Brand Lady Does What She Does Best: Layoffs!

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Beth Ann Baldry reports and includes this quote from the LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens on the "realignment":

Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, speaking with Golfweek in response to the tour’s Jan. 7 news release announcing the changes, would only confirm that chief operating officer Chris Higgs was among those who were let go.

“I don’t want to pretend for a second that the economy didn’t impact (the decision); it certainly did,” Bivens said. “(But) it was not the motivating factor for the realignment.”

 For a refresher on some past firings, you can go here and here.

"The result is a startling transformation that makes the California Golf Club of San Francisco arguably one of the golf-rich state’s five finest courses for the first time in its history."

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Ran Morrissett profiles the dramatic restoration of California Country Club, explains the role of various team members in this post, and contends that the project transcends the typical restoration, realizing something greater by combining the best of modern agronomic and architectural practices with MacKenzie's original redesign vision.

Some of the greatest designs ever seen in the United States- Lakeside, Bel-Air, and Los Angeles - were radically changed for the worse prior to World War II. Other designs like Pasatiempo were compromised by the subsequent residential component that was built too close to the playing corridors. Only a few clubs like the Valley Club of Montecito have retained and/or returned the best playing attributes ofthe course'soriginal design.

Yet, there is one club that has returned the best Golden Age design features to its course and taken full advantage of the finest aspects of modern golf architecture and agronomy. The result is a startling transformation that makes the California Golf Club of San Francisco arguably one of the golf-rich state’s five finest courses for the first time in its history.

 

"I really thought he had won about eight majors, and he told me he won 14."

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Anthony Kim, on Tiger's return just before the start of play at Kapalua:

Q. What are you expecting out of him when he gets back?

ANTHONY KIM: I guess the same guy. He's obviously played very well.

It's like I said at the clinic. I'm not a huge golf fan, so I don't know all the stats. I thought he -- I really thought he had won about eight majors, and he told me he won 14 (laughter). I didn't know that.

"But I'm more a man for a Coke."

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Tim Carroll talks to Padraig Harrington about his wrist, the Ryder Cup, Sergio, the chances of a Paddy slam and clarifies this little bit for the media that always assumes every Irishman bathes in Guinness:

WSJ: Which tasted better: Guinness in the first Claret Jug or the second?

Mr. Harrington: Oh, I'm not a Guinness man at all. John Smith's Smooth Bitters was the first drink out of the jug, which is a drink that my manager drinks. It wouldn't be my cup of tea at all. It would be down to the Irish whiskeys for me. I don't have the most acquired taste for beer. But I'm more a man for a Coke. 

Say Goodbye To Those Grants: USGA Nest Egg Down 30%

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Michael Bamberger reports that all is well at Golf House where almost nobody has been layed off lately. As for the nest egg...

The USGA endowment, invested in a wide-range of stocks and bonds, has taken a significant hit in the past year, down roughly 30 percent and hovering at around the $200 million mark.

Hey, it could have been worse.

But now for your buried lede...

For the past decade or so, because of the robust returns on Wall Street, the USGA has become a major participant in golf philanthropy, giving away as much as $10 million some years to programs including The First Tee and Play Golf America. (Fay noted that the USGA gives more to The First Tee than the PGA Tour.) With the downturn in the market, Fay said the USGA's ability to support various organizations would be curtailed, maybe significantly. He could not say to what degree.

 

Un-American Obama: Hasn't Bought New Clubs In At Least Five Years!

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Now I know what I like about him: he doesn't believe in planned obsolescence.

From Jerry Tarde's editor's letter in February's Golf Digest:

We asked a highly placed source what clubs the president-elect plays. "The P.E. uses Callaway irons and Titleist woods," came the e-mailed reply. "They're at least five years old, or more." 

"You're going to see some pretty phenomenal things from Tiger Woods the next three years."

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Steve DiMeglio considers the state of Tiger's game upon his return and shares this from Mark O'Meara:

Mark O'Meara has seen Woods hitting golf balls on the Isleworth range. He liked what he saw.

"I'm not always right, but a lot of times I seem to be right about him, and he'll come back better than he has ever been," he said. "You're going to see some pretty phenomenal things from Tiger Woods the next three years."

The next three years? Does Mark know something we don't?

Meanwhile, The Tiger Return Watch has begun. Jason Sobel picks apart the tournament schedule and lands on Doral, while Alex Miceli likes the match play.

"Then, on the end credits, you see the film was produced by IMG."

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Responding to the thread on Golf Channel's excellent U.S. Open re-broadcast of NBC's live feed, reader Dan adds this note about a less admirable editing effort:

Caught the PGA Championship highlight film/video on the Golf Channel a couple of weeks back. Focused on the back nine battle between Harrington and Garcia. But somehow, they edit out Garcia's ball in the water on 16. Gloss over it completely. Just say he made a bogey and that's it. Incredible. Then, on the end credits, you see the film was produced by IMG. Of course, Sergio is a client. Are the egos of today's professionals really so big and/or fragile? He knocked it in the water, right? That happened, right? Ridiculous. And I'm a Garcia fan.

He did indeed hit it in the water on 16 and it was, oh, kind of the pivotal moment of the day prior to Harrington's winning putt on 18.

"The Masters is always pandemonium, and there are all sorts of rumors about what's going on with the golf course."

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Cameron Morfit files a short but typically enjoyable Geoff Ogilvy Q&A. Topics include contending in last year's U.S. Open, lessons from Tiger's effort and this about the Masters:

What tournament are you most looking forward to this year?

Well, I've never really been in contention at the Masters. On Saturday in '07, that really horrendous, cold, windy day, I was two back, and I spun two wedges into the water on 15. The Masters is always pandemonium, and there are all sorts of rumors about what's going on with the golf course. I look forward to the next Masters from the moment I leave the course on Sunday. It's such a cool place.

And in a PGATour.com writer roundtable previewing major storylines they expect in 2009, Stan Awtrey writes:

The buzz will return to Augusta National. The Gods of the Green Jackets wanted to stay relevant when they put the course on steroids three years ago. Instead they doused the excitement that made the Masters the greatest tournament in the world. Chairman Billy Payne is a bright guy who understands the correlation between excitement and ratings. Look for the roars to return to Rae's Creek and the hollers to return to the hollars this spring. There will be enough excitement this spring to make up for the last two borefests. And if this happens to be the week that Tiger Woods decides to return from the disabled list, the excitement -- and the ratings -- may be Super Bowlian

I'm wondering how much the rumors (which I keep hearing too), or the hopes expressed by folks like Awtrey,  are mostly a case of wishful thinking and not really based on anything folks have seen or heard. After all, the golf course has been off-kilter and out of balance for a decade now and none of the glaring deficiencies have been remedied.

I keep hearing from knowledgable folks that the club's top officials realize they went way too far and it's a matter of time before they swallow their pride or stop worrying about Hootie Johnson's fragile ego or whatever the excuse is, to get this thing turned around. But adding a few yards on the front of some tees and chopping a couple of trees down just doesn't strike me as being what the Good Doctor and Bobby Jones would have prescribed to repair Augusta National. Not that they would have created the problem in the first place.

"A bankruptcy judge on Monday said a golf course at Lake Las Vegas that cost $30 million to build a few years ago has become similar to a 'toxic dump' that nobody wants."

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Thanks to reader Jim for this John G. Edwards story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the demise of Lake Las Vegas' "The Falls" course, a Tom Weiskopf design.

Bankruptcy Judge Linda Riegle took one step toward letting a lender take possession of the Falls, but she didn't make her final ruling.

The judge authorized Texas-based Carmel Land & Cattle Co., which holds a $15 million loan secured by the golf course, to foreclose on it Jan. 30. She delayed action on a request by Lake Las Vegas to abandon the property because she was concerned that the property includes half of a water pumping station needed at the resort community.

Riegle said she will consider whether to grant permission for Lake Las Vegas to abandon the golf course at a Jan. 15 hearing.

Foreclosure of the golf course could cost Ron Boeddeker, the previous owner of Lake Las Vegas, several million dollars because he signed a personal guaranty on the $15 million loan.

The golf course is worth less than half the $15 million owed on the loan, said Frederick Chin, president of Lake Las Vegas Joint Venture and affiliated companies.

David Stern, an attorney for Lake Las Vegas, said the golf course meets two key requirements for abandonment: It's of inconsequential value to the bankrupt companies, and keeping the course creates a financial burden on the debtors.

Other than that, they just love it.

Here's the course's website and links to tee time booking if you were hoping to tee it up before it disappears.

"The tour season opens: auto, electronics, auto, financial, auto."

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Seems like we've had quite a few of these economic crisis-impact stories, but Ron Sirak's is one of the better ones at clarifying a few of the important dates and possibilities. Mercifully for the PGA Tour, Buick has a car to promote

And how can you not love this bit:

The most important spin, at least for the first part of the season, won't be on the golf ball but rather on the economic reality. There are 15 events the first 13 weeks of 2009, and 12 have sponsors from the most distressed areas of the economy. Forget the tournament names and think of it this way: The tour season opens: auto, electronics, auto, financial, auto. All are industries that have suffered deep and painful layoffs.

Lloyd Cole On Melbourne Golf

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Don't miss Lloyd Cole's entertaining T&L Golf story on his Melbourne golf trip, complete with a tour of the essential MacKenzie designs and golf with Mike Clayton. There is also a sidebar with the courses listed and other suggestions.

That afternoon, Clayton drops me off at Kingston Heath Golf Club, where I’m joined by my Internet buddy, Rich. We “met” at an online golf forum, so I know he knows his architecture, but as for his game, I have no idea—we’re meeting in person for the first time. I’m one of those people who believes you can tell a lot about an unfamiliar playing partner by looking at the clubs in his bag. Rich’s are new, high-tech and very clean. If he had used iron covers I would have suggested a wager right then and there. He addresses his first tee shot looking stiff and tense. His backswing is overly long and his right elbow flies out, but somehow he returns the clubhead to the ball with considerable force and precision, sending it some three hundred yards down the middle. My weak, heeled fade is barely within sight of it. “We should have a match, don’t you think?” I squeak. “What’s your handicap?”

Gulbis Joins Twitter To Share Her Most Profound Promotional Tidbits

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Noam Cohen looks at the sports stars Twittering or Tweeting or whatever you call the Twitter.com social networking tool that allows people to offer short messages on your whereabouts or, if you are an LPGA Tour star with a sordid history of really bad marketing ideas, your carefully cultivated branding messages.

First, though, there had to be a meeting between her media consultant, Kathleen Hessert, and other advisers.

“I had to talk her management team into it,” recalls Ms. Hessert, whose company, Sports Media Challenge, represents athletes and professional teams.

Deciding to join a service devoted to spontaneous, often spectacularly mundane updates throughout the day apparently was something to be thought out carefully. Ms. Gulbis and her team were concerned about who would be reading what she writes on Twitter and what they would do with the information.

“There is a risk,” Ms. Hessert conceded. “Whenever you open yourself to the public there is risk. The way I convinced her to do it, is to say that people see you one way and there is so much more.”

Ms. Gulbis agreed to use Twitter, but she said she wasn’t simply following Ms. Hessert’s lead. “When I decided to do Twitter, I had a plan — there is information I wanted to get out,” she said in a telephone interview last week from a yacht in the Caribbean. And she established clear parameters. “I don’t think I would ever Twitter about my personal life, who I was dating, who I was going out with. That is something I would be very protective of,” she said.

Instead, Ms. Gulbis’s tweets thus far tend to be circumscribed and have a clear point to make, whether it relates to her work on behalf of the Boys and Girls Clubs, or a sponsor, TaylorMade, or even the broad outlines of her oceangoing vacation. 

Lucky us!