"Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize sports organizations already benefiting widely from willing fans and turning a profit"

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Reader David passed along Tom Coburn's (R-Oklahoma) "Waste Book," released just before the election where the senator outlined wasteful spending by the United States government. Coburn's full quote:

"Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize sports organizations already benefiting widely from willing fans and turning a profit, while claiming to be non-profit organizations."

Among the examples of waste cited by Coburn? The non-profit, 501(c) status of professional sports leagues, namely the NFL and PGA Tour.

Unfortunately, whoever wrote the report for Coburn (A) does not know the difference between the PGA Tour and PGA of America, and (B) he neglects to mention the PGA Tour's charitable donations, especially compared to the other leagues.

PGA Tour events have raised more for charity than all other pro sports leagues combined.

As evidence of for-profit activities, Coburn's Waste Book cites "PGA" commissioner Tim Finchem's $5.2 million salary in 2010 and "over $900 million in revenue, mostly through television rights, tournament earnings and sponsorships, and royalties."

From a Fox News report after the release of Coburn's book (PDF):

In all, the 2012 Waste Book report details 100 examples totaling nearly $19 billion. Coburn acknowledges that's a drop in the bucket in contrast to the overall federal deficit, which tops $16 trillion, but he says the items are snapshots of the bigger problem.

"Would you agree with Washington that these represent national priorities, or would you conclude these reflect the out-of-touch and out-of-control spending threatening to bankrupt our nation’s future?" he said.

The PGA Tour part of the report, screen-captured because I'm too lazy to transcribe:

In light of many professional golfers lamenting the election results and in particular, government debt, no doubt the PGA Tour's finest will agree with Coburn that the PGA Tour's tax status needs to be changed?

Monty To '14 Ryder Cup Selectors: Vote "for a player and not a fellow management client."

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In the highly politicized battle for the 2014 Ryder Cup captaincy, Bernie McGuire quotes Monty as suggesting some players--well, David Howell and Richard Finch--might vote for fellow ISM management stablemate Darren Clarke over former presumed favorite Paul McGinley.

Monty said: “Both Paul and Darren would be suitable. Let’s hope that when the vote is taken there are those in the room voting for a player and not a fellow management client."

Jim Nantz Confirms He Gets "Hello Friends" All The Time And Talks About Life On The Peninsula

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An unbylined Charlotte Observer Q&A with Jim Nantz (tied to Sunday's Panthers game) includes some fun stuff about revisiting his childhood home, fans saying "Hello Friends" to him (so original!), recording voiceovers for Tiger Woods' EA video game (Hello Friends!) and his move to Pebble Beach this year. 

Q. Is it true you live at Pebble Beach Golf Links?

I moved to Pebble Beach full time this year. I’m looking at the seventh green right now. It’s all beautiful. We got married June 9 and we moved in that very night.

Q. You got married in June on the famous seventh hole there. Why did you pick that spot?

In the book I wrote, “Always By My Side,” I wrote a couple of pages about how the seventh hole was such a spiritual setting to me and I always felt my father’s presence there. Every day during the years we covered the Pebble Beach golf tournament, I would march out there before the sun was up and sit on the rail fence there in prayerful introspection and think about all the blessings in my life.

Q. So how much golf do you play living there?

I’ve played twice since I moved here. I practice a lot.

UK Sports Minister Says Open Championship Should Only Be Played At Non-Discriminatory Clubs

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Golf365 quotes a Sunday Times story (not available online) in which UK Sports minister Hugh Robertson thinks clubs like 2013 Open Championship host Muirfield The Honourable Company Of Edinburgh Golfers should not be part of the rota because "it is increasingly anachronistic not to allow women to be members."

"The defence of the Royal and Ancient is that it is a private club and so has the right to do what it wants.

"That is legally correct and I have no quarrel when it is acting as a private club. However, I believe that when a private club fulfils a public function, such as staging a major event, then there is a different slant."

And there was an interesting delineation from Muirfield secretary Alastair Brown, which I puts the ball back in the R&A's court:

"It's not our decision where the Open is. It's the decision of the R&A - it's their competition and they ask us.

"Augusta is a totally different situation. They own their event."

Translation: back at you R&A!

Flashback By Unpopular Demand: Charlie Beljan's Brief Life On Twitter

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I really didn't want to bring up Charlie Beljan's brief time on Twitter, considering the poor lad was breaking down Friday and suffered the indignity of a carting off the Disney property by government health care workers, but Twitterers have been passing the link around.

So here goes, Children's Miracle Network Classic winner Beljan's infamous comments about the President and even worse in my view, vitriol directed toward an innocent PGA Tour fan of his who works in Penn State athletics.

Eventually--well in about two hours time--Ponte Vedra SWAT (or more likely his agent) moved in to convince Beljan to delete his Twitter account.

Ike: "Golf was essential to his daily routine."

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Barack Obama played his first round of golf since August but after reading Evan Thomas' golf.com excerpt from Ike's Bluff, the President has a long way to go when it comes to matching the Oval Office's greatest golf nut.

We all know about President Eisenhower's 800 rounds, but there was all this...

Golf was essential to his daily routine. When he awakened in the morning, he limbered up by taking a few swings in his bedroom with his favorite eight-iron.

He sometimes swung the club when dictating to Mrs. Whitman. At 5:00 p.m. he would rise from Teddy Roosevelt’s old Navy Department desk in the Oval Office, put on his golf shoes, and head out the door, leaving tiny spike holes in the floorboards. On the Ellipse, the greensward stretching south from the White House toward the Washington Monument, he would practice fairway approach shots. His faithful valet (or as he was known in military parlance, his striker), Sergeant John Moaney, would shag the balls while tourists peered through the iron fence.

Film Review: A Journey To Golf's Past: Creating Old Macdonald

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In this week's Arts Issue of Golf World, I review Michael Robin's film on the making of Bandon Dunes' Old Macdonald.

The film sets a new bar for storytelling in the design world. It also proves that when professionals like Robin--a prominent television producer and director who is also a fine golfer--and his team conveyed the many dimensions of a golf course, it shows just how mediocre network television has been at bringing courses alive.

And don't be fooled by the title, this is more than just a "making of" film about Old Macdonald. Some of the best moments come when the team travels to the world's most famous holes and dissect their attributes, including the Redan, Road and Macdonald's template holes at The National Golf Links.

The extras-loaded DVD is a must for anyone who loves architecture or Bandon Dunes.

You can order the film for all of $10 (!) via the Bandon Dunes shop site.