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
Doug Ferguson reports that the U.S. assistant captain and Charlotte Bobcat owner Michael Jordan, who was sure to bring at least two solid controversies and massive revenues to the sluggish Melbourne economy, needs to spend more time waiting for David Stern's phone calls. So much so, he broke the owner's pledge to not speak about the lockout.
Martin Dempster
reports on "extensive work" being undertaken at Castle Stuart to last year's landslides won't happen this year...if the European Tour finds a sponsor for the Scottish Open, a topic touched on later in the piece.
Kera Abraham reports on Pacific Grove muni, an affordable, fun and scenic alternative to the 17-Mile Drive courses, bleeding red ink last year.Steve Elling looks at the Nationwide success stories of Erik Compton, Billy Hurley and Ted Potter, including this new revelation from Compton about his heart:
For much of his life, the destination was hardly ordained. When Compton made it to PGA Tour Qualifying School finals last fall and struggled, guaranteeing him only limited status on the Nationwide in 2011, he not only wasn't sure where he would be playing, but how much he could play, period, because of his physical limitations.
He hit the wall after winning the Mexico Open last summer and his body began rejecting his heart. Doctors gave him doses of Prednisone, which sapped his strength for several weeks and left him so shaky he could not drive for parts of three weeks.
"My hands were too shaky," he said.
Peter Stone with the story of Perry Somers, acclaimed Australian hickory golfer, who wanted to use his decrepit old sticks in the Australian PGA this year, but was told they were non-conforming.
Pete Iacobelli reports on Erik Compton finishing 13th on the 2011 Nationwide Tour season money list, giving the two-time heart transplant recipient PGA Tour status in 2012.
Gary D'Amato talks to Steve Stricker about his health issues and while there hasn't been great progress as the Presidents Cup approaches, there was this bizarro bit involving the opposing team's captain:
Lettie Teague sits down with vinter Greg Norman who says he rarely gets a good glass of wine at a golf club and who equates golf to wine. Thankfully the metaphor was not delved into very deeply.
Sean Martin talks to coaches and others in the golf world about the new amateur status rules. The takeaway: college coaches are dreading the issues that will come along with the new rules, while international coaches like Golf Australia's Brad James are concerned about added pressure from agents on young players.Why so many rules for a game whose basic principle is to play the course as you find it and not touch the ball until you lift it from the hole?
“We could issue a more simple rule book, but I’m afraid it would fail the fairness test, and what good would that do?” Mr. Rickman said.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
