Sabbo, O'Hair Cat Fight Is Over Slow Play!

Considering that Sean O'Hair is a turtle and Rory Sabbatini is a rabbit, I'm not surprised by the revelation in Alex Miceli's look at the man-spat that broke out between the two PGA Tour giants.

According to sources, Sabbatini spent much of last Thursday and Friday complaining about the speed of play.  Eventually he asked O’Hair directly if he thought the speed of play was a problem and reportedly O’Hair said the problem was Sabbatini. Sources said O’Hair told Sabbatini that playing in a group with Sabbatini, a known speed-of-play advocate, was equal to a two-shot penalty for his playing competitors.

Steve Elling quotes Sabbatini after Wednesday's pro-am round, and he is playing dumb.

Pointedly asked after the pro-am if he was facing a suspension or under scrutiny, Sabbatini was equal parts defiant and testy.

"No, that is just all rumor, bud," he said. "You are going based on a rumor. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Pat Perez, the third player in the group in New Orleans, on Wednesday repeatedly declined to describe the altercation, which took place in a tee box during the second round.

"I am not going to be the guy on the front page," Perez said Wednesday at the tournament site. "It's for us to sort out."

There goes Pat's chances of winning the Jim Murray Award!

"The members decided an auction was the quickest and easiest solution for the club that’s been around roughly a half century."

Thanks to Del for Dawn Wotapka's Wall Street Journal blog item on the May 10 auction of Oak Lane Country Club in Woodbridge, Conn., which the item says is "the latest sign of trouble in the golf-club industry."

With the reserve price set at $1.6 million, the club’s sale price starts at a song. But bidding could be intense. With large tracts of residentially zoned land rare in the crowded Northeast, everyone from developers to church congregations have shown interest, says Oren Klein, partner and auctioneer for Tranzon Integrated Property Group.

The buyer might not be a golf course operator: Players continue to abandon golf – a single game can take several hours – in favor of quicker, easier and more affordable activities. Fewer club members equals lower revenue.

The things you learn from the WSJ!

At one point, Oak Lane club had several hundred members, but that has fallen to around 200, which didn’t generate enough money to pay the bills, according to Mr. Klein. Plus, several nearby courses pose stiff competition for everything from green fees to catering orders.

“The numbers don’t work anymore,” he says. “They’re in default with their mortgage.”

The members decided an auction was the quickest and easiest solution for the club that’s been around roughly a half century.

Golf Club In Rio Throws Its Bucket Cap Into The Olympic Golf Mix

You can just imagine what the architects backstabbing each other to get the job will think of this. For Immediate Release:

2016 Olympic Golf Tournament: Itanhangá Golf Club Board of Delegates Approves Plan to Host 2016 Olympic Golf Tournament, Garners Support of Pelé

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – May 4th, 2011 – During its monthly board meeting on Sunday May 1st, 2011, the Itanhangá Golf Club board of delegates authorized club president, Arthur Porto Pires Jr., to proceed with the club’s plan to host the 2016 Olympic Golf Tournament.  In a letter addressed to Peter Dawson, president of the International Golf Federation (IGF) sent via e-mail on April 21, 2011, Mr. Pires expressed his club’s desire to host the 2016 tournament.  “The choice of Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics is a just reason for Brazilians to celebrate and an opportunity for us at Itanhangá to have our premises considered by [the] IGF and the Olympic Committee to host the golf competition,” said Mr. Pires in the letter.

Itanhangá Golf Club is one of two existing golf clubs within the city limits of Rio de Janeiro that is under consideration to host to the 2016 tournament.  After extensive analysis Itanhangá has emerged as the only existing club with the necessary space to host a championship tournament of this scale.  Itanhangá Golf Club encompasses nearly three hundred picturesque acres centrally located just minutes from the Olympic Village.  The club features two courses totaling twenty-seven holes (an 18-hole tournament course and a 9-hole practice course), a sprawling grass driving range, and an extensive clubhouse area with a spacious modern locker room facility. 

The 18-hole tournament course will require minor improvements including the addition of approximately six hundred yards in order to adapt the course to the contract requirements of the IGF and International Olympic Committee (IOC).

600 yards...minor?

A number of course design professionals including representatives from the IGF have visited Itanhangá and have confirmed the course’s tournament potential subject to the necessary improvements.  

Oh they just want the work!

An initial survey completed by the club has shown that these improvements can be funded through the club’s share of tournament commercial operations revenue and will not require a large expenditure from the government.

In his letter to Mr. Dawson, Mr. Pires highlighted Itanhangá’s track record of hosting professional golf tournaments. “Itanhangá is consistently chosen for major Brazilian and international events for its world-class, though not overly difficult layout, and its spectacular natural setting and beauty,” he said in the letter.  The European Tour chose Itanhangá to hold their first Latin American event in 1999, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has made a yearly tour stop at Itanhangá since 2009.

In addition to providing a major championship caliber venue, Itanhangá’s Olympic project entitled “Olympic Dream Itanhangá 2016,” promises to leave a lasting social legacy on the local community while promoting interest in the game of golf in Brazil.  “In light of the other alternatives that have been suggested for the tournament including the costly construction of a new municipal course on an sensitive wetlands area, Itanhangá felt obligated to offer a solution that is socially, fiscally, and environmentally responsible,” exclaimed Mr. Pires. 

Rory Sabatini, Sean O'Hair Will Not Be A Featured Pairing Any Time Soon

Then again, when you read about their "heated exchange" and Sabbo's anger management issues, maybe a Thursday-Friday pairing at the Colonial could spice things up!

Stephanie Wei with the particulars on their Zurich Classic dust up that featured no punches thrown.

O’Hair, whose friends describe him as “non-confrontational,” will probably be slapped with a lighter punishment than Sabbatini, whose infamous temper has led to multiple run-ins (to his credit, he’s significantly simmered down). Word is Sabbo may face a multiple-week suspension, which he then has the option to appeal.

It appears the tension may have started at Riviera earlier in the year after an incident Steve Elling details.

At Riviera, Sabbatini berated a Shotlink volunteer who tried to come to the player's aid on the fifth hole after the South African hit a shot into some deep rough. The volunteer left the Shotlink tower, found a ball in the calf-high rough, and marked its location with a beverage container.

When Sabbatini arrived, he lost his temper and screamed at the volunteer, claiming the ball had been pushed deeper into the rough as a result of the bottle being placed in close proximity. According to caddie Frank Williams, who works for Stewart Cink, the third member of the group, Sabbatini had a complete meltdown.

"It was as bad as I have ever seen," Williams told CBSSports.com a few weeks after the incident.

A witness said Sabbatini ultimately removed his belt and threw it to the ground in disgust.

How adorable!

Phil Buys An Arizona Course And Other Notes About The State Of AZ Country Clubdom

Thanks to reader John for Peter Corbett's look at the state of golf clubs in Scottsdale and he reports a lot of membership and dues numbers, very little of it encouraging for developers but great for golfers. He also reveals this recent course purchase:

"This is about the low-water mark I've ever seen," he said.

Scottsdale's Sanctuary Golf Course was sold in the past month to Phil Mickelson and his agent, Steve Loy, for $2.2 million, a price far below its value of five years ago, Garrett said.

Brad Klein, a GolfWeek magazine editor, said the problem at Phoenix and Scottsdale golf clubs is that real-estate development subsidizes the golf operations.

When members take over the golf cub from the real-estate developer, they are forced to cut operating costs or tax themselves to maintain the courses at a high level, he said.

"There is a statement in the industry that the third owner makes the money," Klein said.

The third owner buys a course for $4 million that costs $20 million to build and $4 million to operate annually, he said.

“I was just trying to stay ahead of the field, which in hindsight probably wasn't a good thing."

Robert Jones on Rory McIlroy's refreshingly candid comments about the Masters during his Wells Fargo Championship press conference.

“First thing I don't think I was ready — that was the most important thing,” the young Ulsterman said at Quail Hollow, the course where he shot a magical 62 to win his first PGA Tour title a year ago.

“I displayed a few weaknesses in my game that I need to work on.

“But I think you've got to take the positives — for 63 holes I led and it was just a very bad back nine that sort of took the tournament away from me, I suppose.

“But what can you do? There are three more majors this year and hopefully dozens more that I'll play in my career.

“I was just trying to stay ahead of the field, which in hindsight probably wasn't a good thing.