A Less Rosy View Of Back9's Reorganization Attempt

Katy Stecha at the Wall Street Journal has gone through the court papers and paints a less flattering image of Back9's possible reinvention as an online website and app.

Most eye-opening is who and how much the failed network owed money to.

The five existing investors behind the $2 million offer are retired United Technologies Corp UTX +1.16%. executive Karl Krapek, private equity managing partner Denis Nayden, wood exporter Ted Rossi, KKR KKR -1.77% investment firm portfolio manager Paul Raether and Brian Furbish.

Under the purchase plan, the investors will continue to repay roughly $4.75 million in low-interest loans extended through Connecticut’s media tax credit program. The state’s decision to invest in the golf channel gave critics of Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy something to grumble about. As the Connecticut Post pointed out, Mr. Malloy’s chief of staff is married to a Back9Network employee. The network also employed former Democratic state Sen. Sanford Cloud Jr., his close ally.

The channel’s collapse stung an impressive list of more than 200 investors, including tech entrepreneurs, Wall Street executives, doctors and golf industry players. People who own small slices of the channel include New Jersey Devils part owner David Blitzer and UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.

Here is the full list of those owed money by the failed network.

Philly Cricket Buys Its Historic St. Martins Site

Silly me for thinking Philadelphia Cricket Club owned the St. Martins golf course property recently restored and so very historic to early American golf, but after Jacob Adelman's report of a $600,000 purchase, now we know they were leasing all along. (Thanks to reader LM.)

Not anymore, thankfully. So one of America's most important early homes to championship golf and still the place where members can whap it around using hickories, is safe from future development.

The PCC closed on the nearly 41-acre property on Dec. 17, according to the Media-based Lands Trust, which is empowered to preserve the property for open-space recreational use under the sales agreement.

The property was sold to the PCC by the families of Quita Woodward Horan and George Woodward III, whose forbears had owned the land since the 1880s. The club had long leased the property for part of its nine-hole golf course.

Pete Dye Turns 90!

Golf architect Pete Dye turns 90 (December 29) and isn't slowing down, renovating some of his designs and also creating new ones.

Bradley Klein files a short update on Dye and notes that it may have taken a little bit of urging to get the legend to relent to calls for repairing TPC Sawgrass' 12th into a drivable short par-4.

Previously, Dye has looked askance at such holes, deriding efforts at other championship courses as a way of cheapening the shot value of par 4s. “They have a name for drivable par 4s,” he has said. “Par 3s.”

Garry Smits reported last week on planned changes after the 2016 Players.

Don't Call Inbee A Hall Of Famer Just Yet

Inbee Park quietly became a Hall of Famer with her stout 2015 campaign (two majors), but that incredible career milestone was overshadowed at season's end by the understandable Lydia Ko hype.

Beth Ann Nichols reports that Inbee actually has to play the LPGA Tour for one more year to be Hall eligible. Or, to be exact, round one of her tenth LPGA start of 2016.

Hope you don’t get injured! 
Or choose to start a family with that devoted husband beforehand. Otherwise you’ll be in HOF purgatory with Lorena Ochoa, who amassed 37 points in seven glorious years on the LPGA before dedicating herself to motherhood.

Shouldn’t the LPGA Hall of Fame be a benchmark 
of greatness and not time served?

It should and the LPGA might want to figure out a way to fix this before we have Inbee taking a curtain call after hitting a first round tee shot.

Gloriously Awkward: Steph Curry's High School Golf Team Pic

I'm guessing the collar up was a prank/stunt based on the smiles bordering on giggling.

But what is that club resting against the AP Male Sports Athlete of 2015?

Flashback: Steph Curry on his high school golf team pic.twitter.com/QswJts6RVO

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 28, 2015

Membership Closes In Annual World Top 50 Club

There's something increasingly absurd about the year-end World Top 50 Club. Not that it's the fault of the Official World Golf Ranking. Or even the precious algorithm guiding year-end standings that carry entirely too much meaning by qualifying people into majors and other events.

It's always seemed strange to be handing out passes for major championship field spots for the previous year's top 50. They also secure $300,000-or-so in guaranteed appearance money for the coming year, all because the calendar switched to a new year January 1st.

Yes, people need to plan schedules and make travel plans at some point, but I don't get why this New Year's Eve mythical milestone of world top 50 status is still used by events such as the Masters. The idea of rewarding folks in such a substantial way while restricting others, all for finishing the year one one side of the top 50 line, just seems like an outdated notion.

Nick Menta reports on those who slipped in and those no longer with access to the club. And then there's Tiger down at 416th.

Back9 Network Planning Online Return, Expansion

Stephen Singer reports for the Hartford Courant on efforts by the failed television network Back9 to continue on as a website, app and email property, according to bankruptcy filings and confirned by CEO Charles Cox.

Singer writes:

Cox and co-founder Reid Gorman tapped $2 million from a group of investors, including Karl Krapek, former president and chief operating officer of United Technologies Corp., and Denis Nayden, managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners and former chairman and chief executive officer of GE Capital, the one-time financing unit of General Electric Co. They did not return calls seeking information on their roles in the return of Back9Network.

Back9Network executives acknowledged in the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford their failure to launch a profitable television network. They're now forming a "compelling online platform" of websites, a golf app and an email newsletter with 1.7 million subscribers, they said.

Anyone use the app cited by the network as key to its growth?

Nine Days Of Christmas: Buy A Book From Peter Yagi For 20% Off

To recap, so far we've had deals on between Seamus, Johnnie-O, St Andrews, Lululemon pants, Wybranski major art, Photobucket printing to canvas for your golf pics, Mack Daddy wedges and Sun Mountain's travel cover glider.

Our year-end nine hole round concludes with no specific gift you can buy yourself, but instead, an introduction to one of the few trusted golf booksellers left: Peter Yagi Golf Books. His catalog must be requested by email (pete@moneytolend.com) or via his mailing list for those who enjoy receiving Peter's twice-a-year printed catalog by mail.

As a courtesy to GeoffShackelford.com readers, Peter is extending his After-Christmas 20% off sale a little early, so email him now for the catalog and buy yourself a classy addition to the shelves in the form of a great golf book. Oh sure you're relatives might have spotted one of these...but I doubt it.

Just a few that caught my eye on Peter's current list, which includes a strong collection of Darwins. Merry Christmas!

13)AITCHISON, THOMAS S., LORIMER, GEORGE.  Reminiscences of the Old Bruntsfield Links Golf Club.   1866-1874.  1902, printed for private circulation.  Contains some of their Lays (poems) and early golf history.  $995

61)BAHTO, GEORGE.  The Evangelist of Golf.  The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald.  2002.  Fine, DJ.  Bahto inscribed.  MacDonald article laid in.  A spectacular book, quickly has become extremely collectible and scarce.  $495

167)BOLT, TOMMY.  How to Keep Your Temper on the Golf Course.  1969.  VG, DJ.  By ‘Tempestuous Tommy’.  $20

335)COREN, ALAN.  Golfing for Cats.  1975.  VG, DJ.  Has the notorious swastika jacket.  $45

414)DARWIN, BERNARD.  Every Idle Dream.  1948.  VG, owner plate.  $15  And 1948.  VG, DJ edge wear.  $25

490)DOBEREINER, PETER.  Dobereiner on Golf…and more.  Foreword Seve Ballesteros. 1998.  Fine, DJ. Posthumous print.  $20

528)DYE, PETE.  Bury Me in a Pot Bunker.  Foreword Greg Norman.  1995.  Fine, DJ.  Inscribed by Dye.  $45

608)FINEGAN, JAMES W.  Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens. Pilgrimage Courses of Scotland.  1996.  VG, DJ. JF signed. $30

834)HARRIS, ROBERT.  Sixty Years of Golf.  1953.  VG, DJ.  Top Scottish amateur reflections. Ross Goodner signed. $65

957)HUTCHINSON, HORACE G.  Fifty Years of Golf.  Intro Peter Ryde. 1919, 1985, USGA.  Fine, slipcase.  $45

1007)JOHNSTON, ALASTAIR J, JOHNSTON, JAMES F.  The Chronicles of Golf: 1457 to 1857.  1993.  Fine, DJ, pictorial label slipcase.  Numbered limited edition of 900, signed by authors.  An instant classic, important reference of the early history. $795

1208)LOW, JOHN L.  F.G. Tait a Record.  Being his Life, Letters, and Golfing Diary.  1901.  VG, gilt dec cover, stunning!  $245

1232)MACKENZIE, ALISTER J.  The Spirit of St. Andrews.  The Lost Manuscript.  Foreword Bobby Jones.  1995.  VG, DJ.  $20  And 1995.  Fine, leather, padded clamshell case.  Numbered limited edition of 1500.  Has additional photos, text, gorgeous.  $295

1400)MURDOCH, JOSEPH S.F.  The Library of Golf.  1743-1966 revised, 1967-1977 added.  1978.  VG, PB, lots of pen and brio marks as owner noted books he owned, still very scarce.  Numbered limited edition 13 of only 150. With clean photocopy.  $95

1634)PRICE, CHARLES.  The World of Golf.  A Panorama of Six Centuries of the Game’s History.  Foreword by Bobby Jones.  One of the game’s premier reading histories. 1962.  VG, DJ.  $25

1965)STOWERS, CARLTON.  The Unsinkable Titanic Thompson.  A Gold Ole Boy Who Became a World Super Star Gambler and Hustler.  1982.  Fine, DJ.   $145

2011)THOMAS, GEORGE C.  Golf Architecture in America.  Its Strategy and Construction.  1927.  VG, dec cover.  $495  And 1927, 1997.  Fine, DJ.  Faithful reprint, excellent!  $145

2061)TUFTS, RICHARD S.  The Principles Behind the Rules of Golf.  1960, 2000.  Fine.  $25  And1960.  VG, DJ.  $245  Also 1960, 1989 USGA.  Intro by P.J. Boatwright, Jr.  Fine, slipcase, owner label.  Limited edition of 1500.  $125

2194)WETHERED, H.N. SIMPSON, T.  Design for Golf.  Preface J.C. Squire.  1929, 1952.  VG.  ‘Architectural Side’ reprint.  $65

2235)WIND, HERBERT WARREN.  An Introduction to the Literature of Golf.  1996.  Fine.  37 forewords to CG.  $25

2260)WODEHOUSE, P.G.  The Heart of a Goof.  1926, 4th.  VG, dec cover, some fade, facsimile DJ.  $45

Tiger's Sounding Old In A Good Way: On Changing Technology

While the sports fan in us hates to hear an athlete waxing nostalgic, signaling the end most likely, it's fun to hear what things Tiger Woods notices about changes in the game. While he's too tactful to ever say what he's really thinking, his recent comments about the cut-missing propensity of the millennials was pretty revealing.

So was this, penned by his ownself in a year-end PGATour.com exclusive:

Also the technology. When I beat Davis Love III in a playoff at the Las Vegas Invitational in 1996, he had a 43-inch persimmon head driver. The transition to metal to where we are now with 460 cc drivers and 45-inch shafts being the norm, and the ball going from wound to solid construction … the technology has changed dramatically.

I had a conversation the other day with some of my friends who play golf. They're a little bit younger than me, but are amazed how much technology has changed. I said go back to when Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player and that generation of guys played. When they were in their prime and the end of their careers, technology never really changed except for the golf ball. It was always persimmon and steel. That was the reality. Now, some companies are asking guys to change equipment twice a year.

Oh to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation!

It is a profound point he makes though: Tiger excelled during a time of incredible change and adapted quite ably to the times. As much as golfers love to tinker and try the latest, greatest thing, his point is a sound one in that he adapted to some big changes as he was cranking out 14 major wins.

SDUT's Endorsement Of Tom Weiskopf's Torrey Pines North Plan

The San Diego Union-Tribune's Tod Leonard endorses Tom Weiskopf's vision for the Torrey Pines North Course, though I'm not clear how much of it is based on getting to see actual plans/conceptual drawings, and how much is based on just how much less-awful Weiskopf's plan was compared to the alternatives. Furthermore, after seeing this year what Weiskopf did in giving TPC Scottsdale sand-flashed bunker faces that looked dreadful compared to the previous version of the course's time-tested moonscape-vibe, it's hard to gauge how sensitive he is to what has proven to work over time.

Either way, this is mildly encouraging in light of what Leonard saw in Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s plan:

In fact, it’s disturbing to me that Jones, given some of his ideas (we’ll get to those), was the top choice by the city golf committee, but we were saved when the Jones group was disqualified for going about $2 million over the best-value budget. (I’ll always scratch my head about that one, given that the parameters of the bids were very clear when the process started.)

Weiskopf’s plan on paper is detailed and direct. It removes the least amount of grass (5 acres), and so there is little fear that the essence of the North Course will be lost. There isn’t any danger of this spinning out of control with waste areas and becoming a desert course on the cliffs.

The current par will not be changed on any holes. There is no significant re-routing. (Gulbis' plans were outlandish. She wanted to flip the North nines and reverse the direction of the current first through third holes, with the 18th green placed where the No. 1 tee is now.)

There are some creative additions by Weiskopf (such as making 16 a driveable par-4), but nothing outlandish. Who doesn’t vote for shorter holes?

There will be fewer bunkers on the North Course than there are now, so that should allay concerns that this is going to become another South Course.

As for the greens, let’s face it, for their age they are maintained at a fabulous condition by the greenskeepers, but they have their issues, especially when they are cut low and speeds are fast. As the course readies for the Farmers Insurance Open, downhill putts on the North that are merely tapped race 8 to 10 feet past the hole.

Nine Days Of Christmas: Sun Mountain's Club Glider

First World Problem Alert!!!

So far my suggested holiday gift items that you'll never receive from relatives have been kept at a fairly sane price tag, unless you consider $150 books, $98 pants (but before 25% FARANDSURE discount!) and $128 polyester-ish pants expensive (they are, but both are worth it).

For the second-to-last product that I enjoyed this year, we go up the price ladder a bit with Sun Mountain's Club Glider Travel Bag. Granted, as more folks use Luggage Forward and Ship Sticks, a travel cover doesn't seem like a priority any longer. But knowing how fragile clubs can be, you can never be too safe.

That said, after years of my R2D2-inspired Sun Mountain droid of a travel bag--which thankfully protected my clubs every time they traveled--it was time for an updated travel cover after a wheel finally came off during what was undoubtedly an unusually rough journey. After just one trip using the Sun Mountain "glider" I'm all in (I also bought their suitcase with the same glider wheels and loved it).

The glider is a simple metal bar you push down and pull out, propping your bag up to that you eliminate bending over to pick up the bag and even better, for the times you have a couple of bags and are dragging the clubs along. With the stand down, you simply glide now instead of strain pulling the clubs. First world issues extraordinaire, I grant you, but the difference when you go through the misery of baggage claim, car rental, etc... is significant. Oh and the bag is well-constructed with thick canvas, plenty of padding around clubheads, shoe pockets and Sun Mountain's solid warranty.

One last thing: keep the box if you buy one. The bag folds up very nicely into a small, easily storeable package.

Edwin Watts has a few left of the popular seller here. They also have some nice deals on shipping.

Merry Christmas!

2015 Wrap: Where Are We On The Distance Issue?

Since the distance debate was the basis for this blog as it enters its tenth year as a full-fledged blog on Squarespace and thirteenth in some form as a monitor of golf issues, where do we stand?

--Those of us pointing out the issue are no longer treated like lepers for suggesting the ball goes too far. Enough courses across the land have had to deal with safety or function issues. This has meant a much larger audience does not need the issue explained to them. Even better, many more look down on the governing bodies for continuing to work tirelessly not to act.

--A surprising-but-still too-low number of golf fans recognize that distance is relative. This continues to quietly render the real bombers and their occasional 382-yarders less awe-inspiring than they should be. There is also the overall relatability factor, where too many just find pro golf a little less fun to watch because so few can relate to 210-yard 7-irons.

--The PGA Tour driving distance average only went up a yard in 2015. Despite so many obvious signs that players continue to get longer either through equipment, fitting technology or fitness, what gives? Because this last point allows the governing bodies to go back to counting their millions instead of acting. So how is it that the PGA Tour number is not seeing a huge spike even as we see players regularly CARRY the ball 300 yards?

David Dusek explored this at Golfweek.com and while he had no real answer why that one number has not budged much in recent years, he does note the shocking change at bottom end of the spectrum.

In 2000 there were 166 players on the PGA Tour who averaged less than 280 yards per drive. In 2002, that number was down to 100 and in 2003 it was sliced to 47. By 2005, there were just 30 players who averaged less than 280 yards per drive and it dropped to 25 players.

The 25 under 280 number was the case for 2014 (the 2015 list won't come up at PGATour.com).

Things get confusing when you consider Shoshana Agus-Kleinman's GolfNews.net analysis of PGA Tour "carry," something tracked since 2007.

Since that year, the average and median carry number of PGA Tour drives has spiked by ten yards.

To recap: the driving distance average is up a yard in from 2007 to 2015, but carry average is up by ten yards in the same time frame.

We have been told time and time again that course conditioning leads to more roll, yet with a 10-yard increase in carry the distance average has remained almost flat. This means the "more roll" argument is bogus as most anyone who stands in a PGA Tour landing area can tell you. Yes, agronomics have never been better and grass heights never lower, but turf has also never been healthier or more nourished, offsetting any gains made by lower mowing heights.

(Side note: players have already caught up to Hootie's back tees as he predicted, despite literally no roll on those fairways thanks to a higher cut and grain effect created to slow down drives.)

Sadly, this leaves us in that odd place where the governing bodies refuse to acknowledge an issue because to do so would (A) remind us that they let the game down and (B) would see their sustainability campaigns severely undercut by what is an obvious need to keep expanding the scale of golf courses to manage modern distances.

At least a more sizeable audience sees the sad hypocrisy in their mixed-messaging.

Olympic Golf Field As It Stands Now: 14 Outside The Top 200

Hard to say if this is about where we would have expected heading into golf's 2016 Olympic debut, but Doug Ferguson says in his AP notes column that 14 of 60 men are outside the top 200 as it stands now. That is unlikely to change because of the qualification guidelines and may even present a greater disparity on the women's side given that so many top players are from the United States and South Korea.

On the "Pro" side, this theoretically means that those who qualify for the Olympics will have a great shot at medaling. On the Con side? Limited fields with more than 20% clearly not as deserving means we could get either a runaway, random victor, or a massive upset. The latter (underdog element) being less of an issue in my book.

Are Young Guns Building Television Ratings?

In a totally random example, for the first time in over a decade, no one is wondering if Tiger or Phil is going to show up at, say, the Northern Trust Open. But Rory McIlroy is and Jordan Spieth will likely play, so when you mention that to most fans, that's shifted to the answer people are hoping to hear.

But do they translate to better television ratings that ultimately pay most of the PGA Tour bills? That's been debatable, but in an interview with Larry Fine of Reuters, Golf Channel president Mike McCarley says the network hosting the Olympic coverage this year believes the numbers do not lie.

The 2015 first quarter ratings for Golf Channel were down 14 percent compared to the year before, but momentum shifted with Spieth's win at the Masters.

The second quarter showed a gain of 3 percent over the year before and grew to an increase of 8 percent in the next quarter before booming to a 13 percent year-ago gain in the last period.

McCarley noted a competitive parallel in the women's game with the rise of 18-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand as world number one and a natural rivalry with American Lexi Thompson, the 20-year-old world number four.

"Looking ahead, 2016 is shaping up as a transformational year for the game of golf," he said.

Presidential Golf: Obama's Walk-Off, Trump's Numbers Low?

As President Barack Obama drains a walk off chip at Mid-Pac Country Club, the LA Times reports on a Morning Consult study saying that the folks who actually answer their phone for pollsters may actually be downplaying their support for Donald Trump when asked. We may have another golfing president just yet!

Wait, stop the presses! The Donald just pointed out to Iowa voters that the President played more than Tiger Woods in 2015, vowing he would not do the same. Golf.com Staff reports:

"It was reported today he played 250 rounds of golf and he's going to be in Hawaii, I think did they say for three weeks?" Trump said. "Two hundred and fifty rounds, that's more than a guy who plays in the PGA Tour plays. He played more golf last year than Tiger Woods. We don't have time for this. We have to work."

The Obama hole-out: