"Early adopters say they will cut an average of 10 percent of their typical water use, amounting to millions of gallons of water each year."

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I'd love to hear what our maintenance gurus out there lurking think of today's New York Times story by Larry Dorman looking at the potential impact of sensors in reducing water usage.

This is a green addiction with the potential to spread, with more than 20 states affected by some form of drought and water restrictions a daily reality in cities across the nation.

At least three companies are competing in the market for subterranean wireless sensors, which monitor moisture, temperature and salinity in the soil and feed the data to a software network accessed remotely on a laptop, a handheld device or a desktop computer. The system could be used far beyond the golf course — on other athletic fields, in agriculture, in both home and commercial landscaping, and in parks.

The leader in the clubhouse so far is a system called UgMo, a network of wireless sensors that mine subsurface data and link to a software package developed by Advanced Sensor Technology of King of Prussia, Pa., the original manufacturers of the RZ system. The company announced its updated system in February and made it available in early April, installing it at golf meccas like Merion, Desert Mountain outside Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Card Sound Golf Club on Key Largo, Fla.

Early adopters say they will cut an average of 10 percent of their typical water use, amounting to millions of gallons of water each year. At that rate, the system would pay for itself within the first year, depending on the volume of water a course uses.

"There's rumors floating around here this week that it may not even come into play."

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From Greg Norman's chat with the working press Wednesday prior to the Senior PGA:

Q. When you were younger in your 20s and 30s you were obviously a great ball-striker, but always considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball. That was in the year of the persimmon heads. Has it changed a lot now? Do you think there's more guys who hit 70 percent plus in fairways hit because of equipment or back in the day that was a heck of a lot harder figure to reach?

GREG NORMAN: I think it's easier to hit the golf ball straighter now days. And the ball goes longer. No question. Is that -- that is technology. No question about it.

I think a great barometer, just to get off your question a little bit is, a great barometer is when the V grooves come into play next year. And I hope it does. There's rumors floating around here this week that it may not even come into play. But if the V grooves do come back into play, that will be a great barometer to see how good these players are with their touch and their feel and their imagination. And understanding that that ball, it looks like it's going to leap 40 yards extra off the club face, how do you play that?

That's going to be great to watch on television. Because that's, to me, is the art of understanding the game of golf. And understanding the spin of the golf ball. Not just a pure given fact if you hit it in the rough and I did it a couple times today on these firm greens, I'm in the rough, I know it's going to spin, I'm just going to open that club face up a little bit more and the ball comes down like an old dog lying by a fireplace. It just drops on the green.

Now that's not going to happen next year. So those are the type of things that actually help the better players distance themself from the average players. And I think that's why in my generation you saw such great shot makers out there, Trevino and like I said, Seve in a lot of ways, he hit phenomenal shots.

"I don’t feel like changing my schedule for an event where if I’ve played well, I have only finished in the top ten."

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I thought the sheer magnitude of The Players was cause for Padraig Harrington's reason not to play the BMW at Wentworth, but actually it's the greens according to Peter Dixon:

However, with the club about to dig up all of its greens and rebuild them to modern standards, the Irishman says he will commit himself to playing the famous West Course in 2010. Speaking yesterday at Turnberry, venue of the Open Championship in July, Harrington said: “I find the greens very difficult. I don’t feel like changing my schedule for an event where if I’ve played well, I have only finished in the top ten. I am positive I will be there next year. It is one of the best courses in Europe and I love its challenges from tee to green.”

Martin Dempster reports that Padraig turned up at Turnberry for a practice round and Wilson outing. He offered this scouting report:

"I played one or two shots out there that come up a lot on this golf course and I will work on those over the next two months so that I am ready when it comes around to the Open. For instance, there are a number of elevated greens out there, so you are going to have a lot of chip and runs from rough across fairway on to the green.

"If I had not looked at the course, I would probably have been practising my chip and runs at home from tight lies but, in actual fact, it looks as though we'll be playing those from soft, fluffy rough.

"Also, some of the greens have three to four-feet drop offs and that's something I'll also be practising, either chipping over those or running them up. Just being here five minutes has shown me some different shots to practise coming into the tournament."

"The question Nakheel executives will be asking: Why is the deal worth $170 million?"

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Alistair Tait stays on the story of Nakheel, the construction arm of the government in Dubai, and the fine folks who brought the world the giant palm islands off the Dubai coast. They've inherited the Leisurecorp mess at Turnberry (at least they can sell that, says Tait), and the European Tour's Race to Dubai:

George O’Grady, the European Tour’s chief executive, is adamant that the sponsorship deal is secure. Aaron Richardson, a senior media-relations manager with Leisurecorp, said the money to back the Race to Dubai already is in the bank.

The question Nakheel executives will be asking: Why is the deal worth $170 million?

You can bet that the European Tour would have jumped for joy had Leisurecorp offered, say, $75 million.