New PGA President: Don't Mess With Amateur Distance!

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Larry Fine on the PGA of America's outreach efforts and its new President, Ted Bishop, not supporting any kind of distance rollback that might impact the average player.

"If you do anything that's going to cause the rank and file amateur player to not hit the ball as far, there's no way you're going to enhance their enjoyment of the game," PGA President Ted Bishop told reporters on Tuesday.

And...

"I'm not so sure that's the greater issue we have to deal with," Bishop told Reuters. "This game is a hard game and anything we do to make the golf course play longer, play more difficult, is certainly going to deter from the enjoyment of the game for the average player."

Pssst....Ted, it's all taking longer and is more difficult because we're after this distance thing like a dog chasing its tail.

Bishop has already spoken out against the USGA/R&A ban on anchoring.

Poll: Who Will Be The 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain?

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With David Toms apparently not getting a call yet and only 48 hours to go, it's not looking good for the former PGA Champion.

That leaves the competition wide open...your vote for who you THINK will get the job, not what your heart says. Remember, this is the PGA of America, so think inside the box...

Who do you think will be named the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Thursday?
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Report: Toms Hasn't Heard From PGA About Ryder Captaincy

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Jason Sobel says with 48 hours to go before a Today Show announcement for the 2014 Ryder Cup, presumed frontrunner David Toms hasn't been called.

As Sobel notes, this probably means we will see a new direction for the PGA of America.

Public Viewing Set For Glimpse At Phil's Torrey North Redo

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Tod Leonard shares some new details on the Phil Mickelson-helmed renovation of Torrey Pines North, including a $7 million price tag, a 2015 start date, wall to wall cart paths (sigh) and a public meeting to be held December 18th at The Lodge.

No word on whether Phil will shield himself behind chicken wire since the locals weren't exactly thrilled when Rees Jones redid the South and that was for much less.

Mickelson’s ideas for the North are being executed by the leader of his design team, Mike Angus, with additional input from Mickelson’s friend and former instructor, Rick Smith. The city has included in the team Glen Schmidt, a local landscape architect who has worked on many projects with the city.

Before any work begins, Marney said the plans will have to go before the city’s Design Review Committee, Park and Recreation Board, Planning Commission, and, depending on the permit requirements, the Coastal Commission. Marney said the City Council will have to approve the creation of the capital improvement project.

Peter Ripa, the tournament director for the annual Farmers Open, applauded the possibility of the renovation. Torrey North is not very popular among PGA Tour players, who ranked its 48th of 52 venues in a poll by Golf World magazine earlier this year.

Ripa said he believes tour players would appreciate less disparity in their scores between the South and North, but he also emphasized that the work “shouldn’t be done just for Easter Sunday. … It has to be a golf course that is enjoyable and playable for people of all levels.”

Leonard also files an excellent column imploring Mickelson to be sensitive, writing that "this could be as much a part of your legacy in San Diego as those three green jackets."

This project shouldn’t be about making the course harder or more “strategic” for the two days a year the PGA Tour plays the North. In fact, I’ve talked to numerous pros who say the North should stay exactly the way it is.

From what I hear you want to make the North “playable” and more “fun.” I’m not sure what your definition of that is, because as a golf entertainer you are equal parts Sinatra and Knievel. But we’ll assume that it doesn’t mean tiny greens surrounded by more sand than the Sahara. We’ll hope that it means the average guy can still run the ball up to the green, and not have to fly it to every dang hole (yes, we’re talking about you Rees). We’ll hope that the greens aren’t so tricky that we’d need Bones to read them.

We know that there isn’t much rerouting that can or will be done, and that’s a good thing. Do the greens have to be redone? Is the public clamoring for it? No. Even some pros say that despite the softer poa annua, they’d rather putt on the North than the South because the North’s surfaces are more consistent.

Cordillera And Its 54 Holes Auctioned For $14.2 Million

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The Denver Post's John Mossman on the paltry price paid by Rose Holdings LLC for Cordillera's Fazio, Nicklaus and Irwin 18's along with a Pelz practice area, though developer David Wilhem only opened the Fazio course the last two seasons.

Donald Trump lost out in the bidding and according to Risa Wolf-Smith, an attorney with Holland & Hart of Denver that represented the unsecured creditors, he put on a good show.

"Auctions are always interesting, and this one was a little bit crazy," Wolf-Smith said. "It really was fun to listen to Donald Trump. He has a personality even on the phone.

"He wished the best to the other bidders as he passed on his last opportunity to bid. He muttered here and there that he didn't think it would go this high. There's always a possibility that he may try to work something out with Wilhelm on the back end."

The bankruptcy case was complicated by litigation between Wilhelm and 610 club members.

Last spring, Wilhelm promised to open all four golf courses but — for the second year in a row — opened only Fazio's Valley course. He also laid off dozens of workers.

Putting Tom Watson's Ryder Cup Interest Into Context...

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GolfDigest.com's Ron Sirak looks back at Tom Watson's captaincy after reports surfaced in which Watson did not emphatically shoot down speculation on a 2014 captaincy.

Sirak reminds the unusual decision to not sign a Sam Torrance dinner menu and Watson's lack of attendance at subsequent Ryder Cups, and, well, a 2014 captaincy is not happening even though Sirak thinks it would be a positive.

Sirak also says a decision on 2014 could be announced as soon as next week.