When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
I thought we had this all worked out, links in 2011 and 2012, with Castle Stuart and The Renaissance Club taking over for Loch Lomond. Apparently not, reports Martin Dempster who says The Renaissance is out entirely through 2013.
The Scotsman understands it has been ruled out due to the fact it doesn't yet have a proper clubhouse, while the European Tour would also rather wait until three new holes in the pipeline there are not only built but also bedded in before hosting one of the biggest events on the circuit.
It had been suggested Castle Stuart could host next year's tournament before it then moved to The Renaissance Club for a spell, but a problem with that is the return of the Open Championship to Muirfield, its next door neighbour, in 2013.
Having two major events back-to-back in such close proximity is a situation both the European Tour and the R&A are believed to be keen to avoid.
As things stand, it appears Castle Stuart, which has earned rave reviews since opening its doors 18 months ago, is still the likely option for next year and, quite possibly, for another two years after that.
Here I had it all set up for a nice post on Kingarrock to man the top of the blog for the holiday weekend, but NO! You had to go for the quintessential take-out-the-trash, Friday news dump of all-time Friday news dumps (AP writer on vacation, Christmas Eve, golf publications not printing for two weeks, etc...).
The only revenge I could concoct was this silly poll question.
Nearly two years ago I vowed to profile more of the great, perhaps unsung places in golf and I've failed miserably since that initial post on Santa Anita Golf Course.
But with the holidays looming and the news drying up, it's a nice time to highlight a very special place. It's been an amazing year for me, with stops in Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, Churchill Downs and many other great spots, yet no day brings back fonder memories than a late afternoon round at Kingarrock.
I learned something new in the unbylined AP story on Gillette dropping Tiger at year's end when his contract is up.
The golfer was once the most sought-after pitchman in sports and was the first athlete to earn $1 billion from endorsement agreements. However, many corporations cut ties or distanced themselves from Woods after the scandal that broke just over a year ago and dominated headlines for months.
Remember when it used to be widely reported that he was the first athlete to earn a billion, now he's the first to do it on endorsements alone!
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
