Clint Got JT On ANGC

Bryan Alexander of USA Today, with this from the junket to plug their new movie, talking to Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake:

"When you're directing, you never get to play golf," says Eastwood. "But we managed to get a few rounds in down there."

The star even managed to get Timberlake onto the famed Augusta National Golf Course a week before the Master's tournament for 36 holes.

"So the two of them would go off and have fun while the rest of us were working all the time," says Lorenz. "They'd come back all sunburned and tired from walking all 36 holes."

Scottish Open Returning To Castle Stuart, Then Off To Royal Aberdeen

Thanks to reader Brian for sending along the great news that Castle Stuart will host the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open again in 2013 and Royal Aberdeen will land the event in 2014.

The 18th at Royal Aberdeen (click on image to enlarge)I highly recommend both courses if you visit the region and if you want to take in a European Tour event, you'll be hard pressed to find a more wonderful tournament and town experience outside of St. Andrews than Inverness in July.

From an unbylined Scotsman story:

Castle Stuart, near Inverness, will stage the event from 11-14 July next year and, in 2014, Royal Aberdeen will host the first-ever European Tour event over the Balgownie links from 10-13 July.

Founded in 1780, Royal Aberdeen is the world’s sixth oldest golf club and the course was originally designed by Carnoustie’s Simpson brothers, Archie and Robert. It was re-bunkered and lengthened by James Braid and Hawtree and Company have now been engaged as course architects to ensure it keeps pace with the modern game.

I'm not sure if the course can get lengthened or narrowed much, but I know players will still enjoy it. As for Donald Trump's course up the road? I'm a little surprised it didn't get the 2014 slot but perhaps The Donald is aiming for something else.

Fred Couples Headed To World Golf Hall Of Fame

For Immediate Release...

World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum to induct Fred Couples in Class of 2013
15-time PGA TOUR winner announced at TOUR Championship
 
Atlanta (Sept. 19, 2012) – The World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum will enshrine 15-time PGA TOUR winner Fred Couples as the first member of the Class of 2013. PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem made the announcement that Couples was elected through the PGA TOUR Ballot at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.
 
Couples will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at its Induction Ceremony on Monday, May 6, 2013, at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla. The Ceremony will once again kick off THE PLAYERS Championship week.
 
It will be fitting for Couples, who won the 1984 and 1996 PLAYERS Championships.
 
"Fred Couples is one of those unique players whose talent and accomplishments are Hall-of-Fame caliber, as are his personality and popularity," said Finchem. "He has been a fan favorite for decades, thanks to not only his significant achievements on the golf course, but also because of his relatable, friendly demeanor that has connected him to fans around the world. Congratulations to Fred on this incredible honor."
 
Couples is one of the game’s most popular players and is revered for his picturesque golf swing. It carried him to the top of the game, when he won the 1992 Masters Tournament. That major championship victory also made him the first American player to reach No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He dominated in the early 1990s, winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year and the Vardon Trophy in 1991 and 1992.
 
He is also a fixture for the United States in team competitions. He played on five Ryder Cup teams, helping the Americans to victories in 1991 and 1993. Couples will also take part in next week’s Ryder Cup competition at Medinah Country Club, where he will be an assistant captain for the U.S. Team.
 
Couples has also been a large part of the American success at The Presidents Cup. He played on four U.S. Teams, with three emerging victorious. He also captained the winning U.S. Presidents Cup teams in 2009 and 2011 and will once again lead the Americans at the 2013 Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village, where he will attempt to become the first captain to post a 3-0 record (Jack Nicklaus was 2-1-1).
 
Couples has won five times internationally, and since turning 50 in 2009, he has won eight times on the Champions Tour, including major championships at the 2011 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship and the 2012 Senior Open Championship.
 
“I am honored by my selection to the World Golf Hall of Fame,” Couples said. “It is humbling to have received the votes and to be included in a group of such legendary players. I am looking forward to the Induction Ceremony next May during THE PLAYERS Championship week. I am excited to have a place in the Hall of Fame with so many great players with whom I have competed and that I admire.”
 
The Hall of Fame will round out the Class of 2013 by announcing inductees from the International Ballot and Veterans and Lifetime Achievement categories in the coming months.
 
“We are thrilled to welcome Fred into the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum,” said Hall of Fame Chief Operating Officer Jack Peter. “He has a unique connection to fans and is one of the game’s most beloved figures. We are excited to showcase his wonderful career at the 2013 Induction Ceremony and within the Hall of Fame.”

Rory Laughs Off Intimidation Factor; Devises A Much Better Answer To The Olympic Question

Jeff Babineau reports on Rory McIlroy's Tour Championship press conference Wednesday where the culturally unidentifiable lad laughed off Greg Norman's suggestion that Tiger is somehow intimidated by his presence.

To which McIlroy replied, “How can I intimidate Tiger Woods? I mean, the guy’s got 75 or 70-whatever (actually 74) PGA Tour wins, 14 majors … I mean, he’s been the biggest thing ever in our sport. How could some little 23-year-old from Northern Ireland with a few wins come up and intimidate him? It’s just not possible.”

And an unbylined Sky Sports story has this on the dreaded cultural identity question. Much better.

"It just hit home with me at how my success is welcomed by everyone. It would be terrible for me to nearly segregate myself from one of those group that supports me so much.

"It's four years away - I still have a bit of time to decide. But, I'm very, very appreciative and very grateful of the support that I get from everyone.

"It's great that I get so much support. There are not many people in my position that have to go through what I might have to go through in four years' time, but it is what it is.

"I'm a golfer first and foremost and I just want to play well on the golf course. Hopefully people enjoy that and the entertainment that that brings."

Viewing Alert: Nicklaus Talks With Diaz Tonight...Live

As part of the Ruth Pauley Lecture Series we can watch Golf World Editor-in-Chief Jaime Diaz and Jack Nicklaus in discussion live from Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, N.C., Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. EDT.


Live stream by Ustream

Correct Bunker Maintenance, The Australian Way

I was poking around YouTube for a video and stumbled on this "Correct Bunker Maintenance" instructional from Kingston Heath Director of Golf Justin Burrage and Course Superintendent Hayden Mead.

Besides showing us how the Australian-style of raking looks and should be maintained by the golfer, I just never get tired of looking at those bunkers! Plus, with a number of American courses adopting the method, this video might be useful.

And don't forget that Kingston hosts the Australian Masters this November 15-18, though I'm not sure if Golf Channel will be showing the best piece of golf architecture to host a professional tournament in 2012.

25 For Nine Holes!

Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that 20-year-old Todd Baek posted an 11-under 25 on the par-36 front nine at Salt Creek in Chula Vista. Baek went on to fire a new course record 60.

“I was amazed myself,” Baek said on Monday. “It was like, ‘What’s going on?’ We were playing for money, so my friends were giving me (crud) about it. They said you need to stop making birdies or you’re going to walk home.”

He did hit some long irons...for his second shots to par-5s.

He hit a 40-yard pitch at the par-4 first that dropped in for eagle. At the par-5 second, he lashed a 5-iron to 9 feet and made that putt for another eagle.

Furyk: "Nope, I have no idea" Of FedExCup Standing As It Unfolds

When former FedExCup Jim Furyk made his comments today at East Lake about having no idea about where he stands in the ResetCup as the Tour Championship unfolds, he was repeating what's been said many times over the last five years. So it's hardly news.

But it got me to thinking, is there any other "championship" in the world of sport where the combatants aren't sure where they stand as they compete in the final moments?

Certainly makes it unique.

"Nope, I have no idea," the American told reporters on Tuesday when asked if he was fully versed in what he needed to do to emulate his 2010 FedExCup success. "I know I would have to win (the Tour Championship), and a lot of (other) things would have to happen. But I'm never really worried about that.

"I had two or three friends try to text me, 'do you know what you have to do?' No. It's hard enough winning a golf tournament. I can't control the rest."

'WeAreGolf" Urging Politicians To Stop Criticizing Obama’s "Passion for golf"

The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis reports that pro-golf lobby group called “WeAreGolf” is urging Senator Marco Rubio to refrain from criticizing Barack Obama’s “passion for golf."

“As we enter the final stretch of campaign season,” the group writes, “we write to make a request we hope you will receive in the same spirit in which it is offered. Please reconsider your political strategy of criticizing President Obama’s passion for golf.” (Emphasis theirs.)

Lewis notes that the call is not just limited to Rubio.

It’s unclear how many other elected officials have received similar letters, but  the group says they are “asking all elected officials to abstain from political strategies and tactics that denigrate golf, directly or indirectly, because we think they’re unnecessary and undermine the industry at large, not just the individual target.”

WeAreGolf is led by the Club Managers Association of America, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the PGA of America and the National Golf Course Owners Association.

Update on 2012-09-18 19:46 by Geoff

**From We Are Golf spokesman David Marin:

We Are Golf’s request for a political cease-fire when it comes to golf is not aimed at Sen. Rubio, who’s been a great supporter of the industry, but at all elected officials, Republicans and Democrats. Similar letters have previously gone to members of both political parties.

The golf is industry is understandably sensitive to this line of politicking, because it reinforces misperceptions of the game that don’t square with the facts – and because those misperceptions, in turn, have led to unfair legislation and regulation. How else to explain, for example, golf’s exclusion, along with massage parlors and liquor stores, from post-Katrina disaster tax relief?

We’re not asking for special treatment; just fair and equitable treatment. And part of that is respectfully asking for a bipartisan political détente.

We get the context, the political calculus. But we no longer want to sit idly by when golf is maligned, even indirectly, because we’ve seen what can happen when we do so, and the nearly 2 million Americans whose jobs depend on the golf industry are asking us to get involved on their behalf.