Trump: We're Still In The Rota!

I'm not sure what's more impressive: Donald Trump declaring that he's still in The Open Championship rota, or Alex Miceli getting The Donald on the phone in the midst of a presidential campaign.

Either way, Trump sees Turnberry still very much in the rota despite reports of the R&A cooling to the idea.

“I haven't been told that at an all, no,” Trump said Friday by phone about Turnberry being taken off the British Open rota, which first was reported by London’s Independent. “We're working together with the R&A on the design. We have redesigned it, and it's almost completed. It will be opened in July and, no, I haven't heard that at all.”

At all?

Golf Industry Show Wrap: More Affordable Sustainability?

The annual Golf Industry Show wrapped in San Diego and the mood certainly seemed positive. Perhaps it was the location--not Orlando--because I sensed the good vibes ran deeper than normal.

So many of the products and folks we talked to for Golf Channel's Morning Drive gave the impression that forward-thinking ways are finally leading to affordable sustainability solutions.

There were also a few first world solution solvers, like grass on top of irrigation heads and drones to detect turf health.

Here are the four GIS pieces shot and produced by Donald Goertz and hosted by yours truly.

Offbeat tech.

New tech.

Overview and Rhett Evans interview.

Electric Avenue (electric only products):

Perth: World's First "Recognizeable" Course Is Spared

Jamie Buchan reports the various cuts that were decided on in Perth, where the golf course operational deficit was a mere drop in the bucket. Councillors agreed and spared the historic North Inch, which was facing closer over a fairly small amount of money.

However, proposals to axe the historic North Inch golf course – to save about £100,000 a year – and a reduction in public transport costs were rejected.

GolfPunkHQ also has this story on sparing the course, accompanied by a splendid aerial of the course where golf was played five hundred years ago.

Dale Concannon Tweeted this image depicting the early golf scenes at North Inch:

World’s Oldest Golf Club saved! North Inch escapes cull https://t.co/VkHeU1mQV4 … pic.twitter.com/AvmgiybSHO

— DaleConcannon (@DaleConcannon) February 13, 2016

AT&T Saturday Preview: Hide Your Cell Phones From Bill Murray

Another brutal CBS-produced Golf Channel telecast aired Friday from the otherwise-glorious-looking Pebble Beach. The whole mess reminded us that no plug is off-limits to producer Lance Barrow. (We even got a FedEx VP briefcase going for 3 minutes on the greatness of the FedExCup. In February.)

And I won't even get into all of the other B-listers and missed great rounds from Phil Mickelson (Jason Sobel report here) and Sung Kang (Mike McCallister's PGATour.com report here).

However...there could be drama at AT&T Saturday in between shots of the PNC Chairman and favored CBS Pacific Grove eateries when Bill Murray returns, except with apparent issues (at times) with fans wanting selfies.

A few of you up at the tournament sent in reports, and Gossip Cop was brave enough to report on Murray heaving some cell phones off a restaurant balcony Thursday night.

On Thursday night, Murray was at the restaurant Vesuvio, where Justin Timberlake was throwing a party for his 901 tequila, when a number of fans bombarded the comedic actor and started repeatedly taking flash photos of him. Murray, who’s usually very accommodating, became annoyed with the too-close-for-comfort fans, and grabbed some of their phones and tossed them over the restaurant’s second floor rooftop

Oy Vey: Ryder Cup Team Dinners, Tiger Wants A Fishing Trip

Since this was revealed earlier in the week, I've been trying to ponder how this is not embarrassing overkill and failing.

It was Nick Faldo's sigh at the topic during today's telecast that didn't help matters. Granted, he's not the Winston Churchill of captains, but still, here goes: Davis Love is planning a Ryder Cup team bonding dinner at the Honda Classic. Oh, and assistant captain Tiger Woods, who wouldn't have been caught dead at any kind of Ryder Cup bonding exercise in his prime, is suggesting a...fishing trip?

Go Europe!

From Doug Ferguson's AP notes column:

"We're going to have a dinner during the week of Honda, and then we'll probably have two or three more," Love said Wednesday. "So I'm going to be a little bit more focused this time on the start, work my way through the points list and make sure that we've got everybody covered — not wait until the Memorial Tournament when we have a clothes fitting to talk to the guys for the first time."

USA, USA!

And this is just nauseating...

Love also said another vice captain, Tiger Woods, suggested getting together away from the golf course, perhaps a fishing trip to hang out and talk shop.

"I think if we all get to know each other a little bit better in March and April and May, rather than waiting until August and September, we're going to be better off," he said.

Or not.

Judge To Tour Caddies: Bibs Are Your Uniforms

That's what Judge Vince Chhabria wrote in dismissing the federal lawsuit filed by 168 tour caddies.

You may recall that caddies were suing over a host of issues, but the primary issue was with having to wear caddie bibs with tournament or other sponsor branding, free of compensation.

Rex Hoggard reports:

“Even if this contract language might appear susceptible to two different interpretations when considered in isolation, there is only one reasonable interpretation when the language is considered in the context of this case,” Chhabria wrote. “The bib has been the primary part of the ‘uniform’ that the Tour requires caddies to wear.”

Jordan Spieth Rested And Has His Speeds Back

With a week off following his trips to Abu Dhabi and Singapore where he complained of fatigue, Jordan Spieth says a week off has him refreshed and ready for Pebble Beach.

Will Gray reports for GolfChannel.com:

“I feel great. I feel very rested now,” Spieth said Wednesday. “It’s amazing what a solid week back here of kind of rest and regeneration will do. My speeds are where they need to be, my rest is back, everything feels good.”

Speeds? Could a Spieth linguistics slideshow be looming somewhere down the line?

Spieth and Jake Owen tee off at 11:55 Thursday with Dustin Johnson and Wayne Gretzky. Gray previews that and other notable celebrity/pro groupings.

Lydia Ko: Olympics Are Priority No. 1

I'm fairly certain world No. 1 Lydia Ko has always been excited about the Olympics, as have all of the women getting their first chance at a gold medal. But it's still fun to see players sounding more and more excited about golf's return to the Olympiad.

From an unbylined AP story:

Ko, who will defend her New Zealand Open title from Friday, said there was ''so much excitement and vibe'' around the Olympic tournament, ''especially as it's the first time women will play at the Olympics in golf.''

The 18-year-old New Zealander said ''ever since they announced that golf will be in the Olympics I said, 'Hey, I want to get myself on that team.' For any athlete to say you're an Olympian is a whole new proud feeling, and to represent your country on such an international stage it's going to be a pretty special week.''

Parsons: Players Pursued Us, Not The Other Way Around

ESPN.com's Bob Harig files a nice profile of Bob Parson's, founder of Parsons Extreme Golf, which has signed a dozen tour players. The piece also features a Michael Collins video interview with Parsons.

Parsons is selling very expensive club with sophisticated milling and metals, which adds a high-end approach to golf club manufacturing.

His claims about the tour player staff all coming to Parsons, however, doesn't seem entirely believable.

Ryan Moore was the first player to sign on with PXG early in 2015, and his clubs became a bit of curiosity on driving ranges throughout the PGA Tour.

But getting a group of players to join the company has given it a big push. In addition to Johnson, Horschel and Hahn, PXG also signed the likes of Chris Kirk and Charles Howell III. LPGA Tour players Cristie Kerr, Gerina Piller, Alison Lee, Beatriz Recari and Sadena Parks as well as Anna Rawson are also on the payroll. So is Champions Tour player Rocco Mediate.

"I was happy to see it,'' Parsons said. "It did increase our momentum. I did not go after any of them. Every one of them came to us. We eventually put a deal together with them. After the last one we signed, Mr. Kirk, we decided that 12 is enough. Thirteen ain't going to help us more.''

What's Going On With The World Amateur Golf Ranking?

On the list of issues facing the sport how amateurs are ranked by the R&A's World Amateur Golf Ranking probably doesn't leap off the page as prime click bait.

Which is even more reason to check out Golf Bible's analysis of a lightly viewed press release announcing changes to how the rankings are tabulated. Namely, a two-year window is now considered to tabulate an amateur golfer's ranking, which can impact if the player is eligible for something like the Asia Pacific Amateur.

There has long been great discord within amateur golf ranks over the ranking, including at the moment when the current NCAA and U.S. Amateur champion, Bryson DeChambeau, is ranked third, yet lands a more logical first in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking.

I'm guessing this would be example A as to why it has less credibility than it should, as Golf Bible writes:

Prior to last week’s announcement Jon Rahm was due this week to drop a huge number of points that he won for finishing tied 5th at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open. Now he will stay at No. 1 I guess. Oppositely the SPWAR has more smooth and gradual changes because it applies points ageing.

[Somehow Rahm was awarded more points (30.250) by the WAGR for this high pro finish than DeChambeau got for winning either the US Amateur (19.875) or the NCAA Division 1 Championship (22.000) which explains why he is No. 1 if you were wondering].

World Golf Foundation CEO: Millennials Will Be The "Core"

In today's what golf will do to be loved by the 18-to-34 year olds, World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona says they're coming and the game should adjust to their every need.

Tod Leonard reports for the San Diego Union Tribune on the bullish tone Mona has for the state of the game.

They key segments to all of golf are youth and the millennials, which the NGF deems as those between 18 and 34 years old. The NGF did a comprehensive study of millennials and found that six million are currently playing and contributing about $5 billion annually to the golf industry. Another 12 million millennials expressed interest in taking up the game at some point.

"This kind of sky-is-falling talk that millennials aren’t playing the game, the facts belie that," Mona said. "It would be disingenuous of me to say, though, that there aren’t issues to address."

The NGF study reported that millennials value the tenets of the game as much as their older peers, but are turned off by perceptions of stodginess or lack of acceptance. Among the areas that need to be addressed, Mona said, are dress codes, use of technology on the course and even the use of music while playing.

"There are courses that already are reshaping their whole experience to be extremely millennial-friendly," Mona said. "There are others who haven’t so much. But if you talk to any operator who is paying attention to the business, most of them will tell you they are making adjustments to appeal to the millennial audience.

"They’re the next group coming along, and they’re going to be the core."

Yes, in about 20 years! In the mean time...