"The two reasons golf courses fail is that almost no one does basic demographic research, and developers and lenders get starry-eyed by the name of the designer."

Kurt Badenhausen's Forbes.com story on the state of Tiger's design business gets interesting on page two. He's writing about how Jim Anthony put together new financing for the Woods-designed course that we've been told is under construction.

Hungry for capital, Anthony turned to homeowners at Cliffs' eight properties. He scared up $64 million from 525 of them in the form of a mortgage note paying 12% annually. So far it's the only debt on the course. Creative fundraising on Anthony's part. Because it was a private placement, he didn't have to register the deal with the Securities & Exchange Commission. "Banks are not lending to any developer," he laments.

Maybe that's because bankers are concerned about repayment. Over the past decade the number of golf courses in the U.S. has crept up 3% to 16,000, but the number of rounds played has declined 6%. In 2000, 30 golf courses closed while 399 new courses opened, according to the National Golf Foundation. Last year 140 closed and only 50 opened. Over the past five years 607 courses have closed.

Now this is fun:

"The two reasons golf courses fail is that almost no one does basic demographic research, and developers and lenders get starry-eyed by the name of the designer," says Jerry P. Sager, a managing director at First National of America, a privately owned financial holding company whose main asset is loans to golf course owners. Sager says that a name architect helps sell real estate during the first year of a project. After that sales look like those at any other development. Bad news for Cliffs, which has sold only 44 lots surrounding the future Woods course.

Wait, you mean to tell me that someone has just now figured out that the quality of the course ultimately outweighs the value of the name brand designer. At least it's finally common knowledge!

"I'm probably 15 yards longer than I was when I came onto the tour in 1996, and that's a result of the equipment and the ball and the fact that my swing has gotten better."

That's Cristie Kerr talking to Farrell Evans at golf.com. Somebody get Christie on message. It's the gym time, not the equipment and certainly not the ball!

Pebble's Double Fairway 9th Could Be Restored!

I understand if you have Pebble Beach fatigue by now, but come on, it beats talking about the Traveler's Championship, no?

Anyway, for years I've been told by Pebble Beach Company folks that the old alternate fairway on the 9th fairway, created by Chandler Egan in the 1928 redo along with a shift of the 9th green toward the cliffs, was not possible because of cliff erosion.

Last week I wandered over to the now abandoned fairway and of course, there is plenty of space for the fairway and it provides the optimum angle to attack hole locations cut behind the gaping left bunker.

So for starters, here is a drawing of the hole that appeared in the 1929 National Greenkeeper:

And here is a view of the righthand fairway from the 8th hole:

And the view as you first walk down this now-abandoned stretch of pricey real estate:

And the view of the second shot from the right, a great angle to approach from:

 Finally, the fairway view:

Hank: "It didn't get dysfunctional; it always was dysfunctional."

Do not miss Guy Yocom's gripping interview with Hank Haney, where the floodgates open up and we learn about the fricking weird unique relationship between student and teacher.

The day before we got to Augusta, I felt like he became more committed to what I had been telling him to do. When he got there, Sunday was good. Monday he struggled, but that was the day of the press conference, so I knew he had a lot on his mind. Tuesday and Wednesday he did well. Thursday and Friday he did well. Saturday he did well, too. Yet somehow, when he came to the range after his round Saturday, which was the only time he had practiced after a round all week, he said he felt like he hadn't hit it well. He said he hit it terrible. And I didn't understand what he meant by that.

It sounds like communication was breaking down.

At that point you just have to ride it out. Six years of that. And then on Sunday when he warmed up, he wasn't open to suggestions. He wasn't asking what he should do. At one point, I asked him if he was open to ideas, and in his way he halfheartedly did what I suggested. He struggled on Sunday. That was it.

Jaimee and Rachel can relate.

I talked to him only two times after that. That was his way of blaming me. Maybe I'm reading too much into it; maybe I'm being too sensitive. But when someone doesn't talk to you...

You felt the onus was on him to call you?

Right. I sent him an e-mail on everything I thought he should do and work on. I got no acknowledgement at all, but that wasn't unusual. Then it got to the point where I didn't know what he was doing or thinking. Yet the whole time he was telling the media I was still his teacher and that I was going to continue to be his teacher and I was talking to him every night.

It sounds like it became dysfunctional.

It didn't get dysfunctional; it always was dysfunctional.

Jaimee and Rachel can relate.

Was Tiger generous with you? Did he express his appreciation to you in unusual ways, such as signing flags for you or dropping you notes?

Generosity is relative. It was generous of him to give me the job. I don't have anything signed by Tiger, no. Not one thing.

Did Tiger pay you well?

I don't want to answer that. There's no reason for me to go there.

Jaimee and Rachel can relate. Well, maybe not Rachel.