When 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
Randall Archibold informs us in an NY Times front page story that Cuba is closer to opening the floodgates to golf resort construction. But Americans, don't get too excited just yet.Tony Jimenez tells us about Ernie Els' pre-BMW Championship self-congratulatory back-patting over this year's redo of last year's redo at Wentworth.
I know, I know, you'd think he might be a bit more humble since he's a year removed from unraveling over having to fix a renovation which in places was so horrendous that no one could stand to play another tournament over it. Instead, he came out swinging!
So here's something I can't reconcile with the announcement of the USGA-PGA of America "Play it Forward" campaign to play the proper tees to help make the game more fun and faster.
There is no question too many golfers play the wrong tees. Men letting machismo get in the way are the most obvious candidates to play it forward, as are a surprising number of lower handicap female golfers.
Quite often, folks play too far back because they want to feel connected to golf at the elite level. After all, they buy the same clubs the pros use and on occasion, hit a drive they think is as long as the big boys and in general, buy into marketing that connects the everyday game with the professional. Shoot, we've all be guilty of it and there's nothing wrong with wanting to walk in the footsteps of elite players. Some of us even believe that keeping that connection is a good reason to restrict equipment for professionals.
So now we have the USGA telling us that 7,600 to 7,900 yards is the proper yardage for those big boys. Doug Ferguson noted what makes this so humorous:
While the governing bodies are against bifurcation of the game via a tournament ball or a special rules for professional equipment (well, except grooves), the Play It Forward campaign acknowledges a massive divide between the PGA Tour professional and the amateur. So massive, that only one course on the PGA Tour qualifies as the appropriate yardage in the eyes of the PGA of America and USGA!
In Doug Ferguson's story on Mark Steinberg leaving IMG, he writes:
Woods has a close relationship with Steinberg, a reserve on the Illinois basketball team that went to the Final Four in 1989. If he were to leave IMG and stay with Steinberg, it likely would not make much of a difference in his golf schedule or even his endorsements, as Steinberg did most of that work.
...fill in the possibilities here. CAA? William Morris? Steiney And Associates?
Darren Rovell, "Steiney's" go-to source for dissemination, broke the news on Twitter and indeed, Tiger's agent's name has been scrubbed clean of IMGWorld.com.
For Immediate Release...
PGA OF AMERICA, UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION STEP TO A NEW SET OF TEES IN NATIONWIDE SUMMER INITIATIVE, ‘TEE IT FORWARD,’ JULY 5-17
Not really.
The press conference to launch this year's AT&T National at Aronimink offered yet another less-than-pretty look into the world of Tiger Woods' post accident media management. Instead of simply appearing, answering questions and doing his part to promote an event that his name clings to by a thread, Woods used an probably planned-for $1 million foundation donation as a backdoor way of showing the deep rage he holds toward a golf media that once kissed his feet and now which poses straightforward questions about his game and physical well being.
It is what it is, it's a process, it's all right in front of you, will follow the docs orders...
MEDIA ALERT
Golf Channel to Air Tiger Woods’ AT&T National News Conference, Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET
ORLANDO, Fla., (May 23, 2011) - Golf Channel Tuesday will air live Tiger Woods’ news conference from Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Penn. Coverage will begin at 11 a.m. ET and will continue until the conference concludes. The news conference is a part of media day for the 2011 AT&T National, a PGA TOUR event benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Kelly Tilghman will anchor coverage, and will be joined by GolfChannel.com senior writer Jason Sobel from the network’s Orlando studios.
**If you ever want evidence of how delusional the years of media fawning made Tiger and his flunkies, check out these tweets.
First, Greg McLaughlin, the lavishly paid head of Tiger's foundation:
And then Tiger, putting the media in a no-win situation before his press conference:
It really is remarkable that at this point they call a press conference after everything that happened--namely the lies--and hope to get nothing but fawning softballs.
They should be grateful anyone shows to hear a former world No. 1 plug a tournament he may or may not finish.
**And one more attempt at humor that speaks volumes about Tiger really needing professional help to work out his anger toward the media.
Far be it for me to question Mike Keiser's business acumen, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of a $100, 13-hole par-3 course to compliment the full-length courses at Bandon Dunes. Thanks to reader Bob for Mike Stahlberg's story about the latest Coore-Crenshaw-The Boys addition to the resort
Featuring holes ranging from 65 to 180 yards in length, Bandon Preserve sits atop a swath of sand dunes that tumble toward the Pacific just west of the first tee at Bandon Trails.
The site is bounded by the beach on the west, Cut Creek on the north and McKee Preserve on the south.
The land affords some spectacular ocean views and contains “a lot of great golf terrain,” Keiser said.
That inviting terrain is the second reason, Keiser said, that he decided to build a par-3 for those “aging Boomers to have a golf experience in the afternoon.”
The Preserve course has already been roughed out and shaped.
After irrigation and drainage systems are installed, the goal is to have it seeded by June.
Public play is expected to begin in mid-2012.
“Now that we see how good it will be — because I think it’ll really be super, and much more popular than I ever thought — we’re going to charge a lot and give profits to the south coast conservation effort,” Keiser said.
“We think we’ll charge $100.”
Obama's gotten a lot of scrutiny for his golf even though Boehner plays his fair share, so this unbylined AP story is worth nothing for a few reasons, none moreso though than for this item about his putting. Plug in your metaphors here.Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
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