If Vijay Found Guilty Of The Violation He Admitted To, He'll Be Unable To Play Champions Tour

Rex Hoggard answers one question many have had considering that the Champions Tour doesn't test for PEDs and Vijay Singh turns 50 in June on February 22.

John Deere Donates $1 Million to The First Tee

A nice donation but I thought this component was even more interesting:

The $1 million donation will be used to enhance the experience of The First Tee participants in a variety of ways. Besides supporting The First Tee network, funds will be used to create and launch a golf maintenance career- oriented youth development program, in conjunction with the PGA TOUR. Local chapters of The First Tee will partner with the TOUR’s Tournament Player Courses (TPC) to provide the opportunity for high school-aged participants to learn about topics in agronomy and golf course maintenance careers. As a planned extension, participants will also have the chance to experience what it’s like to maintain a TPC golf course during a tournament week.

Zoysia Fairways For The 2016 Olympic Golf Course

The primary portion of the grassing for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games course was announced at the Golf Industry Show.

For Immediate Release...

SAN DIEGO, CA, February 7, 2013: After more than a century’s absence, when golf returns as an Olympic sport at the 2016 Games in Rio, the grass in the fairways, roughs and tees of the new golf course built especially for the Games will be Zeon Zoysia, it was confirmed today at the Golf Industry Show in San Diego by Dr. Frank Rossi, associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University who is a consulting agronomist on the project.

“Everything approaching the greens, 88 percent of the grassed area, will be Zeon Zoysia,” Rossi says.The greens grass selection has been delayed, Rossi says, because the salinity and quality of the water to be used for irrigation is still unknown.

“The decision on the greens and green surrounds hinges on the quality of the water,” Rossi says. “If the water is good, the greens will be an ultradwarf bermudagrass. The surrounds will be another type of bermudagrass. If the water is not good, the greens and surrounds will be some type of paspalum because the bermudagrass may not hold up to poor quality water.”

“As it marks the return of golf to the Olympic Games after over a century of absence, this course represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sport. It will enable Rio to host important events in the international calendar and it will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area,” said the President of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

The choice of Zeon Zoysia as the grass for the majority of the acreage on the golf course, approximately 88 acres of fairways and roughs, reinforces the organizing committee’s desire to create a sustainable golf course. Zeon Zoysia has very low requirements for maintenance and inputs, according to David Doguet, president of Bladerunner Farms, the company that bred Zeon Zoysia.

 “Zeon Zoysia is very environmentally friendly. The grass needs very little water, and very low amounts of nitrogen fertilizer, while still looking and playing great. The grass will create a world-class playing surface for the Olympics, and for many years to come,” Doguet said.

Zeon Zoysia was developed in Texas by Bladerunner Farms, the largest privately held zoysiagrass breeding facility in the world. Zeon is licensed by The Turfgrass Group and Doguet Ventures. The grass will be grown in Rio for use on the golf course by Green Grass Brazil, a licensed sod producer of Zeon Zoysia.

Annual AT&T National Pro-Am Viewer Discretion Alert

Some people live for seeing A-listers like Kenny G and Andy Garcia or top (cranky) coaches like Jim Harbaugh, or Bill Belichick, QB's like Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo, or maybe elite flamethrowers like Matt Cain and Justin Verlander.

For me, the AT&T National Pro-Am is always a chance to imbibe some liquid upon seeing shots, plugs, paybacks or other totally predictable moments. This year my support will be in the form of Dayquil to help get through the annual awkwardness that is watching famous people play golf while stepping way close to the hole in mud-filled Softspikes.

I plan to take a swig of my beloved cold and flu remedy for the traditions unlike any other: Jim Nantz referring to a CEO as "Mr." because anyone with a C-level pass is just that much more important, CBS director Lance Barrow showing his favorite Monterey restaurant or the CEO that he mysteriously can't seem to get enough, and most of all, any time Chris Berman comes on the screen.

Brendan Moehler previews the celebrities to look for and is there any question who will be the most watched team?

Speaking of hot girlfriends, Dustin Johnson is playing alongside his new squeeze's father, also known as "The Great One." Wayne's daughter, Paulina Gretzky, is a fashion model and Instagram star, and has been posting a lot of photos of her and Dustin's off-the-course escapades. Dustin won at Pebble in '09 and '10, but didn't have the distraction of playing with his girlfriend's father.

Golf Channel airtimes for the first two rounds are as follows:

Thursday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 6:30-9:30 p.m. / 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 8:30-11:30 p.m. (Replay)

Phil Up To 12-1 In Masters Futures Odds

A fitting bump after his resurrection in the desert last week, reports Alex Miceli.  

PGA Of America Pros Against Bifurcation, Barely

Alex Miceli reports on the poll taken in light of recent events in golf:

Of 3,155 respondents sampled, 53 percent support one set of rules for all golfers. The PGA claims that the sampling has a margin of error of 1.6 percentage points.

First Tee Alternative: "Can Golf Be Saved By Capitalism?"

Larry Olmsted looks at an alternative to the First Tee called the TGA that works on a franchise model and has already been picked up by the USTA to create a version for tennis.

“Having worked for Rick Smith at Treetops [a perennial candidate for one of the best teachers in the world and his home resort in Michigan] and having been a teaching pro, I’ve seen every ‘growing the game’ initiative in the past 20 years, and none of them have worked. This one immediately caught my eye because it makes so much sense,” said former PGA professional Kevin Frisch, now a spokesman for the program he describes, TGA Premier Junior Golf, a fast growing franchise.

The TGA stands for Teach, Grow, Achieve, the grow part being the game of golf. The concept was launched by Joshua Jacobs in 2003, when he had the bright idea to cross the declining notion of teaching golf to kids with the fast growing and red hot trend of after school enrichment programs. These have been booming across the country as a way to productively fill time between the end of the school day and the end of the parents’ work day, while teaching the kids something beyond the classroom. To date, the main areas of focus have been academic or cultural, such as performing arts. So why not golf?