"When you rattled off that list of credits, you left out my cure for polio, but I'll excuse you for that."

Long overdue, much deserved and well received by his peers, Dan Jenkins becomes the sixth media member to join the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Bill Fields' Golf World bunker item that broke the news.

Doug Ferguson with the numbers and retrospective.

Jenkins, 82, will be only the sixth media member in the hall when he is inducted May 7 at the World Golf Village along with Phil Mickelson, Hollis Stacy and two other inductees who are to be announced Thursday in London.

His career goes from Ben Hogan to Tiger Woods, from the manual typewriter to Twitter, and Jenkins is still going. He previously worked for the Fort Worth Press, the Dallas Times Herald and Sports Illustrated, and he has been writing for Golf Digest since 1985. Jenkins also has written 20 books, including "Dead Solid Perfect."

"Being from Fort Worth, I would follow Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson anywhere," Jenkins said Wednesday on a conference call to announce that he was selected through the Lifetime Achievement category. "Since they're in there, I'm happy to be the third guy from Fort Worth so included.

"I'm delighted to be in such good company with the people who are already in there, especially the players."

The other five media members in the Hall of Fame are writers Herbert Warren Wind, Bob Harlow, Herb Graffis, Bernard Darwin and television producer Frank Chirkinian. They were inducted posthumously.

For some fun reads from the archives, SI goes into the vault for some best of Dan, Guy Yocom's interview is a must as is Jaime Diaz's 2005 tribute.

And some highlights from the transcript, starting with a elated and overjoyed Tim Finchem who surely wanted Dan in for years and just couldn't convince his fellow committee members of the health benefits derived from biennial readings of You Gotta Play Hurt.

TIM FINCHEM:  Thank you, Jack.  I was excited to have the opportunity to announce Phil Mickelson when we were in Singapore a few weeks ago and talk a little bit about his great career.  I know that the recipient from the international ballot will be announced tomorrow in London by George O'Grady along with another announcement.

Today I'm very pleased to do something really fun, which is to recognize a unique individual for the lifetime achievement category, an individual who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this May and rightfully so.  That is Dan Jenkins.  A legendary, how shall I put this ‑ writer, humorist, commentator, critic from time to time, a great part of what sports in the United States is all about and has been all about for many, many, many years.

Dan has had a spectacular career, and I think I should note that over the years the World Golf Hall of Fame has been very sparse in their recognition of people from Dan's craft, only recognizing the very, very best. 

And now for Dan...

DAN JENKINS:  Tim, thank you very much.  When you rattled off that list of credits, you left out my cure for polio, but I'll excuse you for that.  You got all those other things in there.

I'm delighted and flattered and overwhelmed to take a spot in there with my old friends, Herbert Warren Wind and Herb Graffis and people like that who actually covered the sport.  I wish I had known Bernard Darwin, but I came along too late for him.

And we have a comedian on the line asking about memorabilia Dan might donate.

Q.  Any Western Union clips?

DAN JENKINS:  Right, yeah.  I do go back that far, actually.  I missed Postal Telegraph, but I was around for Western Union.  They used to garble your stories pretty bad.  Somebody told me one time they only improved them, really.  That may or may not be true.  But I do go back that far.

I went through the age of faxing, and now I'm in the computer age, and now I'm in the tweeting age.  So I've covered a broad spectrum of ways to transmit thoughts and people want to hear or are outraged to hear at some times.  Even though I was making a stab at humor, I don't think I ever wrote a line I didn't believe.

On where his sense of humor came from...

DAN JENKINS:  Well, when you grow up in Texas and you don't like sports, they drown you, that's number one.  If you've ever gambled at golf, which all of us did as kids and college and all of that, your sense of humor has to go with it because you get beat so often.  It just came natural.

I understand golf is a religion to a lot of people.  Never really a religion to me, but a great sports event.  Any great sports event required a sense of humor.  It just came natural.  I don't try to be funny, but sometimes I think that way.

I've always told young people who asked me about sports writing and golf writing and stuff, when something great happens, like when an Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods or Ben Hogan happens, you don't have to be funny, you just have to be accurate.

When you have to be funny is when you're on deadline, and somebody like Jack creeps up on you.  That's when you have to tap dance because it doesn't make any sense.  We have more and more of that these days, don't we?

Sadly, so true.

And the conclusion...

DAN JENKINS:  Thank you very much.  And thank you, again, Tim, and thanks to all of those people that called in with having nothing better to do.  I can't wait until May 7th when you put some (Indiscernible) on my shoulder and give me a saber.

TIM FINCHEM:  Thank you, Dan.  We look forward to seeing you here in Florida in a few months.

Update on 2011-12-15 16:00 by Geoff

**Garry Smits admits to idolizing His Ownself.

Dan's 82 now and hasn't lost the hop on his fastball — and still throws a mean brushback pitch when it comes to taking spoiled golfers, stonewalling agents, pompous governing body suits and money-hungry sponsors to task. You can still read his columns in Golf Digest the issue after major championships and his comments on Twitter (you can teach an old dog new tricks) show that Jenkins can say more in less than 140 characters than almost all of us in full-page stories.

Steve Elling refers to Jenkins as the "multi-media sportswriting icon."

"Golf clubs getting some use, snowmobiles are not"

Snowmobilers' frustration is golf's gain reports Scott Seroka of KARE 11 in Minneapolis where the lack of snowcover means golf is an option just days before Christmas.

Turns out we found an industry that didn't mind the proverbial lack of snow on the ground. "We'll do an 11 o'clock shotgun on Sunday," Riverwood Head Golf Pro Steve Fessler said. "The temps sound good. The phone's been ringing off the hook, so we're kind of excited."

Almost 100 golfers hit the links on Tuesday and Wednesday at the course. 
Down the street at Pro Power Sports in Ramsey, business was good, but the mood could be a little better. "The cup is half full. We're waiting for the snow to arrive and we know it will," Michael Kamrad said. "It's lurking in Canada right now, knocking on the border door."

Let's go to the videotape...

"It would be a tragedy...if San Francisco were to host one of the world's two most important golf tournaments, while being in the process of destroying Alister Mackenzie's legacy just 10 miles away."

Bill Fields explains where Sharp Park stands after a Board of Supervisors vote heads to Mayor Lee's desk, and also reveals parts of an impressive letter sent by Ken Venturi.

When considering a veto, Lee will have all that background at his disposal. Plus these words from Venturi, the most famous golfer to come out of a Bay Area muny, who in his letter to Lee, reminded him about the 2012 U.S. Open being held at San Francisco's Olympic Club.

"It would be a tragedy -- and a terrible public statement by the City to the international golf world -- if San Francisco were to host one of the world's two most important golf tournaments, while being in the process of destroying Alister Mackenzie's legacy just 10 miles away," Venturi wrote. "Please don't let that happen."

Lee's veto, however, wouldn't really be about public relations or being nice to a long-gone architect, however great his legacy. More than anything, it would say common sense hasn't gone out of style.

Dan Jenkins, First Living Writer Inducted Into World Golf Hall Of Fame

In the new issue of Golf World, Bill Fields reveals what the World Golf Hall of Fame will be announcing at 2 p.m. ET today: Dan Jenkins will (finally) be inducted.

"I have carried this with me for years and I wanted to get it off my chest."

Check out this story from reader and rules official Pete Blaisdell, who posted a stunning phone call he received regarding a past incident on GolfClubAtlas.com.

"The world changed."

Jennifer Bjorhus reports on another high-profile course closing, this time 8-year-old Tom Lehman-designed Windsong Farm outside of Minneapolis. Quite a statement from the banker...

"The world changed," said club member and shareholder Mark Lewis.

Lewis, a semiretired businessman in Edina, said Windsong Farm was insolvent and unable to renegotiate its loan with Commerce Bank. Two of Windsong Farm's seven employees will remain through the end of the month, he said.

Lewis blamed the club's demise on poor timing and the difficulty of finding new members to pay annual fees of $7,500 in a lumbering economy.

Windsong's 130 equity members and 100 golfing members, who don't hold stock, weren't enough to make the club work financially, Lewis said. He said he doubts the 130 investors will recoup their investment.

James Senske, CEO of Commerce Bank in Geneva, Minn., said the bank won't comment on customer relationships.

"Like many other banks, some customers of Commerce Bank have been hit hard by the current ongoing economic recession," Senske said in a statement. "In these challenging times for its customers, the bank continues to maintain a strong capital position and remains committed to serving its customers in the normal course of business."

Update on 2011-12-14 21:38 by Geoff

**Brad Klein with a few thoughts on Windsong Farm's closure.