2008

I'm not entirely sure what direction the site will take each day, much less all of 2008 (but hopefully that keeps it fun).

However, I can report that I hope to do more video posts in the new year, particularly related to our course design project at Querencia and our soon to be announced project on Vancouver Island, which is slated to start this spring. I'm hoping to put together fairly regular video diaries that reveal our design process. I know you can't wait!

I'm also putting the finishing touches on a book compiling Max Behr's brilliant essays on golf course design. Look for it sometime this summer. 

So in other words, you were warned. There will be shilling in 2008, but it beats pop-up ads.

This seems like a good time to ask a few things: A) what would you like to see more of on the site, and (B) do you use RSS and how?

With that, happy new year!
Geoff

Boo Headed For Terrorist Watch List?

Thanks to reader Charlie for catching Doug Ferguson's summary of Boo Weekley's long trip to Kapalua.

Airport security found two bullets from his rifle in his carry-on bag.

“That was kind of like, right out of the gate started the whole week for me,” Weekley said Monday. “They put the red flags on me. I had the cops there. I thought I was going to jail.”

He used that bag during a hunting trip to Illinois and never saw them when he packed for Hawaii. But as Weekley soon discovered, those airport scanning machines don’t miss much.

“I just begged and pleaded,” he said. “I just sat there and shook my head like I was an idiot, you know? They confiscated the bullets and then broke down a bunch of stuff, got in everything and put a flag by me. They said they were going to red flag me.”

"Rules of Golf need to reflect how golf is really being played"

Phil Kosin offers some intriguing food for thought on the Rules of Golf, how they are used by everyday golfers and how they could be tweaked to help speed up play. Thanks to reader Chicago Kid for the head's up.

2007

The wealth of important news, the stories crying out for heckling and most of all, the holiday laziness on my part translated to no posts remembering 2007's highlights and lowlights.

Should you desire to relive the year, monthly archives are here for your enjoyment. And never hesistate to use the site search feature if you are looking for an old post. Both can be found in the lefthand column.

Tomorrow I'll warn you about things to look for in 2008, including video diaries, a new book in the works and a preview of hoped-for web site content. But for now I'd like to thank you all for your active participation both in the comments sections and via email. I could not do the site without all of the reader contributions, so thanks for the enlightening comments, wry observations and spell-checking.

And please keep the comments, story links and photos coming.

Traffic this year easily doubled 2006's and grew steadily each month except in August when you were hopefully out enjoying the summer sun. Though I don't know much else about my readership, these browser and operating stats might be of some slight interest to demographics types. (My sympathies to the Vista users and pray that Macs arrive on your doorstep soon...the Internet looks so much better on an Apple!)

BROWSERS ACCESSING GEOFFSHACKELFORD.com
E6   35.07%
Gecko(Firefox)  19.61%
IE7  19.39%
Unknown  15.81%
Safari  6.82%
IE5   0.83%
Opera9   0.57%

OPERATING SYSTEM % ACCESSING GEOFFSHACKELFORD.com
WinXP   61.01%
Unknown   16.1%
MacOSX    10.52%
Win2000   5.14%
WinVista    2.31%
Win98     2.14%
Win2003    1.06%
Linux     0.53%
WinNT    0.31%
Win    0.23%
Win95   0.18%

So with that vital information shared, I thank you for a great 2007 and look forward to an even more enjoyable new year.

Geoff
 

Winged Foot Says Sayonara To The USGA...Again? **

I think they did something like this after the 1984 U.S. Open, though this split sounds a bit nastier.

Thanks to reader Steven T. for Richard Johnson's Page Six piece for Sunday's New York Post:

December 30, 2007 -- AT a heated closed-door meeting just before Christmas, steamed members of the fabled Winged Foot Golf Club in Westchester overwhelmingly refused to extend another invitation to the US Golf Association for the 2015 US Open Championship. The stunning rejection came in a 340-162 vote - a clear sign of frustration over the nuisances caused by the 2006 US Open.

Gee, I can't imagine why people would be upset at losing one of the premier courses in the land for corporate tents.

USGA reps fueled resentment by telling club members at the meeting that "The Foot" would be paid even less money to host the huge televised tourney than in 2006, when the tony club was compelled to take the money-losing US Amateur in order to land the Open.

Take less money? Wow, I knew times were tough in Far Hills, but isn't that a bit much on the frugal front?

The vote was also a stinging rejection of the leadership of Winged Foot president Leonard Horan, whose autocratic style alienated younger members. Page Six has learned the Winged Foot board last month declined to invite Horan to stand for re-election at the Jan. 13 annual meeting and turned down his recommendation of a handpicked successor. Now, members of the legendary golf mecca are gearing up to fight a 20 percent increase in dues, a final "gift" from Horan.

I would never want to be a club that would have any human being for a member. 

Update on 2007-12-31 17:00 by Geoff

**Sam Weinman follows up, and gets confirmation that Winged Foot was offered a lesser deal.

He also conceded some members were unhappy with the economic package the USGA was offering, which includes a rental fee and a sharing of corporate hospitality revenue.

"But that was only a small part of it," Horan said.

According to Pete Bevacqua, a Bedford native who is the USGA's chief business officer, the package offered to Winged Foot is the standard deal offered to every Open site,

Well, is that really true? Sorry... 

and the USGA's costs for an Open in Westchester are higher than in almost any other part of the country. Even so, Bevacqua said the USGA would welcome another invitation from the club, and refuted a report of a contentious relationship between the two parties.

"We have a very strong relationship with Winged Foot, and the Open in 2006 was very successful," Bevacqua said.

They're already eyeing anniversary dates...

Since the USGA is currently preoccupied with finding a home for the 2015 Open, Bevacqua and other officials told Winged Foot to submit a new invitation when the club is ready. Among the dates that have historic appeal to Winged Foot are 2021, which would coincide with the 100th anniversary of the club's founding; 2023, which is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the two A.W. Tillinghast golf courses; and 2029, which is the centennial of Bobby Jones' historic win in the first U.S. Open at the club.

"Certain dates appeal to certain people," Horan said, before adding, "2015 appealed to me."

Huggy's New Year's Resolutions

Well, they are not his, but instead, what he hopes golf's greats are resolving for 2008. These caught my eye:

THE ROYAL & ANCIENT GOLF CLUB: "Knowing that it will make little or no difference to 99.999% of the planet's golfers, we will no longer be cowed by the threat of legal action from ball manufacturing companies and this year we will knock 50 yards off the distance the leading professionals can hit their drives. Overnight, classic courses across the globe will become, well, classic courses again."

WALLY UIHLEIN (boss of Titleist): "I am finally going to own up to the fact that, despite all the marketing hype we spew out each year, hardly any golfers swing the club fast enough to gain significant yardage from the ball we make now. So I am going to do the right thing for the game that allows me to earn enormous sums of money. I will publicly announce that a rollback of the golf ball is absolutely fine with me. Besides, my guess is that Titleist will still make the best ball and so rake in the biggest profits."

ST ANDREWS LINKS TRUST: "We will delay the opening of our new humpy-bumpy and brutally exposed Castle course until it is re-designed to the point where average players have a reasonable chance of breaking 100 on an averagely breezy day."

AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB: "Any and all trees planted over the last five years or so will be cut down. All of the rough – sorry, 'first-cut' – grown over the same period will be eliminated. Then we can have our golf course back, the one which Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie modelled on the Old Course at St Andrews rather than a generic American country club."

ANY R&A MEMBER (one is all it would take): "If only to drag golf's most high-profile club into the 20th century – never mind the 21st – I will propose a woman for membership. The positive effect on the game's still-stuffy image would be immeasurable. She'd have to wear a tie in the clubhouse though. And promise to vote Tory. Hey, we can't get rid of every stereotype immediately."

THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION: "In June, just to confirm that the world will not, in fact, shift off its axis or come to a premature end, we will resist the urge to cover Torrey Pines in pointless and tedious long grass. Hell, we might even enjoy a US Open that does not include the mindless hack-out, the hit-or-miss gouge and the sheer, stultifying boredom of watching the world's best and most versatile chippers reaching automatically for their 60-degree wedges, unable to take advantage of whatever talents and touch they possess.

The Rookie Class

Steve Elling analyzes the potential of young players who won't get enough starts between now and Labor Day by looking at both the Q-School grads (with pictures!) and the Nationwide Tour grads.

The Ecclectic Year In Review...

...comes from AP's Doug Ferguson.

"The network improved somewhat, but its progress was a little disappointing."

Credit Gary Van Sickle for revisiting his 2007 predictions, though his Golf Channel critique was more interesting (to me anyway):

The network improved somewhat, but its progress was a little disappointing. Critiquing the on-air personnel choices would be subjective, so I won't do it, but the Golf Channel proved no better than the other networks when it repeatedly signed off for the day even though play wasn't finished. Its post-round coverage at majors was spotty. It delivered one good hour, but unfortunately was on the air for three. Quality, not quantity, should be a goal in '08. The lack of audience was such a sore spot that the network only released the numbers that included the viewers who watched the nightly replays, too. Score a point.

Well there's good news. WinZone (remember that!) says there's a 95% chance this will be a winner:

A Doppler radar system made by the Denmark-based software developer Interactive Sports Games will begin to be used to convey club movement, ball trajectory, and other statistics to viewers, according to the company. The Golf Channel's first use of the TrackMan system will be at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii on January 3, according to reports.

Breaking: Golf Digest Hot List Arrives Just In Time To Spoil Holiday For Manufacturers

I know many of you wondered why GolfDigest.com bloggers Bubala and Goy took two months off from suggesting that St. Andrews and Augusta National are not worth preserving, and here's why: the now-annual Hot List has arrived to the misery of most people in the equipment industry who were trying to enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year's and who must now explain to their bosses why they didn't win a gold medal.

There's a video showing you the top secret location where the testing takes place and where Golf Digest staffers racked up a massive bar bill to get them 14-days of tech talk.

Don't miss the survey that let's you figure out what junk you should buy this year so that it can take a place of honor in your garage sale by March 2009.

Here's where the judges tell you why you should spend $500 to replace last year's noisy, offensive looking driver.

Don't forget to stock up on Gold Medal winning woods, since that's what you'll use when the new driver doesn't work. And for when you can't hit those, there are always the winning hybrids.

The ball report will make you feel better about agonizing over a $45 dozen-ball purchase even though they essentially all working off of the same patent...if you believe those dreadful juries.

Might as well pick up some irons too since we haven't heard a thing about U-grooves in a while. Which reminds me, I need to change my wedges out every two weeks like Vijay and Padraig, so maybe I'll see what the judges are recommending.

And finally, do check out all of the new blades things they say are putters but really look like rejected set pieces from Spaceballs.

All Things Torrey Update

Tod Leonard begins the countdown to the U.S. Open with a look at various aspects of preparations, including this news for anyone thinking of playing the North or South Courses prior to the event:

For golfers who enjoy the North Course, some advice: Play it soon, because after the Buick it won't appear as its normal self for at least seven months.

City Golf Manager Mark Woodward said work on the Open driving range will begin in the days immediately following the Buick Invitational's conclusion on Jan. 27. About 30,000 square feet of sod for the range tee area will be laid in front of the 10th tee and ninth green. Shorter versions of those holes will be available.

On March 1, nine holes of the North will be shut down as corporate villages are constructed. Woodward said the North Course will close completely May 1.

The South Course will be open to the public until May 21. From then on, the maintenance crew will be “dialing in” the conditioning for the Open.

“I've joked in the past that we were going to peak at the last minute,” Woodward said. “But the way things look now, I think we're going to peak in the spring and have really good conditions for the last four or five months.”

"The starter put them with another couple who just started playing golf five months ago."

Doug Ferguson with a fun note on Henrik Stenson booking a U.S. Open tune-up round at Torrey Pines recently:

When he arrived in California for the Target World Challenge, he made a detour to San Diego and booked a twosome on the golf course. The starter put them with another couple who just started playing golf five months ago.

Turns out the woman's name was Pamela Anderson - no, not that one - and Stenson's remembers her boyfriend's name only as Jesse.

"Let's just say it was an interesting round," Stenson said. "She told me, 'The next time you're south of L.A., give me a call.' And I told her, 'Which Pamela Anderson am I going to look up?"'

It was an awakening of sorts for Stenson, who won last year in Dubai and the Accenture Match Play Championship. Outside of a round in Spain last year, he said it had been 10 years since he paid a greens fee. The good news is he received the San Diego County residents rate.

And he bought a bucket of balls for the range, the first time in a while he hit balls with a black stripe around them.

"They were limited-flight balls," he said. "It was cool in the morning, and the ball was going nowhere. But it took a couple of swings to realize this is not down to me. Some of it was the balls."

"For revealing he is a Rolling Stones fan..."

John Hopkins in The Times offers his year end awards. (The Hoppy's...hmmm...sounds familiar.) Loved this eye-roller:

George O'Grady, executive director of the European Tour, who last November announced the most significant response to the world dominance of golf by the PGA Tour in the US. This is the $10m Dubai World Championship, the biggest purse in golf. Starting in Dubai in December 2009 it will be the culmination of what is currently known as the Order of Merit but from 2009 will be renamed the Race to Dubai. For revealing he is a Rolling Stones fan, Tim Finchem, Commissioner of the PGA Tour in the US, is a close runner-up to O'Grady.

He revealed that about three tours and a previous century ago, never too early for some!

Now, how does Finchem get an award when he's the mastermind of this excellent award:

Most overrated event of the year

Any world golf championship event.

“We’re seeing free agency for sports journalists.”

The New York Times's Richard Perez-Pena has Rick Reilly at $3 million a year from ESPN, up from $2 million in last week's WSJ story. Essentially he writes the same piece with a few other interesting items:

The competition for writers has even produced bidding wars, especially for big-name columnists like Rick Reilly (from Sports Illustrated to ESPN), Howard Bryant (from The Post to ESPN) and Selena Roberts (from The New York Times to Sports Illustrated) — but also for less widely known reporters. People who were briefed on the deals said that Mr. Reilly’s contract, easily the biggest of the recent signings, was worth more than $3 million a year.

“It’s the exact same model as what happened to athletes,” said Leigh Steinberg, a top sports agent. “We’re seeing free agency for sports journalists.”

And this surprised me...not that that's saying much since I didn't even know what a carbon footprint was until last weekend:

ESPN.com is one of the most popular sports sites on the Web, with 20 million visitors in November, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, behind only Yahoo Sports, with more than 22 million. The Web site holds the vast bulk of what the writers produce, much of which is never seen on printed pages or heard on the air, including news, features, analysis, commentary and articles to accompany segments produced for television.

Scots Vying With Irish...

...for the site of Donald Trump's next self-proclaimed masterpiece and perhaps the coveted Isle of Stupidity crown. Because as Eddie Barnes reports, the Scots may be falling for this Leveraging 101 nonsense where The Donald is still going to visit Northern Ireland to consider his alternatives should one of these corruption probes or common sense overtake the Scottish government.

Meanwhile, Geoff Runcie, chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, has warned that Scotland has "played out an amateur production on the world's stage".

He said: "Our big name star – Donald Trump – has auditioned and made known his ambitions for the show but has come to the stage only to find himself playing alongside the amateur dramatics team. The words of our bard Robert Burns 'to see ourselves as others see us' have clearly not registered with many and we still put petty and party politics before serious economic opportunity."

Oh they're amateurs alright.