Kim Jong Il Puts Jacqueline Gagne To Shame

We have a new serial hole-in-onester to replace Ms. Gagne seems, but in Kim Jong Il's case, he made his 11 holes-in-one in one round...and it was the first round he'd ever played!

Apparently it was Kim Jong Il Day and besides learning that his birthday improves the weather, various other wise tales were shared including this item leaked about His Wonderfulnesses golf game:

Kim, who avoids travelling on airplanes for his rare trips overseas, did learn to be a crack fighter pilot.

He goes through intensive memory training every day and can remember the phone numbers of workers, lines of computer code and the personal biographies of cadres.

And legend has it that the first time Kim played golf, he shot 11 holes-in-one and carded a score about 20 strokes lower than the best round ever for a professional event over 18 holes.

Greetings From L.A. Annual Monday 10th Hole Report

I toured Riviera today and as always it seems to have handled the rain well thanks in part to George Thomas and Billy Bell's ingenious surface drainage.

The last few years these Monday walks have given me the displeasure of reporting bizarre changes to the masterful 10th hole. Because, you know, it has always been such weak hole on an otherwise great course!

I'm pleased to report the restoration of the short grass area taken away and bemoaned about ad nauseum here and here!The restored short grass area includes a new swale that may collect balls, and therefore divots. (Click to enlarge)

Apparently there is a fear that this short grass next to the green encourages players to recklessly drive through the green into the area in front of the 11th tee, where they then face a terrifying wedge shot back. I blame that approach of players in recent years more on the ball than the hole itself. And even though the Shotlink data proved otherwise with regard to the impact of short grass, this area has been re-graded with a sea of newly installed mounds (not as horrible as it sounds, but not great either) and a new swale installed next to the green.

While it is true that players essentially treat the hole like a long par-3 now compared to just four years ago (thank you USGA and R&A!), I'm not sure if the various tinkering here really has made things more strategically interesting. But again, that's not the club's fault, that's a governing body issue.New mounds to penalize agressive drives blend in as well as can be expected. (click to enlarge)

This newly graded short grass area and swale is retaining water. But that's not a big deal. Though I'm guessing if water is collecting there, something else will too. Hint: they're little, white, dimpled and usually when PGA Tour players hit them, the boys tend to leave divots (yes, even next to a green). So we'll see if that becomes a problem this week. (The old short grass area on No. 10 was more gradual in slope, so balls finished in a variety of locations.)

Another change of the welcomed variety involves the 11th tee, where Ted Robinson's old propped-up monstrosity has been eliminated and a nice tee at grade constructed, with some needed length also added to the hole.

As for second year sponsor Northern Trust, there isn't much difference in the setup and the tournament remains a pretty uninspired operation compared to most PGA Tour events. The media tent is larger in response to an onslaught of Japanese media requests this year, while the spray painted Northern Trust logo off the tenth tee is infinitely tackier than last year thanks to the dark green backdrop added (see photo).The dark green paint strengthens the Northern Trust brand. (click to enlarge)

And despite my pleas, the pivotal 18th hole scoreboard remains missing.

Last year the old school manually-operated scoreboard was eliminated to make room for a dignitary seating area, but this year the seating is not present yet fans will still be deprived of following the leaders as they make their way to the great 18th.

I know, I know. They have the electronic board to remind them every five minutes who the host pro is and how the FedEx Cup race is playing out...I guess I just like the added touch of watching a number get changed and for players to come face to face with their situation as they make one of golf's great walks.

The 18th with scoreboard and without:

2006 with the old manual leaderboard greeting players and entertaining waiting fans (click to enlarge)

And 2009... (click to enlarge)

"How dreadful that they are all the same."

I'm not the only one who spotted the irony in Peter Dawson's justification of the R&A's membership practices, as Derek Lawrenson writes:

Quote of the Week: "Golf is a very broad church, and there is plenty of room for every sort of golf club. It would be dreadful if we were all the same."

Chief Executive Peter Dawson's hilarious defence of the men-only status of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

Coming in May: the announcement of the next captain of the R&A, who will be a white male, aged sixty-something, privately-educated, grey-haired, and an ex-CEO.

How dreadful that they are all the same.

"Congressional doesn't have a chance"

I was so taken by The Donald's uncharacteristic hubris that I failed to notice his declaration of intent to lure Tiger's AT&T event to Trump National Washington D.C.

As soon as word leaked that Trump was interested in Lowes, golf nuts in the Washington area started buzzing that he'll make a serious run at bringing all the big-name tournaments to his greens -- especially Tiger Woods, who holds a tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. "Congressional doesn't have a chance," Trump said yesterday.

Someone please tell The Donald that Congressional has the event signed through 2017.

"She seems to have the rhythm back in her swing."

Ron Sirak finds plenty of positives in Michelle Wie's near-win at Turtle Bay, and at least to this television viewer, I would agree that this was the most noticeable improvement in her game:

She seems to have the rhythm back in her swing. That wonderful "Big Wiesy" tempo some think was lost because she was trying to hit it too hard to keep up with the men is back now that she is concentrating on the women.

For the first time in a long, long time I was in awe of her swing again.

And for those of you suggesting that too much attention is being paid to Wie at the expense of the other players, I'm sure Angela Stanford has plenty of new fans after the third win in her last seven starts.

"What were the Northern Trust people thinking?"

In this week's potboiler, the SI/Golf Mag/golf.com/Entertainment Weekly/Time Inc. boys kick around the state of the LPGA Tour, Michelle Wie's game and the AT&T. They also talk about this week's event at Riviera, with Jim Herre planting this seed when the talk turned to Ryo Ishikawa:

I can't believe Ryo won't be joined by Rory McIlroy, who will be spending his week at the Titleist Performance Center in Carlsbad instead of at the Riv. What were the Northern Trust people thinking?

Van Sickle: Yeah, Rory has already proven he's the real deal. Bonehead move of the year was Northern Trust turning down Rory's request for a sponsor's exemption this week. He's ranked top 20 in the world. Not sure what the story is there. Free Rory.

Morfit: Agreed that was a major brain cramp, and it'll come back to bite 'em. The pros don't forget a thing like that. (Then again, post-exemption loyalty only goes so far, considering Tiger's recent record in Milwaukee.)

Shipnuck: Sponsors' exemptions are almost always used to repay burnt-out old pros who have, ahem, supported the tourney through the years. It would be nice if more were invested on promising youngsters, but sponsors would rather have a recognizable name who will come to a cocktail party and perform.

Van Sickle: Mike Van Sickle and I agree with Shipwreck. Billy Andrade doesn't sell any tickets for you.

For the record, Northern Trust's sponsor's invites are Ricky Barnes, Oliver Wilson, Shigeki Maruyama, Jeev Singh, Bryce Molder, Graeme McDowell and Vincent Johnson (Sifford exemption).

I called Tournament Director Tom Pulchinski for comment on the McIlroy situation as well as to discuss the likelihood that this is the final year the event will be managed by the L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce before being turned over to PGA Tour Championship Management (ith the Junior Chamber still receiving the event's charitable contributions). The call was not returned.

IM'ing With The Commissioners, AT&T Pro-Am Edition

The NSA is really humming these days, offering up another insteant message exchange between Tim Finchem and Carolyn Bivens, our faithful PGA Tour and LPGA Tour Commissioners. Click on the image to read...

Joining The World Of Twitter

After seeing how tech-wiz Ryan Ballengee has incorporated Twitter into his blog and reading David Pogue's piece on the emergence of this social networking tool, I've decided to experiment with Twitter during this week's Loss-of-trust Open so that I can make observations (and perhaps a form of website post, technology permitting) without logging into my laptop. Of course PGA Tour regulations forbid me from posting from the course, so all of my profound thoughts will be filed from within the media center boundary fence. Now I know all of you are Twitterers, but if you aren't signed up, you can become a follower of my feed here (you can also find a permanent link in the righthand column). However, if you choose not to subscribe, my hope is to post my feed here on the site so you can enjoy the Loss-of-trust Open as I see it. Key word: hope. I still have some major tech issues to iron out.

Masters' Infatuation With All Things Asia Becomes Officially Ridiculous

The exemption they gave Ryo Ishakawa was debatable, but at least he had won some decent tournaments. Last year's to Lliang Wen-Chong was also a bit of a stretch, but a nice gesture I suppose.

But giving a spot to an amateur tournament that has never been played, as they have announced in a weird joint R&A deal, is just nonsense when you consider that (A) the R&A is not exempting the winner to the Open Championship and (B) the winner of any number of amateur tournaments would be far more likely to provide a quality player with a chance of making the cut (NCAA Individual Champ before the coaches shortened it to 54-holes, the European Amateur, etc...).

I know, I know, those events don't sell TV rights to Asia like this will. Yada, yada.

Update on 2009-02-16 04:16 by Geoff

Bob Harig talks to Peter Dawson about the "ever-expanding" major fields and the sheer wonderfulness of this announcement.

Golf Projects Sneak Into Economic Stimulus Package?

Nice catch by reader Joel to note that several golf projects slipped that might slip into the economic stimulus package, despite efforts by some Congressional type to keep our sport from benefitting.

Shock: R&A's Dawson Makes Little Sense In Latest Interview

The governing body of golf everywhere outside of the U.S and Mexico is blessed to have an in-house architect willing to rearrange courses so they don't have to deal with the ball, and even better, a captain of the Olympic movement as its lead man. Unfortunately those design duties rearranging Open rota courses and those pesky visits to Lausanne with Ty Votaw may be distracting Peter Dawson from honing his spin skills, as evidenced by John Huggan's annual sitdown with the R&A's senior apologist.

On not admiting women into the R&A:

"Where equal treatment is very important – and this is where any legislation should be focused – is in mixed-sex clubs. That is fair. But golf is a very broad church and there is plenty of room for every sort of club. It would be dreadful if we were all the same."

Good one Peter! That's right, who would want to be a member of a club that pays its bills with public money, hosts huge public spectacles, but is only made up of a bunch of frugal white guys from overrated gene pools sporting stiff upper lips, bad breath and cranky dispositions?

As for the distance issue, I'd call this answer progress. Maybe he's getting tired of redesigning great courses for one week of golf every 8 years?

"The ball is not off-limits," claims Dawson. "Our position is consistent, whether you agree with it or not. And we are happy with the present situation. If drives start to go up again, then we will haul them back.

"We think everyone should play by the same rules, a stance most people seem to agree with. While I would acknowledge that the gap between the game the professionals play and the one played by most amateurs has widened, we think it is a central pillar of golf that we all play the same ball. The majority of golfers agree with us. And so do the majority of leading players. They want to be the best golfers in the world, not the best players of a 'tour ball.'

"I'd prefer to see the ball going a wee bit shorter; I can't deny that. But never say never. If necessary, we will do it. If drives get any longer we will reduce the overall distance standard."

So why wasn't there this desire say, seven years ago?

The issues we face now are the same or worse than when this all started Mr. Dawson. Slow play, safety issues, architecture out of whack, confining course setups to compensate. I guess Dawson hasn't seen the silly looking 6th at Pebble Beach this week, with a cluster of pre-vent bunkers that were not needed in 2000!

Finally, the all-vital issue of loft. Try and make sense of this.

"We have written to manufacturers saying that we are looking at loft," continues Dawson. "We've had very lofted wedges made – up to 70 degrees – and we are currently testing them.

"In the hands of a skilled practitioner, it is possible to do a lot with these clubs. But I think the average amateur would have a lot of trouble using them. Now, you are probably going to say there is nothing wrong with having to be skilled to use a particular club.

Generally not.

But, on the other hand, if it lessens the skill required by skilful people to play the game, then there is an issue.

Here's the problem Peter. Many of us saw the same issue with the current ball and driver situation after the advent of launch monitors. The technology became advantageous for certain swing speeds to benefit more than others. You and your fellow members, along with the USGA, pooh-poohed this discrepancy between skilled player and hack, even as the hack was told they could benefit as well.

Yet now it's a problem with lofted wedges, which are often needed to combat the rough that is only necessary because the ball goes too far and the game has no other way to combat distance?

I think Peter's going to need to go back to the drawing board before they get serious on this loft business.

Wie Does Not Win; LPGA Still Reinforces Its Price Value

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who recorded the LPGA event Saturday and watched it, albeit flipping through the same four promos the Golf Channel runs. The Brand Lady, who made a brief appearance during the telecast and talked about the great "price value" her tour delivers, can point to the many fans who otherwise would not be watching. All thanks to Michelle Wie.

Here's the AP story on Angela Stanford's impressive win in the rain and wind at Turtle Bay. Granted, Wie hasn't won since she was 13, but her swing looks great and overall game appears closer to greatness than ever before.

By the way, does anyone else think that the LPGA should end more events on a Saturday to avoid competing with the regular tour? I thought it was nice to see a winner crowned tonight.

"Part of the issue is perception"

Scott Duke Harris and Pete Carey offer more examples of corporations cutting back their involvement in golf for fear of giving the wrong impression.

And the Pebble Beach pro-am has indeed downsized this year, but probably not as much as your 401(k). Declines in corporate sponsorships and ticket sales are expected to bring the tournament's donations to charity down about 10 percent from a record $6.74 million in 2008.

"Given everything else going on, it's a little bit of a success story," said Ollie Nutt, president and chief executive of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. The group uses the tournament's proceeds to support about 200 charities in the region that provide youth activities, education, nutrition and legal services for the needy.

The Pebble Beach classic has had a winning formula that allows Hollywood celebrities and capitalist chieftains to play alongside top pros. It has raised $73 million for charity since 1947, including $50 million since 2000.

But this year, several regular corporate sponsors bowed out; there are 18 skyboxes, compared with 20 last year, and about 11 hospitality tents, down from 15.

"Part of the issue is perception," said Nutt, suggesting that companies don't want to be seen lavishing perks while laying off workers. But the budget decisions, he noted, are genuine.

"Where would we be without the Stimpmeter, a simple gadget that measures the speed of greens?"

Apparently desperate for 14 things to love about golf (get it, 14, Valentines Day), Vartan Kupelian has just earned the ire of every superintendent on the planet with this ridiculous note. And it appears on USGA.org of all places.

5. A Stimpmeter.

Where would we be without the Stimpmeter, a simple gadget that measures the speed of greens?

Probably playing more greens with grass on them for less money.

What’s more fun than telling people you made a 30-foot downhill putt? Telling them you made a 30-foot downhill putt, which was rolling at 12.5 on the Stimpmeter, sounds more invigorating. Think about how much that simple qualifier adds to the tale of making putts. Besides, it’s fun saying Stimpmeter and golf is, after all, supposed to be fun.

Yes, three putting all days on greens "Stimping" 12.5 is a joy! And for the good of the game.

Change Comes To Washington: Donald To Create World's Greatest Country Club, Immediately Orders New Carts

From the Washington Post's "Reliable Sources" blog:

Donald Trump has purchased the Lowes Island Club, making the Washington region part of his luxury golf empire.

"This place, when it's finished, will be the finest club anywhere in the country," he told The Washington Post last night. "There will be nothing like it. I already own the best ones, so I know."

See, just when you start to feel bad about this economic downturn, you are then reminded that not every casualty of it will be a big loss for the game. Oh, continue Donald...

The flamboyant developer already owns seven award-winning courses -- in New York, Florida and California -- and has big plans for his new 800-acre property, which sits along the Potomac River in Sterling. First up: a name change to -- what else? -- "Trump National Golf Club, Washington D.C.," he said.

He's bringing in golf architect Tom Fazio to remake the two 18-hole championship courses, with plans to maximize the site's natural beauty. The clubhouse, pool and facilities will be renovated, he said. Trump said he expects it will take two years "to make it great," and he wasted no time getting started: He's already ordered 150 top-of-the-line golf carts.

There's a man with vision! And class.