"That's five months after his third heart was brought into an operating room packed in an ice chest, mind you."

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Since I can only take one Nicklaus design a month, I was searching for an excuse to record the Honda Classic just so that I could relive PGA National in all its glory. Then Steve Elling reminded me how great a story Erik Compton is and how amazing it is that he's playing the Honda.

Even we hardened, sarcastic, jaded beat writers were amazed the Compton story didn't gain more national traction last fall -- even after he was featured on the ABC evening news. Some of us slogged around Q-school watching him play, shaking our heads at how everybody had made a federal case about Tiger Woods' knee surgery -- he was out for eight months following a fairly routine procedure -- and how Compton was back five months after having his chest ripped open from stem to stern and then stapled back together.

That's five months after his third heart was brought into an operating room packed in an ice chest, mind you. It still gives me a lump in my throat.

Thanks to the help of a new agent -- former IMG player manager Peter Malik, the longtime representative for Mark O'Meara -- Compton has finally secured an endorsement deal, with Titleist. A book deal is being discussed, and it's sure to be one of the best golf tomes in years. You couldn't make up this kid's life story, really, since he received his first transplant at age 12. 

Economic Crisis Ushers In A Dreaded Martha Burk Reference

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Michael Buteau of Bloomberg talks to Augusta real estate agent Diane Starr about the lackluster rental climate in Augusta as the Masters looms.

Week-long rentals of private homes have dropped to $7,000 from $9,000 for a typical four-bedroom, three-bath property, and to $15,000 from $30,000 for five-bedroom estate homes used for private parties, said Starr, who spent 15 years working for the Augusta Chamber of Commerce’s Masters Housing rental unit before starting her own company two decades ago.

“I’ve been doing this longer than anybody in this town and this is as bad as I’ve seen it,” Starr said during an interview in her office four miles from the club. “We had 9/11 and then Martha Burk. This has hurt us worse than either one of those.”

I don't know about you, but it sure sounds like ticket prices still need to come way down.

Tickets for this year’s tournament, which have a face value of $200 for all four competition rounds, have sold for an average of $3,377 on EBay’s Stubhub, down from $3,930 in 2008.

Sean Pate, a spokesman for Stubhub, said he expects prices to keep falling as the tournament approaches.

The company has sold “hundreds” of one-day passes for an average price of $400, Pate said. Tickets for Monday and Tuesday practice rounds have a face value of $36. Wednesday tickets cost $41. Stubhub has sold just four of the approximately 100 four-day “competition round” passes it has listed. 

“You're going to see players forego the latest equipment, but hitting the course.”

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Richard Oliver looks at the economic crisis impact on golf and shares several interesting anecdotes.

The spiraling economy, in addition to ripping chunks out of 401k balances, has delivered hits to discretionary spending. It has forced courses from South Florida to South Texas to alter price structures for green fees, offer aggressive specials and watch several country-club customers take aim at municipal-course flags.

“The best quote I heard recently was from one of the Titleist reps,” Jeff Hunter, director of golf at Sonterra, said Tuesday. “He told me he's never sold so many hats. People still want to buy something, but they're buying hats or shirts instead of that new driver.”

Now Wally, resist the temptation to, oh I don't know, reprimand this fellow. After all, the guy interviewed might have meant the Taylor Made reps! The T manufacturers are very easily confused.

Sonterra, like La Cantera and other country-club and resort tracts in the San Antonio area, is fighting to keep its golf landscape alluring, even in the face of droughts both atmospheric and economic.

If players are deciding against that 2009 Titleist 909D2 driver, the task remains to get them to pull out an outdated model and fire away as in the past.

“We were discussing it internally the other day,” said Steve Shields, director of golf at La Cantera. “You're going to see players forego the latest equipment, but hitting the course.”

You do need the golf course to his the driver, last I checked. So we haven't completely lost sight of our priorities.

Reaping the benefits of it in these parts are the Alamo City Golf Trail layouts, including the renovated Brackenridge Golf Course, and other daily-fee spreads such as Pecan Valley and Olympia Hills.

Jim Roschek, general manager of the Golf Trail, said that while numbers may be skewed by the ongoing renovations at the seven city-owned tracts, the number of rounds has been steady.

“What I've seen at times is there has been one or two little depressions in the past and things have looked up for us,” said Roschek, who arrived in San Antonio two years ago after overseeing the makeover of municipal golf in Kalamazoo, Mich. “Here, I don't know if it's because of the economy or that we have less (courses) open, but people are playing the munis.”

The reason, in part, are prices at $75 or less on the public layouts, an increasing temptation for players no longer willing to shell out fees in excess of $100 per round in trying financial times.

 

"Some of the rounds we've played there, it's been almost to the point where it's laughable."

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Ernie Els was asked a couple of interesting Masters related questions on the eve of the Honda Classic.

Q. There's been a lot written about how some of the fireworks are gone, going back to the year you and Phil basically through everything you had at the golf course and there were some dividends for it. Was the course too hard, or do you think that was just a function of weather or have they made it so difficult that there's no wiggle room to allow for weather now, and that's the tipping the point?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I think you've said it all. (Laughter).

I think you're right. 2004 was the last time there was really a nice shootout. I think even if you look at years before 2004, there were a lot more years where there were more exciting finishes.

You could reach a lot of the par 5s. You could take on some of the holes with shorter irons, especially like No. 7, like No. 11. 17 was even shorter. 15, the par 5, you could reach, longer hitters, with maybe a long middle iron. 13 you could get to the green a lot easier. And as I said, 11 was short, so you could go in there with a short iron.

And these greens are all very difficult. They were built by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones, and there's a lot of slope on that golf course, as you guys know; you've walked it. So there's going to be a lot of slope on the greens naturally; and with the speed of the greens, and as we've seen the weather last couple of years, it's going to be very difficult.

To be honest, the guys are very good on TOUR, but then they will play away from flags, and it's just natural. Like 11, you're coming in with a 3-iron or maybe even a 5-wood with the wind whipping into you, 50-degrees, you're not going to go for the flag. It's impossible. Whether you say hey, the players are not good enough or whatever, the fact of the matter is, professionals are not going to go for a par 4 with water on the left, flag tucked left with wind figured in; you're playing safe.

So that's been the case. I think the last couple of years, especially the final rounds, it's been a bit subdued, and that's going to keep happening if they keep the golf course the same way.

I hear they have changed some things, so we will wait and see. I'll go check out the golf course and see what it's all about, and see where to go from there. But they have definitely -- you know, Mr. Johnson, when he took over as Chairman, he made a lot of changes, and we've got to live by those changes now. And the course is one of the toughest courses in the world now.

They're just getting a little less vague and a lot less diplomatic each year, aren't they?

Q. Geoff Ogilvy said last week, getting back to the Masters, he said if somebody built that golf course today, Augusta National and it didn't have the tradition and the aura and it was the same green complexes and the same speeds and the same difficulty, the pros would walk off it after nine holes and say it's ridiculous.
ERNIE ELS: Well, I won't go that far. (Laughter) It is what it is.

As I said, you know, I'm a fan of Alister MacKenzie's design. We play Royal Melbourne down in Australia where Geoff is from. He plays at Victoria, which is across the road. It has some of the greens, some of the speeds and more wind than Augusta has. And we play golf tournaments down there, too.

He is right in the fact that he says that they kept on, how shall I say, massaging the golf course, to the point where, yes, at times when the weather turns and flag positions are in certain parts, it becomes very much on the edge.

In some cases, yeah, some of the years, some of the rounds we've played there, it's been almost to the point where it's laughable. But, hey, we play a major there. It's still a very good layout, and they just try and test the players. At times, they have gone maybe past the point.

But other than that, they're doing a super job.

Greg And Chrissy Ramp Up Pre-Masters Publicity Tour By Insisting It Was All Laura's Fault

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Gosh, this is going to be so fun. Golf.com's Michael Walker reports on the dream couples' Australian TV show interview.

The real "Wow!" moment of the interview came when Norman described what it's like to write a check for $100 million, the amount of Andrassy's divorce settlement. "It's good to know you have it," Norman said. "It's the price you pay for freedom."

Evert strikes back too, saying that Andrassy's accusations are untrue and "come from a place of pain." She then suggests that Andrassy "get a job."

Chrissy is such a sweetheart!

Chris Wightman, We Hardly Knew Ye

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Is it too late to bring Marty back? And Golf Journal? Sorry, dreaming again...

USGA MUSEUM DIRECTOR RAND JERRIS EXPANDS RESPONSIBILITIES

Far Hills, N.J. (March 4) – The United States Golf Association announced today that as part of an organizational consolidation, USGA Museum Director Rand Jerris’ responsibilities have been expanded to include leadership of its Communications Department, reporting to USGA Chief Business Officer Peter Bevacqua.

“This is a natural extension of Rand’s abilities and leadership skills,” said Bevacqua. “With 21 years of experience within the Association, he is intimately familiar with the core functions of the USGA. We are pleased to be able to rely on his expertise to guide our communications efforts.”

Jerris joined the USGA part-time in 1988, became the Association’s first Librarian/Historian in 1999 and was appointed Museum Director in 2002. He recently oversaw the development of the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, which opened in June 2008.

Jerris completed his doctorate in art and archaeology at Princeton University and received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Williams College.

As a result of this consolidation, Managing Director of Communications Chris Wightman will be leaving the Association to pursue other interests.

Here was the glowing, and I mean glowing release with quotes praising the hire in December, 2007.

Jerris knows golf and does not speak in MBAisms, so this would seem to be an indication--in spite of what the original press release says--that David Fay is taking back the reins of the organization after the Walter Driver years left him with less influence.

"Your central nervous system enjoys change"

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David Dusek talks to Geoff Ogilvy about changing putters, just as Bobby Jones suggests in today's quote (above...until I take it down). And you thought some of us Geoff's who would like to see a minor distance rollback aren't also passionate advocates of consumerism?

"Your central nervous system enjoys change," he told me. "The new putter theory is not BS, that's a fact and it works for everyone. So sometimes if my putting feels a bit flat, I'll change putters, but it's not like I'm completely changing putters. I just want to look at something new, something fresh. People might think you are just trying to escape all the bad karma in your other putter, but your brain likes change and it gets you excited about putting again."