

He was a respected figure in the conservative blogosphere and his passing prompted a nice tribute from Mitt Romney, as well as this from the Weekly Standard. The Boston Globe also ran this obituary.