Absolute Stunner: "Trump ‘threatened to sue’ over refusal to back golf resort"
/I know, I know. I don't believe it either.
Read MoreWhen you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
"There is nowhere in the world I would rather play golf."
/John Huggan catches up with Brad Faxon about his latest visit to Scotland for his favorite type of golf.
Read More"Why not Rio?"
/Ty Votaw tells us about vote day for the 2016 Olympics and shares some insights into the lobbying effort for this week's vote on golf. Meanwhile Bob Smiley looks at one of the early frontrunners to host the golf,
Read More"A course like this sends a message that the city of New York has made a huge effort to build something very special"
/
John Paul Newport looks at the $123 million Jack Nicklaus-designed New York muni, Ferry Point. Brooklyn's Tom Dunne follows up with some thoughts on the potential impact of the course which Jack says could host a major. Didn't someone say that about Liberty National too?Chicago Golf Courses: Blame It On Rio!
/Still waiting on Ty Votaw's blog post from Copenhagen to tell us why he'll be happy to rack up some monster miles flying to Rio in search of a golf course for the 2016 Olympic Games. But based on Garry Smits' post, the options are slim unless you roll back the ball.
Read MoreChrissy Will Do Anything To Get Out Of Attending The Presidents Cup
/
Leave her man? The same week he has shoulder surgery?
It wasn't long ago she was looping in the Augusta par-3 contest, suggesting Greg's ex "get a job," instilling "different thought processes" in Greg, filming nauseating Golf In America segments, buying back Greg's old house, then visiting the White House and taking all of the attention away from Tim Finchem. I suppose in that light, the Presidents Cup would be a letdown.
Doug Ferguson reports the surprising split between Christine Marie Evert Lloyd Mill Norman and Greg Norman and says it was announced on a Friday afternoon to help squelch any rumors when Chrissy didn't show next week at Harding Park.
Oh yes, this will really put the fire out.
And to think it was just three weeks ago she was taking Tim Rosaforte's money and consulting on Adam Scott's selection to the team.
Thus began the exercise of going through a process of elimination that started with me blurting out, "Well, you'll never take Adam Scott. He's playing like ..."
Greg never flinched, but I should have known looking at Chris' raised eyebrows and the way she shifted and looked out of the window that Scott was going to be one of Norman's choices. I even mentioned that Adam was dating the Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic and they were both slumping. Shortly after this awkward moment, a straight-faced Evert made the bet.
"You're going to be surprised," she said.
I'll say!
R&A Contemplating Out-Of-Bounds Tee For Road Hole
/
Earlier this week it was noted here (courtesy of Trevor Immelman's Tweet) that the Road Hole still features a silly roadblock of rough about 310 yards off the tee.
Now we learn this from John Hopkins' Spike Bar column:
An intriguing whisper was circulating in St Andrews recently. The Royal and Ancient have asked a leading player his thoughts on the positioning of a new tee on the 17th, the famous Road Hole. The tee would be 40 yards back from the existing one and therefore over the fence, which used to be the line of the old railway line from Leuchars. Clearly, the 2010 Open, the 150th anniversary of the event next July, is on the minds of the R&A.
First, as a blogger who has made a study of the R&A's emasculation of rota courses in place of regulating distance, this one will be particularly fun since it's only the most famous hole in golf.
Second, isn't it a bit late in the game to be scouting out a possible new tee for a major that is only ninth months away? Particularly when the tee in question will be off the property and driving over a stone wall and a billboard for the Old Course hotel? I can only imagine how tastefully it will erupt out of the landscape.
At least we know the R&A has experience now with this hole off-course tee thing when it went over so well last time in 2005 when they couldn't really figure out the whole OB thing on No. 2.
Could This Mean Johnny Miller Will Have To Work Weekdays?
/Thanks to reader Sam for this on the rumored merger of Comcast's cable holdings with a spun off NBCUniversal, a move that would surely impact the Golf Channel, the PGA Tour and maybe the LPGA Tour:
Read More"But it is often these small things that make the biggest impression, especially at the margins."
/I must say the 74 comments (at blog posting time) on the Jerry Tarde editorial calling for loosening of cell phone rules made for great reading. Thanks for all of the great remarks. I'm sure Jerry was tickled at all of the kind remarks about his stance and the state of Golf Digest. (Note to self: don't send Jerry that email with story idea for a while.)
Lawrence Donegan noted the story on his Guardian blog and echoed the comments many of you made and put the issue into the context of golf club's current problems:
Golf clubs are in trouble. Why are they losing members? Obviously, the economy is the main problem but they don't help themselves with their insistence on maintaining petty restrictions that exist, it seems to me, only for the benefit of those who take pleasure in, well, maintaining petty restrictions. This is not an original point, and it might be a small one. But it is often these small things that make the biggest impression, especially at the margins.
And...
On a grander philosophical level (a speciality of the Guardian golf blog, as regular readers will know), it would be better if golf clubs - and Golf Digest - focused their attention on those things that harm the game far more than any jeans-wearing, car park shoe-changing, hat-wearing reprobate ever could - extortionate joining fees (especially in the States), insidious bigotry (or every shape and form) and slow play.
"All those turrets and towers!"
/It's shocking, I know, but as the Scots get to know The Donald and see his plans for Trump International Aberdeen, they aren't liking what they are seeing. John Hopkins uses the latest news of campaigns and unveiling of more plans for the clubhouse to again tell the Donald to scrap the project.
Read More"My dad was like, 'You want to go and try to qualify for this event?'"
/Not to take anything away from the incredible 14-year-old Alexis Thompson, who shot a 7-under 65 to trail Janice Moody by one in the Navistar LPGA Classic, but this was odd:
Read More"Let 'em shoot what they shoot"
/Steve Elling follows up on the Bay Hill redo and features glowing quotes from tour official Jon Brendle. There's also this:
Read More"When you roll it back, it will not only prejudice the performance of the players, it will also prejudice the patent portfolios of one company over another."
/John Huggan's recently surfaced April chat with Wally Uihlein continues with part two and more ball talk.
Read More"Do not change your shoes in the parking lot. (Perfectly OK at a public course, but the locker room at private clubs is preserved as the last bastion of golfing ablutions.)"
/Jerry Tarde's "Golf's 5 Sacred Rules" comes at an interesting time considering that the American country club is dying in part because it holds things like the five rules sacred.
Read MoreNorman Has Shoulder Surgery; Insists His Prez Cup Lineup Cards Will Not Be Affected
/Do I smell a sympathy sling in International Captain Greg Norman's future after today's procedure?
After experiencing ongoing discomfort in his right shoulder, Greg Norman underwent an arthroscopic procedure Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The procedure was scheduled to allow adequate time for rehabilitation, meaning Norman's December playing schedule should not be interrupted.
"It was imperative that I take care of this because it was keeping me from performing at a level that suits my standards," Norman said. "The procedure will in no way impact my responsibilities at The Presidents Cup, and I very much look forward to captaining the International Team next week."
