Lucky '13 for TCC?

Jim McCabe notes Trevor Immelman's ace on the par-3 8th in practice and says this about The Country Club and the 2013 U.S. Amateur.

When US Golf Association officials meet today with reporters, expect confirmation of what has been reported by some publications -- that the 2014 US Open will head to Pinehurst No. 2. Nothing will be announced about the 2013 US Amateur (dates for that are out only through 2010), but all indications are it will go to The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., as a way of commemorating the centennial of Francis Ouimet's historic US Open victory. As most Bostonians know, Ouimet walked across the street from his home to win the 1913 Open, a stunning triumph that is credited for popularizing the game in this country. The 50th and 75th anniversaries were saluted with US Opens at TCC (in 1963 and 1988), but the National Amateur would be a fitting tribute, for Ouimet was a lifelong amateur and twice the US Amateur champ. Architect Gil Hanse, his star on the rise for his design of The Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Mass., is working with TCC officials on whatever changes will be necessary for the 2013 US Amateur and possibly the US Open several years after that. Since a second club is always necessary to help accommodate a large US Amateur field, look for Charles River CC in Newton to fill the bill in 2013.

California State Am Leaving Pebble Beach

While scanning Ron Kroichick's chat with Johnny Miller in search of blatant self-references, I was surprised by this note following the piece:

State amateur moving: The California amateur championship, held at Pebble Beach every year but one since the seaside links opened in 1919 -- the course was built, in part, for the tournament -- is hitting the road.

This year's 96th edition of the state amateur will be played at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. The event will then alternate between Northern California and Southern California sites in future years.

Not surprisingly, money was a driving factor behind the departure from Pebble. The Pebble Beach Company gave the California Golf Association a discount on green fees, but the price was still significant; after all, a standard round at Pebble now costs $450 (and will rise to $475 on April 1).

The move to nearby Monterey Peninsula -- where the club will not charge the CGA for green fees -- represents a huge savings for tournament officials. They also liked the idea of holding the entire tournament at one venue, as opposed to recent years in which Poppy Hills hosted two stroke-play rounds.

Plus, match play at Pebble often led to the odd sight of tournament competitors weaving through public play. Regular folks -- well, regular folks who can afford to pay $450 to play golf -- would stop and let state amateur contestants "play through."

"There was a lot of hand wringing and a lot of anguish about this decision," said Bob Thomas, spokesman for the Southern California Golf Association. "We know how special Pebble is."

Tait On Amateur Funding

Golfweek's Alistair Tait points out that Richie Ramsay's U.S. Amateur win would not have happened had the USGA not changed it's rules on funding expenses.

In the past, players have had to pay U.S. Amateur expenses out of their own pocket. Hence the reason so few British Isles players competed.

Do the math. Ramsay is university student who often caddies at his home club of Royal Aberdeen for extra money. It would take a lot of bag dragging to afford the expenses of a transatlantic trip in peak holiday season for British travelers.

The new funding rules mean that the British Golf Unions can finance groups of players to compete in the U.S. Am. Had the old rules been in place, Ramsay would have been in Italy for the European Amateur Championship. He'd have been joined there by fellow Scot Lloyd Saltman, and English Walker Cup teammates Oliver Fisher and Robert Dinwiddie. They also took advantage of the new funding rules to compete in Minnesota.

U.S. Amateur Final Set

Stuart Hall writes about Scotland's Richie Ramsay holding off Sunnehanna winner Webb Simpson to reach the U.S. Amateur finals, not only insuring John Huggan a pre-Masters column, but making him arguably the most rules-obtuse player to ever reach such a prestigious position.

Ramsay grounding his club in the creek left of Hazeltine's No. 16 fairway has to rank as one of the most egregious violations ever caught on tape (not to mention the questionable practice swings beforehand). 

Another Scoring Record Falls

From ESPN:

Florida sophomore Billy Horschel shot a USGA-championship record 11-under-par 60 Monday to take the first round lead in the U.S. Amateur stroke play qualifying at the Chaska Town Course.

Horschel fired his round at the 6,753 yard, par 71 Arthur Hills 1997 design.

He breaks the USGA championship record by two strokes.

For more on the Am, USAmateur.org has some great coverage.

Speaking of Bickering...

Jim Achenbach reports on Mitch Voges and his shady behavior at the U.S. Senior Amateur yesterday.

I rank the 36 holes I played with Voges in the 1991 U.S. Amateur qualifier at Calabasas as one of the slowest and days of golf I ever played. Not only because I played decently and didn't qualify, but because Voges and his son/caddy gave new meaning to slow and annoying golf course gamesmanship antics. Voges went on to win the Amateur that year.

Another reminder that the USGA should have banned the long putter.

Marsh Wins Mid-Am

Kevin Marsh is going to the 2006 Masters.

Marsh at Mid-Am

Former Pepperdine golfer Kevin Marsh has reached the U.S. Mid-Am final. Marsh was the assistant coach of the 1997 NCAA title team that included Jason Gore. Marsh filled in for coach John Geiberger, who was in Chicago but stuck in a hotel room with chicken pox.

Struggling Champions

Golfweek's Jeff Rude looks at the struggles of recent U.S. Amateur champions and talks to Ricky Barnes.

Ferguson on the U.S. Amateur's Lost Luster

AP’s Doug Ferguson writes, “Somewhere along the way, the U.S. Amateur seems to have lost its status, if not some luster.”

He tries to determine “when the U.S. Amateur lost its status as a major is as unclear as when the Masters and PGA Championship took over.”

And he concludes, “Golf at the highest level is now about professionals. So are the majors.”

But well beyond record book quibbling, it seems that now is a good time to ask what is causing the Amateur’s recent slide in stature, separate of the pro vs. amateur major debate? 

• Date played. It's played the first week of school for many college golfers after a summer of competitive play. Not an ideal time to bring out the best in players. But the other options have problems too.

• Qualification standard. Reader Blue Blazer came out of hibernation to point out that the Amateur could give quite a few exemptions to say, the Western Amateur final 16 (since qualifying is usually held right after the Western). And of course, winners of other prestigious events like the Pacific Coast, Northeastern, Porter Cup, etc... A reasonable group of exemptions from the summer's best events would still barely put a dent in the 312-player field.
  
  
• Amateur Status. This is the most difficult area to measure, but at some point the virtual end of amateur status seems to have taken some of the life out of the U.S. Amateur. Whether it’s players (especially from big Division I programs) getting free equipment, or a significant number of former pros in the amateur ranks, the concept of an amateur has lost its luster a bit. Perhaps that's also hurting the USGA's premier amateur event?
  
  
• Big Money. Consider Michael Putnam’s decision to take a sponsor’s exemption instead of playing the Amateur at Merion (where he would have been one of the favorites). What’s the point when his career can be kick started? Granted most players don't do what he did. But after his performance, the minor gamble has turned into a potentially enormous career boost and one that many more players will look to as an excuse to turn pro ASAP.
  
  
  

Million Dollar Baby?

Thomas Bonk writes that Michelle Wie is close to signing with the William Morris Agency.

Merion 14 Redux**

Courtesy of reader Richard:

The 14th hole in 1930 (left) and an aerial of today's hole, with an overlay in green showing the 1930 fairway width over today's setup (minus the wood chip nursery left, or whatever that gray area visible on TV is). Note how the risk/reward element of flirting with the road left is eliminated in an attempt to put a longer approach iron in the player's hands.

**On closer inspection, and with the help of TiVo, the block of stuff between the road and left rough appears to be a dead fescue farm. Or maybe it's Featherbed Bent? Either way, it used to be fairway in the old days before the guys started working out so much, forcing people to create strange fairway contouring.

Amateur Status Changes

From their press release:

The R&A, golf’s world governing body and organiser of The Open Championship, today announced revisions to the Rules of Amateur Status that provide amateur golfers with the opportunity to receive payment for giving golf instruction and reduce the waiting time of those who have breached the Rules, but who wish to return to amateur status. The changes to the Rules and their interpretations come into effect from 1 January 2006.

A new Instruction Rule provides that an amateur golfer may be paid for coaching golf for the first time as part of an "approved programme". Under the new Rules on reinstatement, the time amateur golfers in breach of the Rules have to wait before they regain their amateur status is reduced. The new guideline of 1-2 years brings these waiting periods in line with those for professional golfers returning to the amateur game.

Seems they decided that after the gender reassignment rule change (requiring just two years between sex change surger to be Women's Open eligible...no I'm not joking) the three year wait on amateur status statement seemed a bit much. The release says the governing bodies of golf are closer than ever on their amateur "code." Except...

The two codes diverge on only one matter – hole-in-one prizes. In the new R&A Code acceptance of an excessive prize remains a breach of the Rules but carries a much reduced period awaiting reinstatement. The new USGA Code will allow amateur golfers to accept hole-in-one prizes of any value.

We'll call this the Mike Freeman rule, which if you have read The Future of Golf (p. 106-107), you know is a product of the excessive penalty paid by an Orlando amateur after spontaneously participating in the Tiger pops out of the Woods ad.

Dave Seanor at Golfweek details the USGA side of these changes. The expenses issue for amateurs will become official, and he explains how the rules will work for golfers who seemk expense reimbursement.

Sampson on Jones

Curt Sampson in the new Golf World writes about the toll the Grand Slam took on Bobby Jones. I'm currently reading Sampson's The Slam, from which I believe this article is excerpted. The book is quite good.

Walker Cup Summary

The Walker Cup transcripts for the winning U.S. team. The Walker Cup summary. And none of it does justice to the event.

What fun to watch golf on such a classy old layout.

Just a shame it was up against the PGA (way to go USGA!). Congrats to the both teams for such great play and sportsmanship.  I'll never forget running in between rooms (TiVo people will understand) to watch the PGA and the Walker Cup unfolding!

**Update: Golfweek's Alistair Tait writes about the Walker Cup and recounts the key moments.