Poulter On Kingston Heath: "Someone please tell modern day architects we don't need 8000 yard tracks..."

The defending Australian Masters champion Ian Poulter got his first look at Kingston Heath Tuesday (he won last year at the equally fantastic Victoria).

Not surprisingly, Poulter liked what he found at the Heath and Tweeted accordingly:

 And this about the famous 15th.

Golf Channel hosts live coverage in the United States beginning at 5:30 Pacific Wednesday. Not only a chance to see great players dealing with one of the world's most idyllic courses, but Australian coverage is nearly always excellent.

Getting In The Mood For Kingston Heath

The Australian Masters returns to Kingston Heath this year and after several weeks of some truly horrifying golf architecture on television, we get a welcome opportunity to cleanse ourselves by watching the game played on one of the world's very best designs.

While the neighboring Royal Melbourne might be the superior tournament course because of its grand scale and ability to hold up better under the technology onslaught, the more intimate Kingston Heath is the course you'd probably enjoy playing the most on a daily basis. You can't go wrong with either one.

Don't sue me for linking this, but the club's guest page offers a course tour which includes a 360 degree photo tour of the holes. It's a massive time killer and great fun once you get the hang of it.

For a refresher, here is Darius Oliver's excellent Kingston Heath review at Planet Golf, a super resource for course design insights.

Kingston Heath features one of my favorite logos and the most elegant course guide I've ever seen, created by Michael Cocking of Ogilvy-Clayton design. You can see a sample on his website.

I visited the area last year for the Presidents Cup, which led to this Golf Digest feature on The Australian Way and below, this admittedly substandard photo gallery of the course in not-the-best light. Still, it should be enough to whet your appetite to watch.

Golf Channel offers coverage Wednesday through Saturday nights starting at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

Update on 2012-11-13 08:28 by Geoff

**Graeme McDowell had lots of nice things to say about Kingston Heath, reports Patrick Sexton.

"It's a fantastic golf course, just a real advertisement for, you know, how a golf course doesn't need length to be tricky and tough," he said.

"It's very unique. Obviously we're on one of the greatest pieces of golfing land maybe in the world down here. It reminds me a little of the west coast of England there with your Birkdales and your Hillsides and that little stretch of phenomenal golf courses you have there.

"I played here on Sunday and I played in a northerly wind, then I played nine holes yesterday afternoon (Monday) in a very strong southerly wind and (that) obviously changed the dynamic of the back nine, so it's a big factor, the wind this week."

Update on 2012-11-13 17:05 by Geoff

**Check out Mark Bourgeois' aerial comparison of Kingston Heath, 1945 vs. 2012.

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

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."

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

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

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!