More-Than-You-Ever-Wanted-To-Know-Alert: Experts Break Down Obama's Swing

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After his third round of golf, it's becoming apparent that President-elect Barack Obama is not only determined to save the world, but more importantly, the game of golf. Or at least, instill a much needed coolness factor. We can't buy this kind of pub! (And Michael Bloomberg just made an Obama golf reference on the Times Square show...the hits just keep on coming.)

Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune has fun analyzing the pool reporter's round three notes.

As highlighted by Larry Dorman in today's New York Times, Golf Digest debuts its presidential rankings in the February issue due on stands Tuesday (already on my newstand). Presidential golf historian Don Van Natta Jr. shares many new insights into Obama's game, including this:

And in golf, as in life, Obama refuses to take any shortcuts. "When he'd shoot an 11 on a hole, I'd say, 'Boss, what did you shoot?' " says Marvin Nicholson, 37, the Obama campaign's national trip director and now a special assistant to the president-elect. "And he'd say, 'I had an 11.' And that's what he'd write on his scorecard. I always respected that."

Okay, it's a new year and I vowed to be less of a bitch, but someone needs to tell them we don't shoot 11s. We make them! Shoot? Maybe cats, or in Alaska, a moose, but not golf scores that we put on little cards.

As for the swing analysis you've all been waiting for, John Hopkins and gets into the act.  And at GolfDigest.com, they managed to pull Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and Jim Flick away from prized pupils to break down Obama's swing via the good old fashioned telephone.

Here's Flick's take. And Leadbetter's is here. And if you absolutely have no life whatsoever, here's Butch's take.

Daly Given Six Months To Test Out European Tour Events...

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...Doug Ferguson reports on what has to be one of the longest suspensions the PGA Tour has ever handed out. I'm not sure if the crimes (fat, drunk, stupid, angry) are commensurate with the length of the time off, but maybe it'll help him turn his life around. Or just to spend more time in the Middle East come January?

2008

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Most of my feelings about 2008 can be summed up in this Golfdom year-end story. Because while there were all of those dreadful stories that only a blogger could love (Tilghman/Golfweek noose debacle, the Bivens/LPGA English policy debacle, Stevie/Phil is a prick debacle), 2008 reminded golfers what an amazing, splendid, chill-inducing, awe-inspiring sport this can be when the world's best are allowed to display their skill.

As I note in the Golfdom story, the spectacle at Torrey Pines was surely made historic and unforgettable by Tiger's physical condition combined with Rocco's incredible effort. And you had the added emotions of contesting an Open at a course so pivotal in Tiger's upbringing, in a first and second round pairing with Phil Mickelson, the list goes on and on.

But like a great film with a strong cast, amazing effects and the best crew money can by, it all can only go so far on a thin story. In the case of Torrey Pines, this was not a strong story of a golf course. But the USGA setup took that barebones story and drenched every living bit of life out of a fairly bland 18 holes to provide Tiger, Rocco and many other contenders an incredible stage to perform on.

While few writers seized on this side of the Torrey Pines equation or its obvious freeing of Paul Azinger to aggressively set up Valhalla in a player-friendly manner that led to epic displays of skill under pressure from boths squads, it's still wonderful to see how the U.S. Open was the sole focus of most year-in-review stories. It was a special week for those of us who were lucky enough to be there and for everyone who huddled by a television to watch a truly unforgettable moment in sport.

I know I've missed a few, but here's a paritial list of the year end summaries:

GolfChannel.com's staff is counting down the best of 2008.

John Hopkins in The Times.

John Huggan's Huggy's.

Jeff Babineau in Golfweek.

Gary Van Sickle at golf.com.

Larry Dorman of the New York Times.

And finally, Doug Ferguson shares his favorite anecdotes.

Happy New Year! 

2008 Miscellaneous Mop-Up

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As for big changes in 2009, I don't have too many planned. Not yet anyway.

Expect a few more course design project videos, perhaps no longer opening story links in new windows (only because that seems to be a web standard now) and yes, there might be advertising (contemplating joining an ad network devoted to golf sites).

Unique visitors and page views were up over last year, which is amazing considering the expected traffic drop off after Tiger went on leave. That was compounded by the economic crisis where the markets most tumultuous days definitely impacted visits here (and surely all other non-banking websites).

As always, the strength of this site remains the quality of the comments you all leave. I'm quite lucky to have such a diverse readership and it's always fascinating how many golf industry people are obsessed with comments made. That's a tribute to you all.

Please use this opportunity not to heap glowing praise but to offer any and all constructive criticism you'd like to share to help make this site better. And finally, while there really is no good reason I can think of to share this,  maybe someone out there will get a kick out of knowing this about the GeoffShackelford.com readership...

Operating System Preference:

WinXP 66.08%
MacOSX  14.78%
WinVista 6.6% (ouch!)
Unknown  6.38%
Win2000 2.77%
Win2003 1.56%
Win98  0.51%
Linux 0.48%
iPhone 0.35% (it's a start)
WinNT  0.14%
Win9x  0.1%
WinNT4  0.06%
WinMobile0.05%
Win95 0.05%
MacOS 0.01%
WinME 0.01%
Win310.01%
SunOS  0%
PlaystationPortable  0%
NintendoWii 0%
Playstation3 0%
Symbian 0%
NintendoDS  0%


Browser Analysis

IE6  30.36%
IE7  28.23%
Gecko(Firefox)  23.36%
Safari 9.77%
Unknown  6.37%
Opera9  0.44%
IE5  0.3%
Gecko  0.29%
Gecko(Camino)  0.19%
Gecko(NS7)  0.13%
Chrome  0.13%
KHTML 0.1%
Opera8  0.06%
IE  0.06%
Opera7 0.05%
IE4 0.04%
NS  0.04%
Opera6  0.01%
KHTML(Konqueror)  0.01%
Gecko(NS)  0.01%
Gecko(Phoenix)  0.01%
Gecko(Firebird)  0.01%
Gecko(Galeon)  0.01%

The Bookies Are Really, Really Tired Of Losing Money On Tiger Woods

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Because as The Guardian's Dan Roebuck reports, these prices look "short"...

Despite Woods' absence from the fairways as he recovers from surgery following his incredible win at Torrey Pines in June, the world No1 still heads the betting for the two 2009 majors the layers have priced. Woods is 5-2 (Sky Bet) for the Masters and 3-1 (Hill's and Totesport) to win the Open . Even for a man that has so often defied the odds those prices look short.

Woods will not make a competitive return until the spring – Sportingbet offer 9-4 he will next tee up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, two weeks before the Masters. He may, of course, not make the line-up at Augusta which means Phil Mickelson would almost certainly take over at the top of the market.

Lefty, who has won twice and rewarded each-way backers six times in eight years, is 10-1 generally. If Woods, who is 13-8 (Sky Bet) to lose his top spot in the world ­rankings in 2009, looks out of touch on his return, Mickelson's price will go only one way – so the advice is to back him now.

I think I'll take a rain check on that.

Ginn FInally Files...

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...defaulting on a $675 million loan...Jeff Ostrowski reports (thanks Steven T.)

Two affiliates of Celebration-based Ginn Resorts last week filed a flurry of Chapter 7 petitions. Ginn sought bankruptcy protection for Tesoro and for Quail West in Naples. Tesoro will continue operations under the supervision of the bankruptcy court and a court-appointed trustee until the property is sold, Ginn said in a statement.

The two Ginn subsidiaries, Ginn-LA CS Borrower LLC and Ginn-LA Conduit Lender Inc., owe Credit Suisse $675 million. Ginn defaulted on loan payments in June and had been negotiating with its lender since then.

The loan covered Tesoro, Quail West, Ginn sur Mer in the Bahamas and Laurelmor in North Carolina. Ginn said it has found a new owner for Laurelmor and entered into a joint venture with the lender to complete Ginn sur Mer. 

PGA Tour To Donate Unwanted PLAYERS Gear To Local Hospitals

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Wow, those lucky kids born at Baptist Heath hospitals get all the perks:

This year, the first babies of 2009 born at each of Baptist Health's hospitals will receive a large gift bag courtesy of THE PLAYERS Championship. The gift bag will include ball caps, T-shirts, lanyards and coffee mugs for the new parents; a beach towel; seat cushion; and a beanie bear for the first baby born at Baptist Medical Center Downtown, Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Baptist Medical Center Nassau and Baptist Medical Center South.

In addition, every baby born at one of the four Baptist Health hospitals between January 1 and May 1, 2009 will receive a complimentary T-shirt that says, "THE PLAYERS Future Champion." Parents of the babies born during that period also will be invited to register for a special Mother's Day prize package, which will provide one family with the opportunity to experience THE PLAYERS Championship in May. These gifts from THE PLAYERS are intended to help Moms and Dads celebrate their champions while helping to grow future golf fans.

Collectors: Get Your Pro-V1s!

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Only one day left, according to Susan Baird, as Acushnet is recalling all of the remaining nonconvernted balls on shelves in response to its appeals loss.

Meanwhile, however, a lower-court injunction that takes effect Jan. 1 will bar the sale of Titleist golf balls manufactured using the contested technology. (The balls will remain legal for consumer use and tournament play, Acushnet noted.)

So this fall – while also launching a bid to block the injunction, an effort that failed last week (READ MORE) – Acushnet stopped using the disputed technology. Last month, it began shipping to retailers the “converted” Pro V1 and Pro V1x models. And last week, Acushnet said it would accept returns from retailers of any remaining nonconverted balls, although it did not believe any recall was necessary.

But now, Acushnet has decided to play it safe.

In what it described as an effort “to remove this uncertainty from the marketplace,” the company this week issued a call for U.S. retailers to return to the company all nonconverted Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls that remain in their inventories as of Jan. 1.

"Critics call it a resort for union leaders that wastes money from union dues."

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I'm feeling a lot less sympathetic about the UAW's plight after reading this FoxNews.com story (thanks to all of the readers who sent it in). Not because UAW leadership built a lavish $33 million lakeside retreat that is now burning a hole in union pockets. No, because they spent that on and got this (see photo, left).

Even as the industry struggles with massive losses, the UAW brass continue to own and operate a $33 million lakeside retreat in Michigan, complete with a $6.4 million designer golf course. And it's costing them millions each year.

The UAW, known more for its strikes than its slices, hosts seminars and junkets at the Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center in Onaway, Mich., which is nestled on "1,000 heavily forested acres" on Michigan's Black Lake, according to its Web site.
But the Black Lake club and retreat, which are among the union's biggest fixed assets, have lost $23 million in the past five years alone, a heavy albatross around the union's neck as it tries to manage a multibillion-dollar pension plan crisis.

Sergio: We Approved Faldo's Worst Moves!

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John Hopkins finds Sergio Garcia in a chatty mood regarding the Ryder Cup. Love this Red Auerbach/Boston Garden playbook stuff:

“The US team played their cards well. They knew where the pins were going to be and the tees and we didn't. The locker-room we had was really, really small and uncomfortable. I wish it had been even half the size of theirs. We had two showers, one next to a toilet. At the opening ceremony they played my anthem twice, once when the Spanish flag was raised and once when the Swedish flag was raised.

“Nick Faldo's speech at the opening ceremony was too long. In past Ryder Cups there has been the captain and two or three vice-captains. It seemed like that way you covered a lot of ground. On the Sunday this year, covering all 12 of us with only two guys was rather difficult.”

And on the Sunday lineup call to stack the backend of the lineup:

He also pointed out that the order of play for Sunday's singles was not just Faldo's choice, but one that had the approval of every Europe team member. “The defeat was not Faldo's fault,” García said. “Nick Faldo was not the best captain we have ever had, but I don't think he was the worst.”

"Still, how much different can it be?"

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An unbylined GolfDigest.com report looks at Acushnet's latest losing court ruling. An on their blog, Beau and Gizmo do their back and forth on what it all means. Not much, according to Beau:

Short of some mega-million-dollar judgment down the road I don't see this having much of an effect on, well, anything. Titleist has been deemed by the court to infringe a patent that Callaway owns, but didn't actually create. It bought it in a bankruptcy auction. I just can't get jacked up about that. But it should be interesting to see what the tour players have to say. Some were playing the 2003, 2005 and quite a few the 2007 version of the Pro V1/V1x last year and now it looks like all of them will have to play the new, reconfigured model. Pros are picky so we shall see. Still, how much different can it be? The USGA deemed the changes so insignicifcant that they didn't even require Acushnet to resubmit the ball for conformance. But a couple of pros apparently won't have to worry about it. Word on the street is that both Vijay Singh and Boo Weekley (who used Titleist balls this past season) will be going with Srixon's new tour ball in the coming season.

"The new age of televising golf on Thursdays and Fridays has backfired."

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Gary Van Sickle tries to consider the health of the PGA Tour and focuses his case against Tim Finchem on the attempts to create too many "big events."

First, I thought this was a great point:

Too much television exposure: Finchem finally realized a long-term goal when every PGA Tour event got television coverage. The new age of televising golf on Thursdays and Fridays has backfired. At best, it's oversaturation. At worst, it's a bad product. My sympathies to the TV producers who have to find some kind of story to tell while covering the tail-end of the first or second rounds with nothing more to show than journeymen and Q-school grads. Often, the leader played in the morning, and no one near the lead is even on the course when the coverage begins. Factor in a B-team broadcast squad, and you've got a product far inferior to the weekend coverge.

I suspect that while he is right, the PGA Tour and sponsors love getting highlights of great shots aired on Sportscenter during the week and will never give up these early telecasts, no matter how boring they are.

TheGolfWatch.com Interview Parts 1-3 **

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TheGolfWatch.com's Richard Simon interviewed me today and has broken it up into three parts. Because I know that the entire collection of my spellbinding comments to a variety of intelligent questions could keep you from the family Christmas gift opening, I'm only going to post part 1 of 3 today.

Merry Christmas!