"The 2014 US Open will be the first to be played on a course with no rough."
/Another interesting part of John Huggan's profile of Bill Coore, this time talking about narrow fairways and the rough at Pinehurst.
Read MoreIn golf construction art and utility meet; both are absolutely vital; one is utterly ruined without the other. GEORGE THOMAS
It’s back!
Twenty years later Tatra Press has kindly allowed me to bring back Grounds For Golf now that golf architecture is of more interest to the masses. A new Introduction looks at what’s driven the interest growth and two new chapters I had a blast adding (plus a few edits to keep things up-to-date).
The Amazon purchase page for the book arriving June 15, 2026.
LPGA And Golf Channel Just Fine And Dandy?
/Ron Sirak reported in this week's Golf World Monday that the LPGA is looking for a way out of their 10-year Golf Channel deal. But Ryan Ballengee checked in with LPGA spokesman Dave Higdon, who denied that was the case.
Read MoreGolf's Most Powerful Spend Morning Despondently Scrolling Sports Business Journal's Most Influential List...
/...and not finding anyone by Tim Finchem at slot #19. Here's the overview story and the rationale, besides ego-boosting and blows, behind the list.
Read More"I was going to play golf my way -- and love every minute of it."
/
As part of Golf Digest's "Fun" issue Ron Kapriske has dared to go forward at the expense of his manhood and guess what? He had a blast.Golf Mag's Best New, 2010
/Nothing too earth shattering in Golf Magazine's best new courses list but I feel like we have to soak these things up with the unlikelihood of "Best New" lists in the coming years. Selfishly, I was glad to see the Prairie Club courses both making the top 10 as described by Joe Passov.
Read More"FedEx Cup Excitement"
/GolfChannel.com has begun counting down their "newsmakers" of 2010 and as a partner of the PGA Tour, they've already chimed in with oxymoronic No. 10... "FedEx Cup Excitement."
Read More"The governing bodies have looked into what happened and uniformly said stop what you’re doing, but you haven’t done anything wrong."
/I've intentionally ignored the stories of the gambling accusations leveled against Ted Forstmann since it sounded like a frivolous lawsuit and blackmail attempt. Yet in this interview with Darren Rovell, I couldn't help but find his answer strange.
Read More"Just when I think Hollywood is out of fresh ideas they go and prove me wrong."
/Omaha native Brad Dickson, a former writer for “The Tonight Show," reviews sports on television and noted this about the Law & Order episode based on Tiger's accident.
Read MoreGMac Noticed Stevie's Premature Striptease Act: "I guess Stevie wasn't expecting that one."
/Thanks to reader Mark for catching Golf Central's tour report that included clips from a sitdown with Graeme McDowell talking about Steve Williams and his premature bib removal during last weekend's Chevron World Challenge.
Read MoreFinchem: Everything's On The Uptick! Or Is That Uptake?
/I was unable to sit in on Tim Finchem's year-end press conference but all of the questions I would have wanted to ask came up. It's a fascinating, slightly shocking and at times mesmerizing script to wade through. It's also one that I think we'll look back on a year from now and think either,
A) the man really knew his partners, the corporate world and his "product" and its ability to lure the networks into a lucrative new deal
"So a golf company purchase is a long shot -- at best."
/
Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson consider the possible options for an Acushnet sale or spin off and conclude that private equity or Asian sporting goods will be the likely suitors. There was this on the bottom line...
But more importantly, Titleist has real profits and real dominance in the marketplace. Its EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is approximately $120 million and historically sporting goods transaction multiples are between six and eight times EBITDA. Acushnet being an industry leader would seem to command the high end of that so let's start the bidding at $1 billion. Or possibly beyond.
"Web Provided Game Chatter That Matters"
/My latest Golf World column, part of a robust 2010 Newsmakers issue, is now posted.
Read MoreTrump National Engineers!?
/Great scoop by Evan Rothman on the members of Engineers getting the chance to vote on becoming part of the Trump National family. Naturally it's tragic news for anyone hoping to see this once epic architectural masterpiece properly restored some day, but given the way the membership has viewed their historic design in the last decade, a match with The Donald seems fitting.
If you are looking for an architecture fix and a fun read, check out Rothman's profile of Devereux Emmet in the Met Golfer. It's also a nice reminder of the Met Golfer's quality and of one of Engineers' architects.
"There's one guy in his 20's who has the physical strength, the putting, the monster ball flight to dominate and win six, seven, eight majors in the next 10-12 years."
/I think this was the most intriguing statement from Brandel Chamblee in his Golf Magazine interview, conducted by Connell Barrett. The topic? The Ryo, Rory, Rickie talk and their future in majors.
Who steps up? One of the three R's?
Maybe. But they all lack one thing: size. I like the bigger guys who don't have to swing at 100 percent. Big guys tend to have what I call "big game" — the sky-high ball flight that wins majors. Bigger guys can do that while swinging at 80 percent. Think Tiger, Vijay, Phil. Ryo, Rory and those guys swing full throttle all the time. But there's one guy in his 20's who has the physical strength, the putting, the monster ball flight to dominate and win six, seven, eight majors in the next 10-12 years. And that's Dustin Johnson. Dustin has everything. He has some weaknesses around the greens, but so did Jack. If he doesn't win a Masters or two, I would be shocked.
