Archives for: 2008
Long drive champ is not a man, baby, but she used to be
Monday December 29, 2008 | 02:39:29 pm 432 words, 3403 views
Here’s a shocker: The woman who hit a golf ball farther than the rest of her competitors hasn’t always been a woman.
Lana Lawless, a 55-year-old bartender and local celebrity from Palm Springs, Calif., belted out a 254-yard drive into a 40 mph wind at the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship at Mesquite (Nev.) Regional Park this fall to upset favorite Phillis Meti of Auckland, New Zealand, by four yards. Having undergone gender reassignment a few years back, the former Southern California cop has been competing legally as a woman in this event since 2006.
Now, she’s a world champion, and ...
Frys.com Open back at Grayhawk in Scottsdale
Tuesday December 23, 2008 | 11:51:50 am 295 words, 2840 views
Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale has only been around for 14 years, but it’s already carving a nice tournament history for itself. Recently it was announced that the Frys.com Open will return for its third straight year in 2009 as part of the Fall Series, Oct. 22-25.
Both of Grayhawk’s courses – the Talon and the Raptor, have been perennial sites for pro-ams of the FBR Open, played early in the season at the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course. And Grayhawk also has hosted the Accenture Match Play 1995, ‘97 and ‘98) as well as the Target World Challenge (2000).
Cameron Beckman this ...
Golf lesson in La Quinta: Become the surgeon of the greens
Friday December 19, 2008 | 11:40:57 pm 447 words, 2823 views
What are the odds that you show up in the Palm Springs, Calif., area and get rain two out of four days? Nevertheless, there’s a silver lining in every cloud, and I certainly found one earlier this week.
After taming the Mountain Course at the fabulous La Quinta Resort on the first day with my host Tim Hurja and PGA West Greg Norman Course head pro Joe Johnson, Tim and I retreated to Hurja’s studio for the afternoon as the first heavy rain set in. Located in the same building as Clint Eastwood’s second Hog’s Breath Inn restaurant location, Hurja’s place ...
In light of the cuts at TaylorMade-adidas Golf, don't blame it on the economy
Wednesday December 17, 2008 | 10:43:59 pm 347 words, 2801 views
Our economic woes didn’t start this fall; they just really came to light then. The same holds true for the golf industry, which has actually been in a recession for quite some time, at least relative compared to what it was 10 or 12 years ago.
So on the surface, when we learn that TaylorMade-adidas Golf is cutting 170 jobs right after it acquired troubled Ashworth for $28.1 million plus the assumption of $46.3 million of Ashworth’s debt, it’s easy to chalk it up to Wall Street. The truth is that golf equipment and apparel companies really never could live up ...
One for the little guys: Pavin is a solid pick to lead Ryder Cup team
Friday December 12, 2008 | 01:08:49 am 399 words, 2906 views
So not everyone is pleased that the PGA of America has tabbed Corey Pavin as the next American Ryder Cup captain. Now there’s a surprise.
It seems there’s a school of thought that the fiery Paul Azinger managed to rally the outgunned Americans to victory this year, so why tamper with success? Is it possible that the Americans would have won at Valhalla Golf Club anyway if Azinger had not been captain?
Of course it is.
A lot has been made of Azinger’s sub-group bonding of players, then making pairings accordingly. The idea certainly seemed to work, as did a few other buttons ...
My 'pendant' for skepticism is being tested
Thursday December 11, 2008 | 09:40:11 am 318 words, 2862 views
I try to keep an open mind about most things, but I must admit, when it comes magnetic, copper or ion bracelets and pendants, I’ve been more than a little skeptical. Still, it doesn’t take long to find plenty of folks who disagree with you, and most of them – many of them golfers – aren’t being paid for their endorsement.
Recently, the nice folks at Q-Link offered to perform an electronic acupuncture test (I think that’s what it was) on me to determine how much one of their pendants would help. The test measures a series of wellness characteristics, including ...
Restoration of Phoenix's Papago Golf Course doesn't disappoint
Monday December 8, 2008 | 08:46:09 am 260 words, 2838 views
This weekend, the second of two very enjoyable and historic munis reopened after extensive renovations. On Saturday, it was half-century-old Papago Golf Course in Phoenix, long considered one of the better city courses the country, but in need of some updates. A week ago, it was 86-year-old Brackendridge Park in San Antonio.
Neither of the restorations are disappointing.
At Papago, a 1959 Billy Bell design that hosted the 1971 U.S. Amateur Public Links, nearly $6 million was spent for new greens, new grass, new irrigation system, restoration of the lakes and tree removal, to name just a few things. It also got ...
Could 2009 be Wie's breakout year? We've been waiting
Friday December 5, 2008 | 06:56:37 pm 381 words, 3401 views
Michelle Wie was just a little more than 14 years old when when she missed the cut at the 2004 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu by just a single stroke.
To think that a teenage girl beat nearly half the field, including the likes of Adam Scott, Zach Johnson and Steve Flesch that week, still boggles the mind. Most folks just don’t realize how good PGA Tour players are. Wie’s near miss really does rank as one of the most amazing performances in sports history. (Annika Sorenstam at Colonial wasn’t bad either, but she had a little more ...
Tucson's upscale golf transformation continues with Nicklaus-designed Ritz-Carlton Club
Wednesday December 3, 2008 | 11:24:15 371 words, 3108 views
It’s official: Tucson golf has crossed the threshold of Ritzy golf.
The new 27-hole golf course at The Ritz-Carlton Club, Dove Mountain in Marana, just outside of Tucson, is pretty much done and will be open for public play on Jan. 18. And like most of the recent openings - such as the Loews Ventana Canyon or the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa, for example - the first Jack Nicklaus signature course in the area in 25 years will be a little pricey. The per-player fee is $225, which includes cart, range and required forecaddie.
For now, anyone will be ...
BCS could learn from PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs
Monday December 1, 2008 | 09:48:48 471 words, 3020 views
College football’s BCS and the PGA Tour have more in common than three-letter acronyms - they both needed better playoff systems.
The PGA Tour did that last week by tweaking the FedEx Cup. Well, maybe it was a little more than a tweak. This year, by virtue of securing enough points by winning the first two FedEx Cup playoff events, Vijay Singh could have “Tin-Cupped” the last hole of The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club and still won the Cup and the $10 million. He could have turned into me for all four rounds and still won the $10 ...
Good riddance: Tiger Woods wasn't a Buick guy anyway
Tuesday November 25, 2008 | 09:44:39 498 words, 3445 views
In a surprise announcement, we now learn that Buick, after nine years, will not be renewing its contract with Tiger Woods. Perhaps GM had a choice: lose the Tiger endorsement or lose the private jets. Pretty easy decision if that’s the case because I can’t believe the folks at GM were getting much of an return on investment with the Tiger deal anyway, and well, you know how hard it is to travel first-class on a commercial airliner. You don’t know about that one, you say? Yeah, I can’t relate either.
Anyway, back to the Buick-Tiger deal: First off, this had ...
San Antonio golf, tourism fending off recession - for now
Friday November 21, 2008 | 04:42:44 349 words, 3163 views
This week I got a sneak preview of the new JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa well under construction in the northwest part of the San Antonio, Texas. The scene doesn’t exactly jibe with current economic woes, and you can’t help but feel like it’s a race to get this mega resort up and running before the economy really goes in the tank. Although one Marriott official admitted that like everyone else, there is concern over how to fill these rooms after the resort opens, the official company line is that conventions and conferences will go on ...
Golf without Titleist Pro Vs, the strongest name in golf balls, pretty unlikely
Wednesday November 19, 2008 | 10:05:14 295 words, 3190 views
It’s difficult to imagine golf without the Titleist Pro V1, but if you take a recent court ruling literally, then you might be led to believe it could happen starting next year.
But for those of you who are married to you Pro V1s, relax, that’s a pretty unlikely scenario - even though last week the United States District Court in Wilmington, Del., granted Callaway Golf’s request for a permanent injunction to stop sales of the Acushnet Co.’s current line of Titleist Pro V1 family of golf balls, effective no later than Jan. 1. The court also rejected Acushnet’s request ...
Out with the PGA and LPGA: Bring on golf's silly season
Wednesday November 12, 2008 | 10:06:44 368 words, 2897 views
Man, you’ve got to be a hard-core golf fan to absorb the last few events of the Fall Finish. It’s tough to watch guys you never heard of sweating it out trying to secure their card for next year. I don’t like grinding in my own game, much less watching someone else do it, unless it’s the U.S. or British Open.
So bring on the events I really look forward to in late fall, like the Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge, the LG Skins Game or the Del Webb Father/Son Challenge, for example. The PGA Tour likes to call them “Challenge Events,” ...
Travel tip: Southwest is the golfers' airline - for now
Monday November 10, 2008 | 10:56:01 514 words, 3165 views
You know the commercial with the two-faced ticket agent who tells the traveler his fare is $69 only to spin her head around Exorcist-style to reveal another face? Then the guy finds out that the airline has various miscellaneous charges that more than double the cost of the trip. As a traveling golfer, I can relate. Those charges are for items like telephone-booking fees, seat preferences and the one that really grabs me - checked baggage fees.
If you’re not flying business or first class or not an elite frequent flyer, airlines such as Continental, American, Delta/Northwest, U.S. Air, United and ...
Are you kidding me? Golfer Curt Hocker draws five aces
Monday November 10, 2008 | 10:10:13 308 words, 2541 views
You may have heard by now that 22-year-old Illinois golfer Curt Hocker recently recorded five aces in one week, including two during a single round. But it gets even better: Of his seven aces this year, five are on par-4s, and he also recorded two double eagles.
The odds of making a hole-in-one during a round, according to Golf Digest, range from 3,000 to 1 for a tour player to 12,000 to 1 for an average player. But that’s just one ace, not five in a week. The odds of making two aces in a round are 67 million to ...
The Accidental Golfer
The Accidental Golfer (AKA Mike Bailey) has spent more than 15 years writing about the game that has brought him unbridled joy and temporary bouts of insanity. Now on staff at WorldGolf.com, Bailey is a former senior editor for PGA Magazine, senior writer for Golfweek's SuperNEWS and Turfnet magazines and past president of the Texas Golf Writers Association. He has covered every facet of golf, including the PGA and LPGA Tours, equipment and course architecture, as well as the bane of his golfing existence: instruction. The last has led to at least 30 different golf swings, which all feel different but appear to his playing companions to be the same.
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